Valentine's Day!!!

We had such a fun Valentine's Day!  We started out by going to a baptism for a lady in our ward then went to lunch with my parents at BJ's!  This evening we decided to try taking Tracen bowling for the first time!  I was a little nervous at first, but he absolutely LOVED it!!!  He was so independent that Chris and I didn't even get a chance to bowl ourselves.  How the heck can a 2 1/2 year old be so coordinated and such an ALL-STAR!  We had so much fun just watching him run up and down the lane, back to his seat and back bowling again and again!  Afterwards, we took the boys to Cold Stone for some yummy ice cream.  Tracen POUNDED some Blueberry Muffin batter along with half of Chris' Cotton Candy.  Thanks Daddy for letting us go out and have some fun!  It was the first time in a while that we were able to do something together as a family.

In one year...I am going to be a SINGLE MOM!

I know that on my last post I promised updates, but I can't even begin to describe to you how crazy life around her has been.  Between work, Chris' school, trying to take care of two kids...one of which has been teething for at least 3 months, church callings, house work and just trying to stay emotionally sane...I could scream!!!  I can't remember the last time that I had a night that I didn't have a mound of papers to grade while at the same time having something that needs to be taken care of at home or an extra thing going on at school!!  CrAzY is the only way to describe it!  When I say that I go to bed at night around 12am and then get up at 5:45, I am not exaggerating.  

This week has been quite an emotional roller-coaster for our family.  On Monday, Chris took a HUGE test that determined his grade in his class (GENETICS)...side note, I am seriously contemplating only having 1 test to determine my students grades...do you know how much time that would save me???  Anyway...he keyed his test and got an 89%...that could quite possibly be the WORST score ever...1 question away from the A and way too good to really be a B.  So needless to say he was super frustrated, and when Chris gets frustrated...lets just say, he doesn't sleep then he is tired and doesn't feel well and it is an endless circle of sadness.  However, Wednesday, he got the actual test back, he had miss-keyed it and wahooo....he got a 90.67%!!!!  An A!!!!  So go Chris!  YOU ROCK!!!

That is the only really good news...Wednesday, we also got Chris' schedule for rotations for his entire 3rd year.  While it really is what we wanted, I am still completely depressed and when I say I am going to be a SINGLE MOM, it just cuz its going to feel like that.  (Hope I didn't scare ya=))  In one year...Chris will be in Vegas for rotations from February 15 - June 25.  I think that the most time that I have spent away from Chris was 3 days when I went wedding dress shopping and what a coincidence that was in February too!  I am very nervous.  I am a person that likes to get out and do stuff.  I get depressed when I have to stay home all weekend long and now he is going to be gone for 18 weeks!! Really?

But now lets put the CHERRY on top of our fun week...on Wednesday I also found out that due to population growth at my school, Tracen can only stay at daycare through this year...heart drop and sink =(  I lost it at that point and I think that was the hardest thing for me to deal with.  I wear my heart on my sleeve and I wasn't prepared for that.  We kinda had heard that it was a discussion but our hopes were that it wouldn't happen.  So now, besides being $70,000 in debt, I am going to have to figure out where to take my little boy!  I am nervous as heck....for a couple of reasons.

1.)  He is so little and while I think preschool is good...all-day is a little much for me to take in.

2.)  I am SO SAD that him and Logan are going to be SEPARATED.  I don't feel like it is right!

3.) Money...Money...Money...always sunny...in a RICH MAN's WORLD!!!

So that is my week in a nutshell...an emotional roller coaster...just a bit.  I wish that we could be done with school, but then my babies would be old and that doesn't sound fun either.

If anyone knows of good All-Day Pre-schools, let me know.  My AMAZING MOM has graciously said that she will watch him 2 days a week...

That was a bit depressing, I'm sorry.  I just like people to know what's going on with us and I am NOT GOOD at updating!  On a positive note...Chris and I did get to attend the temple this Tuesday which was SOOO NICE!!!  I love to be in the temple where the atmosphere is positive and I can get away from all the craziness of my life!  The session that we attend was completely packed!!!  It was amazing.  They brought in as many chairs as would fit and it was wall to wall people!   I have NEVER been to the temple when the attendance has been so good!  It was great to see and I am glad that I was a part of it.

I hope all your weeks are going great!  HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Finally...

Sorry, we have been sooo busy that I have not even had time to think about blogging.  I briefly look at everyone's posts and wish I had the time to sit down, but I just haven't.  I hope to do so this weekend, but until then, one of my friends posted this and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED this idea!  I can get pretty crafty every now and then =)  I hope everyone has a GREAT week!!!

THE RULES

1.  LEAVE a comment on this post and you will receive a handmade item from me-something yummy, crafty, or who knows?!

2.  If you comment, you MUST post this challenge on YOUR BLOG, meaning that you will PAY IT FORWARD, creating a handmade gift-anything!-for at least the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway! (I just didn't want to limit it to three)

3.  The gift that you send to your friends can be in any price range and you have 1 year to make/ship your item.  This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And remember:  It's the Spirit and the Thought that Count!

4.  When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it.  Tell me how much you LOVE it<3

PAY IT FORWARD!

Cute PJs and some really cute boys!

Chub in the Tub:  Logan Christopher Karrasch; 9 months

Tracen's new thing is to take Daddy's glasses and walk around saying "Cool Dude." I think he looks like a super dweeb! Oh, my sweet nerd =)

Grandma Debbie bought Tracen some new jammies!  The are Kung-Fu Panda and he LOVES them!  Thanks Grandma Debbie!  These cute PJs are a hit!

