Check out the new blog

If you're reading this, then have found this blog through an old link or through the following feature on blogger. Mike has updated the site and moved it to wordpress. It is still at http://www.jennimorris.com. Head over and check out the new look. If you are using a feedreader, the feed should still be the same. You can follow the new blog through the RSS feed at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/IfIHadABlog

14 years and counting . . .

I am a day behind but yesterday Mike and I celebrated out 14th anniversary. We have been so blessed beyond what we deserve. Three healthy, active, beautiful children and an amazing marriage that seems so rare these days. It is by far not a perfect marriage, there are no perfect people. We both tend to be selfish, grouchy and impatient some days. I am not always the sweet, respectful wife and Mike is not always the loving, sensitive husband. When the day is done and all our imperfections have risen to the surface we can look back with love and forgiveness knowing that God has put our family together exactly like He planned. I don't know why God chose me to be his child, or the wife of an amazing man, or mother of 3 blessings but I am so glad he did. As we left Drew's preschool graduation a couple of weeks ago his teacher told Mike and me that she wished all children had what Drew had -a mom and dad that loved each other and loved Jesus. Even though we don't get a lot of things right - we have that part right and the rest is left up to Jesus' grace and forgiveness.

So my own blog doesn't know me - I had to sign in. It has been a while! The pictures above show you why I haven't blogged in a while. It has to do with 3 precious little angels that call me "taxi lady ...uh I mean mama", a growing church, warmer temperatures that draw me outdoors, the laundry monster that lives in my house, PRAISIN' IN THE PARK, homeschooling a third grader that really wants the school year to be OVER and probably a little bit of poor time management (i.e. facebook!). Anyway, after much persuasion from my techno savy husband I am picking a new blog theme. Soon you will have the new, improved, aesthetically appealing, updated, well maintained jennimorris.com! That is for all 2 of my readers that haven't forgotten that I have a blog - hi mom!

Funny

I am having a really hard time keeping the blog going, but I just had to share a funny moment this morning.

Here is how it went:

I am helping Luke with his school work and we are working on changing singular nouns to plural. He had just learned that f turns to v and then you add es (that's another blog topic all together - who made up these rules -crazy) Drew walks up and begins listening in

Me talking to Luke: "So what do we do to change wife"

Drew: "Just break up with her"

It took me and Luke a few seconds to catch what he said and we both had to put language arts aside for a few minutes to laugh. I love homeschooling during moments like that. I guess Drew needs a good lesson about lasting forever. I think I'll make him watch Fireproof.

Easter

Easter 2009
I love Easter and the change of seasons. I love the new flowers and green grass. It also makes me a little sad to think about how fast my kids are growing. My boys were both born close to Easter, so I have fond memories of having new babies in the Spring. I also loved dressing Emma in cute little Easter outfits and hats - before she started picking out her own clothes.

The bottom picture was made Sunday before church. The others were Easter 2004 - the one with me in it also includes Drew - it was made about 2 weeks before he was born. I was actually having lots of contractions that Easter morning. Love looking back at all these pictures - it reminds me to enjoy every moment because they pass by so quickly.

Thankful Thursday

It has been FOREVER since I have posted on here. It just hasn't been on the priority list with being sick, traveling and having my niece and nephew here, but what a better way to get started back with so much to be thankful for at Easter . . .

Today I am thankful for . . .

1 JESUS - I hope I never take for granted how much He loves us. While hearing the story of Jesus at Drew's preschool party this morning and seeing it through little eyes it helped me bring things into focus.

2 SUNSHINE - after a few days of rain - it feels so good.

3 GROCERIES - not just the blessing of having more than plenty that we always take for granted but that the shopping is done. It has been a chore just to find time to go to the store this week.

4 WONDERFUL KIDS - I don't have any Easter picture to post yet but maybe by Sunday. Luke face planted the carpet and has some nasty scabs on his nose and face - wanted to wait until that goes away to make a picture - boys:)

5 AMAZING HUSBAND - it's been a little bit of a rough week for us (see link below) but I have an amazing man that is committed to his family and most importantly Jesus. I am a blessed woman to be on this journey with him.

