Bigfoot - real or not real

For several months now, Joseph and our boys have been obsessed with Bigfoot. They watch every episode of "Finding Bigfoot", have researched sightings online, read various articles with supporting evidence of the creature's existence, weighed the evidence and came to each of their own conclusions. Which, I might add, are subject to change from one day to the next depending on the latest information. Joseph is inclined to think there is "something" out there but not sure what it is exactly. Samuel does not believe Bigfoot exists. According to him, there is not enough reliable information. John Michael? Absolutely! He believes it 100%. Thus the reason he is afraid to go and brush his teeth by himself some nights. Regardless of whether Bigfoot exists or not is beside the point. I don't really care either way. What I do LOVE about all of this is watching these boys have fun with an idea and share a common fascination with something that boys are just, for some reason, naturally drawn to. I also believe it has been somewhat educational for them. The research.... this article leading to a new idea and further research.... weighing out the statistics and the reliability of the information. etc. Joseph has a book from his childhood that was one of his favorites called "The Boy who saw Bigfoot". We still have his tattered and torn copy from many years ago when he was just a boy himself enthralled with the idea of Bigfoot. He has been reading it to Samuel and John Michael chapter by chapter, night after night. Every night they are filled with the excitement of the anticipation of what the next chapter will bring. I am quite sure that these are memories they will carry with them for a lifetime and perhaps will one day share with their own sons. Whether Bigfoot is real or not is completely beside the point.

a Pinterest project - long overdue

Almost 12 years ago exactly, Joseph and I purchased 3 pieces of unfinished furniture for Samuel's nursery and Joseph painted them white.... a chest, an armoire, and a bookcase. We were so proud of them but, at the time, I didn't realize how little time baby boys are BABIES. They quickly turn into BOYS. As much as I loved the furniture pieces we purchased, the white painted finish just did not fit into a sports themed big boy room. So about 6 years ago I painted two of the pieces, the chest and the bookcase, a deep red with a black glaze finish and vowed that I soon would tackle the armoire. Fast forward to 2012 & the armoire was still white. Well, a couple of weeks ago Samuel decided that he didn't want bunk beds in his room anymore, as he is about to be 12 years old and bunk beds just aren't 'cool'. I started thinking of a solution and it hit me that the bunk beds would be much better in John Michael's room anyway because his room is somewhat smaller than Samuel's room. John Michael had an antique bedroom suite that belonged to my mother and consists of a full-size bed, a chest of drawers, and a desk. Lightbulb moment... switch the furniture! Samuel loved the idea of a full size bed and a desk and JM was overjoyed at the idea of having bunk beds. If you know me at all you know that once I decide I want something done, I want it done yesterday! So about 8:00 on a Thursday night we started the switch and you know how that goes. One project turns into about 15.... cleaning out toy boxes, closets, drawers, getting rid of STUFF (Junk), and on and on. We get the furniture moved, beds put back together, drawers back into chests and overall I'm pretty pleased with everything but the WHITE armoire which is now the only thing you see when you look down the hallway into John Michael's bedroom. Not working for me! So out come the clothes from the drawers (5 minutes after I put them in) and the armoire goes to the garage for the overhaul. I had pinned a tutorial on Pinterest of a Pottery Barn black, distressed finished that I just love.

Not the best quality pictures, I know, but I was pretty pleased with the outcome. Both boys bedrooms now seem bigger with the more appropriately sized furniture. Both rooms are easier to keep in order now that about 5 garbage bags of junk (I mean stuff) is at the Thrift Store rather than in our house. They love their rooms! I should have taken overall pictures but will have to do that later. Project complete!

