Got this from Melissa and since I am taking a break from cleaning (yuck) and she says it is really fast I thought "why not".

TAG - YOU’RE IT! If you opened it, you have to do it (it only takes a couple minutes I swear!) Then, post it on yours!

Two names you go by:
1. Jen
2. Mom

Two things you are wearing right now:
1. pink tank top
2. blue jeans

Two things you want very badly at the moment
1. A house that cleans itself
2. children that pick up after themselves

Two people who will most likely send this back
1. ?
2. ?

Two things you did last night:
1. Watched Allendale beat Calvin Christian
2. Ate dinner at Peppino's

Two things you ate today:
1. Broccoli pasta
2. Nothing else (I know not very healthy since it is now 6pm)

Two people you last talked to:
1. Megan
2. Kaylyn

Two things you did today:
1. cleaned
2. cleaned some more

Two favorite beverages:
1. Chai with whip cream
2. Coke (but I gave it up)

Wow! That was fast! Now it’s your turn, don’t forget to link me so I know to check your site =)

Please take note and pray.

I have added a box on my sidebar to ask for prayer for the unreached. I seen it on Sue's site. What a wonderful visual to remind us every day that there are so many people that haven't heard the Good News of Jesus Christ. Please stop now for a minute and pray for the unsaved.

Something to think about...

I seen this on Laura's blog. We cannot be on the fence about our faith people are dying without having the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. My husband says, "I would rather offend then condemn." Be bold! Thank you for sharing it with us Laura!

Focus

Even though I wasn't looking forward to school starting and seeing so little of my kids I was looking forward to getting my days back to some sort of routine. Summer takes a huge toll on the "order" of my house. WELL... I still have no semblance of order or routine. Argh!
I feel so undisciplined sometimes. Can anyone out there relate? I think I started 50 different things today and they were all things that really need to get done but I think I only completed about 10. I am not good at staying focused when there are multiple things needing my attention.

Well blogging isn't on my "high priority" list of things to get on top of so I better get back to it.

Please keep Haiti in your prayers. It is being hit really hard by all the hurricanes.

Irresistible

My sister called me Saturday morning to let me know that Emily was feeling better (she was getting over a cold when I had her on Friday) and that she had said her first words, "Can Aunt Jen come over and play?"

Who could resist that? Not me! So while everyone else was outside on the lake tubing and water skiing I was inside enjoying Emily to myself.

Hello my sweet little Emily.

"Aunt Jen that flash is killing me!"

Smiles!

My Man

(Not sure what he was doing in this picture but it looks like he is holding on to an imaginary pole. LOL!)

I saw this on my friend Mari's blog and thought it would be fun.

1.Who is your man? Mark

2. How long have you been together? We just celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary this past July.
3. How long did you date before you got married? 3 years, engaged for 2 of them.

4. How old is your man? 42
5. Who eats more? Most definitely him. He usually finishes his meal and them helps me with mine. I love being in the clean plate club.

6. Who said "I love you" first? Mark. He isn't afraid to say what he thinks.

7. Who is taller? Mark. He is about 6'3" and I am about 5'9". That means I still get to wear my heels and I love wearing heels.
8. Who sings better? Hands down it is Mark. Thank goodness our kids also got his musical abilities.

9. Who is smarter? It depends on the topic... don't ask him to help you with anything computer/gadget related. But the real important life questions... he is your man.

10. Whose temper is worse? Me. Mark has to deal with truck drivers and stores all day long and I am always amazed at how calm he handles people who have done stupid things. I need that kind of patience.

11. Who does the laundry? Me. Mark was smart and washed a crayon in the laundry early on in our marriage and I haven't let him touch the clothes since.
12. Who takes out the garbage? Everyone.

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Well this is a hard question to answer. Mark sleeps on my right side but if you are standing at the foot of the bed looking at the bed he is on the left side so I guess it is a matter of perspective.

14. Who pays the bills? I do with Mark's paycheck.
15. Who is better with the computer? Me. I try to keep Mark away from it. LOL!

16. Who mows the lawn?Mark. My allergies are too bad to do this. I used to help him but I would have a headache for the next 24 hours and heaven knows my hubby doesn't want my help if it means I have to have a headache.
17. Who cooks dinner?Me.
18. Who drives when you are together? Mark. Even if I would drive with him in the car he would still be driving from the passenger seat if you get my meaning. Wink!

19. Who pays when you go out? Me, with Mark's money.

20. Who is the most stubborn? Me.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Mark.

22. Whose parents do you see most? Mine now, but before Mark's mother passed away it was his.

23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me first.
24. Who asked who out? Mark asked me out.
25. Who proposed?Mark.
26. Who is most sensitive? Most definitely me and I need to be less sensitive because I often read into how he says things way to much and that gets us in trouble.
27. Who has the most friends?Mark. He is a people person and it seems like wherever we go he finds someone who knows him.
28. Who has more siblings? Mark. He has 2 brothers and 1 sister and I have 2 sisters.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Mark. I wouldn't want it any other way.

