A Phone Call to Santa Claus

A few days ago, we were in Kohls doing some Christmas shopping. I wandered into the kids' clothes section (which was not what we were there for, but I can never resist) which is next to the toy section. As I was browsing, Jenna found a Barbie, the Island Princess doll. Jenna loves the Island Princess. She was Barbie, the Island Princess for Halloween, loves the movie, and wants every toy that is related to this particular Barbie. Little did she know that I had bought the same exact doll for her for Christmas the day before.

I tried to tell her that she just couldn't have it. We weren't there to shop for her. That line usually works and she agrees to not whine about everything in the store that she wants. But, this was different. This was Barbie, the Island Princess. Out of desperation to get us out of the store with as little crying and carrying on as possible, I told her that Santa called me earlier in the day and told me that he had that same doll for her in his bag. He was saving it for Christmas and he would bring it then.

This was so great, because she bought it! She happily returned the doll to the toy section and smiled the whole way out of the store, knowing that Santa was going to bring her the Island Princess doll.

She's a smart cookie though, and I should have seen this coming. She then asked me if she could talk to Santa since he had just talked to me earlier in the day. She had some more things to ask him for. So, I thought quickly. I was trying to think of every guy who would be available, be willing to pretend to be Santa, and wouldn't be a voice she would recognize. Chuck. Our good friend Chuck.

I called him, explained the situation, and while he was in the middle of a Sam's Club shopping trip, pretended to be Santa on the phone to Jenna. She bought it hook, line, and sinker and was so excited that she talked to Santa. (Thank you Chuck.) Then in the car, she asked me what Santa's phone number was. Thinking quickly again, I said, 555-CHRISTMAS.

So, Jenna now thinks that Santa is a cell phone call away to 555-CHRISTMAS and that anyone can talk to him any time of the day.

Luckily, she hasn't asked again to talk to Santa. When she does, we might be making another phone call to Santa. :)

Injured On The Job--Doing Laundry

Injured doing laundry? Yes, I am clumsy. I always have been. When I was younger, I often had trouble going up and down stairs. As a teacher, I always tripped over the feet of the kids who were sitting in the front row. When I was a papergirl in elementary school, I actually ran into a telephone pole while delivering papers. I vividly remember the emergency room doctor laughing at me when I told him how I got the cut above my eyebrow. So my clumsiness haunts me again, and this time I have a nickel-sized little goose egg between my eyes to show for it.

Our laundry room is wide enough to fit just the washer and dryer. The dryer is on the left and the washer is on the right. I finished folding the laundry in the dryer, and left the door open, which swings open to the right. As I was getting the laundry out of the washer and putting it into the dryer, I somehow bent down low enough to whack my forehead right on the top of the dryer door that was open. It was a hard smack--I'm not sure how or why I had such a large amount of momentum going from the washer to the dryer, but I did. I hit my forehead so hard that I was dizzy and actually thought I might pass out. I walked to our bedroom and grabbed the phone in case I had to call Nate to come help me.

I didn't pass out, but have this embarrassing goose egg right in between my eyes. When I picked up Jenna from preschool right after this happened, no one said anything, so hopefully it'll stay that way. If not, I've got another clumsy and embarrassing story to tell.

Funny Random Stuff

Jenna has learned to match her clothes. The other day, she was standing on the stool in her bathroom and I was doing her hair. I picked out a green hair clip that didn't match her outfit, and as I was about to put it in her hair she looked up at me out of the top corner of her eyes and said, "Now Mommy, do you see any green in my outfit?" I couldn't believe that she was calling me out on not matching! She said, "There's no green in my outfit today, maybe you should put a pink clip in my hair." I guess she told me!

