Camping at Sol Duc Hot Springs

Escaping a Hug

Life at our new place

Settling In

We finally got our phone, internet, and cable hooked up after living here for three weeks, and I blame cell phones. If I could not rely on my cell phone for staying in touch with people, checking movie times, and checking my bank balance, I certainly would have had those other things connected faster. But it was nice not to have to check e-mail, phone messages, or otherwise have to be responsible for a few weeks, almost like being on vacation, which I have not had at all in a year. But that also means one is coming soon, and we are counting the days until Sept. 5, when we leave for California! I can't wait to see everyone, both old friends and the three new babies that have been born to dear friends since last year- Noah Dolieslager, Mekiah Twal, and today, Dylan Rose Stepan! I think I am going to make a paper chain for Charlie so she can tear one off each day until Grandma and Papa Benkert come to visit in August, and then again until Sept. 5. It might help her understand time better, because right now every time we get in the car, she tells us we are going to Disneyland to see the princesses and the castle. We tell her "In September!" but to her that's like saying "in potato." She's heard the word before, but in this context it makes no sense. So we will work on it. And I will get some new pictures posted. Before potato.

Abby's Walking!

Moving!

Well, it has been about two weeks since I even checked my e-mail, and in that amount of time, I found a rental house for us on Craigslist, looked at it in person, decided to move, and had friends over to help pack up all of our belongings. We are set to move out of our apartment tomorrow and Wednesday, and be totally moved in by Friday, and then I have to take the girls to Portland, OR with my mom for my cousin Stacey's wedding, in which Charlie is the flower girl. I am trying to stay focused and not freak out, but if I fall off of the grid for a little while and don't return phone calls or emails, please bear with me! Listen to how faithful God has been with this move: I found this rental online, and it turns out that the landlords are a young couple who goes to our church, with 6 kids, a 6 year old little girl and quintuplet 3 year olds. Charlie has only had boy friends before, but four of the quints are girls. This rental house is on the landlord's own property, which is huge, and in between our houses is a playground that the city of Poulsbo had built for the family when their babies were little, and we are welcome to play on it anytime. I am watching the other kids a few hours a week in return for a break in the rent for the first six months, and they are letting us pay our security deposit a little each month as well. Then, when our apartment complex decided to charge us July's rent as well for giving 16 days notice instead of 20, the family decided to let us live in the house for free for the first month. When I called today to see if the carpet cleaning was finished and the keys ready, they also had refinished the kitchen cabinets and tiled the counters so it would look nice for us when we moved in, instead of doing the work in a few months like they had said before. Each time a bump in the road comes along, God has not only smoothed the bump, but taken care of other bumps I had not even seen yet! He has just covered us in his grace and blessing, and we are so overwhelmed that this family is doing so much for us, in His name. As Courtney, the kids' mother, told me, "people have done so much for us, and God has taken such good care of us, so we just want to take care of someone else now." Thank you, Lord!

Getting Caught Up

Jeff is working nights again, 8pm-6am, and for those of you who think you couldn't handle it if your husband worked those hours, let me tell you what I am accomplishing:
1) I have been able to do the dishes in the sink every night (this hasn't happened since Abby was born).
2) I have finally made progress on a quilt for my friend's baby (who is almost 2 months old!).
3) I have sorted through and organized all of my daughters' too big/too small clothing.
4) I have planned meals for the next two weeks and shopped accordingly.
5) I have started reading again! I am reading Godless by Ann Coulter, an amazing (if somewhat harsh) critique of what she calls The Church of Liberalism, with scientific evidence disproving evolution, how to decode democrats' political language and methodology, and lots of other things I did not think I was smart enough to understand. Don't talk to me about politics now! For some balance, I am also reading He Loves Me by Wayne Jacobsen, a look at common misconceptions about God's relationship with us, and how to really allow ourselves to be loved the way God wants to love us. I highly recommend it.
6) I have made a long list of sewing projects to do after I finish the baby quilt, like reupholstering my very loved, very stained rocking chair, and making some placemats and napkins for the dining table.
7) I have made a Facebook page so now I can supposedly keep up with even more of you. Of course, we all know that it's just another way for me to neglect people I love on the internet. I am a phone person. What can I say?
8) I am updating my blog, finally. Is anyone still reading it anyway?
Family updates:
1)Abby turned one, and is walking! She looks like a person who is recovering from surgery. Video is coming.
2)Jeff is a training officer, and will have a boot (new cop) with him for the next month or so.
3)Charlie can spell out her name in alphabet puzzle letters. She can also recognize and orally spell Abby, Mama, and Daddy. What she can't do is write, but we're working on it.
4)I am turning 29 in nine days. I love birthdays! Cake, balloons, presents, and shopping! What's not to love?

Life gets away from me!

