"Alena's Path"

"30 Days of Giveaways"

2010-11-13T22:39:00.004-05:00

Stefanie, over at Ni Hao Y'all, is having some fun with 30 Days of Giveaways. I've enjoyed reading her blog for about three years now and I find her not only amazing, but inspirational as well. Her photography keeps me coming back for more too!! Check it out...http://www.nihaoyall.com/

Avon Breast Cancer Walk

2010-02-12T09:49:00.002-05:00

I am participating in the October 2010 Avon Breast Cancer Walk and I'm super busy with the fundraising!
~I'll be walking 39.3 miles over two days in NYC and I'm looking forward to it.

~Each participant has to commit to raise $1,800. It's quite a bit, but SO important.
As many of you know, I sent out a letter in our Christmas cards to kick off the fundraising. That generated a few donations, but most have been through Facebook and patients, until just recently when I put together a Longaberger Valentine Basket raffle. That alone brought in $275!! Thank you so much to all that participated! I'll be organizing another of those in a few months.
~Up next is a PartyLite home party. My consultant, Laurie Scott, will be graciously donating her commisions to my walk! If you'd like to place an online order you can visit: www.partylite.biz/lauriescott.

~Please visit my personal walk website:

http://info.avonfoundation.org/goto/JenniP

I'm in it to end it!!

The girl's a planner....

2010-01-29T07:55:00.008-05:00

Miss Mei celebrated her 4th birthday with family and friends earlier this month! She had been asking for a "Strawberry Shortcake" party since August, so that's what she got!
She had lots of fun and is really enjoying all of the Barbie Stuff that she received! The playroom, however looks like Toyrus has opened a new store location upstairs. 8-/
While tucking her into to bed that night, she informed us that she would like a "Tinkerbell party" next year. Hehe...

A must see....especially if you've got a little girl in your life. =)

2010-01-21T21:18:00.002-05:00

A friend referred me to this blog to check out these super cute dolls and enter a fabulous contest!
These adorable Waldorf dolls are handmade with lots of love. <3
An entry from the giveaway post:

"I will be giving away one of my new12" Waldorf dolls! She lists for $149 on my Etsy shop. She is one of my favorites! She is wearing a red dress with happy dots and has coordinating red panties. Her eyes are huge and brown. Her arms and legs are sewn on making her perfect for ages 4 and up. Her thick, soft brown, boucle mohair yarn hair is made to be styled over and over again! Wouldn't this be an amazing Valentine's Day gift for the avid doll collector or little girl in your life? The winner will receive this doll just in time for Valentine's Day!!"

So, please visit and enter,although I hope I'm the winner....hehehe.

Christmas Season 2009

2010-01-11T09:13:00.008-05:00

We really enjoyed our first Christmas in the house. The girls loved walking next door to wake up Nana & Papa in the morning and I think they enjoyed coming over in their pj's and having the coffee ready. LOL
We also had lots of fun hosting a big breakfast here the morning after. I would love to see that carry on as a tradition. (Fred says no more bacon...too messy. LOL)
Being on vacation was the best ever. I found it very relaxing and not a bit of stress. Spending time with the girls, shopping and being able to take a nap if and when I wanted to, was priceless. Lily was down for a few days as well!
Fred and I rang in the New Year with a couple of parties...good times.
Happy New Year everyone!!

GOTCHA DAY!

2009-12-18T16:21:00.004-05:00

Three years ago today, we became a "forever family of four".
Xia Guimei was placed in my arms, sound asleep. We're beyond blessed. =]

Let's catch up...

2009-12-05T23:11:00.010-05:00

Good times in Oct & Nov! Of course we went pumpkin picking, then to an annual carving party as well. The girls were both witches for Halloween and they had an awesome time despite both being sick with viruses. :-/
Alena is doing GREAT with her speech therapy. We adore her therapist, she's having so much fun and improving nicely. She was also just approved through the school district as well, so they will be coming here to the house twice a week on top of her three days of private therapy.
Sophia recently got contacts and it felt like she grew up over night. I. Can't. Stand. It. Ugh...
Reflecting during November on what I'm thankful for, I have plenty, but I'm sure blessed to be the mom of these two!

September!!

2009-09-27T09:35:00.012-04:00

Wow! September has been a blur! Back to school went very well. I was able to take the day off and really enjoyed it. Sophia started her new school and took the bus for the first time. Alena goes to preschool twice a week and loves it! She will be starting speech therapy very soon as well.

We had our first annual party here at the house last weekend. That was lots of fun, but very busy!! I wished I had more time to spend with each person. Looking forward to "Pernafest 2010"!! Next year, we will have more time to plan and will be sending out invitations to everyone.

Sophia had a half-day of school the other day, so we took advantage of the afternoon and went apple picking while the farm was quiet. Fred ended up having to stay at work for a waterbreak. :-(

Looking forward to some pumpkin picking this coming weekend!!
Enjoy the fall!!

Long Branch on Jersey Shore

2009-08-30T09:08:00.011-04:00

Lil joined us for a weekend, so her, Sophia and I took off to the shore!! Alena was away camping!

Summer Shenanigans

2009-08-19T21:47:00.010-04:00

We've been having a great time!

Avon-by-the-Sea

2009-08-05T23:15:00.011-04:00

Home Sweet Home

2009-07-15T21:23:00.015-04:00

Wow! It's been a while and we've been quite busy. We're feeling pretty settled in the new house now. Most cardboard boxes are gone. (With the exception of the basement!) I keep telling Fred that it looks more like a department store down there. :-/
Next on the agenda is to decide on some curtains. It's a good thing we sit back off the road a bit!!
I really love it here. It's very peaceful and relaxing. We've got lots of turkeys, fox, frogs, turtles and yeah, unfortunately there have been a couple of snake sightings. I would rather die than try to ever get used to them, but I don't think I'm going to have a choice here! We even had a "pet" rooster for four days. As a joke, a friend of ours put one of his roosters in a tree right outside our bedroom window one night. 4:30 the next morning when that sucker crowed, I sat straight up in bed. Haha!! He found a tree to perch in at the end of our driveway and would hop up in there each evening and stay till morning and then had the run of the property. We believe a fox got him the fourth night. It did not sound pretty. Eek! We miss the big guy. : (
Fred's getting the pen ready to bring "Pork chop" home and then we will eventually add some chickens to the farm. LOL Our neighbor has 16 of them!
The girls are enjoying their summer. We got away to Hammonasset Beach and Mystic this past weekend and had so much fun.
We're working on planning a BBQ for the end of the summer!!

My Girlies...

2009-06-10T18:30:00.017-04:00

Closing soon...

2009-06-03T22:10:00.008-04:00

Almost done!
Carpeting goes in tomorrow, porch has to be painted, sidewalks poured, some landscaping and that's about it!
Next post, I'll add the bedrooms, baths and mom & Geo's addition. It looks beautiful.

What to do...what to do...

2009-05-21T22:41:00.008-04:00

The girls left this evening for Connecticut with my parents for four days! I'm looking forward to some quiet time and BBQ's where we don't have to watch the time or a 3 yr. old, but I cried pretty hard when they left. : ( The house is coming along beautifully. They just finished painting and are installing the cabinetry and light fixtures now. Happy Memorial Day weekend to you all!

"Ahead of schedule..."

2009-05-04T14:57:00.011-04:00

That's right! That's what I was told by the realtor today. Yay! She had just spoken with the builder and that's what he had to say. I'll take it!
I ran over to the house this morning just to see how the spackling was going (like I know ANYTHING about that!!) and found them laying the hardwood flooring!
Everything is going very smoothly. The cabinets have all been ordered and I signed off on the granite Friday. That one made me nervous. It's one of your bigger purchases and hard to envision "the big picture". It's also one of the many things I have changed my original selection on. LOL
We hope to be moving in sometime in June. If not, we may be homeless, as we gave our required 2 months notice on this lease, based on their "estimate".
So, if my updates should start taking on a frustrated or desperate tone and you're local, you better start checking your doorstep. Hahaha!!!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-15T22:35:00.015-04:00

Little late with this post, but Happy Easter everyone! It was a fantastic weekend around here.
Aunt Kathy, Gene, Cindy & Sarah all came up from N.C. and we had a great time visiting with them. Gene & Cindy cooked us all a yummy Italian dinner on Saturday and we celebrated mom's 60th birthday as well!
I took all of the girls over to Kay's for the annual Easter Egg hunt and they had lots of fun as usual. Thanks to Aunt Kay!!!
Sunday Gene and Cindy introduced us to Disc Golf. NEVER heard of it and it turns out there's an 18 hole course about 25 minutes from here! We FROZE, but had a great time and yes, I think I will be purchasing my own discs. : )
The house is coming along nicely. Windows and doors are in and the electrician and plumbers are very busy. The siding arrived yesterday as well.
Still enjoying being on the horse farm. A new guy just arrived today and is in the coral right outside our side door. I sat out on the side steps to watch and listen to him "talk" for a while and then went out to sit on the front steps where I could soak up sun. After a minute, Buttercup came prancing around the corner and came over to visit with me for a while! Such a great horse!
Lil is here for the weekend and we're celebrating Sophia's birthday tomorrow. On to the double digits! :-/

The latest....

2009-04-05T14:50:00.003-04:00

The house really looks great! Shingles are on and they started the duct work for the AC on Friday. Currently we are going nuts trying to decide on a refrigerator that doesn't cost as much as college tuition and looking around at light fixtures.

We also have a new addition to our family...he's a four year old potbelly pig! Fred has wanted one for so long and there's one here on the farm that we've been enjoying. He saw an add for one last week and now he's ours. He was just delivered yesterday and is still adjusting, but he's a cute little guy and he loves donuts. Perfect! : ) The girls have decided to name him "Porkchop", just like the BIG guy that lives here. LOL

Sweet!

2009-03-30T21:39:00.004-04:00

Loving the progress on the house! It's so exciting to stop by a few times a week on my way home from work and see the changes.

On another positive note, got a phone call tonight that Alena got into the preschool of our choice!! YAY!! Now, if I could only get her to understand that it doesn't start tomorrow! She is so excited. :)

Progress!

2009-03-25T19:46:00.010-04:00

Things are moving along with the house! The foundation is done, lumber was delivered today to start framing, the roofer is lined up for next week and they're doing a nice job clearing around the house.
There are lots of cedar trees on the property, so we asked that they leave as many as possible, undisturbed.

Sophia was out of school all last week with a pretty bad case of strep, but is back to her old self. Alena is doing just fine. She has moved up to #1 on the preschool waiting list, so we have our fingers crossed!

Denise and I held a nice Longaberger Open House on Saturday. Definitely increase my itch to take a road trip to Ohio. :-/

Oh, happy day!

2009-03-07T22:26:00.010-05:00

Yay! The day has finally come! They broke ground on the new house on Thursday. They rough grated the driveway and filled in, leveled and staked where the house will be! Fred and I walked back there on Friday, looked around and took some starting pictures.
It's just so exciting after all this time!!
In a year and a half, we sold our house, moved into my parent's house, made selections on the new house, sold my parent's house, found a house to lease and moved into that, fought a Planning Board tooth & nail and then changed all of our selections on the new house because so much time has passed! Haha!

