Cowlicks and Curls

I'm baaaaccckk! :)

2010-06-04T23:09:00.005-05:00

Dear Blog,
Oh how I have missed you. I write to you daily in my head. I write about my life, thoughts, joys, concerns and dissapointments. I write to you about my sweet, sweet girls and all the wacky things they say and do. I write to you about my relationships, I write to you about craft inspiration and finished projects. Honestly, I write often. Very often. But, it's all in my head! I've been majorly stuck in writing here because I am so very, very far behind. As in about six months behind! And we have BIG news here in Brewer land because we have a brand new member of our family (who isn't so new anymore!)

I'm sorry, dear Blog. I plan to be back! Well, as often as time allows!

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It is time to introduce my darling little (big) love bug Ellie! I pretty much know that anyone who does read this has already been introduced to Ellie in person or via Facebook. But, since this is my blog and for posterity's sake and because I can't move on until I do this properly....please let me introduce her again.

Here she is!

Isn't she a sweetie?! Look at all that dark hair! (We hear this every day!) Her "birth" day was a very special day. I was a little more prepared for the c-section this time around so I was prepping myself for the pain to come. My awesome friend, Kori was so gracious to come and photograph the whole day. She was at our house by 5 am to document us getting ready, saying goodbye to the girls and prepping at the hospital. (She was also a huge support to me and I am truly thankful that she was there with me. She has been one of my closest friends for many years and I love that I can be myself around her and she makes me laugh so much! I love it!)

Anyway, I gave myself little goals all morning and I knew that I could do it again (the c-section) if I took it step by step...no make-up, iv, prep, spinal, gurney, surgery, post-op (ouch!), recovery, walking, the first night (YEEOUCH!), etc and all the way through. It really was a good day and we were so delighted to meet out sweet baby, Ellie. We were shocked to see her head-full of dark hair and darker skin. Seriously, everyone was like...whoa, the small amount of Indian blood we have is coming through. My nurses joked that they hadn't seen a baby with that much hair that wasn't Hispanic. She is definitely our baby though. She looks a lot like Sophie and like my nephew, Ike. Sweet, sweet girl! Sophie (4.75 yrs) and Gracie (almost 2.5 ) weren't able to come into the Women's Center because of Swine flu and that was hard, but it was also easier I think. They did get to meet her through the glass of the nursery and that was so sweet. It has been a huge adjustment here at home! Grace especially has had a hard time, but I am happy to say that it has been getting better and now I can actually lay Ellie down for a minute on the couch without fear of her being hurt. (Seriously!)

{Click here to jump to Ellie's Brand New Day Slideshow}

Amazingly enough, she is over four months old now (sniff). I will write more about her and and the big girls later, but I guess I really wanted to share about her today, because the preciousness of her life has struck me in a new way as I have remembered the events of this same day last year. Last year at this time....the first Friday of June (Lum n Abner days here in my hometown .) was the day that I thought I was having a miscarriage. I had just found out the day before (Thursday) for sure that I was pregnant, although I had suspected it for a week or so. I was heavily involved in tornado relief during that time and Daniel was at home working on replacing our roof. The girls were napping and I took a test. It was positive and I immediately ran out and asked Dan to come down off the roof. I told him. We hugged. We were happy. We were overwhelmed. We were thankful. The next call was to my dad. I told I was going to have to cut waaay back on my tornado work because I was having another baby. He was quite happy! We told a few people that day and the next morning I was up early for a meeting (tornado) with two close friends. I was at the airport and actually I had just shared the news a little bit before and then had to use the restroom. There was lots of blood. My stomach dropped and I was certain that I had had a miscarriage. I had never had any bleeding and I really thought it was over. We went straight to the doctor. Dan and my sister, Jaclyn took turns with me. I had blood test. My levels were definitely showing pregnancy. I was told to return on Sunday to take another test and it would show if the numbers went up or down. Hard weekend. Very unsure about anything. But, to our amazement the numbers were up on Sunday. I went to the doctor on Tuesday and that began a month waiting and testing and more testing. My dr. says I had a baby who didn't play by the rules! The hcg levels weren't lining up with the size of my uterus, etc, etc. The numbers were big! Mt dr was concerned that I might have an ectopic pregnancy or that I might have miscarried.We finally had an ultrasound three weeks later and what a BLESSING to see her little heart beating! The tech did see a dark spot on the slide that showed obvious bleeding and what was very likely another sack that had pulled away and not made it. (A twin would explain the high hcg levels.) I don't know. In some ways it is hard not knowing if there was another baby there, but at the same time I know that the Lord's hand was on my life, my womb, and on Ellie. I am so thankful for her life. At this point we are pretty sure that Ellie will be our last biological child. As she grows that has started to hit me. The last baby. We've shared a few tears this week as I have loved on her and snuggled her up and whispered to her that she will always be my baby. She always will.

Just like Sophie. Just like Gracie.

Thank You, Jesus. May we be good stewards of these precious lives you have entrusted to us. To YOU be the Glory!

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Yay for a post! I think I am over my hump! Enjoy the wonderful slide show of Ellie's birth. Thank you, thank you, Kori! (She took like 800 plus pictures and then her and Jason graciously narrowed it down to about 8o or so. There are more good ones, but these tell the story well. :) Hopefully I will be back soon to share more of life here. Thanks for listening!

Still here

2009-11-15T20:01:00.002-06:00

Just a note to say I'm still here. Quite big actually at 30 weeks pregnant. Unfortunately, I failed my 1 hour glucose test and have to go in for the long and grueling 3-4 hr test tomorrow morning. :( I was really hoping to not have GD this time around. It is SO hard to manage in general, especially during the holidays. (At least for a carb lover like me!)

I'm praying for grace and wisdom and strength and JOY on the journey.

Sophie (now 4 yrs, 2 months) and Grace (22 months) are both doing good. Growing, interacting (ie...fighting) with one another and keeping Dan and I on our toes. :) They are a huge blessing and they crack us up daily.

I have done nothing decorating wise to prepare for our sweet baby GIRL coming. I'm not in denial, I'm just much more laid back about everything this time. It will be challenging to lose our office/craft room, but I'm sure it will all work out. It is SO worth it. The new baby will have her own room as of now and then in a year or so when she is older we would like to give Sophie her own room and the little ones will share.

This is usually a very busy time for us preparing for the holidays. Usually lots of Christmas decorating, party planning, etc. This year, I have had to turn down a few decorating jobs so far and as hard as it is, I know that it is the right decision for right now. I really need to lay low and spend as much time at home with my family and with my feet up as possible to keep the physical pain (a huge struggle this time around) at bay and this sweet girl cooking in the oven as long as possible!

Hope you are all enjoying your Fall and Thanksgiving season. We do have SO much to be thankful for no matter what season of life we are in right now.

God bless!

friday night random-ness

2009-09-04T21:14:00.004-05:00

-sophie, who will be FOUR in ten days, is addicted to band-aids. she's a pretty rough and tumble kind of girl and has quite a few "boo boos" lately. she hates blood, but as long as the band-aid is on she is OK. she just came and grabbed another one and i just smiled. in fact, sometimes her fav wal-mart treat is a box of character band-aids. weird? :)

-today i had the grand idea to paint on paper on our patio instead of on the easel. this was NOT a great idea for a 19 month old! grace, sophie and mommy were covered head to to by the time it was over.

-i was in a cleaning/organizing/throwing away mood today. the target was the dreadful play room. not quite done, but accomplished a lot during grace's nap. we have been shipping quite a few toys over to baby ike lately and it feels so good to get rid of some of the clutter.

-another weird sophie quirk...she packs bags, boxes, totes, etc every day with such a random hodge podge of stuff. we get ready to go somewhere and she runs to the playroom and grabs a bunch of stuff to fill her bag...a few little people, a stuffed cow, a couple of crayons, two blocks, a syringe from her dr kit, hair stuff, make-up, some plastic food, etc, etc, etc. it drives me bonkers!! i try and organize their toys so that they can actually play with them and we have bag upon bag of stuff. i'm about to empty all the bags and i've been working on teaching her purse appropriate stuff...like her hair stuff, lip gloss, pretend money, etc. we'll see how it goes!

-i won a new hello kitty cricut cartridge on e-bay today. WOO HOO! it will be great for making stuff for soph's hello kitty party.

-i'm totally looking forward to perusing boo mama's diptacular blog carnival. dips, YUM! :)

-well, i better go. gotta get this little goose to bed. looking forward to hanging out with some of my fav photographers tomorrow as well as eating some d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s ethnic food from my uncle. :)

happy labor day weekend!

Snuggle Puppy

2009-08-27T21:52:00.003-05:00

{Gracie B. loves to snuggle with her babies lately.}

overwhelmed

2009-08-25T14:16:00.004-05:00

right now i am overwhelmed. with finances, with my home, my garage, my van. with case management work. with my fatigue. i'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. i know that is such a cliche, but it is honestly how i feel at the moment. sometimes i wonder if i will ever have energy again. sometimes i have energy spurts, but they usually don't last very long. it makes me feel like such a stinky wife and mother.

i know that His grace is sufficient for me and that His power is made perfect in my weakness. sometimes I just don't tap into that.

we have a full week ahead including hours of meetings for me tonight and tomorrow. blah.

the other night i was at my little brother's house in fayetteville. him and some friends were having an impromptu concert. there were several college students there. kids that love God and have their whole lives ahead of them. we were all sitting on the floor in the dark room and as one of my friends was singing, tears unexpectedly pricked my eyes. i was thinking about missions and dreams and being young. not necessarily being a stay at home mom of two little ones with colored walls, a swollen belly, stacks of bills and extreme fatigue. (not that i would trade my husband or kids for the whole world.) i don't know, i just felt sad for a moment and the Lord gently reminded me that this is just a season. as all the different times of life are. the happy ones and the tough ones. even though the first few months after having sophie were so incredibly hard in so many ways, they were also some of the sweetest. i miss those times. maybe at some point i will look back at this season with fond memories. i know i will miss the stage that grace is at now. she is so precious and is learning new words and things every day. i will miss sophie's quirky little faces and funny expressions too.

i probably won't miss the heaving and the exhaustion and the early mornings and the colored walls.

it's all just a season.

now, back to work...

MDO Quotes, Rescue Mission, and Blackberries

2009-08-20T22:39:00.003-05:00

The girls did enjoy their first day at Mother's Day Out. I didn't accomplish as much as I would have liked to, but I did get some rest. That's ok, because SLEEP is a very important commodity in my world lately. :)

Apparently the boys greatly out-numbered the girls at MDO today. Grace was the only girl in her one year old class and Sophie mentioned all the boys a few times. She said "she likes boys!" :)

When I got them in the van to run errands I started asking Sophie all about it....Did you have fun? "Yes." Did you eat your lunch? "Yes?" Did you make a craft? "Yes." Did you learn anything? Pause for her to think about it... "Probably. " Smile from momma. :) Then I asked her about the potty. Did you use the potty? "Yep, I even poopied once." Really? Who wiped you? "Some grandma." :)

After a few errands and Grace had fallen asleep, Sophie begged to "watch a movie" on the couch. I finally consented and suggested one of Mommy's movies...The A & E version of "Pride and Prejudice." I lured her in with talk of pretty dresses, balls and horseback, but I really figured that it would put her right to sleep. Sure enough it did. It put us both to sleep! :)

I think their day was a success!

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Tomorrow I am joining my Mom, Sister (and my sweet nephew Ike), and Grandma on a "Rescue Mission" to help my sister Britt finish getting settled into her now home. She bought the cutest house and she needs a little help with finishing her un-packing and decorating. She also needs some hugs and laughs and prayers from her fam. I am looking forward to our time together...and of course I am looking forward to eating out in Rogers. YUM!

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Last, but certainly not least...I am happy to report that I am the proud owner of my second Blackberry Curve. My dear sweet original phone died a slow death drowning in a mug of coffee earlier this summer. I've been surviving on a little flip phone for the last month. My sweet, sweet friend, Alicia upgraded to an i-phone and gave me a great deal on her Blackberry and a few accessories. I am so very thankful! I can text again! The stinky part is that I lost all my numbers, so I will slowly get those added back in, but I am a happy camper!

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Well, Dan is out doing his nightly archery practice in the garage. I better finish packing for tomorrow and hit the sack!

'Night!

Mother's Day Out!

2009-08-20T09:40:00.006-05:00

The girls started Mother's Day Out today at a local church. This is our first time ever to leave them somewhere other than with family or friends or our church nursery. I think it went well. They looked so cute with their bags/backpacks and lunch boxes. Sophie helped Grace and was very mature about the whole thing. My only concern today is the dreary/stormy weather and that a few of the kiddos were sad and crying when their mama's left. I think Grace will be ok if the crying doesn't scare her. Hopefully they will both make friends and be a blessing to their teachers.

{Sophie, Age 3 and 11/12ths}

{ Grace, Age 19 months}

{Sweet Sisters.}

I'm pleased with the $4 each outfits that we put together yesterday. I bought two gently used Children's Place skirts from a friend and I scored the tops at Wal-Mart for $2 each last night. The bows that I made for their Christmas outfits matched perfectly. Yay! I love cute and inexpensive, coordinating outfits! :)

{Come On, Sis! Let's Go!}

This mother won't be out too much today even though I am really craving Papa's! I have some cleaning to do today and I have some good Poppyseed Chicken leftovers. So today we are having Mother's Day Home Alone!

I have lots to do to get ready to be out of town for the next couple of days, but first I think I might close my eyes for a few minutes. :)

Ten on Tuesday: The Numbers of Summer Edition

2009-08-18T21:11:00.004-05:00

(1) 16 - 17. As in weeks pregnant. It is going pretty well. Last week was pretty rough and I keep thinking that I will be over the yucky sick stage s-o-o-n...but the breakthrough has yet to come. Extreme exhaustion is probably my number one issue. Sometimes I feel like I need to prop my eyes open with matches like Mr. Bean in Mr. Bean's Holiday. :) The little kicks I get from time to time make it all worth it!

(2) 14- The number of books I have read this summer. I just finished number eight of the Love Comes Softly Series today and I'm a little bit sad. What a great series...it almost makes me wish we lived back in the olden days.

(3) 7 - The number of years I have been blessed to be married to Daniel. We celebrated our anniversary this month and took a few days off from life here and rested, relaxed, laughed, ATE, shopped, read, vegged, ATE and laughed some more. We had a great time together and we really appreciate all those who pitched in an helped with the girlies. :)

{Dan & I before dinner one night.}

(4) 3- The number of nights away from momma that it took Gracie to wean from nursing. She did great!! And I am happy to report that that she now sleeps all night long and takes one morning nap and sometimes a late afternoon nap too. YAY! She still wakes up at the crack of dawn, but at least we are sleeping all night.

(5) 2- The approximate number of un-soiled (by markers, crayons or pen) surfaces in our home! Ok, this is an exaggeration, but it is out of control! All markers have been confiscated!!

(6) 7- The approximate number of times I could eat Mexican food every week! Especially Papa P's! My cravings are INTENSE! (My friend Alicia and I have been ate the the last two Wednesdays and how I wish that could go on and on!)

(7) 27- The number of days until Sophie's FOURTH birthday! I can't believe she is going to be four. She has been looking forward to this since the day she turned three. :) Four is by far her fav number and right now PINK is by far her fav color. She reminds me every day that she wants the pink plate, the pink bowl and the pink cup! (I think Grace is more partial to purple like her mama!)

(8) 6- The number of mice we have caught in the in our home in the last week and a half. Is that not crazy, gross, disgusting, scary, etc, etc!! Sophie likes the hunt and has inspected some caught by her daddy. She thinks it would be fun to squish their eyeballs out!

(9) 3- The number of yummy snack foods that Dan and I made tonight. Spinach dip, Zesty Cucumbers and Toffee Crack. I guess we were hungry when we made the wal-mart list. Yum! Like I said, my cravings are pretty intense! :)

(10) 100's - The number of times I am overwhelmed, over-joyed, full of thanksgiving, full of love, frustrated, broken and out of control and then back again each day. Life is sometimes pretty crazy and if I have learned anything during this season it has been that we don't have it all together. Nobody does. And I've learned how valuable each and every person and part of the Body of Christ is. We are all on the road of life seeking the Lord and how to please Him and relating to one another. Sometimes we grind against one another and sometimes we walk side by side in harmony, but either way we are helping one another become the people we are to be. My life is crazy sometimes, but I am thankful for it and for those the Lord has put in it every day!

I've missed blogging. I'm hoping to be back in the saddle again soon!

In Honor of Grace's 1.5 yr Birthday- Gracie's Winter ONEderland

2009-07-16T21:26:00.012-05:00

***I realize I'm a day late and a dollar short on this post. I had picture problems! :)***

In all my slacker-bloggy-ness I failed to post pictures of Gracie's 1st Birthday Party back in January. It's amazing that SIX months have gone by!

But, in honor of her Half Birthday- eighteen months old and Kelly's Korner Children's Birthday Parties carnival I decided to go back and make a post of it.

{My little fishy girl in July}

Gracie is such a delight and I am loving the stage she is in now. She is saying new words every day. My favorite right now is "hot." Outside is "hot," food is "hot." (She says it very staccato like.) I also love it when she says, "noddy- for naughty", "uh-oh" and "eye" as she points to her eyes and nose and mouth. :)

{Grace in her PJammers}

I loved planning Grace's Winter ONEderland. It's crazy thinking about how COLD it was the day of her party in the midst of the extreme heat of this summer.

