Wishing Well?

So by ignoring the couch, and noticing the hairy critter relaxing, you will understand that Pepsi, the newest Pen of Jen family member, believes her status is higher than I thought. I have the cover on this worn, battered couch to make me not wish for new. But to Pepsi( McBenning School's mascot) the cover translates to welcome in dog lingo!

So I have learned to adapt to a young dog again who has 2 levels~ high energy or totally drained! But the reason I began to write a post about her was because of something Bill said. Every Sunday we play games as a family. We cherish the time that we have and really have made some terrific traditions with the kids. Well one of the games we play is Ninety-Nine. It is a fast paced counting game to Nighty-Nine, but you can't go over(using cards) Each person has 3 pennies and you loss a penny every time you loss a hand. The winner is the person with the remaining pennies. Oh and there are 4 cards that are helpers...9-pass, 4-reverse, queen-subtract ten, king-99. Well the boys get a little rambunctious, and after the game, Bill saw a penny in Pepsi's water dish. He asked me, "Jen, do we now have a wishing well?" Too funny!

So Second won the competition tonight and has regained the title of sitting alone on one bench. But the night for Bill and I was a total win, as the laughter and the conversation was priceless. We missed First though. First's roommate JJ came back to town this weekend so FoUrTh made brownies for her big brother and we sent salsa...one of First's favorite foods!!

So thanks to Pepsi, I am going to close by asking my friends to slow down a bit, and cherish the moment. Please do not let the holiday season pull you in and make you get anxious over consumerism. Remember Mary and Martha.

Surprise... Creativity is Awesome!

I again am so amazed with the results I am seeing while homeschooling my bunch! I have been trying to play catch up on my laundry and I also received an amazing call from Sarah(AKA Mighty Mom)so I stepped away from the kids to visit in the back, and hang the laundry.

How great it was when I hung up! FoUrTh is working on a patch quilt and she quietly sat and sewed while I was on the phone. Second is working on a film and spent part of the time creating story boards and taking photo shots of the boat that he is using in the movie. Third spent the time polishing off 2 chapters in a book that he is writing.

I let out a cheer when I saw how they all worked independently on their projects. A few times during the call I tried to reign the kids in to complete the Preamble work, when I was unaware of how well they were doing.

I am so proud of them, and I got out the ice cream and served up sundaes!!! It is so neat to be a parent, especially on days like today!!

Oh and First called and is coming a home this weekend...so I will have all my babies together for a day:)

Fair Today!

UPDATE OF THE UPDATE!! Here's the photo of her Reserve Grand Champion, and Blue Ribbon!! Just click on the picture to see all better!!



Here is FoUrTh's Crookneck Swan entry! We dropped it off to the fairgrounds earlier today. So I haven't had too much chance to read any blogs yet! I will be visiting soon!



These are all the youth entries!!



Here is the Swan resting on the chair as we were prepping to leave for the fairgrounds.

We are heading out the door again to see how she did, as judging was over an hour ago! No matter what FoUrTh has put a tremendous effort into the garden, and this swan has been the icing on the cake!

UPDATE: We just were telephoned...FoUrTh won Reserve Grand Champion! Photos tonight with the ribbon.

Moving Day

After church today we are moving First to his new place. It is an apartment not too far from campus, next to the mall, and well 70 miles from home! He is very excited and I must admit I am too.

I understand that this is it, and he will be on his own from here on out, but I know that as parents that we have done all that we can, and it is his turn.

So as you go about your day, pause and take a moment and remember the day that you moved out!

First ...First Car

After working for five years and First having to save 80% of his check(10% church, 10% spending)he has bought his first car!

No he did not deplete his savings, but he was able to buy this Pontiac Sunfire outright! I think that it is a very nice car, and he matches!!

If you look over First shoulder, you can see the lady in the mountain!! Pretty neat!!

The Revolving Door!

First went to Nevada to our old hometown to visit some friends. He left Wednesday and drove all 900 plus miles the first day! He sounds like he had a wonderful time, but we sure missed him.

This was his first big trip and it has been such a wonderful experience for him. But he will be busy upon his return. His apartment will be ready on the ninth, so in the door, wash laundry, pack and prepare to move out! He is going to room with a buddy from work and they are excited as they can be!

Well FoUrTh and I are going to leave for our daily walk so more of the Revolving Door in the future!!!

Lemon Herb Chicken

Here is the prep for Friday night's dinner. We had lemon herb chicken, country potatoes, fresh green beans, fresh cherry tomatoes, and buttered zucchini, fresh plums, and a peach.(in the photo I have corn bread mix, but I forgot to start the bread in time)[the green beans, cherry tomatoes,and zucchini were from my garden, the plums were a gift from a friend.]

