Sweet Fruit

Ok, the sweetest thing happened today that I must share with my bloggin family, plus I would like to preserve it in blog history so one day I can share with Nathan. My kids love to open mail so I usually give them the junk mail to open. They get so excited to open the junk mail You would think they just won a million dollars. So Nathan opened a piece of mail from the John 3:16 mission. He read it and got real serious and said, "Mom it is an emergency there are hungry, hurting, homeless people in Tulsa." He ran to his room, emptied his bank, and put the money in the envelope to send back to the mission. He wanted more money so he asked me for it. I told him we would match whatever he donated. So then he had the idea that he would call Grammy and Grampy and ask if he could do work for them so he could give more money. How sweet is that??? If only we were so eager to help the needy. I love seeing the Fruit Nathan is bearing.

Short Family News

I love this time of the year; the sights, the sounds, the smells, the great Christmas movies on TV, the music,the holiday cheer, Black Friday, spending lots of time with the family etc. I love every bit of it!!! We have had our tree and lights up for over a week now. Jarrett was determined to not hang lights in freezing cold weather this year so he put them up last week when it was 75 degrees out. Good thing, because now it is freezing. Speaking of black Friday, I picked up my friend at 3:45 am and we hit the stores. We got some great deals and had a fun time laughing at all the other crazies who were out. We shopped until 2 in the afternoon. I am still exhausted but it was worth it!

Also in the Short Family news, we got new carpet and took the house off the market. Two days after we took the house off the market we got a call from a young couple who looked at our house and they really want to buy it. But not until next summer. So if we decide to move again we are going to call them.

We love the new carpet and feel blessed to have been able to put it in. It makes us feel like we have a new house plus Jarrett really likes to see the vacuum marks. Gracie barfed on it last night, DO YOU PEOPLE SEE WHY I LOVE HER SO!! (I will admit that I did buy her a Christmas gift so there may be an ounce of love for her somewhere inside of me)

I hope everyone had a yummy Thanksgiving.

Nathan-isms

Nathan and I were snuggled up reading our book again today and he stops me and says,"Mom you are getting pregnant." I said,"oh...what do you mean?" "Mom, it is just a polite way of saying your getting fat."

Nice, uh??

I guess I need to start watching what I eat again.

Gravity

Today Nathan and I were reading a book and a lamb died in the book so the topic of death came up. As the conversation went on he told me that he didn't want to leave the gravity of planet earth. I told him not to worry that there was gravity in heaven. I love the way he thinks.....

About Me

Ok, so a friend of mine encouraged me to do this, make a list of 100 things about myself. So here goes:

1. I wear the same earrings everyday, and pretty much have for 3 years.
2. I started dating Jarrett when I was 17.
3. I have to cross my legs when I sneeze.
4. I vacuum everyday.
5. I love my back scratched!
6. I love my arm scratched.
7. I adore my children.
8. I love playing with my children.
9. I love seeing life through Nathan and Madelyn's eyes.
10. I have to have some quiet time everyday. I send the kids to their rooms for quiet play time for about 30 minutes a day. Ahh, it is sweet time.
11. I love watching movies and eating popcorn.
12. I appreciate my parents so much more now that I have kids.
13. I couldn't live without my cell phone.
14. I am opinionated.
15. I was on the debate team in high school. I know, dorky! I am pretty sure I am the only one who didn't become a lawyer.
16. In 7th and 8th grade I wanted to be an astronaut. I even decorated my bedroom with space pictures. (some of you are probably shocked that you are friends with me)
17. Jarrett cleans up all the puke in our house. Even mine.
18. I am a planner!
19. I am a list maker.
20. I love Beth Moore Bible Studies. She makes things clear for me.
21. I was 10 when my baby brother was born. I have 2 older sis's and one younger sis. My Family is one of the most important things to me.
22. I was born in New Jersey then moved to New York.
23. I love the East coast but I am glad that I didn't grow up there. I would have probably ended up a liberal.
24. I love to travel. I especially love cruises and the Caribbean.
25. I want to go to Alaska some day.
26. I loved going to the beach in Florida with my family as a kid.
27. I am addicted to pepsi and coke. It doesn't matter which. Usually Mexican restaurants have good pepsi.
28. I am not a good cook.
29. I wish I was a good cook.
30. I love Jesus with all my heart!
31. I love hanging out with my girlfriends and laughing until I almost pee in my pants.
32. I love reading, although I rarely get a chance to.
33. I like playing board games and cards.
34. I enjoy being a stay at home mom.
35. I love classical music. Cannon in D is my favorite.
36. I love homeschooling and being my children's teacher. Don't get me wrong, it is hard work, some days I wonder if I am doing a good/adequate job. Some days I fantasize about what it would be like to send my kids to school.
37. I think Shrek, especially the first one, is absolutely hilarious.
38. I like being in control of the remote. Ok, I admit it, I just like being in control period.
39. I never feel like I have enough time.
40. I like Danielle Steele Movies.
41. I think my husband is cute. I think he is amazing.
42. I hate ironing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
43. Fall is my all time favorite time of year.
44. I like to swim.
45. When I was in middle school I cleaned old Lady's houses.
46. I applied to work at Braums when I turned 16 but they didn't hire me.
47. But Mazzios did hire me.
48. I also worked for a dentist in the summers during high school.
49. My dad got me a job at a gyno/infertility dr. the summer after my senior year in high school. I worked there for 5 years.
50. I am moody.
51. If we could afford it I would have a personal trainer all the time.
52. I have finally learned to like exercising.
53. I am not an animal lover, I tried to be, but I am just not one. The shedding drives me CRAZY!!! I didn't bother me as much before we had kids. I end up being the one who has to clean the dog hair off the furniture, big up the poop, take her to the vet, buy the dog food, give her baths and chase her when she runs away.
54. I have to shave my legs everyday. I am so hairy.
55. Speaking of that some day I am getting laser hair removal. Anybody want to come?
56. Nobody told me you should wax your eyebrows until after my wedding. Mom always told me not to touch them because they looked like Brooke Shields' brows.
57. I want to learn how to play the piano someday.
58. I am really bad when it comes to fashion.
59. I used to get a sinus infection every month.
60. I love looking at open houses. HGTV is one of my favorite channels.
61. I sing along to the radio when I am driving.
62. I cause at least 2 house fires per month in the kitchen while cooking. The baked potato catching fire in the microwave was the worst. It smelled for weeks.
63. The happiest days of my life were the days we adopted our children and the day Nathan accepted Christ into his heart. And of course the day I married Jarrett.
64 The saddest day was the day I watched my sister's son pass away. Every detail will be etched in my memory forever.
65. I love pizza, I could eat it every day.
66. I used to be an extremely picker eater. I am better now thanks to Jarrett. I now can eat more than just ketchup on my hamburger.
67. I get to sing Nathan a song every night before he falls asleep. He doesn't care that I can't sing. He even calls me from his grandparents house to have me sing it for him. How sweet is that.
68. I love the snow! I love watching snow fall. It is so peaceful.
69. Cheese Doritos and a pepsi are a perfect snack.
70. I am indecisive
71. I really like helping people
72. I secretly like playing Guitar hero with my husband after the kids go to bed at night.
73. My guilty pleasure: The Bachelor on Monday nights
74. I usually don't order an entree at a Mexican restaurant because I eat so many chips and tortillas
75. I wish I knew how to sew.
76. I think stay at home moms should earn a salary.
77. I won a tv at my high school graduation party. I still have it, it is in the kids playroom.

