Get some coffee... this is a LONG one!

This is an incredibly looooooooong journal entry with way too many pictures. However, I do this for the sake of A) remembering, B) telling my kids about their childhoods one day, and C) so that grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles can see what we've been up to lately. :)

I have so much to write about that it’s almost scary to begin.

<*> Let’s start off with Summer stuff – Chris has started a new schedule and needs to sleep a bit during the daytime hours. With two children in the house during the day, I’ve been trying to get them OUT to leave the house quiet. However, being as thrifty (cheap!) as I am, I’m trying not to spend a ton of cash every time we leave the house, which is really tempting. So far, we’ve gone to the Pink Palace Museum (free Summer membership!), the zoo (twice, annual membership!), and the library. Yes, I know, the library sounds about as fun as a bag of rocks, right? WRONG! Twice now when returning books, we’ve been there just as one of the Summer programs began. The kids got to watch a magic show AND a cool hour-long demonstration about desert animals. They got to see a snake, a vinegarroon (named “Pickles”), a fennec fox, a HUGE turtle (can’t recall what kind), and 2 prairie dogs. We went back the very next day since the petting zoo was coming, and the kids got to pet/feed TONS of goats, a llama, a pig, 2 piglets, a silkie chicken, baby bunnies, guinea pigs, and ducks. They had a really fun time, too!! I hate that I missed taking pictures during the magic show and desert animals demonstration, but it was a nice, unexpected surprise to catch the shows, so I’m just happy we were there. We’ll be taking advantage of quite a bit of our library’s Summer Reading Program as we do every year. The kids each got a new book and will get another new book on Monday, as well as a cool water bottle from the library. They act like we’re going shopping when we go and LOVE to pick out new books and a new puppet. Our library rents puppets for a week, and the kids feel almost like they get to “adopt” one for the rental period, which is cool. Bryce has a few favorites, two being the goat and the camel. Hahaha! We also got to see a real blimp thanks to one of the moms in our moms’ group!


Sophie, outside the Pink Palace Museum, wearing a quick sundress and headband I made for her.


See any similarities?


Check out their expressions! Hahaha!


The Met Life blimp!


Momma's sweet boy...












He got pretty tickled feeding the "Daddy duck."




My sweet girl...





<*> Moving on, I need to express a little bit of “Momma pride” for my blooming reader. Sophie is unstoppable! The kid “has it” now and reads and reads and reads! She now reads all of her library books to us at night!!! It’s so amazing to see how fast she’s picked it up. I want to keep working with her and continue having her read daily so that when she starts first grade in the Fall, she’ll be more than ready! Her teacher recently told me that Sophie was the best reader in her Kindergarten class. *beams with pride*

<*> Sophie ~ Speaking of my little girl, I need to write a little bit about what she’s been up to lately. She still draws endlessly. Thing is, she’s pulled Bryce into her little “art world,” too. She finds solace in it. If they’re ever acting up and being loud and wrestling around in the floor (someone tell me this phase is a short one PLEASE!), I can toss a pack of markers and a fistful of typing paper at them, and the house will fall into an IMMEDIATE silence. If you add in craft scissors, tape, glue sticks, and a pack of construction paper, you may even find yourself enough time to watch a full TV program, have a coffee, or sit and stare at the wall and ponder the thought of silence in all it’s glory. Her art goes through phases. She’ll focus on delicate details for a while and then move onto big, bolder ideas and then go back into her details. She loves different media, too, which makes me crazy-excited! Instead of scribbling or cutting up construction paper, the kid will fold it, wrap it, twist it, and turn it into a cat… and then cut a bit of string, ball it up, and glue it to the cat for a ball of yarn! I love to watch how her perceptions change and morph as she grows older. Such a creative little one we’ve made!! But art doesn’t draw her in terms of what she wants to be when she grows up. She stands firm on the idea that she wants to be a veterinarian!


She came up with this one all by herself...


Isn't this the sweetest thing ever? A Momma puppy feeding one single kitten. *swoon*


Multimedia! Ha!!


More multimedia ~ This one was held together with tape for some reason, but I was pretty impressed! It's made of craft foam and yarn.

She’s lost all the baby teeth that she’ll be losing for a while. As of right now, she has 4 adult teeth on the bottom and four adult teeth on the top. I tell you what, as OCD as I am about keeping plaque off of her teeth, the emergence of all of these adult teeth make for lots of nooks and crannies to floss, brush around, and dig food out of. EW!!! She looks so grown, though, with those big-girl teeth. Amazing what a difference that makes.

