For this child I prayed....

I am super excited to announce that my dear, very long time friend Melanie and her husband Patrick welcomed their first child, Ethan, today around 4:29 PM weighing 7 lb and 14 oz (2 ounces more than Morgan). Mama, Daddy, and baby Ethan are all doing wonderfully!

Melanie and I met in ballet class in the 5th grade while my family was living in Goldsboro, NC. Througout all of my subsequent moves we managed to remain friends, and have become very close again. Melanie is also Morgan's Godmother. Mel and Patrick celebrated 4 years of marriage in May and Melanie has been praying for a child pretty much ever since the wedding. I am so very happy for her and Patrick.

Now I will have to chew my nails and wait for more pictures. We plan to head south to visit the new family next month. So join me in welcoming Ethan to the world. He has some awesome parents and has been wanted for a long time. I know that everyone in Charlotte is happy today.

Another Wonderful Year

Seven years ago, today, Patrick and I started a new chapter in our lives together. Since then we've been writing some exciting chapters first as a married couple, then four years ago as a family of three. Some chapters have been full of laughter, others have been more serious. But every chapter has been unique and I am excited to see what this new year will bring for us.

Happy Anniversary Patrick. I look forward to growing our love and lives together in our seventh year.

Scarce

Hello and happy July! Sorry I haven't been around for a while....it's been really busy around the Tenney house. After Morgan's birthday Morgan, my parents, and I headed down to Maryland to spend Independence Day with my brother and sister-in-law. We had a good time picking berries (a must every time we are near Butler's Orchard), visiting Morgan's favorite playground, and going Duckpin Bowling, a first for Morgan and me. If you've never been Duckpin Bowling, you should give it a try. It's bowling with a smaller, lighter ball and 3 tries to knock the pins down rather than 2. Good times!

We came back home and enjoyed the last few days with my parents before they had to head back home. Mom was the last to leave, and we miss her so much! After two weeks off, it was so hard to get up and go back to work on Monday. But back to work/school we all went. I jumped back in with both feet, and hit the country roads for a 720 in-state trek around western and southern WV. I got to spend some great quality time with my niece and nephew, which is cherished time for sure, and see some of West Virginia's most beautiful scenery.

The remainder of July remains just as busy. Patrick heads to Nashville on Sunday, Morgan heads to Nannie and Big Pop's for a week the same day, and me? I'll be trying to catch up after three weeks out of the office. Then I jet off to Chicago for a work trip that should include some evening sight seeing.

So in case you were wondering, we are still here and still busy :) We've got some fun things coming up in the next few weeks that I will do my best to keep you updated on. Don't worry about the Tenneys, we are just always on the go! We hope you are enjoying your summer as much as we are.

Happy Birthday Morgan!

Dear Morgan,

Happy Birthday baby. Today you turn four years old. My, how fast time has gone by. I still remember when the nurse handed you to me, how sweet you looked and how much I loved you then, and now. At four years old you:

--just graduated to a "big girl" car seat with no harness straps
--attend preschool, and have been for over a year
--are learning to write your name
--know your alphabet and numbers
--love to play with your Barbie dolls
--think playing outside is one of the greatest things in the world
--love to play in the mud, in your best party dress
--like to watch the Penguins of Madagascar, Phineaus and Ferb, and NCIS :)

I love the way you love to sing. It doesn't matter if it's a song I know or one that you have composed yourself, I just love to listen to you. You are so tender hearted. You often think of your friends and their feelings well before yours. You still love to dance your way through the day, often making us laugh with your little hip swaying moves. You love to be a big girl, but still love to snuggle with your Daddy every night before bed. My favorite part of the day is when you look into my eyes and tell me you love me. There are not enough words in the world to describe my love for you. No matter how old you get, you will always be my baby. I wish for you the very happiest fourth birthday, and many, many more to come.

Love,

Mama

Susalla Family Day at Kennywood

Today we headed out to continue Morgan's birthday celebration in conjunction with my mom's family's annual day at the Kennywood Park. Since Mom's family live in and around Pittsburgh (and that's where they all grew up), we like to spend our family day together in one of Pittsburgh's biggest attractions.

We started the day with a delicious picnic lunch, complete with leftover birthday party food! :) I always have other motives for having Susalla Family day the day AFTER Morgan's parties!

Please don't judge the food by my dad's face...he actually really enjoyed the chicken! Jeff and Cecelia were able to join us for a couple hours before heading back home to Maryland.

And, of course, the Birthday Girl was there, with all her almost four-year-old charm. Being the youngest of the cousins by thirteen years, she is just a little spoiled by everyone, even the teenage boys! Morgan had a blast today. If you want more Morgan-related pictures, head over to her blog for a recap of her day at Kennywood.