Jenna is in preschool, and instead of bringing backpacks or having cubbies, the kids are required to bring buckets. We bought a purple sand bucket and decorated it with stickers for Jenna. From day one of preschool, Abby thought she should be in the class too. She would sit in the book corner, reading all the books, or color a page with the big kids while I signed Jenna in. One day as we were walking out the door to go to preschool, Abby grabbed her hot pick princess Halloween candy bucket that I had recently bought for trick or treating. She took it in the car, and as soon as she got out of her carseat, she picked it up and took it in to the classroom, just like big sister, Jenna! She even put it right next to Jenna's on the shelves where they go during class. Everyday now, both girls walk into preschool with their buckets, ready for class. Mrs. Dennis, Jenna's teacher, noticed this bucket thing with Abby and now is ready with some "homework" (a coloring page) for Abby. After we say goodbye to Jenna, I grab Abby's bucket from the shelves and put it in the car for a few hours later when we pick Jenna up and do the same routine all over again!

I was getting ready this morning and Nate was watching the girls so I could get ready in peace. When I was out of the shower, I heard Nate yelling,"No Abby, no Abby!" I thought to myself . . . "Oh, he's experiencing Abby this morning!" Then I heard a crash, which was the candle holders falling over on the dining room table. Then I heard, "Weeeeee! Weeee" While Nate was flipping out because Abby was sitting on top of the table knocking things over, Abby was enjoying every second of it:)

Productivity vs. Fruitfulness

God seems to give me just what I need when I need it.

I lead a women's Bible study on Tuesday mornings at our church, and this particular study is on stress. Each week is broken down into a different subtopics, and this week was "fruitfulness." When I think about the word, "fruitfulness" I often think of it in spiritual terms, I think about the fruit of our labor or the fruit of the Spirit or the fruit that comes from being in a relationship with God.

I never thought about pitting productivity against it though.

There's this pressure all around to be productive. Get more work done, get more stuff, have your kids in all the important activities, volunteer at church, make sure the laundry is done, and the house is always clean and tidy. That is a lot of pressure!

I work part time from home and I was stressing myself out by trying to take care of the girls, the house, and try to work all at the same time. I would fail every time resulting in yelling at the girls and worrying about what I wasn't getting done. I finally realized that trying to get all that done, trying to be too productive, was not good for me. I have been getting one to two migraines a week for a while now, and came up with every excuse in the book like-we live kinda close to the highway so that's what's causing my migraines. Or, it must be hormones. But, I am willing to admit that I was trying to do too much at once and that stress was making life hard.

So as I was going through my Bible study this morning, I realized that God has been teaching me that although being productive is good, trying to be too productive is not. Instead, I should be focusing on being fruitful and living in His will. love, and grace. Doing that will guide my life and result in happiness that I cannot achieve by filling my life with too many tasks.

Being in a hurry and filling my life with too many things is not good for me when it is done for the wrong reasons. So, I am choosing to work towards being fruitful instead of productive. I want to create a happy and balanced home for my family, work from home when the girls aren't awake, and choose activities for the right reasons and not because everyone else is doing it.

I would love to have every piece of laundry clean at any given moment, never have dishes sitting around, have a clean house that is ready for visitors at all times, but I"m pretty sure that God is calling me to create a balanced home and family and raise children that love Him. So, I am trying to do that. No more six way multitasking and thinking about whether Jenna should be in dance, swimming lessons, and preschool. We take one thing at a time and stop to play a game of hide-and-go seek with the girls without worrying about what I'm not getting done.

We are official!

We've lived in California for over two years now and have never experiences any earthquakes worth mentioning. When we lived in our rental house, we often felt minor shaking, but since we've been in our house we haven't felt anything. We used to live closer to the fault lines and in a zone called a "liquification zone." Apparently if there was a major earthquake, the ground beneath us would likely turn to liquid.

I'm glad we moved.

Anyway . . . I was getting the girls ready for bed last night when everything started shaking. Everything on Jenna's walls was rattling and the entire house was shaking back and forth. I grabbed the girls and stood in the doorway, which is the safest place during an earthquake. It ended just as fast as it started-only lasting about 15 seconds. When it was over, all of our pictures were crooked, a few things were toppled over on our dresser, and the big light hanging in our doorway was swaying back and forth. The earthquake was a 5.6 and the biggest one since the Loma Prieta quake that collapsed the Bay Bridge in 1989.

