Seizing My Day

I love Meatloaf!!
Along side Baked Potatoes! yum!
Ground beef …even the leanest kind…
is not as heart healthy as ground Turkey…
no fear… Turkey Meatloaf tastes just as yummy!

After a few failed attempts at a fairly heart healthy meatloaf…
I have finally settled on this um… recipe…
if you can call my casual style cooking recipes!
(I don’t exactly measure!)

Wanna know how I make it?? Read on my friends!

So I accidentally deleted the first picture?!! sigh!

Pretend you are currently looking at about half a purple onion, half of a pepper ~ red, orange or yellow, and a hearty handful of baby spinach ~ all sitting in mini food processor/chopper~ =)

now blend it!

viola!
you get this ~ yummy, eh?!

Set this yummy looking mush aside for a minute…

Have you ever seen one of these ceramic garlic graters??
I love it, LOVE it!!

it is so easy … to use and clean!
and the garlic puree is so strong…

you end up using less garlic…
it can also be used with ginger

and even chocolate shavings

(I don’t use chocolate on my garlic/herb one!)

but anyway… you get the idea!

If I had an assistant I would do a demonstration!!

ha ha… maybe!
I bought my over priced at a garden event…

but you can find them on ebay…for $14.99?

yesterday I saw them for $4.99 at the grocery outlet here in Olympia!!

rude! =)

anyway…

Toss in the garlic, an egg and about 1/2 cup or 3/4 cup red wine into the veggie puree..

blend a few seconds… and viola… brown yuck!
don’t worry … it is delicious once cooked in meat!

it really will taste good…

I swear!

now you will need these…

I also use fresh basil if I have it!

and toss in a little of this…

oops… did I spill some extra in there?? =)

stir it and the brown mush will look less threatening…
it will thicken up a wee bit …
and now the best part!!!
ready to smoosh into the meat now!!!
my favorite part…     yeah right!!   (yuck!)
take off your wedding ring ladies!! =)

spoon 1/2 the veggie, egg, garlic, cheese, herb mixture …

and then add more as you go…

you don’t want the meat to be runny!

I used 1 lb. of ground turkey…  for a family of 4.

I didn’t take a picture of this all smooshed up …
you understand…
cameras and smooshed turkey goo don’t go together!
layer some of that lovely heart healthy spaghetti sauce into the bottom of the 9 by 9 baking dish…
then press the meat into the pan…
and I like to cut it into squares…
helps the middle cook better!

Pour a thin layer of spaghetti sauce onto the meat
Sprinkle a thin layer of fresh Parmesan
and it is ready to bake!

Bake at 375 degrees for an hour…

It goes lovely with baked potatoes and yams…

and green beans!  =)

I am hungry!!

all done!

cut, serve and Enjoy!!

delicious!

Turkey Meatloaf ~

1/2 purple onion

1/2 red pepper

1 cup spinach

1 clove garlic

1 egg

1/2 cup red wine

spaghetti sauce

Parmesan cheese – fresh

Italian herbs

1-2 lbs. ground Turkey

chop, blend & puree…mix and smoosh

bake at 375 for 1 hour ~ enjoy!

I think it is as heart healthy as meatloaf can get!!  =)

and that is another episode of Jenn’s Think Food Thursdays!

Hope you like it!!

So when my little girl was in kindergarten… her teacher “might” have mentioned that you can try to catch a leprechaun by making a trap and he “might” leave behind chocolate gold coins… (hello!) … so I might have fallen into the magic of it all … I mean who could break the heart of their little girl and tell her that her teacher was off her rocker … I never thought I would be up the night before St. Patrick’s day…
but I am… until Little Man figures it all out…

Inspired by another blogger…
we made a couple of cute Leprechaun traps…
If it was you… shout yourself out in my comments and I will link you!
Apparently this hat idea came from Family Fun Magazine…
I used to get that … I loved it!
anyway… little man had so much fun making these traps!
and I will get to use that cute jar as a vase!!
its a keeper!
I love this “hat” trap!

we put a little ‘fools gold’ on the top….
after all…
they like gold you know!

apparently they know the difference between real gold and fools gold…
and they are smart little dudes …
and messy!!!
ugh!
how did he get in and OUT of this clever trap??
At least he left behind some yummy chocolate!

apparently the stuffing bugged him when he fell it….
he threw it all out of the hat before he climbed back out!

