Hide and Seek

I used to LOVE to play hide and seek. Its such a strange thrill waiting to be found. I love that my kids are getting old enough to play games together now. Silas and Hattie aren't too good at including Luke who REALLY wants to be a part of what they are doing. But that'll come, I know. Besides, there is only 3 1/2 years separating Silas and Luke, with Hattie in between.

ANYWAYS...I have an absolutely terrible cold. So we stayed around the house today. And Silas and Hattie were playing hide and seek. I helped Hattie hide in the tub with the shower curtain drawn. When Silas was looking for her she made a noise. I seized the opportunity to scare the pee out of Silas. I yelled and gasped, WHAT WAS THAT? I grabbed Silas and acted scared.

Can you see where this is going?

He screamed out of terror. He looked at me. I was laughing so hard. Hattie pops out of the shower and Silas says out of pure relief, I KNEW IT WAS YOU. I KNEW YOU WERE IN THERE.

Of course he didn't. But man, that good laugh sure did make me feel better.

This summer we are going to have to teach them to play Sardines. I really loved that game.

Global Warming?

When Jody walked in the door today he said, "Nobody's talking about global warming today."

We went from 31 on Monday morning to negative 17 today. Isn't that crazy??

The news was talking about avoiding frostbite. Have you ever???

Sunday

Today was a beautiful day.

Church went great. Jody spoke in Minot, so Ryan was the speaker. I was in the nursery, but I'm sure Ryan did a great job. I think we had about 55, which compared to the 20 or so we had this time last year is pretty amazing.

I think it got up to 42 degrees today. "Perfect weather," they say. Isn't that funny? Growing up in Miami I didn't even own a winter coat until we moved when I was 16. I may be wrong, but I don't remember it ever being 42, unless that was the low and by lunch it was 65 or 70. I don't know. BUT NOT HERE. AT 42, there were more people out walking their dogs, playing outside...we even went to the zoo. I ran into a friend of mine from MOPS and she said, "I know, isn't this such a wonderful day to be at the zoo?"

Of course I agreed, and then as I thought about my response later I thought, wow, I don't know how I agreed to that. There is still snow on the ground. Ha.

After the zoo we decided to go to Long John Silver's for dinner. We LOVE that place. Ours is in the same building with A&W and I really wanted a root beer float. I had coupons and everything. Well, lo and behold, they are closed on Sundays. What??? I didn't know that. Not that I think that's bad, but I just wasn't expecting that.

So we went up the road to Buffalo Wild Wings. The kids really love that place. When we got our bill, it was a lot LOWER than we were expecting. Then Jody saw this announcement that said kids' meals 99cents on Sundays. What a great surprise.

What a great Sunday.

The Basement

At our house the kids' rooms are in the basement along with all the toys, books and the TV/family room.

Today we stayed around the house. Hattie has a terrible cold and I needed to do laundry. So as I was cleaning and vacuuming upstairs I told the kids to play downstairs. But I have NO idea how many times they came up to ask me something or show me something. For some reason, they do NOT like being down there. I think its a mixture of wanting to just be around me and fear of monsters in the basement. One of the worst things is that they are constantly bringing toys and projects upstairs and leaving them around. I HATE THAT!!

You know what I mean? I can't be in the bathroom without them "needing" something. So I know the basement thing has to do with me not being there too. But why are they afraid? Its NOT dark. There are windows and lights. Its a great place.

And they are driving me crazy about this. Any suggestions?

What's in a name?

Feeding the pigs and testing their snacks too.




Polar Bear and Victor


The pre-dryer pony

Smart boy already.

We have this friend in Uganda. We met him when he was assigned by the guard company as our "night watchman". He told us his name was Iya Jacob. He was from Northern Uganda and was working to send money home to his wife and daughter. Jody led him to the Lord and it was AMAZING to see him grow in his faith.

Jacob's wife and daughter moved to our town. Irene has a countenance unlike any other. Their daughter's name was Jaqueline, and when she was about 2 they changed her name to Josephine. When we asked why they said that she was named after an aunt who was turning into a bad women. Well after knowing him over 2 years, Jacob's brother came to visit. HIS name was Iya Jacob. It turns out that our Iya Jacob's name is Bangi Samson. He used his brother's name to get a job because he had a diploma. That cracked us up.

I say all this because I was reminded of this today when Silas changed his guinea pigs name from Squeaky to Victor. He doesn't have a reason, he just thinks the name Victor is a nice name.

Enjoy the pictures.

Rainbow Dash

Allright, so I've mentioned at least twice before that Hattie is extremely attached to the my little pony, Rainbow Dash, ugly baby thing she got for Christmas. Her love for this thing has only increased. She carries it around all the time, plays with it constantly, it is kind of annoying.

