keepin' up with the joneses...

Dear Friend,

2011-11-15T13:20:00.003-06:00

I just typed out this email to a dear friend of mine who wrote me to tell me she's sorry she's been "missing" but that she feels like a slacker and can't get it all done. I liked my reply to her so much (Thank you Holy Spirit) that I decided to post it for you to enjoy as well. :)

Dear Friend,
I'm sorry you're struggling. I hate times in my life like that. It's weird because it's not as much about my circumstances as it is more about the way I'm perceiving it. Sometimes, granted, my schedule does get crazy hectic (like now-around the holidays)...but there are years where I maintain perspective and I stay peaceful and other years where I feel like I am literally one gasp of breath away from drowning in the ocean of commitment.
I know I'm not Dr. Phil or anything...but if I could give you some "been there-done that" advice...I would say....cut yourself some slack. Don't beat yourself up. That is the last thing you need..and just what the devil would like to do. You have the rest of your life to get in super fabulous shape....but your babies are only young once. Housework never ends. You'll never be done....so...just do what you have to and don't stress over dust and dirt. :) I've found that we can go a good FULL week to two weeks without me doing laundry if we REALLY have to. Sure, someone will have to wear the panties that they hate and no doubt there will be mismatched socks on everyone's feet...but we can survive. Not only that...but if we had to, I'm pretty sure we could exist without going grocery shopping for a couple of weeks too. It wouldn't be long before meals became very boring and "canned" but we would make it and no one would die. :)
Take a moment to think about what is REALLY important...in the big scheme of things and then make that your goal. Everything else that gets done is just icing on the cake. Of course I am NOT saying give up on anything. I am just saying let life be for a bit. Roll with it. Pat yourself on the back for the things you DO accomplish and don't let anyone or anything make them less victorious because of the one or two things you didn't get done. I hope that helps. I've had my seasons of feeling like a big old slacker and it's no fun. Let the peace of God which passes ALL understanding dwell in your heart and mind. :)

I'm here for ya, (that goes for you too, dear reader!)
Love, Jen

Too important not to say...

2011-10-28T13:44:00.003-05:00

Do you ever let something go for so long (too long) that when you are ready to come back to it....the task is just almost overwhelming? Yah...me too. And today that is how I feel about this blog. I have so many things I want to say and write that when I sit down to start....it's like a raging FLOOD of thoughts...so I sit here looking at the blinking cursor and then hit "Cancel" and go do the laundry instead.
But not today.
Today I read something that gave me the 'Umph!' to just push through that crazy rushing flood of thoughts and swirling topics and JUST DO IT.
So what I'm thinking about today is character in our kids and whether or not we are actually putting anything into building it within them.
I know for me personally, I'm struggling here. I see my children becoming "their own person" more and more and sometimes I don't love what I see. The worst part is that all my kids are..... is a reflection of me and their daddy. So I asked...do WE act like that? And well...in our own more grown-up, more sophisticated way....yes, we do.
Well boo. How come when I try to "fix" others like my hubby or kids, the fingers always point back at me?? :)
There are many character traits I want to instill within my children...but only one of them is CRUCIAL:
First and foremost, I MUST teach them how to have an intimate passionate relationship with Jesus. Without this, they cannot succeed and with it, they cannot fail.
I also think that trying to build such traits as honesty, kindness, sympathy, gratefulness, etc. are going to be tough without the foundation of this personal relationship with the Lord. Think about it...the more we seek Him, the more we find Him. The way we seek Him is through prayer and His Word. The more we read His Word, the more we understand who we are in Christ. When we get to that point, we walk according to the Spirit and not the flesh. At that point, being honest, loving, kind, sympathetic and grateful are all just byproducts of living a Spirit-filled and Spirit-led life. :)
And once again...we've come full circle and the ball is in our court (as parents). Are we showing them this by example?

We must teach our young children this. It doesn't come "natural" to them. If we all acted like babies or young kids, none of us would exercise, we'd eat pizza breakfast, lunch and dinner and we'd probably play video games and watch tv during most of our waking hours. So it takes someone with maturity to turn off the tv, put away the video games, cook a healthy meal, go for a walk and OPEN UP THE BIBLE together as a family.
If sports and activities make it impossible to have time for these things, then I guess you are left at a fork in the road....deciding what is a better investment of your time. All time gets spent...just some things bring back a greater return than others. :)
Deut 30:19
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

Redirecting...

2011-04-15T10:12:00.002-05:00

So...I hate to be like this...but if you're here reading this, then I am asking you to please click over to my other blog and read my newest post. In honesty, the post should've been done on this blog because it really wasn't going to be about exercise or fitness, etc....but I typed it over there and now I just can't see writing it all over again here. SO...click here to read! :)

But before you go....
Don't you just love reading your OWN blog? I just came over here and started scrolling and before I knew it, many moments had passed. I'd like to hug whoever came up with this idea of blogging. What a wonderful testimony to how life progresses and changes and grows. To everything there is a season....that is for sure. I smile at the funny posts and the happy times, my heart breaks again with the sad posts, I yearn for the days when my kids were little-er and did such cute, silly things. Yet, I'm so grateful to be where I am today...where God has brought me and grown me. Embrace today, because it is happening NOW. :) These are the best times of your life!

family

2011-03-15T15:59:00.000-05:00

So here is the Duncan group you guys hear me talk about! Love these people! :)

cousins

2011-03-15T15:52:00.000-05:00

Grant, Jaxon and Brooklyn. Believe it or not...they weren't posed...Grandpa just happend to have the camera at the right place/right time and said HEY GUYS, LOOK OVER HERE and SMILE! :)

Weekend Fun

2011-03-15T07:16:00.002-05:00

This weekend we took a little trip down to our hometown to visit family and finally meet the newest addition to our (extended) family, MaKenzi Ashton Jones! She is 9 weeks old…which means we’ve been trying to make a trip down to see her for 9 weeks!
I knew from the pictures I’d seen that it was only going to take seconds for me to be completely smitten with her…and I was right. Wow! I don’t get to hold little babies in my arms all that often and it’s so easy to forget how tiny they are! She was so precious and they had her all dolled up with huge bows in her hair the entire time (which I LOVE). :)

The first night we were there we had grilled burgers at Matt’s Nane's house. Afterwards we hit Summer Sno for sno-cones! Duncan has the best sno-cones on EARTH..so if you ever go there, be sure to stop and get one!

On Sunday we went to The Christian Center (where we met, got married and went to church the first 6 years of our married lives). It was good to see old friends and be in church with row(s) of family!

After church we had a big family lunch at Matt’s mom and step-dad’s house. That is also where we always stay when we visit and they are so wonderful to us! I’m so grateful that Matt’s step-dad, Duane, is a photographer and he usually snaps some good pix of the family. This year was no exception!

After lunch, all the (grown-up) kids went to the park to play a mean game of Frisbee. While the little kids played at the playground, we got in about 30 minutes of serious Frisbee playing. It was SO MUCH FUN. I found out that I’m not half-bad at throwing a Frisbee, but not nearly as talented as Matt and our BIL Larry who can make that thing soar about the length of a football field with precise accurateness! We started a rule that if you missed catching it, you had to get down and do 5 push ups. HAHA That didn’t last long. Then we had dinner at Matt’s other grandma’s house and enjoyed a nice visit with her and her new husband, Bob.

Today, Monday, we got up and did a little shopping at an AWESOME little boutique called Prairie Rose where Brooklyn got a new shirt, 2 necklaces and a pair of earrings and I found a perfect gift for a couple of my girlfriends. I really wanted this shirt they have there…but couldn’t bring myself to spend the last $ in my clothing envelope on a single t-shirt. It was so cute though. It was a black burnout with the words MY KIDS ROCK on the front in really cool looking letters all “rocker-ish” looking. Oh well..:)

After shopping, we had a Mexican lunch with Matt’s dad. The kids always love spending time with their Pee-Paw! He keeps us all giggling.

Right before we left town, we did something super fun….just as a family. We went to Wal-mart and bought $100 worth of groceries for someone who we knew needed them. We also got a cute card that said on the front “Who loves you?” and then on the inside says “I DO!” and I signed it “Love, God.”
Then we did a DING DONG DITCH, meaning we snuck up to their house, put them on the porch with the card, rang the doorbell and RAN back to our car (which was parked down the road a little ways) and took off. We were all giggling and breathing so hard! It was SUCH an adrenaline rush and what a FUN way to spend $100!!! All of us said we can’t WAIT till we can do that again!!

Almost 13 Years!!!

2011-02-25T11:29:00.001-06:00

To accompany the post I just did about Brooklyn trying on my wedding dress...and to celebrate the fact that Matt and I are about to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary...AND because I just got a new scanner :), I thought I would put one of our wedding pics for you all to see. I was 19, he was 21. Mere BABIES! :)

Wedding plans? :)

2011-02-25T10:27:00.006-06:00

So, I know I've been AWOL from here for a while. Life is crazy-you know how it is. :)

Anyway, in my spare time (HAHAHAHA) I've been watching DVR'd episodes of TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress". I didn't mean to get started on this...but I was watching it one day and I wanted to record the remainder of the show...but instead of hitting "record remainder", I must've hit "record all future episodes" so now when I look at my DVR'd shows...there are gobs of this show on there. And WHY I can't just delete them...I don't know...but instead I stay up till all hours of the night watching these girls try on extravagant wedding gowns and love every minute of it. So-a few nights ago while the boys were snoozing, I put this on and Brooklyn watched with me. Of course, it's no surprise that a conversation about MY wedding dress came up and boy was she ever EXCITED to know that it was hanging in our guest closet just WAITING for her to try it on! :)
She RAN to get it and out she came...looking like..................A BRIDE!
Woah! I was not ready to see my wedding dress on my TEN year old daughter and see her look like the woman she will one day become. That was a glimpse into the future I wasn't quite ready for. But, rather than let my emotions get the best of me, I just smothered the tears that were threatening to explode from my eyes and together we giggled and laughed and dreamed about "her day". Then we had to grab the camera and snap some photos!
I thought it was SO CUTE that she thinks my dress is "amazing and beautiful" and that she totally (THINKS SHE) wants to wear it on her wedding day! That's so sweet...but I know better! Give her another 10-15 years and I'm PRETTY sure she won't feel the same way.
This dress is the only wedding dress I ever tried on. My mom and I got up one day, went to David's Bridal, I showed the lady a picture of a dress from an Estee Lauder 'Beautiful' perfume ad that I had admired, she led me to this dress...which is the EXACT dress from the picture! I tried it on, saw that it was on sale for $199 and we bought it. Done deal. I never looked back or even considered that I might have liked or wanted another dress. At that time (I was only 19) all I could think about was MATTHEW PAUL JONES and how infatuated I was with him. I would've worn a trash bag and carried dandilions for all I cared..I just wanted to HURRY UP and be his wife! :) We got engaged on Dec. 26, 1997 and got married almost exactly 3 months later on March 28, 1998. I don't remember much of anything from those 3 months other than dreaming of what our life together would be like. My poor mom..she had to plan and prepare the whole wedding herself. I didn't have preferances about anything. Can you believe that? I am SO DIFFERENT from that now! Boy oh boy...my parents should be SO GLAD I got married when I was so young because if I was doing it now...it would take YEARS to plan and I would need a small fortune to pay for my "preferences" now! :) I've developed expensive taste over the years!
Anyway, I never even considered having my dress preserved or anything. It was just the outfit I wore to walk down the isle...nothing sentimental. My niece wore it at her wedding a few years after mine and I think she felt the same way. Just needed a white dress to get the job done. All this time it's been hanging in the closet and I've actually tried to get rid of it (garage sales) or give it away plenty of times...but somehow the thing just won't go away...and now I'm so glad! Brooklyn is going to have a blast over the next few years playing dress up in this gown and I'm gonna enjoy it with her (and try to hide the occasional tear that slips out! :)

I am a sloth

2011-02-05T22:59:00.003-06:00

I don't really know what a sloth is...other than the funny looking guy on Ice Age...but that just seems to be the right word to describe my dedication to this blog. It's sad, I tell ya.
I actually am only writing THIS POST because I got on here to look at some of my friends blogs and in order to find them, I had to pull my own up and when I did I saw that it's been nearly a MONTH since I last posted. You know why? Because stinking FB is sucking my brain cells out again. Yes, I returned to it slowly after being off for a month and now I'm back in over my head. Bleck.
Anyway, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you, my first love. I'm gonna attempt to make a change...straight away. :)

New Jeans! (one pair)

2011-01-08T19:54:00.005-06:00

So, I've been meaning to take a pic of my new jeans (that I bought with the money that I won from the Holiday Challenge) and so today I finally grabbed Brooklyn and had her snap a couple of pix. These first two are of my OLD raggedgy Lucky jeans that I LOVE but are literally falling apart. They have a hole in each knee, one on my left front hip and a GIGANTIC hole in the butt! But I still wear them! Ha Ha

Yes, this close up is of my butt cheek....sorry if that is TMI. :)

My new jeans are funky and fun...they are Big Star brand style Miki...size 28 regular...in case anyone wonders (or wants to send me some! ha ha ha). I love this style because they aren't too flare leg or too skinny leg. They also are a higher rise so that they don't show any booty crack when I bend over. They come to right about an inch below my belly button.

NOT loving this picture of my booty...so just ignore the shape and look at the jeans! ;) You will never hear me say that my rear is my best asset...ever.

My FAVORITIST pair of new jeans had to be altered (they were only about 6 inches too long! ha ha--seriously though!) and so I won't get them until January 11th. I'll take pix of them too for ya, because I know you're just anxiously awaiting it! HA!!! They are like--opposite of these jeans--they are a dark wash with a very cool white/silver thread and hardly any distressing.

Lastly, I leave you with the cutest (BY FAR) pic of all...the one I snapped of my sassy little Brooklyn!

Journal It

2011-01-03T09:20:00.002-06:00

I was going to send this as an email to my friend Kate...but then I thought that there might be other young mothres out there who could benefit from this idea, so I'm posting on my blog instead. :)

When Brooklyn was 3 months old, I was reading a parenting magazine. It was the section in the front called "It worked for me"...probably in either Parents or Parenting. Anyway, it was a lady who had written in telling that from the time her children were babies up until they were grown, she had always kept a journal for each one of them and then gave it to them when they were 18.

I loved the idea and began it that very day. That was nearly 10 years ago now and I am still journaling and it has become one of the most precious things in my life. Especially now that Brooklyn is older and she knows about it. She loves those books probably more than any other posession. I had intended to keep them a secret until she was grown up...but she found it one day in my bedside table and immediately became enamored with it, so I allowed her to hear bits and peices (as I read it to her). Then she started leaving me notes on my bed saying "mom, pleas writ to me agn" :) when she was only about 5 years old because she LOOOOVES to hear stories about her life and what I am thinking and feeling about her.

Here are some suggestions I have about this, if you should decide to do it:
1: Get a spiral bound book, it's much easier to write in when you don't have to hold the page down because of tight binding.
2. Write about the big things...but also remember to write about the every day things. Some of our favorite entries are the ones where I say "Dear Brooklyn, today you are 2 1/2 and guess what? You are wearing big girl panties today! You still haven't figured out exactly what that means, but you sure are proud of your little Dora undies and would rather wear them and only them (with your tiara and clip-clop shoes too, of course) than any clothes! You are talking all the time these days and say the cutest things. Today you told Daddy that you were going to marry him when you grow up! Speaking of growing up, you are getting so big! We took you to the doctor for your check up and she said you are so healthy and strong! You are already wearing size 3T and some 4T. You don't much like to eat your veggies but you do LOVE Grandma's pickled beets, which suprises me! You would eat french fries with every meal if we would let you and still won't try a donut because you think they have "nuts" in them! ha ha Right now, I am reading Dr. James Dobson's book called "The Strong Willed Child" because even though you are my little sweetie pie...you can be SUCH a stinker sometimes too! You certainly think you're the boss a lot of the time. Somedays I feel like you are way too smart for a 2 1/2 year old because it feels like you know exactly what I'm saying, and you intentionally do everything that I don't want you to do. It is exhausting and at times I wonder how God figured I was qualified to be your momma. You don't really seem to care about having a time-out and when I swat you on the bottom, you just look at me like "big deal" and run off to play. I wonder if you're too little to be "grounded"? hee hee--just kidding! One thing I know...God blessed me with you and He will definitely help me figure out what I need to do to teach you and help you become the young lady that He wants you to be! He knows exactly what you need at all times, even though I don't...so as long as I stay in close contact with Him, I know it's all gonna be just fine! :) I love you my growing-up-way-too-fast baby girl!