They always make a mischief ~ and leave behind a huge mess!

naughty leprechauns!

it usually involves toilet paper!!

at least he leaves behind chocolate to make up for the mischief!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

My blog log tells me that today’s post is my 50th!

I have that much to say!?

Apparently I do…  Today I am going to ramble 50 things about myself…

All about Me, myself and I……… are you ready for this madness??

50 can’t be that many ~ right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.  I love being a stay home mommy who home schools … though I would love one day a week to myself in the house!   =)

2. I love words.  Word games. Cool words like Bliss.  Words. I like em!!

3.  I love odd numbers… I have a few favorites… and I was really disappointed when the doctors induced me on an even day… luckily I had my daughter on an odd day… but I was forced to schedule my second c-section on an even day with my son… I was annoyed!  (I know I am weird… I like odd numbers!)  Like 3:33.. I always seem to see that hour on the clock!?  weird ~ I know!

4.  I love umbrellas!!  Love them!  I would have a beautiful collection if my kids would stop playing with them and ruining them!!  ha ha!  One day I hope to have a whole bunch by my front door!  it gives me joy to my monkeys run around with umbrellas!

5. I love love Old houses!  wish I could have one… with a wrap around porch, a mud room, a sun room and of course with a beach view and walking distance!

6. I love love love the beach!!  Cannon Beach is currently one of my favorite places… Hawaii is pretty high up there too… but I am thinking one day I need to live in California… ??

7. I love Thai food!

8.  I love old books… remember the old book post?

9.  I home school one child ~ for medical reasons ~ I am blessed to spend so much time with my precious little man!  I am extremely grateful I get to enjoy him up every day like that!

10.  I would love to home school my daughter… she loves her school friends… and doesn’t do well with change.. I can’t break her spirit… it is so sensitive… so I don’t … for now!

11.  I have lived in England, Mexico, Canada and the USA.

12.  I  went to Capernwray Bible School in England, and lived in a mini “Castle”  for 6 months~ though they call it a main house over there!  LOL!

13.  I have read the bible all the way through once.  I love Paul’s writing!

14. I accepted Christ into my life at age 20 ~ but my personal relationship with God blossomed at Capernwray!

15. I love love love to laugh!   gut belly, cheek hurting,  tear streaming laughter makes me happy!

16.  I  love black and white things…furniture, curtains, towels, bedding, notebooks, dishes, home decor… um… animals… have you noticed they are all black and white??

17.  I adopted 2 puppies in 2009 ~ Lewis our first Cavvy puppy did not make it… at 8 mo. he was laid to rest ~ sniff, sniff, sob, sob ~ man I loved him after just 5 short months… but now we have Merlin… our magical replacement !

18.  I love bags.  Fun bags to throw over my shoulder… to hold my things… to look at!  (good thing we don’t have a ton of money… I would need a big closet for just bags!… not shoes… bags!)

19.  Both of my best shoes have been chewed by said above puppy.

20.  I am too cheap to replace the shoes until said puppy stops chewing.

21. I love clocks… with real numbers .. not digital ones… real clocks!

22.  I secretly want to live on a farm… but my husband tells me maybe my next husband will be a farmer …ah ha ha ha ha!  except I want someone else to run the farm… and tend to the horses… I just want to live there and ride them… maybe I will feed the chickens… and it needs to be near the beach!

