Life is (you fill in the blank)....

My old boss used to say, Jenn-life is difficult. When something would come up and we would get frustrated that was our little thing. I'd look at him or he would look at me and we'd just simply say, Life is difficult. Rick was kind of the father figure in my life that wasn't there for the brief period I worked for him. I respected his opinion. He would tend to make sure that he tried to influence me down the right paths in life. I respected him. No, I respect him--present tense. I was 18-20 years old when I worked for Rick. Him and I still talk about once a year just to say hello and see how things are going, but this week I have been thinking a lot about him. Not so much him, but our little quirky phrase: Life is difficult. As I am getting older and as I am growing up I am realizing what he was talking about. I just wish the phrase could have been, Jenn-life is more difficult at times than you'd ever think it to be. That would have probably prepared me better for this world.

On Tuesday, one of my best friends gave birth to her son. Benjamin Charles. He has had a very rough few days and I have taken this opportunity to realize exactly how fast life can change--by fast, I mean in the blink of an eye. It's no secret that I pray every night. It's also no secret that those prayers are done silently in my head. My prayers are more like conversations with God. Of course he doesn't talk back with words, but he is listening and he, as silently as I say my prayers, is silently taking care of the things we need him to do. I am thankful for that. I am not going to go into details about Benjamin. I am going to keep that private because I know Jennifer and David don't want all the details on this Internet for the world to read, but I will just say that I will continue to pray for Benjamin, Jennifer, and David and I ask that those that are reading add them to your prayers also.

I am not going to let the FACT that life is difficult out weigh the FACTS that life is also amazing, beautiful, stressful, confusing, wonderful, blessed, and what we make of it. I have a BEAUTIFUL, LOVING, CARING, WONDERFUL family. My friends are just as equally important to me as my family too and my list of friends just continues to grow as I meet new and wonderful people. For that I am thankful. I have many, many, many things to be thankful for. I know that my life is truly a blessed life and I can't ask for anymore than that.

The picture for the post is one I took this week of Bayleigh is where she wanted a popsicle, before dinner, and her daddy told her no. Which was a rule that we came up with together, but he had to enforce it. So with that being said, I am also thankful that Bayleigh's biggest bummer of the day: was simply not getting a popsicle before dinner. I have learned that it could have been so much worse than that. I wish for her that this could be the biggest bummer she will have ever. Hey, I said wish. :)

Thanks for reading! Jenn

And She's Off....

As I mentioned before, today is Bayleigh's 1st day of pre-K. She woke up ready to go. I woke her up at 6:45 to come down for breakfast and to get dressed. Almost immediately she put her bookbag on and didn't want to take it off. My good friend Melanie drives her to school for me and she waited and waited until she pulled up and was out the door before I could get off the couch. LOL!
We went over the basic rules last night about what is expected of her while she is at school. You know, be kind to everybody, don't tattle on people--Mrs. Hardwick has eyes and ears too, make lots of friends, do as your told, pay attention...you get the idea. I must admit that I did cry. She said, "mom, stop crying. I am just going to be acrosss the street." Ok, for the record, for those of you that don't know, our house is not across the street from the school. Ok, Ok, Ok, so it is close, but still. That brought a smile across my face. I was good this morning though--no tears! Yes, I was a little anxious, but that's just me. I am happy for her and I am glad that she enjoys school so much. I hope to raise a very successful woman! I know she will be.
Below are a couple of pictures from this morning. I hope you enjoy!
*On a bit of a different note: I would like to say Welcome home to our great friend David. He just flew in bright and early this morning from over seas. Well, there is nothing bright about his arrival according to the hour his plane landed. :) 1:05 am. I am thankful to his service to our country and I am so happy he made it home safe and sound. We love you David!!!
Now, we have a cousin Dane over there and we ask for many prayers for his safe return also. Conditions over there, as you know, are not great at all. Heck, they really are not even good. Those men are all decked out in there military gear and it is 120 degrees. Please keep all our troops in your hearts and minds. Thanks Dane to you also for your service to our country. We love you!
Bayleigh's ready to go.
Such a poser!

Yes, I know her outfit would have been WAAAAAY better with flippie floppies, but they have to wear tennis shoes, soooo, it looks like she has on high waters. :)

Bye Momma!!!

