Two weeks of mom-hood

Right now I am on a two-week break from school.....it is heaven.  I am going to enjoy every minute.  Yesterday was a visit to Shriner's with Mason, and it went so well.  Every time I go there I am reminded how grateful I am that Mason is so functional, and that his little orthopedic problem is so slight, especially considering what the doctors told us at first.  My heart is always bursting when we go to Shriner's and see all the wonderful kids that struggle with such serious disabilities.  I love the way everyone is treated at Shriner's, it is so kid-centered and such a happy place.  Anyway, the doctor said that as long as we keep encouraging Mason to utilize his left leg fully, and keep him active that we are accomplishing as much or more that physical therapy or even surgery could do.  We are in a big "left, right, left, right" campaign to get him to use both legs going up and down the stairs, or any other climbing and it is working.  His left leg is getting bigger and more muscular, and he seems to be developing the habit of using it instead of favoring it so much.  Next is to get him to ride his little trike, that will do wonders for his left leg.  After Shriner's I took him to McDonald's and he went nuts playing and climbing.  He got a bloody nose however and by the time I got him to come out of the tunnels he looked like he had been in a slaughterhouse.  Gross.  He had fun though, the little girls he was playing with were pretty grossed out, but they seemed to forgive him after we cleaned him up as good as we could. 
I am waiting anxiously for my big kids to come home and visit for a while.  Kasey will come home for a week and will see Karly's play - Bye Bye Birdie.  Karly does a lot of dancing and singing and her claim to fame is her one line..... something about boats, I can't quite remember.  DJ will be home for over a month before his mission and I can't wait for him to be home.  He will get to spend lots of quality time with Dad as he is officially getting his OTHER knee replaced in May.  Bummer, but a good thing because he is in pain all the time, and a little cranky.  With DJ here he can entertain and keep Dad company some of the time, though we did play some decent Scrabble games during his recuperation from the last knee replacement.  I swore I would go to the gym every day during break, so it is off to yoga class for me........ 

It's almost finals week!!!

In just two weeks I will be done with my second semester of graduate school - YEAH!!  Two more to go and then fieldwork for 6 months; fieldwork doesn't even count, that will be a breeze after these classes, (at least I hope so, it can't be any harder). It is a good thing that I have Mr. Jim around, he is my proofreader, researcher, shoulder to cry on, and all-around Mr. mom when I need him to be.  Maybe he is just imagining that paycheck I might someday bring home if I actually make it through this program. I get two whole weeks off between semesters and my list of things to do is long, I can't wait.  I am going to tackle an Easter gingerbread house, actually clean my house, and take Mason on all kinds of fun outings - I might even exercise!  It will be over too soon, of that there is no doubt. 

 So, in an earlier post I had mentioned that I thought spring was here.....WRONG.  I have taken a picture to document the wrongness of my statement.  Suffer with me - please.

 First, let me just say here that when my kids get tired they get irrational, emotional, just plain weird.  So, I go into the computer room to get something and this is what I encounter.  My daughter is curled up in a ball under the computer hutch.  For real, this isn't staged.  She has been working on a paper all evening and has given up and crawled under the compter hutch.  She thought I had gone to bed so she wouldn't be seen in her misery.  Sigh......so sad.  She finished her paper on Huckleberry Finn (thanks mom!) and got some much-needed sleep soon after.  Silly children.




 

 I just like this picture - looking at it makes me happy.

And of course, I need my obligatory Mason pic.  He can sure pucker up and give good kisses - we all demand our share.