Alena is continuing to work hard on her potty training while she watches Noggin and plays Wii. =]
We are still working hard on getting her into preschool! We are on a waiting list for our first choice, have two open houses to attend over the next couple of weeks and I'm checking out another this week.

Sophia just had a week of state tests at school and they finished it off with a big ice cream party yesterday. She also took part in International Day today with her Girl Scout troop. France was their country this year. She's also been keeping busy with a new pen-pal! I made a great online friend from Kansas a few years ago and she has a little girl Soph's age. They are having so much fun with it. Everything has become so computer oriented, so it makes me happy to see them doing this.
She also made friends with two sisters that are here on the farm every weekend with their parents who have a couple of horses. They've really been enjoying running all over this place and Sophia has totally taken on the "farm girl look". LOL
"Porkchop", the potbelly pig is now venturing out of his stall each day with the warmer weather. Alena LOVES him. =]
The owner's horse "Buttercup", roams free on the farm during the day. Last week she followed me back and forth, from my van to the house with my groceries! It was hilarious!

Denise and I are planning a couple of Longaberger associated road trips that I am really looking forward to!
It's almost Spring!!!

Such a slacker...

2009-02-25T18:28:00.006-05:00

Hasn't been too much excitement around here.
Alena was pretty sick a few weeks ago with bronchial asthma. Thank goodness for her nebulizer. She's so good about it and it helps her so much. Other than that, she is in potty training boot camp and some days are better than others. She has definitely learned to maximize her time while on the potty...she talks on my Blackberry, watches Noggin or plays Wii, while drinking her milk and sometimes eating. It's quite comical.
Trying to get her registered for preschool in September as well. The school we would really like to send her to, has a waiting list, but we're going to the open house next week and applying anyway and I left messages with two other schools today. She is going to LOVE school!

Sophia had her Odyssey of the Mind event on Saturday. Her team worked so hard and they were fantastic. I was crying my eyes out. LOL The advisors said it was the best any of their teams have ever done. Unfortunately they were up against 20 other teams, which was many more than there have ever been before, so they're not going on to States, but we're so proud of all of them.

Things are finally getting started on the house. We went and reviewed our selections, since it's been about 9 months since we first made our choices!! We did make A LOT of changes. LOL
This week, they dropped off the rebar for the footings and staked some things out. I am just anxious to receive the phone call telling me that there are big machines there making a big mess and then I'll be excited!

This weekend we are going to a tubing party for my nephew Marcus and then the annual "Tea Party" on Sunday! They're having it early this year, so I'm hoping it's not freezing out.

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day and think spring!!!

6th

2009-01-28T10:10:00.003-05:00

6th

This is something new and very fun!!!
I have been tagged by Lisa.

The rules are simple. As follows:
6th Picture Meme!

1.Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.
2.Go to the 6th Folder, then pick the 6th picture in that folder.
3.Post that picture on your blog and the story that goes along with the picture.
4.Tag 6 other peoples that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.

* This was a picture of Alena in August 2007. How cute is she?! LOL She had "stolen" lotion out of my pocket book and was thrilled to think she was getting away with something!
I am tagging: Tiff
Maria
Judi
Cybil
Kelly
Donna

Quite boring

2009-01-23T13:27:00.007-05:00

Not much happening these days.
As far as the new house goes, contracts are signed, but we had to make one last change with the architect, so that delayed things for a couple of weeks. Just got that all squared away and are waiting on an appraisal of the final plans and then weather permitting, they can finally start building.
With that said, there should be a HUGE snow storm on the way with sub zero temps!! Haha!

Sophia is doing great in school. She's really involved with the Odyssey of the Mind team and the Ecology Club and both girls are still going to the Little Gym. Getting ready to go into her classroom next Friday to teach the kids about Chinese New Year and give them some cool stuff! Alena always comes too, so we talk about our trip to China and her province as well.
Soph has really matured and I find it rather frightening. LOL We share the same shoe size and she even wears some of my shirts now! Time to put a lock on my closet!!

Alena is something else. As I was getting ready to walk her upstairs to bed one night, she heard my mom drop something and ran back to get it for her. While putting her to bed, I was telling her how nice that was of her and she replied, "Yeah, I'm Nan's Super Hero." LOL
Two nights ago she was trying to watch Dora and I was making noise carrying boxes to the basement. With her hand on her little hip, she looked at me and said, "You are driving me crazy."!! My eyes got huge and I cracked up!! Mom said, "I wonder where she's heard that before?" I have NO idea...
The other night, she was being "somewhat defiant" about putting her jammies on Fred told her that she better "straighten up". Without a word, she turned around and started heading down the stairs. I'm yelling, "No, Alena. It's time for bed!" and Fred followed her down and into the playroom where she started "straightening up" her toys!! Hahaha!!!! It was so cute, it brought tears to my eyes.

My best friend, Denise, had her beautiful baby boy, Caiden two weeks ago. The little bugger is so cute.
Every January, I go through a period where I miss China like crazy, want to go back to visit, want to adopt again, etc. and then eventually I get through it. This year it's been nice to have him to grab a hold of. =]

Fred and I got away to NYC for the day last weekend and attended the motorcycle show. I think I found the perfect gift for my 40th birthday...

Happy 3rd Birthday Alena Mei!!

2009-01-07T10:28:00.009-05:00

My baby girl is three today and thanks to an ice storm, I get to be home with her!! After we take a nice nap, we're going to bake some cupcakes!
Alena requested a "Pretty Pink Flower" party, so we celebrated on Saturday in pink flower fashion. =]
She had so much fun. She has watched Blues Clues "Blue's Birthday" episode over and over and loves to perform the song and dance as well as sing along while others sing "Happy Birthday" to her!!

Honest Scrap Tag!

2009-01-03T20:09:00.003-05:00

Judi, Judi, Judi!! I'm gonna get you for this!! I'm grateful that I'm worthy, but I'm not that amazing or interesting! Haha!!

A) First list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep!
B) Pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

Hmmm... I did this SO long ago, but let's see what I can come up with:
1- I don't care much about vehicles. Really doesn't matter all that much to me what I'm driving or how clean it is. If I do clean it, it's prolly going to be the interior because at least that stays clean for a while. I feel like going through the car wash is throwing money away because two days later, your car is dirty. Why bother?!

2-I am very, very bad at remembering birthdays. I don't know what it is and I really have no excuse. My poor best friend who is the greatest at always having THE perfect gift for me everytime, can attest to this. She has received a couple flower deliveries over the years. =] I love you. =]

3-One of my pet peeves is an open mail box. I can't stand it. If you have one on your house where the lid flips up/down. SHUT the lid please! If you have one at the roadside with a little door, kindly close the little door. Makes me crazy!

4-I am guilty of going "offline" while on Facebook now and then. Sometimes I can't keep up with the chats!!

5-In my heart I would really love to adopt again. Children are amazing. The process is sadly so long and costly.

6- There used to be a time not so many years ago where I couldn't stand to spend an entire day at home without leaving to go somewhere. Now, give me a day where I have no where to go and I can stay home in my pj's and I'm loving life!

7- I enjoy writing. Casual writing, blogging, about what's going on with us, around us, etc.

8-My house has to be neat. Pretty much everything has it's place and I can't stand messiness. That's where baskets come in handy. You can throw a category of things into one in seconds and it looks pretty darn good.

9- I love the beach. It's so relaxing and beautiful. It's also easy to throw some pb&j sandwiches, water, crackers, towels & the kids in the van and head to one for the day. LOVE it. : )

10- I miss my grandfather. He was just a nice man and I can still hear his laugh and his sneeze! LOL It was unique! He told me over and over again how proud he was of me while I was growing up. I really missed his presence when I graduated from college and the day that I got married. He would have really enjoyed knowing my girls too. : )

The following 7 bloggers are tagged to tell their 10 truths:
Kelly- Love reading her blog. Great girl and she is amazing with expressing herself.
Maryann- Miss Bella's mommy. Loves her baby girl AND Mickey Mouse!
Lisa- Hilarious and a worry wart! =] It's amazing how you can never meet someone in person, but feel like you "know" them. :)
Bryn- Excellent writer! I love her blog everytime AND her little K was Alena's playmate in China at the White Swan.
Angela- Awesome mom with some madd time management skilz!!
Lisa- Something about Lisa is so calming to me. She takes life at a fantastic pace and even when she's upset, still seems to have it together.
Tiff- This girl is funnnnny! (And apparently she needs to give the Nintendo DS's BACK TO THE KIDS and come do this.) Haha!

Thanks ladies!! Spill it and happy blogging.

Hehehe....

2008-12-29T00:24:00.003-05:00

Someone...got two new pair of boots which she prefers to wear ALL the time! She's awesome. Out of the blue she'll say "I so happy!". Me too. :)

I'm not alone....

2008-12-26T10:57:00.007-05:00

on the timing!!
Hope you all had an outstanding Christmas.
Every year we attend the Miller's Christmas Eve open house and I didn't want this year to be any different, so I got my sorry butt in the shower and threw on some yoga pants! Fred came home from work feeling nauseous and feverish and it just got worse through the night with abdominal pain and back pain.
The last time he saw his urologist to check his kidneys, he told him he has a large gallstone and if he ever has pain with a fever and/or jaundice to go to the ER. He was trying to avoid that so that he could see the girls open their gifts Christmas morning, so we looked like morons checking his face and eyes for jaundice all night!
As soon as we all finished with the gifts, we headed to the hospital. He has multiple kidney stones and that gallstone, so he's on pain meds, has to have an ultrasound of the gall bladder and see his urologist again.
We're falling apart!!
Our Christmas Day was indeed different, but could have been worse. :)
I'm pretty much recovered from Tuesday's surgery. A little sore, but not bad and the stitches are getting pretty itchy!
I'm off until Jan. 5th. Looking forward to the Badendyck's annual open house tomorrow and visiting with some more family for Christmas next weekend!
Last, but certainly not least, we have a certain little someone's birthday coming up! She says she wants a "pretty pink flower party", so that's what she'll get. :)

My amazing timing...

