Faith Like a Child

I have been battling this awlful cold that has settled in my throat and caused on and off again laryngitis all week. By the end of each day, my voice just hurts. Last night, I read Jenna her favorite book, Love You Forever, and barely got through it with all the coughing and hoarseness.

On the way up the stairs to bed tonight, Jenna asked if I would read again and I told her that my throat hurt and that it would be better if she would read me a book. (Jenna is 3 and doesn't read, but we've read some books so many times that she has them memorized pretty well.) She turned around and said, "Oh Mommy, don't worry, Jesus will take care of your throat. He loves you all the time and always takes care of you. We can't see him, cause he lives up in the sky, but he watches us all the time."

I looked at my three year old little Jenna and realized that God is already working in her. How wonderful:)

Daddy Carol Hartke

Recently, Jenna has discovered that everyone has a middle name. She has been referring to everyone in our family by their whole name. I am Mommy Marie Hartke. Abby is Abby Marie Hartke. Jenna is Jenna Chase Hartke, and Nate is Daddy Carol Hartke.

No matter how many times I tell her that his middle name is Carl and not Carol, it still comes out Carol. Feel free to call Nate, "Carol" anytime:)

Happy 1st Birthday Abby!

Today we celebrated Abby's first birthday! Our lifegroup (small group) from church joined us in celebrating and we had a fun afternoon on a beautiful Spring day.

Abby put on quite a show. For the first time, I got a cupcake cake, which is a bunch of cupcakes with frosting on the top to hold them together. It was awesome! Above the regular cake, there were three cupcakes bunched together with a heart on it. We gave that group of three cupcakes to Abby to eat.

I was fully expecting to have to encourage her to dig into the cake, but I soon realized that was not necessary. Abby bent down and put her face right in the cupcakes, not even bothering to use her hands to help her eat. She kept diving back into the cake getting more and more pink and red frosting on her face, in her hair, and up her nose! She was delighted! In the end, Abby ate two full cupckakes and loved every second of it!

Happy Birthday sweetheart Abby!

Filling up the Gas Tank

I have been driving around for days with the gas light on and the needle at the empty line because I didn't want to pay a crazy amount of money for a tank full of gas. As I came home from church this morning, I noticed that the needle was below the empty line and knew that I'd have to face the gas station and its prices.

The cost of living here in California is incredibly high and our prices are usually higher than most of the country. I know that gas is high everywhere and I honestly don't know if we are significantly higher than everyone else, but $3.21 for a gallon of regular gas is just wrong. That's my two cents--or actually 5,313 cents, which is what it cost in order to fill up our van today.

A Few Pictures

I wish I had a funny story to tell you about the kids, but I got nothing for right now. Over the last few weeks, I've spent a good deal of my time bent over Abby, holding her hands, helping her walk. She's not walking yet, but is a speedracer if I hold her little hands. We signed Jenna up for preschool last week--she'll go two days a week next fall and we are all very excited about that! Jenna doesn't understand why she can't play on the preschool playground now or why she can't play with the kids she saw there. She asks me every day if she can go to preschool. All I know is that September is a long time away for me to have to be explaining that to her!

I included a few pictures of the girls. Abby's 11 months and I took this picture as she was desperately trying to get into the fireplace. We have to work hard to keep her out! Jenna is in her dance outfit. She takes ballet/tap on Saturdays:) Very cute:)

Why I Never Plan To Grocery Shop With Both Of My Children Anytime Soon

I never look forward to grocery shopping, and today was no different. I've been making macaroni & cheese and peanut butter sandwiches for a few days. When that happens, I know it is time to go shopping. It was time, it had to be today or we wouldn't have any milk for tomorrow and I just had to do it. I had to go with the girls because Nate got a call to go to the hospital at the last minute, and he couldn't take care of them. So, I loaded them up and we made our way to our local Safeway.

Shopping with two kids requires some logistical thinking on my part because Jenna always wants to ride in the cart where all the food goes, but gets very upset if I put certain foods in there. She only allows her favorite food in-like the fruit snacks and Dora yogurt. So I always end up shoving way too much stuff on the bottom and next to Abby, who is riding in the front. Letting Jenna walk is not a great option because she either says hi to everyone or takes food off the shelf and throws it in the cart without me looking.

So, for the first time, I resorted to those terrible, terrible monster carts made for more than one child. For those of you who have never pushed one of these, they are regular carts with a big plastic seat attached to the front that has room for two older children to sit on. It's enormous and quite difficult to push. But, I thought I'd try it because the alternatives haven't worked out so well in the past.

