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Give Me Your Eyes

August 8, 2008 / Jennifer Coleman / 1 Comment

I liked this song by Brandon Heath so much that I had my programmer set up a player for me.

Here are the lyrics:

Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touched down on the cold black tile
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breath in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
Are those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?
Chorus
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the once forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
yeah .. yeah .. yeah .. yeah
Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide whats underneath
There’s a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
To ashamed to tell his wife
He’s out of work
He’s buying time
Are those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?
Chorus
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the once forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
yeah .. yeah .. yeah .. yeah
I’ve been there a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Well I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way you see the people all alone
Chorus (x2)

Hair Cut Day

July 24, 2008 / Jennifer Coleman / 3 Comments

Hair cut day at our house was long over due. Two of the boys have decided to grow their hair out. I don’t make an issue out of it. It’s their hair and less hair cuts for me. I do let them know that not everybody is as understanding as me and they may have to cut their hair one day to get a job.

My programmer has been asking me for weeks to cut his hair. He doesn’t like it in his eyes. I think the shaggy look is kinda cute on him. This is probably the longest it’s ever been.

Princess J took lots of photos of me cutting his hair. This is the best we could do. My programmer was playing camera shy and had his hand in front of his face most of the time.

I am using a Robo Cutter (link above). It’s a cutting blade that hooks up to the vacuum hose. I was a little chicken about using my electric clippers and when the boys were little because they wiggled too much. After I clipped a couple of ears with the scissors we decided to get the Robo Cutter to make everything easier. No more itchy hair on their clothes and it’s wiggle proof.

We invested $50 for for the Robo Cutter 15 or so years ago and I’ve only had to replace the blades twice. Do you know what 15 years times 12 months times 5 boys times only $10 a hair cut equals? $9,000. Can you believe such a simple thing can save you so much money? I’ve even used it on myself a few times.

Ta da. The after picture.

Back to the bathroom.

Love,

Jenny

A few loose tile

July 19, 2008 / Jennifer Coleman / 3 Comments

We have been doing school through the summer to make up the time we took off for the move. We have pretty much always schooled year round. It’s easier than restarting after a long summer break. Something always interrupts our schedule, so I plan to school everyday then when something comes up I can take off for it and just trust that it will all work out in the end and it usually does.

I had one small project that I was needing to get to this summer. There were a few loose tile in the kid’s bathroom and it was smelling moldy in there. My plan was that while the two go-go kids were at youth camp, I would replace a few tile.

Monday morning I started on the tile. I found a leak behind the tile. It was in the connection from the pipe to the spout. Easy enough to fix with some plumber’s tape but I had to take out quite a few tile where the water had been soaking the drywall.

Mike came home and saw how many tile I had to take out and said something like.. “Wow, look how easy it would be to pull out the tub now.” The tub coating had been scoured out and there was a couple of rusty spots in it.

I called around and try to find someone to come repaint it. I wasn’t too happy with the paint job we had done in FL. I was unable to reach anyone and they never called me back.

I asked Mike several times if he was sure he wanted to take out the tub. We had never replaced a tub before. It was a little scary to me, but we still had two boys at home that could help with the brute strength we needed.

I thought for a long time and tried to remember how sore I get when doing big projects like this. I wanted to remember and talk myself out of agreeing to do it, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember. It must be like forgetting the pain of child birth. Boy did I remember a day or two later.

In order to get the tub out we had to take out the toilet and part of the wall. I didn’t mind too much because a lot of it and some of the wood behind it had been damaged by the leak anyway. The boys looked up a video on YouTube to learn how to take out the toilet.

We decided to take out the vanity while we were at it. It had been previously damaged by a different leak and the sink/counter top was ugly. This is what we found behind it.

I am so glad we were able to find and get rid of it all. It smells so much better in there now.

Ta da. We have a new tub. It wasn’t easy but we finally got it.

No more mold. Yeah! I bought a sheet of the new mold resistant dry wall. I discovered a new tool through YouTube, too. A dry wall saw. It’s pretty nifty.

Wall destroyed and all we decided to strip the painted/bubbling wall paper. This was the worst part of the whole project so far. A bunch of the drywall paper came off with it. Made a huge mess. I am not good with joint compound and if I never have to skim another wall, I will be so happy. It took me days and days of skimming and sanding.

Our lowest day was the day that Mike decided to try and take out the old tub faucet handle. It was so corroded that the valve broke off and we had to call a plumber. Our plumbing is so out dated that he had to replace a whole big part. Sweating pipes is a little out of our league. The new plumbing is pressurized. When someone flushes the toilet it won’t change the temperature of your shower. Pretty cool. Right?