2008-12-19T18:40:00.016-05:00

I had emergency surgery 10 years ago, for an ectopic pregnancy the day before a fairly large 30th birthday party I was throwing for Fred. Thankfully I have fantastic family and friends and the party went on while I laid on a chaise enjoying Percocet.
Five months later I went into preterm labor with Sophia and was hospitalized the week before Christmas for what turned out to be a three month stay. A lot of the same family and friends celebrated Christmas with me in the hospital and they kept coming for the duration.
This past Saturday I started having pretty bad sharp pains in my lower left abdomen that just persisted. Tuesday I spent the day in the hospital ruling out a kidney stone and diverticulitis. Their conclusion was that I had calcifications on the left ovary and fibroids. They gave me pain medication that ended up making me reallllly sick and told me to follow up with my ob/gyn. Wednesday things were getting worse, saw the ob/gyn and had an ultrasound. There are only two fibroids that are only 1 cm. big, not causing any problems. They did find fluid indicating that a cyst had burst, but with my symptoms he really feels that the ovary that was involved with the ectopic pregnancy is twisted and needs to come out. They had removed the middle third of the tube and reattached it and he thinks that as scar tissue has formed, this is what has happened and that's causing all of the pain.
SO, Tuesday he's going to remove it. Should be a one day deal. Kinda stinks to be recovering over Christmas, but what can you do?!
The girls got their Christmas pj's from Auntie Kathy yesterday. Alena did not know what to make of the light up elf slippers and Sophia hasn't taken them off since! Thank you Aunt Kathy!!
We are getting a pretty large snow fall today that is so pretty. I've been sitting by the fire all day and the girls made a gingerbread house.
Merry Christmas everyone!!

The Homestead with lots of photos!

2008-12-13T10:31:00.014-05:00

We're unpacked and finally able to relax. This house is so peaceful. We went and got a real tree since everything is in storage and had lots of fun with that. The next thing is to get using the fireplaces in here!
The contract for the new house was sent over to our attorney yesterday. Things are moving along.

QUICK update!!

2008-12-06T11:40:00.002-05:00

We have moved into the farm house and love it!! I open the front door in the morning to see the pond and deer everywhere and it's so nice to watch the horses.
We are still unpacking, getting settled and have no cable or house phone yet. We also obviously have a new address! If you would like it, comment or message me and I will send it to you!!
We just picked up our Christmas cards yesterday and will get them out as soon as we are sane again. Haha!!

As I was saying....

2008-11-26T23:14:00.008-05:00

It's the day before Thanksgiving and as of today, everything is falling into place. Thank you. We are all so relieved.
The appraisal on my parents house did not come in high enough for the buyers to get a loan to not only satisfy the buying price of the house, but also their closing costs. It's a little unreasonable to expect that, but that's what they wanted. SO, we had to appeal the appraisal which seems to be dragging....everything was coming down to the wire. The closing is still set for 12/5, we've been waiting for the lease papers on the farm house to come in, planning on renting as of 12/1 and just received those Monday. Then, we were afraid to sign them while still waiting on this appeal, yet look at the date people!! LOL Don't have much time to waste!
Got a phone call today that the buyers are anxious as well, they have "come up with their closing costs" so the initial appraisal is just fine. HUGE sigh of relief! We're meeting to sign the lease papers and hand over the checks for the rental Friday @12:30, we can start moving in over the weekend and closing on mom's house will be next Friday. PHEW!!!
Thank heavens for good wine. Hahaha!!!
Have to add that we went to parent/teacher conference for Sophia Monday night and we could not be prouder of her. She got straight A's, the teacher said that if every teacher had 20 of her they would never have a complaint and she said that she's the class role model. Once again, she's just like her mom!! LOL
Threw in a couple new pics of the girls because I'm their mama and they're so darn cute. =]
Wishing you all an outstanding day with family and friends this Thanksgiving Day.

Being thankful...

2008-11-14T23:36:00.007-05:00

This is the time of year that we hear it the most. "What are you thankful for?" I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. There's always a plan. Sometimes it just takes us a while to figure out why something happened, but then one day there's a realization.
This past year with all of this house "stuff", there's been a few of those moments! The biggest being when the last buyer for this house backed out. We were devastated. We liked her, we had a rental house in a good location with a floor plan that would work for all of us and in this market, we were just plain happy to have a buyer.
Here we are two months later with another buyer and the reality is that this is a full price offer-the previous, we were taking a loss, these people are so nice & warm. The husband got down on his knees to be on Alena's level when he talked to her. I liked that. :) The last rental house was really nice, but small. The girls were going to share a room and there would be no family room or spare room for anyone to escape to for peace! The house we will be leasing for the next six months or so (pictured above!) is a 4-5 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, salt box with 3 working fireplaces, on a beautiful horse farm. The house is large and made to look like it was built in 1773. I LOVE it.
I can't help but think that it's going to be peaceful there. As soon as I found the listing, I said to myself, "THIS is where we are supposed to be for Christmas."
So, where things stand now: contracts have been signed by the buyers and my parents on this house and the VA appraisal was done yesterday. Our realtor, who is an appraiser was here for it and she said it went great. Now we wait for a week or so for it to come back and pray that it appraises high enough for the buyer's VA loan. That is the only thing that can get in the way at this point.
The house to lease is ours, we're waiting on the papers to sign, but we should start renting as of 12/1. The owner said we can come in over Thanksgiving weekend to get started though.
The builder is more than ready to get started on the new house. Since we are hopefully close to a closing here, we are waiting for that instead of getting started with a bridge loan.
Everything just feels right now and I'm thankful for that!! As well as my amazing girls, my family, my best friend, group of friends and my career.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Halloween fun!

2008-11-02T10:51:00.012-05:00

We've really had a fun time of it this fall. We got invited to a HUGE pumpkin carving party that was a blast! Patients of mine that are very close friends of my boss and his family host this party every year and it was awesome. They had two huge tents, one for carving in and one for entertainment. There was food, desserts, lots of drinks(!), African storytelling & dance, a magician and lots of laughs!
The girls had a fantastic time trick-or-treating as well. Sophia was Candy Corn and Alena was a "Pretty Flowaaa"!! Haha!! She practiced all week saying "Trick-or-treat, candy please, thank you"!!Fred pushed her around in her car and she was the happiest flower ever. =]
I added a Live Feed to the blog because I wasn't sure if I should keep this up or not. I really enjoy it, but I already know what's going on around here!! LOL I know not everyone comments, so just wanted to see if there are any visitors! :)
We just got a full price offer on mom's house Tuesday. The inspection was on Friday and we are trying to stay as positive as possible!

Visit to the pumpkin patch!!

2008-10-24T21:20:00.012-04:00

Aunt Chris and I took the girls to the pumpkin patch last Sunday and we had so much fun! Fred and I usually go to the same farm every year, but I decided to change it up this year. The usual place is nice, but very Halloween themed and I really just wanted to enjoy the fall season.
Alena was quite clingy at first which is normal for her in a different setting or when there's a crowd and she would have no part with the pony ride, but she got better! It was a little chilly, but we had a great time and finished the day with some hot watery cocoa. =]
Tomorrow we are going to a pumpkin carving party with a magician. Should be a good time and the costumes are all set for next week! Sophia will be "candy corn" as she wished (!) and Alena is going to be a big flower that I found in the Children's Place.

Love the fall!!

2008-10-08T20:11:00.016-04:00

I do miss the summer, but the fall season is just so beautiful and refreshing.
The girls have both started gymnastics at the The Little Gym and they are loving it. We enrolled Sophia to help her out with gross motor skills and I am amazed at the improvement and her confidence level in just three weeks.
We decided to give Alena a go at it after she watched an hour of Sophia in there and repeated over and over, "My turn?"!! The instructors put her in the age group above hers with the confidence that she would do fine on her own and she would not require the mommy & me class. The first session was hilarious. She needed a little coaxing from her big sister, but then joined the group. The teachers hold the kids hands when they do certain activities, which Alena was "tolerating". She loves to jump. All the time. SO, they completed an activity where you climb foam stairs, hold hands and jump off onto a mat. While they were all lined up and marching on to the next event, Alena breaks out of line, runs over, up the stairs and does a flying leap off and onto the mat!! I thought I would die! She stood up and laughed and the teachers looked mortified! I opened the door and let them know that she was just fine and would probably "prefer" to take things on herself!! She went on to do the same thing with the balance beam. Too funny.
Fred and I went to New Berlin for the weekend two weeks ago. We stayed at a beautiful B&B and went to see some friends race motocross. We had SO much fun.
This past Sunday was a beautiful day, so Denise and I took the kids apple picking at a local farm. What a great time we had! We took a tractor ride through the orchard to pick our apples, had lunch, then cider and ice cream and bought some hot fresh cider donuts to bring home!
On the home front, we attended the Planning Board meeting last night where they also held our Public Hearing. The board gave us the approval to build and no one attended that was opposed. Phew!!! So, we are that much closer.
Just have to figure out how this will work with mom's house being back on the market now. We have someone coming to look at it tomorrow. We shall see!
We're looking forward to pumpkin picking soon! Hope you're all enjoying the fall season!

They make me smile...a lot.

2008-09-23T21:12:00.002-04:00

Better luck next time...

2008-09-18T20:11:00.003-04:00

Yeah. So after going through everything in my last post, the buyer for mom's house backed out on Monday. Yup. She had paid her deposit and even made us retest the radon over the weekend and she backed out Monday morning. We were not happy campers to say the least.
Seems she came to the conclusion that as a single mom, taking on a house this size was going to be too much. I agree, but wouldn't you have your limitations in mind BEFORE you even start looking?!
To make matters worse, I asked our realtor to please contact the other family that was bidding on the house at the same time to see if they are still interested. Ready for this? They bought the house ACROSS THE STREET AND TWO HOUSES DOWN FROM HERE!! Aghhhhh!!!!
The only thing I can say is that I am very thankful that we got our deposit back on the rental house. They are wonderful people. She had me in tears as I was thanking her for her kindness. She asked that we please call her if this house should sell soon so that she can try to get us in that house at that time.
So, it's back on the market and we are back to having people constantly traipsing through. We are holding on to the fact that maybe, just maybe, there will be a buyer that comes along with the timing that we will end up being able to move right into the new house.
Everything happens for a reason. Right?

Oh...where to begin?!!

