Found

We found the perfect dog.  Her name is Bella and she is a Chihuahua mix.  We also happened to find the perfect house for us so we bought it.  Carl and I are now the proud owners of a dog and house.  Life is good.  More details will soon follow.

Taken

Someone already adopted Cy.  I am not sure I will ever find a dog that is as beautiful or friendly as Cy.  Only time will tell if the Sansom family ever finds the perfect dog.

Ambushed

Today we went to a safety fair at the mall and it was AWESOME!!!  Along with a horrifying car roll over demonstration(picture the cab of a truck spinning round and round followed by a dummy flying out of the window), and other safety themed booths, we were able to see all sorts of emergency vehicles.  Along with the standard firetruck, police car, and ambulance, we saw the MERV(the SWAT team's vehicle),the Bomb Squad's vehicle and robot, helicopters, police horses, and an armored car.  I was enthralled by the bomb diffusing robot demonstration but it actually freaked the boys out so we had to mover on.  Joe ran around the whole thing screaming in delight; he always has a great time.   Max, who is very cautious by nature, walked right up to the Life Flight helicopter and climbed in, with a little assistance from me.  I was so proud of him.  Then Carl mentioned that the Humane Society had a dog out for the kids to pet.  Joe loves dogs so we went over.  Joe was squealing with delight and petting the dog while Max smiled at Cy, the husky on display, from a safe distance.  I decided to actually pet Cy--that was my mistake.  I fell in love with Cy and wanted to take him home immediately.  As we walked away, I told Carl that I wanted Cy and he smiled a very sly smile and casually mentioned that huskies are his favorite breed of dog.  He set me up!  I don't really love animals but something about Cy spoke to me and I am sure Carl knew that would happen(he later told me that he and Joe had spent lots of time with Cy before Max and I met up with them).  So now I am researching all about huskies and their needs and I hope to adopt Cy or a dog like him soon.  As I write this post I have to just laugh at myself.  I have never wanted an animal of any kind and yet here I am contemplating dog adoption.  Oh how life (and kids) changes people.

Hello, world!

I decided to make our blog public again because our cirlce of friends is far flung and I just want to make sure we all stay connected.  Feel free to list us in your blog links if you so choose.

Motherhood and the stink eye

As all of you know by now, I have two rambunctious boys.  I love them to pieces but they can be quite a handful sometimes.  I try to do the best I can but sometimes my best doesn't feel like enough.  Usually I get that feeling when I am hauling two screaming kids out of the store or the park and more than one mom gives me the stink eye.  At times like that, I alternately want to melt into oblivion or glare back at them and ask "What are you staring at?"  Most of the time I just avert my eyes and power through.  Do I ever regret having my kids so close together?  No. (I have been asked that by more than one person).  Do I wish I had a nanny?  No.  I won't lie, sometimes it seems like paradise but I didn't have kids so someone else could raise them.  I am a mom and I relish that role, even during the hard times. 

Getting the stink eye from strangers is bearable because I know they don't know how awesome my boys really are.  But feeling judged or actually being judged by people I know stings quite a bit.  Instead of "helpful hints," half concealed smirks, or judgement rolling off a person in waves(you know that feeling you get when not a word is said but feelings are still made quite clear), I think moms deserve a pat on the back and some encouragement.  At a quilt show, for example, Max was making his opinion known at an ear shattering decibel.  I calmed him down and one old lady told me(in her sweet old lady voice) that boys don't like quilting so I shouldn't bring my kids to quilting things while another lady patted me on the back and told me I was her hero for teaching my kids to appreciate beautiful things.  The pat on the back gave me the lift I needed to turn that moment into a teaching opportunity for Max.  So that is the type of person I try to be: the friends who lets you know that you are a fantastic person no matter what.

Motherhood has helped me learn compassion on a whole new level.  Each child has his or her own personality, complete with challenging behaviors and strengths.  I believe Heavenly Father entrusts us with these precious souls because we can teach them and they, along with refining us, can help us learn a thing a two.  Because I feel this way, I try to give moms and dads the benefit of the doubt.  We are all doing the best we can and trying our best to raise happy, well-mannered, spiritually minded kids.  Recently a friend of mine wrote about a experience she had after a tough day with her son.  It reminded me that all moms  have hard moments and we truly are doing a good job even if the fruit of our efforts is not immediately apparent.  So to all of those moms out there, thank you for sharing your struggles and triumphs with me.  Knowing that other people have similar experiences helps me be a better mom and a better, more compassionate friend. 

The Boys

As it turns out, I haven't posted a picture of the boys on here for a while. After a mighty struggle with my iphone, I now have pictures available to post. I hope these will give you some insight into their personalities. First up, we have Joseph. He loves to do whatever Max does.  Joe tries his best to keep up with Max, even when he falls behind.  Even when Joe struggles to do something, he persists until he accomplishes his goal.  He either finds a way to do something on his own or asks for me to help him figure it out.  Even when I do help him with something, Joe really concentrates and tries to learn how to replicate whatever we just did.  I love his determination and thoughtfulness.

