Our GPS

I will preface my entry by saying that this might come across funnier if heard than in writing.
We got a GPS on Black Friday which Jordan is enthralled by. On Friday on our way to my parents, he wanted to hold it, but it is mounted on the window and we told him no. We stopped for gas shortly after we got started on our trip and after we pulled back out on the road, he said," I really like that new thing we got. That rectangle thing-what is it called?" Stefan said, "GPS." Jordan wasted no time in adamently saying," I don't want to guess! I don't know the name." I guess he doesn't always hear correctly what we are saying.

How Does That Go?

Jordan has said several very funny things over the last few weeks. It is amusing to see what he hears that is different from what the actual words are.

I frequently tell him, “Let’s go Joe Shmoe, Eskimo.” I didn’t realize until he repeated it one day that he heard, “ Joe, Shmoe, X,M,O”

He loved watching the Chipmunk movie especially the Witch Doctor song. He was singing it yesterday. His version-“I saw the wood chopper he told me what to do” I guess maybe he lives in the same village as the witch doctor.

Last night at the Chinese restaurant he was trying to decide which fortune cookie he was going to take so he said the children’s rhyme that seems to get passed from generation to generation. His version of Eenie, Meanie, Miney, Moe (or however you spell it!)—Eenie, Meanie, Miney, Moe, catch a tiger by the toe, if he lollers (hollers is the right word) let him go. We asked him what lollers meant, but he didn’t know.

(This is just a side note, but when I typed this into Word before I put it on this blog [because we have dial-up and it takes a long time] Eenie, Meanie, and Miney came up underlined in red as spelled incorrectly. I don’t for sure know how to spell them so I was hoping when I clicked on them Word would show me the correct spellings. Well they are not in the dictionary for Word and the alternates they gave me were funny. For Eenie one of the alternatives was Weenie. I could understand why it may have given me this option since a person could have forgot the “W”, but why would they have been capitalizing it. The option that made me laugh was “Eunice”. It doesn’t even resemble “Eenie” except that it has a few of the same letters. Maybe Word needs to ask some kids what words should be in their spell-check dictionary.)

Playing in the Leaves

Jordan had fun on Saturday playing in the leaves with Grandma Tarbox.

It was a beautiful day to be outside.

Daddy filled the slide with leaves.

Mommy loves this picture.

Trick or Treating

Jordan was able to go trick or treating two times this year. He went on Thursday(his birthday) in Harrisburg with his second cousins Colby (the Power Ranger Lion) and Gracie (Abby Cadaby). He only did a few houses before he got tired.

He also did our neighborhood on Friday (the 31st). It was exciting getting to go with Grandma this year.

My Baby is 6!

It is hard to believe that Jordan is 6 already. His birthday was on Thursday, October 30. He celebrated in school on Wednesday (he doesn't go on Thursday) by bringing in Jello Jiggler pumpkins.




He had his birthday party on Sunday. It was a Transformer theme. He received some wonderful presents and had fun visiting with family and friends.

Trunk-or-treat

On Wednesday, October 22, we had a trunk-or-treat time for AWANA. The leaders, parents, and other church members decorated their trunks and passed out candy as the children came around in their costumes. The theme for our trunk was Veggie Tales and my talented husband painted these pumpkins as Bob and Larry. Yes, they are PUMPKINS. Didn't he do a wonderful job?

Making Applesauce

On Saturday we went to Masonic Villiage and picked apples to make applesauce. We picked four boxes (1/2 bushel). We made applesauce out of the four kinds of apples for about 3 hours. It is very nice in February to go to the freezer and get out some yummy applesauce and remember going to the orchard to pick the apples. Jordan's favorite part is getting to help Daddy turn the handle on the Victorio Strainer. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a wonderful machine which allows us to make the applesauce without taking off the skins or taking out the seeds first. We just quarter the apples, throw them in a pot with a little water, and cook them until they are soft. Then Stefan dumps them into the top of the machine and cranks the handle. The seed and skins come out one side and the wonderful applesauce comes out the front. My job then is to add a little sugar and cinnamon and put it in the freezer containers.

Our Wonderful Son

There were two things that happened recently that made me so proud of Jordan. The first was that he scored a 100% on his very first math test ever. I know he works hard and wants to do well in his school work.

The second thing that made me even prouder happened last Wednesday night at Sparks. His leader told me that during game time a boy on a different team got hurt during one of the games. Jordan saw that he had to sit out from the rest of the games and asked if he could go over and sit with the boy so that he wouldn't feel lonely. Hearing about his empathetic attitude made my heart swell. God has certainly blessed Stefan and I with a wonderful son.