Morgan brought Jessie along, and of course they had to ride together. The Tenneys hit Kiddie Land as the rest of the Susalla clan hit the roller coasters. Morgan is definitely her Daddy's girl when it comes to rides and roller coasters. She LOVED all the rides.

And when Jessie got tired of riding, this is what duty I was relegated to...

After Kiddie Land we caught back up with the rest of the family and Morgan got to enjoy riding with her Papa, her Aunts, and her cousins.

As the day drew to a close, everyone headed back to the picnic area for a little cake and presents. Unfortunately, Mom and I had a little mishap with the cake while everyone else was away...something about putting the cake in a cooler where the cake just fit then trying to get the cake OUT of the cooler, which is now filled with water because the ice has melted. Let's just say we had to make some minor adjustments to the icing and leave it at that, OK?

And at the end of a very fun, very HOT day, we piled back in the car to head home. Morgan was able to do what we all wanted to. But it was a great day.

It's Party Time!

Today we gathered family and friends together to celebrate Morgan's fourth birthday. As evidenced above, we had a Princess and the Frog themed party complete with a southern ruffled dress and a lilypad and frog on the cake!

Morgan had five classmates from preschool (including Coen, the boy Morgan says she's gonna marry....when she isn't gonna marry James), her teacher Ms. Christine, and five of her good friends from "way back" to come to her party. The kids had a fun time making candy necklaces for their craft, running in circles (literally), playing in the woods, playing on the playground, and blowing the horns I put in all the treat bags. In a sudden misjudgement on my part, I passed out the treat bags BEFORE we opened gifts. Note to all you parents reading this: DO NOT make this mistake, especially if you put horns and whistles in the treat bags. Yeah, not a good move. But it was hot. And I was tired.

Here's the birthday girl, all dressed up with her birthday sunglasses. She got so many wonderful gifts from her friends and our huge families. Highlights included Jessie and Bullseye dolls (From Toy Story 2 and 3), real, red cowgirl boots just like Jessie, a Barbie scooter, lots of Toy Story books and toys, and some really cute clothes.

Aunt Amy saved the day by decorating Morgan's cake with the lilypad and frog after I misplaced the cake topper. I think she did an awesome job, and Morgan loved it.

It's now nearing 8:30 and Morgan is winding down, although she is still pretty sugared up on cake and the delicious pepperoni rolls that Aunt Linda made. We are still sorting through the bounty of toys that Morgan received. Thank goodness I am planning to have a yardsale soon! We need to clear out a ton of toys to make room for all the things we got today. We are so blessed with so many good family and friends.

So good night from Small Town USA, where one very happy, almost 4 year old, is slowly drifting off to sleep....

The Biggest Surprise of my Life!

I was so excited today....my mom was heading north to Small Town USA to spend two weeks with my family. I haven't seen my Mom in six months, and it's always a very special time when she comes. This year was different since Dad wasn't gong to be able to come with her. Because he lives overseas he wasn't coming...missing Morgan's birthday for the first time. We were all very sad.

Mom called me on Friday morning. She was in Pittsburgh three hours early! Her original flight from Florida was late, which was going to cause her to miss her conncetion in Atlanta. So she was able to change flights and she got into PA earlier than expected. That threw my timeline of the day completely off, but I was excited to be able to rush home and spend more time with her. I picked up Morgan and headed up the interstate, stopping only for take-out lunch.

When I arrived home, Morgan was wondering who was parked in our "spot" in the driveway. We walked in and boy was she surprised to find her Mutti at her house! She ran right up to give hugs. Mom then asked Patrick and I to go get her luggage out of the car. We walked outside and opened the hatch to the rental SUV. You will never guess what was in the back.....

Yep, my DAD!!!!! In the trunk of the SUV. All the way from 8 time zones and 47 hours of work/traveling later, there was my Dad in the flesh. I couldn't believe it. Apparently this had been in the works for months. Needless to say, Morgan's eyes got as big as saucers and she was ecstatic to see her Papa. And I was too. What a wonderful surprise, and it made the whole party weekend even better. Thanks for coming Dad (and thanks to Mom for a spectacular lying job!). It's great to have you BOTH here.

Father's Day Weekend

What a wonderful Father's Day weekend we had! This year we traveled to Germantown, MD to visit with my brother and sister-in-law, we met up with our good friends Jim, Lori, and James Risk, went to Baltimore to spend some time with them, and took the kids to see Storybook Live! (a Nickelodeon sponsored show featuring Dora the Explorer).

We went berry picking first thing Saturday morning at Butler's Orchard, which is close to my brother's house. Morgan and James were SO excited to see each other! It had been many months since they had been togehter, but they both ran up and James gave Morgan the biggest hug! We hit the fields to gather black raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. Everyone had a great time. Morgan enjoyed bossing James around (some things never change!) and we all had fun enjoying the weather and the company.