{The Invite- made at scrapblog.com}

{A view of several of the tables}

I was able to take advantage of lots of after Christmas/Winter sales. We used pastel colors, lots of glitter and sparkles!

{The Cake Table}

{I believe in BIG 1st Birthday cakes. My sweet, sweet friend Jerusha made this for Grace and I added some fun snow-flakes, etc cut with my Cricut}

{The food bar…we had three yummy types of soup, bread, crackers and all the fixins.}

{For drinks we offered tea, water and a Hot Chocolate Bar}

{The Favors- I saved MANY of Grace's baby food jars and we made little jars of Snowman Soup…hot chocolate & marshmellows filled these.}

{The Brewer Snow-family}

{The Real Brewer Family}

{She wasn't walking yet…but she sure tried!}

{Sweet sisters at the gift table.}

{Gracie was blessed with some fun toys and lots of sweet winter and spring clothes.}

{This melts my heart. She just beamed when she realized everyone was singing to her!}

{The Cake- she dug right in!}

{YUM- I love this girl!}

Happy Half Birthday Miss Gracie B.!!!
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Right now I'm getting into Birthday mode for my Sweet Sophie. She will be FOUR in September. She is very excited about her Hello Kitty Birthday Party. (Here is a link to the post from her 3rd Birthday party.)

Then we'll look forward to January 2010 when we celebrate my 28th Birthday, Grace's 2nd Birthday, my nephew Ike's 1st Birthday and our new baby's BIRTH!

Under Construction

2009-05-15T00:08:00.002-05:00

I think part of my recent aversion to blogging is that I couldn't stand to look at the pink snowflakes any longer! {Well, that and a very full month and a newly mobile child etc, etc. :)}

BUT, I do miss blogging and commenting and I feel the need to report on all the hilarious stuff that the girls are doing lately too.

Hopefully the new and improved Cowlicks and Curls will be up and running soon!

As for now, the kitchen and living room are clean, everyone is in bed and I need to get there too!

my perspective has changed...

2009-04-23T17:10:00.003-05:00

i am still alive. my town is reeling from the tornado that ravaged it 2 weeks ago tonight. i'm one of the 1500 plus volunteers here trying to clean up. been forever changed. i'm so thankful for my life. for the lives of those in my family. i'm thankful for my home for my car. i'm thankful for the "stuff" that fills my home. (although right now, that "stuff"...primarily laundry is about to take over my home. will i ever get it all done?) i am so grateful to be a part of this community. sure...we are a little country here. sure, we don't have the most up to the minute news sources or technology. sure, walmart is like "it" here.... but after all of this there is not another place i would want to be right now. i have seen these precious people love on one another, and work their tails off. they haven't waited around for the gov't (although we are still hoping they might show up), they haven't looted or rioted. they have gotten to work and they/we still are. mena will never be the same. there is just no way. BUT, i do believe that it will be better. i know i will. i will always be proud of my home town. i will always love the people and i will always serve the God Who has redeemed us and Who is working in this situation and bringing good things out of it.

well, now i broke the ice. hopefully i can get caught up here eventually.

right now, i am doing most of my "blogging" on the Mena Disaster Relief Information Blog here. hopefully we will have some word from FEMA soon so that we will know which direction to go.

the girls are doing good. grace moves very quickly! sophie cracks me up daily. we got a pretty good report from the dr. this week on grace's ears... she still has some fluid, but it is no longer infected. Thank YOU, Lord! we were SO over taking antibiotics and all the yucky side effects of those. her dr. does have some concerns about some bumps on her chest/arm (that have been there since birth/we came home from Childrens). Grace has an appt with a Pediatric Dermatologist at ACH this summer. we aren't worried, but we do want it to be seen.

dan is good too. he is officially a "red neck" since he got some major sun last week working on clearing debis/chainsaw/tarp work. he has helped me a lot with the girls since i have have lots to work on. he also preached last sunday at a little church in wickes. he did a great job (what i heard at least). i spent most of my time wrangling a 15 month old who really wanted to be on stage with daddy or behind the piano with the pianist. :)

we're looking forward to celebrating "easter on six mile" this weekend. easter was really different this year. but worshipping amongst the rubble and then delivering about 1300 meals in our community was awesome.

He is the GOD of this city. He is the hope of these people and yes, better things are yet to come....

What A Difference One Year Makes...

2009-03-21T23:02:00.006-05:00

I was browsing through some pictures tonight and found these from last year...

Sophie with Muncle Jon this week last year. Look at those chubby cheeks and short hair!

Sophie with Aunt Sarah Jo & Aunt Jac doing some "Walk Away The Pounds!" She has grown INCHES since this time last year! (Incidentally, Soph joined me for some Walk Away The Pounds this week and she kept up great for about a quarter of a mile. Then she said, "I'm hungry!", ate a banana and plopped down in the couch!) :)

Sophie (with her hair straightened) NOW. She looks SO grown up!

And SO tall!

Miss Gracie B. one year ago... all sweet and sleepy and snuggle in Aunt Nera's lap.

Grace in her favorite (and Mommy's too) swing!

And look at my walkin' girl NOW! I love her look of determination!

This girl melts my heart every day!

Well, they both do! They have changed and grown so much in the last year. I have too. I've been stretched and I have been blessed.

I have endured months, and I do mean MONTHS of waking up in the night over and over, 1000's of diaper changes, many sore muscles from lifting car seats and kiddos and more crazy messes than I care to remember! I've also enjoyed hundreds of slobbery kisses and snuggles and stories, and playing and laughter and blessings because of these little love-bugs!

This year has brought many changes to the people who grace these pictures. We now have TWO more babies to love! Nera has Arianna and Jaclyn has baby Ike. Jon is in College and by golly he is going to give meat another try! Woo Hoo! :)

Mammy with her four grand-babies!

Sometimes change is GOOD!

However... this...this NEVER changes! :)

It's Me again Margret!

2009-03-09T21:45:00.005-05:00

i'm still here. still living and loving and cooking and cleaning.... and parenting and nursing (!) and organizing and garage selling and crafting and praying and parenting and dating (my husband) and exercising (that's a new one!) and still trying to learn to balance my life and my time.

the last couple of weeks have been full and sweet. my family was here two weeks ago. we visited a lot and laughed and tried to get out kids to cooperate and take pictures! actually they will be back next week when THEY MOVE MY MOM & STEP DAD HERE! wow! that's a biggie. i haven't lived in the same town as my mom since i was in the fifth grade. we are excited to have her close by and anticipating some (good) adjustments in our relationship at the same time. she will be living with in walking distance from me so i know we will get to see her often. :)

last week we had a garage sale and i am so glad that it is done! it was good though and i got my garage cleaned in the process and that makes me very happy! i am slowly but surely making my way through each room and organizing. a couple of months ago i was SO overwhelmed by my disorganized house that i was ready to move away and leave it all behind. thankfully, things are lookin up! i still have tub upon tub of sweet little girls clothes (and shoes and blankets, ect) that i'm really not ready to part with yet. one day... :)

mom (lisa) & i went to an aerobics class one night last week and we are definitely going back tomorrow. i am NOT a coordinated person, but i was actually able to keep up and i am inspired to keep the weight loss train rolling! nursing (and chasing kiddos) have helped me a lot, but now i need to start demonstrating some self-control in the "sweets" department and start toning up!

this week i am also starting the "Captivating" Bible study. i am really looking forward to being involved in this group and praying for the Lord to minister to my heart in the process. this period of lent is always a tender and pivotal time for me. this year I have my favorite lent devotional (The Christ of Easter by Calvin Miller- it is so, so good) and daniel and i are joining our church in praying for 40 days for our nation and the world. it has been very good so far and it has brought praying for the lost to the forefront of our minds and hearts again. i struggled a lot about what to "give up" for lent this year. i thought that blogging and facebook was probably the thing. i did this about three years ago and it was very good for me. i believe that this time though that a total internet fast is maybe not what i need as much as some guidelines to help me balance my time on the internet all the time. i may take a few weeks or days off, but i know that also doing some other practical things like moving the laptop from the living room will really help me in this. Lord, please keep speaking to me and making me more like You!

well, i guess that about sums it up for me! the girls are doing great. grace is taking lots of steps here and there! she doesn't just take off down the hall, but she is getting more and more brave. she is an absolute delight and daniel and i are loving the fun stage that she is in! so, so sweet! (well, except for during diaper changes!)

sophie is doing good too! i can see a light... :) we are having some really good days lately. we still have some tricky times and she definitely still needs a nap, but we are loving this stage too. her vocabulary is getting so big and she has the funniest expressions and faces (a lot like her daddy!), she loves to help me in the kitchen, and the thing she gets in trouble the most for is pushing her sister. :( She loves to type her name on the computer and the other day she wrote her name on our white board!!!! i was SO thrilled by this! she's a little s-t-u-b-b-o-r-n (like her momma) so she doesn't do too much "on demand," but we will keep working on it together. :)

ok, i was supposed to be in bed by 10 and i still need to clean the kitchen. (sigh!) i have been loving this spring weather and getting outside with my dirt-loving kiddos and my johnny cash loving husband (a new love for dan)! God bless and good night!

jennifer

(ps- i know that i need to change my background and update my blog list! hopefully i can soon!)

(pps- i have lots more pics to upload, but it isn't working for me tonight!)

Nap time is a go!

2009-02-26T13:25:00.003-06:00

I think we finally have a good naptime routine here and it is making me SO HAPPY! It has worked 3 out of 4 days this week and a few last week so I'm thinking we are headed into a habit. I just keep Grace up a little longer, the girls and I start lunch at about 11:30, we have daddy's lunch all ready to go when he gets here. We visit some and dad eats then Dan lays down with Sophie in our room (he always gets a little nap at lunch anyway) and I nurse Grace and get her down. Then, then..... THEN I have about two hours (more or less) to myself! To clean, to read, to pay bills, to blog.

Honestly it has made our mornings better, our afternoons better, our evenings better... our house cleaner and that makes for a happy mommy, a happy daddy and happy kiddos!

Ok, time to make the most of this time and finish getting this house ready for company! We are so excited to have my mom, Junie, and my Aunt Debi here this weekend. Aunt Debi is coming to meet Mr. Ike and to photograph him and the rest of the fam. We are super excited! Sophie has been counting the hours to see Junie!

Have a great day!

My Princess

2009-02-24T22:56:00.003-06:00

Sophie is LOVING her dance class! The week before last, Mrs. Viviana deemed that next week would be 'Princess" day and that the girls needed to dress appropriately. She had her son dressed in a suit and he opened the door for the girls. It was sweet, but I can say for Sophie that the best part was the cupcake after class! :)

My princess, last week.

There were a few girls out last week with sickness, so Mrs. Viviana wanted to give them the opportunity to have a Princess party too. So... we had a repeat party this week. Sophie didn't mind!

My princess this week. :)

MISS CHEEESE!!

The princesses danced together and it was TOO cute! So was the free-styler dancing. They all get into it so much and they all have their own style and moves that are adorable!

Sophie really was a princess yesterday. We had a great day. (I sure document the difficult ones enough, I need to remember the good days too!) She was kind, obedient and a lot of fun to be with. After nap time we made sugar cookies from scratch. Obviously she had a fun time with the sprinkles! They were yummy and they didn't last too long!

I love you my princess, Sophie! (Whether we have a good day or not!)

Valentine's Day 2008 Recap! (In Pictures)

2009-02-24T21:49:00.008-06:00

I know I am behind, but I still want to document our Valentine's Day Celebration. We had a fun weekend filled with family, friends and l-o-v-e!

A little l-o-v-e decorating
A little l-0-v-e crafting for the girls. I found this tutu-shirt here (love her blog!) and I knew it was just the thing to get the sewing machine back out for! I finished them on Thursday night and the girls were tickled with them. They both looked super cute when they wore them on Friday. :)

Also, a little l-o-v-e candy making! I found these here and they were pretty easy to make (with Sophie & Dan's help) and they were pretty yummy. We made about 40 this year. Last week I bought a large set of V-Day sprinkles so hopefully I can make lots more next year.

We started celebrating by heading to a little get together Friday morning at my friend, Jerusha's house. We all had a good time visiting, playing, eating, and making cute crafts for the Daddy's.

Cheesy Gracie!

In the afternoon, the girls and I delivered all of our Valentines to our friends and family. We spent a while at the airport visiting with lots of loved ones including Mr. Ike. This is when my camera bailed on me. :(

In the evening we had the pleasure of having dinner and desert over at MiMi and Papa Don's house. The Neufelds were in from Kansas and we had a great time visiting with them! It was Muncle Baby's birthday, but unfortunately he wasn't feeling good, but we still got to hang out with Aunt Suzy! It was a wild and fun night. (As usual when all 6 of the kiddos are together!:)

Sweet Cousins... Sophie & Holiday

The boys... Justice & Fisher

So... this brings us to Saturday, Valentine's Day! We enjoyed a relaxing day at home. Dan let me sleep in a bit and brought us home some yummy donuts. I ran some errands, we gave each other our gifts and cards.

It was a great day...until we got about an hour out from going to our church's progressive dinner! It got pretty hairy there for a little while and we finally arrived at the church in a bit of a huff! Thankfully, it all worked out and we had a wonderful time with our friends as we traveled from house to house eating and eating and eating and laughing! :)

Here we are enjoying from Fettuccine Alfredo at Spinelli's

Here are our sweet and funny friends, Brandy & Chris.

And our sweet friends, Mandy & Andy who now have a brand new baby boy, Andrew!

As always, I wish I had taken more (and better) pics! We really did have a sweet celebration this year. It was definitely made sweeter by the sweet little treats for the girls by their thoughtful grandparents and great-grandparents. We are about through all the candy! Yay! It is time for a candy fast around here! :)

Daddy's New Rig!

2009-02-20T13:57:00.004-06:00

Two weeks ago we said goodbye to our little black Saturn and welcomed home a big ole white Ford F-15o! Daniel has been very gracious to drive my little car for to work and back for the past three years while we waited for the opportunity to buy another vehicle. It was a little comical to see him fold up his l-o-n-g body to get inside it. :) It was far from practical for toting around all his tools, but he took it all in stride. We were both pleasantly surprised when we finished our taxes about 4 weeks ago and saw how much we were going to get as a refund. (Thank you, Grace!) Dan started to scour the internet for a great deal on a used truck. He felt like the Lord was going to give Him a blessing and He sure did! We still needed to sell my old car.

The Saturn was a great car. A super cute, sporty little car that I bought on the day of my high school graduation back in 2000. (It was the bulk of my graduation gift.) I put many, many miles on her driving from Mena to Tulsa, from Mena to Tyler, from Tyler to Tulsa, from Tyler to Dallas, etc. It was a great car and I paid it off the summer before Dan and I married. Unfortunately, the first winter that Dan and I were married I was hit in the Saturn. What a bummer! They fixed the car, but it was never the same. It had some real issues and we knew it was going to be difficult to sell. But, the Lord provided a buyer who knew exactly what he was getting and was excited about it! Woo hoo! So we received our tax money in the morning and sold the car the same day. What a blessing!

The next day we drove to Ft. Smith to look for a truck. We went to a TON of used car lots looking for the right truck. Then Dan told me about a specific truck that he had found on Craig's List. It was about an hour away in Farmington. We got online, called them and we were on our way. Dan felt more and more certain about it the closer we got. We made the owner an offer and the truck was ours! YAY! YAY! YAY! I am so happy for Dan. There is plenty of room for us and the car seats and all of Dan's tools. I am so thankful that he has a vehicle he can be proud of and that he doesn't have to scrunch up his legs in the Saturn anymore.

Thank you, Lord!

Here are the girls at Cheddar's (our new favorite restaurant) before we started car shopping.

Here I am behind the wheel! :)

the dash

2009-02-18T17:05:00.003-06:00

I'm a little down this afternoon. It has been a long day. Yesterday, I noticed that something had been draining out of one of Grace's ears. I had seen it the day before and thought it was just ear wax. Anyway when it came back I realized she might have an ear infection. She hasn't ever had one before and I thought that the other symptoms she had were from teething. I took her to the dr. today and she does have an infection in both ears. Poor baby. I had a very difficult morning with Sophie today and there is nothing that drains me faster than a huge fit. I willed myself (by the Grace of God) to not get angry with her, but instead to love on her as I was disciplining her, but she would not calm down.

This afternoon Daniel and I went to a funeral for his 91 yr old aunt. She was a sweet lady. A spunky woman and I have no doubt that she is in Heaven with Jesus. Her funeral was at the church that I grew up in. I seem to only go there for funerals lately and it always makes me sentimental. I started thinking about how I want my funeral to be, about how neither of us have life insurance and we both have no plan if something were to happen. When we left I talked to Dan a little about it. I told him I wanted all fresh flowers at my funeral. He looked at me like I was crazy because I never talk about stuff like that at all. I don't know why, but for some reason I am really emotional today. I read a little more about sweet baby Cora this afternoon and my heart broke for her family once again. Her chubby cheeks and sweet disposition remind me of Grace.

I so want to live a life of joy and love and self-sacrifice. I get so caught up in the flurry and the messes and running to and fro. I want to invest my life. I want it to count. I want my family to know that I love them. I want to teach my girls to look outside of themselves and their wants and to love Jesus and to let Him love through them. I want to care for the poor and most of all to lay up treasures in Heaven. This life is all we see and know right now, but in reality it is a fleeting moment. A simple dash.

God give me an eternal perspective.

Mr. Bean

2009-02-17T21:57:00.001-06:00

Pappy poses as Mr. Bean wearing Grace's hat.

