It's Friday..Woop! Woop! ...

I'm so happy it's Friday! How about you? Yes?! Good!  First, it hasn't been a month since my last blog entry....say what?!  Tonight the kids and I are having a "Perry Party".{The husband will be at work....he never wants to trade spots with me! That's so not fair! ;)}  Who's Perry? It's more like "Hey, Where's Perry?" If you have kids, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Or if you don't have kids or maybe you don't have a TV, here's Perry:

Pet by day, Secret Agent by night. He's also on the Disney TV show: Phineas and Ferb. It's really a cute show and our family loves it. All of us. It has humor for everyone. Anyway, I've been asked, by my oldest to make a chocolate chip cookie cake. Of course, how could I say no?!  It's chocolate chips and Perry!

I'm also going to make my first cake to sale. It's a Blues Clues cake for a family friend. It's his first birthday and I'm super excited about it! My husband has been telling me for a while that I need a baking business on the side. My mama has also been telling me. Then, I made homemade cinnamon rolls for a youth breakfast, and my pastor's wife said you need to sell these. My pastor said, "Your calling is cinnamon rolls. Maybe would could use these for communion!" HA! Maybe not so much for communion!  So, I'm praying about if I want to do something like this in the near future. Hmmm.....

My cooking blog has almost been forgotten. GASP.  Not on purpose, of course. I do have multiple recipes and pictures to update it. I just haven't yet. I will soon. With school starting back, I'm actually more on my "normal" schedule. I like it. I like structure during the week and knowing what's coming next. :)

It has been feeling wonderful here in Alabama. It feels slightly like fall. Normally, it's 100 degrees and you can't breathe. It's barely reaching 90 and a breeze is blowing. I love fall. And soup. I think I'll make a beef stew for lunch. And by beef, I mean deer. My sister in law is always in shock at the wild game we eat. I think it shocks her more when she realized she's probably eaten it also, we just didn't tell her. I know it's mean....HA! I'm sorry Mo, it's funny! :)

Speaking of my Sis-in-law and my brother, they are on Facebook! Signal the hallelujah chorus! The end is coming. Life as we know it over. Just kidding. :)

I am so excited about something special happening this weekend. I literally, can't say more than that because it would give to much away.  So excited. Yay! Of course, when I can,  I'll have a big blog post about it!

My son and our new dog Cookie got in quite a pickle last night. I have no picture yet, my camera's battery is dead. {sigh} She's some kind of shepherd mix. She's cute. She wasn't cute when she came out of her collar and was barking on my front porch last night. I go to take her back to her collar and stake out, lead thing and it is wrapped about, not lying, 20 times around the kids' red tricycle. Not just wrapped, but tied. Naturally, as I'm trying my best to untie this contraption, I ask, "Who did this? There is no way the dog did this by herself!" Before, I was even finished speaking the girls piped up and said it was brother. About that time, the Boy said, "It was me and Cookie! We did it!" He was proud and I should have known. It was also wrapped around a tree. Seriously, never a dull moment.

I'm super glad it's Friday and my Husband is off work for two days. I need help in the trenches. On that note, School  is about to start, floors need to be done and bathrooms need to be cleaned. If you find my maid around, tell her she's 8 1/2 years late. {This is also the reason, I'm having movie night after the kids go to bed. I'm watching the Hunger Games and I'm eating popcorn all by myself. Thank you and Amen!}

P.S. If you haven't read the books read them! They're great! The movie isn't to far off from the books, so you should watch it too! You won't be disappointed! (You may even want to shoot a bow and arrow when you're done!)

Happy Friday!



Blogger Templates

Life is good...

If I had a theme to my life, it would be: "Life is Good". Because, well, it is.  I am beyond blessed. I sit in a beautiful house surrounded by a beautiful family, with more than I need and every thing I want. I have such a peaceful heart tonight. I am just so content with where and what God is doing in our lives. So, what has been going on in our lives? Well, why don't you pull up a seat and let me tell you!


We started back in full swing with home school this week. I officially have a 1st grader, a (K-4) Kindergartner (Her birthday falls a little later, but we are still working on {some} K-5 stuff!), and a preschooler. Can someone please tell me, where have my sweet little babies went? Seriously, I just had a newborn, 1yr old, and 2 yr old. It's so bitter-sweet really. I'm loving every minute of these ever changing phases in life. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I could handle 3 kids on 3 different learning levels. I am so happy that it's going beautifully! I saw this really cute idea on Pinterest: Take a picture of your kids with the grade they're in and what they want to be when they grow up. Then you can look back on past years and see how they have changed as well as what they want to be "when they grow up"! Here are my "babies"!