6 THIS POST - by Holly Furtick that helped me get a little bit of perspective. If you are a pastors wife and you HAVE to read it. If you are not - you still should read it! After clicking on the link scroll down to the post called "Putting up your Dukes"

7 MY CHURCH - I am really looking forward to celebrating Jesus with all of my church family this weekend.

8 GOD WORKING - It is amazing how I am seeing God work in so many ways and bringing so many things together for Praisin in the Park and for Cornerstone. I am reminded that He wants people to come to Him even more than we do.

9 FAMILY - our kids are so blessed to have all of their grandparents close - they have so much fun with them. It was also awesome to have my niece and nephew with us for a few days forming memories with their cousins.

Praisin' in the Park Promo video

Mark your calendars - JULY 19th

It's official - Decemberadio is coming to Galax!
Praisin' LOUD in the Park will be a community wide youth night JULY 19th 2009!
The best part is - it's going to be a free concert!

If you want your church to be involved - there will be some benefits for your group! More details coming soon!

Strolling in high style

Now that my youngest is almost five I don't use a stroller anymore. When my babies were little I LOVED strollers. I would walk around the mall looking at strollers like a 16 year old in a car lot. During our strolling years we had the convertible stroller the car seat docks into, a couple of umbrella strollers, a double stroller with the car seat dock. a double jog stroller, a single jog stroller, a light weight compact stroller for the Disney trip, and a bike trailer (that converts to a stroller). If you add all those together I still don't think it touches the price of this high-end celebrity style stroller. The picture above is the Stokke Xplory with the forest accessory packeage. Here is where you can check it out if you have a baby on the way and an extra $1200 laying around:) Glad I've kicked my stroller habit.

Unleash me

I am taking off this morning for sunny South Carolina with about 20 amazing Cornerstoners to take in the contagious passion of NewSpring Church at Unleash. All that said, watch this video that was put together by some Saddleback guys to see why I really go to conferences . . . yep the hotel!

Time Warp

I am having a little bit of trouble getting used to the time change. The kids had trouble settling in last night and getting up this morning. I love that it is light until 7:30 but waking up in the dark is a little hard to get used to. On top of that I haven't slept well without Mike by my side - so I'm feeling a little dead in the mornings. As you can see from the picture so are my boys. Emma was a little easier to rouse around this morning but Luke and Drew were dead heads. As you can see Luke had a serious bed-head induced mohawk.

Snow pictures

Since the snow is probably going to be gone today I thought it was time to post some pictures from Sunday. It was the perfect day for playing- the snow was still falling, it wasn't terribly cold yet and the kids were super excited.

Snow Cream

When I was a little girl my Mama and Granny used to always help my sister and me make snow cream. It brings back good memories of my Granny when I smell the vanilla and sugar. I can even remember the big orange plastic bowl we used when we made snow cream at her house.

Here are pictures of my kids making snow cream and a quick how to if you have never made it.
(PS - if you think it is gross to eat snow you are missing it - live a little - just get the snow from the middle and don't eat the yellow kind :)


First - it has to snow - there is no way to substitute for real snow so you just have to pray for snow - and you probably should pray for several inches so your not eating muddy snow

Second - get a big bowl of snow
(as said above - from the middle - avoiding yellow snow)

The ingredients- pure and simple - milk, sugar and vanilla extract

Find some cute kids to stir it all up - I don't know how much of each but here is a guess - start with 3/4 cup of milk, 2 capfuls of vanilla and 1/2 cup sugar - add more milk if it needs to be thinner - more sugar if it needs to be sweeter - all depends on how much snow you have

When it's done it will be like "melty" ice cream

ENJOY!!

Pina Colada Zucchini Bread

This is soooo good. I just ate a warm piece from the oven. Great on a cold snowed-in day.

