Macaroni and Cheese

Hand-Me-Downs

2010-11-21T21:19:00.004-05:00

I've always loved hand-me-downs. I loved being the recipient as a child. I love swapping maternity clothes and kids clothes with my sister. My mom and Joy always pass me "mint-condition" clothes. Having 4 kids, its nostalgic, seeing a little one in clothes that I saw a few years earlier.

Toys are another animal. Toys will take over your LIFE if you let them! But when we lived overseas, I started putting up some toys and changing them out every few months or so. It was like NEW toys!

A few years ago I got this rocking horse for Hattie. She played with it a little, but it took up space and wasn't really played with, so since we've lived here, its been up in the attic.

But what do you get a 2yr old for her birthday? They don't need anything. They don't even really know its their birthday day, or at least what that means. I can't STAND spending money on something that I know won't be used, that I'm just buying to buy. But taking a rocking horse down from the attic and re-gifting it??? I'm not beneath that!

So, this is what Millie received for her birthday and she LOVED it!! Everyone's love for this horsey has been rekindled. Its pretty funny. Call me cheap...I call it thrifty!

(pardon the blurriness, I could not get her to stop rocking!)

This Little Girl

2010-11-18T20:38:00.002-05:00

this little girl....

lights up our world!

She's fun.

She's funny.

She's full of life!

She loves to
color
sing
tell everyone what to do
pray
greet people
{whether at the store, at the college,
at church, or as people come into our house}

She does NOT like
to be told NO
to be separated from her siblings
people leaving her presence
watching TV
sweet tea

What a blessing she has been these 2 years to our family!
We love you Millie Grace!!!

Questions and thoughts

2010-11-12T09:18:00.004-05:00

....are we really due for another bout with the stomach bug?

...I LOVE Trader Joe's, wish it were a little bit closer!

...why are the terrible 2's (aka sinful behavior + newly discovered vocabulary + independence) starting before the actual birthday?

...I'm afraid Christmas commercials are going to start BEFORE Halloween next year. I mean, really? Already?

...my Grama "B" is the oldest person I know. She's going to 97 tomorrow!

...how can I instill more gratefulness and generosity in my children during this upcoming season?

...I have so much to be thankful for!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T22:24:00.002-04:00

This year I tried something new. I attempted a more homemade halloween (with the help of some of my sweet college girls). My kids LOVE dressing up, all year long. They always have. We have 2 bins full of choices! But this year, here is what we did:

Millie is in Hattie's Old Navy chicken costume from 2006. It brought back some cold memories of our first Halloween in North Dakota!

Luke has been introduced to Johnny Appleseed in K4 this year. He fell in love. So with a foam/cardboard pot for a hat and a burlap sack over his shoulder, he was so proud to portray his new hero!

Hattie would love to have blond hair, so we decided to attempt to make a wig so she could be Rapunzel. We followed a pattern from Family Fun's October issue. Its yarn sewn in small bunches onto a panty hose cap. She is wearing a nightgown that was mine, made by my grandmother, when I was a little girl!

Silas wanted to be Abraham Lincoln. He loved feeling tall in the top hat. He was sure that he looked so much like Lincoln that no one would recognize his as Silas! He loved knowing how much Abraham Lincoln loved reading just like him.

We had a great time going around to the girls dorms and also at our churches Harvest Festival. What a fun weekend!

To Blog or Not to Blog...

2010-10-20T13:46:00.004-04:00

I'm trying to decide whether or not to keep up with this blog. I just do not sit at the computer during the day (try to stay away from having the TV or computer on so that I can accomplish things), afternoons are busy (4 of my own kids, one of my neighbors and numerous visitors in and out) and evenings I am zapped (of course the addition of the iphone to my life last year, gave me the snippets I like of facebook and looking up things on the internet!).

I'm beginning to wonder if blogging is fading away in general. I mean, itseems to me, that so many of the blogs I used to keep up with are filled with ads and plugs for products or books, or offers to join this or that. Is it just me? Maybe I'm just easily annoyed.

I like keeping up with people I know via their blogs, but I'm just nosey. I'm not sure why people really want to know about our happenings. There is rarely a dull moment in our lives, but I hate to turn my life into a comparison or look at me show!

So.....hmmmm. What do you think?

While you are thinking I will post a few cute recent pics.

Top Ten Things You Need to Know About Luke

2010-08-31T21:24:00.006-04:00

In honor of Luke's 4th Birthday here are some things you need to know about Luke.

10. He is a family snob. He LOVES his siblings. He prefers his family to other people, everytime.

9. I prayed specifically for a blue-eyed baby, and he has the most beautiful, big blue eyes!

8. He never runs out of things to say. Ever.

7. He is our funny guy. He makes you laugh without even trying.

6. In general (with exceptions like this week when he bit his cousin!!!) he is a real peacemaker. He is very giving because he wants others to be happy.

5. He hates Michael Jackson, thanks to Aunt Holly. He believe Michael Jackson exists to make people afraid of the dark.

4. He is very good with names. He likes to "trick" people and call them the wrong names. But he knows peoples first and last names very well. What a gift!

3. His favorite color is blue.

2. He is on his OWN timetable. No amount of "hurry-ups" will make him get his shoes on faster. I used to be a very punctual person before Luke was born into our family. He has put a kink in my style!

1. After his near drowning last year, we feel extremely blessed to have this little ball of energy in our family. We believe that God will use him in special ways throughout his life.

A Lazy Day ---Mommy Style

2010-08-29T21:41:00.002-04:00

If you would have told me

that sleeping in

meant

7am

I don't think I would have signed up.

If I would have thought

that reading the same paragraph

too many times to count

would be my idea of

reading a book

I'd stick to Readers Digest.

If I would have known that

I would feel like a GIANT

horshoe

magnet

everytime I left the room

and the little paper clips

were living and breathing

well....I wouldn't know what to even

say!

This mommy business is hard work!

Its tiring.

There are no days off.

There are few uninterupted moments.

But there are a lot of hugs.

There are really fun times.

Saturdays may not consist of

sleeping in

watching what I'd like to watch on TV

reading a book I'm dying to read.

It may be more like

squishing on the couch

excessively drinking chocolate milk

and picking up numerous books

and toys.

I'm glad I didn't know about what kind of

Saturdays I'd be experiencing in 2010....

I might have missed them!

Jennings Summer 2010 Top Ten

2010-08-08T20:39:00.004-04:00

Here are some of the memories I will take away from this summer:

10. Borrowing a cell phone from a military dad at Cinderella's castle in order to find the rest of my family who happened to have my cell phone. Yeah, I was pretty unhappy when we were reunited!

9. Leading my laid back Jennings family in true Boitnott (my maiden name, for those of you who don't know that) style thru 3 major parks (Sand Dunes St Park, Mammoth Caves National Park and Smokey Mt National Park) in 3 days.

8. Millie Grace (in that 18month range this summer) keeping some type of scab on her body in plain sight.

7. Watching Silas (7) become immersed into some really cool books. Count of Monte Cristo, Little House on the Prairie, A Home for Barkley...and others.

6. Dog. I said we weren't ready. I didn't think we could handle one. Then my husband fell in love with Sage.

5. The last summer I believe it will ever be possible to get all 4 of my kids to take a nap simultaneously. It happened 3 times this summer! A shear miracle!!!

4. Swimming with my family, remembering the near death experience just a year earlier involving Luke. Rather than live in fear, we swam and swam and learned and learned....very carefully.

3. Family Camp in Michigan. A new Jennings family tradition. Next year we will be there with both my parents, my inlaws, and Jody's sister's family! Looking forward to it already!

2. Becoming creative in what to do with the pages and pages and pages of Hattie's very cute drawings and poems.

1. Celebrating 10 years of marriage to my super husband. We enjoyed lots of conversations this summer reminiscing the many adventures we have had together. Seminary, Uganda, North Dakota, the Carolinas....our children and how we can't imagine life without each one of them. The Lord has really blessed us!

Hope you all had a great summer too! Here's to a great school year! We are praying for new relationships, good character development and lots of fun!!

Love That Summer Produce

2010-07-31T20:55:00.002-04:00

Yes, its been a
HOT
summer.

But I sure do love the
Bounty of Summer!
Don't you?

This is what we had for dinner one
night this week.

Mmmmmm.
So YUMMY.
So Colorful!

Grilled Chicken
Romaine Lettuce
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Green Onions
Red Peppers
Goat Cheese
Sweet Potatoes

We also enjoyed fabulous fruit!
Peaches
Nectarines
Blueberries
Watermelon
Cantaloupe

I will welcome the cooler weather,
but I will miss this food!!

Memories....

2010-07-26T21:42:00.002-04:00

Memories....
like the corner of my mind.....

Tonight we ate supper, did the dishes, and bathed the kids
unhitched.

Jody went to take the {new} dog out
(long story, I'll try and post pics of our sweet
Labradoodle, Sage)
We had reading time.

I told the kids to go brush there teeth
and
there was
NO WATER.

I thought, no...the bill IS paid for.
{I have made this mistake recently}

We all walked outside and saw
A RIVER
running down the side of the road,
across the street!

Oh the summer fun!
Dogs and kids
playing
running
laughing

However
the most vivid memories
that surface in my mind
are living in Uganda
where most evenings
our water shut off.
There I was a little more prepared
as I had at least water to drink
in the fridge!

The similarities stop here
BECAUSE
within the hour
our friendly BRRW company truck
pulled up
checked out the situation
and turned off the running water.
Now, I'm hoping the guys with the
BIG STUFF
show up tonight to fix it!

Kicked to the Curb

2010-07-12T20:40:00.005-04:00

Poor Baby

Learning to hold her own
is tough
for a 4th child.
{notice the scab under her nose}

The Culprit:

Piling into the suburban
is just not as safe as it used to be!
Especially if you have a sibling
who KICKS!

Bottom line, everyone was excitedly
getting in the car as I
grabbed a few things.
Luke kicked Millie...
OUT OF THE CAR!!
She fell flat on her face.

Luke got a spanking
and I THINK he has learned a
valuable lesson.

I hope.

Fruit Flies

2010-07-08T09:49:00.005-04:00

We came home from a wonderful vacation (staring with a camp out at Nana's, family camp in Michigan, Warren Dunes State Park, Mammoth Caves in Kentucky, and ended with a campout in the Smokies....post with pics will follow in the near future) to a home that was INVADED by FRUIT FLIES!

It was unbelievable!!!

It was my own fault. Unbeknownst to me, I had left a half of a banana in the fruit bowl. It rotted and bred a colony or 2 of nasty, pesky little fruit flies. {GAG}

I cleaned, I bleached, I wiped, I swatted. I repeated all of these steps. All in vain, the fruit flies just moved from corner to corner in the kitchen and bathrooms. Making babies, I'm sure!

I was SO annoying. So gross! I felt like the Egyptians in Exodus! Well, it wasn't that bad....but it was bad.

Skeptically, I looked up remedies online.

I am thrilled to report, on my first try at home remedies...I {think} I have annihilated them. Its amazing!

Here is what I did:

Took 3 small bowls and filled them 2/3 full with balsamic vinegar.
Mixed 1/3 c water with 2 pumps of kitchen soap
Poured the soap mixture evenly into the vinegar cups

Set the bowls in the corners and waited. With in minutes the flies were lighting on the bowls. Within hours I could not find any swarms of flies in the house. I waited until morning and dumped the vinegar into a tea strainer.

The result?
Hundreds of drowned fruit flies.

Amazing! Magical!

I may just leave a little bowl on the counter from now on!!!

Disney in a Day

2010-06-18T20:58:00.002-04:00

We headed down to Orlando for the SBC 2010 and decided to take a day to hit Disney. It was a long, hot day. But we had a wonderful time! We met Jody's childhood friend, Martin, at Animal Kingdom as the park opened. He told us he had VIP seats for us to the Lion King Show!
We sat in the Lion section, and Silas, Hattie and Luke were chosen to participate in the show! Luke was a little uneasy. Millie Grace LOVED every second of the show too!
Afterwards we got to meet the cast! It was so cool. This was the highlight of our day!!
Hattie shared a silly band with one of the cast members.
Then on to some rides....
Luke didn't know he was not a fan of roller coasters.

Hot and tired! We did a LOT of walking!

