4ish weeks!?!

I can't believe that it's almost time for LPN graduation! Hard to believe! We have 3 weeks left of clinical with about 4 weeks left of classwork. Whew! This next month is going to be BUSY!

Classes are going well. I'm doing well in my coursework, which is a relief. This semester, the grading is a bit higher, as you have to maintain an 80%, rather than 78%, to pass. We have a test of somekind on 16 December that is sort of a pre-cursor to boards and is a good indication of how you will do on your boards. What a way to head into Christmas break!

I've enjoyed my clinical rotations for the most part. I've done pediatrics and OB at Mary Greeley in Ames, spent some time at Boone County hospital and one of the nursing homes there. This past week, my group is back at Mary Greeley to finish out the semester. What a diverse group of patients/clients I've had! I've learned lots of new things and seen things I've never seen before.

Around the homefront, things are going ok. Last weekend, both my guys were sick. Mark was first. Sunday afternoon, Isaac went to lay down since he felt tired after riding his bike and playing outside in the morning. By about 1230, he was throwing up in his bed. So not fun! That continued with even the smallest sips of water. Later, the diarrhea kicked in and by about 5-6 pm, we were getting worried about dehydration. After a call to First Nurse, we headed to Ames to the ER. They gave him some meds, which allowed him to keep Pedialyte down and prevent an IV for fluids. Very relieved! He stayed home 2/5 days last week since he wasn't feeling so hot.

Northern Iowa saw snow yesterday, but we only had some rain, high winds and an occasional snowflake.  I'm not looking forward to winter and the snow.

Today, I'm baking and putting stuff in the freezer. 3 loaves of banana bread at this time, contemplating chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies. We shall see.

Isaac had a good Halloween. He actually dressed up and wore his costume (Black Spiderman) to go trick or treating this year. On the 30th, we walked all over town here for 2 hours. He got gobs and gobs of candy. As we were walking, "Mom, my legs are tired" LOL It was fun. Sunday night, we headed to Boone. My intent was to hit some friends houses and then come home. Well, we spent 2 hours in Boone too! More candy and quite the tired boy. He literally fell into bed that night.

Isn't it hard to believe that Christmas is now less than 6 weeks away? Where has 2010 gone?  Crazy! We need to get through Thanksgiving first. I have 6 days off, due to the schedule! Awesome! DMACC is closing early on the Wednesday before, so rather than have 1 1/2 hours of a 3 hour theory class, there is no class! Obviously no class Thursday or Friday, but Mondays are my usual day off. 6 days! YAY!

chug, chug, chug..

Another school week is underway, another test finished. Today's test got the last "first test" out of the way for my 3rd class. Glad it's done.

Center Grove Orchard was a blast! Isaac seemed to love every second of it and there was lots to see and do! My sister took the pictures, since my camera somehow grew legs and walked away. Hopefully, pictures soon!

The weather has been gorgeous! 80's in October is something I can live with!

Isaac's new "pet" is a praying mantis that my friend Sara caught yesterday. He took it to school today and was a pretty popular boy in his class! We (I mean, I!) caught 2 grasshoppers for it this afternoon. It had a light snack of the bigger one and at last check, the smaller hopper was still alive. We'll see by morning what's happening!

Isaac and I were discussing milk the other day. I asked him where white milk came from. He told me cows. Great! "Isaac, where does chocolate milk come from?", I asked. "The grocery store!" was his enthusiastic reply. I sure do love my boy!!

fall! Pumpkins! School!

Life is just plucking right along here at home. Got some more school cranked out, including the first 2 tests of the semester back to back the last week in September. Ugh. That was a horrible week full of stress.  But, I got through them both, passed them both and am moving on.

I finished up my OB clinical a couple weeks ago. Oh my goodness, I loved it. I wasn't sure if I would but I really enjoyed interacting with the new families and of course the babies! I got to witness one mom get an epidural and then they were my patients the next day. I learned how to swaddle a baby...only 4 years too late! LOL

Now we are at Boone County hospital. It's a skilled floor. We had our first week (2 days) just yesterday and Thursday. It's such a different facility than what I worked on in Ames. It was different and very, very busy! I guess we got lazy this time around in Ames since we didn't do a whole lot. I left the 2 days very stiff and sore! Next week, I get to spend a day in same-day surgery! Excited for that!

A few weeks ago, Isaac and I went to ride Thomas the Train. Much the same as last year, but by going on Friday, I saved like $6. He loved it of course.  It was a reward for having a good week at preschool and doing well going to bed/staying in bed all night for the week.

Last weekend, Isaac and I met my mom at the apple orchard up in Fort Dodge. We got to go on a hayride, sample apples, he played games and picked out a pumpkin. Lots of fun! He had a good time and luckily, it was about 30 degrees warmer than last year when we went!

I can't believe this is really fall! The high today was 88*! Craziness! I worked on a paper for school and spent most of the day inside at the desk. Around 4 though, Isaac and I walked up to the post office. I needed to do some stretching and moving around. I sure felt a lot better afterwards! Got my paper finished up after supper. Tomorrow it's supposed to be warm again! Maybe we'll continue this weather trend until March?? :)

Tomorrow, Isaac, my sister and I are heading to Center Grove Orchard. I've heard lots of good things about it and am really looking forward to it.

Isaac has started going to bed much better at night! Hooray! I put together a "treasure box" that he gets to choose something from in the morning if he's good at bedtime. It's just little trinkets like stickers or stuff from the dollar bin at Target, but it's working!!