4 cups of all purpose flour (I used 3 cups regular and 1 cup whole wheat)
3 cups of sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Dump all the above in a large bowl

In another smaller bowl
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups of oil
1 tsp of vanilla flavoring
1 1/2 tsps of coconut flavoring (probably not something you have already - I had to buy for this recipe - but get some - worth it - it really has a great flavor)

Mix wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just moist - it will be thick and stiff - it's OK

Now fold in
3 cups of shredded zucchini
1 cup of drained crushed pineapple
1/2 cup nuts (walnuts or pecans) - I left them out because Drew doesn't like them

Line the bottom of 3 pans with wax paper and spray bottom and sides with cooking spray. Evenly spoon batter into the pans and bake at 350 for about 35-45 minutes - don't overcook
Let cool in pans for 10 minutes and then remove from pans, gentely peel away wax paper and let cool completely on wire rack.

Enjoy - be nice and give one loaf away. You'll make someone's day.

Peace Like a River

I really enjoyed the second read of the Hoochee Book Club. This wasn't a suspense filled book that begged me to pick it up every time I walked past. It was more like a cup of coffee by the fire with an old friend. An honest friend. The writing style was so genuine and authentic I felt like I was with family. Reuben was a wonderful character to tell the story. From his miraculous entry into this world and his special insight into his father's "miracles" I felt instantly connected to him. I loved the Biblical references to scripture and stories from the Bible. This was a great story about faith and family. Although there was tragedy in the end, there was also peace. I guess that's why Peace like a River is a great title for this book. No matter what circumstances come our way, there can always be peace when you believe in something bigger than yourself. This book wasn't written to be a "christian" book to be sold in "christian" bookstores but I came away with an awe of God and a sense that miracles happen - as Reuben would say "make of it what you will."

It's piling up!

That's what my kids say when it's snowing and starting to accumulate. It's not snow that's piling up at my house it's LAUNDRY!! Any of you that know me know that I hate laundry and most of you that have multiple children can relate. Since I have been feeling "yucky" with a rotten cold "it's piling up". This is a picture that I took a few months back wen I opened my dryer door and saw these little beady eyes staring back at me. They are Mr. Potato Head eyes that somehow made it into my wash. That's how I feel today - the laundry is staring at me saying "HA, HA - you'll never catch up now" OK - maybe that's a little dramatic but it can be a daunting task. How do you handle laundry and keep it under control?

A little bit of summer

Mike and Scattered (our youth/Saturday night band at Cornerstone) lead a youth service at a church in Weber City VA/TN.  We took the kids with us and made a little side trip to Sevierville and spent a night at  Wilderness at the Smokies.  I have to admit I am not a huge fan of Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg.  There is some great shopping there and hiking trails if you get out of the hustle and bustle but mostly I think it is overcrowded and tacky.   We got there late on Sunday night - to a very clean, new comfy room and spent all day yesterday at the indoor water park.  We had a blast.  There were probably only 50 other people there so no waiting in line and once Emma had the wave pool all to herself.  I am sure this summer when they open the outdoor water park and the masses descend on the Smokies there will be long lines and crowded pools - not to mention the room rates double.  It was a great little mini vacation for us to spend as a family and a little bit of summer on a cold winter day.  Great Wolf Lodge is opening an indoor water park hotel in Charlotte near Concord Mills and the Lowes Motor speedway.  Indoor water park fun a little closer to home.  It will be open in mid April.

IKEA Charlotte - I was there!

Yesterday my friend Boni and my mom and I headed down to Charlotte to the opening day of IKEA.  It was a little crazy with rain and thousands of people - but worth it.  Since we weren't among the insane that camped for days and stood in the rain for hours we didn't get in on the free chair or even the 2500 gold envelopes with gift cards.  An employee told us that the first 2500 people came through the doors by 10am - the store opened it's doors at 9am.  The ice up our way  slowed us down a little so we didn't get there until about 11:30 and I am a little ashamed to admit that we didn't load up the van until about 6:30.  We took our time and enjoyed sitting on couches, laying on beds, eating chocolate cake in the cafe, and oohing and ahhing over the kitchens and kids rooms.  We were definitely wiped out and had to stop for a little nourishment at PF Changs to get us back to Galax.  Check out this picture gallery from the Charlotte Observer.  