Say Cheese!!!

Goals for 2009

Schools back in and we are bummed! We had such a busy 2 weeks off with family coming in to town, then my birthday and new years that we didn't even really get to sit down and relax. School is always such a stressful time for all of us...between Chris' studying and my school work, planning and grading papers, we rarely have time to just talk. So since it is the New Year, I thought I would publicly share some of our own "Goals for 2009"

1. Chris home at 6:30pm - 7:30pm for dinner, bath time, scriptures and to put the boys to bed, no matter what test is coming up

2. Sara make dinner every night ready at...you guessed it 6:30pm

3. Study the scriptures as a couple at least 15 minutes a day. We are going to study the D&C/Church History pamphlet that they are studying in Sunday School.

4. Prayers as a family...morning and night as well as one scripture story with the kids at night.


5. Attend our ward Temple Night once a month...the first one is next Tuesday the 13th!

Those are just some of our goals for 2009 that are for our family. I am a huge resolution person and have a couple of my own. I hope everyone has a fabulous New Year....yay for 2009!

I stole this picture from Amanda's blog. I don't have our cute pictures because or old camera wasn't working! This is from when we went to the Med School Christmas Party. I love that kind of stuff, but Chris is never really a fan, so I have to drag him there.

SpOiLeD rOtTeN

I can't believe that it has been two weeks since Chris and I got out of school for a little VaCaTiOn!  But, I wouldn't say that we have been able to rest.  Since Friday, December 19th, we have not had a break from parties, family get togethers, or other holiday festivities.  Our first adventure was getting our living room in order...we painted, decorated and just recently got a new dining room table (because I am SpOiLeD rOtTen).

The before...Chris spent all afternoon measuring, marking and taping the wall to get painted.

The after...doesn't it look amazing!?!

And here it is, our living/dining room...we still have a bunch to do, but it is getting there, and don't mind the toys.  We watch Home and Garden TV, all of the time and they never have toys everywhere, but if I didn't, then I would be lying...=)

Here are some of our holiday highlights...Chris' mom came in town to spend the holiday with us.  It was a lot of fun to have her here and Tracen had a blast playing with her.  We had Chris' family over on Christmas Eve for dinner and some present opening by the kids.  It was a lot of fun!  The kids really enjoyed all of their toys!  Thanks Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Craig!!!

Tracen opening his super fun blocks!
Logan and Kelsey playing with his fun new toy!
Jace playing with Logan's new toy =)  He really liked it!
Morgan with her new amazing TINKER BELL blanket!  Do you love it?  This year, I decided to be ambitious and make ALOT of our Christmas gifts. I had more projects in mind, but time was just too short even though I started in October =( The grand total was: 9 pairs of pjs, 1 night gown (with help from my mom on this), 5 blankets, 1 bag. I better get started earlier next year!

After, the festivities, Chris, Maree and I stayed up putting together the tool bench that the boys were going to get from Grandma Maree, GiGi and Grandpa Jay. Then I stayed up sewing and tying blankets and wrapping gifts...you will notice in the pictures that it is almost 2:00am when I am taking pictures of our Christmas, but it was fun none-the-less. We don't really have any pictures of our Christmas day because lo-and behold, our camera decided to break. Perfect timing huh???

Here is our Christmas...Tracen got a power wheels...once he opened it, well, pulled off his ever-s0-cute blanket, he was not interested in anything else.  He had to sit in his "truck" the rest of morning as he opened his other presents.

What great disguises "Santa" has.  Do you notice the time???

Our one Christmas picture before we got too frustrated to continue.  Sorry, its a bit blurry, but I wanted to get a picture of Tracen with his tool bench for Gigi and Grandpa in SLC =D  Thanks!

For mine and Chris' birthday, Chris' Mom decided to surprise us with a new camera!  THANK YOU!!!  Here is the Log-meister!  He is moving around so much, doing the Army Crawl.

Here is the Tracen-man!  He is full of energy and little sayings!  He is so much fun, but definitely a handful!

After all the Christmas festivities, we still had more fun planned.  My brother, Jason, and his family came to town for more Christmas fun!  We went to Truckee for a yummy brunch (excluding my raw hamburger) at the SQUEEZE IN, then went back to my parents' house to open presents and play games.  It was a ton of fun!  On Monday, we took the Sydenham-Karrasch-Foster grandkids to Kiddie Kandids for a cousins picture.  Again, the most difficult one was Tracen, but the one we decided on turned out pretty cute! 

Tracen, Logan, Zack, Miles, Ally

Monday night we hit up the Blind Onion for some AMAZING pizza!  Here I am with sweet Baby Miles.  He is about 4 months old.  Isn't he cute!!!?!!

Logan LOVES his cousin Miles, infact, he really wanted to eat him!  Grandma is trying to hide in the background...silly Grandma!

For my birthday, all I wanted was to have some friends over to play games, so a few people came over and we rocked out to Guitar Hero World Tour!  

Some Christmas and Birthday highlights, because once again, I am SpOiLeD rOtTeN!

I got this for my birthday!  WE LOVE GUITAR HERO!!!

Chris' favorite present!!!  But he hasn't quite learned how to fly it yet!  It is so big and powerful!

Need I say more???  We are having a Mama Mia party soon!!!

My CRICUT EXPRESSION!!!  I haven't used it yet, but I have BIG plans for this baby!!!

For any of you out there that don't know, I love Nativity sets! My Sister-in-law, Christin, made this for me!  I absolutely love it!!!

We hope you all had a great Holiday Season!