There's Nothing More Annoying....

You know when you find yourself in a situation during the day and the thought comes to your mind, "There is nothing more annoying than....." I have this thought a lot.... Here is a list of things that I find quite irritating-in no particular order.

There is nothing more annoying than....

*Getting in the 'Self Check-Out" lane at the grocery store where it's unwritten code that you should only have a couple of items, and there is a lady there with a cart HEAPING with stuff holding up the line! And of course she's got a bunch of fresh fruit and veggies that she doesn't know how to scan......

*People at the movie theater texting during a movie! Don't they know everyone behind them just has this annoying little white light in their line of vision that's just so distracting it's like a bad car accident that you can't take your eyes off of.

*Your spouse coming in to your room at night long after you've gone to bed, flicking the light on and off and following it up with, "Oh opps! Sorry!"

* When anyone thinks their "don't remember" might trump my "do remember".

*Reaching for the toilet paper and there is only half a square left, no rolls in the basket next to the toilet and then you're forced to choose between using the cardboard roll itself or the hand towel.

*Having your dog bark her lungs out because she heard a doorbell on a TV show and thinks someone is about to break in your house.

* When you try to wind your garden hose back up and it's kinked or twisted....then the cussing starts.....

* Having a little hair or fuzz in your mouth and not being able to get it out....not to mention how dumb you look trying to extract it.

* Having your three year old try to get your attention by clutching your face with greasy little hands while you are out to eat and of course on a day that your makeup was perfectly done.

* Resting your elbow on the car window sill and having the driver roll the windows up with no warning-thus jamming your fingers tips up into the top of the window frame.

* Last and but not least and the reason for this post:

Having your Great Dane who insists on sleeping in the middle of the bed with you, have a nose whistle!!!!! Every time Phoebi breathed last night there was this little high pitch whistle that was so annoying!! Every time it whistled it seemed to get louder and louder and i wanted to light my hair on fire or grab our infant nose sucker and do some business!

Jazz on the Green

On Thursday nights in the summer time Turner Park puts on different 'shows' such as Shakespeare on the Green and last night was Jazz on the Green! So our Thursday Night group headed down there for a picnic and some really good live music.

Bill's cousin Tim, who lives in Las Vegas came into town for a few days so Bill was spending some time with him-He missed a fun time! The Leeders brought Jimmy John's for every one and we all brought sides, drinks and dessert! It was such a fun and relaxing evening to spend with friends!

We had brought Sawyer's back pack along with us full of fun toys to play with.....but did they play with all the toys? No. The boys spent most of the evening trying to get this blue string hooked around a tree branch........it was a total 'play with the wrapping paper and not the gift' affair :)

The boys resorted to playing some new card game.....I think the game was called, "Whoever grabs the most cards and sits on them, WINS"! At one point we looked over and Sawyer and Jack were rolling around in the grass in a brawl over the last card......Jack burst into tears and Sawyer galloped around triumphantly doing his victory dance ( and YES he was quickly curtailed and we had a little chat about good behavior! Just in case you were wondering.....)

Sawyer and Jack became regulars at the water booth that was nearby-they were pretty excited that the water came in these cool little paper cups (that mostly spilled out on the walk back to the blanket), but it was the sweet tarts that the lady was handing out that kept luring them back! Being the wonderful and hyper vigilant mother that I am, I have no idea how many packets of sweet tarts, caramel crunch cupcakes or girl scout cookies he inhaled over the course of the evening.....oh well!

Boys and Their Toys

Dylan, Tyler and Sawyer on their rides
(Dylan has a four wheeler just like Sawyer's but his battery died by picture time)

We really lucked out when we bought this house that it was in a neighborhood plum full of kids Sawyer's age! He has played with the neighbor kids some but there is this little posse of boys that pal around together and Sawyer has always been dying to hang out with....but for some reason he always looses his nerve as soon as he gets across the street. (That's another thing-they all live on the other side of the street so he can't just run over into their yards whenever he wants like they can because he has to be walked over...)
So last night we were sitting outside and saw the boys come out with their four wheelers and head towards the field. We plopped Sawyer onto his and you should have seen the confidence and pride that surged up inside of him when the garage door went up and he rolled out into the driveway with the exact same four wheeler as the other guy.......he even stood up and rode! He revved his way down into the field and off they went!

