Hand-Me-Downs

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

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

....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

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...

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

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

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

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

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....

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

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

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!!!