Live, Laugh, Love!

New Blog

2010-10-07T11:57:00.000-04:00

Just in case anyone still checks this..... I have started a new blog:

http://www.livelaughlove-angie.blogspot.com/

SwagBucks

2009-05-02T18:25:00.002-04:00

Wanted to let everyone know about a new website I've come across ~ SwagBucks ~ http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=459694 . I am always on the lookout for good deals, but I'm also a skeptic, so I wanted to try this one out for a few weeks before I passed it on. Seems to be working great so far!

Basically, it is a search engine, similar to Google. By using the Swagbucks site to search, instead of Google or Yahoo, you can earn points to be used for various prizes ~ my favorite being gift cards :) You can also earn points by referring friends, and rather than me sending you unwanted emails, if you'd like to join Swagbucks, please sign up using this link: http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=459694 ~ that way I'll get some points out of it too!

Let me know if you have any questions ~ happy searching!

1st Baseball Game

2009-05-02T18:12:00.004-04:00

Last week we took Jackson to his very first Orioles game. We had such a great time! It was especially fun for Jon, who has dreamed of this day since Jackson was born :)

Jack's favorite part was definitely getting his face painted....we couldn't believe what he picked, especially since last summer he refused face paint at every event we went to. He has definitely grown up in a year's time!

Jackson did really well at the game. He got his sports a little mixed up ~ every time the crowd would cheer, he'd say "Orioles got a goal!" and when Iasked him what his favorite part of the game was, he said "watching the Steelers and Titans play." We stayed until the 5th inning when we left to get back on the light rail before it got too crowded.

Our little Orioles fan sure was tired out by the time we got back to our car!

We can't wait to go back to Baltimore for another game!

life update

2009-04-08T13:44:00.002-04:00

Just in case there is anyone out there reading this who doesn't have Facebook and hasn't already heard - Baby Mohr #2 is due November 2! We are so excited to meet our new little one - only 30 weeks to go! :) We were able to announce our news to our families over Jackson's birthday. Today was my first doctor's appointment and I was so relieved and happy to hear a strong heart beat!! Jackson has been pretty excited so far, and is coming up with some really random statements and questions about the baby....

*He's really excited that when I show him pictures on the internet of what the baby looks like in mommy's belly now, he thinks it looks like a dinosaur!!

*A few nights ago, I could hear him upstairs while Jon was giving him a bath, asking his daddy if he was allowed to "toot" in the bathtub.....and found it hilarious that when he did, it made bubbles! Also earlier that day we had been talking about how the baby lives in a bubble of water in mommy's belly. So of course, he put 2 & 2 together, and now one of his biggest questions is "Is the baby tooting in your belly, Mommy?" I honestly do not know the answer to that one!

I thought I had my memory card in the computer to upload some pictures, but I don't, so that will have to wait for another time.

per request :)

2009-03-14T17:27:00.002-04:00

So obviously since Facebook, blogs are happening less often..... well I got a little reminder, so here's a post, finally! We've been busy as usual, this month hosting a 16 year old Japanese exchange student, Kana. We are having a good time even with the language barrier. Jackson was very excited to meet her and her first night here asked "Can you teach me the ABC's in Spanish?"

Speaking of Jackson, the little man is almost 3! Tomorrow we will be having a birthday party with our family here, and then next weekend (his actual bday is the 22nd) traveling to Maryland for another party there. When I asked him what he wanted to eat at his party, he said broccoli. I was pretty pleased with that since he comes from 2 non-vegetable eaters ~ it's much more of a challenge to make sure Jon & I are eating our veggies!

We are still working on potty training - what a joy...... the latest comments have been "I want to wear diapers alllll day!" and just a few minutes ago, "whew, reading all these books made me peed!" (in the diaper, not on the potty).

Well, almost time to eat.....we ordered pizza tonight ~ a cultural experience for Kana and a night off from cooking for me :)

Conversations with an (almost) 3 Year Old

2009-01-21T10:16:00.002-05:00

Have I already mentioned how much I LOVE this age? I love listening to the new words and concepts Jackson is learning every day. He just makes me laugh :) Here's a few recent funnies...

*A few days ago, he was helping me make a batch of granola...picked up a plain almond, ate it, and said "Well, my mommy is the best baker EVER!"

*Sounding quite surprised, "I don't have a beards! I don't have a beards or a moustache!"

*Learning to tell a joke - "Mommy, I have a joke to tell you - chicken rooster chicken" followed by hysterical laughter.

*Yesterday, when Jon got home from work ~ Jackson knew we were going to a friend's house for dinner (and couldn't wait to go) ~ "Daddy! Go take a shower! You don't want to go to Jonathan's house stinky, do you?"

*Also to Jon, who was changing Jackson's diaper at the time ~ "Stay away from my poopie! It has germs in it!"

*To the person cutting his hair the other day, who asked him if he likes to make snowmen ~ "No, I like to make J-A-C-K-S-O-N's" (Jon always writes his name in the snow and J just thinks its the greatest thing ever).

What a kid :)

welcome 2009!

2009-01-04T16:53:00.003-05:00

seems like blogging is kind of going by the wayside these days for myself and a lot of others now that facebook is more popular. thought i'd at least tell a little about our holidays so we can look back and remember (since my scrapbooking days are gone also...).

Christmas morning we woke up and opened presents and ate yummy chocolate chip oatmeal. jackson had a blast and was so happy and thankful for everything he opened! when we were down to the stockings, he started opening socks and said "oooohhhhh, look, a sweater!" i told him it looked too small to be a sweater, and he replied, "ohhh, a baby sweater!" thankfully he was happy with a new pair of socks. never really knew about his apparent love of sweaters before!

we got the car all packed up and headed to western md to my parent's home. it was a great trip and we were pretty much the only people on the road. we were there for 4 days and got to see a lot of family, some we haven't seen since last christmas!

new years eve we got together with jons family for dinner and game playing....with kids, the days of game playing until late at night are over, and we were home by 9. it was still fun though! jon and i watched a movie, happened to realize it was 1155, so we turned on the tv in time to see the ball drop. i think it's a little gross just how much making out they will show of the people in times square. what's with that?

now it's back to reality. we have been working all weekend on a house project, which i will tell about in more detail later, when i have more pictures. unfortunately i don't know if i have many "before" so you may just be seeing during & after. our christmas decorations and tree are all still up because i like to enjoy them as long as possible! maybe next week.

of course some photos for your viewing pleasure:

hope you all have a blessed 2009!

Christmas Eve Eve Update

2008-12-23T22:04:00.003-05:00

Since the next few days will be busy I thought I'd take a few minutes to update a little now. This year we are really stretching Christmas out as long as possible! Since we will be heading to Maryland on Christmas Day, we will not be seeing Jon's family that day at all - so we've been exchanging presents with them over the past few days :) It's been kind of nice not having everything over & done with in one day!

On Friday, Joelle & Marc came over - they were pretty easy to shop for this year considering they have wedding registries, but our favorite thing that we found for them (which was NOT on their registry!) was - "Pimpin' Steins" - I kid you not. These lovely matching Bride & Groom goblets were covered in bling, and the box said something about being a true pimp. I definitely think these should be used on their wedding day, don't you? :)

Joelle's surprise bridal shower was Saturday, and she was actually surprised! It was a fun time with friends & family and it was great to see all the fun things she will have for her home!

Saturday evening was an attempt to do something fun ~ watch a Christmas movie and then have a family sleepover in the living room beside the Christmas tree. Jackson was pretty excited but at around midnight decided he'd rather go sleep in his own bed! We couldn't believe it, especially since lately he begs to sleep with us every night.

Sunday was another family get-together at Jon's Uncle Fred & Aunt Sue's house. It's always a fun time - this year it was a little different because Jon & I were in the midst of a huge rivalry football game - Steelers vs. Titans. Unfortunately the Steelers played terribly and lost, but here's hoping we meet again in the playoffs!

Tonight Jon's parents came over for dinner and to exchange presents. Jackson was so thrilled with his gifts, especially his new Cars MegaBloks set. (I think Jon was just as excited about this!) Jack loves to build and we decided to put away the baby MegaBlocks and go for the 3+ version ~ he is already loving them!

Tomorrow we have a lunch with the family where the kiddos will exchange presents. Church tomorrow evening and then back home, where J will be allowed to open one present ~ new PJs. Christmas day we plan to eat breakfast and open presents here first, then travel to Maryland to be with my family until the weekend. It's such a busy time of year but we never want to lose sight of the true meaning - the best present of all - God's gift of His Son!

One more week!

2008-12-19T14:47:00.004-05:00

I cannot fathom how fast this month is going! One week until Christmas! I am so excited and I think Jackson is just going to LOVE Christmas this year!! Not anything totally important to blog about, but I haven't for awhile and I'm waiting for my oven to preheat, so it's a good time. :)

We have been busy getting ready for Christmas, have been sick a few times (thankfully Jackson hasn't gotten sick, just Jon & I), have had our Sunday School Christmas party here, cookie baking, etc etc, so it's no wonder it seems like the month is flying by.

Jack & I made cookies the other day - I cheated (and splurged!) and bought the Pillsbury sugar cookie pre-made dough. I do not recommend it! J had so much fun using cookie cutters and making stars and trees, but when I baked them, they flattened out so much that they just look like huge blobs. Oh well. He did have fun decorating them, especially because Jon was home to help us with that part!

It is so fun watching Jackson grow and especially hearing the new and random things he says each day. A few days ago, he was pretending to be a fox. He said, "I'm a fox! Don't worry, foxes don't eat people. Foxes eat flies - or something!" Last night he was up in his room, supposedly going to sleep, but we heard him going "BRRR
BRRR!!!" Jon went up and Jackson said, "Dad, I'm freezing!!" Jon said it felt tropical in the room but J heard the spaceheater shut off and wanted it back on. It's just so fun to be able to have real actual conversations with him!

And soon, he may be blogging on his own....I found him doing this the other day....

(Spelled out his name with magnets all by himself!) It should also be noted that the same day, I heard him saying "H - P - R - T - S - D - M - that spells HOT DOG!" He is trying at least! Spelling is his latest phase - he is continually asking us how to spell words. Its so much better than his last phase - stripping down and going to the bathroom in his room during nap time! :)

Thanksgiving Weekend with Tracy

2008-12-02T11:27:00.003-05:00

My blogging has been lacking again lately! Since I'm averaging only 2 posts a month lately, I thought I'd try to get an early start in December. We had a great Thanksgiving weekend, although Jon & I both ended up with the 24-hour stomach/flu/yuck bug.

We were so happy to be able to host an International Student for the long weekend. We did this through Hope Community Church, and a few other families from our church joined us as well. Tracy arrived Thursday morning and we were so excited to have her with us! She is from China and currently attending Fairfield University in Connecticut to get her MBA. She has only been in the US for 3 months so this was obviously her first Thanksgiving and even the first time she had eaten turkey. We had quite the busy day! We went to Jon's parents for dinner, then later to his aunt & uncle's house for more food! After that we went to Chocolate World, because how can you visit this area without going to Hershey?! On Friday I decorated for Christmas and Tracy had a day trip with the other international students to visit the Amish. We then met back at Hope Community for a HUGE potluck dinner (my favorite!). Also, each country represented gave a short presentation. Here's an interesting fact we learned that night: People in Australia do not actually say "G'day." The Austrailian student said she has never heard of that until she came to the US!

Saturday was not quite as great! I woke up feeling sick. Jon, Jackson, and Tracy went to the Fractured Prune and I stayed home to throw up. I was feeling terrible, and so sad because we had planned to get our Christmas tree that day. Jon started to feel sick later too, although not quite as bad. Tracy ended up spending the day with the Hixon's and their student. I was sad we missed that day with her, but I am so glad she was able to have fun with their family and bake cookies for the first time ever!

We had to take Tracy back to the church to meet the bus on Sunday afternoon. The weekend went way too fast! Jackson was especially sad to see Tracy go. At one point while she was holding him, she said "OK, bye bye Mommy and Daddy!" He cried when the bus left, saying he wanted to go on it. It's no wonder, because Tracy was so sweet with him all weekend. We hope she is able to come visit us again!

Here's a pic of Jackson & his new friend!

Jon and I are both feeling better. I am still not 100%, but good enough. We got our Christmas tree last night and planned to decorate it, but it was still a little wet, so we will decorate it tonight instead. Yay for Christmas! I just love the whole month of December, with the decorations , lights, and Christmas music!

One of These Things Just Doesn't Belong....

2008-11-15T13:46:00.007-05:00

Here's a picture of the bookshelves in Jackson's room. Do you notice something odd about them?

Yes, that's right. A Dwight Schrute bobblehead. The little stinker totally stole it from my computer/craft/misc room and proudly displayed it in his own room. I don't condone stealing (especially MY stuff) but this was pretty funny - so I told him he could keep it in there for the day.

