T.G.I.F.

Well, once again here it is already Friday. This last week flew by so fast. I hope that the next 11 fly by just as fast. Danny left Wednesday morning for some National Guard schooling and won't be home until April 17th. So, I've been a little sad the last few days without him, it's just kind of lonely and quiet without him around. But we've been doing pretty good and hanging in there. After the first week is over, we should be pretty adjusted to life without him. This isn't the first time we've done this nor will it be the last. Unlike last week being kind of hard to come up with blessings, this week I feel completely different. I realize that I have so many blessings in my life.

1. I am so grateful for ward members and friends who have brought me meals and offered me meals while we have been sick and having had Danny just leave. It's been a huge relief not to have to make something for dinner the last few nights. I feel so grateful to you all for your generosity and thoughtfulness, it was so appreciated and very, very yummy. Thanks!
2. I am very thankful for my family and friends who have called or I have called them to just talked. It's really nice to be able to just talk so I don't have to sit in silence with my thoughts straying to Danny and having the tears start rolling. So, thank you everyone for talking to me and putting up with it, I promise it will lessen as I get used to this again. I am so grateful I have such a great family and friends to help me out.
3. Finally, I am grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who watches out for His children in their time of need. I am so glad that He is there for me and am forever indebted to Him for taking care of me and my family. I feel so fortunate at this time because I know it's through His hand that things are working out how they are. It is His strength that I am leaning on to get through this separation and endure the loneliness. Because, I know I can turn to Him, I know that I can get through this time. With Him all things are possible.
   

Standing Tall

I can't believe that my baby is standing up. He would stand all day if I let him. He likes to hold my hands and just stand, but the catch is he has to be facing me. But now he's starting to pull up on to things. He has started pulling up on his crib rail and standing up so needless to say I have to keep the railing up on the crib because I like to keep it down because I'm short and I need it down to get the babies in their cribs. Anyways, these pictures are of my precious little guys standing up, I'm just not ready for this to begin.

T.G.I.F.

1. The first thing I'm grateful for this week would be modern medicine. I'm so glad that we are fortunate to go to the Dr's office and get medicine that help us get better. I hate seeing my kids sick and hurting so it's nice when they can get prescriptions to help them feel better.
2. I am also thankful food on my table. I always have plenty of food to eat. It may not be crab legs that I so dearly love but I never go a night being hungry. Even when I think my cupboards are bare I can think of something to make with what I have. And I'm also fortunate to also be able to have things around that I can make treats and desserts. So, I'm so glad that I have enough food for me and my family.
3. I am grateful for computers. I love that we have Internet, email, blogs, web-cams. I am so grateful that these wonderful inventions are available to me so that I can keep in contact with my family and friends. It's been so nice keeping everyone updated with our lives through our blog and being up to date on everyone else's lives through blogs and email. Being so far from my family it's so great to be able to see and talk to them on a web-cam, it makes being away so much more bearable.

I had a harder time coming up with my 3 things this week, I don't know why. Hopefully that the more I do this the more I will be able to think of all the blessing I've been given and how much I have to be grateful for. But, I will definitely have more to be grateful for next week.

Do we Live in a Barn?

Brace yourself, this is kind of gross. I was sweeping and was just astounded so I had to take a picture and share it with everyone. Yes, it's a weird post but this is my life. This is the dirt that I swept up in just one day. Seriously, how do they do it? How can 3 boys create such a dirty mess in such a short period of time! It's insane how much dirt they produce. In their defense, they did play with playdoh and little pieces would fall to the ground and of course it's not worth picking up so it just dries up so there is a lot of that in the pile. But still, it's a lot. I think if I were to ask them "if we lived in a barn?" they may very well just respond, "yes, mommy, we do!"

3 Mohawks

So, I gave the boys all a mohawk and had to have a picture. I never thought I'd be giving my boys a mohawk and actually liking the look. I am not a photographer by any means but I try what I can. It is so hard to get all the boys to cooperate at the same time when you are doing it by yourself. I don't have any professional pictures of the boys all together so if you have any cute idea's of what to do with 3 boys let me know. I love the untraditional shots so if you have something like that send it my way. For now this is all I could get out of them.

New Do

OK, here's my new look! I really like being a brunette. Since I've been a blonde all my life I just wanted to go totally different. This is as dark as I've ever been in my life. And this means a whole lot less up keep because I don't have to worry about how much dark roots are showing before hi-lighting it again. Oh, by the way, my dear hubby thought it'd be funny to take a picture of me so close up so that's what I got.

