Reminder I am a loser...

So I am the geek next door that loves Twilight. I know the writing is not the best, the dream guy can be considered some what controling or abusive to some, but I still love it and will read it again and again. I do not have cable and from the news stories I am reading Twilight took home about 5 awards from the MTV awards tonight. Pretty amazing for a cheesey movie I must say. So I was extremely thrilled when I read that the "New Moon" Trailer was aired tonight. So I went to the MTV website and found the trailer. In case you haven't seen it:

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Ohhh, I can't wait, this one is going to be so much better! I might have to break down and read the series before it comes out in November.

Soccer Training...

Last month Logan was sharing how the boys at school made fun of him because he coldn't kick well. So the next weekend we went and bought a kids size soccer ball and headed to the park. Jeremy tried to teach them how to kick the ball. Turns out Logan does pretty good and he was probably being a little sensitive. We had a really good time at the park messing around. I love these two pictures, Like Father:

Like son!

Lauren made playing and taking turns a little difficult. She would run up and grab the ball and run away giggling. She thinks she is so cute. Turns out sometimes kids are right! This picture of Miranda is classic. It is an expression that usually includes a "Hmph"
I can't really put into words what the expression means, something like "I'm not getting my way so I will pretend I have attitude."

Black Eye

I think getting a black eye is a right of passage. Lauren got her first black eye. This is what it looked like the next day:

a few days later it looked like this:

For her second birthday it looked like this:Barely visible but still there. We are not exactly sure what happened. When it was discovered I called the girls in and asked what happened. Miranda's response was "Hannah punched Lauren in the face!" This was said with conviction. I decided I wanted more detail since it seemed odd, hair pulling, wrestling, biting are possibilities but I have never seen any hint of boxing amongst the kiddos. It turns out Hannah and Lauren were playing and the bonked heads.

Lauren is disgusting...

Of all the adjectives I have used to describe her this one has never been used. The other day we were at the dinner table. As always we were trying to get her to eat her vegetables. She will not even eat one green bean for any amount of tasty dessert. She must get that from some distant relative. You could probably get me and Jer to eat about anything for dessert. It is sad though when a little one thinks feet taste better than vegetables.

Gotta love this girl she is priceless.

The last straw

Yesterday I was walking to the school to help Logan's teacher put together some scrapbooks for the end of the year. I pulled out my phone and was changing it from silent to loud. And guess what:

My phone broke in an uncomfortable way. It has been dropped many times and has withstood much torture. Apparently this was the drop that broke my phone. It turns out timing couldn't be better. We are awaiting new phones as we speak. So it should be only a day or two until I own a cell phone that works again. Now if only I would use it that would be grand!

Our busiest time of the year...

Well December is really the busiest but this is the second busiest. We start the month off with Mother's Day, then we have uncle Chris's birthday, then Lauren's birthday, followed closely by Jeremy's birthday. Then if we have time our anniversay. Just kidding we always make time. This year we celebrate our 9th anniversay. We are still newlyweds in some respects but the old married couple in others.

Nine years ago this is what we looked like, I am still about 14 inches shorter than him. That might be the only thing that we still have in common with those two in the photo above. When we first met I was 10, he was 11 and we were in the 6th grade. He was pretty cool and I was a no body, at least that is how I saw it. We were friends and as the years progressed we got to know each other and he signed all my year books beginning "April, May, June" very creative I know. Then our Junior year of high school we had a little innocent fling that was official (via note passing) in this picture.

We were young, I was mean, but we maintained a friendship. He was extremely busy playing the field. ; ) When we both had lived a little and matured he called me out of the blue. At least it was for me, turns out he had been trying to call for two months. We started dating for real in December of 98. In April we took a fabulous trip to Disneyland (where else of course!) and to San Diego, and a short trip over the border. It was then that I knew it was not just a fling, and he was serious. It was the first time that we seriously talked marriage.

Our family has grown mostly one by one. But 6 children, 5 homes, at least 10 trips to Disneyland, 7 cars, a bazillion gallons of ice cream and 9 years later we are still in love. Crazy, huh?

We have been blessed with lots of tired nights and extremely happy moments. (This was the last photo we have as a couple. I am not liking my picture taken too much.)