23.  I love feet. Baby feet. foot prints. sandy feet.  pretty feet.  puppy feet.

24.  I am addicted to good coffee!  Really really good coffee!

25. I really really want someone to put one of those foam art monkey’s on my latte’s one day!

26. I love monkeys!

27. I would junk shop every day if I had time and money.

28. I love mowing the lawn and digging in dirt with a shovel… love it!

29.  I love garage sales!  I can hardly stand to drive by one and not stop! torture!

30.  I love my new book, Jane Austen Ruined My Life!  love it!  12 chapters in!

31.  I was a mischievous child… aka naughty?… my memories make me laugh and laugh and laugh!

32.  I have 2 fabulous sisters that also drive me nuts!  ha ha.. and I drive them nuts too!

33.  I want to travel travel travel… I love exploring!

34. I love snow … for short periods of time.

35.  I love fairies!  I wish they were real!

36.  I NEED lotion ~ all day ~ I need it!

37.  I love photography… one day I will be good at it!

38. I love to cook… one day I will be good at it!

39. I love to sew… one day I will be good at it!

40. I love to decorate… one day I will be good at it … really I don’t decorate… but I dream… I look at books… I am inspired… but I fail! =)

41.  I would hire a housekeeper if I could afford it!

42.  I wish life was more simple.

43. I wish kid sports were not so competitive!!  good grief!

44.  I love flowers! one day I will have a lush beautiful flower garden surrounding my beautiful old house! =) by the beach!  that one.

45. I love planting gardens… one day I will have a couple raised garden beds!

46.  I love the community of ladies in this crazy blog world!~  I am addicted.

47. I love love praise and worship music!

48. I can’t carry a tune or stay on key to save my life… what is a key anyway!

49.  I want a vacation with just my hubby  ~ Me. Him. Sun. Beach! (anyone?)

50.  Maybe when I hit 100 followers I will do my first ever… maybe only ever?… give away with one of my lavender eye pillows??  wink, wink!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There you go ~ 50 random things about Just Jenn ~ not necessarily in any particular order ~ or even most important things to know about me ~ just random!

No pictures today… sorry… out of time… gotta get back to my duties!

TTFN ~  Jenn

Deep Thoughts by Just Jenn~

I was thinking this morning…

about these cute masks that my sweet little girl made this weekend…

Isn’t it cute?!!

we made them at one of her birthday parties years ago …

THIS  cute mask she made yesterday…

and now it has got me thinking….

first you will need a tiny bit of  recent history behind my thoughts!~

My little girl has been working towards some Girl Scout Awards recently

one of the tasks is to help a younger troop 3 times… providing leadership.

She is so introverted and shy … it is not exactly an easy task for her…

but she is doing well!!

The topic was dance.  Since Abby is not a dancer…

we brainstormed and came up with Masquerade Balls…

with this fun craft we had done for her birthday party in First grade…

so long ago!! sniff!~

SO … we … ha ha … (the mommy) researched Masquerade Balls …

do you know how scandalous they were back in the day???  I had no idea!!

so I omitted that part and I focused on teaching her Who, What, When and Where …

and the Why part which was bound to come up ..

I simplified that it used to make the balls more of a mystery

and provided a game of sorts to entertain the guests.

That is true…  I just left a few parts out…   scandalous!!  =)

Here is my little girl teaching the younger girls all about dancing at Masquerade Balls …

then she helped them make their own masks!!  =)

Aren’t they cute… I took a lovely picture of all the girls holding them up… but ….

since I don’t have their parents permission… I figured just the masks will have to do… =)

ok… so I am  seemingly going off track here… but I am not… really… bear with me…

Friday night we went to play Bingo at my daughters school

(yes I do home school … but only my little boy for now!)

So here we are at Bingo …

Little girl and I sat with her friends…

And Sammy and Daddy sat with some of Sammy’s friends

he knows them from the neighborhood…

Last year Sammy won a prize… he was SO excited!!

ahem…

so this year… First Bingo… guess who wins??

nope.   not Sammy.  it was me!

Who knew that could be a problem!??

of course when I picked my prize I choose Milo and Otis …

family friendly movie… from a family friendly event.

