Who? Me? Exercise?

Last October (2006) we bought gerbils; Mocha Joe (tan) and Indiana Jones (black). They were cute baby gerbils and low maintenance. I have not yet killed them and tomorrow is 2008 (for all of you who know my track record...shhh...I'm doing really good)!!

Sidenote: When your fish die it is not necessary to put them in the freezer.

Well all of a sudden the gerbils, especially Mocha Joe started to get fat, I guess she just could not resist my cooking, so in June we went and bought them a wheel for their cage. Now don't get me wrong, we had a ball to put them in so they could roll around the house but that was more for giving the girls exercise because the gerbils REFUSED to roll in the ball around the house. They would just sit there and poop on the carpet. Hannah would spend a good hour rolling the laying gerbil in the ball around the house.

We put the wheel in their cage and think that they will start playing on it right away, like all the other gerbils & hamsters in the store. "Look Mommy & Daddy got us a gift", nope. They just stared at it. They did not even want to go near it. I was thinking well they just need a demonstration, so I went and got one of the girls small stuffed animals and put it on the wheel...as though it was using it. For all of you who are shocked that this demonstration did not work, I was surprised too!!!
So over the next couple of months the gerbils used the wheel as a escalator to get from the top floor of their cage to the middle and then to the bottom. At times I would see them using it as a hammock and just laying there kinda swaying. I had given up. By the way Mocha is sooooo fat now that she needs to go on Jenny Craig.

Well the other night, I am downstairs and I hear this squeaking noise and I know that it was not the gerbils, so I came upstairs to check it out and I see Mocha jumping off the wheel. I was thinking nah, but decided to wait on the stairs to see if I heard the noise again. All of sudden Mocha was on the wheel and using it as a wheel. I was so proud, so happy. I went to go and see her but she jumped off. So for the next couple of nights around 10:00 I would hear the wheel going but if you came anywhere near her while she was exercising she would jump off. Last night I caught her teaching Indy how to use the wheel.
I am wondering if Indiana told Mocha that her butt was starting to look big and to stop laying around. I would like to introduce Exhibit A -

Gerbils that exercise in secret!!!

Christmas Time

We spent Christmas at home this year!!! I must say it was very peaceful and relaxing. I was done with the Christmas shopping and all the Christmas preparations the Friday before Christmas. Wesley finished doing my Christmas shopping on Saturday...I do not think he will wait that long again, he did not enjoy the crowds full of grumpy New Yorkers.

I spent a lot of time baking this year, more than I have in previous years. Cookies, cookies and more cookies!!! I was baking so much I started decorating with them....

The Christmas card took over 50 hours of man time, I am very grateful that they are done and I don't have to think about Christmas cards until August. Here is one of the first sketches Wes did.

I watched 4 versions of a Christmas Carol this season, if Wes would have had his way we would have watched every version ever made. My favorite is still the Muppet's Christmas Carol, it is fabulous. I also sat down and watched its a Wonderful Life, I never thought I would be able to enjoy watching it again after seeing it so much when I was a kid. My Dad is obsessed with the movie, I probably saw it over a hundred times before I was 15.

Audrey and Hannah putting out the Christmas goodies for Santa; did you know that 2 out of every 10 reindeer prefer carrots over celery?

Christmas Eve is full of traditions in our house. We always read the girls stories and have done some kind of craft or show for them. This year we made these cute little snowman cupcakes. I also made Santa a Cheesecake, the reindeer started to complain because they were afraid they were not going to be able to pull Santa in the sled.
The girls are at the perfect age, their enthusiasm and joy was contagious, Wes and I could not wait for Christmas morning, I kept asking Wes if I could go and wake the girls up and have Christmas. He did not think 3:30 in the morning was a good idea. (Sidenote - My Mom got Danny, Kurtis and my Dad up at 4:00 to open presents, I guess that feeling never goes away.)

It is hard to be away from family this time of year but the girls definitely make up for it. It was so fun to watch them open their Christmas presents and shouting thank you to Santa and all the family who had sent them gifts. Look at my little Christmas Angels!!!

The Apron

This is the (Vera Bradley) Apron that I got for Christmas...I LOVE it!!!

Here is the Apron Hanging in it's new home...

Its a child's size and it fits me perfectly!!

The Angel the Jordan's Built

Wes and the girls made this Angel out of a Palmolive dish bottle, toilet paper rolls, paper mache, paints, glitter and lots of love!!!

