The World According to My Boys...

First things first, it seems I have been on a blogcation. Yep, that's right, that really is a "blog" word floating around out there.

While my hernia surgery went great and I really did not have the recovery I had anticipated (it was much easier), I truly am just now getting back to feeling normal. I think yesterday was the first day in 2 weeks I have not had a nap, and I am not a napper. But I did go to bed around 10p which is way earlier than this normally nocturnal girl goes to bed....going to bed, instead of blogging...just not like me!

So....this will turn into a dreadfully long blog I am afraid. While I have been a little down and out over the past two weeks, my family has not and there is much to document.

Hmmm.....where to begin?

How about this? Several evenings ago, as we sat down to eat dinner, a dinner which I was quite proud of, as I have not cooked a "real" dinner in about 2 weeks, I made the comment to the boys that this particular dish was one that I formerly made when our family consisted only of John and me. You know, when I had the time and motivation to use more than 4 ingredients to make a meal! I should have taken a picture, but it is called chicken broccoli braid and looks quite impressive. My first born burrito, who always has to have the last word about everything, exclaimed, "I remember this dish!" I corrected him and told him, "No. This is a dish I used to make before you were born." Quite smugly burrito said, "No. I saw this dish when I was in your belly. I peeked out of your belly button!" We all burst into laughter. Of course you did, what was I thinking?

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We met our friends from church last Thursday (7 days post surgery, what was I thinking?!?!?) at another pumpkin patch a little farther from home. We went to this one last year and the boys loved it. Lots of pumpkins and lots of bounce houses, complete with a real tractor-driven hayride. It was a bigger hit this year. It is amazing to me the difference a year makes. Last year we were telling burrito to push noodle down the bounce house slide because he would get up there and then refuse to slide down. This year I was asking them both to please calm down and put a little less "fly" into your slide. They were total boys. Check out noodle's hair in this picture!


In fact, they loved it so much we had to take Dad the very next day for more pumpkin bouncing fun. The weather was just beautiful and made for a great family day.



This is exactly where these 3 jokers belong! :) Note their "mean" jail faces!

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Today we went to another favorite family location. The boys love the fountains and longhorns here and we love the fresh, open air....and the people watching!

I thought this picture captures the true nature of boys....do you see where their fingers are???

I loved this picture of noodle, though he nearly ran out of the shot. He would get close to the fountain and then the wind would blow water on his face and he would run and shriek in his goofy little way.

Our other favorite spot is always the bookstore. We walked in and John said, "I love books." There is something about that smell and the feeling that washes over you when you think about sitting down with a good book and good coffee. John and I have some history here. And we love that we are fostering a love for books in our own boys.

Next week our little noodle will be turning 3! I just can't believe our babies are growing up. I really love and treasure everyday the close relationship our boys have with each other. I get asked at least once a week if they are twins. It happened today. They are 18 months apart but they don't remember a day without each other. In fact, burrito told me the other day that he and noodle are twins, after he heard me tell someone they were not. I love their love for each other. Please Lord may it always be this way!

Jennifer Vs. Hernia

Round 1 Thursday Oct 2

I know, the question on everyone's mind is how did I get a hernia? They are typically found in men, not women, in people who lift heavy objects, not a lazy wimp like me. So how did I get one? Who knows! But I had one, that is, until this past Thursday when I had surgery to repair the hole in my abdominal wall. I've had surgery before so not everything was completely new, but I have never had an invasive surgery that went through muscle so I was a little nervous. I woke up after the surgery, suprisingly, with little to no pain. They had inserted this catheter attached to a pain pump that continuously delivered pain meds to the incision site for the first 48 hours. I would soon learn how invaluable this little thing was! I went home and rested the rest of the evening and felt pretty good.

Round 2 Friday Oct 3

I slept great overnight and got up Friday morning and felt good enough to get everyone ready for school and out the door. My mom was here to drive and help and she was very helpful! I felt great for the first couple of hours of being up and then realized, with increasing pain, that I might should rest a bit! :) So I did and Friday was pretty uneventful. The pain pump was still working and the pain was increasing a bit, but still very bearable.

Round 3 Saturday Oct 4

Bad news....the pain pump was empty. I slept terrible and woke up around 5:30a in some big pain. My midsection felt like it was on fire, en fuego! I had to get a little more serious about taking the pain pills now and keeping ice packs on the incision. After feeling a little better, I removed the catheter and the pain pump which made me feel a little woozy. I spent a lot of the day in the recliner and took 2 pain pills at a time, instead of just one. That evening I was able to remove the dressing from my incision and take a shower, hooray! Showers make such a difference in my countenance.

Round 4 Sunday Oct 5

I slept decently overnight and felt rested. No pain pills for me, just ibuprofen and the pain was definitely bearable. John and I did a lot of walking which actually feels better than just sitting all day long. My sweet mom took the boys and we had like 5 hours to ourselves, a little piece of heaven. We love our boys but it had been a long time since it was just the two of us. We watched football and rested and it felt good.

Now we are praying for an easy week and more rest for me. Being a mommy takes a lot of energy and we don't realize just how much until we are unable to do it. This has been such a good lesson for me to practice, relying on others for help, not being so independent and admitting that I can't do everything.