Sammy saw mommy go up and pick out her prize.

and we all continued to play Bingo.

and hear Raffles being called out.

and watching others win.

about 3/4 the way through the night they gave us a “stretch break”

and I went to check in on my men…

and my little man was in tears…

he wasn’t winning…

he was loosing hope.

Poor little man.

I tried to make him feel better that my prize was a family prize.

sorry mom, nice try.

Luckily…a tiny bit later…

sister Abby’s raffle ticket won…

she was too embarrassed to go up to pick out a prize… (shy girl)

so she let Sammy go…

yay!!

Way to shyly love your brother??   =)

Whew!!  that made his night!

Luckily he loved the raffle prize too!!

Club Penguin Puffles!!

That was Friday.

Saturday was the day we went to make Masks with the Girl Scouts….

and today is Sunday…

and I started thinking…

hm… Masks…

Do I hide behind a mask sometimes??

or do I….

wear my heart on my sleeve??

Definitely the latter!

(but my arm is chubby and not so cute..  so we put the heart on Abby for lovely appearances!)

I am the kind of girl you can get my life story out of in the first conversation …

if you ask all the right questions…

I cry when I am happy, sad, angry, frustrated, overwhelmed….etc… etc..

You could say I don’t “hide” my emotions very well… if at all!!

I don’t hide behind a mask very well.

Even when I want to …

Sometimes it feels like a blessing…

to wear my heart on my sleeve…

and sometimes…

not so much!

I think there is a healthy balance in this madness I am pondering …

yet to be “found” by me… ha ha…

A balance between wearing your heart on your sleeve and hiding behind the mask.

deep thoughts by Just Jenn~  ha ha!

Today as I pondered my thoughts… I realized without a doubt….

My sweet little boy Sammy wears his heart is on his sleeve … like me…

and my precious little girl Abby hides behind her mask… like her daddy!

hm.

At times we realize that we balance each other well…

My heart on my sleeve teaches Mr. McFunny and Abby that sometimes it is good to do so…

and His Mask teaches me… that sometimes I should try to hide behind mine better.

We are sharpening each other..

In God’s perfect Will… he designed our little family…

equally I might add… wearing our hearts and hiding behind our masks…

Hopefully we are finding that balance within ourselves!

In His perfect timing…

on this journey called life…

each experience teaching us…

a little more about ourselves… and each other … and the balance.

How about you??

Do you think you have achieved this balance I speak of…

or do you lean one way or the other?

Is your heart on your sleeve?

or do you hide behind the mask?

Silly little purple mask.  who knew it would make me think so hard.

scandalous!  =)

Just Jenn

Meet the Rest of Our Family ~

Nana and Nelly

Which came first the cats or dog??

Cats.

They are typical cats…

demanding food and attention whenever they want it.

But we love them…

We used to play with them…

feathers and laser lights…

we used to give them treats and wet foot at night…

they felt loved …

we think.

They even showed us kitty love in their kitty ways…..

Warning…

this part might… um…

turn your stomach…

or  gross you out….

So the Kitty’s used to show us Kitty love….

in Kitty ways…

they used to bring us treasures…

Thank you Kitty!

Good Kitty Nana~

They helped us rid our yard of ‘pesky critters’…

Good Kitty….

I think you have fun doing your job?

I don’t really want that in my house anyway….

And bless their hearts…

For 3 blissful years …

We never had a problem with these nasty yard destroyers either….

they didn’t have a chance in our yard….

Good Kittys!

…..

and who wants these things lurking about….

not me…..

………

but…

they may have gotten a little out of control…..

a little….

Its not like there aren’t a TON of these around…

who is going to miss one??

And then life changed….

We did the unthinkable…

one day we brought home…

“the dog”…..

I don’t think the kittys like him very much….

do you?

We didn’t know…. sorry kittys!

how could I have predicted this crazyness

Nana…. ??

I am sorry Nelly…

He just wants to play with you….

don’t you understand?
we can’t sell him now…
he is a part of our family….

