Not Me! Monday...and various weekend happenings...

~Not Me! Monday!~

Hop on over to

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

where MckMama is definitely not participating

in Not Me! Monday this week.

She has other things on her mind.

But you can read up on how baby Stellan is doing,

and see how badly we need to keep praying.

Not Me! Monday is the blog carnival created by MckMama to give all us perfect Mamas a way to tell all the things we would never do throughout our week, and we certainly would not tell anyone if we did them!!

So here are all the things I truly did not do;

I did not find myself strangely bonding with a woman from the frozen tundra whom I have never met. I did not check her blog 20 several times a day waiting impatiently for updates on her beautiful, sick baby boy. I never once prayed for this sweet babe who has completely captured my heart even though I have never laid eyes on him outside my Internet connection.

I did not spend the whole week telling friends and family about him. I would never ask so many people to go read about and then pray for such a sick baby boy. I couldn't have prayed so much for a total stranger, her family, or her beautiful Stellan.

I did not get a new cousin this weekend! She is not the tiniest thing I have ever held! She was not only 5lbs 4oz, and she is not completely precious! I did not threaten to sneak her into my purse and bring her home with me. She totally did not make me hope that Paul and I didn't make another baby the other night when we didn't have that little mishap...(so not blushing)

~Zoey Grace~

I did not have 3 ball games to try to keep up with Saturday. Ashton, Sydney, and Jacob are not all 3 playing ball this year, and do not play on separate ends of the ball park! I would never leave the house without sunscreen, therefore we must not have ALL gotten sunburned-that's right, it is not my fault that even poor Emmie got sunburned! Jacob did not look TOTALLY cute in his uniform that was just ridiculously a bit too big.

(Aren't those the cutest saggy britches you've ever seen?!? LOL)

My little leftie!

I also did not let Jacob play knowing he still didn't feel well-please don't notice how totally out of it he looks!

I did not put Emmie in the grass for the first time this spring just to try to get a cute pic. I most certainly did not leave her there even after she made it very obvious she didn't like it, just to try and get a good shot! I would never torture my baby like that just for pictures! I also didn't think it was SOOO cute!!

Can't you just hear her saying, "What IS this floor made of?"

Looking to Memaw for help

"Won't anybody save me??"

"Ok, Mama, enough! Come and get me please!!"

Not me Monday aside, I never did get a smiling pic, but these are cute anyway. You can tell she didn't want to fuss, but she was not happy!

Well, this is totally not the longest Not Me Monday post I've ever written! I was apparently not very busy this weekend (and I only wrote about SOME of it!!) And my fingers are really not cramping!!

TTFN,

Jen

Wordless Wednesday/Stellan's Name Gallery

~Stellan in wisteria~

~South MS~

Still praying,
Jen

Ok, so I know this is supposed to be Wordless Wednesday, but...(KONNIE, READ THIS!!)

Yeah, I know it's Wednesday, and I will do a Wordless Wednesday post later, but for now I feel led to talk about a few things.

First of all, most of you know about Stellan's heart problems, and what MckMama is going through, but I still feel that we need to continue to pray and let MckMama know that we are doing so. Please visit http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ to keep up with their family and Stellan's progress.

Also, I found another tangible way to let MckMama know we are all thinking about Stellan. Follow the link: http://theblogfrog.com/psearch/ViewThread.aspx?threadID=125&blogID=104191 to find out what Lauren over at Knowing Norrah is doing. It's pretty cool!!

Lastly, I found this email-through another blog, of course, and I know many of you are hand sanitizer users. Especially you, Konnie-I know how the boys love the stuff. I checked this out on Snopes myself:

This story was verified at: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp and at http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/h/hand-sanitizer...htm