Cost for all this is $9.07. The reason I tabulated the total was to give a window to how we budget. This is rather high for a meal, but Fridays are "fun day's"! If every dinner cost this much we would spend $281.17 for a family of six!(lunches and breakfast not included.) Our average for a meal is less and soon I will give a complete total.


The completed dinner! Yummy
We love to eat green beans raw like carrots, so if you haven't tried this do so!!




Here is the prep for the desert. We had brownies. I have all of this on hand so no expense.



Yummy brownies!

Happy Birthday Cathy

My sister who visited last week is celebrating her 46th birthday today!!! She is the oldest of my siblings, and absolutely the sweetest of all the girls! She married a younger man, just like me. Her husband Scott, will celebrated his 46th birthday on the 5th of August.(Bill is 6 months younger than me)

This is a big week for Cathy, they celebrate the birthdays on the 1st and the 5th, and on the 3rd they celebrate their 23rd wedding anniversary. So have a great week Cathy and Scott!

Sandy Surprises!

When I downloaded the blogs in the White Sands photos look what I found. While I would prepare the Sand for the next blog, Bill patiently waited...or was he busy?

It is kind of faint, but ever so sweet!

Pass Punt Kick

Second participated in a Pass Punt and Kick competition today. It was sponsored by Pepsi and was very neat. He received a certificate,and the final results will be in later today.


Second and his certificate!


Judging tables


The park


Second kicking!


What I love from the photos is that everything looks so green!!! I wish it was as green as it looks!

White Sands

My sister and her husband came out to visit, so we went to White Sands National Monument.
Cathy, FoUrTH, Third, Second, Scott

We had a wonderful time(we missed Bill and First as they had to work.) We adults also sledded down the hills and enjoyed every moment.


Third burying Second!


Second surfing!

Little Red Jen

(I know, the title is hmm, unusual, but read on and I think you'll understand:-)

Well today I spent the day making pumpkin puree(to prepare for pies, muffins, and cookies).

The pumpkins that we grew in the garden have a funny story behind them. I love to decorate the front porch in the fall. The harvest colors are beautiful and I just love pumpkins, gourds, and the like atmosphere that they create.

Being a mom, I always buy 4 pumpkins(one for each kid). Keeps the peace, because even if the kids get older they love the traditions, and they love cutting the top off to get the seeds. Then they carve a shape in the front to allow windows for a candle to glow through. They love it.

Last year one of the boys did not want to cut the pumpkin...it was too nice. So along comes December, and I wanted to decorate the porch for Christmas, so I move the pumpkin to the back by the grill(designated area for the boys to grab stuff and haul to the garbage.)This pumpkin stayed out there until February, when I needed to move it to plan for the garden. I thought...I wonder if the seeds are still good? So I cut it open and the seeds were growing!!!! I planted 10 of the seeds, and 6 grew!!!



Because it was still cold at night, I made mini green houses for the plants using milk gallons cut in half. During the day the top was off and at night I put it back on.


Here is the 'pumpkin patch' in March.



Here is the 'pumpkin patch' in May.


Here is last weekend's harvest!



Cutting and seeding the pumpkins.



Cooking the pumpkins to peel the skin off.



And here is the end result. Pumpkin seeds...tasty! 8 cups of pumpkin puree...ready and waiting for the time cookies or pie is needed!

Yummy!

Cookies to Quiche

As we continue on through the summer, we have been blessed beyond measure in our desert garden.


This is the weekend harvest...pumpkins for cookies, bread, and pie; zucchini for buttered zucchini, quiche, and cookies; crookneck squash for soup, bacon buttered squash, and shishkabobs;onions for everything for Jen!; Lemon Basil for mosquito rub, cooking and to dry; mint to dry; watermelon to enjoy; sunflower seeds to dry for planting next year and to snack on;cherry tomatoes to snack on, enhance a salad; greens to much on, and to snack on...wow:) God is an awesome God!

Now to the title of my post. Since we have an abundance, we decided not to get burnt out on any one delightful garden goody. So I have made zucchini pizza, the basic butter and salt and pepper zucchini, to tonight's special.

Zucchini Quiche

Now I don't know if it is the chef or the recipe, but this was a don't do over. Anytime I make a new recipe I quickly do a survey and quiche may be too upper crust for the Pen of Jen gang!

Lemon Zucchini Cookies

Now these were an exiting hit! I have the recipe I found on Tracy's blog, and it is on her sidebar:)

On My Front Porch

This is a Giant Root Borer. The kids found it on our front porch. Here is a better picture from a bug guide. The one on the porch was about 2" long. Just enough to make me realize that even though this guy is not dangerous, my imagination does all the work and he is lethal!


And yes, we collected the specimen, and identified him using a field guide. We are a home school family, of course!

