Jenni's Seasons

Snow Day #2

2012-01-13T10:18:00.001-06:00

I have one smart child and three that *like* the cold and snow :)

Here's Smart Margaret. . .cuddled on a cold, snowy day in her warm robe and another blanket, clutching her hot chocolate and vegging in front of PBS. For the record I am, right this minute, sitting in that vacant bed right next to her typing this up. . .I'm smart too. There's a feather mattress on it and lots of blankets. . .I haven't moved since Tom left for work almost three hours ago. Pathetic? Maybe. Just enjoying a "real" snow day -- ha!
Here are the other three, heading down the street looking for a place to go sledding:

Unbeknownst to me, they were all walking in only layers of socks!!! Well, Frederick had some slippers on but still. . .I promise they have shoes and some even have boots!!! Ugh. Their excuse was "we were jumping on the trampoline and we didn't think about it when we left to go walk 1/2 mile down the street". Really?!? Do I dare mention their ages?!? Oh well. . .Thomas, the bright 13-yr-old, came home 1/2 hour later looking for some shoes because his toes were frozen. Hmmmm. . .file this under "natural consequences". . .best teaching tool EVER.

Oh, proof they were on the trampoline? Yea, I took these pictures out of the upstairs window. . .you think I'd actually, voluntarily, open a door and go outside in snow if there is a warm room I can hunker down in instead?

And yes, that *is* Margaret out there (in the pink hat) for her 10 brief minutes of insanity. She was back in lickity-split.

Just 13 days ago, on New Years Eve, I asked Thomas to take this picture. . .

Jeanette's always hot but I didn't have a jacket on, or long pants. . .and it was December 31st!!! We've had two "snow days" since then -- ha! Hope to be back out there soon :)

On the agenda this four-day weekend? I don't know. . .catch up on everything that is NOT getting done, being gone all day, every day I guess. Enjoy the time we have together. Be productive and balance it with time to just be.

Happy weekend everyone!!! And yes, for all who've asked, my kids *love* being back in school and they have wonderful teachers who are really inspiring them. We are blessed.

Love,
Jenni

ETA: Linking up with Company Girls over at Home Sanctuary this cold Friday! Head over if you would like to meet some new friends. . .it's my kind of party -- the more the merrier :)

First Day

2012-01-04T22:35:00.000-06:00

Frederick 3rd grade, Thomas 7th grade, Margaret 4th grade, & Marie 5th grade

It was a wonderful first day of school today. Tom took the younger two to their school (same campus as my school but different buildings) and then came over to the middle school to meet me in the office with the other two so he could get them situated with their schedules, lockers, etc. while I began my new life in a 7th grade social studies (geography & culture) classroom. I have 125 names to learn -- ack!!! I have lessons to plan. . .I'm spending huge chunks of time just trying to stay one step ahead in the curriculum :) I'm not hooked up to grade programs, lesson plan programs, google.docs, websites, e-mail or anything else yet which is kind of a blessing. . .those, too, will take huge amounts of time to figure out I'm sure.
I love the classroom. . .the kids all seem to love their classes and teachers. . .so far, so good.
It's not bad starting this season with a 3-day week -- ha!
Love,
Jenni

Christmas 2011

2012-01-03T23:01:00.000-06:00

O.K., I simply and completely give up on this post. I started it on December 28th. I've been working on completing it off-and-on since then, and put a couple hours into it today. It's gone. Completely gone. I could cry, but I'm not going to. I'm going to brush of the perfectionist Jenni and just move forward.

Christmas Eve with cousins, prime rib, the *best* onion rings ever compliments of Uncle Brian. . .

Grandma got all the Bell kiddos snuggies. . .they turned out to be a *huge* hit!

My favorite gift to give this year were 2011 photo books that I made for each of my nieces:

And the best gift received (besides the gift of Jesus Christ, of course) was a scrapbook Tom's mother made for him. It documents his life from birth to our wedding day.

Here he, his sister Kathy, and Thomas are looking through it the first time

This great group grew up together. . .neighbors and best of friends. Sister-brother Kathy (UT) and Tom (TN) and sister-sister Debbie (CA) and Jennifer (OH). Hiking together Christmas Day was always a tradition for the families growing up but this is the first year in quite a few that it happened again. 10 adults, 4 kids, and 4 dogs. . .we were quite a parade at the park!

Oh how I hoped to have a very comprehensive post with lots of pictures and journaling but Google lost it (I think?!?). I can't sign off until I post just a few more pictures of our wonderful day:

Max & Thomas

Margaret and her American Girl Doll that has a very special story that I will share with her when she is older (it's another one of those "most special gifts" of Christmas)

Marie and Frederick gave all the grandparents and aunts/uncles snowglobe ornaments and to-do lists

The always-elusive picture with Grandpa Fred :)


And a special picture with Aunt Kathy

And now, moving onward and forward. . .Happy New Year everyone!!! I just got the New Years cards in the mail today and our annual letter printed up. . .hopefully we'll find some time to get those out this week :) We are ready to begin our new adventure tomorrow -- finally. The kids have either met their new teachers or know their class schedules. . .now it's time to put it all into action!

Love,
Jenni

January 3, 2012

2012-01-03T07:58:00.000-06:00

Today was supposed to be the kids' and my first day back to school after staying at home together for the last 12 months.

Hey did you catch it? Let me zoom in a little bit. . .

That would be a touch, a sprinkling, of s-n-o-w. Snow combined with temperatures that aren't supposed to climb above freezing today equal. . .

SNOW DAY!!!!

(Or, as I saw posted on FB today, "a snowless snow day").

Ugh.

One of the reasons last year for our lifestyle change.

But I'm certain that God has placed us where we are today, in a new season, for a very specific purpose.

So we will enjoy one.more.day together. It's 7:30 a.m. and we should all be arriving at our new schools by now. . .and yet all the kids are still peacefully sleeping, blissfully unaware of their good fortune (the school cancellation wasn't called until after they were asleep last night) today. They have been so excited, have spent a lot of energy on the anticipation of today. . .and Lord willing, tomorrow will come with those same bright promises.

Picture I snapped with my phone on my way out of school yesterday

Guess I shouldn't have hung those snowflakes on my door?

Home!

2011-12-27T21:20:00.000-06:00

What an incredible Christmas Holiday we had!

We began our Christmas with a trip to the Wilderness Lodge. That was our gift to the kiddos this year. . .rather than shopping and wrapping and then finding places for all the "stuff" (that we don't need!) we decided as a family to make a memory instead. My dad brought my nieces down with him. . .this was his Christmas gift to them! It all worked out so well. . .I *highly* recommend this place. . .

Since there were 9 of us we decided to get a suite with a full kitchen and we are so glad that we did. We brought tons of breakfast stuff (milk, juice, yogurt, cereal, fruit) and snack-y stuff too. . .chips and salsa, veggies & dip, microwave popcorn. . .I had also planned two dinners. . .we stopped at Papa Murphy's on the way out of town and picked up 4 pizzas to bake Wednesday night (there ended up being enough for lunch Thursday too!) and then I brought a crock pot meal for Thursday night. We didn't do it so much to save money (although I'm sure we did save quite a bit) but more for convenience. . .with 9 people it's hard to coral them all at the same time to get ready, get out the door, eat, etc. This worked out much better!

Frederick body boarding. . .

Every time the waves were on you could find Thomas in the wave pool :)

Tom & Margaret

Susan & Marie hanging out, waiting for the waves :)

Bible quiz time with Grandpa

And on to a game of Scattergories (one of my favorite games!) -- AVJ and Marie were on the same team

A surfing lesson for AVJ and Thomas at 11:30 p.m.!

She was up on her own -- yea!

And an "illegal" shot of Thomas. . .if I would have been given information on how to buy the prints I certainly would have -- either I don't know how to work my camera (extremely likely) or it's just not the camera for indoor action shots.

Gotta love the wireless internet for sure! I appreciated having three televisions in our rooms so everyone could be otherwise occupied in our "off" hours :)

We headed to the Titanic museum Thursday afternoon. . .a few of the kiddos were waterlogged and needed a break -- ha! This was an amazing tour although if we had it to do again we wouldn't take the littlest ones (2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade)


Grandpa Foster with his favorite 6 -- Susan, AVJ, Frederick, Marie, Margaret, & Thomas

This was the hot tub area (and it continues outside too!). . .did you spot Thomas and Tom in the far back corner?

Enjoying the water slides. . .

A view from the outside (they are also doing a lot of construction inside and out at the resort)

By far my favorite picture. . .Frederick did not get "brave" enough to do the slides by himself until the last day (of course)

There were 90 steps from bottom to top. Yep, I counted :)

Friday morning only two of the six kids had it in them to head back to the water -- ha!

And then we ran into friends from our town, 100 miles away, too! That was fun.

We ended up staying past lunchtime on Friday and getting into Ohio past dinnertime. Everyone was happy to see Aunt Kathy, in from Utah, and try to get a good night's sleep before the next big holiday treat on Christmas Eve:

A Cincinnati Bengals game, compliments of Uncle Brian!!! Another "experience" gift -- the best kind :) Thank you, Uncle Brian, for an experience the kids are unlikely to ever forget.

We had lots of cousins time, lots of family time. . .a lot packed in to a couple of days. An unusual thing has happened to my calendar this week:

An absolute blank week. The one thing I have written down is a reminder that we're NOT having church programs on Wednesday night -- ha! I'm sure we'll fill it up. . .my new classroom needs work, we have loads of books to return to the library, maybe some friends will come over. . .next Tuesday (and our first day back at school!) will be here soon enough. . .

Stationery card

2011-12-27T07:28:00.001-06:00

Year in Pictures New Year's Card

Click here to browse Shutterfly's holiday card collection.

View the entire collection of cards.

Christmas Sunday

2011-12-20T22:40:00.000-06:00

Because we are always gone on Christmas Eve/Day, six years ago we instituted "Christmas Sunday". The Sunday before Christmas we celebrate together, as a family of six at home.

Frederick, Margaret, Tom, Thomas, & Marie

Our first Christmas here. . .no furniture or anything!

I can't find pictures from 2007. . .hmmm. Almost a year of pictures are missing. . .from mid-2007 to mid-2008. . .maybe in another folder somewhere? Ugh.

Our tree in 2008. . .that year was a little different because we took a trip to Mexico with my mom, brother, sister-in-law, sister, and her family over Christmas so my in-laws came down to celebrate with us a couple of days before we left.


We caught Nana laughing at something :)

2009 - finally remembered to get a picture in front of the tree :) This was the year we didn't get the ornaments out. . .we decided just to do handmade ornaments. . .

And even got a picture of Tom and me!

I remembered a Christmas tree picture last year (2010) too. . .

. . .matching outfits and all.

I didn't fare so well this year with a picture of the four of them. Mainly because we ended up with seven kiddos for our annual Christmas Sunday (and I forgot).

We have three cousins staying with us. . .here are the girls in the house. . .Margaret, Elizabeth, Marie, and Grace. They look like they all belong together, don't they?

Thomas did the annual reading of Luke 2 this year. . .he did a great job. Last year the six grandchildren each memorized parts of it and performed it together at one of our Dayton Christmases:

Margaret, Thomas, AVJ, Susan, Frederick, and Marie - 2010

Back to this year.

We decided on a family trip this year instead of gifts. The kids did not want to give up drawing names and filling stockings, though, so we kept with that tradition and each kid drew a name and then received $20 from us to buy gifts for that person. We found out on Friday that our cousins would be with us too so we gave the kids some money on Saturday to buy a gift for each of them too :)

When it was time to open gifts our children insisted that Patrick, Elizabeth, and Grace open their gifts first!!!

Elizabeth is in the corner holding her snow-globe-light-up-Santa-and-snowman thing that Marie picked out for her. Grace is in the foreground holding a sketchbook/fun-book that the kids picked out for her.

The kids scored with Patrick's gift. . .a book that he apparently has a collection of but not this one -- yea! He's an avid reader -- check the book at his feet. . .he'd had his nose stuck in that book most of the day.

Marie drew Margaret's name. . .nail polish!!!

There you go. . .a sideways picture. Ugh. Wrong computer (I was on the other one earlier). Anyway, as it happened, the girls drew each other's names, then Marie was very specific about this certain gift. . .a snowman ornament thing that lights up and is kind of like a snowglobe. It even has her name on it (she pointed that out in the store to me too when she was showing me exactly what Margaret should get her). Luckily it didn't take too much of a chunk of the $20 and Margaret got her her very own Monopoly game too. That was a great idea.