Here's the little guy himself, looking quite innocent.

My Little Monkey

2008-11-15T13:27:00.003-05:00

Jackson was a monkey this year for Halloween - although it was amazing how many people thought he was a bear. I guess they didn't notice the banana! Here's a few pictures of him in all his cuteness...

And of course with all the trees in our yard, we've been able to play in the leaves a lot! Jack has really enjoyed that this year. He loves to play hide & seek and be completely buried in the pile.

Quick Story

2008-10-27T15:08:00.004-04:00

The other day I put Jackson down for his nap and came back downstairs to get some work done. I heard him whimpering off and on but stuck to my guns and let him stay by himself. Eventually I heard nothing, so I knew he was asleep. Several hours later, I heard him screaming, "HELP!!! Help Me!!" at the top of his lungs. So I went up to see what was going on and was greeted by him standing on his bed, naked except for his pajama shirt. Upon closer inspection, his socks, pajama pants, and diaper were on the floor.....and his bed was soaking wet. Evidently he stripped down, fell asleep, peed and woke up to wetness which scared him, because it took me about 1/2 hour to get him calmed down. Luckily I was planning to wash his sheets anyway because of his sickness. I wasn't planning on washing the mattress pad and scrubbing the mattress though. Oh and Monkey-Monk, one of his "guys" that he sleeps with, got a nice warm washing machine bath too. Just a quick story, hopefully you got a laugh out of it!

The Sick House

2008-10-24T13:55:00.004-04:00

In the past few days, all 3 of us seem to have gotten bad colds. Well, I thought they were all bad colds....some of you by this point have already gotten a phone call from me warning you that my child may have exposed yours to pink eye! So yeah, Jackson had what I thought was a cold earlier in the week, and we noticed on Wednesday before church that he was rubbing his eyes, but he tends to do that when he is sick or sleepy anyway, so we didn't think anything of it. When we picked him up from Puggles, his eyes were all gunky, and to make a long story short, I took him to the doctors the next day and he not only had pinkeye, but a double ear infection to go along with it! I felt so bad! He is one easy-going guy though, and really wasn't acting sick at all. The doctor was amazed that this is the first time he's ever been on antibiotics.

Last night we were still able to go out to dinner for an early birthday date, thanks to my MIL who kept Jackson for us. Neither of us felt awesome so we were back to pick up J before 8 and came hope, all took medicine, and went to bed! Thankfully we are all feeling better today, because tonight is INSOMNIA.... our youth group all-nighter!! This is something Jon and I honestly look forward to every year. It is such a fun night...starting at the church at 830, going to Carlisle Sports Emporium for gocarts, roller skating, laser tag, etc, and then Bowling, then back to the church by 6 am. I am praying for continued healing so Jon and I can both go and stay the whole time!

Here's some pictures of my sweet sick boy....taken today after I put some cream on his poor runny/stuffy/chapped nose. Even being sick he of course still had to be silly for the pictures. He's been in a great mood all day and it is hilarious listening to him singing in his crackly sore throat voice. He is a trooper!

It's The Thought That Counts

2008-09-27T16:51:00.005-04:00

The other day I woke up really motivated to be a good wife & mother, get a lot of stuff around the house done, and have dinner made good and early so that i could just pop it in the oven when I got back from my dentist appointment. Oh the plans I had. If they all had worked out, it would have been magnificent!

Unfortunately, I spent a good portion of the morning on the phone for various reasons....MOPS planning stuff, making appointments, etc. (and of course chatting with a friend). I then decided to be a "good wife" and make Jon some iced tea, because I knew he would be excited. (I am lucky that he is easy to please!) I boiled the water, steeped (is that a real word?) the tea bags, added the sugar, and let it sit out on the counter for a while to cool down. I poured myself a glass and put the rest of the gallon in the refrigerator so it would be good and cold by the time Jon got home from work. I had a few more things that needed to be put in the fridge, and as I added them on the shelf, evidently I was pushing to make them fit a little too hard...and all of a sudden, the entire gallon (minus one glass) of iced tea had tipped over and was pouring out. A gallon didn't look like that much when it was safe inside the pitcher, but when it was all over my refrigerator and floor, it looked like an enormous flood. I ended up having to take out 2 shelves and 2 drawers full of food, wipe all the food off and shove it (carefully this time) on one of the top shelves that were still dry. The shelves and drawers were so sticky they all needed to be washed so I stacked them up in the sink and tackled the floor next, while at the same time trying to keep the dog to stop licking it up and running around in it.

After I got the floor unsticky, it was time to wash out all the shelves and drawers. As I stared at the massive heap in my sink, my eyes drifted downward and I had to laugh - somehow the way the sun was shining through all the glass, it had created a rainbow on my floor - God does have a sense of humor! I tried to get a picture but the rainbow disappeared too fast.

Finally after everything had been washed and dried, I could put everything back in it's place. I had to roll my eyes when I saw this printed on the shelf the iced tea had been sitting on originally:

Evidently Whirlpool did not take iced tea tsunamis into account while labeling the shelves.

In summary, the unexpected refrigerator cleaning took me most of my morning. The eBay packages I needed to send just had to wait until the next day. I did get dinner made (a yummy asparagus and chicken casserole) but it had to wait until after my dentist appointment. And thankfully, Jon and I each still got a glass of iced tea out of the day.

PS...the good news is that while all this was going on, Jackson was playing away in his toy room, and only came out to say, "mommy, you made big mess. whyyy?"

2 1/2 years ago...

2008-09-22T16:53:00.005-04:00

2.5 years ago I was in the hospital enjoying my baby boy's 1st day in the world! Actually, more than likely at this time, I was stuffing my face full of the delicious hospital food! (Not a joke....I think most people who have give birth at Womens & Babies would agree with me).

Anyway, not my point. My point is that my sweet baby boy is 2 1/2 years old today! In some ways, it doesn't seem possible that it could be that long, but then again, in some ways I can't imagine life before Jackson! And then when I think 2 1/2 is halfway to 5....wow! :)

So for those of you who don't get to see Jackson as much as we'd like....here's what he's been up to lately:

*He LOVES to pretend. And I LOVE to just sit outside the room listening to him making up conversations for his animals or Little People. It's hilarious!

*He still reads like it's his job. His latest thing is reading out-loud to us. Sometimes he makes up stories (and words) and sometimes he has the book pretty well memorized and will and least get the main ideas across.

*Can be heard singing about 85% of the day

*Current phrase: "Two more minutes!" Said pretty much anytime it is time to go to bed, get his diaper changed, etc.

*Favorite song: the ABCs - and many other made-up songs that are sung to the tune of the ABCs, also is enjoying Sunday School songs, especially Deep & Wide...("Deet - Wide!")

More Jackson cuteness to come at a later date, but for now I need to go get dinner ready.

Cedarville Alumni Reunion

2008-09-22T16:41:00.003-04:00

On Saturday we went to Blackrock Retreat in Quarryville, PA for a Cedarville Alumni gathering. We had a good time with lots of our church friends who have gone to Cedarville - the Witmer, Nicklas, Feucht, and Griest families were all there. Good food, fun hayride, and a scarecrow making contest....although we were a little disappointed that our Mr. T scarecrow didn't win! Here's some pics of us with Mr. T.... (and note in the first picture, the one over Jon's shoulder is the one that won for funniest. Funnier than Mr. T? I don't think so! Just because it had a Jeff Beste name tag....argh.)

Fun Fort Friday

2008-09-19T22:29:00.004-04:00

Since Jon worked long hours out of town this week, he had today off! He and Jackson had some male bonding time while I went to MOPS this morning. When I got home, we decided to go to the Fun Fort. When the Fun Fort was built, Gramps had a fencepost engraved for each of the grandkids. It was Jackson's first time there and of course we had to take his picture next to his Daddy's name!

Fun Family Weekend!

2008-09-15T18:57:00.004-04:00

We had a really great weekend! Saturday evening, Jackson got to spend some time with Bobby & JoJo while Jon and I went to our friends PA wedding reception (they got married in Michigan). I was excited to get a little dressed up and go on a date! To give you an idea of how long its been since we've gone somewhere dressed up....we had to go shopping Friday night because all of Jon's "nice" pants have cargo pockets :) Anyway, we had a fun time at the reception and laughed a lot sitting at a table with our friends!!

Sunday we decided to go to Hershey Park - even though it was SO HOT, we had some free tickets to use and didn't want them to go to waste before the end of the season! It was Jackson's first time at Hershey Park and he had a BLAST! Can you believe this kid and how much he loves rides? He officially now goes on rides that I refuse - aka The Scrambler. That's great - my not quite 2 1/2 year old is braver than me! He did mostly the kiddie rides, but his favorite was definitely the Scrambler. I can't believe his size could even go on it, but he could! Jon said Jackson just laughed out loud the entire time! We spent several hours in the park, but when Jack almost fell asleep on a (pretty tame) kiddie ride, we decided it was time for a little break. We went to (air conditioned!) Chocolate World and got a yummy milkshake! It was a great day!!!

I wanted to write a caption for each pic but did the layout wrong....so as you can see...

#1 - Jack and Daddy rode lots of rides together!

#2 - Sleepy guy drinking our milkshake

#3 - Ready for the Scrambler! (Daddy taught him how to hold his hands up on the rides!)

#4 - Almost a Hershey Kiss, but just a Miniature for this year!

ChuckECheese!

2008-09-08T14:19:00.003-04:00

Last weekend we all went to visit Joelle at college, do some shopping (yay, IKEA!), and take the boys to Sesame Place. Unfortunately, it poured all day Saturday so we improvised and went to Chuck E Cheese instead. It was a hit....thanks to Jon and Joelle getting multiple 100 ticket winners, the boys each got to pick out some cute new toys!

Another big even that happend recently is that our house is now pacifier-free! Jack has been using his paci only at night since he was 1 and I've been dreading taking it away. I noticed a tear in it, so I just cut the tip off and gave him a little speech about how sometimes when babies grow up to be big boys, their pacis sometimes break. He saw his paci and said "EWWWW....it broke!" He threw it in the trash! He has been doing pretty well without it....at night it just takes him a long time to fall asleep without it. The first night he slept through the night, but last night he woke up twice. The biggest problem has been naps....he's been not as sleepy for naps as it is lately, and now he really has a hard time. I am not ready to lose nap time, since that's when I get the majority of my work done! So today he is upstairs "resting quietly" and reading books in his bed.

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-04T17:52:00.004-04:00

We had a fun weekend with friends at a cabin near Williamsport, PA. The kids enjoyed playing outside together and getting dirty! The adults loved putting the kids to bed early and playing games!! Here's a few pics....

and for your enjoyment.......

Again with the freakish faces when I tell him to smile! (I know, I shouldn't have called my own son freakish!)

PS...I had a dentist appointment today and although I am sometimes still in some pain, the report is that I am much improved after only one week! I go back again in 3 weeks for another checkup.

NTI for TMJ

2008-08-28T09:31:00.002-04:00

I kind of wish I had a picture for this post, but none yet. Just wanted to give an update for those of you who have seen my facebook status and are wondering what is going on and why I have a lisp! :)

I have been having mild jaw pain for quite awhile now, along with my jaw popping while chewing, and feeling like it would lock if I opened it too wide. My dentist has been monitoring it, but this past week the pain was getting really bad. Yesterday it was terrible, so I called so see if I could get an appointment, and they took me in right away! I was pretty impressed with that!!!

So I went in and my jaw has definitely gotten worse. I can only open my mouth about 1/2 the amount of what most people can. (Dad, if you are reading this, I can already hear the snide remarks about how much I open my mouth!) End result....I now have a prescription for muscle relaxers and also a little mouth guard, called an NTI, that fits over my front teeth and basically makes me look like Bugs Bunny. Most people only have to wear it at night, but I am supposed to wear it ALL THE TIME, unless I am in public. Praise the Lord for that "unless!"

Last night when we got back from our youth leaders meeting, I put it in and Jackson started laughing. I said, "Does mommy look pretty?" He honestly replied, "No, mommy looks EWWWW!" I said, "Oh, that makes mommy sad!" The poor kid started BAWLING, and said "No, mommy pretty!!!" I hope he is always this tender-hearted! :)

Hot Dogs, Anyone?

2008-08-25T09:30:00.002-04:00

Our yard sale this past weekend went really well! I was slightly disturbed when I opened the garage door Friday morning at 715 to finish putting things out and there were 5 people milling around in my driveway, and money left on the table for stuff that was already gone! (The yard sale was supposed to start at 9!) Friday we were really busy with constant customers. I had made cookies the night before and sold all of them, so that was exciting too! Friday night I thought I'd be smart and make a double batch of cookies, knowing that they would sell too!

