New York.

This past weekend we had a whirlwind trip to New York City. We spent Saturday afternoon at Ellis and Liberty Islands. It was great to see the statue up so close, and to learn more about our country's history. They were celebrating Chinese new year and had a few events that the kids participated in. they also had a Chinese drum and dragon dance, that Jackson really liked. we also had an altercation with a seagull, that was pretty funny.
Sunday we went into the city for the New York Comic Con. Wow, talk about a lot of people.It was cool seeing all of the weirdo's dressed in their costumes, and the thousands of others who just love comic books and video games. of course we dressed Jackson in his Yoda costume, and made him a weirdo too. Everyone loved the baby Yoda, he even got his picture on a NBC news site, you can check it out at www.nbcnewyork.com and check out the slide shows of the comic con.
Jackson did really great considering he was dragged around for 2 days and his whole life was turned upside down. He is such an easy going kid, it is great.
this week we are getting ready for Valentines. I have helped make JT an aligator valentines box for school, and we will be making cookies as well. Kenzie went rollerskating for girl scouts, and had a great time.
I wish you all love and kisses this Valentines day.

The New Year Is Here

Well, it is now well into January, and time is flying by too quickly. I can't believe that the holiday season has already come and gone. It all happened so fast that I didn't have a chance to even send out Christmas cards. (I still plan on it) We were very busy from the beginning of October until now. After John got home from his Fathers funeral in Phoenix ,(in the middle of November) we tore out a wall in between the kitchen and dining room. We tore out carpet in the dining room, and made it one big room, replaced the floor, and repainted the whole room. We also got a new stove 3 days before Christmas. We finally finished painting the ceilings throughout, yesterday. We were preparing to move, and updating out house What an ordeal the whole process was. Now that we did the remodeling that we've wanted done since we moved here, we will be staying here in Pennsylvania, and not moving after all. I am relieved, and a little sad. Moving is always a great adventure.
Christmas was great! John's mom Carol spent a month with us from mid Dec to Jan 8th. It was great having her with us, and not just because she does the laundry. The kids had a great time with Nana, and Jackson loved having another person to dote on him.
We tried to do a mostly homemade Christmas. I made some pottery mugs for everyone, and crocheted little stuffed animals for the kids. I also sewed blue jean quilts for the kids. They turned out great. We did, however buy some gifts as well. JT finally got his coveted nintendo DS. That is all he has talked about for over a year. Mackenzie got some art supplies to become a painter, she had the paints, and now she got canvases, paper, brushes, and a nice easel.
The new year came and went, and we were our normal exciting selves. John worked early that morning, waking at 3:30, so he fell asleep on the couch around 8:00pm. Carol and JT and I watched movies and drank egg nog at the stroke of midnight. Mackenzie went to a party at her friends and spent the night there, so she stayed up later than everyone. What can I say, we are just wild party animals.
Now that the kids are back in school, and things are back to normal, we are as busy as ever with the daily grind. I hope you all had a great Holiday season and we wish you all the best this new year.

November Already!

