Exciting News!!

We are officially "in contract" to buy this house! We are so excited! The inspection takes place on Friday; we have our fingers crossed that the inspector will not find any huge problems or deal-breaking issues.

We are so pleased to have found a home that will work for us in a neighborhood with excellent schools (Mariemont) for such a great price! Check it out here!
http://www.sibcy.com/viewlisting.asp?mls=1173887&b=CIN&p=RESI&s=SFRD&m=1&sender=SearchResults&a=6110-Elder-St-Fairfax-OH-45227

The home has are 3 bedrooms - 2 upstairs for all of us and 1 on the first floor that we will use as the craft room/office. We have a lot of ideas about what we'd like to do. The interior is, for the most part, fine and livable. The decorative fireplace surround in the living room needs a facelift and the bathroom may be bumped out down the road. It is the backyard that needs more TLC. The size is manageable with some good grass. But the patio roof/cover was not constructed very well so we are tossing around ideas about how to make that work better for us and suit our taste.

We look forward to getting into the house (sometime in June) and getting back to our normal routines again. And having people over to our new home! We've been so fortunate to have so many wonderful people supporting and helping us, especially for the last few months. Without that help, we could not have made this important and exciting leap.

Happy Graduation!

Georgia graduated from preschool earlier this week. Brian was not able to attend since he is back to work but Georgia was excited that Aunt Kathy was able to come. Georgia really enjoyed her time at Hobbits Preschool and we are all looking forward to new adventures in kindergarten!

Good News

Most already know this but Brian starts a job a week from Monday. He is returning Cengage, the company he worked for when we moved to Cincinnati in 2004 (then called Thompson Learning). He is nervous but excited to get back to work after this mini-break, and is glad that he at least knows some people and something about Cengage His new title is Digital Services Project Manager.

We are still working out our timetable to move but we hope to buy a house. It is challenging but exciting, as well. We appreciate all of your good wishes and support over these last 4 months. It was definitely challenging but we always knew we would get through it.

Milkshake: GO WILD!!!

Just before Georgia's birthday, we took her to see her favorite band in concert, Milkshake. Brian did some work for them so we were able to attend the event for free. It was great fun. Here is some video of Brian and Georgia enjoying the music. Rock on!!

Georgia is 5!! (Part 3: The Final Chapter)

On Sunday we went to Delaware to celebrate Georgia's birthday with Grandad, Nana, and Uncle Matt. After lunch we headed to the Delaware Lanes for some bowling. It was a really fun day. Unfortunately, Nana was called into work but she did get to enjoy some bowling. Uncle Matt treated us to several flavors of Jeni's Ice Cream. Yum!







Even though there weren't any photos of Grandad, he was there, too!

Georgia is 5!! (Part 2)

Yesterday Georgia turned 5 years old! Her day of partying started with a special pancake breakfast, followed by preschool where she passed out her special birthday snack (cookies) while wearing her birthday crown. After school, she stayed for Lunch Bunch. When we picked her up, we took her to lunch (for us) and she opened 2 of her gifts - an animal hospital and a rabbit hutch, both by Playmobil. Later at home, she played with her new toys. Some neighborhood girls came around looking for her so she played outside with them for awhile. Kathy's friend Bobby joined us for dinner and the party. Kathy had gotten some games and a pinata, which was a HIT - pun completely intended!

Georgia had a fabulous day! We are so fortunate to have so many thoughtful and generous people in our lives. You can click below to see a slideshow of the party. Thanks to Aunt Kathy for sharing her photos!


If the above doesn't work, try this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9773107@N06/sets/72157615682161660/show/

Georgia's week of celebrating continues on Sunday when we head to
C-bus for an afternoon of bowling madness with Grandad, Supernana and Uncle Matt!

Georgia is 5!! (Part 1)

We started our week of birthday celebrations last Saturday with a party at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Tante & Tony, Truman & Patty (Tony's parents), and (Great) Aunt Donna and (Great) Uncle Phil celebrated with us. We all had a wonderful time. Georgia loved her cake - made by Grandma - with 2 princesses on top. She loved spending time with her family and received some thoughtful gifts that she will enjoy for a long time, I think. Here are a few photos, courtesy of Patty via Karen. Thanks for sharing, ladies! And thank you to all who attended. I think Georgia felt very special.