Now I did make sure that the lid was secure on the jar...just in case!

Silent Saturday!

OK not so silent, just a few pictures from today!

Community Service, Godly Service

On July 6, 2001 Bill had his first wake up call. He was on duty, as a police officer, and was going to be coming home for dinner around 6:00 pm. His Chief Cecil Gurr, was not on duty, but he was going to come over to visit with Bill and I when Bill ate.(we were buying a car from the Chief)

Bill called me and told me he was at the 'y' which was about a mile from my house. He then didn't come home. As a cop's wife, I didn't worry, as he might have a call. Then I received a phone call. I didn't even recognize the voice, it was Bill and he was calling me because he knew we usually left the police radio on, and he didn't want me to worry. All of the radio transmission's were"officer down, officer down" and so Bill called to tell me that the Chief was killed.

You see Bill had a domestic call and headed to that, and his Chief went also to back Bill up. The problem with domestics are that they are very dangerous calls. The suspect had a weapon and pointed and aimed at Bill, and the other three officers on duty. The gun was jammed or something. The Chief was yelling at the suspect waiving and drawing his attention away from Bill and the other three officers. You see they all were fairly young late 20's to early 30's and all had several kids. So Chief Gurr got the suspect attention, and was shot and killed doing what he loved. He drew the suspects attention away from the others and became more than the Chief who loved my husband and all the other officers, he became a Hero in every sense of the word.

So today on July 6, I am thinking of Cecil, drawing the fire away from Bill, Cody, Lance, and Henry, and I found pictures of Bill's second wake up call. I have written about Bill's accident here.

Here are a few photos of the patrol car. As you can see, I am so thankful that God is patient with us.







Click on this photo to see how bad the driver's side impact really was.






Yes, that is Bill's blood on the passenger's headrest. I am so thankful that God has allowed Bill to live and study to be His faithful servant.

I always think of how compassionate Bill was as a police officer and I look back and realize that Bill has always loved serving others, even in there worst moments. What better training ground, as the lost are at their worst, awaiting salvation through the blood of Jesus.

Bill and I both agree that the Lord has wanted Bill to be a servant and Bill kept thinking that after he retired that he would become a pastor. It is not for us to question the Lord. Thank God that we as a family were granted this 2nd chance. For all my readers if today was your very last day on earth, do you know absolutely where you are going? If not please e-mail Bill or I at mcbenningministries@yahoo.com

July 4th Roundup

We had friends over for a BBQ and great visiting yesterday. We had the traditional all American BBQ, then had our own mini fireworks in the back yard. Second was the fireman with the hose ready. Our friends brought their 3 daughters so Fourth had tons of fun!

After our firework show, we all sat across the street in the neighbors driveway, and enjoyed the town's fireworks, that were performed at the New Mexico Space Center.
The Space Center is on the top of town, just about 1 mile from our house, so we enjoyed the show without the traffic.

Well the kids are all still in bed(8:45 am) as last night was a late exciting night!
I hope everyone else had a wonderful America's Birthday!
Jennifer

I Have a New Name

It has been decided, I have a new name, and it is none of the names that were previously mentioned! Every Sunday, my family has a dinner, where they all sit down, have nice table settings, everything! This meal the kids had bought Pepsi to have as their drink of choice! Mom reached over to hug Second and tipped Second's drink over(Pepsi) and it spilled all over me. Instead of doing anything I started licking up the Pepsi and wagging my tail. My family all cracked up and it was unanimous, Pepsi!!!

What is funny is Mom(Jennifer) drank diet coke for years!!!

So greetings blog friends I am Pepsi. Read the previous post to learn all about me.

Storm, Sandy, Sweetie, and Stuff

It is the monsoon season, meaning that in the mountains we see all kinds of terrible storms and rarely see any rain. The problem with this is flash flooding coming down from the mountains.


And now introducing *Sandy* the basset hound we just adopted from the pound. Sasha our lovely pet, is starting to decline, and we know soon her time will be up. Sandy(we may change her name) was at the pound the other day! She is 6 years old and the most calm,delightful dog. She and Sasha have become fast friends. Names in the running...Sage, Daisy, and Freckles(she has white freckles speckling her nose). More on the name after family meeting and a drawing of her name out of a hat!!

Here is my sweetie, walking out to our gardens! A husband of the highest level:O)

Stuff...here is one of our beautiful watermelons, yummy!
Oops I almost forgot, we have marigolds planted in all our gardens because we were told that the marigold keeps grasshoppers away! So far it must be working, as we haven't see any grasshoppers except outside the property.

Again I must let my readers know that both my blogs will be undergoing several face lifts, please forgive all the changes. (penofjen.blogspot.com)
Jennifer