Where Did March Go?

Wow! March is almost over and I haven't really blogged once. So I thought I would do a quick little (probably long) update.

This month I have been going over to my mom's house to help her start cleaning out her basement. My mom is a saver!! I've been weirdly enjoying it, probably because I LOVE to organize things!! Plus, it's been nice spending time with her. Hopefully she won't mind the next picture I post. But I am proud of her for throwing/recycling/donating/giving a lot of stuff away. We got rid of this HUGE bag of plastic bags. This big bag went up above my waist. It was a crazy amount of plastic bags!!
I have also been finding some fun treasures from my childhood! Like this birthday card from our then next door neighbors! I am guessing it was for my 6 or 7 birthday.

And on the inside Todd (who I babysat for years and love like a brother) signed it! He was probably 2 or 3. It totally made me smile and warm my heart!!

I also found a box of all my stuff from when I went to Russia- 20 years ago!! I found these awesome socks that were made for me.

All I needed was a balalaika and a bottle of vodka! It was awesome!! I cant wait to see what we find next time.

We also had a sleepover here with the neighbors. It was a great time!! They all get along so great! We will really miss them when they move!!

Our friends Joe and Kassie were in town and we got to spend an afternoon with them. We ate at Tommy Collinas. And I have to say if you haven't eaten there yet- Go. There. Now!! It's so yummy!!

And you get to sign their wall!! How can you resist that?

I threw in the next picture cause it makes me laugh every time I see it!! The boys were posing and Grant (our friend and owner) popped into the picture too! :)

The boys also got their first convertible ride- thanks to Joe and Kassie! And they LOVED it!!
As did I! Convertibles are just fun!!

This past weekend the boys got to have a cooking "lesson" from my mom. Josh is into cooking right now and I am ALL for that!! We have done several cooking classes at local grocery stores.
I think that about does it for now. :) Now I am off to enjoy this weather!! This year the weather has been SO AWESOME!!

Our Holiday Season

So I mentioned in my last post how this holiday season has been overshadowed by our moving adventure. We sold our house in November and have been "running" around ever since. It has been a CRAZY season.

We went out looking for houses three different times. Twice in conditions like these:

The last house we looked at all signs pointed to it being THE ONE. First of all, when you drive into the neighborhood the first street is Mason- our nephew's name. The next street is Marcy- my sister in law's name- not spelled the same but still. And the house we chose is on Jones Circle. Jones circle is the same street that Matt, Eric and I moved into. The house where it all began for Matt and I. I would call that fate, wouldn't you? Take all those factors and mix in that the house is awesome for us I would say we got what we wanted. Needless to say- we are really excited!! That now means we have less than 3 weeks to get everything that goes with moving done!! EEEKS!

If that isn't enough to make you crazy busy- throw Josh having eye surgery again in there. So far things are going great!! We are keeping our fingers crossed that they stay that way!! The day after surgery he started to run a fever- which isn't good. But it turns out he was just dehydrated. WHEW!! A little bit of a scare but glad that it turned out to be nothing.

So with those things going on in life- Christmas sort of took a back seat this year. It wasn't a bad Christmas. But it wasn't in my top 10 Christmas either. The day before Christmas Eve we went out to dinner with my mom and Ralph, and my step sister and her family.

Then came back here for the kids to open presents. It was a nice evening.

Christmas Eve we went over to Ronna and Larry's house for an awesome spread of appetizers and soup. It was wonderful!!

Christmas day we hung out here. Matt and I like having Christmas day here. But for me it was a day of mixed emotions and sort of sad. It was our last Christmas in our house and I wanted it to be REALLY special and built it up in my mind and since we were so busy with other things the plans in my head didn't get put into motion so the day didn't reach my expectations. But like I said- it wasn't a bad Christmas....just not perfect. I still made ebleskiever.

We still opened gifts.

And we still had a nice day together.

Another problem was I just had a really long to do list going on in my head that it was hard to sit and relax and enjoy the moment. The day after Christmas we took the tree down and spent the rest of the weekend packing.

And although we made some progress- it made me realize that there is a lot more to do than I thought!! Last time I moved it was just Matt and I from an apartment into our house. That is WAY different that moving from a house that you have lived in for 9 years and have added to your family. :) It is good though. We are making progress and trying to get our ducks in a row. It will get done. And on one hand I know all this- but change is hard for me. Good or bad- it's hard.

The other night we spent the evening with my aunt Mary Carol, uncle Harry, Wade, Allison and Sarah and my parents. We didn't make it to Kansas this year. Which I am sad about- but there was just too much going on that it wasn't going to work out this year. Us Omaha people still wanted to celebrate Christmas together. I had everyone come over for dinner- which may not have been my brightest idea as this place is a DISASTER!! But we are family and everyone understood....I hope.

Josh taught Allison how to play checkers. It's his new favorite game!!

Matt still has the touch!! :)

And of course the kids opened presents! We gave Sarah her present and she just dove right on it! :) It was really cute!

Wade, Allison and Sarah gave the boys a new electric train. Which the boys were REALLY excited about.

Wade has one from when he was a kid that he and the boys have played with. The boys LOVE it. It was a really thoughtful gift. One that the boys will love for years to come!