Its a Small World was so relaxing!

Gotta pose at the castle!

Me and my Prince Charming!

2010 Summer Ideas Part 2

2010-05-27T22:20:00.002-04:00

Keeping Your House in {some semblance} of Order

Yeah right...I hear you say.

I am not, nor will I pretend to be a wonderful,
organized
housekeeper.

I do clean the kitchen after every meal.
I love cleaning the bathrooms.
The shark (vacuum thingy) is my friend for kitchen floors and
highly trafficked areas.

But I am a MESSY.
I operate on the pile system.
I have more than one junk drawer.
I always have clothes hanging out of my drawers.

Here are some things I do and will do this summer to try and
maintain a livable home.

Inspector MOM. This is something I did last summer and plan on doing it again, beginning next week. Regular old mom tells the kids that Inspector Mom is coming to visit in a set amount of time. (Like 15 minutes) Everyone scrambles to pick up. Then the Inspector Gadget theme song begins to play. Regular Mom puts on a funny hat and uses a funny voice and has a cup full of quarters. As Inspector Mom walks thru the house, she rewards the kids who have picked up, made up beds, closed drawers, helped a younger sibling...etc.

{Side note: Hattie told me yesterday that she was trying to keep her drawers closed in practice for when Inspector Mom visits. Poor girl, she takes after regular mom in the messy department!}

Sharing the Load. Its pretty much impossible for me to set aside A DAY to clean the house. So I break it up the big jobs over a few days, of course there are tons of daily jobs too. Bathrooms, vacuuming, mopping, laundry...let the kids do what they can. If they are little, let them "help" by standing on a step stool and wipe the sinks, or shorten the handle and use the swiffer. If they are bigger, let them pick a job. Like, "Would you like to vacuum the living room or clean the toilets?" My mom used to do that for us. She got help, and we {thought we} got off light.

The Mad Dash. This is when dad is expected to be home at a certain time. You set the timer, make a game of it, and every one does a FAST clean up job. I like to focus on the main living area so when Daddy comes home, he gets a good first impression and doesn't say things like, "Ooooh, what have you guys done all day?"

I'm sure there will be {many} days
it will look like a
TORNADO
hit the inside of our house.
But, hopefully, we can maintain
a little order...
Got any other ideas???

Low Sugar Strawberry Freezer Jam

2010-05-20T20:46:00.002-04:00

So, I saw a FB status (Mary Alice Dice) about eating strawberry freezer jam. I was jealous. I was thoroughly warned by more than one person (including my mom) that it has a LOAD of sugar in it. Because I am always looking for ways to cut the sugar out of our diet while maintaining a good taste, I combined a few recipes and have made this twice now.

ITS SOOOOOO GOOD!

Start with fresh strawberries. Rinse and cap them. Mash them in layers until you get 3 cups worth. {I used my handy Pampered Chef Mix-n-Chop which is AMAZING AND my Core and More for capping the berries--- btw, if you don't have these, you should get them!}

Now you need Fruit Pectin. I used the Ball, Natural Gel, no sugar needed brand. I then gradually mixed one package of that with 1 3/4 cup of Apple Juice. Bring that to a fast boil, whisk while boiling for 1 minute.

Then, add the strawberries to that mixture. If the strawberries are on the tart side, add some sugar. My first batch I added about 3/4 cup of sugar or splenda (compared to the 3+ cups the regular recipe calls for!!!). But with my second batch, the strawberries were SO good, I didn't add any extra sugar).

Ladle the mixture into containers leaving 1/2 inch room at the top, at least.
Set at room temp for about 24 hours or so.
Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks or freeze for up to a year!

I'm telling you, this was very easy. Not too time consuming. And UNBELIEVABLY delicious! You can use this on PB&J's, toast, ice cream, pound cake....something everyone can enjoy!

2010 Summer Ideas Part 1

2010-05-17T20:37:00.003-04:00

Summer is FAST approaching!!
With four kids { 7 } and under, I have no choice but to be organized and intentional with what we will do during these upcoming weeks. I'm not going to schedule every minute of every day, but I want to avoid the "What are we gonna dooooooo today?" questions.
I want to look back on the SUMMER OF 2010 and think, "that was great!" Rather than, "Shew....glad that's OVER!"
We have several big events planned, but there are many days where we will be taking the ordinary and making it fun.
I collected some great information and ideas together for my MOPS group. I've decided to do a little series. I'd love feedback and other ideas you may have to add.

Part 1 of this series is about SUMMER READING.

With all the work that you and you child(ren) have put into the school year, whether you've home-schooled or not, whether your child has excelled in reading or not, maintaining and even improving these skills is crucial!

Listen to some of these stats:

The average student learns about 3,000 words per year in the early school years (8 words per day).
50 percent of American adults are unable to read an eighth grade level book.
Students who reported having all four types of reading materials (books, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias) in their home scored, on average, higher than those who reporter having fewer reading materials.
When the State of Arizona projects how many prison beds it will need, it factors in the number of kids who read well in fourth grade.

So, what are you going to do this summer to encourage good reading skills for your children? Here are some ideas:

Read EVERY DAY.

Read outloud together.
Pick some classics like Charlotte's Web, Black Beauty, Ramona the Pest, the Westing Game, Chronicles of Narnia...Pick some currents like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Magic Tree House, Marley and Me, Tale of Winn Dixie.
(try not to be interrupted during this time with the phone.)

Read separately, alone time. Even MOMMY reads her book or bible or whatever.
{HELLO!!}

Set a timer if your child loathes this idea and reward them (even the little ones who are only looking at picture books) for reading for the amount of time you have set. Make a big deal when the timer goes off.

Join the summer reading program at the library.

Give rewards, incentives, cold hard cash for reading certain books that you suggest, like biographies or books of the bible.

Strawberry Personalities

2010-05-10T21:23:00.002-04:00

Last week we (my kids, 4 NGU students and myself) went strawberry picking at a local place up the road from our house. It was very funny to observe my four kids and their personalities that came out as we were there.

Silas: This little perfectionist searched for the perfect strawberries. FEW met his expectations. We picked a total of 3 gallons and Silas might have contributed 5 strawberries total. He is so meticulous, so observant, so sensitive.

Hattie: All she cared about was being able to pick strawberries and put them in her special BLUE basket. Its all about the process, the experience for her. She skipped up and down the rows of berries. She flitted between us showing us her little loot. Such a social butterfly.

Lukey: The words that would describe his method would be grabbing, stuffing, any berry will do. He ate about as many as he put in the basket. He talked the entire time. He's impulsive in every way, evident in his strawberry picking as well!

Millie Grace: I will say that she stuck with the program better than I thought. Nothing gets by her ever, she can keep up with her siblings easily. She stayed with the group, enjoying taking the berries picked by others out of the baskets and moving them to others. However, in perfect 18month old style, she picked few and ate MUCH.

Its AMAZING how four little humans with such similar DNA can be SO different. They have so many similar likes (strawberries). They love eachother so much. And yet they go about life at completely different angles. They know how to push eachother's buttons and at the same time prefer to be together all the time.

God has made each of us exactly the way He has intended us to be. Our personalities are not good or bad. Some are decision makers, some are creative thinkers, others are great listeners, and still others are detail oriented. So often we butt-heads with people that don't do things the way we do it. But we are all strawberry picking together. We accomplish so much as we go about our tasks with our own styles. Isn't it funny? Isn't is wonderful?

Ten Years!

2010-05-07T19:24:00.002-04:00

Today, Jody and I were walking downtown and we met this lady and told her that it was our 10 year anniversary she said she couldn't believe that we were old enough to have been married that long.

HA! I think I actually did laugh at her.

Now, here's some fun Jody and Emily Trivia

Our cheapest anniversary ever was in Hoima, Uganda. Dinner cost us about $7 total. Friends (The Lammers) babysat Silas

Our favorite show is Survivor, the first season came out the summer we got married and we've loved it ever since.

We have a HARD time coming to an agreement on the names of our kids. Jody prefers to wait all 9 months...so we typically can't make it official until we meet the baby.

We are very adventurous eaters. Like today, we walked into a random hole-in-wall Jamaican restaurant totally enjoyed every bite!

Having people in our home has become one the joys of our life together. Being able to model and practice all aspects (good and bad) of marriage and raising a family is such a blessing!

So glad to be married to my best friend!

Lessons:Tying Shoes and Driving Cars

2010-04-11T16:51:00.001-04:00

I can't remember learning to tie my shoes.
I don't remember not knowing.
Do you?

I do remember my dad {trying} to teach me to drive a stick shift.
It didn't go well.
I believe he made me walk home...

We've been trying to teach Silas to tie his shoes...
for like a year now.
Yes. We are behind.
{I really hope Silas's K5 teachers do not read this post, since we were supposed to teach him last year}
No. We have NOT been consistent.
Yes. Silas wears slip on and velcros mainly.

The ironic thing is, unfortunately, I got my teaching skills from my dad.
{I think I got some good traits from him too!}
But when the "I know's" and "let me try's"
come out of my child's mouth
I get FRUSTRATED.
I quit.

The good thing is,
my husband is a very patient man,
a good teacher.
I think he will be doing the family driver's ed too!

Happy Easter 2010!

2010-04-05T23:14:00.002-04:00

Naps

2010-03-25T14:01:00.002-04:00

I love naps.

I love to take naps.

I love my kids taking naps.

Its like happiness for the taking!

Why do kids hate naps? Why do they resist? I don't get it!!

Did you know?:

1. The human sleep-wake cycle causes a drop in alertness between about 2 and 5 pm in the afternoon and more dramatically in the early morning between 2 and 5 am. This suggests we need two sleep periods a day, as in siesta cultures.

2. The afternoon slump is a natural effect of our circadian rhythms, and occurs even if you’ve had a good night’s sleep causing tiredness, loss of focus/reduced concentration and increased irritability.

3. Workplace accidents and errors peak at exactly the same times that our circadian rhythms cause a drop in alertness.

4. A brief nap can improve your mood and productivity, alleviate tiredness, increase alertness and reduce errors made at work. A nap as brief as 10 minutes will produce these results.

5. A mid afternoon nap has been shown to be more recuperative than a nap taken at other times of the day. If you nap at other times you will still get some benefit but it won’t necessarily prevent the afternoon slump, which is programmed in to our natural biological rhythm.

6. If you take the opportunity to nap, but don’t fall asleep, your mood and problem solving ability can still get benefit.

Acknowledgments to Dr Gerard Kennedy, Sleep Specialist, Melbourne.

Now, try explaining this to your preschooler!! Ha! Good luck. Unfortunately I'm afraid Luke (3.5yrs old) is getting close to dropping his afternoon nap. I know rest time is effective too, but its just not the same! Nothing beats a sweet cuddly sleepy head come out of the room from a nap! And nothing makes us all happier to make it to bedtime with smiles than a good naptime!

Mom and other various forms of that name

2010-03-18T19:58:00.002-04:00

Mama:
one of the most glorious
and anticipated words
that will come out of the mouth of babes.

Mommy:
makes you feel needed
and important

Mom:
you know your kid is growing up,
so conversational

But,
add inflection
MOMMY!!!!!!!!!
or
repetition
Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom...
or
monotony
when Mama {to that sweet baby of yours} also means
no, food, or anyone who walks in the door...

That's why I have asked my children to call me
GLORIA.
It has a nice ring to it, dontcha think?
Its pretty.
Its not annoying.
It almost sounds like you have to sigh {ahhhh} after you say it.
Gloria...

I think the message has reached the ears of a
few of these blessings of mine.
Luke called me Gloria today.

DC Summary and PIcs

2010-03-14T22:10:00.006-04:00

Sunday: We left around 9am and arrived in DC around 730pm. We were VERY tired and very grouchy. We settled in and got to bed VERY late.
Monday: The kids and I went to a fun park and spent time with my friend Amanda (Jennings) Lee and her two sweet kids.

Tuesday: We joined to team of students at a local community center. We cleaned and helped with what we could then we headed over to my aunt's house for naps and supper.

