Our Story: March 2008

March 31, 2008

Happy Birthday Poppi!!

My Dad on his 54th birthday with 6 of his 7 grandkids (we were missing Kamry).

March 28, 2008

Weight: 26 lbs

New things this month:

Nana Memaw (Teresa) taught Jed how to sing "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands" and he loves this song! It is so cute to watch him clap and stomp his foot and then yell "AMEN!"

Jed is now going to sunday school and children's church without me. I almost cried the first time I left him. He looked so sweet and little sitting with all the other kids at the table. When class was over, he looked so precious coming down the aisle with all his friends, carrying his crafts.

The weather is warming up and Jed's favorite place to be is OUTSIDE! This is one of his new words...out-sy! He loves to get in his cozy coupe car and "drive". We spend a lot of time outside pulling him in the wagon.

Jed has also leared to spit! LOL When he puts something in his mouth, we will hold our hands under his chin and say "spit it out!" and he will spit. The girls laughed so hard the first time he did this so now they will randomly walk up to him and put their hands under his chin and say "spit"......funny how you can be entertained by a 16 month old! LOL

Jed has now learned how to use his own fork and spoon. He gets a big smile on his face when I put him in his highchair and give him his own plate and spoon. The picture above is from last night.

Jed's new favorite show is Goof Troop. As soon as he hears the opening song he will drop everything and run to the tv and dance. It is sooo funny!

We love this little boy so much! He has brought so much joy to our lives and has all four of us wrapped around his little finger.

March 27, 2008

Spring break project #1

The girls are out for spring break this week and I normally try to pick one or two projects for them to complete while they have the time off. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are designated as "play days" and Tuesday and Thursday are "project days".

Project#1......closets and dressers! We decided to take EVERYTHING out of their closets and dressers and reorganize. Boxing up all the winter sweaters, boots and jackets and getting all their summer capris/shorts/bathing suits/etc ready and organized.

This job was not nearly as bad as I anticipated. It was a nice day outside so we opened the windows to let the fresh air inside and turned on some music and got to work. Reagon did a great job in her room. We fixed a shelf area in her closet to hold all her bath and body spray, hair ribbons, curling irons, etc. After getting all the winter stuff out....leaving 8 pair of jeans and some long sleeve shirts for the cooler days, I was amazed at the amount of clothes this child has! She was quick to remind me that I do most of the shopping! LOL What can I say, she is at a fun age to shop for!

Kendall was not nearly as productive in her room. This is very unusual because usually she is my best housework helper. I worked on Jed's clothes while she went through the pile of clothes on her bedroom floor. She was "supposed" to put anything that didn't fit in the hall......needless to say, she wanted to keep it all! Asking her to part with her boots was like trying to take an arm! Somehow, we managed to finish and both girls closets look so nice and organized and ready for warmer weather!

We ended up with 9 trash bags for our yard sale and two rubbermaid totes for Ebay, plus several filled totes to store winter clothes until next year.

Project #2...toys!!! This should be fun!.................

March 26, 2008

Yummy Homemade Hot Pockets

Reagon likes to pack her lunch for school almost every day so I am always trying to come up with lunch ideas for her. I know she gets tired of the same old sandwich or pizza lunch. I came across this recipe and gave it a try. They are sooo good! Josh and I ate them right out of the oven when the cheese and filling was nice and hot and they are delicious! I made some for bible study Monday night and the kids gobbled them up.

I used Grands large biscuits....rolling each one flat with a rolling pin.

Next, I placed the sausage, cheese, and pizza sauce in the center of the biscuit.

I pulled the dough around the filling, pinching the seams closed. Then, I placed the dough seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Bake according to biscuit instructions...approx 15 minutes.

I am anxious to try more fillings. The girls love pepperoni and mozzarella cheese for a pizza pocket. If you have leftover Easter ham, you could make ham and cheese hot pockets. I am also going to add scrambled egg to my sausage next time for breakfast hot pockets. If you try it, let me know!

March 25, 2008

Easter Sunday

We had such a wonderful Easter this year. I woke up extra early to finish cooking for our Easter potluck and make our normal Sunday morning cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The kids woke up to find their gift baskets on the dining room table and that kept them busy while I finished getting everything ready. I had planned on taking several pictures before we left for church but the other family members had other plans. By this time, the girls were so tired of having their pictures made and Jed did NOT want to sit still for one single minute. Oh well, I managed to get a few good pictures during the egg hunt at church. I laughed so hard at Jed during the egg hunt, he was just getting the hang of it since we had practiced at home but his basket was almost as big as he is so he would drag it behind him and dump out most of his eggs! He was sooo cute! Enjoy the pics!

