Saturday, February 26, 2011

Fort

Ashleigh went to a sleepover last night so Preston and I played and made a couple of forts out of the couch cushions. He loved it and then decided he wanted to sleep in the fort, so we set it up all around him and he slept in it all night. What a fun kid!





packing

Nick documents a bit of the results of on of our packing days. We've been able to get a LOT done so there will be a lot less for me to do while Nick is gone for 3 months. Definitely relieves a lot of stress for me. :-) I have a feeling our house won't be completely clean again, but I try as best I can to still make it livable at least!


All the pictures are off the walls...

And our front room is starting to fill up with boxes and bins.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

How nice

The kids in Ashleighs class at school wrote something nice about each of their classmates. This is what they wrote about her. I love it.... I remember getting one of these when I was in young womens at church and I cherished it! We've put it in Ashleigh's memory box. :-)

Random

The start of our packing...



Randy, Juli and Nick fixing our washing machine.



What Preston loves to do...Play Thomas the Train games

I made some garlic-butter breadsticks

We got this Karate outfit for Ashleigh a few months after we moved to Utah...and now it fits Preston.

Adorable little man



Visiting my parents last weekend. Decorating Valentine cookies.


Valentine's Day

True to tradition, Nick got both the kids (and me) their valentine's... He got Ashleigh this little toy from hallmark, a candy bar, and a rose.


He got Preston a Snoopy toy from Hallmark, and a candy bar.

I didn't think Nick was going to get me anything, but when I got in my car to go to work, there was a single rose on my steering wheel. :-) awwww... What a great hubby I have.

The night before, while Nick was at work, I heart-attacked his side of our room and wrote words that I think describe him on each of the hearts.

I also made a heart wreath with words that describe Ashleigh and put it on her wall in her room too.
We didn't go anywhere, or do anything very exciting, but we were all together when I got home from work and that was good enough for me.

We're moving...

The things I love about Utah:

Most of my family members live here
Nick's parents live here
Ashleigh is going to an amazing charter school
Ashleigh and Preston have really really good friends
Nick and I both work at jobs that we really like
We live in a house that we LOVE
We feel safe and comfortable in our little neighborhood
The storms are amazing to watch
etc...

We've had really really good times here...but likewise we've had really really really really bad times here too. These are personal to us, and things we won't be sharing with anyone else, but just know...they were bad.

So, what do we do to make this year GREAT???

Well, I think we've figured it out... Nick got a job offer from OMS today-the company he worked for before we moved to Utah.

It's a good offer.

Its more money than he is currently making. His income there would be more than what he AND I are making here in Utah. Then when I get a job in WA/OR too, we'll be making about 15k/yr more than we are now. That's huge incentive...much like the money was a huge incentive for us to move from WA to UT 4 years ago.

So, we're moving....

Nick is leaving in just under 2 weeks. He'll be living with family friends for the 3 months that he'll be gone.

We'll be apart for 82 days....

In 10 years of marriage we've only been apart for 10 days at the most. This is going to be hard on both of us.

He's going to be away from us, he won't be able to see his kids or me...he'll, in a sense, be a bachelor again. Living all alone and fending for himself. He'll have to do his own laundry, make all his own meals, keep himself entertained, etc...

I'll be away from the one person in the world that I feel 100% myself with...I'll be a single mom, sole person responsible for taking care of the house, keeping the kids fed and clothed and happy.

I need to be strong for my kids.

Ashleigh is emotional like I am. I know it'll be hard to be strong for her, when I'll want to sit and cry like a baby too.

I can do it.

Preston has no clue what is really going on. I tell him that daddy is leaving and will be gone for a really really long time, but he just goes back to playing with his trains and doesn't even realize that daddy will be gone for longer than just 1 night at work.

I know that this is a small thing in comparison to those who's spouses have gone to war for a year or more...or who's spouses have died suddenly and they didn't even have time to prepare for the loss. At least we get to prepare...We have some time together...we get to say good bye to each other...we will be able to be together again. It's a small sacrifice...but it's still hard for us.


Ashleigh and I made a link-chain today...one link for every day daddy will be gone. 82 links in all. I didn't realize how long the chain would be. 82 days...11 weeks....almost 3 months... March, April, and May. I think it'll be good for the kids, and me, to be able to remove a link every night before bed and watch it get smaller and smaller and know that we will all be together again soon.

We'll be back together on May 25th.

I'm grateful that my kids are older and are big helpers to each other and to me and they will be my little companions. I'm glad I'll have them around to keep my mind occupied...makes me sad for Nick that he'll be alone. He'll have friends in WA and my sister's family, but there's nothing quite like having your spouse around to make you truly feel better. We are each others best friends...we know things about each other that no one else knows. And we like it that way...

I'm going to miss my best friend.