I can't believe it has been over a month since my last post. Time sure does go by quickly. I guess we have just been so busy that I haven't had a chance to get to the computer long enough to write anything.
First of all I have some sad news to report. On Halloween we lost our Father, Papa, and all around great person. John Sr. passed away in Phoenix, Arizona. About 5 years ago he was diagnosed with serosis of the liver, and has been living with the side effects from that. The past 2-3 years his health deteriorated rather rapidly, and he spent most of the past year in and out of hospitals for various reasons. In the end his body was just worn out. He died peacefully, going to sleep and just stopped breathing. In a way this is a blessing because he doesn't have to be in pain any more, and a relief for Carol as well, she will be able to have some well earned rest. The hardest part for me is that Jackson won't have the opportunity to know his Papa. He will be greatly missed, but I choose to believe that his spirit resides within all of us who knew and loved him, and he will be waiting for us all in heaven, with a healthy mind and body. He touched many lives, and will be forever a part of them. John is in Phoenix right now with his Mother, helping out with arrangements and helping out wherever he can. His Memorial service will appropriately be held on Veterans Day, and a special family memorial will be held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this coming spring.
Now for the other updates. We have been bust as usual with normal life stuff. Mackenzie is still playing the drums in band, and has had a few performances at football games. She enjoy's it very much, and is always drumming on something. We often have to tell her to keep it down. She is also still enjoying girl scouts. Her troop walked in the Halloween parade through our little main street for the 3rd year in a row. Their theme was the Wizard of Oz, and Kenzie was the scarecrow. For our ward Halloween party she was Sacajawea, and for Halloween day she was the reaper. She had a lot of fun dressing up.
J.T. Is still sticking with the Viola. He practices every morning, and I can't wait until he learns how to tune his viola, it really needs it. He was a mummy for our ward Halloween party, but his wrapping all fell off as he ran around, so on Halloween he decided to be a Ninja for the 3rd year in a row.
Jackson is getting so big! He is nearly 8 months now, and is so much fun. He isn't quite crawling forward, but he has managed to scoot himself around in every direction, and he can do it quickly. It only takes a second for him to get from one place to the next. (thank goodness he isn't crawling) He has mastered the pincer grasp, and loves to feed himself Cheerios's and other baby puffs. He is a very happy baby, and its very easy to get him to smile or laugh. The big kids love to make him laugh, and try all kinds of silly things to do it. For Halloween Jackson was Yoda. He is the cutest Yoda you will ever see, anywhere. He was a great sport while trick-or-treating, he just sat in the stroller and watched all of the other kids in weird costumes. I don't think he really quite knew what to make of it.
John has been busy, like always, but I think he is starting to slow down. He built a shed in our back yard, finished our deck,and has done a number of other things in the yard. It now looks very nice.In the end of September, he completed a triathalon with a time of 2:08. We are all very proud of him. That was a great acomplishment. He put together a Zombie movie night on Oct 30 for the Film Club that he is a part of. They showed the original "Night of the Living Dead" and had a zombie dress up competition. It didn't go exactly as planned, but I think it was a success anyway. He has finished putting together his Christmas children's book that he wrote about 10 years ago. We had an artist friend illustrate it, and this week it was sent to the printers. These first copies are just black and white, coloring book type, but keep an eye out for him in the future, I believe he will be a famous author someday. When he returns from Phoenix he will be starting a small construction project on our kitchen. He is always doing something.
As for myself, I recently took a pottery class, something I have always been interested in, and finally did. I really enjoy creating something from a blob of clay. I am still learning, but right now I have about 8 pieces that will be ready for Christmas. With the economy in such poor shape, we decided that this Christmas we will try to have a lot of homemade things, so the pottery works out great. I have also been sewing blankets for my little ones, and hopefully I will have time to finish a few other projects. Jackson has finally taken to napping, so I have a little more flexibility.
Anyway, we here at the Graham house are forever busy, but I will honestly try not to take so long in between posts form now on.
Be sure you tell your families and friends how much they mean to you, you never know when it will be too late! We love you all, and hope everyone is happy and taken care of.

Back to the grind.

Wow has it really been a month since I posted anything! Time sure goes by fast these days. I can't believe we are already nearing the end of September. The kids have been in school for 3 weeks already. Mackenzie is in 6th grade this year. That was an adjustment going from 2 teachers to now having more than 7. She really seems to enjoy it so far, and she spends a lot of time with her friends that were previously in other schools. She has gotten 100% on nearly every paper that she has brought home so far. Her favorite subjects are chorus, band and science. Kenzie also started again in girl scouts this week and is excited about that. J.T. is in 4th grade this year and has moved to the intermediate school. He has 2 teachers, and they switch between them throughout the day. He has decided to join orchestra and play the viola. He is very excited about it, and we have rented a viola until we are certain it will take. He has done very well so far also. Over the summer I talked to his 3rd grade teacher and she told me that he did phenomenally well on the PSSA tests. (those are state required tests that all students 3-8th grade take) We haven't gotten his results yet, but his teacher said she had to double check to make sure there wasn't an error, because his scores were so high. Mackenzie also had high scores, we have her results and she is advanced in math and very near the advanced in reading. We are very proud of both of them.
John is very busy all of the time. Besides work he is also a board member for a film club, Director of Marketing for a comic book company, as well as a writer for one of their comics, and working construction (he has totally redone our back deck, and will now be building a shed in our back yard), and managing our business. And in his free time (what little there is) he is training for a triathlon that will be held this Saturday the 27th. Our calendar has become a vital part of our existence. We all have color coded pens for our different activities.
I have been able to stay home with Jackson for the time being. I am also running a Transitions class (healthy lifestyle and weight management) on Thursday evenings. I have really been able to make these classes my very own and do whatever I want with them. We have an Amish woman who takes our class and the first day we had a buggy with 2 horses hitched in our front yard, that was kind of neat. I have been experimenting with some new recipes lately and have found new ways to increase the vegetable intake of my family. I found these books called The Sneaky Chef, by Missy Chase Lapine, and she uses pureed veggies and stuff to add to different foods. I made this excellent brownie recipe. Brownies laced with spinach and blueberries (who would ever think that?) they were delicious! I have made a few other things also, with great success, and they all seem to fit in with our low glycemic lifestyle.
Our little man is getting so big. Jackson just had his 6th month appointment last week. He now weighs 19lbs and 10oz and is 29 inches long. He is very tall for his age, and is wearing 12 month clothes, because all the others are too short. He is now working on his 4th tooth (front top and front bottom)He hasn't yet crawled, but he rolls everywhere, and he will turn all around in different directions. Once he figures out how to propel himself forward we are all in trouble. He is eating all kinds of baby food now and has liked everything he tries. We have one of those little pouch things that we can put food in and it has a handle that he can hold on to and munch away. He loves to eat anything you put in that. Jack has learned how to blow bubbles with his lips and run his fingers over his lips and make a lot of noise. If we sit him up, he will sit there and play forever until he falls over. We started to give him a bath in the big kitchen sink because he would always try to sit up in thy baby bath and that didn't work very well. He loves to splash in the water and he loves to shower off with the sprayer. He also loves to play in the grass. He likes the way it feels on his feet and hands. He is so much fun to have, and we all get a kick out of the things he does.
Well anyway, I will try not to take so long in between posts. Time just gets away with me.
Hope all is well for everyone.

