Find Your Spot

Evidently, I am sorely out of place in this world. I just took this fun quiz (thanks Steph!) www.findyourspot.com and, not surprisingly, I belong in the midwest--more specifically Michigan. Well, geez, I could have told you THAT. I have come to love Maryland and I love being close to my east coast family, but I must be honest and say that I would go back to Grand Rapids in less than a heartbeat if given the chance. Anyway, these were my top five "spots":

1. Duluth, Minnesota
2. Rochester, Minnesota
3. GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
4. Bismarck, North Dakota (blech!)
5. Mansfield, Ohio

FYI, Lansing, Kalamazoo, and Battle Creek were also in my top ten! I think I'm a Michigander at heart. And, if you can't tell, I love the snow and cold!

However, Jeff doesn't feel the same. Just to prove that opposites attract, Jeff's top five "spots" were:

1. Chesapeake, Virginia
2. Norfolk, Virginia
3. Charlotte, North Carolina
4. Cincinnati, Ohio
5. Raleigh, North Carolina

I think we definitely have some chatting to do before we choose a retirement "spot"!

***UPDATE*** If you take the quiz and would rather not choose a preferred section of the country, you can scroll down that page a bit and on the left side, there is a button to choose "No preference". This way, your options won't be as limited, or so they say!

Zephaniah 3:19

For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He takes delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he calms all your fears.
He rejoices over you with joyful songs.

I have recently decided that this is my very favorite verse. I get goosebumps every time I read it. Think about it: the God of the universe is living among us. He's not far away in heaven gazing down at us offhandedly and moving us around like game pieces on a monopoly board. He is AMONG us--constantly. He delights in us--with gladness--not because we are his pitiful creation and he HAS to keep an eye on us but because he WANTS to. He created us just so he could delight in us and we, in turn, could delight in and bring glory to him.

But I think the part that gets me the most is the singing. Probably because singing is something that I enjoy and is such a big part of my life. When I am singing, I think of it as my gift to God. My unique way to worship him. Yet, in this verse, I am told that God, the creator and sustainer of everything, is singing over ME. He is rejoicing over little, old, sinful Jennifer, with all my warts and failures and shortcomings. And, he's not singing some sad, tragic melody in a minor key. No way!!! He is rejoicing and singing over me--joyfully!

The video above is a live version of Hillsong Unite performing their song Mighty to Save, taken right from the words of Zephaniah 3:19. The chorus says

Savior, he can move the mountains,
my God is mighty to save, he is mighty to save...

Just like many of you, Jeff and I have scaled our share of mountains in the past nine months. Actually, many of them seemed more like mountain ranges than "mere" mountains. So, when I sing this song Sunday morning in worship (it's our first Sunday on worship team; I can't wait!), I am going to be thinking about my Savior, who has moved entire mountain ranges for us this year and who will surely move them again as we stand at the bottom of those inevitable future mountains and/or mountain ranges. God is mighty--and good!

Tuesday blessings.........

We had a lovely, unexpected blessing tonight! Dear friends from Michigan, Don and Jeanne Swem, called and we were able to spend a while chatting and catching up. Jeanne is one of my devoted regular readers, so I wanted to give her a "shout out" on here and tell her thanks for calling!

We first got to know Don and Jeanne when Jeff was in seminary and we began attending the same church in Grand Rapids. One Sunday after church, Jeff was sharing with someone that he was looking for a summer job. Don and Jeanne's son, Bill, overheard him talking and offered him a job on the spot. So, for the next three years, Jeff spent many hours holding keys in churches all over western Michigan while Bill tuned the pipe organ! What a blessing that was! Because of that job, Jeff finished seminary with no debt, and we shared some very special times with the Swems. They were truly a blessing to us when we were so far away from home with no family nearby.

Thanks for calling Jeanne! It was great to talk to you. Hello to all the Swems! We love you and miss you!

Happy Birthday Sawyer!

Our "birthday rush" ends today with Sawyer's 8th birthday! On September 24, 1999, Sawyer Christian arrived at 4:09 p.m.---all 9 pounds, 11 ounces of him!!!! Although it took a bit of convincing on my part that we "needed" a fourth child, we can't imagine life without him! We love you Sawyer, and we are very proud of you!

Snuggly--Sawyer has always been and still is our most snuggly child. He loves to cuddle!
Affectionate--Sawyer will walk up to me several times a day and just give me a kiss on the cheek and say "I love you mom."
Wonderful--We are very thankful that God blessed us with Sawyer!
Yellow--his hair, that is. Sawyer is our only very blonde child (he gets his hair color from Grandpa VeStrand!) We're hoping he stays that way!
Electronics savvy--Since he was very little, Sawyer has been our "techie". He was taking things apart and playing the computer, gamecube, etc. when he was very young.
Really good athlete--Sawyer loves baseball and basketball.