30 Things About Me (I couldn't stop at 25!)

2009-02-16T23:46:00.002-06:00

I'm sure you've seen these...it's a facebook phenomenon! :) Random facts about myself have been swirling around in my head for weeks now. :)

1- I love to swim. (Mainly underwater with my eyes open.)
2- Dr. Pepper will always be my #1 drink. I love it from an ice cold can. Sweet tea comes in as a close second.
3- I am completely un-coordinated. This makes me very un-athletic! I am decent at snow-skiing and water skiing which is pretty cool.
4- So far I have traveled to three continents... North America (including Central America), Europe and Africa.
5- I love cross-cultural missions and I pray that me & my family will be able to serve overseas again in the future.
6- I am thankful for the Grace of God and the Love of Jesus every day. It is scary to think of where I know I would be with out Him.
7- I really enjoy cooking.
8- And decorating.
9- And crafting. :)
10- Falling in love with one of my good friends, Daniel totally took me by surprise, but our love has blessed me every day for the past seven and a half years.
11- Two little brown headed girls have stolen my heart! They fill me with so much joy and awe!12- Parenting is by far the most challenging endeavor I have ever experienced. (Maybe it's Sophie? ;)
13- I am brown-eyed red head with a semi-olive completion. The cool thing is I can tan.
14- I am pretty much a turbo nursing mama. I have been pregnant or nursing for the past FOUR YEARS STRAIGHT! :)
15- I love school and learning. I prefer to learn by lecture and note-taking. If I hear it and write it down it's in there!
16- I doodle constantly. If I have paper I write about what I am talking about/listening to or I just write invisibly with my finger.
17- I love "chinese soup." It's this soup that comes from the "Chinese" store that is very similar to ramen, but has an additional oil flavoring that goes in it that is spicy and yummy!
18- I use the word "yummy" often. Pretty much all Mexican food and home-cooked food by either of my moms would be classified as "yummy!"
19- I love my family SO VERY MUCH! Each.and.every.one.of.them (natural and through marriage)! I cherish spending time with my parents and siblings more and more every year.
20- I have to copy Jaclyn because it's true... I love and admire my grandmothers SO much. I cherish the time I have with them and the special relationships that they have with my daughters.
21- I have developed Gestational Diabetes with both of my pregnancies and sometimes I fear Type II Diabetes. However, not enough to cut out sweets!
22- I am addicted to blogging. (Is there some kind of AA for this kind of thing?)
23- I am by nature a Messy. I am married to a Cleanie. We're working through it!
24- My sisters hold a very special place in my heart. I have a blood sister, a step-sister, an adopted sister, an "almost" sister, and two sisters-in-law. They are all sisters of my heart.
25- I am an introvert and I pretty much stink at making friends.
26- I would do anything in the world for my little brother. What can I say, "He wears me down!"
27- I could listen to Sara Groves every day.
28- Spending one on one time with Daniel is my favorite thing ever! I love our acronyms and inside jokes and goofiness and our love!
29- When I was younger I wanted to be a teacher, a politician, a fashion designer, a missionary, a counselor, a teacher, a mom, an interior designer, an event planner...in that order. If I could find a way to incorporate them all I'd go for it! :)
30- So far I have never received a speeding ticket. (KNOCK ON WOOD!) :)

Thanks for hanging with me and thanks for being my friends!

Miss Gracie B.

2009-02-05T20:22:00.010-06:00

I just put Gracie down to sleep a few minutes ago. We've started the "cry it out method." Cry it out = no fun! Thankfully, tonight the crying has already stopped. This sweet little one thinks that she doesn't need much sleep lately. Her naps have been a little hit and miss lately. No naps or short naps also = no fun. I think (hope, pray) that we will get settled in a new sleep routine soon. It would be ideal if she would be on the sleep schedule as Sophie that way she would have one longer nap each day and they would be at the same time so I could have some downtime/work-time/craft-time too. We shall see!

(Can I just insert here that I am quite ready to wean Miss Grace. I have now been pregnant or nursing since January of 2005. Four years. I think my body (and mind) is ready to rest for a while. However, I also don't want to short-change Grace. I've read that children still need sucking time into their second year. Sophie didn't wean until she was 21 months old. I was pregnant with Grace, very sick and had to wean her. Grace has no pacifier and isn't a thumb sucker. Apparently, I am the pacifier! I am trying to cut back her nursing to morning, naptimes and at night. And I am offering her a sippy cup with water or juice often. I am ready to be able to go away for a couple of days with Dan and I am SO ready to consistently sleep through the night and wake up in the morning not hanging off the bed with her in my spot. :) I love my girls so much and I want to be the best mom to them and I really need some wisdom... any advice??)

Sophie is sleeping at her sweet, sweet great-grandparents house tonight. I'm sure she is having the time of her life. I always did! In a few minutes I am off to finish cleaning/organizing the play room. It has been an all day affair! I really wanted to do this one afternoon when I was all alone and just hammer it out. But, that hasn't happened or if it has recently I have needed to do other things. Anyway, this morning I just bit the bullet and decided we would get it done today. It has been a long day and there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm about to put on some good ole Andy Stanley preaching and get it knocked out. (Dan is out working on Aurora, our Saturn. Hopefully it won't be ours much longer!)

I'll leave you with some cute pics of Grace that Kori captured at the hospital during my sister's 2 day labor & delivery of Mr. Ike. Grace did really well! She is really starting to come into her own lately. Dan & I thought she was a really docile and mild-mannered girl (didn't she have to be since her sis is WILD CHILD, Sophie?? :), but this little one has a "personbality" of her own! She is a climber (we caught on top of an end-table the other night), and a bee-bopping dancer. It is too cute! Unfortunately, she is also a hitter. She thinks it is very fun to pop people in the face. Well, either a kiss (more like a lick) or a pop. She got a little out of hand this evening and she got disciplined. Her pouty face was the cutest little sad face. :(

Grace with Pappy, Mammy and Pappy's wonderful cell phone!

With Sweet Ma Ma Ma

With Aunt Jac. (Jac was w-a-l-k-i-n-g!)

Hanging out with Aunt Britt in Jaclyn's room.

Sleepy Grace the next morning. This toy is one of her favorite birthday gifts.

With Mommy

Psalm 103

2009-02-04T09:17:00.000-06:00

Psalm 103
A David Psalm

O my soul, bless God.
From head to toe, I'll bless his holy name!

O my soul, bless God, don't forget a single blessing!
He forgives your sins—every one.
He heals your diseases—every one.
He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
He renews your youth—you're always young in his presence.

God makes everything come out right;
he puts victims back on their feet.

He showed Moses how he went about his work,
opened up his plans to all Israel.

God is sheer mercy and grace;
not easily angered, he's rich in love.

He doesn't endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.

He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.

As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.

And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
he has separated us from our sins.

As parents feel for their children,
God feels for those who fear him.

He knows us inside and out,
keeps in mind that we're made of mud.

Men and women don't live very long;
like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
leaving nothing to show they were here.

God's love, though, is ever and always,
eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
as they follow his Covenant ways
and remember to do whatever he said.

God has set his throne in heaven;
he rules over us all. He's the King!

So bless God, you angels,
ready and able to fly at his bidding,
quick to hear and do what he says.

Bless God, all you armies of angels,
alert to respond to whatever he wills.

Bless God, all creatures, wherever you are—
everything and everyone made by God.

And you, O my soul, bless God!

Two Week Menu

2009-02-03T17:15:00.004-06:00

This morning the girls and I braved Walmart to stock up on groceries. I know might sound bad, but I don't normally take the girls grocery shopping alone. Either I go when they are with grandparents or we all go as a family or even sometimes Dan goes. I have had some fear about taking them to Walmart alone. I'm trying to get rid of some faulty thinking like... I can't do much in town with both girls or... I can't clean very well with both girls. There is some truth to both of these thoughts. But, at the same time I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. (I know that can sound so trite, but it is TRUE!) He has given me these girls as a gift and this is where I am in life. I realize that this time of having small kids at home is only a short season and I want to embrace it and enjoy it. Soooo, we went to Walmart. We had a few incidents! It was a long hour and a half, but the girls did pretty good. At the end Sophie opened a container of sliced mushrooms and Grace made a good snack out of them. EWW! :)

The great part of a long shopping trip is the benefit of having lots of stuff to eat and being able to have a good game plan on meals for the next couple of weeks. I thought I'd share a few of the recipes.

I bought stuff for
*Beef Enchiladas - we had these tonight with spanish rice, sour cream & mixed veggies for the girls. They were surprisingly good!
*Poppyseed Chicken- we LOVE this! We usually it with Jasmine Rice (love, love, love), fresh bread, and sometimes salad and another veggie... usually green beans (soph's favorite!)
* Aunt B's Pizza- YUMMY! I have been craving this for months. It consists of bread dough for the crust, pizza sauce, green chilis, sausage, black olives, and sliced mushrooms. Delicious!
*Little Cheddar Meatloaves- I got this recipe from my sis-in-law, Jerusha when Dan and I got married. It is the first meatloaf I ever tried and I actually really like it. I'll post the recipe soon. We serve this with mashed potatoes, rolls, and another veggie.
*Broccoli Quiche- So good, healthy and this can go for a lunch or a dinner. We'll probably have this for lunch tomorrow. :)
*Mom's Easy Chili- This is so simple, fast and good. You just brown the meat (2 lbs), add a packet of Williams Chili Seasonings and then add a large can of Tomato juice and let it simmer together. I have another fabulous chili recipe from my mother in law but it makes about 25-30 servings and a little bit of time. I like this easy one when I am short on time.
*Lasagna- Frozen! It's good stuff. :)
*Grilled Pork Tenderloin- This a new recipe, but it looks really good. We love pork roast. So tender and good!
*Macaroni Grill Chicken Alfredo with Linguine- This is a box meal that you add chicken to. Mom (Lisa) has tried one of these so I thought it would be good for something easy and different. We love Macaroni Grill!

When we add in some of our normal lunch meals... sandwiches, spaghetti (easy prego), egg salad, can soups I think we'll be set for a couple of weeks. Well, we'll probably eat out a time or two, especially since next week is Valentine's Day! :)

Bon Appetit!

*Special thanks to Kelly for posting such delicious recipes. We are still praying for sweet Harper and are so thankful to the Lord that she is doing so well!

Enough Said...

2009-02-02T22:00:00.001-06:00

Cleaning the house while the kids are growing is like shoveling snow while its still snowing.

My January Loves

2009-02-01T21:55:00.003-06:00

I hope to continue this list of things I love about my housemates each month of this year. This was inspired by a great blogger, Kristy Glass.

Daniel-
Encouraging me and my crafting endeavors and buying my a wonderful cabinet for all my supplies.
Assembling the above gift!
Being so sweet about my birthday... insisting that I needed a large birthday hat and for the beautiful roses.
Your excitement over our imminent tax return
Your obsession with finding a used truck for yourself. The way you peruse Craigs list and ebay and auto trader!
For taking such good care of Sophie (along with your Mom) when I went to Ft. Smith with Jaclyn and for coming up there to get us.
For being such a great handyman...fixing stuff at Jaclyns & making our cool laundry set up
For taking care of the girls so I could go to a baby shower
For taking BOTH girls grocery shopping so I could get some work done.
Your dedication to God, home, work, church at all times.

Sophie-
I love watching you in your dance class. You know just how dancers sit!
Being so outgoing and cheerful in class!
For loving Ike so much
Watching you interact with Junie & Maddie.
For being "the perfect child" when you spent the day out of town with your family
For being a great sport about me & Grace's birthday
For reminding me to "smile" (melts my heart!)
Your newest drawings of faces... two dots for eyes a dot for nose a dot for mouth and two dots for cheeks. too cute!
for saying "i promise" such as "i promise i won't get in your craft stuff mom!" :)
Watching you paint clouds with your little apron on
Saying, "I not feeling really good right now." Because of your stomach "crabs"
How you love to say "tender"
You new names for everything in our home... all your friends
Watching you dance with Jaclyn's dress form that you named, Emma

Gracie B-
Watching you take your birthday in! You loved when we sang to you!
Watching you dig into your birthday cake. Yummy!
You're working on drinking from sippy cups. Good job!
The day I caught you in the hot chocolate and you had a chocolate mustache a beard!
Being so good and cute during the LONG wait at the hospital. Letting Jason H. walk you to sleep in the stroller.
Wanting to eat little babies up!
Trying to eat with a spoon for the first time. Messy! :)
Watching you realize that Sophie is somewhere and you aren't (like with Pappy) and you crying big alligator tears. (broke my heart)
Hearing about your perfect day when you got to go with grandma all by yourself, your delight, loving your long walks outside
Nap strikes... I don't love this, but it happens, huh...
Watching you get more and more brave in the walking, standing dept. You stand all by yourself and then slowly let yourself back down.
Constantly taking your hair bows out and then trying to put them back in.
Your disdain for shoes and socks no matter what time it is!

cute

2009-01-30T15:21:00.006-06:00

This pair is so cute... Sophie & Maddie.

This little one-year old is pretty cute too! I love to hear her babble lately. She has the cutest little voice. :)

Something else kinda cute... the little wreath I made for my friend's baby shower. I think I'm finally getting my Cricut figured out and I know we're going to be great friends! :)

**********************************
Today I've had some free time with out the girls. I had a meeting in town, ate a quiet lunch and browsed in a few stores. It's been nice to be alone a little bit. My pace is often much slower when I'm without the girls and it seems like so much time has passed when actually it has only been an hour or two. (Not sure if that makes any sense at all.)

**********************************

ok, one more cute pic...

Is he not absolutely ADORABLE?! I'm lookin forward to this little guy in the White House in 35 years or so... :)

hope you have a great Friday night!

Ike is here!

2009-01-23T23:29:00.005-06:00

Jonathan Eisenhower Richie was born this afternoon at 1:54 pm. He weighs 8 lbs 1 oz and is 20.5 inches long. He has a head full of dark hair, a cute little dimple on his chin, beautiful coloring and has captured all of our hearts. He is so, so sweet. I was in the delivery room with Jaclyn along with our moms and a couple of aunts and my sis, Britt and our awesome photographer & friend, Kori and it was such an incredible experience! Jaclyn did so, so good. It has been a long wait for her and she had some pretty hard labor. She pushed for over two hours and dug down deep to find the strength to continue. It was amazing and I am so, so grateful that Ike is here and is so healthy and SO handsome! Please keep Jaclyn in your prayers. It was a difficult delivery and she is had a pretty bad tear. (Something about us Rose girls? :() I am praying that she will heal quickly. Ike is doing great a nursing so that is great!

Most of my family is here in Ft. Smith celebrating and helping take care of Jaclyn. My love for her has grown and grown as we as for her sweet son. I can't wait to spend some quality- QUANTITY time with him. So far I have cleaned two of his stinkies! :)

Thank You, Lord for being the Author of Life. Thank for being so present in the delivery room and for a healthy pregnancy and for such a sweet and healthy baby boy. Please heal Jaclyn and fill her with joy and peace and strength. Lord, give her all the grace she needs to take care of her son. Keep them all safe and Lord, please give all of Ike's family wisdom and grace. Thank you for this sweet gift. May his life always bring You glory! Amen!

(These pics don't begin to capture all of his handsome-ness. I'll try to post some more as they come! )

OK, so maybe Ike isn't coming... today

2009-01-22T17:53:00.003-06:00

I think Ike really likes his home in the womb! He isn't quite ready to come out today. The dr and Jaclyn have decided to try again tomorrow. Please pray that Jaclyn will be able to progress and that we'll have us a baby boy tomorrow! Exciting!

Grace and I have had a good day hanging out with the fam and waiting, waiting, waiting!

Hopefully we'll have some news tomorrow!

Thanks for your prayers!

Ike is coming!

2009-01-21T21:48:00.003-06:00

Tonight, my sister Jaclyn is at the hospital in Fort Smith awaiting her induction tomorrow morning. Ike is coming soon! She has had some difficulty dialating so she has been given medication tonight and prayerfully it will do it's job while she sleeps. My mom, Cheryl is there with her and the rest of us will travel there tomorrow morning in shifts. I am so excited to meet my new nephew. Please keep Jaclyn in your prayers as well as Mr. Ike.

Thanks!
Jennnifer

Today

2009-01-19T23:11:00.004-06:00

I'm not real sure why I am still up tonight? It's been a full day. This morning we was Sophie's first dance class. It started at 10 am and by then we had already had an accident in the floor, an entire bowl of cereal spilled and a little painting incident while mommy was in the shower. Yes, this is normal and this is my life. :) We did finally make it to dance. Sophie wasn't so sure about it at the beginning. This is first experience with anything like this. She loves her Children's Church class, but that is her only experience thus far around other little ones in a structured environment. She finally warmed up to it after a few minutes and then she had a great time. I think Grace would have loved to join in! :) It is an hour long class and I was very impressed with the teacher. We'll be back next week and hopefully Sophie will be ready to join at the beginning and maybe she won't have dried paint streaks up and down her arms! :)

{Junie, Me & Neena }

After dance, I thought we'd stop by and say a quick hello to my mom (Neena) and Junie at my sister's house. I knew that they were going to be working there. Well, what was meant to be a few minutes turned in to an ALL DAY event. Grace went to sleep soon after we go there and Soph showed off her new dance moves. I think my mom was just tickled that we could just stop by without making a 3 hr long trip! It will be so nice when she is able to move into her new house here in town. (Hopefully her house will sell SOON!) We visited for a little bit, mom made us lunch and then we got to work! I called in some reinforcements (Dan & Mom Lisa) and by the end of the day we had eliminated several more boxes, and hung pictures in most of the house. This is a task since her walls are made of cement! This evening, Dan and I ran home for about an hour and cleaned our house before heading back there fot dinner. Again. (We've eaten there the past three night. Jac, honestly... this will not continue! :))She goes back to the Dr. tomorrow, so we should have some news of Ike's arrival soon. I'm praying that he comes in God's perfect time. Jac wanted him to come during President Bush's term, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen... Hopefully soon!!

