As a beloved Auntie Em...

tries to babysit her adorable nephew :o) What a tough job. I truly admire parents. Two-year-olds are surprisingly hard to handle. Don't get me wrong, I love my two nephews who just happen to be turning two. They are quite the characters - one is into skateboarding and notices if the lights are on or off in any room, while the other one is into vacuuming and mowing the lawn and going on walks to see all the farm animals....They also can throw things quite hard and fast already! If i'm scared of them at this young of an age - the athletic recruiters are going want them on their teams when they are my age! Well, this past week, I have had the privilege of spending time with the Buchanan family, more specifically Owen :o) We have had quite the times, but i'll share with you the fun we had last night. Katie and Ben had dinner with Ben's relatives, so it was my night to watch him and give him his bath and snack before nighty night time. So luckily, as I was able to eat my dinner, Owen had enjoyed some sun outside in their backyard - which just happens to be fenced in. Don't worry, i did keep track of him - he skateboarded and watched some birds and he always takes notice when the neighbor's sprinklers come on - he will look at them thru the wood fence. A little after 8:30pm, I started getting him ready for his bathtime - first had to change an extremely smelly diaper - which two-year-olds don't like to hold still and let you change them. I set him in the bathtub and let him play with some toys as i washed him, but then he decided it was splash time - it seems the more they realize that you don't like getting water on you or outside of the tub - they splash all the more harder! So finally, even after spanking him, I put the curtain in the tub so atleast the water wouldn't go everywhere and took a little breather myself :o) At which, he decided to sit very still behave himself - however, now he didn't want the curtain to be pulled back.....So the battle begins.... i pull the drain, but he of course is old enough to push the drain back in.... so i pull it again and pick him up out of the water - which he wasn't happy at all - and start drying him off. I grab a clean diaper and some "lotion" and walk to his bedroom. He isn't about to play easy for his tired auntie as she tries to get the diaper on. Even though, i knew it would be even a longer battle, i decided to be a good auntie and put lotion on him---so after chasing him thru the house, all the way to the laundry room - i corner him and start putting the "lotion" on - which just so happens to be mistaken for lotion and is really BODY WASH! yes - SOAP!!! I noticed it was just a little bit harder to rub in :o) So now what?? I pick up owen who is probably just as concerned about being in my care as I am about how to handle this smart character. I do the wise thing and call grandma - my mother -who states that it is necessary to get the body wash off - so at first i desperately try a baby wipe - which just exposes the soap even more - so i give up and surrender to the fact that i will just have to put him back into the tub - here we go again! I pick up owen and try to explain to him how smart his autie is as i turn back on the water and stick him back in. I wash off the soap, but now he wants to stay in and play ---sorry, this auntie is even more tired than the two year old who should be in bed by now and she still has over an hour of english homework to do! So i battle him again - taking him out of the water, drying him off, putting the diaper back on, rubbing actual lotion on his arms and legs, dressing him, getting him something to drink- which he just happens to spill on his jammies, luckily it was just water :o) and finally, placing him and his two blankies in his crib for nighty night - of course i kiss him good night as he is crying - luckily, he stops his crying, starts talking jibberish to himself for atleast 20 minutes before dozing off to sleep for a good 12 hours! And no i did not drug him!! he just sleeps amazingly well :o) When kt and ben got home they could tell by my initialy answer that it hadn't went so well and laughed at my story. So that was my eventful night before i had to stay up and finish almost 2 hours of homework online for my english course - fun summer memories!

Trip to the Oregon Coast!

My friend Geron and I got to spend a day at the Oregon coast! Usually a person would find the weather to be either rainy and windy and cold or overcast and misty - however, on monday, it was absolutely beautiful! Clear skies, sunny and warm and not much of a breeze. We walked along the coast and played in the sand. We went to newport and walked along the bayfront. The pictures are of me and Geron, the newport bridge, and some seals that were entertaining people along the bayfront. We both got sunburnt, but it was well worth it :o) God blessed us with a wonderful time!

Finally, an update from the official PILOT!

Yeah for Pictures! First I finished up my freshman year of college - praise the Lord! God definitely helped me through each week and especially through finals, finishing up flight, and packing up all my stuff. I can't believe how much stuff i own! Well, I survived my finals - just barely and passed all of my classes! If you had asked me if I would pass them during the first couple of weeks - I would have shared my doubts. I had to stay an extra week on campus to finish up flight - I did my third stage check and end of course and received my private pilots certificate! So now i can actually take you flying! Hip-hip, hurrah!! I believe learning how to fly according to the FAA standards and studying for the orals - all during finals week - was the toughest thing that I have had to go through - but God's strength was sufficient as always. Becoming a private pilot was a long endurance race, but I finished! And now paying off the loan will be even a longer race! Thanks for all of your help along the way and for your support through prayers and encouragement. I couldn't have made it without you guys. I definitely feel like my freshman year was a great accomplishment! Two of my pics have to do with flight - the first one is me with my instructor, justin, the day i received my certificate - and that was the plane that i did my check ride in. The last picture is one of my temporary certificate (the FAA will send the real one to me in a couple of months) and the picture of me after my first solo! On to more recent news,...I was absolutely wonderful to see Oregon again and my mom, sister, and nephew! I didn't remember Oregon looking so good - but it does and it will be hard to leave to go back to texas when the time comes. I spent a little over a week in oregon - I got to go to the coast on monday with a friend - which my next blog page should have a picture of that - and I helped out my mom and amy do a garage sale. We had to go through a lot of our stuff and it took days getting everything organized outside of our house. Friday and saturday were the garage sale - we did really well and got rid of practically everything. Katie and Owen came on wednesday to help us out as well - actually Katie pretty much took charge - which was a blessing. It was funny to sell each others things for so cheap of a price just because we all wanted everything to be taken away! Near the end, we basically said just take it! its free! Throughout the week though, I was also busy staying caught up with my english course online - a pain, but it will be nice not to have english in the fall semester. Saturday night/sunday morning, we celebrated Jordan's 2nd birthday - crazy! he is so big and is talking and hitting and spitting....Some of his favorite things are NEMO! - watching nemo every night - no joke! He loves to vacuum, mow the lawn, play in the water - we have a plastic circular pool, go on walks to see cows, puppies, donkies, kitties, ducks - you get the picture! Owen on the other had is obsessed with lights - he notices all the lights wherever we go and says "light on?" or "light off? and points - over and over again! He also has taken up the sport of skateboarding - he is actually quite good and fearless when it comes to trying new tricks - like skateboarding down the frontdoor steps - he has some scabs on his nose from that one. I love my nephews, but they are a huge handful and has made me rethink the job of ever parenting :o) atleast boys! not that we have much control :o) Their grins are cute though and they do give sweet kisses and hugs. So now, I am in IDAHO - crazy. I'll be staying with katie and ben and owen for a month working at a running story that ben's sister owns. Katie and I left this morning at 10am and arrived in star, idaho at 7pm. I very long drive, especially for owen. Katie's home is very nice though - I already made myself at home and have moved all of my stuff into their spare room. One handy thing is that they have wireless in their home, so i'll get to use my laptop a lot. (which is what i am doing right now) I hope to spend a month in oregon before moving on to alaska with kimber and ben - i know my visit in oregon with mom was too short - don't worry mom :o) The other three pictures were of us on mother's day - my first day home! What a blessing! Hope everyone's summer is going well. Thanks for your patience with my blogs - i know that i don't post as often as i should. God bless!