I spent the entire time pushing this monster cart through the store, making 8 point turns at the end of each aisle, and trying not to run into the other customers in the store. I wasn't entirely successful though. In the spaghetti sauce aisle, I knocked over four glass jars of sauce that were stacked off to the side. After being embarrased beyond belief and listening to Jenna tell me that I needed to clean up my mess, we escaped to another aisle where no one knew that I was the one that made the big mess.

Close to the end of our journey in the store, we came to the deli. Of course, Abby was getting hungry and crabby and they only had one person working and five people standing in line. I waited for about ten minutes, when Jenna announced she had to go to the bathroom. So, we leave the line and go to this nasty bathroom where I had to hold Abby and hoist Jenna up on the potty at the same time. We get back to the deli line, wait for another ten minutes before the lady in front of us ordered three sub sandwiches and requested that her roast beef be recut from the center and not the ends. We left knowing it would be forever before we got served by the one deli worker.

We get home and as I'm unloading the bags from the car, I notice that Jenna has a fork in Abby's hair. I, of course, freak out about this and then realize that she is imitating Ariel on The Little Mermaid when she finds the fork and thinks it's a brush. I couldn't be mad at her, just explain that Abby could get big owwies if she brushed her hair with a fork.

Going to Safeway with my children has never been a walk in the park, but today takes the cake. When they are all grown up and explaining to their own children that forks aren't for brushing hair, I'll think back to this day and long for it. Maybe. :)

A Michigan Weekend

This past weekend, I left our 60 degree weather here in California to go to frozen Michigan for my friend, Lindsay's wedding. (Sorry I don't have pictures ready yet of Lindsay, but is was a beautiful wedding and Lindsay was stunning!) I arrived Friday night just in time for an evening of Whirlyball with Lindsay, her friends, and family. For those of you who don't know what Whirlyball is--it's a cross between lacrosse and basketball in bumpercars. Lindsay married a wonderful guy, Jeff, and I was so happy that I was able to be there and be a part of it.

I got to stay with my friend, Katrina and her new husband, Daren in their home. After we went to church on Sunday, Katrina and I had a girls day out. We went to see the movie, Dreamgirls and went shopping--two things that are luxuries in my life at this point. Katrina and Daren were kind enough to get Papa Johns pizza for me since we don't have that in San Jose, and then let me ride on their snowmobile ! Yes, not only did I go on a snowmobile, but I got to drive it by myself. I have to say, that I was scared to go fast at first, but after a few minutes, had complete faith that Daren would take good care of me:)

I had a great weekend--I got see Lindsay get married, visit with Katrina and Daren, and live in the snow for a weekend:) It was 8 degrees Sat. night when we left the wedding--and I loved every second of it! Yes, I missed my family, but visiting with my friends back in the Midwest where there is actually snow was a nice little vacation:)

Happy Birthday Jenna!

Yesterday was Jenna's third birthday. As I sat in front of the computer after Christmas getting ready to send out the Evites to our friends, I decided that we would do a low key party this year and not have all her little friends over. We did a low key day with several fun activities instead of one big party.

Jenna had a full day, beginning with a trip to Target with Mommy to get princess cups and plates. Then we had lunch at McDonalds with her friends, Alison and Brittany. We even went to the McDonalds with the play place so they could run around and make as much noise as they wanted!

After lunch, Jenna went on a date with Daddy to the movies. She had never been to the theater before, so we were a little nervous about how this would go. Nate said she loved the "big tv" and the candy. She sat on his lap for most of the show and then fell asleep during the last 20 minutes. That's okay though, she had a great time!

We had a family dinner and then cake afterwards. Our good friends came over to help celebrate, and by the end of the evening, Jenna was exhausted! We were too!

Happy birthday Jenna!

California Christmas

Christmas with the girls was a new experience this year! Jenna is old enough to understand about Jesus' birthday and that Santa comes to visit. For weeks, she had been telling everyone that she wanted a princess bike for Christmas. Thank goodness Santa already had that on his list! I was so excited for her to open her princess bike, and I thought she would be too. However, that didn't turn out to be the favorite gift:) Since she opened it on Christmas morning, the Dora umbrella (or rain flower as Jenna calls it) has been the favorite toy. She opens and closes it carefully, watches tv with it open, and goes outside frequently to see if it's raining. Next year--no big fun gifts for her. Just $5 rain flowers:)

Abby enjoyed Christmas as well. In the past week, she has become VERY mobile. She's crawling and climbing all over the place and having fun doing it. When she was first born, I was convinced that she was mellow and reserved. I am very wrong! As she crawls for things she shouldn't have or climbs the fireplace or speakers one more time, she has this little mischievious smile like she knows that she shouldn't be doing it. Even as I write, I hear Nate saying, "Abby--no, no. Don't climb the speakers!" She is elated at her new found mobility and is surely keeping us busy.