Tomorrow, the girls and I have nothing going on. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Except staying at home and spending time together. Of course this includes playing, baths, cleaning, cooking, etc, but I am really glad to not have anything big that I am planning on that requires a lot of energy, physical or mental. This is a good feeling. On that I haven't had since about August.

Ok, now it is seriously time for bed!

More pics of Grace's party to come! :)

Happy 1st Birthday, Grace!

2009-01-17T23:41:00.004-06:00

Sweet Gracie B.,

i only have a few minutes to write this before your official birthday will be over. it has been a good day. very laid back and i so enjoyed snuggling and playing with you. your birthday party was so fun last night and it was a true delight to see your expression when everyone sang to you. you soaked it right up and boy did you dig into your cake! too cute!

i love your age and your sweet, sweet spirit. you love to play peek-a-boo and to speed-crawl away from me when i try to change your diaper. you love your big sister and so much want to play with her at all times. you are cruising everywhere and are getting braver and braver. i know you will be walking soon. you love bath time and for some reason you have a strong affinity for the toilet bowl too so i have to be careful!

tonight when we were praying before dinner. i thanked God again for the miracle of your sweet life. tears pricked my eyes as i remembered this day last year. when you were born, but your little lungs weren't ready yet. i wanted so badly to hold you and nurse you. i was convinced that i could make you all better by holding you close. i couldn't and the next morning you were whisked away on an airplane to arkansas children's hospital three hours away from me. my heart was broken. when we first got to see you again that evening, your daddy and i cried and cried. it hurt so much to see with all the tubes and struggling to breathe. our Father was so near to us during that time. He held us close and gave us faith and peace and hope that you would be ok. it was during this time that we dubbed you, gracie b. since that is what you went by in the nicu. the name stuck and you will always be our sweet gracie b! your sweet doctor all of your nurses liked you so much. your only male nurse told me that he wanted a baby just like you one day. your uncle jeremiah is prone to say that too. :)

grace, you are such a blessing and i am so thankful to God chose to place you in our family. i know that your life is a miracle and a gift. this was confirmed to me even recently. me and daddy and sophie love you so very much as well as all your extended family. all of your grandparents are pretty sweet on you!

soon you will have a new cousin, mr. ike. you will be almost exactly one year older than him (i think, come on ike! we want to meet you!) and you'll have someone littler, some one to boss. :)

i love you sweet grace adeline. as adeline means, you are "under God's guidance" and i am so blessed to be your momma.

lets have an awesome second year! :)

love, mom

ps- now would be a great time to start sleeping through the night. don't you think? :)

Please pray!

2009-01-17T09:11:00.000-06:00

Another Birthday Month in Brewster-ville!

2009-01-11T08:40:00.007-06:00

January is another birthday month in the Brewer home! The four of us share 2 birthday months, September for Dan & Sophie and January for Jen and Grace. Tomorrow I will be twenty-seven. 27! And on Saturday, Miss Gracie B. will be ONE! We are planning a Winter ONEderland party for her and I am so excited!

I usually make invitation and incorporate a photo into it, but this year I ended up going with scrap-blog. It came together quickly and printed good at Wal-mart. I would have edited it some more, but somehow it got lost in cyberspace and I didn't want to start over. :)

Today, after church my little family is heading out of town for a few hours. We are going to Lowes to look for some organizers for my new craft center and of course to go to TJ Maxx! We'll hit the party store once more and eat a yummy dinner at On The Border courtesy of Jer & Suz's Christmas gift to us. I am looking forward to it!

This weekend has been pretty restful. Grace is learning to soothe herself back to sleep!! So, we have had two nights of uninterrupted sleep! (This is the BEST birthday present!! SLEEP!) And yesterday, I got a nap too. I'm on a ROLL! Sophie went to the farm with Pappy (Because he agreed with her that cows do indeed like stickers! She had to take some stickers to "her" cows, Kelly & Pretzel. She came up with those name on her own. :) The kid's got p-e-r-s-o-n-a-l-i-t-y!) and me, Dan and grace all got naps. :)

Now, I'm off to make some breakfast and to get ready to worship! :)

Oh Happy Day!

Debt-free is the New Rich

2009-01-07T10:17:00.000-06:00

"Keeping up with the Jones' may be an American pastime, but I've got some news: the Jones' are in hock up to their eyeballs. Do you really want to emulate them? Then take a good look at what you're spending your money on. After all, getting out of debt is hard work. Don't make it harder on yourself by spending money on things you don't need. And remember: being free from debt is the new rich."

-Steve Scalici, CFP® is the Senior Vice President of Treasure Coast Financial, located in South Florida.

Read the entire article here.

Ten on Tuesday

2009-01-06T23:44:00.002-06:00

1- it's almost wednesday, but maybe i can whip this out in 15 minutes!
2- i know i need to change my header. i know that is no longer Christmas-time. :( i know i need to take down my tree and all the other decorations and remove the two trees and decorations that didn't even get finished this year. aaaghh! i am so far behind.
3- my new cricut expression will be here tomorrow. i can't wait to try it out! i have three cartridges coming with it- plantin schoolbook, storybook (SO excited about) and doodlecharms. i might pull a daniel and go to the UPS loading place tomorrow morning. we're such tracking nerds!
4- i got a blackberry curve last night. i am so in love. especially since today i can browse the web on it. tomorrow i probably won't be able too. sigh. well, unless i beg my papa. hmmmm. we'll see. :)
5-grace i went to ft. smith today with mom & jaclyn for one of jac's dr. appt. please pray that she will begin to progress soon and that little ike will come in God's perfect time without a c-section!
6- we've been helping jac get moved into her super-cute new home this past week. it's adorable, and super sturdy with CEMENT walls. definitly the place to be in case of a tornado, not the best place to hang pictures. :)
7-i have 7 minutes left until wednesday. i am officially up past my bed-time.
8- i've still yet to look at the pictures we took over Christmas. again, i am wayyyy behind. it might help if i could locate the camera.
9- i love my super duper, handy husband. i got a vision of a laundry sorting solution for our little laundry room, well, nook and he built it tonight. i'm excited, the office is headed into a craft room. yea! now the rest of the house/garage won't be the craft room.
10- the girls are growing so fast. grace kept climbing up on sophie's bed tonight and turning the light switch off. over and over. she isn't even one yet. amazing! last night sophie and i were praying and she prayed, "dear lord, please help me to be four so i can go to school when i am five. i am three now and i need to be four so i can be five." too cute! sometimes i want them to grow and then they do all too fast.

midnight, i better go! as pooh & piglet would say, happy wednesday!

one of my favorite weeks...

2008-12-30T22:01:00.003-06:00

i always love this week between Christmas and New Years. for us it's a time to rest and catch up and organize.

Christmas was good. busy, crazy, exhausting, but very good. we loved visiting with our families and laughing and all the yummy foods and watching the girls open their gifts. (i took lots of pictures, but have yet to download them. i will soon!) we were all so very blessed and now we're going through old toys and stuff and trying to get things is (much) better order. grace is cutting some major teeth and sophie is testing the boundaries over and over and over again. (:0), but i have enjoyed spending time with them too. we've spent lots of time playing in the playroom. tomorrow we are headed to tulsa to celebrate Christmas with my mom & mike and and to enjoy some New Year's day sales! woo hoo! i'm hoping for a peaceful, relaxing trip.

my parents blessed me with a cricut for Christmas and i am SUPER excited about getting it going and making some fun stuff in the new year.

but, for now, i'm going to keep on resting and reading and playing and organizing and planning and hugging and snuggling and savoring these last few days of the holiday season.

blessings to YOU!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T01:50:00.001-06:00

Lord, help me to remember this tomorrow...

2008-12-22T23:53:00.002-06:00

If I decorate my house perfectly with lovely plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny glass balls, but do not show love to my family - I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family - I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family - It profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn’t envy another home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way.

Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Love never fails. Video games will break; pearl necklaces will be lost; golf clubs will rust. But giving the gift of love will endure.

-A paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13 by Sharon Jaynes

3 days until Christmas!

2008-12-21T23:32:00.003-06:00

it's 11:30 pm on Sunday night. the weekend is almost over. sigh. i just finished picking up all the rooms (minus the play room. i can't tackle it tonight!) and now i'm ready to start making lists, lists, lists for this week and to finish up some airport work. hopefully sleep will come soon! the girls are sleeping away and dan is busy working on some Christmas gifts. i'm so thankful for his help. i love working with him.

we have a full week ahead and i seriously need to make every hour count until Christmas. i do have a lot to do. but, i am determined to enjoy it. i realize that most of my expectations are self-imposed and that in the end it will all be ok. my family will still love me even if I didn't get the perfect thing for them this year! Jesus is the perfect Gift. He gave Himself for me and i want to give myself to Him and to others. the other gifts of Christmas are secondary.

today on the way to Church (we visited my Dad's little country Church today) I was thinking about all that was left to do... the cleaning, shopping, wrapping, cooking/baking, crafting and wondering how in the world i was going to get it all done with the girls at home? (they have been especially demanding lately!) it hit me that they only have one childhood. this will be the only Christmas we will have with Sophie as a three year old. this will be Grace's only 1st Christmas. time goes by too fast and I want to enjoy them right now and not regret it in the future. honestly, things have been super difficult lately with Sophie so this is me asking for God's grace to help me! tonight I talked to her about all the things we are doing this week and she seems really excited. i told that I am going to need her help and that the most important thing was to LISTEN and OBEY. we'll keep going over that one and hopefully those words will get down in her heart!

i am looking forward to this week! one more week to wear those Christmas sweaters! :)

We just gotta Keep Calm & Carry On!
Merry Christmas!!

I love glitter!

2008-12-15T23:46:00.006-06:00

This is party week in the blogosphere! Boo Mama's party was HUGE! I thought I'd visit Kimba's too! : ) I love Kimba's blog and the sweet spirit that she exudes. I love crafty people who see something and know they'd rather try and make it than buy it. She has helped me see spray paint with new eyes! :)

So, WELCOME to my home. Here is my little contribution...

This year I am all about the glitter. The new Martha Stewart line at Wal-Mart is so pretty! I just can't bring myself to spend over $20 on glitter though. (Especially since little hands could get a hold of it!)

So, this year I have made a few glass candle holders that are super inexpensive, cute and full of Christmas cheer! You just apply a thin coating of modge podge to the inside of a glass votive holder (or a bigger glass object) and then pour the glitter in and let it coat the entire inside surface. The modge podge will dry clear and in a few minutes you'll have a beautiful new candle holder! More holiday decor here.

I used white glitter on these for my sister's baby shower last week. I added some ribbon and a scrapbook charm and I think they turned out pretty cute.

So, now I want to add glitter to everything! This will come in handy as I decorate for my baby girl's Winter One-derland Birthday party in January. Fun, Fun!

Here's a little glitter bird I made out of foam board, spray paint, GLITTER, feathers and pipe cleaner. I've thought about making a garland of these or maybe some ornaments. Maybe one day. :)

Glitter makes everything prettier.

I pray that you and yours have a sparkly holiday season, full of love, compassion, togetherness, tenderness, peace and hope for the new year. I'm so thankful for Jesus, our Emmanuel, the ONE that we can put our hope in... Merry CHRISTmas!

Christmas Tour

2008-12-14T23:16:00.010-06:00

Welcome to our humble little home. If you were here in person I'd offer you some yummy peppermint hot chocolate and some white chocolate pretzels and we could chat as we watch the beautiful tree. It won't be too quiet with the pitter patter of little feet nearby. :) Enjoy!

A little bathroom sparkle

This is one of my favorite Christmas decorations. My grandma gave it to me and Dan the first year we were married. It lit up and we displayed it above our bed. Little snow couple in love! :)

I got a great deal on these simple stocking from Pottery Barn this year. $6 each with free embroidery & free shipping! Woo hoo!!:)

The dining room... I love these green ornaments. I bought them last year for $1 each.

happy little figurines in our retro kitchen. :)

The star! I poke lights in this woven twig star every year. This year my three year old, Sophie placed the star on the tree and she loved it! :)

I love to spend evenings staring at the twinkling lights on the tree. So far we have always had a real tree. I love the Frasier Fir tree...it smells great, but isn't so prickly! :)

Here is the tree with flash and you can get a glimpse of our Willow Tree nativity. My parents have given Daniel & I piece every year. We love it!
A quick peek at the girl's room tree. I love the warm glow that it gives their room.

One of the sweet ornaments on the little tree in our bedroom. :)

This is one of my favorite pieces. This is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Emmanuel, God with us!

Merry Christmas from The Brewer Family!

Check out (LOTS) more decked out homes at Boo Mama's Tour of Homes & at Hooked on Houses tour. Beautiful!

a little maintenance

2008-12-14T00:38:00.002-06:00

i've tried to clean up my blogs a bit. i finally hopped on the bandwagon with the "blog list." i know it isn't completely done and i probably need to categorize it some so it isn't so overwhelming! you can see why i never have time to write... i'm always reading! :)

well, i've also been to other places around the world wide web lately. i thought i'd leave a little link love in case anyone else is interested...

1- scrapblog.com- SO cool! i can't wait to try out more of this!
2- fontspace.com- TONS of cool fonts, some of which I am using for Christmas projects
3- facebook.com- I gotta say, facebook is fun. i finally posted some pics this last week and i love getting comments on them. very sweet! it's a good way for me to communicate with family and friends too. i have lots of family on there. HI!
4- thatsmyhome.com- great recipes, specifically "Jar" recipes. more Christmas gifts!
5- amazon.com- the fluctuating prices bug me a bit (well, only when they go up) but the overall great prices, free shipping and selection are great. LOTS of toys to choose from. lately I am especially drawn to Melissa & Doug toys. Solid, wooden, hands on, educational, colorful toys. Good stuff. :)

also, since this is all about maintenance... i have a couple confessions to make. no really, i blogged about stuff that i was planning on doing and haven't done yet and i want to be honest. :)
1-i did not attempt the garage sale last week. just TOO much going on. however, we (as in my fam) are having one this coming week. prayerfully, it will go really well and we'll make some money and bless some people.
2- the jesse tree has not been happening in our home this year. :( i thought that december 1 was the first day of advent and by the time i finally got the ornaments printed and stuff it was dec 3rd and i learned that advent had started right after thanksgiving. :( so, we were pretty behind and i just never got it together. again, :(! hopefully we can do this next year and the girls will understand it more too!
3- a couple of saturdays ago when i wrote about being "deliriously in love with" my kids and hubby I was being honest, but by late afternoon and all day the next day, i was REALLY struggling with my kids and my life. my hormones were crazy and i was very sad. we even cancelled LIFEgroup because i just couldn't get it together. i got better and by the GRACE of God all is well. I just want to keep it real though!

well, i think confession time is over. i bet you're glad! (if anyone is still hanging with me!)

this is why i shouldn't always blog about things to come, but rather about things that have already happened and i am so far behind on this! BUT, i have all my pics in the computer so it should be pretty easy for me to do this week. hopefully i can get caught up soon!

oh my gosh, it is 1 AM and officially sunday. i must get to bed! daniel and i have a big day tomorrow and i better get myself to bed. :)

Blessings to you and yours!

i'vejustgottosay...

2008-12-13T23:35:00.004-06:00

that these kids are pretty darn cute! :)

a few of sophie's funny faces

miss pouty lips with her daddy. it was too cold outside! :)

*kori did such a great job capturing my kiddos. more evidence will come soon!

stuck in my heart

2008-12-09T23:17:00.002-06:00

tonight sophie and i had a little heart to heart. we were laying in her bed reading, praying and talking. i started talking to her about her recent behavior, disobeying mommy, having frequent accidents etc and how that made my heart sad and angry sometimes. we talked about me working some and she said that she wants me to stay here, "at her home." :( i asked her if everything was ok in her heart and she said, "yea, just God and Jesus are in there. they're just stuck in there... God and Jesus." how sweet! my heart melted and i tried to hold back my giggles. i know i want God and Jesus stuck in my heart too!

Motherhood

2008-12-02T22:56:00.004-06:00

Raising young children can be a challenging endeavor, but through it all, Jennifer somehow managed to keep a smile on her face.

*photo by the super-talented, Kori Hudson

December 1st

2008-12-01T16:28:00.003-06:00

This afternoon I have been planning and filling up my Google Calendar. I love the Holiday season! I love to read Cosmic Christmas and to ponder Emmanuel, God WITH us!

I love to decorate and bake and sit in the living room and gaze at the beautiful tree with all the lights. The past couple of years I have been the Christmas Decorating business and have worked my little fingers to the bone (even last year at 8 months pregnant)! This year I don't have that many trees lined up, but I know there will be a few. :)

This week we have lots going on with family & friends. Lots of extended family will be here this weekend for Jaclyn & Ike's shower and we are busy bees getting ready for that. We also have The McPherson Christmas Ball on Friday night, which is always lots of fun. I am excited about making Brie Kisses as an appetizer and getting all gussied up!

