25 Most interesting things about me....or not

Well I was tagged by Anna to write this blog about 25 things that are interesting about me. Some might not be but I thought it would be fun to share. If you read this then please do it in your blog too. It is fun to learn new and exciting things about each other.

1. I was born in New Jersey but when I was 4 we moved to Colorado Springs, CO where it is still home to me.
2. I have one older sister but in College my parents brought my college roommate, Shelley into our home and she is now my second Sister.
3. I graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in Gerontology.
4. In College I became a Certified Scuba Diver.
5. I am addicted to reading other people's Blogs.
6. I grew up in the mountains but I would rather be at the beach then snow skiing in the mountains.
7. I miscarried our first baby before having our beautiful son Jacob.
8. I have had 5 major surgeries in my lifetime.
9. I always wanted to be an oceanographer.
10. Went to high school with christian music artist Nicole Nordeman and she also played the piano at our wedding.
11. Met my husband while he was in the army and I was in college. He did go to Korea the first year we were dating.
12. My favorite food is seafood.
13. I do not like sweet tea or tea at all (I am not a true southern)
14. I am addicted to watching the reality show "Amazing Race."
15. My parents drink coffee a lot BUT I cant stand the stuff.
16. I am a big Diet Coke fan.
17. I love to go to the movies.
18. This summer I tried to Rock Climb (tried is the main word.)
19. I do enjoying hiking and biking when I have the time.
20. We have 1 dog, 1 guinea pig and 2 fish.
21. Wanted to be a military wife and travel but now thankful we are not.
22. I always wanted a boy first and then a girl. GOD gave that to us.
23. I work at Edwards. Rd. Baptist Church in the Mother's Day Out program taking care of babies.
24. Every 2 months I drive up to Asheville, NC (1 hour away) to get my hair cut and colored. I do love my cousin Connie as she does a great job (she owns a salon up there).
25. My brother in law Steve is in Iraq for a year. Please pray for his safety and as my sister and family have moved back to Colorado.

WOW that's a lot. It really made me think a lot. I don't see my self as very interesting. BUT here are a few tidbits.

Have a great day.
Love
Jennifer

Mom without Kids Day......

Hey everyone,

Yesterday I had my open house at ERBC. I take care of the babies for Mother's Day Out. My "class" has babies 5 months up until over 1. Its a fun class. God has truly blessed me by giving me joy working with the sweet little ones.
Only two of the babies came to visit me yesterday and I sure did enjoy getting to know them. I was suppose to work 4 days but due to one baby dropping out I am down to 3. One of the babies was suppose to come every day and I just couldn't get a hold of her family to introduce myself. After telling Renee, the secretary, this she tried to contact the family. I did get a call last night and found out that this little baby, name Alana, has been diagnosed with leukemia. My heart just broke. She is 7 months old and so sweet. The family has moved to Pennsylvania. I tell you this so that everyone can be praying for her. She does have a Caringbridge website (love em) and here is the link......http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/blessedangelalana

School starts next week. Pray that I do get more babies so the enrollment will go up.

On a happier note.....I had my first social outing without the children today. WOW it was strange. I met my good friend Stephanie and her two girls at a local play place called "Play Nation." Its an indoor place with wooden swing sets and such that you can buy. It was fun to watch all the other children playing and enjoyed talking Stephanie's ear off. Thanks for being such a great listener and all around friend Stephanie.
We then went over to Duke's Sandwich shop for lunch and then back to Play Nation for a little more time of play.
I so enjoyed playing with her two little girls. I did miss my children but it was also nice not to worry about where they were, break up any fights and only had to pay for 1 lunch instead of 3. ALSO less expensive.

Now we are home and the children are unwinding by playing Xbox and will soon play on the computer. Praise God its Friday.

Have a Great Memorial Day Weekend.

Peace and Grace,

Jennifer and Family

REUNIONS

Hey All, Well today Jacob and Jessica were reunited with their best buds.
I will begin the story by telling you that when Jacob was born he became very attached to two TY animals. One was a yellow duck affectionately called "Ducky" and the other a snowman was simply "Snowden." He has had these two best friends since birth so that would make it 7 years now. WELLLLLL just this month we were flying home from Colorado and when we were flying on our second flight Jacob realized that he left "Ducky and Snowden" at the layover airport. WOW he was very upset. I began to cry with him realizing that he has had them since he was born and what memories. I did my best to console him and told him that we would replace them.
The next day we all set out and searched local Hallmark stores and such. WELLLLL no such luck. Grandma, Pop Pop and Aunt Kimberly to the Rescue.....in Colorado they were on the hunt. No one slept soundly. They found them on Amazon.com and immediately sent them off. WAY TO GO! Jacob's Heroes. Last week "Ducky" arrived and then Just today "Snowden" came. I put the package on his seat in the car and picked him up from school. He was so excited. He asked everyday when they were going to arrive. I have to say the new ones are so much brighter...didn't realize how worn the old ones were. It was suggested that I rub a little dirt on the new ones and run them over a few times. BUT I believe they will get a lot of loving and will be "dull" in no time. I have to say though....the new ones have new names. Ducky is now "Quackers" and Snowden is now "Snowball." guess times have changed. Just glad he has his snuggle partners back.


Our precious baby boy is reunited with his buddies. Need to put a tracking device on them....hee. What a memory to have.

