Friday Fave Five

Join me for Friday's Fave Fives, brought to us by Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

It's a time to reflect on the past week and count the many blessings we have in our lives!

1. Spending the 4th of July with friends.


For the past couple of years, we've spent July 4th with a close group of friends at parades, grilling out and watching the fireworks.


The last 2 years we've also celebrated Caleb's birthday a bit early as well. This year we went to the Nisswa parade Friday night, the Crosby parade Saturday morning, grilled out with friends, had Caleb's party Saturday evening, and watched Brainerd's fireworks that evening.





It was a SUPERB day!

2. Taking naps. I've been able to take two 2 1/2 to 3 hour naps this week. I don't really know why I've been blessed enough with TWO wonderful naps, but I am so thankful for them!

3. Taking the kids to the beach ALL BY MYSELF! Now, I don't have any pictures of my kids at the beach (since a camera was the one thing I forgot), but I managed to pack everything else, keep the kids from drowning, bring them and everything else home safely, and bathe them all by myself. (Beside a hour or two, Brad was gone from 6:30 a.m. until after 11:00 p.m. that day.) I am still amazed at how well it went and am kicking myself for not taking the kids more often!

4. Finishing staining the 125 spindles and posts on our deck. I have been working almost every day during the kids' nap at staining our 24 by 14 foot deck. The railing and spindles have taken me FOREVER! But I finally finished on Tuesday, and hopefully we'll stain the floor sometime next week. I am so thankful to have "nap time" back and be able to catch up on cleaning, laundry, and have some personal time for myself.

5. Playing with my kids.


I have really been thankful for my children, especially since they've returned from Grandma and Papa's house. I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with them every day...even when the days seem to drag on and on. I love watching them, instructing them, and being able to spend so much time teaching, training, and loving them. I often miss teaching, but I know that I am exactly where I need to be right now...and that's following God, loving my husband, and being the best mom I can be to my children.

Like two peas in a pod...

Before my kids went Grandma and Papa's house, my mom asked if sometime she could have Sammy and Caleb by themselves. You know, to spend more quality time with each of them.

I told her that was a BAD idea!

And she learned very quickly why that would be a bad idea.


She and my dad had done the entire nightly routine perfectly and gotten both of them to bed by 8:30. (You go grandparents!) Then they began to go through the mail and pay some bills. Around 10:30, they heard Caleb crying through the monitor. Mom couldn't remember if she was supposed to let him cry for a bit or go to him right away (and in her defense, I don't think I specifically told her). So she let him cry for about 5 minutes, but by this time, he had worked himself up into quite a tizzy.


Once she entered his room, she realized he has a soiled diaper. (YES, he hadn't had a soiled diaper that late at night for months and months, but he did at Grandma's house...poor Grandma.) Anyway, she got him all cleaned up, but he just wouldn't calm down. He kept crying and crying and crying. She took him back upstairs and tried rocking and reading to him...nothing helped. (And she wasn't about to call me at 11:00 p.m. her FIRST night alone with them and let me hear him crying...good call, Mom.)

Until...


Sammy poked her head out from her room. (Can you blame her? Who could sleep through Caleb's constant screaming.) Once Caleb saw her, he IMMEDIATELY stopped crying and said, "Dee,dee" (translation, "sister"). Mom then waved her over, and my little 3 1/2 year old walked right up to her brother, started patting his head and said, "It's okay Caleb. Mommy and daddy are just going to be gone for just a few days. They're coming back. We're going to have lots of fun with Grandma and Papa. It's okay Caleb, it's okay."

My mom had to hold back tears.


And, in that moment, she realized that my not quite 21 months apart children needed to be together. They were best buddies. Sammy led, and Caleb followed. They didn't do well without the other.

She then sent Sammy back to bed, read one more story to a now very calm little boy, and asked him if it was time to go "night, night." He took his nuk out of him mouth and said, "yesh."

And that was that. For the next 11 nights, not one peep from him.


Upon telling me this story--well after he was calmed down and asleep in bed--my mom said, "I will NEVER ask you to have them come and visit separately ever again!"