See...there was nothing "huge" about that entry...but rather than just list out details like "today we went to X and we ate X and then we came home and watched tv and then went to bed"...it talks more about feelings and thoughts...which is much more interesting to read later on.

4. Write often. I used to try to write about every other day or so...but now I only write, on average, maybe 3 times a month...sometimes more, sometimes less. I especially try to write when we've had an extraordinarily good or bad day.

5. Don't only write about the good times. I have plenty of entries where I tell the kids what naughty little boogers they've been that day. When they are older, they will appreciate your honesty and when they are parents, they will especially appreciate knowing that you've been there/done that!

6. Don't think that boys won't enjoy reading these journals! Grant is only 6 and he loves to hear me read from his book just as much as Brooklyn does!

7. Write about your husband. Some of my entries are just paragraph after paragraph about how much I love and adore their daddy. I just read one that I wrote to Brooklyn the other day that said, "Right now your daddy and I are disagreeing about something and that made me think that I want to write to you and tell you some things about marriage..." and then I went on to tell her how pride will hurt a marriage and how being selfish will only rob you of the joy that you long for....etc. etc. etc. I told her how blessed I am that her daddy loves us so much and works so hard to provide for us. That he loves God and is our spiritual leader and that even when we disagree, I am still head-over-heels happy that God gave him to me! "Oh how I pray that God will bring a young man just like your daddy into your life one day."
Kids need to know this stuff--and how much your and your spouse love each other!

8. Write about YOUR accomplishments and goals too! Without going into too much detail, I have written about my weight struggles in my books to Brooklyn, because when she is a young woman, I want her to be able to read about this and know that I wasn't always "fit and healthy". She will see that it took determination and struggle and lots of hard work to change the way we live, but that I did it because I want HER to grow up healthy and strong and NOT have the kinds of issues with weight that I did. (ps. I don't read that part to her right now).

9. Have a seperate book for each child. They will want to have and keep these as they grow up and move out on their own...so make them individual and unique!

10. Write about answers to prayers and ways that God has worked in your lives! It is our responsibility to show our kids how God has blessed us and provided for us. It is a wonderful way to help you remember too...all the times that God has answered our prayers!

So..........I hope this inspires you to do this. Even if you only write once a month, it will be something your children will cherish!

I'm throwing a temper tantrum!!!

2011-01-01T19:47:00.002-06:00

Okay, So...on Wednesday, I woke up feeling sick to my stomach. Unfortunately, I only set my alarm early enough to wake up, brush my teeth, throw on my work out clothes and make it to the gym in time to teach my class...SO....that meant that I didn't have time to call for a sub or "wait it out" and see how I was going to feel. But...I had a pretty good indication something was going on because in the 20 minutes before I left the house, I used the bathroom 4 explosive times (tmi? :)
Anyway, I get to the gym, teach my class using light weights and doing more instructing than actual demonstrating and then head home, shower and get in bed. There I stayed rolling around, moaning and groaning for the ENTIRE DAY until around 6 pm when I FINALLY was able to throw up whatever it was that was KILLING my stomach all day long. Never been so happy to puke in my life!

Anyway, all day that day just the thought of food make me sick...but by the next day (Thursday)I was CRAVING Subway. Very unusual for me. We aren't frequent Subway eaters...but for some odd reason, nothing else sounded as good as a 6 inch sub loaded with veggies and doused with creamy italian dressing.

Fast forward THREE whole days (today) and I'm STILL craving the sub. Matt knows how bad I want one so we brave the fridgid temperatures and drive into town just so I can have my sub.

Mmmmm.....hot, toasty, loaded, yummy sub sandwhich. We get home, I make up my plate with my sandwhich a small pile of Cheddar and Sour Cream Lay's and a nice icy-cold Pepsi Max. Right about that time Brooklyn hollers from upstairs "MOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!! I need you to come help me with the TV." I try to holler out instructions on how to get it switched over from video to the satellite again...all the while I'm practically DROOLING all over my plate...but nevertheless...she can't figure it out. So, quite frustrated, I set my plate down on the table and RUN up the stairs, fix the TV and RUN back down stairs. I was probably away from my plate for about 45 seconds max...but that was ALL THE TIME IT TOOK for SAM, our cocker spaniel, to eat my ENTIRE SUBWAY SANDWICH AND CHIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
O!
M!
G!
SERIOUSLY! I wasn't sure if I was going to cry, scream or break something!
It was an eye opening moment in my life. One I'm ashamed of. I can NOT believe I can get that emotional over a SANDWICH! I was overwhelmed with anger and sadness for a good 5 minutes screaming and flailing my arms around in the air, shouting all kinds of horrible threats that I was going to do to him (which I would NEVER really do).
In the end, I calmed my heartrate, composed myself and poured a big bowl of Multi-Grain Cheerios mixed with Raisin Bran covered in skim milk and called it good.
Well, not good.
Good would have been my sub.
But it was dinner.
As Matt would say..."it'll make a turd."
AGH!!!!!

pictures galore

2010-12-20T11:52:00.006-06:00

I uploaded these in backwards order, so I guess I will just leave them and explain them that way too! (less time/work).
On December 18th, I hosted our 5th annual Family Christmas Party. Every year we play some kind of game. Some of the past years we have played Christmas Win, Lose or Draw, Bunco and this year we played Minute To Win It. 19 rounds to be exact! It was SO FUN! We drew numbers (either a 1 or a 2) to determine teams. The rule was that everyone on the team had to play at least one game. Each person had given me $10 ahead of time so that I could purchase the prizes--which were $20 gift cards. Since we had 16 adults playing....a total of 8 gift cards were purchased to all different stores/restaurants. Once we figured out which team won the most games, then we had each person on the team complete a timed challenge to determine 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. place. It worked out perfectly. 1st place person got first choice of the gift cards..and so on. If any of you want to copy this idea for a party, feel free to contact me and I can give you lots of pointers that I figured out along the way! :)
Here is a picture of my niece, Jessica, playing High Roller. This is a pic of Jess playing Stack Attack.

My nephew, Cale, playing Do You Hear What I Hear?

My dad and nephew, Craig, playing Yank Me.

My uncle John and brother, Doug, playing Breakfast Scramble.

My nephew, Cale, playing Noodling Around.

My niece, Jess, and her mom (my SIL), Teresa, playing Dizzy Mummy.

My HILARIOUS SIL, Pudgy, playing Face The Cookie.

My brother, Doug, playing This Blows.

The Battle of the Matt's! My nephew Matt and my hubby Matt playing Don't Blow the Joker. By the way...neither of them could do this--even with 2 tries each. But I did it and showed'em how it was done the first try! :)

Me and my new great nephew, Marshall! What a DOLL! He's only 3 weeks old! (8 lbs)

My beautiful and sassy Santa girl, Brooklyn!

Brooklyn and my great neice, Alexis!

Me and Kinley girl! (and that is my adorable great nephew Kyen in the background!)

And now here we are at some random pictures that I took one night for no reason.

Me and Matt....more in love than ever!

Me and my pretty little Christmas girl!

I know I'm partial, but I think she is just beautiful!

And lastly, one of B and her best girlfriends F and T at their Christmas Party~!

And that's it for now! I'm sure there'll be more to come since Christmas in in 5 days!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!!!

Maybe someday...

2010-12-12T15:26:00.002-06:00

Maybe someday I'll be a blogger again. I want to be. I miss it. I miss all my friends and your comments, but for now, I just can't do it. Even though I want to..and I think of things that would "make a great blog post" all the time, I just can NOT seem to get my booty in here and actually take the time to think it through and type it out...not to mention taking the time to actually upload photos.
BLAH!
That's what I feel like. BLAH!
I don't know what's going on with me lately, I'm definitely changing. Hopefully they're changes for the good...right now it's all a bit weird and foreign to me. I've never been so disconnected before. In ways, I love it and I feel so free and in some other ways, I feel a bit lonely and left out. I guess (as much as I hate to admit it) I'm realizing that I'm not really THAT important. All these things I was SO involved in...things that I thought practically couldn't function without me...are doing JUST FINE without me.
Even Facebook....I've been off for a whole week now...and no one has even seemed to care or hardly even notice. I think maybe 3 people have asked me about it...which is TOTALLY fine, because quite honestly, I'd rather not talk about it a whole lot...but I guess I just expected a least 25% of my 300+ fb friends to say "OH MY GOSH WHERE IS MY FAVORITE PERSON JEN???" ha ha ha ha..I'm just kidding, I don't have THAT much pride...but...it's just humbling I guess to realize that everything goes on just fine without me. The children's department at church, the PTO, the kid's class parties, blogging, facebook , etc.
Wow, does it sound like I'm throwing a pity party or what? I'm NOT. :) I'm actually quite content at the moment...just reflecting on what's been going through my brain lately, that's all.

What I was really getting on here to say is HI! I hope you have a Merry Christmas! and if I don't talk to you again before then...HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Please feel free to e-mail me anytime!
jennimatt10@hotmail.com
Love,
Jen

Here's a topic for ya...

2010-12-02T10:33:00.002-06:00

So, my hubby and I had a ~~fight~~ conversation last night about what defines "flirting" versus "being nice" to someone of the opposite sex.
He is very conservative, in that, pretty much everything other than a nod hello is flirting.
Me, apparently the liberal on the otherhand, is oblivious to the fact that anyone could read more into my giggly conversation than what is intended.
It's actually quite an oxymoron, because by nature, I am QUITE intimidated by men in general. I practically avoid conversations, interaction with and even looking at men other than my dad or my husband. Of course, there are a few other exceptions, like close friends and other family members that I am comfortable with, but for the most part...men freak me out. I've always been this way and even now I struggle with my face turning beet-red when a man I am unfamiliar with talks to me. It's some kind of odd and very irritating natural reaction my body exhibits when I feel uncomfortable. It's totally embarrasing and it's probably part of the reason that I just try to steer-clear of these types of situations.
For instance, the doctor I work for---I rarely ever see him, just occasionally when I go to pick up my paycheck, he'll be there. Because he is my boss and my job is bascially at his mercy, I am very intimidated-feeling by the relationship between us. I constantly stutter over my words, my face stays flushed and I almost always leave feeling like a COMPLETE IDIOT because of something I said that didn't even make sense because my heart was pounding. I don't know what is up with that but I HATE IT. (imagine you're having a conversation with the President of the United States---and you want to make a good impression...)
Well...Matt sees that as me being flirty. He thinks that somehow, that is sending a message to the guy that I'm interested in him.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!which is just astounding to me that after 13 years together, he doesn't know me better than THAT!?!?!?!

Anyway, this is a recurring problem in our relationship, because as those of you who know me very well know, I am a talker and a joker, silly and giggly and I can be quite sarcastic at times with people who I feel really comfortable with. Well, all of those things-when done by me with another man-are considered by my hubby-to be flirtatious. There aren't too many men who ever make it that far with me...meaning that I ever become comfortable enough with to let my "real" self show...but there are some. Every 10th or 15th guy we come across-whether at church or elsewhere, I might just click with....as in--I can tell we have a similar personality and the comradare of sacrasm and jokes just flows. It means NOTHING romantic...just that we "get" each other and it's innocent fun to just joke around. Not like hiding it from our spouses...but right in front of them.
I'm trying to think of an example....Okay, here's one...a female family member of mine and her boyfriend came to one of my classes at the gym. Afterwards they came over to talk to me and he said(sarcastically) "I thought you were going to work us out." To which I replied, "HA! I don't think ya'll are tough enough to handle the kind of workouts I dish out!" Then we all laughed and that was the end of it.

I hope I am not crossing over some invisible line right now by telling you all this, but who knows. I am forever getting reprimanded for saying too much. Ugh.
But I really need to understand this. Am I actually crossing a boundary by being jovial with other men----other women's husbands?
Does it bother you when your husband talks to/laughs with/jokes with another female?

I can honestly say that I have a few female friends who are like this with MY husband and it doesn't bother me AT ALL.
First of all, I am COMPLETELY secure in my marriage. I know he wants me and I want him and that we are committed to each other for life.
Secondly, I am also very secure in my relationship with these particular females. I know them, I love them and I actually appreciate their thoughtfulness to talk to my husband and I love it that they like him enough to joke around and punch him in the arm every now and then.
Ironically enough, I actually PREFER my good friends to be this way with him. He likes it...which makes him like them better...which means he likes me to spend time with them more...which in the end...means I get more girl-time with my best friends. :) YAY!

I'm sure I'm not the only woman who deals with this issue...so maybe some of you can give me some ideas on how to resolve this issue. It's a lose-lose deal because I either
1) Be myself, end up being "too friendly" and making Matt mad
Or
2) I keep to myself, don't talk or joke (which is SO NOT me and actually seems rude and stuck-up) and keep the peace. (except I end up resenting hubby for "forcing me" to be someone I'm really not.)

Ahhh....help!
And if you think that I AM INDEED being flirty, please don't hesitate to tell me. If he's right, I want his opinion validated.

This can't be happening...

2010-11-30T07:04:00.002-06:00

Wow, all it took was a horrendous ~~dream~~ nightmare about my little boy playing with some other little boys, finding a loaded gun which they thought was a toy and shooting himself in the face to wake me up. Yes...that is what I dreamed last night. UGH! Thankfully even in my dream, I turned to God and in my despair and desperation, He heard my cry and healed my little guy and confounded the doctors. Right before I woke up this morning, I was running through my church telling people what God had done for us! What a night. From one emotional extreme to another!!

Anyway, I certainly woke up with a very different mood/attitude/mindset than I've been having lately. The first thing I wanted to do was go grab him up and just hold him in my arms and NEVER EVER let him go. My eyes well up with tears just thinking about this whole thing right now. BUT...I honestly think either God gave me that dream or He is using that dream to show me some things.

Somehow, lately, I've slipped back into the old me--the one who resembled a chicken-with-her-head-cut-off. I've suddenly acquired more responsibilities than I feel capable of handling and therefore anything that interferes with my agenda, is nothing more than a nuisance. So if you do the figuring---that means that the kids have been DRIVING ME NUTS. They are constantly needing something...whether it's for me to tie their shoe, listen to them read their homework, play a game, watch a movie, watch them perform a song together, etc. When I'm trying to do something (and I ALWAYS AM)...that kind of stuff is such a bother.
But why OH Why????
As I read back thru that stuff I just listed there that they always want me for, I think--what an HONOR for them to be wanting me and needing me! There will be a day, and sadly it's probably not that far off, when they won't want nearly as much to do with me. And without a doubt, I will MISS THIS exact time. Or what about my dream...what if, God forbid, something unthinkable ever did happen to one of them...how much would I wish with all my heart that I could come back to this day, when everything was "perfect". What seems like chaos now would look like heaven to me then.
A good friend of mine said to me recently, "If we're too busy for them now and show it by never looking up from our computer screen/book/phone, etc...then eventually they are going to stop coming to us at all."
Oh how true that is...and how it breaks my heart. How many MILLIONS of times have they been talking to me all the while I was texting on my phone or typing on the computer or reading thru FB. Sure, sometimes I'm doing something important and they really do need to wait...but the VAST majority of the time, giving them my attention is a zillion times more important than whatever it is that I'm so preoccupied with. I can't STAND when my own mother only half-listens to me...and yet here I am doing it to my kids and thinking it's not that big of a deal because what they are saying is silly kid-nonsense about what so-and-so said at school today. WHAT AM I THINKING?
Anyway, I know..........if you've been a reader of this blog for any length of time, you've read many posts like this one....but today, this is what is going on with me and I just needed to write it out/share it with you. I'm sure we can ALL always use a reminder to SLOW DOWN and put priority on the things that really matter. It's days like this that I'm tempted to throw all electronics out the window and go back to a simpler way of life. :)

Signs of Christmas...