Look an Angel, on top of the tree:)

Buyer Beware

On Saturday I bought this sign, I thought it was cute!!!

This is what happened Saturday & Sunday;

We got 2.5 feet of snow. Next time I need to buy a sign the says "Let It Rain Money!!"

At least the girls were able to have some fun this morning, they ended up having a snow day.

All About Wesley

1 - What is his name? Wesley McClain Jordan

2 - How long have you been married? 7 yrs

3 - How long did you date? 3 months, engaged 9 months...I still consider that dating.

4 - Who eats more? Depends, if I am feeling well, usually me.

5 - Who said I love you first? This is a tough question, we both said it at the same time. Wesley may have by only seconds.

6 - Who sings better? Audrey & Hannah...no one wants to hear either of us sing. Though my rendition of the Chipmunks theme song is pretty good. You really think there is a chipmunk in the room with you.

7 - Who is taller? Wesley of course, he is six feet 2 inches.

8 - Who's temper is worse? Mine

9 - Who does the laundry? We both do. We do not have a washing machine right now, so we go to the laundry mat once a week and while the clothes are washing we walk down to the chocolate shop and we buy truffles and then go for a walk around the village we live in. I enjoy laundry day very much. Though for a while there, every time we went to go and do the laundry we would get into a fight. Very strange, I am glad we have replaced the fighting with chocolate. See chocolate does solve everything.

10 - Who does the dishes? I do.

11 - Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do. Can you guess who sleeps on the left side?

12 - Who does the cooking? This is just like the who is taller question...a no brainier, of course I do. Though Wes is a good cook, he just does not like to do it. I have high standards.

13 - Who is more stubborn? I am WAY more stubborn then Wes, I will hold out for as long as it takes to get my way.

14 - Who proposed? Wesley proposed to me on his 27th birthday while I was making him homemade chicken noodle soup. He walked into the kitchen and asked me to marry him. I burnt the soup.

15 - Who is more likely to admit when they were wrong? I am but Wes has been catching up lately. Though am I ever really wrong?!!

16 - Who's parents do you see the most? Wes's Mom she lives here in NY (his Dad passed) but I talk more to my Mom in a week then he does all year with his Mom.

17 - Who pays the bills? I do.

18 - Who wears the pants in the family? We both wear shorts whenever possible. We are equal in our relationship, I don't think he would ever dare try to pull I am the man crap on me or we would have some serious problems. I respect him for what he does and visa versa.

19 - Why do you love your husband? I love my husband for so many reasons. He loves me for who I am. He provides for our family and works insane hours so I do not have too. He is an awesome father and I could not have picked a better man to have children with. He puts up with my odd humor and most of all he has stuck with me through ALL the heartache and hardship our young marriage has gone through. I don't know very many husbands that would shave their wife's head (so they don't have to watch it fall out) and still be gaga over her. He calls me a fat cow so I don't feel so skinny and gives me a good laugh. (Many people do not understand that, but if you know me well you would know how funny I think that is) He holds my hand when I am sick (which is often) and is so worried and concerned about me that he forgets about his needs. He has picked up and moved so many times, leaving behind friends and jobs and schooling, so that I can receive the treatment that I need. I love him because he is selfless. Those are just a few of the reasons I love Wesley, but the main reason I love Wesley is because he is my rabbit and he loves my cooking and he's hot...ha ha ha!!!

Does Your Car Want A Christmas Present?

I have been so busy these last couple of weeks. We are all finally healthy with the exception of a few sniffles here and there. I have been busy making the Christmas cards, Wes finished drawing them before Thanksgiving and I had 35 to color by hand, each one taking an hour. I have only 11 left to do (that is on top of the 35), I am more than thrilled to be mailing them out of this house. Wes took orders at work for the Christmas card but I we will be printing those out in color, I refuse to hand color 30 more.

