WOO HOO, Indeed!

My most favorite sister-in-law, Candy, passed her RN exam! Here's the text message she sent this morning, "I did it!! I passed!!! I am now an RN!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!! :)"

It's really no surprise though, because Candy will try anything, and whatever it is - she does it very well. Look at her form and physique rockin to Guitar Hero -

First golf swing ever - good form!

Darin says she's a good shot with a pistol, too!

Congratulations, Candy! You should be very proud of what you've accomplished! We love you!

Sssshhhh....

For whatever reason, Jake's obviously keeping close tabs on Darin tonight. It doesn't really look comfortable for either of them, and I get serious jimmy legs just looking at this picture. But - it is very cute!Jake's 10 now. When he was younger, he used to be able to stay awake to keep his eye on people and what was going on. Now he just lays on us when he falls asleep, so he's quickly alerted when something's up. It's a system that really seems to be working for him. :)

OH, Snap!

Okay, Nicke, here are my five blocks. Game on. (Oh, but before I get too sassy, can I trade my #2 block for yours, Trebeck?)

Block #1 - All the points match, A+ (nice work, Nicke!)Block #2 - Here's where the trouble begins. Center square is a bit off, most points match, C+Block #3 - Nice work, B-Block #4 - these damn center squares are difficult for me - C+Block #5 - very good, A-

The Recovery Process

I think Ben's feeling better and better every day. He is particularly fond of his afternoon beer which he follows up with a quick nap on his favorite chair. Upon reflection, I'm thinking that there's a good chance that he learned this trick by example. (I'm not telling who else in this family likes the afternoon beer-nap combination, but it's a pretty easy guess.) One noteworthy point - since Ben's gastric bypass surgery, he's switched to Michelob Ultra.

Baby Quilts!

So two of my favorite peeps are pregnant right now. One of them is my friend, Neeley. Here's what I've been working on for her while I've been watching Ben. She's expecting a baby girl March 12, and I'm planning to send the quilt to her by the end of February. She has no idea!So after I finish Neeley's baby quilt - here's the fabric for the next one. Hmmmm. Wonder who's getting this quilt??

Home Care for Ben

Ben's healed well during the last week. With all the attention and fussing, he's also more spoiled now - and I didn't even think that was possible.

Last night, he was up at 1:00 a.m. - needed a drink. After unsuccessfully trying cheese, crackers and canadian bacon to coax him back into his crate, I finally got him back in bed at 1:30 a.m. with a piece of rotisserie chicken. Up again at 3:30 a.m. - had to poo. (Ben had to poo.) I went straight to rotisserie chicken to get him back into his crate this time - quite pleased with myself because it worked like a freakin' charm - quickly back to bed at 4:00 a.m. UP AGAIN at 5:00 a.m. - I'm thinking is he doing this just to see if he can get me out of bed again? He faked that he needed another drink and ran right to the fridge for his rotisserie chicken treat. Hmmmm, interesting. It appears as though I have done a great job training him to wake up every hour and a half. I'd give myself a treat of rotisserie chicken, but I'll need it tonight.

So of course, he's completely exhausted this morning - all he can do is sleep. What a cute little brat.

Ben's Thoughts for the Day

Here's Ben saying "hellllllloooooo" to someone hiking on the trail behind the house. He's such a crack-up.