American Idol

Last night was the first night of American Idol.  School was late today because of the weather so the kids are watching it on DVR.  I am always skeptical the first few weeks and think that this season will never be as good as the last but by a few weeks into it I am connecting with the contestants and loving it as much as the year before.  So far my favorite is Danny Gokey.  I think he's the next American Idol - but I've been wrong before.  Who's your fav?

Valentine treats

Bakerella is one of my favorite cooking blogs. Check out these cute Valentine treats. My favorite part is how easy they are. They are sure to make your little and big Valentine's smile. If you are ambition and have lots of free time on your hands or you just want to really impress someone take a look at Bakerella's edible box of chocolates. Yep - you can even eat the "box". I'm going for the easy ones - my Valentine's are not too hard to impress.

Girls, do you want a new marriage?

Mike asked me to "guest blog" today his blog. Here is what I shared.

Yesterday Mike posted "Guys, do you want a new marriage?" Today he asked me to come up with some tips for the Ladies.

Mike and I had a conversation about a week ago about how many people are facing divorce and marriage problems. It's not the problem of "40 somethings" or our parents friends. It's effecting our friends and people our age and even younger. We even have some former youth that have already been through the pain of divorce.

At first I though that I was to give guys tips from a woman's perspective and he was going to give the girls a man's perspective. Isn't it just like us as women to want the opportunity to give our men criticism disguised as "marriage tips". I like that he shared from his heart to other guys about what he as a husband has learned. I can't think of a better person to give marriage advice than my husband. He isn't perfect and neither is our marriage but he is committed to our family and to God to continually learning and striving to make our marriage what it should be.

Before I start "the list" I can't emphasize enough that your marriage has to be centered around Jesus. If it's not the list you are about to read is nothing but a bunch of "self-help" rules that you can get from Dr. Phil. The Bible says ". . . a cord of three strands is not easily broken." When you face difficult times in your marriage, Jesus will be the one to hold it together. When things are going great in your marriage, Jesus will be the glue that makes it even more incredible.

OK Ladies here it is . . .

• Respect your husband.
  

Ephesians 5:33 says that "each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."
Websters defines respect as "giving special attention to". Give special attention to your husband. Show him you care about his job, his interests, his hobbies. So many times men are respected at their job and come home to a wife who gives him the message that he isn't anything special or worth respecting. He wants to see in your eyes that he has your approval, that you admire and respect him.

• Build him up
  

The world can be a harsh place. Your husband needs to know that you are his safe place. The place he can come to hear words of encouragement. Do you inspire him or exhasperate him? Do you compliment him or complain about him? Do you strengthen him or control him? One of the most unattractive things for a woman to do is complain about or put down her husband in front of others. It is heart breaking to hear the way some women tear their husbands down to others. Your words can build up or tear down - what do your do?

• Let him be the leader God has made him.

As women sometimes we view our home as "our territory". We spend time making our homes look nice, making our kids look and behave a certain way, organizing and directing activities even to the point that our husbands can become just another "thing to manage". This leaves him feeling frustrated and ready to hide behind the newspaper and stay out of the way. Give your husband permission to be a leader in your family. Have you ever heard (or like me - done it yourself) a wife treat her husband like one of her children. This can be so true of parents of small children - mommy instinct takes over and all of the sudden your husband feels like your his mother and he can't do anything right. Let him lead. If he puts the diaper on backwards - so what. If he gives the kids cake for breakfast - they won't be ruined for life (and he may get Dad of the year!) If he fails don't tell him "I told you so" - tell him "I'll help you up".

• Take him seriously.

As his wife take his job and his stress level seriously. Men are too often defined by "what they do" - their jobs. Watch two men introduce themselves to one another and within a minute or two they will ask each other "what do you do" It isn't helpful for you to compete with him about who has the most stressful job - men or women. We aren't rivals. We need to stand beside each other and play on the same team.

• Go to bed early

Save a little bit of your time and energy for you husband. Kids, housework, jobs, activities and even church can wear us out to the point that we have nothing left to give. Leave the dishes in the sink and the laundry in the dryer and go to bed early. You should be able figure the rest out on your own.


