oncearose's Xanga

my dearest, xanga... so long for now

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 04:21:32 GMT

after much thought and procrastination i've decided to move my blogging from xanga to blogger. boo hoo! :) just kidding, i have really loved the xanga community since i first started reading here back in 2002. i have personally blogged here for the past 5 years. i've shared a lot about our lives over the past few years. i will most definitely continue to read here so keep posting! :)

please come and visit me over at http://cowlicksandcurls.blogspot.com and let me know if you do! comments make me happy! :)

may you be blessed in every way!

jennifer

summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime!

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 03:42:23 GMT

***EDIT- I just realized that I posted this as a "private" post last Tuesday. oops! :)***

today was a good summer day. lots of sunshine and swimming, spending time with friends and family, and a yummy summertime dinner.

cuz'n abby holding gracie

sarah jo

sophie (she usually enjoys pool-time by watching from the side/steps)

before we went to the pool this afternoon i prepared blueberry cobbler for the crockpot (i got the recipe here. good stuff!) and put on a pork loin in the oven. mmm mmmmm! the house smelled yummy when we got home. both the girls were so tired when we got in so sophie and daddy took a nap in the chair and grace snoozed in her carrier. i changed clothes and got busy peeling potatoes and slicing okra. so we had pork loin (slow baked in liquid smoke), mashed taters, fried okra, fresh tomato, and yeast rolls. in a little bit we'll have some blueberry cobbler. yum-o!

(not the greatest pic... but you get the idea!)

grace may not be able to eat with us yet, but she still got a good taste of summertime cooking! yesterday we ran out of baby food so i decided to bite the bullet and make her some. (you can see how much i hate going to wal-mart!) i baked a sweet potato, steamed yellow squash from ma ma ma's garden and cooked the green beans that i purchased at the farmer's market. daniel helped me puree it all in the blender and i froze them in ice cube trays. it was pretty easy and i definitely do it again. so tonight gracie b. summer squash and green beans. yummy!

look yummy to you? :)

dan just took the girls to his dad's and i've got to get the kitchen clean... the only downfall of all that summer cooking! :)

tomorrow sophie is going to t-town to spend some time with mom and junie. she is looking forward to it and so am i. it will be a good break for all of us.

(check out grace's swirl. )

(jen with some summertime freckles!)

(laid back dan-o-soph took these pics of us)

(the munchkin herself- the almost THREE year old munchkin. crazy!)

ps- thank you so much the sweet comments and "happy anniversary" greetings!

going to grandma's house...

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:42:05 GMT

yesterday sophie woke up happy. it was the day to see neena and junie (and michael john, and maddie, and cats, as she affectionately calls them). but first she needed to have breakfast- some toast with peanut butter and syrup and some milk in a big girl cup. (her new favorite) then it was time to do some "work" her "poohed" work (which sounds like "pooped" work.) she really enjoys working in her winnie the pooh preschool workbook. :) she did great matching colored veggies to the correct basket. of course her favorite part was "bluing" them on. she remained quite pleasant throughout the morning as she picked out her clothes and played with grace. no major messes to report. how different from most mornings... :) she said her goodbyes to mimi, pappy and her daddy and we were on our way. mammy graciously offered to go with us for the ride. we made it to spiro and sophie was ready to go! she loves spending time with neena and junie and of course maddie the puppy! (she informed us that michael john and the cats are "mean!") we all kissed goodbye and grace let me know that she wanted out of her carseat and wanted to go with neena too!

here is sophie with two of her most favorite people- junie & neena. i love the look on her face. :)

after we dropped sophie off, mom and i thought about our eating options in poteau... burger king, braums, a local mexican restaurant? we decided to be brave and try "la huerta." it was great. all the staff loved grace! she ate some sweet potatoes and demonstrated her amazing octopus arms once again. (she has amazing range in her bumbo. long, busy arms get into lots of stuff!) mom spent several minutes texting some unknown teenager who accidentally sent her a "disgusting" text and i had an interesting conversation about breastfeeding (in broken english) with one of the hispanic male owners. besides that we had a nice visit. :)

gracie b. with mammy at "la huerta"

after la huerta, we had a to make a stop at "dollar tree." mom & i can't some into such a close proximity of a dollar tree (without our husbands) and not go in!! we shopped for a while and i found some great preschool activity books and flashcards for sophie. grace rode around in the front of the cart for the first time and loved it.