Many of our neighbors were outside making sure everyone was okay. I called Nate, who was at a meeting at church, and he was so excited about what had just happened! The church sits directly on top of the Calaveras fault which, is the one that erupted last night. My friend, Julie said she swore that the top floor of her house was swaying and said that she had things broken in her kitchen while my boss, Arlene said she felt a strong jolt right before the rumbling. I didn't experience any of those things, which goes to show that everyone has a different experience based on where you are in relation to the epicenter.

We are thankful that the earthquake didn't do any damage to the house and wasn't too scary. Jenna keeps asking when we are going to have another earthquake!

But, we are official Californians now. We have experiences our first significant earthquake!

Faker Pumpkin Patches

I searched the Internet for a picture of the twisted thing that pumpkin patches have become in California. Of course, I cannot find one so I'll do my best to recreate this atrocity with words.

When I think of a pumpkin patch, I think of a little farm with pumpkins lining the fields. Some pumpkins are still in the vine, while others are detached, waiting for a little one to choose it to take home. There is dirt and hay and often a barn. The pumpkin patch is in a refreshing place where kids run around excited to select the perfect one.

This is not very common where we live. Please don't hear me dissing all of California, but where we live, there are not many REAL pumpkin patches.

In the parking lot of our Target, there is a big silver chain-linked fence sectioning off a large portion of the lot. In that fence, there are two big jumpy houses, hay lining the pavement (which has worn off due to all the kids in there), more hay bales stacked, and hundreds of pumpkins lined up in rows, ready to be bought.

THEY CALL THIS A PUMPKIN PATCH!

This is a sneaky trick to get kids to buy pumpkins. They lure families into the jumpy houses and then sell pumpkins on the side. We pass one of thise monstrocities on the way home from church, and Jenna asks me all the time if we can stop to play on the jumpy house.

Of course, I tell her no and that I will take her to a real pumpkin patch, wich happens to be tomorrow. Her preschool class is going and I am going on my first fieldtrip! Pictures will come soon!

Pictures from Josh and Annie's Wedding

These are pictures from Nate's brother, Josh's wedding a few weekends ago. Jenna was a flower girl along with her cousin Allie. There's a picture of Jenna and Allie, one of the Nate Hartke family, and one of the Hartke grandchildren: Timmy, Joey, Allie, Jenna, and Abby.

The wedding was great, although I ended up walking Jenna down the aisle!

A Sweet Sound

Nate and I sing this song to our girls. I don't know the name of it, but I think it came from some musical. It goes like this:

I love you Abby, oh yes I do
I love you Abby, it's true
When you're not near me, I'm blue --hoooo (make a high pitched hooo noise there)
Oh, Abby I love you, hoooo!! (another high pitched noise)

Abby can be replaced by anything . . . Jenna, Daddy, Mommy, Kiki (Binky) DeeDee (Petals, the bear) or Blankie. I usually sing this song to Abby in the morning after she wakes up, before her nap, and before bed. It's kind of our thing and she loves it.

For so long, she never sang, but then one day a few weeks ago, she started to sing bits and pieces. First, she started saying the "hooooos" at the end of the two lines, but the absolute sweetest sound came all in one day.

First, she started to sing the words, "Abby," "it's true," "I'm blue," and "love you." My heart melted when I heard those sweet words come from her little voice. But then, we were sitting in the rocking chair singing, and I had finished singing. I was ready to put her to bed, when she started singing on her own. She sang,

I love you Mommy, oh yes I do
I love you Mommy, it's true
When you're not near me, I'm blue--hoooo
Oh Mommy, I love you--hooooo!

Now, the song was very fragmented because she couldn't sing the whole song yet, but I heard the "Mommy" in there, and I turned to mush. She put my name in there all by herself and it was just the sweetest sound.

