Tuesday, October 6, 2009
A new season for a new reason!
Because I am insanly busy, I can't promise a daily posting. But, to make myself more accountable, I'm adding extra passion into the blog. I find that the things that get the most attention in my life are the ones that hit my passion button. While I love sharing the "Jen humor" of my day, which I will always be happy to bless you with, I will also be sharing another heart's desire. I want to hit on some heart subjects.
My other passion, besides my amazing family, is showing people that you can live a normal life and still love God! God has brought me through life's ups and downs and continues to do so. He has shown me that we all can live an easier life if we lift each other up and encourage eachother! We all have similarities and God uses them to help us know that there is hope and light at the end of the tunnel, and He helps us see when things should be laughed at and not to be looked at as just another stress in our lives!
Don't fear! I'm not a preacher. I just have a big heart that is bursting with love and want to share it from time to time! Ok! I also have a herd of children that seem to have taken it upon themselves to make sure that I laugh my assets off about something they did at least once a day! I can't wait to show you all!
Friday, February 27, 2009
I hope I look as good as she did!
I loved this woman. She was like a grandma to me. We would go to her condo and swim until our hands and feet were pruny. She would always have a flowered swim cap for me to wear so my hair wouldn't get all tangled in the pool. I would spend weekends with her once in a while. She would take me to the rock museum or to Chicago to a restaurant. It was the first time that I had ever had something called yam chips. They were potato chips made out of yams. We would get our hair done together. She taught me how to make scrambled eggs. At night, we would sit and eat peanut butter toast and watch Jeopardy while she crocheted something for a friend or up and coming baby. She would then turn off the coo coo clock so it wouldn't go off all night and scare me. She is forever embedded into my childhood memories.
She was always the biggest traveler. She has been to every continent, multiple times. I believe that it was said that she traveled to over 147 countries in her life time. After 96 years of living, she went on to her farthest and grandest journey, to be with our Jesus. It seems that heaven was the only place left for her to go! When her time came, I knew that I wanted to be at the funeral.
*Before I go on with my story, I want to apologize. I am about to tell you what happens when you go to the funeral of your deceased aunt with your 4 children. It is the raw truth. Raw, uncensored, and true. I have love, honor, and respect for my dearly departed, but as a mother-of-4 I am always shocked back into reality.
Before we took our trip to Chicago, dear husband and I decided to prep the kids for the funeral. We like to sit down as a family and discuss what they are about to do and how the proper way to act. We discussed the funeral and how it would resemble a church service. We discussed how we need to be respectful and quiet. We told them how some people might be crying because they are going to miss the one who died. We, hubby and I, were feeling quite good about how we handled prepping the kids for the reality of what they were about to see.
As I drove to the funeral, I realized that we forgot to include one very important detail of the funeral. We forgot to tell the kids that they were about to see a real dead body in front of the church! No problem, I thought. I will just talk them through it now. I told them. I told them of how Aunt Mae will be in front of the church in a casket. She looks like she's sleeping, but she's really not even in there anymore. She's living with Jesus now.
No sweat! They got it. We were home free! Sort of.......
We arrived at the the church, late. Whoops! I got lost while using GPS! (Another story for another blog.) The service had already started and they already closed the casket. We snuck into the pew and as quietly as a mother and her 4 children could, we got jackets off and coloring books out. Then it happened!
"Mommy?" in a half shouting whisper.
"What?" I whisper back with one finger over my lips, and a begging look on my face.
"Where is the dead body?" They asked.
Mortified I answer, "In the casket. No more talking!"
2 minutes later.......
"Mommy!" my 3 year old who can't whisper to save her life asks.
"What!" I am now giving the threat of death look, because I know what is going to be asked.
"I wanna see the dead body!" again, this kid doesn't know how to whisper.
"Do not say that again!" I whisper in my most serious of whispering voices.
"But, why? I wanna see the dead body!" she says.
This went on the whole time. Every quiet moment, which is pretty much the entire service since it was a very traditional church, my kids would ask the same question, over and over. The funeral soon ends, thank God. I couldn't have been more mortified in my life! I thought that it couldn't get worse. It did.