after about an hour in dollar tree we decided we better get back in the road. mom wanted an iced coffee from mcdonalds so we found one. no iced coffee there so mom decided on a dipped cone. i ordered, paid at the first window and for some crazy reason i just drove off without the goods. so....i backed up, got out, and walked up to the second window. she looked at me funny and gave me our order. i tried to get back in the van with two drinks and an ice-cream cone... didn't happen! the poor ice cream cone bit the dust and melted as it slid down the asphalt. we cracked up! i asked mom if she wanted me to get her another one, but she said no... she felt like she obviously was not supposed to have that ice cream! :)

we made it home. the house is so quiet without sophie.

absence truly does make the heart grow fonder....

remembering

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:31:28 GMT

six years ago tonight i was celebrating the best day of my life. my wedding to daniel. we stood on holy ground before the God who wove our lives together and about 300 of our family of friends. had a blast at the reception and around 11 o'clock pm headed to our new home. a balloon arbor met us and daniel carried me over the threshold to a humble home with beautiful red rose petals covering the hard wood floors. there were candles lit everywhere. what an amazing night, a holy night and a beautiful beginning to the rest of our lives.

five years ago tonight daniel and i prepared for a cross country trip to southern california in a u-haul. what an adventure. we moved all of his mom's belongings including her car and i made it to the west coast for the very first time. we had such a good time. i think the highlight for me was sitting on laguna beach in the evening and having a deep and lengthy conversation about the first year of our marriage. had our expectations been fulfilled? how had we handled the curve balls thrown our way and how had we grown together during that first year. it was memorable time.

four years ago tonight daniel and i were in corinto, nicaragua leading a mission trip. our hosts kindly dropped us off at a nice restaurant where we celebrated with a steak dinner nicaragua style! once we made it back to the mission house our group sweetly serenaded us and we all had cake to celebrate. it was completely unexpected and a lot of fun. the theme of our trip and ministry centered around sexual purity and we were able to share our testimony a number of times. what a sweet trip.

three years ago tonight i was eight months pregnant with sophie rose! we had lots of family in for sophie's baby shower. daniel came with me to the shower and we were so very blessed! what an amazing time that was... preparing for the birth of our first child. what a blessing she is and oh how she has changed our lives! the year following her birth held such delight in having her, but also much sorrow as we faced tight finances, unexpected health problems and the normal challenges of having a new baby in the home. thank You Lord for leading us through.

two years ago tonight i can not honestly tell you what was doing. most likely spending a low key night with my husband and almost one year old sweetie. we were pursing buying a new home, pinching pennies, dan was working at true north and were enjoying one another. our love has changed so much as it has grown over the past few years.

one year ago tonight daniel and i were in rogers, ar celebrating and having a much needed getaway weekend. sophie was in tulsa with my mom, i was a few months pregnant with grace and was finally getting over some of the yucky morning sickness. we spent three nights away and had such a wonderful time. we slept, ate, shopped, talked and reminisced about our wedding day five years ago.

tonight we are home. we celebrated earlier in the weekend by sleeping in and then by taking the girls to a water park today. you can tell we have small kids in the house. no trips to california this year or even to rogers. but, what a great weekend we have had!