2010-11-22T06:29:00.001-06:00

So, we've been busy at the Jones household this weekend! Away with the pumpkins and scarecrows, in with the Nativity, Santa and a sleigh-full of Christmas decor!
(sorry I had to post each picture individually through Picasa because Blogger was giving me trouble again).

2010-11-22T06:29:00.000-06:00

The tree is up and gifts are wrapped! (It looks so much prettier than this in real life!)

2010-11-22T06:28:00.000-06:00

Stockings have been hung by the....windows?!?.....with care! (no chimney...so this is the next best thing!)

2010-11-22T06:27:00.000-06:00

The table looks grand with it's pinecone and berry garland spread across it. (too bad it's TOTALLY in our way when we have dinner!)

2010-11-22T06:26:00.001-06:00

The "sitting area" looks all cozy with two snow-capped evergreen trees on either side!

2010-11-22T06:26:00.000-06:00

Brooklyn's turquoise, hot pink and lime green tree is up and sparkling through our front window!

2010-11-22T06:25:00.000-06:00

The entryway is ready! There is a big wreath on the outside of our front door...but you can't see it thru the glass..I thought you might've been able to.

2010-11-22T06:20:00.000-06:00

Christmas Cards have been made! (but they don't all look like this...so if you get one and it's different, don't be surprised! :)

Tough subject...

2010-11-21T15:00:00.002-06:00

Well, I wouldn't normally post something like this on my blog, but since I've made my blog private, I feel more liberty and I would love to hear your advice on this very touchy subject.

One of my daughters 9-year-old friends (from church) confided in her this past week that she has decided to be a lesbian. So sad. This young girl has had a VERY rough upbringing and lives at home with her teenage homosexual uncle, so she's no stranger to same-sex relationships. She is being raised by her grandparents who bring her to church every time the door is open, which is wonderful. But...I just don't know what to do about this. Do I talk to the grandparents? Do I turn a blind eye? Do I let Brooklyn continue being friends with her? Do I allow her to continue spending the night at our house?

I was not ready for this....not at all.

Personal Privacy...

2010-11-16T18:30:00.003-06:00

Well, if you're reading this, that means you are someone I trust! :)
I had to make my blog private today, sadly, because of a couple of very, very, VERY disturbing comments that were left on my work-out blog. Since I link between the two (blogs), I decided to make this one private for now as well...just to be on the safe side. Even though I HATE to be "private" and therefore potentially miss ministry opportunities as well as the ability to make friendship with people from all over the world...I can't compromise the safety of my family or me...and today was the first time in all my years of blogging (going on 5 years now!) that I've ever felt threatened. Yuk!

So anyhow, thanks for being a reader and my friend! I'm so glad that I've been able to get to know you all, and hopefully have encouraged and inspired you at some time!

I know I've been slacking MAJORLY on updating this lately...but such is life. If there is anything I've learned in 2010, it's that my FAMILY comes FIRST....and right now, they need me!
Love you all!
J.

Brooklyn--She's cute no matter what!

2010-10-11T18:32:00.007-05:00

Last week at Brooklyn's school, they had the opportunity to dress up each day according to a particular theme. Monday was Crazy Day. As you can see...my girl can get SOME kind of CRAZY! She has on leggings that are a different color on each leg, a boot on one foot, a flip-flop on the other, shorts, shirt, scarf, hat, headband, 2 diff. earrings and a wild hair do.

Tuesday was Nerd Day. We really didn't think we were going to have anything good for this day, because of course, none of us are nerds around here (ha ha)...but we managed to do her up pretty nerdy, I think!

Wednesday was Retro Day and again, we were unsure of what we could possibly use for this. But....I remembered I had this shirt in my closest that was a bit retro-y and Brooklyn had gotten these cute "shag" boots recently. Then we found this cute short jacket in her closet to top it all off. We did her hair flipped out with a big "bump-it" in the back and she looked like she came straight out of the 50-60's! SO cute!

Thursday was BY FAR our favorite!!! PROM DAY! There was no question about what dress she would wear...the delimma was HOW we would do her hair! (If you don't know this about me....I love doing hair!) Anyway, I did her whole head in ringlet curls and then we pulled it over to the side and I pinned it up on top and put a rhinestone pin in..then covered the whole thing with silver sparkle hair spray! She looked GORGEOUS! I went up to the school that day and had lunch with her (so I could spy out all the other prom get-up) and I could quickly see that I was a bit over-the-top with her hair do. Some of the other girls had pretty dresses on....but no ones hair looked like they were ready for ACTUAL prom, like Brooklyn's. ha ha...we don't care. We had FUN! :)

Lastly, Friday was Spirit Day. It was all about getting as Orange and Black as possible. We weren't allowed to paint her face or color her hair...so we were limited....but I think we still did pretty good! I got an old pair of her white canvas shoes and painted one black and one orange. She wore one orange sock (with the black shoe) and one black sock (with the orange shoe). She made herself a choker necklace and a bracelet out of orange and black beads and put on a black lace finger-less glove. We put ribbons in her pixie pig tails and she was ready to Rock It!

I think I had more fun fixing her up during this week than I have since she was a baby and I could dress her up and put bows in her hair! She was so cute and aggreeable to let me do whatever I wanted! One thing about my girlie...she's got style! :o)

So Many Pictures!

2010-10-04T22:31:00.007-05:00

I finally pulled the SD card out of my camera and downloaded all 67 pictures!!! to my laptop. Even though I've been downloading them to my regular PC, for some reason Blogger won't let me upload them from that computer (??!!??)

Anyway, now I'm finally at a place where I can do it....so forgive the MASSIVE amount all at once...but at least I'm finally posting them! :)

These first 2 pictures are of Brooklyn on her first day back to school after having her tonsils out. I know she REALLY did not feel like going.....but I hated for her to miss any more days. After I saw how miserable she looks in these pictures, I wished I had let her stay home one more day. Oh well.....

Here she is with her girlfriend at a football game. They learned a cheer and were going to perform it at the pre-game show.
Just got out on the field!

Here they are with the varsity cheerleaders performing their routine....so cute!

Grant watches the game while he sips on his Coke.Here's one of me...all ready for the game!

Brooklyn wanted me to paint her WHOLE face for the ballgame this time!!

Grant just wanted a little bit of paint....but ORANGE hair!
This is one of my BEAUTIFUL BUDDY Rene!! I love her!

This is a gross one for ya! This is a pic of a Black Widow Spider that I killed in our garage. This is the 3rd one in the past couple of weeks!! CREEPY! And do you see all those "sacks" of babies? One time when I went to kill them, babies started going everywhere! There will millions!!

The Secret Keeper Girl Live Tour was back in town, so of course, we had to get all glammed up and go!! Here is me and my SKG!

Emily & Booklyn all dolled up!

The 4 of us: Brooklyn, Me, Emily & Tammy.

Here's a really interesting one for ya...my lunch! ha ha...I took a picture because it just looked SO healthy...physically and spirtually. Love feeding my spirit man while I feed my body! BTW: That Sonic cup is full of WATER! :)

This is another no-real-reason pic. I was cooking dinner one night and realized I looked a wreck...I had 15 minutes to "get ready" before Matt would be home from work so I slapped some make up on and ratted out my hair. This was the end result. I love being able to faux-get ready in such a short amount of time. I remember a day (back in my teenage years) when I would have required at LEAST an hour to be presentable (or so I thought! ha ha)
Lastly, here is one of Brooklyn and her buddy at the hometown rodeo we all went to a couple of weeks ago. They looked so cute!

At the end of this week (hopefully) I will post a really fun photo shoot of Brooklyn from every day this week. It's Crazy Week at school and my girl can GET SOME KINDA CRAZY! Today was "crazy day". Tomorrow is "Nerd Day". They are also having prom day, spirit day and something else that I can't remember right now because it is about 2 hours PAST my bedtime! G'night y'all!
Ps. If you haven't been to my blog in a while, be sure to read the last post I did called "Personal Letter" to catch up on the happenings of our lives currently! :)

A personal letter...

2010-10-04T09:41:00.002-05:00

This morning, I sat down and typed out this letter to a very precious someone in Matt's family. As I read back through it, I realized it was a pretty good summary of what is going on in our lives at this point. Also, I know that I have been somewhat neglectful in keeping this blog updated....So....I have decided to post this very personal letter on here for my friends and family to read. I hope that the person I sent this to doesn't mind that I shared it...!!?? (love you!)

I'm kind of sad to say that our contact with everyone in XXXXXX has been dwindling to less and less. It's not intentional, but it seems like we are all just so busy and no one (us included) makes time for leisurely phone conversations anymore. :-(

I am working very hard to change that aspect of my life. Over the past year, I have read a couple of WONDERFUL life-changing books that have really altered the way I live. I have pulled out of ALL of my volunteering at the church, school, etc. and took a "break" from it all during the summer. In the process, I have been able to figure out WHO I am (which is a different woman than the girl I was when I signed up for all this stuff!) And also, and more importantly, who GOD is calling me to be. I realize now that while a particular job is good and helpful, it is not always good and helpful for ME to do it. Especially when I try to do TEN good things and end up dividing myself into so many different areas that I'm only able to give 10% of my attention and effort to each one (and even less of me was left for my family!) Now I realize that I want to do the things that matter the most and give them 100% of me. :o)

Right now, I am absolutely positively certain that my "Calling" is to be MOM. There is no greater or more rewarding or more important job for Jennifer Jones right now..than that one. The kids are at a crucial stage in their lives, especially Brooklyn, where her values are being formed and she desperately needs me there (and focused, not scatter-brained) to help guide her. As you know, she's a special young lady who has a "mind of her own" when it comes to some things and while I LOVE that about her...I also see that without some firm,loving direction...she could very easily go the wrong direction. She is so precious to me and she deserves a mom who will care enough to show her the way.
And Grant...he's no longer my little, sweet baby. Nope. He's Mr. Big Guy now and has started hastily wiping off mommy's kisses and refusing my hugs. Boo hoo hoo!!! Makes me want to cry. I knew this day was coming, but I HONESTLY did not think it would be THIS soon! His personality seems to have changed (and matured) a lot over the past year. I know it's a good and needed thing, but I just don't know exactly how to be mom to him right now (instead of a smothering mommy!) ha ha That is why it is so good that I am seeking God for wisdom in how to turn this little guy into a Godly, respectful young man. I am completely confident that as long as I stay focused on the task at hand (and don't start volunteering for a hundred different things again) I will be able to be the best mother to him possible.

In addition to the wonderful things that are happening with the kids, we have tons of other GREAT things to report. Like the fact that we are now completely debt-free (other than the house)! We were actually able to re-finance our house from a 30-yr mtg. down to a 15-yr mortgage. Because the interest rate dropped SO much, it only increased our payment by about $75/month. Praise the Lord!

Also, we have been doing the Dave Ramsey style of budgeting now for about 8 months and in that time, we've been able to save up enough money to (almost) buy a new vehicle CASH! (not a brand new vehicle...but a much newer, nicer one for us). That is such a huge testimony! Before this year, we were barely making ends meet, but now that we have "buckled down" on unnecessary spending and have honored God by handling our money wisely, He has blessed us so abundantly. Never in a million years would I have thought we could SAVE up this much money (and still pay all our bills and have all our needs met). God is truly SO AWESOME! Even now, as I type this, I'm in awe. In the natural...it just doesn't seem possible, but with GOD...as we know...all things are possible!

Another great thing is that since we aren't spending as much, I'm not shopping as much which means that I am home more...which means that I hardly EVER stress out about all the cleaning/laundry/ etc. that needs to be done. Since I am home almost every day, I am able to stay on top of it and make nice, healthy meals nearly every night. I know my family appreciates a clean house, clean clothes, a nice dinner AND A MOM WHO DOESN'T GRIPE all the time!! :o)

There is so much good that has happened in our lives over the past year, that I wish I could somehow share it with all my girlfriends who are still running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to do a MILLION things for everyone and not having any time left to give to the most important people in their life--their families. But...sadly...I had several wonderful people TRY to tell ME this for the past couple of years and I just couldn't grasp it. It wasn't until I came to the "end of my rope" with it all and surrendered control to God, that I was able to have this life-changing breakthrough.

On top of ALL of that, Matt and I are more in love than ever. As we seek God first, our marriage just gets better and better. I can honestly say that there is no one on EARTH I would rather spend my time with than that guy. He is the sugar in my kool-aid!! :o) I know you don't get to be around him too very much, but you would be SO PROUD of the man he has become. Even though I didn't know him back in his "wild" days, just in our 12-14 years of knowing one another, he has grown so much. He is actually taking some night classes at church to help him discover what his calling from God might be. He is unsettled in his job and knows there HAS to be something else for him, something more fulfilling and rewarding, that God has for him to do with his life. The tough part is being patient while it is revealed to us. Still, we praise God for such a wonderful job for him that pays so well.

I am still doing my medical transcription job, even though it was supposed to have ended exactly one year ago. The doctor I work for gave me my "notice" that he had purchased a new system and would no longer be needing me soon...and for some crazy reason (for which I give God all the glory!!) it just keeps on being prolonged month after month! I have recently re-written our budget to where we don't depend on my income any more, just in case it actually does happen that my job ends, but in the meantime, I am SO GRATEFUL that he is dragging his heels about switching to the new system. Even though I don't make a lot, it really is the difference in us having to count every penny, being EXTREMELY strict and tight...OR.. having a little breathing room. No matter what happens, I have total peace that God is our supplier and that He has our world in His hands!

I have developed a very strong passion recently for helping other young moms/wives discover these wonderful things that I have figured out recently and I have a feeling that in the future, that is how God is going to use me, which I am thoroughly excited about. TOO MANY of our girls get married at the young age of 20 (or younger!) and have NO IDEA what it means to be a wife or a mother or run a household or live on a budget. Even in the area of sex, I think there are WAY MORE young women than we realize that have never been taught about their bodies. I know I wasn't, and that was a horrible part of our marriage for the first SEVEN years because I was so insecure with my body and didn't have any idea how things worked. God has worked nothing short of a MIRACLE in our marriage in that aspect too and I want to help these other ladies who think (like I did) that there was something wrong or broken with them.

Ahhh....I could go on and on. :o)
I was just telling Brooklyn last night how priceless it is to me that not only did I get her AWESOME DADDY when I married him...but I also got 2 more fantastic grandmas and another mom and dad, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. I love you guys just as though you were my family from birth and I can't imagine life without you.

I know this was a long e-mail, but since we don't get to talk often enough, I hope you enjoyed reading through the things that God has been doing in our lives.

I look SO forward to seeing everyone at the holidays! It just can't get here soon enough! :o)

Love,

Jenni

Fishin'

2010-09-05T17:38:00.003-05:00

The 4 of us went fishing this afternoon at our neighbors pond and WOOHOO I was the first to catch one! I thought this meant we were going to have a succesful afternoon of reelin'em in and we could have a fish fry for dinner...but no such luck. After my "big" catch, Matt caught two small ones and that was it so we threw them all back in. Still...it was pretty fun to get a catch!

Big Brave Brooklyn

2010-09-03T09:58:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, Brooklyn had her tonsils and adenoids removed. We knew it was coming, as we've had this scheduled for a couple of weeks, and as much as I've been preparing HER for what to expect and that everything would be fine....I didn't even think about how I(ME) might do with this whole thing.