A floor tile popped out while replacing the tub, so we decided to pay the boys take it out. It was cracked and we were needing to replace the laminate flooring in the hall, too because of an air conditioner drain leak that we had a the beginning of the summer that warped the boards. One boy went a little crazy with the hammer and did this to my bran new tub. 🙁

We told him that for his penance that he had to re-enact the crime for my blog. This is his interpretation of an re-enactment. He said he wanted to add to the drama but I think wanted to remain nameless.

See my blue walls? We are working on tile now.

Tub Party Tonight

July 17, 2008 / Jennifer Coleman / 2 Comments

Our pool has been this nice shade of green most of the summer, pretty much ever since we switched to a salt system in April. Mike was able to get it clear for about two days twice.

The salt system is supposed to be easier to care for. All the chemicals are right.

We’re about ready to look up that pool guy’s number.

In the mean time, Princess J would like to invite you to our backyard tub swimming party.

🙂

Youth Small Group

July 16, 2008 / Jennifer Coleman / 6 Comments

We have started a Youth Small Group in our home.

It meets once a month at our house right after church the last Sunday of the month.

Mike left a little early to get started cooking the burgers and dogs.

It was pouring down out so he cooked them inside for us.

We decided to start light and do a Super Man Bible study.

Mike and our youth pastor, Jon. I forgot to get a picture of his lovely wife, Jennifer.

Two of their three kids.

Fun in the pool.

Safety in a floaty.

Or maybe not so safe.

Making waves.

Watch out!

Got ya.

My Camera

July 15, 2008 / Jennifer Coleman / 1 Comment

See the shadow around the top edges? The lens snapped out of place.

If I bang it around a little, this is as centered as I can get it.

I hid the screwdrivers from Mike and my Computer Programmer. They both couldn’t wait to get at it. That brings up another hard thing about moving so often.. you never get to know where the honest local camera shop, or car shop, or plumber, pool guy, etc. is.

Picture taking and I are not getting along too well. I forget to bring my camera. I forget to get it out. I am not patient enough or have enough room in my brain to learn how to use the camera properly. I am shy. I don’t like to get in people’s faces, so I don’t take the time to get a good picture.. Then my kids are always ducking out of and running away from the camera. I leave the camera at a friend’s house. I drop and break the camera.

Blogging has motivated me to battle the dragon and take more pictures. Thanks for getting me into it.

Jenny

A Week in Huntsville

July 14, 2008 / Jennifer Coleman / 2 Comments

Mike had a class in Huntsville the last week of June. Our Pizza Maker stayed home alone to make pizzas and to register for college but the rest of us got to go with him for a week’s vacation. I have two friends from my Charlotte Mason group in FL that moved to AL before me. LeeAnn and her family who live right outside of Huntsville and Terri and her family who live in Birmingham.

Terri’s the one with the camera and LeeAnn is in green.

I emailed my friends a couple of weeks before our trip to see if I could see them there. They more than obliged. Terri’s sweet husband, Kent, worked it out so that he was able to work in Huntsville the same week that we were there and stayed at the same hotel as us. Then LeeAnn and her husband had us over for a cook out and swimming and told us all the best places to visit and went to some of them with us. We all had a blast.

LeeAnn has a beautiful home with extra rooms she hopes to fill with children from China.

Here are three of our boys.. the one on the left belongs to LeeAnn and Chuck, my Computer Programer, and Terri and Kent’s son, who is shooting up like a weed.

This is Terri’s little girl. She and our Programmer are great friends.

Can’t go to Huntsville and not visit the Space and Rocket Center.

We got an extra special treat and saw some Army guys sing and dance in the opening ceremonies of a covenate signing. I left my camera at LeeAnn’s and didn’t get a picture. 🙁 Chuck brought it up to me later that morning. 🙂

The Space and Rocket Center was OK. We went on a good day. It wasn’t too crowed.

The kids zoomed by most of the displays and went straight for the rides and rock climbing wall.

Needless to say, I don’t think we have any future Astronauts in the bunch.

It was Terri’s little girl’s first try at rock climbing.

She was very persistent and conquered the wall after several very good tries.

I think the highlight of the Space and Rocket Center was the hats we found in the gift shop.

So many hats and so little time.

Are our hats making you hungry as an alligator? We were.

We had to get one classic picture in before lunch.

And one of the mommies.

That night after the husbands got off work we all went to our favorite restaurant, Red Robin.

They have the best burgers and shakes ever. We had the greatest time talking about things

we could do and see together in the future; rent a house boat, go camping…

It was located in one of the coolest shopping centers I’ve ever been to.

It’s like Down Town Disney. They even had a Apple Store.

The next morning we had some Mommie time and coffee at a huge sale at B&N.

