Some of the Action...

So our normally quiet city has some interesting events taking place during the G-20!

Here are some pics of when I went downtown to pick up Andrew on Wednesday...
Our normally bustling downtown looked more like it was under siege as the National Guard showed up!

Buildings were behind barriers

We had a line of about 20 police motercyles behind us. Maybe it was my out-of-state plates...? We heard there was a protest group about a mile away from our house...so instead of hunkering down in the house like SANE people, my husband jumps on his bike to go see what was going on! He left when they were threatening to arrest ANYONE in the vincinity, but I do have to say he got some good pics! He got some really great video too, but our internet connection won't let me post that. There were almost more media than anyone!

Brian Williams of NBC was here doing the national news and a protester shouted through a bull-horn during his entire newscast. Kind of funny!

The BIG truck shows up (this is when Andrew leaves :) Here are some pics from the internet of an interesting clash!And the reason for all the fuss? These are the head leaders meeting.

Our church community group had very interesting discussion on thursday night in the midst of all of this. We can be thankful as Americans that we have the right to stand up for what we think is right. In some countries, people would be shot on site if they dared to do this. In some countries, seeing military march through their downtown is an everyday occurance. So while we may not always agree with the reasons or methods that some protesters choose (and some were calling attention to very legitimate needs), it can make us stop & be thankful for the great freedoms that we live with every day.

the CHAOS is COMING

Watch out Pittsburgh - we are in for quite a week!

We are hosting the G-20 summit this week. Already hundreds (thousands?) of protesters have descended on us and are busy protesting whatever it is they protest! So that is the big concern this week, that things don't get out of control in any way like someone doing something very, very stupid!

Downtown will basically be closed off by Wednesday evening. The good news is that means Andrew will have thursday & friday off! The slogan is "Pittsburgh Welcomes the World" which is interesting as businesses quickly board up their windows & people scurry out of town. Yes, we welcome you, but don't expect to see us. :)

Check out this link for one the of more fun demonstrations!

Our own little neighborhood will be hosting Little Italy Days over the same weekend, which could be very interesting. This festival appears to be a very big deal & people have been talking about it since we've moved here! We're told thousands of people will be here descending on our little Italy neighborhood! We live on a dead-end street which leads up to the main street, which means we'll be very close to all the action! It looks like there will be lots of Itialian musicians as well as loads of great food - what's not to love?!

A concern is that the protesters are targeting Starbucks & PNC bank, both of which are located right in the middle of our festival. So, it will definitely be interesting to see how that plays out!

So, it is going to be a very eventful week for us here! I am hoping that it turns out calmer than they're predicting. :)

My very wise hubby had a very interesting perspective on the protesters - check out his post here.

What a Day of Deals!

Our Saturday turned out to be one of the most fun days we've had since coming here! We've done fun things & really enjoyed our time here, but for some reason Saturday seemed extra special! My boys & I had some great family time!

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We started out with a little community service (no, not the court-ordered kind :)
The neighborhood where our church is located was doing Pick-Up Penn (the street our church is on). It was a great way to get out in our community and continue to let people know about Redeemer and also be a blessing to them.
Thresa won a free glass-blowing class for picking up the worst trash (vomit). God bless her. Andrew won a nice, big sweatshirt! Graham & I came at the end of naptime, so I have to admit, I kind of escaped the trash pick-up. (thanks, little G :)
Some of our church team!

Then it was off to afternoon naptime. I'm so thankful that besides being able to do several things in the day, we managed to still work around the 2 ultra-important naps! (because I get so stressed when he hasn't napped and it can make it miserable for everyone included!!)
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So, naps done, we were free for the rest of the afternoon and it was off to Picture People for ANOTHER free portrait package!! I certainly did not expect this wonderful freebie again so soon! Now I know, we did just get the portrait package 2 months ago, however, we focused on getting a family picture that time. So this time, it was all G-man! LOVE walking away from the studio with our free pics and not having spent a dime!

killing time, waiting for our turn! ohhh, they have fun toys!

Deal #2 - $1 dinners!

how thankful I am to be back within driving distance of Ikea!

This weekend they were offering meatball & mashed potato dinners for $1!! I have to admit...we added a 99 cent salad & drink to share, so we ended up paying $4 total for our meal...it was worth it! Dinner on the patio was wonderful!
Graham was such a good boy as we carted him in & out of stores, carseats, strollers, and high chairs! I'm sure he was not sure what all the chaos was about!

His hair is starting to come in a little more and it's pretty thin & wispy. (I think that means he's getting his daddy's straight hair!) I thought it was funny that it was long enough to blow in the wind!

And last deal of the day...free clothes!

I had a $10 coupon for Sears, no minimum purchase!

So I snagged this short-sleeve turtle neck for $9.99 - which means I paid $0!!

So, I'll just use this as a HUGE plug for moneysavingmom.com!! Sometimes I find deals other places, but all of these particular deals came through her!!

Sorry, I tried to post the Sears coupon, but the link is gone! The Picture People coupon is here.

She posts a LOT of things and I only use a few select deals, but I highly suggest following her to make the most of your hard-earned bucks! (or you can follow my new momtourage spot where I am posting the deals I think are the best)

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Like these:

$80 picture package - free
$12 dinner - $4
$10 shirt - free

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You might just score a DAY OF DEALS too!!

My New Pet...

