Jenn's Blog

Ben and I have been having a blast this year. It's so nice having Chels here to watch the boys. Last night we went to a Christmas party for "our" small group at church. It was nice to meet some people and hang out a bit. Then today we went to the annual Stephen Ministry Christmas party at the Renaissance hotel. It was so nice to see everyone - and to meet some of the ladies I work with via email! Ben got to go, too, so that was cool.

Tomorrow night we are going out for drinks with our neighbors. Maybe we'll get a tree tomorrow, too. We are considering doing a potted tree this year, but we need to see how far out we can reasonably get one. We don't want to get it too soon and then have it die on us!

I love the holidays!!

Chelsea is still baking up a storm and stashing the cookies in the freezer.

We went to our first Christmas party of the season, at our neighbor's house. They always have great food and just about any drink you could think of. We always have a blast with our neighbors, so that was fun.

We've been trying to do something holiday-ish every day. We made salt dough ornaments one day, and painted them the next. Looked at Christmas lights and plan on doing that at least once more. Decorated the house, just need our tree, but want to wait so it won't be too dry. We've been doing an Advent calender every night. I have almost all my shopping done and am going to start wrapping this week - Chels offered to help. I really want to go see Our Lady of the Snows Light display this year. We are tentatively planning that for this week.

Other stuff:

I knit myself a pair of fingerless gloves and am pleased with how they turned out. I need to get going and make a few more pairs for gifts.

I've been doing really well with working out every day - sometimes twice a day, and am pleased with the results. The numbers on the scale are slow to drop, but I can feel the difference with my clothes.

I really need to make another doctor appointment tomorrow. I got a good lead on an awesome-sounding doctor. I have rashes suddenly springing up all over and I cannot for the life of me think what is causing them.

I'm going to start setting some of my entries to friends only so if my blogging seems gappy it may be that you have to be logged in to read certain blogs.

I know this isn't anything new, but I started using Pandora and LOVE IT! I'm addicted!!

A long while ago I ordered a Kindle sample of a women's devotional called Irrepressible Hope. I ended up finding the book at the thrift store for a whopping buck. Bought it, have been reading it, and have been tremendously blessed.

Luke is 4 and a half, which blows my mind. He says something surprising or clever every day. The other day, while painting our ornaments, he asked me to please stop singing because he was trying to concentrate on his painting. Heh heh.

I signed up to help out in the church nursery. Nothing earth-shattering, but it feels good to help out in some way and get to know some people better!

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6529135

No one anywhere for any reason needs some made-in-China piece of junk enough to justify a person dying and 4 more people being injured in a Black Friday stampede.

...shoppers were acting like "savages.... When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling 'I've been on line since yesterday morning. They kept shopping."

My heart goes out to the deceased and his family.

As you start your holiday shopping, consider what values does your spending reflect? Where are you putting your money? Into products made in the US? Or products made overseas? For me, it's not just a matter of helping the economy, but it's a matter of morals as well.

Some ideas:

etsy
Devvy
Toys
Clothing
Not made in the US, but reusing what's already out there:
ebay
craigslist
And don't forget thrift stores, resale shops, antique stores, used book stores, rummage sales, auctions, listings in the paper, regifting, and homemade gifts.

Happy and responsible shopping!

We had a pleasant Thanksgiving. Went down to Perryville to see Ben's mom's family. The weather was beautiful so we played with the kids outside and took a walk through the cemetery. I was still feeling cruddy, but I'm glad I went. Chelsea opted to stay home and cleaned just about the whole house for me which was awesome and a huge help.

I made Tulip Girl's Cranberry Sauce with Cabernet and Ben made his signature sweet potato dish and a chocolate pecan pie. All the food was good.

My family and Ben's family came over to our house for dinner. We had a nice, but sort of hodge podge meal and played a few board games. The kids had a great time and had toys alllllll over the living room when it was over. Ahhh, good times.

This was the smallest Thanksgiving so far. A lot of Ben's cousins weren't there. Most of my siblings were missing. It made me really grateful that my boys are still small and pretty much have to go where we go and do what we do. Who knows where they'll end up and what they'll do when they are adults...at least we have them right now.

