Joker-Goblin Luthor...Beware!

Easton's 3rd birthday was too much fun!  The cake was awesome and delicious.  The two, three, four, and five-year-olds were fierce and adorable superheroes - but the 40-year-old villain was the hit of the party.  Happy Birthday Easton - my baby is becoming such a big big boy.  I love you!

Birthday Boy with spectacular cake (thanks Amy!)

And the other villain:  Headless Mommy with Flamethrower

Batman on his Spiderman Scooter - what a Supersmile 

 Superhero Pileup

Pin the Super on the Hero (art by Daddy Dave!)

 

The 40-Year-Old Villain

First Day of Our New Life

(Insert Nemo voice) First day of school!  First day of school!

Christmas is behind us.  And today marks the first day of the big changes in our lives.  No more waiting around, no more preparing, it is HERE.  I just got home from dropping the boys off at their very first day of school.  There were no tears, and I am so relieved.  They are going to have so much fun and I know that they are in very good hands.  All of the teachers seem wonderful.

Below are the pictures from our big morning.  Now I'm going to spend my day working on the next big things:  Easton's 3rd bday tomorrow, his bday party on Saturday, and my first day of school next Tuesday. 

 Mommy Stephanie and the Boys

 

Daddy Dave and the Boys

 

Our Backpacks are so cool!

 

 Out, out, out the dooooor!

 

 Tanner in his classroom (with Sarah in the background)

Easton in his classroom - went straight for the play-doh.

The North Pole Comes To Us

Our weekend was filled with Elves and Santa. Like many families, we have the tradition at our house of elves visiting us from the North Pole during the entire month of December, magically appearing in new locales each morning, and supposedly returning to the North Pole each night to report to the Big Man about whether Tanner and Easton should continue to have their names on the nice list.

It's fun, you know, but I have my issues with it like my good friend, Jamie - namely, am I using bribery, deceit, and manipulation to illicit positive behavior from my children? Yes. Which brings to mind the other reason I hate the elves...IT DOESN'T WORK!!

I have a feeling our elves are actually demons a la The Screwtape Letters and they are prompting worse behavior in my little guys during this joyous season. Or maybe it's my personal Wormwood who has me screaming like a banshee about the elves telling Santa that someone is spitting on someone, or someone is touching my snow globes, or someone is continuing to say "poo poo pants" and laugh after I told him to stop.

To my ultimate shame, I admit I have actually spoken directly to the elves saying, "Do you see what they are doing?!! You'll just have to decide for yourselves whether you are going to come back again tomorrow or not." Oy. Wormwood is cackling and slapping his knee over that one.

Well, despite the naughtiness, T & E are terribly sweet and we had a great time at Breakfast With Santa:


Santa and the Boys - I hope they asked for bikes...


The Boys and the Girls - I feel certain you will be hearing lots more about Molly and Sarah now that I'm blogging. Both are adored by both boys, however, Tanner is crazy crazy about Sarah (oddly enough, not the twin he is holding hands with in this picture...she's the twin with the darker hair) and they will be in the same class when Preschool starts in January.


The boys decorating cookies while Dad assists.

Create Blog - Check!

So the blog has been created...now what?

I want to use this blog to document the year and a half when I become a nurse. There will be some family stuff, but mostly I want to write about and remember this adventure of going back to school at age 32, mom of two preschoolers, to enter a profession that I've always dreamed of being part of.

Nursing school has been on the back burner for 6 years, and now I'm jumping back in with two feet. I'm excited - a little bit apprehensive - and ready for it to start!

I don't know how interesting this blog will be, but I know that when I started trying to decide whether to go back to school or not, I wished that there was a blog I could read from someone who had gone through an accelerated nursing bachelors degree program. Not finding one, I decided I better just do it myself.

More later with details about the program I'm applying for and timeline...
Time to check on the boys in the playroom and go search for the discontinued ceramic tile to replace the gaping hole left by the plumbers in our bathtub wall. Ooooohhhh - I see my first blog picture opportunity!