i get rather excited about little successes

Yesterday, I re-taught myself how to use a serger. I hadn't used one since college. For those of you who don't know, it's that machine that has four big spools of thread on the back. It looks like this:

I told Brent I felt like this:



yeah. I know. It's so appropriate for the moment, right?

How we were rollin' on Christmas Eve...

Costumes (Avery's idea), carols (Brent's idea) and the story of Christ's birth (God's idea) made for a perfect Christmas Eve.

Hoping you have a blessed Christmas!!!

perhaps i'm raising a little dwight schrute (yes, i just changed the title)

Me: Avery, you need to stop tattling on everyone in the family. You're like the gestapo.

Avery: I'll take that as a compliment.

three movies, without which, i don't know what my childhood might have been like...

We loved these movies. We quoted these movies. It wasn't the mark of our family but it was a mark. And I can't help but think that knowing these movies inside and out and quoting them at just the right moment bonded us together.








Did you grow up on movies? Which ones?

Am I the only one COMPLETELY FREAKED OUT that Christmas is in, like, a week?!!

that's it. just freaked out. not ready. but, i WILL say that as i'm feeling the anxiety levels rise, i'm reminding myself that JESUS came to be THE LAMB OF GOD. so, so, SO thankful for christmas. i DESPERATELY need a Savior.

i probably would have rebuked me

Today, I felt loved when Brent listened to me talk about how (irrationally) angry I was without trying to correct my thinking. Love is patient.

one of my favorite pictures of aunt annie and uncle wayne...and...brent, is that you?

*because you must know...This picture was taken in 2001 with regular SLR camera...NOT digital. His prank was discovered after my Aunt Karla had her pictures developed. Brent doesn't limit this little prank to family, he loves to jump into the background of strangers' pictures as well.

three reasons i'm surprised this book has survived on our shelf

Here's the culprit. Looks innocent enough.


1.

Huh. At the very least, this feels awkward to read.

2.

This picture upsets me. The flame is DEFINITELY consuming the bush. Charring the bush pretty much takes away much of the miraculousness of the event.

3.

Really? I'm not saying it's not important, but hm...I think I'll take God's FREE GIFT of ETERNAL LIFE over the law, thanks.

I doubt I'm the only one who cringes at many Bible-like children's books. The worst one ever was called Waldo the Whale and was all about Waldo's self-esteem issues, until God had mercy on the whale and gave him a sense of purpose by giving him the task of--you guessed it--swallowing Jonah. Yep. And, at the end, God thanks Waldo.

But, don't worry folks! We've got some great Bible storybooks for the kiddos, too!

three closing lines for emails

1. A version of a typical closing line from ministry leaders at my church:

"Looking forward to glorifying God with you for the joy of all peoples through this ministry,
jenna"

2. The way I sign off most of my emails:

"Blessings,
jenna"

3. A version of how I might sign off with close friends:

"Apathetically, you greasy hoser,
j-dawg"

How do you sign off on emails? Always the same? Or do you change it up?

three shows i'm watching these days...in addition to "the office", of course

I'm not proud of the fact that I'm keeping up with at least four shows this season. I usually watch one or none. But, thanks to Hulu (until 2010), I've been laughing along with Brent watching these comedies:

1. gLee Why is this show so addictive? Is it the musical numbers or the teen drama? I'm embarrassed. Let's move on.
2. Modern Family Two characters make this show for me: Cam and Phil.
3. Community The dialogue has gotten so tight on this show. Sometimes, the lines are so funny that I'm not even laughing. Instead, I'm jealous that I didn't write them! Ridiculously quirky characters. Probably my favorite on this list.

What are you watching? Be honest. You love gLee, don't you?!

three favorite toddler words + one more for good measure

1. Avery said Dobba-Duba for Bob the Builder.

2. Miles said chep-up for ketchup.

3. Jillian says, sim-soup for swim suit.

Do you know any words that you said when you were a tot? Or, what are your favorites that you've heard over the years?

...one more...my nephew, Samuel, said a-dodo-bo for adorable. love that one!

three questions...forcing myself to blog #2

I think I'm going to try this all week....short little posts.

1. Do you have a favorite Christmas gift from your childhood? I think mine was a three story Barbie house with an elevator. Not electric. It was manual. But, I loved it. My parents had a tradition of always giving a big non-wrapped gift. It was pretty magical to walk downstairs and see the huge display of gifts and lights and my super rad Barbie mansion.

2. Are you going to do a Christmas card this year? I really want to because I LOVE getting Christmas cards. And I really enjoy composing a Christmas letter and reading our friends' updates. But, how am I going to have the time to gather, address and stamp those cards? And WHEN am I going to get a picture with all of us? I know it's not realistic for me to get one done this year, but I'm still holding out hope. It sure would be fun to exchange Christmas cards with some of my blogging friends, too. dang...still hoping....

3. Do your kids believe in Santa Clause? I don't think ours do. We've pretty much never really gotten into it. I don't remember believing in Santa, and feel like it doesn't enhance Christmas necessarily. I'm not super opinionated about this, though. How do you handle this? And is there anyone out there who caved after their kids reported that the kids at school informed them that Santa is not real. Our kids fully believed in the tooth fairy until recently. Kids at school gave Avery the scoop and we initially did not confirm or deny those allegations. But, within 24 hours, he was informed that WE were the tooth fairy. He was so bummed and--because he is so frugal--tried to give the money back to Brent!

three thoughts...forcing myself to blog

Yep. I need to practice writing here more. But, this line item doesn't count as one of my thoughts.

1. Everyone asks, "How is it with four?". I love it. Jillian is the most difficult right now. She's two and climbs, marks on everything with markers (usually washable), puts her REAL dinner in the PLAY oven, loves to "see how Phoebe's doin'" wake Phoebe up, make random calls and texts on my cell phone, etc. The rest of them are easy. But, this season will be gone before I know it. I just realized this morning that Jillian is HALFWAY to Kindergarten. See? Poof! Life is a vapor. Oh...and, in other news, Jillian also provides tons of entertainment. My favorite quote of late is when she announced, "I like me!"

2. Everyone asks, "Are you done?". Hm. Probably? I know this is one of those questions where people feel like it's nobody's business, but we always want to know. We're all just a bunch of freaks wantin' to know stuff we can't really know.

3. Everyone (in my family) asks...for more pictures. Hm. I just uploaded some, but in the transfer to Blogger, the quality looks so poor. I don't know why, but all my photos look like camera phone pics. Oh well. Here's the kiddos.

Looks like Jillian was playing with Phoebe.


Aaaand...now she's free!


Avery asks to hold Phoebe everyday. It's sweet!


Miles likes her, too!


Jillian is going through a cheesy smile phase...but I think it's kinda cute!