I am so grateful for our marriage, our friendship and the life we have built together. It is not always easy but nothing you value should be, or you will take it for granted. Jeremy and our children are the best part of me. I would be lost without them. I am grateful for the times in high school when I was awkwardly goofy but that we still maintained a friendship that will last forever.

Jeremy, I love you and I love our life together. You have given me more than I had ever thought I could have. We are far from rich financially, but our needs are met with comfort. Most importantly we are overloaded with laughter and love in our home. You continue to make me want to be a better person, for that I am grateful as well, even if I fight it kicking and screaming! So thank you for giving me a fabulous nine years and I look forward to many years to come.

Happy Anniversary!

Lauren is Two

Just two short years ago we were home from the hospital with this "big"girl. She was built like a linebacker and all I could think of was that her future nickname would be Big Bertha. She had more hair than a mop, but she still took my breath away. Baby acne and all she was absolutely beautiful. She was a sweet and fairly content baby.

Now she is still beautiful and takes my breath away, now it is by force while I count to 10, count my blessings and find the humor in her personality.
She knows what she wants and I hope that never changes. Her confidence does not compare with her siblings. She loves to give kisses and will give hugs to say sorry. Those who know us really well appreciate her as well. By no means do I think we have perfect kids and I know no body would trade theirs for ours, but our kids behave well in public, then Lauren came. While she does behave pretty well she is by far louder than the other kids. She is at the point when shopping that she sees clothes racks and takes off giggling the whole way. She loves to get into no-no's and then have you chase her. This little twerp is fast. Who would have thought that would be the case for such a late walker?

Her newest story has to do with cookies.

Lauren was a pretty good eater but hasn't eaten vegetables in I don't know how long. She was too young to reason with so we just let her eat what she wanted. Now it is time for hard core training. We give her dinner and if she doesn't eat her vegetables she does not get dessert. We also are now cutting back on the milk. Yesterday after dinner I was of course at the computer, and the kids come and inform (not tattle that would be annoying) me that Lauren has a cookie. So I follow them to find her hiding by the end of the bed eating her cookie in a corner. From the door you can not see her but as I kept walking she was busted. Here's a little video.

I love her so much and am so grateful to have added her to our family especially at a time when one more child seemed like a financial burden. It was a time when our future was up in the air and we weren't sure another baby would be the right choice. We prayed about it and knew it was time for her to join us. We have been so blessed I can not even begin to name them. This little one's middle name is Grace for that reason. When we do all we can it is the grace of our loving Heavenly Father that fills in where we lack. He sure has.

Happy 2nd Birthday to our fifth child, the one who will not let us loose her in the mix and makes herself known and demands independence. Lauren, I love you!

Blurb Giveaway

Over at Natalie's Sentiments she is having a contest to give away 1 Blurb book to 5 people. Among other books you can upload your blog directly to them and you can publish your blog posts in book form. They are gorgeous. Check it out at Blurb, then check out Natalie's Blog to enter. The drawing is Tuesday May 19th, which happens to be my anniversary so I am sure I will win!!!

Go check it out!

Twins!

I have a sweet friend who is having twins, any day now. She is the cutest pregnant lady! Watching her tummy grow reminds me so much of my days with a freakishly large torso.

The day I got to meet them was amazing. My cup runneth over. I felt amazingly blessed!

It has been so fun to watch them grow. People always ask if I can tell them apart. I will tell you the honest truth, 50% I can since I dress them, 30% yes if I am right in their face, the other 20% when they are dressed exactly alike and not right next to each other the answer is, I need to get real close as Hannah has a freckle above her left eye. Hannah is the thinner of the two (by a pound) But Haylie has a thinner face. Can you tell which is which?

They are the best of friends and they are great playmates! They typically enjoy each other but are equally happy to be apart. They have very different personalities and are very much individuals. Such cute little trouble makers!

Another chef in the family

The kids love to help me cook. Anytime I make anything they are right there asking what they can do. We have one o'clock church this year which makes big dinners difficult. So when we had all the family here for Easter we did something simple so we could enjoy a more relaxing meal together. The following Sunday I was determined to have an Easter meal of ham and potatoes so I decided to make it all before church and set the timers.


