Jennifer Janes

What?!

Filed under: Family, Life — Jennifer Janes @ 8:46 pm

I can’t believe it’s been over two weeks since I posted last! It has been a busy month. PD is getting ready to perform a dance “Tip-Toe the Dancing Elf” at Mistletoe Fair on Saturday morning. Roo is enjoying her dance lessons and is anxiously awaiting the day a few weeks from now when she will get a sneak peek at her recital costume. PD’s kindergarten lessons are going well. She is reading more words and reads more fluently. She can count to 60, has learned the concept of tens and ones, and can write the numbers 0 through 39. I am pleased and very impressed with her progress.

I stepped in a hole last week after the girls’ dance lessons were over, and I have made a mess out of my back again. Unfortunately, my chiropractor is out-of-town right now, so I’ll have to wait until next week to get an adjustment. Until then, I’ve got a TENS unit and two sessions of electrical stimulation at his office to see me through.

We are tired after a weekend trip to Dallas to see one of DH’s friends get married. It was a beautiful ceremony, and the girls were more attentive than I thought they would be.

We’re preparing for Thanksgiving next week, and I can’t believe we’ll be pulling out the Christmas decorations again!

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Updates on ME!

Filed under: Life — Jennifer Janes @ 3:37 pm

I had my 90-day consultation with my chiropractor yesterday. We looked at my most recent x-rays, and there has been definite improvement in my back and neck. There is still improvement to be made, however, so I will follow his advice (re: custom insoles, new shoes, and exercises) and continue to go for my maintenance visits. I am praying the improvement that we continue to see will surpass his expectations.

I’m also still having problems with my ears, so I saw an ENT yesterday afternoon. He said part of the problem could be my jaw (and I probably have been clenching it and grinding a lot lately), but one symptom I described was almost certainly ear-related, so he cut a hole in my eardrum. It will heal in a couple of weeks, but if having it there helps me, he’ll probably put in a tube at my next visit (in a month). It hasn’t resolved all the issues I’ve been having, but that ear does feel better today!

Please continue to pray for me. I am getting better, but the process is slow!

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What is going on?

Filed under: Family, Life — Jennifer Janes @ 2:14 pm

I don’t understand what’s happening! It seemed like everything was going better for us and some people we know, and everything seems to be falling apart again. We’re in a financial crisis right now and I know several people who are having major financial or health issues (or both). I remember a time when there was a break between crises, but it doesn’t really seem to be that way now. Now it seems like we (and others) bounce from one crisis to the next. I’m thankful that we have the assurance that God knows exactly where we are and is walking through this with us.

Please keep us (and those I mentioned above - God knows who they are!) in your prayers. I know God will see us through and will give us the strength to keep going. (But I sure do feel like I could use a break!)

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I’m back…finally

Filed under: Family, Life — Jennifer Janes @ 3:22 pm

I’ve been MIA for a little over a month, with good reason. We’ve had illnesses: bronchitis (PD and me), sinus infections (Roo), ear infections (PD and me), and pneumonia (Roo - diagnosed today). We’ve also been busy with PD’s school work and both girls’ dance and church activities. We’re having a great time with everything, but we’re staying very busy.

PD took her quarterly evaluation for her reading curriculum on Monday, and she only missed 2 out of 44! She wasn’t reading at all before school started, and now she’s reading so many words we can’t fit them all in our pocket chart (and it’s big)! She is doing well in math also, and all the science, social studies, art, and music activities incorporated into her kindergarten curriculum are going well too!

Roo likes to work in her Barney and Pooh books (ABCs, numbers, colors and shapes, etc.) while PD does her school work, and she especially enjoys the hands-on science and social studies activities.

DH is doing well at work, although this month didn’t turn out quite like we would have liked. We’re staying focused on God and His provision for us, and it’s all going to be okay.

That’s it for now. I’ll try to get back sometime later this weekend or early next week. Roo is feverish and not feeling well. She needs me!

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Fall

Filed under: Writing, Family, Life — Jennifer Janes @ 5:11 pm

Fall is in the air! Tropical Storm Ike (what it was by the time it reached our area) caused a lot of damage, but cooler temperatures followed. (Much as they did after Gustav.) It gives me hope that fall is really around the corner. I know the first day of autumn is Monday, but too often it doesn’t feel “fallish” around here, even when it’s fall!

We’ve had another busy week. Our church has been serving as a shelter for Hurricane Ike evacuees. They are hoping to go home tomorrow. Roo and PD had their activities. We had school, of course. PD is doing great, and Roo is picking up quite a lot too. Roo had a bad week with her GI issues. We’ve started a new medication and hope it kicks in quickly to help her feel better soon! Roo also had a stomach bug yesterday. No fun!

I’m behind on the anthology work for the program for young writers. Thankfully, the director isn’t pushing to have it completed right now. I’m plugging along, but with homeschool and Roo’s challenges, it’s slow going right now.

I received my contracts from Lifeway a couple of days ago. DH and I are going to review them this weekend so I can sign them and send them back in! The contract says my piece will be published in May instead of April, but that doesn’t bother me in the least. I’m just excited it’s going to be published!

