Fabulous Five...NOT!!!!

It is amazing how a couple of years can go by and you forget the hardest stage of your child's life so far. I think five was just so unbelievably hard with Audrey that I blocked it out, unfortunately Hannah is helping my selective memory.
People will tell you that the terrible twos, traumatic threes are the worst but in my opinion five is beyond crazy difficult. I love Hannah with everything that I am and then some but there has been at least a dozen times today alone, that I have wanted to ship her off to Siberia. At least this time around (I guess that is why they say your second + child is easier) I know we are going to get through this bad attitude, selective hearing and outright disobedient stage. When Audrey did this it scared Wes and I so bad, we just did not know what we were doing wrong...come to find out nothing, it was just Audrey being five. The thing that gets me is that Hannah was such an easy going, mild mannered kid and now she is developing this completely opposite disposition. Audrey was never easy, I think in a way it made it easier to understand. Though Audrey at 7 is really nice.
The only remedy I know for this five year old malady, is the same one that worked on Audrey, buckle down and make them remember you are in charge (even though your not feeling like it). I know she is just flexing her boundaries and her emotional muscles but that does not make it any easier and I hate having to discipline her every five seconds, but if that is what it takes then so be it, she is worth it:)

The House Wes Built.....

Wes has been building the girls a dollhouse for the "Big" Christmas present this year, he started a couple of months ago. We have been looking in the stores to buy one but either they are way to expensive (and frankly not worth that much money) or junk...so Wes decided to take matters into his own hands (literally).

A Victorian dollhouse with 2 levels and yard.

Cardboard Model

Bottom Level - Wes is not using any nails, it is put together by dowels and wood glue

Wes took a couple of the girls barbies and measured them, to make sure they would be able to stand up straight on all levels.

Wes is starting to build the second level this week...I will keep you all updated on the houses progress. I get to paint and do interior design. We are going to make furniture and accessories. The house is even going to have siding. I really hope we have it done by December:p

Say Cheese:)

Mrs. Burns - 2nd Grade

Taking suggestions for a clever caption?

Mrs. Moniz - P.M. Kindergarten

Huh!!!!

Week in Review

This week was very unique, full of ups and downs.

We were thrilled with the birth of Paul Bela (its Hungarian). He is one of the cutest babies I have ever seen. Congrats, Paul and Janis!!!

Hannah read Green Eggs and Ham without any help, that is not the easiest book to read, she is growing so quickly. I am very proud of how hard she is working at pushing herself.

We went and saw Prince Caspian we all really enjoyed the movie. Audrey liked it so much that she is half way through the Magician's Nephew (that is the first book in the Narnia series) so she can understand the series better, she started that book yesterday. Frankly the girl amazes me.
Wes put the handles on the kitchen cabinets, that made me very happy. It is so much easier to open up the cupboards instead of always grabbing the wrong side and the stupid thing won't open. That was very frustrating:(

Also on a happy note, Greys Anatomy my favorite show had the season closer and it was AMAZING!!! I am happy that the story line is back on track and the writers are actually writing:)

On a sad note, I am going to have to wait for September before Greys is on again.

I got food poisoning this week.

A con artist saying that he was from the girls school, claiming to have a summer reading program for the girls scammed his way into our house (yes, we're dummies, but he used the two magic words with us "School" and "Reading") we realized something was not right and did not give him any money but that was not before he had a chance to ask to use the bathroom and go rummaging around for pills and what not. Like I said before we do not leave meds in the bathroom, we have children, I am glad we are a least smart about that.

To end this week in review, here is a picture of Mocha posing for the camera;

Is It A New Day Yet?

Do you ever wish you could just go back to bed and start the day all over again? Well, I had one of those days, fortunately the day is almost at an end and tomorrow surely will be better. Hey, I can look at it this way, when was the last time I had a stranger riffle through my downstairs bathroom looking for drugs (pills and whatnot, he came to the wrong bathroom if he thought he was going to get the good stuff...we keep that stuff in the upstairs bathroom lol:) at least I haven't lost my since of humor) and then I get to visit with the police. How many of you can say that is how your day went? No one, wow I am surprised!!:P

Now that everyone is scratching their heads wondering how a total stranger got into my bathroom, I guess I should explain how he got there....but that is going to be a cliffhanger because I am too upset and might offend Grandma with some of the language I feel like using.

On a positive note - Did you know that if your cheese gets to soft when you are grating it, just put the cheese in the freezer for a few minutes and it will grate like a charm. Don't you wish everything was that easy.

When Pigs Fly....

Guess what? Pigs flew today, I helped plant the garden and planted the flower bed in the front yard. I have always said when pigs fly and wanted nothing to do with flower beautification. I have the BLACKEST thumb, I look at a plant and it dies. Gardening is definitely not one of my talents, the funny thing is, I actually enjoyed doing it.