Then Saturday came....Saturday was a strange day. Jon had planned to make hot dogs and sell them, because he had heard from a friend that they always make more $$ selling hot dogs then the junk from their house! Around 10 am, a guy came and, without looking at anything else, wanted to know if we had started the hot dogs yet (I had put this in the Craigslist ad)....we hadn't but Jon threw one on the grill quick. The guy said "I'm starving...just slap it on the bun cold!" So we did and asked him if he would like ketchup or mustard. His response was, "I don't need that crap!" He left as quick as he came.....just for the hot dog!

The ironic part....that hot dog was one of the 3 that we sold! We ended up eating more than we sold. And, about the cookies....not a single one sold!! We did end up doing very well overall and sold a lot of our stuff. The rest, we boxed up for the next yard sale in a year or so!

E-Town Fair

2008-08-20T22:12:00.004-04:00

We went to the E-town Fair tonight and I thought I might as well go ahead and post some pics while I have a few minutes. We tried to win Jackson a goldfish but failed miserably. Luckily, he thought the fish were there just to say Hi to....he never realized he could have been taking one home!! He loved the rides again (some he even got to ride with Jon!)....his favorite was the Ferris Wheel! I think he is too young to have fear! We did have some good luck with the ride tickets though...just as we were about to buy some, a lady approached us and sold us her leftovers for half-price! Yay for bargains, even at the fair! :)

In other news, not much has been going on. I have been getting stuff together for our yard sale this weekend. Stop by and see us! Friday 9-? and Saturday 8-? I'm hoping to get rid of a LOT of stuff!

Fair Side Note: Evidently the Garrett County Meat Rabbits sign is not as sick as I thought....tonight I saw a 4H stand about the same thing. I don't know if I'd want to eat a rabbit, but I guess you never know!

The Zoo!

2008-08-16T21:28:00.003-04:00

Yesterday my parents took Jon, Jackson and I to the Pittsburgh Zoo. We had such a fun time - even though Jackson has evidently deciding that throwing up on the way to the zoo should be a new tradition. He is now 2 for 2 (see my earlier post on Lake Tobias!) Jackson loved everything about the zoo and was so excited at seeing each new animal. There were 2 new baby elephants born this summer, and the Daddy elephant was named Jackson, which he is still talking about! Here's just a few pics from the zoo....

We made it home this afternoon and Jack was happy to see all his books and toys but was sad to not be getting all the extra special attention from Pap and Grandy!
Thanks Dad and Mom! We had a fun week! Next time try and make it a little warmer so we can swim ;)

Fair Pictures

2008-08-14T13:04:00.003-04:00

We had a great time at the fair yesterday. Jack loved seeing the animals - especially the pig and duck races - and really LOVED the rides!!! Here's a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

(Yes, that sign means what you think it does....anyone have any good recipes?)

Thoughts & Happenings of the Week

2008-08-12T08:40:00.003-04:00

I really wasn't looking forward to the Olympics. I thought maybe I'd watch some if nothing else was on TV when I actually wanted and had time to watch it. Now suddenly I am addicted! It started with the opening ceremonies - we didn't watch the entire thing but I have always found it interesting to watch as each country marches in. This year it really hit me as amazing that so many countries come together peacefully for these games! And of course my heart melted when the Chinese walked in and the little boy walked beside Yao Ming to carry the flags. If you didn't already hear the story, the little boy was a survivor of the earthquakes that hit China a month or so ago. 20 out of the 30 children in his class died. He not only freed himself from the rubble but went back to help rescue 2 classmates! What a kid! And of course he is totally adorable.

I am currently in Maryland with Jackson at my parent's house for the week. We have plans for most of the week and I'm hoping to squeeze in a few visits with friends as well! Jon is coming up Thursday night and we will all go to the Pittsburgh Zoo on Friday! Today's big adventure - Walmart! (Note: I am from the boonies.) I just love how around here, going to Walmart is an EVENT! (also note: I am not making fun of the boonies. I love the boonies.) Anyway, pictures to come at some point this week.....it is Garrett County FAIR WEEK after all, and that is a much bigger event than even Walmart!

Expanding Vocabulary

2008-08-04T20:57:00.002-04:00

Said by Jackson today to the dog before going upstairs for his nap - "Night night, Jakey. Night night, Sweetheart." I wasn't sure where he picked up "sweetheart" but I found out tonight when Nana walked in and said to Jackson "Hi Sweetheart!" J has since realized that mama thought hearing him say sweetheart was pretty funny, and has begun calling everyone and everything by that name!

New Favorite

2008-08-01T13:27:00.002-04:00

Jackson's new favorite activity is playing in his toy box. Every day he crawls in and sits, sometimes for an hour or more, playing and pretending with all his toys. I love listening to him pretend! I hear him making up entire conversations with his little people, dinosaurs, or veggietales. I am loving how great he is getting at entertaining himself!

Beach Pics

2008-08-01T13:11:00.004-04:00

For some reason I haven't felt like blogging lately, so I have a little catching up to do. I already posted beach pics on Facebook, but for those of you who don't have facebook, here's a few from our recent vacation to Bethany Beach, Delaware. (and sorry about the last one, I couldn't get it to rotate, so just tilt your head!)

My Little Evangelist

2008-07-10T12:38:00.002-04:00

I was working around the house and Jackson was walking around carrying a Bible and talking about it repeatedly. This is what I saw next:

Evidently Jackson thinks Jakey needs to be spending a little more time with the Lord lately. I'm not sure this is what the Gideons had in mind!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-07T21:24:00.005-04:00

For the long weekend over July 4th, we traveled to my parents home in MD for Accident's annual 4th of July Homecoming. We had a great time, got to see family & friends, and go to the parade (in the rain!) Here's some of the pictures... (the 1st is particularly exciting...reintroducing Micah & Jackson - they last saw each other when Micah was just a few weeks old! - Micah is the son of Janelle who I have known since elementary school and went all the way through college with - now Janelle and her husband Ben live in Ohio and we don't get to see them much - except when we are each visiting our families in Maryland!)

Best Kept Secret...

2008-07-07T21:08:00.003-04:00

I know it's not really a secret, but I can't believe I have never been there before - Lake Tobias! Last week Joelle and I made plans to take Jackson and the girl she nannies. The day did not start out well when Jackson threw up before we got out of the square of E-town!!! I knew he wasn't actually sick, I think it must have been a mix of overexcitedness to see the animals and carsickness. Anyway, we quickly came back home, cleaned up & got changed and then were back on our way.

We had such a great time! J's admission was free, and mine was only $4. Joelle and Lauren went on the safari ride but we skipped that one and just walked around to see the other animals. The petting zoo was a favorite - and free - included in the admission!

We loved our Lake Tobias trip and plan to go at least once more this summer!

Cake Decorating 101

2008-07-01T13:54:00.003-04:00

Ok before I get to the cake decorating, I just have to share that I just experienced the most disgusting thing I have had to deal with as a mother thus far. Jackosn was in a pretty bad mood all morning, including crying the entire way home from Target. I decided to let him swim for a little while and get really good and tired so he'd be sure to take a great nap. He was swimming happily away and I was having a delightful time of relaxation reading a magazine beside his kiddie pool when he stood up and I noticed his swimmy diaper (or mimmi biper as he would pronounce it) looked a little funny. "Did you poopie?" "Yes all dirty" was his reply. I glanced in the pool and it looked like muddy water. Let me tell you, swimmy diapers are not meant to hold in the poop. I won't go into the details of cleaning him up, but lets just say my hands are still not smelling too fresh after repeated washings. Lesson learned: if your kid hasn't pooped in 2 days, don't let them near their pool.

Onto the cake...yesterday we decided to make Jon a cake. Nothing fancy at all, I just thought Jack would have fun helping me. So it was a Funfetti Cake with Funfetti Icing...and then came the decorating. The only sprinkles I had where red & green left over from Christmas cookies, and I found some of the black decorating gel leftover from the Elmo cupcakes. I asked Jack what I should write on Daddy's cake and he said "Daddy Lee Mohr" (yes, still loves that he & Daddy have the same middle and last names). So I wrote it on the cake, squeezing the gel tube as much as possible since there wasn't much left. J was in charge of sprinkles, as you can see from the pictures. So here it is, our beloved cake - not too great looking but Jackson was SO PROUD!

If you like to talk to Tomatoes...

2008-06-24T13:38:00.003-04:00

Jackson and I are of course VeggieTales fans, and today we made the drive over to Palmyra to see a FREE showing of The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything! It was Jackson's first movie in an actual movie theater and he did great! I was a little disappointed that the movie wasn't very....veggietalish.....no theme song, no Bible lesson, no Bob the Tomato! But Jack still recognized lots of other characters and the movie definitely kept his attention. And hey, it was free! (but then again, when I started calculating the gas it took to get over there....) I did bring my camera but didn't get any cute pictures, so I have some non-Jackson pictures instead....

This is what I ended up making with more of my strawberry supply (I made 2 but the other one was well on it's way to being gone by the time I took the picture) I also made 12 more jars of jam - this time strawberry banana. Haven't tried it yet. Hope its good - 12 jars is a lot if it's not!

This is my favorite yard sale find of the weeked - a great vintage wire basket - currently holding my fruit but it may earn its way to other spots in the house as well. 50 cents!

Strawberries!

2008-06-20T07:26:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I finally made it out to pick strawberries. Of course this only happened after I called the strawberry farm and was threatened with "I don't know how much longer we'll be open - maybe until this weekend." So I realized that if I wanted fresh strawberries, now was the time. Thankfully, I came to this realization after Jon was home from work and he - slightly begrudgingly - got roped into coming as well. I'm so glad he did. It was a lot easier, a lot quicker, and plus I got this cute shot of my guys together... (although I'm just noticing looks like Jon took the belt off his work jeans...)

When we came home I finished dinner, then got to work cleaning strawberries. It took FOREVER thanks to the fact that most of the strawberries were small. I was very thankful for the huller my MIL let me borrow - much quicker. I will invest in one of those for next year. I made 12 jars of strawberry freezer jam before I ran out of jars. Now I have a lot of leftover strawberries that I haven't quite decided what to do with yet. More jam? Pies? Anyone have a favorite strawberry recipe they'd like to share?

Yesterday was a productive day. Besides the jam, I made a big pot of spaghetti sauce (enough for last night's dinner plus 3 more freezer meals), 2 fiesta shrimp dinners to freeze, a quiche to freeze, and a peach coffee cake. All of this done while my house is getting replacement windows, the dog is quite concerned with the work going on, and Jackson is *supposed* to be napping but instead he's upstairs singing at the top of his lungs.

Today I just found out that the guys working on the house won't be here until 830...and I got up at 630 for what?! I guess I can spend the time doing something productive...like mapping out my yard sale route!

ARGH!

2008-06-17T13:59:00.003-04:00

I am so annoyed at myself right now! I had an entire post written, including 3 pictures, and somehow dumb me posted it on the MOPS blog instead of my personal blog! OOPS!! It wouldn't let me cut & paste, so I'm going to have to rewrite it all. Double Argh!

Anyway...I'll hit the highlights....

Today we played with sidewalk chalk. (How's that for just the facts? I had that sentence sounding much better the last time around! Ok, time to stope being bitter). This was J's first experience with sidewalk chalk and while I would love to say that he drew all over the place, he mostly just enjoyed telling me what to draw. His favorite part was laying down on the sidewalk and me tracing around him. He did love it though, and I think next time he'll want to draw more.

My little guy has been making me laugh so much lately. Here's 2 recent examples:

**He knows his full name is Jackson Lee Mohr. Yesterday he was getting slightly exasperated with me while I was on the phone and said with the "you're in trouble" tone, "Mommy Lee Mohr!" Along with that, we've been trying to teach him how to spell his name. He starts off right but always ends up saying "J...A....Lee Mohr."

**Also yesterday, I heard a lot of lip smacking and "yumm" coming from the toy room. I knew that I hadn't given him a snack, so I went in to investigate. He had created his own snack from the leftover bits of play-doh we had somehow missed when cleaning. I said "Jack, we don't eat play-doh, that's yucky!" He immediately started sobbing and said "yes, mommy! eat play-doh!" One of his best sentences to date - glad he saved it for such a special occasion!

Baltimore Weekend

2008-06-15T16:00:00.003-04:00

We have tried to do something special for our anniversary each year....a little get-away! Baltimore is definitely one of our favorite destinations. This year we postponed our trip until this past weekend....for a special event: Pirates vs. Orioles! Our 2 favorite teams have not played each other in Baltimore since the 1979 World Series - which I am happy to report, the Pirates won.

