Let me explain...

(Can you guess what Mason is going to be for Halloween?)

Whenever Jenna eats, she constantly holds her fork. I have tried to teach her to set it down on her plate, if she needs to say...stretch, scratch her leg, hit her brother, push her hair out of her face, etc., but she won't. She waves it around all during her meal, and therefore, whatever she is eating ends up in her hair or on the chair or on her clothes or her brothers.

Her breakfast of choice lately is frozen waffles. The mess in her hair the first time she ate them was truly nasty. So, my solution...the do-rag. She no longer has sticky hair and it is stinkin' cute besides. Yea me!

Update: My Mom wants me to be sure and give her credit for this "do" as she used to tie a cloth diaper on my head to prevent me from smearing mashed potatoes in my hair as a wee babe. Ah...my love affair with mashed taters started early!

Balloon Festival

So we went to the local ballon festival this weekend with some friends and because of the horrendous traffic, we didn't arrive before dark. All we were able to see were the balloons glowing, not flying, and the fireworks at the end. No balloons in the air though. Bummer!

Our friend bought all of the kids light sabers and they more than made up for the lack of flying balloons. I was way more bummed than the kids...Maybe I should have bought a light saber.

Kobe is such a cutie patootie!

Umm...Boys will be boys?

This was called the candle burn. Big whoop. Oh well, there's always next year.

Jenna's First Day of School

With Ms. Sue

(one of these days I'll put up a video of her saying Ms. Sue...It's the cutest thing!)

Miss J started pre-school today and she was just as excited as Grant was. All summer long, whenever we passed her school, she shouted out "There's my school!" I'm sure she was wondering if she would ever return. Anyhow, she was ready with her backpack on a full 30 minutes before we had to leave. After we dropped Grant off, she said, "It's Jenna's turn!" (And she has said that every morning since.)


Once we arrived, she ran straight for her old classroom. We said "Hi" to her old teachers, and then I had to coax her over to her new room. We had been to a meet the teacher meeting a few days before, but I guess it didn't hit home that she would be in the new class all the time now. But once we got re-directed, she hung her backpack up and pranced right in without looking back. When I picked her up, I could hear her laughing as soon as I entered the hallway. I got to watch her dance and sing with wild abandon. She was louder and wilder than anyone in the class. It is so sweet to see her joy after the sadness she held on to for so long.

Guess who's in Kindergarten now?

Say hello to Mr. Cheese-ey

(How do you spell that? Cheesy? Cheezy?)

Grant with Mrs. W

Waiting for all the other children to arrive

My little nugget started Kindergarten today, and was he excited! I didn't even get all that teary today because I knew he was having such a ball. I kept checking the clock because I couldn't wait to pick him up and hear all about it. You who know G-man, know that he has a unique way of seeing things, and he is a great story-teller.


He did not disappoint! He spent 20 minutes, I kid you not, telling me all about the war they had during recess. It had generals and replacement soldiers and traitors and a whole host of other stuff. In fact, he spent more time telling me about recess than he actually spent in recess. When I asked about the rest of his day, he said he couldn't remember any of it. Hopefully, we'll get more details as the thrill of recess wears off a bit.

Holy Moly! Can you believe how much Jenna has changed?

So much for regular postings about the delights of my family! To say that the first year and a half with Jenna has been a little overwhelming would be a serious understatement. Getting used to parenting four kids, helping a little one learn to love and enjoy life in our crazy family, an excessively long remodeling project, and the discomfort of living in a too-small space during said re-model has been...well, words cannot describe. Maybe someday I'll try to write more about this time as it has been a time of personal growth and a huge lesson in learning to completely lean on HIM, but for now, I just want to start getting some memories down on paper, or computer, I should say, so they aren't lost forever.

Happy Father's Day!

David was working on Father's Day, so we went to the fire station to visit him. It was Jenna's first trip, and she loved, loved, loved pretending to drive the fire truck and going for a ride around the block in it. The boys always love climbing on the trucks and ladders. We took David his favorite cake and surprised him with a Wii--a gift more extravagent than we usually give for Father's Day, but he (and the boys) were thrilled. The look on their faces was so worth it.

David is a truly amazing Dad. He is a Godly man who is understanding and patient and firm when he needs to be. The kids and I are truly blessed indeed!

Let's give this blogging thing a whirl!

I originally created this blog with the intention of passing the time during the horrendous wait for our sweet baby from China. But I really am not the kind of person who enjoys talking about herself, and I am also highly critical of my writing. I read over things I have written in the past and just cringe. The thought of putting my thoughts out there for all to read just seemed like too much. So this blog has sat...and sat...and sat.

But now I must post! We have been home with our precious Jenna Grace for three months now, and I find myself wanting to document our days with her. She is changing so fast and our days as a household of six are so crazy that if I don't start noting all of the wonderful, silly, thoughtful, amazing, and even annoying things that my darling children do somewhere besides my brain, then they will be lost forever. (I'm telling you, the brain of a mommy of four is complete mush!)

And because no post is enjoyable without pictures, here are a few...

Pucker up!

I love her half smile!

Making sure baby is settled in her stroller

Silly face!

Kings of the construction sand hill!

Punkin-head!

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3...

I repeat...This is only a test. Had this been an actual emergency...you get the idea.