The menu
Ham
Funeral Potatoes (or Party Potatoes as we have affectionately changed the name to!)
Green Bean Casserole
Homemade rolls
Watergate Salad


I was doing good on time then I looked at the clock...Miranda was right there begging to help me. So I gave her the job of making the potatoes.


Funeral Potatoes
1bag O'Brien Potatoes
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Pint (16oz) Sour Cream
2 cups of grated cheese
1 small onion diced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Topping
1/2 cup butter
1 cup crushed Corn Flakes (which I didn't have on hand so we used 1 roll Ritz crackers, De-lish!)


Mix the soup, sour cream, cheese, salt, pepper and onion together, then stir in potatoes. Pour into a casserole dish. Melt butter and mix in with crushed Ritz crackers. Spread over top of casserole and bake at 350 for 1 hour.


The only thing I did for Miranda was cut up the onion in my fancy Vidalia Chop Wizard (9.99 at Target!)

After she was all done I expected to need to mix it up and make sure there were no chunks of sour cream. She did a fantastic job. Here is her finished product.
Now I know I have lots of help in the kitchen.

Four fast months!

On Friday Jackson turned four months old. I wish he could stay like this for a long time. He really is a sweet baby. Last night for Mother's day He gave me the gift of a full 8 hours of sleep! He was doing great then not so great, now we are on the great track again!

So back to my tiniest little darling. I put him on his stoch this morning and got a cute picture or two.

Believe it or not Lauren loves her little brother. She loves to give him kissies.
Then I decide to film a little interaction. I put the camera down and guess what? Jackson rolled from his tummy to his back and I missed it. So I tried again and this is what I got:

I love this little guy and not just because he's the cutest little baby I ever did see but he has brought with him a darling personality. He is pretty easy going. He loves his food, well milk he gets the love of eating from his parents!. I think he has my nose, but the rest is from his daddy. He's a keeper even if he won't stop growing too fast. I think the biggest reason I want him to slow down is so that I can enjoy him since he is the last little baby I will have.

The Grape Post

Jeremy is the comic relief in our family. On a regular basis he says "Welcome to the Jacobs' Family Home Evening" and all the kids chuckle. He says it in a normal voice, no funny face. Now it is is habit but before it was a weird thing. The other night we were finishing up dinner with some tasty grapes. Jeremy proceeded to share a story about his childhood (really it hasn't ended, and I love that!). He said when ever he ate grapes he would pretend they were planets and he was eating them whole kind of like Galactus (I reserve the right to change the name of the comic book character I am new to this arena of comic book characters). So he then gave them examples. In a deep voice he would say something like "I am going to eat you little grape planet." The kids would still crack up even after the 20th time he did it. The next day we were again eating grapes and I thought I would join the fun and eat a grape planet. It seemed like an easy sale. I thought they would crack up at the fact that I was being a little goofy with them. Nope, in our house of eight you could hear crickets, they looked at me like I was immature and crazy, not the tiniest bit funny. Jeremy thought that alone was priceless. A few minutes later he sits down, I believe he cleared his vocal chords and encouraged me to try again. So I wiped the tears of failure from my cheek and gave it another shot. Holding the grape up between my pointer finger and thumb of my left hand and stroking the grape with the pointer finger of my right I said:

Hi little grape planet, what a lovely day. I will put you out of your misery

Then I stuck that grape in my mouth and chomped down so you could hear the little pop of destruction. Wouldn't you know that they all cracked up. I am truly amazing. To bad it was canned laughter, that's right Jeremy encouraged courtesy laughter to make me feel better. What a kind soul!

Mother's Day for me

I had a great mother's day, in fact I would say perfect except (are you thinking I am ungrateful?) Four of the 6 kids had high fevers. Yuck but they are still great sickness and all! I woke up this morning to Jeremy running to the bathroom because Logan was tossing his cookies, luckily in the proper location. Then I fell back asleep and woke up to Jackson who slept from the time I put him down until 6:45 this morning. Woot! When I was finally up for good Jeremy handed me my own personal copy of BBC's Little Dorrit.