Wednesday: We rode the metro with my aunt and spent the day in DC. It was so fun! Luke says, "We saw a HUMONGOUS Abraham Lincoln". We also saw Dorothy's ruby red slippers, kermit the frog, the First ladies dresses, the original Star Spangled Banner (my personal favorite), the insect zoo, a T-Rex....
Thursday: The National Zoo and then some terrible nasty stomach bug or food poisoning or something hit. Out of the team of 31, 20 spent the evening and night camped out in the hallway near the bathrooms. Let me just say I have NEVER seen and experienced so much bodily fluid EVER. 2 out of my 4 kids (the girls) woke up throwing up. Ugh. It was unbelievable.

Friday: I spent the day trying to get all these sickly people to eat bananas, applesauce, drink gatorade...
Saturday: Traveled in the rain back home. We picked up Nana (my maternal grandmother) on the way to bring her to SC for a little visit.

It was a great trip. The kids behaved great. We LOVE those college students (both ours from NGU and our new friends from Furman's BCM). They did a great job scouring the city, surveying, serving, and working hard.

What will it be?

2010-03-06T20:58:00.002-05:00

6 toothbrushes
30 pairs of socks
8 dvds
4 backpacks filled with books, blankets, paper, crayons, etc
3 sleeping bags
1 air mattress
6 pillows
1 good camera
3 disposable cameras (although, Anne, I agree, in the long run, digitals make more sense, but theywere SO excited when they discovered I got them each a camera, I thought we'd go with these this time.)
and much much more!

I think I'm ready, but inevitably I will forget something. Right?

Washington DC

2010-03-04T13:57:00.004-05:00

Hattie's birthday festivities continue, and pictures will follow soon. I CAN'T believe how grown up this special girl is becoming! We are so excited to have all "the cousins" this weekend to celebrate as well as some friends!

And as if its dull enough around here...

We are getting ready for a really fun trip...to Washington DC. Jody is taking a small group of students from NGU to work with a church, and we decided that we would all go. The kids' teachers are all excited for us too. Silas will be keeping a journal of the trip. Hattie will have a chance to share a little with her class and Luke is just plain excited. He told his preschool teacher this: One day I'm gonna wake up and I should be coming to preschool but I'm not going to come because I will be in Washington DC.

We will visit some friends and family, go to the zoo, visit a few museums and monuments, and help with some of the projects. I bought the 3 older kids their own disposable camera so they can take their own pictures. (We'll see how THAT goes!!) I'm trying to plan out our agenda somewhat. I have to work out some naps and decent bedtimes, because if you know me you know how cranky I get when my kids are not well rested. But I'm sure it will be fun! Im sure I'll have a LOT to say when we get back!

I welcome any little tips you may have!!

Old friends, new friends

2010-02-23T13:10:00.003-05:00

Millie Grace and Gabriel hit it off right away!

My mom stopped by and took a few pics for us.

I had the privilege of a visit
with a
special {old} friend.

We met when I was in 11th grade, she was in 10th.
Now, we are both wives of godly men,
mothers to some pretty cool kids...

still friends!

I love this quote, by Tennessee Williams:
"Life is partly what we make it,
and partly
what it is made by the friends we choose."

The Windowsill

2010-02-17T20:31:00.003-05:00

its not that I haven't missed blogging.

I have!

it's not that I've been sitting at the computer.

I haven't!

Our internet only works consistently in this one windowsill, and once I sit down, I don't want to sit sideways in a chair with the computer propped up pointing outside.

I do have an iPhone now! (bragging, I know)
I love getting snippets of info, updating my facebook
checking my email...while feeding my crew or watching them
play outside.

I also have one EXTREMELY active 15month old who can be found
standing on top of the kitchen table
emptying the contents of purses, bags, drawers, backpacks, etc
on the top bunk
playing in the toiet
bringing me lone shoes, onions, iphones, remotes,
and much much more

But maybe I can get out of my slump
and get back on the blogging wagon.

I've missed you! But, now I'm going to get out of the windowsill
and sit on the couch
and watch the Olympics with my husband.

Goodbye 2009

2009-12-27T17:06:00.003-05:00

This year sure did fly by fast for the Jennings, I don't know about you! Some of our highlights were Silas winning the talent show, Family Camp, beach trips, a beautiful fall, watching Millie Grace grow, Hattie starting 4k, Luke's life being spared, Creative Memories, Jody going to Uganda and getting a trampoline.

Jody and I made this list at Thanksgiving of what we are most thankful for. I'm going to share it with you all (they are not in any particular order)....

10) Being a part of the body of Christ and our home church Edwards Road Baptist

9) Being debt free

8) Indoor Plumbing

7) Silas AND Hattie both prayed to become Christians

6) NGU College students and our pick of capable babysitters

5) The godly influence of grandmothers, parents and siblings

4) GPS

3) Jobs we LOVE

2) Privilege of having a big family

1) Miracle of Luke's recovery after nearly drowning.

Mille Grace and The Cape

2009-12-20T21:29:00.001-05:00

Millie Grace is quickly becoming an opinionated little thing!

How is it?

2009-12-15T15:11:00.002-05:00

How is it that this face, these big blue eyes can conjure up such conflicting emotions in me?

He's so full of life and therefore CANNOT stop talking.

He loves his little sister yet as soon as I turn my back he's got her in some sort of choke hold or other abusive pose.

He so imaginative, love dressing up and playing with swords but he will not hesitate wacking someone within range with the sword.

He is finally potty trained and he leaves trails of clothes EVERYWHERE.

He wakes up early, crashes for a nap, struggles falling asleep (as does his "roommate" Silas, since Luke wont stop talking) and has been waking up in the night for things like going to bathroom, wanting the CD to play again (even if its 3am) or he's lost his flashlight. (yes, he sleeps with a flashlight among a host of other books, stuffed animals and toys)

He argues and tries to defy my all day and as soon as he thinks I'm going to leave him with someone else like at church or at my parents house he has a meltdown.

He can sit in the shopping cart next to Millie Grace, leaning on her, poking her, bothering her and when a "STRANGER!!!!" says hello to her, he shouts "Hey! Leave my sister alone!!" (yes, this happened today at Publix)

I know the Lord has blessed me and our family with this kid. When Luke is driving me NUTS, I thank the Lord for his life, for sparing his life back in the late spring. When he talks and talks and talks and talks I pray that he will use his voice and energy for the Lord as he grows.

But boy are the days long lately.

Natual Remedies

2009-12-11T21:16:00.003-05:00

I know its been a long time!!! Our internet connection has been very fickle AND I had sinus surgery that has left me very tired and not too interested in blogging of late! But I have some opinions to share...

There are 3 things that we have been using in our family that I want to tell you about! I say "our family" loosely. Jody, my husband, thinks I'm a little nutty and hasn't really bought into this like I have. AND I'm NOT saying that I'm in any way against doctors and modern medicines. But if there's a natural way that can help and possible save money...

1. The Neti Pot. I will admit...its SO weird. I saw it on Oprah one time a long time ago. I thought its was strange. I've always used the bulb syringe to irrigate the sinuses. But the Neti Pot is WAY better. It doesn't hurt. It doesnt even feel uncomfortable. Its really helping me recover from this sinus surgery since I can't blow my nose! Its also said to prevent sinus infections and colds if used regularly. I LOVE this thing! I have only been using the CVS cheap one for about 1.5 years. I may have to upgrade to a ceramic one soon!!

2. Olive Leaf Extract. My friend Loni told me about this natural remedy for bacterial infections. Its like a natural antibiotic. It tastes very funny. But it works! The other day Luke's throat was hurting. His glands were very swollen, he had a fever and I was afraid he had strep again. I gave him the Olive Leaf Extract 4days in a row and he seems all better. Today I gave him the last dose and he said why are giving my this, my throat is all better.

3. Amber Beads and Hazelwood. I saw these necklaces on another blog and I thought I'd try them. Amber is supposed help with pain, inflammation, immunity. Hazelwood is good for sinuses, arthritis, ear infections, skin problems, headaches...The biggest proof I have that this really works is Silas. He has had terrible allergies this year. Sneezing and terrible stuffiness especially at night and when he wakes up. I've been giving him Zyrtec everyday until I got him an amber necklace. No lie, as long as he is wearing the necklace, his symptoms are almost gone. We have not been using Zyrtec. If he forgets to put it on after bathing, the next morning he is sneezing and blowing his nose like crazy again. I got them here. I'm totally sold on them!

So, that's that. Love to hear what you think!

Love it or Hate it?

2009-11-25T18:30:00.004-05:00

Black Friday Shopping....do you love it or hate it?
Do you get all excited and plan out your route? Do you go alone or with a friend or you mom?

OR would you rather have a root canal? Do you roll your eyes at the ludicrous people who get up and wait in the lines?

I had actually never participated in Black Friday until a few years ago. The first year I went alone. I got back about the time my family was getting up. The next year I went with my best friend. We mapped it all out and hit each place we wanted to. We ran thru the doors at Target and screamed with the best of them. It was so fun! Last year I was a week post-pardum, so I didn't go.

This year...I'm still up in the air. We are going to be at my in-laws, in a small town. To get to where the big sales are, we will have to leave even earlier. I've seen some of the ads. A cricut at Walmart for $188. Razor scooters for $20 at Target. Tons of others.

So, I'm wondering if you are going. Or if you read this after the fact, what you did. What deals are going for or did you get? Share!!

Millie Grace is 1

2009-11-19T21:05:00.003-05:00

I can't believe its been a year! What a wonderful year it has been to have the joy of Millie Grace added to our family. Here are some facts about her:

She LOVES her siblings. She calls all 3 of them "bubba" which Hattie doesn't love.

She sleeps wonderfully. Naps like the text books say she should.

She eats more than any of the other kids. I'm sure that will taper, but for now, she's bottomless.

She has an obsession with clearing things, like the coffee table, bookshelves, etc.

She makes funny noises, like, "ooh?" and "muh?" all the time.

She is a sheer delight!

We are so thankful to have her in our family.

She really enjoyed her cake!

Reruns

2009-10-31T16:03:00.002-04:00

Back in September the kids and I listened to Focus on the Family's Radio Theater drama, Anne of Green Gables. We all enjoyed it SO much. (it was not my first time hearing it, I totally recommend it!) Anne made a comment I almost posted..."I can't imagine a year without October." Then she goes on to talk about how beautiful it is.

I agree. Especially living in at the foothills of the mountains here, October is breathtaking. However....I would have done fine to have skipped October of 2009! This has been a rough month for the Jennings family! Why can't everyone get sick at the same time? OR at least two at a time. Everyone here had their own sick days. Hattie, Silas, Millie, Luke, Mom and then Dad. We missed 2 Sunday's of church. 4 weeks of Wednesday AM bible study (one was due to car trouble). Between Silas and Hattie they missed 5 days of school. One night of Boy Scouts. Its been AWFUL!

Unfortunately, the TV has been on a LOT more than usual. I mean, what else do you do with a sick kid who just sits on the couch, all pitiful? And when mama's sick...what can she do but sit the kids in front of the TV so she can rest on the couch!! I didn't take the kids to the dr at all. They recovered and bounced back fine in about 3 days. But on my 3rd day I was worse. So on the fourth day I dragged myself to the urgent care and was promptly diagnosed with Strep.

ANYWAY...I was thinking about TV.

Daytime TV...what a waste of time. Talk shows and reruns. Reruns of talkshows even! Some cable channels are dedicated to RERUNS! It makes no sense why someone would spend their time watching reruns to me. Now there are some old goodies. Remember? Full House, Saved by the Bell (I've seen even the reruns 4 times)...but I wouldn't use my precious time in front of the TV watching something that I have seen before. Maybe you would. I don't know. Maybe its just my stage of life right now.

My dad LOVES the Andy Griffith show. He will watch the rerun even though he can tell you "this is the one where...". My sister Holly loves ER. She will turn it on while she's doing something like folding clothes. Jody will even watch replayed FOOTBALL games! That's desperation, in my opinion. Kids will watch anything, they don't care if they've seen it before.

It annoys me, can you tell? I'm SO glad we are all feeling better and can get outside!

Wordless Wednesday: Pumpkins

2009-10-28T19:44:00.002-04:00

Wordless Wednesday: Help!

2009-10-21T13:32:00.001-04:00

Milestones

2009-10-15T10:13:00.002-04:00

So many things are happening here at the Jennings home! Nothing extremely exciting or out of the ordinary for an outsider but to a mom...its big stuff! And as usual I have a running commentary for it all! You may ask why I share all my thoughts, I say (like Anne of Green Gables) if you only knew what all I thought about and DIDN'T say....