Add in work, regular cleaning and taking care of the kiddos and getting our house decorated for Christmas and that makes for a full week.

In my craziness I am also going to attempt a small garage sale on Thursday. Am I insane? I don't think so? I am just trying to earn a few extra Christmas dollars. We'll see how it goes.

But, tomorrow at 4 pm I am going to R-E-L-A-X as I breath deep and enjoy a wonderful hour long massage with a very gifted massage therapist and I'm not going to worry about a thing! Thank you SO MUCH Aunt B, I am SO looking forward to it.

XOXOXOXO!

For now, I must make dinner and get this little family ready for a Birthday party.

PS- Happy 1st Day of Advent. This year we are celebrating with a Jesse Tree. Find out more info here.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T22:18:00.004-06:00

{give thanks with a grateful heart
give thanks to the Holy One
give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

and now let the weak say i am strong
let the poor say i am rich
because of what the Lord has done for us}

{give thanks}

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

With Love,

Daniel, Jennifer, Sophie and Grace

greetings from t-town

2008-11-23T10:11:00.002-06:00

well, dan , grace and i made it to tulsa just in time for a delicious home cooked meal from mom... ham, mashed taters, sweet potato, green beans, corn, rolls and apple pie. it was yummy and it was great to see our sweet sophie girl. she has had a good visit here at neena and grandpa michaels. she got a cool "hello kitty" electric toothbrush with her goodies from neena. she has been brushing those toothers non-stop! last night was a little hairy since all four of us where in one room. three in the king sized bed and grace in her pack-in-play, well some of the time. that little love bug woke up 3-4 times last night to eat. SOMETHING HAS GOT TO CHANGE! i think i am going to try and find a baby sleep book today so we can maybe figure out a plan to help her sleep through the night better. dan and i are pretty exhausted.

but, we are SO thankful for pur awesome parents that help us so much and give us opportunities to SLEEP when then keep our little ones. THANKS, YA'LL!!

now we're up and ready for some more HAM. i love me some ham! we are going to hit a few stores on the way home including Bass Pro Shop. they have a very neat "winter wonderland" set up in there store that i think the girls will really like. and i know dan will be so happy to have his favorite people with him in one of his favorite places... the outdoor store! but, first he has to humor me by going to target, jo-anns, and/or michaels... the craft store... my home away from home. :)

happy sunday to you all!

A FULL NIGHTS REST

2008-11-21T23:19:00.003-06:00

is coming my way.

HAAAALLELUJAH! HAAALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH!

HALLLLEEEEELLLLUUUUJAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sophie and grace (the one who wakes up at least twice every night to eat) are with their grandparents tonight.

it has been a super long day and i am so ready to crawl in bed and sleep ALL night!

{this is how happy i am! oh yeah and i got a hair cut a couple of weeks ago}

Advent

2008-11-17T08:31:00.000-06:00

the Quiche-miester

2008-11-15T10:34:00.004-06:00

this morning dan and i feasted on some yummy green chili quiche and coffee with some new chai spice creamer. yummy. i've become quite the quiche connoisseur lately (ha ha ha). two weeks ago i tried this broccoli & cheese one and grandma june loved it. i think it was my fave too. nothing like a yummy quiche and a fresh side salad with ranch dressing! {quick quiche tip- coat the top of the pie crust with cheese. it makes a barrier for the liquid so the crust doesn't get so soggy!}

sometimes i'm hit with a dose of delirious love for my husband and children. this morning is one such time. sure they woke us at 7 am on a saturday morning. sure i was up at least twice in the night feeding grace. sure it is difficult to keep the house clean for very long at a time and sure two little girls make for lots of laundry...

BUT, they sure are sweet and smooshy and SO kissable and sweet and loving and smart and HILARIOUS!

so, i'm just enjoying this saturday at home with the fam cleaning, reading, laughing, watching interesting hunter safety videos, nursing grace, do laundry, dreaming with dan, planning times together with friends and family.

later on i get to go out alone with the laptop and my Christmas planner and make some workable lists. (i'll post some great planning and gift ideas soon. seriously the info is too good not to pass on!) dan will also get some time to go put out his new deer stand. please pray that this boy gets a deer this year! i really believe he has one coming! :)

we might also get to meet a certain young man named william sundance... "sunny d" for short who has his eyes on a certain younger sister of mine. *wink *wink!

better go tackle the play room first. sigh. :)

The state of Sophie

2008-11-13T09:52:00.000-06:00

Some older, very common Sophie phrases... Some are sweet and some are sassy!

"let me alone"
"i see you to-mor-ee-o" or " i see you saturday" or "i see you thursday"
"you come back see me soon" or "you come back and see me nother time!"
"i busy right now"
"i so happy to see you!"
"i got to get back to work" ("on what?," i ask. "bills.")
"i pray for you" :)

Some new ones...

1- Really good ole ______________.
"But mom, I need my really good ole....... bear or lipstick or apple or whatever!" This phrase cracks me up! It was esp. funny when she used it during the middle of a crying fit one night and she needed her "really good ole" bear!

2- Actually
"Actually, I... " It's so funny, but she always uses it the correct way!

3- Appreciate it.
Recently in addition to saying thanks or "hanks" she says "appreciate it" So cute!

4- My personbality
But mom, I need my "personbality!"

5- Imagination
Anytime she uses shapes or pretends she lets me know that she is using her "imagination!"

6-Arron's House?
A couple months ago, I told her we were going to run an "errand" and when we left the public building she called it Arron's house. I told her it was an errand and today we were at the same building and she remembered it was Arron's house. :)

Recently, Sophie was in the car with Mammy, Pappy and Sarah Jo. Apparently there was a discussion between Sophie and Sarah. Sophie said "You're not the boss! I not the boss! They're (pointing to mom & dad) the boss!" Right on, Soph!

Lately she is stuck on LIPSTICK (well, she has been for the last two years, but now she has her own and she always wants it near by!) Her purse and it's contents are very important to her! She has a great memory. She still loves gum! She has also learned about the traffic lights and she tells me from a distance.... "Red light. STOP!" or Green means GO!" or Yellow light means SLOW DOWN!"

Her favorite songs are Take Me Out the Ball Game, Jesus Loves Me and Happy Birthday. She always says "blow out the candles" and then blows hard three times! She still loves to watch the Waltons, "John Boy" and her latest fav movie is "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." She sings Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Truly Scrumptious and Toot Sweet often.

I love listening to her talk to her friends and play. She loves learning, crafts, baking, sweets, reading. Lately she asks me to "forgive her" a lot and "oh, sorry" too much! (I need to not say this so much too!)

Her expressions are hilarious and life would be so dull (and quiet) without our Sophie girl! She is precious!

Here is a video of her singing Happy Birthday to Dad last month.

Perfect Melancholy

2008-11-12T15:17:00.003-06:00

Perfect Melancholy: Quieter, deeper, more thoughtful. You strive for perfection in your life and are often disappointed and tend toward depression because perfection in life is rarely if ever attained. Your catchphrase: "If it is worth doing it is worth doing right."

This is SO me. I guess this would be my main temperament?

Powerful Choleric: Can be bossy and short tempered. But on the positive side, you are goal oriented, highly organized, a high achiever and very outgoing. You're catchphrase: "Just do it!"

My minor temperament?

What a combo!

This week I am feeling the "tendency toward depression" I guess because I am so tired and have realized that I can't do it all. I love going and doing and planning and events, but I have had one right after the other the last month and half and I am t.i.r.e.d! Last weekend we went to Branson and Grace did not do well. My sweet, mild mannered, easy going little baby girl turned into a screaming, hurting, mad and very difficult young lady. She had another tooth break though and a severely runny nose. (The kind that cakes on to your nose and won't come off no matter how many time you wipe it!) I guess when you add that to a severe disdain of her car seat, stroller, car ride and outlet mall shopping, it's a recipe for disaster. (I really thought going into it that it would be better or I honestly wouldn't have tried to go.) She still isn't totally herself, but it is amazing how much better she is since we have been home. I can safely say that shopping isn't her thang! :)

SOO, this week I have moped around. So tired, sore (from lugging her so much), and sad. Things are beginning to look up and will continue to CHOOSE to have joy and to take delight in my life, my husband and my children.

I have been fortunate to have some time off from work to take care of my runny-nosed girl. Today I got out and about and it felt good! Then we came home and both of the girls napped at the same time and that felt REAL good!

Tonight, Dan had a Church Council meeting and I am home with the girls. They crack me up! Grace is in to everything (just like her big sister)! Heaven help me!! Today Grace destroyed my bathroom by pulling everything out of my toiletry bag, dumping the trash can, and smooshing muffins all over the place (it's a long story!) and tonight Sophie covered the front bathroom with Dan's shaving creme. Lovely! (I can't find my camera or I would have definitely photographed these whopper messes!)

I guess I better get off here and get to cleaning before Dan gets home!

Anybody else out there a Melancholy gal?

and we're off!

2008-11-07T09:29:00.001-06:00

to Branson! for a girls weekend to laugh, eat, talk, shop, laugh, eat and shop some more!!

woo hoo!!!

have a great weekend!

Election Links from Randy Alcorn & John Piper

2008-10-29T21:21:00.005-05:00

From Randy Alcorn... He answers the question, "As a Christian, should we vote for who we think should lead our country solely based on their stance on abortion?"
I'm not Voting for a Man, I'm Voting for Generations of Children and their Right to Live
Why I’m Voting for 98% Pro-life John McCain rather than 100% Pro-legal-abortion Barack Obama

From John Piper
Vote As Though They Are Not Voting

Also, check out Sarah Mae's blog Like a Warm Cup of Coffee. She has some great things to say about the election, finances, home keeping, being a Godly woman as well as some great links.

God bless!

I'm still alive!

2008-10-29T21:06:00.005-05:00

whoa nelly... it has been a while since i have posted.

part time working girl + full time momma and wife and house keeper + church + LAUNDRY + not feeling good + extremely full month of family birthdays = one busy gal with very little time to post on her beloved blog!

hopefully i can get back in the swing of things soon! i stayed home today with the girls and we did a whole lot of nothing which was really nice. i've been cooking lots lately which has also been nice. i'm looking forward to my weekend- my sis, jac's 25th b-day so my mom & grandma are coming in to town, we will take the girls on their first hay ride friday night. next weekend i am going with the women in my family to branson for a girl's weekend/shopping trip. i am SO looking forward to that!

lots to report on soon! i'll leave you with a recent picture of the sisters!

have a blessed day!

The Message - Luke 6:17-49

2008-10-17T10:07:00.009-05:00

This passage of scripture has been rocking my world the last few days.

You're Blessed
17-21Coming down off the mountain with them, he stood on a plain surrounded by disciples, and was soon joined by a huge congregation from all over Judea and Jerusalem, even from the seaside towns of Tyre and Sidon. They had come both to hear him and to be cured of their ailments. Those disturbed by evil spirits were healed. Everyone was trying to touch him—so much energy surging from him, so many people healed! Then he spoke:

You're blessed when you've lost it all.
God's kingdom is there for the finding.

You're blessed when you're ravenously hungry.
Then you're ready for the Messianic meal.

You're blessed when the tears flow freely.
Joy comes with the morning.

22-23"Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—skip like a lamb, if you like!—for even though they don't like it, I do . . . and all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company; my preachers and witnesses have always been treated like this.

Give Away Your Life
24 But it's trouble ahead if you think you have it made.
What you have is all you'll ever get.

25 And it's trouble ahead if you're satisfied with yourself.
Your self will not satisfy you for long.

And it's trouble ahead if you think life's all fun and games.
There's suffering to be met, and you're going to meet it.

26"There's trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.

27-30"To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

31-34"Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that's charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.

35-36"I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You'll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

37-38"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don't condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you'll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity."

39-40He quoted a proverb: "'Can a blind man guide a blind man?' Wouldn't they both end up in the ditch? An apprentice doesn't lecture the master. The point is to be careful who you follow as your teacher.

41-42"It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this I-know-better-than-you mentality again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your own part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.

Work the Words into Your Life
43-45"You don't get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It's who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.

46-47"Why are you so polite with me, always saying 'Yes, sir,' and 'That's right, sir,' but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.

48-49"If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss."

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God, I want to build my life on these Truths.

*Emphasis is mine.

Birthday!

2008-10-14T13:13:00.003-05:00

Check out my dad, Keith's 50th Birthday Tribute Blog!

I love you, Dad!

Also, Happy Birthday, Aunt Debi!

It is the funniest thing... My Dad & Aunt Debi share the same birthday and my Mom (Lisa) and my Uncle Bruce (Debi's husband) share the same birthday. Too cool!

Hope you all have a happy October 14th!

Information Overload

2008-10-12T17:13:00.003-05:00

I feel like I'm on information overload lately. I love the internet, but goodness all the stuff... all the craftiness out there, the tutorials, the recipes, the preschool activities, the parenting wisdom, sermons, the political info... TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!!

Sometimes I feel like my head is just spinning around. I am still trying to get my life back in balance since I have started back to work. Yesterday, Dan & I finally got some stuff accomplished at home. We cleaned house, made A TON of baby food for Grace... seriously a lot of yummy food for her... veggies, fruit and chicken. Then Dan detailed the van (have I said that he's my HERO, lately??) and I got to work hanging up clothes in the girls room. I went through all of Sophie's 12 mo. clothes and pulled out tons for Grace two weeks ago, but they weren't sorted, organized and hung up. I finally got that done and the girls room cleaned. I was amazed at the stuff I found under the bed and changing table. Grace tosses stuff off when I am getting her ready and I reclaimed all sorts of treasures. We finished off the night with enchiladas and then I cleaned my bedroom and bathroom. SOOOOO glad it is clean. My toilet was ICKY! :)

Dan and I finally crawled into bed at about 12:30. It's been a good Sunday. Not much going on here.... which is good, even though there are still lots of stuff I'd like to be doing. I have a full couple of days ahead, but I am looking forward to this week. My Dad will turn FIFTY this week, my sis Britt is in and we are going to get to spend some time together and with my aunts as we start planning Jac & Ike's shower.

Soon I'm going to try and post on...
*Bearcat (Or Catbear to Sophie) Football - HOMECOMING
*Painting Pumpkins
*Decorating for Fall
*Pumpkin Muffins & Autumn Smoothies... YUMMY!
*Some more Birthday stuff
*A few political thoughts
*Recent Bargains i have found
*Hair Bow goodness... SO FUN! :)
*Grace's new milestones... saying DA DA & Crawling!!

Right now, I am going to go and try to rouse Sophie from her nap. Then, I am going to work in the girl's room a little more. I really wanted to get some pics up for Kelly's Nursery Tour before the weekend is over. We'll see. Dan's out bow hunting. I pray that he has some success soon!

I've still got a full head... info (although it feels good to at least jot some of it down) and s-n-o-t. (sorry if that was TMI!) I pray that my sinus' get under control this SOON!

Lots of love and blessings to you! Anything fun floating around in your noggin today??

PS- My bloglines has not been working well lately... as in not posting new feeds from certain people. I don't know if there is anything new unless I suspect it and manually go look. Maybe I need to switch to Google Reader??

My First Quiche

2008-10-09T10:49:00.002-05:00

I love quiche. I guess it just makes me feel grown-up and refined to eat a beautiful quiche. Quiche is why I love MiMi's Cafe so very, very, very much! The men in my family aren't so fond of MiMi's, but I could eat there any day. Give me some sweet tea, delicious bread & butter, salad with creamy ranch dressing, a warm quiche, a huge fresh baked muffin, and a few pieces of fruit and I'll be a friend for life.

This past January we spent two weeks in Little Rock while Gracie was in NICU at AR Children's Hospital. I had just had a c-section (on Thursday) and we drove to LR on Friday. It was bitterly cold in LR and I had left Mena without my coat. (The last thing on my mind.) Saturday was probably the hardest day Daniel and I had. Grace had been intubated and given a chest tube during the night and we were really scared and hurting. We had lots of family surrounding us and my Aunt Reba and cousin, Curt had driven in from Oklahoma to be with us for the day. We left the hospital that evening during the time when we couldn't see Grace anyway and headed to dinner at my favorite, MiMi's Cafe. It was so, so cold outside and like I said, I had no coat. I was still struggling to walk and I used a wheel-chair much of the time for the long hospital and hotel walks. When I got out to the vehicle that night at MiMi's the cold air hit me and I could barely stand it. I started shivering so hard that I could not walk with my fresh incision. My mom threw her leather coat on me and they helped me inside. That was such a surreal night. We were all seated and were enjoying the delicious bread and conversation. There was laughter and stories and catching up and then the reality would hit me and the tears would come... I had a daughter on a ventilator in NICU. She was not at home with me in our warm house. We were so unsure of the future and I guess I just felt guilty for being at a nice restaurant when she was in a huge hospital without me.

That night my family and my faith in a Loving and Gracious God got me through. The quiche was an added blessing and a well-heated get away car kept me warm.

Last Friday night I stumbled upon this Spinach Quiche recipe and amazingly enough I had all the ingredients so I made it the next morning.

{my first quiche! little hands got to the crust before i got a picture. :)}

It was a little too spinach-y. Next time I'll make sure I drain the spinach very well and maybe add some extra cheese. I will definitely make it again and I can't wait to try some of Martha's variations. Enjoy!

Dan's 31st!

2008-10-08T10:20:00.002-05:00

{Dan & Mom}

Daniel's sweet Mom & Step-Dad blessed him with a great birthday party to celebrate his 31st year! They served smoked pulled pork sandwiches and served all the fixins. YUMMY!

