I got a wild hair the other day and had seen an idea like this in I think Family Fun magazine a while ago. Anyway, with 3 now in school I thought I'd make getting dressed in the morning a little easier. This totally takes the guesswork out of what on earth am I gonna wear. Jayden had on the average 5 changes before she really decides on what to wear. She is never late or frustrated but this way we can plan a little on Sun night for the whole week. They were excited and Jamie's kids came over and made some too!

Jared's room is a work in progress. Jared is a Colts fan and just plain football fan can we just say. The walls are painted blue and the curtains are now up. Next we want to make a matching quilt or a Hawkeye quilt his other fav team. Notice the pics on the wall. This is Jareds dream car. We have promised him (and the others) that if thye get and keep straight A's and only straight A's that we will buy them a car when they is 16 or 17. Good grades are expected in our house but if they are only A's imagine how much money we will save for all the scholarships that will come his way. Some may say this is silly BUT a few thou then and money coming his way for college is a break for us. A goal hopefully they will all shoot for.

Mom's new job
I am sooo blessed. I am so glad I didn't say no to Dr Kettman when he asked me to come work for him. I wasn't sure I wanted to go through another bad job agin. But....this is not that way and it won't be. The office staff is small and there is only 1 Dr, 1 receptionist, 1 RN, and 3 LPN's. We run our own lab and EKG's and are able to spend lots of time and get to know the patients. Team care is cool although we haven't got it up and running completely yet. But when we do a nurse and the dr will go in the room together, she documents his dictation, draws bloodwork if needed, refills any meds that are needed via the computer and then everyone is done. None of this dragging on and waiting business. Dr Kettman is so personable and easy to work with AND funny and so far the other nurses and me are tight and laugh tons and are all happy to be there. Maybe a few bad job experiences are what some need to finally find the right fit. Lovin it!!! Here are a few pics of the office.

Tea party time. This was sooo much fun. First we had to dress up. Makeup was next. White gloves were a must. We learned the etiquette of tea and how to have manners during our lunch. Aunt Jen was a great hostess. Lunch was sandwiches(egg salad or PB). My unpicky eaters of course ate egg salad and what kids eat that? They were cut out in a teapot shape. We had blueberry tea bread with lemon topping to dip it into. Grapes, watermelon cut into teapot shape. Sparkling juice and of course tea to drink. Dessert was a watermelon look ice cream cake, cake squares dipped in frosting with chocolate on top, and wonderful sugar cookies. The table was gorgeous, my aunts are wonderful and it was everything the girls hoped it would be. They were sooo good. Oh how we looked forward to this day. To my dear aunts - I hope you know how much this meant to me with mom being gone and all. Thank you. We will never forget.

Dance Recital:
I never knew Kate would be a dancer girl. Me being so ungirly anticipated my girls would also be that way. Not so. Last year during her cousins dance recital she danced out the door during intermission and up and down the halls swinging her arms and not even caring who saw her. She never said anything about it but it was as if I could see inside her for that moment. What I saw was this passion for dance. So with a little push from Aunt Jamie we signed her up this past winter for dance at the studio her cousins go to. She loves it. They are very particular and don't let the parents see the dance classes or even the rehearsal for the recital. It is also not cheap. But....seeing the permasmile on her face during the recital and knowing all that she has been through kidneywise the past few years was soooo worth it.

NEW BABY AT OUR HOUSE
Just to catch all of your attention everyone! I got a new puppy for Mother's Day/birthday/Christmas/rest of the year gift. I'm not sure what I am more excited about - that Jer caved and let me get a dog or the fact that I actually have a dog. Either way I am very happy about both. She is a Basenji and we named her Britt. We got her from the pound and she had been a stray. It was just like bringing home one of our children - we discussed names, where to sleep, how to discipline. She is so easily trainable and had to either been someones great pet or is just smart. Christian laughs at her all day, she has taken a liking to Jared, Jay and Kate could care less. But as for me, of course, I am in love with my new baby.

