Back to the Monotony

Even though my life consists of things like macaroni and cheese, diapers and carseats, its rarely monotonous.

Last night, I was so tired. Jody was packing for Atlanta. My skin is SO dry, I grabbed a little bottle of lotion. As I was lathering it on, I commented 2 or 3 times how much I loved the smell of the lotion. I looked at the bottle to see what the scent was, and it was hair conditioner. LOL. But my skin isn't so dry today.

Jody left this morning at 6:45. No delays, even though it is snowing all day.

As I was getting myself and the kids ready to go to MOPS, Luke fell off my bed. See an earlier post to see a pic of the bed Jody and my dad made. Its pretty high up, so a long fall for Lukey. I felt awful.

MOPS was great. I really look forward to going. My table was in charge of bringing breakfast. I made a sourcream pound cake last night, after Hattie's party to bring. I got really mad, as I was getting the cake out of the bundt, it broke. So, it looked ugly, but it did get eaten. It was really good, if I do say so myself.

When we got home from MOPS, there was SO much snow in our parking lot, I couldn't get in my garage. Our van just can't make it in the snow. I got stuck and couldn't go forward or backwards. I was about to call AAA, when I rolled a little. I parked the van, leaving the kids watching a DVD (Luke was sleeping). I borrowed my neighbor Megan's snow shovel. She always leaves her garage up. I had to shovel a big area b/tw my garage and where I was parked. Thankfully, I was able to pull in.

At lunch, I had to preform the Heimlich maneuver on Hattie. She jammed her jaws full of raisins. She was coughing then she quit and just got bugged eyed. Whew. I freaked out, grabbed her, squeezed her, beat her on the back, squeezed some more, and then she started breathing again.

Silas has been SO well behaved lately. I'm so thankful. Since tomorrow is March first, Silas is REALLY looking forward to his birthday.


I may need an early start tomorrow in order to get OUT of the garage and get Silas to school in time. He has a dinosaur party tomorrow. YOu know a kid can't miss that.

Party's Over

Hattie's birthday was great. I think she had a great day. Silas has already figured out how to milk it. I told him to turn off the TV and he said, but it's Hattie's Birthday. Oh brother.

We had a nice party with 7 kids and some parents and other adults. It was great. The girls were princesses and the boys were Shrek. Balloons are always a huge hit with little kids. Pink cake and ice cream. Wish you all could have been here.

Jody's planning on going to Atlanta early in the morning, but a blizzard is expected to begin tonight and continue for a couple of days. We'll see...

Reuntied

We are HOME. Yay. I am so glad.

We woke up at 4:30am, our flights were uneventful. Luke slept thru both flights. It was great.

Lisa Hamilton brought Silas and Hattie to pick us up. Hattie was asleep in her carseat. Silas was so happy, he couldn't stop smiling. He said to me more than once, Mommy, I'm so happy you are home, I could just eat you up. Hattie is finally paying attention to Jody. She said, I love my daddy. That'll melt your heart.

Silas and Hattie both were so happy to see Luke again and vice versa.

How great to be home.

So, I've got a little 2 yr old party to get ready for. Presents to wrap too.

Oh, btw, check out my new friend, Becky's website. She makes cool stuff and sells it. Buy some.

Great Sunday

Thanks SO much, those of you who have been praying for Luke. Today, he was like a different baby. NO fever, lots of smiles. Praise the Lord.

We were commissioned at Hoffmantown Church. Jody made a little blunder when he said "thank you for giving to Lottie Moon...I mean Annie Armstrong". Whoops.

I was confirming our flight for tomorrow and got a big scare. The flight number I was given was apparently wrong. I was told it was canceled. You know I was freaking out, like, I HAVE to get home to my babies. But, no biggie. It was the wrong number. We are set to arrive back in Bismarck by lunch time, before naptime for Silas and Hattie. I can't wait.

Hattie's 2nd birthday is on Tuesday. She keeps saying, Dat my buday. We are planning a little party Tuesday night. All just in time for Jody to head BACK out to Atlanta for another thing of meetings. But, at least he'll get to go to Hawkinsville to hang out with his family. I hate that we couldn't swing it to be there too. Oh well.

I added a new feature to my blog. I'm not sure if I did it right. But if you'd like to subscribe to my blog, getting updates to check it by email, click on the new link on the right. Subscribe reader. Let me know if it works or not.

We are getting ready to eat dinner with our new friends at FUDRUCKERS. Mmmmmmmmm. I want a milkshake...

More from Albuquerque

Poor Lukey, he has had a rough day. He is still running a fever and its just pitiful. But I got some ibuprofen and hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Besides that, we had a great day today.

I've met so many great people. Ladies in particular. Marquita (check out her hubby's blog, Darren, from Maryland. Man, that girl can LAUGH. Christy from Utah, Zulma from DC...

