I Love Mondays!

I may have mentioned this before, but I LOVE having Jeff home on Mondays. We got a lot accomplished yesterday, just projects that have needed to be done and we haven't had time. One I'm sad about is that Jeff had to lower Selah's crib. Kaity brought her to us in bed Saturday morning, and I immediately asked what was wrong. First of all, Kaity's usually the last one up, and secondly, she rarely brings the baby to me! Kaity laughingly explained that Selah was standing up in her crib. We still had the mattress set at the top level, so the edge of the crib was about waist high! Time always moves so quickly, but when you have a baby it flies!
Another project Jeff tackled yesterday was our kitchen faucet. We bought one a year and a half ago but never installed it because we thought we'd be selling the house. Now it's in and I love it! Our house had the cheapest faucet you could find at the hardware store, and the one now is lever-operated. A little thing that makes such a wonderful difference!

If I needed it, proof he loves me.

Daisy could not resist the lure of the box, and the cat-like instinct to interrupt the human's work.

The finished product, along with tomatoes from my in-laws' garden.

Joe Reciting Psalm 1

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

If He Can't Have a Twix ...

Joe decided the other day he didn't want cereal for breakfast. Nor did he want scrambled eggs, pancakes, waffles, grits, oatmeal, or anything else I offered. So I told him, "You're on your own, buddy."

His first choice was a Twix candy bar, but we were fresh out. Here's what he came up with:

Tropical fruit cup, yogurt covered raisins, blueberry Nutrigrain bar, yogurt.

It was too funny watching him bustle around the kitchen gathering all his little treats, arranging them on the plate, throwing away the packaging, "Mommy, will you please open this?", getting out silverware ... what a doll!

Boys and Girls Are Different

We went on a walk this morning, which is not typical. I tend to walk only when we have an objective, like going to the eye doctor or something. But I have been having a lot of back pain over the last few weeks and I'm trying to exercise more to focus on strengthening those muscles. Anyway, I made the announcement that we'd be going and Joe ran to get ready immediately. Kaity groaned and asked if we had to. When we made it outside, I was setting up the stroller for Selah while Joe was already riding circles around us (literally!) on his bike and telling Kaity, "You can ride your bike if you want to!" Kaity was reading a book and ignoring him. Yes, standing outside, waiting for me to get the baby strapped in, reading a book. "Come on, Kaity," I say, beginning to walk off.  Joe is already ten yards away. "Can I finish this chapter?" she responds.

Yes, boys and girls are different.

Train Wreck

You know how people rubberneck at crashes? They're horrified, yet can't seem to look away. Keep that in mind when you see these next few pictures. I'll walk you through it. (You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

Please note in the top right corner that she has misspelled the word "wonderful". That will be the best part of this business card you see. And please take the time to note the irony in that she took the time to look up the word "affectionate" in order to spell it correctly.

Here, she misspells her own name. That's understandable, though, considering how many ways "Kristi" can be spelled. But you can console yourself with the fact that she has attended "colledge  classes". Phew! That's a relief.

I love that you take the expense "right offf" your taxes! At least I won't be "disapoited!!!!!!" One last piece of advice -- if your e-mail address won't fit on your business card ... it's time to get a bigger card.

Chasing the Boy Kitty

Smoky is our boy kitty. He's like Joe in that he has a big sister and a little sister. And the baby chases him when he's still long enough.

Mondays with Daddy

More pictures of Daddy with the little ones!

Selah and the Saxophone

Jeff had his saxophone out last night to practice and to play for us. Selah got really interested in what Daddy was doing and crawled over to him. Thankfully, I had the camera handy!

Learning the Bicycle

I heard this poem yesterday on Chuck Swindoll's program ...