Silas: lost his front tooth. I have inherited an obsession with wiggling/pulling teeth from my dad. He pulled ALL our teeth. He got a thrill torturing us with it. I don't know what it is, I don't want to torture, I just want to PULL the loose thing OUT! Silas acts as if I'm going to stab him with a knife when I say please let me wiggle it. In fact he said last night if I pulled it out I might as well kill him. {What???? Where did this drama come from???} I gave up. That thing was so loose. I put the boys to bed, very discouraged because I wanted to pull it out. I had just sat down and I hear..."Uh mom...I pulled it out." I was excited, yet disappointed. Hattie and Luke promise me that when their teeth get loose I can pull them...we'll see!

Hattie: She is thoroughly enjoying being in 5 day K-4 at her school. She talks about her best friend...who changes daily. She LOVES to write letters. She copies words or phrases into little notebooks all the time. Her handwriting is adorable and very legible and neat! But the best thing that is happening with her is her appetite. If you know Hattie you know she is tiny. She has been at the very bottom of the charts since she was a year old. She still it. At 4.5 years old, she weighs a whopping 30lbs soaking wet. She eats very healthy, but just not much. I think because she is burning up so many calories at school, her appetite has increased. She is not fighting so much at supper time and actually eating!! Its so wonderful!

Luke: oh Lukey...so fun. So funny. SOOOOOOOO talkative. And FINALLY potty-trained! I know that if you just wait till their ready they'll be ready. But Silas and Hattie were not even 2 and wearing underwear. I thought at least he'd be ready around there. NO. After much crying, screaming and the like (mostly done by ME)...its as if a light switch was flipped and Luke decided he wants to wear underwear. We have had one accident in the last several weeks. YAY!!! One in diapers....

Millie Grace: She's doing so much! She took her first step yesterday. Jody missed it, but the other kids and I saw it. Everyone was cheering and screaming and she almost started to cry, then she smiled. She's taken a few more, but prefers cruising. She is saying some words...more, mama, dada and a lot of babbling. She is very tiny still, but loves to eat. Certainly she'll be on the gain at her year check up....can you believe she is going to be 11 months NEXT WEEK??? Where has the time gone?

Cool Critters

2009-10-10T09:14:00.005-04:00

Last week our church had a block party. It was amazing and free and fun! My dad, Joy, Jody and I volunteered and my mom brought the kids after Millie Grace's nap(I'm glad she volunteered to do that so we could help out with other stuff....she had the hardest job!). I took a break from face painting and enjoyed the Critter Keeper's talk about his exotic animals. He weaved the gospel into his talk beautifully. The kids LOVED it, and I did too! Here are some fun pics from my mom's camera!Silas was mesmerized!

Aunt Joy and Millie Grace
The bearded dragon right after he slurped up a grub!

Above, I don't know why we have those looks of amazement, but it must have been good! Below, the kids hold Julius Squeezer!
And this last one was the next day, ready for church. DD curled Hattie's hair, just like she used to do to me. Hattie has the same straight hair that doesn't hold that curl long too.

Improvising

2009-10-05T20:44:00.002-04:00

So often I have a plan or idea and when I go to execute it, I realize I don't have what I need. Here are some examples:

Hattie has been sick and she requested pancakes for supper. Everyone in our house loves pancakes. I have a great, wholesome recipe...I sneak flax seed and oat bran and other goodies into the batter. But I realized I had COMPLETELY ran out of butter! I do not like pancakes without butter! Besides my kids need all the fat they can get! I thought I'd change to chili and then Hattie said something about pancakes. My improvision? Blackberry "syrup". I froze LOTS of blackberries this summer. I just blended them up and added a little 1/2 and 1/2 and a little sugar. It was a HIT!
When I'm bathing the kids and there is no more soap in that bathroom I use shampoo. I'm not going to leave them unattended! And its soap, right?? No one cares, as long as it is the "non-stingy kind".
Our kids go to bed pretty early on a regular basis. And we always read books before bedtime. We also live quite far from everything, like our church and restaurants...so on those occasions when we are running late for bedtime on the way home we have story time in the car. Jody has an ongoing series called "Ephraim the Squirrel" that he makes up or one of us tell a story from our childhood.
Sometimes when we run out of toilet paper..................just kidding! Did you really think I would go there? Its not like we are living in Uganda anymore! :)

A Monday Morning to Remember

2009-09-28T10:13:00.002-04:00

If someone would have told me when I was a teenager what I would consider sleeping in one day I would have LAUGHED in their FACE! But this morning, my husband took the day off (poor guy, it is well-deserved!) and let me sleep in!

He got up with the alarm, got dressed and headed upstairs. He proceeded to get the children up and going, dressed and ready. He fed them breakfast and got their lunches packed! Oh, and he had coffee MADE and waiting for me!

I came upstairs, unshowered and still in my pj's at 7:30. (I never do this. I kind of have a policy of getting myself ready for the day before coming upstairs...because if I don't, I most likely never will take a shower or brush my teeth). I found everyone happy and ready!

Jody then took Silas and Hattie to school. Luke rode along. (Jody does this most every morning) Then he took Luke with him to run some errands. This in itself was a HUGE blessing since Luke is driving me crazy lately with a running commentary on life!!!

While they were gone, I fed Millie Grace (and myself) and played with her a little and laid her down for her morning nap. I unloaded and loaded the dishwashers, got a load of clothes going, looked through the mail leisurely, took a shower and got ready, all by myself. It was GREAT!

I thought I'd get my blog done before they came home, but not quite. Jody has come home and put a new battery in his dead, old, truck. And is now going to eat lunch with Silas and Hattie at their school.

Man, what a productive, wonderful Monday morning! Now its time to go play Hungry Hippos with a begging 3yr-old. Hope you guys have a great Monday too!

Wee-wee-wee all the way home

2009-09-21T21:36:00.002-04:00

She's on the move! Not walking walking, but man, is Millie Grace cruising! This baby LOVES to clear the coffee table or end tables of whatever is on them. She delights in pulling books and dvd's off of the shelves. As she intently dug into a drawer the other day she fell in it!! She can spot a crumb from across the room. She may only be 6% (yes, 6. Its not a typo) on the growth chart, weighing only 15lbs 7.5 oz, but this gal is a busy body! Cheese is her favorite, but she eats just about anything. I can't believe she is 10 months old!

Saving on Haircuts

2009-09-16T21:04:00.005-04:00

Well, it was just time! (this is not an opportunity for Amens from the Stephens...) Luke's hair just needed cutting. I debated on whether or not to take him somewhere or do it myself. If I took him somewhere I'd have to drive there and back at least 25 minutes or more each way and pay like $15 or more.

So I decided to try it. If it didn't work we could go to Jelly Beans or wherever later. I used to cut Silas's hair, but he could sit still. I told Luke if he sat still I would NOT cut his ear and I would give him a sucker. He did great. Cutting curly hair is easy. You can't really mess up since you don't have to have a straight line. Just cut here and there.

The end result...Jody came home and said, "Hey, Lukey, you got a haircut! I love it! Where did you go?" Lukey, "Da front porch!"

Since Jody shaves his in the shower, I don't get mine cut but every 6 months or so, Millie Grace doesn't have much hair yet, Hattie wants hers long, Silas likes his buzzed b/c I don't have to comb it...Luke has just helped us save some money on the Jennings family haircuts.

Pa and the Big Fish

2009-09-11T14:23:00.005-04:00

Look how proud my dad is of his fish!!! I'm so proud of my dad! He is SO funny. There are kids at our church still talking about the "scary Roman guard" from VBS because when he does something, he goes all out! The grandkids call him Pa. He rides a Harley. He's a die hard University of Miami fan. He loves God. He loves his family. He's very generous. He doesn't care about what people think about him. He'll wear anything (he wore this t-shirt that said, "I'm so bad I vacation in Detroit" for the longest time). Gosh, I love this guy!!

I pray my kids grow up and follow in his footsteps of Faithfulness to Jesus and doing whatever it takes!
This is a picture taken in Hawkinsville over Labor Day. Its pretty rare to get all four kids sitting in one place without anyone crying!!

An Old Hymn

2009-09-08T22:48:00.002-04:00

While visiting Jody's family in Georgia this past weekend we sang this old hymn at Westview Baptist Church in Hawkinsville. I've been thinking about the words and its seems very fitting for the job of a mom. Here's some of the words:

Little is much when God is in it!
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There’s a crown—and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus’ Name.

In the mad rush of the broad way,
In the hurry and the strife,
Tell of Jesus’ love and mercy,
Give to them the Word of Life.

Refrain

Does the place you’re called to labor
Seem too small and little known?
It is great if God is in it,
And He’ll not forget His own.

Actual Conversation

2009-09-03T22:17:00.002-04:00

These days I only have Luke and Millie at home with me. Its interesting. Luke is such a handful! I heard Luke telling Millie what to do/not do...I don't remember what he was saying. But here's how it went down...

Me: Luke, don't fuss at the baby please.

Luke: Mom....I'm not fussing at her I'm YELLING at her!

What do you say??

The Eyes Have It

2009-09-01T13:47:00.004-04:00

We are truly truly blessed to have been able to celebrate Luke's 3rd birthday this year. After our accident back in May with Luke nearly drowning, this could have been a season I wanted to skip from now on. But, Luke is FULL OF LIFE. He is FUNNY and entertaining and the life of our Jennings Party for sure! He wanted an "eyeball" party so we tried to be creative! We played eye-eye-ball (just like duck-duck-goose) and I-spy. We made an eyeball with model magic. And we had delicious cupcakes, made by my friend Lisa, decorated like eyeballs. Googly eyes, blinking eyes, and window static eyes decorated the tables...I think Luke loved it. I know he did because he said that next year he wants an eyeball party again! Ha!! Here are some fun pictures from the party. I'll post more on facebook later.
I think Luke was trying to see with his model magic eye here.

Silas and the cupcake eyes

Hattie meticulously worked on her project.

Millie Grace wondering what all the fuss is about!

Eye Eye Ball Game

Silly Pa!

"The Students"

2009-08-27T20:36:00.002-04:00

My husband works at North Greenville University as a campus minister. We live very close to the campus. Jody LOVES his job. I love it too! My kids are so funny always talking about "the students". They wonder if "the students" have parents or why "the students" have to go to school and stop playing with them.

Its great. Its so good for my kids. They are learning social skills. They have all these big brothers and sisters who love to hear their jokes, get them some icecream in the dining hall, or play sidewalk chalk in our driveway. The see how our home is open to friends.

A new batch of students have come in. The kids and I haven't met too many of them yet, but we sure are glad to have the returning ones back! We LOVE when they stop by on their way to and from campus. We LOVE to have extra dinner guests. I love the qualified babysitters. I love how when we go to the dining hall I have all these extra hands.

The students do so much for us. I hope my kids grow into young people like many of them.

Hospitality is an ongoing life lesson, I think. When we lived in Uganda, I was thrust into this role I wasn't prepared for. Its so easy to just say, I'm tired or we need family time. Both of those are often true, don't get me wrong, but if that is my excuse everytime, I'm being selfish! I've learned that always being ready to make some coffee and sit on the couch is not only what a student might need, but it ministers to my soul too! The dining hall is a great treat for my little family to go to, I don't have to cook or clean, but the students enjoy a home cooked meal, eaten with a family as a treat too.

And I love to cook. I love to bake and not feel guilty about our family eating the whole cake. So I bake when Jody's leadership group comes over every week.

I doubt anyone who stops by my house would say that I have such a clean house. Or that they love the way I decorate. Or that they want 4 kids close together like I have. But I do hope they can say we set an example of sharing willingly what we have. I hope they return the favor someday to friends who stop by their homes and need to talk or have a meal. Besides, its really fun!!

Wordless Wednesday: First Day of School

2009-08-19T21:04:00.001-04:00

Socks in the Toilet

2009-08-15T19:46:00.001-04:00

If you were a six year old, how would you explain this to your mother??

You know you are a Mother of little ones if....

2009-08-10T20:46:00.002-04:00

~When you sit down at the end of the day, you decide that the best part was you dentist appointment.

