4!

John David turned 4 today. When he woke up, I reminded him it was his birthday and he said, "Yeah, 3 is gone forever! I'm FOUR now." Then he whispered, "Did 3 die?"

When we got to preschool today, his teacher, Mrs. Hurley, had made him a special birthday crown. Purple is his favorite color (of the moment). Today it's his turn to be "the birthday snack helper," so he took mini chocolate cupcakes and strawberries.

His friend Carson gave him this shirt for his birthday & he wore it to his party on Sunday. This morning he asked me to wash it for him so he could wear it to preschool.




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birthday news

Good news on my 35th birthday!  

I have a job.  :)

While we were in Texas house hunting, I interviewed at the same hospital David did.  They called me this morning to offer me a position.

Yay, I'm so excited.  I'll be working in acute care, mostly trauma patients who have orthopedic injuries from things like car accidents, gun shot wounds, and other accidents.  I'm so thrilled.  This is the type of position I was looking for when we moved to Pittsburgh but I could not find any openings.  

Cupcakes

Here's my little cupcake monster. Rex is enjoying a cupcake at Carson's 5th birthday party.



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DC trip

We went on a short trip to DC for Taylor's first birthday party. (She is my cousin's daughter). Unfortunately we forgot our camera and the only photo I took during our trip was this one (with my phone). John David has a strange fascination with the idea of being gobbled by a large animal. I think maybe this started with the book There was an Old Monster, about a monster who swallows all kinds of creatures. Anyhow, the day after Taylor's party, we all took the metro train into DC and went to the Smithsonian National Zoo together. John David saw this model of a T-Rex skull and wanted Daddy to lift him up into the mouth. :)




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Texas Texas Yeehaw!

It's official.  We are moving back to Texas.  David was offered the job in Temple about two weeks ago and he accepted without hesitation.  We are so excited to be heading back, but we'll have a tear (or in my case, a flood) in our eyes.  We'll always treasure our time in Pittsburgh though.

Besides FRIENDS, it's hard to say what we'll miss the most.

My butt won't miss getting bigger but the bakeries in this part of the country are the BEST.

So is the pizza.  Pittsburghers like to argue about who has the best pizza.  Mineo's or Aiello's?  Truth is, they are BOTH awesome.  I slightly prefer Aiello's (their sauce is more savory than sweet).  But you can't go wrong with either one.

We've found the best Thai food here.  And let's not forget the Malaysian food at Sun Penang.

I could go on and on about the food.

Let's talk about the change in seasons.  We'll miss it.  Fall brings cooler weather, more colorful trees, and a family trip to the farm.  Winter brings snow, which coats the hills so we can go sledding---even in our backyard!  Then everyone looks forward to spring and warmer temperatures.  And summer!  Ah, summer.  The weather is mild and you can actually enjoy being outside most every day.  Baseball games, Idlewild, Sandcastle, Kennywood.  The parks here are gorgeous and never get old.

At some point, I'll have to write a better tribute to this city that we've fallen in love with...but for now, I'll just say we'll be in Texas by this weekend to look for a house.  David's start date is tentatively set for March 26.  It's coming quickly....

Writing

Sorry about the messy state of my house.  When David started looking for a new job we started packing.  So it's a bit of a wreck.  The trashcan is sitting on top of the bookcase because Rex enjoys trash-digging. And the bookcase is turned AROUND facing the WALL because I got tired of Rex pulling books off the shelf.  Anyway!  Here is John David using my Handwriting Without Tears manipulatives to spell his name.  There are 4 types of wooden pieces: big line, little line, big curve, and little curve.  The idea behind this curriculum is that all capital letters are made of these types of lines.  Kids learn it on the manipulatives and then transition to writing on paper.  It's a great program.  I used it as an OT and have been using it to teach John David how to make letters.  I waited for him to show his own curiousity before teaching him anything.  :)  He still hasn't asked how to write "David" himself, but he can spell "John David" independently, along with a few other names.




*In case any OTs or teachers are reading this, you are technically not supposed to use the wooden pieces to teach the letter "J" so I didn't, but he made up a way to make a "J" anyhow!  Ha.

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Apples for Fred

For Christmas, my Aunt Judy & Uncle Steve sent the boys a book called Apples for Fred.  It quickly became John David's favorite book.  He's usually allowed to choose 3 books at night for me to read.  A few nights ago, he said, "I don't want three books.  I want you to read this ONE book THREE times."  Oh boy.  He pretty much has it memorized and will "read" it to me.

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