Introducing Sleepy Jennifer

I'm sorry to admit this, but I probably need to be medicated. Does anyone know a good psychiatrist? I'm afraid I suffer from multiple personality disorder. I have heard rumors for years now about someone who lives in my skin that acts completely unlike me. I'll list a few of the rumors I've heard.

Years ago I heard about a time when my sweet Cowboy had the runs. (sorry to be so blunt). He was miserable and apparently Sleepy Jennifer told him she would go to the store for some medicine for him once she got a little more sleep. He proceeded to drive himself to the store, stand in a checkout line with anti-diarrheal medicine in hand, and almost make a total mess of the place while waiting for the credit card machine to be fixed. She sounds just horrible!

Then there's the one that never goes away...
Apparently when Sleepy Jennifer takes over she's more than willing to divulge personal information for any inquirer. Many people have told me of these antics of hers. I can't believe she could tell on me! I also have to add that I'm so happy I've always been a fairly good girl.

I also have some foggy recollections of lying in bed next to Cowboy and feeling my elboy in his side. Everytime this happens I hear a baby crying. I'm not sure what that's all about. On a sidenote, our munchkins have always been so perfect. They rarely require me to get up with them during the night. Odd, don't you think?

Cowboy has told me that Sleepy Jennifer has awakened him multiple times during the night muttering jibberish to him. Weird, I'm not fluent in another language.

I'm beginning to wonder if maybe Sleepy Jennifer is the reason for our parenting rule:
"Nothing you say in the middle of the night to each other counts the next morning."

The Gift of Time

We are always too busy for our children; we never give them the time or interest they deserve. We lavish gifts upon them; but the most precious gift, our personal association, which means so much to them, we give grudgingly.
- Mark Twain

My mom is a ROCK STAR when it comes to spending time with her grandkids! Oh, if I could be as good at spending quality time with my kids as she is with her grandkids. Yesterday we were iced in, so she and Dad had us over for lunch. My younger sister and her family also came, because they are just around the corner (you can see her house from my house) and could safely walk to Mom & Dad's. Anyway, we ate a wonderful lunch and then played for the afternoon.

This morning she came over to bring us what we inadvertently left in her fridge yesterday. Then she spent close to an hour working with C-Man on a blueprint of his dream home. (Cowboy made a deal with him last night that as soon as his school was finished he could draw blueprints--I've never seen that kid whip through his school work so fast!)

Did I mention she also has had a niece of mine for 3 days? When you ask Mom what her hobbies are, she quickly replies, "playing with my grandkids". Mondays are my kids' "Nana Days". They LIVE for Nana Day! Little I wants every day to be a Nana Day! Seriously, he asks every day to go to Nana's. (Can you blame him? She lives directly across the street and always has fruit snacks and Kool-Aid.) My older sisters' kids also have Nana Days on Mondays and my younger sisters' kids get Nana Days on Fridays. WOW! It makes me tired to think about it.

Take this post as a challenge. Spend TIME with the ones you love!!!

Have a great day. I'm off to spend time with my kids!

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22

"Do not put out the spirit's fire. Do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil."
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22

Oops--I forgot to be accountable to anyone reading this to let you know what my family was memorizing last week. Again, God helped my Diet Coke-disabled brain retain a bit of His Word. However, some in our family had a hard time with this one, so we're working on it again this week. (Girls rocked on this one!)

Here's a bit of information to let you know that Cowboy and I are truly crazy...

We were discussing the "avoid every kind of evil" part of these verses with our kids when Miss B gave our family devotion using this scripture. Something that we've felt a strong conviction about is really monitoring what we allow into our thoughts through media. Cowboy and I decided quite a while ago to not see rated R movies. We felt like by eliminating rated R movies we could really undo some of our minds' tendencies to think and focus on things that aren't pure. For me it's something easy to eliminate. With the way my thoughts go, it's good that I can eliminate something. There are enough other things in life that take my thoughts off of things that are good, pure, lovely, and worthy of praise.

Just another bit of God's Word to tuck away in our hearts to use on a rainy day when the enemy attacks.

NoBo is on the Scene

Back in October I walked into the nursery at our homeschool co-op and was immediately taken back by a beautiful baby boy. I said to the ladies working in the nursery, "I don't know whose baby boy that is, but I want him." They went on to tell me that he was the new foster baby of one of our Keystone families. Oh, how beautiful he was. Everytime I saw his foster mom I would acknowledge the fact they loved this little guy, but would also remind her that we would take great care of him if it ever came to that. Never in a million years did I ever think that was a possibility.

