Today

It's been an up-and-down kind of day.

I started it out realizing that I had 7 minutes to get Tanner to school, and he was STILL late.  The bug I've had left, then came back an hour after I thought I was in the clear.  Ryan did some grocery shopping for me. Thank You, sweetie! 

Got an exciting call about a house we've had our eyes on.  Made a gazillion phone calls regarding previous phone call.  Hopefully we'll know more tomorrow.  Talk about negotiating!  Sheesh!

Went for a walk in the cool spring air with my darling boys, Ryan included.  Watched the movie "Sarah's Key" while chillaxing (don't want to over-do it, now!) and took Tanner to swimming.  Picked up the cutest First Communion dress to alter for a friend, and scheduled a Senior Photo Shoot I gave away last year and the raffel winner is just NOW redeeming it.  Should be fun!

Went on a 6 mile bike ride with the boys in tow, and had a blast at the park, where Tanner figured out how to pump the swing, Kortlen figured out how to swing on his belly, and I just basked in the hilariousness that is Taylor on the monkey-bars.  He's approved to attend Kindergarten by his monkey-bar skills, but I doubt the school district will let him in a year early.

Everyone is in bed, and I suppose that I should get my hiney in gear and fold laundry and start in on that dress, since I am, after all, feeling a bit better.

Oh, heck.  Who am I kidding?!  It's nearly ten. I'm not folding laundry OR sewing tonight.

Spiritual Feast

I've been spiritually fed.  Looking forward to re-watching General Conference and nourishing even more.

Spring Break {2012}

We started off our break by moving.  Crazy, I know...but it was just downstairs....talk about WAY more work than just packing up our lives and moving across town or the country.  In short, I'm less stressed about the kids being kids, and I don't have wood paneling in my living room anymore...moving was totally worth it, even if it's just for a few months.  *wink*

After taking a grueling 4 days to move NOWHERE, I decided to get outta dodge and headed to my parent's house.

The boys had a blast, and it was fun to relax with my family and listen to the wonderful messages of our church leaders during the Saturday sessions of General Conference.

Winter Championship for Tanner

So this little boy of ours is hilarious....I have to DRAG him to swimming, but then while there and coming home, we can't get him to stop talking about it!  He's so silly.

In between sessions at {Time Out For Women}, Katelyn and I sneaked out and over to the pool where Deseret and Tanner were swimming at Winter Championships.

They both did really well, and I'm so proud of both of them!!!

I took a total of 4 pictures.  This one turned out the best...Sorry, Desi, for not getting to see you actually race!!!

And I'm pretty proud of the T-Shirt Design I came up with for the event:

The Front...

And the Back...

They were actually printed on blue ringer t-shirts, and if I can get Tanner to hold still long enough, I'll snap a picture of it.  :)

{Time Out For Women} 2012

My sister Katelyn and I had the wonderful opportunity to attend Idaho Falls' Time Out for Women.  It.was.a.blast!!!

Next year we're all going to go...Mom, Me, Tricia (you're invited, too!), Stephanie, Katelyn, and Deseret.

I'll update more on the talks when I can locate my notes.  LOL!

Friday Evening, No makeup for me! But I could TOTALLY
see the stage, even in the top of the balcony! 

Saturday...in better seats! 

Met up with some good friends that I love dearly. ♥

Rub-a-dub-dub

***Disclaimer:  I've scrubbed the grout in this shower so hard, that I've nearly ruined it....I claim that the nastiness does not reflect my house-cleaning abilities, rather the stupidity of someone that sealed in the nastiness, trying to prevent more nastiness.  After elbow grease, A bleach pen didn't work, and a grout brush didn't work.  Just shy of using the wire-bristled brush we use on our car battery, I think I'll try a grout drill next.  Or the landlord will...because it's. just. gross.  and black.  and nasty.***

Having fun with some silly pictures of the boys in the tub....oh.my.goodness.  They are so silly, and they need haircuts in the worst way.

New Eyes

Today was a big day.  A monumental day!  I've been waiting for three years to have my vision corrected so I can not worry about contacts or glasses.  To prep for this day, I have worn only glasses for 4 years.  And it paid off!!!  I didn't have the ghost veins in my pupils and corneas that my optometrist thought I would have which makes having LASIK near impossible.

I'm not gonna lie....I was a little nervous. 

Don't you think the hair-net suits me?!  LOL!

