WE SURVIVED!

Josh and I are done with finals!

KayTar sailed through her surgery!

WOOHOO! WOOHOO! WOOHOO!

I don't have the juice left in my brain to write anything of note, but I'll leave you with a scene from A Life with KayTar...

When they took KayTar back to surgery, in the wagon she handpicked, she called back to me, "Bye Mom! Go enjoy your coffee! I'm going to enjoy my root beer mask (they flavor the anesthesia gas in a flavor of the kiddo's choice)!"

Everyone in the pre-op area cracked up at this and when we got to recovery, the recovery nurses (who weren't present in pre-op) were all talking about it and chuckling! Our girl sure makes an impression, even when she is unconscious for the majority of something!

She insisted on wearing her scrubs and stethoscope to the hospital, everyone thought she was the CUTEST LITTLE THING, of course.

Here she is in her special surgery pjs and scrub cap. She loved it!
I leave you with her description of the surgery:

"Well, I just had my root beer mask and then when I woke up
DING! I had my new tube!"

I kind of wish that finals had been that easy. ;)

SNOW DAY!

Shorts.

BubTar brought home a girl's phone number on Monday. She is a girl from his reading group (the highest reading group in 2nd grade at his school). He said that when she was picked up from school that day, she flashed him the "Call me!" hand signal. I find this both hilarious and a little frightening.

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Here's a little experiment: Fold your hands together, interlocking your fingers. Now look at which thumb is on top. Which is it? If your left thumb is on top, you are expressing the dominant phenotype! If your right thumb is on top, you are expressing the recessive phenotype.

Seems like such an odd thing to be genetically determined!

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The wrapped Christmas gifts are killing KayTar this year. She's losing her sweet little mind with curiosity. She has been pleading with me for days, "Can I just open ONE? Can you give me a clue? What letter does it start with? Just tell me ONE letter! Can I just open it a LITTLE and take a peek? Let me open it! OBEY ME!!!!!" It is so hilarious, I'm going to have to try and catch it on video. This is going to be such a fun Christmas for her, she is definitely into it.

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Sunday night BubTar approached me and said, "I'm gonna be watching you and dad on Christmas Eve...just so you know." I asked him why and he said, "Well, I think two things...either Santa is real or PARENTS are really the ones who put out the toys, because who stays awake after kids go to sleep? PARENTS." I told him, "We have to sleep, too, you know." He said, "Maybe you put out the presents AFTER we go to sleep and BEFORE you go to sleep. Or maybe Santa does it. I'M WATCHING YOU."

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Last night was my last Chemistry lecture of the semester, tonight is my last Biology lecture of the semester...now I just have exams this week and finals next week. My Chem final happens to fall on the day of KayTar's day surgery next week (swapping of the g-button). What luck.

Since everyone else is doing it...

30 things I am thankful for, both big and little:

1. Having Christmas $ set aside and ready to go this year. Last year Josh didn't get a bonus and we didn't know that until Christmas was nearly upon us. A sweet angel friend helped us out last year, which I will ALWAYS be thankful for...but this year we have been setting aside our excess financial aid awards for college and have a nice little amount ready to go!

2. My Biology grade, which is roughly a 103. I have made 100's on both lecture exams and 105's on both of my lab exams. '

3. The balance we seem to have struck in this crazy life of ours.

4. KayTar potty training herself.

5. BubTar getting so many badges at his scouts award ceremony.

6. Being able to be at his award ceremony, even though it meant sneaking out of Bio lab early.

7. New "winter" coats!

8. I waited to write the rough draft for my Comp II research paper until the last day and I churned that thing OUT. It was extremely satisfying to put it off for so long and then rock its face off. My professor gave me really great remarks on it, too. I'm thankful that I can procrastinate to the LAST SECOND and still put out good work.

9. The super fun girls weekend KayTar and I had a couple of weeks ago.

10. The way KayTar does the robot to Safety Dance.

11. The fact that my security badge at the hospital now WORKS for everything I need. No more asking, "Can you badge me in?" 500 times a shift. It is amazing.

12. The kids' school. I'm really enjoying it a lot. I'm pretty involved and I've made some friends there.

13. My H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines.

14. BubTar, my little bookworm. That kid can a finish a book in no time flat.

15. The fun weekend the kids and I had while Josh was hunting this weekend. We saw Santa, spent time with my parents and niece and nephew, and even helped decorate my mom and dad's tree.

16. KayTar's year. It has been a big one for her. She is a totally different (yet equally awesome) kid than she was a year ago. This has been a year of major growth for the littlest 'Tar, both physically and developmentally. I never thought she would accomplish much of what she has this past year.

17. Insurance for the kids. We were able to renew their coverage without a major crisis this time, though Josh had to ask his boss NOT to give him a raise this year.

