Because I'm electronically challenged...

My intention was to download all the video from our TWO video cameras (we bought another one when we lost our first on the plane on our trip last fall...and then AK Airlines FOUND it months later!), but alas...I just can't figure it out. With all the darn cords we have, nothing plugs into the computer AND into the camera. Just one or the other. So, it'll have to wait until George gets home from work...if he's back at a decent time...and then maybe I'll have some videos to post for tomorrow!

In the meantime, all you get are photos!

My cuties...minus our devil child (he's probably into trouble elsewhere in this picture).

First jog at the coastal trail this year! Koda lasted approximately a half mile on his scooter before complaining. Then he got to sit in the large jogging stroller the rest of the 5-ish miles!

Heading out for a jog (probably a walk since Sparky's in the picture!)

Inevitably, one of the kids doesn't want to go for a jog. It's usually Brayden.

And Kylee usually LOVES the jogging stroller! We just started putting her in this stroller with Brady a couple weeks ago, and even though she looks like a little doll strapped in...she seems to love it. She's even fell asleep a couple times, her little body all slumped over and bobbing up and down!

In other news, our plans for the weekend does NOT include heading up to the cabin, amazingly! We decided we ALWAYS end up doing that every holiday weekend, so this weekend we're actually staying in town! Saturday is fishing with Brady, Kylee, and possibly the twins down at Ship Creek. We'll see how that goes. It'll probably be combat fishing with little kids, but we at least want to try! Sunday is hiking Flattop! My MOM actually agreed to go (she really doesn't do anything outdoor-sy...she always says "I lived like that long enough, I don't need to do it for fun!"), and since Heather and Scott don't want to bring their boys on a hike (it probably WOULD be a constant fight) and they have church right in the middle of the day, it'll just be George, Brady, Kylee, my parents, and I. I haven't done Flattop since high school, and definitely not with a baby strapped to the front of me, so we'll see how it goes. I'm pretty excited! We've been wanting to get a framed backpack so that George can put Brady on his back, and this was the kick in the pants we needed. I found one on craigslist yesterday, and it's in great shape. Can't wait to try it out Sunday!

Hopefully I'll have some video tomorrow to share. Koda really mad picking up Sparky poop out back because he said "shit" twice....priceless.

Busy lady.

Now that I'm looking ahead to the fall semester....3 classes, 2 labs, ALL science....I seriously have no clue how I'm going to do it. I mean, I've done it before, and I always think this....how in the world will I get everything done?! But...it always works itself out in the end. Reasoning (other than it's a lot of homework) for this mental state? I've been making lists like a crazy woman. Pretty much lists of everything that needs to be done *before* school starts again. Preferably before Koda comes home in just over 4 WEEKS!

#1-We switched internet service a few weeks ago and it has been *HEAVEN*. Much, much faster internet and with a company who aren't complete idiots and jerks (seriously, Clearwire sucks. GCI...much better so far). And now it has us thinking...should we switch our cable TV (we have Dish now)? And if we do, we might as well get a "bundle" package with GCI (because it'd be cheaper). Which means a home phone again. While I'm not crazy about the idea of a home phone...I went "phoneless" before I knew George!!!.....Dakota is going to be 7 this fall, and possibly staying at home alone for short stints. And that means he definitely needs a phone at home in the case of emergencies and to call George or I when he gets home from school.