I BEGGED Ryan to stay and take pictures of the procedure so Tanner and Taylor could see it, because Tanner insisted that "You won't look like our mom if you aren't wearing your glasses!"...And he was able to see a few minutes of it before heading off to work....even if it was only on a tv screen. :)

I'm under the black machine and the bed pivots
back and forth under the white machine....spiffy stuff!

This is what you see when in 'the chair'.  I had to look only at the green light in the center.  The yellow lights had to stay lined up, in a square.  The white and blue lights were SUPER bright!!!

This is after my 3 hour Loratab-induced nap on Taylor's bed in the boys' dark bedroom.  I felt terrible and wanted to cry.  Not because I was in pain (uncomfortable, yes) but because I was scared to open my eyes!!!  Can you say "sissy"?!  I would compare it to the feeling of not wanting to use the bathroom after having a baby.  I kid you not.

This is what Hell looks like.  

I can take off my bug eyes to put drops in, but will have to sleep in them tonight and wear them tomorrow.  I'm so cool!  I also cannot don't have to wear makeup for at least a week.  And then only light eye makeup for the next three weeks....I think I can handle that.  I am not sure my teenage-skin will fare well without concealer though.  Who knows...maybe it will clear up. :)

Now, at 8:30pm, nearly eight hours after having a laser and amazing doctor correct my vision, these are going to be my BEST friends!  I am using them like one eats chocolate on a bad day.  :)

Thanks to my mommy & daddy for taking the boys for the weekend while I recover without children under foot and quite possibly become VERY productive with some reorganizing that's been put on the back burner.  :)

_____

@ Kate:  I was really afraid, too.  I had Ryan and my dad give me a priesthood blessing the day before and that helped calm my nerves immensely.  There was lots of pressure from the suction thing....and it probably wouldn't have hurt too much except I popped the suction thing off twice with my eyelids (the lights were bright at that point and I wanted my eyes closed)....Not intentionally though, because I didn't really know I was doing that....they totally numb your eyeball.  LOL!  And I was also worried about looking at the green light....but it's not for long and wasn't that hard...when the suction is on, you can't really see anything....so looking at the light was much easier than I thought.   The nurses were amazing...gave me a Loratab and when my sweet friend Karen dropped me off at home, I walked straight to bed and slept so good. :) This morning (day after) I feel GREAT!  My lashes are a little gunky from all the eye drops, and the back of my throat is nasty, again from all the eye drops, but I laid in bed and could see the alarm clock across the room!!!  It. was. fantastic!!!!

{Last Chance} Meet

For all the 'hard core' swimmers, Saturday was their last chance to get qualifying times for winter championships...

...so I signed Tanner up.

Not because he is going to winter champs (although he qualifies because he's under 8 - not because he has fast times.  LOL!), but because it was a close meet and he needs the experience.  And Ritalin.    He used more energy bouncing off the walls than what comes in a can of pure caffeine.  I wish I could bottle his energy and give it to him RIGHT before he swims...or when I have a big project to work on.

That's Tanner...in case you couldn't figure that out. 

Checking the Heat Sheet for the next swim...

Oh, look!  An arm out of the water!  LOL!  

My mom has been doing this 'swim meet' thing for TWENTY YEARS.
I kid you not...I started swimming when I was 8.
...so yeah.  She's the REAL CHAMPION here. 

Check out the ages of these boys he's up against...10-16-5-15-10
He rocked it.  And brought up the rear!!!  

My baby sister - Deseret.  She qualified in the 100 Breaststroke for Winter Championships!  WAHOO!

25 Backstroke
Seeded at 1:22.73 - Final Time was 51.61 !!!  Took off 31 seconds! Placed 6th out of 9.

50 Freestyle
Seeded at 2:12.63 - Final Time was 2:14.41.  Added 2 seconds.  Placed 6th out of 8.

25 Freestyle
Seeded at 1:00.28 - Final Time was 57.92 !!!  Took off 2.5 seconds!  Placed 6th out of 9.

50 Backstroke
Seeded at 1:46.00 - Final Time was 1:53.69.  Added 7-ish secondes.  Placed 3rd out of 5.

No DQ's for this little guy!!!  Although we REALLY need to work on listening skills....the added time on the 50's was because he didn't listen when I told him ninety-two times to go "down & back", and instead waited at the wall trying to figure it out.  Good things he's got a few years to do so.