Oh Happy Day

You know how you have to keep things alive... shake things up a bit? Make them smile when they least expect it?

Guess who is probably opening their lunch soon, finding an egg salad sandwich and doing the classic Jenkins head shake?

I'd like to think of this as...

one of life's lessons. A great example of making do with what you have. Like, "hey, if I can't have a little sister to play dress up with, my little brother will do just fine." So... Aidan is indeed a fairy princess exploring his creative/feminine side.
My husband and my brother-in-law Mark are most likely shaking their heads. It's the classic Jenkins head shake- without words, basically communicating awe, disbelief, not knowing whether to chuckle, laugh, be embarrassed or shed a tear.
Well...here is my motorcyle-riding little princess boy.

From Bob the Builder to...

this.

Bob the Builder

I cannot believe

it's the end of February already.

Not much new happening...I keep thinking I hear the jingle of his collar. I keep saving plastic bags for dog poo. I keep looking for him when I get home. I miss his woof to let us know he hears a noise. I hear other woofs in the neighborhood and think it's him. Aidan waves in the car on the way to school and says "bye bye doggie" even though he isn't there.
I worked a bit today, got the ENTIRE house cleaned, laundry done, ironing done, brownies made and I ran 18 miles this week!!! Productive yet I cannot shake this mood I am in... anyway here are some pics from this week.

Gotta use all the help he can get since I pretty much escaped most of this project


Loves Airplanes

I love this

"Look for God like a man with his head on fire looks for water"

Quote of the Day

"When God is in my heart, and leaves to go out and do things for me, it's really hard to get Him back in"
-Abby Jenkins

It's so hard....

to say goodbye to a family member, loving friend, loyal companion & fearless protector. While our hearts are hurting and we grieve, we have comfort knowing he no longer has to endure what he had been through.

We miss you Mawley.

I like to eat stuffed animals

Snow Dog

Halloween Dog

Love those ears

We are going through this phase again...

The Laws of the Toddler
If I like it, it's mine.
If it's in my hand, it's mine.
If I can take it from you, it's mine.
If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way
If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
If it looks just like mine, it's mine.
If I think it's mine, it's mine.

Friday = Long Weekend

I have this on the fridge. I am struggling right now with my job- a time when others are so desperately seeking work. I don't want to complain and whine- I am thankful to be employed. I will just say this, it is difficult being a working mom. There is a lot of guilt. And it is even more difficult growing in your career and taking on more challenges. I just need to remember where my focus needs to be. and should be. and often gets lost.


Scared of Valentine's Day?

"Linus" and his night-night

From Abby's teacher today:

She was absolutely adorable at chapel today! She was singing her heart out and I could hear her over the kids around her. She loves those chapel songs

It just makes my heart burst that Abby has a love for the Lord. All week she has been singing the B-I-B-L-E and Our God is an Awesome God. Yesterday her class had their Valentine's Day party early and she had this extra heart wand thing (?). When Aidan and I picked her up, she says she wants to share the extra one and gave it to her brother. Then she looks to me and says, "Does that make God happy?"

I am so excited to have Monday off! Hoping to help finish painting our room as Rick has done all of it. Rick and I have been struggling with decisions surrounding the dog. He was on the phone with the vet Wednesday evening and again Thursday. She said we shouldn't give up on him yet, so now we are trying 2 more meds- probiotics and steroids. If this *works* we should see an improvement in 4 days.

This is the...

"I-just-survived-a-colonoscopy" look. He did great. All is well on his end. ah ha ha ha ha ha ha Sorry couldn't resist. The most humorous part was Rick waking up still sedated. We kept having the SAME conversations over and over. I was like, "Yes, honey we JUST talked about that." I felt like I was living that movie Groundhog Day. Actually it was more like talking to someone who had absolutely NO short term memory.

The dog. Thought he was getting better but yesterday he was back to not eating and there is so much diarrhea in our garage, his bed, on him. I am off to Costco to purchase our 3rd bed in as many weeks (I think?). We got smart last week and started covering it with old towels. Mawley outsmarted me. I am completely out of old towels. I have none. This time however, I think covering the bed with plastic and then towels just might work. (Did I mention this FORCES me to buy some new towels so that I can use my current ones to put on his bed). drats. Plus I can feed Abby at Costco for free. Samples.

The Dog Update

Healthy Pup



Sick Pup- yes you can see his ribs :-(



Well... about $400 on the dog this week. He is a sad state of affairs as you can see. Right now he is being treated for a bacterial infection. Anything else he might have, we are choosing not to find out. For one, he’s 12. Cold hearted, maybe… but rich we are not. Vets these days want to take you to the cleaners charge A LOT. So much, that you might as well hand over your first born, Jessica. Yep. And good luck to the vet who tries pry her from the arms of Reilly.
In all seriousness, we’ve had a really, really sick dog and it’s heart breaking to watch. So… Mawley…. We’re hoping you get well soon!

I give you....

homemade cinnamon twists. Children should know that when kneading dough, lightly floured surfaces, and a rolling pin are involved, it means a huge mess that takes hours to clean up you are loved. Husbands should take note too.
I told Abby awhile ago I would make cinnamon rolls and she's been asking ever since. The girl loves them- the ones from a can anyway.
I made these twists this morning. She says, "Thank you, you are the best mom ever." "When can we go back to the rolls?"

Week in Pictures

slowly looking better?

We have a pretty sick pup right now. More on this later

After bath wrestling

Working on Valentine's

Could it be I actually got them in the same frame looking at the camera AND smiling?

Play Time

Some pics of the kids actually playing together and enjoying each other's company... typically they are fighting or one of them is pitching a fit. After two years Rick still isn't used to having a son- he slips up a few times and last night was one of them. I asked him if he could run to the store for me to get me a tomato and he inquired about the milk situation (they suck it down around here) so he says, "do the girls have milk?" to which I replied, "I don't know, why don't you call them." HA!!!!