Sunday, March 20th

The boys and their new airplane kazoo's

Another busy day in the life of this mom! Decided to have homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast! Originally the hope was to carb load to help encourage me to run...both from all of the calories, and the hopeful boost of energy! The wind was seriously blowing about 3omph, with gusts up to 45mph...so that shot running outside down. And you know how I am about that darned treadmill. Thus, had delicious cinnamon rolls and tons of calories, but couldn't bring myself to run! Once again, it's a good thing I pushed that half marathon back a month! : ) I need to figure out a way to get this treadmill block out of my head!! Went over to Jeny's for scrapbook group! The pages turned out awesome! It felt so good to be sitting on the other side of the fence this time!!! Don't get me wrong, I loved having workshops, but it sure feels good to not spend so much time getting stuff ready for everybody else, and having time to do my own thing! Loved just getting to chat and not having to worry about teaching at the same time! It's like chicken soup for my soul! Can't wait to put our valentine's day celebration on those pages! Got home just in time to eat with the boys. Finished my dinner, and then I got some more schooling from Lucas in all things Star Wars legos. Oy vey! I cannot remember that stuff for the life of me...but I'm going to have to figure something out, because I'm constantly being quizzed about who this is, or which Star Wars thing they're from. Ask your dad just doesn't seem to work these days! Bad news for me! Much more spring cleaning awaits, so I'd best get off here and get something done, afterall, it is spring now!!!

Saturday, March 19th

The Melting Pot crew for Girls' Night Out

Started the day off quite productively! Got the walk in closet in the basement cleaned out and reorganized, you can easily walk into it now! More sheets & bedding stuff to be donated, more towels to donate. More crap up to the pile of stuff in the garage that was destined for the dump. Lynn came over with his truck, he and Casey loaded up all the crap for the dump including the old couches, and off they went to get rid of all that crap! Yeah, that means some of the garage got cleaned up too!!!! While they were at the dump, the boys and I loaded up the towels for the Humane Society and off we went. They had a ton of dogs and cats, even some kittens. It was great fun looking at the dogs and cats. They had one little weiner dog that broke my heart, and I soooo wanted to bring him home with me, but I knew that Casey would kill me! The boys fell in love with the kittens and the little ball contraption that they were playing with...Zach wanted to bring one home since they were so funny and playful...but once again, Casey would KILL me! So surprisingly enough, I came home empty handed! But free of old towels, and feeling good that someone would get use of something we weren't using anymore. Taught the boys a good lesson about giving to help others, and about recycling/reusing old stuff. 7pm brought the Melting Pot and girl's night out!!! I had a blast! It turned out to be all Walgreens peeps, but some were new to me, so it spiced things up. I had too much to drink however....back in the day that would mean like 10 or 12 drinks, but it was only 3 this evening. Had to do a repeat with the spinach and artichoke cheese fondue, and the banana's foster white chocolate fondue! I seriously could eat these day in and day out as well. However, you'd have to roll me around if that were the case! We laughed, and we talked, and we talked some more! It was a good time!! It's always nice to have a face to go with the voice on the other end of the phone, and always nice to be able to chat and hang out in a much better environment than that at work! We've vowed to do it again!!

Friday, March 18th

Melanie, the Master Zumba instructor...she totally rocked it!

A VERY fun day! Started off with preschool for Lucas. He was soooo excited because that darn little leprechaun had visited their preschool, left green footprints all over their table, and made a mess out of their room. He was so stinking cute, and so excited about the whole thing. It was fun to see how animated he can get when telling a story when he's so excited about something. I was freezing cold, and could not get warmed up all day. It was one of those incredibly low motivation kind of days, so not much got done around the house. I did get some more 3 star levels conquered on Angry Birds! Sad when that's the big achievement for your day...but sometimes you've just got to sit back and relax, and enjoy this big ride called life. It didn't help knowing that I was going to get my butt kicked by Melanie, a master zumba instructor, at the master class that night. I'm sooooo glad that I went! She is worth every last penny I paid! I didn't think it was possible to get much better than Crystal, unless we're talking about Beto himself...but whoa bear! Melanie rocked my world! I absolutely loved her class, and I could feel it! The class was an extra 15 minutes than what we normally do, but I'm glad I was able to push myself to do it! And then a bunch of us crazy zumba folks headed over to Chili's for a bite to eat! Mmmm, rewarded myself with a strawberry margarita and their awesome chips. And of course my usual, chicken enchilada soup and caesar salad. I could eat that same thing 7 days a week, for both lunch and dinner, and I'm quite sure it would take at least 6 months before I may tire of that! Their soup is my fave, so much so that I have a copy cat recipe for it, and a bag still in the freezer, that is on the top of next week's dinner menu. It's not as good as the real thing, but it's still super yummo!