Christmas with the girls was such a joy this year, even if we have little redheads with minds of their own!

Bikes and New Friends

This may not be a big deal to most of you, but to me it is absolutely wonderful! We came home from a shopping trip today, to be greeted at the car by four neighborhood girls--all ages 7-9. We've met some of them before, but have never spent a lot of time with them. Of course, Jenna has been asking about them for weeks, but they are in school and we rarely see them outside.

School's out, and they are playing outside. They invited Jenna to ride bikes with them, and she had a ball! We have never lived on a street where Jenna could ride her bike outside with nice little friends (except in Texas, but she was 6 months old then). It was so wonderful to watch her race on her little trike up and down the street with four other little girls who want to be a "mother" to her. Very cute.

She'll be even more excited when Santa brings her a big girl princess bike for Christmas!

We are so happy to live in a safe nieghborhood where Jenna can play and ride her bike outside:)

Gialella

We have a new member of our family! Princess Gialella!

For several days, Jenna talked about Gialella and I just couldn't figure out what that word meant. I finally figured out that not only is Gialella a person, but she is the princess that Jenna turns into sometimes--especially when she is in trouble:)

I also wasn't sure how she came up with that name, but if you break it down it makes sense.

Jenna + Cinderella (her favorite princess) = Gialella :)

Christmas Shopping Craziness

For the first time in years, I've had my Christmas shopping done early. We decided to get Jenna and Abby one bigger type toy and a few small ones. We are really trying to teach Jenna that Christmas is more about Jesus's birthday as opposed to her only focusing on the gifts themselves. It's a hard battle, though.

Today, a few family members and friends gave me money to shop for our girls since we live all the way out here in California. After spending the afternoon in Target and Toys R Us, I am officially dismayed by Christmas materialism and how crazy it makes a person.

I have to admit, going shopping with someone else's money was fun, but I kept thinking to myself that my kids don't need all this stuff and that I was spending too much money. Buying many toys at once makes it seem like a lot, I guess.

Another thing that irritated me today while shopping was the fact that Barbie is really no longer a toy for little girls. When I was little, you could buy a Barbie and find a ton of matching outfits for her--appropriate ones, I might add. I was expecting to walk into the store, pick out a Barbie and find a few cute outfits. I was wrong. You can buy a Barbie, but the outfits are either in a really expensive three or four pack or are inappropriate for little girls to play with. Jenna's only 3! The outfits that went with Barbie made Barbie look like she was 22 going out on the town for the night. I ended up buying a pack with a Barbie and three decent outfits. In the end, I'm sad that Barbie isn't geared towards little girls anymore. Or if she is, I don't want Jenna to think that real girls have to look like that.

We'll keep teaching Jenna about Jesus and that His birthday is the most important part of Christmas, but I've come to learn today that Satan sure is at work during the Christmas season.

At Least She Didn't Throw Up on Santa

This morning, Jenna woke up telling me that her stomach was burning. I didn't think much of it because she often tells me her tummy hurts when she is just hungry. She didn't eat her breakfast, but that's not uncommon for her; I thought she just didn't like the new cinammon raisin bread I just bought. She drank juice and acted just fine on our way to the mall this morning for a fun Christmas event.

Our mall had the coolest event for kids! They got to decorate Christmas cookies, listen to a story that Santa and Mrs. Clause were reading, and dance to some fun music. Jenna was her normal fun, happy self. She even won one of the dance contests! ( Unfortunately, I don't have pictures, because as I took my camera out to take pictures of Jenna in her antler hat and "Santa's Little Helper" red apron, I realized I had left the camera on and the batteries were dead.)

We finish that event and then go over to Santa. We are waiting in line, when Jenna asked me to pick her up. Two seconds after I pick her up, she pukes all over me. All the other moms with their kids take three steps back from me and stare like their kids have never puked on them before. A nice man came over and got me some paper towels to clean up the mess, thank goodness. After about ten minutes of cleaning puke from the floor, changing Jenna's clothes, and trying desperately to get away from the gauking mothers, we rushed home with Jenna not getting to sit on Santa's lap.

The good thing in all of this is--at least she didn't puke on Santa. What a site that would have been!

A Conversation with Jenna

As Jenna approaches three, her speech amazes me more and more. I am not talking about new words or her ability to put sentences together. Instead, I am amazed at her ability to use words to try to manipulate me into giving her what she wants.

This morning, Jenna wanted scissors. I have a bunch of these crafty scissors--which is funny on it's own because even though I really want to be crafty, I'm just not. Anyway, I have these crafty scissors that cut in all kinds of different patterns. They all have different colored handles. Jenna loves anything that's the same, but different colors. For example, she loves to carry around those chip clips and arrange them on the couch in a specific order by color. She does the same thing with hair clips.