Lately, she's been demanding certain people/things to be in the song. She will often want to sing to Kiki (Binky), DeeDee (Petals, the bear) and Blankie. If I start singing to Jenna or Daddy, she will often say "Abby, Abby, Abby!" She doesn't want me to sing to anyone else but her.

We will sing this song as long as they let us. When they get married, don't be surprised it Nate breaks out this song for his girls!

Home

We just got home from a ten day extravaganza of visiting family, friends and attending Nate's brother, Josh's wedding. We flew to Pittsburgh, drove to Indianapolis to visit Nate's brother Tim and his family, then drove to Ft. Wayne for the wedding. Next we were off to Detroit for the day to catch up with old friends, then to Toledo for a visit with Nate's parents, and finally back to Pittsburgh to return the car my parents to graciously let us use and on the plane back to California.

I love going home. Everything about the Midwest is familiar to me. I love the reds and oranges in the changing trees. I love driving through rain on a hazy afternoon. I love the hills of Pittsburgh and the green all around. I love driving through endless corn fields and through the little towns of Indiana and Ohio. All of these things are things that we don't really have here in California and and being home makes me miss being there with all it has to offer.

I wish I could call a Grandma to come babysit every once in a while, without having to fly them out. I wish I didn't obsess about the education system that I am so uneasy about here. I wish our kids could play with their cousins, jump in leaves, and ride sleds down a snowy hill.

When I was at my parents' house, we went to my old elementary school so that the girls could play on the playground. As so many memories came back like playing football with Mr. Jedinak in the field or Graham Kendrick breaking Stephen Lenick's arm during dodgeball or lining up for fire drills outside, I realized that I want for our girls exactly what my parents gave me. We lived in a great neighborhood with great schools. I had every opportunity and am thankful for those more and more.

We are content with our life here in California and know that God has called us here to do His work. I have never doubted that or thought of living outside His will. I just sometimes miss being close to our family and friends and appreciate the foundation that got us where we are today.

Frozen Peas Anyone?

Getting my girls to eat green vegetables has been a huge struggle. The both like corn, but haven't eaten the green veggies well since they(the vegetables) were mashed in a jar and spoon fed.

We had cheesy rice with broccoli tonight and Nate and I brought out every trick in the book to try to get Jenna to eat the broccoli. We only asked her to eat one bite, and she usually does, but not tonight.

So, I told her that I'd make her some other green vegetables. She suggested frozen peas. I was a little confused, wondering where she had eaten frozen peas before. Apparently, one of our sitters got her to eat peas if they were frozen!

She ate more frozen peas tonight than all the peas she's ever eaten, I think. Abby apparently likes them too. She asked for some and ate an entire bowl as well.

So if any of you are moms out there who have trouble getting their kids to eat green veggies . . .try frozen peas. My kids eat them like candy ! Who knew?

It's Jenna!

Jenna has brought home many colored pictures and projects from preschool already, but this one is, by far, my favorite. Her teachers cut the people, clothes, and hair out and the kids got to choose the colors and buttons to go with the outfit.

Purple is Jenna's favorite color, so she picked the purple dress, but the hair has to be my favorite! Such cute red hair!

This is a keeper:)

First Day of Preschool

Last Wednesday was Jenna's first day of preschool, and it was a day that we all have been looking forward to for a long time!
A friend asked me if I thought I was going to cry when I dropped her off at preschool. I really was so excited for her to start this part of her life that I could only think of being happy and proud and anxious to watch her learn.

And that is exactly what Wednesday was. A happy day! She walked right in and played with the toys and waved to us as we left. I came home, put Abby to bed, and then happily mopped my floor in peace without any little feet trying to get in the way. The house was so quiet and it was nice to have a few hours to myself.

So, I love preschool, Jenna loves preschool, and we're looking forward to a wonderful year.

Preschool Parent Drama!

Jenna starts preschool this coming Wednesday (Sept.5th) for the first time. She's going to Milpitas Christian School, Monday/Wednesday/Friday in the afternoons. I am thoroughy excited for her--first because she will just love learning new things and meeting new friends. Second because it gives me individual time with Abby and time during her nap to get some work done around here!