Learning the Bicycle
By: Wyatt Prunty

for Heather

The older children pedal past
Stable as little gyros, spinning hard
To supper, bath, and bed, until at last
We also quit, silent and tired
Beside the darkening yard where trees
Now shadow up instead of down.
Their predictable lengths can only tease
Her as, head lowered, she walks her bike alone
Somewhere between her wanting to ride
And her certainty she will always fall.
Tomorrow, though I will run behind,
Arms out to catch her, she'll tilt then balance wide
Of my reach, till distance makes her small,
Smaller, beyond the place I stop and know
That to teach her I had to follow
And when she learned I had to let her go.

There ...

... now isn't your day better already?

Baby Joe

Just so you can compare all the babies, here's a photo of Joseph when he was 7-1/2 months old.

I hope you can all come to his highschool graduation next week. *sigh*

Our Girls

Yesterday Selah was really feeling her teeth coming in ... she's been that way for a couple of days, actually. I think her top two are trying to break through. The bottom two have made their debut with little fuss, just a lot of drooling and gnawing. Anyway, I really wanted to eat lunch in peace, so I sent Kaity outside with her little sister. Selah loves to be outside in the breeze with the kitties and the trees and flowers and grass. It worked like a charm. Selah calmed down right away and Kaity and Joe played with her out there while I ate my lunch.

I also took a picture when we went back inside, a picture that Kaity has been quite excited about seeing. The reason is that the outfit Selah is wearing (along with a little hat that makes her look like a tulip) is one of the few outfits I saved from Kaity's babyhood. I loved it so much I couldn't let it go. Kaity is wearing it in the picture that is my favorite of all Kaity's baby pictures. We had to take a picture of Selah in the same outfit!

Selah, 7 months

Kaitlyn, 8 months

Daddy's Home

Woo-hoo! We are loving Mondays lately! I think I told you before that Jeff is off on Mondays for now, and our family is really enjoying the time together. I feel so much more productive when Jeff's home, and I'm not sure why that is. On Daddy's day off, we always let him sleep late. This is supposed to make up for all those days he gets up at 4:30 a.m. Anyway, by the time Jeff came in the kitchen, the kids had eaten breakfast and had their quiet time, I had my quiet time, fed the baby, started school with the kids, started the laundry, finished loading the dishwasher, made pear baby food, and made coffee and waffles for Jeff's and my breakfast. Then the day got started!

Jeff got Selah off to sleep for her morning nap, we did some more school, then Jeff took the big kids out for P.E. He worked with them on the soccer skills their coaches wanted them to learn. They did very well, and Jeff says they've actually improved!

I made more baby food (peach), fixed the kids a snack (banana parfaits), fed Selah her second breakfast (peas, pears, cereal and water), changed her diaper, then changed her again five minutes later (nice). Jeff went to the hardware store while I did more schoolwork with the kiddos, then fixed lunch -- leftover rice, taco beef and corn alongside fresh homemade tortillas.

After cleaning up from lunch, we did more school, a friend came by for a visit bearing a gift (an outfit for Selah Rae), I finally got a shower, did more school, loaded and ran the dishwasher again (yes, twice in one day), did more laundry, and baked a Cappuccino Cake for Jeff to take to church tonight. Jeff and Joe went on a bike ride around the neighborhood and I fed the baby again.

The kids and I have eaten dinner, Jeff has gone off to church for FAITH class and visitation, Selah is playing on the floor, Kaity and Joe are playing outside with the neighbor kids ... it's been a wonderful day!

The only bad part is knowing we'll be waking up tomorrow morning with Daddy already gone to work.

Character Sketch

This is Kaity, I had to write a character sketch for school about Joe, here it is:

Joe is six and average weight. He has hair that looks a little like hay and it is blond. Joe's eyes are green like the sea. he likes soccer and wears shirts with soccer balls on them. He likes to play with me. He gets silly sometimes. He likes to do crafts with me. Joe's room looks like a hurricane hit it. He goes to church. He likes to pretend. He likes to ride his bike outdoors. Joe cannot whistle, but he tries to. He can read a little bit. My brother likes to play outside.