Our Visit to the PA Renaissance Faire

On the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, we surprised Jordan and took him to the PA Renaissance Faire which is about 30 min. from our house. He had seen the commercials on TV, but really didn’t know what to expect. When we entered the gates, you could tell that he had no idea what was going on—especially when people came up to him and started talking in an old English manner. It was children’s weekend at the Faire so he got to participate in a few special activities. We got to help celebrate the Queen’s birthday with a cupcake and participate in a parade for her honor. We enjoyed watching two jousting competitions and a giant chess match. The highlights of our day were the two shows that we watched featuring Barely Balanced. They are a group of acrobats and stilt walkers and they were amazing. There are two guys and a girl in the group and the girl actually bent over backward without touching her hands on the ground and the one guy stood on her hip bones. She must have weighed about 100 pounds and I am not sure how she did it. I think the group could definitely win America’s Got Talent if they entered. We enjoyed our day more than I think we were expecting to. My final thoughts as I left were: I am glad that I did not live during that time period, and there were a lot of very strange people at the Faire-workers and visitors.

The Friends in the Bed

Every since Jordan moved from his crib to a bed, he has been accumulating things that sleep in his bed with him. In his toddler bed he didn’t have as much room as he does now so what used to be about 5-10 things is now about 30 things. I use the word things instead of stuffed animals, because in addition to the numerous stuffed things that live on the bed you will also find a plastic thing that looks like a pink sea anemone (his beloved Squirmy), another plastic ball thing that has soft spikes on it which smells like petroleum (named Squishy), a bendy orange rose pen (that he insisted we get at the dollar store), and two foam sunflowers in pots that say New England Organics (his dad got them for him at a Bio-solids conference).

The most beloved members of the bed are his favorite “friends”: the before mentioned Squirmy, a dog with big eyes named Pal, a small Reese’s Cup guy with arms and legs named Chocolate, a blanket with a teddy bear head in the middle of it named Bear Blankie (thank you Aunt Robbie for buying it when he was born), and the newest edition to the beloved friends-a dog named Bullet. These are the friends who get to actually leave the bed on most days and travel with him to different places when we go away. Three Build-a Bears also occupy the bed. They are Haney-the tan soft bear, the brown sugar puppy which is named Happy, and a cat named Fluffy Stripes Weaver (I had nothing to do with the purchase of this animal. He was with his aunt and Grandma Weaver.) Some other friends worth mentioning are: Ben Franklin Bear (we got him on our trip to Philly last year), Uncle Terry Bear (a care bear that he received from my uncle), a Beanie Baby white angel bear to remember Samuel, and a 1 ½ foot tall snowman named Freddie. Several celebrities also get to reside on the bed: Clifford (the puppy-the normal size Clifford would be way too big), Charlie Brown, Blue from Blue’s Clues, Babe the pig, and Dunkin’ the doughnut from the Doughnut Man videos.

Needless to say, the friends take up half of the bed, and Jordan gets the other half.

Music to my Ears

I LOVE WJTL! I am so thankful that we live in an area with such a great radio station. After a really hard weekend (long story) I was so blessed to get into my car two times today and both times a song that spoke directly to my heart was playing. It is amazing how God can use music to calm our souls. Here are the songs.
Caedmon's Call - There Is A Reason From the album Overdressed
Late at night I wonder why
Sometimes I wonder why
Sometimes I'm so tired I don't even try
Seems everything around me fails
But I hold on to the promise
That there is a reason

Chorus:Late at night, the darkness makes it hard to see
The history of the saints who've gone in front of me
Through famine, plague and disbelief His hand was still upon them
Cause there is a reason There is a reason

He makes all things good
He makes all things good
There's a time to live and a time to die
A time for wonder and to wonder why
Cause there is a reason
There is a reason

I believe in a God who sent His only son
To walk upon this world and give His life for us
With blood and tears on a long, dark night
We know that He believed
That there is a reason
There is a reason

Label: Provident Music Distribution

Third Day - Tunnel From the album Wherever You Are
I won't pretend to know what you're thinking
I can't begin to know what you're going through
I won't deny the pain that you're feeling
But I'm gonna try and give a little hope to you
Just remember what I've told you
There's so much you're living for

Chorus:There's a light at the end of this tunnel
There's a light at the end of this tunnel
For you, for you
There's a light at the end of this tunnel
Shinin' bright at the end of this tunnel
For you, for you
So keep holdin' on

You've got your disappointments and sorrows
You ought to share the weight of that load with me
Then you will find that the light of tomorrow
Brings a new life for your eyes to see
So remember what I've told you
There's so much you're living for

Label: Essential Records

More Kindergarten pics

Top picture: Mrs. Myers, my teacher

Next picture: My friend Deric

Middle picture: waiting to go inside

Bottom: Here we go. We are ready for a new year.

