Our Life & Times

Well, thank God this is a short week! Konnor won 5th in the 4th Grade spelling Bee today and he had a good time at his class picnic at the park this afternoon. Tomorrow he and a partner have to demonstrate their "egg drop" experiment in science class where they had to come up with a container to put an uncooked egg in and drop it so it won't break. After many trial runs, Konnor and his partner decided on using one of my old running shoes. It worked at home, so hopefully it will work at school, too! I did a dumb thing today. I went to Walmart today to buy some of Konnor's birthday presents, and after I loaded the car I must have left my purse (and ALL its contents) in the shopping cart in the parking lot. I drove all the way home, and didn't discover my mistake until I started unloading my bags from the car. Of course, I started to PANIC!!! I first tried to call my cell phone, which I left in my purse, and no one answered it. So, I called Walmart and THANKFULLY some nice, honest person had turned it in for me. I went back and picked it up and everything was still in its place. There are still some honest people in this world. God Bless all of you nice, honest people!!!!

Having a fearless kid could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. However, in this case, I feel proud that our son can stand in line by himself on Saturday at Six Flags in Denver and ride scary, upside-down rides while his dad and I and his friend, Adam, stand outside the ride cheering him on. It's not that Konnor hasn't experienced enough life in his 10 years to be fearful of some things, but he chooses not to let his fears stand in the way of more exciting experiences. Sometimes I wish I could be more like that.

Summer time is right around the corner, and we can't wait! It is already getting warm here, but we could use some of those famous Colorado thunderstorms! (Brian LOVES thunderstorms, I am a little timid of the lightning and of course we always have the potential for tornadoes, which I am also terrified of!) Konnor has 1 more week left of 4th grade. He will be running track this summer, going to church camp, and Vacation Bible School, and my nephew, Gunner, will be coming in June to stay with us for a month from PA. We have some camping trips planned, and 1 of them will be during 4th of July to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. Konnor's birthday is also right around the corner, June 8th, he will be 10. We are planning a roller skating party for him. I usually try to plan outdoor parties because he has a June birthday, but every year it gets cold or it rains, so this year will be indoors! On top of the usual working and me going to school, I guess we have our work cut out for us this summer, but hopefully we will also have some fun!

Not too much going on in these parts... Brian made it home safely Sunday night. We are so happy he is home! The summer semester started for me yesterday, and I think Algebra is going to kick my butt! Of course, Brian says I pick a class every semester to worry about and I always end up doing fine. I will graduate in the fall, and then I would like to transfer to Colorado State Univeristy to major in Family Studies. I discussed my plans with Brian last night and his worry is always money, which I understand since I am not working and my GI Bill money runs out in August, so then it made me wonder if I should even do it. I will pray about it since my plan is not always God's plan... All prayers by others would also be appreciated...

To me, love is a lot like when a cactus blooms. When it blooms it is beautiful and fragrant, but when it is just a cactus without a flower it is prickly and will poke you if you're not careful. I am not just speaking about love between spouses or partners, but the love you have for your children, friends, and other family members. We have our ups and downs, good days and bad days. The good days are when the cactus is blooming, and the bad days are when it is just a cactus. Is your cactus blooming or is is just a cactus?

No, I am not experiencing technical difficulties. There are some recent blogs of mine that are gone. I chose to delete my last 2 blogs because I didn't want to be reminded of my birthday. So anyway... Brian should be home tonight, yea!!!
I have been up since 5:30 Am this morning and haven't slept a wink all night. It's ok though because I needed to get up by 7:00 anyway. I teach the preschool Sunday school class, and we have only 2 more classes left until we take a break for the summer. I have enjoyed teaching the preschoolers this year, although having ALL boys can be tiring! We are going to have our promotion Sunday the first Sunday of June and all the classes are supposed to perform a song or a skit or something during church service that day, including mine, and I will tell you that my boys are not ones to get up in front of the church and sing quite yet, I would probably be the only one singing, and so I am trying to come up with something creative that might not require singing. Any ideas? Konnor will be promoting on promotion Sunday to the middle school class for the fall. He will not actually be in middle school yet, but the middle school class at church is 5th-8th grades. They did that because some of the 5th graders this year should have actually been 6th graders, because our school district several years ago implemented something called "Junior First" which meant that some kids had to go from Kindergarten to junior first then first grade, putting them a year behind where they should have been in school. Konnor did not go to junior first, so he is younger than most of the kids in his class. It is kind of confusing how it all works. Well, I should go make some breakfast. I like when I get up early sometimes because everyone is still sleeping and it is quiet.

I blogged already this morning but seemed to have trouble getting it to show up on my page so I am re-blogging. Is that a word? I met with my college advisor this morning and had her sign my graduation applications to graduate in the fall. It has been a long road, but I feel it is only the beginning. When I was taking a break from college for a while and Brian and I were going through fertility test after test in CA, a little voice told me that we wouldn't have a baby until I finished school. I don't know who that little voice was or if it was just my own conscience. We will see...

My husband, Brian, is my best friend. We have been together since we were 19. He has been away on business to Ireland and England this week and won't be home until after my birthday, so I am missing him. (He looks a little hairy in this picture. We were on vacation to Arizona May 3-10 and he forgot his shaver so he grew a beard instead.) :-) Konnor misses him too, but shows it in different ways. He doesn't come right out and say "I miss dad", but for instance, Brian bought a new wallet while we were on vacation and gave his old wallet to Konnor to keep. Konnor has carried Brian's old wallet in his pocket almost everyday. The dogs look around the house for Brian. They look at me like they know someone is missing. Anyway, it is just funny because after 12 years together, I love him more and more everyday. I think we are closer than ever now than we were when we were first married.