March 24, 2008

Easter Egg Hunt at the lake

Despite the chilly temperature and wind blowing off the lake, we had a fun filled morning on Saturday with Poppa Rog's church group.

Pictures before the egg hunt

I thought I could get some good pictures of the kids before the egg hunt but little Jedidiah did NOT want to cooperate! LOL

Abby, Reagon, Mylee and Kendall

March 20, 2008

Kendall's class egg hunt

Today was Kendall's egg hunt with her class at the Daisy State park. I just love first graders. They have so much energy. Kendall had such a fun time with her friends. It is so nice to see her happy again and excited about school.

Kendall and Abby

Look at those freckles!!!

Happy First Day of Spring!!

I absolutely LOVE Spring! It seems like I have a little more pep in my step this time of year..maybe I am just thankful the cold weather is almost over and my beautiful pear trees are starting to bloom in the yard and the evenings are getting longer. I so enjoy walking after supper with Josh, pushing little Jedidiah in his stroller as the girls run and play and ride bikes. The world seems to slow down a bit while we are together on this little farm. We walk, talk about anything and everything that is going on in our lives and make big plan and dreams for the five of us.

Yesterday, the wind was blowing so strong so Josh decided to keep Jed inside with him and I walked alone. I mulled over in my head the events coming up in the next few days....dying eggs, ironing Easter clothes, cooking for potluck after church, etc. I then thought about how important it is to teach our children about the reason we celebrate Easter. Reagon of course, knows all about it and so does Kendall but I never want them to forget the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. I love to decorate for Easter...my front door has a wreath with eggs and bunnies, my dining room table has a pair of rabbits from Hobby Lobby and a beautiful basket full of eggs, even the bathroom has little carrots, bunnies and eggs on the vanity. I love to dye eggs, buy new dresses for the girls and dress Jed up in the most ridiculously cute outfit I can find. BUT, more than any of that, I love to tell my children about Jesus and His love for us. How He could have called ten thousand angels down to save Him but because of His love for us, he GAVE His life. I want to focus less on eggs and bunnies and more on Jesus's death and more importantly His victory over the grave. I pray this Easter season is profound in our lives. Let us remember the sacrifice, rejoice in the victory, and give thanks for our new life on earth and our eternal life that is yet to come.

March 18, 2008

Let's cook something!

Yesterday morning our dish reciever went out and Josh tried to fix it but unfortunately a technician will have to come out to repair it. On Friday! Now, I am not much of a tv watcher but I do have my favorite shows and I really REALLY hate to miss them. When you are OCD like I am, you tend to follow the same routines day after day. I watch the news while getting ready, watch Rachel Ray every day at 3pm while folding laundry, and love John and Kate plus 8 every Monday night. The shows we had dvr'd could still be watched so I spent the day watching Frankin and Little Bear, Paula Deen, and What not to wear. I guess the Paula Deen episodes inspired me because I decided to start cooking supper around 10am and at 2:30pm, I was still going strong in the kitchen! Thankfully, Jed was not too cranky from his ear infections and he played along side me in his little kitchen and with all the tupperware bowls and lids. On one episode of Paula Deen, she made some yummy sausage filled breadsticks. I decided to tackle this one since we have a freezer full of homemade sausage. They turned out delicious! I made several different shapes, trying to decide which one I liked best. They were filled with cheese and topped with garlic and tasted sooo good! I decided this would be great with spaghetti so I made a big bowl to go along with the breadsticks. I knew Reagon would be happy since this is one of her favorite meals. I also had some deer meat thawing so I decided while Jed was still being good, I would make some fried deer meat for Josh's lunch. Well, I ended up thawing about 5 pounds of deer meat! Usually, we freeze it in 2 pound bags so I didn't realize I was thawing out so much at one time. I decided to cook it anyway so I fried the whole 5 pound bag! After Josh and I stuffed ourselves for lunch, I started peeling potatoes for deer stew! To me, nothing taste better than deer stew so I made two big pots! One with meat and potatoes only (the way Josh likes it) and one full of vegetables (for the kids). By this time, Jed's belly was full of cheesy biscuits and spaghetti so he was ready for a nap. He slept two solid hours! Just enough time for me to clean the kitchen and fold laundry. During the after Christmas sales, I bought several bags of holiday M&Ms to keep in the freezer. I opened the bags right after I bought them and seperated the red ones (for Valentines day) and the green ones (for St Pattys Day). I pulled the green M&Ms out of the freezer to thaw and grabbed my cookbook. Both girls love snickerdoodles and they are peanut free so I made some cute little cookies for the girls' after school snacks.

Josh may call Dish network and cancel the technician appt on Friday...he has enjoyed my cooking marathon.

I don't think I will cook again until Sunday for Easter! LOL