An Almost-Vegetarian

A couple of weeks ago Jessie decided that she was going to be a vegetarian. Actually, she went grocery shopping with me and we bought all sorts of meat products. Maybe it was the trip to the grocery store - not sure, but something made her decide to become a vegetarian the very next day.

She tried to give it a go for a couple of days. It was hard. First of all, I hadn't planned for the switch. So there were several times we had casserole type meals with the meat mixed in. This made it very hard for my budding vegetarian. Jessie isn't a very picky eater, but she discovered that she doesn't like enough vegetables to make the vegetarian lifestyle a success.

However, she gave it a lot of thought and decided to go with Uncle Abie's method of thinking. She will refrain from eating any animals that walk on 4 legs. Two legs are fine, though. Grocery shopping has become much easier with that addendum. She has shown that she is very committed so I've decided to help her. So far, in the last two weeks, she only cheated once. Way to go, Jessie.

June Cleaver, I am not

This Christmas I put in an order for an apron. Mind you this isn't just any apron that I ordered. I requested a June Cleaver-esque apron. I think my Mom thought I was crazy. However, on Christmas Day, I discovered the my request had been fulfilled. She had made the perfect apron. (I'm sure she wishes that I had taken an interest in sewing. If I had, she wouldn't have to continually fill these kinds of strange requests.)

The apron didn't turn me into June Cleaver, trust me! However, it sure is fun to wear on Sundays after church.

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus

We have a song in primary that says:

Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear,
Things I would ask him to tell me if he were here.
Scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
Stories of Jesus tell them to me.

It seems my calling in church has always been in Primary. I have taught in junior primary, the sunbeams (technically still jr primary, but completely different), nursery and senior primary. I have heard people softly complaining that primary or nursery isn't a very important calling. I disagree. We are working hand-in-hand with the parents to give these young people the foundation they need to gain their testimony.

After I was released as Nursery Leader, I was called into Senior Primary. I was nervous because I had never taught in Sr. Primary. It turned out to be a wonderful calling. I had been spent the last 2 years either working in nursery or teaching the sunbeams. It was nice to prepare a lesson on a much higher level and be able to read straight from the scriptures. They taught me just as much as I taught them. These kids had been well taught by their parents. I thought that Senior Primary would be my home for awhile. However, it turned out to only be a year long calling. Back in November, the primary president asked if I had any preferences on which class I taught (I thought she meant within Sr. Primary). I said, "oh no, you put me wherever you need me."

It turns out she needed me back in Junior Primary. I am teaching CTR 5A. This little group just graduated from Sunbeams and they are all starting out as 4 year olds. I have one that will have his birthday in January. The rest will be turning 5 later in the year. Preparing the lesson is different than preparing for my Valiant 9's. A craft is a definite necessity and then I have to be prepared to play a game - just in case we have time left over at the end.

Our primary president told me that she had really prayed about the teacher placement and which classes to place each child. I think she was truly inspired, because the Lord knew that I needed to be back with these young kids (even though I didn't know it). I love my older ones. The girls showered me with hugs and always fought to sit next to me. I even had one cry on our last day together. However, I just love being with these little ones. They are so precious to me. I am helping set the stage for their entire primary experience.

It doesn't matter if these kids are 2, 4 or 9, they all want to learn the stories of Jesus. They are very eager to learn. I just pray that I am able to magnify this very important calling.

Happy Birthday Jon Jon!

Our little Jon Jon just had a birthday on Sunday! It is hard to believe that we brought him home from the hospital 9 years ago tomorrow. He was just a little squirty guy weighing in at 4lbs 3 oz - he started out at 4lbs 8 oz, but quickly lost some weight. He had a teeny-tiny body with a huge head. His big sister met him at the door wearing her shiny Cinderella costume. She excitedly cooed at him in her high-pitched 3 year old voice. He wasn't quite sure what to make of her. And, quite frankly, she wasn't sure what to make of him. She had put in an order for a little sister. Up until the last minute, we thought she was getting a little sister named Ashley Nicole. Hopefully, Jonathan won't read this post, because he might be a little embarrassed by that fact.

To further embarrass him, here are my two favorite pictures:


Jonathan had just taken some Benadryl. I guess it kicked in before he had a chance to finish his "business." Mental note to everyone reading this: use Benadryl with caution. I was cleaning house on a Saturday morning and he kept calling "I'm in the bathroom and I need a Mommy in here with me." I kept answering that I would be there shortly. Finally, I realized that I hadn't heard anything from him in a while. I asked Jessie to check on him. She told me that I had better get into the bathroom fast. This is what I found.

There is no special story behind this one. I just think it is a cutie patootie picture of him. He looks kind of like a frog.

Happy Birthday, Jon Jon! We love you.