Thursday, March 17th

Happy St Patrick's day! We started the day off with swim lessons...with me feeling like a slacker! I know several of my friends got up and made their kids green breakfasts, and did something with traps for leprechaun's, but alas, I didn't do anything. The thought never occurred to me. So I'm making a mental note, and going to try to remember for next year...another new tradition for the family. I think it sounds like fun!

The swim coach decided to try something new with all of her classes. They set up 'stations' and told the kids what to to on their way from one station to the next. Our class of 4 boys did awesome! I really liked the new method. I think that each kiddo got more one on one with the coach, and the boys LOVED it! It kept them busy the entire half hour!

I tackled the master bathroom for the spring cleaning, and more importantly, cleaned out the master walk in closet and the linen closet upstairs. Got rid of a bunch of old towels, to donate to the Humane Socitey. Bunch of old sheets, bedding sets were packed up too...those will go to the Youth Ranch, if they'll take them. And clothes...I got rid of everything that I hadn't worn in the last year. I have this thing about not wanting to let go of old clothes. Even when it's not my favorite, it's too big, or too small, I have this issue with letting go! But I conquered my issue, kicked it's butt, and filled up 4 huge garbage bags full of clothes to go to the Youth Ranch. The bathroom and closets looked soooooo purty at the end of it all!

Decided to skip zumba at Homecourt since I'd be at zumba Friday night, and girl's night out Saturday night, and scrapbooking Sunday afternoon. We got the movie Alpha and Omega from Netflix, so we made it family movie night. Thank goodness for Angry birds on my phone, and the ability to surf the web while watching the movie...it was TERRIBLE! Casey and I hated it, the boys LOVED it!! Oh well...can't win 'em all!! We will NOT be purchasing this one though!

Bought my airline ticket to Disneyland for the CTMH convention in July! I've been looking at flights, and checking prices. I decided it was time to buy since the prices were starting to go up, and the number of available flights was decreasing. Now to figure out the whole park hopper thing and I'm set!! I cannot wait...my first time ever to Disneyland!!!!!

I run for chocolate and champagne!

Decided that with it snowing here again today, and it still getting dark too early to run after the boys are in bed, that I'm going to postpone my half marathon until the See Jane Run Half Marathon on June 18th. I'm going to register for it tonight, so that I don't chicken out. But between surgery in January, crappy weather, and 2 colds in 2 weeks, I can't force myself to train on the treadmill, and I don't want to put that kind of pressure on myself to be ready for the half on May 14th. I know it can be done, by people that can push themselves well...that's totally not me though! I have to give myself time, and push, but not too hard or too fast. I was looking around on their website tonight, and they have chocolate and champagne at the finish line, and it's only women! There is also a 5k event and people are able to do strollers too, but the good news is, they start them 1/2 hour behind the half marathon ladies! That was a huge frustration at Race for the Cure last year...walkers, strollers and runners were all mixed in, and it was a gigantic pain in the ass to try to run around everyone! It was only a 5k, so it could've been worse.

Did I mention that it snowed today?!? HUGE fluffy flakes! I'm not sure I've ever seen such big ol' flakes!!! It was sticking to the grass quite well, but it was too warm, so as soon as it stopped snowing it melted...and it never did stick to the streets or sidewalks. The bad thing about snow in March, not enough to go out and play in it. Too cold and wet to want to go out and play when the sun finally peeks through the clouds. Lose-lose situation. Damn ground hog, I want spring!!

Watched Aladdin with the boys this afternoon to kill some time and quench the boredom! Thrilled that we have swim lessons tomorrow morning, that always keeps them from feeling like climbing the walls!

Getting excited for this weekend, and one day closer!!

Tuesday, March 15th

One of the single most annoying days as a pharmacist, EVER! I cannot tell you how many phone calls, and people came in asking if we had freaking potassium iodide. I was nice the first few times, but then my patience vanished and I became quite bitchy. NO we don't have it, NO I don't know where you can find it, look online, and oh by the way, we live in IDAHO, not Japan, and we don't freaking need it. I was oh so close to going postal on the idiots by the end of the day. I figured this was like Tamiflu and the flu shot shortage a couple of years ago when swine flu hit big time, and the media hyped it up, and it was all for nuttin'. So I vowed to watch the news and launch a huge complaint campaign if they were hyping the damn potassium pills. Oh no, the news is not to blame this time...it's just people's own freaking ignorance and anxiety, and the damn internet to blame. ARGHHHHH!!

I was exhausted in every way, shape and form, but managed to drag my sorry butt to zumba at Limelight. I'm sooooo thankful that I did! It was a great workout, some of my fave zumba songs, and a ton of people! Felt great after going! I wish I could bottle up that feeling and take it to work with me so that I could have a little attitude adjustment and pick me up whenever I need it in the midst of hell on earth!