To balance out his serious side. Joe is also developing quite the sense of humor and loves to get a laugh out of Carl and me any way he can. In this instance, he decided to wear Max's underwear as a hat.   Anytime he does something that he thinks is funny, he will check our reaction before he carries on for too  long.  If we laugh, he milks it for all it's worth.  Since I took a picture of the underwear-as-hat incident, Joe now immediately puts any pair of underwear he finds on his head.  We laugh every time.  How can you not?  Look at that little face...he just melts my heart with that little smile. 

And here we have Max, our chief mischief maker.  Turn your back for one second and Max will do something a little naughty and usually very funny.  On this occasion, Max and I were getting ready for church.  Since Carl was at some meeting, Max watched me put on my make up and pick out my jewelry.  I walked out of my bathroom for a few seconds and when I came back Max had my eyeliner brush in hand and informed me it was "his turn."  I thought he did a pretty fair job of getting my black eyeshadow/liner in the right spot.  I tried to get a better picture but he wouldn't hold still.  In fact, the rest of the pictures chronicle my attempts to photograph Max whilst crawling under the table to catch him while wearing a dress.  It made for a lively Sunday morning.

Max is a man of exuberant emotions.  When he is happy, the whole world knows.  His smile and laugh can really brighten a whole room.  When he is sad or frustrated, his tears do not go unnoticed by anyone(though that is because he is usually combining those cries with screams. We are working on developing more appropriate coping mechanisms).One of Max's favorite treats are cupcakes from Jones Brothers Cupcakes.  Max, Joe and I got cupcakes for a family home evening treat the other week.  The kid loves him some chocolate cupcake.

Perhaps one of my favorite things about Max is his tender heart.  Since my foot surgery, Max will frequently hold Joe's hand and lead him to where they need to go.  Max watches out for Joe and makes sure he is okay and having a good time.  On occasion, he will even come over to me me for a hug and quick hello before darting off to play.  I love watching Max and Joe become best buddies.  As it says in the scriptures, my quiver is full.

Physical therapist or...

Physical terrorist? It's tough to tell sometimes.  To be fair, my dear friend who is a phyical therapist calls herself a physical terrorist in jest.  After my surgery, I had an allergic reaction to the sticky stuff used to hold on the steri-strips and the resulting rash and swelling meant that I lost all pretty much all the mobility in my big toe so I started physical therapy to help me relearn how to walk like a normal person.  I promise you that physical therapy on one's scar adhesed and swollen big toe is very painful.  Since I go in quite often to see Katie, my physical therapist, we are now besties.  While Katie is breaking through said layers of scar tissue and restoring mobility to my joints, we chat about our weekend plans, swap make up tips, talk about favorite Omaha hot spots and the like.  If it wasn't for the searing pain shooting through my foot, it would be like a girl's night.  In all honesty, I am very grateful for physical therapy because it is helping me a lot.  Katie estimates that I will need about a month and half of intensive therapy to regain enough mobility to walk comfortably and hopefully run again.  It's at the time when one's body doesn't function properly that true appreciation for Heavenly Father's masterful skills is gained.  I appreciate my good health and ability to exercise so much more now than I did before the surgery and ensuing complications.  Fortunately, my limitations are temporary and minor when compared to the trials other face but this experience has taught me gratitude for what I have and compassion for others. 

Thank goodness for Grandma

Max and Joe just spent the last week hanging out with Grandma and they loved very second of it. In fact, Max would wake up every morning and start calling "Gree-ma, where are you?". Even though the call started around 6:30 am(he was just so excited to see her he couldn't sleep a second longer), I thought it was precious. My mom's visit also gave me the chance to prop my feet up, relax, and not do one single thing all week long. Literally. It would have been paradise expect for the pain in my feet. You see,fair readers, I had surgery on both feet on Monday and was on doctor ordered bed rest for the week. My dear mother, being the kind soul she is, came out here to watch the boys whilst I convalesced. Carl took one day off work but he hasn't accrued enough sick leave/vacation time to take off the whole week. So while I was quite literally stuck on the couch, my mom cooked,cleaned, entertained the boys, and attended to all my needs. She's the best. I had a follow up visit with my podiatrist on Friday and it looks like everything is heeling well. I am able to move around more and my pain level has significantly decreased. I am really grateful for my mom and her willingness to drop everything to help out. PS-while at my first post-op visit, I almost passed out when the doctor removed the dressings from my incisions. I had no idea I was so squeamish. Anyway, my mom took that opportunity to take a few pictures of my feet because she said I would want pictures later. I didn't post them since I still get light headed when I look at them but they may make an appearance on this blog one day.