#2-THIS is a big one. I need to start job shadowing physicians this year. Virtually every medical school requires direct patient contact experience before medical school. If you're already an M.A. or a nurse, etc....then it's easy. It's your job. If you're not....then it's not so easy. Being a receptionist doesn't count.....being a billings coordinator doesn't count...etc, etc, etc. Basically, they want you to have kinda "practiced" medicine before you start "practicing" medicine. A bit rediculous, but I get the idea-they want to make sure you know what being a physician is all about. SO.....for those without medical certificates of some sort, it generally means physician shadowing. Apparently, most students find it difficult to get a doc to OK shadowing them. I, on the other hand, have had no problem. I've talked with my mom's Oncologist (AND his little girl also went to PNA, so I saw him pretty much EVERY morning for 2 years), my OB/GYN (hello? I've had 3 kids with her!), the kid's Pediatrician (about 7 years and 3 kids later, we know each other pretty well...and I really, really, like her style), and a Plastic Surgeon in town (I went to her to have a lump removed after Brady was born). I talked with all of them over the past couple years about shadowing in the future, so I thought...no big deal, right? Apparently I just waited too darn long! The Plastic Surgeon already has 2 other students shadowing her the WHOLE SUMMER!!! The Oncologist is going on vacation for about 5 weeks starting next week. AHHHHH! Those were my first 2 choices...because so far, those are the two fields that interest me the most. Sooooo.....my Pediatrician called me back yesterday, and I can pretty much go in whenever I want, so at least I WILL end up with some shadow time! And really, while peds is NOT a general area I want to go into, a peds subspecialty is definitely something I'm interested in (Pediatric Oncology, Pediatric Surgery, Neonatal, etc), so it's a start at least! One thing I did learn (after starting to cold call other practicioners in town)? That there IS a Pediatric Oncologist in AK!!! So, I have a call into her also.

#3-With all of that shadowing stuff said, if any of the physicians have privledges with either hospital (Prov or Regional), then I have to get badges for both. Which means a background check, immunization records, professional recommends from professors, etc, etc, etc. Lots of red tape! But....if I ever want to observe surgeries, then it has to be done anyways.

#4-A million and a half half-done home projects to finish up. The upstairs bathroom needs to be finished (George needs to match texture on the wall and I need to paint the bathroom), the paint around the boy's window needs touched up BADLY. It was messed up from when the windows were replaced about 2 years ago. And then again a little when we took the window OUT to get the bunk bed IN! The new back door downstairs needs the texture matched around it and painted. There's kickboard beneath the kitchen cabinets that need to be finished. The living room needs to be either finished painted (in the back corner) or repainted (a slightly darker color....we're still figuring this out). I need to finish organizing the "dungeon" (aka: crawlspace). There's seriously a billion little things to do/finish!

#5-Get applications finished and turned in for the charter/alternative schools for Koda this year. The charter schools in our district are all lottery, and that is at the end of July. So, Rilke German Immersion School and Northern Lights ABC School are probably the 2 we'll apply to. I have a call into the testing dude to hopefully test Koda for the Gifted program at Rogers Park Elementary also. In talking with a parent of one of Koda's classmates at PNA, she seemed to think it wasn't nearly as hard to get into as they would like you to believe. They make it seem like your child literally has to be a genious. They do an assessment, and if he passes that, they order a full IQ test. She went through it with her oldest, and said it really wasn't a huge deal. In fact, she seemed to think that going from PNA to public school (even the gifted program) would be a piece of cake....the curriculum at PNA is much more advanced than public school, and Koda was even excelling at PNA. Well, I suppose we'll have to wait and see :)

On top of that....I'm called for jury duty starting the 1st of August. Right when Koda gets back, I'll be doing my physician shadowing, school starts for Koda in 2 weeks, starts for me in 3 weeks, and I have 3 kids. And NO....they won't exempt me. So I'm thinking about showing up with the kids and letting them know that it's obviously a hardship for me to be there. Maybe then they'll dismiss me!! Don't get me wrong...I've actually always wanted to do it, if only for the experience. But...this is SO not the time. And neither is anytime in the next 6 months (when they'll reschedule me for). Between classes and kids, it just doesn't work. So....any other ideas of how to get out of it would be greatly appreciated!

Ahhhhhh.....I feel like a chicken with her head cut off.

Half a heart attack

I swear, yesterday I almost died. I had the panic-stricken, heart-thumping terror that mothers go through sometimes. Here's the explanation:

I got both kiddos up from their naps yesterday, downstairs, and changed diapers. Brady was arguing with me about what he wanted or didn't want to eat. So...I got Kylee's baby cereal ready. Literally, this involves pouring the powder stuff into a small bowl, adding a scoop of formula, and the warm water. It takes less than a minute. I head back out to the living room (where both Kylee and Brady were), and don't see Brayden anywhere. Finding it a bit odd (he usually doesn't go upstairs without me), I called out for him. No response. So I figured he was up to no good in the bathroom, getting into stuff he wasn't supposed to. Nope. I did a quick dash through the house, with no response, so I threw my crocs on and ran outside. No sign of him. I yell a few times, look all around the carport, and then run out to the cul-de-sac. Still nothing. My neighbor's door is open, and I yell inside really quick to see if they've seen him. They hadn't, but came out to help me look for him! At this point, I have 4 people looking for him outside, so I go back inside to do a more thorough search. Right about the time I'm about to call the police (about 5 minutes into the ordeal), she yells in to me that they found him:

PLAYING IN THE BACKSEAT OF MY CAR!!!