Then took the kids up to a living history museum on top of a mountain called Burritt on the Mount.

We met some really cool docents. One thing that we learned was that the girls bedroom was always up stairs in the loft. You had to walk through the parents bed room to get to loft. Nifty. Right?

If you’ve noticed that these aren’t my pictures, it’s because I dropped and broke my camera the night before. 🙁 I am still recovering from the devastation. I did learn a secret way to get it to turn on. More details later. From what I learned on line it will cost almost as much to repair it as it will to buy a new one. 🙁

I am leaving out so many details from our trip.. the first good Mexican food we’ve had since moving to AL at Rosie’s Mexican Cantina, hanging out at the pool, shopping for shoes, the Harrison Brothers’ Hardware store, accidentally finding the corn fields (streets should have only one name) then having my Mathematician pipe up from the back “Our hotel is just a little ways down that away.”, free breakfast and snack time at the hotel… it was a great adventure and we had a great time.

Love you all,

Jenny

First Car Experiment

June 22, 2008 / Jennifer Coleman / 4 Comments

You know, everything you do with your first born is an experiment. When we were young parents of 4 and got strange looks and funny comments about having so many, we used to say.. “With four there is never a dull moment.” Having moved from those childhood years into the young adult years the saying has held true and intensified. We do get a few peaceful moments away now, but they can’t be considered dull because they are filled with the reverberations of so many intensely exciting moments. There’s quite a difference between getting your first tricycle and getting your first car.

Look! Mom. I bought a new Saturn.

The last couple of years our Scientist has been steadily working and saving his money for college and a car… huge steps toward his calling. He saved over $10,000 in insurance cost by waiting until he actually needed a car before getting a driver’s license and a car. He has patiently waited for God’s direction and timing. I am very proud of him.

I was asking God this morning for the right word to describe what it is about our Scientist that makes me feel so proud. He is faithful, hardworking, persistent, patient, kind, attentive and so many other things. God gave me the word “fortitude.”

Mamalene blessed me with a copy of Webster’s 1828 dictionary several years ago. It’s one of his first published dictionaries. If you want to really know what a word means, look it up in this dictionary. You’ll be blown away by how rich our language is. There is actually an searchable version online. I included the link below. It makes a great Bible study tool.

Below is what it said about fortitude. It’s a very good description of our Scientist (of course, God knew) and I know that as our Scientist leans into God for fortitude that he will find the grace to become exactly who He wants him to be.

fortitude

FOR’TITUDE, n. [L. fortitudo, from fortis, strong.]

That strength or firmness of mind or soul which enables a person to encounter danger with coolness and courage, or to bear pain or adversity without murmuring, depression or despondency. Fortitude is the basis or source of genuine courage or intrepidity in danger, of patience in suffering, of forbearance under injuries, and of magnanimity in all conditions of life. We sometimes confound the effect with the cause, and use fortitude as synonymous with courage or patience; but courage is an active virtue or vice, and patience is the effect of fortitude.

Fortitude is the guard and support of the other virtues.

Father’s Day

June 21, 2008 / Jennifer Coleman / 2 Comments

Christmas at Mike’s Grandparents with Granny

(Grandmother’s Mother) and her favorite Bible verse.

For Father’s Day this year I made Mike some family history scrapbook pages to hang in our front entry way. Most of our moves have followed a pattern of moving away from TX then back to TX. I our move from FL to AL broke the pattern and has made me feel further from our family even though we are closer. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to visit. To strengthen my roots I’ve been doing things like educating my self of AL history and like making family history scrapbook pages to hang on our walls.

Mike’s Grandparents (his mother’s parents), Sam and Roxie McInnis

and her favorite Bible verse.

Mike’s Father’s parents, Gene and Carolyn Coleman

(Mimi) her favorite verse and the image of a dove for Daddy Gene.

Thanks, Mom, for reminding me.

I wanted to thank all of Mike’s family for helping me find pictures

and for sharing with me their favorite scripture verses.

Alabama Tales

June 21, 2008 / Jennifer Coleman / 3 Comments

Princess J, a friend from church and I went to the Alabama Archives and History to hear Kathryn Tucker Windham speak. She just celebrated her 90th birthday a couple of weeks ago. She was a great storyteller/speaker. Very comfortable in front of an audience. The auditorium was packed, but our friend, Martha, miraculously found us a seat on the second row. Thanks, Martha!

One of her stories was about a man whose wife ran away with a traveling sales man. He put up wanted posters offering $100 for the return of his wife. The posters included a photograph, her age, weight and color of her eyes and hair. A couple of weeks later she came home fuming because the posters said she weighed 20 lbs. more than she actually did. She made him pay her the $100 reward money.

Her book is probably great fun.