All the kids got to play at a great playground by the theater, we ate lunch, and then we enjoyed a fun show called Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly. About 5 minutes before the show ended I remembered…I never paid for parking!! The kids all got back on the buses to go back to school and as Annie and I were walking back to my van I jokingly said, “I hope there’s not a boot on it.”
I had every intention of paying the $2, but before I could do that Annie noticed a sticker on my window and a boot on my front and back wheel. Ugh! And then I read the sticker and found out that I had to pay a fine of $110 to get the boots off. That was exactly how I wanted to spend $110 today…
SO frustrating but I didn’t exactly have a choice. I said goodbye to $110 and we were on our way. It was an honest and VERY expensive mistake…one I don’t plan to make again.
And if that wasn’t enough excitement for the day…
I made it back with just enough time to pick up Jackson for a doctor’s appointment. On our way to the appointment I picked up Luke from preschool. We made it to the doctor’s office and as I am answering some of the nurses questions Luke tells me that he needs to go potty. He is newly potty trained so when he says he needs to go…we go! He goes potty and we make it back before the doctor comes in. After the doctor comes in I noticed Luke move towards the corner. I start having a discussion with the doctor about some headaches that Jack has been having. I am trying to really concentrate but then I notice Luke backing farther and farther into the corner …I look over at him and he looks at me with very watery eyes. I knew exactly what he had done. And just in case I wasn’t sure, the smell confirmed my suspicions. :( The smell just kept getting worse and worse and the exam was not even half way over. It was just impossible to ignore, so I decide that the best thing to do is say, “I’m so sorry Dr. T. I think my little one had an accident in his pants and that is why it smells so bad in here.”
Goodbye dignity… I hope to meet again someday.
I will spare you the details of the clean up process…yuck.
Tomorrow is a new day…one that will hopefully be free of car boots and poopy pants.
…jenn :)

The kids were so excited for snow.  They were just sure that they would be able to go sledding with their cousins.  However, this was the extent of the snow that we saw and instead we enjoyed some really nice December days.  I, for one, was really thankful for the nice weather because after 5 years in Texas I am definitely becoming a big wimp with the cold!

Santa came and brought presents for all the kids.  Luke was less than thrilled with the “ladies first” policy for opening presents. ;)

I got my Christmas miracle and was able to get a good picture of the 6 of us on Christmas day. ;)  There was some tebowing, a talent show put on by all the cousins, lots of playing, time spent with Grammy…Oh, and of course we ate and drank coffee…and ate and drank coffee, and ate and drank coffee, etc…

The last two pictures were taken while we were all together and my in-laws used them for their Christmas letter.  This should answer the question I have to answer the most when people hear how big the family is.  Do you all fit in one house?  Yes, yes we do. :) 

It was a blessed Christmas and we did not get back to Texas until January 3rd so we hit the new year running.  2012 is going to look a little different for me.  I am making some changes…letting some things go…and trusting God as He leads and guides.  I am excited.  As the Lord gives me the words, I will share about some of the things He has laid on my heart.

He has always been faithful and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He will continue to be…

This songs says it so perfectly.

Grateful for my faithful God…

jenn:)

I absolutely LOVED reading all of your answers! Such a variety of great gifts. :) My favorite Christmas gift was given to me when I was 13. We always spent Christmas Eve with my Dad’s side of the family. After we opened our gifts with them at midnight, we would drive home and open our family’s gifts. When we got home that particular Christmas, my present was all set up in my bedroom. It was a brand new white metal bed with new black, white, and splatter paint bedding. It was a early nineties teenager’s dream. ;) I LOVED it!! And the best part was that a few months later my parents let me splatter paint my room!! Oh, how I wish I had a picture to share…it was totally awesome. ha ha

Another memorable gift was the Christmas after Mackenzie was born. Galen gave me a device to plug into the phone that was supposed to eliminate telemarketers…no, I’m not kidding! And he let me go to bed thinking that was all he was giving me. It was until the next morning when I opened my stocking that I found a beautiful necklace with a diamond pendant. STINKER!!!!

Okay…I’ve stalled long enough. ;) The A Merry Pinterest Christmas Winner is……

Julia!!! Yay!! Julia, I will bring your package to church on Sunday. :)
Happy Friday!
…jenn

As I have said before…one of my favorite things about creating is when I can give my creations away.  So, during this Christmas season I want to give a little gift to one of you.  I put together a trio of items that I hope one of you will really enjoy…

This little trio includes a pleated scarf in a soft, chocolate brown knit…

a CD ornament with John 3:16 on it…

and a “sharpie” NOEL pillow…

These were three of my favorite projects from this week and I would love to share them with you!  So, all you need to do it leave me a comment letting me know what is the best Christmas gift you have ever received.  Leave your comment before tomorrow (Thursday) at 6:00pm CST.  I will have my trusty assistant Lukie pick a lucky winner. :)

Merry, Merry Christmas to each one of you!