T.G.I.F.

Ok, so I'm going to do a little different post on Friday's. I'm going to have a Thank Goodness It's Friday post. This way I can write a few things each Friday that I'm grateful for that week or day. I think I get in a rut thinking that I have it so horrible and start to focus on all the negative things about me and my life. And I want to be more positive and remember all that I have been given. So here is the top three things this week that I'm thankful for. Anyways, I might as well get started.

1. I'm very thankful that I have found an awesome friend that also does hair and is able to exchange so that we can each have our hair done. I love getting my hair done and actually feeling like I have a style. I'll have to have Danny take a picture of my new darker look and post it later.
2. I am very thankful that I was able to go on a real date with my husband. The last time we had some time away from the kids was doing the Christmas shopping when my parents were here. And I very much needed a break from being Mommy, it was so great to go out and just be Jen. I made the rule that we couldn't talk about kids or work, so I created a list of fun questions that we could go over. It was actually kind of fun. For instance, I asked him that in the event that I die first and you are left behind, do you remarry and how long do you wait? He said of course he would because he needed someone to take care of the boys. Then he proceeded to tell me what he wanted for his funeral. Let me just share with you what my dear hubby would like done; he said he was just kidding about this but honestly, I think he'd love it if I did this. He wants to be buried with his truck. I am to buy enough plots to have him in his truck and bury both of them. He wants to have one hand holding the steering wheel and the other hand holding a Marine Corps NCO sword. I laughed and said no, so then he said to save the money on plots and put his truck in gear and have it sink in the ocean. He's completely crazy! Bit he would love it if I really went through with it. But then it was my turn and we had a really good talk about what I would do if he died. (I didn't really plan on re-marrying just moving back by family and buying my own home and living off of interest earned from his insurance money.) It was kind of a fun conversation on a very serious topic. Summing it all up, I am thankful for good date nights and also a great big thank you to Squires for watching all 3 of my boys for us to go out.
3. Lastly for tonight, I am very thankful to always stay warm. I love the modern convience of heaters to keep you warm whether that's in a car of the home. I'm so glad that I have a nice home to protect me against the elements of the weather and that I'm not homeless. I feel so guilty for having it so good while so many go to bed outside, in freezing weather. And I'm so glad that I have a car to travel in and that it gets warm so quickly on these cold winter days. I'm so glad I don't have to walk everywhere, although I'd be a lot skinnier but I like having a car. Oh, and I guess I'm also thankful for a nice winters coat and that all my family is able to have a good coat.

Winter Weather Retreat

The weather gave us a nice surprise with warm temperatures. It was a beautiful 60 degrees for the month of January. So we took advantage of it and went outside to enjoy it. It was so refreshing to get outside and move around. I think the boys loved it too because Josh kept laughing at everything. I think he was just so deliriously happy to be outside and not inside the house any more that he just kept smiling and laughing. It was really contagious because you couldn't help but smile as well. So, here are some shots of the boys outside.



I have decided that when Colton is happy his tongue is sticking out. I love little boys wearing hats and doesn't he look so cute with one on?

I love this sweet face. It is so full of awe and curiosity. He is watching his brothers play in the tree, wishing he was big enough to be by their side.

Just hanging out in the swing waiting for his Mommy to put the camera down and push him.


So, what do you do with 2 energetic boys on a warm day to wear them out? I have decided that from now on, I am going to get their shovels out and send them to the garden to dig holes. What boys doesn't love getting all dirty and digging, right? So this is what I had Nate and Josh doing for awhile and they loved it. And yes this really is our garden. It has just been over taken by weeds from his past summer because we didn't have the time to plant a garden. And it's still going to have to wait another year before we can get around to actually doing anything with it. So, for now the boys can dig away and have a great time getting all dirty. After they were done digging, Daddy came home and we decided to treat them to a day at the park. And this is were Josh was really so giggly. I love these mild days, not to hot and not too cold. I wish we could have more of them.

Bathing Beauties

Here's my Josh. He couldn't resisit getting in the sink after Colton had a bath there.

Colton is starting to loose that baby look. He looks so much older to me in this photo.

I had to put this photo on here because I just had to laugh when I saw it. He loves to stick his tongue out and this shot just looks like he is giving us some major attitude.

