The results are in

For those of you who have wondered whether or not Cris and I will be expecting a third child or not..... it's a negative.
After going to the doctor today I had blood drawn and a pregnancy test done.
It came back negative, and Cris and I are thankful for that at this time.
So, the doctor is checking my blood for any problems in my kidneys, bladder, thyroid and I don't know what else.
She thinks I'm feeling so yucky due to a virus that's just different. I've not had a fever or been achy like the usual viral symptoms. Just nauseous, queasy, head aches, dry mouth, very tired etc.
I think she may also be checking for any type of diabetes also.
Please pray that this will all pass and that it's just a virus I'm going through.

I made it

I made it through my first day of biology class... with a cup of java!
After an hour of lecture and 3 pages of notes, I'm not sure that I can really pass this class.
The teacher seems down right mean. Approachable, but maybe stubborn in his old-man ways.
I don't know if he and I will get along.
I'm not impressed with him after the first day. As we were discussing creation, he bluntly said he doesn't know how everything was created. I wanted so badly to burst out and say "I do!"
He let us know he's supposed to have the answer to that type of question, and that he has his own answer/opinion but he didn't want to get into that.
OK, fine.... chicken!
Anyway, I've got a long time left of this man and his biology theories.
I have my first test next Tuesday over the first chapter!! I don't remember college being so hard!
Lord help me!!

Two of a Kind

This morning I made coffee for Gracie and I and put it in the new coffee cups we got yesterday from my dear friend Amy!
Gracie was so excited when she came into the kitchen and I told her I had a surprise for her.
When she asked what it was, I told her to look at the coffee pot. She screamed, "you made me coffee."
I put creamer in her cup just as I do mine. Then I poured us both a cup (hers much smaller of course). We sat together and drank our morning brew. Cheers!
Thanks, Amy Flora!!

Where did you learn that?

Gracie has been at school for a total of two days and has already said the phrase "booty smack!"
WHAT???
I asked her where she learned that and of course the answer was "I don't know!"
This is only the beginning isn't it?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, MIA JONES!


WE LOVE YOU,
UNCLE CRIS, AUNT JEN
GRACIE AND ISAIAH

We Did It!!!!

Gracie successfully made it through her first day of school.
Here's how the day went.
At 7:30 she woke up excited and ready to go! We took pictures and video (as any mom would do, right?)
We arrived at school at about 8:25. We walked into her room and got acquainted with the room.
We found her cubby and put her book bag into it. She asked where her friend Brianna was at.
We took her to the room next door and we talked to Bri.
That made Gracie's morning. After that, I could see a burden lifted!
We said our goodbye's and her teacher carried her off to play.
Before leaving I stuck my head in the door once more and she was quietly sitting on the rug holding her stuffed animal.
No tears where shed by anyone!! Except maybe Isaiah because he really wanted to stay!
When Cris brought her home at 2:00 she was wound tighter than an eight day clock.
She couldn't stop talking..... about nothing. She really couldn't describe a lot of her day, but she had a lot to say. She played teacher for the next 2 hours straight!
The big question I asked her was "do you want to go back tomorrow?" Her answer was "YES!"
Shew.... I'm relieved!

Tomorrow is the Big Day!!

It's 9:50 PM and I just finished ironing Gracie's clothes, picking out matching hair bows, getting her blanket and stuffed animal picked out that she will use for nap times, and packing her back pack.
Tomorrow at 8 AM she will be an official student of Fleming Co. Head Start!
I don't know what to think. I have so many mixed emotions. I think if I were to cry, it will only be if she screams and cries not to stay.... that will break my heart!!
I'm praying she loves it and learns a lot while there. Please pray her day goes well.
It's a very long day. She will be there from 8-3:00!
She has no idea what's ahead of her but as far as she knows, she's excited!
Is 3 years old too soon to let go of your little girl to "the world"?? I only pray this is the right thing for her at this stage of her life.
I'll have an update tomorrow of how the day goes.

Love Comes Softly And So On

I have seen all three movies. Love Comes Softly, Loves Enduring Promise and Loves Long Journey.
I'll admit they were a little cheesy, but good over all.
I still recommend all 3, simply for the stories. Cris only watched the first 2 with me.
By time I rented the 3rd, he'd had enough of all of this. They were too cheesy for him and he made that know to me. I had already committed to seeing them so I came through on that.
The first was the best. It actually made a tear come to my eye. The second, well, we could have skipped it. And I enjoyed the 3rd movie.
Over all, you should see them. It gets kinda addictive. And the stories are pure and Godly based.
Which is the most important thing.

