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!!!