Saturday, April 9, 2011

Snow Angels and dog

 Yesterday we went to the snow. It was Christopher's first time and he was a bit nervous when he was first placed on the snow bank. After we showed him it was okay and that the snow wasn't going to hurt him, he starting having a lot of fun!




Christopher even made a snow
angel! It was adorable! He didn't really know what he was doing, just that it made all of us coo and awe over him doing it and that always makes him happy.


 Here's my attempt at a snow angel. Ben spared the world from seeing me in action and decided the after-effect was much nicer. I agree. :) I was kind of out of practice at making snow angels...


 Here's the snowman Ben made. We were all laughing afterwards. The eyes and buttons were made from pieces of asphalt! Yikes! The next picture is of Christopher trying not to touch the snowman. Just after this shot was done, the poor snowman had a tumble...sad...
And finally, here's the dog! Not our dog but a dog that was across the street in this fenced-off area (we had pulled off the highway because Christopher had thrown-up). The dog ran up to the fence and was jumping up and down to see people having so much fun. It escaped under the fence and came bounding for us. It was a completely harmless dog. He just wanted someone to play with and a baby (which he licked non-stop). We played with him a bit until he found something dead buried in the snow and rolled in it. By then it was time to go. So we led the dog back across the street and hoped it would find the person that brought him. He was a sweet dog and if we didn't already have a new dog, I would have brought him home. Oh well.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Loo Loo over Lucie (my dog)

Lucie is my funny little dog that is very much a part of our family now. We've had her for over a month now, but it feels like she's been with us forever.
I still can't believe I even have a dog. I mean, the last time I had a canine to call my own was almost 10 years ago!
By far, Lucie is the largest dog I've had. My first dog was a Low Rhodesian Ridge-back Labrador Retriever (try saying that three times fast). Then I had a Rottweiler-Basset that we used to say the father was the basset (true story). Now I have Lucie who is a Black Lab/Border Collie mix. A fine specimen of boisterous affection and incredible tolerance! I say tolerance, because Christopher simply loves to cuddle her in his own rough and tumble way. I don't have a picture of this special kind of love because it only lasts a few seconds. You have to be here in person to witness it in all its cuteness glory!
  And SPEAKING of cute! How could I post something describing someone who brings never-ending joy and suffering to my life without showing new pictures of him?!
 Here are a few photos of Christopher doing some of his favorite pastimes.


Giggling....



Showing off his tummy...(I don't know why he loves doing this so much, but it's cute)

And posing for the camera...
If the camera is out, he stands in front of you until you take his picture, then he wants to see the picture you just took to make sure you didn't just make the "clicking" noise to fool him. He also thinks/knows he is cute and wants immediate evidence that I got his good side. I'm in trouble!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

School is school...isn't it?


I am attending University of Phoenix and up until recently, I was feeling pretty good about my decision to attend this college. I was proud that even though I was/am going through some tough times, I was/am still willing to try and better myself and hopefully the future of my children. 

I completely understand that
the University of Phoenix is no Harvard,
but I always thought a higher education
is a higher education. It doesn't matter
where it comes from, or does it?
  I have been doing a bit of research on the stigma online colleges have gotten and I kind of understand it, to a degree. I mean, so what if the people that attend such schools don't exactly look the part of a fancy college student?! Shouldn't we be more proud and feel better about "those kinds of people" because they are trying to better themselves and in return bettering our community? At least the kinds of people others imagine those who attend online colleges, are not out there taking advantage of the system. Even if they are on some kind of government assistance, wouldn't their attempt to go to college show some effort of being off of assistance once they are done? That's what it means to me!
  Look, I know that some of my "classmates" have some incredible life stories, but they are trying to turn their lives around, trying to make it so they can possibly qualify for a chance at a better life. 
  My online schooling is equivalent to a "brick and mortar" school. The only differences, really, are the way the school is scheduled. I don't have a wild and crazy Spring break (I'm too busy in school). I don't have an awesome Summer vacation planned (I'm too busy in school). My courses are the same, they're just broken up a bit differently. And if I wanted to go crazy in Florida or have an awesome time in Disneyland, I can, because school can come with me anywhere I want it to!

Monday, April 4, 2011

*gush* versus BIG HEAD

I am at my 6th week in my second set of classes at school. I have a math class and an English class. Math is fine, but English is killing me (when I say killing me, I mean instead of having an A+ in the class I have a B+). I have been working hard to get my grade up to that glorious A and by doing so it has made my teacher notice my class activity more. I get more comments on my posts than anyone else in my English class and I have been getting a lot of positive feedback from my teacher. This is the reason for my gushing versus BIG HEAD issue. 
When the teacher says nice things about the topics I write about, it makes me gush. When I am further encouraged it gives me a BIG HEAD along with the gushing. It makes me feel smart (especially when the other students chime in with the teacher).
What's even more fun is that this is beginning to happen in my math class as well! Every time I see that the teacher has made a comment on my post I squeal like a little girl (on the inside...sometimes) and I feel all special and smart. 
Now, am I cool or just a dork...or both? You decide! :)

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Bruised Baby and the Nightstand

You may not be able to see in this photo, but the entire left side of my beautiful boy's face is black and blue. The other day, while jumping and cuddling (sometimes this is the same thing) on my bed, Christopher decided to go for broke and take a flying leap believing whole-heartily that I would catch him (even though I was facing a different direction entirely). Unfortunately I did not and he and his wonderfully cute little face met the corner of my big and bulky nightstand...and then the floor. This resulted in about an hour of fitful cries, lots of snuggles and comforting songs, ice packs, kisses and tissues.
After all of that, Christopher's face began to swell and he had cut his cheek. In the ensuing days, his face became darker in the affected areas and now look as if I beat my child. THEN came today where he thought it would be a good idea too see if he could "fake fall" off his step stool in the bathroom. He could not and landed on his head, which now has a huge lump on the front of it. Christopher has finally gotten used to having an icepack on his face and so laid calmly while having one on his head this morning.
 These are pictures of my new/old nightstand. We've had this in the garage for a while waiting for the right time to make it pretty and put in the house. After Christopher's fall, I wanted to downsize the clunky nightstand that is currently residing by my bedside, to something smaller and more manageable. We painted them a sort of "robin's egg blue" because that alongside a chocolate brown would be very nice. Those are the colors we eventually will be turning into our lovely retreat room (aka master bedroom).
The nightstand was originally peeling-paint white and was a junk-pile find. Now it is a lovely shade of a blue sort of color. Later we hope to find a complimentary piece for Ben's side of the bed. My other hope is maybe this one won't do as much damage to my precious little guy's face when next he decides to collide with it.