~You decide that if you learn to drink your drinks unsweetened (coffee, tea...) your kids most likely won't ask you for a sip.

~"Adult Movies" mean ones you watch without kids...it could still be a Disney movie, it just means its Mommy and Daddy's pick!

~You hear yourself saying the same things all day..."Oh, that's great" or "Yes, yes, whatever you want" or "uh-huh"...and you realized you have NO IDEA what the previous statement or question was!

~Being in the bathroom alone is a real treat.

~You hate Candyland. But sidewalk chalk is kind of fun.

~You wouldn't trade any of it!!! Plus you have clean teeth! LOL...I went to the dentist today.

Shopping Options

2009-08-09T20:53:00.003-04:00

I'm not a big shopper. I really just don't like it. {Gasp!} I have so many memories of shopping with my mom, sitting under the circular clothes racks and praying I would hear her say, "Lets go, girls!" BUT I have learned some valuable lessons from my mom.

Go straight to the back of the store, that's where the deals are.
Wait for the BIG sales. You'll see in the paper something like 40% off clearance before 10am
Go early, get a lot, go home and sort, go back and return.
Shop out of season and save it for next year. This requires a lot of thinking about what size your kids will be or what size you hope to be yourself...but its so worth it!

Now, my mom does NOT like online shopping (in general). But I think, if done right, its amazing! Today I went to The Children's Place and got TONS of stuff for next summer. They are having their "monster sale". Plus I found a coupon code (it was: FA79) and got an additional 15% off. Shipping was only $5. I also didn't pay more than $7 for a single item.

I went to a huge local consignment sale today with my friend. I saw a bunch of gals from church there also. It was the last day and most stuff was 1/2 off. Now, I know that there was a huge, amazing collection at the beginning of the sale. I had an opportunity to go early as a guest of a consignor (Thanks Megan!) and I probably should have gone then. I didn't find anything to speak of really today. There was still a LOT of stuff, but you had to dig around and I'm just not good at that. I know consignments work well for a lot of people. You can make money and find good stuff. Maybe I need to give it better try next time.

If online shopping continues to work for me, though, I may stick with it. For $5 extra, I can shop without children, without using any gas and without ever stepping into a mall, parking my car or standing in line. Hmmmmmmm. All food for thought.

What's your system?

Not Naming Names

2009-08-04T21:56:00.003-04:00

I've been in a certain situation now several times recently and there are these 2 women who are just RUDE. I've tried conversing with them, asking questions, kind of butting into their conversation...they basically ignore me.

Now I'm not saying they should be friends with me because I'm trying, but I don't get it. I don't understand why they are being so anti-social.

I can think of another specific time when this happened to me. It was when we first moved to Bismarck...but out of that I met one of my BEST FRIENDS ever (Stacy). Let me clarify, Stacy wasn't being rude, a couple of other's were and Stacy and I started talking to eachother.

I've been thinking about this. The last thing I ever want to be is classified as rude. Or for others to think they are unimportant to me. Or what they have to say, I don't care about. Jody has taught me a lot in this area. He can find something to talk about with anyone...no barriers. He could make friends with a tree.

Jesus was an amazing example in this area as well. He hung out with sinners, prostitutes, and children! In a time and culture where men did not associate with women, Jesus did. When children were regarded as annoyances, Jesus said, "Let them come" AND he touched them as he blessed them!

I have a lot to learn in this area, I know. I get busy. I get consumed with myself and my kids. I am selfish!

Anyway...this is just something fresh on my mind.

Happy Birthday to My Man

2009-08-03T22:11:00.002-04:00

Today was Jody's 32nd birthday. I make the ugliest cakes...I know. I have NOTHING on Stacy! She makes beautiful cakes! (Happy belated birthday btw....) I did use a golf club tin and we used a good bit of icing. The kids loved it. They also loved making decorations and pictures for Daddy! And home-made vanilla icecream was soooooooooooo yummy! Acutally, one of the first memories I have of Jody, after meeting him in 1996 was making him a birthday cake. (My mom reminds me of that too, since she never got her good 9x13 pan back! I am SO SORRY mom, I'd be mad about that if it were mine, now)

I've made lots of cakes for Jody in lots of locations. I'm SO thankful he was born 32 years ago.

Jody is a man of God. He is consistent in his walk with God and his life in general. He's funny when people are around and when its just us. He RARELY gets angry or even annoyed. He's unbeleivable patient and kind. Really, he is the example of ICorinthians 13 kind of love. I NEVER doubt his love for me or our kids...or people anywhere. Life with Jody Ben is fun and easy.

Happy Birthday Jody!! I love you!

(I think I'm going to plan a party in one of the upcoming birthdays for Jody...I'll let you all know so it can be BIG)

Clean House

2009-08-01T22:03:00.003-04:00

Have you ever seen the cable show Clean House? My sister Joy introduced it to me one time. Its CRAZY!! This team of people ambush this family who is living in utter disarray and by the end of an hour, the house is organized and madeover.

I have watched that show and think, Oh Lord, please save me from ever being THAT BAD! I know I have pack-rat tendencies. TENDENCIES...I said. I am at least admitting that, but its not out of control.

Anyways....

My mom and her first cousin, Trudy do NOT have these tendencies. They offered to come to my house and help me get organized and do a "deep clean". All in all, it was great. Trudy loves blinds and did a marvelous job cleaning them! (I must admit, I have never thoroughly cleaned these blinds). My mom is so good and clearing a flat surface. (I am only good and making piles on a flat surface.) We rearranged the family room, scoured the kitchen floor, vacuumed every corner and baseboard, and threw away a good bit of trash....

I am SO happy with the result. I have several projects to work on, but it feels so nice!

I think I'm back!

2009-07-28T21:24:00.003-04:00

You know that Johnny Cash song, I've Been Everywhere?? I wish I could (or would???) make up my own Jennings' version to tell you about our summer! But we are HOME.

We've driven with the kids to Delaware (Rhehoabeth Beach)and back, Wilmington, NC and back, Roanoke/Salem, VA and back, Buchanan, MI and back and Charlotte and back (in one afternoon for Elijah's bday). We need to go to visit the family in Georgia (I KNOW!)...but I can't put the kids back in the car just yet, or myself for that matter. Although they are amazing travelers and we had a great time! Even with more frequent stops than we are used to because Luke is actually potty training!

Some of our highlights include:

The Creation Museum - near Cincinatti
Hanging out with extended family, great friends
Fun at Family Camp
The Beach (Hattie especially!)
Camping in the pop-up

I think that is over 70 hours in the car! Who knows how many hours of Adventures in Odesseys, Movies, Travel Bingo, and sleeping...only God know how many times I said, "its time to BE QUIET NOW!!!"

I have TONS of good pictures to share, but the camera battery is dead right now. I have been unpacking today and yesterday, on top of trying to clean up and get other stuff put away and semi-organized.

I cannot believe:

that school starts for Silas so soon
Jody will be 32 on Monday.
Millie Grace is pulling up to stand. (She looks TOO little to be able to do this)

More to come, I promise!

Mommy Needs

2009-07-14T14:57:00.003-04:00

I was thinking about stuff I just can't live without these days. Here are some, please add to the list if you want to!

Coffee - it just helps me open my eyes better in the morning and be ready for the next wave in the afternoons. My favs right now are Montana Cherry mixed with plain old wonderful Dunkin Donuts in the morning and Cafe Bustelo in the afternoon...but I'm not really picky. I can't wait for the college kids to return so I can have some coffee company!
Shower - even though I HATE getting up early, I set my alarm and try to get up before the kids each morning so that I can take a shower and shave my legs and get dressed and put some makeup on. I know some of you are rolling your eyes and saying YEAH RIGHT. But it REALLY HELPS. If I don't do this, Jody leaves for work and I am lucky to get a bra on before the wild rumpus begins. Plus this way if I happen to pass a mirror or someone pops in, I don't scare myself or the visitor.
Adult Conversation - My 3 oldest could talk the paint off the walls. Ugh. It NEVER stops. They get it honest, I know. I love to talk. (So does Daddy!) But if I get towards the end of the day and I am just on edge, most of the time I can trace it to not having had a decent conversation with an adult.
Nap Time/Bed Time - If naptime doesn't go well, I am a goner. I will lose my mind. I cannot describe it, but if my kids are not well rested, its as if I see the brain cells evaporating out of their little heads as well as my own! I need some quiet to either read, click around on the computer or nap myself. If we are out and I know its past bedtime, call me uptight (because I am) but I cannot enjoy myself! Pitiful, I know.
Hugs and Kisses - My kids are really good kids. They travel well. They play nicely (most of the time) together. They make me laugh. But there are times when they drive me NUTS. They are messy. They talk too much and ask too many questions. They beg and demand. So, I've realized that in order to remind myself of how fortunate I am to be the mommy to these 4 little guys, I need to have regular hugs and kisses from each one of them. That's when they say the sweetest things too! Like:

Silas: You are the best mommy ever

Hattie: I love your earrings today, can I have them when I grow up.

Luke: I love how your neck is so long, mom.

Millie: slobber slobber smile.

Laundry

2009-07-08T22:04:00.002-04:00

Really laundry is the bane of my existence.

If you do a load or two every day you ALWAYS have some to fold and put away. If you wait to do it all once a week, by the time you get to it, people in the family are out of clean underwear!

I actually don't mind separating, washing, switching it over...its the folding and putting away that kill me. I can't fold when the kids are awake. They are too much "help". And I can't fold them fast enough to get them out of the way. So I wait till they go to bed to fold and I'm tired...Jody helps...but its a lot! We bring it all upstairs, spread it all out putting them in little piles all over the floor and furniture and watch a movie or something. Then we put them in the laundry baskets. The girls in one, the boys in one, and Jody and I in one or sometimes different ones and the linens.

I HATE to admit this, but I loath putting the laundry back into the appropriate drawers so much there are many times that the baskets of clean, folded laundry sits in the rooms for days.

Jody and I folded clothes (that had been sitting in the baskets, clean for a while!!) last night. Today I decided I was going to put them away! (Well, the kids' at least, not mine. And I don't put Jody's away...I let him do that. ) Hattie decided she was going to help me. Millie Grace sat in the middle of the room and we went to work. Hattie was so helpful, really. This is not sarcastic. She even helped me with the boys clothes! When we were finished, Hattie said, "Mommy, I LOVE laundry!"

What?? How wonderful! I was thrilled!

Now, I have a few questions for you.

What is your laundry system?

Also what is your favorite choice of detergent? Do you care? Is it whatever is on sale or what you have a coupon for? Or are you brand loyal? I like All Free and CLear...I like clear for some reason. But I recently had a coupon for Tide and it was on sale and EVERYONE loves the smell and feel of the clothes. I thought that was funny.

Comic Relief

2009-07-01T23:02:00.002-04:00

We had a great day. The kids have been getting along great and entertaining themselves well. But by the end of the day, you know, around supper time...its just HARD. I was craving some adult conversation. Or at least the cessation of little ones saying "mama, watch this" over and over. SO on the way to VBS we stuck in an audio book. Junie B Jones and the Little Monkey Business.

Let me say, she does say stupid and dumb excessively, in my opinion. We had a big talk about it. I told the kids that as soon as I hear those words come out of and little Jennings mouths, we would no longer listen to or read these books.

But man, I was laughing out loud. Its funny stuff! The kids were laughing, I was laughing...endorphins were released and we all felt better by the time we got to church.

Home!!!

2009-06-29T11:47:00.003-04:00

We had a WONDERFUL time at the beach in Delaware! The beach was great, the weather was perfect, the company (my aunt, uncle, grandmother and cousins in/and out) was fun...all around super time! Jody had a wedding in Bismarck, so while we waited for him to come back, we enjoyed the beach a few more days and then headed to the DC area. My aunt and uncle live there, and they took us to the National Zoo before picking up Jody, dropping my grandmother off at her house in Southwestern Virginia and zipping home. (We got in at 1:30 am)

We got back just in time for VBS at our church. Last night was the first night. Its going to be a long week, getting to bed late every night, I know. But the kids are having a great time. I am too!

Its HARD to believe June is on its way out. We still have several more FUN FUN things to do this summer! People to see and places to go.