Man Tag

Ok, here's my man tag. I'm assuming that my Aunt Jodi meant me when she said Jenny, because I forget that only my family calls me Jenny. Everyone else only know's me by Jen. So, here it goes.

1. Where did you meet your husband? When he got home from his mission his mom had moved to our home ward so I first saw him there. However it wasn't until about another year before I called and asked him out on a date to a YSA activity.
2. How long did you date before you were married? We dated for 10 days and then became engaged. He left for Marine Corps boot camp a week later. Did his 3 months of training, returned home and we got married like 4 or 5 days later. So, we meet in March and married by June. Crazy us!
3. How long have you been married? 7 1/2 years
4. What does he do that surprises you? honestly, nothing comes to mind. After this long, I know him so well that I can predict his actions.
5. What's your favorite feature of his? I love his smile, when he's really smiling and not faking hit. Like when he's laughing or really happy.
   
6. What is his best quality? I really admire that he's so darn hard working. He always gets things done and doesn't put anything off. He's a real go-getter and he never procrastinates.
7. Does he have a nickname for you? Not that I can think of. Oh, he does occasionally call me his WOMAN. I hate it when he calls me that and he knows it so that's why he does it just to bug me.
8. What is his favorite food? He loves, and I mean loves chicken enchilada's loaded with the green chili verde sauce.
9. What is his favorite sport? That depends on if he's playing it or watching it. Football if you are talking about watching it. And, I don't know he was a crazy dodge ball guru in the Marine Corps, he absolutely loved it. They even played at the Staples Center in L. A. for a dodge ball tournament.
10. When and where did you first kiss? It was a week after our first date and it was outside of by parents house by his truck.
11. What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? HHHMMM.....I guess let's keep this G rated, so we really enjoy just sleeping in with no kids in the bed.
12. Do you have any kids? yes, we have 3, yes 3 boys.
13. Does he have any hidden talents? Fixing vehicles and figuring out their problems and what he needs to do to fix them or prevent them. He's really a great mechanic.
    
14. How old is he? 30
15. Who said I love you first? I think it was him but honestly I really don't remember, kind of sad that I really don't know.
16. What is his favorite music? honestly it would have to be heavy metal if I let him listen and if the lyrics weren't so awful he would listen to. So he has to have country be his next favorite.
17. What do you admire most about him? That I can always count on him to help me out, no matter what the circumstance might be. He can help me solve any kind of problem whether it's helping me figure out how to work the pressure cooker, take apart and fix a toy that I broke, or help me and my family fix their web cam over the phone so that we can see each other and talk. He's very good at figuring everything out.
18. What is his favorite color? Black and red! Have you seen his truck then you'd understand.
19. Will he read this? Of course not unless I tell him to.
20. Who do you tag? Michelle, Tilisa, Shelly, Mari
    

All Cleaned Up

Are these not the cutest boys ever! I'm surprised I actually got a good picture of all 3 of them looking at the camera. I had to get a picture of them all dressed in the new clothes that Grandma and Grandpa bought for them. And the funny thing is that what they are wearing totally match their personalities. Nate is totally my social, smarty-pants kind of boy and so his clothes totally match him. Josh is wearing a kind of rock-star kind of shirt and he's very much my stubborn, no-one-pushes-me-around kind of kid. And Colton is my sweet, easy-going, happy baby who looks so handsome and innocent. I love them to pieces. They are so different and yet that's OK. They bring so much life to our house and let's not forget all the work they create for me but even with that they are totally worth it. They are such great boys, I couldn't have asked for better.

Bring on Christmas

Josh is opening is Christmas Eve gift!

Nate opens his gift, the Grabber, as he says: "This is what I've always wanted!"

Colton was satisfied with just playing with the wrapping paper!

Nate holds up his Knight's dress up clothes that Santa brought him!

Josh checks out all his loot that Santa brought him!

Nate and Josh looking at everything.

Colton is rolling all over playing with his gifts.

All the boys begin opening up some presents from under the tree.

Nate holds up a new book from Uncle Jason, Aunt Tilisa and Sofie. He loves these I Spy books.

Colton is playing with the ribbon instead of opening his present.

Opening more presents.

And more presents being opened.

Colton is posing in front of the aftermath mess of Christmas morning.

Sir Nathan the Knight!

All my boys on Christmas morning.

Colton has an entire piece of the Gerber baby fruit wheels in his mouth. He got those in his stocking and has really enjoyed them. Isn't that a precious face!