Casey finished up our taxes last night. We're getting money back, thankfully we don't owe anymore than what we already paid! : ) We barely broke even with the state, but we're getting almost $3000 back from the feds. I asked what we're going to do with that little windfall, but my hubby is too freaking practical...he told me that I was sitting on that money, aka the new couches. BORING! I told him that the relief pharmacist that was there on Monday only does one day a month...that would be beyond AWESOME in my book...he wasn't anywhere near as excited with the news, and denied my request to further semi-retire from that place!! It's always worth a try! However, part of the reason he's still denying me, I still owe $32,000 in student loans. I'm ecstatic that it's down from the almost $90,000 I graduated with!!! Only 4 years and few more months and then it'll be paid in full. Guess I shouldn't have financed so much partying back then...but oh the fun I had! It'd probably kill me to party like that now, 10 years later!!

And, my greatest accomplishment of the day....only 1 cherry coke zero for the day!

Monday, March 14th

Dropped the boys off at daycare/preschool, registered Lucas for kindergarten, and had a fabulous massage with Maire. My chest muscles and just my chest in general are finally loosening up and getting back to normal. She also said my shoulders felt better this time than they ever have...I attribute it to the fact that I'm sleeping normal again...don't have to stay on my back, and can get fully up on to either side these days! Don't even have to sleep with a bra on, or an extra pillow! Hard to believe it's been almost 2 months!!

Picked the hubby up and headed over to Fiesta Chicken, a new fast food restaurant near our house. Meh, not really impressed. For the price and the quality of the food, I think that Taco del Mar and Costa Vida are far superior. We're not likely to go back...not even as much as I LOVE my mexican food! : )

Got to try out the hubby's new radio/stereo on my 5 minute commute to work...AWESOME!!!! I love that I can plug my phone into the stereo and listen to my music!! Much less hateful of driving that car now!

Work was, well, work. Pretty boring day on the work richter scale, but that ALWAYS means that Tuesday is going to be a doozie...and it didn't disappoint! Chet called and tried to prank me, but he couldn't think of a better last name than Frankenstein when I went to look up his info... nice try buddy! It was awesome to talk to him, and he thinks he'll be moving back this way in May. The boys are excited to see him race again, Casey, not so much! The rednecks at the racetrack drive Casey insane!!!

Lots o' rain in store for us this week...as much as I don't like the rain, I LOVE what it brings... green grass, pretty flowers, SPRING!!!

Kick butt day!

After having yet another cold, and losing an hour of sleep last night, I decided that no excuses were allowed today! Too much to get done, and too little time to get it done in!!!! Laundry almost done, master bath cleaned (not yet spring cleaned, but almost), linens changed, dinner made, Costco run, ZUMBA!

Zumba was really fun again today. Indi got to do a few songs, and they were new to all of us, but I liked them, and she rocked it! I love her style!! I had originally wanted to run to zumba and then run home afterwards. But the fact that I'm getting over yet another cold, and the super cold wind that was whipping around outside changed my mind on that one!

After we dropped the boys off at church with Grandma, we headed off to Costco. I really detest going there. But it wasn't too terribly bad today. We had several coupons, we got in, we got out, and didn't feel the need to kill anyone!

Still feeling robbed of my one hour of sleep, still feeling less than motivated to get much done. So I was impressed with my efforts today! Hoping this is going to be a great week ahead...master zumba class, girl's night out with a bunch of friends from Walgreens at the Melting Pot, scrapbooking workshop, St Patrick's day. 16 hours of work... I can do this!!

Saturday, March 12th

The new car stereo for Casey's bmw...I am in love with it!

Dropped off Casey's car at Dick's Stereo today. His radio had crapped out AGAIN!!! We had had it fixed a couple of times before this, so we figured that they were going to need to rewire the entire stereo, speakers and all, this time around. But 5 minutes after we get home, they called to say that the radio was dead! To my surprise, Casey went and picked out a new one, and they installed it! One of my main reasons for not wanting to drive his car is the stereo...it never works, and it doesn't have a cd player! So now, I'm not anywhere near as opposed to driving his car!!! It works, it has a cd player! It also has bluetooth, a microphone for the bluetooth, and a USB port to hook my iphone up to it! So now I can listen to all of my music, not just from my phone, but in stereo! Mama is verrrrry happy about this latest development! So happy, that the new stereo is the picture of the day! Neither one of us were feeling great still, so it was a very low key sort of day! We did manage a trip to Target to get a few essentials, and the boys got to spend their allowances again. And shockingly, they bought MORE Star Wars figures!!! Lucas bought Chewbacca, and Zach got Parasiti. It's funny how Lucas likes the good guys, and Zach picks the bad guys...time after time! We also had to run to the pet store to get Chloe some more food. They had dogs there from the Humane Society...wish I could've brought one home with us, but I'm not into poop scooping, and the boys aren't old enough yet. It's like going to the zoo for the boys though...lizards, frogs, snakes, ferrets, cats, dogs, fish, hamsters, rats. They had a ball!! After dinner we watched a movie together as a family. Dad requested something we hadn't seen for awhile, so the boys picked Monsters vs Aliens. Thankfully it's one the adults enjoy too! And after the boys went to bed, Case wanted to watch Hell Boy 2, and I knew I wouldn't enjoy it at all, so I headed down to the scrap haven, and completed 8 pages! WOOHOO!!! I scrapped Lucas' last night of a session of gymnastics from May '08. I remember thinking back then how grown up he looked, and how much he'd thinned out in his face, and lost that baby look. But boy was I wrong. He's such a little boy in those pics!!!! Especially compared to now! ; ) It's amazing how much he's changed and grown up in almost 3 years time! I seriously think that is one of my favorite parts of scrapbooking, is reliving those moments that are captured on film! Great end to an otherwise blah sort of day!