Let me tell you...it is not cool to see your child in a hospital bed. And it's really not cool to see people in scrubs who you don't know wheel her away from you. Even though I knew it was a very routine procedure and everything went well..I was not prepared for how she looked when I walked into the recovery room. Because she was still fully under anesthesia....to me she looked...well..I can't even say it...but un-alive is what I'm trying to say. Matt said, "she just looks like she's sleeping" but I didn't think so. When she sleeps she cuddles up with her lammy and she looks peaceful. This time her head was cocked to the side oddly and her mouth was open and her hair was a mess. Her skin looked abnormally pale and well...the truth is, I am a bit dramatic at times (gasp!) :o)

Anyway, I just decided to not look at her until she started to wake up and then wha-lah! She was back to my girl again. :o)

I'm sure it didn't help me that I had a large to-go cup of coffee on the way to the hospital, didn't eat breakfast AND drank a Diet Mt. Dew in the waiting room! I was a shaky mess!

Anyway, like I said, the surgery went perfectly and QUICK (like 25 minutes!) and the doctor said he removed a LOT of tonsil and adenoid tissue. (that's good and probably why she's always choking on things!)

Now that she's home, she is feeling terrific and enjoying having my undivided attention (and all the yummy foods she gets-made to order!) So far, she's gotten to have extra-cheesy mac-n-cheese, chocolate mousse pudding with whip cream and a cherry, Danimals, oatmeal, chicken noodle soup, a fruit chiller, a jamocha shake and a cheese omlet for breakfast this morning. Yum!

She is feeling great and not even needing to take her pain medicine! She's up singing and dancing and being her normal cheerful self! God is SO GOOD and I SO appreciate all of your prayers and sweet notes to us!

Here a pic right after we got her checked in and into her hospital gown.

One last kiss from mommy right before they wheeled her off.

Ohhhhhh...hahaha...I just found these on my computer from last weekend! The next door neighbor's grandaughter came over and Brooklyn, her and Grant dressed up. I snapped these pix of them! HAHA Grant--oh my gosh!

SKG The Final Date

2010-09-01T22:53:00.011-05:00

Tonight was our last date in our Secret Keeper Girl book. This time Daddy got to come along to "affirm her beauty." We were extremely generously blessed by a friend with a gift card to go to a VERY posh and pricey resturant. What a treat! The food was delicious and the atmosphere was perfect for our "princess" to feel special! She even got to order a (non-alcoholic, of course) Strawberry Daquiri with whipcream on top in a fancy glass. (Major big deal when you're 9!)

As a special gift, we got her a beautiful Bible; her first "real" one. It is dark brown "chocolate" leather with really pretty scrolling embossed in it. We also had her name embossed on the bottom in a really cute, girly font. The coolest thing about it is that the sides of the pages are printed, so that when it is closed, it has a very cute design. I sort-of got some pictures of it.

After we ate, we walked around the shops that surround the restaurant. I couldn't resist a few good picture opportunities!

Daddy's Little Girl!

Me and Brooklyn, best buddies!

She LOVED this area where there are benches and big clocks and statues and lots of pretty landscaping!But nothing excited her more than getting to see and go into a REAL old-timey phone booth. It actually had a working pay phone in it (I didn't realize the even still have those anymore!) but it costed .50 cents and I only had 1 quarter, so very disappointingly, she didn't get to make a call. But she still pretended.....haha

We ended up going into Pier 1 and finding a selection of masks. We had lots of fun trying them on:

Matt the skeleten ? and Me as Catwoman!

Brooklyn really wanted one of these masks, which I thought were fantastic...until I saw the price! Eeek! This one I have on I do NOT like. It's kinda freaky looking to me. And the one below of Matt...ick! I don't like the "full mask" look...kinda scary. The half-face ones are fun though!Lastly, I'm leaving you with a hilarious picture of our dog Kinley. She is an 8 pound yorkie and the other day when I was cleaning up Mr. Potato Head parts, I noticed that these yellow glasses looked like they might fit her perfectly. I slid them on and they DID! HA HA! She even kept them on for a while. It was like they didn't bother her at all! Hilarious!

Having a Ball!

2010-08-28T21:23:00.000-05:00

In early August, we went to the kids Softball/Baseball Awards Ceremony! Here are my little ball players! Grant with his team after they got their trophies!
Ahh...my one pic of the two of them together and Grant looked away! grrr!
Then when I tried to get him to let me take one more...this is the look I got. ha ha
My little softball player! Always sweet to pose for the camera!
HA! I got one of him when he wasn't even looking!

Brookyn and the only other 2 girls from her team that showed up for the ceremony.

1st Day of School

2010-08-28T20:57:00.000-05:00

The kids were nervous and excited for their first day of school! Brooklyn started a new school this year at the Intermediate Grade Center (4th grade) and Grant is going into 1st grade--which means ALL DAY class for him!

Buddies!

2010-08-27T21:29:00.000-05:00

All four buddies--all ready for school! Brooklyn, Grant, W & T.

Thank God for such wonderful friends in our lives!

Date Night

2010-08-27T21:24:00.003-05:00

So me and the hubs got to go out for a date and I had mom take a few pix. I'm really into yellow this year. I'm sure I'll be sick of it soon...but right now, bring on the SUNSHINE! :o)

He is SUCH a nut! :o)

What is the DEAL?

2010-08-24T05:58:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'm very frustrated with Blogger. I have so many pictures I want to share on here and I can't upload them. When I click on the "add image" box, nothing happens. If I click on any of the other icons, they work...but the image box doesn't. I've tried it in the Compose box and the Edit Html box and still nothing. Then I tried using Picasa and it says "unable to upload at this time". I don't understand what the problem is. How can it work fine one day and then Boom! not work anymore?
The only idea I have is to try to upload them from my laptop (if the problem is with my computer and not with Blogger itself). But the problem there is that I downloaded my camera to my main PC and then I deleted all the pix off of my camera..so how can I get them to my laptop now?
I know this is the ultimate boring post but I feel like I can't go on posting about interesting stuff until I get this picture thing working. Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear it!

8:30-9:00 a.m.

2010-08-19T08:36:00.003-05:00

I'm realizing that the 30 minute block of time between 8:30-9:00 a.m. is one of great emotion for me. In a whirl of kisses, backpacks, prayers and goodbyes, my kids go from needing my undivided attention to being GONE for the entire remainder of the day.
In just a matter of moments things go from chaos and rush-rush to silent and lonely.
It's weird...and its happening right now....because at this moment it is 8:36 am and I just got back home from dropping them off at school.
You know those pictures you see of a heart with a jagged line going down the center of it "broken in half"?? Well, for me, you might as well label one of those halves "Brooklyn" and the other half "Grant" and it seems like I just let go of both of them.
I know...it's only for 8 hours. And more than likely when they get back, it'll only be a matter of minutes before I'm locking myself in the bathroom to get a moment of peace and quiet AWAY from them! ha ha
But right now, I miss them desperately.
I feel like "do they know how much I love them?" "do they know how proud of them I am" "do they know that they are never alone because Jesus is always with them?"
ahhh....the joys (and sorrows) of being a momma.

Because I have an IUD and don't get a monthly visible notification.....I'm never sure when PMS has hit...but I'm fairly certain it's here in a big way right now.
Yesterday was filled with raging emotion as well...but less sad and more angry. :( Today I feel like a bucket of tears just waiting to be tipped. Not really "sad" tears as much as just emotional tears. The kind of tears you cry because you think about how much you love someone and there just aren't words to express it and out pop little tears as an expression of that intense love. Yep, that's me today. Woo...this is going to be fun. :-) I better get out the waterproof mascara!

Update for Logzie...

2010-08-11T11:37:00.005-05:00

Teresa...can I still call you that? To me you will always be...Logzie. :o)

ANYWAY....thanks to HER, I realize that it has been TWO WEEKS since I have posted on this blog! Wow! Crazy!

I'm trying to think of what you've missed and I'm not coming up with too much! :o)
Tomorrow is the first day of school for the kids and I still can't believe that my "little girl" isn't in "elementary school" anymore. She's only going into 4th grade, but here that is at the "intermediate grade center" (4th, 5th and 6th grade). So from here on out (till they graduate from high school) my kids will always be in different schools. Kinda sad! Not only will they not have each other to lean on...but now I have to go to 2 different schools every morning and afternoon to drop them off/pick them up! Whaahh! :o)
Also tomorrow...my "little boy" is going to be in first grade...which means ALL DAY school!!! Yikes! Up until now, he's only gone to school for 2 1/2 hours per day (in pre-K and Kindergarten) so being there for 8 hours is going to be quite an adjustment for both of us! I'm sure we'll both do fine though! I know he'll enjoy having something to do all day and I will FOR SURE enjoy having 8 hours to actually get something done finally! :o)
On the agenda is 1) intense, deep house cleaning 2) back to a daily workout 3) more time in God's Word/prayer every day (15 min. a day is just not cutting it! :o) and 4) "power hour" each day focusing on my Beachbody business and how I can grow it.
I am still taking a major break from responsibility and am going to try with all my might not to get roped into being anyone's homeroom mom, PTO officer or head up any volunteer committee. I am also still "on break" from working at the church...although I have put in an application to start working with "The Storehouse" (a ministry we just started to provide food and clothes to needy families). That is something I can REALLY be passionate about and support full-heartedly. I hope I get contacted about being involved with that soon!
It's going to be an interesting year for us, full of changes. As of right now, my job with the doctors office is set to end sometime in September. As you know (if you're a faithful reader) that he's been telling me this for nearly a year now and it just keeps dragging on. But I am NOT COMPLAINING! This is the best job I could ever want or ask for and I dread the day when it does actually end...but I am also trying to prepare financially and mentally that unless something happens, it IS indeed going to end sooner or later. That will give me an extra hour or two a day freed up with which I am not sure what I will do. There are a million things I'd LIKE to do for that extra time...but I have a hunch that God has something waiting in the wings for me to do and so I refuse to over-analyze or over-think it. I am going to just continue to seek Him and His will for my life and keep myself renewed and ready for whatever He says, whenever! :o)

omg..there is a fly buzzing around my computer screen and my fingers right now that is about to drive me CRAZY! I can't seem to kill him. He's a big fat one too. Grrrrr....! I hate flies!!!

Anyway, on August 2nd, we celebrated my mom's 60th birthday and then this past Saturday we had a big party at our house for her! It was SO MUCH fun! I did a "shop till you drop" theme and we played my version of "The Price is Right"! After-wards I got the whole family up to do the Cha Cha Slide together and Matt videotaped it! It is SO CUTE and we had a blast! I love it when we are all actually DOING something together instead of sitting around 'shooting the breeze' and watching tv...all bored and acting like bumps on a log. I already have some ideas brewing for activities I'm going to do at our Christmas party this year! :o)

The last week of July, I took the kids to visit family and friends for a few days. It was great to get out of the house and just be random--doing whatever we felt whenever we felt like it. We got to see my brother and his family, all of Matt's family and my dear friend Amy. I canNOT believe I didn't think to get a pic of me and Amy together! boo!!!

Well..that's about it for now. I need to get off here and get the kids ready to go to Meet Your Teacher at the school! Love you guys! Thanks for reading about my oh-so-exciting (ha!) life!

Monopoly

2010-07-28T07:47:00.002-05:00

How long has it been since you've played Monopoly?
For me (and Matt) it's been YEARS....since our childhood. Not only have I not played it in probably 20ish years...but I also haven't wanted to either. All I could really remember about that game is that it takes FOREVER and that it is slow and boring and pointless.
Wellllllllll....
The kids and I went to a neighborhood garage sale on Saturday and happened to come across one particular house where the woman was selling lots of games and activity stuff. I could tell right away that she was VERY organized. When I picked up a Color Wonder book (for .25 cents) she ran right over and handed me all the markers that went with it. Apparently she had all the pieces to the stuff organized and ready to hand out with the things people bought. I was impressed. Normally I don't like to buy board games from garage sales because you never know if you're gonna get all the pieces, but this lady had her stuff together, so I looked thru the games. There on the bottom of the stack was a perfectly maintained and complete Monopoly game. It was marked $1.00 so I thought 'ahh..what the heck, let's try it."
OMG!
We have been having SO MUCH FUN!
It says for ages 8 and up but I figured I could just help Grant if needed help. We got it out and started playing it on Sunday night and have been playing it every night since! (and still no one has won! ha ha)
We have all been having MAJOR fun spending all this money and buying property and railroads and utilities and houses and apartments!
I don't know if it is from being on such a strict Dave Ramsey budget or what...but I am getting a total adrenaline rush from impulsively saying "sure, I'll pay $360 for Illinois Ave." HA HA For once I don't have to be tight with my money and worry about every penny that I spend!!!
Anyway, it's been a BUH-LAST for all 4 of us and instead of watching the TV every night, we've been having some REAL family fun.
I'll admit, Grant does lose his interest from time to time when it's not his turn, but since there are only 4 of us, it gets back around to him pretty quickly and then he's 'back in the game.'
He's a total money hog though. He doesn't want to buy ANYTHING...he said he's gonna save all his money and see if he can get it stacked up to the ceiling (just like in real life! ha ha)
Brooklyn is cautious with what she spends and only buys something if she has PLENTY more money in her pile.
I buy things left and right and as long as I still have $50 in my pile, I'm happy. HA!
Matt only buys the best. He wants Park Place and Boardwalk and the orange properties because they have the highest rent. Mr. Goody-Goody...has to have the best of everything. (I just want the MOST! hee hee)
Anyway, I know this was probably a boring post and if you are still reading, you are a true friend!
I just wanted to mention how fun it's been because I know plenty of other families who could use some of this kind of fun! (Rene, Kandy, Teresa, Tammy, etc.) Love you all!!

UGH!

2010-07-27T07:40:00.003-05:00

I'm sitting here at my desk this morning doing my work for the doctors office and I look down at my pile of papers. On the top of the stack is the patient list I am currently working on and all over it is doodling that Brooklyn did yesterday.
Doodling that I yelled at her for because she used my "special" felt-tip permanent pen that I only use for special things like writing out cards, invitations, etc. and she "wasted all that ink and once it's gone, it's gone!"
omg-how stupid.
And now I really feel like a meanie because I see what she wrote which is a big flower and pretty block letters that say "Mom is Wow!"

Why am I SO HARD on her sometimes? I mean...especially yesterday, I was really tough on her about a lot of things (the doodling with my favorite pen, how she unloads the dishwasher wrong, how sloppy she is, what an awful job she does of cleaning her room, etc.)
None of those are really bad things. Maybe they're not the best qualities, but they're not bad. She is a really good girl and sometimes it seems like all I do is find things to pick on her about.
YUCK. I don't wanna be that mom.
So today, without warning, I'm gonna turn it around and at least for this one day, no griping to her about anything. I bet it will be a pleasant change of pace for both of us!

Judge not...

2010-07-15T08:26:00.001-05:00

Yesterday as I sat in my lawn chair soaking up the rays, sipping on a frozen Mai Tai and talking to God, I giggled at how many people would think that was SO WRONG!
Drinking and Praying???? Noooo!
yes.
why not?
I wasn't getting drunk. I wasn't even getting tipsy. I was just getting my headache/uptight self a bit more relaxed as I had a wonderful time talking to God, thanking Him for His supernatural peace to wash over me and my home and then I had some time of praying in the Spirit before it was time to go inside and start dinner. After that little "excursion" from my regular daily routine, I was refreshed and rejuvenated and ready for the remainder of my day.
I am well aware that the majority of Christians would totally see something wrong with that picture....and I understand where they're coming from. I've often wondered the same thing as I sat in a restaurant with my hubby on a date night, both of us sipping from some kind of frozen mixed-drink concoction, giggling and talking about our lives and our day...and then we bow our heads to pray over our dinner. At that moment, I am very alert to the fact that we could have on-lookers who think "Ah! Look at those people--they're DRINKING and now they're PRAYING!"
As a matter of fact, I even have some family members who would be saying that very thing. (and that is what I was raised to believe too.)
But show me where in the Bible it says that a person can't have A DRINK? and where it says that if you DO have a drink--you suddenly can't pray or "be" a Christian?
There is an enormous difference between "being drunk" which Jesus clearly warns us against, and having a single drink.
I am a firm believer in being led by the Spirit of God and having a close, intimate relationship with the Father. When you have that, you can find out what God would have YOU to do. I'm not saying that everyone should drink. A person inclined to alcoholism should probably stay far, far away from all of it. So, every person is individual and you have to make your choice for YOU based on what God leads you to do.
For me, I have complete peace about having a yummy frozen drink every now and then (and I'm talking maybe once every couple of months). It doesn't hinder my walk with the Lord one tiny bit. As a matter of fact, in a way, I feel freedom that I've never felt before because I grew up putting a LOT of emphasis on "works" and "appearances"--what other people would think--and now I realize that is silly.
I still respect the decisions of others and wouldn't ever choose to have a drink around someone who struggles with it. Nor would I disrespect a fellow believer if they have chosen not to partake.
Anyway, I don't know where all this is coming from or why I'm typing it. Just was on my mind after my FB post yesterday about "having a Mai Tai and praying" and I wondered how that would be received.
My first thought was "let he who has no sin cast the first stone" but then I thought...wait! Having this drink isn't a sin...so that doesn't work. So instead I say, "Judge not, lest you be judged." :o)

Getting older...

