Gram's Place

Em got a horse for Christmas. She named her Chloe. It was the perfect gift. She adores it.

When I view this I am reminded of this verse. Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

If only it could stay this way. The week between Christmas and New Year's is somewhat of a pause in life. It's a somewhat surreal, long punctuation as we hang in the balance waiting for the next holiday. The hustle and bustle of shopping is over, instead we flock together with kin folk, and test all our new toys. In our home, we have played cards, drank smoothies, amused ourselves with battleship, assembled puzzles, scrutinized cds, inspected dvds, and devoured cuisine. We have no homework, no concerts, no evening schedules, no appointments, no deadlines. ahhhh... this is the life. I'd like to figure out a way to filibuster this recess. While I work on that, I think I'll eat some more Russell Stovers and ruthlessly whip my husband and children in Risk . Enjoy your intermission friends!

One of the many Christmas festivities this year was making gingerbread houses at Great Gramma Jensen's house!

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house.... Not a creature was stirring..... not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney (cough cough) ... uh TV... with care..... In hopes that Saint Nicolaus soon would be there.... The girls with their new robes ... And even the cats... had just settled down for a long winters nats.

We have a family tradition with Shawn’s folks. We get together every year on Christmas Eve and have a great time! We eat waffles and ham, read a Christmas story, take family pics, eat, eat, eat, and open presents for hours. Then we play with all the presents we bought each other. It takes about 6 hours. We’ve had variations of this tradition because sometimes we have church to go to, so we have to start early. That wasn’t the case this year. We arrived our usual 45 minutes late, ate our waffles, opened our presents, then spent the rest of the night playing karaoke on ps2 and making smoothies and mochas with my new Magic Bullet . It’s great crazy family fun!

I talked to Chad's dad today. He said that the doctors in Iowa City have ruled out meningitis finally. They have figured out that the subdermal hemotoma in his vertebrae was caused by it being crushed somehow. He ruptured an artery in his vertebrae and it is bleeding into his spinal fluid. The blood apparently travels up the spinal cord and into his head, causing the severe headaches. When they check his blood, no infection shows up. But, when they test his spinal fluid, it is full of infection. Originally they were going to try to get the infection under control, but they have now decided that the headaches will continue if they don't stop the bleeding. So, they are going to try to fix the crushed vertebrae. The neurologist will visit him today and from there, they will determine when the surgery will occur.

We got a call last night. They did a full body scan in Iowa City and they found a bulging disk between his 11th and 12th vertebrae. They think that it is the cause of the blood found in his spinal fluid, but they are still unsure why he has such horrible head pain and they are still unsure why he is so full of infection. They are not ruling out meningitis, and are treating him for that until confirmed he doesn't have it. He will have surgery on his back for sure, when he is stabilized. They finally drugged him enough to let him get some sleep as he hadn't slept since Saturday. We are continuing to pray for him. His three children are spending Christmas with their mom (divorced), and hoping to get to see him sometime as well.

My husband’s cousin Chad works for us.  He has worked for us for many years, and is very talented in the area of construction.  If it can be done, Chad can do it! He’s not been feeling well lately, struggling with a lot of headaches, etc.  He’s been going to the chiropractor and taking too much Tylenol and ibuprofen hoping it will go away.   On Saturday, he went hunting.  His back started hurting him terribly and by Saturday night or Sunday morning, he was in the emergency room at the hospital.  They thought he had some muscle spasms or something.  They gave him some medicine and sent him home. On Monday, he was no better.  He talked to Shawn and said he wasn’t coming in to work.  We’ve all been really worried about him.  On Tuesday, I called to talk to him and he said he still had a headache, back pain, neck pain, etc.  I tried to get him to go to the Emergency Room or at least...

Emily is learning about the different parts of words and how to spell. Things are starting to make sense to her. Last night, I was impressing her with my ability to sing the "I AM A C.. I AM A C.H.... I AM A C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N" song. When it got to the "L-I-V-E-E-T-E-R-N-A-L-L-Y" I decided to go especially fast to show her how smart I am. It worked. "WoW! That's hard!.. .What does it mean?" "Let me go slower" I repeated it slower.... she sounded it out. "Christ-ee-an?" "Christian" "Oh! Cool! What's the rest?" I spelled the Christ in my heart as she sounded it out. "Christ in my heart. Awesome! I never knew that!" Now we got to the next part and she figured that all out too. I was impressed she figured it out, AND I also knew that I could still sing it faster. :) "Emily, do you know why we're called Christians?" "Because we believe in Jesus" "Yeah, but do you know wha...

As Christmas draws near, I am reminded that we haven't spent NEARLY enough time discussing the REAL meaning of Christmas. I admit, regretfully, that I get caught up in the snow, and the tree, and the sentimental times of having our Rompin Rudolph Slush at our Trim the Tree Party, shopping, etc.... When Haleigh came home, she talked to Emily about Christmas. Emily had just watched Prancer. So, she was clearly defending that Santa is real. Haleigh asked her what Christmas is about, and she said "Jesus". I was glad to at least hear that as I had really felt like we had been completely neglecting Jesus this Christmas... So, last week, we went to the Narnia movie. It was so good! Emily sat by me, and I wanted to make sure she was "getting" it. During the part when Aslan made the long, slow walk to the white witch, where he was giving his life for his people, she asked me where he was going. I explained that since Edmond had been a traitor, the law required t...

This kid has quite an imagination!

