West Michigan Mom's Sale

A little piece of info to all you moms in blogland (or to the like 4 people who read this thing!). There is going to be a great indoor event for kids clothes, toys, and furniture. West Michigan Mom's Sale is having its first sale on Saturday the 27th from 9-3. Basically a mom will rent out a table to sell of her kids toys and clothes and sell them to all of us bargain shoppers. There is also a room full of big toys and furniture. The great thing about this sale is that each seller is in charge of their own table so you can wheel and deal a good price! Its modeled after the moms2moms sales they have on the east side of the state.

If interested check out: http://www.westmichiganmomssale.com/

Its going to be held at the Homeschool building on Burlingame between M-6 and 54th street.

Maybe I'll see you there!

What can you get for $32.56?

So what can you get for $32.56 in today's economy? About a gallon of milk! Haha, just kidding. One of my favorite places to shop is goodwill. Its the best. Its hit or miss. Its awesome. Today was a HIT day! Here is what I got for $32.56.

-Old Navy Jeans
-Khaki cordoroy pants
-White Sweater
-2 short sleeve shirts
-3 long sleeve shirts
-Pajama cami
-Pink tennis shoes
-5 books for Izzy
-Thomas the train train set (wooden tracks with trains in orginal box)
-VHS movie
-CD of toddler tunes

Yeah, it was a good morning!

Wordless Wednesday: The Boo Boo of '08

Birthday

Happy Birthday to my Love!!! Paul turned 26 today. We celebrated some yesterday as we had the whole day alone. He even got free elephant ear type things at On the Border. Tonight we celebrated with his Mom and Dad and so on.

The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful husband and an awesome best friend. I love you honey!!!

Alone

We are ALONE! My parents were itching for some Izzy time, so they picked her up last night and have her until Tuesday afternoon. Mondays also just happen to be Paul's only day off. We have an entire day alone!!! No working!!! Just us. A preview for our vacation in a few weeks. This will help us get through the final push through Fall Parade of Homes. Paul's been working 7 days a week for the past 3 or 4 weeks and has to work 7 days a week from now until October 14 when we leave. We are going to treasure this day! But, as we sit in the living room in our PJ's we just wonder what to do! What do we do today? Any suggestions?

6 Things I've Learned: A Motherhood Meme

With inspiration from my friend Sarah, I thought I'd record 6 things (only 6??) that I've learned since becoming a mother a little over 2 years ago. I'm still in my toddler stage of motherhood. I'm past the infancy stage of everything is new and exciting. I'm not quite in the maturity of childhood as a mother. I still throw tantrums when parenting doesn't go my way. I'm off discovering new things all the time, learning new vocabulary,learning my boundries. So, that being said, I'm no expert, but I've learned a lot in my two years as a mom.

6. Baby food carrots stain like no other! Don't put your daughter in a cute outfit alone for even a second with a small container of baby food carrots within reach. Do not underestimate the length of her reach or her speed. Your cute little outfit will never be the same.

5. My daughter will never wear all of the outfits given to her or bought by me. I'm a bargain shopper (garage sales, goodwill, etc.). I tend to overbuy simply because its cheap. Now she has more clothes than one could possibly wear in a season.

4. When you think you can't take it anymore, add some humor to the situation. One time when Izzy was like 8 months old, she just wouldn't stop whining. Nothing would make this child happy. Finally, I emptied her little toy box and stuck her in it. We had a rousing time of baby in the box. She thought it was hilarious and started to calm down. I gained joy from her laughter and we both ended up in better moods. Humor can help take care of a lot of ill feelings.

3. A toy doesn't have to be a toy. Izzy has found more entertainment out of a box I turned into a play house, a tube from wrapping paper we decided could be a horse, and anything with holes she can make bubbles with in the bathtub.

2. Every child is so different. I know I have had only one kid, but just comparing her temperment and personality to other kids we are close to really shed light on how different God creates us all. We don't come out as blank slates- there is a personality behind that 7 pound ball. There is innate temperments and desires that I could never have fostered. My daughter's sweet motherly nature with her baby dolls is not something I fostered or taught- it is a gift given to her from the One who gave her life. Even her lack of sleep the first year of life (Izzy didn't sleep through the night until 13 months) set her apart from others. It will be interesting to see what a second baby will bring (someday!) and what kind of temperments and personality they have.

1. I never knew how much sorrow I could feel for someone else's tears and joy from someone else's laugh. When she cries I want to fix it. When she laughs, I can't help but be put in a better mood. She is contagious. And those eyes could just melt my heart.

Not just the good ones

I had a great night teaching at church last night (Our church does a Saturday night service instead of a Sunday night). The kids were great- a little wound up, but it has been raining since Friday nonstop. Volunteers showed up. The lesson went wonderfully- we learned about how knowing God's word can help us make the wise decision- telling the devil NO! when he tempts us.