Oh, I felt like hugging and strangling him at the same time! He had put his crocs on, opened (and shut) the front door, got into the car (which I *thought* was locked), closed the car door, and proceeded to find a toy train on the backseat floor of the car. Actually, he wasn't even playing ON the seat-he was found hunched down on the FLOOR! And he was totally oblivious.

My first call was to George to act like a crazy mother (which at that point, I was), and to tell him that project #1 was getting some type of lock higher on the door so that Brayden couldn't just wander out on his own. He currently knows how to unlock the deadbolt.

AHHHHHH! Talk about a crapacular mother moment there. I swear, I thought if the police had to show up, that they'd better bring an ambulance, because I'd have had a hemmorage or a stroke. Or maybe a heart attack.

Needless to say, there's a big "hotel style" door lock on the top of the door now!

Freedom!

I am officially finished with every math class I'll ever have to take in my life! While it didn't exactly go as planned...what university crams 14 weeks of a grueling 4 credit Calculus course in 5 weeks....I did scrape by with a B, which at this point, I am completely content with. In this class, I learned to ignore "imaginary" numbers....which is odd, since they were half of the focus in a lower course. I learned that I really don't know much about math in any amount of depth. In fact, there were a few deep conversations with my inner self wondering how on earth did the people who "discovered" or "created" (whatever it was) some of this math did it?! I mean, I was struggling through it-learning it-and they created it? I'm pretty sure they had to have some type of mental illness or idiot savant-ness in them. The more math I do, the more it boggles my mind. Once I get a concept down and understand it, I'm always left thinking....wow, how much more math could there really be? I mean, I've done everything I can think of.....and then I figure out that there's infinitely more that I'll really never understand. It's mind-blowing. Point being, now I can stop thinking about it and stop letting it consume my life, because I'm DONE!

It's nice to not have to drive Brady or Kylee around anywhere to drop them off to go to class each morning! Today we went to McDonalds and I let Brady play for a good 45 minutes. He was in heaven. Except he wanted french fries, and it was still their "breakfast" time (even if we ate breakfast a couple hours before!). So then he wanted a hashbrown. And then pancakes. So a play trip turned into a full blown breakfast for the little man, which was fine, because anything to get him to eat something is good for me! Then we went to Target and Brady picked out a few Chuggington toys (extra track pieces, a Chatsworth train, and the Chuggington train carrying case. He got a little chunk of money from his birthday, so I figured he could get a few things before saving the rest :) Plus, it gave me good bribery material for the rest of the morning...."get over here or trains go bye-bye". Yes, I'm that mean. We hit up Men's Warehouse to exchange George's shirts I got him for Father's Day...apparently he's a bit bigger than I thought. No, not fatter, just more muscular. It would hardly button up over his chest!!! He looked kinda goofy in them, so we got the next size up. Brady now knows it as "daddy's store" since we've been there so often in the last couple weeks. Next up was WalMart to get the little lady some more baby food. Nothing too exciting. Home and then naps (and me writing this blog!).

I'm contemplating heading to the gym after they wake up so that I can better calibrate my Nike+ sensor for running. It is STILL off a sizeable amount. I'm talking about a tenth of a mile for every two miles ran. Which adds up when you're going anything over 4 or 5 miles! Plus, I could relax in the jacuzzi and/or sauna or steam room kid-free after I run!

George is working late tonight :( He's coming back into town for a basketball game-he just joined a summer league-this evening at 6, and then driving back out to Trunk Rd because the stripers will be there at 8. Yes, stripers, not strippers...get your minds out of the gutter. And I have the twins this evening. Scott HAD to go to Hawaii (actually, I think he's off to Wake Island, but really....it's just a warm island with beautiful beaches around) this afternoon for 10 days, and Heather's school is in the evening. Curran has a t-ball game this evening, so I'll be lugging the twins, Brady, and Kylee all to t-ball by myself...should be a zoo.