Yesterday morning this precious little guy came to live with us. We have kept him the last couple weekends to give his foster family a break. When we got news that Little Bit would go home, we started checking into the possibility of getting him as an "official" foster placement.

For the sake of the blog, I'll call him NoBo. We believe that because God's love for us has no boundaries, we're able to love on little ones with no boundaries. NoBo has several similarities to our Little I when he first arrived at our home. He's malnourished, very delayed developmentally, and very low-maintenance because of the neglect he's experienced.

We, of course, are praying he's able to bond quickly with us. With that being said, he came to us with an ear infection. He feels just horrible. We think this is somewhat of a blessing. We're able to spend endless hours holding him and loving on him.

I completely understand that people think we're crazy to only take a 24 hour break between foster placements. My response to that is very simple. God doesn't always call us to do sane things and mine and Cowboy's goal is to be in God's will, giving glory to Him daily. We want to be living examples of that to our children.

So now I'm off to take care of a sick little one and get a dresser and closet rearranged and filled with little boy clothes.

Well THAT Didn't go Like I Expected

Well, we got back about an hour ago from taking Little Bit home. Can I just say what a great sense of humor God has?
The night we had last night took me back to about a year ago, when Little Bit had horrible nights. She screamed until 12:30 this morning, whether being held or not. She then woke up around 2:30 doing the same thing. This morning she was crabby! Needless to say, I couldn't get ready and out the door fast enough!
Cowboy was gone all evening and we did not get to pray over her like I wanted. I was too busy being mom and didn't get my Dad to come over and dedicate her. I STINK at follow-through.
If you didn't already know that about me, sorry to shatter any thoughts of grandeur you had of me. Here's the truth: I SERIOUSLY STINK AT FOLLOW-THROUGH! OK, I'm probably being a bit harsh on myself, but it's how I'm feeling.
The good news is that Little Bit's mom told me and the kids today to not be sad. She said, "You can seriously have her whenever you want her." That made me happy! Not only will we still get to see her, but her mom understands the need to get breaks.

Little Bit Going Home

Little Bit, our precious foster baby, came home with us as a newborn from the hospital in August of 2007. We were told it would be a short placement. WOW!!! It has now been over 17 months. I received the "official" word today that she will be going home on Friday.
Is it going to be hard to take her home? Absolutely! But, then again, almost every day with her in our home has been hard. She's been the most difficult baby we've ever had. My friend gave me a suggestion last night that I think our family will follow through with. She suggested we each right out a prayer for her and pray these prayers over her. Also, another friend said they always baptize their babies before they went to their forever homes. (Her husband is a minister, by the way). Well, we dedicate our children to God when they're young. So I think I'll call my Dad, who's a minister, and have him walk across the street tomorrow to dedicate her little life to the Lord.
Cowboy and I have several concerns for her little life. First of all, he's the only man in her life. She'll be living in a home with a mom and 3 siblings (all from different biological dads), but no Daddy. Secondly, her mom is a single mom who will be raising 4 kids. Thirdly, her mom is a recovered user. Fourthly, although her mom loves her and loves God, she will not have the kind of upbringing that my kids have. :( OK, that's it. I'm not listing anymore because I'm getting a little sad. You get the picture.
Even through the sadness, Friday can't come soon enough for me. I know this sounds harsh, but God has truly guarded my heart. Little Bit makes me cry out to God daily for help and we're really ready for another brown skin boy in our home.
36 more hours.

Keeping Their Vows

Today my parents are celebrating their 41st anniversary. Cowboy's parents will celebrate their 41st anniversary next month. For me this means we have been given a great gift--the gift of our parents' examples of lasting marriages.

In a world full of people who don't keep their vows to God and each other, mine and Cowboy's parents are a testimony to God and His faithfulness to His people. Their marriages reflect God's love and forgiveness to His people.

A few weeks ago my mother-in-law told me of a friend of hers whose parents were going through a divorce. I very firmly told she and my father-in-law, "If either one of you ever choose to divorce the other, I'll shoot you dead." We all got a good laugh, but seriously! I can't imagine what that would do to my husband, me, my kids, or the other member of that marriage!

Today I'm just thankful for these awesome marriages!

Pasta E Fagioli

OK, I know a few people were waiting for my feedback on this copycat recipe I tried Tuesday. Because it was a co-op day, I was happy to try a new slowcooker recipe.