Here are some fun pictures.
Silas and his favorite passtime: being in charge of the remote while enjoying TV time.

Lukey and his favorite passtime: harassing everyone and being a typical 2yr old.

Hattie Ruth and her favorite passtime: dressing up and looking pretty.

Mille Grace and her new favorite passtime: sitting at the table and acting like a starving baby bird.

Everyone at the zoo. My uncle Pancho, Aunt Melanie (my mom's sister) and Nana (my mom's mom) with the kids. Notice the Terrible Two-Year Old!

I've got problems!

2009-06-19T14:15:00.002-04:00

Our computer crashed! I've been waiting to do my blog until we got it back, but it looks like we won't get it back before we leave for vacation. I think all will be recovered...I HOPE!! It should come back better than ever. We have another computer to use, but I really think it doesn't like me!! As long as I have control of it, it will NOT stay connected to the internet but Jody seems to have no problem! Go figure.

We are headed to Delaware! We really are excited about spending time with family and hanging out at the beach. Jody will fly up to Bismarck in the midst of it to be at a wedding.

Don't know if I'll have access to the internet, so...I'll be back with pictures and stories!!

Photo Shoot

2009-06-11T21:44:00.001-04:00

What's your favorite word?

2009-06-09T08:00:00.003-04:00

Back to Normal

2009-06-06T18:56:00.002-04:00

Sorry...its been so long! I got a text from a friend saying something about it and I realized I have neglected my little blog! Ha.

But I have to admit, I just have realized how much more important just staring at my sweet kids and playing with them is than other time-suckers. Not that this blog is, because I do see this as a form of journaling. I will be able to look back at these entries and remember a lot!

Silas had his last day of kindergarten on Thursday. That means the summer schedule will be in full swing on Monday. (Inspector Mom will be visiting each morning. This is something Jody and I came up with. I'm looking for a funny hat to use. Then I will get in character and inspect their rooms each morning after breakfast. HOPEFULLY this will help with starting the day in a home that isn't overrun with junk all over the place. Who knows?? This may be a horrible idea! I may borrow my mom's FLIP video camera and show you my inspection routine, I know you'll love that.)

Luke had a MELT-DOWN today because he couldn't play soccer with the big kids. It KILLED him! But I reminded him that there are no 2yr olds out there. He stayed off the field as hard as it was for him.

Millie Grace is army crawling all over the place. And I think she is going to eat us out of house and home! She gets so mad when we sit down to eat and don't include her at the table AND feed her!

Although its not her favorite thing right now, Hattie is doing a great job playing soccer. She is FAST.

They all talk about Luke's near drowning. Hattie, on her own, drew a morbid picture. But I've heard that's good therapy. Silas will say stuff to Luke about wearing floaties and not jumping in ever again. Luke just keeps talking and asking questions. Like, "what are lungs?" "what was the man's name who jumped in and saved me?" stuff like that.

So, that's a little catch up. I'll post some new pix soon! Maybe that video!

Back and better than ever!

2009-05-29T15:52:00.001-04:00

Just in case you don't believe me. Luke REALLY is back to normal with no complications whatsoever! Again, we are just so thankful to the Lord for his life!

Sound Mind

2009-05-28T13:36:00.002-04:00

1Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." I memorized this as a highschooler. Its been in my heart, but I've never fully understood and clung to it as I have lately.

This is what I am continuing to meditate on since Luke's near drowning last weekend. Here are some of my thoughts.

We cannot live in fear because of this incident. We are still going to go swimming this summer. But with this SOUNDER mind, we are going to be far more careful around the pool. We've already gotten Luke and Hattie Ruth good swimming life vests. We got Silas a life vest too, although he knows how to swim now. And for Millie Grace, we got her one of those double ringed floating things.

We are going to change some things within our family. We are going to all learn how to be aware of the others. How to watch out and take care of the other family members, especially in group settings.

There are other areas where we have not been very careful and consistent, like in the parking lot. We will hold hands everytime now. We will NOT open the car door until another adult says its ok.

But God doesn't want us to live in fear. We can't stay holed up in our house all summer long. We can still be the fun-loving Jennings family. We are just going to implement some new changes and rules.

I also want to address something else. I believe with all of my heart that God has a plan for Luke Simon Jennings. He gave Luke to us TWICE now. I don't want to ever forget. I want to always remind him of this and pray this for him. Pray that he will be used by God. That the "voice that God gave me back" (his exact words) would be used to tell others what God has done. This is firm in my heart.

HOWEVER, I also believe that God has a plan for Silas, Hattie Ruth, and Millie Grace. I believe he has a plan for our family to be used by Him. I believe this about my mentally handicapped sister Joy. I believe this about every person. Jeremiah 29:11 says,"I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plan to prosper you and NOT to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." God loves each one of us. He has a plan for us all. Even those who don't know it yet. (I'm thinking of 2 people in particular who I don't believe know that God TRULY has a wonderful plan for their lives! I'm praying that we will be able to share this with them because of Luke's accident).

I'm holding each of my babies a little closer a little longer. I'm laughing with them more and trying to not be so grouchy when spills happen and messes take over the entry way. I'm praying harder for some families that I know that are going through some difficult days regarding their children. And I am continuing to "sing songs of Joy" like the Psalmist mentioned in my previous post because of what the Lord has done for us!

Unfailing Love

2009-05-24T21:18:00.002-04:00

Psalm 107

¹⁹ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and He saved them from their distress.

²⁰ He sent forth His Word and healed them;
He rescued them from the grave.

²¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and His wonderful deeds for men.

²² Let them sacrifice thank offerings
and tell of His works with songs of joy.

This is our new theme song.

The Lord has heard our cries as we found Luke at the bottom of a swimming pool at a birthday party. I believe he was there for under 3 minutes. The Lord sent His healing and rescued Luke from the grave.

When he was pulled out of the pool he was not breathing, he was limp. He was dead. Two nurses who were also at the party ran to Luke's side and began trying to administer CPR. His airway was VERY blocked. I was certain that we would not be bringing Luke home. Silas was screaming and crying in the background. I heard people around me SHOUTING to God, praying, begging for His mercy on Luke's life. A peace flooded my body. I told my friend I was as peace with whatever the situation. She told me later that at that moment she felt the peace of God. She left my side and took Hattie and Silas inside. 911 was on the line. EMS was there within 5 minutes. Just before they arrived, I saw my baby take a small breath. Then another. He was still not making eye contact. No talking, but some moaning.

I rode in the front of the ambulance, calling parents and others, Jody followed. Luke slipped in and out of consciousness on the way. He vomitted a lot. He would cry and fight. When we arrived at the ER, Luke made eye contact with me. He was crying. In the ER, he began to answer our questions with little "uh-huh's". Then a few words and names. Then he came back in full swing. Asking questions. Telling the doctor to take the thing off his finger. He said, "Mom, I love you."

He was moved to the PICU where Jody stayed the night with him. He was on oxygen. They were monitoring his oxygen levels and breathing. They did put a tube in his nose down to his stomache to pump out the air. He HATED that. At 2 am he pulled it out. They took him off oxygen. He began eating and was talking the nurses ears off by 6 am.

We are watching him for signs of pnuemonia. But I can tell you my son is Lazuras. It is as if it never happened as far as his health.

When I close my eyes its like a bad dream. I can see it all again. It makes me nauseous. The doctor told us this morning that we are very fortunate. Most cases like ours do not end this way. Most cases do not have people willing/qualified to do CPR at all. I would add that most people do not have people calling out to God, intervening in prayer.

Jody's parents came to be with us for a couple of days. My parents are far away. But I have experienced love and support from people and friends all over. The Lord has shown us his Unfailing Love. I felt like in the midst of it all, I was like the Hebrew boys in the furnace. I know My God can deliver us from this situation, BUT IF HE DOESN'T I will still trust Him. I can trust Him. I KNEW IT. As I thought we had lost our baby, I knew I could STILL TRUST Him. And then the Lord showed Himself to our family like I cannot ever experience again. He gave us Lukey back.

Tonight as we read books Luke gave his usual running commentary. Nothing has ever sounded more beautiful to me than his endless chatter.

New Products

2009-05-22T22:15:00.002-04:00

I've had the opportunity to try out a few new things lately (for FREE I might add!).

First of all, I was shocked to find a box for me in my mail box a few weeks ago. It had a stick of Dove Visibly Smooth deodorant in it with a bunch of coupons to share. I don't think I signed up to receive this! I certainly didn't pay for it. But I'm not complaining. I love Dove deodorant. This new product is supposed to reduce the underarm hair over time with use. We'll see how it works, but if you'd like a coupon, let me know! (I have no idea how much it is in the store)

Then my friend Megan also gave me a little bag of samples from a party she had. There was a Venus Breeze razor in it. Oh my gosh! Its AMAZING! No soap, no shaving cream. Its on either side of the blades and it works great! I don't have coupons to share for that one, but I can tell you its awesome.

Has anyone else tried any new product lately you'd care to share about?

Wiped Out!

2009-05-21T19:12:00.003-04:00

I don't know what is wrong with poor Millie Grace! She has been very fussy lately. I say very fussy, but then I know compared to at least Silas its not bad really. But for herself, its been rough. She went for her 6month check-up today. The Dr found NOTHING wrong as to why she's being fussy. I'm thinking it is either allergies, teething or this little diaper rash she has. I don't know!! She's doing great developmentally.

Here are her stats:
height 26.5
weight 14.5 (18%, so not as small as big sister is on the charts!)

She is starting to eat foods. Rice cereal, bananas and carrots. She is VERY interested in food. Its pretty funny. She is in the beginning crawling stages. She gets up on all fours and lunges forward. She rolls all over the place and I caught her eating crumbs under the table once this week!

But I guess this is just one of the reasons I've been a bad blogger. I'm just TIRED! By the time she's down for the night, I'm beat. I'm only doing this now because Jody is out in the garden with the older 3 and I'm here waiting for Millie to cry herself to sleep.

Chores

2009-05-14T21:10:00.003-04:00

We've always had them. We've always hated them. I mean, really, who enjoys chores?? (Don't answer that if you actually do like them, please) The word is awful even! Here's a few I've been thinking about today...

The Bathroom: little boys + toilet seats= nasty, never clean

The Laundry: Absolutely NEVER done! As soon as they are all washed the bin begins to fill. There are always dirty ones to wash, clean ones to put away and seasonal ones to switch out!

The Kitchen: Again, endless. One meal is over and its practically time to start again. The dishwasher is always in need of attention, the floor always need sweeping/mopping. (if it is clean I panic if anyone steps on it!)

Picking up: What do I even say? I get so mad when I walk in and there are toys and books on the floor. I find myself thinking (and even saying) that we are NEVER giving these children anymore presents, ever.

Call Me Crazy

2009-05-12T22:40:00.003-04:00

My dad took me home from MOPS tonight. Ha!! I must admit it was more fun than I thought it was going to be. It didn't make me say, ooh, lets go get one or anything...like Jody hoped it would.

Mother's Day

2009-05-09T22:35:00.002-04:00

I have started a blog entry several times this week. I have had several ideas too...and now I cannot remember those good ideas! I can't guarantee this entry will be good. I'm SO tired, but I don't want to neglect this blog too bad!

Jody and I celebrated our 9th anniversary this week. My parents, grandmother and 2 nephews came over to our house for supper. It was great! Then Jody and I went up to the college, where we were married, and walked around the park. I wanted to post pictures, but I'm too lazy to scan them right now! The park is very different. The trees are so much bigger and the growth of the shrubbery is amazing.

I think Millie Grace must be teething. Either that or caffeine is affecting her. I don't know, but she's being so restless and waking up in the night unexpectedly.

Luke is being such a rotten 2yr old. Tonight Jody and I went on a date and the babysitter actually had to call us because he was being so mean to her! Isn't that awful?? Boy is he going to get it in the morning!!

Tomorrow we are going to Charlotte to Elevation Church. My sister Holly is speaking and we are excited to be there for her!

Happy Mother's Day!

Extra Guests

2009-05-06T20:26:00.002-04:00

So this week we have had a lot of extra guests! Jody has a leadership team or 9 students. In order to prepare for the fall term, they needed a few days of planning and this week is good because between the end of exams and graduation there were a few days.