daniel gave me the sweetest and most beautiful card that basically said "i would marry you all over again today." thank you so much, daniel. i've learned a lot over the past six years. i've changed a lot too. i've learned how different we are. to what extent you are a cleanie and i am a messie. i've learned what it means to disagree with you, but to submit and let you lead because you are my husband and the head of this household. i've learned to cook dinner and clean house and pay bills and devote my life to taking care of you and our two girls. i've learned what it means to face trials- in finances, in health scares and problems, in family situations, in work changes, in church changes, in having a baby in nicu,and in the challenges of raising a strong willed child with you. i've also celebrated with you as we've welcomed the two most precious little girls into the world, as we graduated college together, as we saw the opening of true north, as we bought and remodeled our first home together and so much more! the good has far outweighed the bad. i've learned to how hold on to your hand as we seek God together on behalf of our little family. and in the end if i had it to do over again, i would most definitely choose you again. thank you for choosing me. and thank You, Lord for causing our paths to cross and our lives to mesh into one. thank you for blessing our lives so abundantly!

six years isn't really that long. what a ride it has been. i can't wait to see what happens in the next 50+ years! :)

thanks for listening...

(i've tried to find pictures from each year but they are on different computers and on disks. maybe i can find more tomorrow. it's WAY past my bed time.)

fun filled family day!

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 02:55:29 GMT

today we decided to get out of the house a little bit and explore some of arkansas. after church and a great lunch with my parents at la villa we headed to murfreesboro, ar to crater of diamonds state park. no, we didn't hunt for diamonds today. way too hot! but, we did enjoy their water park. it was perfect for sophie since the deepest the water got was 3 ft. we all had a great time. it was just a little too short! sophie made some new friends, daddy took sophie on the slide and grace spashed herself silly. she absolutely loves the water and doesn't seem to mind that she spashes herself right in the face! my only regret is that i didn't get any pictures. after about an hour of swimming i got out to feed grace with the hope of getting back in and playing on the slide and taking some pictures. unfortunatly, that didn't happen. the thunder and lightening started! crazy arkansas weather. we decided to go ahead and go before the big storm came. sophie was hungry so we thought about our three food choices in murfreesboro, ar- subway, pizza pro, or simple simons. we chose simple simons. we had a good dinner and a nice ride back home. all in all it was a great day! we definitely plan on going back there soon.

a great way to spend our sixth anniversary! :)

life in brewer-ville

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 03:46:36 GMT

(dan and i before out hot date! we've been together almost 7 years and i am so thankful. he is a gift from God to me.)

dan and i will be married for 6 years tomorrow at around 7:30pm. woo hoo! we celebrated last night with dinner and snuggling together with a movie. both girls spent the night out. they did great and we slept ridiculously late. wonderful!! gracie is sitting up. she enjoys playing on the floor and is trying to patty-cake...very sweet. sophie is doing pretty good too. we've had a bit of a difficult week. battle of the wills. sometimes it seems she wins. she likes to bake. this is good when mom is in the kitchen leading the way. not so good when mom is in another part of the house taking care of grace. she has learned to be sneaky and to say "it's not fair!" where did that come from? she also loves to tell us stories. usually about pigs or cows. "ponce upon a time..." dan has been working on the fence again. too bad it's 100 degrees outside. i have enjoyed facebook lately. also some new (to me) preschool idea blogs and some yummy recipe blogs. this week i have made three new meals that i got online. yummy stuff. i am actually working on a new blog. hopefully it will be presentable in a few days. no promises. i still have a lot of sinus pressure. checked my symptoms on web md today. interesting. looking forward to church tomorrow. it will be the first time dan and i will be in church together since the end of june. we're going to have a family day tomorrow. something outside that involves water i think. gotta beat the heat. just wanted to say hi. thanks for listening. what are you doing to beat the heat?

grace loves the water. splish splash!

sophie eating some yummy homemade ice cream this week.

early birds

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:51:26 GMT

the girls have been waking up between 6 -6:30 am this week. why? i've tried my best to get to bed around 10:30 so i can get up and get going at 6 am. it is much easier for me to stay up late, than to get up early. especially since i am still up at least twice with grace in the middle of the night. :) oh well. such is life with a baby. (at least in my house. i keep hearing of tiny babies sleeping through the night. how do you do it???)