We get the name of Valentine's Day from St Valentine who was a Christian martyr. Take time this Valentine's Day to give away a little of your self to your spouse. A little sacrifice can go a long way in your marriage.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

IKEA Charlotte -one week to go!!

Ikea Charlotte opens in exactly one week.  Check out this link to register to win $1000 gift card.  You have to bring the registration form to the store between Feb. 18th and 22nd.  There are also directions on how to send a text to win a big blue bag that you can fill with up to $250 worth of IKEA stuff.  Over 1700 parking spaces - I hope I can find just one!

Chicken Pox

About 3 weeks ago right before his basketball game Luke came down with Chicken Pox.
 I had gotten up early and gone to the grocery store and Mike had fixed waffles for the kids. Mike called me while I was on my way home and told me Luke had broken out with a rash and had a fever. He said he thought it was chicken pox. I wasn't convinced because he had been vaccinated for chicken pox. After looking on the internet I agreed - it did look like chicken pox. 
I called my friend Angela to tell her that Luke would not be at his game (her son, Andrew, is on the same team) and she said Andrew had chicken pox. I called my friend Misty to tell her that Luke wasn't going to be at the game (her son, Landon, was on the team Luke was playing) - small town :) She was working and had sent Landon on to the game with Joey, her husband, but said he had little red spots on him and she thought it was just a skin irriatation and sent him to play basketball because Landon begged to play and said he felt fine. She called Joey and he looked Landon over and - covered in chicken pox. 
A few hours later Drew popped our some red spots. So in a matter of a few hours chicken pox epidemic!! All four kids had been vaccinated but had not had the booster. Emma had the vaccine in September before she went to school so she didn't catch her brothers chicken pox. 
There have been several other kids that have had chicken pox over the past few weeks - most had been vaccinated. They all have had fairly mild cases compared to the head to toe dots and days of fever that we had as kids The next day after the outbreak was Sunday so while my kids were still contagious I kept them home. I invited the other chicken pox kids and their siblings (who were possibly contagious) to come over and we had CHICKEN POX CHURCH. Here are pictures. They mostly played Wii and Legos but I did a short lesson about the 10 lepers. I thought that was a good lesson for chicken pox church. Also a picture of my boys after an oatmeal bath.

On the vaccination - I pretty much did most of the vaccines with my kids and have good friends on both sides of the vaccination debate. If your kids have had the vaccine - you might want to get the booster or expose your kids to someone with chicken pox so they can get it over with.
**disclaimer - this is just my opinion - not medical advice - :)

Cooking with kids

I really like to cook and I have always enjoyed cooking with my kids. Here is a picture of Drew and me making guacamole. He and I are the only people in our house that like it so he always picks out avocados at the grocery store and helps me make it. As you can see in the picture, he eats it faster than we can make it. Since he doesn't like it spicy we just mash the avacado, add about a tablespoon of sour cream, lime juice and salt. If I have fresh cilantro we chop that up and throw it in. He loves the mashing part and is so proud that he helped make it.

Why the world would be a better place it we were all teenagers

I have always thought that teenagers get pegged as the menaces of society and blamed for the decline of our country. I couldn't disagree more. Here are some reasons we should all take a lesson from teenagers.

1. Fun is a high priority. They don't take life so seriously that they forget to have fun.

2. They greet each other with hugs, high fives, fist pounds and tackles.

3. A teenagers mind is still like a sponge. They haven't formed opinions about everything and if they have they are willing to listen to other opinions. (one reason why youth ministry and good influences and mentors are so important to teenagers)

4. They don't mind asking for advice and taking it. They are willing to share their imperfections and weaknesses. So many adults like to pretend that everything in their life is perfect.

5. They travel in groups. We could all learn a lesson from this about how much friendship means.

6. Teens dream and dream big.

7. If everyone were teenagers all the cars would have dents and scratches and we would just laugh when we got more dents and scratches and tell the story about how it happened with drama.