78. The best decision I ever made was asking Jesus into my heart in 5th grade.
79. I love decorating for Christmas, it is one of my favorite holidays, however I like having it all put away on Dec. 26th.
80. My family had the best Christmas' when I was a kid. Great memories.
81. I love baking Christmas cookies. (Can you tell what I have I my mind? I bought a new tree today and I am ready to put it up but it is only Nov. 6th.)
82. I like to water ski.
83. I love getting mani's and pedi's, I just don't get to do very often.
84. I wish I had a "Lupe" to help me around the house with cooking and cleaning.
85. I have the weirdest and quirkiest things wrong with me. For example, I have to get my esphogas stretched every couple of months, I had toe surgery in 5th grade, and just today I had a cyst removed from my head.
86. I wish I could remember people's birthdays better.
87. I can't stand the sound of smacking gum.
88. Captain Crunch berries rock!!!!!!!!!
89. I can't believe I have a sister that is turning 40 next week.
90. Watching my kids sleep is the best!
91. I slept with my blankie until high school.
92. My favorite show is "Greys"
93. I rearrange furniture and nick knacks a lot
94. I think Jarrett should be able to complete home improvement projects in 30 minutes like they do on HGTV. For some reason it never seems to happen that way around here.
95. Am I done yet? This is getting really hard.
96. I would love to go out shopping everyday and max out the credits cards, but since financial peace at church, I feel guilty if I spend an unbudgeted dime.
97. Sometimes I will get dressed to go work out, and decided that ordering a pizza and watching tv sounds like a better idea.
98. I have no depth perception. I either park almost in my laundry room or park way on my husbands side of the garage.
99. I am good at starting things but not good at finishing them. But I think I am going to finish this. Yeah!
100. Now you all know more than you ever wanted to about me. Thanks for reading!

Happy Fall Festival!!

The kids had a blast at our church's fall festival. They went on pony rides, train rides, inflatables, played carnival games and ate good food. Afterwards Jarrett took them trick or treating around the neighborhood. They got way too much candy!!
They both wanted to dress up in exactly what they did last year. Who am I to argue?

I love my kids

I love my kids.
I love my kids.
I love my kids.


They both wrote their names along with other graffitti on the back of my leather seats and the grab bar in front of their seats in the mini van. It won't come off the bars. So, if we are still driving this car in 10 years you will know why. Who would want to buy a van that has NATHAN and MADELYN written all over. Better yet, maybe we should make the mini van be their first car when they start driving.

Someday we will laugh about this, right????

out of the mouth of babes

I forgot to mention that during Sunday school prayer request time, Nathan asked if his class would pray for his mom's drinking habit. Nice huh??? I tried to explain that he meant Pepsi, not amaretto sours.

Prodigy

I just had to share what happened tonight after dinner. I usually never have the TV on during dinner but for some reason I did tonight. After we were through eating Nathan and I cuddled up on the couch to watch "Wheel of Fortune." Nathan has never seen this show before and he was absolutely fascinated by it. When it comes time for the final round three letters pop up on the screen and he screams out "MICROSCOPE" He was right. He started jumping up and down saying that he was the champion and that he would win the $40,000 prize. We didn't have the heart to tell him that Pat Sajack would not be sending him a check.
Mom: "Nathan, that was amazing! How did you know that?"
Nathan: "Because I am smart mom and you are my teacher."

He sure knows how to butter me up. That just earned him another year of homeschooling.

Deceptivily Delicious

So my sweet mother in law bought Jessica Seinfeild's new cook book that was featured on Oprah in attempts to get Nathan to eat veggies. Nathan has not eaten a fruit or vegetable since he ate baby food and even then he didn't much care for it. I read the cookbook and got really excited about hiding veggies in the kids food. Yesterday I stocked up on vegetables at the store, I have to admit that I bought veggies that I had never bought before. I never found the chick peas though. Does anyone out there know what those are??

The basis of this cookbook is that you steam and puree veggies and then hide them in their food. Last night after the kiddos were asleep the pureeing began. I steamed,chopped and blended veggies for 2 hours. Next I scooped them into baggies and put them in the freezer. Then I prepared sweet potato pancakes for this morning.

The deception begins....

I cooked the pancakes and then the kids actually ate them. I can not believe Nathan ate sweet potatoes. After his second bite he said, "Mom these taste like pineapples." I was like, "Umm, Nathan how on earth would you know what pineapple taste like, you have never eaten one?" So he dropped it and continued eating!! Yea, this is actually working.


Lunch: Sprinkled the organic peanut butter with flax seed mill. They ate again with no complaints!! Granted, they had ice cream sandwiches for desert but I can only win one battle at a time.


Dinner: I made homemade chicken nuggets with whole wheat bread crumbs, spices, flax seed, and the broccoli puree. The broccoli was hidden by the bread crumb mixture. Jarrett walks in from work and sneaks a deviled egg just like he always does when I make deviled eggs but what he didn't know is that it was made with the cauliflower puree. I didn't dare tell him. The look on his face was priceless. He started gagging and ran to the sink and spit it out. Guess you shouldn't mess with a man's favorite food. I will admit they were NASTY! The nuggets were great though and again the kids ate them. Nathan ate more veggies today than he has in 5 years and he didn't even know it. I never knew cooking could be so much fun!

