It always seems like the fall months go by so fast. Life is streaming by like a blur. I have been busy studying for my test next week, taking care of Paul, the house, the kids, Matthew had a little surgery on his mouth so I have been taking care of him. Running around doing errands and shopping. Usually we have all our Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving and our tree up on Saturday after Thanksgiving. We only have 3 presents and our tree is still snug in the closet upstairs. Laundry is piling up. Monday I am watching someones son while they go to a doctor's appointment and then I am studying the rest of the day and taking Ethan to gymnastics. Tuesday, I am helping this lady out that has 4 kids for 2 hours then I have a meeting for the primary kids for church, then I am going to study with what is left of that day and take Connor to tennis. Wednesday I take the test. Thursday I am going up to my sisters house and taking Connor and Matthew to tennis, Friday, I am going to start getting ready for our Disney Cruise. Saturday, finish packing and get the oil changed in the car. That night we are going to go out with our neighbors who her husbands birthday is the same day as mine, for dinner. Then Sunday we leave for our cruise. And will come back Friday night or Saturday. Phew!! Some where we got to get our decorations out and finish shopping. I hate waiting till the last minute because everything is picked over and you can't find anything! Busy Busy Busy!!

So, as you can see, his nose is straight and VERY swollen still and so is his face but still an improvement. The real test will be if he will be able to breathe normally when it all heals up!

I seriously can't wait until he is all healed and back to normal....(and gets a hair cut too!)

We watched Stripes tonight and it was cute. We also watched Evan Almighty last night and it was a good movie. The kids liked it. They also watched Shrek the third which they also liked. I watched Licensed to Wed after they went to bed and it was super funny in the beginning and okay at the end. There was a lot of laugh out loud stuff and then the funny stuff tapered off at the end but it was good. I wouldn't rank it up in my "to buy" category but decent. I watched John Tucker Must Die tonight and it was funny and cute. I bought it for $4 as a used dvd.

I took the kids to the library today and we got a bunch of books. I took several days off of studying this week because of the kids being home but next week I am going to crack the whip and get it all done. I take the test in a couple of weeks.

Paul is the same today. He is not in much pain but pretty woozy and frustrated that things aren't healing faster.

That is about it today!

and I stayed far, far away from it all. The crowds, long lines and mad rush to grab all the deals does not appeal to me at all! This morning I cleaned the kitchen and put away a bunch of clutter piling up in certain spots. I vacuum, dusted, mopped and did laundry. Almost all the laundry is done. I did return some movies we had rented earlier this week and checked out some others. I rented Shrek the third, Evan Almighty, and License to Wed. I bought for $4 at the video store: The pelican brief, Blades of Glory(I laughed so hard when I saw this at the theater), Just Friends(another super funny one), The Holiday(which I absolutely loved) and Casino Royale(he is just eye candy), Catch and Release and Because I Said So. I helped Paige roller blade for a little bit, played monopoly with Paul and the kids and was the first to go bankrupt, and played chess with Paige. We have eaten leftovers all day and it has been low key.

Paul is still pretty woozy today but the swelling around his eyes has gone down and it has migrated to his cheeks. Now he has chipmunk cheeks. Poor guy. The bruising is already changing colors so that is good! Hopefully tomorrow he will be feeling quite a bit better. I took him off the pain killers and the muscle relaxers(Valium) since he didn't seem to need them and I am hoping he comes out of his zombie-like state soon. It is a little freaky to see him like this. I am just not sure anyone is home upstairs in his head!!