2010-07-07T09:35:00.002-05:00

Wow, I am growing up. I can tell because I used to count down the days until my birthday beginning sometime in June. This year it has just snuck up on me. I will be 32 in only 3 short days and I honestly don't care. Don't get me wrong...I care about the PARTY and the CAKE and the GIFTS!!! I just don't care about getting older.
That's a major change for me. Turning 30 was life-threatening to me. I thought for sure I was going to suddenly turn into this older, responsible, mature (read: BORING!) person when my digits changed to starting with a "3"...but not even close. My life is only getting better and better with each passing year. Well, actually, my "life" (meaning circumstances) hasn't change a whole lot...but my perspective has. What a enormous thing PERSPECTIVE is! It can make the worst day seem do-able...and the best day seem ordinary. What a shame it is that we let so many opportunities for wonderful memories and totally fun times pass us by because we have a nasty attitude.
No Way Jose! Not me! I refuse!
I'm turning 32 on Saturday and I'm STOKED! I'm gonna start partying on Friday and not be done until Sunday when I go to bed! Even the mundane things can be exciting and silly if you decide on it. :o)
My kickboxing class on Saturday better watch out...who KNOWS what kind of crazy stuff I'll have them doing to celebrate my day?!?! ha ha ha ha ha ha Hmmm...that's got me thinking...I need something special to wear...something crazy and funky and totally out-there....hmmm....:o)

4th of July pix

2010-07-06T07:13:00.004-05:00

On Wednesday night, one of the churches in our little town had a Freedom Celebration that we went to. It's always one of our favorite things to do to celebrate Independence Day. They give out free hotdogs, popcorn, pop and icecream and put on a fantastic fireworks show. They also have a great band on stage singing terrific old and new Christian music along with jupiter jumps and free pony rides for the kids. What fun! This year we talked our friends Dan & Rene into coming and I think they enjoyed it as much as we did!Me and the kids. Brooklyn can never resist putting bunny ears behind Grant's head!My sweetie pie and me!My two little trouble makers (i.e. the loves of my life!) My bestest buddy Rene and me!Fallon(the little girl I babysit) and Brooklyn.

On Thursday night, we went to Grant's baseball team party to celebrate the end of the season (and the beginning of Fall Ball). Here is a pic of his whole team having burgers at the park.And one of my pretty girl swinging in the tire swing!On the "actual" 4th, we built a bonfire and roasted hotdogs and made S'mores. We did set off our little $9.99 family pack of fireworks and then we put up our tent in the back yard and slept in it (until 2:35 am when we all decided to go inside to our beds!)

This is a picture of the most amazing cookie I've ever made. It was such a perfect recipe that I typed it up and took a picture so I could share it with you all. See below for the recipe!

Jen’s BEST cookie EVER

(oatmeal walnut chocolate chunk)

Ingredients:

1 cup white flour

¾ cup wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 ¼ c. packed brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (not margarine)

¼ c. white granulated sugar

¼ c. Sugar in the Raw

2 eggs

2 Tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 ½ c. oats

2 squares off of Chocolate Almond Bark, coarsely chopped

1 c. coarsely chopped walnuts (or pecans)

M&M’s for color (optional)

Directions:

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

Beat butter and all 3 sugars in large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla. Gradually add in flour mixture one spoonful at a time. Stir in oats, chocolate chunks and most of the nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Stick the last few nuts (and M&M’s if using them) on the tops of the cookies.

Bake in a preheated 375* oven for 11 or 12 minutes. (Remove from the oven as soon as you start to see browning around the bottom edges). Let stand for a couple of minutes on cookie sheet, then move to wire racks to cool completely. Wash off cookie sheet before using for the next batch.

Makes about 4 dozen, depending on the size of each cookie.

Excess information that you probably don’t need but here it is anyway:

~I preferred the cookies from my Pampered Chef stone rather than the metal cookie sheet.

~I used a food chopper (that I normally use to chop nuts or onions, peppers, etc.) to chop up the almond bark. I suppose you could use chocolate chips just as well…but I didn’t have any. (Some pieces were tiny little chips and some were large-ish chunks.) This turned out SO good, that I will just do it like this from now on.

~You don’t HAVE to use any wheat flour—you could do it all with white flour. I just try to make it a teensy bit healthier by doing it this way.

~You don’t HAVE to use the “Sugar in the Raw” either…you can use just brown sugar and white sugar if you want. I just like the “Sugar in the Raw” to give it an extra little crispy crunch.

~I actually used one bag of regular M&M’s (for the kids) and one back of Peanut M&M’s (for the adults).

Justifying the fun...

2010-07-02T07:23:00.002-05:00

Okay girls, this is about to drive me NUTS so I have to get it out. It seems like several of you focused on the COST of doing the fun stuff more than the real reason I was writing...which was to figure out how to deal with the ungratefulness in my kids. If you are creative, you can find ways to do activities that won't interfere with your budget.
All that "fun stuff" that I talked about that we do ALL the time with the kids--is FREE stuff! (or if not free, practically free)
For instance, we are a part of the Kids Bowl Free program at the bowling alley AND we all 4 have bowling shoes, so it literally doesn't cost us a single penny to take them bowling. The movie theater we go to is $.50/person, so that's a $1.50 total (we bring our own snacks. If you remember the post I did about that a while back--well, I made myself get over the guilt of it. I just canNOT afford to buy drinks/popcorn there.) Anytime we eat out, we do it for WAY cheap. I'm talking..WAY. I sign up for coupons constantly. If I have a free kids meal coupon, I'll get one of the kids to split the cheapest menu item with me (usually a burger or sandwhich) and then the other kid gets the kids meal. We can usually get out of there for about $8. Even doing that is a treat because we are on this INSANELY strict and limited Dave Ramsey budget. One of our "out to eat"activities is going to a local church who provides free lunch for children and their mothers. I don't know if it is intended for "low-income" or not..they didn't say...but I definitely take advantage of "free" anything.
We also go to the Library once a week where they have a FREE summer reading program and then enjoy the FREE splash pad right next door.
What I'm trying to say is...my budget for entertainment/activities is about $5 a week. I'm every bit as tight and restricted financially as the rest of you. Every time Matt or I says "we need a new XXX" the other one of us says "add it to The List" because we have this long on-going list hanging on our wall of all the items (big and small) that we can't afford to buy right now. Some of them are just wants and some of them are NEEDS (like new tires on my van because the ones on there are bald and have been deemed "unsafe" by the car dealer where I get my oil changed)...but who has an extra $500 just sitting around?
Anyway, I'm not trying to throw a pity party here...but I just felt misunderstood a bit--as though you guys thought I was going out spending boo-koo's of money doing all this stuff with the kids and it's just NOT like that.

And since we're talking about money here, let me just give an update on how this whole Dave Ramsey budget thing is going...
*We have 4 more payments to my parents for some money they loaned us and then we will be done paying off all our debts (other than the house).
*Our mortgage lady contacted us a couple of weeks ago to see if we might want to refinance the house. The interest rates have gone down significantly and she thought it might save us some money. Uh--YAH! Try $118,000.00. Yep, we ended up refinancing at 4.25% (instead of 6%) and were able to go down to a 15 yr mortgage instead of a 30 year, so now our payments went up by only about $60 but our house will be paid off when I'm 46 (or sooner, by the grace of God!)!! How exciting is that!?! Overall for the life of the loan, we will have saved 118 grand by paying it off in 15 yr instead of 30 yr!! **extra bonus...by doing this re-fi we got to find out what our credit score is. I've never known what our score was...but always wondered. I know we try to do our best with our finances. When she told us that our score was 832 on a scale of 300-850, we were elated! ALLLLL the glory goes to GOD because it is HIM who has provided the money for all of our needs/wants/bills all these years and enabled us to be so blessed! Tithing and giving is such a blessing!
*We have finally finished building up our emergency fund (just the bare minimum). I actually added the last $100 just this morning. I'm trying really hard not to touch it. really hard. really. :) (note to myself: Big Star jean shorts from The Buckle are NOT an emergency! :o)
*The envelope system, while we ARE still using it, is not really "working" for us just yet. I constantly "rob" one envelope to replenish another. I know this is wrong and not the way it is intended to be...but right now while we're still trying to pay off this last debt, we are stretched too thin. I just cannot buy all the groceries/toiletries and necessities we need for our family with only $400 a month...and that is all I had budgeted. So, every month I go ahead and put $15 in this envelope and $10 in that one...and every month I end up going through and taking it all back out to buy more groceries. It's kind of silly not to just quit putting it in there for now...but my goal is to be able to leave that money in those envelopes someday and if I just redirect the funds, I'll possibly forget, plus, I'd love to learn how to make that $400 a month be enough. At least this way, I'm reminded every time I take that money out of those envelopes.
*Our next big financial goal is to start saving up for a new vehicle. (new to us....not new) Since we refinanced our house, we will be getting a fairly large-ish ($1,700) escrow check back. That will be the big kick-start to our saving. Our ~~hope~~ prayer is that we will be able to save up enough to buy a vehicle with cash by next summer.

So there you have it. Through it all one thing is for certain...God always takes care of us. He never lets us struggle past what we can bear. With good stewardship, we are on the road to Financial Freedom! Even though we've had a lot less over the last year than usual (that whole 'living below your means' because we lived 'beyond our means' for so long thing)....I've become happier and less stressed than ever. God does work in mysterious ways! :o)

pictures coming...

2010-07-01T13:32:00.003-05:00

It's been a little while since I've posted any new pictures, so I grabbed my camera and snapped a few fun ones at our town's fireworks festival last night. I'll get them uploaded and on here just as soon as I finish my list of 1, 257, 948 things to do! ;-)

In other news, for those of you who don't read my workout blog, I thought I'd direct your attention over there for the last post I did. It really doesn't have a whole lot to do with exercise...and a lot more to do with my new "way of life". Go check it out if you wanna!

Okay...here I go....I've made my list and I WILL conquer! :o)

spoiled.....ROTTEN!!????!!!

2010-06-28T09:38:00.003-05:00

I've had issues with my kids being ungrateful and "spoiled" for a while now...but yesterday was another one of those eye-opening moments--this time coming from Grant. Let me just show you what his (and our) weekend consisted of:

On Friday night after Grant's baseball game, he got to go home with one of his friends for a sleepover. This little boy has a 12 foot inflatable water slide at his house that they got to play on. The next day (Saturday) they got up and went to the "Taste of Summer" at BlueBell where he got to try as much ice cream and popsicles as he wanted and play on all kinds of jupiter jumps, etc. Then they went home and relaxed for a bit before going out to eat and then to the play area in the mall. After that, they went to church for an hour and then came to our town's Freedom Festival to watch the fireworks.
He asked if his friend could spend the night with us now, and I said yes. We came home after the fireworks and played in the game room for a couple of hours before we all crashed in bed around midnight.
Sunday morning, I woke the boys (and Brooklyn) up at around 8:30 so they could swim for a couple of hours before we went to late service at church. After church, we went out to eat and then went to a birthday party at the bowling ally where they got to run around, bowl and play lots of games in the arcade. Straight from there we went back to our church where they were having their Freedom Celebration complete with inflatables, car show, games, food, ice cream, etc.
Basically we spent every waking moment of the entire weekend having FUN centered around the kids.
So on the way home last night, I asked him what his favorite part of it all was.
And he answered, "none of it. It was all boring."
I probed and poked, reminding him of all the good times we had, but still...he remained certain that he "did NOT have fun and that it was all boring."
On top of this, he'd had a bad attitude several times throughout the weekend, walking around with his arms all folded and a "Humph!" look on his face. I actually had to spank him (after many, many warnings) to get him to play with his friend who slept over!
WHAT IN THE WORLD?
I am obviously doing something wrong....but what? Do I do too much for/with them? Do we have TOO much fun? Do TOO many activities? I admit, we do something pretty exciting at least 2-3 days a week. Things that were very special and occasional when I was a kid...are regular parts of our lives. (going to the park, ice cream, bowling, movies, sleep overs, parties, etc.) We pretty much do all of that stuff every single week...and then on Friday is when we do something special (like the zoo, waterpark, aquarium, etc.) Maybe I am spoiling them..!?!?

I certainly feel as though I have to do something bigger and better every time in order to get them excited anymore. The stuff that would have had me jumping up and down with THRILL and excitement as a kid is totally NO BIG DEAL to them. If I say, "hey guys! Wanna go out for lunch and then go bowling!!??" They say, "whatever...it doesn't matter."

I've gone on strike before...where we don't do anything "fun" for a couple of weeks and it didn't help at ALL. The only thing that did was nearly drive us all NUTS by being stuck in the house with each other 24/7. They honestly didn't give a rip that we weren't doing any "fun stuff". If I threaten to take away something like a privilege or toy or something they just say "whatever, fine." They don't value anything! Neither of them has a possession that they would cry over. I've tried taking away things that I THOUGHT would matter to them...I'll put them up in the top of a closet and then we ALL forget about it and no one even notices or cares!

I don't want to stop having fun and doing activities...but I want them to be excited and grateful.
Anyone have any suggestions?

wow, I just went back and read this before I posted it. I feel completely ashamed....! :-(

I feel like it is important to say this, to be honest and fair:
Last night at our church's Freedom Celebration, we had a father and his children come up to us and said he just HAD to "tell on" Grant and how very sweet and kind and giving he was. The father told us that Grant was playing with a little plastic airplane that a lot of the kids had been given and he overheard this man's little boy say that he "wished he had one". Grant walked right over to him and bent down to his level and said, "Would you like to have this one?" and gave him the one he was playing with. Things like that make us so proud!!!!

"M" is for Mom, NOT Maid!!!

2010-06-24T07:44:00.002-05:00

What is it about having a sleepover that somehow makes me the maid or the kid-slave? My 9 year old daughter suddenly starts ordering me around saying "make this" and "get us that" and "we need this" when she has friends over.
After having stayed up half the night, I had hoped that they would sleep in a bit this morning so that I could get my work for the doctors office early completed before the "real day" began. But no such luck. I forget that other peoples kids don't sleep till nearly-noon like my kids do. So...when we have company, oftentimes they are up at the crack of dawn before I can even begin my work. Right now it is 7:47 and they have been up for almost an hour. And I'm actually sitting at my desk trying to work..but what prompted this post was this comment/question that was just SHOUTED AT me from my daughter: "MOM! WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE BREAKFAST? WE ARE HUNGRY!! WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT THAT???"

Excuse me?!...seriously? Maybe other mothers wait on their children for every little wish and whim? I don't know...but I honestly think that is doing them a disservice. It ain't gonna happen like that in the real world baby. And furthermore, I have overcome the desire or the need to be "better than or as good as all the other moms". Brooklyn has one friend who she stays the night with sometimes whose mother always makes them this AMAZING GOURMET breakfast. I'm talking from scratch pancakes, eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, sausage ....anything they want, she just whips it right up. (and no, it's none of you who read this blog :o) I think that is awesome and wonderful that she can do that for them....who wouldn't love that? BUT..I am not her. I have several part time jobs to do each day and that doesn't always give me the opportunity to be Betty Crocker. Does that make me mean or un-caring? My daughter thinks so.