Jon took the day off work Friday and we headed down to Hunt Valley and then took the Light Rail to Baltimore. Note: if you are planning a Baltimore trip, you can save so much money by taking the Light Rail if at all possible!! Parking for us for 2 days would have been $50...instead we spent around $6 for Light Rail tickets. (Another note: if you get motion sickness, sit forward, not sideways on the LR...trust me on this!) Anyway, we checked into our hotel...a great and wonderful deal thanks to Joelle!... and then walked to the Inner Harbor where we ate lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, walked, and shopped. The stores are a little expensive for my taste (yeah, I know, what isn't?) but it was still fun to look around.

We headed to Camden Yards early for the game and watched Pirates batting practice for awhile, then headed to Boog's BBQ for one of the best sandwiches EVER - I love that place! A game is worth it just to be able to get the sandwich!! The game was a great one, although the Pirates lost (no big surprise). There was a fireworks display afterwards which was also amazing! It was funny to see & hear the reactions from people at the ballpark when they saw Jon with his O's gear and me with my Buccos shirt. We got asked, "How does that work?" more than once.

Saturday we ate a breakfast buffet at the hotel (at 50% off...yay for Joelle again!), walked around some more, and then decided to leave. We shopped some more at Hunt Valley and then came home. We sure were glad to see Jackson so spent the 2 days getting lots and lots of attention from Nana and Peeps!!

I also wanted to say HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my Dad, who taught me to love our Pittsburgh teams in the first place...you would have loved being at this game! Also to Jerry, who even though he and his offspring are Orioles fans, I can overlook that and say otherwise he did a great job raising his kids! And of course to Jon, who is such a great father to Jackson, who already wants to be just like Daddy!

Summertime!

2008-06-11T13:26:00.003-04:00

Even though it's not officially summer, everyone who lives around here will agree that it definitely feels like it! We've had record breaking heat for several days now, today it finally cooled down, with a high of "only 85!" We are becoming very thankful for our house and all the shade we have, because it honestly feels about 10 degrees cooler in our yard than it does when we go into town.

We have been spending a lot of our time trying to beat the heat by enjoying Jackson's pool and sprinkler! Grandy & Pap sent us a really cool Elmo sprinkler that Jackson thinks is great! We also set up J's slide to go into the pool so he's been enjoying that too. His most favorite thing, however, is when we splash him with buckets of water.

Anyway, here's a picture of our outdoor fun!

June already!!

2008-06-01T20:29:00.003-04:00

I just can't get over how fast this year is flying by....it's June already!

Thursday was Jon's birthday. Gramps came over to help us celebrate and I made Jon's favorite meal - Chicken Parmigiana and favorite dessert - carrot cake with cream cheese icing. It was nice to do something special for him when he does so much for me! Jackson was so excited all day helping to wrap presents and make the food. We made Jon a birthday card and I really wanted it to be from Jackson so I was asking him what he likes to do with Daddy. He said, "Play. Make bubbles. Eat." Funny how eating made the list. He did come up with a few more things eventually.

On Friday, my brother came up to spend the weekend with us. We were really glad he could come and Jackson and he had a lot of "bonding time" - Jack sobbed and didn't want to go to bed each night because he wanted to play with "Uncle Marf." (Side note: I just love the way he pronounces words wrong! It will be a bittersweet day when the Marfs become Mark and Marc.) Besides playing with Jackson, Mark also helped Jon clean out our gutters which was awesome! I also loved watching the Penguins game with Mark just like old times ~ although it would have been much better had they won. Anyway, that sums up the weekend ~ thanks for the visit, Mark!

Pool Party!

2008-05-27T21:28:00.003-04:00

Side Note: I am finding it so much easier to blog with high-speed internet!

Last evening we went to the Mohr's for a Memorial Day BBQ. Afterwards was the first pool party of the summer! Jackson just loved laughing at Owen as he jumped in and out of the pool. These little guys are starting to have a lot of fun together!

Memorial Weekend

2008-05-27T21:16:00.003-04:00

We had a wonderful and relaxing Memorial Weekend at the cabin with the Hixon family! The kids had fun playing outside and finding all kinds of exciting wildlife (like a dead raccoon that was porcupined to death....I won't post those pics!) The adults had fun eating tons of good food, playing games, and staying up waaay past our bedtimes! Jackson definitely loved having the girls to play with all weekend. He loves them all but he and Lucy are "Best Buddies." They announced this many times throughout the weekend and held hands on all our walks. Lucy is almost exactly 1 year older than Jackson but he has just recently caught up to her size-wise.
I love this last picture...what a smile!

The Circus

2008-05-27T21:11:00.003-04:00

Last Thursday we took Jackson to the circus in Hershey. He loved it and what made it even better was being able to watch it with our friends the Witmers and the Hixons! It didn't start until 730 and his bedtime is typically 8, but he did great and watched it all. His favorite things were seeing the people jump rope, the clowns, and the elephants - especially when they laid down on the ground.

He liked the clowns a little better from a distance!

2 Posts in 1 Day!

2008-05-21T09:00:00.005-04:00

Yesterday Jackson was having so much fun being naked after a diaper & clothes change that I let him go for awhile. I really never do this, but he was being so good I figured he would be fine. In typical Jackson fashion, he grabbed a book and started to read. Jon and I were getting ready to go out to dinner for our anniversary (actually on Thursday but we're headed to the circus then) and when I picked Jackson up to get him dressed, he had peed everywhere! So his bottom half was quickly washed, along with the floor, before we went to Nana's house. Luckily the book was fine; that would have been the tragedy of the whole situation!

Jon and I got to have an evening out alone which was wonderful! (And Jackson had a great time with Nana...thanks again!) We haven't done that for a long time! We went to Red Lobster (thankfully I was over my stomach sickness from earlier in the week!) and then shopped at the outlets. We had a great date night!

PS...the original title for this post was "Naked Time" but when I decided to talk about Date Night, I decided against it!

For Pap

2008-05-21T08:52:00.002-04:00

"Thanks for the new ball, Pap! Love you! Bye bye!"

This past weekend, we had a visit from my Dad! He is on business close to Philly for the week and stopped in to spend Saturday afternoon with us. Of course he didn't come empty handed! We took this picture to show him how much Jackson loves his new ball! Jack kept holding it in front of his face which didn't make for the best pic, so I told him to hold it at his belly. Evidently he thought that in order to do so, he also needed to lift his shirt up! Thanks for visiting us, Pap!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T13:13:00.003-04:00

Jon gave me a newspaper clipping this morning that said in part: "If a stay-at-home mom could be compensated in dollars rather than personal satisfaction and unconditional love, she'd rake in nearly $117,000 a year. That's according to a study released by Salary.com. The 8th annual survey calculated a mom's market value by studying pay levels for 10 job titles with duties that a typical mom performs. This year, the annual salary for a stay-at-home mom would be $116,805." Wow, those extra bucks would certainly come in handy! But being being paid in sloppy kisses (from Jackson to those who are wondering about Jon at the moment), smiles and big hugs, that is priceless!

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, Mom-in-Law, all those who have "mothered me" along the way and of course all my Mommy Friends!

The Week in Review

2008-05-10T14:54:00.002-04:00

Nothing extremely exciting to say, but thought I'd update and just fill you in on some of the highlights of the last week. Sorry, I can't believe it, but I didn't take any pictures this week so I don't have any to post. Anyway...

Last Saturday was really a great day all around. I had planned to go to a big yard sale in Etown early to get the good deals. Jon didn't work so I was able to get up early and he stayed home with Jackson. But before I woke up, Jon had already gotten up (at 630), washed my car, and gotten me flowers and an iced coffee from McDonalds! Now is how a girl's day should start! Thanks to my husbanda for making me feel so special! I ended up getting a few things at the sale, including a Halloween costume for Jackson for next year, so I was happy with that. I also ran into Nancy and her friend...evidently I should have made sure I was there before them, because they cleaned up :) I came home to eat breakfast and then the 3 of us headed to Karen's development in Middletown where we met the Hixon's for a huge development-wide yard sale! The best deal of the day was one of Selena's bargains: a pink Bumbo seat for $7!

Our main excitement the rest of the week was our arrival into the age of technology - finally we have high speed internet! My laptop also came this week, as did Jon's ipod. So all of the sudden we have these fun toys to play with. Hopefully Jackson won't be too neglected! I am excited to start up on eBay again - business has been a little slow lately due to lack of time! I think now with my laptop I'll be able to spend more time on it. Plus I need to so I can pay my new high-speed bills!

In other news, go PENGUINS! Most of you probably know that I am a huge Pittsburgh Penguins fan. They are currently playing against the Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Its a little weird living in "Flyer Country" during this time and it's very depressing that due to our minimal cable package, we can't watch any of the games. We did decide that if they make it to the Stanley Cup, we're going to order the extra cable for 2 weeks so we can watch the games!

Last interesting thing....I made my first cheesecake yesterday! I don't know why, but cheesecakes always seemed intimidating to me. It was a triple layer - butterscotch, chocolate, and vanilla, and it turned out really good. So cheesecakes are no longer intimidating. Maybe next I'll attempt my own pie crust.

April Post

2008-04-30T14:07:00.003-04:00

I am finally blogging again, thanks to Terri's gentle reminder :) At least I can get one in for the month of April!! I just haven't been able to find much time to check email, let alone blog! We have been loving the return of spring, and with the nice warm weather (with the exception of the last few days) we have been outside doing YARD WORK!!!! Many of you may have driven past our house and seen huge piles of ivy...we have been spending much of our time pulling these vines out of the ground. For those of you who haven't seen our house, the yard is pretty much a disaster. It seems that the people who lived here before us didn't enjoy fresh air or sunlight. Hence the ivy taking over everything. Its not that ivy can't be pretty, it's just that we'd like to give grass a chance. Along with the ivy, Jon and Jerry have been taking down small trees, shrubs, and branches...pretty much anything that gets in their way. And we have the railroad ties for my long-awaited fire pit!! So we are making progress! We did have a pretty bad setback when Jon got TERRIBLE poison ivy this weekend!! I really wish I would have taken a picture to gross you all out. It was bad. He finally did go to the doctor's last night and after starting some medication he's feeling much better already today.

Jon is taking down ivy...but really I think it's just an excuse because he loves to climb trees!

In other news, Jackson is learning new things every day! He is picking up so much vocabulary and repeating everything! He does have some trouble with p's, b's, and d's .... for example, Peeps (Jon's dad) is called "Beef" and Pap (my dad) is "Bapf." Which brings me to my story... Jackson has been fascinated with all things outside this spring, and I've been trying to plant flowers, so he's been "helping" a lot. He also loves to watch butterflies and the birds at our bird feeder. We went to Kmart the other day and were walking around the garden section smelling all the flowers and all of the sudden he starts saying (in his loud toddler voice) "Hi Booby!" Over and over again. I couldn't figure out why he would be saying this or how he even knew the word for that matter, so I tried to get him to stop and eventually he did (after getting some strange looks from other shoppers.) Later that night we were watching our bird feeder and he started again "Hi Booby, bye booby".... finally I realized he wasn't being ornery and saying booby...in his mind, he's saying BIRDIE! So this definitely makes a lot more sense but at the same time I'm hoping he learns some better pronunciation soon. Not yet as evidenced by last night when Jon walked in as I was holding Jackson up to the window to see the birds ....Jon said "what were you looking at?" Jackson's reply: BOOBS!

What is it with taking pictures lately? This is what I got when I asked for a NICE SMILE.....

Birthday Party #1

2008-03-20T18:58:00.003-04:00

We decided to have an early birthday party for Jackson last weekend so Hiromi could experience an American birthday party for a 2 year old! :) We had an Elmo theme (so excited that this is Jackson's favorite and all the decorations happened to be on clearance at Target!) Jon's family all came for cupcakes and ice cream. For the first time, Jack really loved opening presents so that made it even more fun! Birthday party #2 will be held tomorrow with my family in MD.

Some pics...
Elmo cupcakes (suprisingly easy)...

The Aftermath... (also note that Jackson contracted the lovely 5ths disease, which is basically nothing except it looks like he was slapped across the face...the red cheek is not icing...it's rash!)and Opening presents!

Hiromi

2008-03-20T18:50:00.003-04:00

It's been a long time since I've posted...we're currently at my parents (with high speed internet) so I thought it would be a good time to catch up! We recently had the pleasure of hosting a Japanese exchange student in our home for 2 1/2 weeks. We had a great time with Hiromi and are so glad she became part of our family! Jackson was especially attached to "Homie" as he called her. Here's a picture of the 2 of them -

We miss you, Hiromi!!

A Great Valentine's Day!

2008-02-15T13:20:00.003-05:00

Wow, what a fun Valentine's Day we had this year! Jon called me around 6 am from work to tell me that Jena's water had broken and she'd be on her way to the hospital soon - WOW! Talk about unexpected! Needless to say, there was no more sleep after that, but it was definitely an exciting way to begin the day!