Tonight we went out to eat with some of them and had a great time. Its fun to fellowship with others who are in such a similar stage of life as we are. Many have young kids and are church planting in difficult areas of our country.

Gotta run, Luke needs mama.

Fever

Poor little Luke. He woke up in the night with a fever. It seemed very high, but I don't have a thermometer with me, so I'm not sure. It must be the same thing Hattie had when we left for Albuquerque on Wednesday. She had a fever of 104. But she's doing better now.

Pray for Luke, we've got a long day ahead of us and he just isn't feeling good.

Me and my babies

Our new (unfinished house)

The Best Baby Ever

FINALLY...we've got internet. I thought I was going thru withdrawals. I missed doing my blog.

Albuquerque is great. The weather's nice. The people here at the conference are fun. We've met people serving with NAMB all over the country.

I'm telling you, Luke has got to be the best baby ever. I've heard most 3rd babies are amazingly good. He just goes with the flow. He loves people passing him around. He smiles at everyone. He fell asleep in the arms of this senior citizen from the local group of New Mexico baptists that came to a fellowship tonight. I am so thankful.

Silas and Hattie are doing great at the Hamiltons.

SO, I think I'm going to post pics of our new house now.

Albuquerque Turkies

My parents gave Silas a book called Albuquerque Turkey. So, Silas know the word Albuquerque very well.

Jody, Luke and I are headed for Albuquerque tomorrow. We have some meeting with the North American Mission Board. We'll be back on Monday.

Pray for me, especially. I know some of you make think I'm silly. But I haven't left my kids much. When Luke was born they spent the night with my parents. And then after Luke was born, Jody took Silas and Hattie to Georgia to visit his family. But other than that, I haven't been away from them. THis is going to be very hard for me. I'm going to miss them.

Pray for the Hamilton's. This is the wonderful, BRAVE family that will be keeping Silas and Hattie. They are really in for a week. But I know they are MORE than capable. Having been houseparents at a children's home and having 5 kids of their own, I know they can handle my oldest two. But I know what Silas and Hattie entail in a day...or 5.

Pray for Silas and Hattie that they will be obedient. Pray also that they will sleep well and be at peace.

We are bringing the computer, so, as long as we have internet,I'll still post. Please, I'll only have one kid, and one low maintainence (I'm not sure if that's spelled right) one at that. I'll be worrying about Silas and Hattie. But I'm bringing a couple of books too.

So, I have an exciting post coming up. We bought a house. Yay. We are so excited. Pictures to come...

Snow Angels World Record

Here we are, getting ready for snow angels. We got there in plenty of time. There was excitement in the air. Hattie wasn't really into it, she just kind of sat there. Granted, it was her usual naptime. Luke was his usual wonderful self. It was so fun.

We were there. About 2/3 of the way bay, some where closer to the left, was the entire Jennings clan. This is the entire group on the Capital Lawn. The total number of people was 8,911. About 5,000 over the last record of Simultaneous Snow Angels made. We were so glad to be a part of it.








Go to Ryan's blog to see a short clip of the snow wave.

A Day at Home

We've been going all week long. Doctor appts, Hockey, School, YMCA...

Today I decided to just stay home. It was fun.

We had a button scavenger hunt, played Candy Land, Sequence for Kids (thanks Aunt Joy), Made telescopes with empty paper towel and toilet paper rolls, played pirates and more. When I asked Silas what was the best part of the day, he said....

watching TV.


Ha. Whatever.

Funny Memory

Since the weather has stayed so cold, there are ice patches in a lot of places. I keep reminding the kids to be careful. But today, Jody reminded me of a memory.

The first blast of cold, when we got here in October, didn't last too long. But there was ice on the ground here and there for a few days. One day we went to look at a house. As we were getting out of the car, Jody was carrying Luke (still buckled in the carseat) and I was coming up behind him with Silas and Hattie.

Jody turned around, looking back at us and said, "Watch out guys, its slippery here." Then, THUMP. I looked up and saw Jody lying on the ground. Luke started crying. He was on his side but still in the carseat.

After seeing that they were both ok, I bust out laughing. Some people think that that type of response is awful. But I can't help it. That's why America's Funniest Home Videos is so stinkin funny to me. Something about people falling cracks me up...and apparently others are the same or AFV wouldn't be like 17 years old.

Now, it was my baby, I know that. But what I wouldn't have given for video camera.

Note: Since then, no one else in the Jennings family has had a taken a fall.

Happy Valntine's Day

Jennings Valentine Top Ten

1. Orange Slices (Gumdrop candies)
2. CHOCOLATE
3. Heart Balloons
4. Band aid Gum
5. Last Day of Hockey Party
6. Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
7. Lipstick messages on the mirrors
8. Backyardigans new episode
9. Spa treatment
10. LOTS of LOVE
    

He's on the MOVE

I don't know if I'm ready for this. Ok. Actually I'm not. Who is EVER ready for a baby to start getting wherever they want to go?

