Josh VS Kaj

Well, I finally found a picture of these two crazy boys. About 7 months. I will let you decide!

What's the Joke?

A Good Sport

Everyone has heard of being a good sport. It's nice when you hear that-"you're being a good sport", usually lifts your spirits just enough to keep on being a good sport. Perhaps it is being adaptable, or rolling with the punches, or having a good attitude about something, doing something without complaint, well, Josh wins the "good sport" award. This little boy has been sick for the past couple weeks. He had a cold turned cough, and it has been breaking my heart to hear him. Only to find out after taking him to the doctor he actually has a sinus infection! But, you would never know it to be around him, he is all smiles!! He is so much fun to be around, I watch this kid steal hearts everywhere he goes, because of all these sweet smiles he gives out. Not only that- he lights up! He literally looks like there is always a gleam in his eyes, and I am so thankful to have such a sweet boy! 

I also wanted to add that there is a trend around here on trying to be a good sport. This is a line to get gas...keep in mind this only part of the line, this line goes up the street, and around the corner, and up the street a few more blocks before the gas station. I have had friends now waiting for...(think of a number in your head) No!! 7 hours!! No joke-you definitely are being a good sport to do that. The fuel situation does seem to be improving slightly despite the picture, which was taken today, but it is still, obviously, in high demand. 

So here's to being a good sport, and making the most of your situations!! 

Hurricane Sandy

These pictures are just the tip of the iceberg of the damage that can be seen from really anywhere on Long Island right now. Around every corner there are more trees down, more power cords hanging, and more and more debris. And..ahem..from what you can see these are not small trees. I was driving today and a power post was snapped hanging over,  but hadn't fallen, and cars were just driving by, and I thought "Jeez, that looks like it could give any moment." 

This is our second hurricane since being here in Long Island. The first was built up for a least week, and I caught wind (ha) of Sandy just a couple days prior to it hitting. I was worried, more worried this time than before. I also wanted to feel more prepared than I was before. Though, Hurricane Irene was very built up- it left us without power for 4 days. I kept wondering "are they just building this one up again?" But, the more I learned about it the less I thought that was the case. I am also not meteorologist, I guess I am better off taking their word for it. So I got some much stronger tape than last time-gorilla tape, and we taped up all our windows, moved around the furniture especially the boys room so Kaj would not be sleeping under any windows, I started compiling packs. Packs of updated clothing, packs of warms clothes, bags of food, all that could be easily accessible, and the diaper bag with just diapers filled to the brim, all in the event that if we needed to leave quickly, we could do so. I found myself making sandwiches?..it seemed like a good idea. I made a bread loaf's full of peanut butter and jam sandwiches, in case we needed to leave, also if we didn't have power they would be easy to just take out, and something Kaj would always eat. We got all our water ready, all of our flashlights, headlamps, matches and candles at the ready, also turned our fridge down to the coldest setting...and just..waited. It is a weird thing waiting for the inevitable storm. We were thankful for technology today that would  allow people to prep, otherwise we wouldn't be waiting, we would just be hit.  

So Monday, the day of the hurricane around 2 in the afternoon we lost power. It was still light enough in the house that it wasn't too bad for the boys, and we didn't have to use up our other lights. We moved a bunch of food to the cooler. And, since the real brunt of the storm wasn't supposed to hit till around 6 that night we knew we were still just waiting to see what happened. So we continued being hunkered down. We had a soup on the stove, and suddenly at around 4:30 the lights all turned back on. "No way." Was Sam's reaction. We thought, of course, it was only a matter of time, till we lost power again, but like a miracle. We did not. We streamed the live footage of the storm, were aware of when it had struck land, we could hear the angry winds, and a couple times are lights flickered, but honestly there was calm in our house. I was no longer worried, I know Sam was not worried, because he doesn't get worried like I do, and as long we acted excited about the wind to Kaj "Oohh wow do you hear the wind! Whoa!" he was not scared of anything either. 

As we looked around our neighborhood the following day, it seemed even more amazing that we hadn't lost power. Later we found out that 90% of the island was without...Needless to say, we said a lot of prayers of thanksgiving that day for the tender mercies of Lord to allow us to have power. We helped other people in the ward, and extended our home out to anyone for their power needs. We are still in the thick of recovery from the storm. There are only some gas stations that are up and running, and the ones that have been working are assurely running out of fuel. The lines to get gas are that of an amusement park ride, and is definitely not as fun when you are finally to the end. There are also schools and stores, that have shut down, and it is not yet known when they will open back up. The stocks of food at stores that are open are slowly running out of food as well. 

