Buddies

Here we have a glimpse of Dex violating the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for TV watching.

Really, he just wants to hang out with his buddy.

After School Snack

Creativity in the kitchen is not my forte to say the least, but I am trying to do a little better. So when I saw this cute kid-friendly snack online at All Recipes, I had to try it.

Ladybug apples! Aren't they cute?

The girls really liked them (well, Natalie picked off the raisins, but that is to be expected). The only other creative thing I make is Robot French Toast (see comments for details), so if any of you have some ideas for creative snacks or meals, pass them on!

For the Ladybug Apples, you need:

1 Red apple
Raisins
Peanut Butter
Pretzel sticks
Lettuce (optional)

Core and cut the apple in half. Use the peanut butter to stick the raisins on the apple in a ladybug-like pattern. Use peanut butter to stick the raisins to the pretzel sticks to use as antennas. (I couldn't get my pretzels to go into the apple, so I just had them sticking out from underneath.) If you feel like wasting a piece of lettuce for effect's sake like I did, it makes a cute little leaf for the ladybug to sit on.

Week 15 - done!

I really love being able to say we're done with week 15! In just a few more weeks we will only have single-digits left. That is really exciting! Here's the rundown of the week:

Bad news: As I already posted, Jay pulled his quad muscle on Monday and was put on light duty. He had to put up with taunts and a grouchy EMS Staff all week. Also, he was supposed to have his first attempt at the High Speed Course on Friday at the same time as his follow-up doctor's appointment, but the EMS staff wouldn't change it despite the fact that the regular Academy staff said the driving was more important. It's actually a long story about what happened but I'll just say that they changed Jay's High Speed attempt to next SATURDAY at 10 a.m. Yeah, we're real happy about that. I'm trying to look on the bright side (like, he won't miss any classes), but I'm still a little disgruntled.

Good news: On Friday Jay went to the doctor and was cleared from light duty! His quad is much better and he is able to get back into his regular Academy schedule, which he's excited about. He hates having to wait on the sidelines.

Also, they received word that Jay's company won the Holiday Food Drive challenge! Jay was in charge of the food drive, so it was an especially sweet victory. His company collected over 1400lbs of food. For their efforts they received several things:

• They no longer have to polish brass on Tuesdays
• They no longer have to take any spelling tests
• They received not one, but TWO extra nights of liberty! One of those nights is tomorrow, and the other is Valentine's Day. Whoo hoo!

Overall there were more good things than bad things this week, and that is always something to be thankful for.

The weekend:

Jay took me out on a date for my birthday on Saturday. If you're wondering, these are the kind of things that old married couples with 3 kids do on their dates:

Dinner at Chipotle

Trip to the mall to spend our gift cards

Deposit checks at the bank

Decide to go bowling, change mind because we're too tired

Dessert at Flames

We had a lot of fun, actually. It doesn't matter to me what Jay and I do... it's just so nice to hang out with my best friend. Although I try to act tough, I really miss him during the week.

On Sunday Betsy was kind enough to watch the kids (again!) so that Jay and I could go to Stake Conference alone and actually pay attention to the speakers! It was so nice to not be constantly hushing our kids or standing in the back with Dex or cleaning spit-up off the pews. In general I like to have the kids at conference because they need to get used to it anyway, but every once in a while it's nice to have some grown-up spiritual time.

Sunday evening they surprised me with my favorite birthday treat of all: Mayonnaise cake! Mmmm! It was soooo good. Oh, and I got to take a nap, too!

Thanks to everyone who made my (early) birthday so special!

Here's to another great year!

What's wrong with this picture?

Instead of saying "make sure to put your school bag in your room," I now say, "make sure to put your school bag in your room and hang it on your hook." But still, every day, there it is on the floor, a foot away from the hook. I mean, come on! The hook is right there, it's even at her eye level! It's not like I take off my shoes and leave them right in front of my closet.... oh... wait... hmmm... Ok, nevermind.

We have a piper down...

So, I'm sitting at home Monday morning, watching Little Women folding laundry, when the phone rings. As always I checked the caller ID. Hmmm, that's funny, that's Jay's number. Wait... that's Jay's number! It's only 10 a.m.! Why is he calling me at 10 a.m.?!? I quickly grabbed the phone and answered in one breath, "Hello, what's wrong?"