Josh hamming itup in his new seat, and yes his face is greasy because of lotion. His face is so extremely dried out right now.

All the boys and their shiny faces. They are playing with all their new toys.

They had a good Christmas. Pretty much whatever Nate or Josh got they both said they are sharing and can play with all of it. What good boys I have. They were completely satisfied and loved everything that they got. Colton just spent the day rolling all over the floor and getting into everything. He's becoming very mobile. We had a really good day. We had a way yummy ham and some great rolls. Then we sat around and watched lots of movies and played with toys. It was a nice relaxing day. And just to let everyone know, if you walk into our house you'd never know we had Christmas. Danny let me sleep in yesterday and when I got up the tree was gone, thrown out front. All the ornaments sat in a pile. He had taken all the toys downstairs. Then he took all the lights off the house and put away and then had me help him put all the decorations away. I know, he's crazy. He said people were driving by and giving him weird looks for taking the lights down as well as him outside washing all our vehicles. So, any hints of Christmas having been here is completely gone from our house now! That would be my husband for you. We hope you all had a great Christmas too!

Alone time

So, today, after church I really needed a nap. I got Colton to sleep and then told Nate and Josh to get in their beds for quiet time. Nate went to his bed, all be it, relunctantly, Danny read a book to Josh to help him settle down. Then Danny joined me in our room for a much needed nap. It wasn't a long one, Colton woke up after only 30 minutes, and so we were up at that point. I don't know if Josh ever went to sleep or not but I heard him coughing non stop in bed so we had him get up and get a drink. Nate did take a nap, and it was a good one at least one that I would have liked to have. When we finally awoke, I promised to make a goodie with him and he chose fudge. So that's what we proceeded to do. He was cranky and irritable with Josh the whole time. And when it was done he went down stairs and told Josh not to come down and told me he needed some "alone time." I just had to laugh at that, because I totally agreed that he needed some. Isn't it ironic that kids just don't get that mom's need some alone time now and again too. But, anyways, while respected his needs we couldn't allow him to go the "toy room" for his alone time and not allow Josh to play. So we told him that he would get some toys and go to his room or our room. And to our room he went with toys and the request for a movie. And of course he reminded me not to let Josh come in. We granted him his wish and after the movie he came out and was much better. He may be only 5 but sometimes he acts much older. It's times like these that I realize that they have big spirits wrapped up in little tiny bodies and they deserve more respect than we give them.

Colton's bad day

OK, so I don't always pay as much attention to the boys when I'm on the internet. I am sitting at the computer holding Colton while Nate and Josh are playing Battleship. Then Josh grabs some printer paper so he could draw. So, that's what I thought he wanted it for. We bought Nate some little kids scissors so Josh now thinks that he can use them also. Well, little did I know that Josh had found the scissors from wherever they were at but I didn't know he had just made a mess in the family room with lots of little pieces all over the ground. Then he came over to Colton and I, he was playing with Colton so I wasn't paying much attention to what Josh was actually doing. I never saw it coming because I was clueless that in Josh's little hands were scissors and he was cutting at Colton's hair. I told him no and told him to go cut paper. Well, he tried going for it again so I took the scissors away. I thought I had saved Colton's head from his big brother, only to discover a on the back of his shirt was a clump of his precious, soft, brown hair. I did uncover where it was cut from and I don't think that anyone but me will notice. It's right on the crown of his head, part of a nice little calick that he has. I tried taking a picture of the clump of hair and Colton's head but you really couldn't see what I was taking it of. So, once again, Josh is at the center of yet another hair cutting session. He is obsessed with hair, who knows, maybe he'll grow up to do hair. Haha. His father wouldn't let that happen. It was bad enough that he has a bad scratch right by his nose from himself or Josh, I'm not sure who, and now he has a patch of hair missing. He's such a sweet guy to have that kind of crappy day. So, from now on I vow to pay more attention to my son's when I'm on the computer.

Bakin' with the Boys

Josh is my big helper, all covered in flower.

Of course we couldn't leave Colton out, he had to "supervise" us.

Nate helps me decorate some snowmen. He did pretty good too.

Danny and Colton all bundle up, ready to head to the neighbors.

Josh next to his plate of cookies because I don't trust him to carry them yet.

Can you tell by Nate's face that he was super excited to carry a plate of cookies.