Sweet Pea: 1st grade; teacher

Sweetie Pie: K-4; Ballet teacher

The boy: preschool; a pirate( a real one, not nice, mad!)

We have been busy with church. We have been at our current church for almost 5 months and love it! We only live about 10 minutes away, which is awesome! We can actually help when it's needed and go more often. This summer we helped with the Kids Crusade.(aka Bible School!) It was a total success. I must admit, I was 100% exhausted when it was over. It was worth it, to see so many kids have fun and learn about Jesus all at the same time!

Just for you! I have some of my families everyday antics to tell you about!

• My son has started to say "OH FLRAP"! Translation: Oh crap! Where did he get this from? It couldn't possibly be from his wonderful mommy who, on occasion, says it when she's frustrated. Occasionally....
• Upon telling my eldest daughter that she needed to go back to bed{for the 400th time that night} she told me she couldn't. I said, "Go count some sheep!" She responded, "Um, could you just take my sheep{stuffed animal, of course...I hope} and throw it over me so I can count that instead of imagining fake sheep?"   Me." Um..no! Go to bed!" Her." It's not that hard...as she lightly frolics back to bed"
• I would like to know, why is it that the lightest person in the entire house sounds like a herd of elephants running through the streets of New York when she walks? This is my Sweetie Pie. She, for some reason, literally stomps as hard as she can when she walks. I have no idea why! Her only other form of transportation is frolicking, like an elephant, down the hall. She thinks it's hilarious. I do not. 
• My son, who was suppose to be putting a cup in the sink, decided to get very quite. He was only suppose to put it in the sink and then come back and help me clean his room. Did that happen...no! I'm slaving away through dirty underwear{why are boys so gross?} and it dawns on me he's not back. Me:"Um Son, where are you at?" Him: " I'm in da kitchen." Me: "OK, whatcha doing?" Him:" Oh just drinkin' syrup." Me: "What!?! Give me that! Where is the lid? turning in circles Give me the lid you crazy dog!" Yes, the dog had the lid, the boy had the bottle. sigh. Into the trash Mrs. Buttersworth went.
•  As I'm leaving the trash, shaking my head at my ever...um.... interesting son, what's that I see? Why it's a straw. In the dog's bowl. I look at the cup my son was drinking from that recently had a straw in it. Missing...naturally. Me:" Did you drink out of the dog's water bowl with a straw?" Him:"Yup, I did!" At least he didn't lie.  

And on that note, I better get some sleep. After all, the kids are asleep and I need mine too. Especially, if they get a good nights rest! ;) 

Blogger Templates

A helpful hint and a Titus 2sday Link Up...

Happy Tuesday everyone! I have been a busy little bee lately! After returning from vacation, it took a while to get back in the swing of things. Just in time to be turned upside down again when my husband's shift at work changed to night shift. Let me just tell you, bed time was fun last night! If you call wrestling monkeys into a twin size bed fun. They popped( I totally almost wrote pooped! Ha!) out of bed every 3 minutes for multiple things including but not limited to: potty breaks, drinks of water, it's too dark, I can't sleep, I'm not comfy, can I sleep in your bed since Daddy is gone. Yep, fun. :)

So, after trying to get settled in this past week, I was slightly haunted by my laundry pile. Why? Well, it had become taller than me and somehow multiplied itself times 2...every 2 hours. The question I ask myself all too often is: How can I make laundry easier on myself? It has to be done, we all know that. In our house, I'm the one to do it. My husband volunteers to help but, I feel like it's my job since I stay at home. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I do need his help and I'm not afraid to ask!

While at the beach, our condo had a dryer with a buzzer on it. A buzzer! It went off as soon as the dryer was finished. How incredibly awesome is that? Apparently, I have missed out! I thought to myself, wouldn't it be awesome to know when your laundry is done? Then I could just change the laundry, fold it,  and put it away. Maybe, I wouldn't be so distracted by other things and forget it. I am a mommy after all, mommy brain has a tendency to take over. And sometimes HGTV. That's beside the point.  


I realize a lot of people have buzzers on their dryer. This is no new thing to you. I'm just....well....happy about small things. :)

So my plan: Set a timer for my dryer. I had read this many times on many blogs and for some reason, it never clicked what they were talking about. Set a timer? How will that help me?  Ok, it takes me a little time to catch on to stuff, sometimes. What's that?...Oh, yes I do home school my children. Why do you ask? Why do you look a little scared? Oh, you'll pray for me and my kids. That's sweet. I think....