Much Love,

…jenn:)

Day 5…yay!!  Once again, I have had so much fun doing all of these Pinterest projects.  I hope you have enjoyed following along. :)

Day 5′s project is one of the first things that I pinned on my Christmas board.  The use of old CD’s or DVD is what drew me in.   I would say that 80% of our DVD’s are scratched and many of those are scratched to the point of not working.  I have started throwing them away, but when I saw this project I knew this was the perfect use for them!

Here is the original pin…

And here are my versions…

When I first saw these on Pinterest, I really liked the idea of spelling out a word or making one for each of the kids with their initial on it.  But then last week Mackenzie did something that changed my mind.  She came downstairs with an ornament that she had made for our tree…

I love that she chose John 3:16.  I don’t always think of it as a “Christmas verse” but I should.  It is the heart of Christmas…the Father sending the son as his ultimate gift of love to us.  So I followed Mack’s lead and chose some  scripture to put on my ornaments.  I went back and forth on a few verses but I finally decided on the four ways that Jesus is described in Isaiah 9.

HE is our …

I followed the tutorial from the original pin and I love how they turned out.  They are a great addition to our tree.  :)

Make sure you come back tomorrow.  I’ve got a fun little surprise to share with you!!

Happy Monday…

-jenn

I didn’t say 5 days in a row right? ;-)  It has been a busy, busy couple of days and I just didn’t have time to sit down and blog.  I am actually home sick from church today :( (I hate missing church.) so I have some time and a quiet house to finally blog.

Day 5′s project was another one I did with the kids.  Here is the original pin…

And here are our versions…

Definitely not as pretty as the original pin…but we had fun.  ha ha :)  Just like the gingerbread houses we have made in the past, we struggled with keeping the structure together.  Even with a 10, 8, and 6 year old (Luke was napping), I still had to help them quite a bit.  But once we got the structure together, the kids had a good time making all the little figures.  We had a great time putting them together but I think they had the most fun when I said they could eat them…

Here are the supplies that we used:

• graham crackers
• coconut for hay (Put coconut in a ziploc with a few drops of yellow food coloring and shake!)
• large marshmallows
• black licorice
• fruit roll ups
• circus peanuts for baby Jesus

Making this craft was the “treat” they opened in their Advent calendar yesterday and they were all really excited about it.  I love to do crafts and I am so thankful that my kids do too.  I know it won’t last forever…but I am going to enjoy every minute of it while they do.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some fun little ornaments.

Have a great Sunday…

…jenn:)

I am SO sorry for missing yesterday.  Luke was sick yesterday and so my plans were altered a bit.  By the time I finished my project it was late, dark, and I could not get a decent picture.  So I decided to wait until this morning. :)

S0…

I have a home decor project today!  I was intrigued by this one when I first pinned it because it involved a sharpie. ;-)

Here is the original pin…

And here is my version…

I was amazed at how a sharpie really does work!  I used canvas for my pillows and decided to add some little rolled flowers for color.  It seemed so unnatural to write on a pillow with a permanent marker.  I kept hearing my voice saying, “You only draw on paper!”  I’ve only said that a million times to a certain little 3 year old. :)  But after stuffing the pillow…I just kinda went for it.  I did it free hand but if that makes you nervous you can definitely sketch it with a pencil first.

I liked doing the writing after I stuffed because then I knew exactly where the writing would end up.   However, writing before stuffing would give you a flat surface to work on.   I would just keep the lettering towards the center.

I think they are a fun addition to my holiday decor.  I have some canvas left so I might make a smaller one for my love seat.  And now I am trying to come up with some other fun projects using a sharpie…hmmm…. ;-)

Love,

…jenn:)

Double digits…he was SO excited.  I still can’t believe that it was 10 years ago that I saw him for the first time.  His labor and delivery were not easy.  After 3 hours of pushing I was so excited to see his little face and then I just wanted to go to sleep. ;)  But he was worth every minute of labor.  He is a gift.

As I see him transition from little boy to young man I am so proud of who he is becoming.  The Lord has given him a strong mind and a good sense of right and wrong.  My prayer is that he grows up to be a mighty, man of God and that one day he would be a strong spiritual leader for his own family.  He is so blessed to have a dad and two grandpa’s that model spiritual leadership everyday.

We celebrated his life last night by feasting at the restaurant of his choice…Golden Corral.  He was going for quantity…not necessarily quality. ;-)  We had a great time and he is looking forward to celebrating again on Saturday.  We are taking him and a few friends to play laser tag.

