Going's On and MMMM

So I'm finally back to a five day work week.  Had a few four day weeks there what with back to school, the holiday and then Bruiser pulling a mild fever.  So this is my first Monday in forever it seems.  Not that Tuesday didn't try it's best to be Monday's clone.  Any way, want to know what our weekend was all about?  Sure you do.
Friday was very laid back for us as Nick was hunting and I was home hanging with the boys. I powered through the laundry and kept the boys happy.
Saturday, I grocery shopped and then did more laundry.  Folding was waiting for me--I hate the folding part. Nick got home about noon and he was tired, but jazzed about the animals he had seen.  He still hasn't hit on the magic combo of location, timing, animals, and opportunity yet, but he's getting closer. He is at least seeing the elk and deer he is hunting, just not close enough to get a shot with his bow. Maybe this next week...
Anyway we have a very old--like from 2000/2001--handheld GPS.  It still works, but we have miss placed the cord that lets us download the point from it and it is slow to find the satellites.  Also thick cover, or clouds and it claims there are no satellites to find and pouts that we don't have it out in perfect conditions. So Nick decided that he would like to get a new handheld GPS for not only hunting, but field work and such.  So off the Cheyenne to look for what he wanted.  He found a very nice one.  A Garmin 62s, and he got the topo chip to go with it.  He played with it all the way home.

Sunday was a total be a bum day.  I finished up the sheets and towels, even got them folded.  We really didn't do anything at all. Sometimes you need those down days.  In the evening we watched Jurassic Park: The Lost World.  Turbo agrees with us that the movie is not so good. But now he's seen it and knows why we don't have it.  We will stick with Jurassic Park I & III.  Much more watchable movies.

So now on to MMMM.  It's a freebie week, so let's see, what have I been rocking to lately:
Rascal Flatts with Payback:

Jason Aldean with Burnin' it Down:

 Lady Antebellum with Bartender:

Enjoy!

Friday 5--Brrrr!

Time for Friday!  Woo Hoo! The week is almost over! Now for Emmy Mom's Friday 5:
5 thoughts:

1. It snowed here last night.  Not much, other places in Wyoming got far more than we did, but we still had snow on the cars and roofs this morning.  And it's totally freezing out there. It was time to get out the big coats this morning.  And find the ear muffs and gloves.
2. I have finally solved the issue of Bruiser's shoes.  At our house Bruiser's bedroom and Nick and my bedroom are in the basement.  This makes keeping Bruiser's shoes in his room complicated.  So I found a basket to put by the door for him to put his shoes in.  He does pretty good at putting his shoes there when he comes home.  We are run around in your socks people so it works out well as he sheds his shoes as he enters the house anyway.  So far it's working well.  By the time his shoes won't fit in the basket, other arrangements for his bedroom will have been made.
3. Well Turbo figured out the girl's name who asked him out.  They are "going out" now.  She's cute and at this stage it's all pretty innocent. I think he's sort of getting a kick out of the whole thing, but there was one girl who told everyone about it and Turbo was less than pleased.  We told him we live in a small town, things have a way of getting around.  Better to learn that now, rather than later with something more serious.
4. I have fallen a bit off the wagon as far as the 30 day shred, but I am still doing something.  Any type of movement helps to combat the fact that I sit all day at work.  Got to make the jeans fit right and if I can get into a habit, I might survive the winter without increasing my backside by so much.
5. Bruiser has started making noises about Halloween and what he might want to be.  Nothing definite yet.  Turbo is on the fence about Halloween.  On one hand CANDY, on the other, being cool.  We shall see which one wins.  I'm thinking this year the candy will win.

5 Pictures:

Not much snow, but still some on the car.

Still pretty psyched about the Monster Trucks.

Bruiser with the sweatshirt the drivers signed.

What Nick is doing right now, stalking the mighty Elk.

They excel in making me crazy, but I love the little stinkers.

What up for you today and this weekend?  Link up a Friday 5 with Emmy Mom!

Spin Cycle--Secret

So this week the Spin Cycle is all about secrets.