In other news, my friend, Theresa came over last night for dinner. Now that my class is over, I feel like I can socialize a bit more. I haven't got together with non-family in FOREVER. In fact, Theresa and I haven't really gotten together since I've known George!!! It was so good getting all caught up with eachother :)

Brady had his 2 year checkup at the doctor's office yesterday, and he's growing like a weed. He's 95% for height, and between 75-95% for weight! Best part? He didn't even need shots at this visit! Kylee, on the other hand, is still teeny-tiny! They did a quick weight check on her (since she went from about the 50% in weight and 90% in height to the 10% in height and 5% in weight in just 3 months!), and she DID gain
10 oz in the last 4-5 weeks. But she's still 10%/5% height/weight. Now that we know she IS actually growing, the doc's not too worried about it...said she may just be a petite little lady! One upside? I may actually be able to keep one of my kids in the infant carseat until/past their 1st birthday! The boys had both grown out of it no later than 9 months (7 months for Koda!). Makes it a whole lot easier!

This week...looking forward to Sparky's grooming appointment (I had to cancel last week!). Finally a non-shaggy, non-stinky doggie in the house! He'll come back looking all handsome and smelling fresh, and he'll love all the love he gets from us for a week or so until he's sufficiently stinky to the point where we really don't want to love up on him too much! I know, mean parents, but hey....who wants to cuddle up with a nasty stinky dog?? And it's George's responsibility to bathe him, so unless he does it, Spark remains stinky until his next grooming!

Before and After

 Well, we did it! Brady went from THIS:

To THIS:

In less than an hour! Brayden was SO good getting his haircut. He sat still really well and didn't freak out at all! I'll post the video when we get it uploaded! He looks like a different little kid!

Chunk Nugget is TWO!

Today is my little man Brady's birthday! He is two, and a ball of energy pretty much constantly. He's crazy, loud, and everything boy. I can't believe my mild mannered little baby turned into such a big devil child! Before I know it, he'll be asking for the keys:

This has pretty much become one of his very favorite things: Getting in any car he can and pretending to drive. FYI: if you're anywhere in the vicinity, you HAVE to lock your car door, otherwise you'll end up with little man footprints all over, your wipers on full speed, your caution lights going, and if the keys are in the car, it'll be started!

He also has a VERY serious obsession with "fuzzy juice", sometimes just called "fuzzy" or "puzzy". Anything with carbonation, basically. And since we (ie: I) have a strict no soda for kids policy in my house, he's pretty much banned to either carbonated juice or flavored sparkling water.  

Not letting go of his grip on his favorite kind of "fuzzy", the Target brand flavored fuzzy water.

and no, it's not fizzy, it's fuzzy.

He also has a strong distain for "big boy undies". He wants nothing to do with potty training, training undies, or pullups. I think it'll be a while before we ditch the diapers.

And last, but certainly not least, his unwavering loyalty to both Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo. Or, in his words, "Three" (with his fingers held up and crossed....makes no sense!), and "Memo". I think we watch one of both of them multiple times a day!

Happy birthday to my little chunk nugget, my chunk-a-lunk, my boogerman, my dooberhead, my goob, etc, etc, etc. Pretty much he goes by anything.

Including the dogs name (accidentally!) once in a while.

Can. Not. Wait.

Most people wait all week for the weekend. This weekend, however, is not applicable. Can it just be next Monday afternoon, already? Granted...this weekend should be fun-Brady's 2nd birthday bash and Father's Day dinner at Brewhouse, but really....who can have a ton of fun knowing that a craptacular Calculus final is looming Monday morning? Judging by the test I took this morning, I'm going to have to do pretty decent on the final to pull a B in the course, so I'm not so happy about that.

What I am happy about is the fact that after my final, I can get onto bigger and better things. Like touching up the paint around the window in the boys' room. Or finally finishing sewing the duvet cover I started almost a year ago. Or finishing completely organizing the "dungeon" (ie: crawlspace) with all the crap that we've accumulated down there over the years. I want to do some crafty stuff....hang out with some friends and family...and get this house decluttered and CLEAN for once!

