Thirty-Two

Reflections and Ramblings: Volume Twenty-Five

Eight ways of #adultingharder

#adulting is hard. Here are some ways to adult harder.

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A Lazy Winter Day at Home

Over the last couple days it has been hovering between -5 and 15 degrees outside. That kind of weather doesn’t really make you want to go anywhere for a while. So the kids, the dog, and I have been hanging out at home finding things to do.

This morning and afternoon I decided to get out my camera and take some pictures. Every time I do this I wonder why I don’t do it more. I love taking pictures of my kids and now the dog, too.

Here are some of the pictures. There’s a lot of them. The pictures I took in our basement were all in black and white. But for the most part, I included the color photos of when we were playing on the couch in the living room.

Finding Beauty in a Tragedy

On Saturday January 9th, 2016 a fire broke out after a small explosion in M’s Pub located in Omaha’s historic and iconic Old Market neighborhood. The fire ravaged the building and broke the hearts of all those who had ever stepped foot in the Old Market, especially M’s Pub. The fire would rage on for around 12 hours before it was considered under control. The Omaha Fire Department not only had to battle the three alarm fire in front of them, but also the frigid below freezing temperatures with wind chills hovering around -15 degrees.

Because of a major warehouse fire in Chicago a couple of years ago in similar conditions, I knew that whatever was left of M’s Pub and the apartments above it would look oddly beautiful once the fire was out. Subzero temperatures and thousands of gallons of water makes for an impressive sight. Here are a few of the pictures I took this morning.

Catching Up

Whew! Life has really been flying on by. I need to post some pictures! Here’s some from the last couple months or so. Many of them are from my iPhone because I just haven’t been carting my camera around with me very often. I have been staying busy with the kids, as usual. I’ve also been working on a website/project which is built around storytelling. If that interests you, please check Library of Impressions out.

Ok. I’ll start from oldest to most recent. There’s a lot of pictures…

Untitled — Ezra and Micah playing in the backyard.

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Neighbor’s house with some vines growing.

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Daddy and Micah — This is me and Micah just minutes after waking up. He wanted to take a picture.

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In...and out — One of my favorite pictures ever. What goes in…must come out…

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Swimming with Grammaw and Papaw — Micah swimming.

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Well look, it's two people I love! — Love those smiles.

Naked potty training day one and molar number four coming in. This is the real deal, folks. // #💦💩🚽😬 — Naked potty training was quite the experience.

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Two parks. Two kids. Two tired parents = One successful Saturday. — Ezra soaring high at our neighborhood park.

Visual proof that local coffee shops are like little glimpses of heaven on earth. — At a coffee shop in Omaha.

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There’s nothing in this world that Micah seems to love more than dogs and puppies. He picked out “buddy” and LOVES him.

What shoe-d we do today? // #ezrayuuto #aksarbenliving #childhoodunplugged — Ezra hanging out on the couch.

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Go, set a watchman // #ezrayuuto #aksarbenliving — Ezra looking out the window.

Ezra seems happy to be outside today. It's about 300% humidity, though. // #ezrayuuto #omaha #childhoodunplugged #makemoments — Ezra smiles on a walk near the Missouri river.

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Walking along the Missouri River this morning. // #igersomaha #omaha #missouririver #bridge #omaha #bnwomaha #makemoments #momentswide #xmarksthespot — A bridge to Council Bluffs, Iowa from Omaha, NE.

Bean bag. — Micah chilling in the bean bag.

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Bedtime? But there's still plenty of daytime left! // #MicahMasato #aksarben #childhoodunplugged #windowwatching #windowwatcher — Looking out the window before bedtime.

Took a brief walk over to the park today to cool off on this hot summer day. // #igersomaha #OmahaParks #omaha #micahandezra #aksarbenliving #stinsonpark #summerfun — Enjoying the fountains at our local park in the hot summer heat.

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April, Come and Gone

Yikes! April flew by this year. It’s hard to believe, really. But I guess that must mean that life has been busy. Sarah transitioned to working night shift this month, and that has changed up our routines and daily lives a bit. I got a few good representative pictures this month of what life is like around here. I am going to be taking more in May because I’m going to try and participate in Pentax Forums’ a picture a day again. It’s been a while since I’ve done a pic a day, life just got too hectic. But I may try and start it up again this next month.

Anyway, here’s a roundup of some of this past month’s photos (and one video).

Maundy Thursday: an opportunity for lessons in servanthood and humility for these two kiddos. — On Maundy Thursday, we learned about servanthood and humility. Micah washed his brothers feet, imitating Jesus washing his disciples’ feet.

My Good Friday started off with this guy running into my room and jumping into bed. We decided to enjoy some morning laughs and giggles in bed before the little bro wakes up. Hoping your day is off to a good start too! 😄 — Micah climbs in bed every morning now. With mommy often gone, he gets half the bed to himself.

Easter at the Holland 2015 — Here’s a shot from before the service. The place was a really neat venue.

Ezra enjoyed eating Peeps for the first time – two of them at once. (Of course.)

Micah prepared himself for the elements.

I visited Echo Coffee in Omaha. It was good and a pleasant place.

Micah excitedly welcomed mommy home this morning after she worked three 12 hour night shifts in a row. It's been an adjustment this past week as she switched to night shift. But we are learning new patterns and are so appreciative for how hard mommy works — We all eagerly wait for Mommy to get home in the mornings. Perhaps no one more than Micah. Here he is welcoming mommy home as she pulls into the driveway.

Moving from Chicago was a big decision for the four of us. Hard to believe that was over four months ago now. But we decided that being closer to my family would make all the trouble of moving and getting settled into a new home worth it. And it has been. — I was glad to be able to watch my brother play some tennis at a rival high school in Council Bluffs. It was nice to just sit with my mom while he whooped up.