I think I'm pretty good at keeping secrets.  Although I do let some things spill--especially if there is a long time between my knowing the secret and the revealing of the secret.  We tried to keep the destination of our end of summer trip a secret from the boys, but we spilled it way earlier than we wanted to.
I do much better with Christmas surprises and birthday surprises. Keeping secrets about gifts is easy.  Keeping them hidden is much harder. Last year I had gotten Nick a range finder for archery hunting and had kept it a secret and had it wrapped and under the tree.  Then Thullee attacked the tree and some of the gifts under it. Awesome.  That spilled the beans, but Nick was excited anyway.
Nick is far better at keeping secrets than I am.  He has a real gift for sincerity in what he tells people, even if he's lying through his teeth.  He's gotten me once or twice about Christmas presents.
My mother is awful at keeping secrets, especially if it has something to do with a gift she is giving.  She does not wrap presents. She doesn't give the boys toys. But she is generous with them in clothing, gift cards for video games, and her time.  The last one is the most important.
We are entering a whole new world of secret keeping with Turbo approaching teenager years.  He's already got a girl he's "going out" with.  At this stage, it's not much more than identifying as being a couple in school.  I think he might have her phone number, but I'm not sure.  He told me about her asking him and he was not sure he wanted Nick to know, but after he had talked to me he was OK with Dad knowing.  At least he doesn't feel the need to keep secrets from us.  We have tried to be open and supportive. So far it's working.
Can you keep a secret?  Or are you a spill the beans kind of person?
Put your spin on it and join Gretchen and Ginny Marie, they would love to have you!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

And go for questions:
1. On Thursday we pause to remember a dark day in history-9/11. Will you mark it in some special way? We will probably discuss with the boys what happened, especially Turbo.  The should know what happened, but we won't get too graphic with Bruiser.  He still a bit young for all the images. I know Nick and I will both remember where we were and how we learned of the attacks.

2. Do you ever/still...listen to an actual radio? Watch a videotape (VCR)? Look up a number in a phonebook? Refer to a paper map while traveling? Set an alarm on an alarm clock as opposed to your phone? I listen to the radio in the car all the time.  At home we listen to the radio when the college football team is playing and in the morning in the winter when weather is bad for school status. WE don't have a VCR anymore.  I often look up numbers in the phone book for businesses--we live in a small town and it's easier sometimes. Nick has taken to using his phone for an alarm clock, but I still use my bedside alarm when I need to get up unusually early. We do use the paper map for long trips, but I like the phone map ap for city driving.

3.  Is it ever a good idea to discuss religion or politics with people you don't know? Nope.  Feelings run far too high and we get in enough trouble discussing these things with people we know, so I don't like to go into it with people we don't know.

4. What's a dish you haven't eaten all summer, but come September find yourself craving? Have you made it yet this month? Soup.  The heavy comfort soups of Clam chowder, stew, chili, and sausage lentil. Casseroles like lasagna, potato, cheese and ham, Chicken Cordon Bleu, and really anything baked. I ahve not goten to making any of them yet, but it will come soon, as we have been threatened with snow tomorrow night.

5. What's something you know nothing about? Ice Hockey. Auto racing. Car repair. Golf. All of these are things I know nothing about. Oh I can recognize them, but be asked to do any of them and it's most definitely a no go.

6. September is Classical Music Month. Do you like classical music? If so, what's your favorite piece? I like classical music for background music, but could not pick out a favorite.  My biggest exposure was Bugs Bunny growing up, so really anything they used as background in the cartoons?

7. What's the oldest thing you own? That I actually own?  I have a kerosene lamp that has turned purple with sun exposure.  It is at least 100 years old, as to turn purple the glass had to have magnesium added to it during the creation process. It is a lovely lamp and we do use it during power outages.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. My handy hubby, Nick, was able to fix our leaking toilet Monday night.  Instead of having to call the plumber to replace the guts of the toilet, we were able to go purchase the new guts and Nick was able to replace them with only a small amount of hassle.  I love having a handy hubby!

Turbo Times

Turbo is navigating the ins and outs of middle school.  In some ways he's dealing well with the changes.  In others, it's more challenging.
The school work seems to be coming to him much more easily than it did last year.  He is not as afraid of writing.  Blank pages and a writing assignment don't send him into a panic. It's good to see him writing, misspellings and all.
He is enjoying French class so far.  He likes to tell us the words he is learning.  It is a nice review for Nick, who took French when he was in middle school and high school. He is remembering the basics and he is able to help Turbo with pronunciation.
The social aspect is proving to be more trouble.  There has been some trading of action figures, and Turbo, not being as savvy on the uptake as some, has gotten the short end of the stick on some of them.  He was so very upset the other day over it.  My first instinct was to charge in and make it right, but then I decided that letting him talk it out, offering advice and Letting him determine how to move forward was probably better.