I love you Jackson Thomas!  Happy 10th Birthday.  I am blessed to be your mom. :)

…mommy :)

Day 2′s project was a Christmas craft to make with the kids. We had a lot of fun making them, and the kids did a great job. I, however, made a little error that affected them just a little bit. ;-) But hopefully you can learn from my mistake! ha ha

So here is the original pin…

and here is one of our versions…

My kids love snow globes and so I thought this would be a great craft to do with them. My mistake was the type of glass jar that I used. I just assumed that a mason jar would work great but the neck on these jars did not work well at all. As you can see from the picture, it distorts the view of the figures. There was also the issue of the inside circle of the lid that is loose. I had to glue that to the outer part of the lid which was an extra step. After we completed the project I noticed that the tutorial recommends different types of jars and mason jars were not one of them. ;-) Instead they recommended spaghetti sauce jars, baby food jars, olive jars, etc. Plain, simple jars are best.

The pin does not have a tutorial, so here is the tutorial that I followed...

http://www.marthastewart.com/276346/how-to-make-a-snow-globe/@center/307034/christmas-workshop

The kids enjoyed making them, they love how they turned out, and they do not care that the glass jars weren’t the “perfect” ones. It was a fun, family activity…and that is what matters. :)

I have a bonus project for you tonight. :) I wasn’t planning on using this as a project for this week, but after I made it I knew that I had to share! It is another scarf and it is SO cute!

So…here is the original pin…

And here is my version…

And here is another awkward picture of me…

I absolutely love this scarf! I think this might be my favorite Pinterest project that I have made. It was really simple and it would make a great gift! Do not be intimidated by the instructions. If you can fold, pin, and sew a straight line..you can make it. :)

I followed the tutorial exactly… although I did not have as much knit as the pattern called for so I just made it a little shorter. There were so many of you that liked the first Pinterest scarf that I made… I knew I had to share this one with you too. ;-)

This scarf is just too cute to keep all to myself. I just might have to give one away…;).

Be back tomorrow…

…jenn

My 10 days of Pinterest was so much fun, so I decided to do another one especially for Christmas!!  I am only doing 5 days this time because this season is such a busy one.  I have some fun projects planned this week.  A couple of kids crafts, some DIY gifts, and some decor.  I think it is going to be fun!

For Day #1 I have a DIY gift.  I pinned this a while back with Christmas gifts in mind.  Here is the original pin…

And here is my version…

Since I had never done anything like this before I decided to start with mugs for my own family. ;)  These mugs are for Jack, Mack, Tuck, and Luke  to enjoy their Kids Coffee (a little bit of coffee a LOT of cream and sugar) in.  I have very small espresso mugs that I normally use but they are a little too small for them these days.  These mugs should have plenty of room for their beloved Kids Coffee.   Overall I think they turned out pretty cute.  I used the tutorial from the original pin as a guide but I did make some changes.  Here is what I did…

-In the tutorial she uses graphite paper.  When I went to Michaels to purchase graphite paper there was only one package and it was $13.99.  I did not want to spend that much on just graphite paper so I opted for two graphite pencils for $3.99.  I knew I would have to alter the technique a little bit but I hoped for the best.  Here is what I did…

After printing out my letters…

I flipped them over and with my graphite pencil I traced really hard and really dark along the outline of the letter…

Then I used double sided tape to position the letter on the mug…

I then took the pencil and traced REALLY hard around the edge of the letter.  When I took the paper off I had an outline of the letter.  It was pretty faint…faint enough that I couldn’t really photograph it, but it was enough for me to use as a guide as I filled in with the porcelain marker.   The graphite paper would definitely give a much darker outline.  Maybe it can be found cheaper elsewhere but I only had time for one craft store stop and $13.99 at Michaels was not in my budget. :)

In the tutorial she went to second hand stores to find her mugs.  I found mine at Michaels for $1.99 each.  I know they would be cheaper second hand but I was okay with $1.99 because it meant not having to make another stop with a certain 3 year old. ;)

The porcelain marker I used was $4.99 at Michaels and I had a 40% off coupon so it was a good deal.  One thing that I would do differently is that I would buy a fine and a broad tip porcelain marker.  The fine worked great for outlining but I would have loved a broad tip one to fill in the letters.  I think it would look a lot smoother.

After I filled in the letters I decided that Mackenzie’s needed a little something more so I added some polka dots.  That is one of the great things about this project…the possibilities for what to put on the mug go on and on.  As I was making them I thought that silhouettes would look really cute.  I might give that a try next.

The kids LOVE their mugs.  They were really excited when I was making them.  Jackson requested to use his tomorrow for his Birthday Breakfast.

The kids and I are working on the project for Day 2 tonight.  Hoping they turn out as cute as they look in the picture…;)

Happy Monday…

…jenn