Sock bun

After a long day at work, this starts to look really good.

No it's not tequila; it's bubbly.  Bath bubbly.  As in bubble bath.

Remember, people, this blog is G.

Today my patient told me that I was going to be a really good nurse and he wished me luck with graduating.  It made me feel good that my patients like me.  These other two patients of mine saw me leaving to go to my car today and they smiled and said hello!  They liked me too.

Secret to being a good nurse?  Taking time to yourself to unwind and relax.

This is me taking a snack break at the hospital.

New topic:

So I learned about this secret called the sock bun.  And after I learned about tit, I went to church and realized tons of the girls there were wearing sock buns.  I knew their secret! 

It was really hard at first to do the sock bun.

Here is the sock that I've had in my drawer for a few months.  I could never find it's mate so right away I thought of making this lone sock my upgraded hair tie.

After cutting the toes off, you roll up the sock.

End result just looks like a scrunchee.  Then you put your hair into a high pony tail on top of your head like so:

Now pardon the next few pictures.  I'm mostly doing this so my Mom and sister know, hence the clearasil on my face (white stuff).

It was so difficult to roll the sock up my hair... Really it got very frustrating.

Finally I succeeded. 

And this is what I looked like the next morning (with no white stuff on my face)

haha, it's like those super staged before and after shots.

So it turned out pretty cute, but honestly my hair would've looked like this anyways, only because I did the sock bun I don't have tight ringlets on the insides of my hair.  So maybe that's a plus.

I wore my hair after it had been sock curled with my new skirt and necklace.

I don't usually wear such close-necked necklaces, but this one is yellow (plus), and it's fun to try new things.  I'm also starting to try to wear lipstick but that's an on-off thing with me.



Hungry for the Hunger Games!

My parents and I saw the Hunger Games.  My Mom wanted to sneak in her drink from Panda Express so this happened:

The drink from Panda Express is in the movie cup we got a few years ago.  But instead of paying $2 for filling up the movie cup, my Mom just slipped the Panda Express drink in it.  That way the movie police only saw their own cup.  The things we do to save a dollar....

And like Katniss, I decided to rebel against the man.  Hence, I painted my nails with intense glitter.  (I just couldn't find any purple or pink hair dye)

Gives me some pizazz even when I'm wearing sweats

Growing up

I wish I was Peter Pan and never have to grow up and move away.  Then I could take the kids I babysit to Never Never Land and we'd have so much fun.  Not forever though, I like to see them grow and learn new things.

I'm going to Dallas.  I think  that's the best place for me after I graduate.  But I was looking at a bunch of old pictures with the W kids and I felt so sad to be leaving them behind.  I don't know what I'll do; I'll have withdrawals for certain.  They're like my little siblings.  When I was in Taiwan I was so sad because my sister would babysit them and tell me things they'd do and I wished I could be there with them.  Seriously, who wouldn't want to be?  They're so cute.  Oh how I miss their chubby cheeks!

I feel silly saying the friends I'll miss the most are all less than 10 years old.  But they're always my friends and I'll always be theirs.  They make me so proud.  They're the ones I started writing stories for.  Now I feel like writing stories and telling silly stories is something I could never be without.  Who else would laugh when I make silly faces and tell stories about chickens who are superheros.....

One thing I'll always be grateful for is realizing how much I like babysitting.  It makes me excited to be a mom.  If it weren't for the W children, I feel like I wouldn't really know myself and I would not have realized a lot of my talents.  Who knew I could make up a story on the piano that was about pirates?  Who knew I could even talk dramatically while playing the piano?  Who knew I could tell stories?  Who knew I could be so clever?  The W children did.  And now they're clever ones too.

I feel like when my Mom was sick (in high school) sometimes I forgot who I was because I felt like having fun was "bad" and I forgot that I could be any fun to anyone.  But I could always have fun with the W children when I babysat even though my Mom was in the hospital or sick.  That taught me a lot.  Maybe that's why when in college I feel overwhelmed and stressed and feel like I'm no fun I like to babysit.  It reminds me that people like who I really am and I'm fun to be around.  After all, the W children's friends always tell their parents that I'm the best babysitter!

Thanks for the memories little W kids!

And remember, you're never too grown up to climb trees. :)

Positive Affirmation

Look in the mirror.  Look into your eyes.  Your beautiful eyes.  Now ask yourself:  who are you?

You are successful.

You are smart.

People enjoy your company.

You are strong.

You are beautiful.

You are fun.

You are doing great things.

You make a difference.

You are blessed.

You will achieve all the righteous desires of you heart.