Getting food treats have become a tradition with our kids. We don't normally buy candy or soda to have around the house so they almost always make sure they spend some of that $20 on edible gifts (we limit it to two items that can be consumed -- is that sad that we have to have a rule for that?). I got into the spirit of that this year with Tom. . .I bought him some of his favorite ice cream Snicker treats and had written a note and wrapped the note, telling him where to find his treat. Isn't it funny how the kids are *way* into it, even though they know what it is? They are genuinely excited for him to get his treat :)

This was my stash this year, complements of Tom. . .my food treat was some Starbucks hot chocolate mix (already opened) and there's another scarf to go with the green one still wrapped as well as a pair of warm pj pants. . .and my other "food treat" -- peppermint patties!

Frederick scored with this gift from Thomas:

(now everyone wants one. . .and Santa is done shopping so hopefully they'll get a little money to spend. . .)

And Thomas's food gift. . .Godiva white chocolate peppermint bark. He shared with me, ~~good~~ great son that he is :) His other gift is in his lap -- the Smurf movie. Which, as soon as we were done with the gift opening, went into the DVD player and there was quiet from all seven kids in the house:

The excitement of the day wasn't over yet. . .

Margaret was baptized too!

The next picture is a view of the church filling up Sunday night. . .

And here was "our" crew:

Unfortunately, this is the *only* picture Tom got of Margaret and Brother Joel. . .ugh. Luckily there was a photographer in the baptistry Sunday evening due to the large number of baptisms in the service (about 20). . .so, hoping that she got one or two good ones. It was beautiful and I'm the lucky mom who was there with her.

It wasn't the only blurry picture of the day. . .I was sad that this one didn't turn out either:

Oh well. . .the memories will last :) Thanks for trying Thomas!

Lots still to look forward to -- I love this time of the year :)

~ Jenni

A New Season for Us

2011-12-16T21:56:00.000-06:00

Our lives changed dramatically on Monday morning. . .a principal at a local middle school called me last Friday and asked if I would come in to talk to him "first thing on Monday morning". I really wasn't sure what it was all about but promptly agreed go in at 10 a.m.

I had previously interviewed at this school two different times in the past two years for math positions (I'm a former middle school math teacher) but knew that there had been a social studies position posted last month in this school. Since our city is so small and there are very few jobs available (especially in the middle of the year!) I didn't go into the school with high expectations.

Interestingly, when I went into the principal's office he said "I didn't ask you to come in here today to interview you. I asked you to come in so I could offer you a job. I've interviewed you enough to know that you're the right person for this job." Wow. I had to ask "for what subject?", "for what grade?", and "what do 7th graders in this state learn in 7th grade social studies?" -- ha! At 10:08 I walked out of the building with a job offer!!!

Surprisingly, it wasn't an immediate decision for us (Tom & I). First off, I had another interview at another school (again, that just "popped up") at noon for an assistant principal's position. Since I thought that interview might just be a favor I called the principal there to see if I should still come in since I had been offered a job that morning. She encouraged me to (another "wow!") so I did. Secondly, we are content with our flexible schooling and I truly *like* being at home with our children. We have excellent support at the school we use and Thomas has been playing basketball for them this season. On another hand, our end goal has always been to put our children back in school and this would be a prime opportunity for them to attend a good school in our area. The Lord provided me an opportunity in the last two years to attend and complete graduate school. . .I really, really love being a part of the education community and would like to use my education. At noon I attended my second interview and felt that went well too. Since that school was making a decision that day I was able to wait to get a "no" from them and then accept the first job (which is what I truly wanted anyway. . .at this season in my life of course. . .someday I would love to be a principal though!).

Which brings me to the letter I received today, making everything "official". YEA! Our children finished up their studies at their satellite school and we had a somewhat tearful parting. . .that school has been a huge support for us these last twelve months. I wouldn't trade this time or experience for anything. The Lord has again and again slammed doors that we wanted to walk through regarding previous job interviews and such. . .this time we both felt as if He was holding a door wide open for us. . .and, again, we are stepping out in Faith. Only through His power are we able to do this and our greatest prayer is that He is glorified in all we do.

I am looking forward to this season and so are the kids! Frederick (3rd grade) and Margaret (4th grade) have already met their teachers and Marie (5th grade) and Thomas (7th grade) will be going to school with me and have had a little tour of the building -- as much as I know about it (I have previously subbed in this school). Today was the last day of school for all schools in our area so the kids will begin in January, which is also a new semester. There will be challenges, of course, but we will face them head-on, together, as the family team that we are :)

I know we will have many memories to share here in 2012!

~ Jenni

December 10th, 11:30-1-ish p.m.

2011-12-16T00:35:00.000-06:00

As soon as the race was over Saturday morning we headed ~22 miles north to another small town in our home county. . .it's our county seat, although we spend most of our time in the larger town we both work in in another county. We happen to live right in the middle. Anyway, we love our county seat. . .it was once a thriving town that stopped growing when they lost a major factory and then a major interstate was put in about 30 miles south in the 70's (I think. . .of course we've only lived here 5+ years so I/my family haven't lived this history).
Anyway, Frederick is part of a Cub Scout pack that participates in the annual Christmas Parade.
This is the other direction from which we were standing. . .the previous picture we were looking up at the town square:

People-watching was so much fun. We had a good half-hour to do this since this must be the longest parade route in the United States. . .Tom and Frederick had to show up at 9 a.m. to line up and the parade was supposed to (did?) start at 11 a.m. We finally saw the police cars at 11:45!

And this is how you kick off a parade in the middle of TN:

Yep, that would be a Confederate flag kicking things off. . .with a soldier straight from "The War Between the States"

Other highlights of the parade (or things I got pictures of. . .my camera batteries were low):

Fire departments from every city/town in the county (and Marie and Thomas waiting for candy!)

GOT SOME!

This was a fun car :)

And semis. . .we really couldn't believe how many. . .as far as you could see. . .

Did you notice something?

They all had matching wreaths to their front grills. Gotta love it.

Some interesting tractor wheels

The requisite high school marching band (our county only has one HS so there was only one band. . .too bad because those are always *my* favorite parts of a parade. . .)

And a not-very-good shot of our winning football team (I somehow just couldn't get a good angle. . .even chased them up the street!)

Here come the horses, sleigh bells, and covered wagons. . .

. . .I don't think Ma & Pa Ingalls had a ride quite this comfortable though :)

And this beautiful girl went by too. . .

Margaret was riding in the truck pulling the float. . .

This is another float I had to chase down the street -- Frederick just would not pay attention to me -- ha!

Frederick's best friend, Scott, seems to be yelling and pointing "look over there" (meaning in our direction) but Frederick is to the right, in the grey & yellow hat, not paying attention at all. . .

Nope, still not looking. . .

Ah, finally, he turns to smile :)

Here are some pics that Tom snapped before the parade route:

Frederick holding some of the "loot" he was going to throw out:

Frederick (left) and Scott -- it was COLD out!

And all the boys who came out to ride and throw candy (dads too).

After the parade we headed out for Mexican:

Scott & Frederick

Bean & Margaret

Daddy and Bean (funny fact: Bean *refused* to have his picture taken earlier in the day!)

Marie and Mom

Marie & Dad

. . .and Thomas. . .glad I got this picture. . .you only see him eating Mexican at a Mexican restaurant about twice a year -- ha!

We came home and just enjoyed being *home* for the remainder of our day. It was such a beautiful, sun-shiney day. . .

Love,

Jenni

December 10th, 10-10:30 a.m.

2011-12-10T18:16:00.001-06:00

The Jingle Bell Run was this morning. . .

. . .and Thomas ran again -- his third race in as many months! Does he look cold? He should. . .this is what my phone said about our weather:

It really felt a lot colder. The wind was really icy cold. Thomas had not brought a hat or gloves -- ugh! Marie was with us and had a Santa hat that she lent him and I gave him my gloves. It was a 5K Jingle Bell Run.
Santa and Frosty were there:

And he's lined up, ready for the cannon shot.
(There were some great costumes out there as well as a few people with bare arms and legs -- I can't imagine!)

Here comes the first runner. . .about 17 minutes later (!!!!)

. . .and about 4 minutes later I saw Thomas!!!

Yes, again, he passes the man just ahead of him at the finish line -- ha!

I was shouting at them. . ."numbers 9 & 10. . .you're number 9 & 10". I figured it would push him on. And it did. . .he passed the other guy over the finish line. . .

Less then 22.5 minutes -- wow!!

Yep, this is completely un-posed. This is what "Mom, I'm not hungry. I don't want oatmeal" an hour/two before will do to you after running a 7:10-mile pace. But he soon recovered:

And said, (don't read this part Aunt Jodi): "I'm never running another race".

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-29T08:10:00.000-06:00

Thomas ran in the annual Turkey Trot 5K which the YMCA puts together each year.

Of course I'm on the "wrong" computer to make the pictures come out right. Sigh. This is before the race, about 7 a.m. He's going to do GREAT, I just know it :)

I was working for the Y that morning, helping people to pick up their race packets and then watching the kids left behind when their parent(s) went to run but did sneak out to get a picture of the crowd.

There were 500 runners registered and 423 that actually showed up to run (some of the registrations were for the kids' 1-mile fun run too). Thomas was right out in front to start the race -- he's in the green cap right of center.

I left my post (again) inside 20 minutes after the race began and saw him already coming up the street! (He did pass the guy in front of him in his sprint to the end.)

My dad was there, Tom, Thomas's sister Marie and his brother Frederick. . .all cheering him in these last few seconds.

I was (obviously) trying to get a picture of his time. . .officially it was 21:17. WAY TO GO THOMAS!!!! He ended up coming in 17th overall, out of those 423 runners -- yea! So proud of him.

After the race was cleaned up and awards given (he placed 5th in his age category, 11-19) we headed home to clean ourselves up and head to our family about 80 miles west of here. Nana and Grandpa Fred were here and went with us since it was the Bell family we were eating with, and my dad headed to Nashville because my sister and all of her in-law family was there for the weekend to celebrate the holiday at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.

Debbie's beautifully decorated table. . .

And one of my favorite things. . .her Thanksgiving tree!

Cousins. . .

And brothers. . .

Grandpa Fred & Nana

Tom's beautiful cousin Debbie and me

And the entire family, all 20 of us:

We had lots and lots of food (of course):

We brought appetizers: meatballs, chipped-beef cheese ball, and Dorothy Lane Market's spinach dip -- yum!

Patrick roasted a turkey, smoked a turkey, and fried a turkey. Yep, that's three turkeys for 20 of us :)
And a self-service bar -- my kids are crazy about anyone that serves soda for dinner!

Time to eat!

The only pictures I have of Tom from the day. . .

Serving turkey. . .

and doing dishes. . .what a servant!

This picture cracks me up. . .the kids getting "instructions" on how to behave at the dessert table!!!

After the kids blazed through the adults took their turn :)

We brought cupcakes and Nancy made apple and pumpkin pies; Aunt Barbara also made a pumpkin pie and Patrick a carrot cake. . .look what the kids left for us:

Yep, the peanutbutter pie that we brought (of course) disappeared!

What a beautiful, blessed, full, happy, thankful Thanksgiving!!!!

Right Now

2011-11-21T14:21:00.000-06:00

It is a gray, rainy day. Right now it is drizzling.

Yea, you can't tell though, can you?

This is some sort of kicking-the-balls-at-one-another game. I was just taking pictures. . .and getting wet.

They love jumping on the trampoline when it's raining or snowing and slipping and sliding around. Rain is better because they put on swimsuits or something else that is just as easy to dry. . .

One of the kids even mentioned that it's November 21st and we're outside in our swimsuits!!!

Weather.com says it's 64 degrees outside. . .good enough for me.

Will someone get hurt/mad?

Probably. But I choose to remember the smiles.

And the energy burned :)

If they were in school and had free time they would not be allowed outside in the ~~rain~~ drizzle. . .they'd be sitting in the dark watching a movie.

Waiting at the door for towels

I prefer this.

New Basketball Hoop!

2011-11-19T11:34:00.000-06:00

The post the grandpas have been looking for (and I don't even know that they read. . .but Nana and Mammaw will certainly point it out -- ha!)

Think maybe it was time for a new one??? The old one was a gift to the kids when we first moved down here 5+ years ago. We've had a couple of nets, I've backed into the base, it fell over a few times (the wind down here can be wicked), and Grandpa Fred even tried to make a new backboard at one point. Well, with Thomas making the basketball team at the school we're registered at and just the eyesore that it is in our driveway the grandpas got together and surprised us with a new system!

Oh, here we go with the sideways pictures again. . .ugh. Think it might be this computer. Anyway, putting this together last Sunday gave father-and-son a chance to spend the afternoon together!
(OK, switching computers. . .let's see if this helps)

(Ha! Changing computers helped! Wonder why. . .)