When the funeral ended we had to hurry to our car in order to get into the funeral procession for the cemetery. We, of course, had to park across the street. I was trying to rush the kids along when a couple, not one, a couple of the kids started to cry. And I mean really cry! I look around and ask what the problem was.
"We didn't get to see the dead body!!!!!" they cried.
We had a very lonnnngggg ride to the cemetery. They were mournful alright. They cried almost the whole ride!
I almost pray that God let Aunt Mae peek in on us during the funeral. I hope that she was sitting with Jesus and laughing.
Monday, January 26, 2009
You know that your are a slacker with your blog when......
Sunday, January 25, 2009
My baby
Friday, January 9, 2009
Another, "You know you're a mom when.." update!
*I know all you DINK (Duel Income No Kids) people think this is the most disgusting thing you've ever heard of. You just wait my friends. It'll happen!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
I made my man moan at the dinner table!
For starters, you need 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. I personally use coconut oil because it is even healthier than olive oil, but you can use whatever you have.
Take your 2T of oil and saute 1 cup of minced carrots. I found out yesterday that minced meant really little. I never had to mince a veggie in one of my 10 normal recipes! Because I am lazy, I put my carrots through my food processor for about 3 seconds. I have no patience for cutting things into tiny pieces. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
Now add your pork. I had a whole tenderloin that I sliced into half inch medallions. Cook until lightly browned on each side. Remove and keep them warm.
Isn't he cute! When something smells this good, you can't keep him away! Now you need to add to the skillet your flour, basil, pepper, and beef granules. Whisk in your cream (I used whole milk instead!), stirring until thick. Stir in wine.
Here is the finished plate. I served this with mashed potatoes since we had the gravy in the pan to use as a topping. It went perfectly together! I wish I would have done something more for the veggies, but I got so excited about the meal that I forgot to make something! I threw in a frozen bag of corn just as I served the meal. Yeah, for frozen veggies!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Where are your calendars?
For instance, my son has the attention span of a fly. He simply needs something that is going to grab him and not distract him. He has to work with his hands in order for his brain to stay focused. My daughter though, loves workbooks! She is the one who loves to have all her work piled before her, and then takes it to another room and finishes it all in one shot. I love her! So out I go into the world of homeschooling curriculum. Let me tell you that this is no small world. Not even Walmart could house all the curriculum that is out there.
Where was I? Oh yes, changing curriculum! Sometimes I find a curriculum that presents things in an awesome way, but it leaves some other aspects out that I loved in the curriculum that I left behind. One thing we changed this year was math. My son was doing just "ok" in math last year. We decided to change companies to do something more hands on. It was a great change, but the new math company didn't have everything included that I was used to having like calendars or clocks.
So what does this hands on mom do? We made our own calendars and decided to call it art! I am actually impressed with my idea, so I have decided to share! I first print off a calendar page from http://www.donnayoung.org/. This is a cool website that offers free printables for calendars, lesson planning, household planning like grocery lists, and lots of other things that I can't remember! Yesterday, we printed off January's calendar onto normal white copy paper.
Then, I took a piece of plain white paper and told the kids to draw something nice for their calendar. One drew herself standing next to her cousin and a snowman that they had just built. (This obviously took place in NY, since Indy doesn't believe in having snow!)
My youngest boy drew himself with his brother and cousin holding swords and ready to fight the world! Some moms gasp at such violence. I personally think it is cute!
My oldest son drew a building with the sun. You have to understand this kid! He just wants to get the job done. No frills. No wasting time. "Let's just do it," is his motto!
After the pictures are done, we staple them to a huge piece of construction paper. I am totally guessing the size, but I think it is a 10x16in. It fits two 8x10 pieces of paper with some room on each side. Here are the pic's to see what we did!
Part of the learning process is that we color in each date as it happens. This way the kids get the concept of dates, months, and days of the week.
This is my other boy. He's just proud that he is finally old enough to join in all school fun!
Here are the finished products! I didn't have my 3 year old do one, but I am sure she will want to next time! I am planning all sorts of ideas for the upper pictures. Here is the list I have so far, along with a list of holidays for each month.