This Is Us

Friday, January 9, 2009

Bring it up to date...

Ok. So, lets see what's gone on in the Massing household since September when I last updated. Whew. Lots really. So I'll go chronologically.... as best I can remember. Since I have lots of pics to share, I'll use some cool slideshows to save space!

October:
The three of us went "hiking" at the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve here in town. It was actually pretty cool - and we did get to see lots of neat things including several gators (baby ones too) and snakes. That's when that trusty zoom lens comes in handy. Then of course we had the normal Halloween festivities - Myka was a "army guy" and our annual pumpkin carving produced a Pirate pumpkin for Myka, and a ghost one for Josh. Then, I love the pics included below of Myka out in the yard catching butterflies. It's hard to see the butterflies in the pics but there are TONS of yellow ones all over!











Myka started Tiger Cubs back at the beginning of the school year and he LOVES it (not sure who is enjoying it more, Josh or Myka??) He's earned several beads, beltloops, badges and such. It's a great thing for the two of them to do together. We've done some cool activities like the Space Derby (had to build a rocket that would launch using rubber bands along a line), Cub/Parent camping trip, BB Gun shooting, and Woodworking project. They also have some cool things coming up where they'll go to a Radio station, and then next month a police station or something similar. In December, Josh and Myka planned the December activities for an Outdoors theme, and they planned leaf rubbing cards to deliver to Nursing home residents, and a trip to the Preserve where they learned from a guide about how animals adapt to the florida ecosystem. Pretty cool, so these are some pics from recent activities (there's quite a few).




Also in October Myka did his belt test is Tae Kwan Do to test for his yellow belt! He did awesome! I was so proud of him. It was such a big accomplishment for him. Unfortunately I lost most of my pics, my Josh's dad took some, I just don't have them on my computer.






November:
We had a great time going to Albany, GA for Thanksgiving to visit Grandma & Grandpa Harris, and the Harris family in Macon, GA too! I love seeing family and even though it was a short trip, we really had a great time! My uncle Mike and his wife Vienna litterally built their house themselves, and it is beautiful! Thats where we had Thanksgiving dinner, the food was fantastic!




December:
Whew! I finally finished my second semester of Nursing School and thankfully got all A's (praise the Lord!). I got a month's break before I just started my thrid semester this week. In December I also was able to get a PRN student nurse position at the hospital, will be about 1 or 2 days a week (8 hr shifts) and will be a good experience while in school, but not too much pressure. I do want to keep my grades up, and I know this semester will be even more challenging. But I had fantastic professors and I really learned so much. I just want the next 3 semester to go by quickly...
Myka got a two week break and our Christmas was pretty good, we even slept in a LOT (some days Myka and I slept in past 10am!). Josh's sister Jenn, & her boyfriend Ivan were here, so we had a houseful but it was great! Santa made a special appearance a few days before Christmas, and then he lost a bell off his suit right on our roof Christmas Eve! We spent Christmas morning here with Josh's family, then headed over to Mom's for Christmas dinner.
For Christmas, Myka really wanted this HUGE Hans Solo Star Wars ship. We had been telling him for a few months that it was very expensive, and we didn't think Mommy & Daddy would be able to get it. He even got teary eyed on Santa's lap about it this year (broke my heart!) but the good man pulled through and Myka was so excited to see that on Christmas Day!




It was hard to get back in the routine this week though, back to reality... So here it is, first week of January has come and gone. I start my full schedule of classes next week (Advanced Pharmacology, Adult I, and Mental Health in Nursing). I have two days of classes, one day of clinicals each week. Then I start my new job here in a few weeks so pray for me that I don't loose my sanity. Myka is back in the swing of school, and Josh's business is starting to pick up a bit. So from here on out, I'll try to keep posting regularly!



Thursday, January 8, 2009

Dang it!

Well, one of my New Years resolutions is slipping. I vowed to BLOG more regularly, starting right after the New Year and wouldn't ya know, a darn week has already gone by!

