Cousins

It's been a while since I shared pictures of the girls so I thought I'd show you how cute our "twins" are (for those who don't know, Julia is 3 months younger than Morgan).

Then (2007):

Now!

Disney on Ice

Last Saturday my sister-in-law Amy, my niece Julia, Morgan, and I went to see Mickey and Minnie's Magical Journey at the Charleston Civic Center. The show was great! We were 6 rows from the ice, just off center stage. The girls were treated to girls dinner out (at Chick-fil-a in the mall) and ice cream during the show! They loved seeing the characters skate around on the ice and Julia would often dance to the music.

Both girls were most excited when, after intermission, TinkerBell made her grand debut...flying no less! Morgan also enjoyed The Little Mermaid part of the show and the pirates/pirate ship during Peter Pan's show.

We all had a great time and the show was decently priced. If you have fans of Disney in your home, I highly suggest you go if you have the chance!

I LOVE E-FILING!

You may remember a couple weeks ago I did our taxes. I always like to do my taxes early because for the past few years we've gotten a fairly nice refund. (I know Dad, I'm letting the government borrow from me interest free...) This year was the first time I tried doing the taxes online and e-filing. I have to admit I was quite nervous. Even though I do online banking, pay bills electronically, and basically do almost everything online, taxes seemed like a big feat. I mean, we are talking about paperwork for the IRS. Serious trouble if you screw up. And what if they don't get it? Then where will I be?

However, after my mother told me that she did her taxes using Turbo Tax online, I decided to take the plunge and give it a try. If all else failed, I could still print out my taxes returns and mail them in myself (the safe way, or so I thought before this year). So after two hours, multiple reviews of every possible piece of paper I could have in the house, and a minor anxiety attack, I pressed send and e-filed our taxes.

What happened next was surprising, and eased my anxiety fast. I got e-mails from Turbo Tax saying our taxes had been submitted, verified, and accepted by the feds, and both WV and PA tax departments. AND the best part....Tuesday (less than 2 weeks later) I received our refunds direct deposited into our bank account!

I don't know why I haven't done this before, but I can guarantee that I will be using Turbo Tax and e-filing from now on. If you haven't filed your taxes yet, I highly suggest you e-file. Even if you owe (we did in PA) you can set up an electronic payment to be deducted from your bank account on ANY day you want, up to and including April 15th! Easy as pie. Hope you all have as much fun with your taxes this year as I did!

Childless

Patrick and I are childless for a few days. Morgan went to stay with Big Pop and Nannie for a few days because Nannie was having serious grandbabies withdrawal! After dropping Morgan off with Big Pop yesterday, I stopped to do a little childless shopping, which was REALLY nice! Tonight Patrick and I went to the WVU vs. Notre Dame basketball game. It was a little nostalgic for me, taking us back to our college days when we were young and newly in love. After the game we considered going to Texas Roadhouse for 1/2 price appetizers, but decided against it (because it was after 9:00 and we are old! :)

I will admit, however, that I have spent more than a few moments standing in Morgan's room missing her like crazy! It's very quiet around here. I miss her hilarious comments, her infectious laugh, and her nightly snuggles for quiet time. And is it sad that I am excited about going into work EARLY since Morgan isn't here?!?! In any event, I think I am going to take a nice hot bath (without pleas for inclusion in the suds) and go to bed. What on earth did we do before we had Morgan???

Catching Snow

Quiet Valentine's Day

After such a busy week, it was nice to have a simple, quiet Valentine' Day at home. Last night we "went out" to CiCi's Pizza Buffet for a fun dinner. It was especially nice for me because I hadn't had a piece of non-frozen pizza for over 2 weeks. This morning Morgan and I got up and let Patrick sleep in. We were rewarded with our early rise with white roses, beautiful pink tulips, a box of candy, and one of the best Valentine's gifts I have ever received...heart shaped doughnuts! My husband really knows what I like :) Morgan also gave me an Alison Krauss CD with the song Baby Mine, a song I have sung to Morgan almost every day of her life. I still sing it to her most nights before I kiss her good night.

We all went to play group and Morgan had a great time, aided by the sugar from the doughnut she ate right before we left the house!