This made me laugh. . .another instance where there is some identical dressing going on (not sure if it was on purpose like last time)
They got it up. . .

Another white t-shirt! Tom's starting a trend --ha!

Look at Michael Jordan. . .a.k.a. Frederick. . .watch out Upwards!

It was *windy* out there!

Yea, she can shoot a pretty good ball too :)

THANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH, GRANDPA FRED AND GRANDPA FOSTER, FOR THE AWESOME NEW BASKETBALL SYSTEM!!!!!

We Now Have a Teenager in the House

2011-11-17T23:15:00.000-06:00

Happy 13th birthday Thomas!

It was a full day. . .I am tired. I think you are too because we sent everyone to bed at 9:45 and haven't heard a sound since.

I got the chair picture with you holding up "13" on your hands but it keeps turning sideways and I don't have the patience to figure it out right now. . .

I only have 1/2 the days' photos downloaded and edited. . .while Margaret was at gymnastics tonight I loaded the pictures we had already taken (thank you for getting your chair picture first thing!)

You all began the day with a little basketball before Community Bible Study.

And you talked everyone in to a picture -- thank you!!!

And Marie even took one of us. . .remember how we were comparing our heights in the mirror this morning before we put shoes on?

On our way to CBS we made a quick stop at Ralph's so your could treat your teen class today:

We went to see It's A Wonderful Life (put on by our local children's theatre) this afternoon with our co-op group and then you had a few free hours at home before basketball practice. I let you open Grandpa Foster's gift early because it was something you could do with your siblings for the afternoon.

And lastly, before I wrap this up, you insisted on cupcakes tonight, but "not made from a box and not frosted with frosting from a can". You wanted something "special", but not chocolate. So I searched and combined some different recipes I found. I baked these: (which I originally saw here)

(And I cheated. . .they started with a boxed mix. . .and then I added in a bunch of other stuff)

Then filled them with peanutbutter cream:

Then put the "lid" back on:

And then made the suggested buttercream icing that came with the cupcake recipe and frosted them:

And this is where my pictures end. I took you to your basketball practice at 5 and your dad picked you up at 7. I don't know what you did between 7-7:41 when the rest of us finally met up with you at your restaurant choice tonight, Chili's. It wasn't a good experience. . .we didn't end up having to pay for our meal. You chose it because of the onion rings. Ugh. We did bring your gifts and you got to open them there (glad we had something to do while we waited 1/2 hour for our food in an empty restaurant).You got money (what else do teenagers want???), a new soccer ball from Daddy, a new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book that came out this week from your siblings, I'm going to take you to a movie after work on Tuesday night, Nana & Grandpa got you a watch band holder for your nano, Aunt Jodi bought you some Under Armor running pants and Grandpa Foster sent you $20 to buy a new basketball (way cheaper then trying to mail one!!!). When we finally got home after 9 p.m. we put 13 candles in your cupcakes and sang to you. I haven't seen the pictures yet because your dad was taking them. You liked the cupcakes, which made the time and effort I put into them worth it :) I actually saved 15 of them (unfilled) for Thanksgiving next week -- your dad suggested a cream cheese filling for those. . .

I love you, Thomas. You are a fantastic son, an awesome big brother, and a special nephew and grandson. This morning I told your dad that 13 years ago today I could not have imagined this life that we now have together but had I been given a glimpse, I would have been overjoyed to see the richness and fullness of our life (and probably a little scared about how fast time was going to go!) The next thirteen years? I'm sure it's beyond our small imagination but I look forward to sharing them together with this incredible family that God has so perfectly put together.

Happy Birthday!!!

This November I Am Thankful For. . .

2011-11-13T16:09:00.001-06:00

Marie is in the top row, on the far left next to coach Jen

. . .parents and coaches pulling together to make a co-ed U11 team for our kiddos so everyone could play soccer competitively this fall (our town is small and getting enough girls/boys to make a "regular" team was not possible this season)

. . .a daughter that not only loves to play soccer, but gets up early in the morning (in the freezing cold, I might add) to go cheer her brother's team on.

. . .and I'm thankful for this soccer player and all the time and dedication he's put into his sport this season (I don't think I realized he is a head taller than his teammates!). . .playing. . .

Three of my favorites. . .Coach Tom, Coach Thomas, and player Frederick, third-from-left in the first row

. . .as well as coaching with his dad. I'm thankful for a husband that takes the time to be with his sons, doing what they love to do.

I am thankful for this girl. . .

. . .so glad that she was in my Kitchen 102 class at co-op this fall semester. . .

Annie Oakley museum - Marie, Nana, & Margaret - in October

. . .and thankful for Grandparents (all of them!!!) that invest in her and her sibling's lives.

Grandma and Marie on her birthday at her party

Grandpa Foster playing tennis with all the kids last week

I am thankful for a son that nurtures others. . .

Frederick trying to show a player's younger sibling how to complete a word puzzle at a soccer game

. . .and cuddles with his mom to keep her warm :)

I love this 8-yr-old. . .my youngest. . .appropriately named after both of his grandfathers. . .the one who says he "kinda" wants to know if I'm the tooth fairy but "don't tell me because I'm not sure I want to know".

I couldn't be more thankful for this girl. . .the one who loves to climb trees and wear jeans and sweats and play with the boys and talk my ear off and loves God so much she's constantly searching for answers and Truth in her Bible

And then there's this girl. . .the 9-yr-old that I turn to for fashion and style advice :) I would post a picture of her in her pirate costume this last week if I could get the pic off my phone. . .she can make a costume two sizes too small for her look good -- ha!

She's my cartwheel-turning, free-will-testing, blond-hair-brown-haired beauty. I am thankful that she's my daughter and that she keeps me on my toes. . .life could be b.o.r.i.n.g. without her. . .and who likes boredom?

Thomas after running his 5.9 mile leg in the Haunted Half 10/22/11. He ran it in 52 minutes.

And I'm thankful for our oldest. . .our first. . .the one so much is expected of because he is the oldest yet he does things all the time to remind us that he's "only" 12 (and I can "only" say that for 3 more days -- wow!).

He's getting so tall. . .

Or is my dad getting short?

I just love this picture. . .I took it a couple weeks ago. . .they are not too old yet to dress alike (on purpose!) in footie pajamas :)

I am thankful for this picture with my brother. . .when we were both in OH at the same time for about 24 hours last month. . .

And I am forever thankful for this man. . .this person I met when I was 17. . .who has been around, been supportive, loved me for 22 years now. . .the man who is the best husband for me, the best father for our children, and a strong man of God.

I'm thankful for the 2+ hours I was given to write this post. . .just a day to go to church, take a nap, forget about the dishes. I can do all this because of the five fabulous people I live with and share my life with. I am thankful for our Lord God's guidance in our lives and His true and everlasting love.

Love,

Jenni

Checking In 11.04.11

2011-11-04T09:12:00.000-05:00

This is our weekend schedule. Yep. Wow. And this has been our life for the past two weeks. . .I love being busy but the running is a bit much. We won't all make everything and having Grandpa Foster here will help a lot.

This was our board a couple of days ago:

Believe it or not, everything on that board was accomplished! Thursday we left the house at 9:15 a.m. for Community Bible Study and returned home at 8:05 p.m. after I picked Margaret up from gymnastics.

We are staying busy with this when we're at home:

And having some blessed times together like my Picture of the Day Wednesday:

Potato soup lunch. For some reason this lunch meant a lot to the kids. . .they went on and on how we were having a "normal" lunch, staying home, good food. . .really made the effort worth it :) I do like our days at home too. . .we should be here most of this morning which is good.

Ugh. Sideways pictures again. This was Marie just a little bit ago. . .she got her birthday ipod yesterday. . .all her birthday money and money she had been saving. Now to get that schoolwork done so she can enjoy her new toy this weekend and while on the road to Knoxville for her last four games of the season there. She gets to stay overnight Saturday night with her dad and is excited about that! Thomas will be in the other direction -- Nashville -- on Sunday. Glad my dad will be here to help get everyone everywhere :)

This is all I've got time for now. . .need to help Marie and Frederick study for their history & geography tests. . .they have to go into their school to take those unit tests today. Leave a comment and let me know what you're up to!

Another birthday!

2011-10-27T08:29:00.000-05:00

Marie was 11 on Tuesday. It is now Thursday. Gifts are opened, party is over but life is moving quickly with no time to record these precious times in words.

Family and friends that we call family minus a brother and a cousin

Today is Community Bible Study and Co-op. Tomorrow we will have to catch up on schoolwork, housework, laundry (and maybe blogging?) as we've been out of town since Saturday. THIS Saturday and Sunday we will be spending in two different areas of Nashville for two different soccer tournaments for two different kids. Somewhere we will breathe and I will (hopefully) play some tennis.

Marie had an awesome party and here is a picture of her with all but one of her grandparents. Her Mammaw (my stepmother) is caring for her dying sister in St. Louis so is not in the picture. For some reason, Grandpa Foster doesn't look happy but I assure you, he was. So, not playing favorites here but to be fair:

I *will* find time to journal this special day for Marie. And brag on Thomas and his run in the Haunted Half here in our little town (5.9 miles in 52 minutes!). And record my brother's visit too. Whew. It's been a busy five days :)

An Ordinary Week

2011-10-21T09:34:00.000-05:00

Margaret is slowly but surely decking out our front porch for Fall. I still have my summer stuff out. . .I know, I know, it is October 21st. I *really* need to let that season go. Maybe today.
I just took this picture below (6:45 a.m.) and if you can feel a picture I'm sure you can feel the chill in this one. . .I think it was in the 30's last night.

But the sun is rising and I think it's going to be a *beautiful* day. The forecasters are calling for 57 degrees. . .still chilly but with the sun it will be a perfect fall day.

Saturday Marie started the day with an 8:30 a.m. YMCA soccer game in her least-favorite position:

And this is why. . .

But she forgets that she saves a lot too (why aren't we as good about counting those?)

And, as usual (we keep telling her this since she can't see it from her vantage point), there aren't any defensive players around her, protecting her!

She just doesn't give herself enough credit as a Keeper. It's a hard job and out of 16 kids on the team, she is chosen by her coach again and again. Way to go Marie!

She finally got out on the front lines where she likes to be. . .she is a tough player! She didn't end up scoring, but she was there, leading the pack :)

And fighting it out with an old teammate!

On the field across the parking lot Frederick was out there, running his tail off as usual. . .

And the T Bell coaches on the sidelines. . .

After her Y game she, Nana, Margaret, and I headed to Knoxville for her first travel team soccer friendly (game).

There she goes!

Our community is so small there weren't enough U11 girls (or boys) to fill a team so UCUSC decided to go co-ed this fall. It's a great experience for her! They've had a hard time finding teams to match up and play but if this first game is any indication they are well on their way to being a strong force in Middle Tennessee!

Coach Green and Coach Hoffman (and a pretty profile of Marie)

The cheering section:

Nana & Margaret

It was a weekend of soccer. . .Sunday after church we headed to Nashville for Thomas:

They kind *look* like a force to be reckoned with. . .but. . .alas. . .they just couldn't pull out a win.

Thomas is a strong player. . .and fast. The siblings on the sidelines were having their own kind of ordinary fun:

Other moments caught on camera this "ordinary" week. . .

The kids and grandparents lined up watching Zookeeper. . .I was baking at the time, but it sounded like they all enjoyed it.


Margaret and Daddy reading together

I made these for the kids' CBS class yesterday. I got the idea from here. . .mine were just plain cake mix and off-the-shelf frosting but they turned out pretty great, huh?

Sneaking in some leftovers last night :)

And our Cub Scout:

These "ordinary" times aren't really ordinary at all -- they are EXTRAordinary. . .we are together, healthy, with the ability to earn money, live in a house, drive vehicles wherever we need to go, worship our Lord freely and share Him with others, get an education, and be with our children. We have family, friends, and love all around us. I am grateful for the opportunity to not only have memories, but be able to capture these memories on film and in print. God bless you and yours, whoever is reading.

~ Jenni

Picture of the Day 10.17.11

2011-10-17T16:02:00.001-05:00

Just snapped this picture for my year-long "picture of the day" project.

It captures our simple, wonderful life completely :)

Not enhanced, not (really) posed. . .just a moment in time that I am blessed to be a part of. We just got home from our weekly library trip and they are taking a last break before finishing up schoolwork for the day. It's a beautiful, gorgeous, October Monday. Thank you, Lord, for our life together.