I am sorry you get left out in the cold….

it is just easier sometimes…
than rescuing you every five minutes…

can’t you see ….

we have made sacrifices…

so you can have higher ground …

to escape this madness….

so… Nana ~ Nelly ….

why do you torture us…
we didn’t know…
please “show” us love again….
why am I finding these all over my yard??

why?

this is getting out of control………

the mounds are getting bigger

they are multiplying !

and closer to my house….

and my plants!!!

bad kittys!!

what is a girl to do?

I know you can do it ….

I have proof…

remember?

I promise Kittys

I will do my part….

if you do yours……….

now go outside

and

Bring. Me. That.  MOLE !!!

love ya kittys.

=) Just Jenn~

I have an obsession!

Buying old books!

Really old books.

Old History books, old kids books,

old christian living, old bibles,

old railroad building guides, old fairy tales,

old fiction,  classics….

it gives me unexplainable joy to buy old books.

see what a nut I am!

I don’t know why.

I NEVER read!

I want to read.

I want to read old treasures, like this one…

This is an old book by Andrew Murray.
I lucked upon a signed copy even!! =)  in 1891!!
He wrote in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
It is called The New Life.
He wrote it for new believers. (does 18 yrs count as new?)

I love some of his other books.

A Believers Absolute Surrender!

(incredible read)

and A Believers Prayer life

(also a good read!).

I really want to read these treasures I found too, one day!

I like to read.

I just can’t seem to find the time!

New or old…

Fiction, christian living, parenting…

books!

I want to read books! (without guilt!)

I read some great books before kids…
Like this one…

I highly recommend this book!

We all fall short of the Glory of the Lord!

Rich Mullins read this book, God rest his soul!

but…

I don’t read….

Especially after kids came into the picture.

I have tried!

Life is so busy…

playing with kids,

housekeeping,

cooking,

teaching,

dog training,

etc.

I am just too tired when I do get a moment!

I would love to read this again…

though it is a bit of a hard read …

meaning I had to read the chapters twice …

it is written from the perspective of  “the devil training his apprentice”

it is so enlightening, clever and funny!

I always buy books that sound inspiring, encouraging, funny, clever, …

to tempt myself…

Like this one… boy did I need this one once upon a time!

It is a great book…

but sadly I only made it part way through!

There are several books I have only made it part way through…

Like this fun kids book… again Christian fiction… George McDonald wrote about the same time of CS Lewis. Love both of their books! I love these old authors!

and I bought this book too…
surely a parenting book will keep my attention…
I always have something to learn!
sounds like a wonderful read..

I read a little …
and then I put it down …
and haven’t picked it back up!!

sigh!

I am hopeless!

So what do I do in my hopeless state?

(I have been here for years!! years!)

I buy another book!

what can I say…
I am sucker for a great buy on a fun book!
Did you read the title??

I love the title… sucked me right in…

What girl doesn’t love Jane Austin??

this isn’t the first time I have done this…
during my lack of reading slump…
and it won’t be the last…

much to my husbands dismay…

don’t worry…
I have a back up plan!

Ha ha ha ….

TTFN
Just Jenn~

Ladies… you will laugh… or maybe just smile…

Remember me saying our “lucky” 4 leaf clovers haven’t brought us any luck?!!

Just yesterday!      ha ha…
Jokes on me….

Look what I won ~ after my post ~ yesterday!!!
Tammy at TammysTwoCents is a local friend of mine…

and she was doing her first ever giveaway… so I entered.

Once.

I figured if it was meant to be I only needed one entry right?

I NEVER win anything anyway!    so I rarely enter giveaways…

ha ha…

I won!!

See what I won!

I had to clip a photo from the Skin MD website… b/c I could not grab the picture from Tammy’s blog??!  (techy challenged here!)  anyway… it is the bottle with the red cap that I won… I think?!   =)

Fun!  I love lotion!!

and I am always looking for the perfect lotion to clear up my dry fingers!!

Thank you Tammy!