My domestic day.........

Wednesdays are my day off from work, and I always look forward to getting a lot done. Well, Sydney was home sick today so, while I was glad I could be home with her, the day didn't go quite like I had planned. However, I still got lots done!

• Five loads of laundry washed, dried, folded, put away
• Cleaned out/wiped down fridge
• Made a loaf of lemon poppyseed bread
• Made egg casserole for "breakfast for dinner" tonight
• Cleaned two bathrooms
• Dusted our bedroom
• Helped Sydney with make-up work from yesterday
• Ordered a few Christmas presents online
  
• And, last but certainly not least, managed to take a short nap

All in all--a very good, very "domestic" day.

Weekend Update...

I'm quite certain that the Saturday Night Live Weekend Updates are much more exciting than ours will be but here ya go anyway........

• Just a few short hours after Payton decided that his new jacket would fit, he woke me up with a 104-degree temperature and glands the size of acorns. Here we go again.......
  
• After a half-hour in the pediatrician's waiting room, we found out that he had a virus--not strep, like I hoped---because we can get medicine for that. His temp was still 104.
• Needless to say, Payton didn't play football this weekend. Apparently, his presence wasn't that big of a factor. They remain winless.
• I found out the hard way that ten-year old boys don't do a very good job of putting their sweaty football clothes in the laundry. Oh my!!!
  
• We stayed home ALL day Saturday! YEAH!! I did go to the grocery store and saved $105 with coupons, rebates, sales, etc. WOO HOO!!
  
• Jeff spent Saturday buying a new (used) lawn mower for just $100 and proceeded to mow the jungle that was our lawn and even trimmed the bushes (not with the lawn mower).
  
• I had to drag myself out of bed at 6:30 a.m. this morning to take Brooke to a friend's house so she could sing with the youth praise team this Sunday. Actually, I had to drag myself out of bed at 6 a.m. to put the sticky buns she had made last night in the oven.
  
• We are dogsitting Webster again this weekend. While we love Webster DEARLY, we SOO did not love the trail of doggy diarrhea across our living room carpet that greeted us this morning.
• Unfortunately for him, Sydney and I headed to church and Jeff dealt with the doggy diarrhea.
• At church, I helped to juggle eleven screaming infants in the nursery. It was--ummm-- stimulating. And I was very thankful that I could give the sweet babies back to their moms at noon!
  
• After church, Sydney and I headed to the mall, where she spent her Limited Too birthday gift card on some fun clothes and a new Webkinz (because we don't have enough of those things around here already). Thank you Grammy and Grandpop!
  
• I got some GREAT deals for the boys at Children's Place. If you have one close to you, they are having a SUPER sale!
• This weekend, my dear friend Steph and I are heading to our church's Women's Retreat at the fancy-schmancy Marriott in Leesburg, Virginia. I can't wait!! (I heard there is shopping close by and lots of free time!)
  

Was it me who claimed things were boring just a few days ago????

Quote of the Day.....

In preparation for the cooler weather, I bought the boys new jackets today. When they saw them after school, Payton's first question was "What size is it mom?"

"It's a 10-12." I answered.

His response, "Oh good, my boxers are a size 10-12 too, so my jacket should fit."

Still scratching my head................

Hodgepodge

We are settling into a comfortable routine around here--and I am ALL about routine, if you hadn't figured that out yet. Nothing terribly exciting to fill an entire post with so I thought I would just share a "hodgepodge" of happenings at the VeStrands. Enjoy!

• Jeff survived "Back to School" night last night. He did a great job and had many good comments. One of Payton's friends told him "Your dad is my best teacher ever!"--always nice to hear!
• Sawyer is settling nicely into 2nd grade. Never mind that he got his name on the board yesterday because he felt compelled to burp loudly while they were acting out a story. Naturally, his hand didn't make it to his mouth in time to cover it, or at least that's his story and he's stickin' to it.
• Just six days into the school year and Sydney had her first history test. World history this year, so this test was on Sumer and Egypt. Tonight she is working on "inventing" five Egyptian artifacts that she supposedly unearthed in an architectural dig. Here we go again......
• Brooke auditioned for and was selected to sing in the Chamber Choir at her school. It's an interesting change for Brooke as she is singing classical music in Latin. Definitely not the Toby Mac or Superchick that she typically enjoys, but it's good for her.
  