What was so cool last night was a conversation I heard at the exit door from a boy and his father. This boy is not the most well behaved in the room. I'm often having to tell him to focus, show respect, etc. Well, I needed 5 kids on stage to help me and he just looked at me with the most eager eyes. Its like they were saying :"take a chance miss Jen, take a chance on me, please!" So I picked him. And he was so excited to be up there he didn't stop talking! Oh well, you go with the flow! Anyways, after all was said and done and he was on his way home, I overheard this bit of the conversation, 'Dad, I got to be on stage and hold this blue piece of paper with a temptation on it and everyone clapped the loudest for mine and it was so cool!' I don't know the full impact of the lesson on this boy. I don't know if he got the bottom line. I'm not sure where he is at spiritually. But, such a simple thing of asking for his help and asking him to come up on stage made his night! It reminded me not to always pick the perfect little kids who always sit quietly and never make waves. Take a chance on somebody you wouldn't normally, it may just make their day- and who knows where that may lead!

Do you remember?

Do you remember where you were September 11, 2001? My husband and I were talking about how 9/11 has become our generation's Pearl Harbor. I would imagine most remember where they were and how that fateful day played out.

I was in my first week of college, on my way to my freshman block class. We had started class when one of my classmates came in late shouting something had crashed into the world trade center. At that point, our theories ranged from helicopters or small single engine planes accidentally knicking the top of it. My second professor for block came in awhile later giving us more details and told us there was going to be a meeting in the chapel at 10. We all ran back to our dorms to check it out for ourselves. I was in a suite with 3 other girls. We all started numbingly at the screen as we saw both towers on fire. Then the reports began to fly in that this was no accident and we were under attack. We headed to the chapel for information and prayer service. The college shut down for the day, and we were asked to stay on campus until more details were known. Not a problem since we were all fixed to our tv's anyway. As the planes crashed into the pentagon and in Shanksville, I began to panick thinking I was 2 hours from home, still getting used to the whole independence college thing. I was scared. I was scared of who was going to be hit next. It seemd like the rest of the morning was just filled with anxiousness as we almost anticipated which city or landmark was going to get hit next. I remember crying out loud when the towers began to fall. I had been to NYC many times on missions trips and had stood atop those towers. I knew how many people could be affected, it just ached my heart. As the day came to a close, we realized that our lives had changed a lot here in America. My classmates and I learned very fast as college freshman that we were adults now, and we had to grow up pretty fast. One of my friends was deployed later on to Iraq. Life and freedom was no longer taken for granted. It was the theme of my freshman year. 9/11 was often a part of the conversation that year around the dining commons tables and classroom discussions.

I can't believe it has been 7 years. I hope that healing has occured in the families who lost loved ones. I believe healing has occured in our country, but that we often forget that honeymoon phase of solidarity and unity that closely followed the attacks. Do you remember? Do you remember where you were 7 years ago today?

Wordless Wednesday

I love your determination to do big things- like move a lake one cupfull at a time.

What's in a Name?

This looked like fun- give it a try if you want!

The Name Game
1.Your rock star name (first pet, current car): Taffy Pacifica
2.Your gangsta name (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe): Cake Batter Sandal
3.Your Native American name (favorite color, favorite animal): Purple Cat
4.Your soap opera name (middle name, city where you were born): Elaine Hillsdale
5.Your Star Wars name (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name): Spi Je
6.Superhero name (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Pink Cream Soda
7.NASCAR name (the first names of your grandfathers): Harold Joseph
8.Dancer name (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy): Happy Dove Chocolate
9.TV weather anchor name (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): McBride Mephis
10.Spy name (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Spring Rose
11.Cartoon name:(favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now): Watermelon Capri
12.Hippie name (what you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Toast Maple
13.Movie star name (first pet, first street where you lived): Taffy Crockett Highway

Joy

Last night I felt incredibly joyful. Its hard to explain really. It was our kickoff night at church for the new season of Discovery Village- the children's program. I'm a storyteller for K-3rd and host in the 2nd-3rd grade room. The whole church was just buzzing with excitement. They have really been promoting the Saturday night service, so we were curious as to how many kids would show up. We had a great turnout! I didn't get a final number because they just kept filing in and I got busy with other things. There had to been close to 80-100 kids there though. I'm just so thankful that I can be a part of something like this. Even if the story didn't go as well as I had hoped (like last night!) I still feel so joyful at the end of the night that we were able to tell that many kids about God and how they can know Him and grow in Him. I don't always know how to describe my feelings and joy at the end of each night in DV- but I think it would come close to this:

Exchange Student

Well, my parent's life just got a lot more interesting. In a tragic accident, the mother of one of my Dad's friends and an elder at their church was killed in a car accident. Eric and his wife were preparing to take a foreign exhange student from Korea. Because of this accident, my parents have stepped in to house and take care of the young man until they can get back on their feet.

So, tomorrow they pick him up from the airport in GR, fresh from his flight from Korea. They don't know much about him, I don't even know his name. It will be an adjustment having a teenage boy live with them.

Please pray that as they take care of this student they just shine the love of Jesus on him. They do not know his spiritual background, but he must attend their church as part of his exchange requirements. Please pray that he will adapt well to his new surroundings and school. Hopefully I'll have more information to come!

Labor Day

We had a lot of fun this weekend. Time at the cottage. Time with my family in Pentwater. Great balance of families. Lots of beach time which our little sand bug loved!