Heaven Is...

At 2:00 AM Saturday night I headed straight from SAD season right into happy season.  I walked around school today with a permanent smile plastered on my face.  It is really quite amazing how quickly my mood can improve thanks to Daylight Savings Time.  Plus it was like God wanted to remind us it was spring with a few 60 degree days over the weekend!

To counteract my negative energy I've been harboring all winter, I want to start writing more about things that make me happy.

Heaven is:

~ lying beside a sleeping angel, aka Blaine
~ a 60 degree day in March
~ the first kayak ride of the year
~ ice cream stands opening up after being closed all winter
~ OGT week thus shortened classes
~ driving off watching your son and husband fishing down in the creek
~ enjoying a lazy evening fishing with the family and watching the sunset over the farm

Self Portrait Challenge + 11 Things

Been busy around here lately!  Nick pointed out I hadn't done a new post in foreverrrr.  I just haven't had any ideas lately.  Enter Nurse Loves Farmer.   She did a fun challenge today so I'll join in.  I have the day off for President's Day and IT HAS BEEN HEAVENLY! 

Rules:

1.Post a photo of yourself


2. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.

3.Create 11 new questions and ask people to answer them.
 

Sorry this pic is OLD OLD OLD but it is a cute one!

 

1.How did you choose your first child’s name? (If you don’t have any kids yet, what do you want to name your first born?)    I had a list of boys named I liked and Nick hated every single one of them.  So we got some baby name books from the library and found the name Blaine there.  I had only ever heard of one before [Blaine Wilson] and having my son have a rare name was important to me.  YAY! AGREEMENT!

2.If money wasn’t an option, where would you love to live?  Without a doubt, Montana!

3.What is the most embarrassing thing you have ever done?  I'm still too embarassed to share. LOL.

4.What catch-phrases annoy you?  No catch phrases I can think of, but lots of things my students say annoy me!    Oh and when Nick says Kindergarten he says "KENDER-garten" and that is annoying.  ;)

5.Do you have any phobias?  Frogs.

6.What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to? Fernando Ortega.  HE IS HILARIOUS and awesomely talented.

7.Do you believe in love at first sight?  Yes.

8.High school – loved it? Or hated it?  Hated it soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much.  So I went back and have been employed at my high school for 9 years now.   I am insane.

9.Do you have a funny auto correct story to share?  I don't do texting lol.

10.If you could witness any event past, present or future, what would it be?  I want to live in this township back in the 1800's for a year or so to see what it looked like and what life was like then.  I love local history when it deals with the same exact area where I live now.

11.What is the hardest thing you’ve ever done?  Surviving Blaine's toddler years with a husband who is gone so much.  Somedays I just don't think I will make it!  I've had several meltdowns.


My questions for you are [please play!]:

1.  Are you close with your parents?

2.  If you could go back and rewrite a chapter in your life, is there anything you would have done different?

3.  If money was no object, how many kids would you have?

4.  Could you survive a year living "Amish" ?  No electric, no cars, etc.

5.  Could you change a flat tire?

6.  Did you love math in high school?

7.  How many great grandparents were you able to meet?

8.  Do you  have any neat family traditions?

9.  Beach or mountains?

10.  Is there snow outside right now where you live?

11.  What is one thing on your bucket list?


If you decide to play along please come back, comment, and leave me the link!







2.5

It is winter again so of course I'm EXTREMELY depressed, EXTREMELY stressed, EXTREMELY exhausted, EXTREMELY EXTREMELY EXTREMELY frustrated with my job, but all while feeling guilty about feeling all those feelings because I know how lucky I am that I have a house, our health, our jobs, etc.

Gah.

That happens every winter so I should just be used to it by now.  This week I was sick in bed 36 straight hours [took only my 2nd sick day in 9 years teaching], then woke up to a sore throat / head cold 24 hours after that.  Nick was out of town all week and that left me even more down for the count [THANK GOODNESS FOR GRANDPARENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!].

But the real reason for this post is Blaine.  Have to send him a shout out for turning 2 1/2 today!  This last 1/2 year was certainly trying!  This fall definitely had a trying time with the crazy tantrums.   We are talking screaming hysterically for an hour or more.  The crazy part is that he only saved the crying for me and never cried at the babysitters at all.  She always says how ridiculously easy he is to babysit.  We survived the tantrums and one day realized, hey he doesn't cry for hours on end anymore, we must have passed that phase!  He came out on the other end potty trained day and night, saying a ton more words / sentences, and even sleeping through the night for the first time in his life [can I get a HALLELUJAH!]   Yeah, still not worth it in my mind but that is life.  Ha!

No hat, no gloves? Just training for Alaska! ;)

The worst yet best Christmas family photo.  

Icefishing at the "new house" but I love that in this photo you can see the "old house"!!

Blaine is a cuddler and a loving boy.  I never quite realized how much so until I started interviewing him more and more about his days at the babysitters.  Turns out another boy there actually punched Blaine's stuff kitty one day and he told me all about it.    I was like "awhhhhh".   He always uses this fake sweet sweet voice with his "little friends" [stuffed animals] and when he watches the birds, talks about kitties, etc.  FREAKIN ADORABLE!  He especially enjoys talking about baby animals finding their mom-moms, even if something really doesn't look like a baby.