January

January is one of my favorite months of the year. While some may find this month depressing, with the holidays behind us and the somewhat dreary weather, I find it rejuvenating. For me, January is a time to slow down, relax, regroup, & reorganize. It is also a time to catch up on that ever-growing list of books I long to read and simply a time to enjoy being at home, cooking, watching movies, playing games, tackling pinterest-ing projects, and spending time getting to know my family again. While Samuel is playing basketball, the demands of running boys here and there are minimal compared to other more demanding months of the year. So what have we been up to? Well, I finally got around to reading "The Hunger Games" trilogy and LOVED it. I also read Nicholas Sparks latest novel "The Best of Me", watched The Help with Joseph & Samuel and loved it as much as I did the first time around (not quite as much as the book, but the movie is pretty awesome as well). Rarely does a movie do a book justice but this one does a pretty good job. A must READ and see if you haven't! We also watched a couple of great family movies with the boys such as DolphinTale and Soul Surfer. My parents gave Joseph a book for Christmas called "In Step with God" by Charles Stanley and it was powerful. This book led me to another book by Stanley called "the Wonderful Spirit Filled Life" which I am about halfway through and I'm just trying to sort it all out. I'm taking one day at a time trying and failing and trying again to apply what I am reading. Random.... Hobby Lobby opened yesterday after it was completely destroyed by the April 27th tornado. So very excited to have HL back in town! More Random.... Samuel is making us so proud these days. First, his love of reading really blows us away. I don't even know how many books he has read since Christmas but I do know that his favorite was Tim Tebow's book "Through My Eyes". Since then he has become hooked on a couple of authors, Tim Green and Mike Lupika (check them out for some great reading for boys). For the last couple of weeks, we have had to make him turn his lights off, put the book away, and go to sleep most every night. Never thought I would say that... and I am not complaining, but he does need to sleep! In addition to having to make him go to bed, he made a New Years resolution to set his own alarm clock for 6:00 AM so he can take his shower in the morning rather than at night, and have some time to read before he goes to school. He is growing up! Also, his 5th grade class just elected Who's Who and he was elected Class Scholar. That makes us proud! His basketball team is doing well and he has made some progress at being more aggressive on the court. It is not his natural tendency to get up in someone's face and scrap for a ball. His dad tells him before every game that he wants at least X number of attempted shots and X number of personal fouls. Baseball practice has begun also. This will be the first year since 2005 that he isn't playing at Kentuck. He is playing exclusively on his Travel Ball team from the last couple of summers - The Northport Tide. A great group of boys and families. John Michael is growing up as well. We just signed him up for Kentuck t-ball. So, while Samuel is leaving Kentuck behind, we begin the Kentuck experience with John Michael. I couldn't be more excited! We have loved Kentuck over the years and are proud to have such an awesome program available to our boys. John Michael will also start kindergarten this Fall, which I honestly think just can't be right. These years have flown by even more so than they did with Samuel. A recent morning out at Barnes & Noble & the playground....

While Samuel may struggle with being aggressive, John Michael DOES NOT! John Michael struggles with the opposite... self control! However, from what we have read, self control might be easier taught than trying to make a child more aggressive. I just hope he learns a little more of this particular fruit of the spirit by August - before he starts kindergarten. Bless his heart, he does try. It just isn't easy for him! As different as our boys may be, they are both equal blessings from God and we cherish every moment we have with them.

Currently reading

My parents actually gave this book to Joseph for Christmas but I picked it up, read the introduction, and never put it down. It is really speaking to me and is just what WE both need right now. God has so much MORE planned for our lives than we are allowing Him to accomplish. We are allowing so many 'things' to crowd Him out and distract us from being still and hearing Him speak to us and direct our lives. God tells us to get rid of anything, be it sinful or not, that is keeping us from being still and listening... truly listening... for Him to direct our path. This is our goal this year... to slow down and be still and know that He is God and He is in control. I can't wait to experience the joy and the peace that comes from living in the center of His will!

Christmas with the Jennings

Friday December 23, 2011

We had Christmas dinner with Joseph's family at our house on Friday. His Dad, his brother & his girlfriend - Dee, and our family were there. Joseph's mom passed away two days after Christmas last year so this was the first without her. Joseph's dad is in a nursing home here in Tuscaloosa and we were so glad he was well enough to be here.

more Christmas

Christmas Eve at my sister's houseMy niece, Heather and her beloved retriever, Mindy (and Carlos trying to pop in there too)

My nephew, Jordan

All of my nieces - Hannah, Danielle, Heather, Elizabeth

Mom & Dad

Daddy playing the guitar - something he loves to do

Samuel - proud of his Ingram & Jones rookie cards

John Michael at the barn

Christmas at our house - 2011

Those who know me best know that I love to change things around in our house and I love to 'piddle' around with decorating and trying new things. Christmas comes with a lot of opportunities to make some festive changes to enjoy for a short while. While I do tire of the extra stuff/clutter that the Christmas season brings and I am usually ready to bid it farewell, I really enjoy it for the season.

Our Tree this year...

Joseph & I bought the star for our first Christmas tree in 1991 & it still works.

Our front door...

The old sled has been in Joseph's family for more than fifty years. His parents bought it before he was even born when they lived in Upstate New York. Wouldn't take anything for it!