This is an example of positive affirmation.  There's power when you tell yourself you are good at something and when you tell yourself you can accomplish a task.  Never let someone tell you that you can't do something; it's only because they can't, so show them it IS humanly possible!  After all, you rock.

Did you know that there are different types of self-affirmation  and they each produce different effects?  Affirming personally important values (value affirmation) increases self-clarity.  Affirming positive qualities of the self (attribute affirmation) increases self-esteem. When these two different types of self affirmation were compared, it was found that attribute affirmation (increasing self-esteem) is more effective as a buffer against self-depreciating social comparison information.  And value affirmation (increasing self-clarity) is a more effective buffer against dissonance threats.
(Stapel, D.A.  (2011).  What drives self-affirmation effects?  On the importance of differentiating value affirmation and attribute affirmation.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 101 (1), 34-45.)

Soo.... What does this mean?  It means that the technique you use depends on your situation!

Let's practice!

You're  a new nurse on the floor, you witness another nurse talking smack about a patient and how they are pressing their call light too much.  In this scenario, what will help you best meet this situation when it falls onto you to stand up for what you believe?  VALUE AFFIRMATION

I will be a excellent nurse.

I will treat my patients with kindness.

All human beings are children of God and deserve to be treated as such.

I have patience and long-suffering towards my fellow man.....

Next situation!

You are invited to a dance party and are unsure of your newest dance moves.  You practice in front of the mirror and start to feel like everyone at the party will end up laughing at your expense.  What do you do?  ATTRIBUTE AFFIRMATION!

I am an awesome dancer.

I can move like jello.

Look at my chicken legs go!

Nobody can do the grocery cart like me!

It works.  I often will say the above about my dancing skills.  I just repeat what I told you and WHAM!  Instant diva!  I'm like a fly whamma jamma in minutes.

Take charge of your life by using positive affirmation!  Whether you need to use value affirmation or attribute affirmation, I believe you will succeed.  You.  Are.  Magnificent.

I wear this star ring because growing up my Mom always told me that I was her shining star.  That was definitely positive affirmation given to me by my mummy dearest!

Paintin' nails, musick, and yoga poses

Here is a great song!

Slow down!  There's a blessing here!

That silver lining will find you soon!

I'm chillin' tonight because I'm tired of doing homework...Seriously, this homework seems never ending.....

I'm trying to write a blog post about using positive affirmation and I can't help but listen to this song below:

When you gotta glow, you gotta glow!!....And seriously, the lyrics about 'Thou aeronautical boll weevil, illuminate yon woods primeval'  Talk about great poetry!  You can barely understand it but it sounds so fancy!  So glow little glow-worm, glimmer!  Glimmer!

After all, Winston Churchill did say: "We are all worms, but I do believe I am a GLOW-WORM!"

Glow with me!  
(he didn't say that last part, but it's good to invite others)

These songs have sparked within me a desire so great it can only be relieved by yoga posing and sparkling toe nails.

Hence this:

 

Followed by this:

Also, I'd liked to send a hollar out for my cute new turtle ring

 

And my cute new outfit....HOLLAR!



What a sight! A homemade kite!

Yet.....it never did take flight......
Boo.

But at least they were cute lookin'

I probably should've googled how to make a kite before I just made them with the kiddos.
I wish I would've gotten a video of me trying to make the kites fly with the boys.  It was pretty funny.  JD was smart and thought to ride his bike and hold onto the string while I ran behind him with the kite trying to throw it up into the air.  It worked for 2 seconds then would fall so I'd run and catch the kite that was skidding on the ground and throw it up in the air again all the time yelling:  "Faster JD!  Faster!"  Which only made JD slow down to look behind him and listen to what I was saying, haha.

Here's how we roll:

(Pax and Kels)

Piggyback bike ride!

(Will and Kels)

JD didn't like being so high.

These are pictures of our troll hunt

The troll was sleeping under this bridge.

Following troll and billy goat foot prints.

This troll hunt was very much like the one we had a few months ago with Savannah.

These prints under the bridge are what spurred our troll hunt

A bunch of cute trolls

Gasp!  A discovery about the whereabouts of said troll!

The kids and I then went back to their house to make a trap for the troll.  It was very elaborate and ended with making the troll get caught in a rope and falling face first into our sleep potion.

Sleep potion:

1 cup water

3 drops blue food dye

1 handful dark leaves

2 hand grabs of fluffy plant fluff

Works like a charm

"Awwwwwwwww!"

It's a pity I like babysitting way more than I like doing schoolwork....sigh*  (I've gotten to babysit all last week and today.)  Sometimes, I think about quitting nursing school because I don't want to join real adulthood by graduating in 1 month.
That's nuts.