Luke is officially doing the belly crawl.

Silas never crawled normally. He did they belly crawl but he HATED it. He would scream as he moved somewhere. It didn't last long at all. Hattie belly crawled, I can't remember when she started. Then she crawled on her hands and at like ten months.

Luke has been rolling around for a month or so now. But today I saw him go after a little cardboard box. What is next? Screaming. I can hear it now. Silas and Hattie screaming b/c Luke is into their stuff. Here we go....

PS : the kids are feeling SO much better. Thank you Lord.

Feeling Bad

I'm feeling bad. Like a bad mom. The kids have been kind of sick the last few days. Being the sympathetic person that I am, I'm like, come on guys, you are fine. Stop whining, just wipe your nose...stuff like that.

Well yesterday Silas's eye looked bad. I thought, uh-oh. Maybe pink eye. Both Hattie and Silas had this yucky sounding cough. Luke was not my usual sweet sleeper. He kept waking up last night, crying and not going back to sleep easily. Plus 3 constantly running noses.

So this morning, I canceled the dentist appts I had for Silas and Hattie. (I can only imagine how gross it must be for a dentist to get coughed on and all that gross business) I decided to take Silas to the dr. If he had pinkeye, I wanted to get it cleared up asap, and he is REALLY looking forward to the Valentine's Day party at school on Tuesday.

I thought I'd be in and out, so I left Hattie and Luke with Jody. I parked at the wrong building. It was snowing. I forgot Silas's mittens (and my own). We had to walked 2 blocks to get into the right building. While I was checking in, Silas was howling. Tears and snot just running down his face. He was so upset. I was like, what in the world is wrong with him.

Well, a double ear infection ("about as bad as they can get"), beginnings of RSV, and conjunctivitis - that's what's wrong with him. She also recommended I bring Hattie and Luke in.

I drove back home, switch Silas for Hattie and Luke.
Hattie has conjunctivitis and Luke has one ear infection.

We got the meds and are now on the road to recovery.

I just HATE that my kids were all so sick and I didn't realize it.

The Bismarck Sports Show

For our family outing yesterday we went to the civic center where the Bismarck Sports Show is taking place. Jody and I each paid $3, the kids were free. There were campers, jet skis, hunting and fishing stuff...

I took my NEW stroller. I LOVE IT. It's orange and black, made by JOOVY. The baby carseat clips on the seat in the front and then there a bench in the back. If Hattie sits in the bench, Silas can stand on the little platform. Its great.

There was a "fish pond" for kids to fish. The kids get a pole and bait (I guess they had run out of minnows or whatever they were using and resorted to bologna). They fish over this big kiddie pool. There were lots of fish in there, but either they don't go for bologna, or they were sick of being caught. Silas started to cry after 20 mins or so because he couldn't catch a fish. So, what's a pre-schooler to do?

Of course, reach in and try to grab one. He couldn't reach down far enough, but his sleeves were soaked.

The default was the net. A worker came buy, helped Silas scoop up a fish in the net and Silas got to touch the fish he caught.

All for a RIP OFF of $3.

But I did find one great deal. The zoo offers a yearly membership for $50. I had already decided that we were going to buy one, but at the Sports Show, we got our admission off the price, so we got our membership for $46. Yay.

boys vs girl

I'm no dummy(thanks Avery, I'm no "dumby" but I am a bad speller, Jody tell s me that all the time). I know girls and boys are different. But I've always been the type of girl that felt like I could do it just as good as any boy. And still the fact remains that I can do it a lot better than a boy. Of course this depends on what "it" is and who the boy is.

I know Silas and Hattie are still little, but man, can I see HUGE difference already. I never had a brother. My poor dad was so outnumbered in our house. Girls just ruled.

Today we took care of these 2 little boys. They are brothers, the older one is in Silas's class. Poor Hattie was outnumbered. It was funny to see them play with different things. For instance, Hattie's little grocery cart became a car to the younger boy, almost 2, just like Hattie. Hattie went up to him and said, NO, buy choc milk.

While the boys ran around shooting eachother, crashing cars, and cramming eachother into this big box, Hattie just did her own thing. She played with her babies, checked on what the boys were doing, and kept bringing me ponytail holders to fix her hair with.

Meanwhile, Luke happily rolled around on the floor. He is pushing up on his knees now. It won't be long before he's going to be into Silas and Hattie's stuff.

Who needs dogs?

Now I love dogs. We had 3 dogs in Uganda and I really really miss them. Especially Moosie, our Jack Russell. When we get settled into a house, we are planning on getting a dog.