{click on the collage to enlarge}

our little family... sun glistened faces and all. :)

Thanks Mom & Don for a sweet party!

I like Ike

2008-10-07T10:00:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I met two "Ike's."

One was big, huge, powerful and ferocious and had the potential to destroy all who were in his way.

One was tiny, soft, innocent and defenseless and has the potential to bring blessings and joy to all who he will know.

One was expected. He was forcasted and watched with a keen eye as he grew and developed far out at sea.

One was unexpected. He was not planned by our human, limited minds, but He was carefully formed and wonderfully made by the Hand of God before the beginning of time.

One brought torrential rains, hail, destruction, a death to dreams to many people.

One will bring newness of life, growth, purpose, joy and so many blessings to his Mommy and to his hopeful family.

I met these two Ike's the same week. One has passed me by, the rains are gone. The other I anxiously await his arrival. My precious nephew.

We don't always understand God's ways. But, one thing I do know... He is the Author of Life and He does not mistakes. His ways are not our ways and His thought are not our thoughts. They are so much higher. What a joy to be in His Hands.

So, just a few more months and I will be able to hold a sweet baby boy. I'll hold him close and whisper in his ears how much I love him.... how i can't wait for him to meet his wild girl cousins (who i am sure will boss him around to no end) and I will tell him how very blessed he is to have Jaclyn as a Mommy.

I really do like Ike.

Jac, Jen & Ike

Ike's first outfit from Aunt Jen & Uncle Dan. Oh how I love minky material! SO soft and warm. Perfect for a January baby.

CRUNCH Cake!!!

2008-10-06T22:37:00.000-05:00

Dan's Mom asked me to make a cake for Dan's birthday. I looked around on the internet (Bakerella... YUMMY!) and found some great looking deserts, but in the end I went with a family classic... Crunch Cake. YOU need to make this! Delicious & Rich. A little goes a long way!

Crunch Cake

You'll Need

*1 Box Devils's Food Cake

*1 can Eagle Brand (Need I say more?)

*1 tub of Cool-whip

*Chocolate Syrup

*Caramel Syrup

*Sliced Almonds

*Heath Bar Toffee Bits

***************************

Make the cake as directed on the box. Poke holes in the cake and pour the entire can of Eagle Brand in the the cake. Allow to cool. Smooth Cool-Whip over cake and then drizzle the syrups. Then sprinkle a generous amount of almonds and toffee bits on top.

Easy, Pretty & Yummy!

*****************

And I must give credit where credit is due. This recipe was originated (at least in our family) by my Uncle Jason & Aunt Jennifer. They served it daily in their local restaurant. Let me just say that it rocks to have so many good (male & female) cooks in the fam! :)

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!

rainy monday reports...

2008-10-06T21:31:00.006-05:00

*i have the last book in the "Baxter Family Drama- SUNSET" by K. Kingsbury in my possession. oh the joy that fills my heart! except that this is the end of an amazing 14 book series! :(

**i have some serious sinus junk in my head. we all have runny noses here. yuck.

***dan went bow hunting for the first time this season. he got up before five and sat/stood out in the rain for hours. sounds like fun to you? :)

****we had a great LIFEgroup last night. the message on parenting was so good. the main thing i took away was that our kids (no matter the age) need 1- acceptance (not a hint of rejection) and 2- time (quantitative quality time). and that our influence on them when it really matters will be based out of our relationship with them not our position (not because, i'm the mom or i'm the dad!) good stuff. :)

*****mom (lisa) and i took soph to the dentist last week. she did good and we got a great report. strong, healthy teeth! woo hoo!!

******gracie b. is on the verge of a major crawling break-through! our lives are about to change!

*******i get my first pay check this week. thank You, LORD!

********we got some MAJOR good news today!! my mom (cheryl) and step-dad, mike (he is in Iraq right now) bought a house in mena today! they have been trying to move here for a while now and they sold their home in tulsa and today the Lord provided the most precious little home today! it is small, but it is SO CUTE! an endearing rock cottage. it is 80-90 yrs old, but it has been completely gutted and remodeled. i am so excited to see how it is all going to turn out! they should be moved in by the end of november if all goes on schedule. please pray that the details will be smoothed out according to God's plan.

(back to the sinus stuff... any one have any tips on sinus drainage??)

where do i start?

2008-09-28T17:22:00.008-05:00

so, right now i'm sitting in my porch swing in my lovely (FENCED IN! Go DAN!) back yard. i'm listening to the birds, fighting mosquitos and just generally enjoying my afternoon. every now and then i look up and see a fake deer in the yard and i smile to myself. my sweet husband is becoming a deer hunter and my dad thought he really needed something to practice with. dan says that it would make a great reindeer at Christmas time. (i'm not so sure... considering the bulls-eye with all the holes in it on it's side. poor thing. )

{my bow-hunting husband! i'm so proud. seriously! and check out that fence!}

the rest of my sweet family is inside sleeping. good ole sunday naps. we just got home from my grandma's house a few minutes ago. we had hamburgers with the fixins, a great selection of desserts and good conversation. that place is so peaceful. like a little taste of heaven.

{sophie loves to wear her hate like this. }

my life changed quite a bit this week. i went back to work. "working 9-5... " well, more like 9-1 about 4 days a week. my dad called me on monday because our family's business had lost their receptionist and needed some fill in work. it turns out we had a new one by the next day, but there is still quite a bit of extra work to be done. so... it all happened pretty fast, but i feel good about it. daniel and i have praying for an opportunity to make some extra money and this is a near perfect set-up. my mom (lisa) has GENEROUSLY decided to keep the girls for the 4 hrs that i work for at least 3 of the days and then the other day is split between mom (jackie) and ma ma ma. the girls and i still have to work out a few kinks in our schedule, but over all we are doing pretty good at getting up and around in the morning. i'm hoping i can find my groove at the airport soon and be a help there. my parents live about 100 ft. from there so i can be there in a minute if grace needs her momma. i will definitely continue to nurse her. needless to say, i have been a tired girl this weekend.

i feel like i'm rambling... i guess i just feel like i have so much to post about and i'm so behind on reporting on pictures, events, family news, recipes, etc... and i'm wondering why i feel so drained in the -bloggy-world. i love blogging and i have for years. i crave comments like i crave dr. pepper (and ya'll know that can get pretty intense). i guess when they don't come i feel a hint of rejection. silly, i know. but this thing is powerful. i read a really great post last night about blogging and computer use in general for women and it really convicted me. i want blogging to be a hobby, a creative outlet, and opportunity to meet other women in balance. i certainly don't want it to pull me from my Savior, my husband, my children, or my home. (here is another very thought-provoking post that i read months ago. the last full paragraph really stuck with me.)

************************************

(here is where my computer died for no reason and i got back to this post 5 hrs. later...

************************************

balance. being Spirit-led and not Jennifer- led. i guess that's what i'm after. how that plays out in my life is what i've got to figure out. the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. i want this fruit growing in my life! not laziness, apathy, self-centeredness, self-consciousness, self-righteousness, pride, fear, rejection, ect. ick!
****************

i just finished nursing gracie to sleep. i watched her sweet little face for a long time. she had her chubby little les folded in a cute way and her little fingers where just so soft and cute. her face is beautiful... long eyelashes, perfect, round features. her baby hair was wet from her sweat and it curled up so cute. i just wanted to take it all in. i don't ever want to forget how she looks and feels in my arms right now. i want to embrace this season of my life because one day very soon it will be over and she won't be a baby any more. i just don't want to lose the wonder.

{grace right after a nap munching on some zwieback toast. such a sweet heart!}

so, i guess that's where i am. i'm sure none of this has made any sense to anyone other than myself, but i'm still glad i wrote it. i will definitely continue to blog. i just need to hear from Him on how to go about it. as i do with everything in my life. sometimes it's easy to take the reins of imy life back and ride for a while.... a rocky and bumpy road. He said His yoke is easy and His burden is light and that i would find rest for my soul. i definitely want Him to hold the reins of my life as I move under His yoke.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with Me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay any-thing heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you'll learn how to live freely and lightly. " - Jesus (Matthew 11 from The Message)

good stuff. don't you think? i am loving reading from The Message lately. so refreshing.

i guess i better get myself to bed. i am a working girl now. :)

{me and the girls before church this morning. we were running ahead of schedule for once! :)}

And the Winner Is.....

2008-09-26T20:08:00.003-05:00

Thank you all so much for the great Fall Scents comments. I enjoyed reading all of them. The first scents are definitely in the air and I am looking forward to the yummy smells of Fall to come!

Today I entered each of your names (some twice) into an Excel spreadsheet and then I cut them out. I folded the names and put them in a mug and my sweet hubby drew out the winner. Probably not the most scientific way... but fair all the same.

And the Winner IS......

......duh.....duh......duh.....

ALICIA TERRELL!!!

Here's Alicia's comment...

"Jen this is the funnest thing EVER!!! I too love fall. Man, there are just so many smells I love, if I have to choose I would say the smell of the air (you know that smell) and the smell of anything being baked but especially apple pie or apple crisp. "

Woo! Hoo! Good for you, Alicia! I will get your new candle and room spray to you asap! :)

Thank you guys for playing! And if you are still looking for some yummy fall candles check out Home Interiors and let me know. Check out our September Candle Sale that will go through next Friday, Oct 3. I can order you some and have shipped directly to your home.

Have a great weekend and Happy Fall!!

Jennifer

Sophie's 3rd Birthday Party!

2008-09-25T23:19:00.001-05:00

Ok, I'm going to try this again... :)

The Invitation

Sophie's "garden" party shifted to an inside party as Hurricane Ike headed our way. It was a little bit tight, but we still had a great time. Thank you to all who came and loved on our girl!

Here are a few highlights...

Food & Decor

The theme was set around the paper ware that I found at Oops in Springdale. I had fun making the felt birthday banner. (Two weeks later... it's still up! HA!) We added some more butterflies, tulle, some flowers, balloons and ta-da, a party! We served some yummy peanut butter bees, butterfly pb & j's, cha cha chicken salad for the adults, dirt cake, ice cream and amazing strawberry punch to drink. Yum!

Party Games & Fun

{Click on the collage to enlarge}

After snacking we got busy with some "buggy" games. Dan led the games- "Pin the Stinger on the Bee" and a Bug Toss (a throwback to the wildly popular Bozo show we watched as children.:). The kids did great! After that we all sang to Sophie and she proudly blew out her three candles. She was definitely anxious to look inside all those pretty gift bags. She was so blessed with sweet new fall clothes, fun toys, sweet cards and some super cool bigger gifts... a new scooter and a swing set... YAY!!

Each friend was sent home with a little flower pot and a cute little pansie to plant and an artwork fridge magnet and suckers, of course!

A BIG thank you to my moms (Cheryl, Lisa and Jackie), Jaclyn and Dan who helped me (the sometimes a little overbearing party gal... :) so, so much. She is one super blessed little girl. She is definitely our little "love bug" and we are so thankful to have her in our lives. These past three years have flown by and we have cherished every day of her little life. May the Lord show Himself strong and near to her each and every day. We love you Sophie! PS- Aunt Jac embellished a really cute shirt for Sophie's party. I wanted a personalized shirt for Sophie that would match her new skirt from Junie. Jac did a great job embroidering Sophie Bug.

You can tell Sophie had some fun with the strawberries & grape jelly, huh?! :)

PSS- Aunt Suzy posted a sweet birthday message to Sophie and a few more pics from her party on her blog. Sophie is so blessed in the Aunt department. :)

Sweet Little GIVEAWAY!!

2008-09-22T14:13:00.005-05:00

Happy 1st Day of Fall!!

How about a sweet little giveaway to celebrate this great season! (And to continue to celebrate my husband and daughter's recent birthdays! We like birthday's around here!)

I love fall. I love the crisp air, the beautiful leaves, football games, warm comfort foods, fall decor, thanksgiving, the smell of burning leaves, comfy jeans and sweaters, and I love to light all my fall candles.

Don't you love fall candles? Baked Apple Pie, Pumpkin, Cinnamon Bun, Chocolate Cookies, Vanilla... MMMMMM!!!

Want to start the candle-burning season off right?

Win a yummy Baked Apple Pie Petite Jar Candle and a Baked Apple Pie Roomspray and your home will smell delicious!

How do you win?? Just leave me a comment telling me your favorite fall scent... it can be a candle, a food, or something else. I will enter your name and do a random drawing.

Want a greater chance of winning?? Subscribe to my blog through a reader such as Bloglines or Google Reader or sign up to have new posts sent straight to your Inbox. If you subscribe either way, let me know and I will enter you twice! (Check out my new RSS buttons at the top of this page.) You can comment on this post until Midnight Thursday night and I will post the winner on Friday!

I look forward to hearing about your favorite Fall smells! :)

Have a great day!
Jennifer

PS- Reading blogs through a reader such as Bloglines is so convenient and it really saves time! Check out this post by Simple Mom about Readers. It includes a clever video that explains RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds really well!

UTI again?

2008-09-19T00:14:00.003-05:00

the week before last and the first part of last week i had some pretty major back pain. back pain takes the life and energy right out of me. i suspected a urinary track infection, but hoped that it was maybe just dehydration. (unfortunately, i deal with both of these fairly often.) i started drinking LOTS of water, taking cranberry pills and d- mannose (a simple sugar that is supposed to help prevent these). nothing was working and i was majorly dragging. (not good during a birthday week!) on thursday my grandma ninkie called and really encouraged me to go to the dr. i finally went and sure enough had a UTI. ick! i started on anti-biotics (a new 5 day rx), took them faithfully and felt some relief by the end of the weekend.

today the pain is back with a vengeance. uuuugh! i guess i will call the dr. tomorrow, but i am really hoping that they can help me without a full-fledged appointment. please pray for me. i want to get over this for good!

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i posted about sophie's b-day party and lost it all. :( i'll try again tomorrow.

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"sweet little giveaway" info coming soon! :)

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.... way past bedtime! 'night!

trip to hot springs

2008-09-18T20:50:00.004-05:00

today, the girls and i accompanied mom (lisa) on a trip to hot springs. mom had a dentist appointment so we went along for the ride (1.5 hrs) and to spend time with her. here are a few highlights from the day...

1- gracie b. is heavy! last month she weighed 20lbs. TWENTY POUNDS! that is 1/6 of what i weigh. (why in the world i am sharing my weight on the internet is beyond me!:) she was a little fussy today (while we were in tj maxx for 2 hours) so i spent a lot of time holding her (TWENTY pounds) in one arm and pushing a cart in another. by the end of the day i felt like my left arm was going to fall off.

2- i love tj maxx! i've known this for a long time, but every time i go back it is confirmed again. bring on the bargains! the clothes, the shoes, the housewares, the cute little stationary and note pads, the bedding, the kids clothes, the toys, the specialty foods... i love to look around in there.

3- italian gelato is YUMMY! mom & i both had mint chocolate chip and i sophie had butter pecan. (i think she was drawn to it's yellow color.) gelato is so smooth and creamy and yummy!

sophie checking out all the yummy gelato flavors

sophie & mammy gracie snoozing...

4- excessive sugar does have a profound effect on my 3 year old daughter. she had sprite at on the border, gummy frogs in tj maxx and the gelato after that... by the time we made it to hobby lobby she was talking non-stop and singing made-up tunes for all the shoppers to hear. the sugar high finally let down about 40 minutes into our trip back home. sleep called her name! :)

5- i am a blessed woman. thanks for inviting us mom! we had a great time! :)

olivia, francine, and tuna

2008-09-17T11:12:00.003-05:00

this morning i was feeding gracie in the bumbo and sophie announced that her name was no longer grace, but "olivia" instead.

me- "no, this is grace adeline and she is 8 (EIGHT!) months old today!"
sophie- "no, she's olivia"
me- "well, ok. who are you? francine?"
sophie- "yes!"
me- "ok, francine. who am i?"
sophie- "tuna."
me- "tuna?"
sophie- "yep, tuna!"

tuna, huh? why can't i have a pretty name like olivia or francine?

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side note a- the three year old said "actually" this morning. when did she learn that one?

side not b- "francine" reminds me of francine in "gidget." what a great movie!
"moondoggy, oh moondoggy... "

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i'm gonna try to get some pics of sophie's b-day on here today.

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stay tuned for the "sweet little giveaway!"

too pooped to pop!

2008-09-16T15:07:00.003-05:00

right now i am exhausted. i just now got gracie down for her nap. finally. i have about 1.5 hrs till the "birthday boy" a.k.a. dan, the love of my life comes home. the house is a mess. i need to fold about 3 loads of laundry, make cupcakes, and some cute party hats for tonight. (among other things like showering, putting on make-up, etc) :)

i'm faced with a choice. do i...

a.) go get in my bed with sophie and rest for a few minutes in my super dark, cool room
b.) grab a dr. pepper, turn on some happy music like sarah masen and get to cracking
or...
c.) i seriously can't think of another option. maybe i'm not good at multiple choice making :(

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i've been a stinky blogger lately. HOWEVER, i am determined to get back in gear! since sophie's 3rd birthday was sunday and dan's 31st birthday is today, i am proclaiming this a celebration week! i'm going to have a sweet little fall giveaway in honor of these two of my fav people in the world and to celebrate the start of fall!

check back soon and i'll give the details!

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ps... i think a short nap won out! :)

oh how she has grown...

2008-09-12T08:06:00.002-05:00

sophie's 1st birthday in 2006...

gosh, i love this girl.