Over break, the boys and I went and toured their new school. We even got to meet their new teachers. I think that helped Josh out- and me too!! Josh has been the one who hasn't exactly been on board with this whole moving thing. The school was great!! This is the first year that it has been open so everything is shiny and new!! The principal happens to have triplets too- who are in kindergarten and will be in each of the boy's class too. Needless to say we hit it off! :) It's going to be good!! I was impressed and really happy and the boys didn't want to leave when the tour was over! They fit right in! YEA!

Anyway, overall we are getting things done. We gave our swing set to Sarah. The boys were out growing it and we didn't want to move it nor was there great space for it. We thought Sarah would enjoy it when she gets to be a little older. So Wade, Harry and Matt moved it yesterday.

Our backyard looks so empty now!!

Lots of change going on around here!! I will be so happy when the dust settles. Right now things are overwhelming...but all in a good way! :)

Third Time's the Charm, Right?

Josh had his eye surgery for the third time today. Things went really smoothly. No complications. And so far it has worked!! His eyes are straight as arrows!! Now the trick is to get them to stay that way!! Fingers crossed!!

Josh's doctor is really awesome and lets Josh pick out a stuffed animal each time he has surgery. And boy does Josh latch onto that thing for a day or two. He isn't one of those kids who has a security item so to see him attach himself to something is interesting to me. Today he chose a red cardinal. His name was Mack. Then it was Birdie. Then Reddie. Then Blackie. Then Red and Black. And then nothing....it's just a bird. Good luck someday to when you need to name your kids Josh!! :) He also got another teddy bear from the hospital- oh and the cool shades he is wearing. Last time he had surgery he got to ride out in this wagon. Today he chose the wheel chair. The nurse even let him try to roll himself a little bit. Quite the highlight.

Today we have taken it easy. Josh (and Matt and I) have slept on and off all day. Getting up at the crack of dawn takes a lot out of you!! I think I have been up since 3am. Yawn!! I am just happy that all went well and like I said- I am keeping my fingers crossed that his eyes stay put!

Try Again....

This past Thursday, both Josh and Zach had eye surgery. A couple of years ago, they had the same surgery done. Unfortunately, they started to cross their eyes again. So after trying various things to correct it (like patching), our doctor suggested that we do surgery again to correct it. We have a fantastic doctor and trust his judgment so we went ahead with it. We are just keeping our fingers crossed that it will work this time!! There is a 91% chance that it will work- fingers crossed!!

I can not say enough nice things about Children's hospital and how wonderful they were to us! They put us in adjoining rooms so we could all be together. That was a concern of mine. I wanted to be able to be next to both of them. And they made that possible for me. The nurses explained EVERYTHING to the boys (and us), showed them pictures of the operating room and what the doctor and nurses will look like with their masks on, etc. to help calm their nerves. They even showed them their masks to put them to sleep and let them touch an IV. So wonderful!!

Zach was cracking everyone up. He kept telling everyone that he was Josh. He is such a goof ball. They have discovered the advantages of being identical!! Look out!!!

Surgery went well. No complications. And the boys did great. The doctor and the hospital each gave them a stuffed animal. So they got two stuffed animals. Very exciting!! Here is Zach with Stinky the skunk and no name teddy bear.

They were both light sensitive so the hospital even gave them sunglasses to help with that. Like I said, the hospital and the staff were beyond wonderful!! Josh chose a pumpkin and named his teddy bear Mr. Teddy but didn't name the pumpkin. After surgery, they slept a couple of hours and then were ready to go home.

Zach and Josh were wheeled out in a wagon. They weren't supposed to walk out of the hospital. They thought it was pretty cool. I thought it was pretty cute.

Now onto the real challenge! They are supposed to do VERY little until Tuesday. sigh. If you know of any ways to keep 3 six year old boys clam and do nothing- I am ALL EARS!! :) After Monday, they can go back to school but can't do recess or PE or sports of any kind for 2 weeks. I feel a little guilty about the sports thing. They are playing soccer and will miss a game and 2 practices. Considering my boys make up almost half the team....yikes. But what can I do? I am not going to risk their recovery for it.

So I have been trying to come up with ideas that are fun...but not too dirty or that require much physical activity. Yesterday we "made" crayons. It was fun. I had them pick some colors they wanted their new crayon to be and peeled off the paper.

We broke up the crayons and put them into a muffin pan and melted them down into their new crayon.

Then viola! A new crayon to color with!!

They thought it was cool. Not the best craft I have ever done with them, but it was fun none the less.

We have watched movies, built things out of legos, colored, worked in our kindergarten workbooks, read books and played games. I have to admit this is all getting old- for them and for me. I thought it would be safe to take them out to the farmers market and grocery shopping this morning. But they ran, jumped, and skipped their way around the market and store. Needless to say, I don't think that we will leave the house until Tuesday again. :) It is hard because they feel normal and don't understand why they can't act normal. Plus with this BEAUTIFUL weather who wants to stay inside? Oh well, there will be more nice days coming up right? So here is to making it to Tuesday without going stir crazy! :) hahaha

On a side note- since surgery Zach doesn't want to wear his glasses anymore. The doctor did say that is a possibility and he may not need them. We will find out for sure in 6 weeks. Josh wants to wear his glasses but looks over the tops of them. So I don't think he needs his anymore either. Good luck to everyone to try and figure them out! hee hee hee