~ Jenni

The BEST Chocolate Cookies Ever

2011-10-16T00:12:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week, when I was an empty-nester, I had lots of time to browse and enjoy blogs. . .hopping from one to another, pinning, and finding more and more things to interest me. One thing I found as I went from one blog to another, which led to another (and, unfortunately, I can't remember who directed me to these. . .but this is the original author) were these Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies. Wow.

I couldn't stop thinking about them. I know it's crazy. I am crazy. But finally, I couldn't take it any longer and just made them. One thing that was keeping me from it was that I don't have a lot of chocolate lovers in this house and was afraid I'd make them and then be the only one to eat them. My mother-in-law happens to be here, though, and loves chocolate cookies as much as I do so I finally had a partner in crime. I'm so sorry it took me days on end to just do it. Or maybe I'm not. I've eaten too many.

Anyhow, this is how I made them. . .not exactly like Amira, but close. I'll tell you this too, in case you are craving them but not sure if you have the time. . .I walked into my kitchen with my camera at 8 p.m. tonight and walked out, with cookies cooling on the rack, the ingredients put away, and dishwasher running with dirty dishes, at 9 p.m. Earlier I was hoping to make these so my eggs had been sitting out. . .they need to be at room temperature.

There aren't too many ingredients. . .in addition to three eggs at room temperature, you need powdered sugar (~ 2 cups), 1+ cup chocolate (I used semi-sweet, the recipe calls for bittersweet. . .I also used some Nestle Dark Chocolate chips), salt, cornstarch, and cocoa powder. That's it! Notice anything? GLUTEN FREE!

I started by melting 1 cup of semi-sweet Tollhouse chips in the microwave, 30 seconds at 70%, stirring until smooth (it took two rounds for my microwave). I did this first b/c they need to cool off a bit before incorporating them into the cookie mix.

Stirred after 30 seconds


Stirred until smooth after another 30 seconds

Next I separated the eggs. . .you only need the whites for these cookies.

I'll save the yolks for scrambled eggs in the morning. . .I know there are probably some custards out there I could use them for but 1-2 sweets in the house at a time is enough!

Once the eggs are separated, beat them until soft peaks form (I just used my hand mixer and a small-ish bowl for this. . .there really isn't a ton of batter -- my recipe tonight made 33 small (but very rich!) cookies.

I tried to capture the peaks that eventually form but it's (obviously) night time and the lighting in my kitchen doesn't complement the wall/counter colors for great pictures anyway. I probably beat these egg whites about a minute to get them from here to there.

Next I added 1/2 cup powdered sugar to the egg whites, beating just until incorporated.

Amira said "until it resembles marshmallow creme". Easy enough. I put this aside and sifted together 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, 1 T cornstarch, and 1/4 t. salt.

I always, always sift my dry ingredients together. . .I really think it's an important step that shouldn't be skipped. This is what happened when I was finished "gently" sifting these ingredients:

So, I just push all of this through so it all incorporates smoothly into the egg white/sugar mixture.

I don't know if you notice or not, but I don't generally sift into a bowl (why dirty another dish?). . .I just sift onto waxed paper, then transfer it to where it goes. . .in this case right into the egg white mixture.

Mix just until combined.

I know these seem rich and chocolate-y enough and why would you add more but since it's already melted and cooled anyway (and you need the batter a bit stiffer). . .go ahead and put the melted bittersweet/semi-sweet/or whatever kind of chocolate you picked and melted in:

Wow, huh?
O.K., confession time. The first time I made these (last night) I stopped here. I didn't add anything else, didn't roll them in sugar or anything. . .at this point I lined my baking sheet with parchment paper, dropped them on and baked them.

And they turned out great, but weren't "pretty" because the sugar wasn't there. So, for the second batch I did what the recipe said and rolled them in powdered sugar.

While the first batch, without the additional sugar, were rich and fudgy without being sweet. . .these were prettier and had a melt-in-your-mouth quality because of the sugar. My boys like the "plain" ones but I prefer these.

Since my mother-in-law was keeping me company in the kitchen last night when I first tried these cookies we decided, for the last few, I'd add some dark chocolate chunks to the batter (even though it seemed like over-kill to me). I kept going back to the picture on Amira's blog that had the melty center because of the chips. So. . .before I scooped out the last few dough balls, I threw in a couple of chips:

I just incorporated 2-3 chips in around the dough.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Allow to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Good luck waiting for them to cool completely :)

There are so many incredible qualities about these cookies. First off, they are rich and true to their flavor (even thinking maybe adding a little strong coffee to the batter?). Secondly, they are crisp on the outside and tender and chewy on the inside. My husband likened them to brownies but I'm not a huge brownie fan and loved these. . .so. . .I get it a little -- they *are* fudgy. Thirdly, I highly, highly, recommend *all* of the chocolate and sugar. When I made them tonight I made them full-out. It seems like too much while you are doing it but the end result is worth it.

So. . .there you have it. I have no idea how to make a "printable version" but you can cut-and-paste from here, right? Here goes:

Fudgy Dark Chocolate Cookies:
3 egg whites, at room temperature
approximately 2 cups powdered sugar, divided
1 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips/chunks
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix egg whites until soft peaks form. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and beat just until incorporated.
In separate bowl, sift together 1 cup powdered sugar, the cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt. Gently add this to the egg white mixture. Once combined, add the cooled, melted chocolate. The batter will be stiff.
If using additional chocolate chips/chunks, incorporate those into the batter now.
Roll small balls of cookie dough in reserved powdered sugar and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, or until edges look dry and tops are cracked. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes on cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack.
ENJOY :)

Here are some more recipes from Divine Baking that I'd like to try:
Cinnamon Roll Cake
Hot Fudge Peanut Butter Bars
Brownie Tart - although this one would only be for an extreme chocaholic reason I think. . .it's almost too much?
Red Velvet Cupcakes - I love red velvet cake but have never made it from scratch. . .
Triple Caramel Cupcakes
Chocolate Salted-Caramel Cupcakes
Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake - as soon as I purchase some vanilla beans. . .Thomas would love this as his birthday cake!

What do you think about these recipes? Too much? Not your taste? I love baking sweets (usually) more than I enjoy eating them. . .except this time. Let's see if another of Amira's recipes makes me as crazy as the cookies I posted here :) Again, I promise. . .easy. And it can be adapted for you.

~ Jenni

The Empty Nest Fills Back Up Today

2011-10-14T08:47:00.001-05:00

We have had a quiet week. Sunday we drove the girls 3 hours (and Fred and Nancy drove 3 hours) so we could give them a week together. We had a quick bite to eat, a quick picture, and then another three hours back home.

Wow, this is an excellent picture. And spur-of-the-moment too. . .the best kind, I guess :)

Then Tuesday afternoon, we allowed the boys to go to Fall Nature Camp at Cedar Lake for a few days.

Of course Thomas has been there numerous times and Frederick did Day Camp with his friend this year, but this is the first time Frederick stayed over night.

They actually aren't staying in cabins, like they do in the summer, but where the girls stay. . .which is called the Bird Cage. It's more like a dorm building with indoor plumbing and everything!! Not roughing it too much in there :)
I dropped them off after work on Tuesday and the rest of the day was on-and-off rain but probably do-able for the campers. Wednesday was a GORGEOUS day. . .I know they were outside having fun the entire day!!! Yesterday (Thursday) was a really rainy, yucky, day. I'm sure the staff did a great job of keeping things going, though, and with 43 campers how can you be bored??? Today has dawned bright and beautiful and I have to leave to pick them up in about an hour (the camp is about 20-25 minutes away -- not too far). . .I'm very excited to see them.

Ugh. A sideways picture again. Of course his big brother is too cool to have his picture taken in front of his dorm area (Mockingbird -- see why they call it the Bird Cage?). . .but that's o.k. Knowing they are together these days but will do things with their own groups is a good thing.

Tom and I didn't do a whole lot. . .I worked a lot. . .he took a half-day off to work on my van. . .

Yea, I like the look :) I took a picture mid-way through my pantry organization:

Ack! Sideways again. Oh well. . .the panty is also the laundry and I got *one* itsy-bitsy project done. . .hanging these tags on the girls' laundry baskets. . .tags they painted probably 2 years ago. Ugh. Don't know where the boy's tags are?? I came across them and was able to go get the stuff and just DO IT.

Oh, and I finished this:

This was a trial color/coat last Thursday. . .this morning it looks like this:

I'm really happy with it. It blends into the house, which I like. We could just never settle on a "color" and Margaret suggested "brown" to match the house. . .genius! (No, no fall stuff out yet. . .still hanging on to summer just a little bit. . .it's warm enough to make it work, for me at least. I hate ripping out summer flowers that still look good. O.K., maybe this weekend/week. . .)

Trial picture after 1st coat to make sure it was going to "work"

Well. . .time to shower and get my boys! The Bells and the girls will be here later this afternoon. . .they're coming down to put the boat up for the winter and there is a lot of soccer on the calendar too! The kids around here have been on Fall Break so everything is kicking back into gear this weekend. . .

I'm linking up with Company Girl Coffee today. . .check them out if you have some time. . .I always enjoy catching up with them week-to-week. . .

Blessings,
Jenni

One MoreTime?

2011-10-13T18:18:00.001-05:00

We were traveling Sunday and I happened to have a camera so I snapped a pic:

This is the most perfect name ever for a boat, in my opinion.

Actually, THIS is what we looked like Saturday when we were taking our boat out one more time:

Thomas brought a friend with him to the lake so I was driving behind them. . .the truck only fits the 6 of us so we were often taking two vehicles to the lake this year. I couldn't resist one more picture. . .the leaves are beginning to change and I just love, love, love the mountains. . .

Robert was in the car with me. . .he offered to take these pictures

Our destination :) Thomas and his friend Edward went out on the new dock to get close to the water before the boat and the others showed up. We got there about 12:30. . .it would never be this dead on a Saturday in the summer! The kids also noticed how low the lake was compared to earlier this summer:

This picture was taken on our first outing this year. . .you can see how the bases of the trees were under water.

We made a quick stop at the marina to use the restroom and feed the turtles. . .

Margaret was the crazy one, jumping full-in to the icy cold water. . .with a smile on her face and everything :)

This is Thomas (on right) with his friend Edward. . .I think it's great that two 7th grade boys let me take their picture!

Beautiful Marie

I had to jump a little ahead in our day to find a picture of Frederick but here it is! (BTW, Tom cut that mop off his head the next day -- yea.)

Robert and Edward headed out on the tube. . .

Looking mighty relaxed, huh?

Somehow, Thomas always managed to stay on. . .unfortunately for Edward, he didn't fare as well. He was one cold boy when he climbed back on to the boat!


The smiles, the pure joy. . .priceless

The girls went out on the tube together too.

Of course, their instructions were clear. . .go slow. . .go straight. . .we don't want to fall off. . .

Then we stopped for some lunch. . . I tried another panorama shot. . .looks like I have a little "skip" in it but I think it captures the essence of the day perfectly. Here is a shot of the other 180 degrees:

Just perfect quietness out there. Everyone but me made it to the island (no food on the boat. . .crumbs = mice). . .some ferrying themselves on the tube to stay out of the cold water. The sun, however, was out and bright and warm. . .I was just wearing short sleeves so you all know it must have been 80 degrees or so. LOVE THIS WEATHER.


Picture of lunch on the island with some of them

Out an about exploring. . .

The big boys paddled the tube out to the island. . .apparently they never got there?!? I'm not exactly sure where they were but they made it back so all is well. . .

Frederick. . .

Marie and Margaret. . .they are not supposed to have their lifejackets undone. . .I think they thought we were too far away to see. . .and we were but my super-lens picked it up!

THE MUD!!!!!!!!!

And some peace, while the five kids were out "doing their thing" :)

Then back on the lake for some kneeboarding. . .

This is the kneeboard that Tom got on his 17th birthday! Ha! Bet he never in a million years thought his son would be on it someday :)


Edward tried his hand (knees?) at it too but it wasn't really his thing.

Those on the boat weren't too interested in the kneeboarding. . .

So Thomas decided that he might try skiing. . .

He did great!

Edward did good too:

And then, best of all, Tom jumped in:

Man, it was COLD. He got in to. . .

Thomas was snapping these pictures because I was driving and this is all he got. He kept complaining that the boat was too bumpy. . .I figured out afterward that he was zooming in too far. Oh well. . .it was fun, through the ski mirror, to see my guy ski again. It's been sooooooo long. And he's still just as good. . .jumping those wakes and showing off those guns (at least you can see those in this picture -- ha!).

Would you believe that, although you are tired of reading this post (and so far it's taken me four days to complete it), the KIDS weren't tired yet so we headed to the beach.

It was deserted. . .good for the kids!

Margaret. . .right at home at any beach.

The white poles are water tables. . .in the spring/summer they are mostly under water.