Today Jessica was reunited with her best friend Farah. She has been her best friend since 3K. They haven't seen each other much this summer and they are in different schools this year for Kindergarten. It was fun to watch them play. Looking forward to a sleepover soon.

What a great day of reunions it was. I am proud of my children for the love they have for each other and others.

God Bless to all.

Jennifer and Family

Happy Tuesday......

Yesterday afternoon I found Jacob and Jessica playing in Jessica's room. Jess had made a fort, with books and all. They had a great time. I am so blessed that they play well together (most of the time) and enjoy each other. I just pray it continues throughout their lives.


Jess is really enjoying school and I believe will be reading on her own in no time.
She carries this book around with her "Big Dog, Little Dog" and says she
is reading BUT she has memorized the words. Mark and I are helping her
recognize the words. That's where you have to start. Its cute though that
she thinks she can read it and is very excited. Way to go Girl.

While helping Jacob with his homework and Jess was doing her homework by cutting out pictures from magazines of certain colored objects she said to me "When do I get to do REAL homework?" I told her that she does have homework and it will be more and more, just wait. When I put her to bed last night I found her doing some "homework" in bed. She was writing her name and drawing shapes and such. We are proud of her and know she will be a great student.

Well I started back to work today having a workday. Had to set up the "baby" room for Mother's Day out. Met some new staff members and checked out some new setups. Its a bit different but it will be a good year. Tomorrow we have open house and I will meet my new "students." I will let you know how that goes.

Peace and Grace,

Jennifer

Saying YES to God....

Last night I went with a friend to a local church for their ladies night out called "Ladies First Choice." Its a great time of dinner, fellowship and hearing God's word.
The speaker was Lysa Terkeurst. I would encourage everyone to check out her blog at lysaterkeurst.blogspot.com
She has been on Oprah and Focus on the Family. Check out the video on her blog from Oprah and her story. Its amazing. On the right of her blog (blog archive) click on July 2007. The entry and video from Oprah is posted on July 2, 2007.
She spoke about Saying YES To God and she refreshed my spirit with the scriptures of Jeremiah 29:11 and also James 1:2-4. God pulled her through such a difficult past and not until she was in college at Furman did she give God her heart by saying YES. She then went on to get married and had 3 young girls. She went to an all boys African concert at a church. They were boys from an African orphanage. As she sat their a listened to them sing God's praises, God spoke to her and said "two of those boys are yours." WOWWWWW She and her husband prayed about it and put the process into motion. Her friends at her church discouraged her but then they heard the choir sing and from then God worked amazing things. 14 families adopted boys from that African town and not only the boys but some adopted siblings too. What an amazing story. You really have to see the video to get the whole story.
BUT God spoke to me last night (NO not about adopting) about keeping my heart open and listening to God and even though its rough and not an easy road saying YES to him he can give us such a blessed and happy life, more than anything in this world can.
I left there refreshed and excited to know that God is in control and wants the best for me.

I pray that you will check it out. Lysa is from a small town outside of Charlotte, NC. As she say she is just an ordinary person, living an ordinary life. God does amazing things.

Have a great and Blessed day.

Jennifer

A great Weekend.....

We had a nice Saturday. We took the children to see the new animated movie "Clone Wars." Mark and Jacob are real big Star Wars fans as you can see they even have matching Clone War T-shirts. It was a good movie and fun to be together.

I wanted to get the back of the shirts....if you cannot see they say "Clone Wars." What a cute picture of father and son.















Afterwards we went to dinner at Taco Casa and the children are enjoying their dinner. BUT later that night both Jacob and Mark got sick from we believe Food poisoning. Even had to take Mark to the ER at 2AM (woke the children up and toke them too, they where such great troopers) because he caused damage to his throat. BUT that's another story for my blog. He is fine and back to work.

Although we had that side trip to the ER we had a great weekend. Rested up alot on Sunday and are ready for the new week.

I better go. Looks very dark outside and believe we may get some major rain. We need it but pray their is no flooding. I do enjoy a good storm.



Until next time, Peace and Grace

Jen and the Family

Well this past week my precious baby girl started Kindergarten. I did shed a few tears that morning BUT she was excited and that was a great answer to prayer. Jessica said she didnt want to go to school (she is our strong willed child and really knows what she wants) and I was expecting a hard morning BUT God is good. Jessica told us she wasnt going to class unless our neighbor boy Cameron was in her class. WELLLLL that was answered. On meet the teacher day we found out Cameron was in her class. ALSO that she has Jacob's old kindergarten teacher who we really like Ms. Wilson. So it was an easier transition then we thought. Goes to show us that Gods ways are so much better then our ways. No need for me to worry. PTL.

Our precious baby boy Jacob was a little nervous going into 2nd grade but he is our easy going boy. He makes friends very easily and we know that he will do well.

The days have been very quiet in the house. I have enjoyed a few peaceful days and having quiet times with the Lord and "Me" time. The children come home and say they have had a good day. Jessica has been very tired and as my wise Mother has perdicted she has had a few "meltdowns" in the evening. BUT we are learning to give her grace.

Well thats it for know.

Peace and Grace

Just the Beginning

Well this is my first attempt at Blogging. Thanks to my friends I have gotten addicted to reading other friends blogs and I have been encouraged to start my own....so here goes. After much debate and suggestions on titles (thanks Anna) I have started a new adventure so bear with me.

More to come in the days ahead.