Let's play a game!

How long have I had this plant?

The only hints I will give you are to not let its looks deceive you. It has been clipped and shared many times over. It has died and been brought back to life.

What is the prize? Well, how about a Signing with a Smile calendar magnet? It's better than nothing, right? :o)

*UPDATE* Yes, the holes are naturally occurring in the plant and not the product of a my children playing with them. LOL!

*UPDATE UPDATE* I promise I'm not making this up! This plant is actually called a Monstera! HOW COOL IS THAT?!!? Check out this link to learn more!

Video to share

My family is so grateful for the outpouring of love and support we received after Tylerr's car accident in November. It was ruled an accident that couldn't be avoided and he will not be charged. Here is a video about the good that came out of the tragedy.

http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/health/nm-boy's-death-saves-three-lives

Pictures a plenty

Hopefully, I will get to the stories behind all of the pictures, but until then there are 5 or 6 slide shows over on Cookie. The first slide has my handsome little Jamo with his new glasses.

Dinner's ready!

I was saving this post for the next time I burn dinner, but in the off chance that this will (hopefully) be a long time in the future, I wanted to share my gift from my fabulous SIL, Brooke.



She picks out awesome gifts. She really does. I wish I had her gift-sense. Plus, it shows that she reads my blog! LOL! Thanks, Brookie!!!

Weird kids

I have a billion things to post. I'm in such a slacker-blog mode. Sigh. But it isn't going to happen tonight because I have the final episodes of Monk in my hot little hands.

However, because the grandparents wanted pictures of my kids so badly they were willing to give us cameras, I can't deny them this gem from dinner tonight.

Yes, my kids are weird enough that they will eat heads of lettuce. I KNOW this comes from their Grumpus. Seriously. If you know my dad, you know this is true. Love you, daddy!

Snow? In Philly?

I wish people would stop telling me that it doesn't snow much when I move to a new place. I moved to MI and they told me that it snows a few time, but nothing to worry about. And the 2 winters I was there, it snowed. A lot. Everyone said it was a fluke. Uh huh.

Then I move to Philly. And people told me that it doesn't snow much. And now I'm snowed into my house and Brad's flight from OK is cancelled. Doesn't snow much. Uh huh.

At least I was able to throw the kids out there today to burn some energy. I'm so grateful to have a working camera. This was our old one when Brad was trying to fix it.The slide of the kids in the snow is on Cookie if you want to check it out.

And in other fun news, our landlord is trying to sell this house, so we've had quite a few people coming to look at it. Ugh. I hope it sells quickly because this is kind of a pain.

10 glorious years!

I was in a bit of a rush this morning (see story below), but when I finally got on my laptop, this is what I found. Awwww. I sure love him! Today we are celebrating 10 years! I am blessed to still be so crazy in love with him.

Story

I woke up this morning and looked at my alarm clock. It said 10:53. What in the world! I ran downstairs to find Jamo casually finishing his spelling.

"What are you doing?!" I asked. He looked at me quizically while I ran into the kitchen and saw the time on the oven was 8:53. Huh? I ran back upstairs and my clock still said 10:53. This is weird because it is one of those atomic clocks that gets a signal of the time via satellite or something. It is supposed to never be wrong, even if the power goes out or it is Day Lights Savings. Weird. I'm going to have to look into that.

Adopt a grandparent

It is hard to be so far away from our families. Thankfully, we have had lots of visits, though we could always use more! (hint hint!)

Sugar has always been an outgoing little girl, but she really gravitates towards older people. I didn't think she would freak out with Santa, and I was right, and I was grateful she didn't call him grandpa either. She adopted a man from our church as her grandpa. We've given him rides to church, and Sugar has decided to make herself comfy sitting with "grandpa" during the services. He is such a good sport about it. Good thing, because keeping her away from him causes lots of screaming. We are grateful to have stand-ins while we are here, but we are also really looking foward to living closer to family!

Horrible

So, I was making Desiree's delicious white chili last night. Brad wasn't home so I turned it off to wait for him. He called to say he was coming home so I turned it back on. And then I got distracted cleaning. And burnt the chili. I need a sign that says, "Dinner will be ready when you hear the smoke alarm go off."

Brad still wasn't home and the natives were restless, so we started dinner. When Brad came home, he asked how it was.

Roo said, "Daddy it is h-o-r-l-b-e." aka horrible. LOL!

Then later when we told him he had to finish dinner to get dessert, he said, "But I need my health!"

He cracks me up.

And if you want to see some ADORABLE pictures from Sugar's 3rd birthday session with Danica, go check out the links on Cookie!