This past Friday, was "Meet the Teacher" day. All the kids and their families piled into the classroom to play with toys, meet each other and the teachers. Jenna has two wonderful teachers--Mrs. Dennis, who is an experienced, wonderful lady (from what I can tell) and Miss Fought, an education student who will serve as her aide. I left on Friday feeling really good about Jenna's teachers and feeling confident that they are experienced, quality, I know what I'm doing and how to handle all you crazy parents type of a teacher.

One of the parents in the class somehow got the email addresses of all the parents. I'm not sure how it happened, but the only thing I can think of is that she copied the email addresses from the sign-in sheet. She must be a sneaky mommy.

So, I get this invitation to join a Yahoo Group for our preschool class. I use Yahoo groups a lot and actually really love them. For those of you who don't know what a Yahoo Group is--your group, for example all the parents in our preschool class, has their own webpage, a database, a calendar, and most importantly a forum to discuss issues. If i type in the email address for our group, it will go to all the parents who have signed up. It's pretty cool.

One of the mothers sent out an email today asking to revise the snacks for the preschool class. On Friday, we received a calendar with specific snacks to bring and the child assigned for that day. They are healthy snacks, and to be honest, I am excited for Jenna to eat some things that I don't normally offer--like guava juice! (It'll be interesting to see how that one goes over!) This particular mother wanted to scrap all the snacks and only offer fruit, water, and Cheerios every day for the whole year.

NO WAY! Is this lady crazy? I am not going to ask my child to eat the same thing every day of prechool for a whole year, but most importantly, I am not going to interfere with what the teacher has already set up. I am sure that she has experience in this area of snack planning, and I, as a parent, am not going to question her judgment or try to change things that Mrs. Dennis is doing. The last thing she wants is for parents to try to interfere with what she has put time and effort into.

So, I wrote a message to the group, explaining that interfering with Mrs. Dennis's snack schedule isn't a good idea in my eyes and that I am excited for some food variety for Jenna. Also know, that I took great care in being nice, positive, and non-judgmental. I am always the pastor's wife, and I don't need to go ticking off all the parents in the preschool class. (Good thing some other mothers agreed with me.)

Any thoughts on this craziness?

And preschool hasn't even started yet. It might be a long year being a parent in this classroom:)

At Least We Didn't Lose To Appalachian State

As many of you know, Nate is a huge Notre Dame fan. Jenna and I have become ones too. Last year was an exciting season, and I really have come to enjoy watching the games. Jenna knows the fight song and several of last year's players. She doesn't understand why Brady Quinn isn't playing for Notre Dame anymore. I figured that we would hold off on trying to explain the NFL draft and that he's playing for the Browns now.

So today was Notre Dame's first game. They played at home against Georgia Tech, who smoked them. The game was full of fumbles, sacks, and disappointing plays by our team. The final score was 33-3, which is awlful, but I guess we should be happy that they didn't get completely shut out. They played a little bit better in the middle of the game, but that didn't last long.

The only thing that makes these Notre Dame fans feel a little bit better is that the University of Michigan lost to a Division IAA team, Appalachian State.

We're disappointed in Charlie Weis's boys today, but AT LEAST WE DIDN'T LOSE TO APPALACHIAN STATE!

Kohl's Was A Bad Idea Today

I should have known not to even step foot in Kohl's today after I had to get the kids back in their carseats when I realized that Abby had a full poopy diaper (which I had changed right before we left) and I had forgotten to put diapers in my bag before we left. I really just should have known that the whole Kohl's experience was going to be a nightmare.

Kohl's was having one of their great sales today. In fact, it was the "everything's on sale" sale and we do a lot of shopping there. I like their home section and their kids clothes. I have been looking for a mirror for our dining room, and I knew that if they had one there, it would be 50% off. I am also on this photo album kick. I have 5000 + pictures on my computer and have decided that even though I REALLY want to be a scrapbooker, that it just isn't for me. I'm not crafty and I do not have the time or patience to do it. And do I really think that I can catch up on 5000 pictures while keeping up with my current ones? So, I am working on printing my pictures out and organizing them into albums. Albums were 50% off today too, so I was on a mission.