FEELING LOST
Well not really - just upset because I realized approx 500 pics got deleted off of my camera card. Not sure how this hapenned. And of course none of the kids did it - just ask them. The kids don't touch my camera and I sure know where the delete button is. So sad that the last 6 months of our lives are missing from pics. Christmas, the girls birthdays, a concert, a practical joke and just daily fun stuff ALL GONE. So frustrating. I guess I will have to back them up more often than every 6 months to a CD. Oh well.

Get ready to laugh your butts off. Jared is full of practical jokes lately and thought he would get his sister. Although she wasn't too thrilled I assured her that paybacks are sooo worth it. So the first video is Jared sneaking into the bathroom unbeknownst (is that a word) to his sister. The look on his face is hilarious. Second video is him getting her with 2 gallons of ice water then screaming. Video 3 is Jayden and her dad getting Jared back. This was done with a hose in the house from the upstairs bathroom to the downstairs bathroom. As you can tell our bathroom isn't finished yet and has no ceiling so the hose water went straight down into the shower much to Jared's shock. I missed the first shot but got the other two. I guess living in this family you must be prepared for anything.

Some fun things I've been making lately. I have been starting to sell some items on Etsy which is a site for all things handmade. Here is a link to my shop at Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/jnjols. I know how much I love to make things and how therapeutic it is for me. The mindless counting soothes my craziness. Thanks to Patty for all the books, patterns, and time she has shared with me to teach me and help me to love to crochet. P, are you reading this? She is truly an artist.

Wow! I am ecstatic yet apprehensive, thrilled yet worried, excited and nervous all at the same time. I have been flattered by a Dr and asked to be his nurse. He is starting something completely new in the area called Team Care and he has asked me to start it with him and his current 2 office nurses. Offering me the same money and possibly part time if I wanted to pursue being a Nurse Practitioner with a yearly bonus type plan. Wow! Team Care is not currently done anywhere and what it is is that you come to the dr and have a good 45 minutes with the nurse and doctor together. You start with the nurse and she gets an adequate history and asks if you need anything else like - do you need your children seen today? - do you need that mole removed? - do any of your medicines need refilled? - what other issues do you have? If this takes off this will be huge. If this works for me this will be a fit for life. So what to do? Take it and not feel guilty about leaving Christian home with his DAD until 2:30? After all he will be home with DAD and all the rest are in school. They will be flexible about school activities during the day and needed times off. Or do I stay working on the weekends, make less, miss church, and stay knowing that it is not my dream job? I have gotten over my self confidence issues over the weekend and know this is something I CAN do. But should I?

As a reminder to myself that I need to blog more to keep a better journal for our family I was just sitting here remembering.....
This month is my mothers birthday - oh how I wish she was here to tease, to laugh with, for Jeremy to make fun of... Some people have mothers that drive them crazy and oh how I wish mine were here to drive me crazy.
Funny things my kids say that make my heart tingle:
Bubbie is always yelling and correcting us right now. He spent the whole way home from church the other day correcting everyone who said it was hot. He said, "...no it not hot it warm". This makes me laugh because it took sooo long for him to even talk and now I'm even thinking he might be a little smart even.
Kate and I were heatedly discussing one day. Well Kate was heatedly trying to make me understand and I was trying to figure out what the heck she was talking about. She wanted Rotten Candy. I tried to tell her there was no such thing but she was insistent. The next time we were in the Wal Mart line she lifted up a bag and said with much satisfaction that what she was holding was the Rotton Candy. I couldnt help but laugh so hard because of course it was cotton candy.
Jayden always so proper can fart like no other. Yes I know this is on public record for all to see but that girl can make noise that you don't even think is real. So many noises I even think she has her own fart language. And to make it even grosser her best friend and her do this together and think it is hilarious. Gross!! This is blamed on Jer because before any of our kids could talk he had them realizing what was a good fart and what wasn't. Jayden would fart and look over at her daddy for approval before she could even talk. Many broken chairs at this house from that girl.
And Jared oh lovely Jared right now. Hmmm! Can't hardly say anything without his voice cracking. This is sooo wierd for me. I don't feel that old to be having a child maturing but you can't stop it. This is great for me right now because it cracks when he is yelling at his siblings or getting angry with me. It stops him quick because he has to caugh and well ha the jokes on him.
And my guilt for the day. We were driving in the rain and hitting puddles and having a little fun until I stopped too quickly and Jay side and Kates nose got hurt. So much for a little fun. I told Jared no more doughnuts in the winter or puddles in the rain - its not worth it.
Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Other than the last thing I do try to sit down each night and reflect on happy things and then I sleep much better.