Pansies

2008-09-11T21:29:00.001-05:00

I love pansies. They are such a cheerful flower. We bought some tonight and I'm going to plant them tomorrow.

stalling

2008-09-09T23:30:00.004-05:00

i think i'm stalling. i have so much to write about. lots of big news in the fam. but at the moment i have not the time, energy, nor the pictures to document them. hopefully soon!

right now my hands are tired from using my hole puncher to punch about 80 holes in felt. the hole puncher finally quit on me. stink!

i'm definitely in birthday party mode. :)

so... since it's already really late and i still have about 55 pieces of felt staring me in the face i better make this quick. i just wanted to check in and say "hey".... HEY!

i'll try again soon!

THREE

2008-09-05T00:16:00.003-05:00

next week my daughter is turning THREE. 3 years OLD! i'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around that. the time has gone by so very fast.

she never ceases to amaze me with her humor, passion and enthusiasm about life. her vocabulary grows every day.

today she has been cracking me up by saying, "yes, mov-der" and "yes, fad-der."

she's convinced that once she turns three, she will "go to school... on the school bus!" when your 5 you can go to school, but most likely not on the school bus! :)

tonight i recited The Lord's Prayer and she repeated after me... it was precious. She said, "lets do it again" and then quickly changed her mind and requested "take me out to the ball game" instead. that's her new favorite song!

i think the Lord smiled. He loves her so very much and so do i.

rambling schmambling...

2008-09-04T10:39:00.011-05:00

this morning i made myself coffee. i never do this. (seriously. i've been married 6 years and this is the 3rd pot i've ever made.) so, i had a whole pot and i only wanted a cup- full of creamer (& caffeine). i knew my little brother jon was in town so i text'd him to see if he wanted a good ole cup 'o joe. in the mean time i put on the wiggles for the girls and started reading my devotional. good stuff.

a little while later, jon came over. he and sophie played blocks and she served us tea and cookies (which were also blocks). jon and i discussed relationships and computers among other things. gracie played happily. sophie clamored for "muncle jon jon's" attention. she told him to come back and see her soon!

sophie, muncle jon jon and their house w/a garage!
i can't get enough of her sweet cheeks!
"more cookies?"
she lines these four chairs up in a new way almost every day!

blocks & tools... some of soph's fav toys!

later, sophie got hungry. she ate a juicy apple. i nursed grace and sophie gave her a big juicy kiss on the forehead. i smiled and was genuinely grateful for the opportunity to be their momma.

i finally got grace down for her nap and realized it was almost 11 o'clock. i was supposed to meet my friend, alicia for lunch at noon. i still had to shower, get dressed, dress the girls, make more dumplings for dan's lunch, and drop the girls off at the airport before i could head off across town to meet alicia. why do i do this to myself? i have poor time/length perception. somehow it all worked out. alicia and i decided to meet a few minutes later and we had a great time visiting. uninterrupted adult conversation for over an hour! how great. i definitely need to get out more. thank you to grandma ninkie for watching the girls. :)

unfortunately, i have no pics of alicia & i together, but i do have pics of our husbands and our kids. this is from our "Christmas in July" celebration. we had deep fried turkey with all the fixins! it was fun and delicious, but waaaayyy too hot to be deep frying turkeys! :)

i went to pick up the girls and we spent a few minutes at the airport before we drove around for nap time. as we came back through town i realized that "dollar spot" is NOW OPEN! woo hoo! our little town has a new store and you can bet your dinner that i will be there as soon as possible to check it out. there has been rumor of a new dollar store for months now. i was really hoping for "dollar tree." oh, how i love that store. but, alas... it isn't and from what i could tell by looking in the windows it's not all $1 items, but it still looks very promising! :)

i'm debating getting the fall stuff out. i know it's about time and i am usually totally ready. i absolutely LOVE fall! but, for some reason this year i am having a hard time letting go of summer. it has gone by so fast and it actually hasn't been that hot. i could use a few more pool days with susan & marleen, fresh veggie dinners (i.e. fried OKRA) and simple summer clothes, etc, etc. however, the breeze in the air is lovely today and seeing all the fall decorating posts (i love this one)this week have made me excited about the new season coming up soon.

mom (lisa) just called for mom's (jackie) chili recipe. (i know all the mom talk can get confusing!) she invited us over for dinner. yummy. chicken and dumplings last night and chili tonight. great rainy day meals. maybe i am ready for fall...

are you ready for fall?

Table Cloth Skirt and Dinner Party Top GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-09-04T10:13:00.001-05:00

Table Cloth Skirt and Dinner Party Top GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Check out this sweet outfit from Grosgrain! It is a size 3T-4T.

Wouldn't it look cute on a certain almost 3 year old girl??

the FAIR!!!

2008-09-03T20:02:00.004-05:00

Last week was the Polk County Fair. I read in the paper today there were an estimated 13,000-14,000 people at this year's fair. Wowsers! Our town's population is less than 7,000 people and the surrounding communities are much smaller. We always say that we see everyone we know at the fair and it is so true!

This year we made a quick trip on Thursday night. My nose had literally run ALL DAY LONG so I wasn't sure I would be up to it and my family from Tulsa had arrived that afternoon. But, at about 7pm we decided we were for sure going and off we went. I'm so glad we decided to go! We had a great time and something about that manure-filled air really cleared up my nose! :)

Here are few pics...

Sophie & one of her bestest friends, E.T.! She ran and gave her a BIG hug! They ended up riding the "Cars" ride together. :)
The girl loves her some farm animals. She knows all their sounds! I think seeing the animals is her favorite part of the whole deal. FFA here we come! :)
Loving on a prize-winning Billy Goat!
We're so happy that Junie got to come with us to the fair this year. While I was waiting in an endless line, Sophie & G-Ma Junie ventured off to look around. They ended up in the music tent where Bluegrass music was blaring. Sophie grabbed Junie by the hands and started "cutting a rug!" Junie was a little embarrassed because they were right in the front. Ha! A little while later we were all together and we merely walked by this tent. Sophie heard the music and grabbed Junie once again! What a girl! :)
Grab your partner... Round and round!
Daniel got to carry around the sweetest little munchkin! We always get lots of attention carrying Grace in the Bjorn. She is so sweet (and so heavy!) :)
Sophie & I rode the Carousel with our friends Misty & Lexi. Sweet times!

Lastly, this is a pic documenting the FIRST time my 73 year old Grandma has EVER had cotton candy! She always thought that it looked gross. I think she actually kind of liked it.

Well, the fair is over till next year. Thanks, Dan for taking us. And we are so glad we got to go with Junie! :)

Do you like the fair?

Take Me Out to the Ball Game - Part 2

2008-09-03T14:52:00.004-05:00

we really enjoyed our second trip to the ball park this past weekend.

highlights include-
*being 2 hours late! we had some bad info so we missed the first 2 hours of the game and the "go, diego, go" appearance, oh well! baseball games are loooong anyway! :)
*spending time with the fam. we also got to spend some time with the laney family, which is always a treat. :)
*britt & jac did a great job ordering & delivering ALL of the classic ball-game food.
*the great music clips that they play during the game. i think this is my fav part!
*sitting next to the love-of-my-life!
*holding ro ro and watching roman & sophie interact. too cute!
*a beautiful performance by the NWA symphony.
*a moving tribute to each of our country's armed forces.
*a beautiful, long, and LOUD firework display. (too loud for grace & roman. sophie enjoyed it though.)

thank you again, mom & dad! we enjoyed it!

right now

2008-09-03T14:13:00.002-05:00

right now... my love bugs are sleeping in mommy & daddy's bed.

right now... i am putting off cleaning.

right now... i am enjoying the rainy weather. (although, i do hope it moves on pretty soon.)

right now... i am in the living room staring at sophie's blocks, grace's toys, movies, chips and books everywhere!

right now... i am still very congested. swallowing lots of phlegm. gross. (typing phlegm just reminded me of runaway bride and the "wake up with flem" radio show. :)

right now... i am wearing my new hawaii t-shirt from my sister, jaclyn.

right now... i am craving chocolate so much!! too bad i told sophie we'd make brownies after nap-time.

right now... i am blessed and grateful.

right now... i better get to work! time to put on the chicken and dumplings for dinner. yum-o!

sorry, i just had to post the cute little baby buns! :)

faith is the courage to accept acceptance ~ b. manning

2008-08-31T23:26:00.006-05:00

{my dad and i- father's day 2008}

i feel like i need to address what i wrote about last night. i just want my parents to know that I love them so very much and i am so thankful to be their daughter. the support they have given me and daniel is amazing. one example is how they (and our entire family) rallied around daniel and i in a phenomenal way after gracie was born and we were all rushed to the NICU. they all stepped up, coordinated, took care of our needs, provided us a hotel, food, encouraging gifts, took care of sophie, spent time with gracie when we couldn't be there, encouraged, prayed for, cried with us, cleaned for us, and the list goes on and on. we have been so blessed to have a family that is not afraid to love deeply.

i'm learning something the hard way. parents aren't perfect. how humbling. whether they don't know the Lord or whether they seek Him with their lives, they aren't perfect. because they are human. they will mess up. gosh. i. mess. up. everyday. i pray for mercy every single day as i endeavour to love, nurture, train, and discipline my girls.

there is only ONE perfect Parent. He is a perfect Father. He loves unconditionally, His patience never runs out, His love never fails, His timing is perfect. His plans are perfect. His discipline in perfect. He is never selfish. He is never rude. He is the only Holy One.

That He seeks to pursue us, to love us, to never, ever give up on us is amazing. Amazing love.

My part, our part is to truly accept this Love, this Forgiveness, and to Trust, to Rely On HIM, to Surrender. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. My identity comes from Him. My acceptance comes from Him. Not from my parents, my husband, my family, or my friends. If I am depending solely on them for acceptance, approval, and unconditional love then I will never be satisfied. I will never feel whole. My wholeness lies solely in the one who created me. The one who breathed life into me. The one who dreamed my life from before the foundations of the earth.

As our speaker at church said this morning, "Don't treat God the way the world is treating us." He gets blamed for so much and the truth is we are in the middle of a battle. The Lover of our Souls vs the enemy of our souls and we are the "trophies" to be won in the war. He is the giver of all good things and oh the plans He has for us.... if we were to recount them they would be too wonderful to tell!

Jesus, I love You. Light the fire once again. Teach us the true heart of a parent.

Family, I love you. Thank you.

Friends. Ya'll are the best. Thanks for listening and letting me preach a little. :)

{better get to bed. i'm in a good ole hampton inn king size bed. sleeping in tomorrow. wooo hooo!}

quiet house

2008-08-30T23:04:00.004-05:00

tonight it's quiet. everyone is sleeping and i'm sitting here thinking, reading, making lists. its been a good day/weekend, but for some reason i feel emotionally exhausted. decisions to make, a challenging afternoon with my almost 3 yr old, feeling like i disappoint people, feeling torn.... i'm not sure why even the simplest of decisions are so difficult for me to make sometimes (all the time)? it's like i am always struggling with all the pros/cons to make sure that i am making the 100% best decision and that i am not going to disappoint anyone (primarily dan, mom, dad, other family, etc). i have dealt with this my whole life. my parents were divorced when i was two and although they really did try to make it easy for my sister and i (no court appointed custody, child support, etc), i still became (at least felt like) the go-between. the one in the middle. the one who had to reconcile both sides. two sides that often had different ideas on even the most basic things (i.e. when/where to meet, visit lengths, etc). i love my parents both so very much and i have always tried to please them individually which has sometimes been hard. i know that God is my Master and that the most important thing is to please Him... not others. i do try so hard though and i am definitely addicted to people's approval. what a mess i am! thank You, Jesus for your love and mercy. i so want to walk in peace, freedom and joy and to keep my eyes on YOU and not myself. teach me how to live this out day to day. {all that said, i think i am learning that every decision isn't life and death. sometimes either way is ok and that if i make a bad decision it will be ok...also, my parents are great! the Lord has done/is doing a great work in their lives and i am so blessed to have all of my parents. :)}

enough about that. the girls were so sweet at bed time tonight. sophie was EXHAUSTED from a long day of playing hard at the park and at the fair (with her daddy & papa). she was being a stinker tonight and i was happy to finally get her in bed. we started to pray and she reminded me of her sore finger. i held her hand and started praying for her. she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep covered in love and blessings. gracie b. stayed home with mommy & junie tonight and after dinner she nursed for an entire hour! at bedtime she was wide awake. she finally started waning at about 10 after fighting it pretty hard. i laid her in her bed on her tummy and rubbed her back as she slowly tossed her head back and forth and drifted off to sleep. sweet, sweet baby girls.

tomorrow we'll head to church, say good bye to junie and head to NWA for the holiday. i'm looking forward to spending time with the whole family as well as meeting a certain boy who is apparently pretty sweet on my little sis! :)

ps- thanks, for all "the fridge" comments. who knew it would be such a hot topic! *wink*

the fridge

2008-08-28T15:08:00.007-05:00

Last night I cleaned out the fridge. I've needed to do it for a while, but I kept putting it off because I knew it was going to take some time. Well, the time came! We have company coming today and I had to get the visible grime off the shelves.

Here's some evidence that this much needed cleaning was loooong over-due...

Exhibit A: The "Bowl" of Chocolate

I'm sad to say that this "bowl" of chocolate has been in our fridge since June '07. It is actually left over from the chocolate fountain at Steph's baby shower last summer. I kept thinking I might be reuse it and to be honest, I had NO IDEA how to get this frozen piece of chocolate out of the plastic bowl it was in. So.... I did nothing. I just kept over-looking it and putting it as far back on the shelf as possible. I missed being able to us the bowl, but felt as if I had no choice. This all changed last night! My handsome-hubby-to-the-rescue (again!) saw the bowl and asked me what what the heck was in it?! I told him the story and he had it solved in minutes. The chocolate went the trash can (after it was photographed. Dan thinks I'm so weird!) and we now have use of one more plastic bowl. Woo hoo!

Exhibit B- Grossly Over-Expired Food

EEEEWWWWW! Expiration Date 11-04-07. Yikes! The crazy thing is I hardly ever buy yogurt but I did today and I'm so glad I didn't open this one and eat it before I saw the date.

Well, if the yogurt was EEEWWWWW this is triple EEEEEWWWWWW! This once yummy, Pumpkin Pie creamer has been in there since last fall. You can actually see the moldy spots through the plastic. I'm so glad that I didn't pull this one out to serve at LIFEgroup! Yuck-eeee!!

Exhibit C- Un-necessary Food Duplicates

I laughed to myself when I found three containers of lemon juice in the fridge. Now, lemon juice certainly won't break the bank, but some other items could and why, oh why spend money on items you already have, Jennifer?! I also found 3 containers of mayo, 2 containers of miracle whip, and 2 new containers of whipped cream.

Am I too gross? Can we still be friends???

Here is my freshly cleaned refrigerator. Germ free and somewhat organized. It looks so empty with out all the leftovers.

I guess the freezer is next!

What does your fridge look like? Any crazy, year old stuff??

prayer requests....

2008-08-28T00:27:00.004-05:00

are you familiar with the NieNie Chronicles? i've been broken hearted for this the family from AZ ever since i read about their situation last week. today, thursday the 28th has been proclaimed as "nie nie day" by design mom. there are online auctions all over the web today to raise money for this family in need. i've seen some of the items at "a room somewhere" and they are really beautiful. maybe you'd be interested in a an item or two? either way, please pray for this family. for a complete healing and restoration in their lives, for their children and families and that Jesus would be lifted up and that His purposes (salvation, hope, peace, healing, wisdom, joy, ect) would be accomplished in this situation.

(isn't the influence of the blogosphere absolutely amazing??)

also, there is a sweet family from my town that recently had a baby boy, tycen. tycen was airlifted to arkansas children's hospital today for respiratory problems and a low white blood count. last i heard, the dr's thought it might be pneumonia. please lift this baby and family up. daniel have been where they are today and it is a very scary, confusing and painful place to be. Jesus, i lift them up to you and i ask that you would surround them with peace, that you would touch this precious baby and heal him. i pray for wisdom and direction for the dr's and for you to draw this entire family to yourself and minister to them. Lord, please show us how we can help.

"The fervent prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective...." James 5:16

thanks!

thanks, mom(s)!

2008-08-27T23:58:00.006-05:00

today has gotten better as it has progressed.

when i was awoken this morning at 5:45 am by my darling daughter, sophie, i was not so happy. to be honest, i felt like i had been hit by a truck.... congested, achy, terrible headache. maybe it was the benadryl i took last night? nonetheless, by 6:25 am sophie could not stay in bed any longer! she needed chocolate milk, a snack (how about breakfast?), and a movie. dan was still here so i gave her the goods, turned on "boz" and headed back to bed. about 45 minutes later i consented to the fact that i was, in fact, up for the day even though i felt terrible.

i'm sure you all aren't that interested in a full play-by-play of my day, but i just needed to set the stage and say thank you to my three moms. they all really helped me today without me having to ask for anything. i am a blessed woman.

first off, mom (jackie) had already scheduled to keep the sophster today. it worked out good since i had to take grace to the dr for a check-up. she must have seen how sick (terrible) i looked when she offered to make us some of her delicious & nutritious chicken and vegetable soup. (and encouraged me to go home and go to bed if possible.) thank you, mom! sophie had a great day playing in the sand box and learning to play "candy land" and the soup hit the spot!

secondly, mom (cheryl) called to let me know when they are coming to town (tomorrow) and that grandma "junie" will be coming with them! that in itself cheered me up, but i have to be honest...when she asked me if the girls or i "needed" anything i perked up even more. can't beat a little "retail therapy!" :) thanks, mom and we are looking forward to spending the weekend with you all!

thirdly, mom (lisa) called at about 10 am to see if i could use any help for a couple of hours and if i wanted anything from mc donalds (cinnamon melts...yummy!). i said sure. grace was about asleep and to be honest if she hadn't offered to come by i would have probably spent the remainder of my morning nursing my wounds, wasting time on the internet or sleeping. having her here helped me to get the laundry sorted (while she folded), unload/reload the dishwasher, etc, etc. thank you, mom! i enjoyed visiting and i really appreciate the help!

so, my day did get better. i did get a short nap before i took grace to the dr., i did a much needed wal-mart run, i spent time loving on my man and my girls, i cleaned out the fridge, and got most of the laundry done. (well, at least washed and dried.)

i've still got a runny nose and i'm definitely not feeling my best yet...but, i know that i am loved and am very blessed!

happy birthday, Jerusha!