Yesterday, my youngest daughter, Halle , who is 4, was rushed to the emergency room by her father for being severely lethargic and incoherent. He was called to her school by the school secretary for being 'very VERY sick.'He told me that when he arrived, Halle was barely sitting in the chair... She couldn't hold her own head up and when he looked into her eyes, she couldn't focus them. He immediately scooped her up and rushed her to the ER, and then called me. When we got there, they ran blood test after blood test and did x-rays, every test imaginable. Her white blood cell count was normal, nothing was out of the ordinary. The ER doctor told us that he had done everything that he could do so he was sending her to Saint Francis for further tests. Right when we were leaving in the ambulance, her teacher came to the ER and, after questioning Halle 's classmates, we found out that she had licked hand sanitizer off her hand. Hand sanitizer, of all things. But it makes sense. These days they have all kinds of different scents and when you have a curious child, they are going to put all kinds of things into their mouths. When we arrived at Saint Francis, we told the ER doctor there to check her blood alcohol level, and yes we did get weird looks, but they did it. The results showed her blood alcohol level was .85% -- six hours after we first took her. There's no telling what it would have been if we would have requested it at the first ER. Since then, her school and a few surrounding schools have taken this out of the classrooms of all the lower grade classes, but what's to stop middle and high schoolers from ingesting the stuff? After doing research on the Internet, we have found out that it only takes 3 squirts of the stuff to be fatal in a toddler. For her blood alcohol level to be so high was to compare someone her size to drinking something 120 proof. So please PLEASE don't disregard this because I don't ever want anyone else to go through what my family and I have gone through. Please send this to everyone you know who has children or are going to be having children. It doesn't matter what age.

Very scary!

Ok, I'm gonna try to post this one more time-last time it messed up and then was just gone! Keep praying for MckMuffin and MckMama and their whole family. I can't even imagine what they are going through and her faith through it all is so inspiring!

TTFN

Jen

I Heart Faces Week 11-No flash

I Heart Faces Week 11

~No Flash~

http://www.iheartfaces.com/

Ok, I've posted this one before, but never for this contest. It's one of my favorite ones of Emmie, taken shortly after she started pulling up, and as it was taken with her leaning against the window I didn't have to use the flash.

Such a sweet pic. I love this baby girl!

I wanted to do a long, deep, thoughtful post, but I my brain hasn't quite given me the go ahead-it's still bouncing around unfinished. I am continuing to pray for Stellan and MckMama's family, and I know that God has a plan for them.

TTFN,

Jen

Noah Speaks:

Noah has recently developed a love of all things Elmo. We went and bought a few Elmo sippy cups, and I try to make sure he gets to use one often. When he wants juice, he asks for Elmo juice, in Noah speak of course, prompting the following conversation:

Noah: Elma deuce, pease, Mama?

Me: Elma Deuce? Who is Elma Deuce, Noah?

Noah: (loudly, also giggling) MY TUP! Elma deuce, Mama!!

Praying for Stellan

Usually on Mondays I encourage everyone to go visit MckMama's blog-http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

for everyone's Not Me! Monday posts. Today, I am asking everyone to go and read about the very scary things going on right now with Stellan's heart. Stellan and the whole family need our prayers. Please visit and let MckMama know that we are all with her, in prayer and spirit if not in body.

Praying fervently,

Jen

His other woman...

My honey's on his way home!!

Ok, so I haven't whined or fussed at all this time while Paul's been gone. That doesn't mean I haven't missed him terribly!! Maybe it's just that I know this is his last trip for a while. :)

I must admit, I wish he weren't so fascinated with his other woman, but as she is GRAY, weighs about 41,335 TONS, and looks like THIS:

I'm not too terribly worried about him running off permanently with her...LOL. Hopefully he really will be home this afternoon-the hotline is still saying they are on schedule-but only time will tell. Here are a few pics from his phone cam on one of the last trials.

Leaving...looking back toward Northrop Grumman.

Some of our barrier islands out in the Gulf.

Sunset.

Hopefully he'll be home before another one of these! :)

TTFN

Jen

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

First TBall game ever!

-Last night-

It was just a scrimmage, but he had a blast!

I Heart Faces-Week 10-Green

I Heart Faces-Week 10
Green

Ok, so our pictures are really not inundated (or even merely punctuated!) with green. In fact, it was difficult to find much at all unless they were outdoor pics, which usually didn't have face shots. This is what I could find:

Jacob with the rinse cup in the tub. Obviously this was a few years ago. :)

I have to say, though that this theme really got me thinking about green...which led to thinking about spring...which led to thinking about new life. (I know...my mind usually runs in weird circles!) I love spring! I love when everything is fresh, and new, and green. There is a day every year when I pull into the driveway and realize spring is really here. Everything is so beautifully neon green it just takes my breath away. For those of you who don't live here, we don't really have a 'fall' where all the leaves fall off and we look at dead trees all winter. We look at pines and oaks and evergreens that turn either a very dull, ugly, dark green, or just a really ugly brown. Then when the weather warms up, I know it's coming. That one day. That magical morning when everything is reborn or refreshed and green. I am thankful for it every year.