Kids need to learn from these incidents.  Navigating the ins and outs of the social world of pre-teens and teens is never easy.  I know I was baffled by it for years. At least he's a boy and there is a level of sanity that is absent from girl interactions.
However, he has been the object of attention from said girls.  Last week a girl asked him "out".  He came home and was in mild shock that a girl liked him.  He seems to have dealt with it well.  He did not give her a definite answer, but told her he would get back to her about the question.
The funny thing is, he doesn't remember her name. About three schools were brought together to make up the 6th grade immersion class at the middle school here.  There are two or three other schools who will send more seventh graders next year.  This girl was a girl that went to another grade school, so Turbo is not familiar with her.  He thinks he might like her, so we shall see where this goes.
A whole new world is opening up for Turbo.  So far, even though it is early in the game, he seems to be doing OK. I just hope it continues to go well for him. After all this kid is a pretty great kid, even if I am a bit biased.

I'm joining up with Shell for Pour Your Heart Out.

Monster Trucks, Mountain Drives and Family Time

We had quite the weekend.  Mine got extended because Bruiser had a fever yesterday, with a cough and stuffy nose.  He's better today.  Still coughing a bit, but there's no keeping him quiet, so off to school he goes.
To recap the weekend:

• Friday we were supposed to go to the Monster Truck show.  However Mother Nature decreed a Weather delay to Sunday.  We had a crashing lightening storm that knocked out power for a moment at our house and tons of rain. It wasn't bad that the show got postponed.  Nick was able to go with us to the show on Sunday.
• Saturday I grocery shopped, hung out with the kiddos and Nick came home from hunting.  He didn't get anything this weekend, but he did at least see the animals he was hunting, just not close enough to take a shot.  He had fun though.
• Sunday was a drive in the mountains.  Semi hunting, but really just family time in the place we love the best.  We found a couple roads we hadn't been down in a long time and some places we want to take the four wheelers next summer.
• Sunday afternoon we went to the high light of the weekend, as far as the boys were concerned anyway.  It was loud, dusty, exciting, and fun.  It was Monster Trucks!

Yep.  Pretty awesome all the way around.  It was a great way to send out the weekend.

Friday Five--Routine?

So it Friday!

Time for the Friday 5.
5 thoughts:

1. Tonight I am bravely taking the boys to see the Monster Trucks.  Nick is still hunting, so it's just me, but we will manage.  As long as Turbo can help me keep track of Bruiser and Bruiser doesn't freak over the loud noises, we should be fine. 
2. I am on day 5 of the 30 Day Shred.  My muscles are finally not so sore and I'm getting the hang of the moves. Still only on level 1, but I have plans to go to Level 2 on day 11.  Sunday will be a week.  I do like it better than running.  I just wish Jillian didn't talk so much. I guess that's the trouble with DVDs.  They do get a bit repetitive.
3. Nick is getting closer to the elk.  Yesterday they got to 100 yards.  The need to be more like 50-60 yards to take a shot with their bows, but at least they are seeing the animals they are hunting. I have my fingers crossed that he will be able to get one for our freezer.
4. We are kind of settling into a routine.  I have been cooking dinner.  I have been exercising regularly.  The boys are going to school, and loving it so far.  Nick going hunting has put a bit of a wrench in the system, but I'm managing.  Summer is fun, but I do appreciate the fall and the return of something resembling a schedule.
5. Turbo finally had homework this week.  He actually sat down and wrote in his comp book for an assignment.  He was finishing up work from class, but he sat and did it without major drama. Last year, a blank page terrified him.  Getting him to write was a major undertaking.  This year he was like Mom, I got this. So amazing to see him grasping stuff like this and making progress.

5 Pictures

Turbo in the hamster ball.

There he goes!

Bruiser playing music at the Back to School Bash in the Park.

Blanket Fort of Epic proportions!

Brothers hanging in the blanket fort.

Got a Friday 5?  Link it up with Emmy Mom!

Spin Cycle--Queen of the World

I am queen of my castle.  It truly helps that I am the only girl in the house (not counting the cat.  Talk to her and she is queen of the universe). Being the only girl is not so hard.  I'm not wildly girly.  I don't take 2 hours to get ready to go out, I don't have to have every hair in place, I don't wear makeup most of the time.
There are times when I have to fly my girl flag though. 