Cowboy LOVED it. As you can hopefully tell by the picture (even though my camera nor my photography skills are very good) it is a meatier recipe than the Olive Garden version. Meatier is better according to Cowboy.

So here's what I did.
Ingredients
1 1/2 pound ground beef
1 small onion
1 large carrot julienned
3 stalks celery chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
2 cans diced tomatoes - 14 1/2 oz each
1 can red kidney beans - 15 oz(with liquid)
1 can great northern beans - 15 oz(with liquid)
1 can tomato sauce - 15 oz
3 cans beef broth - 10 oz each
1 can V-8 juice - 12 oz
1 T white vinegar
1 1/2 t salt
1 t oregano
1 t basil
1/2 t freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 t thyme
1/2 pound pasta (I used mini shells, but the recipe called for ditali)
Instructions
Brown beef, drain, and add to slowcooker with everything except pasta.
Cook on low for 7-8 hours (or high 4-5 hours).
During last hour add pasta (or during last 30 minutes on high).

What I loved:
1. It was not a mushy, one flavor dish at the end like some slowcooker recipes I've tried. You could still taste the distinct flavors of the beans, for example. My munchkins, who aren't big soup eaters, were more than willing to get seconds on it. (You could probably even throw some pureed carrots in for an extra dose of veggies).
2. All the prep work was done the night before and my Crockpot insert was placed in the fridge with the lid on it until Tuesday just before we walked out the door. I then placed it in the cooking part of the Crockpot (don't know the technical terms) as we were walking out the door to have fun with our Keystone Cooperative families.
3. It was a HUGE pot of soup that I've had for lunch each day during this chilly week.
4. We had an excuse to eat white bread--garlic breadsticks. :)

Helping the Homeless....Or are We?

Several years ago some of our good friends shared with us a very easy way that their family helps homeless people. Since then we've tried to do our part. A couple weeks ago while Miss B & I were gone skiing, Cowboy and the boys were out running errands. C-Man was disturbed by the fact that they drove by homeless people and were unprepared. So the boys made a run to Sam's and were ready to offer a bag of hope to homeless people on street corners.

The bags are easy to assemble, easy to keep under the driver's seat of a car, and are always greatly appreciated. In the above picture are the items they purchased to fill this batch of bags. We always include in a brown paper lunch sack (by the looks of this Sam's purchase we'll have paper bags in stock until all our children are grown) a fruit cup, something with some protein (this time it was peanut butter crackers), a bottle of water, a plastic spoon, and sometimes a peppermint. We usually decorate the brown paper sacks with markers and tell the people who receive them that God loves them.

In the last couple weeks we've given out several sacks. It makes our hearts smile to get the sincere thanks from the men and women who receive the sacks. However, I'm now afraid that we've given them the gift of salmonella! YIKES!!! I heard today about a potential recall of peanut butter crackers. I did a little research and discovered that the particular kind of crackers we bought are on the list of items potentially affected. I'm throwing away the remainder of the crackers we haven't given yet and praying we have not made some homeless person sick.

James 1:19

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

YES!!! Just so you know, that was from memory. Which means my old brain still works! I memorized it by my Tuesday evening deadline. Our family has been a bit lax lately about scripture memory. So with the New Year came a resolve to memorize His Word together. Each Tuesday we get a new scripture.

OK, Little I's version of this is only, "Everyone should be quick to listen." I'm thinking I should have shortened it to, "LISTEN!" I love that kid so dearly that sometimes I forget he didn't come from my womb. (I know you're thinking, "Seriously, Jenn, you can look into those brown eyes set in a chocolate face, topped with black, curly hair and forget you didn't actually birth him?) Anyway, I realize when we work on things like memory work or comprehension questions that he has some gaps that my bio kids didn't have. I've really got to pray that God bridges these gaps. He's been so faithful to bridge so many other developmental gaps for Little I already that I am excited to see this gap bridged as well!

Cooking Music

When I know I'm going to be in the kitchen for a while, I pull out Robert Randolph and the Family Band. I was introduced to them in October when Cowboy took me to see my all-time favorite band, Switchfoot. Did I mention Jars of Clay and Third Day were also playing that night? (As well as Red, which we missed.) What a great night!

Anyway, I fell in love with Robert Randolph and the Family Band at this concert. There's no physical way to be still while listening to their music. Unfortunately, sitting next to me was Debbie Downer, who is a K-Love Insider (or whatever they're called). After Robert Randolph and his band finished all she had to say was, "Well, his sister needed some work." (Can you hear the Debbie Downer music from SNL playing and can you see her face? You know the one I'm talking about!) I chose to not let her steal my joy!