2008-09-11T08:41:00.007-04:00

The last month has been a whirlwind and beyond STRESSFUL.
We do have a buyer for mom's house after: countering back and forth with two different buyers, each with different contingencies, a three hour inspection with seven strangers in the house, fixing the short list of requests following the inspection, debating two different radon tests and having an engineer come in for one and a half hours to check the structure. Joy. The house is over 100 years old. Yes, you are going to see some signs of "settling"!!
As far as building the new house goes, this is our progress: we all attended the Town Board meeting at the end of August with our builder, realtor, her boss, town attorney and the Planning Board chair WOMAN who is one tough cookie lemme tell ya!! The owner of the realty office introduced us all and explained why we want to build a mother/daughter (he is a fantastic speaker!!). The builder then went on to show the board our blue prints and a new development land map. Their latest hang up is that we had to have four "good acres" on our lot in order to build a two family home. The engineer looked into it and out of 15, we have 10 good acres, so he created a new map for the board to reflect that. A little bit of back and forth went on and our builder tried to explain that time is being wasted. At that point a man in the audience spoke up to explain that this is a "process", blah, blah, blah...that is when my husband chimed in to let him know that he understands "processes" as he was a commissioner for five years and he works for a municipality! I thought I would die! I was giving him the "'please shut up look" and our realtor was tapping him on the shoulder. Hahaha!! Turns out the "man in the audience" is on the Planning Board. Terrific.
Thank goodness one of the Town Board members spoke up right then and said "Listen, at this point, I don't see any problems and we saw these blueprints and other land maps back in January." Amen!!! I love him. Yes, it has been 8 months of this craziness, so with that they all voted in favor.
This means the Town Board has given their blessing. What's next? We have to be approved by the PLANNING BOARD at their next meeting on October 7th. Yeah, Fred will be staying home with the kids that evening! Just kidding, he promises to sit quietly. =]

Other than that, we would all be homeless come the end of October with the closing of mom's house, so I scrambled to find a rental for all of us.
Luckily I was able to find one that was just completely renovated inside and out, it's in our existing school district and it was to be available Sept. 30th.
Perfect. Looked at it and paid the deposit.
The next day (being the same day we found out there were things that needed to be fixed from the inspection and it was the day of the Board meeting) I get a phone call from the rental owner saying that "the current tenants had the sale of the house they were buying fall through and they would like to stay in the house". What? Oh, hell no!! As I began to go crazy on the poor woman, she went on to say "But, we have decided that it's only fair that you get the house since they said they would be out by 9/30 and you have paid the deposit." She just wanted to check with me and see if it would be possible for us to take a different house that she has for rent in another town and then they could stay there. At this point, I can't do things just to be nice so, NO. They have no children to worry about school districts, so they can take that house!
On a positive note, Sophia started fourth grade and really likes it. She has a teacher that is highly interactive and believes that most of their work should be done in the classroom where they can all work together. Homework will be kept to a minimal amount. I love her.
Alena is talking like crazy. Her pronunciation is getting better and better. We switched all of her sippy cups to straws and what a BIG difference with speech. She continues to be as funny as ever and smart as a whip. Her newest obsession is Blues Clues, Periwinkle being her fav. She has a stuffed "Periwhipple" that goes EVERYWHERE with her and we watch the DVD's endlessly. She thinks Steve rocks and that Joe is scary!! We all think Joe just tries too hard to be a dork, where it comes natural to poor Steve. :-)
The next post will hopefully be much more positive with us getting settled into the rental house and the Planning Board meeting behind us.
With love,
Jenni

Vacation part 2 !!

2008-08-16T10:20:00.020-04:00

I have been on vacation for two weeks and it has been the best time ever. We have taken lots of little trips and have had down time in between. Have I mentioned that I want to live by the beach? (all the while we are fighting tooth & nail to build in the wildnerness?!! I'll survive. Haha!!)

We came home from our time in Connecticut and rested for a couple of days, then took the girls to motorcross races at a track that will be behind where we're building the house. It was so fun!

Denise and I took a day to take the kids to a lake an hour from us that we have been hearing about. We got there and the beach was small, but nice. As the kids played, I looked down the lake and there was a HUGE, beautiful beach at the other end!! Turns out there are two entrances. The small beach tends to be used by the people that are camping and the other, by everyone. About 2 hours after arriving, a storm rolled in and they closed the beach. Ugh! We were at least thankful that we figured the place out and plan to return next season. =]

Fred and I had planned a two day get away to the Jersey Shore with our friends Vinny & Kristy a while ago. Well, he had his hand surgery, was out of work for 1 1/2 weeks and had to return the day we all left for the shore. So, I packed the girls up and off we went. We had the greatest time, but we missed daddy. :( Vinny & Kristy were great with the girls. They say they are "practicing". Hehehe...
The beaches were just gorgeous. We spent a day and night in Long Branch, on the beach and then in the shops. The next day we spent walking the boardwalk in Bradley Beach and we played some miniature golf!
Good times and great memories.

New house update: My goodness. WHAT a process. The builder has been attending planning board meetings on our behalf, because we need a variance to build a 2 fam. house in a sub-division. There is one person on the board raising questions. We had to get signed letters from our bordering property neighbors saying they are not opposed and we are on the agenda AGAIN for the end of Aug. meeting. The next step could be a public hearing. I told Fred that it reminds me of the Scarlett Letter or something!! Hahaha!!!
As far as mom & George's house selling, we have had quite a few showings lately. We are countering with one family now and don't know if that will pan out and we have a family coming back tomorrow for a second look. They really loved it when they looked at it a few days ago. We shall see, but please keep us in your prayers. Our next HUGE obstacle could be where the heck we are all going to live if this house sells and obviously the new one will not be ready yet!!

Vacation

2008-08-04T11:12:00.015-04:00

The time has finally come. I am on vacation until the 18th! Wooo hoooo!!
The girls and I are in Connecticut and Fred is joining us this afternoon.
We spent the day at the Niantic Bay yesterday and had the greatest time. It's so beautiful and peaceful there. We walked the boardwalk and took our shoes off and strolled the beach. Mom and Soph collected shells, Alena gathered rocks(!) and I just sat, watched & listened to the tide coming in. Ahhhh.....
Afterwards, we strolled Main St. and checked out the little shops, then headed to Lenny & Joe's to eat, ride the carousel & have some ice cream!
Tomorrow we plan to head to Mystic Seaport for the day!
Hope you're all having a fabulous summer!!!

Summer time!!

2008-07-19T08:47:00.013-04:00

Hi!!! It's been a great summer so far. The girls have done lots of camping with Mom & George.
We stayed home instead of going camping for July 4th weekend and I have to say it was really nice to be able to attend friends' parties!! Alena had a blast at the Mally's party. She left sweaty & muddy!
I took the girls and my niece Lily out to Connecticut for the weekend last week and we had lots of fun. Spent a day at Rocky Neck beach and the weather could not have been more perfect. Full sun, nice waves and no humidity.
Today is Fred's surprise 40th birthday party and should prove to be a wild time!! Pics to follow!!
As for the new house...I have never seen such a SLOW process. The plans are finalized and our variance request was presented to the planning board with no negative feedback from surrounding neighbors. The final decision on the variance now lies with the town attorney. Yikes!!
Happy Summer!!

Springtime photos of Alena Mei...

2008-06-22T09:03:00.009-04:00

Denise took the top one. She came over to take some photos for me to send to the lab in Cali that did my veneers. They put out a calendar each year and asked if I would send in some pics to be considered for 2009. We shall see! Alena wanted in on the picture action!
The girls got great hair!! She was on the floor playing and looked so peaceful, so I grabbed the camera.
I bought a bubble generator on clearance on Target last week. Best $5 I've ever spent!!

Better late than never!!

2008-06-15T07:13:00.009-04:00

I don't know how this got away from me, but back in April, Sophia had an awesome CSI themed birthday party! This is the third year we chose this place for her party and I just love it. She's chosen Sci-fi Space, Garden Fairies and CSI!

The kids were to investigate a "stuffed animal-napping"!! When we got there the "suspects" were all in a line up with their rap sheets posted. There was a poster about the victim and the kids were divided into two teams. They were given detective notebooks and had to search and collect clues that were hidden around the room. After all of the clues were found and information was read, they had to work together to solve the crime! It was so cute to see them process the info and narrow things down.

After the perpetrator was identified (!), they visited stations where they studied their own teeth imprints, recorded their fingerprints, made fake blood, did a blood splatter study, etc!

I picked them up some detective black sun glasses, crime scene bubble gum tape, CSI bracelets and magnifying glasses. It was a really cute party!!
Happy Belated Birthday to my big girl!!

Dose of Miss Mei...

2008-05-29T22:14:00.008-04:00

Soph was away camping with her nannie & papa this past weekend and Alena was stuck home subjected to partying with mom & dad at some great BBQ's! She also enjoyed her first Happy Meal! : )

She played some baseball with her buddy Aidan and ran around our friend Vinny's bbq like she owned the place!

Hope you all had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend!
With love,
Jenni

What a Character!

2008-05-17T22:39:00.014-04:00

Wow. Twice in one weekend.
Alena is something else. We were in line at Walmart Friday night waiting to check out. I was putting our groceries up on the belt and Alena was (amazingly) sitting nicely in the front of the cart. A man and his wife were standing next to her as they were next in line. All of a sudden the man laughed. I have to admit it was one of those laughs that is not pretty.
Well, Miss Mei lets loose with one of her snickers and THEN imitates his laugh. I thought I would die right there! The man's wife laughed and I turned beet red!!
This evening, Denise and I decided to take the kids and drive around NY to find a restaurant without an hour long wait.
We really wanted the Cheeseburger in Paradise experience, but ended up at Red Lobster. That's fine, until they sat us diagonally from another table with what appeared to be a three year old boy that may have had too much sugar and not enough discipline.
Alena decided that was to be her job. :) The little darling took his shoes off and was climbing up on the shelf behind their table. Alena was yelling at him "sit" and "down". It was hilarious, yet embarrassing. Later, while he was yelling at his mother, she told him to "shush" and did the motions for him as well. Our kids all got quite a giggle out of that one.....

I hope all of the mommas out there had a fantastic Mother's Day! Denise and I took the kids to Mother's Day breakfast, we visited a nursery with some animals and finished the day at a big playground. I was EXHAUSTED by the time we got home. Alena just doesn't stop moving and can scale a twirly slide in seconds!
While running around, she fell face first in gravel. She stood up without a whimper, made a small attempt to wipe the dirt and debris from her face and took off running again! I grabbed her so that I could make a quick assessment of the teeth and gums (which were fine), so she walked away with a bleeding lip and scrapes. Unbelievable.
Upon returning home, we both took a nap!!! Hahaha!!

Other than that, the girls are doing great. Sophia got a really cute hair cut today. She has her last tennis lesson of this session tomorrow and then she will play with the recreation department over the summer. We are away too much over the next few months to have her in lessons!
Alena is putting two and three words together now and she knows her ABC's. She loves to sit with a pad and pencil and pretend that she's writing them as she recites them. We are trying to work with her on pronunciation quite a bit now.
Love to all,
Jenni

Decision, decisions, decisions...

2008-05-09T09:13:00.010-04:00

Met with the on-site coordinator this morning for two hours to pick everything for the new house! My head was spinning. Just when I thought I had picked the right tile, I would change my mind on cabinetry. Then I would get settled on the cabinet and I would get thrown off with the hardwood floors. Let's not talk about the carpeting choices!! I have seen 5oo shades of every color!
Denise came along to entertain Alena and thank God she did. Every time I couldn't make up my mind, I just yelled, "Can you come here?"!!
The siding, shutters and shingles were the easiest part!
I know it can all be replaced, but I know I am going to be looking at these selections for quite some time!!!
So, as I sit here, the carpeting samples sit next to me begging to be chosen!!
Wish me luck. :)
Jenni

We said goodbye

2008-04-27T19:30:00.011-04:00

Well, we said goodbye to our first house this past week. We went crazy to be out a week earlier than planned, as the buyer's needed to move up the date.
As I finished mopping the kitchen floor and then closed the back door, the tears started flowing. I never expected to get that emotional, but it hit me hard.
It was a great house. We had a lot of good times there, no major problems or repairs, a beautiful yard that we worked really hard on and great neighbors.
I can remember the week we moved into that house. One neighbor arrived with homemade cookies, another with baked ziti and another with a laundry basket full of household necessities and food. We were blessed, as the new family will be.
They are wonderful people, that are very excited to be the new owners. They love the house and said they knew the moment they walked through the front door, that it was to be theirs.
We had such a nice time at the closing. It was my first time meeting them and the room was full of lawyers, Realtors and all of us. Everyone laughed, chatted and wrote checks!! They had lots of questions about the pond (Our koi have a new home at Doc's house though. :) ) and I got to tell them the history behind some of the special trees we planted. My favorite blue atlas cedar was purchased on Sophia's first day of kindergarten and our wedding anniversary. We've been invited to stop by at anytime, especially if I'm feeling emotional. Hahaha!
I'm happy that the packing is over for a bit and that people as excited as we were will now be enjoying a little house that has so much character. :)
Love to all,
Jenni

The Backpack...