On Sunday we went to see Milkshake, Georgia's favorite band. Brian drew a poster for them so we met the band and got some "swag" from Lisa, the singer. It was a really fun experience for all of us.

Toothless Tessie!

Blog on Hold

We are having trouble figuring out how to load photos from the camera onto Kathy's computer, so the blog will be on hold for awhile.

Exciting News!

Brian has been invited to include some of his artwork in an exhibition at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft in Louisville. The exhibition will run from March 6 - May 16. Horse-racing fans may realize that the exhibit will be going on during the weekend of the Kentucky Derby when guests from around the world visit Louisville.

Take a look at the link below for more information.

http://www.kentuckyarts.org/Upcoming.cfm?eid=259&CalendarAction=Display_EventDetail.cfm

Cheap Thrills: Family (not so) Quiet Time

With our new status (temporarily broke), we made a list of "Cheap Thrills" - things that we can do for little to no money. Among those things was Family Quiet Time where we can draw, read, rest, etc. without music or television. Obviously, this was my contribution to the list. Today when we (I!) called for Family Quiet Time, Georgia ran upstairs to put on a dancing outfit. She, apparently felt that a "performance" was part of FQT.


Enjoy! (Sorry about the sideways view - we cannot change it.)

Happy 2009!!

We had not been to Young's in a while so we decided to spend a

portion of our New Year's Day there.

Some of you have already heard that Brian was laid off from his job upon his return to work on Wednesday. For a variety of reasons - mainly financial - the company decided to eliminate his position and refocus the warehouse function. We are hopeful that he will find another job in a short time. We have known for a while that this was not the right job for Brian as he has been unhappy and unsatisfied for some time. We are trying to look at this as an opportunity to start fresh in the new year.

This is a tough time to be job hunting and, as difficult as this time is for us, we know that we are fortunate when compared to many other job seekers. Most importantly, we have the support of our wonderful families and friends.

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas!!

Happy Holidays (4)!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Holidays (3)!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Holidays (2)!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Holidays!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Cookie Party!

Yesterday Georgia and I made gingerbread cookies. We signed up to make the cookies for her preschool holiday party next week so this was just a warm up. You can see that her favorite part (which happens to be my least favorite part) was rolling out the dough. And using a TON of flour.

Cheater recipe that we used yesterday: Sandra Lee's Gingerbread Cookies (Now, Sandra Lee is not my favorite Food Network star, but not everyone can be Ina.)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/gingerbread-cookies-with-royal-icing-recipe2/index.html

BEST ginger cookie recipe EVER - Stacy and I made these a few years ago when we got together to make sweet treats to send to family and friends.

http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2005/02/chez_panisse_gingersnaps.php

For both recipes (instead of cut outs or slices) I'd recommend that you scoop out balls of dough, roll them in sugar and pressed down with the bottom of a glass (or your palm, I suppose, but that is so not what Ina would do!). In the words of Rachael Ray - YUM-O!!

Breakfast with Santa!!

This morning we attended Breakfast with Santa at Georgia's preschool. While eating some treats, we were entertained with songs performed by each class. Georgia's class sang On Our Way to the North Pole. You can view the performance below. As expected, Georgia performed with gusto! [She is in the middle (usually - I apologize for my shaky camera work!) in the pink dress with white tights.]

As Georgia and the rest of her friends left the auditorium to return to the classroom, a classmate's mother told Georgia that she'd done a good job. Georgia asked, "What was your favorite part?"

After the performances, each class was allowed to visit with Santa. Georgia showed him the collage she made so he would know EXACTLY what she wants. Here she is with her classmates and teacher, Mrs. Booth, and later alone with Santa and her infamous American Girl collage.

"Gingerbread" House

The beauty of preschool is that the teachers willingly do all of the activities that I do not have the patience for! Today Georgia and her 10 classmates each decorated their own pre-made gingerbread house made from graham crackers and royal icing. Georgia was proud of her creation but was eager to eat all the candy! At least she waited until Brian came home to see it before eating a few pieces!