But at this point in my life, I don't need a dog...I have 3 kids. We live in a small apartment. It's butt-cold outside. (I really wish our exclamation point button worked)

Luke is the type of baby that enjoys being on the floor for periods of time. He likes to roll back and forth and grab things. Yesterday he was on the floor for like 45 minutes. When I picked him up, he had blue marks on his face. I was talking to my sister Holly and I was like, I have NO idea how he got these marks on his face. Of course I concluded that Silas or Hattie must have gotten a hold of a blue marker or crayon or something.

Then today in my straightening up, I pulled this ad from the newspaper this weekend from up under the book shelf. I was like, what in the world happen to this. Then it hit me, Luke's blue marks MUST have come from this ad. It looks like a puppy has been in here, but no...just a kid.

Traffic in Bismarck

So it snowed 4 inches this morning. That accumulated on top of what was already here, and it was so beautiful. Life goes on here when it snows. I still had to get out of the door in time to get Silas to school at 8:45. Obviously I didn't allot enough time, since he was 5 minutes late. But hey, cut me some slack, I've never driven in the snow, and its hard. My van just doesn't want to get up and go in the snow.

Anyway. I dropped Silas off, took Hattie and Luke to the child watch while I took a class (all at the Y) and worked out. Then I had to go to the store, so I took Hattie and Luke. We came back to get Silas, and the poor little guy was the last one there in the class. I hate that. But again, I didn't allot enough time to get back to the Y.

So, then we had to drop off a DVD at the library. The trip home from the library should take me like 9 minutes. Granted, there is never traffic here. Something I absolutely love about it here. But not today. I was stuck in a LONG line of traffic. Like, I waited thru one light 4 times. All caused by...the SNOW PLOW.

Isn't that funny? I thought so. I eventually was directly behind the snow plow, almost as if he was escorting me home. It was interesting, I've never been that close to a snow plow.

Swimming in North Dakota

We had a Super Bowl Party tonight. We had a great group, over 30 came. Lots of pizza too.

I have to admit, it felt strange putting on my bathing suit while it was snowing (just flurries, but snow none the less) outside. But since Jody told everyone that there was swimming at the party, Silas HAD to swim. It was great. The pool was warm. Its scary though, Hattie and Silas are both too brave. Hattie would just jump in with out a floaty. Silas knows he can swim, even though he can't.

We got home way past bedtime, my kids ate WAY too many "snacks". But they fell asleep practically on the way to the pillow and we had a great day.

Go Colts.

Left OVer Mashed Potatoes

Last night I cooked one of Jody's pheasants for supper. (One of the ones he killed back in October). As a side dish I doctored up some leftover mashed potatoes. I chopped a bunch of green onions, shredded some cheese, and mixed it in with some bacon bits and sour cream. I baked it in the oven for like 20 mins. DELICIOUS. Like a baked potato with out the skin. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

I got my hair cut today. Its good. I'm not so attached to my hair, so I told her not to give me anything I have to fix too much. The best thing about it was that as we talked, she told me that she and her family have been talking about going to a different church. They've been going to a Lutheran church for years and are looking for something more. Wow. I invited her to our church on Sunday and our Super bowl party. I hope they come.

In the weather...its BUTT-Cold no doubt. Tonight, with the windchill, the prediction is neg 50. NOt the actual temp, that's with the windchill, but gee. That is COLD.

Like Father Like Son

Silas
Today we had our parent-teacher conference with Silas's teachers. It went really well. He is very social, he floats from person to person talking and playing. He is almost always the last child to get dressed after swim class because he has just been talking while others are getting dressed. Then when he finally does get dressed, he says to the teacher (everytime) I was FAST. He lacks respect for personal space (thanks to our Ugandan friends). But they said we should register him for junior kindergarten in the fall.

Jody
While away in South Dakota, Jody got a lot of studying done. We were talking about the video he's going to make, asking people about love. Here's how it went...
Emily:oh, are you doing a 2 part Valentine's thing?
Jody : no, just one.
Emily: just 2 weeks early?
Jody :no, Valentines is next week.
Emily:NO, its not. Do you know what the date of Valentines' is?
Jody : No
Emily: Its the same date every year, you don't know what that is?
Jody: No
Emily: Feb 14
Jody: Oh, well, I prepared for the following week too, so I will just switch them up.

Now these 2 things may not seem related to you, so let me explain. Both Silas and Jody are oblivious to time, dates, etc. Both would rather talk to people than do something like say get dressed or move on to the next appointed thing. (I don't have to help Jody get dressed, but I do wish he could do it faster) Neither Silas or Jody know when Valentines day is, but they are always up for a great celebration/party/socialization.

They are so different from me. Sometimes this is frustrating, but other times, fun and sweet. I know both of them put people first, not projects or tasks. They help me in this area. Always look out for new people to be friends with.