Back to School

Well everyone I am a college student...... again.
At the wonderful age of 28, married, and two children, I'm going back to school.
I'm attending Maysville Community Technical College. I will be going on a VERY part time basis.
I have not been in college since 1999 so I will be taking one class.
I went in thinking I could register for an elective class, which was going to be Sign Language. I was so excited b/c I've always wanted to be fluent in ASL.
When I got there, I found out it's not even offered. So, biology is what was available. Please pray I pass this course!!
I will take one class this semester and maybe 2 next semester. My plan is to ease into this school thing very slowly. It may take awhile to get my "thinker" motivated!
Does this mean I get to go school shopping like we did as kids??!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HEY! HEY! YOU SHOULD KNOW,
DAVID MICHAEL JONES IS THE BIG 3 - 0 !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CUD (CRAZY UNCLE DAVE)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRO
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, B.I.L (BROTHER IN LAW)

To Go or Not To Go

My struggle this whole summer has been whether or not Gracie should go to head start (also known as pre-school).
At first, I was on board completely. I had it all worked out in my mind.
She would go to school, I would go back to college and Isaiah would stay with his daddy or someone else a couple days of the week.
Then, I started babysitting during the week and that messed up the whole plan of Gracie being dropped off and picked up from school. Chris is very anti-bus riding.
My prayer the whole time was to go to the appointed parent/teacher conference and God would confirm my feelings then. That appointment was this morning.
Of course, the whole time I was there, I was thinking "How could I not send her?" The teacher she will have, Ms. Gayle Miller, is very passionate about her job and kids. It shown through her every being. Her room is very kid friendly, dolls, toys, crayons, puppets etc everywhere.
While filling out the paper work, Gracie would not leave my side. After awhile she decided she'd go and find a doll. She found one that looked just like her cousin Mia, so we were calling her Mia.
She fed "Mia" and rocked her while waiting for me to be done. She was given a back pack, a toothbrush and a badge with her name on it. By the time we left there she felt so big.
She was so proud of the back pack they gave her. She came home and immediately told Cris about her new back pack and Ms. Gayle.
She will start school next Monday. I know I'll be so sad. She looked so big in that room today with her back pack on and interacting with the toys and kids.
I know I'll give it a try. And if for some reason this does not work out for us, no big deal.
But as of now, Gracie Jones will be attending Head Start on the 14th and I will be going back to school on the 21st!
This is going to be one crazy ride!
Pray for us!

The vicious cycle of "the movie"

I have the funniest story to tell you.
I got a phone call from my friend Sarah this evening telling me she went to the video store in town to rent the movie Love Comes Softly. The clerk said it was checked out already.
She knew in her mind that I was a possible person to have it.
She asked the clerk who had the movie and he told her Cris Jones.
She busted out laughing because she was right!
We rented the movie yesterday and are going to watch it tonite.
Chad Doerr watched this movie and blogged about it, then Jeni Carmichael watched it and its 2 sequels and then blogged about it. Now the whole blogging town of Flemingsburg is running to the video store for the movie WE HAVE!!!
Look what you've started Chad!!!
Look for my blog on the movie in the next day or two.

His Needs, Her Needs

I started reading the book His Needs, Her Needs, Building an Affair- Proof Marriage a couple days ago. Scary title huh??
This book was a recommended read by Dorothy Heller about 2 years ago.
I put off reading it because I didn't want to spend the money on it.

Gracie goes to the library for story hour every monday and has for awhile now. She goes by herself but I have to keep Isaiah. I used to use that hour to do my bible study but for the past few weeks I have been browsing through all the self-help, parenting and christian books I can find.
I ran across His needs, Her needs and was delighted. I could now read it for FREE! Last week I read Dave Ramsey's Money Makeover.... FREE! Wouldn't he be pleased!?
I love the library and all the resources I have at my fingertips at no charge.
But the real thing I want to share with you is this,
I have read the first 3 chapter of His needs, Her needs and don't want to put it down.
I literally am studying the book. I'm taking notes and memorizing things. It's so interesting what makes men and women tick. Today I couldn't wait to tell Cris what I learned about in chapter 3! I look forward to the chapters ahaed. I mostly look forward to an improved marriage.
I totally recommend this book no matter where your relationship is with your spouse. It's amazing how ignorant I am regarding the male mind and body. The more we learn, the better spouse we can be.

