Hello Again

I am so sorry that everyone has had to get on my back for a post. I have been beyond busy. This summer has been CRAZY. I have not had anytime for myself, let alone put it down on paper. We moved into a new house, I started a new job, Grandma came for a visit and Danielle was here for a month and a half. Throw in 2 birthdays, a Wedding Anniversary and a Partridge in a pear tree and you can see why I have not blogged.

I really like working at Welch Allyn, it is really weird to work there. I work upstairs with all the stuffy suits and Wes works downstairs with all the relaxed and fun people. I am learning a ton and I am very, very busy, 3 days a week I type 8hrs straight taking transcription. Another reason why I really have had no desire to blog, I am sick of typing, my fingers scream NO at me every time I go near a keyboard. On the 4th day I work on spreadsheets, file and get to mail things around the world for the Customer Service Department…that is exciting. I don’t work Fridays. I also fill in for the receptionist when needed. There are over 2000 names in the Welch Allyn directory and it is all computerized. That was oodles of fun to learn. I changed my hours so that I am home 10 minutes before the girls get off the bus. Wes is coming to work to have lunch with me, that 30 minutes is are quality time together, that is what happens when you work two different shifts. We still get our Friday date, yay!!! I am exhausted but like where I am and what I am doing, this has been a good change. I also like that I am contributing monetarily to my shopping habit.

The girls love their new schools and we are BEYOND happy with the schools. So far they are everything I could ask for in an education and that is saying a lot. Audrey was fitted for her violin and she is in the books and bagels club before school. Her teacher also is the sign language teacher so she is learning sign every day also. Hannah has a teacher that is going to teach her, I know what a novel idea. Hannah is happy to go to school again and that makes me so happy and has renewed my hope. Here is to a great school year. It holds a lot of promise.

Wes and I celebrated are 9th Wedding Anniversary on the 9th day of the 9 month of the year 2009. That was really cool. The years just seem to be flying by. He bought me the most beautiful pair of black pumps and chocolate. What more could I ask for in a man? He bought me shoes and chocolate…perfection. I got him a new pocket knife and a sketch book, he thought that was perfect too.

I LOVE OUR HOUSE!!!!! I will post pics I promise. I just have to buy a new camera, or I need to figure out how to get pics off the phone. We are saving up for a dishwasher and garbage disposal and a few other things that will make life much easier. Everyone must come visit because you will never want to leave, I just don’t know how Wes and I found such a little piece of heaven not to mention the food I will cook for you all. It will be yummy:)

Danielle left yesterday and I felt very depressed, chocolate did not make me feel any better. I wish that she would come back.

I will attempt to blog once every couple of weeks and maybe I will get bit by the blogging bug again.

P.S. – Mocha is still alive and kicking.

Here's What Has Been Going On In The Jordan Household...

School ends next week on the 25th we all can’t wait. The girls are soooo ready for it to be done and they have worked so hard this year that I just want to keep them home for the next week.

Audrey was on the front cover of the Marcellus New's paper dressed as a duck from her school play, this was very exciting.

Wes’s schedule changed at work so he gets to come home an hour earlier this is a great big smiley face:)

Next Friday is the last day we will be babysitting the boy next door and I am so thankful this is coming to an end. We have been doing it for a year and the girls need their summer to themselves, I probably sound horrid but all good things must come to an end. Wes and I have also decided that I am going to stop cleaning houses and find a part time job working in the Skaneateles Village at one of the shops for the summer…I am burnt out cleaning up after rich people and ready to move on to the next chapter of my professional life. I am hoping to work for the school district when the new school year starts. The district office is right (I mean right) across the street from our house.

Danielle is coming for a visit at the end of July till September and we are very excited to have her. Grandma is coming August 12th till the 25th and the girls are counting down the days and so am I.

I weigh 104lbs!!! This is monumental I have been able to gain 12 pounds this last year. It is a struggle to keep it on (I lost 2 lbs on vacation) … I have to eat constantly but am very proud of myself. I am hoping to gain 6 more.

Other than packing and doing routine Mommy stuff that is all for now.

Skaneateles Here We Come

We are moving on July 11th to our new house and it not a duplex!!! Yay!!! This is the third duplex we lived in a row and I am so ready for my OWN single family house.

We are moving to a village called Skaneateles (skinny-at-less) right on the Skaneateles Lake, the house is about 5 blocks away. Wes’s work is only a 3.5 minute drive. Audrey’s school is right around the corner to the left (grades 3-5) and Hannah’s school is a few blocks away around the corner to the right (grades K-2). I am VERY HAPPY Audrey is not going into middle school next year, that would have happened if we had chosen to stay in Marcellus. 4th grade is too young for middle school.

The house is a Victorian Colonial built in 1894 and has been completely refurbished except for the kitchen but we will tackle that problem later. It reminds me of a house that Anne of Green Gables would have lived in and I fell in love with it instantly. It is a smaller house, living room, dining room, 3 bedrooms 2 full bath (washer and dryer in the downstairs bath, which I love). It has a great big backyard with extensive flower gardens (lets pray I get hit with lightening and all of a sudden my black thumb turns to green) and a large front porch that wraps around the front of the house. Porch Swing here I come!!! We are in a great neighborhood… so no more band sessions at 11:00 at night, no more pitbulls and partying teenagers and inconsiderate neighbors. I can’t wait till the 11th.