There go the big boys. . .such fun!

Frederick hunting or gathering sand or something. . .:)

Marie never ventured to the water's edge. She's my girl :)

It's fun to sit on the boat and watch what is going on but be too far away to really hear them. . .

Oh yea, Margaret and Edward ventured out into the water again. . .they are trying to balance on the swimming markers

And there goes Thomas

They were having a contest to see who could balance on the tubing the longest.

Margaret brought a "treasure" over for me to photograph. . .we don't bring shells and rocks home but I'll always take a picture for the memory. . .I have dozens of pictures (which take up a lot less room then the actual objects would!)

The moon was out. . .time to head in. . .

Thomas brought us up to the dock. He still doesn't have his boating license. . .grrrr. . .2 years now. . .

Margaret found my People magazine (which I rarely purchase and she loves)

And this is it. . .pulling the boat out for the last time this 2011 boating season. It's been a great one. Thank you, always, Grandpa Fred, for letting us use your boat each season. Here are a few of other posts I did this year here and here and here and here. Wow. Good times, good memories!

It's Fun to Win!

2011-10-06T23:10:00.000-05:00

Thomas had a couple of friendlies for his Club Soccer league in Franklin, TN last Sunday. I only got to drive through town on my way to the fields, but I know I'd love to go back again sometime to explore. It looked like such a cute place!

There is Thomas, to the far right in this picture. It looks like they were beating up on this poor orange team.

Ha! They were :) I don't have pictures of the first game because Tom left with Thomas and Marie before church started and I held down the fort in our 3rd grade class before heading to Franklin. I got to the first game about half-time, and they were doing well. I'm so glad I made the trip over, even though we had to take two cars to make it work.

Here he is on defense, which is where he usually plays on this team. They did a good job of guarding the goal this week -- the first game the other team didn't even score and during this game only 1-2 balls got by the defense and the keeper.

Here is the team at half-time. . .this is their assistant coach, Dave. It's fun to win and it seems this team does a lot of winning when the coach isn't there. . .hmmmmmm. . .his assistant, though, is the coach's younger brother so I guess it could be said that he taught him everything he knows?

And Thomas is FAST. I know this and yet am always amazed at his ability to out-run almost every other player on the field every time.

A couple of the fans (Tom and Marie)

These fans weren't as interested in the game as they were the dry-erase games I had in the trunk to pass the time.

(B's brother, Frederick, Margaret)

It was a beautiful October day. . .clear skies, nice temperatures. . .I spent a good part of my time with the camera in my hand, trying to capture a picture of the soccer ball in the air against that perfect sky:

And, although it wasn't *this* corner kick, Thomas did have a chance in the second half of the second half to make a few and one of those kicks curved perfectly into the goal for a SCORE!

And here are those happy boys, after their second win in back-to-back games, making their victory run:
(Thomas is on the far right)

And the happy parents making a tunnel for them out on the field with congratulations to go around:

I wish so much the following picture would have been in better focus because I just love the ease of it. . .Marie had gone over to the other side of the field to see her brother and his friend MJ (who traveled with us that day) and this is them walking back together toward us:

And, before we headed out to dinner with the team at Chili's, Marie snapped my Picture of the Day:

Ha! What do you know? She got it perfectly in focus :)

Beautiful day, Lord. Great games to watch, Thomas. What a blessed life we have.

The Greatest Job

2011-09-30T15:33:00.000-05:00

Last night I had some time to go through some old posts I had written (almost 2 years ago!) and I was just so full with the blessings our family has been given. When I first started this blog I spent some time documenting where I was in my Season of Motherhood. I stumbled upon those posts and wondered to myself. . .am I thankful enough, do I encourage my children enough, love them enough? Do they know how precious they are to us? To God?

August 2011

First I read Thomas's post (you can click on the colored letters and it will take you directly to that link then hit the "back" button if you want to get back to this post. . .these directions are mainly for my mother who is still new at using her computer).
I led that post with one of my all-time favorite pictures:

Here is a recent picture of him:

I'm glad his hair is shorter. I love his blue, blue eyes (which you can't see in that picture). He has a beautiful smile. He's as tall as me (gulp!). He is in 7th grade and his life seems to be soccer. He coaches his brother's U10 team with his dad and plays on a travel U13 team. He also attends Sunday School, Youth on Sunday nights and Wednesday night church. He loves Jesus. We are studying Joshua right now in Community Bible Study and he has great insight into the book. . .we often do our lessons together. I really like him. This is a picture of him last night:

I gave him a painting job. I think we're at the end of the second week? I'm tired of the room being torn up and blue paint dripped on the sink and molding (and ceiling -- ack!) but I can say it's a job he's done all by himself. I bought the supplies and helped him to get set-up but otherwise it's been all him. And the room is looking great! I'm excited to put it all back together. I did pay him for it. . .money he, of course (if you know him), he has already spent BUT I can say that he saw the job through to the end -- with a little nudging from his father and myself :)

Muddy boy after a wet day at FCA soccer camp!

I really can't imagine the future the Lord holds for him. He's great at arguing -- he'd make an awesome lawyer (but frankly too lazy to do all the endless paperwork involved). He is super at encouraging others -- he'd make a fantastic coach and teacher. . .he likes school too, which is a plus in that career :) He'd love to be a famous soccer player but what almost-13-yr-old boy doesn't want to be a "famous" something at what their sport of choice is? He's running a leg in a half-marathon next month for a ministry he volunteers for, Rising Above Ministries. He is an awesome son. A terrific big brother.

I led this post with this picture:

And here is a picture of Marie taken this month:

She has grown up sooooooooooo much in these past almost-2-years! The braces certainly paid off. . .her hair is still a beautiful golden (and longer, which she likes more). . .and she is getting tall. Here is a picture of her and Tom before a date they had together this summer:

Marie just bought shoes this week in a size 9.5. That's an entire size bigger than me!!! She likes to hang out with the boys and can take it as much as she gives it:


Playing the "pushing game" out on the lake this summer. Thomas's friend Amadeus is with us as well as some random boy that wandered over to play too. Marie, of course, is right out there with them!

Marie is more of a quiet girl. She kept telling me that she thought a "perfect" day would be to stay at the library reading as long as she wanted too.

We fulfilled that "dream" this week. . .we went Monday afternoon and were only there for 2 hours, but they were a full two hours, just for her, and she did what she wanted. . .sat with a stack of books just reading. Sometimes in this chair at the back of the Children's section and some of the time she was sitting on the floor between bookshelves with books all around her. I love it :)
Marie loves science. She seems to have a "knack" for building and engineering principles. She wanted me take this picture of her a month or so ago. . .it was a block she carefully constructed with legos:

It really was a very solid block. I have about 5 more pictures of it. . .she wanted to make sure it was documented from every angle. She has more patience then the others and tends to be the peacemaker. She has a heart for justice and a keen awareness/softness for right-and-wrong. I have seen her get upset more than once over someone else getting in trouble when she really didn't believe it was their fault "because, Mommy, they just didn't know the rules" or "they just pick on (fill-in-the-blank) for no reason". She is careful and organized -- I love opening her drawers, they are so tidy! -- and she just wants everyone to get along and be fair. I cannot imagine the adventures the Lord has planned for her, how He will use her. . .missionary comes to mind but she would like to be, like her brother, a famous soccer player -- I say dream big! She is good on the field too. . .a real team player. . .there is no "I" in "team" for her. She likes to belong and is secure in her place on the team and, most importantly, in her family. This last picture really captures who she is:

Marie working on her CBS work, May 2011

And then God blessed us with the exact opposite of Marie. . .He gave us Margaret (and here is her original post) and picture from two years ago (and, yes, the same photographer/editor as the other two):

And at a recent soccer game:

That is a crazy picture. . .I'm quite sure I didn't take it :) But it is Margaret, her personality, it really shows off who she is. It looks like all of her teeth have grown in! I didn't remember that from two years ago but luckily it was recorded in that post. . .apparently she didn't like all the holes/spaces in her mouth. Two nights ago she pulled out two bottom teeth that were side-by-side. It's so weird to see such a large space in the bottom of her mouth. . .there is already a tooth coming up in one of the spaces so they were ready to go! She is my one child that doesn't bite her nails. . .the other five of us must absorb all her anxiety for her. She just doesn't have a worry in the world. . .no exaggeration.
She looks (to me) the most like a Bell. Here is a great generational picture we got this summer of the Bell Women:

Aunt Kathy, Nana, Margaret (Aug. 2011)

Now that sassy stance? Both those ladies will deny it with everything they have. . .who knows where she got that from?!? Margaret is her own person. . .it just cannot be denied.

Currently she does a floor gymnastics class once a week for an hour. . .and every girl in the class is in late-jr-high or high school -- Margaret is in 4th grade. And she doesn't care a whit. In fact, I think she likes being around the older girls and to be honest, I don't think they mind that she's there with them. She just kinda blends in. Another thing she has picked up recently, to my joy, is tennis!

She's also in my Kitchen 102 class at our local homeschool co-op:

She is dramatic and unpredictable and social and helpful and the quintessential "middle child". She is the very definition of "princess". . .she knows what she wants and pretty much knows how to get others to get it and/or do it for her :) She's athletic and smart and has a huge heart for animals while being a fashion mentor to me and her big sister. She brings color to our family. . .has never met a stranger. . .

We were at a soccer match. I'm fairly certain that Margaret didn't know a single person that she was playing with but it appears she has all of their attention!

She is a handful that we're privileged to raise, someone we truly learn from every day. I think she was in her element when she was on stage with her friend Grace at the county fair this year:

When I first stumbled upon these posts, the first one I read was this one with this as the lead picture:

Frederick lost that top front tooth before kindergarten (actually, the dentist pulled it because it was dead) and he didn't grow them in until the end of 2nd grade! Funny how teeth can really change someone's appearance:

Frederick might be 8 on paper but in his head he is 18 -- ha! He is our know-it-all-I-have-trouble-ever-accepting-that-I-am-wrong kid. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it annoys his big brother to the ends of the earth. We do have to continually remind him that Thomas is almost 5 years older than him and, therefore, might have some knowledge/experience that Frederick does not yet have.

Frederick is a perfectionist. Kind of like his namesake, Grandpa Fred. Good? Bad? Guess it depends. He has a hard time failing and that is something we are working on with him. Trying to remind him that only Jesus is perfect and we are all fallen and broken and here to grow.

Frederick is sensitive. He is also competitive. In everything. He has a sense of right-and-wrong and judgment that is very black-and-white (a lot like his dad) (and this is not to say that he doesn't break the rules -- he does). Someone once mentioned that he would be great in the military with all their rules and discipline. . .yes, yes he would.

Frederick's school career is odd. . .

He loves school. He is good in school. We had to choose when school started years ago whether to send him when he was 4 (because of his birthday). We did, knowing we could pull him out or have him repeat or whatever. Instead he flew through his academics, so much so that we had him tested and yes, he was labeled "gifted". When he left school last January he was in 2nd grade. . .when we enrolled him in the private school we are currently using to keep our children at home they placed him in the beginning of third grade. So right now, while his peers are 1/4 of the way through third grade, he will be (mostly) finished with third grade in December. Sigh.
He is athletic too.
Bowling. . .

Soccer. . .

Tennis. . .

Basketball. . .

Swimming. . .

Currently he's also involved in Cub Scouts with his best friend Scott:

The next decade of motherhood is going to be a ride!!! It's the greatest job. I'm privileged that it's my job :)

And this post was for me, so I can look back in another two years and see where we were and were we've been, together, as a family and how each one of these Bells has grown individually. Grandparents and other extended family, I hope that this makes you feel like you have a little peek into their lives from hundreds of miles away.

Love,
Jenni

Soccer and Playing for the Perfect Set

2011-09-29T00:46:00.000-05:00

It's late Wednesday night and I'm just getting around to updating from the weekend. . .such is life these days :) We had a full weekend with perfect, beautiful weather. The unfortunate part was that we were split up most of the weekend due to sports stuff. . .soccer and tennis. We'll take it while we can get it. . .as much as most people just *love* fall, I don't so much because of the season that follows: winter. Yuck. So, I am enjoying every minute of it while it is still warm and sun-shine-y outside!!!

Thomas and I left the house at 5 a.m. Saturday morning to make a 7:45 a.m. first game in a soccer tournament about two hours away. It was a very foggy drive and I really don't know if I would have made it without my GPS system (a gift from my sister this summer). I love that GPS. . .there is no way I could have read all the signs and kept track of where I was Saturday morning without it. This is what the fields looked like when we arrived at 7 a.m.:

Thomas is out there is the black jacket warming up

Team meeting before the refs come out to check players against their player cards:

Thomas is number 16

Gametime!!!