This Spring Break we did something we don't usually do - we went on a trip - to the Dells. It was great. We met up with Chris and Lisa there. They had been there before and knew the ins and outs. Mom's favorite thing about the trip was that hubby and baby were not grumpy and that Jared and Jayden got along so well. Since they were doing so well Jer and I gave them a little freedom and let them go and do things we wouldn't normally let them do. We let them go to Magic Quest without us as long as they stayed together. Magic Quest was the coolest. You had to buy a wand then you could pick certain quests to go on. Magic Quest was like a 4 level playhouse. You could pick certain quests to go on and they would give you a riddle to solve and then you would run all over trying to make sense of it and find all of the items. You would have to point your wand at pictures, chests, etc to complete each level. Things needed to be done in a certain order and it was so fun to see kids run all over to find everything. The final dragon was so hard not even Jared or Uncle Christopher could do it. But Mom could!!! So funny to hear Jared ask me to conquer the dragon for him. Christian was funnier than we had ever seen and had us all laughing so hard nearly every minute. Kate couldn't stay out of the wavepool and Christian couldn't stay in it. Kaaary mom he would say. Much time spent getting water logged and sleeping like a baby. We are grateful tax return was kind to us this year. Ahhh Memories.

Wow! New computer finally. We have been without for quite a few months and the first thing I am doing now that it is set up is to UPDATE MY BLOG. Just a quick rundown as to what has happened since my last post.


Me - Had a great girls weekend getaway in September. One I won't soon forget. Knitting now along with crocheting and beginning to sell some patterns. Made flowers for a wedding. Decided to work weekends for a time after much prayer and worry about missing church. Things are beginning to look brighter financially for us.

Jer - I don't know. Took a taser class and now has to teach all the others how to totally nearly kill someone if they don't do what the officer says to do. Works very hard and takes good care of us.

Jared - Started junior high AND football (he is #88). What a combo. Lost lots of weight playing ball - not that he needed to so much but just was in the football zone. After lots of tears we decided not to allow Sun games. His league team the Bucs went undefeated. Mom is so not ready for that junior high age and worried all summer about 6th grade. But so far (it is now March) he has made the honor roll all year, not gotten into any trouble, and manages to get up every morning and shower. Can't complain too badly but we definately have hormones kicking in and we are not sure about these yet.

Jayden - Still doing gymnastics, loves to read, and is good looking out for others. Is a great help to her mom. Sometimes too much so and I have had to yell at her at times because she wants to do so much. I tell her she will have plenty of time to be a mom and to let me do it for now. Recently entered a photo contest and took these all by herself and is writing a 1000 word essay to go along. We'll let you know how she does.

Kate - We could write a book with many chapters on the kidney and bladder trouble she has had but finally 2 days before Thanksgiving her surgery finally was done. After trying multiple procedures (Deflux, bladder training, meds) failed and finding out her reflux was actually worse and on both sides along with outer pole kidney damage, the decision was made to reimplant the ureters and fix a birth defect. So much stress of waiting and then it was done, we went home the next day and it has been hard to keep her down. Now to get rid of the 6 meds she takes daily.

Bubbie - What can I say. Funny mostly. Big boss. Moody. Cute. Rotten. Loves anyone who gives him his way, LOVES pop and trains. Totally nothing like anything I have raised thus far. Is over 3 ft tall at age 2 and just under 27#. Off the charts for height. Silly boy.

Scarlet - Our (MY) beloved dog went to puppy heaven in Nov. I don't cry much but blubbered like an idiot with the girls while Jared watched us with a strange look on his face. I thought she was passing in her favorite spot so called Jer at work and made him come get her. It was so sad to have both of us haul her into the back of the cop car (she was unable). She made it into the vet and collapsed but didn't pass. That's all I can bear to know. Sad thing is is that J won't let me get another. I know I have my hands full at home but oh how I have learned to love labs. Someday I just may bring another dog home just like how I got her. Wonder how that will go over.