What's been happening....

Well...what to say about our uneventful life here in Allentown. We've been here almost 2 months now, and it's been a transition for us. Leaving lots of good friends and familiar surroundings in Philly, and starting from scratch here. Allentown still feels like a big circle to me, and I'm not as adventerous as I was in Philly about exploring the surroundings. We spend a lot of time at home, and I hope that I haven't bored the kids too much. Someone at church reminded me that school starts next week. It took me off gaurd because I honestly didn't realize it was that time already! Part of me is sad that my time with Maggie and Audrey with not a care in the world is over until next summer, but more of me is happy that I'm not going to have to entertain 24/7. Now they can go out and make some friends and have a little more stimulation than boring ol mom who cleans all day.
So this summer in Pennsylvania has been the strangest summer--that is the weather. We've had some unusual chilly days, usually it's hot and very humid. Last week, we had 4 straight days of rain and cold. But by the weekend it warmed up to a nice 97 and humid day. On Friday evening, we went to some friends to play games. I had one of the young women come over to baby-sit. Ok, so I've never hired a babysitter before--in Philly we always did trades and it was great! I had to drive 20 minutes to pick her up--each way, then drive 20 min to our destination--each way, then when we got home, the babysitter was passed out on the couch.--I woke her up and she sat up and looked at me, and then layed back down and went back to sleep. Well, it was 11:00, but I still had to drive her home. I did get her to wake up at least. Maybe I do miss those trades, they weren't so bad!
Owen took the girls fishing on Saturday. They were gone most of the day and came home wearing only their underwear. I guess they had a little pool party at the pond. So, while they were gone, it was just Drew and I--which he enjoyed. While I was in the shower, he managed to get into my camcorder home movies--my fault for leaving them out, and ripped one of them up. It was devistating, but really my fault. And to top it off, he came in and threw 3 of his books into the shower with me. What a little devil!
So today is Sunday and Maggie pulled her front tooth out. It's been loose for a while, but I think OWen helped it out a little for her. She looks different--there is a big hole there with no signs of the new tooth coming in. The other one is loose, so depending how long it takes for those teeth to grow back in, she may be singing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth."

Yes, Our church is in the middle of cornfields

So, many of you --especially those of you from Philly, can't believe my church building is in the middle of cornfields. For the last 4 years my church building has been in the ghetto of Philly next to a Burger King with Trash EVERYWHERE! Now, I drive through rolling hills of cornfields until I reach our building which is completely surrounded by cornfields. We even have a hitching post--in case you decide to ride your horse to church and need to tie him up.

No more training wheels!

We've been trying to get Maggie to take off her training wheels for a while now. But, if any of you know her, she has a lot of fears, and was a little aprehensive about this. But, we convinced her to go down to the high school parking lot by our house and after a few falls, and a lot of crying, she figured out that it wasn't too hard and hopefully she'll take the phrase "it's like riding a bike, you never forget." to heart! Good job Mags!--Audrey didn't get her training wheels off--she just went along for the ride.

Where are We?

Have you ever heard of a little town called Jim Thorpe, Pa? Sounds like a strange name for a city, and it actually reminds me of my OBGYN in Utah--his name was Dr. Jeff Thorpe. It's actually a beautiful little place up near the Poconos. Last Saturday we took a little day trip up there with our friends the Coburns. We visited a little butterfly museam where they taught you all about butterflies and cocoons. They even succored Owen into voluntering himself to dress up as a butterfly. Afterwards we went into a special butterfly room where all the butterflies were flying amongst you. They would land on your head and crawl on your fingers. It really was beautiful! Afterwards we walked to streets of Jim thorpe, and had dinner.

Frusterated Blogger!

SO I have a pretty decent camera with a handy video attachment. For a few days now, I've been tryig to post some videos to my blog. I download them through google video and then click on post to my blog. After entering my personal id and password, it says that it can't identify me. I have done this numerous times, and it never works out. I even tried to copy and paste the link, and that didn't work out either. If anyone has any helpful info that would be fabulous! It really frusterates me and I guess I'm giving up unless someone can perform magic.

We have a serious problem on our hands!

Does this picture say it all? My little Drew is addicted..to the bink! He's only 20 months, and the girls had theirs until they were 2 and all is well. But Owen has noticed that his front tooth isn't coming in very well, and that it could be due to the bink. He sure does love it, but I really think it will be an easy transition. Every morning he wakes up and puts his bink in his drawer. So, we have it down to sleep times. A little at a time--cold turkey is too hard! He has 2 binks in his mouth in case you can't tell.

oops!