She’s also sprouting freckles like mad. Poor things, I’ve cursed them both with my fair skin and freckles… Hey, it comes with the territory of having RED HAIR! I try to keep them out of the sun as much as possible as their skin is so doggone fair. Despite their porcelain-ness, Sophie’s arms and legs are actually tan for a pasty little ginger!! I love the freckles that they’ve sprouted, despite my complete contempt for my own as a child. I HATED my freckles!!!! Still do, really, but as I get older, they seem to remind me of youth… and hide things like broken vessels, rashy bits, dry skin, and wrinkles. Sophie has a really cute book written by Julianne Moore called “Freckleface Strawberry” that is all about a special little girl with freckles and red hair and how she grows to love them, despite the fact that her peers were a little mean because she stood out and was different. Her peers eventually loved them and the fact that they made her special, so it’s a really sweet story about the struggles we ginger-folk go through. Oh the rarity of the orange-headed people!

She’s definitely going through the sillies as she gets older. She says goofy things, does goofy things, and even looks a little goofy when she tries hard enough. She’s always making faces, telling jokes, or trying her best to get her brother in trouble. She can be a bit mischievous, as well, little stinker! While sweeter than sorghum, the kid is DEFINITELY figuring out how to manipulate… I made it through 6 years without too much of a fight in the transition to her “big bed,” but now that Chris works later, she wants to fall asleep in “Momma and Daddy’s bed” pretty frequently. Even though I waggle my finger at her about it, I let it slide once or twice a week. I’ve recently set a limit to once a week, and she’s claimed Sundays as her night to fall asleep in our room. Fine with me – until school starts. I actually like hearing her breathe and move around behind me while I’m busy working into the wee hours of the morning on the computer. I’d never be able to sleep as sound as she does with the clickety-clackety of my transcription, but she sure does!

<*> Bryce ~ Ah, my little man of wonder! This boy keeps me going between being angry with him or being completely smitten by him. The typical 4-year-old boy is a breed all on his own. They love to talk about things like farts, butts, and gross stuff like blood and boogers… They love to do things like throw dirty underwear at their sister’s head… or fart on their father’s hand (taught to them BY their father, by the way)… they like to annoy the God-lovin’ stew out of the cats, especially the one who LETS HIM… Oh yeah, and they don’t listen too well, either. When told to do something, it’s like it leaves my lips in a foreign language – something to be listened to, but not HEARD. This drives me NUTS!!! It makes Chris go nuts, too. I hate that Bryce gets fussed at most days, but he simply doesn’t listen like he needs to, and I’m thinking that it’s a part of being a 4-year-old boy. Goodness gracious, this parenting gig is trying at times!!!

In the same breath, though, he is the most affectionate, loving little sweetheart one could imagine. He loves his Momma and loves to hug and give kisses… The nights that I read his bedtime stories to him, I’ll ask if he wants me to scratch his back (something Chris started). I’ll lift his shirt, and the very moment I begin dragging my fingertips across his back, he falls into this motionless state of pure relaxation. He can be wiggly, talkative, and not wanting to go to sleep, but just like when Popeye rubbed the alligator’s belly, the kid settles and almost immediately goes to sleep. It’s precious! He still sleeps every single night with Kitty and Elephant (who he now calls “Ellie). He spends most of his days “favoriting” different stuffed animals in the house. Sometimes he’s best friends with Curious George. Sometimes it’s “Cheese” (a stuffed monkey our neighbor, Karen, gave the kids years ago). Sometimes it’s one that he’s dug from their bins. Whoever it is, they usually get dressed in a Build-A-Bear outfit or have one of Sophie’s hair ribbons tied to them. He’s a good daddy to his babies! And as I mentioned earlier, he LOVES to sit and draw and cut things out and glue things and paint. He’s learned his alphabet, finally, and now he spends many days scribbling different letters onto paper – forever asking, “What’s that spell?” It’s sometimes difficult to pronounce “XYQLBF.”

He always, always wants to go outside. BEGS for it. I feel bad because I simply do NOT want to go out when it’s 100 degrees, stagnant, humid, and I have to dunk them both head-to-toe in SPF 50. Unfortunately, we spend lots of time indoors… usually in PJs if we don’t leave the house. I have no shame, though. They’ll look back on these years as some of the best ones of their lives, and they’ll appreciate me for the fact that I was here with them! My heart is a little broken that Bryce officially starts Pre-K this Fall. My full-time at-home-mom thing is almost over. It seems like yesterday that I made the decision to take a huge pay cut to stay home with my babies… The times are a-changin’ and changes are definitely in my family’s future!!!

<*> I guess that brings me to what I’ve been up to lately, eh? Let’s see… I’ve gone to a much redder hue in the color of my hair. As in, for the first week, it’s sorta GLOWING red. Hahaha! Thing is, I love it!

