'24' and Jack Bauer have nothing on me

I love taking the boys to the park mostly because they seem to love it, they shout and laugh as they climb and play, and they come home with big appetites and solid naps. But it is definitely not a casual, relaxing sort of event. I must have my mommy senses on high alert, my reflexes nimble as a kitty's. About half the time I'm there I feel like I'm training for some kind of combat mission, carefully positioning myself halfway between my active little dudes until my mommy-radar whirs into action- OH NO, JULIAN'S CHANCES OF TAKING A NOSEDIVE OFF THAT STEP STOOL PLAY THING ARE REGISTERING AT 75%, BUT CALEB'S PROBABILITY OF TUMBLING DOWN THE SLIDE ONTO ASPHALT IS AT 65% AND RISING- in an instant I calculate the angles, the content of materials they're about to come into contact with, the potential damage: SLIDE IS ONLY A FEW FEET LONG, POSSIBLY HEADED NOGGIN FIRST vs. STEPY STOOL PLAY THING'S ANGLE IS WILL POSITION JULIAN FOR A BACKWARD SOMMERSAULT ROLL INTO NASTY CORNER OF STRUCTURE. I like to think that I've somehow received superpowers for my mommy mission- in a flash I dive towards Julian and break his fall with my outstretched hand, then, heart pounding, adrenaline flushing, I use my leg to whir myself around and catch Caleb with my foot. Phewsh, saved the day again. Does someone want to set aside the key to the city for me?

While at times I miss and one of the kids biffs it and smacks their head, so far no one has had to call 911 for me, like we did for another parent the other day when their kid fell onto the sidewalk. His nanny screamed for a towel as her charge's head gushed with blood. Who needs '24' and Jack Bauer, just hang out with me at the playground, you'll get your fill of action. Except maybe you wouldn't mind giving me a hand, things are far less eventful when I've got a 1:1 ratio. Then again, I need to get my workout in somehow ;)

It's almost time...yahoo

I'm going to have to read all this blog "how to" stuff one of these days. Every time I log in I see all this stuff I need to learn. That's so I can learn how to improve this family blog. Anyway it's almost time for our big family bash in Santa Cruz. Everyone here is excited and counting the days until we go. I also wanted to say that I'm taking the plunge and I'm going to finish a college degree. I'm a couple of classes shy of an AA degree so that will be my first step. I've signed up for 3 classes 2 required and one for fun. In the summer I'll take the math class I need and then I'll have my AA. I'm still debating with myself about doing an online bachelors program or actually attending classes at CSUS. The plan is to then do a masters program at CSUS so I can get licensed as a MFT or MFCC. I think they are very similar and either one will allow me to be a counselor/therapist. I'm excited and I figure when Emily and Grace are graduating from high school I should be graduating with a bachelors. We'll see how this semester goes. I hope this old brain of mine is up to the task. Just in case you were interested I'm taking Public Speaking (fills one of the "Languages & Rationality" requirements), Magic, Witchcraft and Religion (fills the "Ethnic/Multicultural Studies" requirement) can you believe they have such a requirement? I have a cultural anthropology class that I took years ago but it wasn't a requirement then so it doesn't count. For my fun class I'm taking Hatha Yoga so I can learn how to relax. See you all in Santa Cruz.

Christmas

Well Just so you All know...
Nik came down to San Diego last weekend. I sort of talked him into coming down and singing for my ward christmas party! He sang "We Three Kings" and was it amazing..???? He drove in 4 hours of traffic to get down here on time..and BARELY made it!! He played the song on his guitar, there was no mic so he played it very soft.
RIGHT when he started singing, my home teacher looked over at me and lipped "WOW!" Nik finished the song great...and recieved a very warm supportive applause that ended in a STANDING applause!! It was really nice..everyone was so excited he came and were amazed by his wonderful talent!
Anyway, I just thought everyone should know! Love you guys! Looking forward to seeing you this weekend!

oh christmas tree

So, my 'letting it go' abilities were once again called into action when, upon decorating our tree, we discovered that our box of ornaments mysteriously disappeared. I try to be organized, I really do, (I found half my decorations) but my acknowledged lack of skills is not helped out any by the fact that our apartment offers only 'creative' storage options and I don't know if the decorations box got stashed somewhere weird when I was trying to cram everything in here (behind my sewing machine in the top shelf of our bedroom cupboard with the chess set Grandpa gave Ian, or behind the piano with our IKEA table legs maybe, or in the ice cooler shoved into the linen closet??) I"m going to cross my fingers and hope we sent it to Ian's mom's house and not (gasp) mistaken for the busted bread mixer and abandoned by the dumpster.. So until I get really organized, I've decided that I just have to go with the flow and find positive, happy things to say about the wide ribbon we used to decorate our tree. It really did turn out lovely. I'm finding that looking at the positive is making my life a lot easier. Now, if only I can get it together enough to make sure I get all of our Christmas cards sent out ;)
We received a lovely sign that our friend Alissa gave us that fit well over our nativity. Our portrait of Christ will be placed on top. It's my favorite reminder of the reason for the season.

Christmas Card

Thought this was fun. Check it out.

Ian

Non-Crappy Starring You! eCards on JibJab