Friday, March 11th

Casey and I both woke up sick AGAIN!!!! I don't know what I've done to deserve this, but after a whopping 2 days of feeling great again, I'm infected with the plague AGAIN!!!! It was a LONG day at work, but a little Starbucks got me going, and I survived! I'm thankful that I didn't have another super strange day at the helm! I of course came home TOTALLY wiped out, and begged Casey to let us go out to eat, and thankfully he agreed!!!!

We let the kids pick, so of course it was Red Robin! I did break out of my usual shell, and tried something new, some sort of pesto pasta. It was yummy, but probably won't have it again. My caesar chicken wrap is way yummier!!

After the kidlets were in bed Casey and I decided to watch a movie since neither of us were feeling well. Fell asleep, no big surprise given that I was sick and very tired, but the movie wasn't good either. Eagle Eye...if you haven't seen it, don't waste your time!

Thursday, March 10th

Started the day off with some swim lessons for the little men! THEY DID AWESOME!!! Zach told me Wednesday night before bed that he was going for 10 seconds under water. So when it was time to do his tummy float I told coach that he wanted to hold his breath for 10 seconds...she thought we'd better start with 7...he did it, absolutely no problem! So then she said 8...he did 10! It was a huge day for Zach to be so eager to do more than asked!! He's getting past that fear, and fighting that urge to say I can't, or I don't want to. I was sooooo proud of him! And Lucas, he kicked ass today!!!! He took the initiative to tell coach that he wanted to do doggie digs instead of just the usual superman float across the pool. At first he told her he wanted to do it without a noodle, but when she told him that she wasn't going to hold on to him at all he opted for the noodle. But he did it!!!! I was very proud of him...of both of them, and their efforts!! Finally remembered to mail Great Grandma the pictures of lego spaceships that Lucas drew for her, that doubled as a birthday card!

Decided to check the mail when we arrived home from swim lessons, and I'm so glad that I did! There was a letter in there informing us of the awesome news that Lucas had gotten in to Summerwind, a math and science magnet school in the Meridian School district, through the lottery draw! HALLELUJAH!!!!! He was sooooo excited that he's going to be a Summerwind Seahawk! The first thing he wanted to know was if Jeffrey would be in his class...too cute! Jeffrey got in too, and even if they don't end up in the same class, at least they'll be at the same school. I don't think it will hurt that they automatically have one friend in their new school! Not that I think either one of them will have any trouble with making new friends!

Off to daycare for the boys, and off to work for me! And what a day it was! To begin, we had this fruitloop of a lady that had been there since 10am, waiting for her soon to be ex-husband to come and pay for her prescription, that he couldn't know what it was, and we weren't to bill her insurance for it...total fruitloop...and she seriously didn't leave until 6pm!!! And then to top it all off fruitloop had her purse stolen. One of our shady patients decided to pick it up on his way out the door. After he took it home and cleaned it out for her, he called and said that he'd found a purse, and was going to return it. Fruitloop had already called the cops, and the detectives were there reviewing the video surveillance tapes when the moron called to say he'd found a purse. He was of course arrested, this was around 3pm. And then, about 5:30, he calls to ask if we'd heard back from his doctor yet, and tells me that he'd gotten himself into a predicament with a purse, and can he come back and get his prescription after the doctor calls in the refill!?! Seriously, big balls that guy had...I would NEVER show my face in that store again if I were him! We ended up having our male pharmacy tech escort him out because he was hanging around too long when he came back to pick up his prescription. My favorite part was when he was asking my tech a bunch of questions about the whole episode, and then he tells him that he was expecting a thank you, not to get arrested! Are ya kidding me???? I don't know why anything surprises me anymore!

Got a pedometer at work today. They're trialing Walk with Walgreens with the employees first, for the month of March, and then they're going to release it to the public. A good motivator to get up and move more!!

Running again!