The house does have some downfalls, the kitchen is really small and I only have one counter. It is the only room in the house not to have had a major renovation so it still has the orginal one-basin kitchen sink with a place for your dish rack but no counters. There are no counters around the fridge or the stove (the stove is electric, that will be remedied … I need the flame). There is no light switch and it has the old paneling for the ceiling and I am not going to even talk about the tile on the floor. The kitchen has white and red wallpaper …horrible. Wes and I found a beautiful Tuscan wallpaper with grapes and I am going to make it look like an old world Italian Mamas kitchen. The rest of the house makes up for the kitchen though: there is the most beautiful Victorian wall paper in all the rooms, real hardwood floors, the bathroom downstairs has a vaulted ceiling and the bathroom upstairs has the original claw bathtub … so classic. It has a spiral staircase and windows abound, all the light in the house is amazing. There is a stain glass window in the front foyer of the house and it makes me smile just thinking about it.

I am going to have a lot of fun making this house our home.

Holy Cow

Audrey went on a field trip a couple of weeks ago to a local "working" farm. I thought that this was going to be a good experience for her. She has not been exposed to the "country" side of life, it's no secret we are "city" gals.

Audrey comes home from school and tells me that she witnessed the birth of a calf and that it was stillborn. I asked her to repeat herself because I thought I had misheard and she said that she had seen the birth of a stillborn calf and that it was really sad and gross. She then went on to explain that the Farmer told them the calf suffocated and had the cord wrapped around its neck. Some children started to cry and others thought it was cool. Audrey told me that it made her really sad and hurt her heart.

Has everyone lost their frakken minds, not to mention their good judgment? I did not give permission for my daughter to witness a birth and if I had I would of thought the minute the farmers knew the calf was having problems they would have taken the children out of the barn. Well, I had a COW and it was not pretty.
Audrey is not a sheltered child as many of you know, but it is Wes' and my responsibility to introduce certain situation to her...there is not this big rush to let her know everything about everything at the tender age of 8...Call me Crazy. This like me saying, "well we live in the city so lets go down to the local gang and watch them blow someone away because that is normal for this area" (I am not exaggerating either...West Valley anyone?)

True to form Wes and I went and saw the Principle the next day and let him know how disappointed and unhappy this "High Maintance Mother" was. We called into question the judgment of the Teachers and Workers. He told me that it is a "working" farm and is suggested by that title...well excuse my naivety. I have written a letter to the farm expressing my outrage and just because it is a "working" farm does not mean that everything has to be shown...why don't you just take the kids down to see the cows get slaughtered and dressed if that is your attitude.

A Mother's Love

This week Audrey has had her school play “Nuts!!” As you all know Audrey was Mrs. Duck. Wes and I were able to go and see her last night. I was so proud of her and thought she did such a good job that I was crying. I was overwhelmed with love for my little girl who just a few years ago depended so highly on me and now she was able to remember lines, sing, dance and speak so that the whole audience could hear her. I think it was ironic that Mother’s Day was on Sunday because the girls were thinking about how special I was to them and wanted to celebrate me but in all honestly I think Mother’s Day really is about know how blessed and special I am to have been given two such perfect little girls and never to take them for granted. My love for them grows each day and I am awed at how much they are changing and growing.

P.S. Wes made me Waffles - That is HUGE and they were delicious!!!

Imagine All The Pictures

Imagine all the pictures, well that is what you are going to have to do. My memory card reader is on the friz and I can't find the cord for the camera to plug it into the computer. I have a ton of pics, so I better get cracking on getting it fixed.

Dear Tooth Fairy...

Sensitive Tooth Fairy information!!!

Last Thursday Hannah came to me and asked if we could write a letter to the Tooth Fairy asking her when she was going to lose a tooth. Hannah is 6.5 yrs old and the only person in her classs not to have lost any teeth. She has been really disappointed that her name is not on the tooth chart at school yet.

Hannah and I sat down and wrote the following letter -

"Dear Tooth Fairy,

When am I going to start losing teeth?

_________________________
Please put date on the line.

Love,

Hannah Jordan"

Hannah put the letter under her pillow and was really excited. I waited for Wes to get home from work and told him the situation and that Hannah had a letter under her pillow waiting for Fairy writing. What were we to do?!! We finally came to the conclusion that we were not going to do anything and tell Hannah that only teeth can bring the Tooth Fairy to a child's pillow, because teeth are magic. The following morning Hannah was disappointed but took the answer we gave her and told us that we were right.

Hannah had NO loose teeth. The following Saturday Hannah came to me and said that she had a loose tooth. I felt so bad for her because she wanted it sooooo bad, I leaned down but actually started wiggling her bottom left tooth in the front. I was very happy. Hannah then told me that the Tooth Fairy must have come when she put the letter under her pillow and sprinkled Fairy Magic on her and that is how she got her loose tooth. Hey, works for me!!! The next day (Sunday) Wes pulled her first tooth and I have never seen such a happy little girl. You would have thought she had won the lottery. It made us so happy to see her so excited.
She did tell me though that having a baby can't hurt as bad as losing a tooth. I just smiled at her, you got to love the innocent:p
The best part about this whole story is that Hannah (and Audrey because she was there) will be able to take that feeling of Magic through her life and even when she finds out the truth she will always have a small piece of her that says that there really is magic and dreams do come true even if it is only losing a tooth to get your name on a chart at school.

p.s. The Tooth Fairy brough Hannah $2.00 a doller for losing her tooth and another dollar for having to wait for so long.