After returning home and changing Abby's diaper, the kids and I strolled into Kohls. Abby was in the stroller (buckled of course because she climbs out) and Jenna decided that she wanted to push her princess Bible in a Kohl's cart. Thinking that would keep her busy, I agreed. Wrong decision. Jenna kept running the cart into my heels which really, really hurt. After three times, I told her that if she kept ramming my ankles, that we would have to put the cart away. She burst out into tears upset that she was hurting me and upset that I threatened to take her cart away. Then I felt horrible because I shouldn't have expected her to be able to push a cart that was taller than her.

After she calmed down and put the cart away, we made our way through the clothing. Abby grabs at all the clothes as we pass and manages to get about a fourth of them on the floor. So, I finally just went really fast through the aisles, making sure to keep moving so that Abby coudln't get a hold of the clothes.

Our next adventure happened in the picture frames. Abby decided that being in the stroller was no good, so she screamed, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" over and over as loudly as she could. After trying to tune it out so I could pick out picture albums, I got her out and held her. So, I'm holding Abby and then Jenna starts crying because she wants these princess picture frames that are ridiculously expensive. And not that I think about it, weren't onl sale which means that Kohls lied about the "everything on sale" thing. Anyway . . . Jenna cried for a while and once I got my albums, we started to leave. Then I spotted the perfect mirror for my dining room that was 50% off! I grabbed it! So, I have a crying 3 year old, a crying 1 year old in the stroller, and me trying to push the stroller, carry the big mirror and keep Jenna with me all that the same time.

By the time we got to the checkout, I was thoroughy exhausted.

I should have known that when I had to turn around and go home to get diapers for Abby that staying there would have been the best choice. But the Kohls sale was calling me.

At least I got what I went there for!

Ole Blue

While on vacation in northern Wisconsin, we encountered a bear for the first time at the cabins in Eagle River. For years, my grandpa always told us that bears hung out at the town dump, so we always thought that that's the only place bears were in that area. Apparently, the dumps are closed and the bears have discovered campgrounds and cabins.

Here's what happened! On the second night of our vacation, my cousin, Stephanie was in her cabin working in the kitchen around 9:30pm. She heard some rustling outside, but thought nothing of it. Raccoons often get into the garbage, but leave only a mess to clean up. She looked outside and saw a large black figure. Since it was close to being dark, she wasn't entirely sure.

Nate drove in late that night, since he had to preach on Sunday. I was waiting for him at our cabin. When we got in, we went over to my cousins' cabin. Not five minutes later, Ole Blue appeared. (Ole Blue is the name we gave our bear friend). We heard this loud crashing,which was Ole Blue knocking down the garbage cans. After waking up all the adults in the cabin and peering at the bear out the window who was literally 5 feet from us, my cousin, Sean grabbed his gun and went outside with Nate. They Ole Blue was about ten feet away by this time eating some of the garbage. He didn't seem to be bothered by them at all and just sat there eating his meal. Sean hollered to try to get him to go away, but nothing worked. He finally ran into the woods after a few gunshots in the ground.

Of course, we were nervous about the bear the whole week. We constantly were running to the window, looking for Ole Blue. We didn't want him to come back, but at the same time, it was exciting to see a 500 lb black bear standing in front of you.

He made one more appearance late in the week. He was walking by the lake by our cabin when some boys spotted him and started yelling. Ole Blue didn't harm anyone, but those boys stayed in their boat on the lake until he was gone.

We were pretty freaked out by seeing a black bear, but we came to learn that they are common where we were. It seems that they are used to people and are only interested in old trash.

Ole Blue sure gave us some excitement in Eagle River!

Vacation in Eagle River

We have just returned from an almost two week vacation in the Midwest. We spent a week in northern Wisconsin with my side of the family in Eagle River, a family gathering spot for many, many years.