2008-04-13T21:37:00.005-04:00

A certain little someone wants soooo badly to be just like her big sister. Every morning she hears me tell Sophia to get her backpack and of course "Dora" teaches her everyday how great a backpack is. So, she started "stealing" Sophia's backpack. The thing weighs a TON! She would get it on, struggle with all of her might to stand up and then...fall down.
Big sister took pity on her and remembered she had her old Fisher Price backpack in her toybox. Alena cherishes that backpack. She has to put it on before going down to the van, take it off before getting in and then put it right back on to walk into nannies, etc. When we go to get Sophia from school, she wears it. Everyone gets a kick out of that as they wait for their kids to come out. She stands with her hands at her sides holding on the straps!!
We are all moved into mom's house now and are just working on emptying our house out now. Looks like our closing may be the 29th. Mom & George's house went on the market on Thursday and we had a showing here already on Saturday. Hope that is a good sign. The house really looks fantastic. They worked really hard getting it ready to list.
Fred and Sophia went to a father/daughter luau with the Girl Scouts on Thursday. They both looked very cool and had a good time! Fred said I must have bought him the hottest shirt at Walmart because five other dads were wearing the same one!! Hahaha!!
The girls and I are sicker than dogs right now. It started with me on Thursday, Alena caught on yesterday afternoon and Sophia this morning. We all have a wicked cough with chest congestion, fever, aches and just yucky colds. Fred is walking around the house with a surgical mask on. Cracks me the hell up, but does the trick I guess!!
It's finally feeling a little more like spring. We all need to get better so that we can enjoy it!!
With love,
Jenni

Busy Easter Weekend!

2008-03-29T12:29:00.002-04:00

We had a busy fun time of it!! We colored Easter eggs here Friday night. Sophia, Lily and Alena were neat (!) and did a beautiful job.
Saturday we went to Aunt Kaye's for her annual Easter Eggstravaganza. Good times!! The kids all dyed and decorated eggs, decorated their bags for the hunt, then went outside for the egg hunt. Afterwards, they decorated Easter themed sugar cookies that Aunt Kaye baked with icing and sprinkles and did some crafting! Such a great day!!
Thanks Aunt Kaye!!
In the evening we had to say goodbye to Lily, but she'll be coming down to visit in April for Sophia's CSI birthday party! :)
Easter Sunday, I got the girls dressed up in their Easter dresses that Nannie bought for them. They looked so pretty. Sophia wasn't "thrilled" that they matched (LOL!) and Alena just wanted to get down and dirty!! We had Easter breakfast with 24 family members and friends. It was really nice. Alena did not want the Easter bunny to get close to her unless she was glued to my side though and I did NOT win the jelly bean jar game. :( Matt- I hope you enjoyed them!!
To finish off the day we had a very nice dinner at mom's house with Great Grandma Ronk.
We are trying to get serious about the packing around here, but it still feels like I am getting nowhere fast!!
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Enjoy the pictures that follow! There are LOTS!
With love,
Jenni

Easter Evidence!

2008-03-29T10:31:00.019-04:00

Ummm....vacation please!!!

2008-03-21T21:54:00.009-04:00

So things are as crazy as ever!
Fred went to Daytona for 1 1/2 weeks for bike week and had a blast. WHILE he was away I get a phone call from our realtor that the builder has come in with a price on the new house. I was grocery shopping and thought I was going to need oxygen!!! Didn't want to stress Fred out while he was away so I decided to start the negotiating on my own. Yikes!!
Two hours later, our lawyer calls and says that we need to get in the office to sign the papers on the sale of our existing house. I explained that Fred was away and he said there wasn't enough time to wait for him to come back, that I should come in on my own and sign everything. O.K. Why not?!!
A few days later, I sign away and then ask if we have until the closing to back out and he says "Um, no. Everything you just signed gives the rights of that house to the buyers as long as they get their mortgage by the said date." O.K., so I had more negotiating to do!!! LOL
We've gotten the price down on the new house some, got an estimate for our taxes (O.M.G.) and talked to the bank again. This week we will negotiate some things that we want included with this final price and then move on.
We have to be out of this house by April 30th and we have been procrastinating on the whole packing deal. Ewww! I did manage to get a couple of boxes accomplished today, but it looks like I got nowhere! This is what we are shooting for:We celebrated my birthday last week and I had a little more fun than usual. Fred and I did some bar hopping, explaining the exhausted look on my face, the following day! Ignore the candles, I am 30 AGAIN!!
Alena is a chatter box and constantly wants to practice counting and her ABC's. Very cute.
She's had a bit of a tummy bug this week, but seems to be doing better.
Sophia and the rest of the Odyssey of the Mind Team did so well in their competition. They got fourth place and we are very proud of all of their hard work!! It was a LONG day that ended with dinner out with the whole team and their families. This is waiting for the judging!

Lily is spending the night with us tonight! The girls all colored Easter eggs together tonight. They were so cute and did a fantastic job. :)
Tomorrow we are going to Aunt Kaye's annual Easter Eggstravaganza! Hahaha!
Happy spring everyone!!
With Love,
Jenni

Ready....set....go!!!

2008-02-22T13:54:00.000-05:00

Here she is!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tagged with a different version of meme!

2008-02-19T20:55:00.004-05:00

I was tagged by Brynne!

These are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages.

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the 5th sentence.

4. Post the next 3 sentences.

5. Tag 5 more people.

Hmmm....looking around for the nearest book here in the dining room...most of them are packed in storage.
O.K. on my nightstand I have "Optimal Thinking: how to be your best self" by Rosalene Glickman, Ph.D.

Page 123, sentences 6-8 are:
"Below are some Optimal questions to assist you in the process of reverse planning. Take some time to write down your responses.
What Do You Most Want to Be, Do, Have, and Contribute?"

Five people to tag??? I just tagged three recently, so I don't know how many I can get this time!!
1. Kelly
2. Lisa

3. Angela
4. Volunteer?
5. Another?!!

What's new...

2008-02-18T21:19:00.007-05:00

Miss Alena is as funny as ever. Every time we put her coat on we count along with the snaps. This morning while getting ready, we counted the four snaps and then she kept right on going to 7!! I was so proud of her. I clapped so she counted all day. :)
Saturday, while not thinking before speaking (!), I said "What the hell...?". Alena was within earshot and paraded around the house saying "hell"!! Nice.
Her favorite thing is to say "Ready, set, go...". It is the cutest! She gets so excited, so she stretches out R-E-A-D-Y in a high pitched voice, with a big smile and her little eyes practically shut! That is going to be my next video of her. I love it.
She is still obsessed with Ariel and Sponge Bob is becoming a fast second. If you've ever heard the Sea Hag in the Little Mermaid do her wicked cackle, you should hear Alena's impression. With her deep raspy little voice, it's hilarious and always right on cue.
Sophia is doing great in school. We are always so proud of her. She is also doing excellent with her tennis lessons. She is getting ready to start her third round this weekend. I am beginning to enjoy the lesson time as well. Alena stays home to nap and I get an hour in of reading time while she plays. She has also been working really hard with her Odyssey of the Mind team staying at school each day until 6PM. Their event is this Saturday!
We got another Sugar Glider to join "Chico" a few weeks ago. His name is "Linguine" and he is so sweet. (pictured above!) Chico is a little skittish and attached to Fred, but Linguine is really friendly.
It looks like our house is SOLD! We have an accepted offer and passed inspection. It's just subject to the appraisal at this point. We got our first set of rough plans from the architect and they needed some changing!! A lot with mom & George's house and just a few changes with ours. They redesigned our upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms and that I really love! Now we wait for the revised plans to come back and to get mom & George's house on the market.
If all goes well with our appraisal, the buyers would like us out by April 30th. We will move in to mom & George's house for the remainder of the time. I am going to miss this house. It's so cozy and inviting, but I am also looking forward to what's new! The development is beautiful and we already have a handful of ideas for the property.
Fred has been sick for almost a week with an URI and flu symptoms. He is definitely on the mend. Thank GOD!!! LOL He is gearing up for a week and a half long trip to Daytona for bike week with our neighbor, Dan.
Fred's mom had surgery this past weekend to remove a shunt that she had in place that had become infected and is recovering nicely. Once all of the infection clears and she regains some strength, they will place a new one. She has been through so much over the last few months.
I think that about covers it! So, I will be watching my language and Alena will continue to make us laugh. :)
With love,
Jenni

So darn cute!!

2008-02-10T09:34:00.000-05:00

I took this video of Alena last month. I love it!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Oh, the panic!

2008-02-01T08:54:00.000-05:00

"Baew" is a special little guy to Miss Alena. He's a little panda Beanie Baby that we call "Bear". He's had to have "stitches" a couple of times now and he's Alena's buddy. We rock with him at night, she sleeps with him and then takes him out of her crib in the morning to bring him to Nannie's or Aunt Denise's house.
While getting ready for bed Wed. night, he was no where to be found. Asked Fred if he remembered her coming home from my mom's with him and he said he thought he saw her playing with him, but maybe it was the day before??
Called mom's to see if "Bear" was left there and sadly he wasn't. She checked her van as well and then remembered that while shopping at Lowe's, Alena kept stuffing him down the side of the cart. He must have been left there. Poor bear. Alone, possibly outside in the cold dark parking lot or.....(shudders at the thought) with a new owner?!!
Nannie called Lowes and no one had turned in our precious "Baew".
On to ebay I go! Great! 8 Manchu Beanie Baby pandas available! I wasn't wasting anytime bidding one, so I picked a "Buy it Now" that was the closest to home to save on shipping time!! I then e-mailed the poor person and pleaded for them to ship "him" to us ASAP.
She looked so confused when I put her to bed without him. Kept turning her head side to side to see if he was in his place next to her and there was only "Guy", her (shhhh.....second best buddy!!) stuffed reindeer.
Yesterday morning I was straightening the pillows on our love seat in front of our living room windows and I glanced up. Perched on the window sill next to a candle, looking peacefully out the window, was BEAR!!
I smiled so big and said to Fred, "Hey, look who it is!"!! She did bring him home and when my mom brought Sophia home from her Odyssey meeting, she and Bear watched out the window. :)
So, nine dollars later and only a "little panicked", Bear is safe and sound and he should have a new friend soon.
Love to all,
Jenni

The Mayonaise Jar

2008-01-26T16:59:00.000-05:00

I received this in an e-mail from my sister-in-law and loved it. Thought I would share:

When things in your life seem
Almost too much to handle,
When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
Remember the mayonnaise jar
And 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class And had some items in
front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly,
He picked up a very large
And empty mayonnaise jar
And proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students
If the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the
jar.
He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open
Areas between the golf balls.