Parenting

The past two days at my house have consisted of blood, bruises and crying. No, this has nothing to do with Cris and I fighting.
Today I share with you the everyday happenings of being a parent of small children.
Yesterday while the 2 girls I babysit were here, the youngest decided to BITE her older sister in the upper lip! Blood was flowing from her mouth. I thought she'd been hit by Rocky. So I had her put ice on it to help with the swelling.
Who has ever heard of biting someone in the lip?? I've heard of biting someone's ear off, but not a lip.
Later in the day, while outside playing in the kiddy pool, Gracie slipped and fell face down on concrete. She screamed and blood was flowing from her mouth. I first checked to make sure all her teeth were there. I flipped her lip down and there were two huge holes in the lower lip from her upper buckers digging in. So once again, it was ice on the lip.
This evening at about 8:30 PM the kids were outside before coming in for bed. They were riding their bikes as they always do. This time Isaiah's bike got stuck on a water hose while riding on the concrete. When he hit the hose, the bike flipped forward and down he went..... head first on the concrete. I heard his big head hit the ground and an immediate scream! He has a wonderful blue/red knot to show for this one. I called the doctor this time because I've never seen a knot this big. So, he gets to stay up until 11:00 on a two hour watch. Needless to say, HE'S LOVING IT! There's a reason we call kids "knot head"!
I think it's time to go to bed and end this day.

What do I "right"?

I'm currently sitting at my computer (obvious) and was trying to think of what I could write about today that would be so profound.
I couldn't think of a thing. I then decided to look at my other blogging friends to read what they have to say for the day. Of course my first read is Chad Doerr and he's telling of his vacation allowing him to visit other churches.
Funny enough, my friend Amy and I, while out celebrating her 32nd birthday last night, got talking about the same topic. Which was, where Cris and I attended church while at Myrtle Beach.
This is how it all happened, and believe me, it may not sound like it, but experiencing it was a total God thing!
Before leaving for Myrtle Beach Cris emailed a guy named Damion whom we met at CIY this year, who was originally from MB. Cris asked him where a good place to worship would be.
He gave us a name of a Christian church that was in south MB. Thinking we'd have internet access at the condo, Cris didn't get directions to this church. All we knew was to follow 501, go over a bridge and then look for a theater. This was the church. (Very neat by the way).
We left at 10:00 am hoping service would be anywhere from 10:30-11:00. We drove around and finally saw a huge theater. I think our words were something like "wow, that was easy!".
But when we got closer, the sign read Christ United Methodist Church. Well, that wasn't it.
But some members where outside directing traffic so I asked them the ever so rude question, "Do you know where the Christian church is?" They very politely asked us to attend with them and then told us it was directly behind their parking lot. I told them if it didn't work out, we'd be back.
We drove behind the parking lot and sure enough, there was the theater church. The only problem was it was now 10:30 and service started at 10:00. We were so disappointed because we knew we'd already missed the singing part of worship and felt there was no need to go in now.
It so happens the Christ UMC service started at 11:00. How convenient. Cris turned to me and asked "are you ok going to the Methodist church?" I decided it was ok.
The place was awesome. It was in an old theater as well which makes for a great church set up by the way.
But what I noticed the most was the passion in some of these worshipers. The Refuge Band led worship this day and they are great!
People there worshipped without reservations. It was such a free feeling knowing you could raise your hands, clap, even dance if you wanted too! Yes I said DANCE!!
It made me realize I'm so fed up with pew sitters that sit with their arms folded and a frown on their face as if worshipping our living God literally hurts. And maybe it does when you don't have a relationship with Christ. I don't know!
I loved the fact that they had an alter call. To most around here, that is a negative word. And Cris explained to me why. But what I love about the idea of the alter call was seeing men and women of all ages coming forward to confess before God and other believers that they need to pray about something in their lives. We never see this in our church unless there's a major crisis in someone's life, then they decide to come forward to pray or be prayed for. We should daily come before Christ on our knees and being in a church building should not stop us from doing so publicly!
So what did I learn? I'm not real sure... but I do think this. The dead fart that associates him/herself with the church of Christ is not any better then the UMC member that passionately worships a Christ that is alive!
I also know God lead us to this place of worship at Myrtle Beach that Sunday!

As a side note, Cris blogged about the same thing yesterday, and I didn't even know it.
Check out his thoughts on this at http://www.iserveiam.blogspot.com/