But I know you can't relate to that....

The Pumpkin Patch

We love this time of year! The cooler weather, the colors of fall, and pumpkins! Our local Farmer's Market has this huge pumpkin patch full of pumpkins, hay, and mums. It is truly beautiful. And for the kids, each year they have 2 bounce houses they put up. It is totally free (which I love!) and the kids, of course, just love it.

What a difference a year makes too! Last year when we went, noodle would climb to the top of the slide blow up but then would refuse to come down. So we would have to tell burrito to push him down! This year, I was worried because they were crazy and bouncing all over the other kids.

Here are some fun shots from the bounce houses:

They also have this little area set up for some fun fall pictures and I could not resist!


And of course we had to act a little silly!

Happy Fall!

Another new friend...

Yesterday was the birthday of our newest friend, A.G.W. The boys and I went to see her at the hospital last night and she is so sweet! And she looks just a little like her big brother. The boys are just infatuated with babies right now but when I asked burrito to hold her, he was a little hesistant.

The baby started crying, burrito got a little nervous and noodle was telling her to "shhhh..." in this picture:

I once again had the good pleasure of answering 101 questions about having babies on our way to visit, though I did notice burrito explaining to noodle quite knowingly that "you have to go to the hospital to have a baby."

Thank you Lord for healthy babies and good friends!

Cougar Pride and Football Fun

This weekend was full of Cougar Pride! The boys and I met John up at the main campus for our first ever pep rally on Friday. The boys loved it....all the screaming and energy and the football players and the cheerleaders and the cougar mascot....it was a little piece of heaven for them. It was great for mom to see a little of Dad in the middle of a school day.

Here's John and the boys wearing their Cougar orange

Burrito and his friends from school with the Cougar mascot

Then the big football game was on Saturday. This was the first home game of the season and so a big picnic preceeded the game with food, bounce houses, and lots of things to see. We invited our friend from church to come along and the 3 boys had so much fun. They were mesmerized watching the football players warm up for the game. Notice burrito's and noodle's Romo football jerseys. My mom bought these for them this past week and I don't think they have taken them off since. John really appreciates this gift, as he is not a Cowboys fan.

The boys walking from the picnic to the football game

John and the two older boys

Burrito and our friend from church...these two have zero self control when together :)

John's Birthday Celebration

Some fun pictures from John's birthday. We went to Cheddars for the birthday dinner with Uncle Daniel. And then back home for the birthday cake.

A coffee flavored football cake made by me with love

Opening presents from mom and the boys

A present with legs

A Post for My Husband

September 18 is a good day. 34 years ago the best husband ever was born. Yes, I know this is super syrupy but it's the truth (and this is my blog so I am allowed). Happy Birthday baby! We are so thankful to our God for you.

I thought this would be a good opportunity to post "our story" for those of you that do not know it. I think it is a great story and I love telling it.

I met John through my college roommate Julie. John and Julie grew up together in their youth group. When we (Julie and I) would come home for a weekend, Julie would gather all of her friends from home too. So inevitably, I came to know several people that belonged to Julie's circle, John included. So we would see each other periodically, maybe 2-3 times a year for a couple of years, even when Julie moved to Tyler to attend a college there.

I remember the first time I met John. He was teaching at a Christian school where Julie's mom worked and so we went to see him in his classroom on a visit to Julie's mom. I found it quite comical. There were 3 girls in his room and he seemed totally uncomfortable and maybe intimidated by all of these women. I knew a little about John at this point. Julie valued his friendship and theology. He seemed very internal, maybe a little quiet, and definitely a thinker. I love boys like that. And he played guitar, a huge plus in my book.

I remember on another visit, we went to a baseball game and my other roommate Kendra made the comment that she could see John and I getting married. A totally off the cuff comment, especially since Kendra didn't really know John enough to make such a prediction. Nonetheless, I will admit it made John all the more attractive and mysterious to me.

One weekend, Heather C and I went to visit Julie in Tyler, along with Julie's friends Daniel, Heather and of course, John. We all crashed in Julie's one bedroom apartment and had a great time. Julie told me later that Heather told her on the way back home that John kept talking about me. Hmmmmm....

My dad and Julie had a funny relationship. They were bound to one another by their love for cut-off shorts and Dad sort of adopted Julie as his 3rd daughter. So when it came time for Julie to graduate college, my dad and I traveled to Tyler to see Julie graduate and attend a little celebration back at her apartment. This visit to Tyler confirmed my suspicions that John was interested in me. He had traveled there too and back at Julie's apartment, he would not leave me alone, totally giving me a hard time about everything, a true sign of love. Right in front of my dad!

So things went along like this for awhile. Julie moved back to the area and the 3 of us would meet at a coffee shop once a month maybe for a deep theological discussion (or should I say argument?) and some coffee. It was great! Oh, how I miss those days. Well, Julie had the nerve to go off and get engaged to a guy in Boston (Julie if you are reading this, I am just kidding!) so she quickly ditched us and it became just a John/Jennifer theological debate. Basically, John would beat me up with the Bible and I would take it! :) These were the best of times and the worst of times because John was leaving in January to attend Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia and I knew our days were numbered.