He then asked
The students again
If the jar was full..
They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand And poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full.
The students responded
With an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced
Two cups of coffee from under the table
And poured the entire contents
Into the jar, effectively
Filling the Empty space between the sand.
The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor,
As the laughter subsided,
"I want you to recognize that
This jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children, health,
Friends, and Favorite passions -- Things that if everything else was
lost And only they remained, Your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter Like your job, house, and
car.

The sand is everything else --
The small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first,"
He continued,
"there is no room for
The pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time
And energy on the small stuff,
You will never have room for
The things that are
Important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things
That are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.
Play another 18.

There will always be time
To clean the house
And fix the disposal.

"Take care of the golf balls first --
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities.
The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand
And inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.
"I'm glad you asked".

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for A couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

It's MEME time!

2008-01-24T22:38:00.001-05:00

First, I was tagged by Kelly.
Second, this made me laugh because Alena started referring to herself at "Me me" about a month ago!

The Rules:
A) Link to the person that tagged you.
B) Post the rules on your blog.
C) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
D) Tag at least three people at the end of your post and link to their blogs.
E) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
F) Let the fun begin!

What to share....what to share....
1) I LOVE silence. LOVE IT!
2) I am an optimist.
3) I am just starting the fourth Harry Potter book tonight. :)
4) My middle name is Rebecca.
5) Pet peeve- when the lid is left up/open on a mailbox. Drives me crazy!
6) I like everything to be in its place!

I tagged:
Mare (awesome woman with some patience to match! : ) )
Cindy (mama to some incredible boys!)
Donna (Miss Aislinn's mama! :) )

She was the Birthday Diva

2008-01-13T10:03:00.000-05:00

Oh, yes. Bring on the attention. Too much is not enough for this fabulous two year old!! Alena had quite a time of birthday celebrations this year!!
The first round was with the Coopers and we had a blast. She clapped as everyone sang Happy Birthday to her and signed & said "More" when we were done.
She cruises our house with her new Little Mermaid wheels from Nana & Papa Cooper. (I have to say that it's the loudest toy either of my kids has ever had! O.M.G.!!)
We listened to her personalized birthday CD from Uncle Gary, Aunt Arlene & her cousins on her birthday and she tried sooo hard to find the guy in the entertainment center that kept saying her name!! It was hysterical!
The second celebration took place at Bugaboo Creek for a birthday dinner. It's an annual event that Nana & Papa Ronk take us on for the girl's birthdays. (Fred and I love it. :) )
Alena loves the "chaos" in that place and every time they would come out to sing to some one she would clap and say "more"! When it was her turn, she stared at them in amazement until they wanted her to "kiss the moose" and then she wanted to cling to me for dear life!!
We finished the festivities off with a final birthday party the day before her actual birthday. Lots more aunts, uncles, cousins and Nana & Papa Ronk joined us for cake & ice cream and of course, lots of singing "Happy Birthday"!! Uncle Ray & Aunt Kaye gave her a beautiful cradle for her babies, so she has been very busy putting them "night night"! She also received three pairs of Ariel jammies and spent her party doing wardrobe changes. You never knew what the diva's next ensemble might be!!
On the 7th we all just kissed and hugged her all day and told her how much we loved her. : )
Happy 2nd Birthday to my monkey butt!!
With love,
Jenni

Holiday fun with family and friends!!

2007-12-31T12:55:00.000-05:00

We've enjoyed visiting with family and friends over this holiday season. Great grandma was down for a couple of days, Aunt Denise had her annual Christmas Eve open house, the Badendyck's had their annual open house and the Coopers were here!!
We celebrated Alena's 2nd birthday a week early yesterday, while they were here. Alena had a ball and loved hearing us sing to her.
Sophia was so happy to visit with her cousins. We really enjoyed seeing everyone!
Wishing everyone a safe, happy and healthy New Year!!
Love,
Jenni

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T22:56:00.000-05:00

Wishing all of our loved ones a very Merry Christmas!
We had a great day today. The girls got up at 7:45 and they were both soooo excited! It's was a lot of fun to watch them both. : )
Love,
Jenni

One Year "Gotcha Day" Anniversary!

2007-12-18T22:28:00.000-05:00

One year ago today, in a beautiful province in southern China, a soft-spoken nannie placed a precious sleeping baby girl in my arms. She saw how nervous I was to take her away and she nodded and said, "It's O.K.". She was right.
I hope and pray with all my heart that this little angel's birth mom & dad also know that it's "O.K.". She is so loved and is such a happy girl.
Love to all,
Jenni

Miscommunication... possibly?

2007-12-14T07:47:00.000-05:00

Mom and I took the girls to visit Santa last week. Sophia, of course, was more than happy to see the jolly guy and sit on his lap.
Alena, on the other hand, was NOT. She waved to him from her stroller and smiled, but wanted no part of the approach or sitting on the lap. Who wears a red suit like that anyway?!!
I was thinking that perhaps when I said "Santa" she thought I said "Satan" and that put and end to that!! OR she's having flashbacks of Santa in China. (Sight for sore eyes, let me tell ya!!) I will include a photo of that for your pleasure as well!
So, we took the photo with Sophia smiling beautifully and Alena trying her best to get off my knee!

Today marks one year since Denise and Janice drove us to JFK for our LONG flight to China. It was windy and cold, but oh so worth it!!
The 18th will be our one year "Gotcha Day" anniversary! What a wonderful adventure this past year has been.
Love,
Jenni

Doesn't she make you smile?

2007-12-06T21:16:00.000-05:00

I just fell in love with the first picture. I know she shouldn't be playing with her medicine, but she was happy to carry it from her bedroom to the kitchen to pack it for the day. Who am I to argue when she wants to help out?!
The girls are doing great. Sophia is continuing with her tennis lessons and is doing lots of reading. She enjoys quiet time in her bedroom to read. She's also been gracious enough to supply me with "Updates" to her Christmas list on a regular basis. :0
Alena is just her usual self. The kid is hilarious. Seriously. She is just too funny.
Two nights ago while I was washing my face, she went under the bathroom sink to get what I believed was her usual headband. A moment later, I heard Fred in the living room saying "What the....?" and laughing. She had walked out there with a certain "feminine product" in her mouth like a party blower!!! We were hysterical. Thank goodness we weren't entertaining anyone!!
Tonight, Fred was snoring on the couch and she was having her bedtime cup of milk on the other couch. She said, "Momma" to get my attention, then looked at Fred and said "Da da" while she proceeded to do her best snoring impression. Then she covered her mouth with her hand and giggled. I was cracking up!!
We are still waiting for a decision from the planning boards attorney on our house plans. Through the grapevine, things are not sounding promising, because it would actually be a two family house in a sub-division. Please keep praying for us!!
Doc took us girls to NYC for the day last Tuesday. A limo took us down in the morning. We did lots of walking, visited Rockefeller Center, did some shopping in Saks, got makeovers (too fun) and ate some great food!
I ordered our Christmas card with the girls pictures the other day, so they will be on there way out in a couple of weeks!
Love to all,
Jenni

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-24T11:40:00.000-05:00

Hope you all had a wonderful day. For the second year in a row, Fred got called into work very early for a water main break. The girls and I made it to Aunt K's just in time for dinner. I had waited to see if Fred w0uld make it home in time and let Alena get a nap in. He made it there two hours after dinner. Better late than never!
Things are definetely improving around here. Mom and Alena ended up with pneumonia and they were both very sick. Alena is back to her little self and mom just has to regain an appetite and some strength.
My mother in law had unexpected surgery and is on the mend as well.
Now we are need of some prayers regarding the new house. Our house plans were presented to the town planning board to see if they would pass or if a variance would be needed. We were informed this week that the town has turned them over to their attorney for approval or denial. PLEASE pray that we will be able to build the home we have in mind on this property!!
Thanks so much.
Well, I forgot my camera at home on Thanksgiving Day. I was looking back at all of our China photos last night, unable to believe that it has been almost a year since our visit. We are so thankful for such an incredible experience.
I am sharing a couple of my favorite pics.
Love to all,
Jenni

The Latest......

2007-11-11T21:25:00.000-05:00

Seems we always have something in the works around here! The newest thing is the big FOR SALE sign in our front yard!! O.M.G. Who would have thought?!
We love our house and we are really going to miss it, our yard and our neighbors, but we are feeling the need for a little more space and more property. At the same time, mom & George's house has become overwhelming. It's so big for the two of them, the stairs are hard on them both, as well as the upkeep. So, the next step is to get their house on the market after we sort through 30 years of "stuff" ! :)
We found a beautiful new development in Walkill. It's a circle with 19 lots. Most of them are 1-2 acres, with the exception of two in the back which are 20 and 15 acres. We fell in love with the 15 acre lot (Lot #8). The house will sit back with a longer driveway and the property has a stream that runs through it. I just love it out there.
We just listed our house yesterday and I got a phone call this morning from the realtor that someone wanted to look at it today from 1-2PM. Yikes! I had a Tastefully Simple party here scheduled for 3PM, hadn't showered yet and needed to get some last minute things done around here! Needless to say, today was a blur!
Miss Mei is sick. She has a nasty cough and a fever. We didn't sleep much last night and I have a feeling that tonight will be a repeat. My poor little monkey. :(
Soph is doing great. Having an awesome school year and she loves her tennis lessons.
Mom had uterine cancer and had a complete hysterectomy on Tuesday. The surgery went extremely well and they got everything very early. They didn't need to remove any lymph nodes and no radiation or chemo will be necessary. She came home yesterday and has a 6-8 week recovery ahead of her.
Above is a pick of what should be our future "hood"!!
Love to all,
Jenni

Extras

2007-11-02T14:23:00.000-04:00

With Fall being my favorite time of year, I took some extra pictures while at the farm and there are a few more from Halloween. Every year, I just can't get over what a beautiful season this is.

"Trick-orTreat" AKA "Pleeeeease"

2007-11-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

The girls had a fabulous time last night. Sophia looked so grown up and Alena was hysterical. She would approach any house and any person as long as she held her big sister's hand. Sophia would politely say "Trick-or-Treat" and Alena would follow it up with a big long "Pleeeeease"! Then she would wave good-bye or blow a kiss! It was just so cute.

