Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone out there in blogland!!

I have so much to be thankful for- my family (immediate and extended), friends (online and "real life" both of which help hold me together!!), my kitties, my husband's job, our amazing house we got in August, the fact that we are able to afford to send our daughter to preschool this year, my children growing up and becoming friends and playing nice together (sometimes), we can afford food, nice phones, Starbucks... (no , seriously).

Of course not everything is perfect, my sister moved farther away. But at least she is still a short plane-ride away should we be able to afford to visit. My job isn't exactly secure, but I know there will be other opportunities out there when the kids are in school full time and I can dedicate more time to working. My mom had back surgery in February, but I am so thankful she has been recovering well and will finally be able to visit us tomorrow. She has not been to see us since September 2009. I am thankful my aunt was able to move closer to my mom and not be so lonely anymore.

I wish we had more "extra" money so that we can help others. I would love to be able to buy a toy (or many) for every Toys For Tots I see. I would love to be able to volunteer or give more than we do. One day, perhaps, when we are a bit more secure and not living paycheck to paycheck I can do that. For now, we do our best to support those we know and those we don't. I am so thankful for our friends here in Great Lakes and being able to help each other out when we need it. I hope we are able to find such great friends each time we move.

Anyway.. I'm rambling on and I have baking to do!

GOBBLE GOBBLE!

What Do You Get Kids That Have It All?

If a stranger walked into our house, she would think we spent a fortune on our children's play things. They have more toys than 2 children probably need. But I promise you, my readers, that we haven't spent all that much, even if you include furniture. We have been blessed by generous family, friends, freecycle, and craigslist for hand-me-downs. Except for presents bought by friends and family for holidays and birthdays, everything else is a hand-me-down, even presents bought by us (of which there aren't many) I purchased used.

Ben... oh my sweet little boy. I felt horrible when I declared that our poor second child would never get a new toy because he'd always have his sister's toys. There is not a single toy or book or even crib sheets in his room which were bought by us for him. I think I bought him a shirt he wore last week.... Anyway, it obvously has not damaged him yet. And I am certainly NOT concerned. Here is our most recent find for our dear little boy. This was a freecycle item, which was said to be not in working order. We replaced the batteries and it works fine. It is now residing in his bedroom after we took the rocker out (what a sad day... he's getting so grown up!). He is ticked off in the photo because he didn't want to share with his sister.


Jordan has lots of awesome toys, again, most not bought by us. Even her mattresses are freecycle items. Great condition twin mattress and box spring... can't say no to that!! Here is our most recent find for her room. Little Tikes Winnie the Pooh treehouse. Seriously? Someone just GAVE this away?! We were THRILLED to get this item and it is a huge hit with both children.



This last photo is something I purchased for the kiddos today off of a local website similar to craigslist. It is a blow up Go Diego ball bit. Ben's FAVORITE toys at the moment are balls, any size, doesn't matter to him. He will probably go nuts when he wakes tomorrow morning and sees this!! We got it 1/3 the price... and I plan on selling some toys to make up for the cost, so we'll break even. Totally worth it!


I love my children... and I love to see them happy. I hope that they understand material posessions to not make a person happy, and I will continue to teach them to appreciate what they have. However, I do want them to have fun, and am fortunate enough to find great things for them for free or incredibly inexpensive, things my husband and I did not have, like play houses and train tables (again... GAVE that away?!).

And if you haven't already, I suggest check out your local freecycle community , not just to score awesome finds for yourself, but to give back and maybe help another person find items they wouldn't be able to afford. Also, freecycle helps keep our unwanted stuff out of landfills. You know what they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure!

Happy New Year!!

Well, my post is a little late, but happy 2010 to all my followers, casual readers, and random people out there on the internet!

We have had a busy start to the new year. We started by driving home on January 1st from Pittsburgh. We were visiting for the week, and although we had fun seeing my parents and our friends, it was an exhausting trip. Ben decided to cut his two front top teeth and was a bit of a crab (read "woke up every 1.5 hours at night") so we were pretty tired by the end of the trip. However, Jordan made up for it by deciding it was time to use the potty!! She now wears underwear during the day and has only had one accident in the past 5 days. I am so proud of her!!

Not only has Ben decided to grow new teeth, but he also has mastered the art of stair climbing, peek-a-boo playing, and cruising on whatever he can pull up on. He is a very busy guy these days!

I have made some new years resolutions, though I usually try not to. I have the usual "lose weight, eat healthy, exercise more, be a better wife, mother, daughter, woman, etc". I want to try at least one new recipe a week since I have so many cook books, recipes saved in my email, and from magazines. I really would like to try and master best to my ability some new activity/craft/hobby this year. I can't decide what though. Any suggestions??? I want to find something that isn't too time consuming, something I can do for 15 minutes, put down, go back to later in the day, and that isn't too expensive as we have a tight monthly budget.

