Oh yes it is....

a PINK Cadilliac!!! I am in Huntington, WV tonight on business. The hotel where I am staying is hosting a statewide Mary Kay conference. The pictures above are of the newest pink Caddy that the national Mary Kay representative has "earned" through what she has sold and how high she has risen in the ranks of the make-up queens. I have to say, if I were able to earn this car at work, I'd sure work a lot harder!

Morgan Meets Governor Manchin

Morgan and attended our first political rally today. Neither Patrick nor I are very political. In fact, we generally don’t get involved at all other than to vote. This year one of Patrick’s very good friends is running for county assessor. We attended a rally for Mark Musick today and were delighted when the GOVERNOR of West Virginia showed up to endorse Mark! Gov. Manchin’s family is very good friends with the Musick family and since the Governor was driving through Morgantown on his way back to Charleston, he took some time out to stop by the rally. Morgan and Patrick had their picture taken with Gov. Manchin. The only thing that stinks is, because Patrick and I live in Pennsylvania, we can't even give our votes for Mark and the other candidates that Patrick has gotten to know through Mark. So if you live in Monongalia County, WV and are reading this, vote Mark Musick for County Assessor....he's your Choice for a Change in Mon. County!

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?!?!

In anticipation of a great WVU Football season, the Tenneys attended the first tailgate of the season and watched the annual Gold-Blue spring game. The offense (Gold) played the defense (Blue) for about 2 hours in a full force battle. It was a lot of fun, and all the proceeds from the game (ticket sales, programs, and profits from the consessions) went to WVU Children's Hospital. With over 18,000 fans in attendance at $5 a piece, a good deal of money was raised for the kids. Since Morgan was in Children's hospital when she was born, we like to support it when we can. The weather was gorgeous and we all had a great time. So bring on the season, and LET'S GOOOOO MOUNTAINEERS!

Six Word Memoirs

My friend Catherine wrote an inspiring post today about her six word memoirs. The idea is to put your entire life into ONE six word line. I thought I might be able to come up with a few, so here they are!

Time moves quickly, pictures last forever.

Mother's kisses heal wounds and hearts.

Books create tranquility unknown in life.

One hot bath cures all ails.

Happiness is defined by cozy pajamas.


How do you define YOUR life in 6 words?

When did my mailbox become your trashcan?

Over the past few months we have been silently battling the neighborhood high school boys over trash in our yard. It seems that when the boys wait for the bus in the morning and especially when they get off the bus after school they use our yard as their trash can. A couple of times a month (and recently more frequently) Patrick and I come home to find a soda bottle or two thrown in our upper yard. We have not officially confronted the teens about it yet because we aren't normally home when it happens. The only reason we know it's the teens is Patrick happened to see the boys once as he was turning onto our street. I have suggested more than once that we set up our video camera to record the boys "in the act". Our other alternative to actually catching the boys is for one of us to take time off of work to be home when the bus gets here. That seems awfully silly.

We've been patiently steaming and picking up the bottles for a while now. My fuse finally reached the end when I arrived home today to find 2 soda bottles in my yard. And as I opened my mailbox I found a bag full of trash stuffed inside WITH my mail! What's a girl to do? I am really at a loss. Do I call the school and complain with no "solid" proof? Do I actually stay home from work to catch the boys, only to have them retaliate with something more serious than trash (like vandalism, loss of our mailbox, or other even worse possibilities)? Do I put up and shut up?

I am really trying to stay off my soapbox of parents and the lack of discipline and respect for other people and other people's things that is plaguing America. I just hope, as a parent, that I teach my child(ren) how to respect other people, other people's property, and ultimately to respect herself by acting like a good citizen. So to avoid taking that final step to the soapbox, I'll go get the mail...

Just for Today

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck and I will buy you one if he comes by.

Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.

Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.

Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you and what you mean to me.

Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.

Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.

And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little onger. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask Him for nothing, except one more day............

~Author Unknown~

It Does a Mother's Heart Good...

Spring is HERE!

It seems that Mother Nature has finally bestowed Spring upon North Central West Virginia. The weather has been beautiful, low 70s, slight breeze, crystal blue sky, fluffly clouds. We have been taking advantage of the mild evenings to spend some time outside as a family.

I guess since the weather is nicer it's time to get into the swing of spring cleaning. It's time for the first lawn mowing, and finding flowers to plant! I always used to think that summer was my favorite season, but over the past few years I have come to favor spring over the others. It's nice to say goodbye to winter for the next 6 months or so and enjoy the beautiful scenery God gives to us. We are going to be looking for a toddler-friendly park soon and will be enjoying the Rail Trail in Morgantown a lot for evening walks. Welcome Spring, we've missed you!

Getting in a few pitches of Bocce

Does ANYONE think this is a good idea?

Apparently 80's pop sensation New Kids On The Block are getting back together! At first glance, I thought to myself, that is the silliest idea I have ever heard! Now I have to admit that I was a big NKOTB fan, and was totally in L-O-V-E with Donnie Wahlberg. But I was NINE then. They were young and good looking. But something about 40ish not so buff men having a mid-life crisis going back on tour has ZERO appeal for me. Do they think they can compete with the teen pop sensations of the new century? Will thousands of "adoring fans" come out of the closets and flock to arenas around the country to hear "The Right Stuff"? Somehow, I just don't think so. My real question is....what music manager decided to pick these guys up to go back on tour? If I were in the record business, I wouldn't think this is a smart money-maker. But then again, the station of Sirius Radio that I listen to features NKOTB occasionally, so maybe I am the one out of the musical loop!

Can You Guess?

Which one is older?

Back from "The Ick"

Sorry for the lack of posting lately...my entire family had "the ick" last week which got us all down. It was the pukey flu, so as you can imagine, it wasn't fun. But we all seem to be healed and back to normal.