Decided that it's time for no more excuses...I'm mostly over the crud, and the clock is ticking for training if I still want to do this half marathon in May. So I broke down and ran on the treadmill tonight! I'm not very good at pushing myself on the treadmill, so I only made it 2.5 miles, but it wasn't bad...I'm sure I could've done much better had I not been bored to tears on that stupid thing! I'm so glad that daylight savings is this weekend! Then it will be light out longer, and I can run outside after I put the boys to bed. It is amazing what a distraction it is to be outside. I can pick out landmarks to push myself, and the time goes by sooooo much faster!! I've also decided to start running to and from zumba when I go to classes at the Y! That should help in the total miles per week department, get that endurance up there!

I started the day off with a zumba song stuck in my head, so I appealed to my zumba friends on facebook, and VOILA...new song for the running mix, and the ipod in general. Hey Baby by Pitbull is the song du jour! ; )

Lucas had preschool this morning, and his buddy Josh got to have his birthday celebration today. Lucas was excited because all the boys had blue cupcakes and the girls had green or yellow! I'm glad that he enjoys school so much, I only hope it continues for many years to come. Zach and I came home and played the wii and then he got to play a little Monkey Preschool on my phone. I asked him if he had anywhere that he wanted to go for lunch with dad and brother after we picked Lucas up from school...he immediately shouted KFC, and had this little KFC dance that he was doing! Oh how he makes me laugh!!!! And when we picked up Lucas I told Zach to tell brother what he wants for lunch, and Lucas starts excitedly saying KFC! If only things as small as KFC for lunch could make my whole day or week!!!

We stopped at Albertson's for a some produce for dinner tonight, and the boys conned me into Red Box, Megamind it was...AGAIN! We all enjoy that one...need to buy it soon! Lucas begged me to go outside today, and since the sun was shining, I gave in. The wind however, got the best of me, and we didn't last too terribly long out there. But we did have a rousing game of basketball! Lucas had me raise the basket, and it's amazing how good he's getting...of course I don't have anyone his age to compare his abilities to. Zach was even able to sink a few at the increased height.

The bad thing about today...only had 2 and a few sips of Cherry Coke Zero yesterday, and thus, a raging headache today! Had water at KFC today, but did go back up to 3 CCZ's today. I'll try to go back down to 2 tomorrow. I need to feel good though, since it's back to work tomorrow and Friday!

Off to bed feeling oh so good after my 'run' tonight! Until tomorrow...

Tuesday, March 8th

Not the productive day that I had envisioned, but a good one nonetheless! I was awakened by Zach at 3am, with blood curdling screams that he had to go potty! I consulted the calendar, and the good news is that there are only 131 more nights that he has to wear his club foot shoes/brace... so there are only 131 more nights that I might be awakened with the screams to go potty! After that it will only happen once...and then he will be strongly reminded that a) we don't scream in the middle of the night to go potty, and b) he can now get up and go by himself at 3am, without waking mommy and daddy up! I'm hopeful at the very least!! ; )

As soon as Casey left Lucas came into my room and told me that it's Tuesday, and asked when they were going to Grandma's! It used to be that I worked every Tuesday, and so every Tuesday they went to Grandma's for the day. But now I only work every other Tuesday. I hadn't talked to Grandma about them going over to play for awhile, so I called to inquire because it was obvious that they needed their Grandma fix! Lucas totally cracked me up because after I left a message on her recorder, he asked where she was, as if Grandma isn't allowed to have a life outside of playing with them on Tuesday's!!! They had been requesting that she come over and watch them play Super Smash Brother's on the wii, so she decided it was time. It was fun for everyone, because I got to visit with Grandma while the boys played, and they got to strut their stuff for Grandma! What a great start to our day!!

The nonproductive part of the day is the large portion of the day where I killed my cell phone playing that darn Angry birds game again!!!! While the boys were playing and watching Despicable Me, yet again, I couldn't summon the energy to do anything but play that stupid game! I've beat the game, but now I'm trying to get 3 stars on all the levels! It's amazingly difficult! Especially when I think about the levels that I played a million times, just to kill all the pigs, let alone try for 3 stars!

And of course, Tuesday night means it's ZUMBA night!!!! When I missed last week Crystal said that I had missed worship! I didn't think much about it then, but reflecting back on this, I've decided that ZUMBA is a great 'religion' for me to practice! I don't really do religion...but this I could do!! I LOVE Tuesday night's at Limelight! And last night's class was AWESOME! And to top it off, it was Fat Tuesday, and a few of us zumba freaks finished off the night at Applebee's. In the spirit of Fat Tuesday, I had a Maple Butter Blondie...totally sinful, but really delish!! It was fun hanging with the girls and chatting it up! I really do love my zumba...Crystal kicks some serious butt with her choreography...the girls are an awesome support system...and I love how good I feel afterwards!!!!!

I have decided that I'm over my crud enough that I need to get my running game back on track! So good weather or bad, treadmill or outdoors, it's time to get back in the saddle! Tomorrow is THE day baby!!