Bayleigh in the car with Colin! On their way!

WES Open House 8.10.09

Well, it's that time of year again. School is starting. Well, it actually started today. Bayleigh is beginning her 2nd of 2 years of Pre-K at Waldron Elementary. Last night was the open house and meet the teacher. By going last night I learned that pre-K's first day is actually tomorrow. Wed. Aug. 12. We could have went today and gotten to know the students in her class, but it was just a day where parents stay and then we all leave together. I was told by Mrs. Hardwick that it is ok if we didn't come. When I take a day or even an hour off of work I put so many people out so that is why we didn't go.

Last year, Bayleigh only went on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When we applied this year she got accepted into Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but Mrs. Hardwick wanted her to go all five days because she did so well last year. How pre-K works at WES is, they have students that are special needs. That could range from speech problems to whatever. Then they accept 5-6 peer models to be in the class to help those student. You must apply in January just to get in for August and then it is on a first come first serve/qualification basis. We are lucky to have gotten in both years. Bayleigh loves it and I think it has been wonderful for her to get out of the house for a couple hours and improve the skills she already has.

Below are a couple of pictures from the open house night. The handsome boy in the bottom one is her "boyfriend" Colin Crouch. They tell the world, they are getting married some day. :) I will post pictures of tomorrow soon.

Have a super day and thanks for reading.

Camping 08/2009

This past weekend, August 7-9, 2009 we met with Larry's side of the family and went on our annual camping trip to Mississinewa Lake up by Peru, IN. It was a blast!
I was so nervous for the trip. I have this anxiety thing going on and just the thought of the long drive and possibility of seeing snakes scared me to death. LOL! I made up my mind once we arrived that I was just going to let it all go. I prayed for God to keep any snakes away from me. I didn't want to see them, hear of them, nothing--I wanted nothing to do with them. I also thanked God for getting us up there safely and prayed for a great, safe trip and a safe ride home. He, once again, came thru for us. :) I particuarly like this trip the best of all our traditional trips, well, it's a close tie with our cabin trip in December, because we are all able to get together and just hang out. Part of us are from here in central IN, part are from Northern IN, and some from Muncie. The kids always have a great time and us adults can just be...together. That is what I like, the together.
Not much else is going on in the Rutherford home. Bayleigh does start her second of two years of preschool tomorrow. She is looking forward to that. I am sure I will blog her first day soon too. I am currently considering a second job. Just something to help us not struggle, anticipating the winter gas bill and holidays. I have applied to a couple places online, but with the economy being where it is, I can just hope for the best. If I get something fine, and if I don't...well, my faith is with God. We will be fine. Below, out of order, are pictures from our trip. Thanks for checking in with us and have a great week.

Bayleigh transporting the water for the ditch. Elijah working hard.
Bayleigh pouring the water into the ditch with Elijah and Josh supervising.

Bayleigh packing the sand for her castle, that never came about.

Elijah showing Larry how to use the rip stick.

Kaleb doing the same.

Bayleigh, crammed into her 24 month swimsuit. I didn't want to ruin her new one at the lake.

Kim and Theresa carrying Joseph to the campfire so he wasn't sleeping on the ground away from us.

Bayleigh playing her Leapster. She was just being good and quiet as it got late.

The group loaded up and ready for the beach on Saturday. Josh, Kaleb, Whitney, Elijah, Tony, Kaitlynn, Bayleigh, Theresa, Cody (Josh's friend), and Larry. Oh and Maddie the dog.

Us girls. Me, Bayleigh, Kaitlynn, Kim, Theresa, and Whitney on the bottom.

Larry and Bay as we stopped for gas on the way home. I love these two people more than life itself.

Uncle Danny, Theresa, Larry, and Kim.

The whole gang. Bay cracks me up in this picture. Bayleigh, Joseph, Whitney, Kaitlynn, Elijah, Maddie: the dog, Kaleb, Cody, Larry, Me. Tony, Uncle Danny, Larry, Theresa, Kim, Josh, and Donnie.

The guys. Larry, Tony, Uncle Danny, and Larry.

Bayleigh, just hanging in the lake.