Family Reunion!

We survived the 1st annual Hutchings family reunion, and I have to say it was the most pleasant family reunion I've ever been to! We had a meeting Saturday evening and decided to have it again next year. They also decided to make it a 3 day event next year instead of just 1 or 2 day's that way the ones that live further away can stay and visit longer and the other's that live close can come and go as they need because of work and taking care of farms & such. The kids had lots of fun playing with and getting to know they're cousins, I enjoyed getting to know more of the Hutchings family and Jerry enjoyed getting to visit with family that he hadn't seen in quite a while. Everyone was very welcoming and excepted me into the family with open arms. There are alot of people that don't enjoy they're family reunions, and I'm sorry to say that I have been one of those people, but it's hard to be around people (especially family) when all they want to do is talk about and run people down because that person is not doing what they think they should be for what ever reason. I love my extended family and wish everybody could just get along and enjoy the time they have with each other while they have it, hopfully in the future that will change.
Here are a few pictures from the weekend!


Family eggs toss! Nope I didn't win.


They were on a mission to find daddy long legs or in they're words "daddy yong yegs"! LOL

Cutter (4), Jaydan (4), Lilly (4) & Jazlynn (3).

Jaz trying out the see saw!

Aunt Jerrie fixing to help Jaydan roast a marshmellow! Uncle Benny in the swing.

Aunt Jerrie telling Jerry something.

My little sweety Jaz!

Gram needed a Jesse hug!

My inlaws Joe & Bobbie and of course my sweety!

Jaydan & Debbie.

A busy week.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty slow or at least it seems like it has. I didn't have a lot of things that needed to be done out side of the house so I was able to just be at home.

But this week is a different story. Jazz and I need to go pick up the wic this morning, church on Wednesday, Jesse and Jaydan have the fall carnival at school on Thursday and I need to make 2 cake's for the cake walk they will have that night. And then Friday I will be getting things ready to attend the 1st annual Hutchings family reunion on Saturday and Sunday. The reunion sounds like it will probably be fun. It is to be held at camp Wohaleto in Telephone, TX. They have cabins so I need to get sheets, blankets, pillows & towels ready to go, on top the normal things you would take on a trip, plus figure out and make whatever food I'm going to take. Jerry is going to help me out a little on the food since he is making his famous No Bake Cookies. This will be our first family trip to take since we got married. This is a very important event for Jerry's parents and they have been on a mission to make sure all 3 of they're kids and they're grand kids are going. I'm so thankful that we have the van to make this trip in!

With in a week 3 ladies told us they had dreamed we we're pregnant and 1 had dreamed that we had had a baby girl. I told Jerry that maybe it was God telling us it was time!! :) So who knows maybe we will have special news before long!!!

It looks like I'm going to be a brides maid at some point next spring. It's not official yet but Karina and Brandon may be getting married towards the end of April. I told her last night that is was neat how we had both waited so long to get married and then getting married within a year of each other. We new that when it happened for both of us that it would probably go fast because we were older and ready and we also new that we didn't want it to be a long drawn out process either. So I guess I need to be getting some things figured out for a bridal shower. It' s going to be exciting!!!!

God is so good!!!

Me and My Honey

A little creek we found on our way to the coast!

Finally in Oregon and on our way to the Honey Moon house!!!

Waiting for our plane!

I now pronounce to you Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Hutchings!!

The kiss!!

Thank God!

I just can't thank God enough for my husband!!!
He is such a good man, a Godly man and he's MY man . I love making him laugh, just watching him smile. I love it when he comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me and kisses me on the neck or just stands there and holds me telling me how much he loves me. I love being able to share my deepest secrets with him. I love being able to be serious with him or just having a stupid moment with him and both laughing our heads off. I love having him there to work things out whether they are easy or hard.
Today I've spent the day with him, helping him get some things done at work and just spending time with him. I love him so much I can't thank God enough for the man he gave me to love and take care of.
The song "I've Got So Much to Thank Him For" come's to mind.
God is so good!!!!


This is the look momma say's he always get's when he looks at me!

We had a......

cookout here at our house for Jesse's 7th birthday and after everybody had left except my family we decided to take a couple of pictures, and these are my favorite!!!!!



We love our momma!!!
We love our dad to of course :), but he had to work that night and didn't get to be in the picture.



Susanna (11), Me, Abigail (21), JoAnna (16), Lydia (19), Damaris (9), and I'll let you guess which one is Zachariah (24). Would you say he's spoiled?

There is just nothing better than family!

God is good and I'm so BLESSED!!!!!!