In fact I wish Debbie could just see my face everytime I ridiculously dance around the kitchen!!! She will never steal this joy! Actually I'm listening to them right now & can't sit still or wipe the smile off my face. This man works miracles with a steel guitar! Check them out!

Sorry if I've offended any of you K-Love people. K-Love's great and all, but it just puts me to sleep. I prefer a little edgier stuff (TobyMac, Family Force 5, Thousand Foot Krutch, Switchfoot, Kutless, Need to Breathe,...).

Whisked Away!

One of the things I gave Cowboy for our anniversary was a new whisk. I know this may sound weird, but everytime he's gone to make pancakes lately I have heard, "We used to have a wire whisk. Too bad we don't anymore." He knows full well what happened to our whisk, he just loves bugging me. We both love attempting to get under each others' skin. He's much more successful than me. Nothing ruffles that guy's feathers! I, on the other hand, get my feathers ruffled WAY too easily.

OK, to the missing whisk. On September 1 I had the privilege of hanging out with my dad in his barn while Miss B's pig, Pearl, had babies. We had to be there because Pearl turned into a witch (my dad's word for her for the day) when she had her babies. She killed the first one before he could get to the farm that day. She would have killed all the others if we had not been vigilent about protecting their little lives that day.

My dad grew up on a farm, but I did not. He didn't purchase his first piece of land until about the same time as I married Cowboy. Cattle are his true passion, but he bought a couple of pigs last year for the grandkids to show. Little did he know when he bought those pigs just how much work they were going to be!

Back to baby pig delivery day. C-Man stayed with my dad for a few hours that day. They needed more supplies (food, drinks, and a wire whisk to mix some man-made colostrum) so we headed out there in the afternoon. It was also Opening Day of Dove Season (capitalized because it is a holiday), which meant Cowboy and some of his comrades would be heading to the farm anyway to shoot some birds. So, as a family, the rest of us gathered supplies and hunting gear for the afternoon/evening.

By the time we got there my dad was exhausted and C-Man was ready to leave his post as the labor and delivery nurse. I took over C-Man's job so that he could run off and "hunt" with his dad and Grandad. Miss B & Cowboy also went hunting. Dad, the lead obstetrician, and I stayed in the barn. I don't recall how many alive babies there were at the time, maybe 4. I was exhilerated! What fun! I got to help with newborns. Who doesn't love a newborn? OK, I know the newborns were only pigs, but they were SO cute!

I quickly learned my high-pressure job. There were huge stakes involved--little lives. My job was to help my dad grab the babies once they were born, wipe them down, cut their umbilical cords, dip them in iodine, and tie them off. The scariest job came next. The babies were placed with their mama to nurse. However, Pearl's main goal in life was to kill her babies once they were born. One of us had to constantly stand by her head with a long stick thing (my farm implements' vocabulary is miniscule) and fling the babies away from her head's reach. At first I was afraid I would hurt these precious newborns. Then I witnessed Pearl being the witch that she was named that day! YIKES--that woman had some serious hormonal issues going on during delivery. If the babies got close she would make a horrible sound that even the dove hunters could hear. She would try to slash them with her teeth, like she did the first one. At one point she stood up and then waited until one of the babies got under her to try to nurse and she laid back down on top of it. It's not easy getting a laboring several hundred pound hog off a little newborn!

We finally gave up on allowing her babies the chance to nurse on their mama. Our goal became keeping them warm. We sent my brother-in-law and sister to look for colostrum (man-made) at a fairly local farm store. We mixed colostrum and attempted to bottle feed those sweet newborns. At the end of the long day we placed her six living newborns with Tink, the other mama, who did her best to care for these newborns alongside her 2-week olds. Unfortunately, only 1 of Pearl's baby survived. :(

Needless to say, we never regained posseession of the wire whisk. Our old whisk was placed on a much more major mission than pancake-making. It was on a life-saving mission. And as for Cowboy? Pancake-making has not been the same since the loss of his wire whisk. In a few minutes Cowboy will wake up and happily make a batch of pancakes with his new wire whisk. We also might even have a side of bacon or sausage with our pancakes. Nothing's better than farm-fresh pork for breakfast. (Thanks, Pearl, for tasting so yummy!)

Sweet 16

Today Cowboy & I are celebrating our Sweet 16! Oh, and the years have been sweet!

Because Cowboy always likes to talk in terms of dates and what happened on them, I did my best to recap only the big events from each year of our married lives.