Wesley got his Christmas bonus last Friday!!!!! Yeah it was a very, very good Christmas bonus. 8.5% of his total gross income for last year. I have had to wait to do the Christmas shopping until it came, so I have been rushing around with my head cut off trying to get it all done. I guess that would explain me LOCKING the KEYS in the CAR. The last time I had the pleasure of looking at my keys siting in the car laughing at me was 3 yrs ago when we moved to Canada. So the girls and I were at the mall and it is 7:30 and we are already running late, it is almost their bedtime and I go to get my keys and can not find them anywhere. Then low and behold there they are sitting on the front seat laughing at me. So I march the girls back into Lords and Taylor and ask them to call mall security. They told me that they would be around soon to let me into the car. Audrey then informs me that she has to go to the bathroom. Dilemma what do I do, take Audrey to the bathroom or watch for security to get into the car. What would you do? We waited for security. After about 30 minutes and Audrey is doing the pee pee dance pretty bad by now. I go back in and get them to call security again. They said they would be there any minute.....15 minutes later, they show up. A girl in her early 20's that worked at Lords and Taylor noticed my predicament of Audrey doing a new tribal dance so she offered to take Audrey to the bathroom. Yeah!!!!!
The security guard was very, very good looking and it was funny when he got the door opened a bit (he used a blood pressure cuff) he could not get the car unlocked because Dodge Neon's are very hard to unlock (about 5 min) he started to get embarrassed and I suggested that he just use the wire he was using and scoop the keys of the front seat and pull them through the door. We were very lucky that it had stopped snowing and that it was not as cold as it had been, at least I picked a good night to lock the keys in the car.

So Wesley and I have not been on date since the end of August for our anniversary (we celebrated early). I had finally got a babysitter and planned a date for us last Saturday. We went to see Beowulf in 3D, that was cool. Wes liked the movie more than I did, it is a manly mans movie. We leave the theater and go to get a couple of Christmas gifts for the girls and guess what, the car starts making this horrible shaking and knocking noise. Starts losing power and a bad smell is coming from the engine. I can not write what was said because it is not appropriate for this blog but it was not good. We were 45 minutes from home and it is 11:00 at night. We pulled over and Wes decided to put some oil in the car and we actually made it home. Well it is now Sunday and no garages are open so we decided to take it to a Jiffy Lube and the kind, wonderful, man ran a diagnostic test on the car (for free) and told us it was just a blown spark plug. Yeah!!!!!! We ran across the street and bought a spark plug from Auto Zone and Wes changed it out. The car just wanted a Christmas present. Thank goodness it did not want something expensive.

I had promised Audrey that if she got good grades that we would have a mommy daughter date and I would take her to the 4 star restaurant around the corner from the house. She got straight A's. So we go into Daniel's Grill for lunch and they seat us (Wes and I have been there a few times....GREAT food) and they gave us our menus and then the waitress came back with a kids menu and crayons. I told her that we did not need them and that Audrey was celebrating and got to have anything she wanted off the menu. The waitress looked at me funny, I guess she does not know many children like Audrey, her favorite food is sushi. The waitress came back and Audrey ordered the Salmon...you should of seen the waitresses mouth drop to the floor, it was quite funny. Audrey enjoyed her salmon but did tell me mine was much better:) She is such a good daughter.

I took the girls to go and get their haircuts. Audrey's hair was to her butt so we cut off about 2.5 inches and I made the executive decision to cut Hannah's into a bob. Wes wanted to grew Hannah's hair out also but it is hard enough having Audrey's hair to take care of.

I think Hannah looks adorable with a bob and so does her Daddy!!!

I Am Thankful For.....

This last week was full of things to be thankful for. I am surprised by how the simplest things can help you appreciate the gifts that surround you. Audrey had a school project to build a mouse diorama for school, I am very thankful that Wesley is such a gifted artist, and can help Audrey build amazing projects. We decided to do a Ratatouille house and Audrey could not have been happier with it.

Audrey has teeth falling out left and right, the Tooth Fairy can not keep up with how fast they are coming out of her mouth. Audrey lost a tooth the day after Thanksgiving and I am ashamed to say that the Tooth fairy forgot to come and make the switch.

Audrey got up the next morning and said that the Tooth fairy did not come but she was not disappointed, she said that she had another one that was ready to come out, and the Tooth fairy was waiting for two teeth instead of just one because she knew.

After dinner that night Audrey lost another tooth. I am thankful that my 7 year is much wiser than I when it comes to understanding something that could of been potentially very disappointing. The Tooth fairy came that night and Audrey woke up the next morning and said she knew that was what the Tooth fairy was up too!!

I am thankful that we had were able to have family & friends come for Thanksgiving dinner. I made a five course meal. I am thankful that my friends Paul and Janice helped me cook this yummy dinner so that I would not kill myself doing it. It took me 3 days to make it w/ their help. It is really nice to have friends who also know how to cook. They were my sioux chefs, I should ask Wes to get me a sioux chef for Christmas this year.

Course one was a olive and cheese plate that had several different types of yummy cheeses and olives.