DC

What a crazy busy month November was! And we wouldn't have it any other way! It was wonderful!

My birthday was great because we had a live-in babysitter, aka a med student living with us for the month. We actually knew him back in OK, so it was fun to have a friend in town. Todd watched the kids so Brad and I could go out to Thai. I love Thai.

Brad's mom Jessie came to Philly with her hubby Lee. It was so wonderful to see them again since we hadn't had a chance to get back since we started residency back in 2007. We got to see sites in Philly we hadn't even seen yet! And then we went to DC for a day. We spent most of our time there in Arlington National Cemetery, which was such an amazing experience. Truly humbling. We also got to see the National Monument for Fallen Law Enforcement Officers. Jessie's grandpa has his name engraved there. And we got to ride around on a big ol' tour bus, which was great since we didn't have to worry about getting lost!

Well, there is a ton more to update on, but I wanted to get started somewhere. I just got way too behind. There are a ton of pictures over on Cookie from our time with Jessie and Lee and our trip to DC.

Black Friday Sale

Today only! Shop in my store! www.signingtimeacademy.com/melisamons

Friday, November 27 - 50% off orders over $25

* All single DVDs, CDs, Books and Flash Cards are 50% off on orders over $25
* No Coupon Necessary
* Excludes ALL GIFT SETS AND COLLECTIONS
* Not Valid with any other offer
* Good one day only
* Not available to wholesale and distributors

Big sale!

Head over to Signing with a Smile to get a huge discount on Black Friday and the rest of the weekend!

My brother Tylerr

My brother was recently in an accident where a boy was fatally injured. He and Becca are both devastated and could really use some encouraging words. I would really appreciate any emails, phone calls or cards that could be sent his way. I'm putting his address on Cookie if you would like to write him, or you can contact me and I'll email it to you.

Logan's family also needs prayers and support. If you would like to donate money for his memorial fund, it is at Los Alamos National Bank with the name Logan Collins Memorial Fund.

Thank you so much for the support.

DC

Oh my. So much to blog about! I think I took 300 pictures last weekend with Jessie and Lee here. But, I can't do it right now, so instead, I want to put this up:

Let's write a letter of support to our troops! www.letssaythanks.com

I just visited Arlington National Cemetery and left with a deep appreciation and gratitude for our troops. We already pray for our soldiers every day, but it becomes so much more real after that kind of experience. Let's do what we can to show them that we appreciate the sacrifices they and their families are making.

Up and running

Okay, while I make some tweaks and changes, I thought I'd put up my first draft of my website so you can get an idea of what I'll be doing. :o)

http://www.signingwithasmile.com

So close!

I am almost ready to share my new website for my Signing Time Academy business. I am soooo very excited! But, while I finish a few more details on it, please enjoy this picture. :o) I hope it will get bigger for ya if you click it!

If that doesn't work, go here.

Calling Philly Phriends

I had a wonderful birthday yesterday. I feel very blessed to have such amazing people in my life.

I am going to have a 'practice' class for my friends for my first Signing Time class. I have curriculum for both a baby signing (1-3 yr olds) and for Signing Time (3-8 yr olds). Since it will be my first class, I don't want to have so many people that I get overwhelmed. Please leave a comment or email if you would be interested in a class and for which age group. Feel free to tell your other friends about it too. Thanks for the support!

If I'm another year older, shouldn't I be wiser too?

Okay, I'm going with Signing with a Smile. But now, how to emphasize the 'a smile' part so people know that I don't just mean with a smile?

1. Signing with a Smile

2. Signing with a Smile

3. Signing with A SMILE

4. Signing with A SMILE

5. Signing with A SMILE

6. Signing with a Smile

Too many options. I may just go crazy. Any thoughts?

A good sign you are distracted

I'm distracted because I'm trying to come up with a name for my new business teaching sign language to children and adults. I was thinking something along the lines of Signing with 'A Smile' since 'a smile' is an anagram for Melisa. So, go vote in my poll and help me decide so I can stop making jelly and ham sandwiches for Jamo.

Halloween

Most of the pictures are in the process of being uploaded to Cookie. The boys were ninjas, Sugar was a lady bug and Brad and I were vegetarian vampires. And it was totally unplanned, but we were all in black and red.

Isn't this corn beautiful?!
I can't over the striations in the kernels. Spectacular! And the pastel purples and pinks in the other cob? Stunning! I couldn't get a shot like this with my old camera!

The Mr and the Mrs. My eyelashes rocked. :o)
Brad really wants hair. LOL!

The new shelves that saved my sanity. :o) Thanks Mommy!