We came home and took a nap. Morgan received her Valentine's gifts from her grandparents and we had a very lazy afternoon.

We had dinner in this year, a first for us I think. Herb rubbed petite fillet, romano parmesan rice, and steamed corn, finished off with a scoop of ice cream. It was delicious, and while I love eating out, it seemed more romantic this year to stay in and enjoy time as a family.

Jumping on the Random Bandwagon

Since I have been tagged on facebook and blogger to do this numerous times, here it is!


1. I think it would be totally awesome to own a yacht. Not for any particular reason, just because it would be neat. And I would name it Slow Movin’

2. I am allergic to grass and seafood. They both make me break out in hives.

3. I have never smoked in my life. No drugs either. I’m not one of those crazy “Thou shalt never do this” kind of people. Just never appealed to me.

4. I have, however, been addicted to pain medication. It’s not pleasant. After going being forced to go cold turkey from that I can’t imagine ever being addicted to something stronger. Now I am very careful about how much medication I take, and I only take the prescription pain medication I get from my neurologist. I don’t even take Tylenol or similar.

5. If I had money to spend on only one household “luxury” I would hire a chef. That is how much I loathe cooking.

6. My dream job, if I had to work for someone else, would be to work in a federal prison writing parole board recommendations. I got close, once, but was never considered by the warden for the job. I’m still bitter, 5 ½ years later.

7. My real dream job would be to open a Wedding Consultation business with my sister-in-law, Amy.

8. I foolishly thought that I would get a job in my subject field when I graduated with my Masters Degree in Criminal Justice. NOT SO.

9. I’ve been to the top of the Eifel Tower, which is amazing because I am deathly afraid of heights.

10. Some of my favorite paintings in The Louvre are the four seasons painted by Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Summer is depicted with a pickle for a nose, which is why our family dubbed these paintings “The Pickle People”.

11. I’ve been to Disneyland, Disney World, and Disneyland Paris. One more (Disneyland Tokyo) and that will complete the Disney circuit.

12. I love pizza and ice cream. If I could ever justify being fat, that is ALL I would eat.

13. I believe that all US Servicemen and Servicewomen should be treated with more respect than celebrities. I know, I’m slightly partial, but no matter which side you are on, there is no denying that these fine folk lay their lives on the line for us. And they volunteer to do so.

14. I think that uniforms should be mandatory in ALL schools. It is easy to make a uniform policy that every family, regardless of socioeconomic status, could afford. I went to Catholic school, wore a uniform and turned out just fine.

15. I used to think that being a trucker would be lots of fun, because I could eat all the Oreos I wanted to in the car and Mom couldn’t tell me no.

16. I really like to listen to Eminem’s rap music. I know all the words to “Real Slim Shady”. Please don’t judge me for this.

17. My favorite commercial is a Sprint commercial where a rancher said he ordered a hundred oxen but his connection was bad and he got 100 dachshund(s). At the end of the commercial someone yells “Stampede!” and a bunch of dachshund puppies go running across the screen. I laugh EVERY time.

18. I collect music boxes and Pocket Dragons.

19. My daughter saved my life. It’s not important for you to know how or why, but that she did. She is truly my angel.

20. There are two songs that always make me cry: Taps and Amazing Grace.

21. I already know what wording I want to have on my gravesite marker. Is that morbid?

22. Those words are “To love another person is to see the face of God” ~Victor Hugo, from my favorite musical, Les Miserables.

23. I would love to have another child, but I am deathly afraid of loving another child.

24. The best family vacation I have been on was with my parents to the Bavarian region of Germany. My favorite part of that vacation, visiting the German concentration camp, Dachau, where the famous works “Arbeit macht frei” (Work will make you free) are part of the gates. I have never experienced a place so powerful.

25. In high school I went on a service trip to Ukraine. It was lots of fun, even if we sweat our butts off working all day long and could only shower every other day. It was a great experience.