Easter was pretty quiet this year for us. Unfortunately, my mother-in-law got the stomach bug from one of us and was down most of the weekend. It was quite chilly and spit snow. Morgan did get to Easter egg hunt at her great-grandparents' house and the whole Tenney clan was together on Saturday to watch the girls open their Easter baskets. It's lots of fun to see them together now that they can run and play with each other.

I have posted a few pictures in some previous posts of some of the things we have been doing. Now it's back to work and back to Ms. Ellen's for Morgan. April will be very busy for both Patrick and me at work...great another busy month!

Cousins

The girls got to spend a lot of time together over the past week. It was wonderful to see them together!

All in the Family

The Kids

Morgan and Big Pop


Daddies and Daughters

"Sisters"-in-law

Silly Girls

Easter Sunday

All dressed in her Easter Sunday best!

On the way to church

Morgan and Great-Aunt Lola

Hunting for Easter eggs

Found another!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Morgan's first theatre experience

All dressed up for the performance

I have my own seat!

What's the program say daddy?

Tonight we got the chance to begin exposing Morgan to "the arts". Patrick and I have been looking forward to taking her to see The Peking Acrobats since I bought the tickets last fall. I thought it would be flashy enough to keep her attention while still entertaining enough for Patrick and I not to want to slit our wrists (scenes from Barney and The Wiggles concerts we have seen on TV flew through my mind). Morgan made it through the first 45 minutes of the performance before having a total meltdown aided greatly by a) the fact that she had NO nap today, even though I left her in her room for over an hour by herself and b) the fact that the show started at 7:30 which is the normal time we start winding down for bed. Poor planning on Mama's part. She seemed to really like the performance at first, especially when the men were doing gymnastic moves on the floor. The slower portions where the women would show off how flexible they were didn't impress her much, although I quite enjoyed them. We left at intermission. I didn't want Patrick or myself to have to stand outside with her during the show and I figured since we came as a family and wanted this to be a family event that we should leave as a family.

We did see advertisements for Elmo Makes Music, which I am sure is very Barney-esque with show times at 10:30 AM and 2:00 PM, a much better fit for nap schedules. So while we learned very valuable lessons about planning events around sleeping, it was a good time, I believe, had by all.

29 and holding...

Happy Birthday to...well to me! Today is my REAL 29th birthday. My friend said it is the last birthday I will really have since I'll be 29 the rest of my life! My husband is just happy that I am now staring 30 in the face, something he has been doing for 3 months. HAHA. It hasn't been a real exciting birthday since I am in Louisville, KY by myself at a conference. I did treat myself to TGI Friday's for dinner and an early night of PJs and TV. Apparently the chefs at the hotel knew it was my birthday because they served the conference (400+ people) Boston Creme Pie cheesecake for dessert at lunch! It was good. I guess when you get to be in your late 2os birthdays just aren't as exciting anymore. But here's to another year, hopefully better health than last year, and lots of love and happiness before my next decade birthday!



Since I don't have pictures of what I did today, here are a few pictures of what Morgan did in my absence.

Happy Birthday Big Pop!

Today is Big Pop's 51st birthday. He is officially over 1/2 century old! Morgan got the chance to celebrate his birthday early this year with him. She had a great time and really loved her Big Pop!

Happy Birthday Charlie. Hope you get to do everything you want to do today.

Fun Food

Today for lunch my friends Amanda, Donna, and I went to IHOP. It's a no-meat Friday for me and Amanda said she woke up thinking about IHOP for lunch! Coinciding with the premier if Horton Hears a Who in movie theaters this weekend, IHOP is offering some special dishes. Amanda and I were brave enough to each try two of the 3 new dishes. We didn't try the green eggs (scrambled eggs and spinach) and ham for many good reasons. I had the Who-Cakes, which were super fun, delicious, and topped off with a bubble-gum flavored lollipop. Amanda tried a Beezle drink, which was Sprite with cubes of red and blue jello floating in it. Sounds gross, but tasted pretty good. And because you all know I carry my camera everywhere, here we are with our Whoville inspired dishes!

Amanda enjoying her Beezle drink.

Don't these look delicious? They were!

Dish Carnival

Today my friends Catherine and Alaina participated in an online dish carnival, hosted by Rocks in My Dryer. Not to be left out, I thought I would show you some of my dishes. I am not nearly sophisticated as my friends and don't have much to show, and unlike my friends I did not have time to take pretty pictures of my dishes, so you'll have to take what I found on the dishes' respective websites.



Our wedding china is a beautiful pattern, Dearborn by Noritake. It has delicate lighter blue flowers around the edges, but not so flowery that Patrick won't eat off of them. In fact, HE picked them out after I narrowed the thousands of choices down to three. We have 12 place settings given as a wedding gift from our friends in Belgium. They have not been out of the box or used in 5 years. They are currently sitting in my garage, and now that I think about it, I hope that what I think is in that box is ACTUALLY what is in the box! I had to sacrifice something to fit in our 900 sq ft home! Often I sit at my desk and dream about a beautiful china cabinet where I can display my dishes and actually have them available to USE. Ahhh, someday.




Our everyday dishes are Summer Breeze by Pfaltzgraff. I have 8 place settings plus many serving pieces. I also have the matching curtains, kitchen rug, and assorted hanging pieces in my kitchen. We stuck with the blue theme and mixed in the yellow. I enjoy all the fun things that Pfaltzgraff comes out with every few months to keep my kitchen fresh.




Finally, we do have 4 West Virginia University dishes by FiestaWare. They were a total splurge, but we use them on football game days when the team is out of town (we have season tickets for when they are here). Sadly there is no picture. Maybe some day I'll get a picture of them up here for you.