Now if those clovers  could just help me win a vacation somewhere sunny!!! LOL~ I won’t push my luck!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOW … don’t think I am super on the ball or anything…

I wouldn’t want you to thing I am that organized!!

I just didn’t do my laundry or many other chores yesterday…

what can I say…

I did however ~ play ~ a little ~ see!

This eye pillow is silky fabric and chenille ~

I love cotton chenille!! so soft!

I am giving this one to a friends mom ~

she needs something comforting right now!

The pillow case is chenille on one side and purple silk on the other…

silk meaning… probably polyester??!

the silky part is cool and refreshing…

the chenille is cozy!

best of both worlds… do you feel  cool or cozy today?!

This eye pillow  is made with flannel ~ also cozy!
it will have a pillow case too ~ later today!

As pictured in my post yesterday ~ I use flax seeds and lavender…. the lavender offers a soothing scent and the flax offers the perfect weight, comfort and heats well as a heat bag too!!

Oh ~ I make larger heat bags too with the same supplies!

I love love my eye pillows and heat bags!

Perhaps one day I will make enough in advance …

and sell at a craft booth at Farm Chicks in Spokane?!! =)

Once upon a time … I made heat bags with cleaned corn feed – though it smelled like popcorn – it held heat for a long time!! A friend and I sold them at a local craft fair… it was fun!

One of my readers yesterday said she has made her own eye pillows once upon a time… but with different filling…
if you have made an eye pillow … or a heat bag…

What filling did you use and why??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tomorrow I hit the dental chair ~ again ~ to have my permanent crowns put in ~ wish me “luck”!!

Just Jenn~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With Scissors, fabric, 4 leaf clovers, flax seed and some paint!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

one post…

a few supplies…

a few odd projects …

a little girl and boy…

and a pair of scissors!

just some odds and ends in my wee little brain…

Let’s begin shall we?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So we had – past tense – HAD…. a yard full of clover…

we tilled..
and hauled…
and seeded…
and watered…
(that is another post) ….

So we had this amazing “lucky” yard full of clover when we first moved it… yeah… the one with really rocky soil, no water drainage or runoff, no green grass… but more 4 leaf clovers than you could ever imagine!!

Yep!

4 leaf clovers!

Tons of Four Leaf Clovers! insane!

They say each leaf stands for: faith, hope, love and luck.

now in my eyes those 4 words don’t go together… God is connected to the first 3 … and luck… well… lets just say they haven’t exactly changed my life in that category!!! LOL! not to down play it too much… it isn’t exactly something everybody gets to see in their lifetime! I just happened to have seen oh.. 300-400. =)

This is what we have done with them so far… we pressed… glued… laminated… and created! Cute, huh!?

Do ya think I could get on the ball and try to sell them on ebay or craigslist before March 8th?? Sigh! Nope… 3 years… every year about this time.. I think… “hm… I should try to sell them to local garden shops or list them on ebay”… and then life gets busy … and I forget … until it is too late for allowing shipping time… for March 17… maybe next year! =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last night I went to the Good Will…
you see I am about to loose my marbles ~
flip my lid ~
commit myself…
with the always chewing naughty puppy…
That is another whole post!

So I went to pick him up a few stuffed toys…
At the Good Will…
after spending way to much at the pet store…
a few times…
I have finally wised up!

so … off to Good Will… for dog toys mind you…

see what I found!!
Not bad for $6.99?
Just a few changes and it will be perfect!
A tiny bit of paint to touch it up…
some cute fabric…
and she will be cute as a button!

It will go nicely in my little girls room…
or in the kids loft…
shhhh…
she doesn’t know its for her yet!

I will post the finished product at the end of the week!

hm….

I have an old sewing stool …
I could make a few changes to …

hm….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday Madness today…
My mind is not in one place today!
Bear with me… 😉

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SO…
Ever since my son was born…
and he didn’t sleep for longer than 2 hours at a time… for um… 3-4 years!
since then…
I have needed an eye pillow to help me fall asleep…
Sammy was born 7 years ago…
It was especially necessary in those wee hours …
where it was daylight… but still bedtime …
At 4-5 am! 😉
Not long after his sleeping patterns began to wear on me…
I began to “need” an eye pilllow to fall asleep…
it was part of my every day sanity!

