Daylilies, Daylilies, Daylilies

I love my daylilies... they start looking good when everything else

in my garden seems to be wilting.

Maya's First Pot

As many of you know, Chad is a studio potter. He's been letting Maya spend time in the studio pounding on clay and painting with slip. The other day, he helped her to throw her first pot. Starting so early I can foresee two avenues. One - she'll be so good at it that she won't even have to go to college for it and she'll become very famous. Or two - she'll be so good at it that it won't prove fun or challenging anymore and she'll never throw another pot after she moves out. Either way, she'll get very good grades in art!

Living Treasures Animal Park

Right down the road from us is a very nice zoo. I use the term zoo lightly because it's very small, but extremely well maintained, and they do have exotic animals like tigers, bears, leopards, monkeys, etc.

Sunglasses chic
The kids had so much fun feeding the animals and watching the ducks. Daniel couldn't stop chasing all the chickens with his chair and Maya wouldn't leave the goats alone, or rather, they wouldn't leave her alone. Obviously all the dangerous animals are behind fences, but they let the ducks, goats, donkeys and chickens run free, so they follow you everywhere begging for food.

Duck watching
The best part is that when the kids are tired, it's only 10 minutes away from home instead of the hour and a half drive to the Pittsburgh Zoo. Plus there are way less people, you get a whole lot closer to the animals and it's relatively cheap.



Feeding the baby kangaroo

Feeding the baby goat

Idle Wild

Today we went to Idle Wild Park in Ligoneer, PA. We all had a blast and everyone made it through the day without a major melt down. Always an accomplishment when dealing with pre-schoolers. When we talked about the park before we actually went, Maya couldn't wait to see Mister Roger's trolley and go to the water park. At the end of the day, all she could talk about was the Crooked Man and Humpty Dumpty from Story Book Forest. Of course I didn't get a picture of either one because at the time she didn't seem to care about them.

She approached everything with an off hand expression like she's bored out of her mind. Then later she was so enthusiastic about it that she talked the whole two hour trip home about wanting to go back and see Humpty Dumpty. Chad says she's just taking it all in. I believe that she's not impressed with it in person so she embellishes it in her mind, making it bigger and better than it really was. Which is why the excitement always comes later... like in the car...all the way home.

Who Do You Look Like?

My friend pointed out this really cool website. It's called My Heritage and it scans pictures of your face and then links them to a database of famous people. As many of you know, I am adopted and my origins seem to be a mystery to the Heritage people as well as myself. For instance I was matched with Paris Hilton (Caucasian) at 63%, Kareena Kapoor (Indian) at 62%, Tata Young at 61% (Asian) and Winnie Mandela (African American) at 60%. Obviously my face isn't giving any clues as to where I'm from!

Maya supposedly looks like Rachel Leigh Cook at 62% , Rene Russo at 61% and Nicole Kidman at 59%. I scored 58% with Nicole Kidman, so I guess Maya and I look more alike than I think!

Chad unfortunately got Jerry Lee Lewis at 61% and Michael Caine at 58%. I don't think he looks like either one! Well, maybe Michael Caine when he gets to be that age...there is a surprising similarity!

Yes I got a New Car Because I'm Pregnant

That was my sneaky way of putting out the news as Erin pointed out. This pregnancy is a little different because we were trying last year to get pregnant, and I did, but unfortunantly we had a miscarriage in February. Some people knew, some people didn't. I feel that I am finally far enough along that I can announce this one with less fear and trepidation. I am due January 22 which makes me 13 weeks exactly. At the end of this week week I will be in my 2nd trimester. Yes, we will be finding out the sex, because I am too much of a planner not to. After having a girl, I wouldn't mind another, but one of each could be fun too. Honestly, as long as this baby is healthy I don't care either way. I know people always say that but this time, for me, it's true.

I Got a New Car

I am 30 years old and for the first time in my life I am the proud owner of a brand new car. A 2006 Ford Focus Wagon SES . There were many underlying reasons for purchasing a new car, one being gas consumption. My Jeep Cherokee ate gas like it was birthday cake with butter cream icing. The Focus gets minimum 10 miles more to the gallon than the Jeep, which earns me an additional 140 miles per tank of gas. I figure the savings in gas will pay for half the car payment each month.

Secondly it was getting old enough to start needing repairs and the rust was taking over. We figured if we waited any longer we weren't going to get much of a trade in on it.

Thirdly the Focus has excellent emissions ratings and I figured it was time to get a much smaller car and quit polluting the atmosphere.

And lastly the Jeep had incredibly small back seats, which sounds like a weird reason to get rid of a car, except that we are expecting a new addition to our family and a second car seat absolutely would not have fit. I'm pretty sure the luggage rack is not considered a safe place to transport children no matter what my brother may say! Plus the Focus actually ended up having more cargo space than the Jeep, so I can fit a double stroller and a weeks worth of groceries in the back at the same time.

And my secret confession...It's silver. I've always wanted a silver car.

Big Butler Fair

The Big Butler Fair

The Teacup Ride


Dumbo - she insisted on riding by herself, but because she's so little, she's not in the picture!


The Ferris Wheel (or the merry go round as Maya called it). She couldn't wait to get to the fair and ride the rides, but she had the same bored look on her face the whole time!