Entitlement. I hate it. It's never a good attitude or personality to have. A person who thinks they are entitled to everything is full of PRIDE and lacking humility. I will not tolerate it in my children either. So even if I get the "mean mom" title for this, my children are going to learn that it takes WORK to get your needs met. I personally think that the only thing parents need to do for their kids all the time is things that they cannot physically or mentally do. If my child is capable of picking up their room, putting away their laundry, brushing their teeth, making their bed, setting the table, feeding the dogs, fixing their hair, putting in a movie, etc....then they can be expected to DO IT. Not to say that I won't "baby" them from time to time...hold them and rock them and let them lay in bed while I do the work for them...of course I will...but I won't DARE allow them to think that THAT is the way it should be and is supposed to be. No, I will TEACH (TRAIN) them HOW to do it and then I will pat their little tush off on its way to complete the task themselves.

Think of the gift some young man is going to receive one day when he asks for my daughters hand in marriage and she is completely capable of running a home beautifully!? By the time she is of age to be married, I expect her to be able to balance a checkbook, develop and use a budget, pay bills online, cook healthy and delicious dinners, wash clothes, mow the lawn, organize drawers/closets, etc. If I love her, I will set her up for success in marriage and life. Also (and some of you may want to close your eyes for this part) but I GUARAN-DANG-TEE ya I will not let her get married before she understands her body and how it works and what sex is all about. I know too many girls ( and I was one) who get married with NO EARTHLY IDEA what they are supposed to do or feel. It took seven very long and hard, frustrating and tear-filled years of marriage before I finally was given a book by my dear friend Amy, that actually described in detail a woman's body and what things were/where they were and why they were there. Believe me when I say....that discovery changed my LIFE. God intended sex to be an important part of marriage and it's just IGNORANT to send your child (esp. a girl) into a marriage where she's just suddenly supposed to figure it all out. It may happen for some...but just like breastfeeding...even though it's "natural" it doesn't always COME natural. There are things that are better off taught at the beginning so you can skip gobs of "lost time" trying to figure it out. My marriage nearly ENDED because of this.
Whew...Sorry! I got off on a little bunny trail there...but I am SO passionate about that subject. It pretty much ruined my marriage for many years and I refuse to let my children go through that. I love my parents and I think the world of them, but I seriously grew up thinking sex was dirty and bad and gross and nasty and something girls just have to "endure". I especially thought (and this was one of the biggest hurdles for me to overcome) that if you were a woman who LIKED sex...well, then, Ahh! you must be a slut. How nasty that you might LIKE it!
WOW....was I ever WRONG! If liking it makes you a slut, then go ahead and call me one with a capital "S".. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!! :-)
Okay...I'm blushing so maybe I better move on with this conversation.
I was just going to add that this stuff also applies to my son. While I won't be the one teaching him much about sex...his daddy can explain that to him...I will expect him to be capable of doing all those things I will expect his sister to know too. What a PRIZE some girl ~~who is just like his mama~~ is going to get one day when she takes his last name and becomes his wife! :o)
Imagine that ladies...a man who does dishes, cooks, cleans, mows, budgets, organizes and plans dates for his bride! Yessiree....that's what I'm talkin' about!

Whew...I got a bit carried away there with this whole post...but there you have it--me spilling my un-edited, un-thought-out guts for you in a matter of minutes. I hope I didn't offend anyone....but if I did, e-mail me and I'll explain myself more.

Now...for breakfast...hope they like cereal and pop tarts! :o)

(sinful) Yummy Recipes

2010-06-16T09:25:00.002-05:00

As requested...here are the recipes for the dinner/dessert I made last night:

Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup

1 c. (spicy) ground sausage (I use turkey sausage)
2 medium potatoes-cut lengthwise and cut into 1/4" slices (not peeled)
3/4 c. onions, diced
6 slices bacon crumbled (turkey bacon does NOT work well in this recipe)
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 cups kale leaves, cut in half and then sliced
1 cup chicken base/broth
1 quart water
1/3 c. heavy whipping cream

Brown sausage and drain. Cook bacon until crispy in stock pot. Remove and drain on a paper towel. Saute onions in bacon drippings until soft and add garlic, cooking an additional minute. Add chicken broth, water and potatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add crumbled bacon, sausage, kale and cream. Simmer another 10 minutes. Serve with warm garlic bread-sticks and fresh salad!

Banana Cream Cheesecake

Crust:
1 3/4 c. Crushed graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c. sugar (or less...I think 1/8 c. is plenty)
1/2 c. butter (melted)

Combine 1 1/2 c. of the graham crumbs and sugar-mix well. (you'll save the remaining 1/2 c. of graham crumbs for topping) Stir in butter. Press into 9 x 13 greased pan. Bake at 350 for 5-7 minutes. Then let cool completely.

1st layer of filling:
1/2 c. sugar
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (I used light)
1/2 carton cool whip (again, I used light)

In a bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Fold in cool whip and set aside.

2nd layer of filling:
1 1/2 c. cold milk (I use skim)
1 (3.4 oz) pkg Banana Cream Instant Pudding
Remaining 1/2 carton of cool whip

Whip until thickens and fold in remaining 1/2 carton of cool whip.

3-4 firm bananas sliced

Arrange bananas on crust. Spread cream cheese mixture onto bananas (sometimes spreads better if slightly warm). Arrange another layer of bananas and top with pudding mixture. Sprinkle with graham cracker crust and refrigerate 1-2 hours.

Enjoy Peeps!!

2010-06-09T09:09:00.000-05:00

This past weekend Brooklyn and I went with my mom and dad and aunt to Dallas, TX for my sister's outdoor wedding. It was a great time and the wedding was beautiful. Here are some pics:

So happy together...

2010-06-09T08:42:00.000-05:00

I couldn't resist putting this one up of my sister looking as happy as I've ever seen here as she gazes up at her new groom!

The Foundation...

2010-06-09T08:41:00.000-05:00

My mom and dad....the foundation on which my life has been built. Anything good that I am...was given, taught, nurtured and cultivated by these two amazing people.

mmm...LOVE her!

2010-06-09T08:39:00.000-05:00

Alexis...isn't she just the cutest thing you've ever seen? What's even better is that her little personality is just as cute! She's a stranger to no one, she giggles and smiles and hugs and kisses constantly. She is pure JOY!

The 3 of us

2010-06-09T08:38:00.000-05:00

Me, Brook and Mom....xoxoxoxoxo!

Dearest to my heart...

2010-06-09T08:37:00.000-05:00

These 2 girls are the dearest and nearest to my heart in the entire world. Mom mom and my daughter. Both 100% beautiful inside and out. I love them more than life itself. Just thinking about how much I love them...and what I want to put as the caption of this post...has tears forming in my eyes. Really...this is a picture of my past, present and future. There's nothing I would change and nothing else I could ever want...than these 2.

Toni & Me

2010-06-09T08:34:00.000-05:00

This is my neice, Toni (Alexis' mom) and me. I can't believe I am TEN YEARS OLDER than her! Eeek!

The Love Birds

2010-06-09T08:33:00.000-05:00

My sister Stephanie (Steffy) and her new hubby, Mike reciting their vows. ahhh....:o)

The girlies!

2010-06-09T08:32:00.000-05:00

Alexis (my great-niece) and Brooklyn. 2 of the prettiest, sweetest little girls I know!

Brooklyn & Mommy

2010-06-09T08:30:00.000-05:00

A pic of Brooklyn and I at the hotel before we left for the wedding.

Memorial Day Family Pic

2010-05-31T23:37:00.003-05:00

My father-in-law Duane, who is a great photographer, snapped this pic of us before we left town today. We hadn't showered or really "gotten ready" because we were just driving home...so it's not the best we have ever looked, but I'm glad he took one because I never did get my camera out the whole weekend!

From L-R: Grant, Matt, Me, Brooklyn, Laura (Matt's mom)

Girlie post...

2010-05-24T22:49:00.008-05:00

On Thursday, I FINALLY got to get my hair colored! I've been saving up for this appointment since January! It feels sooo good to get back to my blonde, brown and red roots! :o)
When I came home from the salon and sat down at my desk to do some work/bills/budgeting, Kinley found a comfty spot on top of my purse in the office chair beside me and I couldn't resist snapping a pic. She's so much fun! That purse, by the way, is also SO much fun! I get gazillons of comments on it everywhere I go. Mostly compliments...but a few "hmmm...that's a very interesting bag" comments. ha haOn Friday night, I took Brooklyn and 2 of her girlfriends (and their moms who are my friends) and we all went out on a Secret Keeper Girl date. Before we left, T. snapped a couple of pics of me and my girlie.
We started out the evening at Mimi's Cafe for a yummilicious dinner...
and then finished up at the mall (Justice) where they got to try on a complete outfit and take several different "tests" to ensure that they pass all the modesty tests. (no undies showing, no chest showing, not too tight or short, etc.)They were so cute. Each of them picked out outfits that I thought were very representative of their personalities. We had a great night and learned some wonderful, useful lessons about how to dress Godly and modestly as well. YAY for having THREE Secret Keeper Girls in my life! It's such a blessing when your daughter has Godly friends!

On Saturday, the kids and I went and visited some family and got to celebrate my GREAT neice, Kenzi's 1st birthday! She is SUCH a doll! I can't believe this is the only picture I snapped of her during the whole time we were there! She looked SO CUTE with pig-tails at her birthday..but I was so busy doing other stuff, I never even picked up my camera! ugh! This is her getting a bath before her party.

Lesson of the Day...

2010-05-24T09:50:00.002-05:00

GO WITH THE FLOW!

Sounds so simple but it's something I HAVE GOT to learn to do.
I am way too serious and focused and "scheduled" sometimes. Those are all great traits to have when you need them...but can be a detriment to my personality at times too.
Today is the first day of our Summer Schedule (also first day to babysit Fallon) and I'm already about 2 hours behind "Schedule"!!! AUGH!
By the way...you guys would CRACK UP if you saw my "Schedule". I have my weeks planned out to the MINUTE. Every minute of every day. It takes an entire sheet of paper in 12 pt. font Times New Roman with TWO columns!! HA HA
I've already realized there are tons of things I forgot to put on there too...like the time it takes to go to the bathroom, clean up dog poop from the carpet, make a toaster streudal, answer a phone call, put the clothes in the dryer, get dressed, answer a text message, plunger out a toilet...etc. (yes, those are all from this morning).
Ahhh.....the world isn't going to stop if things don't get done the way I had hoped and planned right?
Sure...my way is the BEST way...but I guess I can live with the "just okay" way occasionally. :o)

Lightening the Load...

2010-05-21T11:31:00.002-05:00

Wow, today marks a big step for me. As of today, I am no longer anyone's homeroom mom nor am I a volunteer in our church's children's department. Eeeek!
It's ironic that I can feel FREE and yet like someone just sucked the breath out of me at the same time.
These are both big committments that I've had for about 6 years now. Ever since Brooklyn was 3 and Grant was born, I have been homeroom mom for her (and then his) class AND I've been working in our church's childrens department at LEAST twice, sometimes more, a month. While I've thorougly enjoyed both of these "roles", I realize that over the years, the joy has been being overshadowed by a sense of burden and responsibility. My dear friend Lisa took time out of her life to come have lunch with me recently and even though I didn't realize it that day, her words planted a seed in my heart and took root and she helped me realize that my motivation for doing SO MANY things for SO MANY people wasn't what it used to be. She kept asking me "but WHY are you doing it?" and all I could say was "because I WANT to. I LOVE to help people!" and that is true...and that is WHY I started being homeroom mom and volunteering at church. But since that first day, LOTS of things in my life have changed. I've taken on several other part-time jobs, had a baby (6 yrs ago), etc. and now my reason for STILL doing these things is something more like "because the kids want me to be their homeroom mom" and volunteering at church "because they need the help desperatly." Valid reasons, yes...but worth sacrificing my sanity and peace and joy for? no.
I have so many wonderful friends in my life who have all played an enormous part in helping me come to these realizations (and actually act upon them) so I have to give a big thanks to LISA, RENE, TERESA and even a new friend ROCHELLE who have all spent time just this past week helping me through these "issues" and have offered up prayers, love, wisdom and encouragement as I "lighten my load."
It's interesting that when I was talking to Matt about this, he said "I don't know..it's kinda like you're taking the easy way out." I said "the EASY way??? how can you even THINK that? This is SOOO NOT easy for me"
He said, "well, isn't it easier to not be committed to so many things and not have to be responsible?"
I could see his point. For him, and lots of people, that is "the easy way"....but for many of you (especially the 4 women I just listed) you know that the EASY way for us is to say "yes, yes, yes" to everything. It is the HARD WAY to say "no" as well as to say "I quit"...but it is the right thing to do...for me...right now and hard as it may be, I'm all in.
I've reached the point where I'm not just thinking it and saying it...but actually DOING something to change the chaos in my life. Discipline for the kids is going AMAZING. My stress level is DROPPING. Our enjoyment, happiness and overall peace is INCREASING.
I could go on and on...but the bottom line is: this momma is putting the pieces of my life's puzzle into perspective and proper priority placement! (wooh000--look at that alliteration! :o)
I love you all and I thank you for reading my crazy blog with all my crazy rants and vent sessions as well as the ones about the good times. I can just tell you now...you can look for lots more of the "good times" up ahead! (sprinkled with vents too I'm sure..it is Summer Break! :o)

A bit rattled...

2010-05-20T19:38:00.002-05:00

Okay, so today while I was sitting in the chair getting my roots colored, one of my dear friends who is an older, wiser, wonderful Godly woman sent me a message asking me about the privacy settings on my Facebook profile. I told her I didn't know what they were set to..that I hadn't ever messed with them. She said "Go home and check on it".
Fast forward an hour or two later, I see the red light on my Blackberry blinking telling me that I have a new FB message. As I opened it up, I see this FB friend request from a man with a message along with it with nasty language and just plain scary. It really shook me up because I wondered...was it GOD telling her to check in on me and have me change my settings? She even mentioned that it probably wasn't anything to be worried about, but that I do post some personal stuff on there and I might not want it out there for everyone and anyone (including freakazoids) to be able to read. So...I wonder what made her think of that today...at the same time I got that scary request? Dee if you're reading...I'd love to know...
Anyway, so I came home and changed my settings and now it's all set to Friends Only...which is better...but now I'm thinking about my blog. Eeeek! I wonder if I should make it private too? I hate to "lose" any new readers that I might get, but at the same time, the privacy and safety of my family is way more important than new readers, right!?! What do you all think about this? Do you worry about the "wrong guy" ever reading your blog and trying to find you? It really wouldn't be hard at ALL....

The birthday present burden...

2010-05-19T09:01:00.002-05:00

Okay, so you all know by now that we are doing the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace thing and while it has YET to bring us any peace...we are sticking with it because going back into debt is NOT an option and I absolutely KNOW that our PEACE is on it's way! There are two "D" words that are NOT to be spoken in my house EVER: Divorce & Debt. Neither are an option.
Anyway, in light of our new budget and very restricted spending I have come to realize what a burden buying everyone I've ever met a birthday present is (financially).
ONLY financially is it a burden. I loooove to shop and I looooove to give people gifts. As a matter of fact, those are probably two of my most favorite things to do..which is probably why this whole subject weighs so heavily on me. I cannot afford to buy all these gifts anymore...or at least right now. So what do I do? At this present moment, my children have 4 birthday party invitations taped to our refrigerator door, all of which I would LOVE to let them go to. Since they don't have neighbor kids to play with, it is a very special treat to get to attend birthday parties of their friends. But...I just cannot afford to purchase 4 birthday gifts for these other children right now. It's nearly impossible to buy a gift for less than $10...so we're talking about at least $40 that I just don't have in my budget.
And...since Grant's birthday was last week I feel like a total hypocrite right now. As a matter of fact, 3 of these kids who we have invitations for were AT Grant's party and brought him VERY nice gifts. (probably more like in the $20 range!!). There is NO WAY ON EARTH that I am sending him to their parties empty-handed OR with some cheap dollar-store toy. But what DO I do? I don't have the time or energy to come up with something creative (such as a home-made gift) and I can't re-gift something we already have because...well...because the only things I have to re-gift were things that he got at his party (that these kids saw). Wow..that is sad and I can't believe I just admitted that. But really, he got a game from one little boy that we already have so I stuck it in the gift-closet to be given to someone else. Is that bad?
So, I'm literally dumb-founded about this. One of these parties is Friday, two are Saturday and one is next week. If any of you have any suggestions, I am ALL ears.