7 years later…
I still need it!
I love my eye pillow!
Every year I got a new one…
and then I figured…
I should make a new one…
I liked it…
and guess what else?
They make great gifts!

Here is what I use to make them! maybe I will take pictures while I make it… if ya all want??
They are so easy to make!

I will post the finished product later in the week with my chair and that old sewing stool!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK…
Last random thought…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My little girl started soccer season again last week…
We have been blessed with sunshine…
which has made the transition a little nicer!
3 days a week on the field!
in the wind,
the rain,
the mud,
running…
kids sweat…
I have a rule…
about sports and long hair…

You have seen this cutie before….
notice the pretty long blond hair…

She doesn’t like my rule…
about sports and long hair…
see what a pair of scissors can do….

not my scissors…
her hair is too thick for my cutting skills…

I love her hair like this… every spring… snip, snip! She likes it long… I do too… it is pretty!
But, I keep telling her …
when she masters blow-drying and ponytails…
she can keep it long!
(evil mommy)
Poor kid.
LOL!

Look who is next ….
on the mommy’s “needs a hair cut” list….

do ya think I should buy the poor kids some new pants??

do you know how hard it is…
to find skinny boys sweat pants …
that don’t look like capri pants!
poor kid.
We have been to target, old navy, and kmart,
sears, costco, and kohls,
jcpenny, the gap, and childrens place…
really … are you kidding me!?!
it is not like he is the only tall skinny kid around!
I don’t remember if I tried fred meyer… sigh!!

(we have tried jeans… sensory monsters don’t like them!)

any one??!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That’s all for now folks!

Much to do!!

Sadly, my fun projects have to wait…
and those darn clovers…

First I must tackle, Home school fun, dishes, laundry, vacuuming, dusting, laundry, puppy tending, laundry, sweeping, brown bagging the clutter (yeah right), laundry and the like!

did I mention laundry!?

Ta Ta For Now!

TTFN!

Just Jenn~

Cherry Blossoms should remind us of new life… but every year they remind me of death.

On February 28, 2001 there was an Earthquake that hit the Pacific Northwest.. I can’t remember exactly what the magnitude was… 6. something?   It shook hard enough to damage some buildings… enough to scare people here in the Pacific Northwest.  I lived in BC,  Canada at the time… with my husband and my baby girl.  I was sitting on the floor and felt a rumble… I wondered.  Then a few minutes later I found out the rumble epi-center was near my home town of Olympia, Wa and nearby areas all in fact had an earthquake.  I started to worry ~ a little.

Mom my was in the hospital in Olympia at the time.

Probably not more than an hour later I got the call…. mom’s cancer had gotten worse… it was “time” to come and say goodbye.  So I called my husband and had him come home from work, I packed a few quick bags and we loaded our baby girl into the car and drove into the earthquake zone.  A few people thought we were crazy… driving to the heart of it… not to me… My mom was way more important to me than a possible aftershock. She had been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer while I was pregnant with my first baby ~ she was lucky to survive 9 months after diagnosis.  At the beginning of that year… Mom knew her time was near… on her birthday in mid January she had given us instructions for her funeral, things like what songs that she wanted to be sung or listened to,  she wrote a list of which of us 3 girls  should have her treasured things (she didn’t have much) but she wanted us to have her treasures…

she started to say goodbye.

That first week of March after the earthquake..

is not a week I want to remember ~

and it is not a week I will ever forget.

It was a few tearful days watching my mom struggle to breathe…

she could not talk that week.

On her last night ~ March 6 ~ she gave each of us three girls a kiss… and intentionally gave each of us an additional kiss for each of our children … though I had one baby at the time… she gave me an extra one… I knew it was for the 2nd child I planned to have.