I don't miss the similarity between spring and our lives in Christ. When we find Christ, and accept Him in our lives, we become that day in spring. We become fresh and new and green. Suddenly the old, dull, dead life is gone, and we are reborn. And sometimes, in the trials and errors of our lives, we pull away from God. Not always intentionally, and not always entirely, but far enough that we don't feel the connection. Then one day we wake up and realize the distance, and we hear Him calling. And we discover the need to cry out to Him again, not unlike the first time, and He is there. Understand-He never left. He was calling all along, and we were just too busy or distant to listen. But when we turn back to Him, He takes us willingly and we too are reborn, refreshed. It amazes me-not unlike that day in spring. This is where I have been in my life recently-in winter. I don't remember what led to it, but I have heard Him calling, and I am answering! I am determined to walk the path I am supposed to be on! And I will continue to watch closely for that green day. Thank you God for spring!

TTFN

Jen

Not Me! Monday

Time to air out our dirty mommy secrets...what we really don't do all week! This madness was passed around by Mckmama over at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ . Go visit and see what she and everyone else did not do this week.

I did not take pictures of my little Noah on the potty! I would never take such humiliating pictures of all any of my children for future blackmail nostalgic purposes! And even if I did, I would never post one of those pics to my blog for the world to see!! Not ME!!

(Emmie trying to climb in the tub while we waited on Noah on the potty-she LOVES a bath)

I most certainly did not feed the boys waffles (with fruit and string cheese!) for lunch not once, but twice last week just because I didn't feel like fixing anything else! I would never be that lazy!

I did not have a lunch date with my honey on Saturday. We did not go out simply because I needed a day out of the house-not me!! We did not have a good time. :) I did not need a day out because I have not totally turned into the dwarfs the fairy tale never told you about, all rolled into one-Fussy, Grouchy, Moody, Snappy, Weepy, Touchy, and OverSensitive-y. (Ok, that last one was a bit of a stretch...)

I was not completely relieved that ALL the kids ball practices tonight got rained out...I would never wish for rain just so we could be home with Paul the night before he leaves for Sea Trials. I do not wish he were going to be here with me the rest of the week, and I am not totally sad that he is leaving (again.)

So, that was not my week in a nutshell.

See you next week-not.

TTFN

Jen

Field Trip Friday

National Naval Aviation Museum

Naval Air Station

Pensacola, FL

We took a field trip today with Sydney's class to the Aviation Museum in Pensacola-which I didn't even know existed until this field trip came up. It was really pretty cool! For my friends here who have boys (which is ALL of you the last time I checked!) it is totally FREE!!! Read that? FREE!! There is an IMAX movie and a flight simulator ride that you have to pay for, if you want to do them, but they are not necessary. There are airplanes, jets and helicopters hanging and parked everywhere- and many of them are open for the kids to climb in. The boys had a blast!

(For those of you who don't recognize the extra little boy in orange, he is not some stranger's kid! That is Steven-my '6th' child! I have been keeping him since he was 4 weeks old! He's 3.)

This Air Station is home of the famous Blue Angels!

Emmie was there too...she had a good time, but momma only got blurry pics! :(

Did I mention that the base is on the beach? The scenery was beautiful! There was also a lighthouse, a military cemetery, and some old forts, none of which we had time to see. We will definitely go back soon-especially to see the Blue Angels. You can watch them practice-FREE!

We had a blast, and everyone was worn out on the way home.

I realized only after I uploaded the pics that even though this was Sydney's field trip, we didn't even get one pic with her. She was off with her friends (and their chaperone) much of the time. Sad, I know.

Noah Speaks: Airfwayne, Momma.

Do I need to translate? :) He's asleep with his 'airfwayne' as I type.

TTFN

Jen

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

I'm so ready for warm weather...