8. They ask questions and find answers. "Just because we have always done it that way" - isn't a good enough answer.

9. Teenagers believe they can make a difference - and many of them do.

10. They don't have programs, committees and agendas. They do have passion, creativity, spontaneity, and compassion. Which would you rather have?

Thanks to all the teenagers I have been able to hang out with over the past 12 years of youth ministry. My life is better because of the lessons you have taught me.

My snow angels

Here are some pictures of snow adventures. You can see that we had just enough snow to make snow angels and sled a few times before the sun melted it away. The guy with the shovel can qualify as an angel too. I love the red checks and toes and the way the kids snuggle after coming in from the snow.

On my radar

Some things that I am looking forward to (besides Spring - I start looking forward to Spring in October:)

IKEA Charlotte opens on February 18th!! I'm planning on being there. Don't try to talk me out of it. I know it's crazy but I don't do Black Friday shopping or December 26th rush for the wrapping paper so allow me my moment of insanity.

WinterJam in Greensboro - what could be more fun than taking a bunch of teens to listen to loud music! Not much - I love loud music and teenagers!

UNLEASH Conference at NewSpring Church!! March 12th - this will be my third year going and I always come back with encouragement and new passion to reach people for Jesus. NewSpring is contagious.

I am also looking forward to another snow day with Emma tomorrow. I love having her home with us! They might even talk me into a few trips down the hill.

The only cute cat in the world.

I am not a cat lover. I am more of a dog person. Actually, it's probably not too much of a stretch to say I am a cat hater! I have never liked them. I think they are evil, sneaky, anti-social, and creepy little animals. Now for the crazy part. We have a cat. It's name is Fireball (I suggested Lucifer - but was voted down). Now for the even crazier part - it comes in my house a few times each day and has even taken a nap or two on my couch. You'll see from this picture that even though cats are not my favorite animal they can be cute when held by a really cute four year old. I don't know why but every time I see Drew carrying Fireball through the house I have to smile. I think it's the four year old - not the cat.

Cousins

Here are my kids with their cousins from Baltimore- Josh, Annika, and Todd.

Fun in the snow

Here are a few pictures of the snow we got about 10 days ago. Mike's uncle passed away and his cousin, John, and his family stayed with us. They are from Baltimore, so they are used to the snow, but were just as thrilled as my kids were. Emma even had the day off from school so she could play too (after a snow suit and wardrobe melt-down). It was a great packing snow - great for snowballs. Only a couple of inches fell and it was all gone by lunchtime, but it was fun while it lasted.

An apology

If you have checked out my blog over the past week - I am sorry that there has been nothing new to see. I could use the excuse of my kids having chicken pox, or the houseful of company I had last week, or the distractions of my new iPod touch, or the laundry, or even the rain. Really, I just haven't done it. And, the worst part is that the corny Twilight video was the last thing I posted. So I hope you won't give up on me and keep checking in with my blog.

Twilight spoof

I ran across this on You Tube.  If you saw the movie or read the books you might find it funny.  It made me laugh out loud but it's late and I get punchy at night.  Anyway, I thought it was funny but I am a Twilight fan and like silly stuff.

A new toy for me!

I was dreading the daunting task of bill paying today, but it turned out to be rewarding. I clicked on a little link from the Wachovia Credit Card page that took me to the rewards page. Turns out I had enough points to get a 16G iPod touch!! I am so excited. Mike got a touch with a couple of Apple gift cards that he got for Christmas and I have loved using it to check email, read blogs,and look up recipes from anywhere in the house - not to mention the music and movie downloads. My 3 year old iPod nano has been giving me problems for a while so this is definitely an upgrade. I am usually not so excited about "techy" stuff but who doesn't get excited when it's free.

Disclaimer: this is not a promotion of credit cards - we have a little bit of a balance - but not a huge one. Most of the charges that earned me points were paid off monthly. You shouldn't put stuff on the card just to get points - you'll wind up paying for it in intrest and late fees. I still think Joe Sangl and Dave Ramsey have the right idea! Debt free is the way to be. We're workin on it!!