The Wind Down

Well, Summer is winding down now, and it is almost time for school again. (YEAH!!!)School for us starts on September 2nd, later than usual, so we still have a couple of weeks of summer.I can't believe it is already the middle of August, where does the time go so quickly?
July and August have been very busy months, we have had a lot of activities to occupy our summer days.
In July we went on a big bike ride on some abandoned turnpike roads here. They turnpike is our toll road that runs through the state, they have rebuilt parts of it and abandoned the old roads, so in the middle of nowhere we took our bikes and went on a long ride. the roads are complete with pitch black tunnels and everything. We went with a group of friends and had the baby in the bike carrier (Jackson's first bike ride). Mackenzie and I rode almost 10 miles and then stopped to feed the baby, everyone else went about 16 or 17. It was a fun experience. We rode through the dark tunnel, where I got a flat tire and at the other end the kids and most of the adults explored above the tunnel where they kept storage and did maintenance. It was a great ride.
We also had our local fair here in July. Mackenzie participated in the Girl Scout booth twice. John and I each took our turn helping. It was fun helping the girls selling food and milkshakes. Kenzie also entered cookies into the fair, she didn't win anything, but we did it at the last minute, and it was fun.The kids and I went back to the fair on Kiddy fun day to ride all of the rides. It was the hottest day, and very humid, John was at work so I took all three kids, and Jackson and I watched while the other two rode the rides with their friends, JT rode the Hurricane 3 times in a row and then didn't feel good, so while we were waiting for Kenzie to finish her last ride he promptly threw up. He had a fairly empty stomach, so it wasn't that bad. Now he can say that he rode the rides until he got sick. Jackson has a few cow toys, so we took him over to see the cows at the fair and a big cow mooed right in his face and scared him, he didn't like them very much after that, I think he didn't like the noises he was hearing from them and the goats. He cried all the way through the exhibit.
The kids have been attending the build and grow workshops at the new Lowes that opened here. They have really enjoyed making the little projects. They get to use their own hammers and build things themselves. Our favorite is the dune buggy, and the planter boxes that they planted seeds in.
Mackenzie just had her 11Th birthday.(I know I'm getting old) She had a sleepover with a bunch of 11 year old girls. They made their own pizza and then decorated their own cupcakes for dessert. They are quite the little chef's. They didn't get much sleep though, I think one girl fell asleep at around 3a.m. and the rest around 5a.m., but Natasha stayed up all night. John was out of town for a Market America convention, so I got to deal with the girls all by myself. But they were really good.
We Just had our 14th wedding anniversary, can you believe it has been that long already. It goes by fast.
Jackson is getting so big now. He is over 18lbs. He is now 5 months old. He is rolling over and trying very hard to sit up all of the time. He doesn't like to lay down on your lap, he wants to get up and go. I think that once he figures out how to move we will all be in trouble. He has 2 teeth on the bottom front, and he is eating cereal and veggies, he loves sweet potatoes and carrots, and he was chewing on a tomato the other day. He loves to sing along with They Might Be Giants, and he is very vocal. He sits in his walker now and plays with the toys.(He can't walk it yet)He has become very interactive with everything, and it is really fun to watch him with the other kids. They fight over who gets to hold him,and they still kiss him too much. Jackson loves to give wet sloppy kisses and snuggles.
Well I hope all of you enjoy the rest of your summer, it is quickly dwindling away. We are going to be busy until school starts I'm sure. We will have a lot to tell you next time.