A family update...

Addie:  I am sick.  I hung out with Grandma in the morning yesterday and when Dad came home from work early I was happy to nap on and off in his arms.  I was so tired that I had no problem telling my caregivers when it was time for a nap.  "Nigh-Nigh" I'd say.  I slept a good portion of the night last night on top of mom, acting as her little space heater with my temperature of 102.5.  And when I wasn't sleeping, I was keeping mom and dad awake with my screams, it's just painful to feel this way.

Jackson: I grew an inch and a half in the last three months, pretty soon I'm going to be taller than dad.  I've been working on listening lately and am hoping to earn enough stickers so that I can have a pet rat.  I can earn a sticker each day if I don't have any accidents or timeouts at school.  The last two weeks have gone well, but yesterday my friend Riley and I were stinkers.  When our teachers asked up to line-up to go inside after recess, Riley and I hid behind the storage shed.  Our friends filed back inside to the classroom and no one knew we'd been left behind until we peaked out from behind our hiding spot and another teacher inside the building saw our heads pop up.  I got in hot water for this stunt!

Sara: I'm experiencing the post-vacation-back-to-work-blues.  School is really difficult this term and I'm going to struggle keep my status on the dean's list at school.  I have some fun things to look forward to soon though; a night of scrapbooking with friends, a dinner out with old girlfriends and a casino stay with our friends Libby and Cory to celebrate our anniversary.  I'm looking forward to spring and hoping to start the painting/decorating process again in the house.

Ron is strapped with a few home repairs lately, keeping a close eye on our sump-pump and replacing our microwave.  He's been very busy at work and his hours will only be increasing over the next months.  Softball season is coming up and the family looks forward to getting out and watching some of his games.  He's gotten me hooked on watching seasons of Californication, we are almost caught up though, so we'll have more time in the evenings to get a few more things done and Ron will want to spend more time in the garage.

Wordless Wednesday (Kiss!)...

Can you do this?

What Jackson is up to (in pictures)...

Making Spongebob a new home.

Making pineapple mango icecream.

Listening to mom's iPod.

Coloring snow.

Writing his name.

Riding his bike.

Planting our seedlings with dad.

Finger (hand) painting.

Playing hide and seek.

What Addiebean is up to (in pictures)...

Rocking in her chair with her baby.

Helping to empty the dishwasher.

Loving Pedronilla (the doll we brought back from Cozumel).

Managing the stairs on her own.

Playing and eating Cheerios.

Reading stories.

Riding bike!

Giant R2-D2

Ron and the kids drove me into work this morning and as we drove in front of the MN State Capitol building Jackson got excited.  He was reminded of the field trip with school there in December and then he said "that's the building that looks like a big R2-D2.  It sure does, doens't it?

Random thoughts...

There is so much going on right now that I feel like it's overwhelming to blog about what goes on in our lives.

Ron's dad went into a nursing home a few weeks ago.  Jackson and I have still yet to get over to his new digs for a visit.  That is going to have to be a priority soon.

Coming back from vacation I had 1603 emails to tend to.  That is ridiculous.

I am in a Quantitative Management course this round, so far it's all statitistics.  It's going to kick my arse and keep me up nights pulling out my hair.  (that should be fun)

I'm old.  I went dancing last night with girlfriends.  I was wearing more clothes and less makeup than anyone in the joint, except the dudes.  My dance moves do not involve poles and I'm not willing to be filmed to be on a commerical  for the bar.

Ron is at a movie with Cory and I'm going to stop writing now so that I can enjoy at least one episode of United States of Tara before I fall asleep.

The Cruise

Holy Moly -- This is probably the longest this blog has ever gone without a post.  I'll tell you why.

On March 4 we left for a Caribbean cruise and before I could go I needed to complete all of my semester's school work a week early.  So the week before we left I was working long hours, working all my evening hours to get school work done and working to get me and the kids packed for a week away.

We did not take the kids on the cruise but they needed to be packed for adventures with Grandmas, Grandpas and Cousins. We took the cruise with some of our friends, Libby, Cory, Holly and Pete.  Our adventure started out in Miami, FL where we stayed at the LaQuinta - Airport and by Airport they mean Airport.  The planes took off over the hotel pool and by take-off I mean so close you could see the pores on noses of people INSIDE the airplane! 

We (minus Ron, he spent the day sick in the hotel room) spent the day out at the pool, pausing our conversation everytime a plane went overhead.  I think the airport allows planes to take off every five minutes... so you can imagine how the conversations went!  Sometimes we would shout over the plane engine noise but it was more fruitful to just pause and wait.  In the evening we took the shuttle to the airport to find the J bus that took us 30 minutes to South Beach!  Where the saying of the evening was "we are in miami, bitches".  Well there weren't a lot of bitches in Miami the week we were there was actually a Gay Pride Celebration of sorts... and the city was flooded with a lot of hot, shirtless gay boys!  We ate dinner in South Beach and roamed the streets before Ron's cold got the best of him and we took a cab back to the hotel so the others could stay out and enjoy the city a bit more.

On Sunday morning we took a shuttle to the Port of Miami to board the Carnival Valor for a 7 day Western Caribbean cruise. We swam with stingrays in Grand Cayman, layed on a beautiful beach and snorkeled in Isla Roatan, Honduras, tubed through caves in Belize and bar-hoped in Cozumel. I'll share more of our vacation in coming days. But for now I will leave you with a few pictures from the vacation.