Very very much.

I love you, Nick!!! Xoxo

Thursday, February 3, 2011

a BIG (snip) day for Nick

We finally decided it was time for Nick to get a Vasectomy. And boy was he excited about it! ;-)

Actually he was a pretty good sport about it and was nervous, but overall didn't mind getting it done.

On Monday the 31st, I worked until 1pm. We picked up Ashleigh at school and we took both kids to Kev N Jana's. (THANK YOU!)

Nick got annoyed with me taking his picture while we waited for Ash at school.

We actually got to the doctors about 10 minutes early, but the doctor was running late...so I took a picture of Nick while we waited...he looks deep in thought and very nervous.

We finally got in to the procedure room 30 min after our appt time and then waited another 15 min for the doctor. It's not a good idea to make a man wait even LONGER to get his nuts cut--as Nick so affectionately calls it. lol. Poor guy probably would have been MUCH more nervous if it weren't for his Xanax which calmed him down, made him sleepy, and gave him an "I don't care" attitude.
I was told by the receptionist a few days before that I wasn't allowed to be in the room to watch.
Bummer.
But I came on the day of the vasectomy with some questions for the doctor so they let me go back with Nick just so I could ask the questions. hee hee...the doctor let me stay!!! :-) he said as long as I didn't faint, I could stay. It was SO interesting to watch and it was nice to SEE that those tubes were cut, cauterized, and sewed shut!!! Woo hoo!!!

Afterward, nick was numb and drugged up from the Xanax so he was a bit wobbly when he walked and slightly slurred his words when he talked...but mostly he just looked like he wanted to sleep. (pic-in the elevator)

Nick talked to me a bit on the way home asking about the surgery and what I saw, how they did it, etc. He was texting his mom and some other people and he even ordered pizza for dinner. Then he started singing a very strange made up song and the next thing I know, he's sound asleep-snoring! I drive a 5-speed and his knee was shoved up against the stick shift so I had to keep shoving his knee out of the way so I could drive--he didn't even budge. he was completely out of it!
(pic-in the car on the way home)
I got him home, woke him, helped him to bed, and gave him a Percocet to help with the pain once the numbing wore off, and gave him some frozen peas. Nick slept until 10pm. He decided at midnight that he was hungry and instead of waking me to get him some food, he went downstairs to get some of the pizza and a new frozen bag of peas. Poor guy could have fallen down the stairs or injured himself another way. He shouldn't have gotten out of bed at all that night...but he said he didn't want to wake me....oh-well.

Nick spent the next day and a half in bed or on the couch doing nothing but taking Percocet's, keeping frozen peas on him, watching tv/movies, using his computer, and getting waited on. :-)

I love taking care of my man and I was glad that he asked for my help numerous times!

He had to be back to work Wednesday afternoon and although I think he would have liked another full day at home at the same time I'm sure he was itching to get out of the house.

Nick is still a bit sore, but he's getting by just fine and will be back to his old self in no time! I'm impressed and very proud of him for braving this procedure. :-)

more randoms...

It's hard to see it, but on my way home from work today I saw in the distance about 6 cop cars all with their lights on coming towards me in the other lane. As they approached, I took this picture and about the same time realized they were escorting a WIDE load....a VERY wide load...it was a HOUSE!!! A big huge house coming down the road. it took up both lanes and 1/2 of the middle lane. It was quite the surprise.

One of Preston's unusual positions....
And another one...

Long overdue pic of the kids in their Christmas Pj's from Gma and Gpa Call.

Nick jamming at work with his old boss Gayle. Gee Nick, what a hard job you have there! haha. I'm glad he has such fun at work.

Bowling and other pics

Santa brought the kids a Wii for Christmas and since then Preston has gotten REALLY good at playing bowling. It's actually freaky how good he is! He's been asking for a few weeks to go bowling for real so we finally took the kids. It is hilarious watching the kids try to bowl--Ashleigh especially...She's right handed, but she throws like this... with her left hand...it's completely backwards.

Preston just drops it basically...


Preston threw a pretend tantrum...he was laughing while he was jumping up and down and whining. it was so funny.


Another pretend tantrum...

Preston took the camera and took some pics....








Preston liked watching the balls come out...






Ashleigh went to a birthday party for a girl at her school. It was a "Tangled" party. There were mom's there doing the girls' nails and their hair and they each got a new headband. Ashleigh's hair looked like she was going to the prom. It was really pretty! And she had so much fun!


Preston fell asleep watching a movie in the basement...his favorite toys lately are his Piglet and Corduroy stuffed animals. He takes them everywhere and sleeps with them both at night--usually tucking them in to his blanket with him.

Nick was finally able to get some new center caps for his wheels. The old ones looked really crappy--see here:

And here are the new ones. much better--less ghetto looking