Monday, March 7th

Instead of Monday being a typical Monday, it was a great day! I not only kicked off spring cleaning and started with the blinds in the family room, but we got our new sectional delivered!!!! I wanted to get the walls in the family room behind the couches wiped down, and the blinds cleaned. I accomplished both tasks, and the blinds look so wonderful! I have decided that I need to invent self cleaning blinds however. Those things are a gigantic pain in the butt to clean...no wonder I don't bother more than once a year!! My carpet cleaner told me that if you put fabric softener in the water and use that to clean the blinds that they will repel the dust better. We shall soon see!!

Our fabulous new couches were delivered today. I LOVE them!! And in true furniture fashion, they look gigundous in our family room compared to what they looked like on the showroom floor. We arranged the pieces the way we thought we wanted them, but Casey's chair and ottoman didn't fit in the room with that arrangement. So we moved the chair and ottoman up into the living room. Then a few minutes later as we were sitting and admiring the new look, I had a brilliant idea. We could make the one side under the windows even longer, and that should free up enough room for the chair to fit in the room too. And it really was a brilliant idea, it worked!! We decided to watch a movie to test out the new couches. The movie was Letters to Juliet, and was a flop...I don't mind predictable chic flicks, but I do like some plot, and a little humor never hurts either!! The couches were a hit however!!!!! LOVE 'em!!

Mother nature has a very sick sense of humor these days. We started off the day with snow, lots and lots of snow. Thankfully it was warm enough that it was just a wet snow, and didn't stick or accumulate! And it was just rain by the afternoon. Casey said we got 3/10 of an inch of precip on Monday, which is pretty decent for the Treasure Valley!

Lucas had his big share day at school today. He took in the foam finger he got from the Steelheads game. And then, he got all excited because Miss Erika and the other students played along, and closed their eyes while he pulled it out of his bag, to surprise them with it's awesomeness!! The kid seriously cracks me up!! He was very happy that all of his friends enjoyed it and thought it was cool.

It was a great start to the week...

Sunday, Sunday

Decided that since yesterday was so unproductive that I needed to get something done today! I got the dinners planned for the week, and started the grocery list. I updated a few things on my to do list for the week. Read the paper. Got the boys to church with grandma. Lunch with the hubby. And headed out to ZUMBA!

Today Julia was teaching, but since she's preggers, Indi is going to be subbing for her when she's not able to teach class anymore. So Indi did 5 songs today! It was a ton of fun with Indi teaching!!! She did some songs that I'm very familiar with, and she's got great energy...which was surprising given that she was super tired today! I'll have to make Sunday's a priority for Zumba. And it was so pretty outside today that I was wishing I had decided to run to the Y, or at the very least ride my bike. Hoping that it stays nice, so that on the weekends I can do that. Kill 2 birds with one stone (that is my mantra after all)...zumba & run, all in one day!

Because it was so nice outside we took the boys back to the school for some outdoor family fun time. They are little bundles of energy I tell you! After playing 'walk the plank', a game that Lucas made up on the chain section of the play equipment...I decided that I would show off my old bar skills, and do a few spins, or something cool like that. I grabbed on to the bar, started to walk up the pole, and realized that I'm not even 2 months post op, and OH SHIT, that really hurts!!! I'm not the brightest light bulb sometimes!!! You'd think that prior to doing stuff like that, that I'd stop and think about what muscles are involved, and whether hanging from a bar might injure the girls...but evidently it was another of my blonde moments! Good thing I didn't give up the swearing yet!!

Today was day 1 of the detoxification proceedings! I've decided that it's time for some more self improvement! So, away with the Cherry coke zero habit that I've picked up. I'm seriously drinking anywhere from 4 to 6 of those things EVERY day! So I decided to limit myself to 4 today. And I'm proud to say that I've only had 3, and I've avoided any severe penalties so far. Tomorrow will be another story. I've done this a few times in the past, and it's always day 2 or 3 that's the worst! And rather than add another non-caloric drink to my table, I'm going to try to replace it with just plain ol' water! BORING...but I figure the aspartame in things like Crystal Light is just as bad as all of the crap I'm getting with the high fructose corn syrup and such in the soda.

And even though I'm not Catholic, I'm going to give something up for lent. I'm going to give it a try, and if it fits well, I'm thinking I'll drop it permanently (well, for the most part). I've decided that another good step in my self improvement program will be to give up swearing! I'm tired of Lucas asking me if it's okay to repeat things that I've just said, or asking if that was a bad word that I just said (and generally it is!!!). Here goes nothing! That being said, it's a good thing I didn't decide to start this today....between the bar incident at the park, and the stupid couch trying to take my toenail off this evening I would be in big trouble with myself!! I'm thinking that I need some sort of great penalty to help encourage this, just don't know what it should be yet.

The old couches are out, and the new ones are to be delivered manana!!!! WOOOOOOHOOO!! I'm hoping that this new sectional fits like I have it pictured in my mind. And that I didn't make a big mistake buying leather with a 3 and 5 year old in the house!!