Peppy La Pew came for a visit :)

Since the weather has been so nice we have had the windows open so that we could enjoy the fall air, air out the house and cut our electric bill way down. But in doing so we also set our selves up for what happened this morning!
I woke up about 6 this morning because my father in laws 2 dogs were somewhere not far from the windows in our bed room having a fit about something, but since we have lots of squirels right here in out yard I didn't think nothing of it so I fell back asleep. About thirty minutes later I woke up because Jerry was moving around quite a bit so I asked him what was wrong but at the same time I also smelled the very strong smell of skunk that was very heavy in our room. After laying there for a few more minutes he decided to get up and close all the windows. By then it was time to get up and start getting the kids ready for school, and the smell had only faded slightly. In the midst of getting everyone ready I had told him that we probably should have left the windows open because it probably closed it up with us, since closing the windows meant no air flow now, but he just said "well I had to do something because it smelled so bad". After the kids left for school and daddy left for work I stuck my head out the door and didn't smell anymore skunk, so I opened the windows back up and the smell is pretty much gone now. lol :)
I just hope that when I went in Walmart just a little while ago that I didn't have any of the smell on me still!

My grandpa Parker cracks me up because he likes the faint smell of skunk!

God is good, be blessed!!!

Cooler weather!!

This is my favorite time of year! The chill in the air, being able to leave the windows open and being able to spend more enjoyable time outside because it's not so stinking hot. It also makes me want to sit outside on the deck wrapped in a blanket sipping on hot tea just enjoying the morning or reading a good book. :) I don't like to freeze but I do like to be just cool enough to wrap up in a blanket.

This morning is the kind of morning that makes me remember the times when grandma and grandpa Parker would take us camping at Clayton Lake. There would be a slight chill in the air and we would wake up to grandma fixing a breakfast of bacon, eggs and fried biscuits, either on the open fire or the stove in the camper. Either way it smelled so good. Grandpa would be getting the fishing poles & boat ready or if we were at Sulfur, we would be getting ready to go swimming. Once when we were at Sulfur we had found the perfect swimming hole, nobody else was there, and it had a deep spot for swimming but it was right where the water flowed over the rocks to. We had swam for awhile and then went and ate something and then went back, well we walked back up to our spot to find a girl sitting there washing her hair and shaving her legs! Thankfully she was sitting on the over flow so it wasn't actually messing up our swimming spot, but I feel sorry for the people that were down the creek from us! I treasure those times with my grandparents!

I love the taste of grilled burgers, chicken, steak, well pretty much anything grilled. One day when I still lived at home with mom I decided to fix a treat of grilled burgers for everyone. I had not grilled before but I wanted to try it. So I bought a little table top grill and the cheap charcoal and lighter fluid from the Dollar Store, got it all put together and never could get it to burn. We had burgers anyway, they were just cooked in the house instead of out side. Well I have been wanting to try it again so I got out the big charcoal grill and this time I bought the Kingsford charcoal and lighter fluid, and this time it worked, I got it to burn and grilled chicken and potatoes, and then of course later that week I fixed us grilled burgers! yummm :) Now with this cool weather it makes me want to grill us burgers even more than I was wanting to already.

God is good, be blessed!

Xylitol sugar

My mom began working xylitol into their diet about a year ago after she found out how much healthier it was for you than regular sugar was. She didn't go straight to xylitol because your body has to get used to it.
I get magazine's from the health food store and I was looking through it the other evening and found this article on how good xylitol is especially for kids. The article is actually an advertisement for the new product they have called Xlear. It's not real long so I'll go ahead and type it in.

Combat Commom Childhood Ailment with new kids Xlear.
Some children suffer through rounds of runny noses, ear infections, sore throats and coughs, year- round. The multiple curses of antibiotics and other medications they are subjected to, often from an early age, increase their risk of developing allergies and asthma. Allergies and asthma, in turn, increase the child's vulnerability to further infections caused by constant inflammation and irritation in the respiratory tract...and so the cycle continues.