Look!!!! Proof...for those of you who need to see with your own eyes.

The Garden is Wes's baby. He has done all the work. We planted 2 types of tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers.

Please Grow!!!

The front yard.

The Purse...

For those of you who wanted to see a picture of my new Vera Bradley here it is;

(Mother's Day)

It matches my apron, I got for Christmas and my smaller purse.

(Birthday )

The matching wallet.

(Just Because)

Baby Animals and Fondue!!

Wes and the girls took me to Buffalo (2.5 hrs West of Syracuse) for a Mother's Day gift. They know how I like to travel and go to new places, so of course they took me the Buffalo Zoo!! It was so fitting because I have never seen so many baby animals (Wes and I have been to over 20+ zoos) it seemed so perfect for Mother's Day.

My babies with the baby Tigers!!

The Mommy giving the baby a bath.

Baby Rhino, the first one I have ever seen.

Baby Polar Bear

Baby Speckled Bear

This Bear was not a baby but he was a riot. He loved having all the attention:)

Baby River Otters

After the Zoo, Wes and the girls took me to the Melting Pot for dinner. It is a fondue restaurant. Wes and I have been to Melting Pots on several occasions in other parts of the country but the one in Buffalo just recently opened. I was very excited to be able to take the girls for fondue, it is something I have wanted to do ever since they were little. Wes and I went to a Melting Pot in North Carolina back in '99 and back then I thought there would not be a better date, but I was wrong. To have my children share that food experience with me so many years later was so fulfilling as a Mother, it made the occasion.

It has been a long time since I have been able to enjoy Mother's Day and I am thankful that I have healed enough through the love of my husband and children to be able to share the emotion of the day with them. I have learned that Mother's Day and Father's Day are just as important to the children as they are to the parents. The girls were so excited and happy. I am also so happy that they are good shoppers and helped Wes pick out my new Vera Bradley purse, and I did not have to help, it was exactly the one I wanted. I was truly spoiled.

One final note, I am thankful that the car did not get a flat tire this year and decided it did not need a gift. We got a flat tire two years in a row on Mother's Day weekend!!!

A Love Letter

I am not really sure what a blogs purpose is; Fun, information, to state ones opinion to make money. I am under the belief that a blog can also be used as a history (or journal) of important things, things that has happened in ones life.
I was on the phone with a friend today (Hi!! Kim) and we were talking about websites and blogs and I referred her to my jennyjordan.net website for the Leukemia...a place I don't often think about, well the first thing that I thought about when thinking about the site was the letter that Wes wrote when I was going through treatment, and fundraising. Certainly this letter is important enough to be journaled on my blog. When I read the letter tonight, five years after Wes wrote it, the letter had a different meaning to me from when he had written it. It was the sweetest love letter and a complete devotion for my health and emotional well being. It is not your typical love letter, it not full of prose and mushy sentiment but something much, much deeper than that. I am putting this letter on my blog as a reminder to me and anyone who reads it that love really can conquer all and even though life was horrendous at the time we made it through and we have endured as a family. I hope one day I will be able to honor my husband as much as he honors me in the following;

~Hello. I am writing on behalf of my wife, Jenny Jordan, and the Jenny Jordan Leukemia Fund. She is dying from leukemia, a cancer of the blood, and we are trying to raise money for medical treatment that could save her life.
When approached for donations, one seems to ask if the cause is as important as the big issues of the day; such as troops in Iraq, homeland security, the economy, child abuse, etc. Our cause is just as important because it addresses two components of the question of medicine in our nation: medical aid and a cure for cancer.
Any donation would be helpful, but due to the nature of our situation, we need large sums of money, and quickly.
It has been asked as to why we should receive these substantial grants. After all, wouldn’t you be more willing to contribute if there was something in it for you? That which Jenny has chosen to endure is a clinical trial of a new treatment to replace the need for bone marrow transplants. This test is needed to help improve the drug that would allow more people to be treated for cancer without having to find a match for bone marrow donation.
Why does Jenny deserve to have this money given for her sake? She is a mother to two small children who could be left with one parent because of her death. Our society works hard to encourage two parent homes, with a mother and a father. This battle for the fabric of our society must be more than one of moralities. Even with a legally binding marriage, Jenny and I may be separated by death, and the children left motherless. Many families are torn apart when a parent is killed as a result of shootings, car accidents, and industrial mishaps. In Jenny’s case, her life can be saved, but only with help.
The reason we are faced with having to trouble others for help might very well be because I have not provided adequately for my family. We do not have insurance (which would not cover any of this anyway) or large reserves of money because of my inadequacies. I take full responsibility, but we still need all this help.
I am aware that the money you could use to donate to our cause was earned from hard work. Also, you may wish to reward yourself in some way for this hard work. Please realize that you have resources that could save a life, preserve a family unit, and help two children to have a better opportunity than without your help.
Even if we can not get the funds we need for the medical treatment, and Jenny does not live beyond the two years she has been given, we will still need to be able to pay for her funeral; as well as all medical bills that have, and will be, accumulated.
We are expected to compete for support with the rest of that portion of our community. Why should we receive any help over the others? We can not begin to receive the necessary funds from any groups organized to fight cancer. Therefore, I hope to appeal to this forum in a manner unlike any other so as to "win the competition" on behalf of my wife.
The ordeal of cancer threatens to take my wife from our family. People often say they would live life to the fullest if given a short amount of time before dying. Without large donations, given before our deadline, she will have had to spend a portion of her last days begging for people to help save her life. We would much rather she spend her last days with her children, or at least those last days before she must endure the indefinite rigors of a new treatment to gain a little more time.
Jenny has had to deal with radiation and chemotherapy, the loss of her hair, the pronounced insensitivity of her peers, and the excessive pains of her ailment. Is it just that Jenny beg for small donations only to have raised enough for her funeral? That is to say if such a small amount survives the medical bills.
Please do not assume that we are interested in our dignity any longer. To wear a shirt with our daughters’ picture next to words saying "Please help save our Mommy’s life" is not below us.
Neither am I ashamed to quote Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol:
" I wish to be left alone," said Scrooge, "Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer... I help support the establishments... they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there."
" Many can’t go there; and many would rather die."
"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population..."

