Striving to find Joy in the ups and downs of late

Here's a few updates on our lives.  We'll start with the downs as of late.  Then we'll end on the sweet notes. 

I had a miscarriage last week.  I was early along and had a feeling it was going to happen.  But it was still an emotional roller coaster to be on for sure.  The doctor says I'm okay and everything is fine.  I rest in knowing that my loving Father is in COMPLETE CONTROL.  These are the flowers that sweet friends sent me during the miscarriage. I'm not much into flowers but holding these flowers in my hands really helped me grieve.  Thanks to all my dear friends for loving me with Christ's love and supporting me during this time.

We have survived a killer stomach virus also this week. Clark got sick Friday right before our first date night with a sitter.  That was a bummer.   I was attacked and taken down Sunday.  I am so thrilled to be able to move around after 24 hours of being in bed.

Okay now for the ups.....

We have enjoyed the warmer weather today.  And the boys are really enjoying each other.  They love each other so much and enjoy playing together.  Clark enjoys pushing Joel around in the car, and Joel enjoys the rush of slamming into the wall and other unlucky objects.  I guess this is a precursor to when the boys turn 16.

I decided to make gingerbread houses a January thing since December gets all the fun Christmas stuff (and the kits are on clearance right now).  So we made a gingerbread house today and read Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett.  Clark's favorite part: licking the icing.  I caught him licking the roof.  He also ate more candy than he put on the house.  Needless to say he had a lot of fun.  And so did I.

Life is going to have ups and downs.  And I am really working hard to remember what Jean Stockdale is teaching us in my Bible study, Joy in the Journey.  I have been telling myself constantly that nothing is going to steal my joy in Christ.  Nothing compares to the awesome gift of salvation and the cross.  I confess, I loose sight of this too often (this morning on the phone, sorry Amanda), but I pray as we are on life's ups and downs we will be overcome with joy.

 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full." John 15:11

Another snow day

It snowed all day today, but there's not much to show for it.  But we take what we get.  The boys enjoyed playing in the glorious white stuff today.  They both love the birdbath and found it especially interesting today since it was frozen with acorn, sticks, and rocks in it.  Thanks to Clark's curiosity with water.

Joel and his little buddy I babysit walked around in the snow.  Joel  wanted to run around but kept falling and rolling down the hill.

"It's not fair!" Joel was so upset when he had to go in, and Clark stayed out.  We were freezing, but Clark wanted to play for another 30 minutes.  So Michael and I took turns with him playing outside.

Christmas Ends with a Dangerous CRASH!

We headed to see my family this past week.  It had been a LONG time since I had been home. I was very excited to see everyone and a little nervous too.   My mom had only seen Clark for a few minutes when he was four months old, but she had never meet Joel.  It was a great chance for the boys to meet their grandma.  The boys enjoyed meeting their Grandma. 

For a Christmas treat, we went with my sister and her three AWESOME kids to a fun pizza entertainment place with laser tag, go carts, bumper cars, archade games, etc. We all had a really good time.

Clark (and Michael) LOVED the go carts.  They rode them at least six times.   Don't let the scared face fool you.  Clark couldn't get enough of the go-carts. 

Later, we all went to see my dad.  All five kids played with GeoTrax while the adults talked.  It melted my heart to watch my boys play with their cousins whom they hardly know.  It reminded me that there is something very special and unique about blood relatives.  There was a bond there, that only God in His gracious love could make.   Here's my dad.  I have always been told I look just like my mom, but I think I have his nose!  Thanks Dad! ;-)

After spending a great afternoon with my dad and family, Michael and I took the kids to a store to pick up a few things.   Sounds like a pretty normal family get together so far, right????  Well if you know me, just wait for it.  You know something is about to happen with MY FAMILY.....

 While in the store, my sister called me and told me not to come home because it wasn't safe.   In a frantic craze, she told me someone had driven his truck into her house and was threatening to kill her and had a gun.  Thank God , we decided to stop at the store, or we would have driven up to a crazed gunman trying to kill someone, and we could have been his target.  Apparently, a neighbor and his wife got into a fight, and he tried to run his wife down and slammed into my sister's house.  The lady ran into my sister's house for safety.  My sister locked the doors and called the police.  He was finally caught later that night, but our last night together with family was a blend of police cars flashing, officers searching the property, and us singing Christmas carols loudly as we tried to make Christmas memories with a truck stuck in our house. 

Christmas Morning

I am so taken aback by how good our God is.  I woke this morning, so blessed to be a wife and a mother to two boys.  Praise you Father for all Your good gifts.  Our boys of course are far from understanding God's amazing love for them, but we teach them about His love by modeling after Him (or at least we strive to).  It's hard as a parent not to want to shower them with our good gifts to show our love.  I know God loves us SO MUCH MORE and delights in pouring His love on each of us, His children.

Clark woke this morning aware that this morning was special.  How exciting!  We have enjoyed watching our little guys enjoy their gifts

We figured we needed something active to do in the coming cold winter months, so we have a BOUNCER!

Both boys love playing with the train table. Clark is addicted to this thing.

Joel mostly loves ripping up the tracks, but here he's enjoying pushing the train through the tunnel.

