The life and times of a Medical School family: Mon. 4/13

Monday Mark took his mini #4 exam. It's so nerve wracking to ME for him to take tests. Luckily, he deals with stress much better then I do. After his test he wanted to go snorkeling. He loves it and it helps him unwind after all the pressure of an exam. We all went to the beach to play. Emma ate so much sand!!! No pictures... I'm excited for our new cell phones coming soon so I can easily take pictures again.

Mark enjoys going to Swirls the frozen yogurt place. It's a special treat!! After a big test is the perfect time for something special. Isaac was the lucky one chosen to accompany Daddy today.

Mark made some fantastic super yummy cinnamon rolls with maple frosting!! He didn't even follow a recipe! I can't do that! We were all impressed. He even impressed himself. :) Seriously, SO good!! He said his mom would be proud.

Tuesday I went to my first RSO board meeting. It was sort of a changing of the guards kind of meeting. Where we were told what we would be doing.

Maybe too much information but when I changed Emma's diaper today I found a sand castle due to all the sand she ate yesterday!! Ha!

Wednesday was my grandma's birthday and we were able to Skype with her and other family members that were there. Technology is amazing! How are we able to see and talk with people so far away? I'm grateful. While we were talking with them it was the first time Emma seemed to intentionally wave her arm to say bye. It's her newest trick. She is also now a pro at going down stairs. She doesn't like to go the safe backward way either.

Here she is practicing stairs and looking at the dog Butch who lives behind us. She loves dogs.She makes the cutest little barking sounds and says, "da da" which means dog not dad. :) Except sometimes when it might actually mean dad.

My little helper! Whenever I sweep up a pile she races over and scatters it around.

Lexi did a science project to see an eggshell dissolve in vinegar.

Isaac did a science project to see out of 10 items what things will dissolve in water.

Thursday~ Imagine this: I'm walking home with a gallon of water in each hand and Emma attached to me in the baby carrier. We go up the hill and it starts raining. Just little sprinkles at first. Then it starts raining harder. A local lady with an umbrella runs across the street and covers us. She asks how far we were going? Home was just up around the corner and she walks out of her way with us. It was so kind!!

Saturday we went to the pool and met up with some friends who are leaving the island at the end of the semester. Emma enjoyed trying out her new skills of going down stairs on the steps in the pool. It made me so nervous but she had a blast having the freedom to go up and down and up and down the first step in the pool.

This was the first time putting my hair in the water in public since I chopped it off. When I got home and scared myself in the mirror I thought I may need to find a hat to wear when I plan to get my head wet. POOF!!!

Sunday ~ Church was especially great today. I'm not sure why exactly but I felt the spirit through the talks. I'm so grateful for the knowledge and faith that I have.

Isaac asked me the other day, "Mom, how do the days go by so fast?" I've wondered the same thing!! Time flies by so quickly! I can almost feel time speeding up right now. TOMORROW Mark will take his FINAL for first semester and then we're one semester down! The kids will be in school until Friday and then no school for anyone until May 11th when we jump into 2nd semester. I have a feeling the break will go by too quickly!! (And that it will take me a while to blog about it...)

I want to record my current typical day before things change a little with the new semester.

Mark usually takes the kids to school which starts at 8am (we struggle getting there on time)

I stay home and typically work on dishes/laundry/sweeping/baking bread/blogging or admittedly Facebook... while Emma naps for about 2 1/2 hours. Then I load up with her in the carrier on my front, my backpack (on my back obviously) and our bag of lunch and walk down to campus to meet the kids for lunch which starts at 12. Sometimes I bring our big double stroller but it's a bit of effort getting it up and down our stairs. I figure before Emma gets too big I'll just haul her around in the carrier for the most part unless I'm planning a grocery store trip.

After lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I leave Emma and Kari with a friend at the family lounge and go exercise at the gym. Then I come back and hang out until school gets out at 3.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I just hang out longer. It's not worth heading home at 1 to have to turn around and be back by 3. It's too far. Even if I took a transport it's just not worth it.

When the kids get done with school they either meet me at the family lounge or I go over to them. The lounge is close to where they go to school. We then typically drag our feet to gather our stuff and head up the hill home to worry about dinner/homework/bedtime... Life. :)

Here is my laundry set up. I have to fill the machine from the sink and load the clothes and soap then run the machine for 15 minutes. I then drain the soapy water and put the clothes in the spinning side of the machine (usually I have to split up the load for the spinner). Then refill the washer and put all the clothes back in for a rinse. When they are done there they go through the spinner again. I now hope the clothes are clean and rinsed enough and hang them to dry either in the living room on a line, a clothes rack or out the back door on a line. Sometimes I even hang things over chairs and cupboard doors. I wash cloth diapers about every other day and they go through another rinse cycle.

Mark cut a hole in the bottom of a water bottle so I can use the faucet to fill the washing machine. Pretty creative huh? Having this hooked up makes doing dishes and laundry at the same time quite challenging. ~Thankfully I NOW have a garden hose hooked up to a faucet behind the machine that has more pressure and doesn't interfere with dishes. If it has rained hard all the water is brown with dirt and not so awesome for washing anything with. I'm not sure what we'll do when rainy season comes.

Now for somewhat of a tour of our apartment. To be honest the way these rooms look is only staged for the picture. None of these rooms are ever this clean and definitely not at the same time! This is how I wish it looked and how I will present it to you :)

This is the master room and bathroom.

This is Isaac and Emma's room.

This is the kid's bathroom.

This is Lexi and Kari's room.

This is (obviously) the kitchen. Just to the left of the washing machine is the "back" door that we use. There is a very small balcony and 25 steps out there. We have another door that we don't prefer to use.