Jackson and I went to a Valentine's party at a friend's house that was so special - the kids helped the moms make little pizzas for lunch, and we also ate heart shaped cupcakes! Jackson had a great time at the party and slept ALL afternoon after all the excitement!

We gave Jackson his Valentine's presents - a stuffed animal fox (again from Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss) and a Captain Hook hat, hook & sword for his dress-up box. He LOVED all his presents and still has barely let go of the fox. After our dinner of heart-shaped meatloaf we went over to see Joelle, Marc & Owen and await baby news. We were so excited to hear that baby Avalyn Jean was born! She weighed 6 lbs 5 oz - a great size for being at least 3 weeks early! I was able to go to the hospital later in the evening with Joelle & Marc and hold her....soooo tiny! It is hard to remember that Jackson was once almost that small!! I would love to post a picture but I'm bummed that I forgot to take my camera last night! Adorable - just take my word for it :) We are hoping to go back this afternoon so Jon and Jackson can meet little Ava.

Congratulations Ryan, Jena & Owen!!

Mr. Independent

2008-02-12T13:52:00.001-05:00

I am happy to report that the terrible twos stage seems to have taken a break for now, after just a few days. Hooray! Our new phase is "independence." The picture is from this morning (note the bed head) when after I changed Jackson from his PJs into his clothes for the day. He decided that he wanted to put his pajama shirt back on (new Toy Story pajamas that he's been loving to wear lately!) and tried for quite awhile to get his sweatshirt off. This was as far as he got, but refused to let me help him. So after about 10 or 15 minutes (and a cold arm) he humbled himself and said "Help Mama." By this point, he was fine with leaving the sweatshirt on and saving the PJs for later. I am excited that he loves the PJs though - one of those great random finds at the Disney Store for $3!! We've also watched the Toy Story movie 3 times this week!And just to clarify on the last post...if you want to try it but aren't crafty, don't be scared! :) You can make cookies or do whatever! I really wasn't expecting to get out of making something quite this easily!!

Pay It Forward

2008-02-07T21:23:00.000-05:00

Have you heard about it? Pay it forward? A friend of mine had posted about this and I decided to take up the challenge! The rules? For the first 3 to comment on this PIF post who want to particitpate: You will get something handmade from me, maybe not anytime soon, but sometime within the next 365 days. Here's the catch...if you decide to participate, YOU must do the same on your blog, and make something for the first three people who comment on YOUR PIF post. You never know what you will get! Doesn't this sound like fun?!? (I must say the catch for me was the 365 days! NO PROBLEM with that time line!) :-)

Terrible Twos?

2008-02-07T12:51:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I was able to go away with MOPS friends on a shopping trip to Philadelphia!! We had a great time, found some good bargains, and Jon & Jackson had fun at home. I came home Saturday evening and everything was fine....then came Sunday morning when the Terrible Twos hit! For the first time ever, Jackson didn't want to go to church - "no no no mama" with lots of screaming. I don't know what has gotten into the boy but he is definitely going through a rough phase right now - yelling, pushing me away, tantrums, etc. Now I know this is something every child goes through at some point, but I wasn't ready for my quiet laid back easy to please son to do this!! Last night was especially interesting as we had Josh & Christy over for dinner and I spent the entire time in the other room with Jackson because he was throwing a fit! He had only been spanked once ever in his life, but this week alone it has been 3 times. Not fun. After last night, poor J & C won't be wanting kids anytime soon! Thankfully, Jack is getting back to his old self and had a wonderful morning, when I took these pictures. Besides the little phase he is going through, his personality is starting to change a little to - into a crazy silly little boy!!

A few updates on Jack for those of you who don't get to see him & hear the funny random stories on a regular basis:

He is starting to PLAY with TOYS!! Instead of spending hours upon hours reading books, he also loves to play with Mr. Potato Heads & also is again a huge fan of his Little People. I am so glad that he will probably always love to read, but I'm also glad that he is starting to be a KID and PLAY!!

He loves to count, especially to 6. I often hear him saying "one, two, three, four, five, six, GO!"

He loves to pretend! I love that we can already see his little imagination at work as he feeds all his little people animals (and then proceeds to give each one an Eskimo Kiss - one of his other new favorite things).

Not much else new, we have been keeping ourselves very busy as usual and are looking forward to March when we will be hosting a Japanese exchange student for 3 weeks!

a few more pictures...

2008-01-17T13:59:00.000-05:00

Since my computer is so slow it's easier to do a few separate posts than put all the pictures in one!

For some reason, Jackson wanted to wear my fabulous C&C sweatshirt....very big on me...ginormous on him!

He has really liked dressing up lately.... this monkey costume is a favorite and he wore it for about 2 hours the other day.

GG's 90th!

2008-01-17T13:34:00.000-05:00

Jackson racing cars up & down GG's legs

It's snowing outside! Normally it wouldn't be that exciting of a thing but I am gearing up for SnowCamp this weekend!! Plus I talked to Keith this morning and he said back in MD they have at least 8 inches! (Just for the record...I'm not really wishing for that much).

Our lives have continued to be busy lately...we are always relieved when we have an evening "off" to spend at home but with meetings, youth group and such, it hasn't happened much recently! That's ok, it's a "good busy". We are having a lot of fun at this point in our lives!

Last week I started babysitting for a friend's 4 month old. For now, I'm babysitting one day a week and we'll see how that goes. So far it's been great! Jackson loves the baby and even cried one day when he woke up from his nap and Baby had already gone home!

Last week Jackson and I had another first....Music & Motions class! It's at a local church and only an hour, but it was very fun. We met some friends from church there - the first 1/2 hour the kids just run around and play and then the 2nd 1/2 hour they sit in a circle and sing and dance. Last week Jackson LOVED it. I have never seen him dance so much. This week he didn't like it as much...mainly because the little girl sitting next to him was eating crackers and I didn't have any for Jack. (and this girl wasn't in a sharing mood....not that I would have asked, but really....if you insist on giving your kid treats in front of everyone, at least bring enough to share. Next week I will be prepared). Anyway the class is $2 and was just really nice to get out and do something different.

Last weekend we traveled to MD and western PA for my Grandma Otto's 90th Birthday! A lot of the family was there and we ate at Grandma's favorite restaurant and then went back to her house for awhile. Jackson does really well considering he doesn't get to see most of these relatives too often. Happy Birthday GG - we love you! Jackson also had lots of fun with Pap, Grandy, and Uncle Mark. We even made it to my old church, Glade Mennonite, and got to see lots more people that we haven't seen in way too long! We wish we could see you all more often!! Come visit!
Jackson sliding down the steps with Uncle Mark!

A highlight of this week was having a few hours out with a friend! She is nearing the end of her pregnancy and can't reach her toes, so we figured that was a good excuse to go get pedicures! We went to the Mount Joy Vo-Tech where seniors in high school are being trained in cosmetology and full pedicures are only $5!! I definitely recommend it if you have a few hours...they really take their time :)

Today my neighbor came over for lunch with her 4 1/2 month old daughter. It's something we have been meaning to do for a long time but never got around to it. We are lucky to have nice neighbors who are close in age to us...most of the street is retired. I'm glad Jackson will have "neighbor kids" to play with when they are older.

This weekend, as I mentioned already, is Snow Camp! We are going with our Jr & Sr High Youth Group to a camp ....actually I'm not exactly sure where it is...somewhere up North. I'm excited to go! Last year we had a lot of fun, but since I had Jackson with me, I was in a separate room away from everyone else, and couldn't really interact with everyone and hear the speakers as much as I would have liked. This year (for better or worse!) I will be bunking with all the other girls! Jackson will be spending his weekend with Aunt JoJo, Nana, and Peeps. I know he will have a great time too! I will miss him though! We're in for more fun next weekend when my friends Keith and Brandi are coming to visit!!! Keith has a volleyball tournament in Lancaster and so we are excited to spend some time with them!

8 More Months

2008-01-06T13:36:00.000-05:00

No, I'm definitely not announcing a pregnancy.... just in some mourning that it will be 8 long months until the next time I get to watch another Steelers game, thanks to the disappointing loss last night. It was a nail biter to the end and we did have a great time watching it with our fellow Steeler fan friends on their new big screen TV! We really felt like we were at the game with the huge tv, surround sound, and being in an unheated room :) It really set the mood :)

Anyway, Jackson and I finally got a picture of us in our matching Troy Polamalu jerseys, which we probably won't get a chance to wear again until next football season! (He's still being a stinker about refusing to look at the camera, but oh well!)

Today after Sunday School all the Mohrs went to a huge buffet at Willow Valley...YUM! We are sad to see Joelle go back to school, but if we get to go out to lunch to celebrate the occasion.... :) Just kidding Joelle, we will miss you!

...and Hello 2008!

2008-01-04T13:10:00.001-05:00

So far it's been a great year! :) On New Year's Eve we played games for a little bit with Jena, Ryan, Joelle, and Marc and then came home around 8 to put Jackson to bed. Jon and I stayed up and watched movies until the New Year (I was really surprised we made it that late because Jon had already fallen asleep at 830 when I was doing work in the kitchen!)

Speaking of work in the kitchen, most of my day New Years Day was spent cooking and preparing freezer meals. My mom got me the book "Once a Month Cooking" for Christmas and I was so excited to try it out. New Years Eve I chopped all the peppers, carrots, onions, etc I would need for the next day. Let me tell you, many tears were shed over the 5 onions and 2 bunches of green onions I chopped!! It did end up saving a lot of time though. I decided to try the first cycle, which is planned for 2 weeks, but since our family is small I was able to divide a lot of the meals and ended up stocking my freezer with 23 main courses!! I was so excited at the end of the day. The book is great....it has a few different 2 week cycles and a few one month cycles to choose from. It gives you all the information you need...grocery list, recipes, and step by step instructions of what to do in order to get everything done in the quickest way. Most of the things I made I was able to freeze in gallon bags so it didn't even take up that much room in the freezer. I didn't follow the plan exactly, because different meats were too expensive, so I bought the kinds that were on sale and found recipes in the book for those. I'm thoroughly excited about this new plan....I'll let you know how it goes when we actually eat some of the food! (I have a few things thawed out from when I was making room in the freezer, so we have to eat those first).

Wednesday before church Jon & I had to get our licenses renewed, so we went to Lancaster. Miraculously, it took us less than 1/2 hour at the PennDot place so we were able to go out for a quick sandwich at Sloppy Jane's and then decided to go check prices on furniture! We are planning to buy Jackson a big boy bed within the next several months and wanted to start looking at prices. We're thinking of getting bunk beds that can be separated into 2 twin beds. We looked at several places but weren't too impressed with quality vs. price...we'd like to get something good enough that it will last a long long time! One lady told us that prices everywhere will be going up in February....who knows if that is true or not, but we'd like to try and find something before then if possible. Any recommendations?

Last night was our final Christmas get-together of the season. We always look forward to celebrating with Jon's cousin Noel who spoils all of us! Here's a picture of the group from last night at our house:

Happy 2008!

Goodbye 2007!

2007-12-30T20:20:00.000-05:00

I can hardly believe that 2007 is almost over! We have been blessed so much in the past year and are excited to see what happens in 2008! I haven't updated for a long time....so I'll try to hit some highlights and show a few pictures.

Christmas is definitely my favorite time of year! I love all the baking and preparing, checking the mail every day in anticipation of a Christmas card, and all the excitement. One highlight is the annual cookie exchange where several of us get together at a friends house and make dozens and dozens of cookies to share with each other....its a busy day with lots of baking and kids running around everywhere, but it is so much fun.

Jackson was much more excited about Christmas this year....I think next year will be the really fun year though. He did like opening presents and would want to play with each one he opened for awhile before he realized there were more! His first present of the year was opened on Christmas Eve - the traditional (as traditional as we can make it sound when this is only his 2nd Christmas) new pajamas! He also got his new ornament - a Dr. Seuss "Fox in Socks" ... I was having a hard time deciding what kind of ornament to buy him and knew it would either be Sesame Street, Little People, or Books, so on a whim I typed in "Dr Seuss ornament" on eBay and found one that was Fox in Socks....one of his very favorite books! He loved putting it on the tree, and then would bring the book over, sit down, and read it to the ornament. So funny.
Opening up his new PJs!

We woke up Christmas morning and had our family Christmas at our house, then went to Jon's parents for the rest of the day...the big surprise of the day was when I got Jackson up from his nap and walked into the room to discover that he had evidently been awake for awhile and had pulled all kinds of decorations & flower arrangements (pretty much anything in his reach) into the pack&play with him. As soon as he saw me, he said, "uh oh!" I think that is the most mischevious thing my laid back little guy has ever done :)

Fun present from Nana & Peeps to share with cousin Owen!