The team was feeling pretty good at half-time. . .they were up by 2!

Second half. . .Thomas played defense the entire game. . .

They ended up with a score of 2-2. Not bad at all.
The next game wasn't scheduled until 1:30 p.m. so we took off to do a little shopping (Target! What a treat!) and have some lunch. Again, without the GPS I would not have ventured that far away from fields. . .thank you Jodi!!! While we were doing that Tom was home getting Marie and Frederick to their team pictures then to their games. Marie scored for her team and they pulled out their first W of the season. . .and even without Thomas there to help Tom coach (ha!) their team pulled out another win too. Of course no pictures but good memories for them :) And I love texting. . .that we can keep one another up-to-date on the scores in real time 100 miles away!!

Game 2: Thomas's team did not fare so well. . .my camera batteries finally gave out but there wasn't much to document. . .once they got too far down they had a hard time keeping the game going. . . :(

It was a little rough, huh, Coach? This, actually, is the head coach. His brother is the assistant, who was there for the first game. Apparently they weren't the only family with multiple obligations this past Saturday. . .they seemed to be tag-teaming it too.

Sunday dawned bright and beautiful. Tom left at 6:30 a.m. with the two older ones to make Game 3 of Thomas's tournament. Margaret, Frederick, and I went to church together then I told them they could request a "special" restaurant if they wanted for lunch since we had to stay in town for my 1:45 tennis round robin. They chose Olive Garden. . .it was really fun to go with just the two of them -- and they were really excited to go to a "nice" restaurant. . .what a treat for us all! When we texted Tom to let him know what we were doing he was a bit jealous. . .he and the kids had ended up at Steak 'n Shake.

I was Playing for the Cure on Sunday. Our town has a Susan G. Komen 5K Race for the Cure each year and 20-some tennis "divas and dudes" get together to form a team. . .but instead of running the race we play a tennis round-robin! It is so much fun -- I did it last year too. (The location of the race is at the local university and the starting line happens to be right next to the tennis courts.)

Our super team captain is on the left in her "survivor" shirt! Thank you Crystal for all your hard work. Tina, on her left, does a lot of the organization for this group too.

Tom entered to play too but then the soccer tournament thing got in the way. As it turned out since they didn't win any of their games they came home early and he *would* have made it. (They have to have a player count by Friday so they can set the teams up for Sunday and we just didn't know how the soccer tournament would go.) Maybe next year. Although we get the "official" race t-shirt, Crystal has these made for us. . .because "everyone deserves a perfect set". I think this team (Tennis Divas and Dudes) raised almost $1500?? Pretty good!

Tom and the kids stuck around for a little bit. . .I believe there were over 2000 runners and lots of tailgating and other fun things going on. . .Frederick got his face painted

and Tom took a couple shots of me on the court before he left with the kids.

He should have stuck around. . .he could have gotten a picture of me in the winner's circle! Yea! Kinda fun to win. . .another person and I tied for first place (most games won). . .we each received a cool little personal cooler. The kids flipped over it -- they couldn't wait to use it for work on Tuesday. So cute :) And it raised awareness for the fight in them too. . .Sunday at lunch and then again at dinner Frederick was praying for a cure for cancer -- awareness cannot start too soon.

Well, I am now well into Thursday. . .today is Community Bible Study and Co-op (we're making meatballs) so it's time to hit the sheets. Poor Tom was sick today (Wednesday) -- I think it's one of maybe 5 times in the last two decades that he's called in sick to work. Yuck. It was the stomach thing that three of the other kids have had. Just hoping it stays away from me. . .

In His Blessed Name,

Jenni

Phone Dump

2011-09-23T06:48:00.002-05:00

It's been a good week. It hasn't been crazy, we haven't been bored. Things have gotten done and we're not approaching the weekend with a mile-long to-do list (example: It's 5 a.m. on Friday morning and my shopping for the week is already done!!). I had time for "extras" this week (that, in my opinion, shouldn't be "extras" but in this season are sometimes considered as). . .time to sit and read with the kids, time to watch a few shows with them, time to Pinterest (is that supposed to be a verb?!?), time to talk to my mom on the phone, time for me to go to the movies with a friend, time to blog more than once. . . the kitchen refrigerator even got cleaned out!! Also, one night, Tom had time to dump some pictures off my phone. They are mostly random things. . .many times I just take pictures during the day and send them to Tom. . .because he's part of our day too, even though he's not with us all day :) In a pinch, my camera phone serves as my camera -- y'know, so I can remember those things that I never would otherwise :) I kind of enjoyed going through the pictures. . .remembering the "little things" about our days/weeks/life.

These are in no particular order because however my phone tags the pictures is not the same way my computer organizes them. There were over 1000 there. . .some I recognized from more then two years ago. . .just day-to-day "life". . .moments that would otherwise have been lost to time.

Margaret at work with me. . .this is one of my co-worker's babies -- her fifth. Her oldest child? A year younger than Margaret!!

And Marie at work with me. . .same baby, different day. Those that know Marie IRL might be surprised. . .actually, she very much enjoys the babies and is very good with them :)

I have no idea when this one was taken. . .looks like pre-braces! And the quality says it was my old-old phone :)

This next one is one of my absolute all-time favorite pictures. I took it when I got my previous phone. . .I wanted a wallpaper picture of my kiddos together. . .being in my favorite spot in the world (on the boat on the lake) was a bonus!

I would love to know when this one was taken. . .quintessential Margaret. . .one shoe on, one shoe off. Where were we going? What is the significance of me getting them all four together? I can tell it was a beautiful day :)

This picture I *do* know. . .it was a few weeks ago. . .I took it to show Tom what we were up to right-that-minute. . .I had played a long morning of tennis (can't remember if it was a Monday or a Friday) and treated the kids to McD's. . .the only meal of the day that I like there -- breakfast!

I know this one too. . .Margaret's 8th birthday! We were in Dayton. . .she and I had a Shopping Day so she could spend her birthday money. . .this picture alone says so much about her and just automatically puts a smile on my face because I remember that time together. . .because of a picture :)

OK, this has a story. Thomas has been setting pictures on our phones so when someone calls the picture shows up. I didn't have one of "just Tom" so he got one of us. At the end of the day. When we both look as worn out as we probably were. Oh well. Real life. (And on the display screen on the phone it's a tiny, tiny picture.)

I snapped this from my wedding album at some point. . .I know it was to show Amanda. . .who is, of course, the flower girl in this picture. . .now finishing up at Culinary school! I'm getting old. . .

Some of the kids and Nana. . .this was sometime last year. . .we met somewhere in KY to exchange kiddos I think. . .(not very specific, this label, huh?) I do know it was Bob Evans :)

The kids "helping" to paint our room a couple years ago.

Thomas beginning his paint job in our purple bathroom. He started last week. It's still torn up. My patience is wearing thin (the top part is now done. . .he's just priming the bottom here. . .he needs to get it done!!!) I'm very in love with the new color though :)

I'm amazed how many pictures I have of the four kids. (I crab at them too much for not being "nice" to one other. . .but I see that they often are. . .it's important for me to capture these times together and obviously we have a lot.) And I notice we're at McD's again??? I can't imagine when or where this was. . .my best guess was on a trip we were taking to Dayton w/out Tom and this was our "hello" from the road.

And sometimes I'm thankful to have a phone with a camera to catch that shot that just says it all. . .everything I love about my life right now. That beautiful, gorgeous blue sky with big, puffy clouds, driving down an un-crowded highway in a place I love in a season I love (both literally and figuratively). Unedited. Maybe I was alone, maybe someone was in the car with me. . .I don't really know. I know I was driving north on 111 a couple weeks ago. And I know that something about this picture brings me peace and happiness.

So, whatever happens in the next few hours, the next few days, weeks, or years. . .at least I was given this time, this morning to reflect, remember, and be thankful.

~ Jenni

ETA:

Ooops! Wow. . .it's already been a week. . .linking up with my favorite Company Girls today!

(would love to post the blog hop linky here but it's just not loading from Home Sanctuary right now. Click here to participate directly from Rachel Anne's site.)

Soccer Saturdays Are Back!

2011-09-21T00:04:00.000-05:00

This is Tom & Thomas's team. . .of course Frederick is on their team. . .front row, white sock-shinguards. So far, a great season with a 2-0 record. . .making up for last season's 0-???-1 record for sure. Glad these parents have been so great to stick together. . .Tom has been coaching about half this team for 2-3 years now (2 seasons/year). Thomas and another player will not be here this weekend for the "official" team picture so we decided to do an "unofficial" one right after the game last week.

Pre-game meeting with the other coach and ref. . .

Lined up and ready for kick-off. Frederick is back on defense, bent over at the waist.

Oh, there he is. . .arm brace and all. Last Saturday he was playing soccer with his brother and some U15 girls. . .he was goalie when one of their girls tried to score. . .he injured his wrist pretty badly. . .it was swollen for a couple of days. . .he couldn't use it to eat or write or anything. Of course it is his dominant hand. We got quite a few opinions from nurse and therapist friends. . .they thought a brace would be enough. It was. . .by the time this picture was taken he was only wearing the brace to protect his wrist from any further injury.

Those coaches I love

And a little girl spectating that I love very much too (and her little friend JC whose sister is playing with Frederick)

That kid in front of Frederick should be scared. . .being in the way of a kick like that!

There's JC's sister with Frederick. . .she made her first goal this week :)

Corner kick

Are the girls getting in Frederick's way or is it the other way around?

After that exciting win we visited with a few people we knew before heading across the parking lot to our next game -- Marie's U12 all-girl team. This team is not faring as well as Frederick's. First off, it's their first season together. The coach is experimenting by having an all-girls' team (he has two girls and has coached them all the way through the ranks. . .the older one has aged out like Thomas and the other is on this team) and he is the person who does the coach's trainings each year. But, again, it's the first time the Y has put together a team like this and. . .well. . .so far, not-so-good. LOTS of potential and talent out there on those fields so we'll see how the season goes. No matter what, it's a joy to watch our children play.

Marie is the blond, of course. They are called the Watermelons.

Tip-off? Kick-off? Not sure of the term, but, let's play!!

She is fast. Sometimes I forget how fast she is until I see her on the field chasing a ball.

And then Coach Nick put her in the goal again. She doesn't really like to play Keeper too much but she is one of the few that is aggressive enough to do the job.

Great kick :)

One of many "saves"

And a few goals made on her too. . .here, though, I was glad I got the picture, glad I could show her that her defense wasn't working with her. . .in this case they were no where near the goal to help her.

But this one defines how I see Marie in my minds' eye when she is on the field. . .that kick so powerful that opponents reflexively shield their faces -- ha!

Someone in our family forgot the camera the first week when Nana and Grandpa were here. I did get a few pics on my phone though. . .wish I had all the kids!

Grandpa, Nana, Margaret

Grandpa, Coach Thomas, Nana

Grandpa, Marie, Nana (my favorite of the bunch, I think)

This weekend Thomas has a tournament with his travel team two hours away. . .the first games starts at 7:45 a.m. Saturday morning. . .looks like he and I will be pulling out about 5 a.m. I think trying to go the night before and find a place to stay will be a waste of time and money. . .so we'll do it this way. He has two games Saturday and another game Sunday morning at 9:30. Tom will take the kids to that one. . .I'll do Sunday School and then am playing tennis for our Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure this weekend in our town. . .we all join a team but instead of running (ugh) we play tennis -- I love it! While Thomas and I are gone Saturday Frederick and Marie will each have a soccer game to play and Margaret and Frederick will have their tennis lessons. Never a dull moment around here during Soccer Season -- LOVE IT!

Frederick is 8!!!

2011-09-16T10:55:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Frederick -- he was 8 on Saturday! That would be LAST Saturday (as in two Saturdays ago. . .I'm a little behind. . .)

The day started so sweetly. The kids were up and moving before we were. . .our bedroom is downstairs so we could hear them out in the living room playing a game of Monopoly (their game of choice lately -- there's always a game sitting out!). They were discussing his presents sitting on the coffee table

and asking Frederick not to touch theirs because he would guess the gift. Eventually they wandered into the kitchen and found this:

Ralph's Donuts!!! This is an exceptional treat in our house. . .I hope I have adequately captured the squeals of joy in my memory to pull out and remember this sweetest, simplest of things. Here's the kicker. . .they didn't touch them -- ha! I guess they thought they should wait for us. . .so we wandered out of our room and found this:

They wasted no time running to the kitchen and digging in :)

Yea for Frederick's birthday!! The other thing they all share in: one another's joy. I would have to say my children really do intentionally celebrate one another, their milestones and achievements. I'm so incredibly proud of the people they are becoming. I decided to try and do a timeline of Frederick's day so he has a diary of his 8th birthday (and those who couldn't celebrate with us can share in his day too).