We have an open field out behind our house and then another one (pictured here) in between our neighbor's house. The boys trekked though the overgrown grass on an expedition! It was so cute to watch as each of them would get stuck and the others would quickly jump off their vehicle and either push or pull them out and then off they would go again!

Show off......

Then Sawyer decided to try out his friend Tyler's bike....he was doing really well until he decided to go down the hill before figuring out how to brake.....

Thank goodness his wipe out was into the grass and not on the pavement! :)

Sawyer was feeling pretty cool about himself until the end of the evening when we were going home and I pushed the garage door opener and as it started to go up, Sawyer didn't quite time it right and drove right into the garage door! It hits him smack in the nose, whip lashes him, and he falls backward off of the four wheeler onto the ground! I was bracing my self for the blood curdling shriek---but I think it stunned him so much that he forgot to cry! No blood, or broken bridge just a nice black and blue battle wound :)

Evidence that Nana Jane was here...

It has been great having my mom here for a couple weeks and being able to hang out and catch up! There are a number of things that shout out, "Nana Jane was here!" and here are a few of them:

#1. No dirty Dishes

Having eight kids besides your own in the house all day with bottomless tummies that need drinks and snacks all day, there are always dishes that need to be done. Even with a high capacity dishwasher, there never seems to be enough room to fit everything in. I'm VERY thankful for it-don't get me wrong! Nana Jane made sure that there weren't any dirty dishes or ones lingering in the strainer.

#2. Empty Dryer

I hate to admit it, but there is rarely a day when there isn't a load of dry clothes sitting in the dryer that hasn't quite made it to the 'folding' stage yet. They just sit there after their cycle and get wrinkly....and then I have to run it again for five minutes to fluff them back up again when I actually get around to folding them......but not with Nana Jane here! The beeper would barely go off before Nana Jane would whisk them out and fold everything neatly!

#3. Thomas the Train 48 Piece Puzzle

Oh the huge puzzle.......It didn't matter that his puzzle was meant for ages 6-8 and Sawyer is not even 4 yet.....he had to have it and Nana Jane sat there patiently putting this thing together about 27 times before she left.....now guess who get's to help with the puzzle?!?

#4. Bubble Bath Solution

"Where is Sawyer's bubble bath solution?" is what my mom wanted to know. When I told her he didn't have any you would have thought that I just old her we use Criso to wash him with by the look on her face......I normally just squirt a little bit of his shampoo in while the water is running and call it good......but according to Nana Jane a three year old 'needs' lots of bubbles in his bath. So we now have a huge bottle of 'Mr. Bubbles' in the bathroom so that Sawyer can get proper baths now......

#5. Freshly baked Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

Helping Nana Jane transfer the cookies to the cooling rack.....yes there were a few that somehow got flipped onto the floor by accident :)

#6. The window cleaners!

Wiping Phoebi's drool off the front windows.

Confession:I started to feel a bit guilty about how often I fall into the just-get-it-done mode. I want things done quickly, efficiently and right the first time. For a three year old who loves to help out and is just aching to feel important and independent, mom's get-it-done mode really sucks. Seeing how much joy he got from all the little stuff that Nana Jane let him help out with reminded me that there are more important things this get-it-done-quick-n-easy world that we live in. So, I'm going to do my best to slow things down and accept a three year old helping hand.

#7. Full Pantry

Nana Jane always is so generous while she is here and one of the nicest things is when she takes us to Costco and we stock up on enough groceries, toiletries and cleaning supplies to last us about 6-8 months. It's SO nice! Our pantry shelves are bursting at the seems!

#8. Sawyer's Loot

Just a couple of things that Nana Jane picked up for Sawyer.....I'm sure it was all stuff that he really 'needed' :) She did her part to boost the economy in the last few weeks....

We miss you Nana Jane!
It was so good to have you here and we're looking forward to your next visit!

He's BACK!!!

After being gone like three weeks, Sawyer is Home!!! By last Friday, we were aching to have him home! He burst through the front door, stopped dead in him tracks, does this weird monster growl with his hands up and then gave us huge hugs! It was great!

How we missed all those goofy faces and silliness! It's so good to have you back Buddy! We missed you to death!

He obsessed with doing puzzles right now~it's nice that you have to sit nice and quietly to do puzzles.....I'm glad that he's into these right now rather than playing the drums or something equally irritating for on-edge mother like myself who also has eight other kids during the day wanting a creative outlet to 'express themselves'......

