Funny Jeni Story

I'm always telling on the kids, so I figure it's my turn now! I loaded up the car this morning to go run errands then realized I left something in the house. Our car has this flaw in the ignition so that you can take the keys out without shutting the car off. So that's what I did. I got what I needed from the house and went on my way. Our first stop was the shoe store. I pulled up, parked, and shut the car off. That's when I realized the keys were NOT in the ignition! My heart stopped. In my mind's eye I could see the keys laying on the chair where I had tossed them. Just as quickly though, I instinctively reached for my back right pocket, from which my keys are nearly always hanging. Thankfully, this time was no exception! I was so glad I had them with me -- could you imagine having to explain how I managed to drive ten miles away from my house without my car keys?!

One of our errands today was to get the children's pictures done. A local photographer had agreed to do "school pictures" for our homeschool group at a great price. I hope to have some to post in a few weeks.

Little Stinker

My angelic little boy came downstairs this morning with marker all over his shirt and legs. (Just yesterday he had gotten a spanking for drawing on the carpet with a colored pencil. Apparently he felt it was the medium that I had objected to.) Anyway, then his sister yelps, "MU-THER, Joe colored on his blanket with a MAR-KER!" I led Joe upstairs to assess the damage, grabbing the wooden spoon along the way. As soon as we got into his room, I said, "Show me where you colored on your blanket." Looking as though butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, my little cherub snuggles on his bed in his sheet, smiles sweetly and says, "Tell me about God." (When I relayed this story to Jeff, he suggested I might have replied, "I'm fixin' to let you meet Him!")

On a serious note, though, it was a good opportunity to reiterate what it seems I'm always telling the children. That we love them so much we cannot allow them to disobey. Not only are we commanded by God to discipline them, teach them, train them, but if they won't obey us, then they won't obey God. As parents we won't always be there to tell them what the right thing to do is. They'll need to rely on the Holy Spirit's leading and their knowledge of scripture.

Yes, God loves us and is merciful and gracious, but He is also just. Sin is a big deal! If it weren't, would God have sent His only begotten Son to take on the sin of the world? Christ's death and resurrection were the only way that we could be reconciled with the Father. If it were not, surely God would have chosen any other way than for His Son to die on a cross.

But It's Not Dark Yet!

Last night Jeff was upstairs trying to convince Joe that he was not unjustly being put in the bed. Like millions of parents before him, Jeff pointed out, "It's dark outside." Joseph replied, "It is not too dark outside." Here he held up a finger. "It's only ONE dark, not two dark!" (Two fingers)

Prandial Musings

If you know me at all, you know I'm all about food! I'm always on the lookout for a good snack to have, since I eat so often throughout the day. Well, I found a "new" great snack -- simple, yet delicious! The Laughing Cow cheese, Wheatables Mutigrain crackers, and Boar's Head smoked Virginia ham (shaved). The creamy Swiss cheese, the salty-nutty crackers, and the smoky-sweet ham are a fabulous combination. As Rachael Ray would say, "Yum-O!" Also, it probably didn't hurt that I had a Starbucks gift card and so washed down my snack with a Hazelnut Cafe Latte. Again, "Yum-O!"

Doggone It!

So, last week we went to Todd and Chrissy's house and got to see puppies! The Cospers breed German Shepherds and the puppies are too cute! You check out Todd's website at www.jubilategermanshepherds.com Of course, my little ones were fascinated with the dogs. Now Joe has been pretending to be a puppy ever since. He crawls around on his hands and knees and makes whimpering noises, while biting his bottom lip. When he absolutely has to speak, he'll talk in a high-pitched sing-song tone. Katie decided that Joe was her pet puppy, so she made a few toys for him. She cut out shapes, one front and one back, then stapled them together and stuffed them with cotton balls. She made a bone, a food bowl, a leash and "puppy chow".

Funny Boy, Beautiful Girl

Okay, so here are my sweet sweet babies! (Please note that the title of the book Joe is reading is "Just Like Dad".)

Random News

Wow! I'm always amazed when school starts how quickly everything moves. School starts, church programs like AWANA and discipleship classes start back, extracurricular stuff gets going ... and before you know it, September's half over! So now I am going to attempt to catch up with our goings-on for the last month since I posted.

Jeff and I have been happily busy with the College and Career ministry at Maysville. We began teaching the class the first Sunday in August. The crew usually comes over on Sunday nights after church and we play games and eat food, and laugh and have a great time. We had our first "official" outing Labor Day weekend -- we went to a bowling alley and bowled a couple of games, played pool and air hockey. The next weekend was the kick off for our church's Christmas pageant. We have already begun praying for the lost who will attend. Sunday evenings Jeff and I are taking a class on how to be effective teachers. On Monday nights we have visitation, and I take a class on sharing the gospel. This past Sunday our church went to two services -- just five months after moving to a new building! God is doing such an amazing work at Maysville and we feel so blessed to be a part of it. We have grown more spiritually in the past few years than ever!

Katie, in addition to beginning school and loving it, began her third year of ballet last week. She has a new teacher this year and I think she's going to be really good for Katie. The kids also started back to AWANA. I love the fact that the kids are "hiding God's word in their hearts". Joe is a Cubbie this year, so he gets to memorize too! I wasn't sure if he would say his verse for the teacher, but he's done it every week so far. He's just so good at talking only when he wants to! I had to take him to the doctor yesterday. He had a fever and had just been out of sorts. He said a couple of times that his ear hurt. Those were his only symptoms. The doctor took one look and said it was definitely an ear infection and his ear drum may be perforated! Joe's now on an antibiotic and we have to go back in three weeks for Dr. Johnson to do a recheck.

Okay, that's a really long post! I'll try to keep up better in the future!

More Birthday Pictures

I ended up making Chocolate Carrot Cupcakes for Joe's birthday, with Chocolate Buttercream frosting. Mmmmmm...So good! Joe got to lick the paddle from the mixer after I made the frosting. Katie was totally jealous. For that matter, so was I!

Imagine It!

Instead of having a party to celebrate Joe's birthday, this year we went to the Children's Museum of Atlanta. It was wonderful! There was so much for the children to see and do. There was a huge section of levers, pulleys, wheels, and contraptions of all kinds. The children could make the machines perform different ways in order to transfer hundreds of hollow plastic balls from one place to another. Another area had all kinds of food-related stuff -- a plush "garden" area, animal puppets, and a grocery truck along will every kind of (toy) food imaginable! There was a water play area where the children could pick out rain coats to wear while they played. (Joe got soaked, anyway, of course.) This was Joe's favorite spot. Katie's favorite was where they got to choose smocks and then paint on a wall. The wall is plexiglass so when the kids are done it get's "squeegied" clean for the next group of kids.

Every 3-6 months, the theme of the museum changes, and unfortunately this session was Sesame Street. Joe's never seen it, and Katie only a couple of times several years ago. I think if they were familiar with the show they would have really flipped for the setup there. Joe liked talking on the phone to the characters. He liked Zoe, Elmo and Cookie Monster (no surprise!). All in all, a very cool place and both kids had a fabulous time!

Little Joe's Birthday!

My sweet, mischievous little boy is 3! I cannot believe it's been three years since Joseph was born -- although technically I have another hour before it's official. He was born at 9:05 a.m., shocking everyone (including his parents and the doctor) who thought he would not arrive so quickly! I was only in labor for three hours. I highly recommend that if you can manage it! :o) We'll have leftover ice cream cake (from Daddy's birthday "party" on Saturday)tonight. I asked Joe what he wanted for dinner and he said, "Chicken." When asked what kind he said, "Black." Hmmm ... not quite sure how to do that one!