January 26 - February 1

Sunday, January 26: McKay did a musical number during sacrament meeting, "How Great Thou Art" on his accordion. I was so proud of him :) 

I subbed as the music leader again in Primary. I made these paper “broken hearts” that had to find their soul mates, their other halves. It didn’t work as well as I hoped, but the primary seemed to have a great time. One of the teachers told me I was very animated and the kids had fun, so I guess that  makes up for the chaos J We had dinner up in Plano with Eve and Milko. I got to practice making the Salted Caramel Malted Cake on them in preparation for making it for Kevin’s birthday the next week, and it was soooo yummy. We started talking about blood pressure during dinner, and Milko showed us what they do in Bulgaria to measure blood pressure. It has something to do with a paper clip and a ruler. It’s funny how often I forget these two were born in parts of the world that are so different from what I grew up with. Tyler and Jamie had a great time playing with Allison and Joshua, and most certainly did not want to leave J

Monday, January 27: All the nursing students were told to come early for a special meeting with information about our clinical assignments. It ended up being a mandatory drug test, obviously a surprise for everyone. I was pretty ticked off. In addition to that, I went to a tutoring session until about 6:30. It was the longest day away from the kids, and it broke me a little to come home at 7 at night and hardly see Tyler and Jamie before they went to bed. I shooed McKay away at bedtime and hogged them to myself, reading bedtime stories and brushing teeth and tucking them into bed. I just savored every hug and smile from them. I’ve decided not to go to that after school tutoring session anymore, it’s just too much time away from home, and the tutor is a bit alarmist and unhelpful anyway.

Tuesday, January 28: Another long, long day at school again. McKay had to take care of getting my immunization records for me. I found out that my doctor did not sign the new form when I got my second round of shots last week, and my school wasn’t willing to let it slide. McKay and Jamie had a nice day together. They went to the library, Costco, my doctor’s, and Cindy’s all in one day.

I commented on McKay’s funny outfit choice of a battered, faded, old hat couple with a really nice overcoat. He sent me silly faces to prove he could look terrible in the coat and very fancy in his gross hat.

When it was time to pick Tyler up, McKay discovered that Tyler had gone ahead and hopped on the bus to his afterschool program that he goes to only on Monday afternoons. McKay had to pry Tyler away from a just set up game of Sorry, and Tyler did NOT want to leave. He was a big grump about leaving and gave McKay a lot of attitude. Before they got home, Tyler happily told McKay that he had calmed down. At home, Tyler got out some paper and a marker and wrote McKay an apology note. He wrote “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I still love you dad. Tyler.” It was pretty sweet J

Wednesday, January 29: This was a short school day for everyone. I learned how to do skin assessment in lab. It was my first day of stripping down to a sports bra and athletic shorts for a classmate to practice a skin assessment on me. I was dreading it, but most fortunately my partner for the day turned out to also be a mother. We both laughed at how relieved we were at the other’s stretch marks J I picked up Tyler and Jamie early, and we headed over to Legoland! We had a lovely afternoon together with practically the whole place to ourselves. 

Tyler got his Hulk Lego keychain for getting five purples, and he only has to get5 more to get to pick out something else from the store. This is definitely motivating him J When we got back home we had the missionaries over for dinner. I practiced taking their vital signs (they asked! I guess it’s cheaper and easier to do it during a dinner appointment instead of trying to get away to a doctor’s appointment). I now have documented proof that missionaries are really stressed out! One of the missionaries was from 29 Palms, a place close to and just as lame as Yucaipa. We had lots of fun making fun of Redlands Stake dances.

Thursday, January 30: Yet another orientation, this one at the hospital. I am just so done with them, and ready to actually learn something. Tyler had running club today, which he claims he both loved and hated, so I guess he’s still deciding if he wants to continue. Jamie had a great day at school, they were playing alphabet bingo when I got there to pick her up, and she was winning J That night, after McKay went running, I made McKay watch the first episode of House of Cards while I studied next to him, and I do believe I have converted him J

Friday, January 31: Jamie picked the best possible day to get sick, my day off from school. We picked up plenty of Dimetapp at CVS after dropping Tyler off at school, and we had a long, slow study/cuddle day at home together.  Before we headed back home, I took her in with me to go to the “Donuts with the Directors” meeting at Heights. We all had a slow day at home, even Tyler after we got back home. I think we were all pretty wiped out from the busy week.

 There was a viewing that night for McKay’s old band director who passed away a few weeks ago, but since it was later in the evening and also up in Denton, McKay went alone. I stayed home and studied at home after I put the kids to sleep.

Saturday, February 1: I started the day off pretty grumpily by making Tyler and Jamie clean their rooms really well They were not happy about it J Later, I took them to Chick Fil A for lunch and to play for a bit to smooth things over.  We had a pizza dinner that night at the Bitters’ new house that they just finished building in Trophy Club (By the way, I can’t get over that name. It’s so hilariously spot on for wealthy Texas swagger). We brought another Salted Caramel cake. It was meant for Kevin’s birthday dinner the next night, but with the storm rolling in the next day, everyone had to cancel, and I was left with a freshly baked cake on my hands. The Bitter’s helped us get rid of it J

The grownups watched Life of Pi on their fancy new projector in their theater room. They even had a 3D player with 3D glasses and everything. All the kids had so much fun playing together. They haven’t seen each other in a while, and before Christmas, they were pretty used to see each other practically every other day. We drove home super late, just in time for the cold rain to start!

Funny Things:

Tyler saw the phrase “WTF” on a billboard, and tried his darndest to read it. “…wutt-ffff…wut-ffffff…”

Tyler: “Oh, I know that one. He’s the Beautiful Wizard of Oz.”

Tyler: One morning, Tyler gave McKay a drawn picture before McKay left for work.

Tyler said it was to cheer McKay up. McKay said “Oh, thanks! But I’m not sad.” Tyler said “It’s for if you get sad at work because you’re working and you can’t play with us.” The funny part is that it’s a picture of McKay’s work to cheer him up from being sad about being at work J

Poor Jamie felt so yucky when she sick, she was literally begging to go to sleep. “Mommy, can you put me in my bed? Mommy, can you put my ladybug blankie on me? Mommy, can you give me my medicine?”

When I get stressed out for prolonged periods of time, I start talking in my sleep. With school starting, my sleep talking has picked up again, and McKay thinks it’s so funny to write down whatever insane thing I say, and then to try to keep the conversation going while I’m still sleep talking. On Friday night, I told him that he has to watch out for “sparkly suit people”, and not to “let them do anything for themselves”. 

Have a great week!