I won't ever quit, don't worry.  I worked way too hard to quit at the end. <--That's something I always tell myself.  Like last semester was very difficult.  I struggled with my testimony and with some anxiety that made me very depressed.  But I kept thinking I worked way too hard these last 21 years to quit being happy.  I deserve happiness.  And I think being a nurse will make me very happy.  I like babysitting though because it reminds me to enjoy the small moments.  School is always the same and goes by quickly and I usually babysit once a month or so and every month I'm blown away with something new the kids have done or learned.  Like Sav wrote a very good song for a friend that was moving away.  Or JD learning to read.  Or Paxton learning a song on the piano.  Or Will making a flippin' awesome kite all by himself....It reminds me to slow down and just have fun.

Here's Will's flippin' awesome kite:

Pax and I also made a dragon kite together and it decided to peek its head into Will's picture...it's kind of a diva....

It's made with duct tape.

Also, Pax thinks it's cool not to smile in pictures now....Also, apparently all the 'cool' kids wear mohawks.  That's what makes someone cool.  Direct quote:  "Walker is the coolest kid in school because sometimes he wears mohawks."-Pax

There's Pax; and here's JD (who always smiles for me):

I told JD he looked super cute so he went and looked in the mirror and said "Awwwwwwwww"
Oh. my. gosh.
I died laughing.  Here's a video I did trying to recreate the moment:

Bahahahahah!  "Awwwwwwwww!"  He does it at the beginning and I tried to make him do it one more time but he got camera shy.

Isn't she so pretty?  <--Haha, right after I said that in my head I could hear JD go "awwwwww!"

Presh.

Well, I don't have much else to write beside I want to cry when I think about doing homework...
Then I think of JD looking in the mirror and going "awwwwww!" and I smile so it's all good.
Plus, I'm going to ace my test tomorrow! YeYea!

I say 'YeYea' way cooler in my head than out loud.  Everytime I say it out loud it sounds dumb.  But if you could hear me say it in my head you'd think I was awesome.

My heart beeps for you

Paxton stuffed his coat under his shirt and then turned to me and exclaimed: "Kelsey! I'm in labor!"

Somebody help Paxton!  He's in labor!

(Good thing I'm a nurse!)

I brought my stethoscope to show the kids.  I wanted them to hear their heart beating because when I was little I remember having a play stethoscope and trying to listen to my heart.  This is Paxton, Will, and JD hearing their heart "beeping."  (Paxton is adament his heart beeps, not beats)

JD

Will

Pax







Savannah thought it was really cool too, but I forgot to take a picture of her.  Darn.

Aren't they the cutest though?  Oh my little friends, you're so fun to watch grow up.  My  heart beeps for you. :)

JD's prayer

So I love the funny things that kids say.  Sometimes they're funny on purpose, but a lot of times they crack me up and have no clue why.  Sweet little JD got to say the prayer last night for his brothers and he started every sentence with please.  His prayer went a little something like this:

"Please help us to sleep now. 
Please help us to have a good day tomorrow.
Please help the tooth fairy to bring a good treat to Will.
Amen."

Will lost a tooth and JD made sure to pray Will would get a good treat for that tooth!  God and the tooth fairy always listen to prayers....  :)

I think it's funny every time I put the kids to bed they try to get me into a random conversation so they talk instead of going to bed....Slyy.  Last night's topic:  sharks!  Brought to us by JD's leg who apparently likes to kick Will at night but is "nice like a bull shark so it's okay."  This bull shark explanation led to what a whale shark looks like, where it lives, what it eats, can it eat a human?  A human is made of meat?  We eat meat?  Muscles are meat?........They ask really good questions.  Anyways, I think I was the first to fall asleep.....haha.  But no worries Paxton woke me up by tickling me which was followed by Paxton and me giggling for 10 minutes uncontrollably while Will told us:  "I'm going to sleep.  Paxton be quiet and go to sleep!"  Haha!  I didn't get in trouble from Will, only Paxton did!

Welcome to the world Frosty Banana!

The life cycle of a snowman:

He was born on a cold, blustery day.  The wind was biting, but the creators of this snowman were deteremined to bring him into the world.  He arrived Wednesday 3/7/12 at 9:46 am, naked.  Dressed at 9:50 am.  To celebrate his birth, we painted him green and blue.

(JD and Frosty Banana)

We even wrote his moniker on his backside:

Alas, Frosty Banana was born with two nemesi....

 The Sun and...

The Dog

Furr-ocious!

Needless to say...

RIP Frosty Banana