After playing, the boys ate their breakfast of cinnamon rolls and bananas on the couch while watching Thomas. Joel loved his M&M candy cane more than anything. 

Happy Birthday, Jesus Brunch

At Target last Friday, I ran into my "old" friend , Sara, and a new friend, Andrea.  We got to talking and realized we would all be in town for Christmas, so we planned a Christmas Eve brunch.

Andrea made the best pancakes I've ever eaten.  Sara brought a delicious egg casserole, and I'm not even going to tell you how pieces I ate.   I brought Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls with icing that said "Happy Birthday, Jesus".

Between the three of us, we had five kiddos that were two or younger.  But they played together really well. Clark made a great friend with Andrea's little girl.  They cuddled up in the bed and played for a long while.  I joked that this will not okay in ten years!!!

The one year olds really liked the balloons. 
Oh yes, I forgot to mention the big boys (our husbands) enjoyed playing bowling on the Wii.

It was a lot of fun getting together with friends and seeing the kids play with each other.  Thank you Jesus for giving us a reason to celebrate so so much. 
Happy Birthday, Dear Friend.

An ordinary day around the house

Yesterday was a cold, but sunny day.  So we just hung out around the house.  Joel of course wanted to ride his truck around.  That's one of his favorite things to do lately.  Where did my baby go????

Clark wanted to paint, so he painted a rainbow on a wooden train with his watercolors.  He even named his train.  (Thomas has changed his brain forever.)

Then Clark wanted to go outside.  I gave in.   I love our view from the back of our house.  It's easier to see the mountains when the leaves are gone.  Here's a picture of what we see whenever we look out the windows.  I still can't believe I can see mountains after coming from Texas.  I know it's not much, but it's a huge blessing to my heart.

Clark played outside all by himself for an hour.  It was 40 degress, but I made him keep on his hat.  I couldn't believe I have a kid old enough to go play outside. I checked on him every few minutes.  I was a nervous wreck, but I figured it was time to let go a little.  Again I wonder where did my little boy go?

Joel was stuck inside with me.  He looks sad; doesn't he? :-)

Joel's Real Birthday

For Joel's actual birthday, I was still one handed after surgery. 

BUT I had to do something.  So keeping with the theme, I made monkey cupcakes.

YUM!               

I think Joel could get used to birthdays!

Our Snowy Morning

I had to wake Clark up because I was too excited to wait.  The first thing he did was scream, "It's snowing.  I need my hat!"  -

Joel was fascinated by the falling snow.

Happy First Birthday, Joel!

This post is dedicated to our birthday boy.

Three hundred, sixty-five days ago, Michael and I headed to the hospital on a cold, dark, rainy morning.  I had to drive myself because Michael was in extreme back pain which I have to praise God for taking it away as Joel was born!  That beautiful day we were given one of the greatest gifts--a son.

Joel Michael--a few days old

Joel at one month

Six months old

10 months old

ONE YEAR OLD!!

It's so hard to believe that our baby is one year old!  It has been a great year, and we have all fallen in love with this bright eyed, active little boy.  Joel has grown so much this year.  He is walking everywhere now.  He has five teeth and is cutting three right now. His favorite word is bye-bye, and he enjoys waving bye-bye especially to vehicles passing (a typical boy).  He loves to play with and tackle his brother, climb everything, and play with cars and trucks.  He is very strong and tough , yet he loves being held and tickled.  Happy Birthday, Joel!

We've been busy--birthdays, block party, and surgery (again)

Life has been wonderfully full lately. We had the privilege of throwing a neighborhood block party last weekend which included a hot dog roast, games, and a hayride! We had so much fun.

And Clark made it finally to the Olan Mills website at Olanmills.com.

Michael's birthday was the 1oth, and since Grandma and Pawpaw were in town, we threw a dual party for Joel too since he'll be one in a few weeks.

He ate every bite of his cupcake that wasn't smeared to his face and highchair.
The boys had fun playing with each others stuff

Since Daddy and son were going to share a cake, I spent some time planning the perfect cake for the situation. I call Joel our little monkey because he crawls on everything, and Michael loves chocolate. So hence we had a monkey chocolate cake with chocolate chips in the batter, covered with homemade fudge poured on while warm and hardened, and then it was topped with chocolate butter cream (a crazy plan, but the idea came to me late one night)

This cake wasn't monkeying around...it was GOOD!!!

I (Jenna) have been in a lot of debilitating hand/arm pain, and we discovered that I had two or three pinched nerves in my wrist that had caused severe nerve damage in my right hand. So I needed surgery quick to release my nerves and stop the death. That took place yesterday on Michael's birthday. Tangent: I also received the worst haircut ever on the day I discovered I needed surgery (I went in for a pick me up.) Good news is I got my money back, a year's worth of hair cuts (by the manager of course) and a year of free products. Anyway back to the surgery, my right hand will take 10 days or so to use, and six weeks of recovery. That's going to hard with two kids, but I know time will fly by. I hope the nerve damage will slowly get better, and I can get back to making cookies and chopping firewood. :-)

Lastly, Pumpkin, our stray kitty, has been growing and surviving the torture of two little boys.

Hope this all makes since; it's 3:00 am, and I couldn't sleep with my arm hurting.