We all were struggling with colds over Christmas, and then the next day I woke up with a urinary tract infection....not fun! I was expecting to clean the house and get ready for my parents & brother to come that day, but instead I ended up spending a good part of the morning at the doctors! A few days and doses of medication later, I am feeling much better and my pee is almost back to its normal color. (Sorry if that grosses everyone out but the medicine actually made it turn bright orange). We had a great visit with my family! One of the gifts we had asked for was an air mattress for when we have lots of company...and they got us a really nice one that we decided to try out! Friday night Jon & I camped out in the living room on the air mattresses & sleeping bags and were very comfortable! When Jackson gets a little older we'll make it a family night!

I was hoping to add a lot of pictures on this, but my computer is being so slow, I may have to save most of them for another time.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas...best wishes for a Happy New Year! We made many attempts to get a family picture using the tripod and timer on my camera....here was the only one that turned out half decent!

Giving Thanks for Mousetraps....

2007-11-29T13:56:00.000-05:00

Ugh. We returned from Thanksgiving to find mouse poop on the kitchen counter. I was sooo grossed out. Having mice in the garage is one thing, but in the kitchen...that's a whole new ballgame. I went to the basement to do laundry...more mouse poop. We're into the double digits of mice we have caught this week and hopefully nearing the end. (?) I really should have expected mice in this older house but for some reason, I just thought that wouldn't happen. Oh well - before I started to freak out too much, I did remind myself that I love my house and I'm so thankful for it....so really mice are not that huge of a deal. I keep telling myself this anyway.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We traveled to Maryland to see my family and had a good time with them. We were able to see family that we haven't seen since last year at this time, so that was really nice. Jackson did great and wasn't too shy, he was giving out hugs & kisses to everyone like he saw them all the time!

Here's my favorite picture of the weekend:

Jackson and Pap (my Dad)...who he calls "Ba" or "Bap"

Jon and I are looking forward to another weekend of traveling...this time just the 2 of us. We are going to visit Joelle at PBU and attempt to get some Christmas shopping done! Jackson will be spending Friday night with Nana & Peeps, and we'll be back Saturday afternoon. Then next week I plan on decorating for Christmas! Normally I would have this done by now, but we are *hopefully* getting some overhead lighting put in our living room this week so I thought I would wait until that is done. Right now our house is pretty dark so I'm excited to not be living in a cave anymore!!

MODBE Reminder!

2007-11-18T12:40:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder that the MODBE party is at my house tomorrow (Monday) night from 630-830...its a drop in when you can kind of thing, you don't have to stay for the entire 2 hours! If you haven't heard of MODBE, it's a clothing line meant to be stylish & modest. She will bring the clothes so you can actually try them on. The stuff is very cute! I was really bad at getting out invitations, but if you read this consider yourself invited!! (And my disclaimer that I tell everyone: PLEASE don't feel pressured to buy anything...honest! I'm just doing this for fun!) Hope to see you tomorrow evening! :)

crazy week!

2007-11-09T14:20:00.000-05:00

What a week! We have been kept pretty busy this week...MOPS shopping night Monday, youth leaders meeting Tuesday, Youth Group Wednesday, friends over last night...wow! Jackson and I actually skipped church on Wednesday because he had a little bit of a cold and I wasn't feeling 100%, so I thought it would be good if we could both go to bed early and get a good night's sleep. Jackson had other plans. Normally, he goes to bed between 8 and 830 and falls asleep immediately. Wednesday, I attempted to put him to bed at 8, but he screamed until 1230!! We gave him tylenol & he fell asleep again for 2 hours, but woke up screaming. What fun. He didn't have a fever, so I didn't know what to do. I ended up calling the Nurse Triage center to see if there was something I was missing. They said to give him a dose of Motrin and Tylenol, so we did that around 6. That knocked him out and he slept until 11. By that afternoon, the meds had worn off and the screaming began again, so I decided to take him to the doctor. I wasn't sure if I should or not, because I didn't want to waste anyone's time, but I did it for the peace of mind. The little stinker was in perfect health! So we still have no clue what was going on that night, but we all slept great last night!!!

Here's a picture from earlier in the week....He's starting to run towards the camera so it's getting more difficult to get a picture...but when I looked at this one, I couldn't believe how old he looks!! Not a little baby anymore!!

daylight savings

2007-11-04T07:23:00.000-05:00

Daylight Savings is usually my favorite time of the year....the "fall back" one that is.... LOVE that extra hour of sleep without feeling guilty. And if you know me, you know that I love sleep and seem to require more than most other humans do or even should. So this is seriously a "holiday" I look forward to! Seems like there's always someone to make fun of who misses it and shows up somewhere an hour early. Well this year, it was us!! I had absolutely NO CLUE that last night was THE NIGHT...my chance to get an extra hour of guilt-free sleep! We got up this morning at 645, like usual on Sunday, because we go to the early service. We got totally ready, (even managed to be what we thought was a little early), drove to church, and there were about 3 cars in the parking lot. Hmmm. This confused us because we aren't supposed to go back to one service until December. So we saw a few people getting out of their cars and drove down and asked them....even though they were all on the worship team, it still never dawned on us. Finally we figured it out, and came home, which is where I am now, waiting for a few more minutes until we can go back to church! The funny thing is....I had never heard about daylight savings being this weekend, but Jon had, and just forgot about it! But it still didn't dawn on him until much later than it should have :) Well, I guess I'll have to wait until next year for that guilt-free hour of sleep!

Random side note: I'm having a MODBE clothing party Monday, November 19, from 630-830. All of you are welcome! I am a skeptic with home parties but I went to a Modbe party a few weeks ago and their clothes are amazing!! Very flattering to every body shape, modest necklines, and still very stylish! Here's a cool thing...supposedly you can even wear them before, during, and after pregnancy, and they should retain their shape! Anyway, let me know if you are interested in coming and I can give you more details!

It's been awhile...

2007-10-22T13:24:00.000-04:00

Yes, I've been putting off blogging for awhile now! Things have been busy, but mostly, I (like Jena!) am SO SICK of dial-up! It takes FOREVER to upload pictures. And come on, most of you only read this to see the pictures of Jackson anyway, right? :)

But yeah, it has been a very busy October for us. We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel though, after this weekend at least. Our church missions conference was last week, which we love, but it does make it busy being at church every night. Plus Jon is on the committee, so he has even more stuff to do. We also hosted a missionary in our home, who showed up over 24 hours early without warning! A little stressful at the beginning, but it ended up being great - we know if he wouldn't have come early, we wouldn't have gotten to know him as good as we were able to, because he was really busy too!

On Saturday we went to the E-town College homecoming parade (which lasted less than 10 minutes but was still fun....if you read Jena's blog, you will know that we are a parade loving family!) Saturday evening we went to a Barn Party for our Sunday School families. Jackson had fun dressing up in his Halloween costume (a dragon), although he didn't wear the hat much. He loved to pet the rabbit and goats! He kept blinking at the rabbit, because he thinks this is what a rabbit does (he is trying to wriggle his nose but somehow closes his eyes instead). Here's 2 pictures from the Barn Party...

Tonight we have another parade to go to! This was a hit last year because we can stand right in front of Grandma & Grandpa Mohr's house and grab lots of candy - the whole town gets involved and all the kids (and many adults) are in costume.

This weekend is our youth groups annual over-nighter, so Jackson will be staying with Peeps & Nana Friday night. I am looking forward to it, but a little worried....I haven't stayed up that late in a LONG LONG time!! I will have to have an Iced Coffee IV. Well that's about it...I will try to blog a little more regularly now that we won't be quite as busy! Thanks for the reminder Kort :)

to Aunt JoJo

2007-10-06T12:42:00.000-04:00

Happy Homecoming Weekend!

leaders trivia...

2007-09-23T21:24:00.000-04:00

Last Wednesday at youth group, the kids were supposed to match up 3 random facts to each leader...here were mine...would you have known?
1: I was born in Arkansas.
2: I can't curl my tongue.
3: I had 5 wisdom teeth.

Jon and I were able to take a break from working on the house today and go to Hershey Park! Believe it or not, it was my first time there...pathetic after living so close for 3 1/2 years. We had free tickets though so that got us there :) We had a lot of fun spending the whole day together! Jackson stayed with Nana & Peeps (& Aunt JoJo who was home today!) We felt a little guilty because every time we told people about going to Hershey Park, they said, "Oh, Jackson will love it!" And then we had to say, "yeah...we're not taking him." I think it would have been pretty overwhelming for him this year - the zoo part he would have liked, but I couldn't see him on any of the rides. Next year he will definitely love it though, we can't wait! Speaking of Jackson, my sweet boy turned 1 1/2 this weekend!

EWWWW

2007-09-17T21:14:00.000-04:00

Not for the squeamish...
Ever since we have moved into the new house, it's been great taking the dog out to do his thing, because the backyard is completely fenced in. We just open the door, let him out, and let him back in later. So this afternoon, I let him out and after awhile decided to let him back in. I called and whistled and he didn't come, so I decided to give him a few minutes. Then I heard him pawing at the door, so I went to open it. Luckily before I did, I saw his mouth, screamed, shut the door in his face, and ran away. Luckily #2, Jon was home, so I yelled "something's wrong with Jake! It looks like he has worms coming out of his mouth and I'm not touching him!!" Poor Jon doesn't even like dogs, but, he is the man of the house after all! Anyway Jon went to see what the problem was and I hear him yell, "OH MY GOSH!! JAKE CAUGHT A MOUSE!" The "worm" I had seen was a mouse tail!!! SOOOO glad I didn't go with my first instinct and pry his jaw open!!! So yes, evidently people weren't kidding when they said Westies were originally bred to hunt mice and rats. I just never really knew Jake had it in him. I have mixed feelings about the whole occurence...I'm still gagging and shuddering every time I think about it, but on the other hand, I now know that if there were mice in the house, Jake would be going crazy trying to catch them, so it doesn't seem like we have any at this point (I was a little paranoid because I heard scurrying one night, but Jon thinks it was a squirrel on the roof??) Also I'm realizing that it is quite evident that I'm not quite the country girl I assumed I was...who would have thought, growing up in Garrett County? Well that's the story. Congratulations, Jake, on your first kill.

finally an update!

2007-09-16T12:35:00.000-04:00

I thought I better give an update so everyone knows I still exist...I've just been quite busy!! We have spent the past several weeks painting, cleaning, packing & unpacking, and as of last saturday, are living in our new (to us) home! It still needs a lot of work...and will for a long time...we have many projects ahead of us....but we LOVE it! We have so much more room! One of the things we have loved the most is our screened-in porch...we have been eating most of our meals out there and it is so peaceful like we are in the middle of nowhere (or the middle of the jungle might be more accurate if you have seen our backyard). We have many many boxes that we still need to unpack, and yes MOPS girls, I finally am able to brush my hair after finding my hairbrush last night!!

One thing we have definitely realized over the past few weeks is how God has been watching over us! The biggest example I can think of is that a week before settlement of our new home, there was a fire in it! In the electrical box, to be more precise. Evidently the road was closed, there were 6 firetrucks & several ambulances involved. The thing is, the electrical box was going to be one of our first big projects to change since it was very out of date. Instead, the previous owner's home insurance paid it, saving us about $2000!! (And whoever estimated the cost for them estimated big and it even ended up paying for the previous owner's deductible!) Besides the saving $$, the fire happened at a perfect time. The owners were here, moving things out, and were able to smell the smoke. If they were not here, the whole house most likely would have been lost. If they were here and sleeping, their smoke detectors were broken and they may have been killed. Nothing (except the electrical box) was destroyed. God's timing is perfect!!

We have also been realizing what great friends & family we have!! Many people have helped us in the past few weeks and I might as well take a minute to mention some of them....THANK YOUS to Dawn & Selena for helping to pick paint colors, Jena for watching Jackson and packing most of my kitchen, Ryan for helping to rip down wallpaper, Carol for cleaning all my floors and bathrooms, watching Jackson, etc, Jerry for taking the chainsaw to the yard, helping to move, and keeping my veins pumped full of iced coffee, Selena & Lindsey for painting, packing, and helping on moving day, and to our fabulous movers: Scott, Josh, Pastor Jonathan, Jon H, and Clayton. I'm sure I am forgetting someone, but we really couldn't have done it without you! THANK YOU!

In Jackson news.... he is loving the house, especially his new toy room....the first time he went in, he looked around and his eyes were HUGE! Now he typically uses it as a reading room. Even with all the cool toys, he goes in, plops himself down on the floor and reads. We should have made him a library instead! He is also enjoying chasing the dog around the house and just making laps around the house in general. Now that he has been fully mobile for awhile, I find him in random places quite often....like the other day when I found him in the bathroom, swishing my keys in the toilet bowl. Lovely.