In other news, my little cousin, Hanna, is getting married next Saturday, and her bridal shower is tonight! Since we won't be able to make it to the reception, I'm pretty excited to go hang out with her and a TON of other family tonight. She's 6 years younger than I, and her getting hitched makes me feel a bit old! :) But she's been through so much the past few years, and I'm so proud of her and excited that she's found the man of her dreams (minus the Beiber haircut, I heard!)!

Last night was crrraaazzzyy! I stayed up until 1:30am studying for my test this morning, and George never even came home! The poor guy worked until 1:30am, and had to be back out at Trunk Rd at the usual time (7-ish), so instead of driving home, he slept in the work truck :( Now that the road is officially open, hopefully his INSANELY long days will be behind him and he can actually sleep in a bed every night.

2 more things....I found little girl's Sanitas (just like Danskos...except Danskos don't make kids sizes) on zulily this morning, and went crazy and bought 3 pairs! Hot pink patent, black patent, and fuzzy giraffe print! Kylee won't be able to wear them for about 2 years (I bought 3 different sizes, starting at their smallest, 23 European sizing), but at less than 1/3 of their regular price (they're normally between $75-$100 a pair!), I couldn't pass them up!

And #2: I HAVE to share these pictures of the boys at Angela's wedding (George's little sister):

The mafia kids planning their next robbery.

Seriously, they're like the little rascals!

My cuties waiting patiently in the church!

Chillin' on the steps.

My little man!

The end.

T minus 4 days until Operation: Haircut

Yes, that's right. Our little boy....who now gets mistaken for a GIRL often (even in VERY boy-ish clothing), is getting his hair lopped off on Saturday. While normally, his hair looks like Einstein stuck a fork in the light socket, when it is "done" (ie: wet down a bit and combed), it is amazing! This kid has little ringlets all over. George and I have some seriously straight hair, so I'm assuming it comes from my dad (who would have a half-fro if he grew it out), my brother Scott when he was little (ringlets very similar), and my brother Eric now...he'll probably be bummed we're cutting it at all! He's went from a little bald kiddo:

Brayden's almost 1 here!

 To a crazy haired cutie:

This is basically how his hair normally looks. Not TOO much like a hobo child, but still pretty wild!

But he cleans up pretty darn well. What a stud. Minus the dirt on his face.

He's even cute when Grandma is a turd and sticks a barette in his hair.

Yes, Grandma....we got the point. He needs a cut!

But even after all that, he can still score with the ladies!

Must have been a pretty good kiss for a reaction like that! :)

While it is definitely time for Brady's hair to make it's exit, I can't help but be a little sad. My little boy won't look like my baby anymore! He'll be a little boy! He's growing up too fast!!!

All dressed up with nowhere to go

George went to work early this morning to get what little work he HAD to do today in, so we'd have the rest of the day together! Brady, Kylee and I woke up around 8am and went to McDonalds for breakfast (well, Brady and I ate there....Kylee got baby cereal...glop as we call it...at home). Brayden played his little heart out before leaving in time to meet George back at home by 10:30.

At 11, we met my parents and Scott at Men's Warehouse. Each flight attendant got a coupon for 75% off the entire purchase up to $1000! I had fun picking out shirts and ties for George (which he promptly rejected....most of my combinations. psh.) and my dad (who trusted me enough not to steer him wrong!). I do have to say....my dad's grey dress shirt with his light pink and grey paisly tie was the best combo. George's blue shirt with an orange striped tie was a close second, though.

We came home, and Scott and Heather dropped their boys off with us so they could eat lunch in peace! George washed the car, the boys had a short-lived water gun fight followed by playing Wipeout on the Wii, and I mainly worked on my math homework. When Scott and Heather got back, they let us know that Michelle, a flight attendant friend who's staying with my parents, also had the 75% off coupon that she wasn't going to use....so we headed back! I think the ladies there thought we were a bit off our rocker. This time George got a suit....and he looked downright sexy in it! :) I jokingly (half-jokingly) told him that now he has to actually wear it. Which means he has to take me out on a nice date. So, I suppose look for a picture on the blog in the future of my hot hubby in his new suit. Unfortunately, it won't be ready (having it tailored) until the 21st, which means no date at least until then.