My grandpa and his parents and siblings ran a resort on Big Bass Lake in Eagle River, WI. The resort included log cabins and a lodge that were built in 1923. My grandpa lived there for several years before having to leave due to the crash. My great-grandparents owned the property even though the resort was not in operation. When my great-grandma died, she gave Camp Balsams, as it is called, to her church to use as a retreat place. In the original agreement, she asked that the family be allowed to use the camp as well. My mom spent summers at the Balsams with her cousins and then brought us there as well. We all have many good memories of being at the Balsams with our family.

This summer, we all made it up to the Balsams for the first time in five years. Nate, the girls, and I spent the week with my parents, my cousins and their families as well as my brother and aunt and uncle. Some others came for a few days as well.

It was a great week. Some family wounds were healed and some were undoubtedly were created. Isn't that how it goes in families, though? I don't have many cousins or much extended family that we see regularly. But we were always close to my cousins in Illinois growing up. Now that we are all adults, we still enjoy being together and Eagle River is the place where we can all gather.

I haven't stayed up until 2 or 3 in the morning all week since college, but we had a great time playing games until the wee hours of the morning. It was wonderful to have our girls up there too and for them to meet their cousins ( I think they are 2nd cousins) and spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. Since we live far away from all of our family, we cherish the time we get to spend with family.

After Eagle River, we spent a few days at Nate's parents house as well. Glad to be home, but thankful for the time with our families!

A Bedtime Ritual

Nate has been playing this one particular game with the girls for a very long time. He pretends to fall asleep and they have to give him a kiss to wake him up. He snores and blows air and really makes a huge scene. The girls and I flew home from Houston a few months ago, and Nate was in the terminal waiting to help us with all our stuff. He saw us from a distance and by the time we reached him, he was plastered against the wall pretending to be asleep. Of course, the girls giggled with delight and ran up to Nate to "wake him up" with kisses.

This little game took a dramatic turn last week. We play this game with Jenna before bed. Jenna and I go upstairs to put jammies on, brush teeth, etc, and then we crawl in her bed and hide in her covers, pretending to be asleep. Last week, I heard Nate coming (he always clears his throat on the stairs so we know he's close) and I peeked my head out of the covers and busted out laughing. I saw something very similar to the picture above! Nate has taken to dressing up every night before he comes to "wake Jenna up." Parts of his outfit often include a princess tiara, sunglasses, a Cinderella or Snow White dress tied around his waist, a jump rope, a wand, and any of the girls' play jewelry. He really is a sight!

Just thought I'd share a little of Nate with you all. I hope Nate doesn't do this when the girls are 12, but I have a feeling the embarrassment is just starting.

Prayers and Heaven

During our bedtime prayers tonight, Jenna added on one of her own that was too cute not to share. It went something like this, "Thank you for Jesus. Thank you that Jesus loves us. When you say nasty words, Jesus doesn't like it very much and you have to go to your room and apologize. But Jesus loves us always. Jesus loves when we sing to him. He dances and sings too when we sing. Thank you for Jesus and his heart. Be blessed."

While we are on the subject of Jesus, Jenna constantly tells me that she is sad that we can't go to heaven to see Jesus. She knows that Great-grandpa Chase is there and thinks that it would be a cool place to go. I just tell her that He wants us to stay here and tell other people about how much He loves us, but she still doesn't get the heaven thing. She doesn't understand why we can't see Jesus either, but there's plenty of time to work on her theology!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Tamara, Happy Birthday to you!

Today is my dear friend, Tamara's 30th birthday, and I just wanted to give her a shout out on her special day. She's a little apprehensive about being 30, but I've been telling her that it's coo1 to be 30! What more could we ask for? We have great families, jobs, and a God who loves us unconditionally! So what if she drives around in her SUV playing either Veggie Tales or Bon Jovi? Both are awesome and so is being 30!

I'll watch Bon Jovi unplugged tonight and think of you:)