It is supposed to snow 7 inches between tonight and tomorrow night. WHOOO HOOO! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

What does the word "creep" mean? Lindsey and I had this conversation: btw, we were talking about the WOTD Gimcrack blog entry from yesterday. Me: Lindsey, did you read my blog today? L: No Me: Here, read it. L (as she reads): oh wow, you're such aaaaaaaaa creep. Me: I'm a creep? What does that mean? L (stammering): Uh, it means...... like, dork. Me (sarcastically): Is it a new word? L: Oh yeah, it's basically a new slang word. Me: really? L: Well, that's basically what that word means in that sentence. Me: Oh cool, so words can mean different things in different sentences? L: yeah, pretty much. Me: Oh, okay. Then, I'm going to give you a hundred dollars. Me: You know, because in THAT sentence that means I'm going to give you a spanking. L: duh. I love being the mom of a teenage daughter. Oh wait, I mean three teenage daughters (and a 6 year old goin on 13)

yeah, well, since I only have a couple weeks for the 2005 Word of The Day, I thought I'd better at least share with you the best ones. Here we go.... this is a good one today. It's "gimcrack". Now honestly, have you EVER heard that word before? Be honest... It's a noun. : a showy object of little use or value. And used in a sentence.... Why is there so much gimcrack on my desk? Why do I post about gimcrack on my blog? Why do I always get gimcrack for gifts? (except for my new and improved word of the day 2006) Why do our mothers have more gimcrack than we do? A little history about gimcrack..... Did you know?... The exact origin of this word is not entirely known. It established itself in the 17th Century. It was most likely borrowed from the Yiddish. Need to get rid of some gimcrack? Visit the flylady.

I got some special treatment yesterday at Sears when we were shopping for Christmas. I was quite proud of myself. I was with my friend Chris... and whenever we are together, nothing is very serious. When we started shopping, I suffered from my normal case of what I call "Shopping ADHD". Because it isn't my favorite thing to do, I spend time wandering around aimlessly, forgetting my purpose for being there, bouncing from one thought to another, not able to make a decision on where I'm going and what I'm doing, wanting to buy stuff for myself and not really having any reasonable direction. After a few of her reminders to "get with the program, we have a job to do here", I decided to conquer one person at a time. I had a thing I wanted to buy for someone (who might read my blog so I have to be vague). So, Chris and I went into Sears, after going in the wrong door and forgetting where we were, being disoriented, and getting back on track, we arrived in ...

I got my first Christmas gift already! It couldn’t be MORE me! I love gifts that just say “ME” all over them, because it means that person really listens to who I am and what I do and like. I always WANT to give gifts like that, but I admit I am guilty of giving what I WANT, and not always what others might want.  Partly because one of my least favorite things to do is shop.  I know, some would question my womanhood on that one.  But, it’s true.  Shopping is not something I enjoy much.  Wandering through stores aimlessly and people watching is sometimes fun for me, but looking at things I have no intention of buying and researching and checking out things I MIGHT buy someday, is not anything I enjoy.   Are you ready to hear my gift??  I know that if you read my blog at all, you will agree that this gift is ME. Here it is: I got…….. ready? Are you sure?  Ready?  Here we go…. It is…….drumroll….. da d...

Yesterday was Kizzy's birthday. She is 38. Most likely you don't know her. But, I do. Of all the people in my life, I could say I probably know her the best. Mostly because we grew up together. We have known each other for 27 years. We were together - joined at the hip - from the time we were 11 to 19. Everyday. Everything. Then she went to college, and I had babies and got married, we didn't see each other every day any longer. But, when we did, it was as if no time had passed. I experienced so much life with Christine (oh yeah, that's her real name). Every season that passes in my life brings so many memories shared with her. Right now it is snowing outside. I can remember the times when we drove around town in snowstorms. (I would never let my kids do that by the way...) I remember one time we were with Michelle and Michelle was driving and she had this little tiny car. She was driving way too fast. When our city plows the streets after a big snow st...

Sometimes I wonder if there is any month any BUSIER than December?!? We officially have something to do EVERY night from Dec. 4 thru December 12. We have a night free on the 13th. Well, kind of. Linds actually has to cheer at a bball game, but it's in Independence, and we're vetoing it. Too far. Then, we have Thursday the 15th off too. But, then we're busy again EVERY night until December 22. CRAZY. Whatever happened to chestnuts roasting on an open fire... ? Who in the world has time to roast chestnuts in this day and age? Who has even really ever HAD Chestnuts? I did a little research on chestnuts.... did you know that they are the only nut that contains vitamin C? Did you know that chestnuts are mentioned in the Bible? Jacob put peeled chestnut twigs into his water troughs to promote healthy offspring of his livestock. I don't know why I even looked any of that up. It doesn't matter, and nobody really cares now do they?

I can't believe i haven't updated this blog in 5 days! ME.... the EVERYDAY blogger! ME... the sometimes two or three times a day blogger! I apologize for my insensitivity to blog addicts everywhere. It is so frustrating to go to a DAILY BLOG that isn't updated! So, I'm back! I guess I've just been incredibly busy lately. I don't know what in the WORLD I've been doing.... but, I know it isn't BLOGGING. Today, we actually did some domestic BAKING and DECORATING. I baked so many things... I baked spritz cookies, peanut butter cookies, thumbprint cookies, carmelita bars, cream cheese danish... and my all time FAV.... Outrageous Brownies . These are heavenly. With an entire POUND of butter, OVER TWO POUNDS of CHOCOLATE, THREE CUPS of walnuts, and only a cup of flour. OHMYGOSH, they melt in your mouth. I absolutely love Ina Garten . She makes the greatest food. Something to be totally proud of is that this recipe is rated - not easy, not medium, no...