We ate dinner at my parents house-crab salad-yum! And then played a couple rounds of Nerts. Once Michelle figured out the game, she joined in and with 6 people.....the game was insane! We were all talking about how our ENORMOUS family reunion in 2012 will be even more insane....I think a big Nerts tournament is in store for us there! We'll need at least 10-ish tables of 5 or 6 players each! I just hope that I will be able to actually go! If we end up going to USU (Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, MD), then I'll be at Officer Training during our reunion
:( George and the kids will have to experience the craziness of all the extended family without me. Anyways, time will tell.

My night after we left my parents house: MATH. Only one more week. 4 sections this evening, of stuff I really can't even explain. I can't wait for it to be over so I can half-forget it to make room in my brain for more important things.

Random picture of Memorial Day weekend. One of my favorite memories growing up of my grandparent's house was when Grandpa would take some of my cousins and I out for a drive in the Berkley. Seriously, not much larger than a gocart, but it's street legal and absolutely adorable (not to mention a historic vehicle and collectors car). I loved it! And so does George, Brady, and the twins! I'm sure some cousins can relate :)

G'night All

Today.

Nothing much exciting today. I woke up at 3:30am to the standard "ma ma....MA MA" until I went to Brady's door, gave him a kiss and a hug and told him it was still night-night time. Since Koda left for Kodiak, I think Brayden wakes up in the middle of the night, realizes he's alone, and wants someone! Breaks my heart. He's so darned cute sometimes. He then woke up when George got up at 6:00am, but George got him back down, and I was able to sleep until 8!!! That's definately the latest I've slept in in a looooong time! I feel like such an old woman saying that. At least I have the knees to back it up :)

We got the news last night that my brother-in-law, Evan (George's younger brother), fell while he was hiking....or climbing...we don't know and was in the hospital. We'd been checking out facebook pics that a few of his friends had taken earlier in the month of them freeclimbing rock walls. And not exactly small rock walls. Seriously....some seriously dangerous (aka-stupid) stuff. Well, it got the better of him, and while they didn't know the extent of his injuries, this morning we find out that it's a broken elbow (OW!), some good bruises and gashes all over, and a chipped hipbone. We're just happy he's alright and that he wasn't hurt worse. But seriously....who in the right mind freeclimbs (ie: climbing without ropes/harnesses/etc)???

My parents came over this morning and the 5 of us (them, my 2 munchkins, and I) went garage sale-ing. Totally struck out. IF we had the space, I would have bought Brady this super cute little play kitchen (he LOVES playing kitchen), but...alas, I have been trying to clear out clutter from the house for the past couple weeks.

When I got the kids down to naps, I was able to go to Target KID-FREE! So nice. My parent were at my place doing some work on the back door my dad and George installed a few weeks ago. When I got back (without the totes I went for, but WITH 10 1L bottles of soda....hey, they were $1 each, and Brady's birthday party is next Saturday!), my dad had not only sanded around the drywall/tape/spackle to get it ready for George to texture, but he also tightened down the sink faucet that has been driving me crazy! It seems to work its way loose every couple months! Seriously, my dad rocks.

The kids and I ran errands after their naps-dropping George's motorcycle pants off to get the zipper replaced, mailing Koda some goodies that included his National Geographic magazine, a book, and a card/letter, and hitting up Partycraft for ideas for Brady's birthday. We also stopped off at Great Harvest Bread Co, which for those of you not in AK, is THE BEST place to get bread! It's to die for. And they give you a huge hunk of bread (not a slice) when you get there. My mom has taught Brayden that it's the "Num Num store", so every time we drive into the parking lot, all I hear is "num num num num num". Too stinkin' adorable! A bit ironic that he won't even eat anything there. Crazy boy.