Now, let me take a break and make mention of this. I was a fiercely independent single girl and was content, for the most part, with that role in life. I was working full time, going to Seminary full time and leading worship for the youth group at my church. I lived out of my car. I had bags packed for each thing I did. I was super busy and loved every second of it. I had been wounded by a previous relationship and in many ways, was damaged goods. I had been so hurt emotionally (and this was 4 years prior) that I really struggled with trusting another person with my heart. John and I talked about this even in our coffee meetings.

So with that said, I didn't know what to think about John or about him leaving. I remember him calling on Christmas Day to see if I wanted to go see Lord of the Rings at the movies with him that night. Umm, duh, yes I wanted to go. We went to the 10pm show and I remember making my hand easily available to him in the movies so that if he wanted to hold my hand, he could do so. He didn't take the bait. We laugh about this now.

So, the time came for him to leave. 3 days before he was set to drive to Philly, we had a coffee date. After much consternation, I had written him a letter describing to the best of my ability how I felt about him. I also bought him a phone card so that if he wanted to call me, he could. But I was a chicken and only gave it to him at the end of our time together that night, with the explicit instructions to not open it until he got home. I was scared.

Well, the next day goes by and I don't hear from him. Not a good sign. The Lord was good to me though. He protected my heart. I was not in despair.

The next night, the night before he leaves town, my phone rings. It's him. Lord, help me. After some small talk, he gets right to the point. He drops the bomb. We are too much alike. It would never work. What??? In the same sentence he would say "I think about you all the time and want to call you" and "We are too much alike and it would never work." What was a girl to say? He just stomped my heart, my vulnerable heart into the ground, but I liked him too much to get mad. I don't remember how the conversation ended, but it did and I wondered if our friendship would ever be the same.

Well, I went on with life. I thought about him a lot, but I was so busy (the Lord's providence) that I just didn't have time to throw a pity party. 2 weeks go by and on a Sunday afternoon, the phone rings and it's him. We talked about Seminary and Philly and what life was like there. We talked for over an hour. He accused me of avoiding him and I explained that I was just extremely busy, in fact, I really needed to let him go so that I could finish reading for school before church that night. But he wouldn't get off the phone. And then finally, he worked up enough nerve....he was wrong. What!?!? He had dinner with a buddy there who was engaged and he was telling John how much he and this girl were alike and how things were great, etc. and suddenly John realized his "theology" was wrong. It was good to be alike, not bad.

So, he wanted to date.
From Philly.
Could this work?

That was in February 2002. Well, there were a few bumps along the road. He foolishly thought we should just talk 2 times a week on the phone. Silly boy! And then when I suggested he fly home for a weekend to see me, this was such a revelation to him. He had a lot to learn! This was actually the first time he had ever met my parents. Though by this point, unbeknownst to our parents, we had already talked marriage and when and what then.

So he met my parents in March and I scheduled a flight to Philly in April. Unbeknownst to me, John called and spoke with my dad while I was in class at Seminary one night to ask his permission to ask me to marry him. My dad's response: "Are you sure you want her?"

So in April, I flew to Philly, my first visit there. It was beautiful. My flight, of course, was delayed and I got in very late that Friday night. John came and picked me up the next morning and took me to this arboretum nearby. I didn't know it, but this was a planned visit. He was going to propose. He had his roommates, David and Tom, plant this little bag with the ring at the base of this huge tree and then from a distance watch to make sure no one came along to take it. As we walked up to this tree, they were instructed to leave so that we would have our private moment. Well, just getting into Philly the night before, I had no idea that John was about to propose. I knew he was going to propose (or at least I was pretty sure) that weekend but not so quickly. So as we come up on this little gift bag, the conversation went like this:

John: "Oh, look. I wonder what is in that bag?"
Jennifer: "John, that is not our bag, do not mess with it!"
John: "I just want to see what is inside." And as he opens it, he rips the little sticker that was holding it closed.
Jennifer: "Well, great! Now they (the rightful owner) will know you messed with it."

So CLUELESS!!! Well, once I see him pull out a ring box, John says my eyes got really big and sparkly and he asked me to marry him. It was magical.

Oh and I forgot to mention that it had been raining all morning and stopped just as we pulled up to park. It was April 18, a Saturday. Then, we did what most people do who just became engaged. We went to eat a philly cheese steak sandwich! Ha! And the funny thing....the guy sitting next to us at the bar of the deli turned to us and said, "I can tell you two are really in love." Isn't that crazy!?!?! We confessed that we had just gotten engaged. We did go out for a romantic dinner that night and then to NYC the next day. We met Julie (of all people!) at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. It was a great time there, mixed with some sadness, as we knew we would spend the majority of our engagement in different time zones.

But God was faithful and upheld us until our wedding day, January 11, 2003, just eleven months after John made that phone call to me from Philly.

John, you are the greatest gift outside of Jesus that the Lord has given me. And through you, the gift of our two sons. Thank you for changing your mind and calling me and loving me from that moment on.

I love you baby!