Our Valentine's Day went a lot different than I had planned.  This morning was less than boring- starting when Brandt decided to climb into the dog kennel instead of into the car when it was time for me to go to work.  Once he finally got in the car it got even more crazy when he became angry because he wanted candy and I didn't have any. He yelled and hit and threw things and then opened his door and threatened to jump out.  Thankfully I wasn't going very fast yet because he really did jump out! I was almost stopped when he did and there weren't any cars behind me. Because the snow is so deep on the side of the road I couldn't pull the car off the road well, so I quickly parked it and turned on the hazards and ran after him through the deep snow, hoping that Kylie would stay put and not get hit by a car or something.  I was able to get him back in the car and to my mom's and then I cried my way to work.  Usually I'm pretty good at going with the flow and laughing at what I can when it comes to the crazy things my kids do, but this morning was the last straw.  I already struggle with feeling guilty about leaving my children to go to work and it makes it harder when they are acting out, especially when I know it is because something is stressing them out.  This last week has been a hard one for Brandt as he is trying to deal with something that he saw that wasn't appropriate for an adult to look at, let alone a child.  He has been agitated and extra naughty so I think it is bothering him more than he has let on-he just doesn't know how to communicate his frustrations very well.  His counselor, Shaun, has already seen him once this week and I am wishing he could have had another appointment today-well, either him or me that is.  Tonight ended better for which I was very grateful.  The kids had fun playing Twister and wrestling and I was happy to sit back and watch them. For at least that small amount of time everything was good in our world and it helped me gear up to face another day.

SNOW/ICE DAY

Brandt was so excited to go to school today and have his class Valentine's party and the school dance. I took the day off and was looking forward to helping with Valentine's parties in both kids' classes. Buddy gave Bryce and me a little preview of some of his dance moves that Mr Dixon has been teaching him, including YMCA and The Macarena. He got dressed super fast (never happens before school) and was ready to head out the door before it was even time for the bus to get there. It rained last night and the driveway was icy, so he slipped and slid all the way to the bus.  About 20 minutes later I got a call from Bryce saying school was cancelled because of the icy roads and the buses being unable to get to all their routes and I was thinking it sure would have been nice to know a little earlier so we could have slept in. Pretty soon the bus brought buddy back home and he was cheering and excited that there was no school and he "could come back home to Missy!"  Brandt, Kylie, and I had an eventful day that included the kids playing outside while I cleaned and then a "pool party" in the tub (which also means that the bathroom floor, walls, and ceiling got mopped lol). Later in the day Brandt was sad about missing out on the party and dance, but he cheered up when he heard that they will have it when they go back to school.

It's amazing to me how much fun and trouble this little boy and his dog can find in a very short amount of time. This morning Brandt was ready for the bus on time so he headed out to wait for it.  Unfortunately she was a few minutes late and he got a little distracted on the snow hill with Missy.  When the bus stopped, he dawdled and played until she finally left him.  At first he was upset and tried to take off down the road after her, but then he was happy to play with Missy longer while I went in the house to hurry and get ready and get Kylie ready so we could try to get him to school on time.  I kept running back and forth from the bathroom where I was doing my hair and make-up to the back door to keep an eye on him.  One time when I went to check I couldn't see him anywhere and he wouldn't answer me when I hollered-and the door to the dog kennel was open and both dogs were MIA.  I quickly looked around the house and driveway and yelled for Brandt and the dogs, but none of them made a peep.  So I called in back-up.  Thankfully my dad hadn't left for work yet and he raced across town to help me look for them.  Right before he got here, I found buddy and the dogs out in the hay stack where they had hidden from me-AFTER they let the horses from one pasture into the other one where part of the fence was busted and Bryce was afraid they would go through and onto the highway.  So my dad helped me corral 4 horses, 2 dogs, and 1 six year old before taking the instigator of it all to school for me so I could finish getting ready for work.  You would think that Brandt would have been upset since he'd caused such an uproar and was in trouble, but he seemed to be oblivious to it all and was as happy as could be that grandpa was taking him to school.  Thankfully he's a cute little guy so it's hard for me to stay mad at him for too long...

Mini Model

Kylie wanted her hair fixed fancy for school today and then she wanted to do a little photo shoot before we left.  She wears her sunglasses nearly everywhere.  They fit her little diva personality!

Snowed In!

 I was supposed to work today, but we got about 3 feet of snow since yesterday morning and the wind had blown and drifted us in.  Bryce barely made it out of the driveway and down the road in his plow truck, and he ended up getting stuck on first lane (by my mom and dad's) because it was so deep.  After my dad got his tractor unstuck from his driveway and then helped my uncle Arnell get his tractor unstuck, he headed over to plow us out.  When Brandt saw how much snow there was and that grandpa was making him a bigger snow hill to play on, he did the best happy dance ever and  Kylie stopped painting long enough to join in.  Since I couldn't make it to work, my friend Shannon ended up covering the front desk job as well as my nursing job.  I've been teaching her a few things lately and it paid off today.  She called for help a few times, including when Dr. Campbell asked her to give a testosterone injection, which is not something she had learned, yet.  I coached her through it on the phone while she was wearing her headset in the patient's room. Thankfully it was a very patient patient, and he didn't mind that she was using him as a practice dummy!