Don't feel obligated to read...this is truly part of my gift to him.

Year 1--On Spring Break we took our Honeymoon to Colorado--both of us being too young to be the driver of our rental car. I had to read that stupid book, Anpao, for Dr. McKinley's Children's Literature class. (Dr. McKinley was such a godly man and it broke my heart 2 years after I graduated from OSU to learn that he and one of his daughters died in a horrible car wreck).

Year 2--We both graduated from OSU together.

Year 3--We got our first dog together, Bogey. Little did we know that she was going to exceed the pet weight limit at our apartment very quickly!!! We saved for our first house and on August 17th we moved into our 1st home at 1733 Ridgeway Dr.

Year 4--We took a road trip to Tennessee. We enjoyed our time planning a vacation just for us. Also, after 13 long months of trying to have a baby, I was expecting our first child.

Year 5--Miss B was born! Quickly we learned what financial sacrifices we were willing to make so that I could stay home. I quit my teaching job and began my job as Mommy. We kept up with our regular activities with a very easy baby in tow.

Year 6--Cowboy lost his job. Although we were scared out of our minds, God showed us His providence. We survived it and God showed us he had a better plan. I began teaching for PET, later to become Excel.

Year 7--We went to Disney World for the first time. We tried to have a second child and cut our time in half! WOO HOO! It only took 6 months to conceive this time.

Year 8--C-Man was born and we learned what it was like to have a "difficult" baby. He was born via an emergency c-section and immediately afterward I knew I wasn't finished having kids. Besides his c-section birth, he wouldn't take a bottle or pacifier, was colicky, had a sever allergic reaction to an antibiotic, ...

Year 9--We began to seriously consider moving to a bigger house.

Year 10--We moved to Surrey, where both of our parents live, after living with Cowboy's parents for a few months. (They were very sweet to let us invade their home for so long). We officially began our homeschool journey with Miss b being in Kindergarten.

Year 11--Our family became involved with a sweet little homeschool co-op. We had no idea when we began this that it would later become what it is today. (www.keystonecooperative.com)


Year 12--I finally convinced Cowboy we needed a third child. Even though my womb had known this for a while, he was finally on board with this plan. We took the kiddos on a vacation that didn't involve our family. We had a great time in Colorado Springs with them.

Year 13--By this time we desperately wanted another child. We had done the initial fertility tests again (like we did before our first child) and things looked rather bleak for us. So...I made an appointment with a fertility specialist. The night before the appointment, Cowboy gave me the heart-to-heart about how ridiculous this was that we had 2 healthy kids and were potentially looking at fertility treatments. We cancelled the appointment and soon-after began paperwork to become foster/adoptive parents.

Year 14--Little I came home. He was almost 10 months old and weighed 13 pounds. It took little time for us to fall in love with him.

Year 15--We took the 2 big kids on a fabulous 8-night trip to Disney World. We left Little I with Aunt Melody so we could have an overload of big kid fun!!! Little Bit was born and came from the hospital straight to our home.

Year 16--My parents took me and Cowboy and both of my sisters and their husbands on a trip to Puerto Vallarta to celebrate their 40th anniversary. We had the most amazing time!!!

16 Years Ago

Sixteen years ago tonight I said goodnight to Cowboy and parted ways with him before bedtime for the last time. I went to my parents' house and stayed up late talking to my childhood friend who came to town to help me with the Big Day. We giggled just as we had as children. We talked about how crazy it was that I was actually getting married the next day.

Now when I look back on it I realize it must have seemed crazy to many people. We were young. I was 20 and he was 21. We were still in college. The odds were against us. I'm sure our parents caught flack from people who like to stick their noses where they don't belong.

Looking back, though, there's nothing I would change!

I LOVE that we got married young. I LOVE that we didn't have any money. I LOVE that we were madly in love with each other. (& we still are!) I LOVE that we survived finals together as a married couple. I LOVE that Cowboy took pictures of me in our bed with notes I was studying propped up in front of me while I was fast asleep. (Some things never change). I LOVE that the weekend we got married we moved him into my apartment and the old lady downstairs instantly hated him (he walked too loudly)! I LOVE that we went to Lambda Chi parties as a married couple. I LOVE that we got to babysit once a week together for two very precious little girls while we were still in college. I LOVE that we don't remember much of life without the other. I LOVE that when we went on our honeymoon I wasn't even old enough to play those silly slot machines at Cripple Creek. I LOVE that neither of us were old enough to drive the rental car on our honeymoon.

I LOVE COWBOY!!!