Fred Fortenberry - Himself

We will be celebrating Jonathan’s birthday this Saturday. Jonathan isn’t a big cake eater and will only eat it if there is a significant amount of chocolate involved. Fred’s sister, Kristin, brought us one of their ward cookbooks a couple of weeks ago. Church cookbooks always have the best recipes – usually they are delicious and fairly easy. I found a chocolate cake recipe that I thought might be fun to try for Jonathan’s birthday. I bought quadruple the amount of items needed. I thought we would need to double the recipe and I also thought we should try it to see if Jonathan liked it.

Fred has been sick with pneumonia and has been sleeping not stop. I guess he had napped so much yesterday that he stayed up late and made the chocolate cake. I had absolutely no idea. I would normally wake up at the smell of chocolate, but I was really tired. He was so proud of himself this morning. He pulled out two small plates and dished out very large servings. I thought maybe he had dished them out for us to try before the kids got up. Oh no… those were for the kids.

Needless to say, they were in complete shock (and so was I) when they awoke to find that they would be having chocolate cake for breakfast. I was reminded of one of Bill Cosby’s early stand-up routines. He was telling a story about feeding his kids a breakfast that their mom wasn’t too thrilled about. Chocolate Cake. He reasoned that the recipe called for milk and eggs. It should make the perfect breakfast!

And Your Little Dog Toto

We have been babysitting this sweet little girl since the 21st. Her name is Toto - she was named by the same little five year old that took this very attractive picture of her Aunt Donna. (I think I was being loved to death when this pic was taken.) She belongs to Fred's sister and her family. On Tuesday, the 30th, Toto dug out of our backyard while we were at work. She discovered that the gate might be a great point of exit. She dug a teeny-tiny hole and flattened herself into a pancake and escaped.

I spent all night Tuesday walking the neighborhood and calling her name. I made flyers and Fred and I posted them throughout our subdivision. We knocked on doors. Nobody had seen her. We were also watching their beagle for them. I got their vet's number from Bailey's rabies tag. I felt sure that someone found Toto and called in and reported it to their vet. They didn't open until 8:00 a.m. I dropped Jonathan off at Kids R Kids and then sat in their parking lot and called the vet. They had no record of Toto. Toto has been on the run before. The Simmons' family is not her first home. Kristin found her running down the street one day and picked her up. They hadn't taken her into the vet yet for her rabies. She had a collar on, but nothing to identify her. At this point, I freaked out and started sobbing uncontrollably. What kind of aunt loses her 5 year old niece's dog? I freaked out while I was still on the phone with the vet. The poor lady had to calm me down.

I went to work with puffy eyes and started reporting her missing with everyone under the sun. Craig's List, Petfinder, SPCA, Collin County Animal Shelter - you name it. I had been working with the Collin County Animal Shelter. They had her picture and said they didn't currently have her, but they would let me know if she came in. I also used a pet rescue service that makes flyers and sends them to the local vets and shelters.

There were a couple of sightings (one was in Arlington), but none of them were her. After work last night, I went ahead and drove out to McKinney to the Collin County Animal Shelter. I walked in and told them that I was looking for a Shih-Tzu/Poodle mix and the lady opened up her book and showed me Toto's picture. She said they hadn't found her yet. She let me look at all the dogs so that I would feel better. Their facilities are really nice and I discovered that they don't take in a lot of small dogs. Any smaller dogs that they had were Schnauzers or Shih-Tzus. Those long haired dogs tend to start looking pretty rough when they have been out in the weather and not groomed. I guess people are more hesitant and call animal control.

I had given up all hope. I felt for sure that she had either gotten out of our neighborhood and been hit by a car or taken in by someone who didn't really want to find her home. This afternoon, our 4th grade neighbor and a lady with two dogs knocked on the door. They had Toto! The lady had come across Toto at our community pond just as the neighbor boy walked up. He knew we were looking for Toto, so he led the lady to our house. I can't believe she stayed in our neighborhood. She wasn't hungry and the weather had been so nice that she had enjoyed her little adventure. As soon as we got her, she darted through the doggy door to find her escape route. Her outdoor privileges have been revoked and I went to PetSmart and bought her a tag with her name and phone number on it.

Toto returns home tomorrow... she was found just in time. Her little 5 year old girl didn't even have to find out that she was missing. Lots of time was spent on my knees - before and after she was found! I am so thankful for our little miracle. I just wish it didn't have to take 5 days!

Come One, Come All

I let go of my paranoia and our blog is no longer private. MaMaw, you can now share our blog with your friends. I'll try to get pictures posted soon.

There were two reasons that I initially went private: a) I wanted to protect Jess' privacy. 7th graders can some times be embarrassed by the things that their Mom says (or types). b) I was concerned about having information about my kids out there and readily available.

I think I have done a good job of not saying anything too embarrassing about Jess and I'm pretty sure that our family isn't interesting enough to stalk.

So, tell your friends... this blog is now open to visitors.