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What a week!

Filed under: Family, Life — Jennifer Janes @ 7:13 pm

This week has been extremely busy for us. I had Bible study (monthly) on Monday night. The girls started dance on Tuesday evening. AWANA was Wednesday night. The homeschool group meeting (monthly) was last night. I can’t seem to slow down long enough to post anything!

PD read a book this week! She read an entire reader from her kindergarten curriculum. Of course, it contains only the words we’ve been studying, but she was excited that it contained sentences. (The others have been pictures only up to this point.) She has read it several times since the initial reading, and her fluency increases with each reading. Woo hoo!

Aunt Amy came by to say hello this afternoon after work. Roo always remembers her having one of her other nieces with her at a family gathering, so she always asks about Aunt Amy’s “kids.” (Aunt Amy doesn’t have children of her own yet.) Tonight Roo asked, “Where are your kids?” Amy answered, “I don’t have any.” Roo replied, “Did you throw them in the trash?”

Amy and I have a miniature “siesta fiesta” planned for tomorrow, if Hurricane Ike doesn’t change our plans. I truly hope that Ike doesn’t cause as much damage as they project on the Texas/Louisiana coasts. I will continue to pray.

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Exciting news!

Filed under: Writing, Family — Jennifer Janes @ 4:04 pm

PD has only been in kindergarten for three weeks, and she’s already reading simple sentences! (Granted, her reading “vocabulary” is somewhat limited right now, but she’s reading!) This breakthrough happened Thursday evening. She is very excited, and we are excited for her!

I checked the e-mail address I use for my writing today. I check it at least once a week, even when I’m in the desert, like I have been lately. But today when I checked in, there was an e-mail accepting one of my anecdotes for publication! I should receive contracts in the mail soon, and after I take care of those, a check for (drum roll, please) $20 will arrive in due time. ParentLife, a publication from Lifeway, is going to publish my piece in the April 2009 issue. I’m very excited. The wait from last accepted piece to this one has been too long!

Rejoice with me! There are some great things going on in the Janes household, and this is only part of it! I’ll post more as I’m able.

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Welcome to September!

Filed under: Family, Life — Jennifer Janes @ 2:18 pm

It is hard to believe that it’s September already! Here’s an update about all that has been happening lately.

Roo made it through her testing. It was not a fun 24 hours, but we made it through. We should receive biopsy results and the pH impedance probe report by the end of this week (hopefully). Her GI did see something in her colon that led her to believe Roo has other food allergies in addition to milk. We are consulting with a pediatric allergist about that possibility.

School is going well for PD. We had “Park Day” last week with the homeschool group, and we had a field trip to the fire station Friday afternoon. It was a lot of fun. A lot of what we’re covering in the curriculum right now is review for PD, but we have hit a few things she hasn’t breezed through. It is great to see her understand after struggling with a particular concept. She is an eager learner and a joy to teach. (And I’m not just saying that because I’m her mother!)

I am trying to get some momentum going on the anthology for the program for young writers again. I had good momentum going before Roo’s testing, and then I got thrown off. When I actually sit down and work on it, it goes pretty quickly. It’s just the sitting down and working on it part….

And then there’s Hurricane Gustav, which is now a tropical storm that has camped out right over the area of the country where we live. Fortunately, we aren’t receiving much more than A LOT of rain and some gusts of wind. Unfortunately, DH has to work out in it — and it’s critical that he does since it’s the first of the month.

I guess that’s about it for now.

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Thank you!

Filed under: Family, Life — Jennifer Janes @ 1:42 pm

Thank you for praying for us. I ask that you would continue to do so. After some medicine and a few hours in bed yesterday afternoon, DH’s stomach settled down. I think PD’s issues are related to the weather change. Roo and I are doing well right now. I am praying that we all continue in good health and can get these tests over with for Roo next week!

It’s raining again today, so that has affected our activity level again, but we’re doing okay!

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Second Day of School

Filed under: Family, Life — Jennifer Janes @ 5:03 pm

It wasn’t just PD’s “pencil train” that got off the tracks today! It rained, and that threw us all off. We couldn’t go outside for recess (or anything else), so it was a challenging day. We finally managed to finish PD’s lessons, although Roo didn’t hang out with us for much of them today. (For the record, rainy days in public school are just as challenging, for the same reasons, except there are more children to try to keep focused!)

DH came home from work with a stomach bug today, and PD says she has some drainage, her throat is a little sore, and her ear hurts a little bit. Roo has tests on Monday and Tuesday. Please pray that these symptoms are “it” for our family, that PD and DH will recuperate quickly, and Roo and I won’t experience any illnesses. I’m ready to have this testing over and done with! I do NOT want to have to cancel and reschedule because of illness. Pray with me, please!

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Jennifer Janes

November 17, 2008

What?!

October 31, 2008

Updates on ME!

October 28, 2008

What is going on?

October 24, 2008

I’m back…finally

September 20, 2008

Fall

September 12, 2008

What a week!

September 6, 2008

Exciting news!

September 2, 2008

Welcome to September!

August 20, 2008

Thank you!

August 19, 2008

Second Day of School

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