We are thankful for family and friends that expressed their love and concern for us, and we definitely are grateful for all the prayers. Long Islanders seem to be wanting to lend a helping hand to others, which is a lovely thing to see. We officially made it through hurricane #2, Hurricane Sandy.

A Little bit Halloween, and little bit Country

Kaj and friends

my boys

cowboy Kaj

Looking snuggly! (and sharp after haircut)

The goo man choo (this really is Sam's nickname for Josh)

I wanted to do a quick picture catch up post as well as a small Halloween shout out, before moving on to the hurricane aftermath post which will assuredly come. We were keeping Kaj's hair long for Halloween, because I thought it would fun to do some wild crazy pirate hair. We went to little Halloween party at a friend's house where all the kids wore there costumes...except for Kaj. I thought "well maybe if he sees his friends he'll want too." I brought the costume just incase the mood would strike him...it didn't. He was totally cool just hanging out with the Incredibles, Super Red, Woody, the Statue of Liberty, and Super D like it's an every day thing. So for the next costume event which was the trunk or treat..or church or treat in this case- all day I would ask him and about being a pirate, try and get him really excited about it. Singing pirate songs all day, then I dressed up in a reindeer suit, and Josh as a monkey still thinking "he has got to think this is cool some time." (Me-as a reindeer isn't that the definition of cool? haha) So right before we had to go over to the church it hit me...Kaj can be in costume...in disguise. We have a cowboy hat that Kaj WILL wear, and cowboy shirt, and some jeans. He could be in costume and not even realize it. So, that is exactly what I did. The trunk or treat was a hit! The kids seemed to have a great time, and Kaj scored some major candy. I was so grateful for friends that could help with my boys on a night that Sam would be traveling from Queens late. I would still be at the church cleaning up if it wasn't for them. This is my shout for Halloween!

wild pirate hair

Not only is Josh Crawling...

Haha! You thought I was going to say: "He's climbing stairs!" No...not yet anyways. Eeek!

Go Ahead...Toast em

I got a text from Sam this morning that expressed his gratitude for the things I did, and also an "I love you." Simple, as it was, it uplifted me immediately. I smiled when I saw it, and it made me very happy for the rest of the day. Sam called me on the way home from his rotation tonight at about 10:00 - which, by the way- is in Queens. Sam was listening to a conference talk by Henry B Eyring on the way to Queens, and made him start thinking about Kaj and Josh, and started reflecting on himself. For anyone who knows Sam and I, know we are very different. Not just in just the obvious. (come on! ha) There is also a distinct difference on the topic of emotion. Sam likes to be very logical, and would be the first to admit he would take emotion out of every equation if he could, I....write...poetry. But, as he made observations about Kaj and noted how very sweet he is, and what a tender hearted kid he is, it made him realize the extra attention he wanted to show him, and how much he wanted Kaj to always know "that his papa slims" loves him. I, also pointed out that Josh is very tender hearted too, Sam isn't around little Josh every day to identify how early this trait has manifested itself in him. We felt it is so important as parents to nourish this piece of our boys-the world is going to be hard enough. Sam mentioned that he has always been independent (which, of course, I know very well), and he doesn't need to be told he is loved (I do tell him), and he often doesn't understand when people do, but realized that, that doesn't mean he shouldn't do it, and that he would try to do it more to me and the boys. I wanted to share the thought that I also shared with Sam. It doesn't take any time out of your day, it isn't some thing that is physically hard to do, and if you know that you will make the person/people you love happy then why not just do it? I feel like little things so often go such a long way. I am not ashamed to say that I am emotional, I do find value emotions, I will also say I definitely have an ever growing appreciation to logic. I will probably always opt for being kind to someone than being objective. I will probably never hesitate to apologize if I have hurt someone's feelings, or give a hug to someone who is sad. I am thankful for Sam, I am thankful when he comes to new realizations- and this is not to say I am right- it is just to say that he is the kind of person who is always wanting to grow, and learn, and improve. So boys-when you read this one day- your dad loves you. So so so very very much.