She saw a few of the scissors in the basket on our desk and tried her hardest to get me to give them to her. The conversation went something like this:

"Mommy, I would like those scissors."
"No, Jenna. Those will give you ouchies."
"But mommy, those are beautiful for me. You need to share with your Jenna. That make me so happy. Scissors are so special for me, so special mommy."

I tried my best not to laugh.

"No Jenna, I don't want you to get hurt because I love you."
"You make me nasty mommy! I'm angry! Can I watch Barney?"

She did not get the scissors, but I had enough entertainment to last the whole day. I'm sure there's more to come:)

Our Halloween Sweethearts

I bought these cute, hot costumes and forgot that we live in California where it is not so cold that you have to wear a jacket over your costume! The girls did well and had a great time though. We had a trick or treating event at church called Harvest Faire. As we walked in, someone commented that Abby looked like Blossom, Jenna's beloved bear. They are right. Abby was Blossom for Halloween! (I added a picture of Blossom at the bottom for those of you who have never met her.)

Our New Home!!!

After November 22, we will own half a house here in Silicon Valley! I say half because our wonderful church recognizes the out of control housing prices and will own the other half of our house.

Closing is Nov. 22 and we'll hopefully be moving soon after that. So, we have about three weeks to pack up! Reminiscent of seminary days, but this time we get to move to something that's ours!

God truly has His hand in this process and we are so thankful for all the people that helped make this happen. We are blessed to have a wonderful real estate agent and mortgage broker in our congregation who have been instrumental in all of this. The church voted on giving us housing assistance last Sunday and by Tuesday we knew where we wanted to live! They had to work fast, and we appreciate that.

We'll send you all our new address soon!

Like Mother Like Daughter

Two Sundays ago, I really hurt my neck. So for about a week and a half I have been pretty uncomfortable. I especially hurt at the end of the day after I've been lifting children and trying to do all the normal things that the day requires. Many evenings over the last week or so, I've asked Nate to do a lot of the lifting when he was home. Jenna must have picked up on that.

A few days ago, I asked her to pick up her toys in the living room. She looked up at me with her right hand cupped on her neck as she tilted it to the side and said, "I can't pick those up Mommy because my neck hurts!" She did the same thing this morning when I asked her to pick up her books from the floor. Both times I had to keep myself from laughing in front of her because I didn't want her to think she could get away with it like I did!

She's a smart little stinker:)

A New Call

It is finally official! Mt. Olive has called Nate as their Sr. Pastor!

Nate was called here right out of seminary as the associate pastor and worked with a great mentor, Mike Gibson for a year. Mike recieved a call to Southern California in June and was gone in August. Nate has been the only pastor since then. For about four months, Nate has been leading our church through the transition and enjoying his new responsibility and the ability to try new things.

Mt. Olive really is an exceptional church with people who are willing to take a risk for the kingdom of God. Come on . . . they called Nate, who's only 30, as their sr. pastor! We are excited to be part of what's happening here and know that God has us right where He wants us.

Another blessing that comes along with this call is that we get to buy our own home. Or part of a home! We will enter into an equity share with the congregation , so we hope to be in a new house sometime soon! We've moved four times in seven years of marriage and we absolutely despise the whole proces of moving. But, somehow this will be lots of fun knowing that are not renting anymore. Our money goes towards something . . . and we can paint the walls any color we want:)

Vacation!

It's been a while since my last post . . . sorry. We have a good excuse though. We were on vacation! Two, actually!

First, we went to Michigan for my friend, Katrina's wedding, and visited family too. It was a whirlwind trip, but so wonderful to be a part of Katrina's wedding and catch up with old friends and family.

Travelling is hard with kids though. Someone is always sick. Last time it was an ear infections and the stomach flu. This time Abby got another ear infection and Jenna got carsick twice. Not big deals, but pains on vacation.

The relaxing vacation came afterwards. My mom came home with us and stayed with the girls for five days while we went to Palm Springs with our good friends, the Lexows whom we met on vicarage in Houston and love dearly. The above picture is of me and Tamara. We had a blast. We sat by the pool, ate out a lot, and drank wine without worrying about being pregnant or nursing. (If you know me and Tamara, for our whole friendship, one of us has either been pregnant or nursing and having wine together was never an option).

Both vacations were awesome, but we're thankful to be home and back into a routine. Isn't it amazing what going three timezones away with kids does to you?

Peace out (as Jenna would say)

Friday Fives

Things I Can't Live Without
( I actually could live without them, they are just things I really enjoy.)

1. Dark Chocolate
2. Coke (as in Coca-Cola)
3. DSL
4. Our minivan
5. DVR (TiVo type feature on our tv)