What a Wonderful World: September 2011

So I've been looking through my old blog books and I'm realizing I used to spend a lot of time just writing what the kids were up to and the cute things they did. It almost brought tears to my eyes reading some of the stories from 2008 and 2009. Well, I've decided to spend more time on my blog and to attempt to post once a week with just words - no photos. We'll see how I do. How is it that I feel even busier since the kids are both in school. I found plenty of time to blog in 2008 when both of the kids were home all the time. I think I'm just enjoying all of my free time ... and am able to get back to things that I enjoy. I've been spending tons of time on card making and crafts (I dream about cards when I sleep). A friend of mine and I are doing a Christmas craft fair in December and I've been enjoying crafting for that. I'm also doing much better about going to the gym and eating better (I'm down 5 pounds)!! Woo-hoo. Work is going well, I enjoy my 2 days a week but wouldn't necessarily want to work any extra. My job can be so rewarding. Just the other day, I had a patient that got some very devastating news about her prognosis (months to live) and she didn't have anybody there with her. She'd been battling cancer for years and years and basically it was winning now. Well, I spent a good 30 minutes just sitting with her, holding her hand and listening to her. I can't imagine how she must have felt, she has a 12 year old at home. I told her I was getting off work and would give her a ride home and contacted her family which are all out of town. Well, I worked the next evening and got a phone call from her sister from out of town. She thanked me over and over again for being there for her sister and that her sister couldn't say enough about the sweet nurse that took the time to sit and listen. She's such a strong women, she'd gone to work the next day. This is why I love being a nurse.

Any-who, enough about me. Brian is doing great. He did the swim back from Alcatraz again this year and significantly beat his time. Last year it took him 46 minutes and this year he did it in 38 minutes! He is also working hard to be healthy and has lost 23 pounds. We're best friends, our marriage is wonderful (at least on my end). Now that the kids are in school, we almost feel like we're dating again. We've been going to movies and out to lunch, it's been great. His work is going well, he'd probably work everyday if I'd let him. He's taking classes at Sacramento State, working on his Bachelor's Degree. I don't know how he gets it all done.

Mason - He's doing great in school. He loves his teacher again this year. She is best friends with his teacher from last year and they are a lot alike. She's pregnant so she'll be out for about 8 weeks this year but he'll have a great substitute that he already knows. He's NEVER gotten into trouble at school which makes me so proud. He's rocking his spelling words (he gets that from me) and has been doing challenge words each week. Math comes easily to him as well (he gets that from Brian), they are working on money and he definitely has that down. As always, his challenge comes with writing. He can do it but absolutely hates it and is constantly trying to write as few words as possible which actually takes him longer as I've explained to him. Surprisingly, 2nd grade has had less writing than 1st grade (at least in the homework). He loves soccer and is doing fantastic. He doesn't score goals but constantly gets the ball back from the other team - he's super fast and always does his best. He also passes a lot and gets many assists. I think he gets a little nervous once he gets to the goal because in practice he gets them like crazy. They've won their last 2 out of 3 games with the other game being a tie. He loves science, facts and riddles. He can tell you anything about sharks and dinosaurs (still). Also history. When it comes to reading his 20 minutes a day for school, he most of the time wants to read factual books - he's not into the story chapter books yet. His teacher says that's fine. At home, lets just say Mason is Mason. He can be challenging. Getting ready for school in the mornings can be very frustrating. He moves at a snails pace and I'm constantly nagging him to get ready. We often times have to ask him numerous times to do something. Ugh. By the end of the day, it can be quite exhausting. He picks on his sister (as all older siblings do) and rarely has anything supportive to say to her. I guess, I just want them to be there and be encouraging for each other which on Mason's end isn't going to happen. Homework time has gotten much easier but the homework is easier for him his year. He can knock out 4 pages of math in 5 minutes (correctly too). He can be very sensitive. If I'm upset or sad about something, he's most often the one that will try to help. Kyla will say, "You aren't going to cry are you?" By the way, I hardly ever cry about anything these days. We have to be very careful about what Mason hears. He'll talk about a sad news story for days and even cry about it sometimes. (No, I don't let him watch the news ... sometimes he just hears the stories) Anything sad about animals devastates him, even if they turn out happy. Kyla on the other hand doesn't get affected by those type of things.

Kyla - She's doing great in school. Her teacher says she's an "example student". She loves school and takes it very seriously. So far she enjoys doing homework although she hasn't had much of it. She'll say, "I like homework!" Mason says, "Of course she does." as he rolls his eyes. She's on list 3 of her sight words already. She's been much more tired now that she's in school for a full-day. It's a lot, between that and soccer. Right now she's working on learning her lower case letters and numbers as well as many other things. Her "best" friend at school changes daily and when she sees one of her friends, she'll run over and hug and squeeze them. It's adorable. Something totally clicked with soccer this year. She's scored 2 goals so far and has been very aggressive getting in there and trying to get the ball .... when she wants to. If she gets tired or frustrated she'll stop trying. All in all, she's doing great and seems like she enjoys it too. I told them I'd give them $5 for their first goal and $1 for each goal afterwards. Well, a few weeks ago, she scored a goal and during the game came running up to me asking for her $5! (All the other parents do it too!) Last week she scored a goal again and is such a ham she began blowing kisses to her audience with both hands over and over again. It was hysterical! After that half was over she ran in and gave 10's (2 handed high 5's, duh) to about 10 parents. You would have though, she'd just won the World Cup! She's too much sometimes. A crack up. She still loves anything doggies. At home, Kyla is 5 years old going on 10. She gets up, picks out her clothes and gets dressed without being asked ... shoes/socks and all. You rarely have to ask her to do anything more than once. She's easy to parent. She's super sweet and tells me she loves me multiple times a day and loves to cuddle.  She says nice things out of the blue. Here are some of them.
     -"You make me smile"
     -"I'm happy that you're my mom."
     -"I love my family."
     -"I love you more, mom."
     -"You make my heart happy."
     -"You look pretty."
     -"I love you cute mom."
She can be a stinker to Mason but is also very supportive.  "Good job, Mason." If he wants to play with her, she'll only play with him if she gets whatever she wants. If not, she'll say, "Then I'm not playing!" It frustrates him to no end. She's affectionate towards him and tries to hug him but he'll have none of that.

Well, that about sums it up. Enough for now. TTYL.