In conclusion, I want to quit my job, I want my husband home more, I want to sell our old house, I want more sunlight so I'm not so depressed, I want more sleep, but all in all, things are pretty good right now!  :)

1000 Reasons I'm Not Ready for Baby #2

Ok maybe 10 reasons.  But I'm sure there are a thousand. ;)    Totally stole this from a blog I follow but felt it was timely.

We just bought a new house.  With a 3rd bedroom and 2nd and 3rd bathroom.  Naturally questions would arise about if another baby was on its way.

Here's the deal. We weren't really looking to move at this exact time.  The house in NO WAY affects our decision to space our children out FIVE YEARS or MORE.  

1) I just went back to work 3 months ago after 2 years off.  I owe it to my school and my students to be there awhile longer before taking a 2 year vacation again.

2)  Blaine still doesn't sleep through the night.

3)  Competitiveness runs wild in my family.  If my sister and I went to high school together, we would have been insanely jealous of each other / competitive to the point of death.   I AM SO GLAD WE NEVER ATTENDED THE SAME SCHOOL AT THE SAME TIME.   SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GLAD.  To grant  my kids this same privilege, a 4 year spacing or more is necessary.

4) Blaine exhausts me to no end.  I would die if I had a newborn to deal with.

5)  If Blaine is in kindergarten when the new baby is born, I will be at home with the new baby for 2 years.  Not as overwhelming. Like having an only child until 3:30 pm.

6) I never want two kids in college at the same time.  College costs are the reason husband nixed the idea of having 3 kids.

7)  I'm still breastfeeding.  Boobs want a few years of recovery!  'Nuff said.

8) Blaine's crazy amount of crying / screaming / terrible 2's is about enough to drive me batty.  He almost made himself vomit 4 times in a 20 minute car ride to put this in perspective   'Nuff said.  No other challenges needed at this time.

9) I love how it is just Blaine, me, and Nick.  Love it.

10)  Blaine is such a bed hog, we certainly can't fit 2 little ones in Mom-Mom's bed at once. ;)

With above items being said, of course I must say I get insanely jealous every time I see / hear a pregnancy announcement.  Must just be hormones.   I do worry it will take longer to get pregnant the 2nd time around and wonder if we should start trying sooner to make up for it.  Not worried enough though! LOL! :)

Ridiculous

We had some family photos taken and she gave me 10 or so "edited" images and hundreds of original images.    We look so ridiculously happy in all of them, I wish I could just sit and look through them all day everyday. I honestly don't feel ridiculously happy hardly ever.  Imagine that!  LOL!   I definitely let my job, my family, and my child stress me out WAYYYY more than I should.  I realize that I should count my blessings and not take anything for granted.  It is just tough sometimes and my subconscious needs some constant reminders:  We are healthy.  We have jobs.  We have family.

 Actually, life is ridiculously great.  

 
And in other news, we are MOVING!  We weren't really "looking" per say, but the "light house house" went up for sale so we jumped [a house I run by and admire daily with a lighthouse in the back yard].  We are so blessed and sooooooooo excited!

1000 more sq feet and MUCH further off the road [safer] than our current house

this baby lights up at night AND the back yard has a gazebo! and outdoor fireplace!  and wood patio!  YAY!

Dadda Daycare

Came home to this tonight.  Today was Dadda Day.  Nuff said.

Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: 8 Hour Adventure Race

this is what a checkpoint is; kinda like a geocache ;)

Have you ever heard of an adventure race?  

 "Adventure racing (also called expedition racing) is a combination of two or more endurance disciplines, including orienteering (if an orienteering map is used) and/or navigation (when non-orienteering maps are used), cross-country running, mountain biking, paddling and climbing and related rope skills. An expedition event can span ten days or more while sprints can be completed in a matter of hours. There is typically no suspension of the clock during races, irrespective of length; elapsed competition time runs concurrently with real time, and competitors must choose if or when to rest" says Wikipedia.  

Back in mid August, I stumbled upon this race but wasn’t convinced I wanted to do it.  8 hours is a looong time.  What in the heck is orienteering anyhow?  Swimming in late September?  At 8 AM?  No thanks! 

Well, what an adventure it was.  The race course was a secret until the day of the race.  I had no idea what I was in for!  The biking was EXTREMELY hilly and had you find 2 “checkpoints” on the way to the bike shop, 17 miles away.  From there, we had to run 3 miles to the canoe launch point [which happened to be the same place we launched for the triathlon a few weeks before].   After canoeing  3 miles, it was back to the Wilderness Center  for more adventures.  You had to go to the planetarium on the site where an expert star gazer had you identify things, you had to visit the rock walk to identify types of rocks, you had to climb a fire tower via a cable ladder [caving club volunteers there], you had to collect plants in a baggie throughout the day that expert plant ladies graded you on at the end, you had to answer math questions, and then of course the orienteering course where you went around with only a compass and map to locate up to 23 checkpoints in the woods.    Whoever found the most by 4 pm won.  

Oh and they cancelled the swimming part due to cold temps.  Yay!

PS Almost forgot, right before the race started they told us we had one more thing to do: carry an egg with us all day!  LOL!

All in all, we survived, were EXHAUSTED, bleeding, and itchy [lots of bushwacking], and we got 2^nd place to a team that had quite a bit more athleticism and experience than us [the girl can run a 4:50 mile and the boy does adventure races pretty much all the time] .  We only lost by 1 checkpoint so I’d say we did OK!   We estimated that we ran between 10 and 13 miles and we biked 35.  I might be closer to that half ironman than I originally thought [it is on my bucket list].