I'm keeping busy with school, Isaac, keeping up around the house and trying to fit in a little bit of reading. I didn't quite make my summer reading goal of 25 books by the time school started, but I did make it to 23!

week 4

Week 4 of term 2 is underway! It's going so quickly!

I started my clinical rotation at the pediatric unit at Mary Greeley in Ames. That's already finished and my group moves on to OB this week! Excited for it, more than I thought I'd be! I liked peds, but unfortunately not as much as I'd hoped.
We found out last week we get to scrub in for a surgery during one of our clinical days so I'm looking forward to that!

I think we're still adjusting to this new school schedule. Isaac is thinking anywhere from 3 AM on is a good time to get up. Mom and dad sure don't think so! Bedtimes seem to be getting a little better, thanks in part to his sticker rewards. If he goes to bed with no fuss, he gets a sticker in the morning. If he stays in his bed all night, a sticker. If he gets dressed by himself in the morning, another sticker. He loves putting them on his shirt and showing his friends at school.

Ike bumped up to the 4 year old classroom at his daycare last week. He missed his friends and seems to have adjusted quite well to the new classroom, teachers and routine. I think he misses his old teachers though, as he told me today he got a hug from one of his old teachers.

He's found new friends in our neighborhood and is quickly becoming known to everyone else. Seems everyone knows Isaac! He loves riding his bike (with wagon attached) between our driveway, our neighbors and to the 2 houses across the street. He's getting very good at remembering to look both ways before going.

I couldn't ask for a better group of classmates! They are all so encouraging and are always willing to lend an ear or help out with assignments. We're a class of 15 (down from 23) so we are pretty close. We help drag each other along!

Pufferbilly Days was this past weekend. Mark had drill so Isaac and I went to the parade with "Grandma Joyce" and her 2 daughters and 4 grandkids. It was a shorter than usual parade this year, but Isaac still had fun. We went out the fairgrounds and rode the rides. Isaac, being fearless, wanted to go on everything including the Sizzler and the ride I call the flying bathtubs. He did all the kiddy rides and got mom on bathtub thing. It spun around high in the air and you could spin your tub. He loved it. Mom...not so much. I'm just too old for those things! I was so nauseous afterwards! Ugh.

Ended up with bronchitis last week. Bleh. Seems I can't stay healthy lately. I'm hoping it's not an indication of the winter...

school's in session

I've had one class day and one clinical day so far. Both were all right.  I was most excited to see my classmates again!

It's going to be a busy, busy semester. Only 11 credit hours, but they will be full. 2 days of clinical each week (Thursday 7-3 and Friday 7-1230). Class Tuesday and Wednesday.

Not much else to report on the school front, as it just started.

Isaac is loving having a neighbor boy next door to play with. They play a lot and they play HARD! Saturday night, Isaac was in bed before 8 because he was just wiped out. We had been on the lake briefly, after picking up the boat at Bass Pro then he spent about 3 1/2-4 hours riding bikes, playing in the sprinkler and just running around with the neighbor boy. Too bad it didn't happen again Sunday night or tonight!

We checked out a church here in Ogden yesterday. It was a great little place and we'll probably go back. Isaac was singing a song yesterday afternoon that he learned in church that morning!

Hard to believe Labor Day weekend is this coming weekend. Summer flew by and before you know it, we'll be seeing the snowflakes fall!

Summer is flying by!

I'm still alive!

July was a busy month! Isaac turned 4, I had a birthday, we had a birthday party and miscellaneous other stuff happened.

Our house is sold! We close at the end of the month! That was awesome news-came on my birthday!

We purchased a boat this last week. We've already been out 3 times and have had a blast! I even drove it. Can't wait until next summer when we can be out more in it!

Only a few weeks left until school starts. I'm ready, but I'm not.

July 3rd already?

Wow! Where has the summer gone? I can't believe tomorrow is already the 4th of July then on Monday, Isaac turns 4!

Nothing much happening around here. Cleaning, organizing, reading books (11 so far in about a month, with a goal of at least 25 by the time the fall semester starts), seeing family, trying to stay cool...

Today would have been my Great-Aunt Edna's 100th birthday. She favored my sister, but I still miss her. She passed away in 1993 or 1994. I can't remember any more. My sister and I were just talking about her old house the other day. That place held a lot of memories for us!

Highway 30 is closed due to flooding of the Des Moines River. They aren't expecting to open it until 7 July at the earliest. It's been closed since last Monday. It's a big bummer to have to drive around, adds time onto any trip east from here.

Yesterday, Isaac and I went over to Ames to Fire Station #2 for story time and a tour. Needless to say, he LOVED it. He loved walking by the fire station in Boone and always requested to drive by.

It's been warming up lately so Isaac has been playing a lot in the sprinkler and we've been to the Humboldt pool once while we were up visiting grandma and grandpa. Hoping to get to the Boone pool soon as well as try out the new aquatic center in Ames.

He stays home with me one day/week from daycare. We have to pay whether he's there or not this summer (or we lose our spot) so we have opted to send him so he can keep learning! So far, we've been to Humboldt, spent some time with Aunt Kate in Ames and this next week, I'm thinking we'll maybe head to Don Williams park, which isn't to far from here.
He's been doing great at the daycare so we've been so pleased with that! He can now spell his name and we are working on writing at least his name. We've taught him what town he lives in and he know what street, although it's mispronounced.

Happy 4th of July!