I'm excited because tomorrow George is only working a few hours....which means a half day off with my sweetie! And I think while he's at work, and if it's a nice day out, I may attempt a 6-8 mile run :) On the coastal trail, of course. And some math. I have 4 sections to do and an extra-credit problem to complete before Monday morning's class. On the upside....only 1 more week of class left! My final is on the 20th, and it couldn't come fast enough! This week includes: getting together on Monday with a friend I've never actually gotten to hang out with (without a group)....but we feel like natural friends. It's kinda fun to have that feeling :)......2 Calc review sessions, test #5, getting Sparky groomed (yay for a handsome little doggie!), making a cake, cupcakes, shopping for food, grilling, making yummy sparkling "slush", etc for Brady's birthday party. And, if there's time on Saturday (ie: if I make the cake Friday), go out to cheer on my brother, Scott, towards the middle and/or finish line of his half-marathon! Busy week, but I'd better enjoy it because come next Monday (the 20th) after my final, I'll feel like I'm bored and doing nothing all the time! 

In other news.....THIS mop of curls will be lopped off in T minus 7 days! His birthday party theme is Operation: Haircut. Oh, and trains.

Old lady knees.

Yep, apparently I have old lay knees. It started when I started running almost 2 months ago. I was fine until I started running over just a couple miles. My 1st 5-mile run almost killed me! I felt like an old, feeble little lady. I had to brace myself going down stairs, and it was incredibly painful to do squats (you know, the things you do when you move laundry in a stackable from the washer to the dryer...psh, I don't do squats just for fun!). I finally broke down and made an appointment to see an orthopedist. This was last week, before the Twilight 12k run. More on that later.

Today was my appointment, and they took x-rays of both knees and both ankles. After a barriage of questions and making me to heel raises, toe raises, walk pigeon toed, normally, etc, we then took a look at the x-rays. Basically, the cartilage between my patella and leg bones is worn down on the outside of both knees. His analogy was that of a tire tread. While I'm not running on bald tires, my tread is wearing a bit thin on one side. Nothing really medically they can do, so I'll be making hamstring stretches and working out the inner part of my quadracep (the vastus medialis...see, learning something new everyday!) more. The more loose the hamstrings are, the less tension in the knee, and the more developed the vastus medialis is (over the vastus lateralis-the outside part of the quad), the more relief I should get!

So...I can still run, and apparently it's fine just to try to run through the pain. But the more I do that, the more inflamed it can get, and the more it'll hurt later. Boo :( It's not going to stop me, though...my brother, Scott, is doing a half-marathon on the 18th (next Saturday), and as much as I feel like I want to do it with him, it's Brady's birthday, so I'll be busy making a cake and getting ready for his little get together. SO...the next half-marathon is the Skinny Raven in August, so I'm planning on doing that!

The Twilight 12k was a big success! It was the coldest evening Anchorage had seen in weeks, and was blowing pretty good too! We about froze our buns off before the race started. Speaking of which, we started right at the front of the line. We were right behind the Kenyans, and figured we'd probably get some good pictures, because, hey-everyone always checks the Kenyans out. Plus, it made us feel kinda cool to be running with them...even if it was literally only a minute or two until they were out of our sights!!! Those guys are plan FAST! Scott beat both George and I with a time of just under 58 minutes. I came in at just under an hour an 4 minutes, and George came in at just under an hour and 7 minutes! We all made darned good time, especially since it was George and I's longest race we've ever ran! Bear Tooth pizza, fruit, cookies, drinks (even a beer garden...if we drank!), etc were all waiting at the finish line, and that was a pretty nice dinner after 7.5 miles! George and I can't wait for the next race! I think we're hooked!

That is, if my old lady knees will hold out!

Summa, Summatime!

Yes, I said it. We had about 10 days of absolutely georgeous weather here in Anchorage! Over Memorial Day weekend, we did our annual summer kick-off at the cabin. George and I (with Kylee) went to a friend's wedding at Alyeska (beautiful, by the way!) Friday night, so we weren't at the cabin until Saturday morning. My parents took Brady Friday, and Koda unfortunately left for Kodiak Friday morning also. He'll be down there until the end of July :( Boo. It's only been almost 2 weeks and I miss him to death. So does Brayden. He checks out pictures of Koda on the wall several times a day, points, and says Koda! Memorial weekend at the cabin brought amazing weather! My dad's 4 wheeler wasn't working, so we didn't bring the 4 wheelers (except the kid's one...that one was already up there!), but had a good time relaxing, playing games, letting the kids get horridly grubby, etc. The usual "camping" stuff.