The real Merry Go Round

Of course we saw all the other aspects of the fair, the chickens and goats, the cows and horses, the bunnies and pigs. Maya of course was interested in the more unsavory aspects of the animals and had to declare that all the animals were pooping to anyone who would listen.

Even though she seemed to care less, she still contends that the Ferris Wheel and the Merry Go Round were her favorite parts. I'm sure that next year will be a little more fun since she will be tall enough to ride more than the Dumbo ride by herself! This year she barely measured 36".

Chad and I enjoyed our annual funnel cake of which Maya chewed a piece of for several minutes then declared that she wanted to spit it out. I would have thought it would have been her dream food...loaded with sugar, but she always surprises me.

Fireworks

Maya loves fireworks. Talks about them all the time. Compares thunder to them. Always asks if we can see them. So Tuesday night we pack the lawn chairs, snacks, drinks and assorted tidbits, venture to a friends house and stay up WAY past her bed time to engage in...yep firework watching. And what does she do... watches three or four go off and decides her glow stick is more interesting and runs away to play in the yard. We literally had to make her sit and watch the grand finale. And when you ask her about what she did at Austin's house, she doesn't talk about the fireworks, she'll tell you that she liked Austin's Grandpa and she caught lightning bugs. Go figure.

Maya's Studio Pictures

Every six months give or take, I try to brave the world of professional photographers and get Maya's pictures done...you know for posterity sake. So here are the latest set of pics.

And We All Survived...

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930'2, 40'2, 50's, 60's and 70's.

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking .

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because.....


WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!


We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem .

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound , no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents .

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

Potty Training

All by Myself


Big Girl Panties

I almost fear to type this on the off chance that I may jinx myself... but I think we may be potty trained. After many false starts and lots of accidents, I believe Maya has caught the idea that using the potty is a good thing! And despite all of our efforts and pleas and bribes and praise, she did it simply because she wanted to, and no other reason than that. Now we haven't actually left the house in big girl panties yet...I'm personally not ready for that, but any advice on that particular hurdle would be greatly appreciated from those of you who have already bounded over it. Wish us luck in this new endevour, good bye diaper bag - hello public restrooms!

McConnell's Mills

While I was working at the Fairie Festival, Chad took Maya to McConnell's Mills for the first time. For anyone who hasn't been there it is truely amazing. Huge rocks, white water, one of two covered bridges in Lawrence County, Indian wells and more. It's so easy to spend the day in awe of nature when you are there and it's only 15 minutes form our house! What could be better?

It was a favorite spot to play hooky from school, because you knew no one was ever going to find you there! And on a little romantic side note, Chad and I had a picnic there before senior prom (because I didn't want to be seen in public dressed up!) But looking back now, it's a way cooler story than saying we went out to eat in a limo.

Faerie Festival

My friend Molly is a glass artist (check out her link over on the side panel), and she attended the first annual Fairie Festival at Cooper's Lake this year. Because I live so near by, she asked if I would help her mind the booth. It was a lot of fun, some great costumes to be seen and Molly painted my face with Faerie swirls so I could model for potential customers (she also face paints on the side.) Next year it should be even larger and you might want to check it out!

Mmmm... hostas

Hostas

I love Hostas, they come in all shape size and color combos (of green and white) and they grow in complete shade. What could be better, except maybe the Japanese Painted Ferns next to them.

Grrr...Rain

We spent Friday getting ready for a garage sale bravely dodging rain drops and tarping and un-tarping, and re-tarping. I ran out in the rain no less than three times in the dark pouring rain with a staple gun in an attempt to keep the tarps on the table. Then Saturday dawned lovely and I naively thought it would be a nice day. Only to spot a large dark mass of clouds looming over the horizon. Thus followed an afternoon of tarping and un-tarping, and re-tarping... Let's just say I could have thought of better ways to spend my weekend...but hey at least we made some money! Which is more than I can say for any other rainy weekend this past month.

Ryan's 3rd Birthday

Here are some pictures from Ryan's birthday party yesterday. It was great fun for everyone, the adults sat around in the shade and the kids ran around in bathing suits running back and forth between the water slide and the kiddie pool. After it cooled down, we lit a bonfire, toasted marshmallows and set off fireworks.

Giant Rododendrons

Here at last are the long awaited pictures of the world's largest Rhododendrons (purple flowers) and some equally amazing Azaleas (red flowers). The Rhodies are to my knowledge, at least 30 years old, the Azaleas probably 10 to 15. This is what happens when you let your landscaping get out of control!!! If you look at the far away picture of the Rhodies, you will see Maya in the far right corner. It gives you some perspective as to how big these really are. (She's a little under three feet tall)

Cherokee Brave

The dogwood we planted last year as a screen for the neighbors porch, has finally bloomed. All last year I had my doubts about its ability to survive, but the desire to live has taken over. Oddly enough, only half the tree bloomed although leaves are coming out on all sides. Hmmm.

I haffa brush my teef...

Maya has become totally obsessed with brushing her teeth. Every time we go into the bathroom, no matter what the reason, she has to brush her teeth. I tried getting her to brush with just water, but everytime it has to be with toothpaste. And then the ceremonial drinking of water from the little cups followed by the sacred spitting all over the counter. Followed by the comment, "Aaaawww, my shirt's wet, Mom!"