For anyone who is wondering if we accomplished what we set out to do...well I am writing this blog in 2008 and feeling wonderful and loved.

Random Thoughts From Wes....

Wes often plays word games at work with his co-workers to pass the time, this was one of the questions.

(All of the answers were written on pieces of paper and then put in a hat, and then everyone had to match who wrote what answer to the worker.)

Question;

If you were stranded on a deserted island and you had to pick one person from work to be stranded with, who would it be?

This was Wesley's answer;

When Christopher Robin was fighting in the trenches in France, he got a letter from Piglet that said Pooh had died. All the other animals were doing OK. He did not want to trouble Chris with all the drama.

It is sooooooo random, I thought it was hilarious, I am still laughing and it is two days later.

Another game they played that night was everyone had to write a question and then you would randomly draw from all the questions and then have to answer the question and guess who wrote it.

The question that Wes wrote was;

If you had a dream that you were a burrito eating a taco and than woke up with your blanket wrapped around you and pillow feathers in your mouth would you tell anyone?

That's my Husband and I love him!!!

Growing Pains

Audrey got her inaugural goose egg and scraped forehead today on the playground. It is a good battle wound, she should be proud. The nurse checked her out and checked her for concussion (she did not have one). I think Andy has had enough concussions to fill every ones quotas. I was really proud of her though, the nurse said she initially cried but stopped quickly and just took it, the nurse wanted to send her home for the day but Audrey asked to go back to class. That's my girl.

We had Hannah's parent teacher conference for pre - first on Friday, and Wes and I had an intense discussion with her kindergarten teacher and we finally made our decision. FIRST GRADE!!! I really took Marcie's advice (she wrote me an email the size of a novel...lol, love you) because we just did not know what to do. We sat down with Hannah and told her all about pre-first and first grade and asked her what she wanted (we did not tell Hannah how we felt.) Hannah was really against going to pre-first but I still was on the fence. Wes had already made up his mind that pre-first was not an option. Soooo back to the conference;

I asked Mrs. Moniz her reasons for wanting to send Hannah to pre-first and she started talking about the gift of time again, that was not the answer I wanted, I wanted REAL reasons. So I asked Mrs. Moniz the exact reason she felt Hannah needed to go to pre-first and she said it was not because of Hannah's academics. Wes and I didn't even have to look at each other to know what the other was thinking. So I asked the question...exactly why do you want to put her in this program? She said it was because Hannah was a follower and not a leader, and giving her the extra year (because she is the youngest) would help her become a leader. Why does every child have to be a leader in order to succeed and why in kindergarten. Wes was a follower until he was older and so I was I. I think it is important to find your own stride and I don't want her to feel bad about herself because she is not outspoken and pushy in school. I think the teacher does not recognize manners. Hannah got perfect marks on her social skills on her report card last week...I don't remember seeing the spot where it says..."Follower or Leader"!!

Well that answer pretty much made the choice for us, thank goodness because I thought I was going to go crazy. I want to always try to make the best choices for the girls even if I disagree.

Frustration

Frustration must run in the family (Marcie, Megan anyone else...) because I am feeling a large dose of it today. Sometimes it is just so hard to keep going forward, but that is what I must do, and know that everything will work out in the end. I think chocolate will definitely help in this process. CHOCOLATE FOR EVERYONE!!!!