So I started out with 30 minutes on my oven's timer. It's central to everything, so I knew I would be able to hear it. It wasn't quite long enough so I added 15 more minutes and voila! My clothes are dried! So I switch out my clothes, set another 45 minute timer, and fold my recently dried clothes. What do I do while waiting, my other chores, of course. Or perhaps, catch an episode of House Hunters. Which ever happens to come first. ;)

With my helpful new tip to myself, I did approximately 11 loads of laundry and was completely done by 3:00pm. I started at around 8:30am. Not to shabby, if I do say so myself! :) I hope my helpful tip helps you with your hauntingly huge mound of laundry.



If you have a helpful hint, advice you would like to share, or if you would like to read some awesome articles head over to The Time Warp Wife and join in!





Blogger Templates

Things I like and some I don't....

1. I like that it's Friday again....only a few days and I'll be on the beach!
2. I like the fact that we'll be without technology for a week. I'm not disappointed AT ALL about this!
3. I like the fact that we have air conditioner in triple digit heat waves.
4. I like that my laundry is caught up.
5. I like that my house has remained clean for more than 2 hours this week. 
6. I like that I can drink coffee whenever I want. 
7. I like when I can go shopping with my husband. He's pretty awesome. 
8. I like when I can sleep in. Did I mention we're going on vacation?
9. Vacation = Naps. I'm not AT ALL disappointed in this either!
10. I like that I can listen to live worship at jesusculture.com! 
11. The internet can be a marvelous thing!
12. I do not like the Magic Mike film that's coming out. I have not seen it. I do not want to see it. Movies like this come out and people wonder why infidelity is so rampant. This alone doesn't cause infidelity but it can't help it any. What ever happened to being modest?
13. I do not like that "Obamacare" went through. There is so much I don't agree with and no amount of blog posts can explain how much I don't agree with it. 
14. I do like that I serve the God who can provide for my needs regardless of what an earthly kingdom goes through!  
15. I do like that I have found an interesting set of books to read. It's called The Circle Series by Ted Dekker. You can find a list of his books at http://www.teddekker.com/library/! 
16. I like that my kids set up a "church" in their bedroom! So sweet and cute!
17. I like that my kids are each different than the other. I love that they have their own unique personalities and each bring an amazing quality to our family. 
18. I like that my girls take care of my boy. They are little mommies!(When they aren't dressing him up like a ballerina!...this makes me laugh so hard because there is nothing graceful about my sweet little boy!) 
19. I do not like when my son pees under my kitchen table.(See... not a ballerina!) 
20. I do not like when he then rubs his head in it. Why are boys so gross? Is it so they can get multiple baths during the day? I think that may be it....

Happy Friday, Happy Independence Day, and have a wonderful week!
P.S. Did I mention, I'll be at the beach? Well...I'll be at the beach so I'll see you on the flip side with pictures!
And hopefully, no stories of my son peeing off the balcony into the pool. (Dear Lord, Please.....)







Blogger Templates

I am so happy it's Friday!

Hi! Can I just say I am beyond happy that today is Friday? Good! Because I just did! So happy! We are a very short 8 days away from seeing the beach. Ahhh. Here let me just show you so you can be just as happy as I am!






Isn't that gorgeous?! Yes it is! The kids are as excited as I am. Not as excited as the hubby though! We are coming out of another round of night shift. Thank God, it's not as bad as it was the previous round. I think we have adjusted rather well this time around. I must say, I am still ready to go back on days. This change up keeps things rather interesting. I think I like it!

I am currently making an extremely, dare I say, sinful chocolate cake for my Daddy's birthday tomorrow. It smells like I stepped out of laundry-ville, USA and right into Chocolate paradise. Sigh. Did I mention it's homemade, from scratch, no box stuff chocolate cake? Oh it is so good. I just can't seem to get my homemade cakes to come out of the pan whole. This one did better than previous cakes. It still had a few small spots that didn't come out clean. No worries, that's what icing is for!

I have a very small confession to make. This show right here:

 


Good Luck Charlie keeps me in stitches. It's on the Disney Channel. It's the only place we can find family appropriate shows anymore. The mom on the show, is hilarious! They are about to have a new baby on the show. The big event is coming on Sunday night. I may be thinking about making a big deal family night out of it. Maybe, I'll make some blue and pink cookies as a snack. They also don't know the gender of the baby. You really should try it out. You'll laugh, trust me! I love it because, as silly as some stuff is, it is not to far from the truth! :)

Our quaint little garden is doing incredibly awesome this year! We have squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, cabbage, greens, carrots, beets. This is the first year that our garden has produced beyond one or two pieces of produce. I can't wait until my purple cabbage comes in. (Or is it called red? Hmm...not sure) Well, I'm not a full time farmer. Not that it hasn't passed through my mind....

