JustJessie

All About Jeff

Genesis over at Expat Mom tagged me for the "All About My Man" meme.  You all know a lot about Jeff already, but it still looked like fun!

1. Who is your man? Jeff

2. How long have you been together? 12.5 years

3. How long dated? 2.5 years

4. How old is your man? Ooooold.  Just kidding.  He's 36.

5. Who eats more? Jeff!  At least that's what I tell myself. :)

6. Who said “I love you” first? Um, yeah.  That'd be me.  He responded with a very heartfelt, "I care about you, too."  Sheesh.

7. Who is taller? Jeff.  He's 6'2 and I'm 5'6

8. Who sings better? That depends on who you're asking.  I'd say me, but he would say him.

9. Who is smarter? Jeff, in all the useful ways.  He's very logical, business-minded, future-minded.

10.  Whose temper is worse? Probably about equal.

11. Who does the laundry? Yers trooly.

12. Who takes out the garbage? He does, cause he luvs me so, and I HATE dealing with the garbage.

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me

14. Who pays the bills? Me

15. Who is better with the computer? I'd say Jeff.  He can sit down and figure things out, where I just get stuck.

16. Who mows the lawn? He does, and that's saying a lot.  We don't so much have a lawn as a football field.

17. Who cooks dinner? Usually me, but Jeff helps out.

18. Who drives when you are together? Always Jeff.  My driving makes him crazy!

19. Who pays when you go out? Hmm, let's see.  Since I haven't contributed to the family coffers since Grayson was a baby, Jeff usually foots the bill.

20. Who is most stubborn? Me

21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Me.  We figured out a LONG time ago, that if I apologize for my part of an argument, the whole thing blows over much more quickly!

22. Whose parents do you see the most? Mine.  I'm over there  a LOT when Jeff is at work or at a work function.  We see both sets fairly often, though.

23. Who kissed who first? Uh, last time I checked, it takes two.  BUT I GOTTA TELL YOU THIS STORY!  The first time Jeff and I kissed, I had my pager in my front pocket, set on vibrate.  As soon as he pulled me to him and kissed me, the pager started to go off!  He said that either I was a REALLY good kisser, or my pager was going off. :D

24. Who asked who out? Jeff asked me.  New Year's Eve, 1995 he asked me out.  I left my BOYFRIEND'S house, and met him at Applebee's.  After that night, I knew he really liked me, and switched boyfriends.

25. Who proposed? Jeff.  Down on one knee, and the whole nine yards.  We both cried... it was so sweet.

26. Who is more sensitive? Me

27. Who has more friends? Jeff.  I'm an introvert, so I meet lots of people, but very rarely allow them to become my friends.

28. Who has more siblings? Me.  I have 2 older brothers, and he has 1 older sister.

29. Who wears the pants in the family? Jeff.  We're very traditional that way.  I make most of the mundane decisions, but his word is final.   I know, I know, where was I when women's lib came knocking?  I was in a happy marriage, that's where.

Okay, now I tag Megan, Arizaphale, Chris, and DeeDee.  Chris, change yours to All About My Lady, of course. :)

Early Mother's Day

I am always one to say, "Oh, no.  Please don't get me a gift," and usually I mean it.  In a one income household with four people to feed and clothe, I can see a lot better uses for our money than Mother's Day gifts.  This year, though, I asked for something I've been needing for a long time, and I got it early! 

See that beautiful new easel?  It's mine, mine, all mine.  I want to get mini ones for the boys, so they can paint alongside me, but I haven't found the right ones yet. 

And speaking of the boys, they gave me a little early mom's day as well.  They got the kits at Home Depot, and assembled them at home with Jeff.  They're cutie little pencil boxes with flowers. :)

the latest

This one is a gift for my MIL for Mother's Day (I'm pretty sure she doesn't read here and won't see it).  She bought Grayson that little white outfit when he was about 15 months old and asked us to have his picture made in it.  I wasn't wild for the outfit at the time, but I took him to her friend's garden and took pics of him myself.  I came across them the other day, and I thought it would be great practice because of the garden background. I chose to add only a few flowers, because the original photo had so many it was really distracting.  I'm very pleased with the end product, and I think MIL will be too.

Of course, now that I'm staring at it on a computer screen, I see that I'm not finished after all.  Looking at his body,  his left arm (stage right) needs to be more obviously in the background.  Anyway, when I finish that, I'll be starting my first out-of-the-family commissioned piece.  EEK!  Y'all keep your fingers crossed for me (and your toes if you're that talented)!

Field Day Champ

Hmm... no, that can't be right.  Five blue ribbons?  Wait.  Let me count again.  Let's see, that's one for the fifty yard dash, one for the ball throw, one for the obtacle course, one for jumping rope, and one for seed spitting.  Yep, that's five blue first place ribbons for m'boy.  Then there were three second place and one third.  I was a pretty proud momma at Field Day, and it was so wonderful to see Grayson's confidence grow with each race.

Gardening at the Grandparents'

A New Twist on Bedtime Stories

A big part of our bedtime routine is stories.  Usually I read Grant a picture book, and we read a chapter or two of a big book for Grayson.  On my last trip to the library, though, I picked up a few easy readers for Grayson, and he has done great with them.  So for the last few nights, he reads Grant his story (usually with an encore), then we read his chapters, then Grant "reads" whatever book Grayson read to him.  I love that Grayson is actually interested in reading now.  It seems like it was a long time coming... he had me worried a little bit.  Something tells me Grant will be learning early just to keep up with big bubba.

A Genius and a Guinea Pig

The Genius:  Grayson is very into inventing right now.  We're forever helping him find duct tape, paper clips, clothes pins, and various other items necessary for inventing.  Yesterday he introduced his latest contraption, the "Memory Screen Imager."  When wearing the "imager" electricity comes down from the sky, through the knife er, antenna and a happy memory is displayed on the inside of the goggles, and it makes it seem as if you were living it all over again.

The Guinea Pig:  Frequently Grayson uses his little brother to test his experiments, and this one was no exception.  He rigged it up on Grant last night while I was rounding up the bedtime crew (Kasey the Koala, Danny the Dinosaur, Bears the Blanket, and Puppers the Dog).  The memory Grant saw was the day he made Puppers, and when Grayson asked if he could really see it, Grant exclaimed, "Yeah!  I wunner how it works like dat, Bubba?!  Dat so cool!"

Come Peasants!

Bow before your Sultan!

Magnetized

Not being the king and queen of forethought,  we were not at all concerned with the school district when we bought our house. After all, I had every intention of homeschooling our kids.  Since we have found out that doesn't work for us, we have been in a quandary about Grayson's school situation.  The school for which we're zoned is terrible; there's never been a question of him going there. 

So anyway, back in March Grayson's class along with every other kindergartner in Decatur, took a test called the MRT to see who would be invited to the Magnet School.  We have really been hoping Grayson would get in.  Magnet school classrooms offer a lot more than the regular neighborhood schools.  They offer more art, drama, hands on science, music, and history; whereas the neighborhood schools do well to teach enough reading and math to stay above board.

Today was the day that every mom of a kindergarten was running to her mailbox to see if her child got a letter of invitation, and (as I'm sure you've guessed) Grayson got one.  Yay!  I'm so proud of him.  I never doubted he was smart enough to get in, but I was very worried that the means by which they test them is a three day long bubble test.  That is a major amount of concentration for my hyper boy!  I am so happy... this has been niggling at the back of my mind for ages.  So tonight be happy for us and raise your glass to desegregation in Alabama, for without it Grayson would be stuck in a stinky, stinky school.

Free Afternoon