Well today it got dirty again and I threw it in the wash. Then without thinking I threw it in the dryer. It didn't even occur to me that I had done anything different until I pulled it out of the dryer. The main and tail are all shriveled up and knotted and matted. Hattie took it and looked at it and said, I don't like it that way.

Now the favorite toy has no voice box (from the throw up incident) and shriveled up hair. Walmart is out of stock. So I think I will just order a new one from amazon. Its only $15. I've got one in my cart. I guess I should just do it, right??

Ironing

I really hate ironing. I avoid it at ALL costs. I would much rather wear wrinkled clothes actually. Of course some things HAVE to be ironed. In our house, those things pile up near the iron for, well months. I'm not exaggerating.

Today I could put it off no longer. There wasn't THAT much, we really do wear wrinkled clothes. So I set up the ironing board, filled the iron with water and set to work. We bought the iron when we moved here and I was bragging to my friend, Shaunna, that it was a nice iron. Then, it STOPPED working. Water was leaking everywhere but it wasn't hot.

I was about halfway thru at this point and I was like, NOW WHAT? That's when I saw the reset button. I pushed it and it heated up right away. Go figure. I guess I need to iron more often and get used to how it works.

In other news, Ryan babysat for us tonight and Jody and I went to see The Great Debators. It was so my kind of movie. Jody liked it too. The funniest thing was Jody went to get popcorn and came back with the HUGE bucket and 2 huge drinks. This is funny because I don't drink soft drinks or eat popcorn. But it was a good deal he said. Whatever.

Ninja Turtles and Princesses

Tonight for our Bible study I made a DELICIOUS pound cake. My mom made it when she was here so I gave it a whirl. I also made these pimento pitas. (after organizing my recipes I found this one from my friend's Whitnee and Natalie)

During the bible study the kids played downstairs with the babysitter. Silas and Hattie were dressed in their costumes and this time another family that comes brought their costumes. So there were 2 ninja turtles and 2 princesses (the little ones were not involved, although Luke was dressed in Lightning McQueen suit). THe babysitter said the kids were doing plays. The same basic ninja turtle/princess play. It was pretty funny.

My sister Holly says that we get the best bang for our bucks with our Halloween costumes. I must admit, its true. And its just so fun.

Hit and Run

Friday Jody was leaving our neighborhood and the road was slippery (it was snowing). He lost control and swerved into this guy's yard, knocking over a little tree. The tree was so small it was being supported by wires and splints.

So, Jody left a note on the door with his phone number and an apology.

Then, this morning (2 days later) a policeman called Jody regarding "the hit and run". Yes, he REALLY said that. After church the policeman came over and got all of our insurance information and the story according to Jody. He didn't give Jody a ticket but said to check in about a week and see what the outcome was. The policeman said that Jody shouldn't be charged with Hit and Run.

I am just glad that all this happened to Jody and not ME.

BIG Sale

Well, it was the day I have been waiting for...Old Navy's 50% off clearance. I am not a shopper. My mom and my sisters are. I actually don't shop often at all. But how can you resist buying clothes for the kids for next year when they are so cheap??

I got a coat for each kid, $8.50, $8.50, and $10. Matching shirts for the boys for $3 each. The list could go on and on. I was SO happy.

I called my sister-in-law, Jerre, and she made it a point to stop at Old Navy. I spread the good news with everyone I could think of pretty much. I hope you all made out as good as I did.

Webkinz

We were sucked into the world of Webkinz by the Stephens' family. You buy this little stuffed animal then you take the code in the tag and register him online. Then you can use the little pet to play games, buy food, feed the pet, furnish a house...

Its really pretty fun. There is a typing game that is very good practice, there math games...its neat.

So Silas has a bulldog named Tucker and Hattie has a pony named Triple Treat. The kids love going on there and taking care of the pets, earning money for them, etc. Well, I was trying to set up a bathroom (the pets can really use the potty) and something happened. The room got frozen and its been like 2 days and I can't get to Tucker. The problem is he is getting hungry. There is a little meter that tells you if the pet is hungry, happy and healthy. Tucker is getting hungry and we can't feed him!

Jody thinks I am being silly about this, but the darn pet can DIE and I just think Silas will be devastated.

I could NOT figure out how to contact these Webkins people. Finally Stacy helped me figure it out and I have a request for help in. I hope Tucker can make it thru the next couple of days.

Sick Men

Why is it that when Mama is sick the show must go on. All meals must be fed, kids taken care of, etc. But when Daddy is sick, the world must stop turning.

Of course its obvious that Daddy always has a worst case of the sickness, right? He must since he can not go on with life. In fact, I've heard of some men (my dad being one of them) say things like, "if I don't make it...". He always fears that the rest of the family may catch what he's got , even if everyone already had something similar, it COULDN'T have been the same disease.

