Top Vacation Spots, Central PA Style

Not photoshopped:

Farmer Jon

Several months ago, Jonny sprouted some lettuce seeds in Joy School. He has been tending them through the winter. He decided to serve the lettuce with tonight's dinner, so the missionaries that are coming can enjoy it too. He sure enjoyed harvesting his crop.

Happy Valentine's Day

"To every thing there is a season" and it feels good to have found the proper season for this little gem. I think that whoever made a pink aluminum Christmas tree was misguided. It was obviously meant for a more lovey day... like Valentine's Day.
Sending lots of love to readers near and far: Happy Valentine's Day!

Success?!

This morning, Simon actually used the potty. He's been trying every morning this week. I have sat huddled next to the toilet reading him "the Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash" over and over waiting for something magic to happen. Finally, this morning I heard a lot of excitement while I was in the shower. Gary had set Simon up with a drink on the potty. Jonny and Amelia were there to read to him. And he finally did it. Here's a picture of the proud little guy in his ka-potty best:I am pretty proud too. It was a group effort today. He is not ready for the intesity of true potty training and neither am I, but when he's in the mood for a box of Nerds (the current prize) he knows what to do!

The Short Sale Shimmy (Part 6): The Beginning

< The Short Sale Shimmy (Part 5): To the Brink



It worked! We finally own our house.

It almost didn't work when the title company couldn't figure out how to open the documents that the mortgage company sent. But the title company's office in another town figured it out, printed the documents, and drove them in the snow to our town so we could close.

The Short Sale Shimmy (Part 5): To the Brink

< The Short Sale Shimmy (Part 4)

If everything goes well, we are less than five hours away from finally owning our house. It's about time:

• Ten months ago we decided to get a bigger house.
• Seven months ago we offered to buy this house.
• Five months ago we sold our condo and moved to this house.

Is this really going to happen? We'll see. We were already delayed from yesterday because of the weekend's giant snowstorm. If we don't close today, we might be delayed again by today and tomorrow's nor'easter. We're so close that it would be really sad not to make it.

Meanwhile, we're dealing with the snow. School is closed for the whole week, but work is as busy as ever. It's a busy time to close on the house, but at least we don't have to move this week too!

Another Snow Day

A few days ago, I promised myself that I would do "potty training in a day" for Simon on the next snow day. I just didn't expect it so soon. With 2-3 snow days promised, it would seem to be the perfect opportunity. The only question is: do I feel brave enough to follow through?

Snow Day!

Last night, I had a hard time sleeping, because I was expecting the "school is cancelled for snow" phone call at some random time in the early morning. I was so excited. I love snow days and look forward to every one!
This morning, I got dressed to clear the snow from the driveway and walks (Gary is in CA for a few days) and I got 2 surprises. One good, one not so good. When I opened the door, there was my neighbor Mr. Vic shoveling the driveway. He said he didn't want us to get trapped at home with sick kids or something. What a thoughtful person. I looked around to grab the shovel and join in and it was no where to be found. Then I remembered that 2 days ago the kids asked to borrow the shovel, snow brushes, ice scrapers, etc to build a huge mound of snow with the remnants of the last snow. They left everything in the back yard. It was now buried in snow and I couldn't find any of it. After some searching, I gave up and set the kids to the task. 10 minutes later, James triumphantly handed over the snow shovel.

When I got out of the shower this morning, I found Amelia in the middle of changing Simon's diaper. I offered to take over (it was a messy one) and both Simon and Amelia refused the help. Ahh- it's nice to have big kids!
Speaking of big kids, we woke up Sunday morning to a nice surprise. James was in the middle of making hot biscuits for a special breakfast. Gary came out in time to help him grease the sheet and stick them in the oven. He mixed the dough, etc all by himself. Everyone enjoyed the tasty, hot biscuits. I was so proud of him for taking on a project like that and pulling it off well.