It's Snowing

. . . and cold and windy! I haven't updated for a while.
Shae - Growing everyday! He's sometimes a little picky with his eating, but ate a whole slice of pizza yesterday by himself. He's going to physical therapy twice a month to help align his ankles and knees and help with some other gross motor skills. The PT said he is doing really well, especially with running, and is starting to get some distance on throwing a ball overhand. He loves to play on the computer (and add LOTS of DVDs to our Netflix queue).

Joseph - Is also growing (and constantly eating) - apparently this is a preview to the teenage years! He is making tons of progress and is now able to go to sunbeams classtime without mommy or daddy. We are working towards staying for all of sharing time. He recently participated in the primary presentation at church and read a scripture in front of the whole congregation! (He was so excited to hear his voice in the microphone). He is doing well at pre-school learning to play with the other kids. His reading is still amazing - I would guess maybe 2nd grade level. It's hard to believe he will be turning 5 in just about a month!

Jacob - Started a new job about 6 weeks ago. He is working as a Telecommuting agent for At&t/Convergys. He spent 4 weeks training at a call center in Omaha and is now working from home. It's been an adjustment, but we know that this position is better than the school district because it is year-round, full-time. Right now, he is working on Sundays, but we're hoping and praying that with the next schedule change, he will be able to come to church.

Shawn/Me - I am keeping myself busy with the boys and church and Scentsy. I was recently released from my calling with the Young Women and asked to be the new Music Chairperson. It's been a challenge and I've really struggled to be grateful, but being up to my ears in Christmas Music is helping. I've got 3 weeks to get the Christmas program put together and rehearsed with the choir - yikes! - but it seems to be going as smoothly as it can. Scentsy is going very well and I just moved up in the marketing plan and am now a "Lead Consultant." It means about an extra 2% commission. It's a nice perk, but really I just enjoy being a consultant - I'm not too focused on moving up. I'm also playing clarinet in the Nebraska Wind Symphony which is really fun. We got to perform in the Holland center on Thanksgiving and that was really cool!

Shae's 2nd Birthday!

Grandma made the Lightning McQueen Cake! Shae liked it and ate 2 pieces - well the icing anyway!

We had a great time - all the grandparents and Uncle Josh and Aunt Laura came over to celebrate. He got a stuffed car basket, a Pirate Mr. Potato Head, and a Ride-on Lightning McQueen!

Pictures

Joseph getting rocked to sleep by Papa.

Joseph and Jeffrey (friend from pre-k) at the bowling alley. That was entertaining!

Joseph loves playing baseball. Maybe T-ball next summer?

Getting in to stuff, but still cute!

Shae wearing my sunglasses

Build a bridge . . .

. . . and get over it. I just heard a great speech on the subject of not holding on the hate or grudges because it only hurts you. Pretty simple idea - don't hold on to petty arguments, frankly forgive people and give them the benefit of the doubt. It's something I've been working on for a while, so the speech was a good moment for me to see what I had been doing right and how I can improve. I'm not so great at sending love to people who offend me - I'm better at just ignoring them and moving on. I also learned that I need to cut people out who "blow out my pilot light". Energy suckers who just suck out all the positivity I'm working hard to maintain. I need to work on that. And today, I had an opportunity to do just that.
I was reading through several blog posts of people that I have befriended over the last several years of my life. One particular person's post mentioned an argument that I had with her when we were roommates about dishes in the sink.

"Really, is it such a tragedy to have a dish in the sink or shoes or a jacket left on the couch (the shoes would be on the floor, by the door in the living room)? I had some roommates that thought so, the table could have crumbs all over it and I couldn't tell you the last time they vacuumed (unless, of course we recently had cleaning checks) but dishes couldn't be in the sink, etc."

I posted an apology to her on her blog, but I also am a little baffled at the whole thing. I guess I will build my own bridge and get over it. This isn't the first time she has posted something that has attacked me or something I believe, so I am cutting ties, I think. I wonder if I am overreacting, but, I know that I haven't gained by maintaining the friendship, even just through facebook and blogging. From now on, I will try to be a positive blogger so that I don't become someone else's energy sucker (or "foofer" as Amanda Gore would say).

So to everyone (all 1 or 2 of you that read this blog), I apologize if I have ever been a pessimistic energy sucker to you. I will strive to "Always look on the bright side of life."

What's the best thing that's happened to you today?

Joseph is still wearing the same pair of big boy underwear he put on 5 hours ago - potty training day 1 is going well!

We've moved

Well, since we like to do things last minute, we moved last weekend. I was cruising craigslist looking for rental houses and found an ad for 2 bedroom apartments in Fontenelle Hills. It was a crazy good rent special, but it required us to move in by the 18th. So, everything worked out and we moved! We still have some stuff left at the old apartment and our goal is to turn the keys in there by the end of the week. Thanks to my dad, most of the old place is clean already. Our new place is about double the size and the boys are loving the space to run around. As soon as I find the camera - it's packed somewhere - and the boxes are all gone, I will post pictures.