UPDATE: I forgot to tag some friends, and since one of my very good friends asked about it, I am tagging these folks:

Jim at The Risk Family
Melanie at Don't Stop Believin'
Amanda at Isaac
Kim at My Winding Path

A Quick Update

I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted anything here. We have been so busy over the past week that I haven't had much time to sit down. We continue to be busy this week and through the next. Thankfully the weather has been much nicer over the past week (low to mid 50s) so even if I am stuck indoors, it's nice not to have to slosh around in the snow. So here's a quick update on things that have been going on:

Jen--I was really sick last week Monday evening, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I guess it was some type of flu (even though I got a flu shot) because I was very achy, utterly exhausted, and nauseous. I didn't do much other than sleep for those days. Thursday our sitter called off sick, so I was able to stay home with Morgan and James for the day. It was nice, because I was feeling much better, and I even was able to do our taxes while the kids kindly took an almost 2 hour nap. This week continues to be very busy. As many of my readers know, my 14 year old cousin has been battling a very bad, quick moving illness that required him to be admitted to ICU on Sunday afternoon. I went to spend some time with him Monday and will make the 90 minute drive again tomorrow. I'd like to thank all of my wonderful friends who have been praying for him and our family. His condition has improved some and he is no longer considered 'critical' although he is still in the ICU. Prayer WORKS folks. It really does. We have seen God move in wonderful ways over the past few days and it is all because of prayer.

Patrick--after caring for Morgan while I was sick, I kindly shared the flu with Patrick. He was down and out Thursday evening, Friday, and Saturday. For those of you who know him well, he was so sick he even missed the WVU basketball game on Saturday! That's monumental. This week he has been very busy at work with both of his jobs. We are hoping to have a slightly quieter weekend this weekend.

Morgan--She's doing just fine. She seems to have escaped the crud that Patrick and I had and has been going with the flow over the past few weeks. She's been a little headstrong lately and we have been having to discipline her more often. I hate it, but I don't want the bratty child. Our bedtime routine has gotten less stressful...she seems to be OK with going in her room but often does not fall asleep for a few hours after she goes to bed. Every morning I go into her room and put away 15-20 books that she has in her bed with her. She started play group and loves it. I can't wait for warmer weather so she can go outside. She wants to play outside so bad!

SO that's it from our house. Nothing too exciting, we've just been busy with "life". I hope to get out my camera this weekend to get some updated pictures of our girl. Watch her site for new additions!

A Lesson in Manners, from Morgan

We've been working on good citizenship and good manners with Morgan from the very beginning of her life. I would say, overall, she has very good manners. Sometimes, though, I wonder if things I say to her are really sinking in.

Last night I learned that in fact, they are. I had raised my voice to the dog because she was getting on my nerves, wanting to be on my lap and barking like a crazy thing. Morgan heard this exchange and came from her room and told me "Mama, that was not nice. You tell Bay you are sorry!". She stood there looking at me, waiting for me to respond. What could I do? She was right...I hadn't been nice to the dog. I said "I am sorry Bay" and Morgan then instructed "Now give Bailey a hug" and would not leave until I did so!

While I was originally slightly annoyed at being told to apologize to the dog, I remembered that this should be a teaching moment and that Morgan had correctly identified a moment when something was not done nicely and it needed to be rectified. It's embarassing to be called on the carpet by your 2 year old, but it was a two-fold lesson for me. First, she is hearing what I am saying, and second, we all need to be cognizant of our tones with others.

I am glad she was able to remind me of that.

Bringing It Home

So happy to be the first franchise to bring home SIX Lombardi trophies! Way to go Steelers. I think I can finally purchase a Super Bowl t-shirt now...

Quick Halftime Update

Whew what an exciting end to the first half of the Super Bowl for all of the Steeler Nation! :) I've been rather disappointed with the advertisements this year. Hopefully they are saving the best for the second half. It's a small but fun party here...Patrick's long-time friend Pete and his 18 month old Brady Thomas (Pete is a HUGE Patriots fan if you didn't already know) came by. The kids are having a wonderful time playing and Pete and Patrick have been catching up since they don't get to see each other often.


Even though it's just 5 of us, we still had to put out food! Patrick and I decided to fast all day and not count points this evening...Super Bowl calories don't count right?!

The Infamous Smiley Cookies (if you didn't read about these on Morgan's site, be sure to!)

Here's all of us getting ready to cheer on our Steelers!

Celebrating the last play of the first half! WOO HOO!