Anyways, a bunch of little stuff to do before nighty night...until tomorrow!

HOCKEY!!!!!

Saturday, March 5th
Could not get my mojo flowing after staying out late with the girls Friday night. Zachary was up at 4:30 to pee, and wide awake at 6:30...love the kid, but absolutely hate early mornings!!!!!! Since the mojo was completely lacking I couldn't talk myself into doing anything, I spent the morning in my pj's, playing Angry Birds on my phone (literally, and pathetically)!!

Finally managed to drag my lazy butt into the shower after lunch...drug it back downstairs and started playing that stupid game again! My phone had died in the middle somewhere, so I was even so bold as to bring the plug out to the family room so that I could play while it charged! My greatest achievement of the day was getting "Angry Bird Addict". Casey looked it up for me, and it means that I've spent a minimum of 30 hours playing that stupid game! For reals...did I mention, pathetic?!?

Printed off the hockey tickets, and headed out to dinner at Old Chicago, downtown. Ryan had to work the hockey game so he met us there. We adults all decided to try their new Chicago style pizza...it was fabulous! But it was a ton of pizza, even for the individual size!! And of course, I had an Ace Pear Cider with dinner. Casey said he was surprised that I had an adult beverage with dinner...but it would be like me turning down dinner at a mexican restaurant, and instead asking to go have a big ol' juicy steak somewhere! You know, when in Rome...

This was Zachary's first time at a hockey game! He was pretty excited when the crowd roared as the players came out on the ice...he was throwing his hands up in the air and clapping! I truly think he enjoyed the popcorn and lemonade as much as anything. Granted he was tired, and is only 3. But he was oh so bored by the end of the second period, so we took off during the 2nd intermission, right after the chuck a puck. Lucas has share day at school on Monday, so I promised him that we'd stop by the Steelheads booth and see if there wasn't something fun to buy that he could take with him to share day. Both boys ended up with the #1 foam Steelheads finger/hand. If we'd have been smart, we'd have bought those before we sat down at the start of the game...both boys thought they were the greatest things EVER!!!!!! Lucas cannot wait to take it to share day with him on Monday!

On the way home from the game, the song Sister Christian came on the radio...and you'd have thought it was the greatest song ever judging by my husband's reaction!!!! It's amazing after 6 1/2 years of marriage, and almost 10 years together, how much he makes me laugh! The guy is a goof and seriously cracks me up!

My pic of the day is of the family at the Steelheads game! Good times I tell you!!

Another wonderful start to my weekend!

Friday, March 4th
Started the day off with Starbucks, another skinny drink and piece of coffee cake! Worked an extra shift at a different Walgreens than my usual store. I felt like a new employee all over again, and realized just how badly floating would suck right now...I had no idea where anything was at in the pharmacy, let alone out in the store. The good thing about it was that I got to work with Roxann again, and it has been far too long since I've been able to say that! She is fun, and I love working with her. I survived, and put extra money in the hubby's pocket, so it was a win-win situation!!

Headed off to dinner at the Ram. Not sure if the lack of caffeine throughout the day or the fish tacos I had were the cause, but I left with an incredible headache, and wasn't sure I'd be meeting up with the zumba chicas. Came home and watched the boys play some Mario Kart on the wii. That was THE dumbest thing to do...seriously gave me a bad case of motion sickness. I layed on the couch and felt sorry for myself, and before long, I was able to get up and get ready to go.

The girls had decided on some karaoke at the Busters in Eagle. It was a ton of fun hanging out with them, even met some new people, that are zumba freaks as well!!!! The place was packed, and by the time they made up their minds on a song, they only did one...YMCA! How fitting is that?!? I still wasn't feeling great, and with zero alcohol in my system, I was moral support for the karaoke! Maybe next time I'll be feeling up to singing in a large group....with the microphone far from my pipes! : ) My pic of the night is one I borrowed from Radka, whom we joke is our group photographer! She is at all of the big events, and takes great pics!!

Spring is a coming!!

Climbing a tree at Demeyer Park

Slumber party with kitty

I had a really fun day with my boys today! And people wonder how I can like staying home with my kids so much more than my part time gig...it's a no brainer, REALLY! They started my day off on a good note at the breakfast table this morning. Zach farts at the table and of course, blames it on me, Lucas tells him that girl's don't fart, so it wasn't mom! Heh heh...I love it when his memory doesn't fail him for stuff like this! : ) To top it off, they decided to have a slumber party with the cat. The poor cat...or so you would think. They had her covered up with blankets, and surrounded by them and pillows. But I could hear her purring, from clear across the room! My pic of the day is of the slumber party!

