Jen's page

And you know why I will never be a Disney princess? I mean, besides the fact that I don't have an impossibly-perfect figure, tiny feet, and a singing voice that charms small woodland creatures? I will never be a Disney princess because I really hate housework. This occurred to me yesterday as my daughters were watching "Cinderella" and I was cleaning the kitchen. When Cinderella's mean...

Embejo is just an ordinary mom in New Zealand...who happened to get interested in the needs of people who live very far away from her. After learning more and more about the situation in Zimbabwe, she decided that instead of just reading and thinking how awful it was and how someone should help those poor people, she would actually do something about it. "I know I can’t solve Zimbabwe’s...

We went shopping for school supplies today. Beth has been looking forward to this all week, and to tell you the truth, I have been too. There's just something satisfying about them: brand-new boxes of crayons, their tips all pointy; bottles of glue with no drips down the side of the bright orange cap; and perfect pink erasers, with not a single mistake smudging their edges. Since I needed to pick...

For my birthday last month, I got to go to a store and pick out my own presents. They were big, and amazing and expensive. No, we're not talking diamonds. We're talking something even better. A new couch! And matching throw pillows! And a rug! Yep. For the first time in my life, I have grown-up furniture. Brand-new. From an actual furniture store. Every single other piece of furniture in our...

Number of years we have been married: 7 Number of children we have had: 3 Number of times we have moved: 5 Number of vehicles we have owned: 11 Number of college degrees we have earned: 3 Number of pets we have owned: 3 Number of foreign countries we have visited together: 2 Number of states we have visited together: 5 Number of years I hope to spend with this man: at least another 60 or...

My children are literally bouncing off the walls. They are running up and down the hallway, gleefully shouting a mystery word ("Nyah! Nyah!"), darting into one another's bedrooms, bumping into the walls, and then falling down into giggling heaps. Then they get back up and do it again. Today they have already: colored pictures had swimming lessons read stories gone outside to play even though...

I made a Joy of Cooking recipe tonight. Cannelloni. As soon as I saw the recipe in the "Pasta" chapter I remembered the deliciousness that was the cannelloni from Clemenza's, and I knew I had to try it. And so the girls and I rolled out and cut fresh dough for whole-wheat pasta. And I chopped and sauteed mushrooms, onions, spinach and chicken for the filling. I made Bechamel sauce. I seasoned and...