Blessings

I figured that I had to share this experience. It's not a secret to most of our friends that we aren't exactly swimming in money. We usually have enough to pay our bills and sometimes a little extra for gas and diapers. Well, this month, we fell short, by quite a bit. Even with the money I am actually starting to make with Scentsy, we were about $25 short just for bills. So, I faithfully paid tithing and begrudgingly asked my parents for help. (I feel guilty because they help so much already). Then, it started. The first thing was a letter that came in the mail. We qualified for Energy Assistance and will not have to pay our gas bill for pretty much the rest of the year. Wow. The next thing, I have no explanation for. I was on-line last week to update the amounts of our bills and enter them in our budget spreadsheet. A few days later I went back on-line to pay one of the bills, but to my surprise, my account said $0.00 due. I triple checked it and still, $0.00 due. Awesome. THEN, we received a phone call from our apartment manager this morning. A new tenant reported to her that we referred them to the apartment complex. They moved in this morning, so we received a $50 credit for our rent next month. I have never met this family, but I will be bringing them a plate of cookies tomorrow!

Time Management, or lack thereof

I've noticed something about myself over the last month or so - I am terrible at time management. It's something I used to be really great at - especially when I was in college and working. It was the only way I could get everything done. That's the thing about motherhood - nobody's giving you deadlines for various tasks. My goal is to give myself deadlines and a schedule so I don't end up wasting a bunch of time. Nothing too crazy, but a little bit of structure can go a LONG way. Right now my strategy involves my dry erase calendar with the most important task written down for each day. To others, a to-do list with only 1 item per day may sound like small potatoes, but I think it will keep me in line. Any other suggestions?

Everybody's pregnant!

Except me. But that's okay. I think it's just something that happens when you're this age. Within 1 month, 5 of my friends announced their pregnancies. Congratulations to ALL of YOU! I'm going to starting knitting and crocheting! My prayers are with those whose babies are already back with Heavenly Father.
Also, I have a new niece. Jared and Allison welcomed Annabelle Yvonne about a month ago. We were able to see her via webcam when she was about 1 day old. Gotta love technology! (They are stationed in Japan)
Mommy-hood, Young Women's, School, and Scentsy are keeping me very busy - which is why I haven't updated for a month! I am working hard, and am trying to get more relaxation time. I did finally see Avatar 3D. It was pretty amazing, even with the predictable plot line.

School and Fire! (almost)

So, I started school 2 weeks ago. Everything got figured out as far as babysitting (Thanks, Jana! and my in-laws!) and a car (Thanks Mom!) and books (Thanks Stafford Loan!). I only have class on Monday, so I had MLK day off - which meant a 2 week break. Weird. So I still don't really feel like I'm "in" school. That will probably change today. Things are going great so far. I had to laugh because my first assignment in my Human Relations class is to write an essay about my values. I immediately thought "Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge . . . ." It's great to be a YW leader. Since I am working on the Personal Progress program along with the YW, I am counting this essay as one of my projects. Which will mean I am almost done! The leader requirements are a little less than the girls - mostly because they have 6 years and I have to serve for at least 1 year.
On another note, I came home yesterday from church (Jacob wasn't feeling well and stayed home with the boys), to a horrible smell. Jacob came out of our bedroom with our space heater and tossed it into the snowpile outside our door. Apparently, it tipped over and the oil on the inside started overheating and spraying out the bottom. It melted our carpet and turned the space heater dark brown. Jacob said he heard a high pitched noise coming from the bedroom. The space heater is now in the dumpster. I am debating whether or not to report it to Target (where we bought it).

Baby it's Cold Outside!

Woke up this morning to -12 degrees! With the wind chill it was -26. I feel like I'm in Alaska again (except the wind there is warm). We are going to seal our windows today. Yesterday, Jacob was cleaning out the window sills and discovered a foot-long crack in our bedroom window. It looks like the cold temperatures caused it. Or cheap windows.
So, we have all this super cold weather just in time for Jacob to go back to work, Joseph to go back to pre-school, and me to start classes at UNO. I'm not exactly looking forward to hiking from the parking lot to the music and education buildings. I think the Education building is about a mile from where I plan on parking my car at the Institute building. I may seriously contemplate buying a night student parking permit. It's only $30, but the parking on campus is pretty bad, so I am not sure that it's worth it.
So, school starts in a little over a week, and we are still figuring out the babysitting for the boys. My in-laws can watch them some Mondays, depending on my father-in-law's work schedule. We are praying to find a solution! And that my financial aid money will arrive soon so I can buy my books.
Joseph is continuing to make progress at therapy. He has some steps to eating that have helped and just started speech therapy to complement his occupational therapy. I'm sure when he starts pre-school again, he will make more progress. Having a normal schedule again only makes things better. He is turning 4 years old tomorrow!!! Happy Birthday Joseph!

Picture a Christmas

Happy New Year! We had a very white Christmas! We were snowed in for a couple of days and I think we received about 12" of snow over Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and the day after. The boys got to open presents all 3 days. On Sunday, after Christmas, Joseph asked me "Mommy, where are the presents?" I guess after 3 days in a row of opening Christmas presents, he thought the trend would continue. Luckily, he turns 4 this Sunday, so he will get to open more soon!