A Letter

This morning on the way to church, Joe decided he wanted to write a letter to Kaity. Only he couldn't spell the words he needed. He began asking Kaity how to spell everything, and it was adorable! Here's how it sounded:

J: Um, how do you spell your name again, Kaity?
K: K
J: K
K: A
J: A
K: I
J: I
... You get the picture. He said every letter after she did, for every single word. Kaity spelled for him as he wrote, then he gave her the letter for her to read. It was so sweet. Kaity was the perfect big sister, rolling her eyes a little the way parents do at their children, yet patiently spelling each word.

The letter said, "To Kaity From Joe I love you because you play dollhouse with me. Love, Joe"

Okay, there were actually two letters, I'm told. This is the first one they did before we left the house when I didn't hear Kaity spelling. The one she spelled out in the car has "beacause" spelled correctly ... because I caught her!

An Interview

I interviewed the boy today. It was pretty comical. Enjoy!

What is your favorite food?
J: Yogurt-covered raisins
What does Daddy for a living?
J: Um ... works.
Where does he work?
J: The rock quarry.
Are you going to get married some day?
J: I hope not.
Why don't you want to get married?
J: I dunno.
What happens when you get married?
J: You get a wife. You have kids.
Is that such a bad thing?
J: I don't like changing a baby's diaper, that's why!
So what do you want to do when you grow up?
J: I dunno. Go on vacation. To Grandma Fran's condo.

Granny and Papa's House

I just love my Granny. Ever since I was a little girl I loved going to Granny and Papa's house. When I was very small, that meant Fernandina and the beach. As I got older, it came to mean South Georgia and "Gill Hill". Visiting with Granny and Papa has always been about simply enjoying the warmth, humor, love, and peace of their home. Our little family was blessed to be able to go and visit with Granny this past weekend.

Picnicking on the way to Granny's

Granny cooking up Sunday dinner.

Kissing cousins -- My cousin Jessica's boy, Jarrett.

Granny, getting sugar from Selah

Kaity had a fever all weekend while we were there, poor thing.

Selah loves her Uncle Donnie and Aunt Cindy already! Donnie calls her "Sailor" and bounces her on his knees. Being nicknamed by my uncles can be mildly traumatic ("Jenni-fart") but Selah got off pretty easy!
That's Granny's "baby" brother in the rocking chair -- the youngest of 13 children. It's always a treat to get to see Uncle Ray.

Cousin Shanna. Or Shannie. Or Shannie-Annie. (She got off easy, too!)

Uncle Steve

Uncle Steve and Aunt Belinda came over one night with their son Joe and his wife Janice. Joe and Janice were visiting from west Georgia and they'd all spent the day at the Okefenokee. Joe introduced his wife as his former parole officer -- he's such a ham! My aunt Belinda is an accomplished writer with several published novels. She and Uncle Steve have traveled a lot and lived in several different states, so "Ain't B" researches the history of the area and builds her novels around the unique history she's discovered. Her most recent novel is The Lure of Alaska.

Barefoot in the Kitchen

Since I didn't have enough to do already, I've begun a new project. I decided to create a separate blog to indulge my love of all things food! The blog is called Barefoot in the Kitchen, and the address is www.jeniskitchen.blogspot.com. As you might have guessed, it's all about food! I get asked a lot of questions about recipes, how I arrange my menus each week, where I get my recipes, etc. So I'll be talking about those questions as well as whatever I feel like writing about. I have lots of ideas, and I've already gotten started. Head on over there and check it out!


Also, it's my little baby girl's seven-month birthday! Time flies when you're having fun .... or as Kermit the frog says, "Time's fun when you're having flies."

Ridin' Bikes

Jeff bought a bicycle with his birthday money, and he's really been enjoying it. The kids have loved it, too! They get to go riding with Daddy in the evenings over in the graveyard. Jeff's also been going on solo rides around the neighborhood, even if it's just for a mile. When he's spent ten hours a day sitting on a piece of equipment, it's nice for him to be able to get out and get moving!

I don't have any pictures of Jeff riding his bike, but I do have some cute ones of Joe.

Family Picnik

Joe and Selah

Kaity and Selah

Daddy's girl

Mommy's baby