Finally, I have started an eBay store. I haven't had much time to work on it yet, but I've had some good results in the few days it's been up. I'll put a link up soon.

Ok, it is time for Steelers kickoff, must go. Before & after pics to come at some point!

peer pressure

2007-08-22T16:00:00.000-04:00

I give in to peer pressure waaay too easily. Two friends mention that I should join Facebook, and my first thought is no way. A few days later and I have joined and also spent way too much time searching for friends to add. No one told me it would be this addicting!

I have a question for all of you who are more computer literate than I .... is there a way to know if people have updated their blogs without individually clicking on each one? That was one of the best Xanga features...you just clicked on subscriptions and whoever had updated came up. Enlighten me please.

Jackson has been sick this week... Monday night Joelle and I had quite the interesting shopping trip as Jack suddenly didn't feel well and screamed for a long long time in the mall....unfortunately, Jon & Jerry had dropped us off and were working, and Jon had my car keys. So we were stuck at the York Galleria until they were finished. When we got home I took Jack's temp and it was 102.3. Wow, who felt like the world's worst mother!!! Last night his temp was back up to 101 but today he seems to be doing much better.

Well I better go make dinner...not sure what we're having yet so I'll see what I can throw together!

Monster Truck

2007-08-14T12:45:00.004-04:00

Last week my parents came to visit for a few days and brought Jackson a special present! Someone had given them this adorable Sesame Street Monster Truck. Thanks Pap and Grandy! So far he hasn't quite figured out how to move his feet to make the truck go, but he loves turning the steering wheel and talking on the cell phone.

We're having a great week...beautiful weather, not as hot as it has been. Jack and I "went to the beach" this morning out on our deck...he played in his pool and I read Harry Potter. Amazing that he sat and played in his pool for an hour...ever since he's started walking, he hasn't stopped! He just toddles around the house from room to room laughing. It's quite cute!

quick update

2007-08-12T14:08:00.000-04:00

Since Joelle has accused me of having the most boring post ever, I'll at least give a quick update of what's new. 2 exciting things have recently taken place....
On Friday night, we sold our house!! We are so so so happy that it sold and now we can focus on packing & moving.
Jackson has finally decided that walking is beneficial after all! He had been taking a few steps here and there by himself, or walking pretty far holding onto something, but last night walked from our living room to our kitchen with a remote control in each hand. Eventually he even figured out that the remotes weren't really helping him, and will now walk on his own. Crawling is still his quickest mode of transportation, but I have a feeling that won't be for much longer!
Pictures to come soon...just wanted something else besides my boring list :)

100 Books

2007-08-08T15:15:00.000-04:00

Unless you like to read, this post will not interest you in the slightest! For my fellow book-lovers, I copied this from my friend Sonya's blog. Copy & Paste on your blog....Bold the ones you've read, italicize the ones you want to read. Leave plain the ones you aren't interested in. Movies don't count. It's a great list for people like me who always want a good book (I should say "literature" because I am aways more than happy to pick up a Karen Kingsbury and think those are great books!) to read but don't know where to begin!

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden).
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25 . Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) **Jon's favorite!
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne Du Maurier) **MY FAVORITE!
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

More Beach Pictures

2007-07-23T14:19:00.000-04:00

Might as well post a few more beach pictures while I'm procrastinating and have a few minutes....

Jackson & Daddy

Playing in the sand

With Aunt JoJo

Back to Reality!

2007-07-22T17:58:00.000-04:00

After a great week at Ocean City, we are back home once again! We had a wonderful vacation but it is always nice to come back to home sweet home and be in a normal routine again. Jackson loved his time at the beach (we were a little worried when on the 1st day, he refused to put his feet in the sand). He was so good for us, even though he is currently in the midst of getting 6, yes 6, teeth. I loved relaxing on the beach and playing games almost every night with the family. Back to reality and busy life now though...yesterday we got home after a 6 hour trip (including stopping for lunch and terrible traffic), checked our messages and realized we had to go back to the mall because I had preordered Harry Potter for Jon and we only had a few hours left in order to get it 40% off. We also had a message from the movie rental place saying that we had a free rental since we haven't been there for awhile, which we also only had a few hours left to get. So, we went to the mall, then Jon dropped Jack & I off back at home and he went to pick out a movie (Stranger than Fiction with Will Ferrell....it was pretty good), and to pick our dog up at the vet where he had spent the week. Today we had Sunday School and church and then came home to straighten up for an Open House from 1-4. We were told it went well, so hopefully we'll hear an offer soon! We were sad to have to miss small group tonight....airplane rides and a BBQ!

Anyway, we have a ton of pictures from the beach, but here are just a couple since our computer is being so slow tonight....

Cleaning, Packing, Cooking...

2007-07-13T13:14:00.000-04:00

Here's the promised picture of the new place....the hedge in front will be one of the first things to go!

It's been a busy few days, trying to clean the house so the Open House can happen on Sunday, packing for the 3 of us for the beach, and cooking my meals for the beach, all while Jackson is getting more teeth and being very Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Ocean City, here we come! We can't wait for this week of fun & relaxation! Not much to update on, just wanted to post a picture of the house & one of Jack (I've been feeling guilty that I haven't posted his pic lately, because I know that's why many of you read this!) It's a very random one, because I haven't taken many pictures lately but that will all change this week I'm sure.

*I just got a new cell phone #....I am with Verizon now, and am sharing minutes with family to save some money each month. I will only be using my cell phone after 9 PM and on weekends from now on, unless you are with Verizon too - then calls are free, so let me know! Thanks!

On The Market

2007-07-10T14:55:00.000-04:00

Our townhouse is officially "on the market!" We are hoping it sells very quickly...it's already a stress trying to keep it neat enough in case someone wants to stop by and take the tour. Our vacation is next week so hopefully lots of people come through while we are gone and make great offers! Here's a picture for those of you who have never had the chance to visit us at our 1st home...and if you click here, you can see some more. We have loved living here; it was the perfect place for our family for 3 years, but we're so excited to make the move to a bigger place with a yard. The inspection last week went well...nothing huge that we weren't expecting. I did take some pictures so I can start planning paint colors, etc. for the inside - I'll have some great before & after pics eventually! I'll post a picture of the outside of the new place hopefully this week before we leave.

Please pray for this family...I have never met them, but they are college friends of one of my cousins, and for those of us living here in Lancaster county, they are local so you may have heard of them...they just lost their precious 2 year old girl after a long battle with cancer. The funeral was this morning...I can't even imagine.

SOLD!

2007-07-02T09:14:00.000-04:00

Definitely time for an update, and there's actually something exciting to write about...we just bought a house! It has all happened so fast, it's hard to believe. We weren't even seriously looking to move yet. I had seen a house advertised that I thought was so cute, but the price was not so cute! I kept checking once in awhile and the price dropped twice, and then we decided to go look at it. Jon's uncle Fred is a realtor, which has been a HUGE blessing, because we know we can trust him! Anyway Fred took us to look at the house and we liked it right away. The next week we went back with Jon's parents and we all liked it....J & I even more than the first time. So we decided to make an offer...and then got a counteroffer...and then made a counter-counteroffer, which they accepted! We are so excited yet feeling slightly nervous & overwhelmed with everything that needs to take place in the next 2 months (settlement is August 31).
Anyway, the house....it's on Ridge Road, for those of you who live around here...the Ridge Rd off of Groff, not the other Ridge Rd or the Ridge Rd headed to Hershey (or Ridge Run, Ridgeview, Ridgeview N, etc, etc....roads tend to be a little crazily named around here). It's a Cape Cod with a little over 1/2 acre. The yard will be a ton of work....there's ivy everywhere instead of grass and fences galore (someone who lived there once used to breed dogs). The inside is nice but not my taste...lots of wallpaper and repainting that needs to be done. I'm anxious to get in and start and hoping we get a chance to do that before we actually move in. Inspection is this Thursday....should be interesting....pray everything goes well! Our townhouse should be on the market hopefully by the end of the week!
In other news, not a lot going on. Jack has had a pretty bad cold for the past several days but has been a sweetie through it. I have a terrible sore throat...might be feeling a little better today...hope its not strep. I'm trying not to go to the doctor's for a strep test because I really don't feel like paying the copay. If it lasts much longer I'll have to though.
Sorry no pictures for this post! I'll try to take some of the new house on Thursday!
***HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KARLA! Another year that I remember your b-day but forget to send a card :) Love ya!

The Latest Fashion Craze

2007-06-14T13:13:00.000-04:00

For some reason, Jack has decided that he loves to wear swimmy diapers on his head. Everytime he finds one, he has to wear it and will cry if I try to take it off. He wore one to church last night; luckily I was able to distract him and pull it off before he went into the nursery. Not only does he like to wear one, but if he happens to find more than one, he wants them both on his head. Needless to say, he has had some pretty high swimmy diaper tower hats! It's nice....the little things that can make him happy!

Not much is going on today...just trying to clean the house and get ready for some overnight guests on Friday. Cedarville's HeartSong is coming to the area (to our church actually) for an alumni thing, and we are hosting 2 of the guys here after the concert. Not totally sure where they will both sleep yet, but we'll figure it out! Speaking of cleaning, I FINALLY have a successful bathroom cleaning story. Ever since we moved into this house, our bathtub has been stained and I can never seem to get it clean enough - I have wasted money on so many different cleaning products that have not worked! Yesterday I made a concoction that actually worked (with some elbow grease and lots of scrubbing, that is!) I was so proud of my bathtub!! This concoction will be much less expensive than other cleaning supplies and doesn't smell strong either! The secret recipe? Baking soda & powdered dishwasher detergent. Try it!

Pool Party for One

2007-06-09T18:56:00.002-04:00

We bought Jackson his first little pool last night and set it up today. When he woke up from his 4 hour nap (with a little prodding) he had so much fun "swimming." We knew he would like it because he had so much fun swimming in Owen's pool last week! This little pool is the perfect size for our deck, since we have no yard. And during Jack's naps on hot days....I'm sure I can sit indian-style or something! (Funny picture, I know...he kept making the weirdest faces...and if you haven't noticed already, the pasty white skin definitely comes from mama!)

We bought the pool at Toys R Us last night after a yummy Chinese dinner with friends. I absolutely love going to Toys R Us and it's probably good that we have a small house, because some of the toys are so cool! I'm secretly hoping that if we have a girl someday, she will really want a play kitchen!

We also went to Pottery Barn outlet where I found some great deals! 2 matching twin size duvet covers for Jackson's room someday. I was so excited, because we shop the clearance section, and there's hardly ever 2 of anything there. I also got a shower curtain for sometime in the future, since I still like the one we have now and this one is more for a kid's bathroom. Anyway, though, Pottery Barn stuff at Walmart sale prices, gotta love it! Now I am continually checking eBay for the shams to match the duvets.

Not much else to write about, just wanted to post the latest picture of my little guy! (And a shout-out to my brother, who finally left me a comment! :) )

New York, New York!

2007-06-05T14:13:00.000-04:00

We had a great weekend! I loved New York and can't wait to go back someday. I was definitely happy to get back to Jackson though. We missed him like crazy but knew he was in good hands! And I have to admit...it was nice being on an extended "date" with Jon, sleeping through the night without listening to a monitor, and getting to eat my food while it was still hot instead of getting Jackson fed first! (I'm not sure how much longer I could have handled it though~ we were definitely ready to get back and see him!)

We drove to PBU Saturday and our chauffer Joelle took us to the train station. (Thanks Joelle ~ it made the trip so much easier & we loved seeing you for a little bit too!) Aside from standing in the wrong line for a little bit at the train station, everything went very smoothly. We got to NYC around 2 and took a taxi to our hotel, which was right in Rockefeller Center. We walked around Rockefeller Center, did the NBC Studio Tour, and then just explored the city. (Below is me at the NBC Store with the shirt that I loved but they only had smalls...so sad).

Sunday we took the subway to the World Trade Center site, which was one of those things you can't really imagine until you are there. Unbelievable. From there, we walked around Wall Street and then tried to go to the Statue of Liberty, but there was an Autism Awareness walk going on, and we couldn't really get through the thousands of people, so we decided to go to Chinatown and Little Italy. Eating lunch in Little Italy was the best!!! Later we went to FAO Schwartz, the Disney Store, Central Park, etc. It did finally start raining (they had been calling for it all weekend) and we got soaked walking back to the hotel, but it was worth it.

Same thing Monday morning - raining but we decided to go out anyway since it was our last few hours in the city. We lucked out on the train ride back to Philly and got on an express train, which only took 1 hour instead of 1 1/2. Everything about the trip was great!