Owen has a tendency to let his hair grow and grow and he really avoids getting it cut. I think it reminds him if his surfer days in So Cal. So, since he's turning grey already, it really bugs me and so on Saturday night I begged him to let me cut his hair. I have attempted this before over Christmas break about 3 years ago. It was so bad that we did have to shave it all off. But I got a lesson from Jodee Church, and I was convinced that I would do a good job. Nope! Let's just say that we did have to buzz it all off, and no, I will never have this opportunity again.--unless he's unconscious.

Cabela's

Cabela's has always been a favorite spot for Owen. This store has everything from fishing, to hunting, to guns, to archery--basically anything that says "MAN" YOu can even eat there--BBQ. They have a lot of fun things for the kids too--zebra's, lion's, crocs, and a live fish aquarium. I guess it's kind of like a museam. SO now that we live in ALlentown, and a lot closer than when we lived in Philly, I anticipate visiting often.

Something to blog about

So I've never in my lifetime found some great treasure in someone elses garbage. When I lived in Philly, the minute you would put an old piece of junky furniture on your curb, it would be gone. So now that we're in Allentown, and realizing that we will only be here for a year, we're not investing a lot into decorating. One evening last week, I was out walking, and I saw that someone had thrown away a perfectly nice desk. I really needed a place to sew, and it was perfect because it was free, and when we move in June, I won't feel bad junking it--or maybe selling it$$.I coaxed Owen into grabbing it before the garbage man got to it, and we hauled the heavy thing into the basement. Well......just our luck, we had a sewer line break and our basement was completely flooded. Needless to say, it has been a complete nightmare, and we've had to throw away a lot of the kids toys, and anything wood. Which would be our desk that we worked so hard to get downstairs and we only had it for 6 days. Quite disappointing. SO the best part of the story is that tonight we decided to trash the kids wooden play table and chairs. Even though we bleached it, we just felt it was better to ditch it. We put it out to the curb, and within 1 hour, 4 different people came to load it into their car. Each time I quickly ran out to tell them that it had soaked in sewege and that they probably wouldn't want it. OUt of fairness, I decided to hang a note on it that said it was nasty and that they really wouldn't want it. 5 minutes after I hung the sign, the table and chair was gone. YOu know what they say, "One man's junk, is another man's treasure!"

We've been Tagged! Thanks Sharisse and Ryan! I guess we'll play along...

A. Jobs I've had
Owen 1. Ride operator at Knotts Berry Farm 2. Animal lab technician 3. Dialysis technician 4. Dentist

Holly: 1. Brick Oven Restaurant server 2. EKG Technician 3. Gymboree sales 4. Nurse--maternity and peds

B.Movies we can always watch

Owen 1.Raiders of the Lost Ark 2. Star Wars 3. Braveheart 4. The good, the bad and the ugly

Holly 1. You've got mail 2. Sleepless in Seattle 3. The Holiday 4. Pretty much any chick flick

C.Places we've lived

Owen 1. Long Beach, CA 2. Many places in Central Pennsylvania(Mission) 3. Utah--Provo,and SLC 4. Philadelphia and Allentown Pa

Holly 1. Arcadia, Ca 2. Provo, Ut 3. Many places in Central Pennsylvania (Mission)4. Philadelphia and Allentown Pa.

D. TV shows I enjoy
Owen: 1. SpongeBob 2. Victory Garden 3. Man vs. Wild 4. Survivorman

Holly 1. Days of our lives--I know I know, it's my guilty pleasure, I've invested too many years into it. 2. Man vs Wild 3. The office 4. Gotta love those reality shows! 5. ANd I LOVE Flip that House!

E.Foods I love! WE LOVE FOOD!
Owen: 1. Sushi 2. BBQ baconburgers good ones! 3. Cafe Rio 4. Good Cheese

Holly 1. Cafe Rio--who doesn't right? 2. Basil, tomatoes and Mozarella 3. Hummus 4. Pizza--preferably with big fresh tomatoes on it!

F. Places I'd rather be right now
Owen 1. Safari Adventure 2. Coastal Maine 3. Anywhere with Holly

Holly 1. Hawaii 2. Disneyworld--It really is a magical place! 3. Utah--I haven't been home in 2 years 4. California with Owen's family--haven't been there in 2 years either--but will be there this Christmas!

We tag The Savages!