I got raspberry (or hot pink) crocs.  A small expression of the fact I am a girl.  Turbo won't steal these.
I paint my toes for the summer season.  When I can wear sandals and flip flops and such, I keep the toes painted. I can keep the polish there, where it never lasts on my fingernails. I indulge my shoe love and purse habit on occasion. Sometimes only with a long stroll through the purse department and shoe department.  This is even more fun when I can torture Turbo by dragging him with me.
Every now and then Nick will decree that I can choose the movie for movie night.  Something romantic, musical, or far more girly than what my guys would normally choose. There are groans from the peanut gallery, but they watch and usually find they enjoy them more than they think they will.  Good practice for when the girlfriends come along.
I rediscovered to joy of wearing a sundress this summer.  So light, cool and comfortable.  Also more girl like than the boys are used to seeing me.  Shorts and a t shirt have been the norm for a while now.
I did get to claim first dances with both my boys at a wedding we went to this summer:

Maybe a bit more encouraged, but still he did dance with me.

I also claimed Turbo's first ride on a Ferris wheel.

I know I am adored by my guys.  It's good to be the Queen in my castle.Who needs the world when you have such loyal subjects at home?
Are you Queen (or King) of your world? Put your spin on it and join Gretchen and Ginny Marie, they would love to have you!

Wednesday Hodgepodge--Back To School

Here we go:

1.  What's something you wanted to do this summer that you never got around to actually doing? We had wanted to get to Denver and take Bruiser to the Zoo.  He's never been there, at lest not when he could see out.  We went while I was pregnant but I don't think that counts...

2. Share a favorite memory of your own back -to-school days as a child. Back to school was always exciting--new clothes and new books and new classes/teachers. I really liked going to school--the social aspect less so. I think I really got into the groove of back to school in college--that was fun.

3.  What's one chore or daily task you prefer doing 'old-school' ? I wash our pot and pans and knives and such by hand.  I don't like what repeated dishwasher cycles does to them, so by hand it is.

4.  Share something you've learned in life through the 'school of hard knocks'. Do a job well, do it quickly and get it over with--especially if it's something you don't really like doing.

5.  As a child, did you mostly bring or buy your lunch for school? What was your favorite thing to find in your lunchbox? Hot lunch was normal for us until high school.  Once I had a car, we had an open campus for lunch and could eat where ever we liked. My mom had a tupperware lunch box system for me and it was never cool like the other kids had.  Taking my lunch was not something I really liked doing.

6. Football season is upon us which has me wondering... how big of a sports fan are you (not just football) ? On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being 'I scream at the players through my television screen' and 1 being 'is knitting a sport?' where do you fall in fandom?  I tend more toward the 1 end of the spectrum.  I like watching college football, but our team is seldom on TV and so we listen to the games on the radio, but I don't really know what is going on.  I watch the Superbowl, but that's more for the friends, snacks and commercials.

7. Share a favorite quote you think might inspire students of all ages at the start of a new school year. 

8. Insert your own random thought here. I am a bit worried about Turbo.  He keeps telling us that he has no homework.  I am skeptical at best.  But I guess it's up to him to do the work if he has it. We shall see how 6th grade goes.

What Holiday Weekend?

Yeah, about the weekend.  We really didn't do much that was exciting. Nothing really holiday weekend worthy anyway. But today is Tuesday adn that means random, so here we go:

• I started Jillian Michaels 30 day shred yesterday.  Today I am sore, but will do the routine again after work.  I hate jumping jacks.  Or, rather, my bladder hates jumping jacks.
• Nick went up hunting yesterday.  Archery season started yesterday.  He will be back up Wednesday night to hit the trails for the wily Elk or Deer.  I really hope he gets one or , even better, both.  Our freezer needs the meat.
• This:

• I accomplished laundry this weekend.  All of it, event eh sheets which I have a tendency to let sit until I need to change the sheets. Right now nothing is in my dryer.  It's amazing.
• I also cleaned the bathrooms.  Not top to bottom, but the tubs and sinks.  The toilets get cleaned next weekend. Cleaning for me goes in spurts like that.  I also have a tendency to clean when Nick is not home. He gets to come home to a clena nice smelling place that way.
• Monster Trucks are coming to our town.  I think I should take the boys.  Nick will be hunting but I think I can manage the boys at an event like that.  I hope anyway.
• We have lost Bruiser's glasses.  Or Bruiser lost his glasses.  Whatever, the glasses are no where to be found.  A trip to the eye doctor is in our future.

And on that high note, after a night of reduced sleep, thank you insomnia,  I will leave you witht eh encouragement to go join Stacy for random Tuesday!