Front entryway table... I found this Santa at a Dollar General many years ago and I still love him.

Every year we make some homemade goodies to share with our neighbors. This year we had two new families move into our neighborhood in the last few months and we had not met them yet. So, we decided to make some easy chocolate fudge and some homemade hot chocolate mix (recipe from my dear friend Karen), store it in cute little containers, and hand deliver to each of our neighbors. The boys loved this! We bundled up, packed the wagon with our goodies to deliver, and walked to each home, made our delivery and wished them a Merry Christmas. The boys were sad when the last delivery had been made and we enjoyed meeting our new neighbors. The hot chocolate mix was a hit...

A Pinterest Project from some reclaimed wood from our front steps we replaced earlier in the year. I didn't do anything to the red wood pieces... I left them just as they were and loved how they turned out. A Christmas Nativity...

Another Pinterest project some friends and I got together and did. I love this project and it was such a fun night!

We made a quick trip to Birmingham to see Santa and we have some precious memories of this occasion with John Michael. I will have to post pictures later but it is a classic complete with plaid shirt, boots, cowboy hat, and even the gun sitting across his lap. Too cute and soooo JM. The elves, Elfie and Bedford, showed up again this year too and many good memories were made with them. They even went on our cruise with us! Yep, they were hid out in our car all buckled up and ready to go. They got into lots of other mischief as well such as zip-lines, blue angels air-planes, cookies, etc. Such a great memory-maker for our family. It was a blessed Christmas. More family pics later.

more of the December blur

One of my favorite things about this cruise was the opportunity to get dressed up. We just don't do this as often as we used to and I miss it!

Cruise... Part 2 So... after an exciting day in Cozumel we boarded the ship and headed back to our cabin to drop off our shopping bags then headed back to our favorite spot on the Serenity deck. Our view for most of our time on the ship. Sunset later that evening... After a rocky night at sea, some Salsa dance lessons, a couple of shows, and some major laughs at the comedy club our get-away at Sea came to a close. We spent a few hours roaming around in New Orleans before heading home. We were anxious to see our boys and tell them about our adventure. They had a great time with my parents but were glad for us to be home. This was our first time to leave them for this length of time. It was good for them and good for us!

the December blur

December is always a busy month for everyone but this year it seemed even more so. Our wedding anniversary is December 7th and this year marked 20 years. Joseph has ALWAYS gone out of his way to come up with creative ways for us to celebrate 'our day' but since our kids were born we haven't actually taken a trip like we did before kids. This year he surprised me with a cruise to Cozumel to celebrate 20 years. It was awesome and a much needed escape from the daily routine and busy-ness. Of course getting ourselves ready to take a tropical vacation in the middle of December and getting ready to leave the boys with my parents for 5 days was crazy on top of the usual Christmas decorating, shopping, parties, etc. Let me just say that it was HEAVEN. While on the cruise ship we did absolute nothing but lounge on the Serenity (no-kids-allowed) Deck and sleep, read, eat, & sleep some more. Pure AWESOME-NESS! No laundry calling my name, no homework to check, no basketball practice, no snacks to make or dinner to prepare, no beds to be made... you get the picture. Honestly, I didn't realize just how much we needed it. Don't get me wrong... I love being a wife & mom and I realize how very blessed I am to have been given these roles to fulfill. But a break from the constant demands was much needed and much appreciated.

We left on Thursday morning - December 8th and drove to New Orleans, boarded the Carnival cruise ship - Elation at about 12:30, explored the ship, found our cabin, and had lunch on the Lito Deck. The food was awesome and let me just say that we were never hungry the entire time! We pulled out of New Orleans at 4:00 and the journey to Cozumel began. Friday we were at sea all day and were docked in Cozumel when we awoke on Saturay morning. We spent the day exploring Cozumel with our very own, very nice, Cab Driver/Tour Guide, Victor. He was very personable and we loved hearing about his family and their traditions & we really enjoyed spending the day with him. He took us around the entire island, he took us to a beautiful out-of-the-way spot (Playa Palancar) to snorkel, we had lunch on the back side of the Island at Cocunuts with the most beautiful view you could ever imagine. There is no electricity on the back side of the island but it was one of the best meals we have ever had! We made a quick stop to stick a straw in a coconut for a refreshing treat later that afternoon & hit some flea-markets to pick up some souvinirs for the boys and headed back to the ship.