It is a great story with all of the best elements, romance, comedy, drama, mystery, and even a tad spooky at parts. Then he got me some Reese's Select Chocolates
Then a couple of T-shirts, that I think are fabulous! Another surprise that I got was from Miranda. I went to pick her up from school on Thursday and she had a plant in her hand. Every year for mother's day they have a plant sale at her school to raise money for the special needs classroom. The plants are $1.00. So I was surprised that Jeremy had given her the money for a plant, she corrected me and said she used her own money. I was floored! It shouldn't surprise me but it did. It made the little plant all that much more special. She must have been pleased with my reaction because the next day she bought her grandma a plant as well. She also bought me a beaded lizard key chain. She even got an all purple one with pink highlights. My two favorite colors.
I was very surprised. Then Jeremy, pulled from the oven some store bought pre-made cinnamon rolls, he even let the oven beep like he actually made them! Following the sweet rolls, he made me an egg, fried potatoes and vienna sausages. It was perfect. When I got home from church, since he stayed home with the sickies, he had dinner almost completely cooked. I tend to do most of the cooking, but told him what I wanted and he made it!

In case you want recipes here they are Classic Baked Ziti, Cheesy Garlic Bread and Caesar salad. It was divine! And about 1 bazillion calories...my diet starts tomorrow...where was I. Oh yeah divine! I was very impressed and felt very loved by my lovies. I worked the crowd and told them they couldn't eat until they told me why they loved me (who doesn't love a little ego stroking?!) The common answer was you feed me. Logan got specific and said that it is because I drop him off as school, not really sure if he means to give him a break from me, but I will take it as that I am always there for him! Jeremy said among other things because I make him laugh. See future post about grapes! I was milking it but loved that my family went along with it. I love them all and am grateful that they put up with my mood swings and most common problem of the growth on my nose aka nose stuck in a book. I'll cook for you when ever you ask, unless I don't want to! Thank you family for giving me such a special day, I was queen!

Mother's

My mom lives in Ohio where she has been since Miranda was about 3 months old. I love her dearly and she is always teaching me something, whether I act on it is another story but I am listening. ; ) She started off as being a young mom while still growing up herself. At the age of 22 she became a single mom raising three little girls. She's still working on it. I believe it is true you never stop raising your children. We have had some rocky roads and I am still learning how to be a good daughter. One of these days I will figure it out. She shaped me into who I am today and for that I am grateful. I am grateful that she loves me with all my funny quirks and my never ending supply of grandchildren, ha-ha! I don't say it nearly enough but I love you Mom. Thanks for always being there waiting for me to come around!

I have another mother who I got by choice. I ran across this poem:

You are the other mother I received,

the day I wed your son.

And I just want to thank you, mom,

For the loving things you've done.

You've given me a gracious man,

with whom I share my life.

You are his lovely mother,

and I his lucky wife!

You use to pat his little head,

And now I hold his hand.

You raised in love a little boy,

and then gave me the man.

I am so thankful for the son she raised and shaped him into, it has made my life a dream come true. Both of these women are extraordinary. I wouldn't trade either of them.

Happy Mother's Day!

What do you get when 7 people get this:

Silly String! My mom sent us a surprise Valentine's Day package full of silly string. It took some time, but when my mom came out for Miranda's Baptism we finally had our fight. She was there to witness it, so kind of a double bonus.

It started out well, the kids enjoyed holding the cans that had been sitting on our counter for a month and a half. We all got into postion, and then...

I'm makin'...

JAM!

My friend Hayley has made strawberry jam for the last few years. I have been wanting to make some myself for quite sometime. She invited me over a few weeks ago to make some with her but I bailed on her. I was too lazy to get my shopping done on time.

I finally got around to shopping Saturday afternoon. On Tuesday I was finally ready to make Jam. Then Jeremy noticed our 4lb package of strawberries were growing inch long fuzz all over them. Good thing I bought two. One to eat and one to make jam. Realizing my strawberries weren't going to last too long, I got off my tail and made some homemade strawberry jam. It was so delicious. It set up perfectly. It was fun listening to the jars pop when they were sealed. All in all it was easy and tasty.