18. The way BubTar set a goal for his popcorn sales and reached it. He's already upped the ante for next year!

19. My husband. Though we are very different, we really enjoy each other and have a ton of fun together, even when we are doing nothing.

20. Television. I'm a television addict and it is my favorite way to relax. I'm actually thinking of writing a post about this one soon.

21. The opportunity to follow my (very expensive and time-consuming) dreams.

22. The end of my semester being VERY near! The month of break will be heavenly!

23. That our Christmas tree is up and decorated!

24. That I am done shopping for the kids! It isn't even December yet!

25. My van. I'm so glad we found it for such a reasonable price. I spend a ton of time in there and it is perfect for us.

26. Extended family. My parents spend a lot of time with the kids and are wonderful and involved grandparents. Josh's parents have always been a great support to us, too. I'm thankful that I happen to be best friends with my sister-in-laws, we've been friends for a very long time.

27. Black Friday. I know some people don't go for it, but I LOVE it. It is the one thing that my parents and I do together, just us, every year. It is fun to wake up super early (they picked me up at 3:30am this year) and go shopping together. This year I didn't HAVE to go for anything major, I mostly purchased board games for significantly reduced prices, but I just really enjoy it.

28. Hand-me-downs. KayTar and BubTar have pretty great wardrobes and most of it has been provided by friends and family with kids a bit older than mine. I really only buy a few filler pieces through the year. We either pass the clothes on to someone else we know who can use them or we donate them to local shelters and such, once they outgrow them.

29. Hot colored index cards, my preferred study aid. This year I'm using pink and orange for Biology and yellow and green for Chemistry. The cards are arranged so they alternate in color (pink/orange/pink or green/yellow/green), then they receive a single hole punch and are put on a ring. Josh thinks I'm nuts, but I love my index cards.

30. Our faith and the way the kids are learning about it. KayTar, her school librarian, and I had a crazy deep conversation about Jesus the other day. You don't realize how much they are absorbing and then it just comes out of nowhere. I'm especially thankful for our faith and our Savior around the holidays.

As a bonus, I am thankful for these bright and happy faces.

KayTar said grace yesterday...

And this was what she prayed before our meal with my parents...

Dear God,

Thank You for this food, but I do NOT appreciate the cheese so I will not eat it. I will eat turkey and mashed potatoes, but I will NOT eat the cheese. AMEN!

We got a huge kick out of it at the table. Gotta give her credit for telling it like it is!

Wordless Wednesday: Last night

Miscellany

1. KayTar is potty trained! She took to it easily and we are beyond thrilled. NO MORE DIAPERS! It took her less than a week once SHE decided to do it.

2. BubTar and KayTar are learning to cook. It started on BubTar's scout trip...he made bacon and french toast for the whole camping group! This week, Josh has taught them to make tuna casserole and macaroni and cheese with sausage. Tonight we are doing french bread pizza. They are so excited about it and the best part is, next semester when Josh is taking an evening class and I've got the kids, THEY can do the cooking. Heh. They are better than me in the kitchen already!

3. BubTar got a bunch of badges at his Cub Scouts award ceremony. He got one for fishing, camping, his Bobcat badge, and his golden arrow (for accomplishing 10 goals). He is doing such a great job! He set a goal of selling $1100 worth of scouts popcorn and he did it! He got a microscope and telescope set for his hard work and will also be getting a gift card.

4. BubTar is reading at an average of a 5.3 Accelerated Reader level, which is FIFTH grade. Quite impressive for my little 2nd grader. He's reading these books in a single day mostly and always gets a 100 on his AR tests.

5. KayTar and I had a girls' weekend when the boys went on their camping weekend. We went out to dinner on Friday (IHOP, she had the grilled tilapia and devoured it..she also stole my bacon). We rented Monsters VS Aliens that night. Saturday we went to the mall, which is was insanely excited about. It was fun traipsing around the mall with her. We looked at kids' clothes and made a turkey (who she named Candace) at Build-A-Bear. We planned on having lunch out, but she was too exhausted from all of the walking. I sometimes forget about how easily she fatigues, but by the time we were leaving the mall, she said that she was feeling hot and shaky and NEEDED A PEDIASURE. I gave her a can in the car and she guzzled a bit and went right to sleep. She was pooped! We came home for her to get her nap out and then we went to the toy store for some browsing, then out to dinner with my sister-in-law at Applebees. It was such a fun weekend! She's at the age where she is great company, funny and smart and well-behaved. Who could ask for more? Both my kids are at really wonderful ages and we are enjoying them so much.

6. I'm sick with some little upper respiratory infection. Josh is on vacation today and it sure has been nice to get a chance to totally laze around on my sick day for a change. I took the kids to school this morning and picked KayTar up (after taking a nap for a couple of hours) and that is the most I've done all day. I don't have class tonight and I couldn't be happier about that! I'm curling up with my book, blanket, and DVR remote and taking it easy. Ahhhh.