On the Hunt

The first pic is of all the cousins on Kathy's side. The new baby is Carson.
Madelyn went to a princess make over party last night. She loved the makeup!

Well, the new buzz around the Short house is that we are moving. We are going to put our house up for sale this week by owner so we are working like busy little beavers trying to get the house in order. I know, I know this isn't the best time of year to be doing this however there are several reasons why we must. I won't get into them now though. Jarrett and I thought we had a new neighborhood all picked out but come to find out (When we viewed the plat) that behind the beautiful trees that would have been in our back yard there is a rail road. We aren't thinking that is such a good idea now. So we are back to square one. We found a floor plan that we really like and that would suit our family, now it is finding a neighborhood that we can afford to build it in. We have drug the kids all around trying to find "the One" They really have been good sports about it but every time we get in the car they say "Here we go again!"

Househunting is really fun with a four and six year old, here are some of my observations:

A. They like to run whenever they enter a home. (Lukily we are looking at new construction so they aren't damaging some poor homeowners belongings)

B. They love to scream at the top of their lungs just to hear themselves echo.

C. They head to the stairs first and run up and down them. (Stairs are their only request in a new home)

D. They love to slam all the doors.

E. Did I mention scream and run around????

F. They can find any sharp, metal or dangerous thing left in the house by the construction workers.

G. They like to jump in the dust piles, pick up dirty cigarettes,and half drank cups.

H. They love all the wood, bricks, and dirt in the yards. Who needs toys when you have that to play with.

I. They aren't concerned with the details like which color granite there is or will the furniture fit, they just love the fact that the house has stairs.

We desire the house that God has for us. We are trusting that he will lead us to the right one. I am so glad that we serve such a great and awesome God who cares even about the littlest details about our lives. We are specifically praying for great neighbors and for playmates for Nathan and Madelyn. We don't have a lot of neighborhood kids here and we desire that for them.

Today is my Dad's 66th b-day! Happy birthday pops! For his birthday my sister, Karen, called to tell him she is pregnant!! Her kids are 14 and 10! SURPRISE!!!!!! Our family is having a population explosion. There is something with the age of 38 in my family. Kris was 38 and not planning on another baby, now Karen is 38 and was not planning another baby. I think I will get on birth control when I am 38. Thank goodness that isn't for another 10 years or so.

www.conorbootheandgirls.blogspot.com

My friend Traci and my cousin in law both sent me this link. You all need to check it out and grab some Kleenex. It is so touching and try to read back in this ladies blog.

MIA

Sorry I have been MIA lately. We are just adjusting to our new school year schedule and I just haven't really had any free time lately. I started a new Beth Moore Bible study a couple of weeks ago and I have a lot of homework, which I LOVE!!! It just takes time to do, but I have to say it is well worth it. I am learning so much about our truly amazing God. We also have started Coop classes which take up our Fridays. Nathan is doing great, we frequently find him in his room surrounded by books just reading. It is so exciting to see him reach this milestone. When he was a baby I would pray that he be able to learn and have a normal life. The doctors weren't very encouraging in those early days so let me just tell you that we are filled with joy to see him not only learning but loving to learn. God made me a promise a long time ago that Nathan would be a mighty man of God. So we are trusting him daily for that promise and we are so blessed to see Nathan turning his heart to the Lord. Madelyn is doing well also. She loves Yellow Balloon Preschool and is actually walking into class without crying. Ok, well I need to get her to preschool. I hope everyone has a great day! ~K

Sister's of the Skillet

Me and my 3 good friends get together every month (at least we try to, but it usually more like every couple of months) and cook a bunch of meals at once. We call ourselves Sisters of the Skillet. We are even thinking of getting aprons with our name put on it....