I was looking at older pictures today and came across these precious little ones.

Look how little they were! So sweet! I want another one.....Wait....Nope never mind. The moment passed. My son just asked me to come look at his poop in the potty. Yup, that's one of those..I never thought I'd be happy to see poop in a potty moments......
Is it bedtime yet?

I feel a chic flick marathon coming my way....Well, any kind of movie marathon that doesn't include animated characters and poop.

Happy Friday!



Blogger Templates

Hello, My name is Jessica....

I am the owner of this blog. I am alive and well. Not that you would know from my blogging hiatus. But I am. :) Boy, life has been a crazy whirlwind lately. It hasn't left very much time for blogging. That's life, I guess. We have been going through a very new season in our lives, not a bad one but a good one. In the past two months, we have gone from ordinary, everyday(for the past 7 years) life to something new. A new beginning. A new everyday routine. We have been sent to a new church, ended an old job and started a new one, started a new work schedule that includes a mix of days and nights, ended Kindergarten(my baby!), got rid of one vehicle just in time for the other one to die, got a new car, lost a very special person, gained a new family member(that's you Chuck!) started living a new life. And loving every minute of it. Looking back on the past two months, I can honestly say I wasn't sure how things would end up, but I KNEW God would handle it. And he has. We have been in a transition period with life and when I look forward, I can see an amazing future. My wonderful, amazing husband is no longer so stressed because of work that he can't enjoy life. We are adjusting to him switching out day shift and night shift. It's different and it is taking some getting use to. Since, we home school it's not a big deal if he works nights...we can be very flexible.  We actually see him more now than we ever did at his other job. It was truly a God send that he is working at this current company. Honestly, there is no other way to put it.  We are at an amazing church, that is in our community, that has a community outreach like none I have ever been a part of. It truly has a heart for people and loving those people, just like the bible says we should. One word- Amazing. We are exactly where God wants us to be and we are so excited to be a part of the church.
My Sweet Pea "graduated" Kindergarten. We didn't actually have a graduating ceremony but I did take her picture in a little cap and gown. That way I would have one of her in Kindergarten and when she actually graduates high school.  GASP. High School. Quick...someone hold me, I can't breathe. High School. deep breaths...breath...

My Sweet Pea, growing up way to fast. We are so blessed to have this  toothless little smile to look at everyday!

We start first grade at the end of August. We will be home schooling again. I really love it and so do they. It fits in perfectly with our life right now. 

We also lost an amazing man of God- my husbands' granddaddy. Granddaddy, was one of the most faithful men I have ever known. He helped to raise my husband and I will always be eternally grateful to him for what an amazing job he did. He holds a very special place in my heart. 

Even in the midst of new things, some things never change. Like, for instant, my son's ability to constantly gross me out. He is 3 and 1/2 for crying out loud! I thought I would have a few more years before this happened....I was wrong. Also, the fact that getting my kids to clean their rooms is like giving a shark a bubble bath....it's going to be painful and possibly deadly. They can destroy a room in 10 seconds flat. Can someone please endorse us for the Olympics? Anyone? Tide? Subway?....No? This has to be some kind of record! I am trying to get them to pick up their rooms every night before bath/bed time. Some nights it works, some it doesn't. Like Friday night, when Sweetie Pie dumped out a 5 gallon tub full of books, in the door way of her room. Right before bedtime. Sometimes, it's just better to go to bed and deal with the mess in the morning. Sigh. Of course, in the morning turned into Monday afternoon...but whatever. I am determined to make this pick up every night before bed thing work. It may take me all summer long but that's OK. These thing take time. I just hope all summer long doesn't turn into 17 years later....

So I think that has brought us up to speed. Old way of living turning into a new way of living while some things remain the same. I think that covers it. I hope to see you tomorrow. 

Meanwhile....Enjoy life, love while you can, and it never hurts to do a little laundry in between it all....

                                                   

Blogger Templates

I can't believe it's the first Friday in May...

Seriously? Where has the time gone? It's so true that the older you get, the more time flies by. Not that I'm getting older. I had to ask my husband how old I was not to long ago. I honestly couldn't remember. Mommy brain does a number on you, no lie. He said, "Aren't you 28?" I said, "What the what?! No, I'm not 28....Wait! Am I? When was I born? Oh, I guess I am. When did that happen?" I'm pretty sure he laughed at me. FYI: Not nice to laugh at your wife when she just figured out she was 28. Come on! But alas, I am. I'm just happy I survived this long. Even though, my birthdays are kind of a blur, my kids I remember perfectly. Every detail. Crazy how that works!