We got the meats. (But mostly curly fries.) — A quick family dinner at Arby’s. A very rare thing these days.

Mommy left for work. Melt down level: nuclear. 😭 — This is now the typical reaction in the evening when mommy leaves for work. It’s not the most pleasant thing in the world. Meltdown level: Nuclear.

And lastly a video of the boys. A glimpse into a typical morning at our house.

Bancroft Art Gallery

Today as we were driving around Omaha, we passed by a cool building that was covered in graffiti. We decided to stop and take some pictures, and as we did a guy pulled up in his car. It ended up being the guy who ran the place, which we found out was an art gallery and performing arts building. They host all kinds of events. He was kind enough to show us around his building and tell us of the various events that take place there. We snapped a few shots outside before we left. Pretty neat place.

Omaha, Omaha! (Set…hut!)

Well, after a two month adventure at my mom’s place, we now live in a place of our own in Omaha. We’re thankful to be here and enjoying having a place to make our own. I had a few weeks where I didn’t really take many pictures because I was so busy, but I hope to be taking more pictures again. It’s also been a bit cold and sometimes snowy, so I haven’t really been outside much. And now that we don’t walk to get to places like we did in Chicago, I rarely get the opportunity.

But here are some photos from over the last few weeks or so.

No Photography! — No Photographs, please!

Micah in Uncle Matt's Shoes — Micah posing in Uncle Matt’s shoes

The Boys Playing — Micah and Ezra playing with each other.

Boys and Books — The boys “reading” together.

Chubby Ezra sitting around looking kind of dazed after a nap.

Micah and Ezra playing with their track.

Micah on the Table — Micah loves two things: climbing and opening doors. It’s a plus when these two things can be combined. But not so much for me.

Broccoli — Any guesses as to what this is? It’s broccoli.

Sarah's Nursing Figurine — My grandmother gave Sarah a nursing figurine of a nurse holding a baby. It was hers from back when she was a nurse. But she thought it was fitting for Sarah to get it because she is now a Labor and Delivery nurse.

Omaha at Sunset — Looking over Omaha as a plane takes off.

Micah and his puppy — Micah loves taking his puppy for “walks”

Purple Streak — Caught this plane flying overhead while on our way out of a Target.

Plane Streaks and the Moon — I thought the moon looked cool with those wispy plane trails.

Golden Hour Globe — Who needs a snow globe when you can capture a golden hour globe?

Our House — Here’s our new house after the first snow of February.

Micah Sledding — We were finally able to break out Micah’s new sled. He’s never been sledding before and so it was fun to be able to let him sled in our very own backyard.

We may be a new home, but the routines remain the same. Micah steals his brothers food. Ezra gets upset. And so on…

Ezra’s getting bigger and cuter (and time for a haircut) – I can’t help but want to hug him all the time. (Please don’t mind the messy room behind him…)

Micah wearing his Japanese yukata hanging out with his Great-Uncle Norman.

Obviously not the clearest picture, but Ezra hopes you had a good Valentine’s Day. Clearly he got a big kiss on the cheek from his mommy.

January at Grandma’s House

As we await to move into a house in Omaha, Sarah, the boys, and I are staying with my mom and brother. We will be out by the end of the month if things go as planned, but in the meantime we wait. Most of days are spent keeping track of Micah and Ezra, trying to keep them out of trouble. That’s quite the hard task these days. Ezra has seemed to perfect his peg-leg crawl, and Micah can zip away in a blink of an eye.

Micah at the Mall — Micah has too much energy to be kept at home all the time, so we have to take occasional trips to the play place at the mall.

Stare Down Reflection — My brother’s cat – with a reflection of me in its eye.

Micah Bath Time — Bath time is something that I always forget to get pictures of. Precious moments.

Ezra and Micah Bath time — Here’s Ezra and Micah taking a bath together for the first time.

Ezra in the Bath — Cubby Ezra enjoying a bath.

Nebraska Coaster — Sarah and I loved living in Chicago. We were generally proud of our amazing city and especially our neighborhood. But now that we’re moving to Omaha, it’s time to start being proud of this city, too. Here’s a coaster I bought Sarah for our new place.

Sarah at Duncan's — Sarah and I don’t get out much, but we were able to sneak away a few days ago for breakfast. I don’t even know the last time that just Sarah and I went out for breakfast.

Ezra at the Mall — We also went shopping the other day for some new clothes and shoes for Sarah. Ezra tagged along.

Ezra shopping — I was in agreement with Ezra, though — too much time at the mall can really wear you out.

Micah Carnage — Grandma being reminded what it’s like to have little boys roam the house… 😦

Micah making Tilapia — Micah made us tilapia the other night. What a good little master chief!

Morning Routine — Morning routines. Ezra’s sad because I’m not feeding him.

Playing together — As Ezra gets bigger and bigger it’s been fun to see the two boys play together more and more.

Watching TV — Micah in his pajamas and hat watching some cartoons with his brother. Zombie time, apparently.

Morning Joe — It’s been frigid here these last few days in Iowa, and that calls for some nice hot coffee.

In the bucket — Micah always finds ways to entertain himself, and therefore me.

Trouble Maker — Ezra seems to be learning a lot from his brother…

Sneaky Micah — Micah’s nap time music keeps mysteriously turning off. I have found the culprit.

Micah Escape — Micah tried to escape a number of times from the house – but I just don’t think he understands how cold it really is outside.

Transitioning from Chicago

Although we don’t have a place of our own yet, we’ve now been in the Iowa/Nebraska area for almost a month now. I recently got my cameras out again and have been taking a few shots. Some of these shots are from around my mom’s place, and some are from the Union Pacific Museum here in Council Bluffs, Iowa.