Happy Hour

I did not know this still existed after 3 kids. But, it does. I got invited to Happy Hour tonight. AND I WENT !!...lol !! Recently I started babysitting one of the teachers little boys from my girls school. She emailed me today to meet them for Happy Hour. It was to celebrate January birthdays for all the teachers at the school. One of the teachers was Sarah and Ashleys Kindergarten teacher whom I have become good friends with over the years. ;o) I decided to go, with some pushing from my husband that I needed to go out with girls. I was not really certain what to expect. I got all dolled up and met the girls at Nick and Jakes. I wanted Jeff to drop me off...I am not used to driving at night, let alone after a few drinks. So, I felt like a freshman in high school, nervous about the first day. We got closer and I wanted to tell him...never mind lets go home. Well...when he stopped at the front door there was no turning back. I walked in and looked around...thinking I was going to see some of the girls standing at the bar drinking and laughing...BUT NO...they had reserved a room...with a formal table...and the teachers were sitting around the table eating dinner and talking. There were no open seats..so at this point I am about to die. I am a MOTHER of the kids they teach...totally out of place. They manage to scoot me a seat and once I got a beer in front of me, all was good. Soon I got over the anxiety of being the "odd man out" and drank my way to comfort....lol. It was a great night. Thank you Blaire for being so sweet to think of me. Adult conversation!! Much needed !! Let alone...Girl Adult conversation. ha!

So I say all that to say this....Us Stay at Home moms...need to get out and remind ourselves that we do still exist. What a fun night...Thank you to my husband for pushing me to go and supporting me while I was gone !! I love you !!

I would post a picture...but I forgot my camera ;o(

Cricut Expression

My mom and dad bought me a Cricut Expression for Christmas. I know that most of you are thinking "what the heck is that"....well my "Scrapper" friends know exactly how exciting that is. It is a cutting system that you use for your pages to make titles, etc. It cuts shapes and designs. It really is amazing and can be used for so much more than scrapping. It cuts letters up to 12 inches tall and as small as 1/4 inch. It cuts vinyl, if you are into that new trend of putting scriptures or quotes on your walls. You can replace the cutting blade with colored pens and instead of cutting the paper it will actually draw your request on any type of paper. Pretty amazing and has taken me into a whole new world of scrapbooking. I will be posting some of my most recent scrapbook pages this weekend. I am excited !! I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them !!

Happy 3rd Birthday Emma

Emma turned 3 this weekend. Well kind of....we had her party this weekend anyway. I hate to admit it..but I did not even decide to have her party this weekend, until Friday. We still pulled it off though. She had a Barbie party...PINK, PINK and more PINK !! She got alot of great gifts...new shoes, new blankies, barbies of course and her own art box which she loves.

Jeff started back to school today. His next class "Networking" is going to last 5 weeks and end with more tests. He is excited about his instructor and is really exicted about the class.

Happy Monday!!

Emmas 1st Trip to the Dentist

Emma had her 1st trip to the dentist yesterday. Jeff was lucky enough to get the job to take her and we both were not sure of the outcome. To our surprise, she was amazing!! The dentist said he has never had a little girl, her age, go through the complete process. (they probably say that to everyone) lol!! I attached some pics...couldnt resist!!

What a BEAUTIFUL spring day...I hope everyone has their windows open getting some fresh air!!

HE PASSED !!!

Jeff just called and he passed his test with flying colors!! AMAZING...this first month of school has been very intense. It "awes" me to see how smart he is. I know he is relieved!! I am so proud of him and all the hard work and dedication he has put into his study!! Great job Jeff !! He gets the rest of the week off to actually relax before starting his next class on the 26th.
I guess I should probably be planning some sort of celebration dinner!! LOL...Maybe Dino nuggets and mac & cheese will have to wait until Thursday!!

SOOOO....anyone need your computer taken apart and put back together?? LOL...I know a great IT guy that could do it with his eyes closed..heck at this point, he could probably build you a computer from spare parts in your garage. ;o) Get this...we actually have a subscription to a computer and IT magazine coming to our house. What does this all mean? I think I have married myself a computer geek!! I would not have it any other way...I love you Jeff !!

A Few More Family Pictures

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Ours was blessed and very productive. Productive weekends always make it nice to start out a new week!! Here are a few more family pictures.

Happy Birthday Dad!!

January 16th!! Happy Birthday Dad!! I know that I am blessed. My dad is amazing. I have always looked up to him and always known he is the best dad in the world. He has raised me knowing that I was his everything and that he loved me with all his heart. In everything I do I can see my dad shining through. My dad is always "even" with his house....and cars and basically everything. He taught me how important it was to be "even". Being "even" means to be caught up with life and keep caught up. Work hard everyday in everything you do and give everything, everything you have and you should stay "even". Plain and simple. I see my dad shining through me, raising three daughters and running a daycare and taking care of my home, husband and gardens. I am "Even". Thank you dad, for teaching me to have control of my everyday life and allowing me to be the mother and wife that I am. Thank you for teaching me to live my life for the Lord and love him completely. Thank you for showing me forgiveness and teaching me how to be forgiving. The lesson of forgiveness has allowed me to love some of my biggest enemies. I love you !! Friends are always saying....Jen I dont know how you do it...or man where do you get the energy....and I reply. "My Dad, I am just like my dad"

I love you Mike! ;o)

Happy Birthday to my Dad!

I love you a ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho WHOLE BUNCH !!

I wanted to post this prayer and share it. I had this taped on my computer at work for 9 years and a longtime girlfriend just sent a letter to me and she had it in there....amazing.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

Courage to change the things I can;

And wisdom to know the difference.

I think we all should read this, from time to time, to remind us Who really is in control !!

Also....I got all of our Family Pictures...I will post some more of them tomorrow.

Test Week

As many of you know....the economy has not been so nice to us. Capital One closed their doors leaving Jeff unemployed. So to turn a terrible thing into something wonderful, he is changing careers. He is going back to school(training) for Network Administration. It is an intense course and this is the end week of his A+ class. Please be praying for him and for God's will to take control.

On a lighter note, I got a message from Anne and she should have all the pictures ready for us by Friday. I am so excited and once I have the disk I will be able to upload more of them.

I will upload one more photo I got from Anne....

Honestly, is today only Tuesday?

Sarah is playing Basketball for Platte County and is really enjoying it. She had her team pictures tonight so we just got back from Platte City. As soon as I walked in the door...I logged on to Annes website to see if any pictures were posted yet...and guess what, there were. YIPPEE. Click on the title of this post and you should be able to see some of them.

Daycare?

Sunday was our Family pictures. My friend Kate has a sister Anne that is an aspiring photographer. We were lucky enough to be her test subjects. I am thrilled. Believe it or not...we have NO family pictures. So this is our first. We started in the back yard..taking pictures by the fence and then drove to a couple different places for some great shots. She was thinking she might have them to me by Wednesday. I will make sure to post some of them as soon as I get them.

Ok...I am running an at home daycare. You know, before, it seemed I would just have one or two extra. Now, I am watching 4. So I am a busy mom during the day. I would not have it any other way !! I have Emma 2, Maddie 1.5, Grant 6 months and Grant 3 months. Yes two Grants...what are the chances....oh yes and Arianna 3.5 just part time. So any additional prayers for me would be appreicated. LOL! I will post some pics of the kids. They are all SO CUTE !!

Just Starting up

WOW... they said it was easy to create a blog. So far so good...I am waiting for something to throw me. I have never used blogs before and am excited to see where this leads. I am going to post this short blog now and try and figure out the rest. More to come.....