My First Week of Kindergarten

This was my first week of Kindergarten. I go on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Today we didn’t have school even though it is Friday. I get to spend the day at home with Mommy. We went to get a doughnut at the Fractured Prune. My teacher’s name is Mrs. Myers. Damian, Leighland, and Deric are in my class. In Bible we talked about how God made everything. In math we talked about left and right, inside and outside, top/middle/bottom, and before/after/between. We also talked about the letter “I”. We had music with Mrs. Gerber, art with Mrs. Kobin, and library with Mrs. Hubler. I checked out a Clifford book to bring home. That is all I want to say about Kindergarten. By Jordan

A Moment

Last night Jordan came downstairs where I was watching the Olympics. Here is the conversation that happened.
Mommy: Why don't you come snuggle with Mommy?
Jordan: Okay, but only for a moment.
He came over to sit with me. As I cradled him in my arms and hugged and kissed him, I asked:
Mommy: Do you only have one moment in you to snuggle with Mommy?
Jordan: All right, I have two moments for you.
Mommy: How long is a moment?
Jordan: One hundred and 42 minutes.

Baby Samuel

Tuesday, August 5 was a sad day for our family. We lost the precious baby that we had waited a long time for. Baby Samuel was born at 16 weeks. We chose the name Samuel because Hannah had waited so long for her son and then had to give him back to God. We know that some day we will get to see him in Heaven, but we ache for not being able to watch him grow and see him here on earth. The staff at Womens and Babies Hosptial was so wonderful and we are grateful for God's direction in helping us choose that hospital for the delivery of our baby. We felt as if the nurses were grieving right along with our family and that was a comfort to us. We did get to hold Samuel and were amazed at how anyone could say that a 16 week old baby is just a fetus. He had 10 tiny fingers and toes that the nurses captured the prints of for us in model magic. They spent was seemed like an hour taking pictures for us to remember him by. Through the hospital's Share program we will be having him buried along with other stillborn and miscarried infants on September 9. We greatly appreciate all the support we have received from our friends and relatives at this time of sorrow. We can feel all the prayers offered up for us at this time and we need them. We know God has a wonderful plan for us through all that has happened, it is just so hard to wait and see what that is. Thank you again for all of you who have thought of us at this time.

Our Trip to Disney

From June 10 to June 18 we had an amazing vacation in Florida. We stayed with my grandma who lives 30 minutes away from Disney. She picked us up at the airport and let us use her car while we were there. We were thankful that we didn't have to pay for lodging or a car rental while we were down there. It was also very nice getting to spend time with her.
On Thursday we went to Epcot. We were able to do Test Track and Soarin before the lines got too long and then work our way through the rest of the park. We bought Jordan a passport in order to make the countries a little more interesting for him. At each country, they had a person from that country who would stamp his passport and write something in their native language. He especially enjoyed going to Japan because of having our exchange student, Kie, stay with us for almost a month in March.
On Saturday we went to Animal Kingdom. Jordan enjoyed riding Everest, but the Yeti scared him a little. The second time we went on it, he closed his eyes for those parts. We loved the Nemo show and went on the safari 3 times.
On Monday we went to Magic Kingdom. We were there at 8:15 in the morning and closed the park a little after 12:00 am! Jordan was going strong at 10:00 after the fireworks and decided he wanted to stay longer. We were glad that we did, because we were able to get pictures with 3 princesses (Two of them kissed Jordan on the cheeks!) and Mickey & Minnie without as long of lines as earlier in the day. Jordan loved going on Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and It's a Small World. He did not enjoy The Haunted Mansion. He was so good every one of our days there. He didn't whine or complain. It think it is partly due to the fact that he rode in a stroller every day instead of us making him walk all over the park. We were also glad that we took a rest day in between each park.
It was a wonderful vacation and who knows when we will get back to Disney. It was almost nine years between our honeymoon at Disney and this trip.

Jordan's 1st Post

Today was my first day at Calvary Kids Day Camp. We did basketball. I am on the yellow team. Aidan and Andreas are on my team. We made a craft. It was a star that you scratched the black and underneath was a rainbow. My favorite part was buying an airplane at the store. We saw a movie about talking puppets and the guy told a Bible story. The story was about God made the world. That's all.
by Jordan

My First Post

Yes, I am finally doing a blog (for all those people who kept telling me to do one.) I figured since the school isn't doing school moments anymore, I would start a blog to tell you about our lives (mainly Jordan's). He is at Calvary Kids day camp right now. I have to pick him up in 5 minutes so this will be short. I hope that I can keep up with posting. Bye for now.
Joy