Happy Birthday Mom/Grammie!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MOM/GRAMMIE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Oh Mom! What can I say! I'm so thankful for you! Your love for your children and grandchildren is undeniable! Thank you for all you have given to us, spiritually, emotionally, materially. I'm so thankful God has given you good health, and I pray He will continue to grant you MANY more years! You are very special to me, Owen and the kids. I can't say enough how thankful we are to live near you!

I hope you have a VERY special day and we'll see you sometime today!

I love you!

Jen

I'm Still Here

I'm just truly trying to enjoy every last bit of summer. I can't believe August is almost over! Crazy! I hope you too get to enjoy it with everyone who matters most to you.

Blessings,

Jen

Happy Birthday Owen!

Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday Dear Owen! Happy Birthday To You!

Wow, I never imagined he'd be 5! Yes, today my son Owen, my first born is 5 years old. He was born at 10:50 a.m. on an extremely hot day. He weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. and was 21 inches long. I still remember how he felt when the doctor first put him in my arms. So warm. He didn't cry all that much, he was very happy in my arms. I remember crying more than he did! I was so happy that every dream I had as a little girl had come true, that being a wife and mommy. I am eternally grateful to God for this little boy.

Owen is my super-hero son. He loves Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. God has given him super-hero abilities, for he loves to help others. He helps me so much at home, and often doesn't complain. This week he explained how he needed a John Deere Gator for "his business." He told us that he was going to put his tool box in his Gator and drive around the neighborhood helping people "fix things that they need fixed." When I asked them how much people would have to pay, he said "they can pay me if they want, or they don't have to." What a generous young man! You know what, Owen is the type of boy, who will absolutely do this. While we didn't get him a Gator for his birthday (did you see that price?) we will be keeping our eyes out for something so he can exercise this special gift of help that God gave him.

Owen, I am so proud of you! You are kind and sensitive, yet strong. I'm so proud of how you help teach things to your brother and sister, and how you love to help Mommy and Daddy around the house. I can hardly believe that you are 5 years old already! The time went by too fast! I'm confident that God is going to do and is doing a wonderful work in and through you. My prayer is that you will always be tuned in to God's voice as you grow up.

Did you know that Mommy and Daddy come in and stare at and admire you while you are sleeping every night. Yup, we do. We do for your brother and sister too. We just look and marvel at what a wonderful creation God made when he made you. Very often, Mommy cries tears of pure joy as I watch you and offer up a prayer for you. You are so special to us, and we are thankful for everything about you! I hope you have a wonderful birthday, my son!

We love you SO much!

Happy Birthday Dad/Grampie!

Happy Birthday To You! Happy Birthday To You! Happy Birthday Dear Dad/Grampie! Happy Birthday To You!


It can be easy to have your birthday overlooked a little when your grandson is born that day, but let us not forget whose birthday was first!

Thanks Dad for all you've done for me. I've never doubted your love for me, and I'm so thankful for how you've been there no matter what, or no matter when. I'm so glad that we live close now! Thank you for graciously sharing your birthday with my first born. That is something that is so special to me! I love you!

I Wanna Win!

I'm trying to win a movie that Katie is giving away on her blog - www.teambettendorf.com You can enter the drawing too!

I like to read Katie's blog. She has 11 children, with another on the way, and she has a very simple, yet attainable, way to parent. Hey, if she can do it with 11, can't I do it with my 3?

Blessings!

Jen

He Lost His First Tooth!

Two days before his 5th birthday, and our oldest son lost his first tooth! It became a little loose a few weeks ago, but had, well kind of got un-loose, for lack of a better word. Today at the pool, he was chewing on a towel, and when I looked over, there he was being very stoic and trying to hold back tears. I walked over and he opened his mouth and there was blood with the gnarly tooth hanging from a tiny root (yuck!).

After Daddy came home from work, I loaded his tooth up with orajel and he allowed Daddy to touch it. Daddy barely touched it and it fell out. Grammie came right over and gave him some money and we further celebrated by getting ice cream with our neighbors.

On our way to bed, our oldest asked how does the tooth fairy know he lost a tooth. As I was stammering over my words, trying not to elude that the tooth fairy is all-knowing (only God is), my wonderful husband stepped in and said "God knows everything, and He is letting the tooth fairy know that you lost a tooth." Good job Daddy! I like it!
Here he is putting his tooth that is in a baggie under his pillow.

And here he is ready for bed. Can you tell someone is excited?

Venting

We can be so critical. Sometimes I wonder why I waste energy criticizing certain things. For instance, the other night, I watched the show 16 Children and Moving In, a look at the life of the Duggar Family. I kept thinking, "oh come on, she can't be that sweet all the time. I bet she blows up at her kids sometimes." Then it hit me. I was being critical of this woman, rather than seeing the blatant lesson I could be learning. We're led to believe that "normal" women talk to their close friends about their frustrations with their kids and husband. Well this may be "normal" in our culture, but "normal" isn't always right (actually, I'm learning more and more that for a Christian "normal" is rarely right).

Proverbs 29:11 says that "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control." I am now fully convicted that it is very foolish for one to vent their frustrations. Now come on, the reality of life is that we do have frustrating moments at home, but what help does it do to talk about it with others? Instead of being critical of Michelle Duggar, I decided to take a lesson from her, and that is she appears to be a very godly woman who is quiet and gentle, and who obviously loves her family very much. There was no need for her to air her dirty laundry on TV, nor is there a need for you or I to air our dirty laundry to each other. You do not need to know about my latest struggles with my children, or the things I disagree on with my husband. A wise woman just knows that life has its struggles, for every family, but that it is completely unnecessary to talk about such things even with the closest of friends.

Of course there's no such thing as a perfect family, and when you see a family that seems to never have problems (as I was assuming of the Duggars), it could be that they are choosing to keep their matters private, as they should be. I think if we all started going to our heavenly Father about such things rather than everyone else, we would all be getting farther along in life.