I hated missing it all last year, as the group went to a place and planned. This year Jody and I decided to do it at our house. That way I could take care of the kids and get them to school and bed and such AND hang out and take care of the group.

Its been pretty fun! Its a great group. They love my kids. They are very helpful. I'm so glad we did it this way.

Meanwhile in another part of town...my sister Holly and her 2 boys came to visit since my grandmother is still here. The kids and I went over there today (while the group was planning at my house). Then as we were leaving I decided, what the heck? Elijah B, wanna sleep over too? So we brought my nephew home with us to play and sleep over. Everyone was pretty excited!

And by 8pm, all 5 kids were asleep! Yay! Jody and the group are playing putt putt or something and I had a few minutes to blog. How bout that?

Weekend Run-down

2009-05-03T21:41:00.004-04:00

We had such a wonderful weekend!

Friday we had FAMILY MOVIE night. I don't know why but my kids LOVE when the words, "Family movie night" come out of my mouth!

Saturday we had our first soccer game. Jody is coaching Silas and Hattie and 7 other kids. It was great! Hattie kept up with the ball the whole time, pearls and all. Silas scored 3 goals. Luke stayed off the field the whole time, except once. My 95 year old grama held Millie. I got a sore throat from cheering so much. It was GREAT!

Then in the afternoon, Hattie and I had a date to Cinderella at the Peace Center. It was so wonderful. Hattie LOVED it. I did too! Prince Charming was an NGU grad and one of the stepsisters was an old friend of mine. We got to meet them after the show. So fun!

Then we had a little cook out with some of the college students. The park ranger busted up our party a little sooner than we were expecting, but it was great!

Today we had a wonderful Sunday. Church was awesome! Hanging out with my parents and grama is always fun. Last night of AWANA, which means a party for the kids.

Everyone went to bed exhausted and happy tonight!

Summer Plans

2009-04-29T15:30:00.002-04:00

Its hard for me to believe that summer is just around the corner! NGU's graduation is a week from tomorrow. Man, this year has flown by! Silas goes to school until the first week of June. So, its causing me to think about what we are going to do to keep busy this summer. Busy and sane!

I've decided that I am going to make a schedule and stick to it as much as possible. Here are some of my ideas:

Movie day. We have 2 theaters here that have FREE movies Wed, Thurs, and Fri. Free for kids and parents!

Library

Craft/baking/letter writing - stuff like playdough, simple crafts, making cards/packages for people

Swimming lessons, practice - we can use the NGU pool at certain times

Family Movie Night - this is always a BIG hit. And if we have it scheduled maybe they won't beg for it every night. I heard about a great idea. Let them earn some money throughout the week and then they buy a ticket and snacks and take turns manning the snack bar, being ushers, etc.

NO TV Days - I am serious about this one. I want days when they know there will not be TV, cartoons or anything. We have to have other things planned so they see there are better things to do.

Playdates, fieldtrips - we have wonderful parks, a new children's museum about to open up, and plenty of friends to play with.

Housecleaning - I think this is important. We are going to have responsibilities daily and weekly.

My goal is to not let my kids be bored, and myself to be frustrated. I'd LOVE to hear some more ideas I can implement into our schedule. I haven't made it out, but when I do, I'm going to put it up for the kids to see.

Strawberries

2009-04-22T20:50:00.002-04:00

It must be spring because Strawberries are in!! I bought some local ones on the side of the road yesterday. Luke and Hattie were so happy! They'd eat themselves sick on strawberries. They were REALLY good ones too.

Well I forgot that my bible study was having a little brunch to celebrate the end of the Amazing Collection. So, at the suggestion of my mom, I decided to bring the strawberries. Luke saw I had them rinsed and packed and he wanted some. Here is how it all went down:

Me: No Luke. We are going to share these with my friends. We can get more.

Luke: NO! I WANT THOSE STRAWBERRIES. I WANT TO EAT THEM.

Me: Well, not these. We'll get more.

Luke: No. NO (stomping his foot). Those are MINE.

Me: I'm sorry buddy. We are taking these to bible study.

Luke: (pointing his finger at me and narrowing his eyes at me) I hope your ladies SHOKE on those strawberries.

WHAT???? I tried to hold it together and not bust out laughing. I said, Luke, that is NOT a nice thing to say! Where in the world did he learn to say that kind of thing? I have no idea!!

Circulation

2009-04-20T21:57:00.003-04:00

Today at the breakfast table Luke started crying. I was trying to ignore him as I fed Millie. But he kept crying, "My leg...my leg hurts...". I really thought he was using it as a ploy to get down from the table. Then Jody walks in the kitchen and Luke says, "My foot is tin-ga-ling. My leg hurts..."

Jody says, "You foot is asleep. You're sitting on it. Straighten it out."

It reminded me of what Silas used to say. He used to say something like this, "Man, my foot must have been so tired, because it fell asleep!".

Fifths Disease

2009-04-16T20:43:00.003-04:00

Maybe we have been living in a hole but I haven't heard of Fifths Disease until recently. Its a "common" childhood illness. Its called Fifths because it came down the line, like third, fourth, fifth. Measels, mumps...there were four and this is the Fifth (I know, what a creative name!). Its not a big deal as illnesses go, as far as I can tell. Its like a really bad cold. Runny nose, headache, swollen glands, "slapped cheek" look, low grade fever, sore throat and rash. But some people's symptoms may be so minute one doesn't even know they have Fifths.

Well, we do! I am pretty sure all my kids either have it or have had it of late. It typically lasts 1-3 weeks in children, much longer (Like months to years in adults). No wonder I feel like we have been wiping noses like crazy all month! Its as if these symptoms are describing my kids!!!

Hattie has been very pitiful this week. I thought it was Strep again. But the doctor said its Fifths and Bronchitis. Her symptoms come in waves. She'll be fine, running around, laughing and then like a balloon deflating, she'll just slump over, cry and complain about different pains. She told me today, "This disease is biting my heart." Hmmmmm. Interesting description.

I think we are on the tail end of it!

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T21:04:00.003-04:00

We had such a nice Easter. I love that we can freely celebrate the risen savior. I know that I can celebrate this every day, but there is something special about a holiday. Although I must admit I'm a little Easter-egged out!! We hunted several times. At our church easter egg hunt, my parents had a little one, we had our Easter bunny hunt and then a fun one after lunch. I will be thrilled to pack those suckers UP!!

One of Each

2009-04-09T20:45:00.003-04:00

This was taken on Silas's birthday last month. We had lemon-poppy seed muffins for breakfast. He looks so sweet and happy!
Hattie is very proud of her NGU cheerleader outfit! Isn't she beautiful? Notice all her necklaces.

This is Luke being punished because he stuck his tongue out at me. Look at his lil'kins, Goliath. He LOVE that thing. Best 8 buck I have spent on him!

And look at this doll baby! Some sweet friends sent Millie Grace this outfit, we got it in the mail today. So cute!!!

Check out my sister's post for some fun old Easter photos.

ER

2009-04-02T23:00:00.002-04:00

I haven't faithfully watched NBC's ER drama for the last 15 years like my sister Holly has. She even loves the reruns. But Jody and I have watched it semi-regularly for the last few years. I must admit I was little sad tonight as the final ER ended and there was no "stay tuned for scenes from next weeks ER". Was it a 3 hour thing? I don't know. I thought it was supposed to start at 8pm eastern. I didn't turn it on until about 9:45. But we got to enjoy that last little bit. It was pretty good. PLUS - Dr Tracy (don't know the last name) intern is a friend of ours...it was cool seeing her on TV this season - great job Emily Rose!

Did you watch it?

April Fools

2009-04-01T20:11:00.002-04:00

I decided that I would give my kids a little taste of April Fools today. It was pretty funny. Once I got the ball rolling, the phrase of the days was "April Fools Mom!"

I told Silas he didn't have to get up because there was no school. He laid back down in true belief. I was kind of sad to make him really get up!

I colored everyone's cereal milk with food coloring. They LOVED it!

My dad called and disguised himself as the Easter Bunny. The kids thought it was really my mom. It was SO funny. Luke really thought the Easter Bunny was calling him!

Silas even pulled one over on Aunt Joy at the supper table. He fell off the bench and she thought he was really hurt.

I also was a part of a prank at the college with some girls who will remain anonymous until they are ready to reveal themselves. I have pictures and everything. It REALLY made me miss my roommate Jill. It was pretty funny!

What about you? Did you play any jokes on anyone or get one played on you?

Nice things

2009-03-29T13:48:00.000-04:00

Here's a couple of things you may want to check out:

My friend Tory makes adorable lampshades. Check out her blog and shop around!

If you are in the market for a cute bag or bib for your kid, check out my friend Megan's website.

I think I'm going to make this for Easter!

Ode to Silas

2009-03-25T21:27:00.003-04:00

My first born is 6! I can't believe it! Silas is such a smart boy. He always has been. He LOVES reading/being read to. He love building things and playing with things that can be put together. Already in his short life he's had so many adventures. Maybe that has fueled his wild imagination. We see him as a leader and we pray that God will develop those qualities in him as he grows. I never would have imagined 6 years ago that I could love a little boy so much!

The Survivor

2009-03-24T20:44:00.002-04:00

Although Jody would love to be on CBS's Survivor, the real survivor in our family is Millie Grace. Seriously...she's amazing! Such a trooper.

Today we ran errands all morning. Millie fussed here and there a few times but I would just stick the pacifier back in her mouth. She stayed in the carseat for about 3 hours. When we got home I took her out of the carseat and there was POOP everywhere. POOR THING! Obviously she was trying to tell me and I wouldn't listen.

Luke dumped her out of a chair on the porch today when I wasn't looking. She fussed but got over it quickly and smiled at him when he apologized.

She's on a four hour feeding schedule (except at night). And even when its been over 4 hours she doesn't cry really. Not like Luke did when he was a baby...boy was he demanding!

I wish you all could hold her and see her. She's so cuddly and smiley. She loves to be warm and close.

If you are ordering a baby pray that s/he is like Millie Grace!

Bedtime Rules

2009-03-21T20:32:00.003-04:00

We are pretty strict about bedtime here at our house. Jody and I decided early on in our parenting that getting enough sleep is not only important for our kids but also for the parents! Once the kids go to bed its mommy and daddy time uninterrupted.

I have a few funny things regarding recent bedtime happenings after I share our typical bedtime routine. I know that this routine isn't doable for everyone. I talked to another mom from Hattie's preschool class the other day. Her husband doesn't come home in the evenings until 8:30 or so. But it definitely works for us! Everything in our routine is subjectible...it depends on what we have been doing, like church activities, or something like that. So these times are give or take 15 minutes.

Jennings Bedtime Routine

6:45 Bath
7:00 Brush teeth, pj's on
7:15 Read books (usually everyone picks their own book and we read all together)
7:30 Each to their own bed, pray, lights out

Jennings Bedtime Rules

1. You are not allowed out of your bed for any reason. Permission can be given to use the bathroom.
2. Call backs are for emergencies. (Jody says this sounds like we are MEAN parents, but come one. You all know that stalling at bedtime can result in NUMEROUS call backs for random, unimportant things)

Recent Bedtime Happenings

Silas: He told me one day recently that he has the earliest bedtime of any one in his class. WHY?? I told him that he is also one of the smartest little boys I know and that is because people who sleep more learn better. He liked that answer. I also told him that Gage and Emma have the same bedtime he does. That really satisfied him.

Hattie: She "sleeps" with SO many odd things in her bed. We have had to make a new rule for her. She can't take any more books or toys (or shoes or purses...) to bed with her until the ones that are in the bed currently are put away.

Luke: He is the one who has challenged us the most on the staying in your bed rule. The other night, Hattie called me. I said, "this better be an emergency" as I walked in. Luke popped up out of Hattie's covers and said in a funny innocent voice, "I just wanted to snuggle!" I sent him back to his room and laughed my way back down the hall.

Millie Grace: Is starting to fit herself into this bedtime routine right along with everyone else! Yay!! She goes to sleep around 7pm or so, I wake her to feed her one last time before I go to bed around 10-11pm and have been waking her up in the mornings around 7. Hattie is happy to finally have a roommate!

Postpartum Hair-loss

2009-03-16T21:49:00.002-04:00

I have had 4 pregnacies, 4 deliveries and 4 sweet babies.