She's a quick learner!

Not Me, Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday. Once again, it's time to confess all those crazy, silly, and downright funny things we have done in the past week. Our good virtual friend, MckMama leads us always in our endeavor. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have NOT been doing this week.

Confession is so good for the soul!

I did NOT try to "buy more time" by leaving Caleb in his crib almost 45 minutes after he woke up. I did NOT think of countless ways to keep him occupied (in his crib) with books and toys so that I could extend some cleaning/organizing time for myself. Nope! I always get him up right away and do all sorts of fun activities to stimulate and develop his mind.

I did NOT stay up until after 1:00 a.m. and spend three hours making this...


and this.


Nor was I SUPER impressed with myself with decorating my very first birthday cake.

At Caleb's birthday party, I most certainly did NOT think Caleb and his little friends were SO CUTE eating with their shirts off. And I did NOT take several pictures of these cute little men.


I did NOT call my husband...while taking a nap in bed...and beg him to come back inside (he was reading out on our deck) and get Caleb because I was too tired (and lazy) to walk about 5 steps to Caleb's bedroom and get him up myself. Who does that?

Happy Not Me, Monday!

MckLinky Blog Hob

My good friend, Gianna introduced me to this morning's post. It's called MckLinky blog hop, brought to us by MckMama and her friend, Brent.

The first entry is an introduction about myself and my blog. Enjoy!

My name is Jenny, and I am first and foremost a daughter of the King. I am His redeemed child and His beloved one. And He is the reason for who I am.

I also happen to be wife to Brad...who is a youth pastor...a mother to Sammy and Caleb; a friend to many; a cook to our youth group students; a (traditional) scrapbooker; a obsessive compulsive women when it comes to tidyness, organization, and to-do lists; a MOPS and BSF attender; a play date organizer; a singer; a strategy game "gamer"; a mentor; an English teacher; a runner (wannabe); a best friend to my husband; a National Park lover; an adventure seeker; a blogger; a Facebook(er); a Survivor and Amazing Race addict; a maid (dishwasher, toilet cleaner, spill wiper...); and despite this long list, is a women who still struggles with who she really is. Go figure!

I started this blog because I wanted an outlet to write, journal, keep family and friend updated and connect with other stay at home moms. It really is all about my journey...as a mother, wife, believer in Jesus Christ...and my struggles, joys, and triumphs.

Who is next?

Friday Fave Five...it's been awhile!

Join me for Friday's Fave Fives, brought to us by Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

It's a time to reflect on the past week and count the many blessings we have in our lives!

1. Playdates at the park. Even though Monday was a little chilly...note the sweatshirt and long sleeved shirts below...it was a wonderful day to meet with friends and let the kiddos "hang out"...


slide...

play with trucks...

and play with rocks. This picture was taken just moments before Caleb decided that rocks make a great mid-morning snack!


2. Saving at the grocery store. I LOVE saving money...and getting free stuff...and getting deals at garage sales...you get my point. This week I spent $32.27 at my local grocery store and saved $31.87! That's right! I got $64.14 of groceries for $32.27! That totally made my day!

3. Couples date night at Kart Kountry. Brad and I are in a GREAT "life group" at our church. It's made up of a lot of people our age (some with and some without children) who love to get together and have fun. On Wednesday, we all left our kids at home and went go-carting for TWO HOURS! It was so much fun! I'm not sure if I enjoyed racing next to Brad more or laughing SO HARD when people got spun out! A good time was had by all!

4. Playing with my kids. I cannot tell you what a joy it has been to play with my kids this week. I am very thankful that my parents took such good care of them for us last week, but man, is it good to have them home! We have had a ball playing everything and anything...especially Mr. Potato Head!


Don't you love where he put Mr. Potato Head's teeth!


5. Getting more projects done around the house. We were able to tackle a lot of projects last week when my kids were with my parents, but we were not able to get to staining our deck or wooden swingset due to rain. But I was able to finish staining the swingset and get a start on the spindles and railing on our 24 x 14 foot deck. It's may take me until the end of the summer to finish the deck, but at least it's been started!