What do you call a female elephant?

A mom came to me at the end of our homeschool co-op day today and said, "Hey! I've got to tell you what C-Man said today." I stopped dead in my tracks with my short little procession of preschoolers looking for their moms to hear what she had to say. During their Land Animals (Apologia Zoology 3) class the teacher asked if anyone knew what the name of a female elephant was. My son raised his hand instantly and told her it was Cinderelephant!

I think I tried to fake a shocked face, but I'm not a good actor. Nothing that kid says could really shock me. He did recently put on his blog that Uranus has a black hole called the chocolate chunker. (A mom couldn't be prouder).

The Judge who oversaw Little I's case and finalized his adoption for us does a great job of involving the whole family in the finalization. He not only swore in me and Cowboy, but also Miss B. Anyway, he spoke to C-Man about the fact that people would question whether or not he and Little I were actually brothers. He told C-Man he needed to think of crazy stories to tell people when they questioned the 2 of them. He also said that C-Man should treat Little I like any other siblings, atomic wedgies and all. If the Judge only knew who he was dealing with! This kid NEVER needs to be asked to come up with a funny story about anything. However, since he was given this order from a Judge, he obeyed.

The stories he's come up with have to do with chocolate dipping machines, time variations in a tanning bed, twins separated at birth, etc.

Not Me! Monday

OK, here we are at another Not Me! Monday. You seriously need to check out MckMama's blog at www.mycharmingkids.net.



So I went out with Cowboy the other night and did NOT overeat at Olive Garden and I totally DID NOT ignore their little low-fat olive branch symbol on their no-taste menu items. Not me!

Then I did not suggest that we go out for cupcakes and hot cocoa. Furthermore, I would never get the largest size hot cocoa and also ask for whipped cream.

I did not fall asleep on the couch last night while "grading" papers. That would never happen to someone as alert and studious as me!

While caravaning with 2 church vans to and from Colorado last week, my old bladder was never the reason for more frequent stops. I did not force the driver to pull over for a bathroom break, even though the other van was in the lead, causing a delay for the whole group. I am too considerate of others to do something like that.

Saturday morning I did not thoroughly enjoy adult conversation after a meeting while my sweet Cowboy was at home with 2 boys taking down all the Christmas decorations. What kind of a wife do you think I am? I'm appalled to think you'd believe I would knowingly leave him at home doing that gloriously fun work.

Home Alone

Last night we left the munchkins home alone for the first time. OK, they weren't completely alone. Cowboy & I went out on a double date with another couple, so their kids were also at our house. Just so you know, we have left our 3 munchkins home alone during the day before, but never after dark.

We left them with plenty of food for dinner and snacks, 4 Wii remotes, and each other. The alarm was to be set as soon as we left the house. We were feeling pretty good about it all.

We ate dinner, then headed to Cuppies & Joe , a new place we had just learned about this week. We found a parking place and made our way into the old, quaint house that is home to this yummy spot. Once we got inside we began feeling a bit like the house we were in, OLD! There were several college-age-looking kids there hanging out. We ordered our cupcakes and drinks, then found a table and a game to play. We sat around eating and playing Sequence for quite a while before we got the call. The kids wanted to know if we were going to a movie. We told them no, we were having coffee, cocoa, and dessert. They told us to call before we headed home. We assumed they needed all the time they could get to put things back in order.

A little before 10 we got another call saying one of our children got scared of some noises and they called my parents, who live directly across the street. My dad walked over and got the child and took the child to their house to be loved on for a while.

We arrived back home close to 11 to a white-covered sweetgum tree in our front yard. No, we didn't get snow. We got toilet-papered! Apparently those middle school boys who did the t.p.-ing had made the noise that scared one of our children. The inside of the house was fairly clean and everyone survived it!

Cowboy & I did far-better than survive it, though! We're ready for more date nights!!!

Needing a Little Recharge

So here's a look at what our house was like on Christmas evening. Everything takes batteries! It's all I can do to keep the uncharged swapped out for the charged. OK. Let's be honest. It's all Cowboy can do to keep the Wii remotes, Guitar Praise guitar, C-Man's new spy vehicle, Miss B's camera, Little I's V-Smile handheld game (basically a DS for preschoolers), and our camera equipped with fully charged batteries. This list doesn't even include the items around the house that must be plugged in to be recharged (I-pods, cell phones, DS, Gameboys, video camera).
As I read historical fiction books to my kids we discuss how we love living today with so many modern conveniences, although I can't help but have a slight yearning for a more simple time.