Course two - Butternut Bisque soup.

Course three - Spinach salad with dried cherries, red grapes, apples, scallions and goat cheese.

The main course - Maple Roasted Turkey with Sage Butter and Apple Smoked Bacon, Cranberry Orange Compote, Yams (grandma's of course), Mashed Potatoes w/crem fresh and olive oil, Broccoli with a Morray sauce (a white cheese sauce), Cippolini Agrodolce (onions in red wine vinegar and balsamic), white rolls and of course cinnamon rolls

Dessert - Apple pie, Wild Berry pie and a Pumpkin I also made Mulled Apple Cider.

I am thankful that I do not have to cook Christmas dinner this year:)

I am also thankful that the girls got to go outside and play in the snow with their cousins the day after Thanksgiving, I am glad that it is melting now and maybe we will get a few weeks break before we get slammed with snow for the season. Did you know that Syracuse gets more snow than anywhere else in the United States.

I am THANKFUL that I have family to read this blog!!! Love you all!!!!!

Twilight, Throwing Up and Christmas Trees!!

A couple of weeks ago Megan told me about the book Twilight by Stefanie Meyer. I have not had much time for reading and lately it has been hard to really get interested in a book that is not Harry Potter. Danielle called me on Thursday and told me she was reading this fantastic book and that I had to go and buy it right away...it just happened to be Twilight. I bought the book Friday and was done by Sunday. It was soooooo good and can not wait to read the next two in the series.

Audrey has been sick for the last couple of weeks, she finally got over her infection and we sent her to school Friday morn only to get a phone call from the nurse saying that she threw-up in class and we need to come and pick her up. I could not figure out what was wrong with her she did not have any other symptoms, so I thought perhaps it was a gag reflex to something and decided to still go to the mall to run errands for Thanksgiving. We were at the mall for about 15 minutes and we were walking right in front of the Pottery Barn when she stopped and heaved all over the floor. I did not know what to do, people started starring and making faces, at that point I decided the only thing I could do was comfort Audrey and tell the Pottery Barn people that my daughter just threw- up in front of their store which I am sure would not be good for sales. Hey it could of been worse we could of been in the store when it happened. Audrey was 100% better after that. Wesley on the other hand got it Saturday night and is not bouncing back as quickly as Audrey did.

We put the Christmas tree up Saturday night, we usually put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving but we wanted family to see the tree this year. I think it will make Thanksgiving dinner very festive. I am going to start cooking it tomorrow (Tuesday) 5 courses. I can't wait to eat!!

Christmas in November

Well last week was truly unique, we had Christmas on Saturday with Wesley's family for no reason whatsoever.

This was the first weekend Wesley has had off in a long time so it would been nice to have family time and relax. We decided to go to this family get together (that was planned in August) 3hrs away in Albany instead. I thought it would be nice to have a "holiday" with his whole family, the last time they all celebrated Christmas together was 15 years ago. I was WRONG!!!!

To start out with the girls had been sick all week and had just started feeling better. So to say the least they were not there usual easy going happy selves. I had to finish Christmas shopping and the budget in November is not as good as in December because that is when we get our Christmas bonus, so we were not able to spoil the nieces and nephews like we usually do. 6 kids and 2 adults can really add up.
We found out that Wes's Mom was not going to go because she will not drive long distances (5 hrs) after the beginning of October, I thought that was the main reason we were celebrating so early but she would not bend to celebrate with her family in November. O well.

- A personal message to President Bush.... I do not appreciate spending $33.00 to fill up a Dodge Neon. When I bought my fuel efficient vehicle in 2003 it cost $15.00 to fill.

My sister in laws decided to do a turkey dinner and everyone bring 2-3 dishes. I brought yams, chocolate pumpkin squares and chocolate gingerbread cakes. Did I mention that my sister in laws do not know how to cook and have not made turkey, stuffing, or gravy by themselves before. So I got to give the basics of thanksgiving dinner 101. I didn't mind so much, it gave me a chance to get to know them better. They are both in their late thirties and we don't have much in common.

So we eat and it is time to open presents. We lined all the kids up in a row in front of the gifts and I started passing out one at a time youngest to oldest. Well I gave my nephew Ben (5) his gift from us, Meet the Robinsons (if you have not seen this movie rent it, very good) and he threw it down on the ground and started screaming and yelling that he hated it and wanted a toy instead. His parents (Wes's brother and wife) picked him and gave him a hug and told him everything would be alright. I thought I was going to burst into tears. I could not believe that they would approve of horrible behavior like that. Ben opens up his next gift and proclaims he already has it and throws it aside, his Mom tells him that they will go and return it and get something else for him. It reminded me of the Dursleys. INSANITY!!!!!