I have pretty thick, straight hair. Under regular circumstances I loose hair a little. I clean out my hair brush (unlike SOME people...and you know who you are) every few days. But when I'm pregnant I don't loose any hair. I never clean out my hairbrush. Its like the baby causes my hair to stay in tight. For about 3 months or so postpartum its the same. Just thick hair holding on tight. But then SUDDENLY it all starts falling out. By the clumps, by the handfuls...everytime I think I'm going BALD!

One time I seriously thought I was going bald. I ask Jody if he would still like me if I was bald. He assured me he would but that I was not balding. He was right. (Did you read that, Jody?? You were right)

But seriously, its strange. I've never seen so much hair when I wash it coming out...well, that's not true. Its happened several times now, but none the less, it shocks me everytime. Can anyone relate?

The Haircut

2009-03-13T13:50:00.005-04:00

This post is going to make some thrilled (Stacy, Roman) and others cry (my mother-in-law). Just a fair warning.

Silas decided he wanted a buzz. He has gorgeous, thick hair. We've never gone short short...until now. And he LOVES it!!! I didn't even recognize him when he was standing right next to me at Chickfila and I was yelling for him to come down from the slide. Doesn't he look so different??

Before

After

This is Millie Grace watching the haircut.

A few more pix from the Tea Party

2009-03-10T13:12:00.003-04:00

Suddenly, when we were getting ready to fix plates, I realized I forgot CANDLES! Aaaah! (big shocker, I know! I have become VERY forgetful lately). Renee Wooten, our youth pastor's wife, came up with a suggestion. Roll some paper towels up and light the top of them. My mom said, "Spoken like a youth pastor's wife!!" Then, as if a light bulb turned on, my mom remembered she happened to have some birthday candles in her purse...AND MATCHES! Ha! (I get the forgetfulness thing honest, it seems!) So DD saved the party with her magic purse!

This was our attempt at getting the whole gang together.

This is my other nephew, Captian Elijah. How do you like his costume for the tea party??

And one more of the cupcakes. Mmmmmmmm!

Tea Party

2009-03-09T22:38:00.003-04:00

The Big (not really) 4 yr old

Playing Hot Potato

"These cupcakes are FABULOUS!"

Live music and all! DD (my mom) played for musical chairs and Happy Birthday!!

This is all Aunt Joy (my sister) wanted to do...hold Millie!

My sweet nephew, Graham.

Is anyone else having a hard time loading pictures on blogger? On my composition I can't see the pictures, just a bunch of codes. HELP! ****Addendum: Thank you Rita. You are a gem among the blogosphere!****

I can't put a captions on each because I can't see where one starts and another begins. But these are pix from Hattie's birthday tea party. It was SO fun! Check out the AMAZING cupcakes I DID NOT make!

Working Woman

2009-03-07T15:41:00.002-05:00

Its official...I'm a working woman. I have become a Creative Memories independent consultant. I've tossed this around since before I was married. I've gone back and forth on the pros and cons and finally just bit the bullet. I decided to give it a go...a good one.

I know what you may be thinking. You have 4 kids, how do you find the time? But wouldn't you agree that we find time for what we want to? Also, I feel that preserving my family's memories is crucial and I want to share it with everyone.

I LOVE creative memories products, always have. Now with the digital software, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. I personally think everyone should invest in their photos. You don't have to be creative at all, just willing to do something!

Did you know that back before we all went to digital cameras, we processed 80% of our pictures. Now we all just store them on the computer and only 20% are printed! Granted I know I take tons more now that I can. But still, what do you do with yours? What kind of program do you use to store them?

I'd LOVE to share my products with you. Check out my website here.

Lazy Blogger

2009-03-04T23:08:00.003-05:00

I know...what has happened to me??? I don't know! Business without a good explanation I guess. I've been a lazy blogger.

Hattie's tea party on Saturday was so great. So fun. So cute. I have pictures but they are still on the camera.

We had a little snow storm. It was pretty funny after living in Bismarck. But it was serious here. Lots of people without power. No school Monday and Tuesday and a 2-hour delay today. Jody was off Monday, so that was fun.

I didn't even take any pictures because Jody took Silas, Hattie and Luke out to play in the snow and I stayed in to clean.

Tuesday we had lots of company throughout the day.

Today, Hattie had a cavity filled. She did AMAZING! It was as if...nothing. The dentist said she was the best patient all day long. I was so proud of her.

Anyway. Maybe tomorrow I'll do a better post.

Hattie Ruth

2009-02-27T22:23:00.004-05:00

Is anyone else having a hard time with inserting pictures on blogger? I can't see them on the screen when I'm composing my post. So these are not in order.
The first pic is of our family (obviously) when Hattie was born in Nairobi Kenya. The next one is Hattie at her 3rd birthday last year. The next one is at her 2nd birthday. And the last one is her first birthday in Uganda, when she fell in love with shoes.

Hattie Ruth is a HUGE blessing to our life. Although she is tiny, she is feisty. She is determined and independent but at the same time she is incredibly helpful and motherly. She loves vegetables and fruit. It seems like she looks at food and decides she will eat whatever has the least amount of calories. She has a life long love of purple, glitter, and anything girly.

Ooh, I could go on and on.

We had a fabulous day. We took the whole family to Einsteins for breakfast. I made little blueberry muffins for her class. We went shopping. We ate supper at my parents. Brownies, presents...she said, "I loved my birthday. It lasted a long time and we did lots of things." Tomorrow we are having a tea party! Pictures to come.

Overnight

2009-02-26T21:59:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is Hattie's Birthday. She'll be 4! I'm going to do a special post for her tomorrow, but I have to share this funny thing she said tonight as I was putting her to bed.

Me: I can't believe your birthday is tomorrow and you are going to be 4 years old!

Hattie: (very very seriously) Am I going to grow bigger and look different in the morning?

Me: (laughing) NO! You will be the same, its just a normal night.

Hattie: But will I grow a little bigger?

Poor puny thing. I think she really had her hopes up to get bigger! She is still right around 30 pounds, barely wearing 3T.

Blown Away

2009-02-23T19:59:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was an amazing Sunday for Jody and I. We had a guest speaker in the main worship service named Tom Harmon. His life is just an AMAZING testament of faithfulness. He knows so much scripture by memory and he prays like I've never heard of! That's actually what he talked about...prayer. It was so inspiring. Like if my prayer life amounts to a fraction of his EVER it would be amazing. Then we went to my parents' sunday school class because a friend of my parents' was speaking in there. His name is Rollin Delap. (Here is a little article on him) He knows more verses from the Bible than you can believe is possible. Just in the last 20 years he's cut back to ONE VERSE a week, without missing a week! Unbelievable! He came up with a method to memorizing. Jody and I had heard him explain it before, but this time it was different. We want to succeed in this so bad! We want our children to know they are prayed for and loved. We want them to see us reading the Bible and memorizing scripture. We want to use the scripture to pray for them.

My parents' teacher said it was like Thanksgiving, after the service you were full and then you have to eat again. But its all fabulous. So memorable.

Its been a while for me to come away from church feeling like...man I have a LONG LONG LONG way to go. I don't mean to sound super spiritual, like other weeks it doesn't apply to me. Thats not the case at all. But it was just amazing. Like a one-two punch that knocks you out. To see these two men (and their wives were both there. They each have 4 kids.) who are so close to Jesus, their faith is so real, it was great. It gave me goals to reach toward. Tom Harmon was introduced as a great man of God. He got up there and said, "I'm not a great man of God, I am a man of a Great God."

Wow!

To Do List

2009-02-18T19:51:00.002-05:00

If I were to write myself a note of things to do to for tomorrow, here are some things I'd put on it:

1. Check with the weatherman before you leave a carseat sitting in the yard all night. It might rain and get the carseat soaking wet. Then you'll have to dry it in front of the blazing fire your sweet husband makes in the morning.

2. Don't leave the baby on the couch anymore. She might roll off. (she's FINE, she didn't even cry!)

3. Now that you have your car back from the shop (the problem was the alternator) fill it up with gas so you don't run out tomorrow.

4. Get flour so you can make banana bread with the massive amount of bananas you bought at the store last week with the intention of making banana bread.

5. Get a cashiers check for $104 to pay your speeding ticket.

6. Make the invitations for Hattie's birthday party next week. (Tea Party!)

7. Tell Silas that his new bottle cap collection doesn't need anymore beer caps.

8. Set the kitchen timer every hour to remind Luke to use the potty!

Bad Ending

2009-02-16T20:18:00.003-05:00

Whew. Where to start??

We had wonderful Valentine's day. Jody was SUPER sweet. Bagels from Einsteins, a cool necklace and earrings, clean shower, my favorite chocolate, playing with the kids outside, a fun date...it was so fun.

Sunday I took the kids to our church and Jody spoke at a different church. He got back to us just as we finished up lunch.

Today (Monday) Silas didn't have school. We played around at home in the morning and ate an early lunch. Then we headed over to Monkey Joes for a fun afternoon or jumping around.

Then we headed over to Hattie's ballet class. During class, my friend Megan and I went over to CVS. (As a side note, I spent $30 and got $95 worth of stuff...LOVE IT). Megan actually stayed in the car with my other 3 and her other 1. The DVD player was on and everyone was happy, that I know of. When I got back in the sound had gone off on the movie so I turned the car off with the intention of restarting it. NOPE. It wouldn't start.

An employee jumped the car and we made it back to the ballet class, late. Then in that parking lot my car just stopped. I called Jody and he came to rescue us. He jumped the car, it started and then stopped again. We did it one more time and it died again. So, we called a tow truck and towed it to a mechanic.

Although the tow truck took over an hour. I got supper at Wendy's. We were all cranky, well, not Jody.

I'm tired. I hate days that end like this. I had a great supper to make too. Oh well. I'll make it tomorrow. If there are typos in this, I'm sorry. Not that that's any different than usual, but I don't feel like rereading this.

Wet Your Pant Hilarious!

2009-02-13T08:03:00.002-05:00

My friend Shaunna posted this. I seriously almost wet my pants! Hope you liked it as much as I did.

A few pics

2009-02-12T20:26:00.000-05:00

I love...

2009-02-10T20:31:00.002-05:00

I liked my sister's post today. So, I'm going to steal her idea although I need to limit myself or my list would go on and on.

6 Insignifcant things I love:

1. I love Chocolate, the darker the better. (I'm hoping for Dove for Valentines. Jody doesn't read my blog, but I've told him...I hope he listened.)

2. I love my dishwasher. Man I love that thing. It has made my life so much easier.

3. I love the color orange. I guess it started with the University of Miami.

4. I love blogging. Just for myself, its releasing. When I go back and read my entries I laugh at myself.

5. I love Hallmark commercials. I don't think they make new ones often enough.

6. I love the mail. It totally runs in the Boitnott family. I look forward to checking the mail every day. My mail usually comes at 9am. The other day I checked it like 3 times wondering what in the world was keeping the mailman??

Now your turn...tell me something insignificant (not people or something spiritual or something along those lines) you love.

My First Speeding Ticket

2009-02-08T21:22:00.002-05:00

Not so say that I haven't deserved a speeding ticket before, but I have never been pulled over...until this weekend.

I'm so mad at myself. I wasn't in a hurry, I wasn't intentionally speeding. Ugh!

I had met my sister-in-law, Jerre, halfway between her house and my in-laws to pick up two of her kids. I had 3 of my kids in the car also. We were on our way back and I saw the lights in the rearview mirror. I was pulled over for going 62 in a 45!!!! Ahh!

I almost got it real trouble. Those of you who know me know I don't mince words. I am not the most tactful person. I have a hard time NOT speaking up.

The policeman said, "Now ma'am, I know most people get their preachin' on Sundays, but I'm just going to tell you to slow down." He smelled like a chimney. I bit my tongue instead of saying, "Well, you should stop smoking because I think that's more hazardous for your health!" I had a flash in my mind of what could/would happen if I had let that slip. I'm so glad I exhibited self-control!!

When he left, Hattie asked me,"Do you have to go to jail mommy?"

There was no price on my ticket. I'm supposed to go to court (5+ hours from my house) in March. I guess I'll call the courthouse tomorrow and get my fine.

Oh well. Bummer.