Jen's Oldest Pals

April 2009

I got away for a fun weekend at Glade Springs (WV) with several buddies. This photo was taken during out lunch at Tamarack.

Left to Right in photo above: Anne (3 kids, lives in Charlotte), Beury (3 boys, lives in Winston-Salem, (Me- 3 kids and living in Greensboro), and Kathryn (3 kids, lives in Lebanon, VA). Absent and greatly missed: Lizzie (one son, lives in Dalton, GA).

Spring 2009 Photos and Quotes. Easter trip to WV, Meeting Skye McCain

For Easter, we continued our tradition of spending Spring Break with my parents in WV. The highlight of the trip was getting to meet my brother's new baby, Skye. She is beautiful and our nephew (now 3) is, of course, a fabulous Big Brother.

Lydia wrote this journal page about our trip. It begins, "Soon I am going to my..."

Here are a few other stories:

Russell (3) to Lydia (7): Your bedroom door is locked. I did it because there were mons-ers in there.

Russell called the store's 'elevator' an 'allivator' (sounds like alligator).

Russell walked up to me while I was checking e-mail and said, "I need to do some things on the re-puter. Do you have any Spiderman.com on there? "But how do you get P-iderman to fly? What if he runs out of battery?"

Lydia (7) was bargaining with me about a crucial girly party she might miss due to a trip: "Mom, I'd want you to make it up to me like you did that time you took us out for ice cream. The trip (itself) won't work. Shoes would work."

Lydia is pretty dramatic. For example, asking her to pick up her socks might lead to this cry: "I'm being tortured. TORTURED, I say!"

Digital Scrapbooking Group, ScrapBlog Page, Lydia's Story

In February, we went to Myrtle Beach with Roger and Julie Church and a few other friends. The guys completed the full marathon, while Julie and I ran the half marathon in honor of her 40th birthday. :) Above, you'll see youthful photos of J.T. and me. I'm wearing red in my 6th grade photo with Marion and Tina. J.T. is wearing a tank top in his high school running photo. The other two photos are from our Myrtle Beach trip.






Lydia is helping to keep me humble. We recently had this interaction:
Lydia: Why do you have that white soap on your face before your shower?
Jen: I'm letting it sit on my face for a few minutes before my shower because it has an ingredient in it to make my skin smooth.
Lydia: Mommy.... I think you should put it on your legs.
..... Mommy why are you laughing?



Is Spring always this busy??? Coming up:
3/7 Jen's Reunion with 3 dear High School Friends (Kathryn, Anne and Beury) in Southern WV
3/21 Trip to Blacksburg/Roanoke for marriage conference made possible by Gamma and Pa, babysitters!
3/26 Lydia's 7th Birthday
3/28 Elisabeth's Birthday, Greensboro's Young Life Family Camp near Asheville
4/4 Jen To www.ewomen.net conference in High Point
4/15 All to Charleston, WV for Easter
Jen and Kids in WV for Spring Break. Hoping to meet Honor's baby (to be delivered around 3/26)
4/22 J.T. is itching to run the Charlottesville Marathon with friends
5/3 Russell's 3rd Birthday


I'm enjoying my scrapbooking group (Above, you'll see left to right: Jen C., me, and my sister on our last scrapbooking retreat). We meet every 4 - 6 weeks from 6 PM- midnight on Fridays. Elisabeth comes and the rest of us are named Lydia. Three years ago, all three of us 'Jennifers' were also pregnant at the same time. Those were some estrogen-filled cropping sessions! Last Friday, Jen Noble said this as she was departing after several hours of chatting and scrapbooking: "Isn't is lovely having a place to get away where you're known?!"

Lydia's 7th Birthday

The page with a bow in Lydia's baby book was artfully made by her Aunt Liz (Bishop).

Calm, well-organized group for approximately...

Two seconds.

P.F. Changs and Russell

February 2009

Scouts, Valentine's Day, and Snow Day Note

Sledding in the neighbors' back yard (Ross and Lydia are in front).