I actually have lots to catch up on since I last posted... what like September, maybe? So I'm working on the pics now. And then will update on Myka, his school, my school, Josh, and the new job. So ... stay tuned. If there really is anyone out there that reads this...

;)

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Book review

Postmortem (Kay Scarpetta Book 1) Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell


My review


rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have read several Patricia Cornwell books in years past, but it's been awhile. I love all the Kay Scarpetta novels, and with the new one just released, I decided I wanted to go back to the beginning and read them all...again. So I started with the first book in the series, Postmortem. I don't recall if I read this one before or not. It was, as with all the Scarpetta books, very good. The killer wasnt who you believed it was once you were far enough along to make your own theory. It was suspenseful and even made me lay awake at night wondering if all our windows were locked!



I love the forensic aspect tied in with great story lines. If you like good murder/mystery/suspence novels then start with this one and read the entire series. I now starting on the second one, Body of Evidence.


View all my reviews.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

The Host

I love reading - and I am a member of a social networking site called GoodReads. Here is a clip of my review of the book I just finished - so if you like to read you should come join me - we can be "friends" on GoodReads and then I can see what you like to read too...


The Host: A Novel The Host: A Novel by Stephenie Meyer


My review


rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read The Host after reading the entire Twilight Series also by Stephenie Meyer - which I loved! So I was looking forward to The Host. I was not disappointed! It took me a little while longer to read it than her others, but mostly because I didn't have as much time to read as I did with the Twilight series. In the beginning I got a bit confused because there are conversations occuring between one person (the Host and the Soul) but don't let that discourage you - read it, then it all falls into place after the first few chapters. Definitely follows her style of writing a story that captures your heart and comes down to the good of people. I think she may be planning a series out of this one, so I am eagerly awaiting that possibility! Add to your "To Read" list for sure!


View all my reviews.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Toothless Tigercub

I seriously do not know where the time goes anymore.... I can't believe it is nearly October already! Myka just finished a week off school and unfortunately I didn't get a week off school. But I did have a good week - I got a 92% on my Fundamentals exam and a 100% on my Vital Signs Skills tests - which means I can officially take vital signs. I started clinicals two weeks ago, and have two MORE tests this coming week: a Health Assessment exam and a Medication Administration skills test - which once passed means I could administer meds orally or injection with my clinical instructor. Very cool - I do like the medication part so that shouldn't be too hard.

Myka is definately ready to get back to school (me too!) and he has his first Tiger Cubs meeting this Thursday. He and Josh have been looking through the Tiger Cubs book and doing some of the things in it, and we went and got his uniform the other day - he is super excited. SO I decided I'd accomplish two things at once:

A picture of him in his Tiger Cubs uniform and a picture of his toothless smile - he lost tooth #4 earlier in the week and now both big front teeth up top are gone, and two on the bottom - he looks pretty darn cute.


Sunday, September 14, 2008

So true...

Is it just me, or does anyone else find this as hillarious as I do?




From the wonderful people at despair.com - run over there now and check them out!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Toothless...


Well almost, anyhow! So we lost tooth #2 - a big ol' one up top. And it wasn't even the intended target...

Myka had two loose teeth, one on the bottom, and one on the top, for like the past month. Recently, he wouldn't let anyone get near the top one because it hurt him he said. So on Saturday Grandma Judy went to see if she could pull out the really loose bottom tooth, when her hand slipped and her knuckle hit the top one! Lo and behold - out popped the top one. And we are still hangin' on to the bottom one - he decided he had enough teeth pulling for one weekend.

Now, the first tooth he lost in July (I think it was) he got a whopping $5 from the Tooth Fairy. This time SHE (Josh) thought $5 was too much for subsequent teeth. So SHE (me) finally agree with an eye roll that $1 would do. Then SHE (Josh) went on to say how when SHE (Josh) lost a tooth he got 25 cents. My answer: inflation. But I suppose $1 is fair enough.

We had a nice 3 day weekend, back to school this week for both of us... Myka has his first spelling words and memory verse, and I have a care plan to finish. Wonder if he'll trade me.....