Another side note: Wouldn't it be nice if parties could just be about having fun and we could stop this whole gift-giving/goodie-bag phenomenon? I mean...sure...getting presents is FUN and we all love to have new things...but really...I do NOT have any more room for any more STUFF in this house anyway. But, I know it would just CRUSH my kids if I told them that their friends weren't allowed to bring them gifts.
Furthermore...what is the deal with goodie bags these days? When planning for Grant's party last week I felt a lot of pressure to have awesome goodie bags filled with all sorts of toys, bubbles, candy, etc. Luckily, I had found some movie-theatre boxes of gummies for a quarter a piece and some bubbles on clearance...so that is what I put in the bags...but I have gone so far as to spend $30 JUST on goodie bags before...and it wasn't anything super fancy. Does that seem a little excessive to anyone else besides me?

One time we were invited to a party for a little girl and her parents wrote on the invitation that everyone could bring a small dog toy or bag of treats in lieu of a gift and then they would donate it all to an animal shelter after the party. That sounded awesome to me until I got there and saw the little girl and her disappointment in not getting any gifts. I think she was turning 6 and as we all walked in with our rawhide bones and squeaky toys it was almost as if her eyebrows lifted and then dropped when she saw what was in our hands. I had a good feeling that the no-gift thing had NOT been her idea. I understand that her parents may have taught her a great lesson in the value of giving...but still, I'm a momma and I couldn't help but want to grab her up and run to the store and buy HER a present!

Oh well...anyway...if you have any thoughts on this....please share!

Lotsa New Stuff...

2010-05-17T08:04:00.003-05:00

Hey there! Just wanted to let you know that I did a mega-post this morning! I know it's sort of a lot...but I had the time and needed to get it all on here while I could. I didn't even post on here about this...but the kids and I ran a race on Saturday morning and I put all the pics up about it on my P90X Blog so feel free to go hop over there and see those and read about that. I think I did 3 or 4 new posts this morning, so be sure to scroll down to see them all!
Love you guys! Have a great Monday! I can't believe it is the LAST Monday of the school year!

Grant turns SIX!

2010-05-17T07:51:00.003-05:00

He'll always be my baby! As much as I hate to see him getting older, I am excited to see him growing up and learning so much. He is a silly little monkey that I love with every ounce of my being. Here are some pics of his party that was SUPPOSED to be at the park...but since we had about 7 days straight of rain, we ended up switching it to our house last minute (2 hours before the party!)Here we are singing Happy Birthday. I found those cute baseball candles at Hobby Lobby along with lots of cute baseball party stuff!

Opening gifts with his friends...
Getting a scooter from mom and dad.
The PINATA!! Everyone's favorite part, of course! :o)

Brooklyn is Student of the Month

2010-05-17T07:39:00.004-05:00

Brooklyn received a wonderful honor of being Student of the Month at her school for May. Out of about 120 kids, only 18 get this opportunity, so it is a blessing to be chosen. We were very proud of her, as this is not only based on grades (which she has straight-A's I might add!!!) but also based on attitude and behavior. Even though she can be a bit sassy at home sometimes, all of her teachers and school administrators remind me every time I go in what a blessing she is to have around. She truly cares about others and tries to help out whenever she can, especially with kids who have special needs. On Thursday, May 13, we were invited to a special luncheon at Mazzio's where she received a free lunch and they also did a little ceremony to present her with her framed certificate. They read aloud a questionnaire that she had filled out about her interests and such. It was very cute to hear what she had put on all of the questions, but the last one was "Who is your Hero?" and she wrote "Jesus Christ and the Bible." Ahhh....here come those happy tears! We're doing something right!

My pretty girl with her HANDSOME daddy! I'm so glad he was able to take off that day and be a part of this! I know it meant a lot to her to have him there and I'm pretty sure it was a memorable moment for him as well...to see his little girl being honored in such a way. I forget sometimes that I get to see this kind of stuff all the time because I can be at the school for everything but he rarely gets to be there. I'm so grateful to him for allowing me to stay at home with these precious kiddos!

That is her principal there in the blue with yellow tie...reading her information sheet to the whole group of parents and kids.
Lastly, here is a silly picture of Grant. When I stopped at the school to take that pic of Brooklyn next to the sign, this is where I found him when I turned around to walk back to the van. That boy is part monkey I tell ya!

New Kid Update

2010-05-17T06:41:00.003-05:00

Hey Guys!
If you read my post last Monday about my "quest to have new kids in 14 days" then you'll wanna read this one too...because IT'S WORKING!!
Yes! Finally something I do around here actually has the effect and result that I wanted! My kids have spend a CONSIDERABLE amount of time with their noses in the corner this week but it has been the perfect "solve-all" disciplinary measure. Neither of them likes it, it's forcing them to be UN-entertained for a period of time and no one is screaming or getting whacked with a paddle. We've had to do a little tweaking here and there...such as implement NO talking during "time out" and if they do say a single word, another minute gets tacked onto their time. Also, we add a minute to their time if they turn around and start watching TV or interacting with their sibling. I've also begun talking to them afterwards--kind of quizzing them on what they did wrong that got them in "time out" and how they could have handled the situation differently. I feel like I need to not only tell them "don't do this" but also show them "this is how it should be done".
By holding them accountable for their words and actions, it's helped me see just how often they really are disrespectful and rude. They've both gotten into the bad habit of muttering disrespectful comments under their breath as they leave from getting reprimanded. But not anymore...these days that lands them right back in time out REGARDLESS of what they said. If they have something to say, they need to speak it out clearly...if they are muttering under their breath after getting in trouble, we all know they're not saying "boy I sure do love my mom so much". I knew Brooklyn did this but I didn't realize Grant does it to. I'm glad to be putting a stop to it now!
Another curve ball was how we were going to handle this when we were out of the house and couldn't do the normal time out. So yesterday on the way home from church when Brooklyn did two things that deserved a time-out, I opted for a different form of discipline, and I just have to believe it was the Holy Spirit speaking to me because I had never even thought about this until it just popped into my head yesterday. I grabbed a line sheet of notebook paper and wrote in perfect cursive across the top, "I will be respectful and obedient." Then I handed her the pencil, put her in a secluded spot and told her to write that on every line of the paper. I also expected her handwriting to be exactly correct and her spelling and that if I found any errors, she would have to correct them. (I know it sounds tough, but she has the capability of doing it perfectly, but if she gets in a hurry, it will be un-readable.) By giving her those specific instructions, it forced her to slow down, think about what she was writing and it was more of a punishment than if she had just scribbled it across the page. Afterwards, I quizzed her on the spelling of the words "respectful" and "obedient" and made sure she understood their meaning. I also had her give me 4 examples...one of her being DISrespectful and then how she could be respectful and the same with obedient. I think it worked beautifully. Now I can hold her accountable because now I KNOW she knows what they mean and what I expect from her.
I haven't gotten the paddle out this entire week and it's been one of the calmest, most agreeable weeks we've ever had. Being armed with a plan is priceless!
One thing I've noticed that we have a real issue with around here is boredom. It's quite ironic seeing as how we have everything that a child could want. I mean...seriously...it's almost embarassing but I can't think of a single toy, game, movie, etc. that we don't have that they want. Yet, if I'm not entertaining them, taking them somewhere or doing something with them, they're bored. I tell them "go ride your go-kart or play air hockey or play the wii or your DS or barbies or paint, etc." and they don't want to do any of it. I know they would trade it ALL for a friend to play with...but sorry, I can't buy one of those and the hard-truth is that we live in the country and don't have neighbors with children. Also, I can't spend 24/7 playing with them. While being a mom is my main job, I do actually have 3 other jobs that I do that I actually make a paycheck from and those things need my attention too..as do the house, laundry, bills, etc. And really, what kind of disappointment am I setting them up for in the future if I entertain them night and day? That certainly isn't how the real world works.

About their jobs and them not getting paid if they don't do it...that has gotten better too. Not perfect, I've still had to remind them several times...but at least now they jump up and get busy doing it instead of arguing with me. I made it very clear that if I have to argue with them or tell them twice, that they lose their "allowance" for that week. So far, so good!

Last night I took Brooklyn on one of our SKG mother/daughter dates and the scripture we focused on was this: Philippians 2:14-15
"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe."

In the summer, I have them memorize scriptures...and this will DEFINITELY be the first one on the list. It's one thing when momma says "quit arguing and complaining" but it's a whole nother thing when GOD says it!!

I am really REALLY excited about these changes in our home. For the first time (maybe ever but certainly in a long time) I feel like I am the boss of this house and that I am teaching and training them up adequately. I am showing them real LOVE by doing this. Lazy love is what I was doing before..the kind that said "I don't really care about you enough to teach you the right way." But NO MORE...from now on it's real hard-core LOVE (in the verb form)! :o)

If you feel like you've lost control in your home, I STRONGLY encourage you to try out some of these techniques with your kids and see how it works for you! Be sure to give encouragement and gratitude when it's due. Not praise...we praise God not our kids. (-Kevin Lehman)
Rather than say "You are so wonderful, you are so great, you are the best" how about saying "you did a great job out there and I can tell you are getting better and better. Keep up the good work!"

No More Miley...

2010-05-12T08:05:00.003-05:00

For us, in this house, we have had to say goodbye to Miley Cyrus. After receiving a disappointing e-mail about it and watching THIS VIDEO yesterday (just me and Matt), it is clear that she has crossed THE line. Or in the words of Dannah Gresh (Secret Keeper Girl) "she has just figuratively run across an eight-lane highway".
Ahhh....so, so, so SAD. Click HERE to read the lyrics.

If you have a young girl who is a fan, here is a blog post I think you should read. It will help you know what to say to her as you explain "we're saying goodbye to Miley now, honey."

Me a writer? nahhhh...

2010-05-11T13:06:00.006-05:00

I bet not one of you knows this about me...but way back when I was in high school (we're fixing to have our 15 year reunion!!) during my junior and senior years, I was the assistant editor of our school newspaper, which was a pretty big honor. We did a whole publication weekly that actually came out in our town's regular newspaper! I absolutely LOVED it and my mom still has all my articles in her attic! (speaking of, I should pull those out sometime and look through them! what fun that would be!!)
Anyway, it's always been a dream of mine to write a book. Probably a Christian romance novel since that's what I've always enjoyed reading...or maybe a children's book. I absolutely LOVE the books by Max Lucado for kids. Such rich, meaningful and fun stories! ("You are Special" is my favorite!)
Anyway, when my friend Amy mentioned that Cheerios was doing a contest for unpublished authors, I immediately switched over to a blank Word document and before I even had time to think, my fingers spewed this little poem out. It's not anything I would publish or even send in...but after I was finished and I went back and read it, I realized I had just literally poured my HEART out without even really realizing it. I wept reading this back to myself and this morning when I tried to read it to Brooklyn, I couldn't even choke the words out through the lump in my throat and tears threatening to pour down my face. I'm not sure what I'll ever do with it, but I thought I'd at least put it on here for you all to read and see if you relate to it any. It's not grammatically perfect and some of the endings don't even really rhyme correctly, but it still says exactly what I feel. It's almost as if my heart had a direct link to my fingers and completely bypassed my brain. hmmm..... Anyway, here ya go. I titled it:

SOMEDAY WHEN...

Someday when you’re a mommy, you’ll understand why,

When I hold you snugly in my arms,

I’m happy, but I yet I cry.

Looking down at you, as you dance around and play

Reminds me that I should do more of that

Instead of always rushing through my day.

You ask me, “Mommy, why are we in such a hurry?”

And I realize that your childhood

is passing by like a momentary snowflake flurry.

I see you stoop to study a bright red ladybug

And watch the joy light up your eyes

When I stop to give you a hug.

Nothing makes you more excited than to have my undivided attention

So why do I keep myself going

in a hundred different directions?

Oh precious child, how I miss the days when you were so innocent and small

And I could hold you and help you

and make sure you didn’t fall.

Now you’re growing up and you need me less and less

And while I’m proud of your accomplishments,

it sometimes turns me into a blubbering tearful mess!

What can I do to remind myself how precious this time with you is?

When we’re fussing and we’re fighting and wishing the day would end,

I want to stop and think of how someday…I’m gonna miss this.

Here we go...

2010-05-10T07:45:00.002-05:00

So today is Day 1 on my 14 day quest to "having new kids." If you haven't read the book by Kevin Lehman called "How to Have a New Kid in 5 Days" yet, then you might not know what I'm talking about. I haven't read it either, but my Sunday School class just did a 5 week study on it and now that it's over, I'm realizing more now than ever that we have GOT to get control of our house again. "This is a home, not a hotel."
What I realized when we started this little series is that it seemed overwhelming and that there were toooo many areas that we needed to work on, so we just turned our heads the other way and kept on doing what we've been doing. However, yesterdays lesson was on self-esteem and it was very crystal clear to me what poooor self-esteem our kids are developing.
So, in light of that, we have decided that we canNOT turn our heads any longer. We have to start and it must begin NOW. As with any big change, taking baby steps is the way to begin.
For me to actually implement something, I need to have it decided on, written down and posted everywhere.
So today's plan of action is this:
1. One time. I'm only going to give instructions once. If "x,y and z" don't get done after they've been told one time to do it, then there will be immediate consequence. For us, at our house, that means they will stand with their nose in the corner of the dining room for 1 minute per year of age. It's humiliating and seems a bit degrading (esp. for a 9 year old) but it causes them to be quiet and reflect on what just happened). In the past we just sent them to their rooms, but that is more like a reward than a punishment because all their toys are in there. The other option is a spanking but I think that needs to start being reserved for more serious offenses (and thereby will make a bigger impression when it's used). This "time-out" procedure will also be implemented as SOON as I sense an attitude too. From this day on, there will be respect in this house...from everyone...for everyone.
2. Jobs/pay. For the past several months we have given our kids little jobs that they are responsible for around our house. They each have 5 and on Friday, they each receive $5 for their work. ($1 of which goes into savings and $1 goes into giving=$3 to spend) This was working out WONDERFULLY for a while and everyone was happy. I was getting lots of help around the house, and the kids were finally getting an "allowance" so they could buy the new toys, books, etc. that they wanted. However, as our schedule has gotten busier (softball/baseball, school activities) the jobs have either been being completely forgotten or I have to hound the kids constantly to do them. Basically, I'm shelling out money to them every Friday for no reason and the whole thing has just become a headache. So beginning today, they will have the opportunity to do the work (without being told) and earn the money...but if I have to tell them to do it (or it doesn't get done) there will be no "payday" on Friday anymore.

So that's it for now. Those are my goals. I honestly think that if I can get that first one set in place and do it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. then a whoooole lot of our discipline issues will be solved.

Meanwhile I am determined to KEEP MY COOL. Nothing good comes from me screaming and flailing around like a crazy woman (beating recliners) and such. All that does is freak the kids out and makes me look like an out-of-control idiot. (which I'm not entirely...haha)

I'll let ya know how it goes...
(btw: "14 days quest" because in exactly 2 weeks from today we will begin Summer Break and I will be watching another child in my house full time. We need to have this "figured out" before that.)

2010-05-07T07:51:00.002-05:00

It's a sad day when you realize that you really don't like yourself.

What's worse is when you list out all the things that you are, stand for and spend time doing..and ...they all look good...but when you add them together, they equal a bad you. It doesn't make sense. I guess too much of a good thing isn't a good thing...!?!