We were supposed to talk about the 5 things we are most thankful for, but the kids (ahem, picky pants Luke) took the focus away so here are my top 5:

1. Family. A good husband who loves and likes me and knows the feeling is mutual. 2 sweet and precious little boys who are such blessings from God and are everything I never knew I always wanted. Pleasant extended family. I hear so many horror stories and am glad that we have a family that we actually enjoy being with.

2. Friends and Neighbors. What is that saying? "Friends are the family you choose for yourself", or something to that effect. 'nough said.

3. A Church!! Finally we have a place to call home and I am so excited about being a part of a church body again.

4. All the Little Comforts. Not just a roof over our heads, but a nice place to call home. Not just a rattle-trap to get from point A to point B, but a nice, safe, clean vehicle that meets our needs. Not just food to fill our stomachs, but the ability to eat nutritious meals that keep us healthy.

5. A savior who took on our sins and died on the cross so that we can spend eternity with him. In all of life's disappointments, little and big, I hope this is the foundation beneath it all that reminds us that this is enough. No matter what we've been through or what we have yet to suffer, may we always find hope in this truth. If everything else is stripped away we are still blessed because we know we have a bright future with Him, because of Him.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

My first pair of mittens. I finished them up a week ago and Luke wore them out for the first time today. I have one and a half mittens done for Gabe, in the same color. Now that I'm feeling comfortable with knitting in the round I have a whole slew of projects on the horizon that I can't wait to dive into!

Hey! I just realized that I'm not receiving any of the comments that have been posted for the last good while! Sorry if you've commented and I didn't reply - I thought everyone was just super busy! I'll be sure to check for comments on a regular basis now!

Gen: Thanks for all the links. Yes MO is crazy, but I'm here so it all balances out. Yes, we were a couple of kids when we got married and I'm eternally grateful that it worked out and we are happy!!

Scott: You wish!!

It's been a while since I blogged. I was sick. Then Luke, now Gabe. It's been rainy and gray. We did have a couple of nice days this week, which was awesome, but today it's back to blah and rain.

I've been knitting again. I finally bit the bullet and purchased some double-point needles and have been knitting up some mittens. The first one was terrible because it turns out I was reading part of the pattern wrong. I figured it out, though, and have knit one adorable mitten and am half-way done with its twin. I have a whoooooole list of new things I want to try, now that I knit in the round.

I was given a recommendation for an endo in the city. Called only to find out she's not accepting new patients. Was totally bummed. Finally decided to call a doctor here in town who's supposed to be good at treating thyroid issues. They scheduled me for an appointment this coming Thursday, so that's awesome. I've been doing some research and have a whole list of things I want him to order bloodwork on. So maybe I'll get some answers???

Genevieve's birthday was on the 6th. Here's a (late) shout-out to you Gen! I think of you guys every day and pray for you.

It looks like Chelsea has another regular babysitting job - for a new MOPS group that Lauren has been attending. It's every other Wednesday from 9-12. She'll be in charge of teaching the 2-5 year olds. She and I taught the class together last week and had fun. I think she'll do really well. She's going to be taking an infant-child-adult CPR class in December. I'm really glad she's doing that and told her we'll pay half the class fees - it's totally worth it!

We've started our Christmas cookie stash! Chels has been making batches of cookies here and there and freezing them. We are starting to run out of freezer room, but we'll be set for Christmas! I'm starting to accumulate Christmas gifts and have several people already done! No last minute running around!

It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is less that 2 weeks away!!

The boys had a wonderful Halloween! Luke was so excited he was beside himself! Brad and Karen came over and sat in the driveway and passed out candy while we made the rounds. The boys got boatloads of candy and we didn't even hit all the houses in our subdivision! Our neighbors are so generous! We had a great time meeting new neighbors. After all the excitement wound down we sat and visited up at Jeff and Jen's. They had a fire in the fire pit and the boys had kids to play with. We were out until 10:30ish and had a great time! Gabe actually wore his costume all night which was a surprise! He was so darn cute! I'll have to get pictures off the camera soon!

Ty just redid her website and it is full of super cute stuff! Check it out! Little Elephant Company.