Earlier in May I finished up 3 classes: Trigonometry, Bio 1, and Chemistry 2. End result: 3 A's, including my 2 labs! I had 2 weeks off before I started my intensive 5 week Calculus class. It's seriously hell. Thankfully, I only have to step foot in that class 7 more times (that includes 3...yes THREE...tests in those 7 days!). BUT...then I'll officially be completely done with math! This next semester (in the fall) includes Bio 2,
Physics 1, and  Organic Chemistry! It'll be a brutal semester, but will be my busiest/hardest semester (until Medical School I suppose) for a few years.

In other news, Brayden turns 2 in 9 days!! I can't believe how big he is already! AND....he's seriously the devil. Yesterday consisted of about a half dozen full-on tantrums, slapping me in the face because I told him no (he got a spankin' for that one!), and just generally being a little pill. I think he must have sat in time out a cumulative of about a half hour! Ps-that's really long for an almost 2 year old. While I really, REALLY don't want him to "grow up"...he's my little baby boy....I really, REALLY would like this stage of his attitude to be over!

Kylee, on the other hand, is literally the sweetest, easiest baby every. The boys were easy, too, but not like this!! Both the boys were independent, and they would have rathered you set them in the swing or bouncer and leave them alone. Kylee....well she's good anywhere. She loves attention and being held, and she's pretty darn happy in her swing (that fails to swing anymore, BTW....so it's just a comfy glorified chair), her bouncer, or the floor. She popped 2 teeth in 2 days about 2 weeks ago, without an ounce of crying, crankiness, or any other teething maladies that usually plague babies! She literally, is almost never crying! :) Yay for happy babies!

It is summer, of course, which means we don't see much of George. This summer he's out at Trunk Rd. in Palmer/Wasilla "babysitting" the contractors redoing the road. While he *does* do some occasional "real work", most of the time is spent in the truck watching the contractors and making sure they're doing what they say they're doing. With the addition of Netflix on his phone, however, he keeps pretty "busy".
ie: unbored. The past 3 days have been expecially brutal, as he's out of the house no later than 6:30am, and he hasn't gotten home until between 9:30 and 11:00pm!! Great for the paycheck, not so great for being able to enjoy the summer and spend time with my sweetie!

In all, I'm just looking forward to MY summer, which starts when Calculus ends on the 20th! Then I get a break for a couple months! Oh yeah, and my next post might/should be Kylee's 6 month pics...we had them done last month just a few days before my photog friend left for a 2 week vacation (to Hawaii, the bum!!), so they haven't been edited yet! :) When I get them, I'll be sure to post some!!
Here's a quick sneak peek....Kylee was the "covergirl" for R&P Photography's newsletter this summer....don't you just want to squish her??!!

Happy summer everyone!

The BIG family pictures!

A bit late, but here goes:

My WHOLE family!

Scott, Heather, Tristan, and Curran

All the grandkids....with none crying or throwing a fit!

The boys showing off their ENORMOUS muscles!

Eric, Kelley, Cole, and Sage

We haven't had a picture like this in 10 whole years-before we were all married and with kids!

Of course, one of them has to be a turd for pictures. I think it's a tradition that has been passed down from when I was a kid!

My bros and I

In March, my brother, Eric, my sis-in-law, Kelley, and their two kiddos, Cole and Sage flew up from Ohio to visit for a couple weeks. The ONE AND ONLY thing my mom insisted on was pictures of all the grandkids together. Doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but seriously....I think we agonized over it for far too long. With 7 kids under 7, we knew it would be a challenge! Cole really, REALLY hates to get his picture taken, Brady is kinda hit-and-miss when it comes to being cooperative, Sage just turned one and is pretty attached to momma, and Kylee is just 4 months, so who knows whether she'd even be awake. We took a few "picture worthy" toys (aka-the wooden train set) in the hopes that the kids might just be cute playing with it and not notice that their picture was being taken! In all, I'd say it was a success! We also got big group shots (my parents, my family, Scott's family, and Eric's family all together), as well as individual family shots, grandparents with grandkids, and a few others. When we got the pictures, I called my mom. She was in the car and over here immediately to grab her CD! When I talked to my dad the next day, he informed me that she already got prints done and her "brag book" updated!! Mind you, she picked up the CD around 4:30 pm, and she had to report at the airport by 5am for her flight! She was like a kid on Christmas!