Thank you Nana Jane for adding to the puzzle collection-he LOVES all his new ones!

D-Lish

Sandra was so sweet to offer to cook a traditional Colombian meal for my mom before she returned to Brazil! Bill and I always LOVE whatever Sandra cooks, but our favorite is Ajiaco. Everything is made from scratch and is pretty time consuming so we smelled the yumminess all day long in much anticipation!

Srping Rice~this rice is not your typical 'Minute Rice'.....this rice is unbelievably good! Sandra takes green onions and garlic and sautes them with a little bit of oil before pouring in the rice (that's what gives it it's intense flavor) after the rice cooks she adds finely chopped red, yellow and green peppers which gives it a tiny little crunch and not to mention the hands down crowd pleaser-----BACON!

Patacones~these are green plantains that have been cut into chunks and then deep fried, after they have cooked for a few minutes they are removed from the oil and smashed down flat and then get tossed back into the oil to finish cooking. They are sprinkled with salt and then topped with homemade guacamole and tomato and green onion salsa. They are SO flavorful-crisp, salty and delicious!

Ajiaco~this is a soup that is made from two different kinds of potatoes, chicken, corn on the cob and is flavored with Guasca. Guasca is a special kind of herb that is grown throughout Central and South America that gives the soup it's distinct flavor. It is such a hearty soup that takes all the basic goodness of chicken and potatoes and comes together so beautifully!!! I could eat this every week! (which most Colombians do in fact!)

Getting ready to dig in! The other guy at the table is Bill's good friend Ben (we all went to CROWN college together up in Minnesota) who practically lives with us.


Me & Sandra*
Thank you Sandra once again for another wonderful meal-it was a hit!!!

Colombian Flare

As most of you know we have had the tremendous privilege of another family member this year in the form of a foreign exchange student from Colombia! Sandra has been with us for a year now and has been the biggest blessing and friend that fit right into our home as if she'd been with us forever. It was also nice to even out the teams here in the house too....Bill and Sawyer vs. Me & Sandra! Since she was going to UNO as a full time student and working in the cafeteria, she didn't have much time to cook her traditional Colombian food.....but then there were weekends. :)
Unless you have a cook at home or live in Brazil with a maid, you have no idea how nice it is after pulling into the garage, unbuckling a car seat, rummaging around under the driver's seat for your cell phone that fell out of your purse, collecting a sippy cup and granola bar wrappers stuffed between the seats, grabbing an arm-full of groceries, arguing with Sawyer about not playing Daddy's drums, shutting the car doors with your hip and then kicking the door into the house until it pops open only to be greeted with the mouth watering smell of garlic fried rice, bacon wrapped chicken and sauted zucchini............it's the weekend and Sandra cooked!!!! WAHOO!

Sandra's brother Andres has been here in Omaha for about six years now and is getting married this afternoon to a lovely Omaha girl! So, a tons of Sandra's family has come up for the celebration and we were able to steal a little bit of their time to have them over one afternoon! They are so warm and friendly and have that latino flare that I miss so much from Brazil. They are all about greeting you with hugs and kisses and the disregard for any personal space that North American culture needs :) Being a little bit more on the reserved side, it was a little bit of a stretch for Bill but he was such a good sport! Meanwhile I just LOVED it!

This is Sandra and her mom Betty.

It was so great to put faces to the names and finally meet all these people that we had heard so much about for the last year! We would love to take Sawyer to Columbia to visit Sandra once she moves back and experience her home and culture!
(Sandra is also making a traditional Colombian meal for us next week before my mom leaves and I'm already fantasizing about how D-lish it's going to be!)

On a side note: Sawyer has been gallivanting around the countryside with my mom for the last three weeks! I know!!!! That's a LONG time! They took this trip together last summer while she was here too-just visiting all of my aunts and uncles and family friends but Sawyer got a little home sick and came back early. But this year-he's LOVING it! I can barely keep him on the phone long enough to tell me what he's been up to before it's, "Oh, Mommy! Bye!" They have been all over Wisconsin, Michigan, Baltimore, Ohio and Chicago and are coming home TODAY! The first two weeks of not having Sawyer were really nice-I got so much done and organized, took naps, painted my toe nails, walked Phoebi a lot more, didn't have to find a babysitter on Saturday nights and slept in on Saturday mornings!! It was a wonderful break but this last week we've been really missing him! We know that he's having the time of his life and Nana Jane is spoiling him rotten, but we miss his cute little face too much!