Genetically Blessed

That is how Carl and I refer to gorgeous people.  They aren't just pretty, cute, adorable, easy on the eyes, man candy(that would be David Borneaz)...they are genetically blessed.  I happened to have 5 roommates in college(how did we all fit in that tiny apartment with all of my stuff?) who were all genetically blessed.  As I reminisced about shared bathrooms, group dates, the Vermonster and a million other memories, I  decided to have a peek at all of their blogs and the occasional Facebook pages for those who don't blog today and I just have to say...WOWZERS!  All of their children are beautiful.  Truly, they are all lovely looking children who are also angels.  I loved reading about family adventures and everyday moments because it revealed lives rich with love and contentment.  Happily, these snippets of my dear friends lives also showed their commitment to the Gospel and their unique ways of helping their kids and others around them to feel their love for the Savior.  It looks like my dear roomies and their children have truly been blessed, genetically and otherwise.

The forecast for today is...

snow.  And lots of it.  Today we woke up to a light dusting of snow.  It was actually quite lovely.  Carl decided to check the weather channel to see how much of the powdery stuff we could expect.  The answer we received was somewhat disconcerting:  1 to 20 inches of snow before nightfall.  How does one come up with a range like that?  Usually it's something like 6 to 12 inches but 1"-20"?  Couldn't the weatherman narrow it down a little? 

So far we have probably gotten about 12" inches or so of snow.  It took poor Carl an hour to shovel our driveway and by the time he finished, the front half was covered again.  Since I have a killer cold, we plan on staying in, drinking choffy, and watching movies.

HELP!!!

In our lovely little branch everyone has at least 2 callings.  No, seriously.  Actually, that is one of the thing I love most about being in a branch; everyone is needed.  Right now I need a little help from my long distance friends in order to fulfill my favorite calling, which is Primary chorister.  If you have never had this calling, you are missing out.  I love singing with the kids each week and watching them as the music touches their hearts and teaches them truth.  It is amazing.  I have witnessed some amazing things during singing time and so I try my best to make each week a fun learning opportunity. Actually, it's kind of ironic that this is my favorite calling since I actually strongly dislike singing in front of people.  Ask my college roommates.  One time we had to sing during sacrament meeting(all 6 of us and I think everyone else was truly musically gifted so all I had to do was stand up there and pretend to sing) and I cried a lot beforehand and thought I was going to either pass out or throw up from nerves.  In case you are wondering, I didn't actually do either but it was close. Back to the point at hand...I just can't think of anything to help teach the kiddos Choose the Right this month.  I know some of you creative ladies have some great singing time ideas you can share.  Please e-mail me some singing time creativity.  Pretty Please.  Thanks in advance.

The first of many things

Max's birthday

Max turned three in January!  I can't believe how fast the years have flown by.  Each day with Max brings a new adventure and tons of surprises.  I can honestly day that he keeps me on my toes and I am grateful for him and his soft(yet mischievous) heart.  Right now Max loves Cars(the movie), puzzles, playing with friends, reading, and dancing.  He does not love eating.  In fact, we have to find ways to coax or just plain trick him into eating most days.  Except chocolate.  Max, much live his papa bear, loves all things chocolaty.  I have considered coating meatballs in chocolate (hello, Princess Bride) but we haven't got that desperate yet.  To celebrate his birthday, we first went to BounceU with a few friends and bounced for a while.  Max loved it.  This is a picture of Max and one of his best buddies, Alex.  At first, Alex was not sure if he liked the giant inflatables but with a little encouragement from Max, he ended up loving it.  I think my favorite part of the morning was hearing Max scream to Alex as he would run by: "Come on, Alex!"  It was just darling. 

We also had a birthday dinner with a few more friends.  We went for simple and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and of course, I made a cake.  This is my first attempt at a carved cake and I think it turned out pretty well.  I will admit that I royally missed one up and had to throw it away but I rallied and made this one.  It's not perfect but I actually pleased with it.  Max requested sparkle cake, Funfetti to the rest of us, and strawberry and so it was.  Oddly enough, that is exactly what Carl requested for his birthday last year.  Carl and Max are so similar it is almost spooky.

This year we also achieved a birthday milestone:  Max blew out his birthday candles!  Last year he was a little too shy to do it but this year he found it quite thrilling.  All in all, Max's birthday week was filled with lots of fun, love, and laughter.  Just like him.

To the Lady at the Craft Store

Dear Cashier:

I didn't need your snide comment to clue me into the fact that my child has his hat on backwards.  He put it on by himself and I counted that as a victory.  He's wearing his hat and I didn't have to put it on.  Win/win.  But thanks for your concern.

Ash

So many things

So many things have happened since November, all of which prevented me from sitting down to write about them.  The most important event occurred during the first week of December.  Carl graduated from Creighton and was offered a job all on the same day.  He now works at Streck so it looks like we are staying in Omaha for the long haul.  Other major events have also transpired but I will get to that later.  Joe is on day 3 of his nap strike and is currently screaming like a banshee and so I must rescue him from his crib.  I wish he would just take a nap but he is even more stubborn than Max(I didn't think that was possible) so I know he will not go to sleep on principle.  As a bonus for this hard-working mama, if Joe doesn't sleep, Max doesn't sleep either.  I think it has something to do with the ear shattering volume and unnervingly high pitches Joseph employs in his screaming arsenal.  And so I am off to brave another day with two very tired boys.