Well, it has been a while since I put anything up here, but I will offer up a brief summary of our life in the last month: Jeff was gone for some more training, and is now a Field Training Officer (A P3 in LA terms), and will get to train new officers as they come. He also got to go to Las Vegas with his buddies and see his family as well! Charlie got sick after her birthday with a nasty cold, which became croup, which she then passed to Abby, who also developed croup, and then Jeff and I got it also, so we just didn't leave the house for most of February. Then, the night before Jeff left for Vegas, I broke my toe tripping over Charlie, and in an unrelated turn of events, she got croup again, so I spent my bachelorette weekend wearing bedroom slippers to Target to buy more Vicks Vapo-rub, and I learned that honey is an excellent and toddler-friendly cough medicine. Abigail is very nearly walking, and she teases us all the time by letting go of things and standing all by herself, and then very slowly sitting down so she doesn't fall. She can say Daddy, and Hi, and Charlie (she pronounces it Taw-Yi), and just today she said Mama, finally! She loves to point, and wave, and flirt with strangers in the grocery store, and eat clods of dirt off of the carpet. She keeps Charlie busy by touching everything in the house, so that Charlie is forced to shout to me, "Abby can't eat my shoes!" and "Abby can't touch Daddy's XBOX!" and "Abby can't eat the dirt!" She takes very good care of her sister! They are great friends, and I have to be the luckiest mom in the world for them to play so well together. Now when we are in the car, they occupy each other by blowing raspberries and giggling at each other, or holding hands across the backseat, or fake sneezing at each other. Hey, whatever tickles your funny bone, right? Now for me: I have been busy making blankets and painting pictures for all the babies my friends keep having. I have been subbing every few weeks, and that extra money is nice! I have been researching housing for us, as our lease at this apartment is up for renewal in June, and I would love to move somewhere with a playground, pool, and possibly more space. That last part is negotiable if I can find a really good playground! So anyway, life keeps marching on. Our prayer needs: Girls need to sleep through the night! Jeff's work wants to cut employees- they are not looking to cut him, but we don't want them to cut anyone! And I need wisdom in the house search- God's timing is perfect, and if he wants us to stay here another year, I need to be open to that. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers, as we keep you in ours. Lots of love! -Jennica

Sister Wrestling

The Crawler

Happy Birthday Dance

Charlie's 3rd Birthday

We love destination birthdays, and this year, with Charlie so into ocean animals, we thought the aquarium would be a perfect place to take her. There is a small aquarium near our house, the Poulsbo Marine Science Center, that we have visited a few times since my brother volunteers there when his sub is in port, and we asked if they could host a few moms and kids for a birthday, and they did! All their animals were caught in the Sound, so it was neat to see the huge octopus, all the different kinds of crabs and starfish and the jellyfish and know that those are all living in our water! We learned some songs, some fun facts about the animals, we watched the octopus eat a squid, and the kids got to touch some of the crabs, starfish, and a sea cucumber! Charlie had such a great time, and I know she enjoyed having her friends there, too. What a fun way to celebrate turning three!

Happy Valentine's Day

Make a Smilebox postcard

Thank you everyone!

Once again, my children received so many gifts from our family that Jeff and I were tempted to take back the gifts we bought them simply because they would not have noticed! But seriously, thank you so much to the grandparents and great-grandparents and aunts and uncles who just could not resist- we have more than we could ever have asked for, and we are exceedingly grateful! One of my favorite gifts, my new pots and pans, have me singing Grandma and Grandpa Stinebring's praises, as I have discovered a new favorite recipe: oven-roasted chicken with garlic and rosemary, browned on the stovetop and then transferred to the oven to finish, resulting in tender, juicy meat. Jeff can't stop playing his new XBOX game, the newest Call of Duty, and so my daughters will grow up accustomed to the sound of machine guns in the background. Abby has so many toys that sing, flash, pop, and teach the alphabet that she hardly knows what to do with herself, so she has begun an intense campaign to chew upon and eat all of them before her first birthday so we will have room for more. One of Charlie's most memorable presents, but one that we regrettably could not keep, was a 6-foot-in-diameter Princess Castle tent, which took up literally every inch of space between our kitchen, living room, and hallway in such a manner that I actually had to crawl through it in order to get to the bathroom. We were all laughing so hard as we set it up because it just kept getting bigger and bigger, and then it required tent poles, and the next thing we knew, it had lights flashing like a Vegas hotel and more turrets than the Excalibur, and I thought maybe we could put it outside for out of town visitors to stay in, as it was nicer than my apartment. So it went back to California with Grandpa and Grandma, but Charlie was consoled by her other dolls, dollhouse, castle, books, games, tiny amusement park, and so on. So we are quite spoiled, and we would like to say a big thank you to all of you! Lots of love, and we will see you soon!