30. How did you meet? Since my kids might be reading this I will just say through a mutual friend.

Hope you had fun reading this. I'd love to see you do it too!

Facebook anyone?

I am finding more and more bloggy friends on Facebook so I thought I would add a Facebook badge to my blog in case there are more of you out there that I haven't found yet.

Smiles!

8 in 2008 missing updates and a silly video.

You may not have noticed but I have missed the last 2 updates for 8 in 2008. It was partly due to the fact that it was to hard to type one handed and also because life just got so busy. Here is my attempt to get back on track, however, I am realizing that God has had different plans for what I should focus on this year than what I had. Isn't that always the case.

1. Keep up our 1,000 Gifts List
-not a single entry
2. Work @ becoming a Proverbs 31 woman
-Still not certain how to measure this, but I don't think I have hit the mark lately, although the one arm thing isn't helping.
3. Consistent quiet time/devotions
-Not good at all these past 2 months.
4. Memorize scripture weekly
-Nope
5. Spend 1 on 1 time with each child
-Not looking good.
6. Complete sewn gift for Julie and Leo
-Can't really sew right now so this will be post-poned AGAIN.
7. Build up to run with Anna this summer
-We were up to almost a mile without walking before Haiti and then the arm thing came into play again.
8. Complete knitted gift for Crystal and Jeremy
-Hurray! This one is complete! But still sitting in my bedroom. Argh!

Okay, so not so good. Most of the things on this list are still a priority for me but I learned a huge life lesson while in Haiti... Live each and every day being open to God's plan and willing to let go of mine. It is so much more rewarding.


And now without further delay the promised silly video...

Here is a picture (really long ago) of what she was before the "trim" and you should know the kids are exaggerating. Allie loves being free of "hair clumps on her rump". -Smiles!

She did it!

My sister let the girls borrow her Rubik's Cube for a while this summer. Anna has only been trying this for a little over a week and Monday she did it! She solved the Rubik's cube and then did it a couple more times after I mixed it up for her. Way to go Anna!

Here is a little video Anna made showing the cube almost completed.

There you go Tori. Wink! Although Anna could have blogged this herself. -Smiles!

Are you sure you can't touch your face?

Since my arm got casted my kids just won't believe me that I can not get my hand to my mouth. I thought it would be fun to take a short video of the discussion that we have had many times before I got the cast cut down. So in true "Heidi Jo What Do You Know?" fashion is our short video.
Enjoy!

This is why I look forward to Thursdays!

She just melts me!
Smiles!

Wordless Wednesday-Missing sunglasses

Yup, I really didn't know where they were. Thanks Tammy for pointing them out for me. (TWICE!) LOL!

See other Wordless Wednesday participants at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Starting over.

I had to update my ticker for not drinking pop. While in Haiti I decided to allow myself to have pop because there just wasn't many other choices of drinks and nothing is better than ice cold pop when you are hotter than hot. But now that I am back home I have noticed how quickly I am falling into old habits with drinking coke. So I am starting the ticker back up today. I have found that even the smallest thing like pop can become a stumbling block for self-control.

The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

I am guessing that Gunner would like me to focus a little harder on the patience and gentleness but I can only do so much. LOL!

I would say "wish me luck" but since I don't believe in luck, please say a prayer for me instead.

Smiles!

What happened to my arm?

It was Friday night about 6pm. The plan was to have everything in the suburban for the trip to Haiti and to be in bed by 8pm so that 4am wouldn't come so early. The suitcases were in the suburban and I was finishing up on the backpacks for the airplane.

My youngest 2 kids were acting up, I am sure it had to do with knowing mom was leaving them for 9 days. I had just finished breaking up another fight between them and was on my way back downstairs (main floor) to finish up the backpacks.

Coming down the stairs I heard someone getting into the backpacks. As I got closer I seen the butt of our coon hound (120# dog who is led by his nose) and knew that wasn't good. Sure enough Gunner was helping himself to the snacks in the backpacks, wrappers and all. In my hurry to get him out of them I swung my arm at his butt in a back-handed fashion and I caught his hip bone with my lower arm. I completely broke through my unla (the smaller of the 2 bones in my fore arm) about 2 inches away from my wrist. My whole arm felt like it was on fire.
Side-note... Gunner kept on eating until one of the kids pulled him off the food.

The kids called Mark in the house and he could see right away from the instant swelling and my intense pain that we needed to go to the ER.

Even I could read the x-ray. It was so obvious.

Gunner still thinks he is my bestest friend and has to be by me... that or he was just taking advantage of the shade.

Haiti pictures

Now I am back home wrestling with the question "Now what?" Can my Haiti friends relate?