One side of my head says "YOU'RE LOSING YOUR MIND" and the other side of my head says "YOU HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST"...and they're both right.

Vent: You don't have to read...

2010-05-06T15:44:00.004-05:00

Okay,
I'm going to vent here right now. I seriously feel like I need to get this all off my chest and to be honest, there is no one in my life (husband, mom, friends) who have time to actually listen to me ramble on and on about stupid stuff like this...so it's going on the blog. Whether or not anyone reads it...I don't know...but at least I can get it out.

#1: So today, in the middle of doing a MILLION things and being beyond busy, I run into town to pick up a last minute gift that we need to mail TODAY. I only have like 15 minutes to spare so I just run into our town's little drug store where they have pretty cute stuff. However...what I apparently failed to notice when I've browsed while waiting for prescriptions before is that their prices are RIDICULOUS! I'm talking about $30 for a picture frame, $45 for a pair of flip flops, $20 for a candle, $35 for a necklace. So I run across the street to a flower/gift shop. I'd never been in there before but they have NOTHING but flowers and candles so that's a no-go. I run to Atwoods thinking maybe I can find something-anything girlie there---nope. I stop at about 3 other stores and still leave with nothing. It's not that I can't find anything...it's that shopping on a "dave ramsey" budget is friggin' impossible!!! (I'm already back to using the credit card until the paycheck gets here because that is the only way we can LIVE.) But that isn't even my main gripe on this #1. It's this: I go into this one little gift shop and right off the bat I see all kinds of eye-candy. I'm like "oohhhh yay! maybe I will actually find something!" But 1 minute after I begin looking the lady working at the store comes over and starts TALKING MY EAR OFF. And for at least 30 minutes she BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH talked to me!!! I never did get to shop! By the time I'd been standing there (still in the entrance of the store) for 20 or so minutes, I was just sure there was smoke coming from my nostrils and ears. I was as mad at her for "wasting" my time as I was mad at myself for always being in such a DANG hurry that I can't even take 30 minutes of my day to talk to some nice old lady. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?????? It was like a battle in my head because one minute I said to myself "For goodness sake Jennifer, just take a second and talk to her. She's 70 years old and probably needs someone to listen to her jibber-jabber about mowing and her kids and her sore back, etc." and then 2 seconds later I would think "OH MY GOSH I am frickin' an HOUR BEHIND schedule and I can't even shop in this stupid store because this lady won't SHUT UP and let me look!!" AUGH!!!!!!!!!
In the end, I spent TWO HOURS looking for this gift that didn't exist. I wanted something cute and unique and FREE! Ha! I ended up getting something that was about a 2 on the cuteness scale and cost $5.99. What a waste of my afternoon.

#2: So, now here I am, trying to make up lost time this afternoon. I 'm having company for dinner, Grant has a baseball game tonight, I'm supposed to bring a dessert to the school tomorrow for Teacher Appreciation, my house is a mess, I haven't done my work for the doctors office yet and so I'm SCRAMBLING around like a total NUT screaming at the kids and racing through the house and all of a sudden I hear "DING DONG DING DONG DING DONG" at my front door. The kids immediately get excited...and I immediately get frustrated. I don't give a RIP who it is...they are INFRINGING ON MY TIME! So I answer the door and this lady is standing there and she says, "Hello, may I speak to your mother" to me. UH HELLO LADY BUT I AM NOT AN IDIOT---whatever you are selling, you can just take it back to your car because I am not buying anything these days and I FOR SURE am not buying something from someone who thinks they can "butter me up" by telling me I look like the "teenager of the house." Give me a buh-reak! So she wants to come in and clean my carpet. I politely as I can, tell her that NO I am not interested...and pretty much tell her everything that I just told you guys in the first sentence of this paragraph. To which she says "Oh...well, if you're having company this is perfect because now your carpet will be clean and your house will smell nice." I irritatedly tell her that I have about 3 hours worth of work to get done and I only have 1 hour to do it in and that THIS IS NOT A GOOD TIME!!!! (which I've said now at least 10 times!) THANK HEAVENS my mom happened to pull up at about that time and she started talking to her instead so I shut my door and went back in.
What part of "NO TRESPASSING" do people not understand. We didn't put that sign on our front gate for nothing!!!
Argh! And FURTHERMORE...now my kids want to know why I am mad and why I didn't let that lady come in and clean because she "was so nice to you mommy. She told you how pretty and young you are and wanted to come and clean for you and you weren't very nice back to her."
OHHH!!! MYYY!!! GOSHHH!! I just want to scream!!! Now I'm defending myself to my kids about why that lady was really just trying to say nice things (even if they weren't true) just so I would buy something from her. Oh whatever.

To prove to you how NUTSO I have actually gone, I got out the paddle to spank Brooklyn for locking me out of her room and then when she finally opened it she screamed " WHAT DO YOU WANT??"at me...but then when I told her I was going to spank her she started bawling and ran to her room and got a Mother's Day Card she had been making me. Okay so now I'm confused and frustrated and don't know whether to spank her or hug her so I grab up the paddle and start WHACKING THE FIRE out of the leather recliner. Yes...folks. This is me. I have LOST IT. If that recliner had been alive, I'd have surely killed that thing dead.

And now here I am...running more and more out of time and yet I'm blogging. I don't have time to even be THINKING about blogging but I had to do it because quite honestly, I feel like I am LOSING MY MIND.
This is not me. This is not who I am. I don't like it and I don't want any part of it. So why do I feel like I'm being swallowed up by it?

The budget/money thing feels like a thousand pounds on my shoulders. If I could just get rid of that one concern...I think things would be a lot easier to deal with.

Okay...well, if you read all that, God bless you. Anyone who has any advice is always welcome to give it! I appreciate input but I understand if you don't leave any either. Sometimes I just don't think there is any answer....

HOW do you say no?

2010-04-27T14:01:00.002-05:00

I am so excited to be BLOGGING again (rather than facebooking) and I am very anxious to post this "topic" on here for you, my good friends, to read and help me figure out! Since almost ALL of you have children (and many of them in the same age group as mine), I'm SURE you've all encountered this problem before...or will at some point soon.
So here it is:
HOW do you say "No, my child is not allowed to go to your house"?

Here's the deal: When Brooklyn was about 5 or 6, she started having ( and getting invited to) sleepover's at friends houses. Mostly from church but occasionally from school. Everything was good and fine and we never had any problems.

But NOW...she is 9 and that means that (some) girls that age are starting to become interested in things like:
using the computer
BOYS
make-up
dressing "sexy"
music videos
"older" movies
saying grown-up phrases (like "freakin" and "What the heck")
hip-hop music (think black-eyed-peas, Pink, Ludacris, etc.)
daring each other to do/say things...
ETC...

Apparently the days of playing Barbies with your friends, watching the Parent Trap and playing MASH on scrap paper are long gone. (**actually Brooklyn still loves her Barbies...but now she cuts their hair and "colors" it funky colors like pink and purple and cuts their clothes to make them "cooler" (which I interpret as "sexy". ugh!..and she wouldn't be CAUGHT DEAD playing Barbies in front of her friends.)

Anyway, there are a couple of our friends that she spends the night with that have daughters (and morals) that I JUST LOVE and Brooklyn being around them is a WONDERFUL influence on her.
However...(and here is the issue)
There are a couple of girls that she has spent the night with/gone over for playdates with...that all of the above list have been done and she comes home with this smart-alec attitude and sassy-mouth and acting like she is "entitled" to whatever she wants. She also suddenly knows the words to songs I would NEVER want her to know when she gets home and is usually covered in make-up and ink. :-(
What's even sadder...is that some of these little girls even go to our church and I know their parents. Eeek!

A while back (after a bad experience where we let her sleep-over at someones house from school that we didn't know) we made the rule up that she can't spend the night with anyone unless we know them. And that worked for a while...but now I'm gonna have to "tighten up the reins" even more. So how do I say "no" to people who she's already spent the night with?
I'm sure honesty might work in SOME cases...but I can just tell you that there is one or two of these families that I am just NOT going to sit down and have a talk with about this.
Is there any good way to back out of a friendship?
Even Brooklyn herself has admitted that she feels "wrong" when she's there and they're doing things that she knows I wouldn't approve of. She recognizes the uncomfortable feeling (THANK YOU HOLY SPIRIT) of being in a place/doing something that is not good or glorifying to God. PRAISE THE LORD that she has a good relationship with Jesus, even at the young age of 9. She has a tough exterior, but inside she is PURE GOLD--soft and sweet and precious as they come. She wants to please the Lord always. (*almost makes me cry happy tears!)
Anyway, if any of you have any suggestions about this, I would LOVE to hear them.....

FURTHERMORE....oh my gosh...what would I feel/think if this were someone else talking and it was MY DAUGHTER who they thought was the bad influence? wow....
OUCH!

Happy Birthday Matthew Paul!

2010-04-26T09:27:00.005-05:00

Today is Matt's 34th birthday! I will be taking lots of pics throughout the day and adding them to this post, but here are a couple I snapped of him last week during one of Brooklyn's softball games. WHAT A HUNK!

Lastly, here is a pic of the kids with the snowman we built the last time we had snow. I took all these pictures with my phone and now I finally figured out how to upload them to my computer, so that's why I'm just now posting them.

Welcome to the world little baby!!

2010-04-26T09:00:00.006-05:00

When Brooklyn was 3, we decided to get her a horse. A friend of ours had a female yearling for sale that seemed sweet-tempered and was within our price range, so we bought her. Brooklyn named her Girlfriend and as she's grown, we've come to love her.
A couple of years ago (when Brooklyn was probably about 6 or 7), my dad (who takes care of Girlfriend for us since he has the big barn) decided to sell her. My mom, knowing the trauma/drama it would create when Brooklyn found out, called me while we were at the mall to tell me that dad was selling her. When I told Brooklyn, it was an all-out sob-fest right in the middle of Dillards. I've rarely seen that girl cry her eyes out like she did that day.
I called my mom back and asked if there was ANY WAY we could stop the sale and explained how upset Brooklyn was.
As soon as my dad heard about the "drama", he backed out of the sale.
(I should probably tell you that Matt and I had told him that since he takes care of her and feeds her, etc. that she was really his horse now. It was only right for him to have the right to do with her what he wanted since he takes care of her 100% of the time....also fyi: my parents live next door to us.)
Anyway, thankfully, he/we kept her and we've known since that day that she would be in our family for ever. Here's a pic of me kissing her on the nose. She is SUCH a sweetie!
Today, on April 26th, 2010 (Matt's 34th birthday), she gave birth (at 4 am) to her first baby! We've been looking forward to this (especially Brooklyn) for almost a year now and how exciting that it happened on Matt's b-day!
Here are a few pics. I got the kids out of bed at 6:30 am (when the baby was 2 1/2 hrs old) to go out to the barn to see them.

We all got to pet the baby but it was an especially special moment for Brooklyn!
While I'm at it, here are a few more pics of our animals and the "wild" animals we have around here:
That first pic is cute little Kinley looking out of the car door at me. She hates for me to get out and leave her in there!
Next is big ole' Sam. He actually celebrated his 11th birthday yesterday (April 25th).
The 3rd pic is of a gopher that my dad killed. They are EVERYWHERE out here. We HATE them! They eat our vegetables in the garden and make little dirt piles everywhere! GRRrrrr!
The last pic is a turtle that was right out in the road in front of our house. It was BIG, and look at that TAIL!

We've got Balls!

2010-04-19T09:08:00.006-05:00

Softball and baseball pretty much run our lives at the moment. For the next 10 weeks, we have anywhere from 3-6 baseball/softball games PER WEEK! (and that's not counting practices!!) Even though we are thoroughly enjoying this...I'm so glad it only lasts for a few months of the year!Here are a few pics I took of the kids over the last week or so. Grant REFUSES to stand still and let me get a good picture of him...so I had to sneak in some when he wasn't looking! ha ha
Brooklyn will gladly pose for me anytime she sees the camera pointed in her direction! :o)
This is one of Brooklyn with her friend Maddie (our homerun hitter!)

And Grant...not the best pictures...but I had to take what I could get!

...trying to run away from getting a picture taken! HA! I still gotcha dude!

And one for your viewing enjoyment---mine and Matt's backsides! ha ha... We were scrambling to cook dinner one night after a softball game and Brooklyn grabbed the camera and snapped our pic. Why I put it on here, I have no idea.

too many?

2010-04-05T14:11:00.001-05:00

Apparently I put up soooo many pictures (all in individual posts) that you can't even see them all on this front page...nor do you get to see the post I did explaining them. Soo....you'll have to get to the bottom and click on "older posts" to see the rest and read about our trip!
Thanks for looking/reading.... :o)

Pure Bliss!!

2010-04-05T14:01:00.000-05:00

On March 11, 2006...almost exactly 4 years before this new one!

My FAVORITE!

2010-04-05T14:00:00.001-05:00

This is hands-down my favorite pic! It's SO MUCH like one I took about 4 years ago! Soooo cute! This will be my new screen saver for sure!

I LOVE THESE PEOPLE!

2010-04-05T13:59:00.001-05:00

Daddy and his babies!

2010-04-05T13:59:00.000-05:00

The family...

2010-04-05T13:58:00.000-05:00

I was trying really hard to get one of all 4 of us...by my arm wasn't long enough! oh well...

Me and the kids..

2010-04-05T13:57:00.001-05:00

Me and the kids on Easter Morning. Poor Grant was getting whipped by my hair!

The kids!

2010-04-05T13:57:00.000-05:00

I was hoping to get JUST ONE really cute pic of them to use as my screen saver...but BROOKLYN stuck her tongue out...oh well. Good enough! :o)

Pretty in Pink!

2010-04-05T13:56:00.000-05:00

My beautiful girl in her new HOT PINK Easter dress (that I found on clearance for 80% off at Macy's!)

Funny pic

2010-04-05T13:55:00.000-05:00

Matt was standing out in the gazebo at my parents house and I snapped this pic. Pretty funny...

Of course...

2010-04-05T13:54:00.000-05:00

Now he wants to know how much money can he get for it? ha ha

It's OUT!!!

2010-04-05T13:53:00.001-05:00

Grant's first loose tooth!

2010-04-05T13:53:00.000-05:00

A month from turning 6, my big 5-year-old lets me pull out his first loose tooth!

Girls Night Out

2010-04-05T13:52:00.000-05:00

Here are me and 4 of my good girl friends out for dinner celebrating Lisa's b-day! From L-R: Tracy, Lisa, Me, Kathleen, Tammy. These girls are pure gold!

Call me lucky...

2010-04-05T13:50:00.000-05:00

A pic of my Romeo on top of the tall tower!

THE tower...

2010-04-05T13:49:00.000-05:00

This is a (partial) pic (I couldn't get it all) of a tower we climbed up! It was 131 steps!

BIG JESUS

2010-04-05T13:48:00.000-05:00

Here is the statue of Jesus at the "Christ of the Ozarks". It is ENORMOUS! The fingers of it are like the size of a 5 year old!

Oh Deer...

2010-04-05T13:47:00.000-05:00

I have lots of pictures of deer...so I'll limit myself to only posting one. :o)

Me fishing...

2010-04-05T13:46:00.000-05:00

So here I am, sitting in a nice comfty chair with my pink fishing rod...waiting on a fish to take the bait. The water was NOT that green...but it turned out that way in the pic. It was soo cool because they have underwater lighting so I was actually WATCHING the fish swim up to my lure and bite it! VERY cool...except I was trying to play keep-away from the tiny fish and lure in the big ones. No luck...all we caught was little 6 inchers.

funny sign

2010-04-05T13:44:00.001-05:00

Fish cleaning...

2010-04-05T13:44:00.000-05:00

This is the area they have set up for cleaning the fish you catch. It has everything you could need. GROSS!

The Fishing Dock...

2010-04-05T13:43:00.000-05:00

Here Matt is walking to the fishing dock...(where the heated indoor fishing room is, boat rentals as well as a huge deck/grill area.