Aunt Jen Jen....can you please....

So I had Jill's boys over the weekend, well only for one night, but I had ALL three of them. I am a Mom, I can handle anything and everything. WHAT is the big deal, Right? WRONG!! :)

Richard and I are suckers. There is no easy way to say it, but we are an easy target for these boys.

I almost feel sad for Jacob and Tyler. When they were young, they ran around with Cody, and I still very much had my "parent" hat on. So, the things they did were not funny, but probably should have been.....:~) I know we used to let Zachary rule the roost, of course that was before we had parent hats on.........and then with Ginger's kids (Wyatt, Conner, and Emma) they live so far away that we have short stays at Uncle Richard and Aunt Jen's house....and it is probably a good thing, because Emma somewhat has Uncle Richard wrapped around her finger.....and then bring on Hailey and Hayden.....I think secretly Uncle Richard knows that Hailey is the boss and therefore when she comes to town, she rules, and Aunt Jen knew it would be that way as soon as she saw the red hair........and Hayden has yet to experience Uncle Richard and Aunt Jen's house.. but I am guessing.....:~) And then there is Grace, our pseudo niece....well, she....wrapped us around her finger and tied the knot....WE have some pretty cute nieces and nephews.. if you didn't know.. just ask us!!

Anyway, back to my weekend.....I picked up the boys at McDonald's in St. Joseph from a very teary eyed sister who thought for sure that she was breaking some wonderful parent rule of sending them off for the night...WHATEVER...:~) On the way to Savannah....Kade is telling me something....like this..."Jen Jen.. Kam "something" me )($*)%*....WHAT? Aunt Jen Jen can't understand you...(this repeats about about 4 times)... Finally, Kam speaks up and says...Jen Jen, Kade is trying to tell you I called him stupid.....I nearly cracked up!

We stopped by to see Nanny at the courthouse to which Kam and Kade both thought it was hilarious to call everyone they saw...BOO_BOO....yes ...BOO BOO....they nearly laughed themselves to tears! Karson meanwhile was just smiling at everyone as the innocent child he is...:~)

We came home and it was so cold outside and drizzling.....but of course they wanted to go outside to the playhouse. Now, this is where an Aunt's perspective comes into play....We really shouldn't go outside, it is wet and cold... but they wanted to...so we loaded up with blankets and the rocking chairs from the house and headed to the playhouse....Jen Jen, Cody, Kensey Rae, and all three boys. We stayed out there for about an hour and a half when Uncle Richard arrived...so he joined us.. with Jaxson Bo. Yes, we have been suckered.. AGAIN.

I think we should all experience being an Aunt or Uncle before we are allowed to have children. It just takes the edge off. I think as parents we try to be so perfect and we feel like we have these expectations to meet...but as an Aunt and Uncle..anything goes... it is just FUN....you just take the time to play. If the house is a mess... it just means you had fun.....if the clothes are stained...it means the food was good and the grass was ripe for running.....if the face is dirty...it means you played hard all day.......


I told Richard if this is any indication as to what grandparent hood will be like....we are in trouble. Our kids will hang us from the highest ceiling and beat us like pinatas!

As the Aunt and Uncle we laugh at them when we should discipline....we let the borders of rules probably swell outside the line.....we let them eat ice cream for breakfast..(and make our kids eat oatmeal) :~).....we let them pick something up at Walmart at the checkout....we let them watch a movie over and over and over.....we let them take the cups into the living room and require our kids to stay in the kitchen.....I can't count the times we let Conner and Wyatt "relieve themselves" outside and made Cody go into the restroom or skip their vitamin that their Mom promised I would give them...Or let Emma eat cookies for breakfast..I told her not to tell her Mom......or let Zachary walk through the house after four wheelin' with mud all over him...and just cleaned it up myself cause we were so happy to have him there....poor Tyler and Jake.....they were sitting in the corner with Cody after running the four wheeler into the fence, jumping in the river with clothes on, having a water fight inside the house...would I think it was funny now??...Hailey and Grace rule but are still innocent enough that they are in the bedroom with Kensey Rae feeding their babies and finding purses to carry around while Kensey Rae does their hair and finds sparkly outfits for them to wear....and Hayden we can only imagine what he will talk us into...Kam, Kade and Karson....we won't mention to your Mom that you were jumping over the sofa this weekend...or that you watched three movies Friday night.....or that you had cookies before the pancakes were done...


Blessings,
Jen

Raining Blessings!!

Hello Friends and Family-

Last week was one of those weeks when you just can't give God enough glory. We had prayer after prayer answered, just simply amazing.

We went to Children's Mercy for Cody's visit. I was very nervous about this visit. Cody has always handled his GHD with a lot of dignity and never really complained. As of late, it has changed. He is tired of getting passed up. He is tired of giving himself a shot (for the last three years) to see minimal amount of progress in his eyes. He is tired of everybody growing, and him not. Praise the Lord.. he has grown 1.2 inches and gained 6 pounds in a little over 3 months. He is finally really responding to his meds!! He is not a hair under 5'3" and weighing in at 101 pounds. He will be 15 in October. God is good! (Of course He would have still been good even if he hadn't grown) :~) Prayer request #1 answered.

We were able to see our little guy Jaxon Burns at Mercy while we were there. HE IS SO STINKING CUTE!!! www.caringbridge.org/jaxonburns He has been moved to the Ronald McDonald house and will be going HOME in a week or so!! This little guy is 3 years old, has survived cancer, two liver transplants and has a sparkle in his eyes that is just amazing. So, prayer request #2 was answered!!

Our friends, The Thomsen's, have an amazing little boy named Per who has fought two kinds of cancers. He had scans that showed everything is STABLE!! AWESOME!! So, prayer request number 3 answered. Can you believe this??

On Wednesday, Richard called me at work and said that he had been having an eventful morning. Well, I just kept typing away, because Richard's eventful is....well... boring. :~) He was offered a Plant Manager position, that entitles him to a company car, laptop,cell phone,Less hours and a pay increase!! I was nearly knocked off my chair!! This man deserves this-- when I think of all the things he has missed out on, and NEVER complained to me. He is a worker. He is the guy who has always and forever put his family first. He has always put me first. When I think about how much he has sacrificed over the years to better his family's future, to give more than he received....well, it is overwhelming. (wipes a tear)

The kids and I met him that night on the way to AWANA and he was driving his company truck...we hooted and hollered in our car as we passed him...laying on the horn.. singing God is so good....it was awesome. I had picked Cody up from school and ran him to the golf course, so he called his Dad while he was golfing....Richard thought that was cute. I told Kensey Rae when she came home from character club and unknown to me, she went to her room and called him from her cell phone.

I traveled to Jefferson City last week as well. My position with Sunshine Factory is going to be changing. Our county is taking on Target Case Management for our clients. There is a lot of details and paperwork. I am up to the challenge, I just hope my brain follows! :~)

Have a great week!!

Blessings,
Jen

Happy Birthday Hailey!!!

We were unable to attend, but by the looks of it.....Hailey's 2nd birthday was a BIG hit!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAILEY!!!!