This is

~Ashton~

and

~Me and Syd~

Fort Walton Beach, FL 2001

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not My! Monday. A fun excuse to (not)tattle on ourselves created by Mckmama. Hop on over to http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ to discover what Mckmama and everyone else have not been doing this week!

I have not been praying that my poor Sydney feels better very soon, while also not praying that NO ONE else gets it! Who cares if all 5 get sick? NOT ME!

I did not eat almost an entire box of Tagalongs by myself after giving the kids each just one. I did not call Paul the next day and beg him to chase down any wandering Girl Scouts he found and buy me some more (which, God love him, he did!) I have not since decided that The Girl Scouts are actually evil, and that they are specifically out to destroy my thighs.

I did not eat chocolate cake for breakfast Sunday morning because

1. I was not too lazy to fix anything else,

2-because I don't LOVE chocolate cake, and

3-I would never rationalize that the ingredients are the same as pancakes-

just with chocolate added.

Uh-uh. Not me! I would never do anything so unhealthy!

I was so totally not lazy this weekend that I did not let my house go to pot. It is not a complete wreck, because I would never let it get this bad. I would also never let the laundry pile up, because I don't loathe laundry.

Well, that's a brief record of all the things I didn't actually do last week. Thanks Mckmama for giving us the opportunity to not air our dirty laundry-pun totally NOT intended!!

LOL...my signature is WAY too big. Gonna have to work on that.

I also need to find different fonts and figure out how to do the embellishments.

HMMM...it also shows up on a white background on my blog

instead of just being on the page! ARG. Oh well, it's a work in progress.

Random Picture Challenge-or not...

Well, it's been a non-productive weekend as far as the whole blog goes. First, I was going to participate in flashback Friday. I spent all afternoon Friday going through pictures (that was really fun though, great memories) and picking out the right ones. Then I brought our scanner/copier/printer/thingy downstairs to hook up to my laptop so I could put the pics on here. Very excited!! After over an hour of fighting to make it work (and not to mention it was no longer Friday!) I gave up and went to bed. The next day I played with it a bit and realized that my laptop is too new for my scanner!! The software is not compatible with Vista. WHAT?? You're kidding-my HP scanner doesn't work with my HP laptop? That's technology for you! Oh, well.

Then Saturday night I got in a funk and still haven't really shaken it. No real reason, but I've been moody and quiet-I must be PMSing(yes I did just make that a verb!) I wouldn't know cause I still don't have a real cycle yet. Very hormonal!! So tonight I get on here to do Random Picture Challenge, and blogger won't upload my pics. On the upside, I did figure how to make a signature-but I can't use it tonight if I can't upload. :) What a weekend.

Did I mention Syd's been sick and after 5 days on antibiotics she is still running fever and coughing her head off? She's in her bed hacking away as I type. Poor baby!

I just wanted to say that it was not all bad-my Emmie turned 9 months on Saturday. She is soooooo big! She is crawling everywhere, and pulling up on anything or anyone that will be still. She now has 4 teeth, and they are so stinkin cute I can hardly stand it! She is never without a smile, and is very independent. She loves cheerios and fruit loops (broken in half of course) I love to watch her face as she processes things around her. It usually doesn't take her more than one try to figure something out, and she never misses anything!! She's also pretty rough and tumble-she's going to give her big brothers a run for their money! I adore my Emmie Claire, my baby girl, and wonder where the time has gone.

Tomorrow is a new day! Hope for sunny skies and happy (non-moody) mommas!!
Night all!
Laughing at myself,
Jen

Wordless Wednesday

~Wordless Wednesday~

This is one of my most favorite pictures of Ashton. She was 2 and a half, and was SOOOO excited to find this birds nest.

Noah speaks:

~I peepee pobby, momma!=I pee pee potty, momma! (I like this one! He actually asks to get on the potty!)

~I peepee fwoor, momma!=I pee pee floor, momma! (This one, not so much!)

And the newest...introduced just last night;

~I peepee bass, momma!=I pee pee bath, momma! (Do I really have to say how I feel about that one?)

Hey, it's all about the effort, right? ;)

Jen

Hodge podge...

Combo Post (warning...it's a LONG one!!)