this morning i decided i wanted to try and go to the farmer's market. i've never been before so i didn't really know how much $$ to take. i just really wanted some fresh blueberries to put in some muffins. i loaded up the girls and we went to get donut holes first. yummy! then we went to the farrmer's market. i have a sickness. for some reason i feel like i can't walk by a booth (or garage sale) without buying at least one thing. i guess i just have compassion on the sellers. so, i ended up spending $13.75 on donut holes, a jar of green beans, some honey bread, a bag of okra, and a small jar of salsa. no blueberries. oh well. next time i'll be more prepared and more deliberate on what i buy.

next, grace and i went into the resale store to look for a small bookcase for the girl's room. no luck on that, but i did find two matching wood chairs for $1 each that might make some good porch chairs. they definitely need some love! we'll see!

sophie's at mimi's for the day and grace is snoozing. looking forward to a productive thursday!

stinky house

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:07:12 GMT

i'm about to light some candles and kick it into high gear. our house stinks. there are only a few dishes in the sink, but they are pretty stinky! my guess is old oatmeal mixed with vinegar. i tried putting out a bowl of vinegar to get rid of the incessant fruit flys. they came on sat. morning and don't want to leave.

it's been one of those days. actually the last few have. the ones where sophie decides to not obey and to make as many messes as possible in one day. she has been very sneaky the past couple of days. i keep catching her climbing on her little chair and getting into the upper cabinets. where we keep stuff like cupcake sprinkles or permanent markers. yesterday she decided she has a real hankering for raw brown sugar. this morning she did some great artwork with a black sharpie on the upper cabinet door. lovely. thank goodness for magic erasers.

these are the kind of days when i call mom and ask if we can come over for lunch just to get out of our house for a little bit. and so sarah and sophie can play together and burn off some steam. we just got home and both the girls are asleep and i breathe deep a sigh of relief. (sometimes i feel guilty about my longing for naptime. anybody with me?)

maybe i did have one redeemable moment as a mother today (just kidding). my devo today was about moses and his God fearing mother who put him in the basket and into the river. i had just read about this story on angie smith's soul stirring blog and it's a great story about surrendering our children to the Lord. while i was reading sophie was in the playroom and i asked her to come to me and we reinacted the story of moses with a basket, a baby doll, a blanket and her moses story book. it was fun. hopefully she understood a little bit of it. i was definitely inspired to teach the girls the Word and Bible stories from a young age while watching The Nativity Story the other night. i just need to know how to do it? any ideas?

well, i seriously better get some work done. dan will be home soon and i want him to come home to a sweet smelling haven. we'll see. :)

wow, second one today...

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:57:28 GMT

so this evening i have spent 2.5 hrs alone so far. (i miss my family.)

i have read blogs, watched design star online, edited pics, listed to andy stanley (north point ministries) on i-tunes (check out his free podcasts. good stuff.), felt horrible, found a very good time managament blog. (check out her "daily docket"), looked at some yummy recipes, etc.

i decided to take a week off of blogging. which primarily means not reading 100 plus blogs that i do read on a semi-daily basis. i need to get stuff done. i need to clean house. i need to be creative. i need to connect with my children. i need to connect with my husband. i need to get our budget figured out. i need to establish a morning routine. i need to bake a dessert. i need to read my Bible, pray and seek God's face, i need to cultivate some friendships. i need to get outside, drink some water and feel better. be better.

i can't do those things from behind a computer screen.

but, before i do that great stuff i need to kick this fever, incessant head ache and nasea. :(

have a great week!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:55:11 GMT

still feverish and weak. ready to feel better. dan and the girls are asleep in my bedroom. hopefully i can catch a few zzzz's too.

the Lord is gracious and compassionate. He's slow to anger and rich in love.

i can be so self-centered sometimes. there are so many others hurting around me and beyond me in the world. i want to turn my eyes from myself and onto Jesus. God, help me to focus on You and on those who you want me to pray for.

missed you Crossing people at church today! it's been two weeks.