I know you may be thinking we are dorky but we have a ball doing it and no matter what something always funny happens. Like today for example, Sherri was cutting meat with a brand new electric knife, I was making a marinade for Kabobs and Lisa was cooking her homemade chicken noodle soup. Lisa kept spilling things and making a mess which is very unlike her. She was cooking the soup in a giant stock pot and after 30 minutes or so she made the comment that it is taking forever to boil. I had started feeling light headed and was having trouble following my recipe for Kabobs. I smelled something weird but I thought it was Sherri's new electric knife making a funny smell. After Lisa's comment about the soup not boiling Sherri notices that there is no flame under the pot. You gotta it, the gas was going, but no flame. Lisa immediately turned off the gas, I rounded up the kids, and we all went outside to the fresh air. When I walked back into the house a few minutes later the house had the strongest smell of gas that I have ever smelt. We were shocked that we hadn't smelt it while we were in there. We opened up the windows and doors and let the house air out. We were afraid the house might blow up if we tried to turn the burner back on so we waited a while to resume cooking.

Lisa was the brave one and turned the gas stove back on and I am happy to say that we didn't blow up. So the sister's of the skillet is still in business. Last spring when we cooked at my house we almost got blown away by a tornado, no lie.... so yet again the good Lord saved us.

If you would like a copy of our recipes I am very sorry to report that all recipes remain a secret with the sisters.

I just want to go home

Today Madelyn had a MRI on her brain. This was to show the doctors how her brain structure and function are and to check her pituitary gland and her optic nerve. She was diagnosed with optic nerve hypoplasia this summer that is why she needed to get glasses. It can affect a child's endocrine system so we saw an endocrinologist on Monday and they did a bunch of blood tests. We just found out that she needed to have the MRI this week so we did not have a long time to prepare her for it. This has been her year for medical issues. To get ready for the test we had to keep her up an hour late last night then wake her up 2 hours before she normally wakes which is 5am. She could not eat or drink. We had to be at the hospital at 9am to get the sedation started. For some reason I just thought that meant they would give her something to drink that would make her sleepy, I had no idea this would actually entail an IV, oxygen, heart monitors etc. No problem, no big deal, except that I had told her that they would NOT be poking on her. She was traumatized after Monday's appt. So now mom is a big fat liar. After they got the IV in (which was for fluid to show the contrast in the brain) the doctor told us they would try to do the MRI without sedation because there are less complications. We thought that was a great idea in theory but knowing our daughters temperament we knew this would not go over well.

Well, she surprised us. After she calmed down from the IV torture the nurse talked her into laying down and watching Scooby Doo on the video goggles and she let them strap her in and she went right into the machine. Twenty minutes into the MRI she panicked. She started shrieking and screaming "I want to go home!" Over and over and over again. They stopped the scan and over the next 30 minutes the doctor and 3 nurses plus the two of us tried to calm her down and convince her to go back in because she was almost done. The doctor then suggested that we just stop and come back next week and just start off with the sedation. He said at that point the sedation may not work because she was so agitated and her adrenalin was pumping, he gave it a 50/50 chance of working. We told him we would do what he wanted but we did not think it would go over well with her to bring her back next week. We decided it was worth it to go ahead and try.

They gave her some meds in her IV and it did not make her tired it just made her a really mean drunk. She was like a bucking bronco, her body was flying every where and she was slurring her words, she wasn't going to go down easily. She even tore out her IV! But once the second dose hit her she was out for the count. The nurses got her strapped back in, a new IV in place and she was on her way. After the test was over we were told we would have to stay another 3-4 hours while she slept her cocktail off. Well, once she was unstrapped from the table and Jarrett picked her up she started waking up. And I will just say this, she woke up the same way she fell asleep, she was a crazy woman, yelling, "I want to go home NOW!" We were worn out just trying to hold her and convince her that we would be going home soon. After another hour we finally got to take our sweet sleepy drunk girl home. She slept the whole way home and woke up as we pulling into the neighborhood and declared that she was ready for a Happy Meal. Are we surprised? Of course not.

Nathan just told me that he is in love with me and wants to marry me. He told me that this means that he has his brain on me and that he is watching out for me. I told him that mommy was already married and after he thought about that for a moment, he said oh so seriously," That's a big problem! I will just marry Maddie then." Oh to be six again!!!!