2008-08-27T23:46:00.003-05:00

today is my sis-in-law, Jerusha's birthday. although she lives far away and i haven't got her card in the mail yet (shame on me!), i just want to say happy birthday! you are a wonderful wife and mother, graceful, strong, beautiful, creative and a true blessing to your whole family! we miss you and the whole neufeld gang!

may God bless you with a fantastic year!

love,

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

2008-08-25T22:24:00.010-05:00

*** This post was originally written the week after The 4th of July. ***

Last Thursday, we arrived in Northwest AR for the weekend. My Dad bought several tickets to see the AR Naturals play. They are a farm team for the Royals. (Listen to me talking like a true baseball fan. ha!) We arrived just in time and had excellent seats. They were covered which turned out great as the night continued. Mom, Dad, Dan, Me, Sophie, Grace and Sarah met up with my sisters, Jaclyn, Brittany, my brother, Jon and our friend, Tyler. (We call him T-Dog for short.)

I'll just be honest... none of us are die-hard baseball fans. I'm sure the "true Naturals" fans in front of us got quite a kick out listening to us observe the game and ask questions. (For instance the other team from San Antonio hit a home run and my bro, Jon wanted to know why no one was cheering?! Or when, my Dad said we'd go eat at "half-time." :))The Rose fam was primarily there for some good 'ole American fun and to watch fireworks and listen to the post game symphony! Too bad it didn't work out that way. We did spend way too much money on some good ole stadium food, see some more family (Steph, JM and Ro Ro), enjoy goofing off with one another, laughing at the Sasquatch mascot, Strike and just spending time together.

All was well, until my sister, Jaclyn (in the picture above) got her toe smooshed in the back of the chair ahead of us. I was sitting beside her and all of a sudden she started screaming and hitting the guy ahead of us in the back. I realized what happened, stood up and tried to help the poor man out of his seat. Poor guy! Poor Jac! Her toe was pretty severely smashed but she handled very well.

Then the rain started. And it rained and rained. Then the lightening started. And the lights went out. They covered the field more than once (which was really neat). We were super thankful for our covered seats. In the end, the rain won out and the game and post-game activities were cancelled. Oh well. We still had a lot of fun! Thanks, Mom & Dad!

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Well, it turns out that we got a rain check! We are going to a rescheduled game this coming Sunday night and they will have the Symphony and Fireworks! Nick Jr's "Diego" is also set to make an appearance. Sophie will beso excited! WOO HOO!

Watch out Arvest Ballpark... the Rose's are headed your way once again! :)

Rain, rain. Stay away!

under the weather...

2008-08-25T14:03:00.004-05:00

coughing + sneezing + congestion + sore throat + low grade fevers= one slightly under the weather family.

all four of us (and my dad, too...) aren't feeling our best today. sophie asked me to pray for her as soon as we were up this morning. so sweet. we're staying pretty low key. we had some chicken noodle soup for lunch and both girls are sleeping away the afternoon.

this morning sophie made a bed for lots of babies in the hallway.

gracie b. in the bath today... i love her big eyes in this picture.

i will eventually have to venture out to good ole "me mart" to get some groceries. we are out of everything! but, for now we'll just continue to snuggle and maybe put on another episode of "the waltons."

ps- remember simple mom from last week? she is having a great gift basket giveaway! you can enter until midnight tonight. check it out!

gracie's new do

2008-08-22T19:43:00.002-05:00

pondering.... taking a breather

2008-08-22T16:02:00.005-05:00

sophie is finally down for a nap. first one in three days. not fun! i'm really hoping her nap days aren't coming to an end. i still think she needs one. she gets pretty cranky by the end of the day and i'm ready for a little break by 2 pm.

lunch was a little crazy today. daniel walked in to me cleaning up a big baby food mess. sophie accidentally knocked grace's jar of food onto the floor and it went everywhere. (strike 1!) we got that cleaned up and grace knocked over sophie's tea. (strike 2!) i finally sat down 15 mins later to finish feeding grace and she knocked over my tea glass. it shattered everywhere. (strike 3!) that was actually the second broken glass today. sheesh kabob, what is up??!!) we finally ate lunch and dan took sophie to the bathroom where she proceeded to miss the potty and pee all over the floor. (the rug was already up because has gotten some poopy on it this morning. Lord, help me!)

sooo... i think you can see why i was ready for NAP TIME today! grace is watching a little "praise baby" and i'm just vegging for a few minutes.

i've been reading some parenting wisdom at Raising Godly Tomatoes. you can actually read her entire book here. looks good. i definitely need wisdom today. i've been praying for wisdom to raise the girls. the awesome thing is that God knows sophie and grace specifically and what their individual needs are and how dan and i are to raise them. He said to ask for it... "If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get His help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. " James 1:5 The Message.

sometimes i certainly feel like "i don't know what i'm doing" and honestly, i can get so frustrated with the disobedience (especially at nap time) that i want to give up. i know that isn't an option. so Lord, please give me wisdom, grace, patience and love as I deal with sophie. i love her so very much and I know that she is a gift from you.

but, today is FRIDAY! daniel will be home in a few minutes. we're having steak and shrimp for dinner and taking it easy! i have some shopping to do later and we've got to get ready for sarah jo's "spa princess" birthday party tomorrow. we have LIFEgroup over here on Sunday night and we're really looking forward to our new Andy Stanley video study on parenting.

here's to a happy, restful weekend to us all! :)

Sophie's Chore Chart

2008-08-20T15:44:00.013-05:00

I have been very inspired by Simple Mom's organization skills and been blessed by her willingness to share her ideas and her work. One of the first things on her site that caught my my eye was the Pre-schooler's Chore Chart. She did some research on age-appropriate chore for little ones and came up with some good ideas.

Last Saturday night I printed out the PDF file and customized it a little more for Sophie.

I introduced her to it on Sunday night and we started on Monday morning. So far it's going pretty good. She has made her bed (and helped me make mine) every morning, unloaded the silver ware from the dishwasher, helped with laundry, helped in the kitchen and done some extra work. The main challenge has been keeping her from adding extra stickers! :)

At the end of the week, Sophie will get $.05 (one nickel) for each sticker she has on her chart. Sophie loves money, but up until now she has just been given cash and change by her family...mainly grandparents. The girl always has cash! I don't mind this, my late Grandpa J.R. always gave us kids $1-$3 and called it "walking around money." I just want Sophie to have respect for money and work. I also want to teach her about giving (tithing) and saving at an early age. She already knows how to spend! :) Soon she will move up to the 3-4 yr old class at Church, so she will be with us in the service for worship and the offering. That will give her an opportunity to start learning about the joy of giving.

So.... the chore chart is a success. (If you can say that after only 3 days?) Hopefully we will all continue to grow in this. To be honest, I have had a pretty negative attitude about housework in general and have had to learn much about being a proper home-maker after I got married...kicking and screaming all the way! (Since by nature I am am a 'messie' and Daniel is a 'cleanie' about 90% of our fights the first year we were married were about cleaning! Ick!) I want both of my girls to learn how to keep a home with a happy heart before they get married! :) Don't get me wrong...I still have a LOT to learn about being a good home-maker, but I really am trying. Simple routines for each chore like washing/drying/folding/putting away one load of laundry each day or unloading the dishwasher in the morning, etc have really helped me lately.

Lord, I give my children to you once again. I give you my home. Thank you so much for blessing us with it. Please help me to be a good steward of it. Help me to be content with what I have and to find joy in the mundane, but also very important parts of taking care of my husband, children and home. I love You so much.

ps- Check out Simple Mom for lots of great tips on homemaking/life-management!

EEEWWWWWW!

2008-08-20T15:41:00.004-05:00

This morning I was roused from sleep by semi-projectile spit up right to my face and pillow. Good shot, Grace! :)

In the words of Earnest P. Worrell.... EEEEWWWWWWWW!

ten on tuesday

2008-08-19T23:20:00.006-05:00

1- today was sophie's day to go to mimi & papa don's (daniel's mom and step-dad). she loves going over there to play. today she called me from the car to tell me that mimi had bought her a thomas the train umbrella. she was so excited!

2- grace & i enjoy these days. they are usually pretty laid back... especially on rainy days like today. can you believe this crazy weather??? 60 degrees in august!

3- i started making birthday lists today. i'm trying to stay a little ahead of the game with soph's birthday. we are having a "bug/flower/garden" theme. (inspired by the incredibly cheap paperware that i found at "oops" in springdale. you can't beat $.40-$.80 stuff!) i'm ok with food and decorations... i'm just struggling to come up with age-appropriate party games. any ideas would be appreciated. :)

4- we are looking into getting gymnastics/tumbling lessons for sophie as part of her gift. she is a sumersault girl! our chaise & love seat have become her flipping ground!

5- i worked on putting together an "all about today" poster for the playroom. it is loosely based on something like this that i found in a childrens' catalog for $35. i am trying to make it for a lot less. i think sophie will enjoy changing the dates/day/weather, ect. she often tells people "i see you see 'tomorreo'" or "i see you see 'saturday'!" :)

6- i have also been doing a little research on some scripture memory for her. i have been wanting to do this for a while and was inspired by this post/comments. i know that "hiding His Word in our hearts" is so important for the young and the old. i want my girls to love the Word! :) i'm also going to look into awana's cubbies for sophie this fall. any ideas for this??

7- my grandma ninkie (soph calls her "ma ma ma") brought by some more yummy garden veggies today. she is such a great gardener and has blessed us with her bounty many times this summer. thank you, grandma! the fresh, summer stuff sure beats our old standby- canned green beans!

8-grace & i made a quick trip to cruizzers (our local drive-in) for some fresh squeezed lemonade. goofy me missed " 1/2 price happy hour" by 3 minutes! oh well...

9-*update*- it's thursday...i just skimmed this and realized that i had left out number nine. oops! i must have been super tired!

10- i love my hubby SO much. he has been sending me sweet text messages all week. he is such a hard worker and a great friend and daddy! he worked on the fence again this afternoon and he is getting close to getting done. yippee!!

ps- i added music today. i hope it isn't annoying. the diverse group of artists is funny to me. 'night!

mickey mouse & "tic tac toad"

2008-08-18T22:36:00.005-05:00

sophie will turn three 3 years old in a few weeks. amazing! my brain is definitely in birthday party mode. tonight while soph was in the bath i asked her what she wanted for her birthday. "mickey mouse," she replied. what color? "blue. i want to see him." this was a little weird to me because aside from a mickey mouse toy telephone she has, she is not familiar with mickey mouse at all. (unless someone has been talking with her about going to disney world???)

after bath time, we read bed-time stories and her latest favorite is actually a word book. something like "1000 words" and it has pictures of lots of different places/scenarios and the words and pictures involved. (i don't care to read this e-v-e-r-y single day because there is no plot or story, but she loves it and has learned lots of new words with it.) tonight she wanted to read the "birthday party" words... one of her favorites. after we finished i asked her what she wanted to do at her birthday party? "blow out candles," she said. then i asked what kind of games she like to play? "cards." cards, huh? "yep. cards and tic tac toad."

"tick tac toad?" sounds fun! :)

gracie b.= 7 months old

2008-08-17T21:52:00.007-05:00

today grace is 7 months old.

it is amazing to me how fast these months have gone by. God has blessed our lives so much with the sweet addition of this little girl.

she has the sweetest disposition, a contagious laugh, a hearty appetite, a loud squeal/screech, a cute button nose, a wild cowlick!

here is grace with her daddy soon after she was born. i was still in recovery from the c-section. a few minutes after this, grace was put on oxygen and did not leave our hospital nursery until she was air-lifted the next morning to Arkansas Children's Hospital NICU.

this picture was taken on saturday morning. grace was 2 days old and had been intubated and given a chest tube the night before. daniel and i both agree that this was the most difficult day. we were hurt, scared, tired, and confused. we brought our Bible to her little bassinet and looked up many, many scriptures on healing and breathing and life and spoke them over her. she was so precious and sweet even in the midst of the pain.

i am often asked how grace is doing and if she is all better. it is such a blessing to be able to say that she is 100% healed. the Lord did a complete healing in her little body and we are so grateful. she has a tiny scar from the chest tube, but that is the only physical evidence of her serious health problem. Praise the Lord!

here she is last week. our little piano playing love bug! she has very long fingers and toes. wouldn't it be neat if she played the piano one day like her great aunt "b" and her aunt suzy?

love those smiles!

grace adeline you have blessed our lives and we are so thankful that you are a part of our family. you are healthy, whole, full of purpose and destiny. you are loved so much by the One who made you and the ones who have been blessed to raiseyou. may your life always bring Him glory.

we love you!

ps- i know i sound like a hick in this video! just tune me out and listen to grace's super beats! :)

today's adventure: flower shopping with pappy

2008-08-16T23:11:00.008-05:00

after a leisurely morning hanging out with dan and grace, pappy (my dad) called to ask if me and the girls wanted to join him, mammy, my aunt b, and sarah jo on a little trip to glenwood to buy plants for the company. the bonus was a delicious dinner at at "little italy", an authentic mom and pop italian restaurant. since dan was busy working on the fence and most of the housework was done i agreed and we set out for the 45 minute drive. the nursery, "blooming baskets" was overflowing with flowers and greenery at great prices.

we had fun looking at all the plants and the girls loved running through the sprinklers! sophie had just woken up from her nap when we left so she was still in her pull-up when we arrived. after some sprinkler action she needed to go potty asap! there was no public bathroom there so i reluctantly told her to go in her pull-up. (bad idea for a newly potty trained chickee!) she couldn't do that so i suggested we "squat" in some grass since there were no other customers around. that was bad idea #2 since i had grace strapped in the baby bjorn, sophie made quite the pee-pee mess! good thing we had extra clothes! we changed her clothes and all was well!

sophie wasn't too happy at the moment!

the girls had a great time playing, my dad blessed me with my very own purple "crepe myrtle," and i bought a couple of large bushes for $8 a piece!

gracie b. with mammy

sophie with pappy's glasses

sarah with dad's glasses

they had fun popping bubbles!

we also has a yummy dinner at "little italy" and thoroughly enjoyed visiting with aunt "b" and the rest of the fam! my only regret is that i didn't get a pic of aunt b or pappy (him and sophie have matching "life is good" t-shirts.) maybe next time! they were pretty busy shopping and lugging away!

i love this picture of soph & sarah. they love each other so much!

a change of scenery

2008-08-16T00:04:00.002-05:00

today i made a big move. a blog move. i'm moving over from my former blog home at xanga. for the past 5 years i have posted about my life... marriage, jobs, ministry, getting pregnant with sophie, being a first time mom, buying and remodeling a home, second pregnancy with grace, our time in the nicu, the challenges of parenting two, my joys and frustrations and so much more. but, i've decided i need a change and a little more blogging freedom. bye xanga. i'm sure i'll be back to visit often.
i'm here because i'm addicted to blogging. there i said it. i love reading about other women's lives. i love the encouragement, inspiration, humor, and great ideas that i garnish from blogs. to me it's all about relationships and our desire to "be known" and be heard and valued. please know that i value you and i really appreciate you taking the time to read about me and my fam.

about the fam... i'm so blessed to be married to daniel. (six years this month!) i love dan because he's not a compromiser. he's passionate about His relationship with the Lord and He's consistently committed to seeking God. he's a hard worker, a great dad, a major goof ball, a dreamer and a patient husband. he loves me and i am so thankful. we have been blessed with two sweetie pie girls, sophie (curls) and gracie (cowlicks). they are fun little munchkins and they have some wild hair!

i'm a stay at home mom and they keep my hopping! (if i could just keep the laundry going...) i love to craft & decorate. i'm a beginner sewer. i stink at gardening. i like to cook, but cleaning is not my thing. :) i am trying though and i know one day i will look back on these challenging years as some of the best years of my life.

welcome and thanks for tuning in! i love comments! hint, hint... :)

tree climbing girl and her proud sister

2008-08-15T23:44:00.004-05:00

sometimes sophie reminds me so much of myself. (scary sometimes...she's stubborn!) i loved to climb trees as a young girl and still love to swing on a tire swing hanging from a big, stong tree. (i actually had to stand "at the wall"once in second grade for climbing the small tree on our playground. caught by mrs. schroyer!) our home has a big shade tree in the front yard and sophie had to climb it the other day. she knows no fear.

sophie climbing the tree

no fear!
pretty sophie
she's so little and so big at the same time...
wow!
go, sophie!

gracie loves her so much and she was entertained by her monkey sis.

sweet times.