Okay, so that wasn’t really what I was going to write about… This Fall, Bryce won’t be the only one going to school. Nope, I’m not talking about Sophie. I’m talking about ME. I’m TERRIFIED! Next month, I head to the local campus to register in pre-nursing and will begin a few pre-req’s this Fall. Easy stuff – Anatomy and Physiology I and it’s accompanying lab. I’ve taken it already, but I have to retake it as it was like 17 years ago when I took it the first time. (You have to take any science courses over if you haven’t taken them in the last 5 years.) Am I intimidated? Absolutely not (about the course, anyway). I’m scared to go back to school, but the academic pressure of learning about the body doesn’t intimidate me. Every single night that I sit at the computer and log in to work typing out report after report, I learn. Last month alone, I transcribed or edited right at 600 reports. These are made up of consults, history and physicals, wound reports, ER visits… OB/GYN, pediatric, pulmonary, cardiology, psychiatric, orthopedic, etc. It varies, which is a good thing for someone who needs to continuously fill her noggin with terminology!! I still hear things that I’ve never heard of, despite having done this on a nonstop basis for the last 5+ years. I hope that it will work to my advantage in school.

I’m exhausted a LOT having to work nights and be Momma during the day with the kids. Adding school to the mix will turn the heat up quite a bit in terms of what’s on my plate. If anything, even more than going to school, THAT is what terrifies me. HOW will I do it all??? Being a mother, working, going to school… Oh my GOODNESS!

If all goes as planned, I’ll take A&P I (and the lab) along with one other pre-req this Fall and then A&P II (+ lab) in the Spring. Sometime between October and March (’11), I’ll take the TEAS test (an entrance exam) to see if I’m one of the 70 students accepted into the nursing program in the Fall of 2011. This will also be when Bryce starts Kindergarten, so I’ll have the ability to fill my week with schooling.

So far, I’ve figured that with taking a few pre-req’s and adding in the fact that I won’t have to repeat English Comp I and College Algebra (YAY!!!) as I’d already taken them, I will be able to keep my 4 semesters in the nursing program at 12 to 13 hours. The minimum is 12 hours a semester to participate in the program, so it’ll be right on track – and manageable! (Hopefully!!!!!) I have a really low self-esteem about getting accepted as it’s a points system. I have a 3.3 GPA from my last college courses (almost ALL science as I was prepping to become an x-ray tech). I still need to get my high school transcripts, but from what I found in the attic, I was accepted into the Honor Society in May of 1992 just before I graduated with a GPA of at least 3.6 (better late than never, haha!). My ACT score was 24 (not great, but not bad). The Nursing Program will use these 3 things PLUS what I score on the TEAS test to see if I’m admitted along with 69 other students. If ya have some good thoughts, prayers, sage advice, or some tuition money (haha!), I’d love you forever. Just kiddin’ on the money, of course. I’m gonna beg the government for a little financial aid first. If not, no sweat. This is something Chris and I have talked about and are ready to pay for.

I want to be a nurse with the deepest of parts of my soul. I have “nurse envy” when I type up reports some nights. In particular, I want to be an obstetrical nurse (or labor and delivery nurse). I’m drawn to it like flies on sugar. I may be 45 when I finally get there, but I’ll get there… eventually. Just you watch – I’ll be pinned before you know it and in my scrubs ready to assist a woman in labor or hold a woman’s hand as she prepares for a C-section. I am SO READY for this part of my life to take off!!!!!

I just hope my lack of sleep and full schedule will allow me to keep up with my academic life! I’ve always had a deep-seated fear of anything under a B. Still do. In fact, I take a B pretty hard. We’ll see what happens!!!!! *crosses everything crossable*

<*> Last week, my grandmother came to visit us. She turned 71 years old while here, and on her birthday, several of us took her to the zoo. It was BLAZING hot, but a great time. I love hanging out with my family, and I hate that we don't do it more often.


My mom and Bryce holding hands...


My grandmother and the kids walking to see the (unfortunately closed) sea lion show...






Washing up!


With Aunt Bridgette...


She was SLEEPING standing up!


(For Bridgette!!)




Poor fella was SOOOOO hot...


Kool-Aid moustaches!


*rubs eyes* That's not one of my youngin's in that tree, is it?


Memaw feeds one of the parakeets...


...and so does Uncle Ryan!


Sophie gets to play in the geyser again!!


Bryce, trying to figure out what to do next --


MOSES!!!!!!


Bryce was taunting Uncle Ryan here -- "You can't catch meeee!"


The kids on the ride (with my brave grandmother and uncle in the seat behind them). I've been on this ride once or twice, and it made me soooooooooo sick!


He'll kill me for posting a picture of him as he usually hides when I whip out a camera, but I *LOVE* this picture of him and my Memaw. How sweet!!!


Aunt Bridgette braves the old carousel...


Bryce gets to ride the boats since he weighs less than 50 pounds...


When walking through the Farm area, I peeked inside the chicken exhibit and saw this Momma Hen with a wee baby on her back. When she stood and shifted, she had like 3 more yellow fuzzy babies under her bum!!! Every time this little chick fell off of his Momma's back, he hopped right back up. Aren't they precious???!!!!