I am excited for this year, I suspect it will be a good one!

Grandma Ken

When we still lived in Pittsburgh, Grandpa rocked. He took Jordan outside to rake leaves, play with sticks, kick the soccer ball (which was really a volleyball but who in their right mind is going to correct a toddler??), and played blocks with her. He let her run around with her crayons and watch the movie cars over and over again. He was the COOLEST person in Jordan's mind.

But now Jordan sees Grandma more often. It is far easier for my mom to visit us alone than with my dad, so Jordan plays with Grandma, colors with Grandma, and bakes. I realized when we went back to Pittsburgh that Jordan kept calling my dad Grandma. She just cannot say Grandpa. We tried getting her to say Grandpa Ken, but it just came out as Grandma Ken. My dad suggested she call him Red Beard... only problem with that is his beard has not been red for years. So I asked Jordan to say White Beard... So she went from Grandpa to Grandma to White BEER.

Maybe we should try Papa Ken next?

Summary Of Grandma Sandee's Visit

Grandma Sandee came to visit all the way from Pittsburgh. We were so excited to see her!

First we went to Lamb's Farm. We've been meaning to go since we moved here in March. Jordan got to pet goats, ride a train, go on a carousel.

She still talks about the BIG COW.

We went into Chicago the next day to see the dinosaur bones! Sue was very impressive.

Ben liked the water taxi the best.

Alice knew that Grandma was missing her own kitty cats, so she gave her some loving.

Grandma loves to go shopping when she visits, and who could resist matching jammies???

Jordan helped mommy make awesome 4 grain pancakes! Couldn't have done it without her.

Ben hanging out after a bath. We do bathe our kids occasionally.

We went apple picking one day. At first Jordan didn't think she could pick apples and kept telling us the trees were too high. But she loved to help daddy, and we did find some trees just the right height for her. She made sure Ben wasn't feeling left out.



We treated Grandma to an early birthday lunch.

We are so glad that grandma got to visit, but it was hard to say goodbye. Miss you!

Family Update

Dave has graduated!!! Last Sunday the three of us went to the Carnegie Mellon University's graduation for the Music department. Jordan and I are so proud of our man!! Unfortunately Jordan did not let mommy watch daddy's friends graduate. She made us play outside the auditorium. Jordan also loved how mommy color coordinated her dress with daddy's hood. =)

Also this week Dave officially enlisted in the United States Navy. His boot camp date is set for August 15th. He has 3 months to get into shape, wrap up lose ends in Pittsburgh, help pack up the unnecessary items in the house, and shower his family with love before he leaves for 9 weeks. So it looks like the entire family will be moving to Virginia sometime in November.

I am excited. This is a chance to start fresh; our own house, paying off loans, family dynamics will be completely shifting since Dave will be the primary supporter and I will be a stay-at-home-mom! Other things will be changing too, but those details will be revealed at a later date ;)

3 Days ago our Wii Fit arrived. Dave and I finally agreed to get a Wii a few weeks ago as a joint Mother's Day/Father's Day/graduation present. So far I'm addicted to Tennis on Wii Sports. But Wii Fit is coming in first, I think. I love the hula-hoop and am pretty good at the yoga poses. I totally suck at balance!

Final update, Jordan has gone 3 days without biting someone at daycare. Mommy and Daddy couldn't be prouder!!

My Daddy Rocks!!! - University of Pittsburgh News

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Professor Kenneth Jordan the winner of a 2008 Provost Award for Excellence in Mentoring 03/27/2008 The Pitt Provost’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring—to recognize graduate faculty members for excellence in mentoring doctoral students—was instituted in 2006. Each award includes a $2,500 cash prize. Up to four awards are made each year, and awardees are honored publicly. The awards guidelines note that, “Training the next generation of professional scholars is a vital part of the academic mission of the University of Pittsburgh. Fundamental to the success of the enterprise are the faculty members who serve as mentors to our graduate students. Ideally, faculty mentors provide intellectual and personal leadership that helps to support, encourage, and promote the personal and professional development of his or her students. This relationship is expected to provide a foundation for a student’s career long after the degree has been granted.”



This photo was taken by my dad's secretary at the reception. Jordan stole the show, of course!

Random video

This was taken on Sunday at my mother's house. My sister, her daughter, and her son were also visiting from Maryland. It's nothing special, only family hanging out, enjoying each other's company, and being entertained by toddlers. No one needs TV to entertain them when they have active toddlers about, that is for sure! I could spend hours watching my daughter walk around and be pleasantly entertained by every day objects.