...project...that is! (those who know me certainly know I'm not getting a real PET). lol.

Since we are new to the city of Pittsburgh and our mission here is to share Christ, the obvious question is "how should we do that?" I love that everyone in our church has become very creative in learning how to engage friends, neighbors, co-workers, even complete strangers. It is exciting to hear everyone's updates on ways they were able to interact with people, ultimately of course, for the purpose of sharing the gospel.

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So, for a SAHM, what is the best way for me to meet & interact with new people?

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Adrianne (a fellow young mom) & I have decided to put together a mom's group we're calling the Pgh Momtourage. We are planning to do playdates every other week and then once every 2 months, have a family activity on a Saturday where we invite the dads as well. Our playdates will usually be pretty simple such as time at the park or pool, but we are excited to meet new moms and see how this leads.

We have only had one playdate so far (our 2nd one was rained out), but we had a pretty good response. It definitely seems like moms are interested in something like this.

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I have started another blog (what was I thinking?!!) to keep people up-to-date on what's happening not only for our playdates, but activities around the city, and also great deals that I have found.

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An announcement is going out about the blog/Momtourage this week in the neighborhood update, so we hope to see some interest generated! Most of all, we pray that this will bring us together with other moms & be an avenue to introduce them to Redeemer Community & Jesus Christ.

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Here is the new blog if you want to check it out - http://momspotpgh.blogspot.com/.

If you hear of any great deals that would be applicable to our area, I would be more than happy to post them!

I'm open to any suggestions as well, I would especially be interested to hear if you have any good playdate ideas that are free or fairly inexpensive!

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Let the playdates begin!

a tear, some snot, and as always, the drool

yep, those were all a big part of our weekend!
Poor guy started out with a cold, then came the fever, which fluctuated being 100-103 for a couple of days. Not too mention, his bottom 2 teeth popped in this week! However, the dr. said the fever was too high for it to be tooth-related.
But, I am happy to report that his fever is pretty much back to normal! His cold is still hanging on, it's such a bummer that they can't take anything to help them get well sooner! I have Vick's baby rub, a nose squeegee & a humidifier and that's about it!
Now, I did capture probably the saddest moment (above), however, most of the weekend, you would never even know he was sick! He played happily with his toys as usual. We had a couple of naps that were a big fight to get him to sleep when he normally goes down without a peep and his appetite wasn't up to normal either. But the poor guy couldn't breathe very well and I am sure he had tons of mucus in his stomach which affected both of those things. Thankfully, he had no problem at nights and kept his regular 12 hour nighttime sleeps.
He still felt up to practicing his army crawl!

And worked on his leg strengthening as well!
(no, he didn't pull up by himself, thank goodness!)


So, I am thankful he seems to be on the mend and I am looking forward to leaving the house again! Unfortunately, it was a holiday weekend and we had lots of fun plans which we had to cancel. But, that's what happens sometimes! At least it wasn't anything TOO important like a wedding or family gathering!

I also have to decide whether to keep taking him to the library since that must have been where he picked up his little virus. :( I definitely don't want to isolate him from other kids, but I also don't want to keep exposing him to sickies this winter. What's a mom to do???!!

Just for Laughs...

I am currently quarantined in my house with a sick child (on a holiday weekend!!), so I had some time to kill. I came across this funny, which I have read before and you probably have as well, but I still think it's hilarious every time I read it!
I hope you're having a wonderful holiday weekend and I am praying my poor sick baby gets well very, very soon!

And while you're at it...laugh out loud! :)

WAYS TO BRIGHTEN UP A BORING DAY
in the office...
-Run one lap around the office at top speed
-Ignore the first five people who say “good morning” to you
-Phone someone in the office that you barely know, leave your name and say “Just called to say I can’t talk right now, Bye.”
-To signal the end of a conversation, clamp your hands over your ears and grimace
-Leave your zipper open for an hour. If anyone points it out, say “Sorry, but I really prefer it this way.”
-In the middle of a meeting, suddenly yell out “YAHTZEE!”
-Walk sideways to the photocopier
-While riding in the elevator, gasp dramatically every time the doors open
-Say to your boss, “I like your style”, and shoot him/her with double-barreled fingers
-Babble incoherently at a fellow employee, then ask “Did you get all that? I don’t want to have to repeat it.”
-Page yourself over the intercom (do NOT disguise your voice)
-Kneel in front of the water cooler and drink directly from the nozzle
-Shout random numbers while someone is counting
-At the end of a meeting, suggest that, for once, it would be nice to conclude with the singing of the national anthem. (Extra points if you actually launch into it yourself.)
-Walk into a very busy person’s office and while they watch you with growing irritation, turn the light switch off/on 10 times
-For an hour, refer to everyone as “Bob.”
-While an officemate is out, move their chair to the elevator
-At lunchtime, get down on your knees and announce “With God as my witness, I’ll never go hungry again!”
-In a colleague’s daytimer, write in 10am: “See how I look in tights.”
-Carry your keyboard over to your colleague and ask “Do you wanna swap?”
-Repeat the following conversation 10 times to the same person: “Do you hear that?“What?”“Never mind, it’s gone now.”
-Come to work in army fatigues and when asked why, say, “I can’t talk about it.”
-Speak in an accent (French, German, Porky Pig, etc.) during a very important conference call
-Hang a two-foot long piece of toilet paper from the back of your pants and act genuinely surprised when someone points it out.