Although we were waiting for Mammaw and Grandpa to get here to open most of the gifts, they decided to open one from us and the one from the other three after breakfast. . .

Hey, it's a soccer ball :)

And he promptly went outside to try it out. . .

. . .still in his pajama pants, no shoes, tags flying on the new shirt he had just opened from us. Love this picture too:

In the end Margaret decided she didn't want to be left out so I won't leave her out either :)

And then, meanest of all, we made the birthday boy do Saturday chores with everyone else. I know, I know. . .but his junk is almost as bad as Margaret's!

These are their kitchen cubbies -- which should only have 10-12 items in them?!?

And this is just embarrassing. . .ALL of this came out of the back of the van. . .ugh! And yes, this is Margaret's way of "working" when she's overwhelmed. . .just stop. Luckily Frederick was a little more pro-active getting this taken care of and we ended up with this:

(I had to take a picture because, let's face it, when will it look like this again???)

Hey! Look who came for Frederick's birthday?!? Mammaw and Grandpa Foster had been planning this trip for awhile. . .and Frederick was so excited to share the day with them!!

(having a stupid hard time again getting some pictures to turn. . .ugh!)

Putting Frederick's birthday dinner together was a family affair:

He requested chicken skewers. . .

And Thomas now has "famous" mashed potatoes (actually it is Pioneer Woman's recipe -- minus a little butter) and Marie took care of the peanut butter pie:

And others were shucking Ohio corn on the front porch :)

And after all that hard work. . .time to relax a bit:

(OK, I've changed the orientation of this picture three times and Blogger keeps doing this. You get the idea. They're all squished together on the sofa. I love that they all want to be together like this.)

According to the kiddos, it is a SIN that Mammaw and Grandpa have never seen this movie:

Facing the Giants. . .definitely our all-time favorite movie. And I never watch a movie or read a book more than once. . .c'mon, there's just not the time. But this movie. . .I've probably seen it 5-6 times. And I cry every time. The kids look for it.
After that break we did gifts and dinner. Can you believe that it was so important to Frederick for Mammaw and Grandpa to see this move (after he found out they never had!?!) that he did this before gifts??? Anyway. . .lots of cards and quite a few gifts too. . .

And a birthday phone call:

Dinnertime!

(Ugh. . .orientation again)

After all that sitting around in the car traveling here, watching a movie, and a delicious dinner, we decided to go on a family walk.

I snapped this picture of our house at night. . .I think it looks so pretty!

Picture of Dukie with Thomas

I love the holding hands with Grandpa. . .

And home for birthday pie :)

Well, Frederick, here you go. A journal of your 8th birthday. . .not that you probably will ever care much about this detail but I love looking back on the memories we make together as a family.

The next day (Sunday) you and your brother had a good time with a couple of your favorite gifts. . .

A remote-controlled car that you got with birthday money from Aunt Susie and Uncle Bruce and Uncle Brad and Aunt Kristin

And the helicopter you are flying between you and Thomas from me and Daddy.

We love you Frederick!!! You are growing up so fast and are an absolute light in our lives. You love your soccer team and are really good at that sport. You are careful with your schoolwork (and try hard to keep up and keep good grades) and recently have started tennis lessons. . .a sport I (selfishly) hope you grow to love, because you are good at that too :) You also do Cub Scouts with your dad and best friend and have been taking that same best friend to Wednesday night church since school started this year. In co-op you are taking classes in chess, physics, Dangerous Book for Boys, and PE. In addition, each Thursday we go to Community Bible Study and right now are studying the book of Joshua. My prayer is that these truths that you are learning now stay in the fore-front of your heart throughout your life. I'm so lucky to get to share these years with you!!

September 14 Update

2011-09-14T11:05:00.000-05:00

Checking in for a really quick "hello" -- I have been working on Frederick's birthday post (Sept. 3) for over a week now. Just no time to sit and edit photos, upload, and write without interruption (even now as I type Thomas is talking to me about a math problem and I'm trying to keep Margaret on track -- she's sitting next to me). . .so. . .such is the season of life I am in right now :)

Today is Tom's 39th birthday. Now's he's my age!!! Sunday, when his parents were here, we opened birthday gifts. This is a good picture of him and the kids. . .of course there's always someone not looking at the camera :)

We are buried in school work right this minute. . .today is the last "hot" day according to the radio -- a high of 88 with a high temperature of 71 tomorrow. Guess fall is on it's way. . .I'm going to miss the hot, hot weather of summer! It's hard to stay in on these beautiful days but no rest for the weary around here. . .we've had grandparents in town the last two weekends and celebrated three birthdays (Frederick, Mammaw, and Tom) so we have some catch-up to do. Gotta love the flexible schooling, though, to enjoy our families :)

We hope to leave the house in about an hour to do some testing at the kids' school, go get Tom for his birthday lunch, then back home to finish up our work for the day and get our Community Bible Study homework done for tomorrow. In addition, I need to work on the co-op class I teach Thursday afternoons (kitchen). . .I'm hoping to do veggie pizza with the older classes and veggie dips with the younger class. Still need to get that stuff together. Church tonight. . .the older kids are going to see a program by the Skit Guys and then we'll be home to start all over again tomorrow.

A few additional highlights:
* Saturday after Frederick's soccer team started off their season with a W, Frederick was kicking the soccer ball around with Thomas and some U15 girls. . .he was playing goalie and stopped one of the girl's kicks. . .spraining his wrist/arm badly. He's in a brace right now. . .the swelling is going down slowly but he has hardly completed any school work this week (of course this was his right arm). Math seems to be the easiest since it's the subject with the least writing.
* Thomas started painting the purple bathroom yesterday. I wonder how long that will stay torn up? Last week he re-arranged his and Frederick's bedroom. . .it still looks like a tornado hit it! I'm having a hard time staying on top of everything.
* In this season of life we are trying to find balance. School work needs to get done, Community Bible Study is a priority, we have soccer games (4 scheduled this weekend alone!) and Sunday School plus my job one day a week at the YMCA (and includes a Sunday meeting this week). There is Wednesday night church, Margaret's floor gymnastics and she and Frederick have started tennis lessons once a week. I teach a co-op class and play tennis 3-4 times a week (!!!!). Life is crazy. Life is good. Life is full. We are blessed.

So, Family, this is all I can manage at this point. I've been working on this for 1.5 hours while fielding questions from the kids, grading self-tests, answering texts from Tom, and trying to keep the kids on track. The boys have each completed two subjects. . .Marie has spent the last two hours writing a report on George Washington (and enjoying it!!) and Margaret is plugging away at her math worksheets. . .so glad Wednesdays are "off" and we don't have anywhere to go or anything to do. . .except today we have a BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION -- yea!!!

Blogs I enjoy - Company Girl Coffee 9.2

2011-09-02T23:13:00.000-05:00

Kelly over at Kelly's Korne r is hosting a link-up today about favorite blogs. I love reading blogs and getting "involved" in other people's lives and sometimes living through them in the craft world/business world. I'm constantly inspired and awed by the talent out there. . .writing talent, painting, crafting, cooking, etc. I've often thought about posting some favorite links so I guess today I have the chance :)

I need to start with Home Sanctuary and Rachel Anne, who hosts a Company Girls link-up party every Friday.

I "found" Rachel a few years ago when I was looking for home-maintenance encouragement.

I feel like so many people that link up to this party every week has so much in common. . .kind of a "birds of a feather" thing. Most of us are "small" bloggers who blog for ourselves, family, and fun. . .Rachel Anne, on the other hand, blogs to help us keep our homes a Sanctuary for those living in them with us. With her Small Things each day we are encouraged that each small thing makes a difference in our service to those that we live with and love. And she is super-duper talented in the painting and furniture-refinishing department!!! Thank you, Rachel Anne, for faithfully keeping up with us :)

Besides Rachel Anne and Kelly, one of the first blogs I "found" when I first started reading them regularly was Sarah over at Thrifty Decor Chick.

She is a former interior designer who now shares with us her incredible transformations in her home. I think what draws me to her most are 1) She is so *real*; 2) Her style is my style -- within the last year or so she's started redecorating her home. . .a home decorated in the same style as mine now to a style that I would love to change to! I'm constantly looking to her for inspiration. Recently she had a very informative blogger post. . .I simply must find some time to follow some of her links and learn a little more about this blogging world. And 3) so often she will personally respond to comments. . .even though she gets HUNDREDS. . .I always think that is such a great thing!!

Meg over at whatever. . .I mean, who doesn't "know" and LOVE her?!?

I love that she's a mommy of 5. I love that she loves her husband. Her photos inspire me. I love her craft Thursdays. Her house looks so fun and alive and *real*. She lives in Kansas. . .vacations in Michigan. . .loves Chicago. Is it crazy that I know so much about someone I've never met?!? That's what blogging is all about, right?

Shelli Gardner at So Shelli is a rare gem.

I really admire her as a woman, mother, grandmother, wife, and business owner. This is a picture of her and her girls. . .I'll bet you really have to look to tell which woman is the oldest, huh? Shelli is someone that I wish could mentor me for a period of time. . .although I'm not a part of her company or nearly as creative as her, I love reading about how she balances her full life. . .it is very inspiring.

I admire Kim Wheeler's talents at Small Words blog so much!

Apparently she lives fairly close to me. . .I want to be her student!!! She is a self-taught painter (although it's obvious through her decorating and party-throwing posts that she has a *lot* of talent in her DNA) who makes custom works of art. She's also a mommy. Of four. Many with special needs. I think she'd be a hoot to live next door to. Again, so real. . .she puts it "all out there" and sometimes makes me laugh out loud. And then recall the stories to my puzzled husband who can't understand why I act like I know these people :)

Vicki Courtney will be my last link in this post. . .I have been reading her blog for a year or more now and she has been so encouraging to me as a Christ-follower.

She's about a decade ahead of me in the parenting realm and I love this because I feel like there is so much I can learn from her experiences. Through her blog (and her books) she is teaching me how to better parent my children. Again, I'm sure she is a wonderful person who I would love if I met her IRL (and in her pictures I think she looks a lot like my IRL friend, Amy :))

There are so many others. . .many times I will post a link on FB with a good entry or something. . .thank you Kelly, for hosting this linky party so we can all share who we keep up with. I find many times that if I like one blog someone reads I will like many. . .it is hard to keep up though (because real life is, well, REAL) and there is a balance there. I write my blog for my family, to record my memories, and to find other friends out there in blog world who I might have something in common with.

Life

2011-08-28T23:30:00.000-05:00

Life is busy. I haven't even kept up with Picture of the Day! And the shocker is, my kids have forgotten to remind me. . .they were kind of into that for a long time now. It's just been go, go, go but not in a crazy way. . .just in a we-have-four-kids-and-a-job-and-homeschool way.

Anyway. . .when I dumped my camera last night I realized I hadn't posted (current) pictures in two weeks!

The kids have been "into" creating with Legos. . .they have been *everywhere*. This was a solid box that Marie spent an hour or two on. . .then wanted photographed 8 different ways. I'll spare you all but one. . .

It really was quite detailed. . .I'm proud of their creativity. . .not only what you can see, but in the conversations they have together while creating.

Thomas is helping to coach Frederick's team. Tom is the coach, Thomas the assistant. Their first practice was two weeks ago:

Thomas giving them a warm-up jog. . .

And coach Tom gathering them together. . .

And there's the player himself :)

On Friday nights, right after this practice, Thomas heads to his own travel league soccer practice. Starting next week, Saturday soccer games at the YMCA will start up.

Last Saturday, though, we were "free" so after a fund-raising pancake breakfast for one of Thomas's football friends, we all met as a family on the tennis courts:

The teams were Tom and Margaret against Frederick and me. . .Marie is spectating, Thomas snapping the photos :)

Jenni and Frederick

Ready to go at the net!

Going for a point!

Margaret ready for a ball

A serve?

Good position

Margaret and Tom

Great form for a non-tennis player!

Yesterday was another Saturday without much on our plate. After Margaret and Frederick played with us in the above pictures we were approached by someone that does Saturday lessons at the tennis courts and he asked if they'd like to come the following week (yesterday). They decided to do it from 8:30-9:30 and liked it a lot! I loved seeing them out on the court :) I didn't get any pictures, though, because I had my buddy, Linda Hurt, to play with two courts down -- I get out whenever I can!!

After tennis we picked up Thomas's friend, Amadeus, to go boating with us.

What a gorgeous day!!!

Amadeus and Thomas

Frederick

Margaret

Tom and Marie

There were some wild tube rides. . .

