My Dream Date

This is my husband. Not too long ago he planned the perfect surprise date for me. Looking back, I can recall conversations where I know he was gathering data, but at the time it was a surprise. We did all the things I love to do, but often don't have time to do. It started by dropping Jenae off at Shasha and Bappa's house! :o) A great start, huh?! He took me to a quick lunch and then to CVS where we picked up vacation pictures from last year...that he had uploaded and ordered, unknown to me. Then we drove across town to Hobby Lobby! Yeah! He gave me a shopping spree to get stuff to do our Disney scrapbook. What fun!
I knew we had dinner reservations later that day, so I kept wondering when we would have time to scrap since we'd still have to change and then stay the night at his parents'. Well, after driving around Abilene some more we pulled in here:

Who-hoo! No more Mommy duty for the whole evening! And, it was only 2:30! We had the whole day ahead of us! I was very excited. Now, here shows how sneaky Jordan was...he had loaded my srcapbook cart into the truck as well as my swimsuit and other things we wouldn't have needed if we were "just" going on a dinner date. This was all about me and things I enjoy! It was so lovely!

I scrapped *most* of the afternoon and Jordan even helped me some! Then we got ready to go out to dinner. We went to our favorite place in Abilene and realized we'd never been there alone. We'd always been with his parents or with Jenae in tow, or both. The big guy picked up the tab for the whole weekend! Thanks to some special ministry he had done we had some extra income that covered our time together!
We had so much fun just being together and resting and relaxing. It was nice to have no agenda, get to sleep late and enjoy each other. We ended our special date with a lite lunch here, my other favorite place in Abilene.

Jordan, thank you so much for loving me in all the ways you do. Thank you for such a fantastic weekend. You gave me more than I could have expected. I love you and can't wait to do it again! ;o)

Wednesday Night

When we first moved to Winters I had a really tough time. Jenae was the only kid in her age group (o-3 years). She was used to going to class with many kids her own age. And now she had to have class by herself. I didn't like our new situation. Not at all. Now...I love it! Jenae has made friends with people of all ages, not just other little people :o). She goes to Bible Class with 3-5 year olds and you wouldn't even know it. Her teacher was very skeptical at first when I suggested this plan. Admittedly, the first week or two were "difficult." But today, you would think she was on her way to Kindergarten like the others.
Another thing I truly enjoy is watching Jenae learn to care for people of all ages. This lady pictured above and below is Mamie Dell. I don't dare try to guess how old she is. She is one of our elder's wives. This past Wednesday, she was heading across the parking lot to the church building when Jenae caught up with her, took her hand, and led her to the entry stairs. So precious! Before she let Mamie Dell go, it looked like there were a few things she wanted her to know. I'm so proud of this little girl...and thankful for this church family who is nurturing her faith.
The pictures below all were taken this past Wednesday. For the first time, there was another little girl her age at church, so she just came to the big kids class, too! It is so fun to see new faces at church.

My First Pedicure

I finally got brave enough to try and paint Jenae's tiny, little toenails. She was so interested and sat perfectly still. After I finished, I blew on her toes to help the polish dry. (I really didn't want pink paint smudges all over the house.)
We went outside to sit on the porch and she kept saying her toes were "Hot." It took me a while to put it all together, but she thought since I blew on her toes, she thought they were hot...like we do with our hot food. I laughed.
It took her a while to realize it wasn't going to wipe off. Then she walked around, pretty proud of her pretty, pink toes!

Mother's Day

Four Generations
(Mimommie, Shasha, Daddy & Jenae)

Christa Lee & Christa Jenae

Big Shoes to Fill

Splish! Splash!

Rain or shine, doesn't matter to us, we can have fun with water anytime. Jenae love to splash around in her "puddle boots." There is a large pothole over in the church's parking lot that she is especially fond of. And, not that we've had many sunny days, but when we do it's great fun to run around the backyard and let Momma spray her. That's fun for both of us :o)

This is a shot of one of my plants on the back porch. I love it's unusual blooms.

Classic Jenae

I love these two pictures! They perfectly capture aspects of Jenae's personality. These are two looks we see often and I'm glad we've got them locked in time! Enjoy!

Pigtails and Ponies

It's only taken 21 months, but Jenae finally has enough hair to "do" something. Seems like we've had to fight for every strand of hair for this little girl. This last week we were able to gather enough for some pigtails. I've tried before, but her hair is so fine the elastics would just slip off. She's got enough hair now she was even able to take a nap without losing a tail! Yea!
May Fest was a couple of weeks ago now, but we went and it was Jenae's first chance to ride a pony. She did a great job with her daddy right by her side!

Sea World

Just a sneak peek at all our Sea World adventures!

The E.R.

There's so much to write about our short visit last night at the Emergency Room, and even more to say about the fun days we had before the stomach bug attacked Jenae...but for now I just want to ease the minds of friends and family. Jenae is back at home and doing well. You can even tell from the pictures how much good just getting some fluids back in her body did. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and thanks to Bappa for making sure she was treated well and thanks to Shasha for bringing "fish books" to read.

Work & Play

Sweet Girl

Since the rains have finally stopped for a while, we spent a great deal of time outside today. We had lots of projects to do. And Jenae set about them in all seriousness! (I can hardly get that girl to smile for a picture anymore.)

We needed to get some plants potted that we bought before all the rain. Jenae's practiced with her shovel at the playground, but obviously if you look at the patio, we still have a little bit more work to do with our hand-eye coordination skills.

She was very determined. Bit by bit some dirt would actually land in the planter.

Dirty Hands
by Jenae Hubbard

Enough work...Let's swing!!!

(Notice she's holding the bubble wand in her hand.)

After all her hard work, Jenae was rewarded with her first introduction to Sidewalk Chalk. This was a gift the Easter bunny brought. Let's just say that dollar the bunny spent at Dollar General was a great investment for an afternoon of fun.
It's a good thing we have a large back patio! We may have to decorate the sidewalk
over the church next time if we run out of room.
(You can see the "finished" planters back behind Jenae.)

THE END!

Geraniums in Bloom

We are having such a good time this Spring. I don't know if it's this country life we're living or if it's that Jenae is out and about this year, but it is so nice to feel the rhythm of the seasons. To be able to literally, day by day, watch the blooms on the plants open up is amazing. Of course, seeing everything new through a child's eyes adds a new element of wonder.

Jenae is taking such good care of the plants. She loves to get her watering can each day and make sure they get a drink. We still have to work on her aim, but she is so tender, making sure she does a good job. It is fun to go out into God's big world and match His creation with all the pictures we've seen and studied and named in her picture books.