Our Second Week of Homeschool:Good Intentions Gone Bad

You know how when you start something you have good intentions to go at it 100% but then life just gets in the way and wrecks havoc on your well laid out plans, well that is how our week started. We never got to school today and that is ok, well handwriting got done and that is it. I really like structure and sticking to a schedule and a plan. However, one thing I am learning through homeschooling is that it is ok to be flexible and it is ok to let go. God is stretching me, that I know!

This being only our second week of school I think we should be sticking to a strict schedule so we can get into a good routine. On the other hand one of the many beauties of homeschooling is that we can be flexible and go with the flow.

Nathan spent the night with Grammy and Grampy last night so that I could take Maddie to an appointment with the pediatric endocinologist at 7:45 this morning. He had a great time working in their garden and working out in the basement with Grampy. He came home around 4pm and we did handwriting then he said he was tired. So I went with the flow and decided to just let it go today. I went to a homeschooling coop meeting tonight and got him signed up for a PE class that is every Friday (while Maddie is at preschool) and is taught by a YMCA guy. I think he will have fun and of course it will help the socialization thing. People, in general, always question homeschoolers about the lack of socialization yet I have discovered that there are tons of opportunities to socialize. We are going to a coop class every Friday afternoon for 2 hours, going on field trips every month (the first one is to the fire station in a couple of weeks), PE, Gymnastics, church on Sunday and Wednesday, etc. I think scheduling is going to be more of a problem than finding ways for Nathan and Madelyn to socialize with other kids.

Maddie's appointment went well. We still don't know anything but we should in 6 weeks. They took 5 tubes of her blood which was not fun. The nurse now has permanent hearing loss because of Madelyn's screaming. What made it worse is that she missed the vein and went digging to try to find it. Then she had to try the other arm. Madelyn was worn slick afterwards. Then we got to go to the bathroom and collect a UA from a 4 year old. Can we say FUN!! Next we tackled some shopping at Sams. After we got home we mowed the yard for Jarrett, painted pictures on the driveway, baked a coffee cake, did laundry, played doll house and fixed dinner. Jarrett and the kids power washed the back porch and the painted driveway while I was at the coop mtg. When I got home Maddie was sound asleep and Nathan was still up complaining that his ear hurt. I looked at it and it is draining puss and blood. Aren't you glad you are reading this? Poor baby. Guess we will be going to the doctor tomorrow. I guess school can wait until another day.

Short Christian Academy

Today was Nathan's first day of first grade at "Short Christian Academy" His teacher said he was a model student and got along well with the other students in his class, Gracie and Madelyn. He worked hard and got an entire weeks worth of reading lessons done in one day and four days of science done. He started listening to "Charlotte's Web" and even requested another chapter to be read before bed. His teacher is worn out but excited that the first day went well. Nathan's teacher was even surprised by her sweet husband with a bouquet of pink roses. By the way he wore a really cute outfit to this milestone event, his mickey mouse pajamas!!!

What we ate this weekend.

Friday night: I made chicken marsalla for dinner then we went to bed

Saturday: We ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast, went shopping for tennis shoes for Jarrett and Nathan since it was tax free shopping, next we went to reasors to buy groceries at the 12 hour sale, then we headed to the lake. We ate ham sandwiches and chocolate chip coffee cake for lunch.
We swam and tubed and then I tried Salmon for the first time and yes I liked it. Can you believe it, something healthy?? Thank you Grammy and Grampy. Then we mowed the yard and went to bed again.

Sunday: We ate donuts for breakfast, can you tell we are on the sugar diet??? Then we taught our one year old Sunday School class. When we came home Jarrett declared war on all the bugs, wasps and other creepy crawlers at our house. The kids are too scared to play outside with the current situation. Two cans of wasp spray and a gallon of ortho bug be gone later Jarrett won and bugs lost. We then preceded to my parent's house where we enjoyed pizza, brick oven pizza I must add, then we swam the day away. After we were water logged we went back to church for a dinner of sub sandwiches and chips and attended a 3 hour meeting about Sunday school for the fall semester. Then they forced us to eat cake for a going away party for one of the children's ministers. How dare they! When we got home we cased the outside of the house for wasps and other bugs to see if Jarrett really won the battle. It seems he has.

So now that we ate our way through this weekend we are ready to declare war on ourselves and try to control our eating. At last for the next few hours as we sleep.