busy days

hey everyone! I just wanted to put out a note to say hi. It has been an exciting week... it actually started out very quiet with Monday off for MLK holiday, but boy did it pick up! We welcomed in a new president this week and watched all of the ceremonies... very exciting for an 8 year old. I really hope he remembers all of it, because this may be his president throughout most of the rest of his school years.. weird huh? Also, I think it's good to involve the kids in how our country runs and how we use our voting process and how we welcome in new leaders, because it instills respect. Not only respect for the president of this great country in which we live, but respect for something bigger than you in general... which is what I want for my kids. For them to have respect for things bigger than they are.. their parents, their elders, their leaders, their teachers, and their God. It's good for them.

We also have had boys here this week building, sanding and painting away on their cub scout derby cars. We also took a trip to the new library with all of the cub scouts one night and this weekend is the big Pinewood Derby Race! We'll see how it turns out. We'll also be making a drive to Houston on Saturday to see our cousin Mason baptized. It's been a long week, and a busy weekend full of activities and by the time we're done another one will be starting. It's good to stay busy! We hope you all are doing well at your houses and staying busy. We'll let you know race results when they come in! As always, love, Jen

Tent Time

Remember when you were a kid and you would spend hours draping blankets and moving chairs and pillows to build the perfect tent and then crawl up in that tiny, dark, cramped up, hot space and when you were finally in ....it was like the most perfect place in the world for those few minutes? We're out of school today for MLK day and what a great way to spend a day off!

Giggles

Today Lucy giggled. It's not the first time, but it was the first time she did it on purpose. A couple of weeks ago she laughed at Linus (our giant yellow lab that thinks he's a tiny puppy) while he was dragging Jack around the toy room floor, but that time when she giggled out loud she kind of looked at us..as we all stared at her in amazement... as if to say ' hey what the heck did I just do?' But today we were putting her pjs on and Jack was telling me one of his stories -they could go on for days sometimes- and right in the middle of his sentence she looked at us and just cracked up. Of course, we laughed at her back and then she did it again. It kind of made me think.. did she just think to herself.. "these people are just so stinkin funny" or maybe she thought... " I have to do something to get their attention!" As many times as we tried to get her to do it again.. she would not. It's a great life lesson.. be thankful for the moment, because you probably won't be able to get it back again!

I will start my blog today!

Today I was talking about journaling with friends at work and started thinking about how long it's been since I've updated my blog. It was so long ago, that I only had 2 kids then! Today was a great day. It is January 12th and was 68 degrees today.. sunshine all over the place and lots of kids out running and playing in shorts mind you! Tomorrow, though, it's supposed to be in the 30s... Texas weather! Weird weather is the norm in this state. So I decided this afternoon that I would try sometime this week to set up a new blog and start journaling the silly sally happenings of the Macdonald madness in our home. With the addition of Little Lucy in October, tonsils out for Josie, Cub Scouts for Jack, a new job for Dad and back to school for mom and then boom..holidays! .. it's just been a hurricane of sleepless nights and days that all run together, so I wasn't sure how soon I'd be able to sit down here and actually get started with this blog but I thought it might be sometime this week or next. However.. tonight, I was cooking dinner and trying to get backpacks checked and bottles made during the brief 20 minutes or so that Lucy was sneaking a nap in her swing. Josie was cruising around in the toy room doing her thing...demanding "mommy play! mommy play!" I couldn't play because I had to get dinner going... there was a cub scout meeting and stuff to do, so when she began calling "mommy,
WOOK!" I tried to put her off as long as I could. I think I probably put her off for about 5 minutes before I heard again.. "mommy, Wook!" I noticed her at the swing with Lucy and as gently as I could from the kitchen... tried to shoo her away from the sleeping baby until I realized that her "mommy, Wook!" was telling me to look at Lucy. When I finally went over to the NOW not sleeping baby, I noticed 2 Doritos sticking in Lucy's lips. Lucy was just gumming away at the chips like they were the best things since... well formula! Josie said.. "Wucy have bites!" As I pulled the Doritos from Lucy's lips in shock.. I said.. "Wucy cannot have bites!" Yes, even with the 'w' instead of the 'l' Afterall, Lucy is only 3 months old. She's only just begun to smile with those sweet, sweet gums of hers, she's not ready to chew chips yet! These are the days that I don't want to forget. Therefore, Now that it's 10:00 at night and I've calmed down.. and I've told this story a few times to people and now realize how funny it really is...I've decided - I will start my blog today.
I hope that you all have a great day tomorrow all bundled up and warm. Enjoy winter.. summer is but a few months away. Love, Jen