Then and Now

2007-10-27T11:43:00.000-04:00

We have taken Sophia to the same pumpkin patch at a local farm every year. This year she was attending a birthday party there, so I took Alena along for the fun. Soph was busy with her friends, but I got some pics of Alena.
In 2000 when Soph was 1 1/2, she wore this yellow sweater and jeans. Alena wore the same outfit!
Included are a couple of other recent pics. Soph got her haircut again and Alena is sporting her Halloween pj's from her Cooper cousins!!
Hope everyone is having a happy and healthy fall season.
With love,
Jenni

Potty Talk

2007-10-19T22:54:00.000-04:00

Wednesday morning, Miss Alena and I headed to Target to purchase her a new potty!! Yes, the time has come. She is happy to tell me when she is "PU", by walking around with her nose plugged, so I figure she can grasp the concept of the potty.
So, as we are heading down the "potty aisle", I said with great excitement "Are we going to get you a new potty?!" (in annoying mommy to toddler tone) Alena shook her sweet head and said, "Nuh Uh." A bystander mommy chuckled.
About a half an hour later, I narrowed it down to a nice basic model. No annoying/distracting music or flushing sound and no need for an attached toilet paper holder. (She already knows it's located on the wall and she's had PLENTY of practice unraveling it!!)
We make our way through the checkout and the cashier said to her, "Is this YOUR new potty?!!" (Same tone, she must be a mom too!) Alena politely shook her head no and said, "Nuh Uh."
So far, she thinks it makes a great seat while watching mommy do her hair, etc. and she loves to take the little potty part out and walk around the house "stirring" it with her plastic spoons. I ask her if she's making soup and she nods her head and continues on her way. So for now, we have a new little stove in the bathroom. : )
Love to all,
Jenni

She's just like me!

2007-10-07T10:08:00.000-04:00

Hehehe......Sophia was among forty students from the 3-5 grades to try out for the "Odyssey of the Mind" team. She went to a meeting after school last week, had to write an essay and create something. She got a letter on Friday to say that she is one of 7 selected for the team!! Way to go Sophia!
Oddysey of the Mind is about creativity and working as a team to solve a problem. She will attend three meetings a week from 3:30-5PM and then there's a competition in February. We are so proud of her.

"Shut up and Drive"

2007-10-03T22:18:00.000-04:00

Alena is ready to roll. She had her first dirtbike ride with daddy this weekend and when he took her helmet off and set her down she signed and said"More"!! It was too funny.
Then, she proceeded to take a long nap!!

Autumn Beauties

2007-09-26T21:23:00.000-04:00

These two are just the best! I love to watch them interact with eachother. Sophia is a wonderful big sister and Alena adores her.
Enjoy!!

Test run

2007-09-22T22:37:00.000-04:00

We decided to gear up for some Halloween fun and try on some costumes around here. I had gotten the Sunflower costume from the Children's Place from an online friend for Alena before Alena even arrived home. Sadly, it's a bit too tight, but she loved it! She paraded around the house bobbing her big sunflower head side to side and laughing!

Nannie has come to the rescue and purchased the Baby Chick costume for her instead, so stayed tuned for those pics around Halloween!

Sophia is loving third grade and has been busy campaigning for Student Government. (She is sooo like her father!!!)

The girls are really doing great and we are just keeping busy with school, Sophie's tennis lessons and Alena just being Alena!! She is a very sweet and extremely smart baby. She observes everything and soaks it all in.

Friday she had helped herself to a bag of potato chips. I told her to put them back and a few seconds later found her sitting on the hallway floor, having herself a little party with the big bag of chips! We were getting ready to run errands for the PTO, so I told her "Time to go bye-bye." I come into the kitchen and she has a baggie and is loading it with chips for the road!! I cracked up. (She is so like her momma!!)

Love to all,

Jenni

Ahhhh....we were such babies!!

2007-09-04T20:08:00.000-04:00

Well, Fred and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on Sunday. We were actually dressed for the occasion as one of my co-workers got married that day. (Go TC!!!) We had a fabulous time at the Poughkeepsie Grand and then came home to our two beautiful kiddos. (Thanks Aunt Chris for babysitting. :) )

Posted is a little comparison for your entertainment!! I don't know about Fred, but I haven't aged a bit!! LOL (J/K)

Love to all,

Jenni

Little dose of cuteness....

2007-08-31T22:17:00.000-04:00

Miss Alena is doing great. Her momma.....not so much. You see the little darling is teething with a vengeance. She has been sleeping through the night for so long, now she wakes up AT LEAST once a night. Four teeth erupted over the past couple of weeks. Not sure if she's brewing anything else right now!

She has added "eat" to her vocabulary as well as the sign for it. She cracked us up the other night when Fred told her "no" about something and she confidently walked away with her nose up in the air and her lips puckered!! She is such a character. She has a new "cue" that she has a dirty diaper as you can see in the above photo and she is sometimes a bit inquisitive/naughty as you can also see as pictured!

Soph is all set for third grade. She is so addicted to Webkinz right now that it's making me crazy. ; ) I really love to watch her and Alena curl up in the recliner together to watch cartoons or see them playing on our bed with a bunch of toys. We are so blessed.

Wrapped up the summer with a visit to the Mystic Aquarium a couple of weeks ago with the girls and Jordan. It was a good time and I was able to take a picture of Alena in front of the same statue we had taken a photo of Sophia in front of at almost the same age and wearing the same outfit!!!

Love to all,

Jenni

"We're Here"!!

2007-08-20T20:46:00.000-04:00

Oh, it was priceless. You should have seen the girls faces and heard the laughter in the van.

From the top: Mom, my Aunt Kathy, Sophie, Alena their cousin Sarah and myself load up the van and head to the Pocono mountains in search of the Great Wolf Lodge (http://poconos.greatwolflodge.com/) a couple of weeks ago.

Aunt Kathy had printed directions from Mapquest and I had the GPS. As we get pretty close BOTH sets of directions tell us to take this VERY sharp right turn off of a main road. Make the turn and there is a very old gate that is open with a sign that is so faded that you can't read it anymore. "Must be in these woods ahead somewhere. After all it is in the Pocono Mountains!" I thought to myself as Mom and Aunt Kathy were saying "It CAN'T be in here!"

The directions lead us on VERY narrow and winding roads until we reached the summit!! I am not kidding, we were headed down the steepest narrow hill and I thought my Aunt was going to die. She said, "You're not going to go down there are you?" I said "That's what the directions say. It must be down there and after all, we're in MOM'S van. "!! LOL

We reached the bottom of the hill, my GPS friend said turn left and the little victory flag appeared on the screen and she said "ARRIVED AT DESTINATION."

I was CRACKING UP inside as I put the van in park and said to the kids with a straight face "We're here. Which one do you want to stay in?". Sophia looked out the window and said "Mommy, can we just go home?"!!

We were facing a small circle of four old camping trailers. One camper's occupants were outside, so I rolled down the window to see if they were familiar with the Great Wolf Lodge. A woman started walking toward us and I believe she had as many teeth as the baby that the other woman was holding! She was also being followed by a black lab, a chocolate lab and a yellow lab!! (all soaking wet from the "crick" that ran behind the camper!!

Well, low and behold (!) she had never heard of the place, but "Wait, her husband might know."

He comes from behind the camper turning off his CHAINSAW with his bare belly. I swear the whole seen was like straight out of a movie! After the nice man gave us directions, my Aunt teased him that he was almost stuck with us for a couple of nights. He replied, "Well, it is pretty nice campin' here."!! LOL Too funny!!!

We thanked him, and were on our way. (Although Aunt Kathy wouldn't let me go back UP the hill that we came down!)

In the end the Great Wolf Lodge was AWESOME!!! We all had so much fun. The waterpark is incredible and us adults had as much fun as the kids! Sarah and Sophie had a blast with Magiquest too. Miss Alena marched around the kiddie pool like she owned the place and she loved the kiddie slides!

We will definitely be returning for some more fun.

Love to all and enjoy what's left of summer!

Jenni

Yearly Excursion!

2007-08-05T21:00:00.000-04:00

Denise and I set off for our yearly excursion to Ohio. It's different every time and we always have a blast. We learn lots whether we attend classes or not. : )

(Which this year, we did!!)
We were on a tighter "budget" than usual, so that made for some interesting times! I tried my damnedest to win a stinking Tuscan dinner and she sat around forever to get the chance to play "Corn Hole" with a Longaberger weaver in order to get a Wordworks cutting board, didn't happen & didn't happen!!

We also seemed to miss the free cake after the "Cake Walk" that we didn't even catch a glimpse of.

We didn't win a single giveaway in the Nation Wide Arena (practically pulled a muscle to get the Bee Boys attention for a free t-shirt!!) and the only reason I scored a Longaberger Family Signing card was because someone in the company store gave one to me!

It seems I am the first person to tour the Longaberger "Handles" Department, TWICE. You see, no one wants to tour that building even ONCE. The poor guys beg you to get off the bus when it pulls up. I made Denise get off to take the tour because I felt bad for them and we have done everything else numerous times. We take the tour and there is a game at the end. If you win, you leave with a HUGE Longaberger handle. I'm not kidding, it's huge. It fits the street basket, it's engraved and I think it's nice. Well, Denise walked out with a handle and yours truly DID NOT. Like the only child that I am, I rode that bus right back to the Handles Department, got off the bus and the guys thought they were having heat stroke!! I explained to them that I was back, I was making my best friend miserable and I wasn't leaving without a handle!! They were shocked that I was willing to take the entire tour AGAIN and they were cracking up! The second time through, I got to use some of the machinery used in making the handles, that was cool and where they have you sign your name on a wall, they had me take an orange marker and write "X 2" next to my name. Too funny. In the end, I "played" the game (they totally let me cheat!) and I left with a cool huge solid maple handle!! Denise and I then continued to attract A LOT of attention for the rest of the day, carrying around these handles and having to explain how we acquired them!! It was interesting getting them home on an airplane and mine will soon be proudly displayed on top of my china cabinet with a nice berry vine. : )

We had LOTS of laughs, stayed in the best hotels, ate the most awesome Belgian waffles in the WORLD, totally used our free drinks cards each night, had lunch in Popeye's including "One Bites" for desert, once again had our yearly picture taken in front of the "big basket" in Dresden and THANK GOD for Rice Krispy Treats!!!

Looking forward to sharing "what's new" with everyone at our Open House and of course, looking forward to next year!!

Jenni

Cousins

2007-07-31T08:37:00.000-04:00

Miss Lily came and spent the weekend with us and the girls had a great time together. There was lots of "girl" talk, especially at night. They enjoyed staying up a "little" late, eating popcorn, watching movies and chatting/giggling away.

Lily claims that I was trying to kill her with our evening walks! She's a character! We got to watch the blue heron for a while one night. Other than that, we had some good times at Orange County Park, did lots of swimming and barbecuing! Looking forward to you spending some more time with us, Lil!

With Love,

Aunt Jenni

Starting Over...

2007-07-16T11:46:00.000-04:00

On a sad note, we lost all of our koi fish last week. We ended up with a rare parasite after purchasing two new fish. Fred took one of the fish for an injection and treated the water as advised, but in the end we lost all six of our big koi and eleven babies. We are pretty heart sick to say the least!

Fred buried all of the fish, shocked the water and then completely drained the pond and wet vac'd all of the rocks. It is now refilled and cycling. Thanks to everyone that helped out!!