(Keep in mind that I am only speaking hypothetically :)) Thankfully we are all healthy today. Yesterday may have been a different story though.

Is anyWOMAN picking up what I'm putting down? :) LOL.

Everybody out!

First let me say, thanks for the suggestions on the pictures. I did end up printing them one hour before I went scrapbooking. I don't mind doing that its just that I always think of so late I feel pressured. Well, I printed enough to get me through for a while. I had a great time and got like 6 pages done. LOVE IT!

So, I had all the kids in the tub. They love being in there together, they never want to get out. So tonight I started to drain the water and walked out of the bathroom to get pj's ready. Then I hear screaming. Then I hear, "Luke pooped...aaaaaaah" etc. I run in there and Silas and Hattie had jumped out of the tub. I grabbed Luke (I must have screamed because Luke got scared and started crying. I know he had NO clue what was going on.). Then I cleaned out the poop. Gross I know. But I was able to pick it up with tp once the water drained out and flush it right down the toilet.

The thing is I didn't believe Silas because he claims that Luke pooped in the tub about once a week. He never has pooped in the tub before, but I think Silas remembers Hattie doing it about 1 1/2 yrs ago.

After the fact I got tickled and started laughing about it and thought I had to share yet another sitcom experience from the Jennings household.

Pictures

I LOVE digital cameras. I love that I don't have to spend money on film or developing pictures that I may or may not like. I LOVE being able to take snap after snap until I get the right picture.

But now my problem is that I have tons of pictures taking up tons of space on our already slow computer. (I probably should just go get one of those external drives. Yes. I may do that tomorrow even).

I love to scrapbook. My whole family enjoys looking thru the books. But I am behind. How in the world can I scrapbook with 3 little kids when I have a hard enough time keeping the kitchen neat and clean?

So, the only times I really get any scrapbooking done now is when I go to a cropping day or something like that. I have been planning on going to this one tomorrow. But I ran into a few problems.

1. I could NOT find the CD's we have with all our Uganda pictures on them. I am determined that I want to get them in the books. And I've used pretty much all that I printed.
2. All Hattie's baby pics are on the CD's too and I want to re-do her baby book.
3. Its going to be close to 40 degrees tomorrow and we really need to do some work in the garage.

Well, I found the CD's this afternoon. But now I don't know if I'll get them printed in time to scrap. When I'm done blogging here, I'm going to see if I can get a bunch to print. Only we are out of the paper for the little printer.

What next? Ah the sitcom of my life.

I almost posted again last night, but well, I don't know why I didn't.

I was about to go to bed when I heard Hattie crying. I go in there and she was sitting up. I turned the light on and saw vomit ALL OVER her. Caked in her hair, all over the sheets, blankets, pjs and worst of all her favorite teddy and the blue baby my little pony. (She's holding it in one of the Christmas Parties below).

It was NASTY. I bathed her, put the sheets and all that in the wash. Then the only way I could save the pony was to cut out the little talking device so I could wash the pony. She said that it would be ok if "Rainbow" didn't talk anymore.

I was glad she was that easy about it.

So today we stayed close to home. Actually IN the house all day. I didn't want to expose anyone else. No one else threw up. BUT man, was everyone fussy and on edge.

Needless to say, when Jody got home from a short trip to SDakota with Ryan and bed time was close behind, I was THRILLED. Everyone is down for the night and we are going to watch some more Prison Break.

The List

I try and keep a running list of stuff I need to buy. Sometimes I lose that list and start another one. Today thankfully I had my original list.

Sometimes my list is just the basics. Milk, fruit, bread...

Then there's days like today. I needed everything. I needed deodorant, napkins, paper plates, soap, chocolate chips, chocolate drink mix (anything to get Hattie to drink more milk), pasta, etc.

I hate that I handle the groceries like 5 times. Off the shelf, onto the conveyor belt, back into the cart, into the car, into the house, put them away.

I do sometimes order my groceries on the internet. Don't think I'm crazy for taking 3 kids to the store. Its doable and good for them anyway, they need to learn good public behavior.

Pictures

Everyone LOVES the towels from Aunt Jerre, Uncle Roman and "the cousins". They are so adorable.
You can't go wrong with a slinky.

Hands down, these are Hattie's FAVORITE gifts.

Luke and his easy belly button access pjs.

We had a great Christmas and New Years. We were invited by several different families to do different things. (Although we really missed our own families in GA, SC and VA. ) We even got to go down to South Dakota right after Christmas to spend some time with the Granthem's, some old friends of Jody's.

Happy New Year, eat some Black Eyed Peas.