Speaking of birthdays(Did you like how I blended that? I could be on the news. I would so rock. Until a ridiculous story came on and I got tickled. Not just a chuckle but a full on laugh that only gets worse with silence. I am so inappropriate like that!) Anyway, my son thinks it's his birthday. Everyday. For the past month. He has asked me no less than 2 dozen times, "Are you makin my birfday take today?" I have to break his little heart and tell him no, you have 6 more months before your birthday. He looks at me, sighs deeply and tells me, but it's my birfday. *Sigh* Poor guy has no concept of time. I have no idea where he gets that from. *See above paragraph about time.

So it has been a while since I have blogged. The family has been going through a transition stage. My hubby just got a new job, that he started yesterday. It has been such a blessing. I am so proud of him and the decisions he has made regarding his job. He's been off a few weeks. So, when he went to work yesterday, the kids went to crazy town. I think they road the crazy train. And some how, I was the conductor. They showed out and whined from 8am to well 8pm. Even after their daddy came home. It also rained. They were stuck inside all day. Then, my sinuses/allergies went south fast! But, we survived and are praying for a much more peaceful day today. Dear Lord, please?

So that's the main reason I haven't blogged. I've really enjoyed getting to spend that time with my husband and kids. We plated our garden while he was off. Got the yard looking oh so nice. And had many meals together. Basketball. Soccer. Sprinkler. Church. Movies.  It was a really memorable time. :)

The home school year is coming to a close. My Sweet Pea has finished all the curriculum for Kindergarten. So for the next 2-3 weeks we are going to do lots of reading, and some practice/review math. I have really enjoyed our first year of school. She has learned so much and has also helped her siblings learn so much. We are looking forward to enjoying lots of time in the water this summer. Hopefully, with cousin E. He loves the water as much as they do!

I guess that about sums up what we have done lately, family time. And really, that's what is important. :)
To help your Friday along I'm going to leave you with the Antics of the Fowler Children!!!

Sweetie Pie: *giggles*
Me: What is it?
Sweetie: I sneezed egg out of my mouth and it landed beside my plate
laughs from all children
Me: That's why you cover your mouth when you sneeze, silly!
Sweetie: And get it in my hand?! I DON'T THINK SO!
The girl is anti-dirt, or food touching, or anything that smells funny(like potatoes). And apparently, catching eggs in her hand when she sneezes. 

We are riding down the road, and the hubs and I are talking about Mythbusters and how they busted a myth about pizza boxes in the delivery carrier things,(you know the red storage things? Right? You do know what I'm talking about. Do those have a proper name? Red storage thingy's sound great to me!)stopping a bullet.
Husband: How did you like that? It took 15 boxes in red storage thingy's(P.S. He would never say red      
storage thingy's) to stop a bullet!
Me: Yeah that was pretty...suddenly interrupted...
Sweet Pea: Let's talk about how many pizza's it would take to take away my hunger. I think a lot!
I look at my husband, he looks at me
Laughter! Where does she come up with this? That started the giggles and I want pizza pizza!! Me too! Can we have pizza, pizza? Excuse me, you ate breakfast exactly 5 minutes ago!
I am convinced all 3 of my children are bottomless pits.

I look over, while cleaning the kitchen, and see my son sitting by Corndog(our pet weeny dog, not a really corn dog...but probably only because he didn't have one.) The boy is petting him while he eats. I think oh, that's so sweet. A boy and his dog. Note to self: never think anything is sweet. Be prepared for all things disgusting and everything opposite of sweet!- This should be the disclaimer on all boys!
I turn around and go about cleaning. I hear," Her Torndog, I got you a straw to drink out of. Here drink out of da straw. You tan do it." In the nicest tone ever. Like he's being a big brother. 
I shake my head and when I turn to look, He(the boy not the dog) is drinking out of the dog's water bowl. With a straw! I yell," Don't drink out of the dog's bowl with a straw!" Yeah, that's one of those, hmm, I never thought I would say that moments!
It startles him, he jumps and my husband and I laugh hysterically. I think it had been one of those days, were you say a million times, Stop running!!!, Don't sit on your sisters head!!! Stop Whining!!! Why are you naked??!! We don't go outside in our underwear!!!
What else can you do but laugh? Right, laugh some more because he just tried a piece of dog food, gaged and spit it out.
Here's to a happy Friday, minus sneezed egg and dog food.
I hope.

Blogger Templates