The Jimenez Family


Lord, High and Holy, meek and lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory.
Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine.
Let me find Thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty,
Thy glory in my valley.
-The Valley of Vision
from A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions-


A "hangout" day with Dad...
A special trip to the park...
A walk around the lake...
Beautiful sunshine...

The best things in life are definitely free!!!
Three little kids in the Jimenez household have caught the art bug! Yes, three...Tyler, Amy and JASON! Ever since they started their art classes at Noah's Art...the kids have been making "projects" all throughout the day. Every spare minute they have they want to work on their "projects"!


One of Amy's projects - "Abstract"

One of Tyler's projects..."Angry Self-Portrait"
We are running out of space to display this beautiful art. Obviously, I am truly restraining myself by not just chucking it into the trash (I tend to do that more often than they know!). But my super crafty, resourceful, creative husband decided to actually make the kids art part of the house for good!
He went to Hobby Lobby and got two plain pieces of wood and spray painted them dark brown. Then he took the kids paintings of sunflowers and attached them to the boards. We have them hung in the kitchen and they look awesome!




I am the grand-daughter of a famous artist - Doris Brunenkant - and yet...I have graciously passed on all the artistic aptitude to my children! I have kept NONE of it for myself...wanting them to benefit with the majority of the talents! :-) May they continue to utilize all those creative juices and make more beautiful art! (So much cheaper than buying those prints at the store!!!)
Has it gone that fast? Is my little guy three months old already? In some ways, I feel like it has been longer...and in some ways it feels like it has flown by. But three months ago, Jason and I woke up early...roused our two older kids...rushed them to a friends' house and then hurried to the hospital. I walked into the room that was all ready and waiting for me...complete with the blue and pink stomach belt/monitors and thus began the thirteen hour wait for our sweet little guy.
Now, three months later I sit at the computer and hear him laughing and talking to all of us. Every moment of the yucky sickness, long doctors visits, uncomfortable sleeping positions, heartburn, emotional weariness...was absolutely worth it. Jackson is such a sweet unexpected gift from the Lord...and we are so thankful for him!!!

This week was filled with tickling, pizza, ice cream, merry-go-rounds, long talks, long walks, and just all out fun! Jason's parents - aka "Woo-woo Grammie and Poppy" were here from Tucson.
Whenever family from Tucson comes I want to stop the clock and soak up as much of them as we possibly can. We've had such a good time with them and it will be so hard to put them back on the plane tomorrow morning. So hard to start the clock back up again...pick up the house, do the dirty dishes, wash the dirty clothes, pack up the air mattress and get back to real life. But we will treasure in our hearts this special week and we will eagerly look forward to the next time family comes!!! We love you, Grammie and Poppy!!!



Little update on homeschooling..we are all still alive and its actually going really well. Initially, I had a little panic attack within the first three weeks and tried three different curriculums for reading. My poor children were a little confused. But now, I've settled down and I'm really enjoying our new routine. I'm sure the progressing grades get harder and harder but I'm not looking too far ahead...just to tomorrow! Tyler and Amy are loving "school-time" and I can see little seeds of learning starting to sprout up in their little minds.
Amy was hard at work the other day during "rest-time". She came downstairs and was quite proud of her achievement! This is what she had written...without any help from Mom:


Here's a closer look...




She wrote...Amy Tyler Dad Mom! So cute! And she was so proud that she could actually write words!!! Yeah!
Those are words I like to hear in association with losing weight or dieting. I'm not a huge fan. I know its good to learn self-control in eating and its great to workout and be healthy...but its not quick, easy, or painless.

But I have found a new way to lose weight. I lost two pounds in two hours with this new method....I'm serious!!!!









Here's the before and after pictures of how I did it:



Too bad I don't have any more hair to cut off! :-)

Jackson playing on his own...



Getting some "love" (smothered)...

A little scared...

Doing better...

One on one...so much better...

I am deep in the throes of trying to burn off my baby fat! Well, technically...its not "my" baby fat...its Jackson's...he loaned it to me - he has plenty to spare! :-)
Anyways...Jason has been talking about cupcakes for the last two weeks. We went to a gourmet cupcake shop and Jason had this dark chocolate divine cupcake (and I had a crumb! :-). He has had a craving for cupcakes since then. So, I indulged him...even though I knew it would be suicide to my diet!!!
The kids helped me make the cupcakes, lick the batter, and frost them. Yum! Please do not ask me how many now reside on my hips and backside...or how much harder I've been hitting the gym. I would have to tell you the truth and your respect for me would dwindle considerably! Oh well! Life is short, right????

















I couldn't get the camera out fast enough to take a picture of Jason eating the cupcakes (yes, plural!). He had a whole one down before I could even turn the camera on!!! Of course, I enjoyed every single teeny crumb...and even licked the frosting off the paper!!! :-)

I climbed a mountain today...literally! :-) This morning I took several of the high school girls for a hike up Crowders Mountain. It was a gorgeous day and it turned out to be a great trip. I was a little worried about how my post-partum body would fare hiking up this mountain...but I have to say that I stayed right in step with those young whippersnappers!
Once at the top, I shared from Romans 12:1-2. I exhorted the girls to examine all aspects of their lives from their thoughts in their heads all the way to the places they go with their feet. Are they conformed to the world? or the image of Christ? It was an amazing place to spend time before the Lord asking Him to search us and convict us of sin.
We spent some time quietly on our own...praying and just worshipping the Lord. Then we headed back down the mountain. On the way home, we stopped at Tony's Ice Cream Parlor and had homemade ice cream! The scoops were huge...but we hiked a mountain...we deserved it!

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