(She always hoped for a grandson… what a bittersweet moment being told my last child was a boy ~ he was the only grandbaby she never got to meet… my son Sammy.)

I will never forget those days… I hate them… but they are my last memories of her.

The next morning I went to see her… she only had a few hours left… we knew…

my aunt sent us home… she told us to remember her breathing…

I left…   I don’t regret leaving…

my last precious memory is kissing her goodbye the night before.

The first week of March is always a weepy time for me… those first signs of Spring are bitter sweet.   My mom did not live an easy life… but now she is in total peace … no more pain, no more tears, no more heart ache, no more fears… she rests…in peace.

I like to think she looks down on us girls … and smiles while watching us raise our children, enjoy life and remembering the things we loved about her.  I like to think she smiles when she sees us do crafty things or go junk shopping!

I talk about her to my children all the time.. she loved throwing us birthday parties, she was very crafty, she loved volunteering at our school, our friends loved her and all her crafts.  She loved babies, children and animals.  She loved  antiques, garage sales and sewing.  She loved to crochet (sp?).   She loved the beach.  She loved spring blossoms, lilacs and planting gardens.

The deeper into life I get… the more I LOVE being like my mom!

I love cherishing her by sharing all my favorite things about her with my kids… I am constantly saying…. “Grandma Norma loved… ” and  “Grandma Norma used to…”   she died too young… but I choose to think on the good things… to remember the moments I had with her… remembering the beautiful person she was… it is not always easy… and I stumble… The Lord knows my heart!  She gave her life to Jesus in her last few months… she was baptized in the hospital a few short weeks before she passed away.

I am thankful for the little blessings in life.   =)

Early signs of Spring make me weepy…

just like songs that my mom requested for her funeral make me weepy…

She loved Elton John… so do I..

You see her name is Norma Jean…

She loved that song… “Goodbye Norma Jean” …

so did I… but now it means something totally different to me…

I didn’t have a choice … I said goodbye to my Norma Jean.

She also loved this Hymn…

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Ev’rything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Ev’rything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged,
Take it to the Lord in prayer:
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus Knows our every weakness,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Saviour, still our refuge;
Take it to the Lord in prayer:
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer;
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee;
Thou wilt find a solace there.

This hymn means something different to me now…

it reaches deeper into my soul than it did the first time I sang it in my early 20’s ~

when I gave my heart to Jesus.

Life never goes the way we expect it.

My mom’s early death is one of many reasons why I am Seizing My Days …

each day is a new day to Seize the moments God has given us !

Some days I will stumble and fall… but the Lord will pick me up.

sometimes He will carry me… sometimes He will watch me soar.

He is my strength… though I don’t always give Him the Glory He deserves!

I am thankful to have God in my life… I am thankful I can trust Him..

In Him I find Peace…

I am thankful that even during the difficult times in life… He is there.

He is loving me… teaching me… showing me..

comforting me… growing me … blessing me.

Blessed are the pure in heart… for they shall see God.

I choose to give my heart to God.

I love signs of Spring… though it is a bittersweet time…

it does bring new life … the sunshine… the flowers…

the things that make our hearts smile…

Seize Your Day today… go and enjoy the people you love!

That is how I plan to spend the rest of my sunny weekend ~

even it if is the first week of March!

Good Bye Norma Jean ~ I miss you and I love you mom!

fine.

one word.

well.

one sentence.

or two.

maybe three.

who am i kidding?

Today I don’t feel like talking about food.

Thursday is my food day.

You don’t really want me to talk anyway…

with this uninspired mind.

how about a picture…

I am going to spend my day visiting  you.

in between first grade lessons.  dishes. laundry.  coffee.

dog walking. lunch. cleaning. a brown bag.  or two.

Latte’s with Tammy from Tammy’sTwoCents.  =)

life.

Thanks for coming to read my uninspired blog today.

Lets see what picture I can leave you with?!……

be right back…

Yep… though this is a blurry picture…

it pretty much sums up my mood today!

bub bye!

Just Jenn~