What We're Thankful For...

We're thankful for Addi, who's sassy and cute,

For Brynli and Ben, both yellow to boot!

We're thankful for Chloe, who's verbal and smart

And for our Dads, you're both in our hearts.

We're thankful  for Electricians--they make the world shine.

We're thankful for Fifters, who can read our minds.

We're thankful for Grandmas--Beth, Betty and May

And for new Houses! Hip-hip-hooray!

We're thankful for "Ice cream"--It's like the real thing, just try it!

And we're thankful for Joey, though I may deny it.

We're thankful for in-laws, both Kayla and Kate

And for the Love that has made our lives great.

We're thankful for Mothers, lovely and rare.

We're thankful for Nursing students with extra flair.

I'm thankful for Owen,  Derek and Mark--all brooding and steamy.

And Pig, Pog, Pi, Tolliver-- all cuddly and dreamy.

We're glad Querius is gone, even though it was dandy.

We're thankful for Rosalind and all of her candy!

We're thankful for Step-families, who have bonded through strife.

And we're thankful for Tiit who is dancing through life.

We're thankful for all the hard work that we do

At our new Alma Mater, CWRU.

We're thankful we don't speak the Pittsburgh Vernacular,

And for the Waxlers, a couple spectacular.

We're thankful we're Xendochial, it's helped us to make lots of friends

And for our Youth, though God knows it ends.

We're thankful for Z's when we're able to catch 'em

But we're usually awakened by someone hoping we'll scratch 'em

Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving,
Nicholas and Wendy

It's gonna be legend-... wait for it... and I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the second half of that word is DAIRY!

That's right folks, another legendary blog entry from the Cleve!  You know how new parents like to impress their friends and families by sharing anecdotes of the new words that their babies are saying?  Well, it's not like we're trying to one-up anyone...

...but I have little story of my own to share.  Nicholas has a new word: mitzvah.  The other day a woman stopped us on the street and asked to use Nicholas' cell phone to call her son.  After placing the call for her and successfully connecting mother and son, Nicholas proudly declared that he had done a mitzvah.  I'm really proud of his recent dedication to doing good works; so much so that I've been thinking of getting him a tzedakah box to keep in the house so that he can make more frequent contributions to the needy.

New tzedakah box

Perhaps the more impressive bit of news--not that my 29 year old learning new words isn't impressive--is that a week ago today we closed on our house.  That's right! We are now home owners.  I'll let the pictures do some of the talking for us.

Just a little taste to encourage each and every one of you to come visit (NOT ALL AT THE SAME TIME!).  We're ecstatic to have finally closed on the house.  We even had all of the other Case families on our street over to the house tonight to celebrate.  In case in you were wondering why the dining room table looked like it was listing under the weight of too much food in the photo...that's why.  Also, if you've ever wondered how you keep four children under the age of three entertained in a house with no toys, I now have the answer:

Oh my goodness! You guys will never believe the adorable thing Nicholas just did!

See?  I mean, does it get any cuter?

And in closing, I just want to say: remember how Nicholas and I always had four cats?  Yeah, well that's still true.

Getting Oriented...

Well we're mostly settled into our new home in Cleveland Heights and now it's, quite literally, time to get oriented.  I had my orientation on July 28th and learned that in order to complete my MSSA I'll need to______________ and then once I've received my degree I can use it to begin a meaningful career doing ____________________.  Gosh, I really hope they review those details at some point during the semester because I may not have been listening as well as I could have been.  I was fairly perturbed about the way orientation had cut into my 76th straight hour of reading Kristin Hannah novels (thanks, Molly!) and I think that really pulled my focus.  I will, however, be speaking to my field advisor tomorrow.  I got an email from her today telling me that there's someone at the Hanna Perkins Center, my top choice for field placement, expecting a call from me! 

Nicholas had his second day of orientation today.  He took a tour of the campus and got assigned the lockers for storing all of his instruments.  They also took the class picture for Case Western Reserve University's DMD class of 2015 .  I suggested that he don a striped sweater, red ski cap and glasses so that way all future CWRU dental students can have fun spotting him in the photo.  Suffice to say that my suggestion was ignored and he went with a more traditional (read: boring) look for the photo.  Now he's back home and raiding on World of Warcraft while I write this and take in the dulcet tones of Tolliver and Pythagoras battling each other for dominion over the second floor of the house.

More news to come soon and definitely photos of our new house.  It's nice and roomy and provides us with the ultimate luxury...distance from the kitty litters.