Just getting started. .

It was a windy day -- causing some bumps :)

That splash would be Amadeus. . .again. . .

An easier ride with Frederick?

Let's try three :)

Can't believe I caught this!!! Both Amadeus and Thomas were on the tube this time.

I had some "tube time" myself. . .

. . .ha! This lasted all of about 10 minutes. . .the other kids quickly "found" me too. . .

And the tube was used for the usual "ferrying" of food from the boat to the island. . .

Not to mention the ever-popular "pushing game" (someone from another boat parked there joined in on the fun too!)

Even Tom got in on this fun :)

And then they even used the tube as a raft to get to shore when we stopped later for one last swim:

It was just a beautiful, perfect day. There was a slight chill in the air -- fall is on its way -- but still summer-warm. Thomas did get up on skis but no pictures of that. When Tom went to get the truck to pull the boat out I took one last shot with my camera (panorama being one of my new favorite settings):

Sunset Marina, Dale Hollow Lake

Apparently, helicopters land here now too :)

~ Jenni

Death at Dawn

2011-08-21T09:15:00.000-05:00

Several weeks ago, Thomas (12) participated in a local event, Death at Dawn, with his friend JJ.

We had never heard of this event until the day after it started and JJ called Thomas and said, "Hey, do you think Thomas would like to meet me and my family at the local University at 5:30 tomorrow morning to run and workout?". I knew he would so I answered in the affirmative for him :)

The organizers estimated that about 160 people came out for two straight weeks, from 5:30-6:30 a.m. to train. Apparently it started out several years ago as a way to "jump start" the girls soccer season at the high school. The coach complained that he spent the first two weeks of practice getting the girls back into shape, wasting a bunch of time when he could be drilling. One of the girls had parents who decided to start an early-morning pre-season training (they are runners) and it just grew from there. Then the boys team wanted to join. Then other teams at the high school wanted in. Parents of the athletes said "we'd like to train too". . .and so here they are now. . .with 160 people, many, many volunteers, and a fun tradition for our small town in the middle of Tennessee.
Some mornings they would leave the track and run around campus. . .

Here is a good early-morning shot I got of Coach Joe, JJ, and Thomas:

And one the newspaper photographer got of a very-tired JJ using Thomas as a prop to lean upon one morning:

Running stairs and lots of push-ups and sit-ups were a part of their mornings too. They always began right at 5:30 a.m. with a word of prayer, then straight on to the warm-up laps around the track. . .

. . .usually about that time I would have a friend show up to play tennis with :) Yes, I was able to talk a few people into coming out and playing with me about seven of these days!!

This photo came from 90+ pictures our local paper took and posted online.

The prize at the end? Every participant tries hard for 9-out-of-10-days participation for a t-shirt :) Of course, since Thomas missed the first day he was up-and-at-em at 5 a.m. every morning for the last 9 days. . .and he made it!!!

Thank you, Larry & Tracy Epps, of Cookeville, TN, for putting this event together for our school athletes!!! Hopefully we'll see you out there again next year. . .

Flexible Schooling

2011-08-18T15:13:00.000-05:00

Last year we made a difficult (for us) decision, in January, to take our children out of school. We don't know for how long or have any "grand plan" for this. . .but, for now, it's what we think is best for our children. Our family.
10 a.m. this morning

Many people put us in the "homeschooling" category. My kids *are* at home to school, but I don't choose their curriculum, grade their papers, or test them. We pay a private school to provide curriculum, tutoring (when we need it), test, keep grades, and put us on a timeline. Rather, we call it "flexible schooling" that we can take anywhere and do anytime. It is working great for us!!

This was Frederick Monday morning. I caught this snapshot when I was done with my tennis match. At one point Marie had been sitting at the table with him doing her work. . .but then she and Margaret went off to "play school" on their scooters. . .putting their books on their backs and pretending to ride to school. . .cute :)

Miss Marie all packed up and ready to move on. . .


And Miss Margaret, not to be left out. . .

Thomas walked over to the YMCA to do his work in the lobby at the table "in the air-conditioning, Mom".

We have a pretty good Monday routine. I usually play tennis at 8 a.m. and then we hit Ralph's Donuts for a breakfast biscuit and donut (of course) and sometimes take it to Tom's office and share. This week he was in a meeting but it was so nice outside and they have a couple of picnic tables set out on a private patio that we just finished up (most) of the work for the day there. Thomas was pretty much done so he got hold of the camera and took some pictures :)

Oh, looks like Marie had the camera here :)

Thomas has been working on his photography skills and really gets some good shots!

Well, this is me. . .most days. If I'm lucky I'm dressed to play or coming from tennis. And books. Always toting school books. . .

As I said, we use a school, Daniel 1 Academy, to come alongside us and help with educating our children. Here is Margaret taking one of her tests Monday. . .

And then Mr. Holman grading it. . .

This is how it goes when we go into school for testing. Actually, Thomas and Marie tested on Monday too. . .(they each have 4 subjects with 5-6 tests per subject per semester).

They all did well. Frederick was in the waiting area, working on his school work since he didn't have a test to take that day.

Tuesdays we do schoolwork at the YMCA. . .I work in childcare there from 8:30-12 and then go back on the clock from 3-6:30. . .from 12-3, when the childcare area is closed, we do schoolwork together. It works out well! Wednesdays are our days at home and, starting next week, Thursdays will be devoted to Community Bible Study and our local co-op. Fridays look a lot like Mondays except, instead of donuts we run errands (grocery, etc.). Its a busy life. It's a full life. It's a blessed life.

And some days, like today, we *try* to do schoolwork and get side-tracked by the beautiful weather, games, and just "being" together. Not a bad deal :)

Tomorrow we'll be back to this:

Or maybe this:

And then hopefully this:

Smiles for another week completed!

Long Week

2011-08-15T00:16:00.000-05:00

This was my favorite picture of the day this week -- Wednesday morning before the Bells left we were able to get a pretty good shot of Nana, Grandpa, Aunt Kathy, and all the kids. Wish there was a way to photoshop Tom into that mix. . .it would be the perfect family picture then!

Tuesday I worked a full day but Tom took the day off and everyone went boating. I heard it was a gorgeous day and luckily Kathy took pictures for me :)

Frederick

Thomas and his friend, JJ, taking a dump on the tube. . .I've been trying to get a picture like this all year!!!

I think this is my favorite. . .Marie and Nana

Marie and Nana again :)

Aunt Kathy and her mini-me, Margaret

Chasing Grandpa. . .

He's a little faster on land without his webbed shoes :)

Aunt Kathy out on the tube with Marie. . .

. . .and then Frederick (who, apparently, didn't need his hands -- ha!)

Aunt Kathy was the lone skier that day

Cliff jumping. . .Fredrick splashing down

And there is Thomas flying through the air (remember you can click on the picture to enlarge them)

Later that night the boys got their "3 Generation" picture taken:

The day before I was able to get a three generation picture with Nana, Aunt Kathy, and each of the girls:

We went to Knoxville for the day. First we tried this place and were less than impressed. It was farther east and a total waste of time. . .just very, very out-dated and not much there. . .this is one instance where the web site did a *wonderful* sales job. . .

. . .pinned up bugs and butterflies (interesting, but not for $26). . .

And this hands-on weights-and-pulley demonstration. It was just a bust. I don't think I could take a classroom of kids there. . .oh well. Live and learn.

So we headed off to our second choice, American Museum of Science and Energy. It was only our second choice because we had just been there a few weeks ago -- it's an *excellent* museum and I knew the Bells would really enjoy it. The kids did too. I discovered an exhibit I didn't see last time:

Flat roof housing built in the Secret City (later established as Oak Ridge, TN) during the 1940's.

The house on-site is in its (almost) original state, having been virtually untouched structurally by the family that used it for thirty years prior to it coming to the museum. Just 572 square feet. . .two bedrooms and one bath. . .all the furniture made on-site once the house came (they were trucked in). . .some days they were put up at a rate of one every 30 minutes! It's interesting the quality of work that went into these little modular homes. I love museums that you can walk through and experience.

Kitchen. The fridge was to your right and you can see the stove sticking out in the lower left corner of the photograph. Not much room in here!

The front door was flush on the wall behind the table. . .this would have been the living and eating room. . .the radio was placed on the wall to the right

One of two bedrooms -- the other room was furnished with a double bed

And look at the size of the closet (to the right of the desk)!!

TINY bathroom, too, with just a shower stall. Definitely not room for more than one person in there!!

Very, very efficient. I can imagine how hot, sticky, and miserable the summers would be in those small, wood houses.

The boys hit the K'Nex area again and since I didn't want to buy the creations we took a picture to remember them by:

Look! I made it into this one :)

And here's one with the Bells. . .

Between the Knoxville trip and the day on the boat, Margaret had a chance to perform at the county fair in a talent show with her friend, Grace.

Aren't they cute up there? Grace is on the left, Margaret on the right.

These two came up with the dance all on their own. So proud of them!

Margaret said she wasn't a bit nervous -- I believe her!

Although they didn't place, they did a fantastic job and both moms and both dads were there to see this first duet debut on stage!!!

As usually happens, this post has taken about three days to put up :) After the Bells left Wednesday (the picture that started this post!), the kids got back into their schoolwork -- we'd taken a couple days off for this special visit. Thomas had three soccer games this weekend, his team winning two of them! I wasn't able to be at the Saturday game where he scored the only goal in one of the games they won. . .I was at an all-day scrapbooking thing. It wasn't the most successful day I've ever had but Dad, if you're reading this, at least you now know you'll be getting a Christmas gift this year -- ha!

Up this week: soccer Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. . POWER gymnastics Thursday; work Tuesday; tennis, library, and some tests at the kids' school tomorrow; and Y soccer starts up Friday night for the boys. . .in addition, meetings at church Wednesday night and after services on Sunday. Whew! This might be "it" for another week :)

A couple of shots of Thomas (in white) out on the field Friday night:

And I just realized it's already Monday morning. 'Night All!

Company Girls 7.5.11

2011-08-06T07:11:00.000-05:00

Good Morning Company Girls!

I actually wanted to link up here for our goings-on last weekend. . .but wanted to personally say "Happy Weekend" to The Company Girls!!!

I hope you are all well and I'm also hoping very much to visit all of you this weekend. We're busy again. . .this time Nana, Grandpa, and Aunt Kathy (Tom's parents and sister) are staying with us. The grandparents got in late yesterday afternoon and we did "Fish Friday" at Cracker Barrel (a favorite ever since we discovered it with the Bells many, many years ago) and then presents and cake with Nana and Grandpa because they both just had recent birthdays.


Grandpa Fred, Marie, Margaret, Nana, Frederick, Thomas

After Margaret got left at Cracker Barrel (we had two cars. . .I texted Tom across the parking lot to say I had Nana and Marie. . .he texted back "ok". . .we were *almost* home and he called me wondering if we had Margaret. . .ugh!!! I watched him turn the van around on the highway and head back while I continued on home. . .he called me when he got her. . .she had gone to the bathroom. . .no one counted heads. . .I guess he found her in a corner crying. . .all is well.)
Well. . .anyway. . .after Margaret got home safe-and-sound, we did presents and birthday cake. The kids hit the toy store for the gifts because, let's face it, where else do you shop for gifts for your 60+-yr-old grandparents?!?

The kids have been obsessed about getting Grandpa Fred this robotic-bug thing for about a year now. I forget when it's real name is. . .anyway, I know it's something that he would have wanted at a toy store 60 years ago when he was a boy, if things like this were available then. Of course his 7-yr-old grandson takes after him (the one named after him -- ha!) and was building ramps and all kinds of stuff with this bug. . .guess Grandpa will have to wait his turn to play with his present :)

Nana loves to play games so the kids found a game, Zip-It. It *is* a really fun game. Marie and I actually got to try it out at the toy store before purchasing it.

Cake. . .

Yes, you'll notice that there's only one name on it. . .Thomas made and decorated it. . .thinking we were going to do something else for Grandpa Fred (and we are. . .but not on the same night -- ha!). Anyway, nice to get a shot of Tom with his parents and kids too.

Then they (the adults) were off to get Aunt Kathy at the airport. They got in late. . .the kids and I were already in bed. Today we have seven more family members coming over. . .Fred's brother who lives in Columbus, GA is visiting his daughter in Nashville so those families are coming here for a visit. Aunt Kathy is now here from Salt Lake City. I CHERISH THESE TIMES!!!!

Of course I'm linking up with Company Girls and hope you do too :) Also, check out our host, Rachel Anne's, artistic talent. I love that she's posting her progress with this artwork. . .I'm so very, very impressed :)

Have a great weekend!
Jenni