Concert in the Park

Every summer Bank of the West puts on a concert in Memorial Park and this year was a SUPER big deal because Kansas and Styx were playing! I had never heard of them before but I guess they were a really big hit like thirty years ago and are still pretty loved today.
So Bill and his friend Ben were put in charge of saving 'seats' (fold up chairs and blanket room on the grass) so they showed up at 3:00 a.m. and waited until the gates opened at 5:00 a.m.! They said there were about 1500 other people that showed up when the gates opened so they weren't the only crazy people there :) Then they sat there all day long until all the 60,000 other people showed up for the concert. By the time I got there, they were tired, smelly, sun burnt and starving.......but we had really good seats!

I was a good wife and brought Bill some Taco Bell. It was so incredibly jam packed down there that parking anywhere close was a joke. So Brandon, Sam and I had to park in the Target parking lot a good mile and a half away and walk it.

The sun was really bright....and I saw some of the craziest dance moves from people over fifty last night. They were living it up just like the good ol' days :)

Ashton and I waiting for the fire works to start.
They finally started at 10:00 p.m. and were just spectacular! They did such a great job and since we were close to the stage, the fireworks were going off right above us and it was soooo pretty!
I can't wait for tomorrow to see some more! If you can't tell, fireworks are one of my favorite things!!!!!!

Happy Birthday To ME!

Well, last Tuesday was my Birthday and my mom, Sawyer and Bill made the day really nice and special but we had begun celebrating the Friday before. It was hard trying to coordinate a time to go out between my in-laws 'busy-ness', my mother's arrival, Alex's baseball games, Father's Day, a graduation party ect. We did get together with my mom, Bill's parents and Bill's Uncle Bruce and Aunt Lynn and their daughter Mya who is best buddies with Sawyer. I had no idea where we were headed for dinner and was so excitedly surprised when we pulled up to Sulivans!

I have wanted to go to this place down town called Sulivans for months now but just never went. It is a FABULOUS very up scale steak house that serves the best of the best. It's very classy dimly lit atmosphere, viewable wine cellar, mahogany paneled walls, and white linen tablecloths. You'll have to dip into your kid's college funds to go there but totally worth it! My camera wasn't working very well so I'm pretty bummed that I didn't take like any pictures that night! But we all enjoyed a delicious dinner of all sorts of different steaks but I think that Bill and I got the best! We decided to share what they call a Tomahawk Steak. It's this huge steak on a huge bone as you can see from the picture! It was SO good!
I also had an out-of-this-world drink (I can't for the life of me remember what they called it). They took thick slices of fresh pineapple and let them soak in huge glass barrels of vodka for three weeks and then would take a few pieces, squeeze out all the juice, shake it with ice and waaaalaa!!!! D-Lish!
Then we went back to our house and opened gifts. This year I took the tacky route and decided to e-mail my family my birthday list! :) That way it took the headache out of it for them trying to figure out something to get me and also ensured that I would get the things that I had wanted for a long time. They all did a fabulous job and I was pretty stoked with my loot!
My in-laws gave me a huge basket full of all sorts of goodies: a new table cloth, different teas that I love, a gorgeous bonsai tree that I takes up more of my time than my day care kids, and these AWESOME rain boots that my father-in-law picked out himself!
Bill and Sawyer got me the new Rubbermaid Tupperware set with interlocking lids that I'd been eying and best of all-a memory foam mattress pad......oh my goodness....this thing is the most amazing thing to sleep on....Thank you Bill and Sawyer!!!
My mom also out did herself and got me my new prized possession~ an apple green Kitchen Aid mixer!!!! It is the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen and I absolutely LOVE it!

That Saturday night we also went to HIRO, my favorite sushi place to celebrate with friends and as always the food was just crazy good! Tuesday, my actually birthday I had to work but it was still a fun day. My mom ran to McDonalds to get Happy Meals for the kids and we had a fun, unhealthy lunch here and Sawyer and Nana Jane had made some really yummy cupcakes for us too! After naptime, we had ice cream cones and what party is complete without birthday CROWNS?!

The kids brought me tons of cards and gifts and we all just really enjoyed the day!

Singing Happy birthday!

Nathan , Ali and Sawyer on a sugar high....

That night we all went out to Fridays with my mom and Sandra and had a nice dinner-a perfect end to a perfect day!*

Mom, Me and Sandra