• Payton's football team is 0-3 but they did score a touchdown and a safety this past weekend. We were beginning to wonder if they were going to have a "scoreless" season. Thankfully, that didn't happen.
• I got a WONDERFUL haircut today. This is significant for two reasons: I am very picky about my hair and get it cut at least once a month, and the place I have been going for three years burned to the ground last week just three days before my next scheduled appointment. So, I called another salon here in town and took the plunge. I was very happy. Although I admit that my nerves were on edge when the stylist kept talking about the heifers, pigs, and sheep her family was preparing to enter in the county fair that starts Friday. Visions of a very bad mullet were dancing in my head, but all is well. (As a bonus, while I was getting my hair cut, I observed that you can cut an elderly lady's eyebrows with large scissors. Who knew?)
• All the stores are full of pumpkins and scarecrows and Halloween candy. Woo hoo!! Fall is my very favorite season!
• It's bee-you-ti-full here today! Hopefully the horrid heat and humidity are gone for good.

Reading over this, life isn't very exciting these days. But that's okay, I'll take this kind of "boring". Have a great week!

Word of the Day.......

Omnibus

This word has always intrigued me. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I remember a book on my parents' bookshelf that had this word in the title, and for some reason, I always thought that someone had given it to my dad because he worked in our church's Sunday bus ministry???

Well, today, I decided to end my ignorance about this word, and when I read the definition, I realized why it was so interesting to me.

Courtesy of www.dictionary.com:

Omnibus---pertaining to, including, or dealing with numerous objects or items at once

Hello, my name is Jennifer. I am an "omnibus". Or maybe I am "omnibussy". Either way, my picture (and that of most moms!) could be beside this word in the dictionary. Even Wikipedia (reliable source that we all know it is) confirmed my suspicions with this definition: omnibus is a Latin word meaning "for all, for everyone". Don't all moms do all things for all people?

And, surely it's not mere coincidence that the London General Omnibus Company was the principal bus operator in London from 1855 to 1933 and that the Williams Omnibus Bus Line was the first mass transportation system in Toronto, Canada. Most days, I feel like a "bus" (no comments please), quite literally, as I shuttle children to football, soccer games, school, dental appointments, praise team practice, youth group functions, etc., etc., etc. then try to fit in stops at the grocery store, bank, pharmacy, etc.

Then there's the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. I prevent the committing of crimes between four children every day, and it practically takes an "act of Congress" to balance our family budget.

And who knew there was actually an "Animal Omnibus" in Alabama?? I wonder if they know that they have a "branch office" in Maryland where I attempt "animal control" every single day?

I had no idea that my omnibus inquiry would provide such valuable information! I wonder if the person who coined the term knew how "true to life" it would be?

Recipe Thursday

Ok, I will admit I have never in my life eaten bread pudding. I've eaten spoon bread--does that count? It was gross. I just can't get into soggy bread. Anyway, I saw this recipe today and decided that maybe soggy bread wouldn't be so bad after all. Or maybe it's because the soggy bread in this recipe is really soggy Krispy Kremes. After all, you know what they say "It can't be wrong when it **tastes** so right........"

Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding with Butter Rum Sauce

2 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
2 (4.5-ounce) cans fruit cocktail (undrained)
2 eggs, beaten
1 (9-ounce) box raisins
1 pinch salt
1 or 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cube donuts into a large bowl. Pour other ingredients on top of donuts and let soak for a few minutes. Mix all ingredients together until donuts have soaked up the liquid as much as possible. Bake for about 1 hour until center has jelled. Top with Butter Rum Sauce.

Butter Rum Sauce

1 stick butter
1 pound box confectioners' sugar
Rum, to taste

Melt butter and slowly stir in confectioners' sugar. Add rum and heat until bubbly. Pour over each serving of Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding.

1 down, 179 to go......

I am writing in the middle of the afternoon from a blissfully quiet house. I haven't refereed one argument today. I haven't played one game of Uno or Racko. I didn't even eat "lunch" until 2:30. After Jeff and the kids left, I went back to bed for 2 hours (sshh, don't tell). Then I did some laundry, vacuumed, and even went to the grocery store BY MYSELF!!! Can you tell school is back in session?? However, I know tonight when I'm packing lunches and supervising homework, I will be longing for the lazy days of summer.

Actually, yesterday went very smoothly for everyone involved. After LOTS of hugs and kisses and a slight locker debacle (she has bad luck with lockers), Sydney enjoyed her first day of 7th grade. Payton and Sawyer ran into the school with nary a backward glance, and miracle of miracles, Brooke loved ALL her teachers. Even Jeff had a great day, if tiring, first day! Life is good!

Quote of the Day...

Payton has recently discovered the "Military Channel", which only serves to further whet his seemingly insatiable appetite for all things guns and ammo, but that's another post. Anyway, tonight, he ran into the kitchen with this "juicy" tidbit.

"Hey mom. If you combine rhinoceros poop and a certain kind of antiseptic, you can make a fire!"

I assured him that I would remember that the next time I needed to build a fire in a rhino-infested camping area. (I had no idea that the "Military Channel" could be so educational.)