Swim lessons were great again this week! Zach is really getting the hang of it, and having a lot of fun, and it's seriously amazing what he can do when he stops saying I can't, and actually tries an activity first! Hoping that when coach Amber is back next week that he'll get a few more punches, and Lucas too! Lucas is doing great in the floating and independence departments!

We decided to take advantage of the sun and 50 degree weather. So after lunch we headed over to Demeyer park. They had a blast playing with a couple of other kids at the park. I froze my butt off sitting on the bench with the slight breeze blowing and the sun playing peek a boo with the clouds. Zach managed to find the one large puddle of water on the slide, and it soaked his pants and underwear. And of course I haven't put the park towel back in the car yet... normally this saves us from cutting the park play short... I go down the slides with the towel first and it dries off the slides and we can play for longer. MUST REMEMBER TOWEL!!

After a quick trip to the grocery store they were dying for some more time outside, so we went for a quick ride on the bikes down the street. Lucas took his scooter...he's getting pretty darn good on that thing! Zach is pedaling on his own quite a bit more these days, now we just need him to pick up some speed and he'll be golden!!!! And after a little computer time playing games on Playhouse Disney Zach still wanted to be outside some more! I sure hope he sleeps well tonight!!

Feeling better today, but the snot is still there, draining down the back of my throat mostly now... but that makes my throat feel worse! Decided to sit out zumba again tonight, since I have to work an extra shift tomorrow morning. I could never call in sick for a relief shift! And speaking of work... the stupid chic that was calling in prescriptions for herself did it again today and found her sorry butt in jail! Another one bites the dust. I hope that if this is a ring that two arrests in as many weeks will be putting a damper on further activity. News of the arrest made my day today however!!

Completed another craft project last night, that was just for me! I made a cute paper 'vase' and a bouquet of clovers for St Patrick's Day. Made the clovers bigger than I wanted, it would've been ok if the sticks that I used for the stems were a little longer, but oh well! Still turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself! Am looking forward to making one for Easter as well!

Anyways, today was a fun day, and as much fun as it was to be outdoors for a good part of the day makes me look oh so forward to spring and summer!!!!! Until tomorrow...

Love my mornings with my boys!

Front side

Back side

I cannot tell you how many times my little men made me laugh this morning, before we even left to take Lucas to preschool, and with me feeling oh so crappy from this cold! The things that they come up with seriously crack me up. I would seriously like to live inside their brains for just a few hours to see what they're thinking about!

Lucas had a preschool field trip on Monday to a dentist's office. He told me that a lady that works there knows him, and that he has a brother. He doesn't know who she is, and I cannot for the life of me figure out who it is. So I was grilling him, trying to figure it out. I asked if she was mom's age, or grandma's age and his reply made me bust a gut laughing...she's old, like grandma, cause she's all wrinkly! ; ) Grandma tells him all the time that's she's old, so she won't be offended, but how funny is that!?! Still have no idea who it was, but oh well!

Zach and I played the wii for a bit this morning, and then decided to go down to the basement and play in the playroom. It should have caution tape all over it, warning people that it experiences frequent hurricanes, and could be a danger to all who enter! Seriously, what a mess!!!! Zach told me that he couldn't even walk in there cause there is so much stuff on the floor. So instead of playing we cleaned up, and by we, I do mean that I cleaned up, and Zach played! Oh well, you can at least tell that there's carpet in there again, and that it's light beige in color!! I love listening to him play, the scenarios he creates, and the things he says! I wish my imagination was still that active!

My favorite quote of the day is from Zach this morning. He was asking if the shirt on the counter in the kitchen is my new zumba shirt. I told him yes, and he tells me, "I really love it mom", as he rubs it on the side of his face, as if it's fleece. Silly kid! Missed my zumba last night since I'm plague ridden AGAIN! I really miss that class!! I miss the energy that Crystal emanates, I miss how awesome I feel afterwards, and I miss all of my zumba friends! Am hopeful that I'll be feeling up to trying Pyper's class at Homecourt on Thursday.

Had more fraudulent scripts to deal with this week at work. It's really getting quite old, not to mention frustrating. The amount of time involved in talking to the board of pharmacy, and the cops is overwhelming. But I definitely don't want to encourage these people to continue down this path! They need help, and I'm glad that by having them arrested they will eventually have to seek that help out.

I'm feeling the spring cleaning bug biting my butt again! Time to sit down and make out a checklist of the stuff I want to accomplish in these next few weeks. Hopefully I'll get that done before the weather perks up, because lord knows I have a million and a half yard work projects that I'd like to tackle this year! It's so nice now that the boys are older. They can play in the yard, front or back, and I don't have to worry about them running into the street, or falling into the deep window wells. So now at least, I'm not limited to an hour here and there while they're napping!! I can work away to my little heart's content, and they can play the day away! A win-win situation for all of us!

Anyways, I really should get something done! I've already tackled the dishes and two loads of laundry! My pic for the day is of my new zumba tank...it's super cool! Until tomorrow...