Cedarville Alumni Reunion

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

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!

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!

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

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

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?

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!