Other than that, everything has been great! We spent five days camping in Connecticut over July 4th and really enjoyed ourselves. We had a great time swimming and we ate at our favorite two spots- Dave's and Fishtale's!

Alena got to go on her first Merry-go-round at Fishtale's. Too cute!

Lily will be joining us for some Perna craziness this weekend-we can't wait to have her.

Denise and I will be spending a few days in Ohio at the end of the month for our Longaberger Bee and then Mom, myself, the girls, Aunt Kathy and Sarah will be heading to the Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos for a couple of days in August. Sophia is SO excited about that adventure!!!

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer!

Love to all,

Jenni

SIX MONTHS!!

2007-06-30T10:29:00.000-04:00

Yes, it has actually been six months already since our sweet Alena made such an impact on our lives. She is an amazing little person.

In six months she has:

~ Gone from creeping to RUNNING

~ Learned to say: mama, mommy, dada, nana, up, light, hot, bye, baba and she also signs "more".

~ She freely gives kisses to all who want them

~ She climbs EVERYTHING

~ loves to JUMP in the pool!

~ She eats a wide array of food but picks and chooses when she wants to eat them!! : )

She is such a character. She does a lot of mimicking and she's just very comical.

It does my heart good to see her so content. Each morning she reaches for either her nana or Aunt Denise to take her, while I go off to work.

I love coming home to my girls. They are so special.

I love that so many of you have followed our journey since the beginning of our adoption process. I can't believe that it has been 2 1/2 years since we began exploring adoption. What an amazing door to open. We are so blessed to have Alena as our daughter and are so thankful for our trip to China and can't wait to bring the girls back again some day.

Love to all,

Jenni

Slowing down

2007-06-18T11:13:00.000-04:00

Feels good to slow things down for a bit. Voice lessons and Brownies have ended for Soph and today is her last full day of school. Sophie did great in their end of the year musical. It was cute! We went out for dinner and ice cream afterwards.

This past week was my last trip out to Vegas for quite a while and I have to say that the flight home was NOT fun!! I do my best to make the best of things and to try to find the positive in whatever I can, but when two smelly, grumpy men have you pressed up against a window for five hours while they argue and suck on lollipops to supress their urge to smoke, I have difficulty finding the bright side!!!!

Needless to say, I arrived home very tired. The kids were away camping, so I got a nap in and then Fred and I had a nice dinner with Bernie and Tracy on the waterfront.

Dee and I did a little sightseeing while in Vegas since we sun poisoned our selves and couldn't spend another second in the sun (LOL!). We visited the lions in MGM Grand and toured M&M's World. Doc made fun of my sunglasses, saying they were too big, so I purchased a HUGE pair of bright red ones and wore them for most of the last day out there and while in the airport. The looks were too funny!

Fred with some help from Bernie and George did an awesome job creating a playground for the girls. They have been loving it!! It really is cool and looks great out back also.

Hope everyone has a wonderful season!!

Love to all,

Jenni

It's the sparkle in her eyes that worries me!!

2007-06-09T22:32:00.000-04:00

Miss Alena looks innocent, but she has that "special" sparkle in her eyes! She is a sweetheart through and through, as well as spunky and inquisitive!!

Memorial Day Weekend

2007-06-01T22:52:00.000-04:00

I took the girls and Sophia's friend Jesse, camping with us last weekend. Fred was on call, so he had to stay behind and endure peace and quiet!! Friday afternoon we spent some time at the pool and Saturday we had lots of fun at the ocean. It was Alena's first time at the beach and she really enjoyed digging in the sand while Soph & Jess enjoyed the water. We tried to catch some crabs on the rocky pier before we left, but the tide was just coming in and we were HUNGRY, so we headed out!!

Sunday I took them to Nature's Art to dig for gemstones and pan for gold. That was fun! I made them pose with their mining hats on and goods-they were thrilled!!

Besides our little getaway, everything has been pretty normal. The pond looks great and we have some BIG frogs this year. Fred just added some solar lights that shine on the waterfall at night-very pretty.

Sophia got new glasses, she looks so pretty and updates me daily on how many days are left of school. Hehehe......

Alena is as mischievous as ever. She is all over the place!! She climbed up on the kitchen table last night and proceeded to stand up as she got a nice long lecture from mommy!! She is something else. Such a character!

Heading out to Vegas again in a little over a week. It's going to be a scorcher out there.

Love to all,

Jenni

Awesome week

2007-05-15T21:29:00.000-04:00

This past week was great!

Vegas went really well. Our flights were smooth (after we were on the plane and past the near riot that broke out in Newark!!), the weather was fantastic and our patient's preps went perfectly. She cried for joy. Awesome.

Friday we had the day to ourselves out there, so we spent it by the pool sipping Mango daiquiris and relaxing. Awesome!

Sophia really enjoyed herself with the Kurtz's while I was away and Mom and Denise took great care of Miss Alena. Fred has been covering two positions at work and is super busy!!

Alena even got to go camping for the weekend for the first time. She did great and loved it.

Sophia and I went to Mother's Day breakfast together. She is becoming such a mature young lady. It was so nice for her and I to be able to do something together. Denise and the kids joined us and we had a very nice time. We took the kids to play at a park and then visited an arboretum afterwards. We were able to take some really beautiful pictures.

Alena arrived home from camping in the late afternoon. I was DYING to see her. Hearing her say "mommy" was music to my ears. I really enjoy rocking her and cuddling as she settles in to sleep. I look at her sweet face and wonder what thoughts are going through her little head. I think of her birth mom often and pray for her. She has given me the most beautiful gift possible this Mother's Day. Beyond awesome.

I am so thankful to be the mom of these two girls each and everyday.

With love,

Jenni

Beauty

2007-05-06T22:21:00.000-04:00

During our evening walks, I had been noticing how beautiful the village we live in really is. I don't think I have ever really appreciated it. Most of the streets in the village are lined with gorgeous trees and the Memorial Bridge looks so nice lit in the evening.

I remembered to bring the camera with us to capture some peaceful sights the other night.

We had a busy weekend- did some shopping Saturday night. We bought the girls one of those wooden playsets for the backyard. Attended Jordan's birthday party today and Fred continues to work hard in the backyard. The retaining wall looks great and the seating area around the pond is coming along. It's all filled in and level. Giving it until next year to settle and then we would like to have a cabana built.

I will be away in Vegas this week and it's going to be HOT!!

Love to all,

Jenni

Life is Good

2007-04-29T11:18:00.000-04:00

Everyone has been healthy until yesterday. Alena has a cough and I think a sore throat. She had a tough time today off and on, but slept well last night. As a result we missed Carolyn and Ty's wine tasting party. : ( (We all know how much I enjoy my wine!!) HOPEFULLY you didn't all drink it all and there are some bottles set aside for me!!
We are all enjoying the off and on spring weather.
We had a great time celebrating Sophia's 8th birthday last weekend! Nana and Papa took us all out for her annual birthday dinner at Bugaboo Creek on Friday night, her Magical Fairy birthday party was Saturday and Sunday we went on a shopping spree in ToysRus!!
We spent some time visiting with the Ronk's and Palen's on Sunday also. It was so nice to see everyone.
Sophia wanted to celebrate Earth Day as well on Sunday, so when we went for our evening walk, she brought along a garbage bag and picked up litter along the way. Have I mentioned what a great kid she is??!! I am always so proud of her. She has been surprising me on our walks with her jogging also. We usually alternate walking/jogging and she has not only been keeping up, but initiating a lot more of the jogging!! She'll be leaving me behind before long.
Alena LOVES to be outdoors, so this is going to be a great season. She has been running around the back yard enjoying herself with balls and pushing around her car instead of riding in it. I have to start bringing my camera outside with us.
Denise and I took the kids out for chinese the other night and Alena was quite entertaining. She likes to dip the crunchy noodles and then feed them to everyone but herself! Aunt Denise even accepted a few soggy ones that I would have a hard time with!! She ate some lo mein, pork, scallions and tried some broccoli. Sophia and Jordan are compaining to save "Old Okey". Too funny. It's an old oak tree at their school. Evidently he may have to come down and they are not happy about that. They made necklaces and hand held trees, yelled out the van window on our way to Ming Jei's to "Save Old Oakey" and then brought their gear into the restaurant!
~I have put together two video montages of Alena. The first one is her crawling our first morning together in China, playing with her finger puppet from David, Liza & Sofia and all of us "singing"!
The second is somewhat annoying- I can't rotate it! She is playing, dancing, loading her bottle up with cereal and blowing raspberries!

~Hope you enjoy the pics and videos. Pictures are from the chinese restaurant and Sophia's birthday mainly!

Love to all,

Jenni

Picking up the pace

2007-04-16T09:29:00.000-04:00

With spring, things always pick up around here. More birthdays, activities, projects, etc..

Easter was beautiful. Aunt K had her annual Easter festivities at her house on Saturday. The kids decorated eggs, enjoyed snacks, had a HUGE egg hunt with cousin David and Marcus's help and the highlight of the day: Aunt K took all of the kids to a local farm and let them pick out baby chicks and ducklings to be raised at her house!! They got to name them and spend time with them under the warming light back at the house. They have open visitation rights!! LOL

Easter Sunday we all went to breakfast at the firehouse. Lots of fun and then a quiet dinner here with Mom, George and Aunt Denise.

Fred and Sophia attended a Father/Daughter dance put on by the Girl Scouts last week. The theme was to dress like you are attending the Academy Awards. They both looked so nice and Sophia was so excited to dance some slow dances with daddy.

Yesterday, Sophia went to her friend Jake's birthday party at ChuckEcheese and she had a great time. It was Alena's first time there and she just loved it. I find it so hard to tolerate that place!!

Alena is totally walking now. She is such a character and is sooooo proud of herself.

It's hard to believe that in two days she will be with us for four months already. We cherish everyday with her. She has brought us all an unbelievable amount of joy.

Mom & George and myself & the girls all went out to dinner the other night. Fred had to work overtime. Alena kept insisting that she wanted something on the table. She had food in front of her on the table and utensils (she loves trying to use them and has gotten quite good with the fork!). We kept giving her some of all of our food and she was still reaching and whining. I finally figured out that she wanted a plate!! She saw that we all had one and she didn't! We got her a plate and put her food on it and she was as happy as can be sitting there trying to use her fork!! As it said in her referral, she is obstinate and we love her!

We are sinking in flood waters here from the storm that has been passing through over the past two days. Yuck. We could float a boat in our back yard. Bring on the spring weather!!!

Pictures:

-"Hello, China? I LOVE it here!"

-"I should have started walking long ago, mobility is wonderful!!"

-"Move it Clifford!"

-"Can this thing go faster?"

-"Hop in sis!"

-"Hey! Get out of my car!"

-"I love Dunkin Donut muffins!"

-Sharing my first ice pop with Aunt Denise

-Sophia looking beautiful for the father/daughter dance

-"Why is he touching me?"

-The baby chicks!

Love to all,

Jenni

Happy Easter!

2007-04-08T13:32:00.000-04:00