"I'm at the doctor's. I pulled, maybe tore, my quad."

This is when I started to freak out. Internally, of course.

Then the questions started:
Are you OK?
What did the doctor say?
Who took you to the doctor?
Is it serious?
Are they giving you a hard time?

Jay answered me patiently just like he usually does. He was definitely in pain and also feeling pretty down. The staff gave him a hard time for being injured and wanting to see the doctor (although last time he was injured they kept asking him over and over again if he wanted to see a doctor even though he told them no. You just can't win.) Jay was allowed to call me because the staff member who brought him and two other cadets to the doctor told him, "Go ahead and call someone who cares, because I don't." Nice! Thank you sir!

Anyway, the injury came about when he was completing his final run for his PFT test. He actually finished the run in spite of the pain, and got a better score than the first time he tested weeks ago, injury free! Talk about motivation to finish!

So it turns out that the injury is most likely a pulled muscle and not a tear, thank the Lord. And I'm not being blasphemous, I really mean Thank the Lord! A serious injury gets you sent packing, and we certainly don't want that. Jay is on light duty until at least Friday, when he goes back to the doctor. He's feeling confident that he will be better by then. Thank goodness he's confident... it leaves me free to freak out. Internally, of course. (Wait, didn't I already say that?)

***P.S.*** If anyone can name the reference for this post title, I'll send you some sort of prize. Really, I will (although don't get too excited about it.). Be the first one to leave a comment with the correct answer!

Week 14 done + Monterey = a nice weekend

Well, for the first time in 14 weeks, I forgot to take a picture of Jay standing next to his signs. My mind must have been on something else... like trying to figure out a way to speed up time during the week but slow it down on the weekends. I'm sure there's a machine that can do all that. You guys know a lot about "cyberspace," right? Maybe you can help me out with this. Just don't suggest one of these...

...I've already learned my lesson.

Anyway. I feel like I start every Academy recap with "It was a busy week." It's not very original but it's true, and Week 14 was no exception. On Tuesday they had their PPP Test (physical performance... something), which they are required to pass to graduate. The test consists of various physical tests including a hill climb, obstacle course, 100 yd dash, and a 500 yd run in full gear. I can't imagine that it's much fun running in a bullet-proof vest with your holster jiggling around, but they have to get used to it. It's not like they can say, "Hold on Scoundrel, let me change into some sweats." (Although that would be awesome. I'm imagining a Wonder Woman type of spin here...)

One of the cadets (it wasn't Jay, I swear) left his baton on top of the hill during the hill climb and by the time he realized it, the PT instructor had chucked the baton into the forest! It's kind of funny when it's not your baton. Anyway, Jay passed his test, so that's one more requirement we can cross off the list.

The rest of the week was filled with range, Spanish, patrol techniques, etc. They are moving into a new phase of their training where they are applying what they have been learning over these past few months. It's kind of exciting!

And so Friday came (yeah!) and Jay came home for the weekend. It was a nice relaxing one since Jay actually did not have any homework. We spent Saturday in Monterey with Betsy, just checking out the sights and enjoying the day together. Jay and I spent part of our honeymoon in Monterey so we always enjoy taking a trip down memory lane. As always, the weekend was over too fast. We parted Sunday night, both of us a little down, but what can you do? Only 13 weeks to go. We can do it! (right?)

Our little family in Monterey

Checking out the boats & sea lions

Stopping at Thrifty for a scoop of cylindrical ice cream


Jay enjoying a break from the Training Table

(Sorry babe, I had to do it!)

Well, at least she's thinking about others...

At school the other day, Natalie was asked to draw a picture of something she would like to buy for one of her family members and how many pennies she thought it would cost. Imagine my surprise when I pulled the following picture out of her bag:

It's a good thing her teacher knows Jay is going to be a police officer, otherwise I'm sure I would have received a telephone call!

As a side note, if anyone knows where they sell guns for 6 cents, please let me know. Thanks!

Latest Cadet Blog

The latest CHP cadet blogs are up and you'll never guess who wrote the entry for week 13! Cool, huh?

CTC III 07 Cadet Blog

No pictures of Jay that I could see, but here's a glimpse of what they've been up to:

Edited to add:

Several people have pointed out to me that Jay is in fact in a picture. I don't know how I missed it. Here he is, the scribe of the group.