The girls got Harry Potter Scene It (YEAH!!!), season one of Little House On The Prairie, a High School Musical game, Cinderella game and some toys. They were pretty happy. Wes got a electric screwdriver and I got a picture frame.

So after gifts we went and had dessert and things are going ok....and then Ben puts his whole hand in the apple pie and starts to eat it. It was time to go. Merry Christmas!!!

Audrey had parent teacher conferences last week and we are so PROUD!!!! The teacher had nothing but good things to say about her and she is doing well in math. She must of got that gene from Wes because she certainly did not get it from me. Hannah wrote Jam all by herself today and that is quite a accomplishment, she usually draws the jar of jam. She is very different from Audrey....it is amazing how two children from the same parents can be so different but so alike.

Another Top Five

This is Jenny speaking......
Here are my top 5 annoying things that happened to me this week in no paticular order:

1. Both the girls have the stomach flu and it is pretty much a wait it out and suffer. I hate it when they are sick. They can put a man on the moon but they can't make a children's cold medicine that tastes good. What is is up with that?!!!

2. Wrapping Christmas presents for the "Jordan Family Christmas" on Saturday, when I am trying to concentrate on Thanksgiving and it is completely throwing off my grove. Why can't we celebrate Christmas in December like everyone else?!! Not to mention we have to drive 3hrs to Wesley's sisters house and then drive back the same night.

3. TELEMARKETERS!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhh....we have only had this new phone number for a couple of weeks and the phone is ringing off the hook with people trying to sell us nonsense. I have put the new number on the "Do Not Call List" but obviously they are not paying attention to the "list". Very annoying!! Especially the guy calling us about lawn care, hello, look out the window... it is snowing outside does it look like the lawn needs to be mowed.

4. Not having enough money to decorate the house all at once. I just want to be able to go to the store and buy everything for every room. I hate having to budget and be patient. By the way, the Squirrels must have sabotaged the money tree I planted......Evil Squirrels.

5. Verizon...they better get Megan's phone up and running in her new house. Very annoying, I must be able to call my cousin when I am feeling annoyed.

My top five. . .

This is Megan Speaking. . .
My top five annoying things that have happened to me so far this week-in no particular order:

1. Calling Verizon to have the phone lines transfered to our new house. They promised it would be done the next day, but they only cut off the phone lines at the other house. So, we have two houses right now and are completely phone less. I hate it when that happens. . .

2. Joshua, figuring out that he can walk out of his room any time he wants when taking a nap because he is in a big boy bed. You should see the trail of toys he leaves behind.

3. Having to go to work on your day off to do inventory and only being there for an hour. . .And it's a two hour round trip.

4. Having some one startle me in the middle of doing a haircut and almost cutting my finger off. It's not as bad as it sounds, but I have to wear a band-aid, which drives me nuts. I hate the residue they leave behind.

5. Having a house so clean that I run out of things to do. This has never happened to me before, and, although I end up going to bed at nine from boredom, I think I could totally get used to it.

So, what about you? What are YOUR top five?

Halloween

We went to Audrey's Halloween parade today and I could not believe how old my 2nd grader is looking. I am so use to saying how cute the girls look in their costumes but Audrey looked more pretty today than cute. There were 3 other bunnies and I think (of course I am bias) Audrey was brightest rabbit in the group.

Hannah had her parade yesterday and she was adorable, she decided on Cindy Loo Who;

thank goodness Wes is so talented because I don't know how we would of pulled off that costume without the props that he made. Wes made Baby Dog into Max and made a mock-up of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas for Hannah to wear around her neck.

P.S. I think the Empire is trying to take over the school, I have not seen that many stormtroopers since Endor.

Wesley had to work tonight so we went trick or treating with our neighbors next door. They have a son who is Audrey's age and they have been inseparable since we have moved here (that is a whole other blog). We had beautiful warm weather but it also felt like fall, very nice!! We went a few blocks down the road and the police had closed down an entire neighborhood, I have NEVER seen so many trick or treaters in one place. It was really cool. The fire station had doughnuts and apple cider, I felt like I was in a movie. It felt very surreal. We were out for about 2.5 hours and we will now have enough candy to last till next Halloween.