BEYOND HANDWASHES
Hand washing, we're told, is the best way to break the cycle of infectious illness. Washing often with soap and hot water for as long as it takes to sing a full round of the "ABCs" does make a big difference. If this isn't enough and pathogenic bugs find their way into the nasal passages, there's no avoiding the progression to runny noses, sore throat, and ear infection...or is there? Might there be a way to wash these bugs out of the nasal passages before the take hold and lead to unpleasant symptoms that keep kids home from school or make toddlers and infants (and, their parents) miserable?
Thankfully, now there is a way to fend off germs. It comes from Xlear, Inc. Saline Nasal spray. Their best selling saline nasal spray contains xylitol, and simple sugar that has documented, research-proven beneficial effects. Recently, Xlear introduced Kid's Xlear, a kids version of their spray with a child-friendly bottle.
Xylitol is a nutritional paradox as it is a natural sweetener that reduced bacterial growth. Used as a popular low calorie sweetener in shewing gums. xylitol stops bacteria from metabolizing sugar. Multiple studies have demonstrated that chewing gum containing xylitol helps prevent tooth decay. In fact dental experts are even encouraging school administrators to allow children to show this type of bacteria-busting gum in classrooms. Research has also shown xylitol to help reduce bacterial growth in the sinuses and nose.
In a study, oral xylitol in a syrup or in chewing gum form was found to reduce tooth decay and ear infections by 30 to 42 %, respectively: and the presence of xylitol was shown to reduce the adherence of bacteria to nasal tissue by 50 to 68%.
In the late 1990s, Xlear founder and nasal spray developer Dr. Alanzo Jones, D.O., a clinical assistant professor of family medicine at TTU Medical School, found that adding xylitol to a nasal spray was a sensible way to maintain good nasal hygiene. In his own research, Dr. Jones found that administering Xlear to 10 infants with chronic ear infections at each diaper change reduced the incidence of ear infections by an astonishing 90%.
Although a runny nose can be a real pain, it has a purpose: to dilute and detach pathogens and allergens and flush them out of the body and osmotic effect. Since most pathogens enter the body through the nose, this is an important defense against illness. When this doesn't happen, pathogens and allergens can go deeper, leading to bronchial, sinus, and ear congestion, irritation, or infection.
Xlear doesn't work by killing bacteria, and so doesn't cause bacterial resistance; instead, the science shows that Xlear acts in accordance with the body's natural mechanisms to enhance bacterial killing. It prevents allergens and certain bacteria from attaching to mucous membranes and aids in flushing those germs out. It gently moisturizes, cleanses and soothes dry, irritated nasal passages by hydrating the mucous membranes and encouraging the integrity of these tissues. Xlear helps to build the body's natural barriers to prevent bacteria, airborne contaminants and allergens from getting further into the body's system without causing side effects and isn't habit forming and for children of all ages.

MOTHERS WHO CHEW XYLITO GUM REDUCE CHILD'S RISK OF TOOTH DECAY
Several studies have found that when a mother shews xylitol gum during pregnancy or during her child's early years--particularly, when the child's first set of teeth is coming in--that child's risk of dental caries (tooth decay) is substantially reduced. this is believed to be due to a reduction of specific, tooth-destroying strains of strep bacteria in the mother's mouth. it stands to reason that future studies on the effect of maternal use of xylitol nasal spray on children's respirator health will likely show this could aid in reduced transmission of bacterial infection between mother and child.

I thought this was pretty good info. I would like to start using Xylitol in my family's diet but my husband is not quite ready for the change yet, but when the time is right he will be.

Hope this info helps you!!

Also here is a link telling you a little more about Xylitol....
http://www.xylitol.org/

Have a good day and be blessed!!!

Bubble wrap :)

This is the kid in me coming out, but who doesn't like bubble wrap?
http://www.therightfoot.net/mystuff/whatever/swf/bubblewrap.swf

I hope this works!

Sleep

I can't figure out why no matter how late you let a little kid stay up, they still get up at 6am!
I just want to sleep past 6 at least 1 morning a week, just 1. But I guess once you jump on the mom wagon you forfeit your right to ever sleep in ever again. :) And maybe I should consider this practice for when I have a baby! I knew if I thought hard I would find a positive side.
I love the girls and I'm glad I have the chance to be the stable mom in they're lives.

Things

I'm going to attempt keeping a blog and hopefully I will succeed.
A part of me wants to be able to write these long (or short) wonderful post that people will enjoy reading and another part of me thinks, well the people that will actually be interested in reading also have a phone and I could just call them! :) But maybe I should make myself do it just because I need to get over feeling like whatever I write will sound like a 7 year old just learning to spell and punctuate, or just sound dumb.

Since getting married I've found myself doing plenty of things that I said I never would do, even tho they were simple things, I just basically didn't have the patience and want to take the time to do them. A couple of those things are....
1. French braiding hair, especially little people hair. When mom would tell me I needed to learn how to french braid because, "one day I was going to have little girls that would need there little fine pieces of hair out of they're face" , I would just look at her and say "Oh don't worry I'll just bring them to you and let you do it!" And now here I am and I've mastered the art of french braiding.
2. Sewing. Once again it's not that I didn't want to sew I just didn't have the patience to sew because when I did attempt sewing something I would end up ripping out more that I actually did sewing. So therefor I just wouldn't sew at all. But here I am a few weeks ago find myself wanting to sew something. Well I got out my sewing machine and got a bobbin run :) and then found the material I had & decided to try making the girls and I some skirts. But first I found some material that looked good in our bathroom and made a curtain since we didn't have one, and it turned out looking pretty good if I do say so myself!:)
I know these are small accomplishments but I'm proud of myself and I'm glad that my mom took the time ( as stubborn as I was) to continue to teach me because she new how I would need to know these things later on. I don't doubt that there are going to be plenty more stuff to learn or I guess I should say re-learn.

God is good!!!