This is a combination of several posts...first, I want to participate in the

I Heart Faces Week 8-messy

This is from Noah's first birthday. He was REALLY enjoying his cupcake!!

I also want to participate in the

Random Picture Challenge 7.0

by http://www.4littlemen.blogspot.com/

This challenge was the 11th picture from your Sept 07 folder

or the 11th picture from your 11th pic folder.

Here is mine;

This pic was actually taken in late August 07, but not uploaded till Sept. This is Sydney on our Destin trip. We stayed at a great hotel that had all sorts of free activities for guests-one of which was bicycling. We must have ridden 5 miles around that place, and it was beautiful!

Lastly, I just wanted to blog a bit. I said recently that if cleanliness is close to Godliness, my house is definitely not going to Heaven! I meant this wholeheartedly! But let me defend myself a bit...there's another saying that goes 'a place for everything and everything in it's place.' My reality is 'a place for nothing and stuff everywhere!!' There are 7 of us in our 3 bedroom house, and there just isn't room for all our stuff! It's pretty comical sometimes, and if I weren't so laid back, it might just drive me crazy! So, a lot of our 'mess' is just clutter that has no place to be. (Except on the floor, the shelves, the countertop, etc...) I don't keep a filthy house. I just have a REALLY cluttered one. And strangely enough, I'm ok with that. Cause it's not the stuff in the house that's important, it's my family. :)

I wanted to remind everyone that the new 'Give4Kayleigh' donation drive begins today. I tried to put the new button on my page, but couldn't get it to work. Just click on my 'Pray4Kayleigh' button to go to their page, and follow the link there. Don't miss the newest pics while you're there. Kayleigh is only a few days younger than Emmie, and while Emmie is topping out at over 20lbs, Kayleigh is just passing 7.5. Reading about Kayleigh makes me thankful for my healthy baby. I am praying for Kayleigh and will donate, and ask you all to do the same.

One last thing...and this is my challenge to all of you. I would like as many people as possible to participate in The Red Envelope Campaign;

http://www.redenvelopeday.com/

This is to send a message to our President that we do not agree with him on the subject of abortion! I would also like to see if our group of girls (from WBC) would be willing to get together one day soon and see just how many of these we can do together! I want it to be BIG!! Konnie, Kelli, Mandy...help my get everyone together so we can speak up for the babies who had no voice. Those of you who are not local, challenge your readers to join us is this worthy effort!! Thanks everyone.

TTFN,

Jen

Not Me! Monday.

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I'm totally not getting the hang of this picture thing...however, it didn't take me forever to get the 'not me' button off MckMama's page!

I did not bite my tongue and pay for alterations on Ashton's dress that I knew were not done well-simply because we know the people and I don't like confrontations. That being said, I must not have allowed Ashton to go on stage in a sloppy looking dress. I was completely not disgusted with myself for it.

I did not read an article in one of my baby magazines that talked about the newest mommy addiction-the internet!-and I did not totally see myself in the whole story!! (Did you know that there are actually places you can go and get HELP with internet addiction?? It's apparently like the new cocaine) I'm totally not addicted...I could quit anytime I wanted to!

I am totally not feeling God move my heart in directions I have been needing to go for a long time. I am not excited about these changes, and am not trying to find all the places in my life I need to improve on. I would not ask you all to pray for me as I take this journey!! (Ok, maybe I would! :)

TTFN,

Jen

Inspiration unexpected...

I just wanted to apologize...my last post was full of whining and complaining. I try to keep a positive attitude, and I reread my last words, and didn't like them. My daughter was beautiful, and she had a good time and that's all that should matter to me. Forgive me for griping. I think I am just exhausted. Emmie still doesn't sleep at night. In fact, it's so bad that Paul has moved into our upstairs room just so he is able to get up and go to work in the mornings! I have been so tired and just going through the motions, and wondering when it will end, and then I read MckMama's blog tonight, and she had a poem on there that stopped me cold. It is beautiful and poignant, and because Emmie is my fifth child, it was especially moving to me. I've copied and pasted it for you all to read;

Song for a Fifth Child.

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

~Ruth Hulburt Hamilton~

It's funny how God puts people in our path to remind us where our focus should be.
Thank you for the perspective, MckMama.
With happy tears and blessed thankfulness...
Jen