Now we are back to the real world again, but looking forward to our next vacation...Ocean City in July!

I Can't Believe I Did This...

2007-05-30T13:02:00.003-04:00

I might as well fill you in on the title first... yesterday I had a meeting at the Bair Foundation to see about doing some contract work, so Carol came over to watch Jackson until Jon got home from work. Jack was taking his nap, so she decided to go sit out on our deck for a little bit. I took the monitor out, made sure she didn't want a drink, and then left. Little did I know, habit had set in, and immediately upon closing the deck door, I also locked it!!! 20 minutes later, at TBF, I got a phone call from Jon saying "Did you lock my mom out of the house?" It took me a minute to even think of what he could be talking about. Luckily he was already on his way home, and he rescued her just in time for Jackson to wake up! I felt (and still feel!) rather stupid, but it could have been much worse! Sorry Carol, and I'm sure Joelle is making plans to destroy me as she reads this :)

In other less embarassing news, we went to MD for the weekend to visit my family and to go to a friends surprise 30th birthday party! It was great to see some friends that I haven't been around for quite a long time! Many of them, I'm finding out, read this blog and never comment! You know who you are! We left my parents' Sunday afternoon and headed to the cabin, and then came home on Monday. Monday evening we went to Jon's parent's for a birthday celebration! I had to include this picture of one of Jon's presents...new muck boots... Jon & Jackson both loved them! Jon's actual birthday was yesterday and he turned a quarter of a century old. (Yes, I am a cradle robber).

The most exciting update...this weekend we are going to New York City! I have never been there before, and I'm so excited! A little nervous about leaving Jackson behind, but I know he will have a great time with Nana and Peeps!

One last side note...mostly for Glade people....we played Human Dutch Blitz at youth group a few weeks ago...brought back great memories of playing in the church basement!!

Monthly Blog

2007-05-22T14:27:00.000-04:00

I haven't been to consistent in blogging lately, kind of in a slump! Here's some of the things that have been happening lately:
Jackson's first big boy hair cut was last week! I knew it was time for a haircut when his hair could practically be put in piggytails! Here's the before picture, with the long lush curls...

And the "after" ... not the best picture of Jackson, but anyway, I think he looks so much older! Joyce did a great job!! (Incidentally, Jackson also had his first doughnut at the same time as the first haircut...and it kept him busy enough that he sat pretty still!) For the first few days, Jack wasn't quite used to his new look. He would always play with his curls when he got tired, and without them there, he didn't quite know what to do! Still today, anytime anyone says something about a haircut, he puts his hands on the back of his head.

One last picture... a few nights ago, we went out for ice cream. Jackson enjoyed sharing his vanilla baby cone with Jon...it was so sweet...after every bite Jack took, he'd offer Jon a bite. Here he is saying "all done" after finishing off his ice cream.

In other news, today is our 3rd anniversary! We weren't planning to do anything special, since we are going to NY in a few weeks, but last night Carol called and offered to keep Jack for us, so we decided to take her up on it and go out to dinner! I'm looking forward to dinner tonight at El Rodeo, one of our favorite places that we haven't been for a long long time! God has blessed us with 3 great years, and blessed me with a husband who I am realizing more and more every day, is the perfect match for me!! I am so thankful for a husband who is patient, hard-working, hilarious, kind, forgiving, and loving!

Loving the Weather!!

2007-04-30T14:33:00.000-04:00

We are loving the nice weather we've been having here lately...today it's close to 80! Jack has been loving the outdoors...swinging in his swing that Jon hung under the deck, and going on walks in his stroller. Anway, I just wanted to post a quick picture from yesterday of Jackson having a great time in his swing! Enjoy the sunshine!

Future Chef?

2007-04-18T12:56:00.000-04:00

Here are the latest pictures of a several times daily occurence...Jack crawling to the kitchen and taking every single one of my cookbooks off the shelf. For some reason, this is very exciting! Next to the cookbooks is the pots & pans cabinet...also a favorite. He'll be whipping up meals in no time!
I am also pleased to announce that my little guy has been sleeping MUCH better since we have borrowed Nana's sound machine. I still don't understand why it helps so much better than a humidifier, but it definitely does, unless it's a crazy coincidence. Thanks, Jen & Joyce, for insisting that I try a sound machine! Who would have thought that these friends, with 4 & 5 kids, knew some tricks about parenting?! :) Yay for sound machines, sleeping through the night, and 3 hour afternoon naps!!!

Survey

2007-04-16T13:57:00.000-04:00

I have been tagged by Leah...

1. How old will you be in 10 months? 27
2. Do you think you'll be married by then? If not-wow, that came out of nowhere!!
3. What do you look forward to most in the next 3 months? warm weather!
4. Who was the last person you called? My parents (and still haven't gotten a call back by the way...)
5. Who was the last person to call you? Selena
6. Do you prefer to call or text? I don't love talking on the phone, but I have never texted in my life.
7. Do you have any pets? yes, a dog named Jake
8. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? married
9. When is the last time you saw your mom? Easter weekend
10. How many states have you lived in? counting college ~ 5 ~ Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio
11. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet? slippers
12. Are you a social person? depends
13. What was the last thing you ate? peanut butter sandwich
14. What is your favorite ice cream? Hershey's peanut butter cup
15. What is your favorite dessert? i'm not too picky when it comes to dessert. i'm not a big cake person, but pretty much anything else.
16. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich? raspberry
17. Do you like coffee? iced yes, regular no.
18. How many glasses of water a day do you drink on average? a lot ~ probably 6+
19. What do you drink in the morning? water
20. Would you rather sleep with someone else or alone? with Jon
21. Do you know how to play poker? yes but not well
22. Do you like to cuddle? Yes
23. Have you ever been to Canada? yes
24. Do you eat out or at home more often? At home
25. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you? yes ~ kristin gibbs ~ last year we went to hennigan's and got a big % off our bill!
26. Do you speak any other languages? spanish, but i haven't practiced in way too long
27. Have you ever gotten stitches? Yes ~ wisdom teeth & childbirth
28. Have you ever been in an ambulance? No
29. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool? ocean to read a book by, pool for swimming
30. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat? either
31. Do you know how to drive a stick shift? nope
32. What is your favorite thing to spend money on? scrapbooking supplies & clothes for jackson ~ and of course yard sales!
33. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7? yes, wedding rings
34. What is your favorite TV show? 24 and The Office
35. Can you roll your tongue? No
36. Who is the funniest person you know? I know a lot of funny people. I can narrow it down to Jon, Karla, and Selena.
37. Do you still have clothes from when you were little? my mom probably does somewhere.
38. What is the color of your bedroom walls? light blue
39. Do you shut off the water when you brush your teeth? No
40. Do you sleep with your closet doors opened or closed? usually open
41. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees? i think a bear
42. What do you dip a chicken nugget in? anything but ketchup
43. Can you change the oil on a car? No
44. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? nope ~ never been pulled over (i'm sure i just jinxed myself)

I'll tag Jena because I know she can't be tagged and not follow through...and i'll have a real blog with some pictures eventually.

10 Things I Find Very Weird....

2007-04-08T12:01:00.000-04:00

(this isn't totally random...see Jena's blog for more!)
1) PENNSYLVANIA ROADS ~ I am from a town in MD that has been on the Weather Channel because of so much snow, yet I never had a hard time driving in the winter until I moved to PA! Seriously, learn to plow.
2) MEN HAVING NIPPLES ~ when you think about it, why??
3) NEIGHBORS ~ our neighbors are so strange. We have the typical neighborhood cat lady, who unfortunately has been seen eating breakfast with her cats at her table. Naked. We have another neighbor who, when I took her Christmas cookies, answered the door with no pants on. And our newest neighbor is often seen wearing a trench coat & cowboy hat, juggling bowling pins in the parking lot. I think I'll book him for Jackson's next birthday.
4) KEITH RICHARDS ~ I recently read an article that this guy (from the Rolling Stones) actually snorted the ashes of his father. That's really weird.
5) GAME SHOW CONTESTANTS & HOSTS ~ really the most annoying people on Earth. Where do they find these people?
6) THIS WEATHER ~ 6+ inches of snow in my hometown of Accident, MD over Easter weekend (ok not all on the ground at once, it melted in between blizzards...but still, it snowed all weekend)....a place so remote, even global warming hasn't gotten there.
7) GRAPES IN A MICROWAVE ~ they spark. Kids, don't try this at home.
8) GG ~ My grandma still smokes, wearing an oxygen mask, even after she's already blown herself up once. I love her so much, but that is a little weird.
9) A FRIEND (who shall remain anonymous) ~ the way she puts her pants on: right foot in, left foot in, socks, then shoes, THEN pulls the pants up the rest of the way.
10) SLEEP-TALKING ~ Wow, the stories I could tell about this one. I think all of the Mohr's talk in their sleep. I also remember once at Rosedale when Karla screamed in her sleep. That was scary.

We are having another fun weekend here in Maryland ~ we'll be leaving in an hour or so for home. This week begins NHL Playoffs and the Penguins are in for the first time since 2001! Gotta love it!

Happy Easter, everyone! He is Risen!!

More Pictures...

2007-04-01T15:40:00.000-04:00

A few more of the promised pictures from last weekend...
First, Jackson trying to steal GG's oxygen mask!! They were having fun playing peek-a-boo! The second pic with Jackson & my dad is so sweet. Jack was Pap's boy all weekend ~ and now we'll be back very soon for Easter!
Yesterday Jon & I had the opportunity to go to a CORE training for youth workers. We had a really good time ~ my old supervisor from Bair was there, and I haven't seen her for ages, so that was fun. And then I got to play the Mennonite game....I saw some people with YES training shirts, so I talked to them and of course they all knew Jacki and Val. (Cue "It's a Small World After All").
My blog assignment from Jena is to list 10 things I think are weird...but I haven't thought of them yet. I promise they are coming, Jena!

All Partied Out!

2007-03-28T14:15:00.000-04:00

Now that we are back home, Jackson's birthday parties are all complete! We had a great time in Maryland over the weekend!! We got to see family, eat yummy food, and Jack loved all the attention from Grandy and Pap! The hardest part about weekend visits is that we never get to see everyone we'd like to. It's impossible! Hopefully this summer when I go back for a week or so I'll get to reconnect with a lot of friends.

One friend I was lucky enough to see was Hannah ~ who has been my friend since 3rd grade!! She was the first friend I made when we moved to MD, and we went all the way through school together, including one year at Bible College! Hannah and her husband Chris moved back to Indiana with their girls, Lydia (4) and Miriam (11 months), so we definitely don't get to see each other enough! We got to meet up at her parents house and it was so great to see them. As we changed our babies diapers together, we laughed and remembered how we used to do that with our dolls! We've really grown up!! Love you Hannah!

I have more pictures to post, but as usual, our computer is extremely slow. I'll put them up another time!

Our One Year Old!

2007-03-23T20:07:00.000-04:00

Jackson wasn't in the best of moods yesterday, but we had already made the appointment to get his one year pictures taken. He did pretty well in-between the screaming and crawling away from the camera! Here's a few of our favorites ~ a little hard to see, but I think Picture People is preventing me from getting them any bigger. The one to the left is what we picked to give out to people ~ notice how he curves his fat little foot ~ this is what he does when he doesn't want to put shoes on and it makes it impossible!

This next one I LOVE because it is so "Jackson," but you can't see his face too well. Jack looooves to read books, just like his mommy & daddy! I have several memorized from repeatedly reading them to him throughout the day. If I don't feel like chasing him up the stairs (which is something I also do repeatedly throughout the day), I just open a book and start reading, and he comes crawling over as fast as he can!

I wish this last one was bigger ~ it reminds me exactly of Jon's baby pictures! I've been hearing that he's starting to look more like me, but in this picture, he is definitely his daddy!

We made it to MD after a busy day ~ Bible Study this morning where we celebrated both Jackson and Selena's birthday's, and then home to eat lunch and pack! It rained most of the way here and we were glad to finally get to my parent's house, where Jackson is already soaking up all the extra attention!

Happy Birthday, my One Year Old!!

Making the switch...

2007-03-18T19:01:00.000-04:00

I have finally made the switch from xanga...we'll see how it goes!
We celebrated Jackson's 1st birthday with Jon's family in the midst of Friday's snowstorm! Jack loved his balloons, new presents, and of course the cake! He wasn't quite sure what to do with it...he ate it so daintily (if that's a word) taking only one fingerful at a time. His face tells a different story though!
We can't wait to travel to MD this weekend for a birthday party with my family!
It's so hard to believe my little guy is already almost a year old (3/22)! Sometimes I look at him and realize that he really isn't a baby anymore! He is doing new things every day and has such a sweet, laid-back personality. We are so blessed!!