After we were done picking berries, we all piled into the cars and headed to the South Germantown Rec Park, which has an awesome playground. We enjoyed a picnic lunch while the kids played on the fun equipment and structures.

Sunday we had a fairly lazy day with the Risks, which is just what the doctor ordered. We hung out, watched some funny TV shows, and then we drove home. It was a fun and relaxing weekend, which was nice to gear us up for next weekend's craziness!

First Day of Pre-K!

This morning was very bittersweet for me....Morgan is officially in Pre-K! She is so excited to be in the Pre-K class and officially named herself a Big Girl this morning. It's hard to believe she is almost 4. Everyone who told me that time flies when you have children were so right (not that I ever doubted that but I am officially on that wagon...). Here is our big girl ready to go to school!

She's all smiles.

Heading in...my big girl!

Lose for Good 5K

This past weekend, the Tenney family participated in a 5K walk with Weight Watchers to benefit the Lose for Good campaign. We all raised money and walked in support of the local food pantries, joining and walking at the same time with other Weight Watcher groups around the country.

Walking 5 kilometers (about 3.2 miles) may not sound hard, but when you are heavy (like I am) it can definitely get your heart going. We walked as a family, not only in support of the campaign, but in support of each other as we begin our healthier lifestyle. What better way than to do it together? We even got our 4-legged family member involved.

Team Tenney

Bailey is ready to go!

Showing off her new "kicks"

Morgan waiting patiently for the walk to start, enjoying the view of the Monongahela River.

We walked on the Rail Trail in Morgantown, old train track beds that have been turned into a very nice walking/riding path that stretches 52 miles through Monongalia and Preston counties. There are 18 such trails throughout West Virginia.

Bailey made it 2/3 of the way before enjoying a ride in the wagon!

We completed the walk in just over an hour, including stops to "water" the dog and navigating the wagon around groups of walkers. We had a great time together as a family. I hope this jump-starts a great summer!

Remembering...

It is

the VETERAN,

not the preacher,

who has given us freedom of religion.

It is

the VETERAN,

not the reporter,

who has given us freedom of the press.

It is

the VETERAN,

not the poet,

who has given us freedom of speech.

It is

the VETERAN,

not the campus organizer,

who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is

the VETERAN,

not the lawyer,

who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is

the VETERAN,

not the politician,

Who has given us the right to vote.

It is

the VETERAN,

who salutes the Flag,

It is

the VETERAN

who serves

under the Flag,

It is

the VETERAN

who keeps us free.

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD,

AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

Are YOU wearing the right jeans?

My dear friend Catherine posted some quite useful links on her blog today. None, however, were as important for every mom to read as this link, and it's scientific explanation of the "Mom Jeans" phenomenon that seems to plague us early 30s mothers. If you are a mom, aged 27-50ish or a grandmother of any age, I urge you to read this post by Rachel at Grasping for Objectivity. And for the sake of all woman-kind, please check your jeans accordingly. I know when I can fit into a sensible pair of jeans again (aka not plus sizes) I will be printing this out and hitting the stores!

Enjoy!

It has begun...

The outdoor projects have started here in Small Town USA. We have a lot of things we want to do this year including creating an extra parking space in our driveway, putting down pavers to make a patio in the back yard, and tackling the garage, which will certainly be a week long project I suspect.

This weekend after a lovely lawn manicure, Patrick got started by building me a flowerbed under our bay window. His little helper was hot on his heels, assisting when needed, painting pictures when not.

I am looking forward to the new changes and much needed updates that we will be doing this summer. Stay tuned as projects continue!

Oak Ridge and Knoxville, TN

Continuing our trip in Tennessee, on Saturday we headed to Oak Ridge, where Rob works for the National Laboratory as a physicist.

If you're a US history buff, you might be thinking that Oak Ridge sounds familiar, and rightfully so. Oak Ridge was the site of Y-12, the government project that created the atomic material for the first atom bomb in the 1940s.

The original building is in the process of being torn down, as the laboratory buildings surrounding the Y-12 complex are more modern and energy efficient. It was amazing to look at the place where so much death and destruction started, but also where military history was made.

After the sobering educational trip, we headed out to a park near the lab complex where everyone got in some play time.

We headed back to Knoxville after our jaunt in the park, where we went downtown to the site of the 1982 World's Fair. We saw the Sun Sphere and visited the site of the fair, which is now a grassy park.

While we were there, a triathalon was starting up and we got to hear Tara from The Biggest Loser speak about her weight loss journey. One of the ladies from the current season was there as well, and Amanda had her picture taken with her. Morgan enjoyed the free bounce houses/obstacle courses.

We had dinner at this brewery, and the food was great! There was also a beautiful war memorial at the World's Fair park. This was one of the pillars:

We headed back to Amanda and Rob's to conclude our trip. It was an awesome weekend with some awesome friends. Now we all wait for the arrival of their son next month, and hopefully another visit to Tennesses soon!