So, I decided we would make some sugar cookies today and deliver them to our neighbors for Christmas. We have been here for 6 months and really haven't met our neighbors to much. I was going to give them the dvd "Mr Kroeger's Christmas" with the cookies but I decided to hold off this year. I just want to get to know them first. And I guess I also had an ulterior motive for giving them treats, I am hoping it's a way to get to know them and then I can feel safer when Danny is gone next year by knowing my neighbors as well as they can keep an eye on my home when I go to Utah in March. We only got 2 of the 3 neighbors tonight, we will try the other one tomorrow. But I think we kind of took everyone off guard by delivering a gift. But it felt good to do something neighborly. Our neighbor to the left, Amy, happened to come back over like 15 minutes after we got home and brought us a DVD of a Charley Brown Christmas movie for the boys to borrow. So, we got talking and I learned that her daughter was in the Peer Model program last year, at the same school Nate goes to, with the same teacher, Mrs Debbie. And she asked what church we go to and I told her we were Mormon. She asked if we went to the church in Platte Woods, because I guess she used to go with friends all the time to that one. I don't know if she talked with missionaries or not, I think she kind of insinuated that but I want her to feel like we can be friends first and for now just know that we are members of the church. I did invite her and her kids to join us for primary whenever they wanted, that they are always welcome to come with us. So, for now, that's where it stands. But it's such a weird world we live in. But I think the boys also had fun delivering cookies in the frigid cold, single digit, below zero weather.

Colton got all bundled up and that's all he needed, he drifted off to sleep before we even headed out. I love how precious they look when they sleep. To sum it all up, I'm glad we made cookies, it may have been a small thing but it felt good to do something nice for others.

Santa's lap

Tonight we went to Nate's school for a puppet show of the Gingerbread Boy and afterwards Santa showed up. I didn't know if they would sit on his lap but the older two did just fine but as you can see Colton did not like it, he had a strong hold on my shirt and wouldn't let go, as I was trying to set him down. As I was waiting in line, I kept asking if this was worth it because I didn't even know if they would sit down on his lap. On top of me trying to hold Colton, and keep track of Josh and Nate because Danny was on splits with the missionaries. And just prior to seeing Santa, Nate gave me a real scare. After the puppet show ended, everyone just got up at once, grabbed refreshments and headed out the door. Well, he was up front on the floor with Josh and he just headed off. So, his teacher Mrs Debbie, helped grab Josh and brought him to me. So, I went to get Nate on the other side of the gym, however he was no where to be seen. So, I told Mrs Debbie that I couldn't find him and she looked in the gym and Josh, Colton and I headed out to find him. They had santa sitting by the front doors so we filed through the massive crowds and found him like 5 kids from the front of the line. I was so dang scared. There were so many people that it would have been easy for someone to grab him. And he would go because he's to darn friendly and sociable. I seriously need a leash for that kid. Anyways, I made him get out of line, go back to the gym, get our cookies and coats then go get back in line. With all that, we ended up being dead last in line to see santa. It was a long line too so, I was super relieved when they sat on his lap. I was going to be so frustrated if they didn't sit on his lap after all that craziness. So, here are the pictures from the night. Enjoy!

Grandma and Grandpa come to town

Yeah, Grandpa and Grandma arrive at the airport!

Grandma and Grandpa pose with all the boys!

Grandma doing what she does best, getting Colton to sleep!

Nate and Josh con Grandpa into playing candyland!

Wrapping presents around the table.

Grandpa and Colton getting to know each other.

More present wrapping.

Waiting for our BBQ from the Smokehouse.

MMM, where's our BBQ?

Grandma and Colton getting ready to head out.

More pictures of Grandma wrapping some Christmas presents.

Grandpa, Josh and Colton playing together.

One last picture of everyone before we take them to the airport.

It was a lot of fun having Grandma and Grandpa come and visit us. We were glad that they were able to come. We did a lot of shopping and visiting late at night. We sure miss having them around. We wish we were closer. As I was putting the pictures up to this post Nate came by to look but he then decided that he didn't want to see them because it didn't make him happy. Poor boy, he's such a Grandpa's boy and has such a tender heart. We all wish it could have been a longer visit. Time went by much too fast. Hopefully time will fly and we will be coming up to Utah to visit and see everyone. Danny got home from work and we were all sad so he had to take us out so we weren't sitting home thinking about Grandma and Grandpa being gone. We are so glad that you were able to come and visit us. So thanks for flying out and spending some time with us! We love you so much and miss you horribly!!!