Over the past few days we have watched a couple of new movies and here they are:

Meet the Robinsons: cute
Eragon: the boys loved it but the book is 10 times better
Spongebob's Atlantis Squarepantis: the kids loved it
Hairspray: I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the message and thought it was really cute!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! It has been a crazy day getting everything ready. I have been taking care of Paul, cooking food, cutting the kids hair and doing dishes. Phew! We invited a co-worker of Paul's over to join us and so it was low key, but still lots of work. We had turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, corn, homemade rolls, fruit, and cornbread stuffing. I made a pumpkin pie and an apple pie. What is so funny is all the hours cooking and slaving in the kitchen and then in a matter of 45 minutes it is all over and all that is left is a ton of dishes. This is my 3rd load and then I washed all of the plates, bowls and silverware by hand(real silver and antique china set). It is now almost 5 and I just sat down for the first time! Phew! My respect for my mother just grows each year, not a word of complaint about how tired she was at the end of it all!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are geared up for shopping tomorrow!!!(I am definitely NOT going out but am going to stay here in my nice cozy house).

Well, Paul has broken his nose twice playing in turkey bowl football games and today, he had his nose re-broken and straightened and his deviated septum fixed. He is pretty much...miserable...very miserable. He has 2 black eyes(like both times he broke it) and he is very swollen. He will survive though...I hope!

Well, I survived the workshop and Phoenix! I have been worrying about the exam for the personal training and wondering if I am going to pass but after the workshop I am feeling much more confident! Paul of course had a great time with the kids and they loved every minute of it. He built ramps, played monopoly and the pheasant game, played chess, went bike riding with them and pretty much played with the kids all weekend. So all in all, it went good all around.

I am sick however now. Yesterday I think I picked up some viral something. Lost my voice, and generally feeling pretty yucky.

Paul is having surgery to finally straighten his nose out and fix his deviated septum. His surgery is tomorrow and needless to say, he is not being allowed to play in any turkey bowls this year!!! I will try and get a before and after shot!

Friday, Paul took a 1/2 day off of work and I got the kids out of school early and he took the boys camping. They roasted marshmallows and hunted for seashells by the beach and had a wonderful time.

I took Paige shopping and then we painted fingernails and toenails and I bought little foam rollers and curled her hair(something I have never done) and pretty much had a girly weekend. She loved the curls and it turned out very cute. Paul turned to melted butter when he saw her looking so cute.

I have spent a good deal of time studying and hope to have all my course material read before Thursday when I leave to go to the workshop. I am surprised at how out of practice my brain is from studying. I don't remember it being this hard!

Just a quick apology for my boring and un-interesting blogs. I have been so distracted by studying and getting things done. I will try to improve them more as soon as I pass this course!

Well, my life consists of studying and the gym. I am still sore often but have learned so much. The course work is super technical and the workouts are hard(and I thought I was already in shape). I had no idea there were so many ways to work out just one muscle! Next week I go to Phoenix for the workshop and am trying to get all the course material learned before I go so that the workshop will hopefully just make everything fall into place.

The kids are all doing good, nothing new.

Paul is doing good, nothing new.

My brother Eric and his wife Miquela stopped by yesterday on their move up to Pennsylvania and it was fun to visit with them.

I broke out in an itchy rash all over the back of my hands Tuesday night and have been drugged up on benadryl since then. I think it is a little better today. Not so itchy. It is hard to workout on Benadryl, absolutely no energy.

That is about it for now!

Wow, this has been a crazy week! I gained two surrogate sons this week, aged 15 and 16. They are tennis players and were here for a tournament. We were a host family. They were a lot of fun and very good kids. They are endorsed by Nike, and are on scholarship to the USTA tennis academy and are top ranked for their ages, cool huh? I ran them to and from the courts and fed them breakfast and dinner. They played with the kids and were typical teenagers. They were so good about going to bed at 10 and eating good while they were playing the tournament. I was very impressed! I watched some of their matches and was very impressed!
Paul was out of town this week so I did trick or treating this week on my own. Matthew passed out candy and I took the kids around(Matthew didn't want to go this year) It was fun seeing Ethan, Connor and Paige running around from house to house!

On Saturday I did CPR certification for Adults, Infants and children and AED training(how to use a defibrillator). I need the certification to take the test for the CPT course I am taking. Paul is home now and it is such a relief! He was gone for 9 days. Well I have two weeks to crack the whip and learn my course material before I go to Arizona so it will be a busy two weeks.