I don’t know if everybody who reads this boring sub-standard blog is saved, so this may not make sense to everybody, but coming across as senseless has never stopped me before, right? So here it goes…

Have you gone thru periods in your life where you feel like you’re sleeping?  Christians do this.  Generally it happens under a couple of different circumstances. Sometimes it’s because life is too easy; the world is comfortable – or the world is a downright lovely and precious place and we hope nothing happens to come in and mess up our plans.

Or… there are times when severe trials hit, maybe relationships are torn asunder and the foundation of your existence suddenly feels like you’re trying to cross an ocean of Jello.  (I would wish my Jello Ocean to be cherry, because honestly, all other flavors are pointless)  Or perhaps war has broken out or the economy has flattened you, or your children have become unrecognizable or somebody you love dearly has died.

There are times in a Christian’s life when existence boils down to mere survival.  And during these times you will either feel an overwhelming presence of God’s love and peace, or you will feel entirely alone. Drowning. Groping. Blind. Lost. 

Are you a better Christian if you feel ‘peace and love’ during the times of trial?  No.  Not at all.  How do I know this?  Just take a look at some of the Psalms that David wrote begging God to refresh and renew and to save him.  Look also to Job.  Talk about feeling empty and clueless.  God was still ever present and knew exactly what was going on.

And it’s during these times you may start questioning your salvation, or even questioning the existence of God.  I mean, let’s face it; there really are circumstances that happen which seem so random, so destructive, so pointlessly harmful…

But here’s the good news.  If you claim Christ – or more accurately stated, if Christ has called you, then He absolutely *has* you.  You are tethered directly to Him.  He’s got you in a harness and if you start skipping towards a cliff and begin playing at the edge of the precipice, He is going to yank you right back from the brink of ‘death’.  He will.  If you are saved then you belong to Him.  He is the author and perfector of our Faith.  That means he created (authored) your faith and He will perfect your faith.  He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.  Don’t believe me?  Check Philippians 1:6.

He has strong hands – strong enough to hold even you and your weird problems.  If you are tempted to doubt Him, I understand that. But don’t stop there.  Plead with Him to reveal himself; truly humble yourself and resign yourself to wait patiently.  Americans don’t know how to be patient.  We think a few days of suffering, or a few weeks, several months or even years ‘prove’ God’s unconcern for us.  No.  You have let your American upbringing cloud reality. 

I’m going to leave you with two more hard things to hear.  First of all, if you are going through trying times, do not be amazed.  No seriously.  Don’t be surprised.  In Philippians chapter one (again) God says the believer is granted two things.  We’re actually granted a lot of things, but in Philippians chapter 1 we’re specifically reminded of TWO things that he’s given us as a gift.  Know what they are?  The first gift he granted us is “belief in Him”.  We didn’t fumble around and dig that up on our own.  He gave us the very BELIEF we needed in order to receive salvation.  Yes, mind blowing, I know.  But you know what else the believer is granted?  I’ll just write it out so you can see for yourself:

Philippians 1:26 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only  believe in him, but also suffer for his sake

How’dya like them apples?

So, my friends, don’t be amazed if your life is hard.  Be amazed if it’s not.  Be a little nervous if it’s not.

Secondly, consider the possibility that you may not be saved.  You believe in Christ?  Good for you.  Even the demons believe in the existence of God and they shudder (James chapter 1), what makes your ‘belief’ different?

In 2nd Corinthians 13:5 it says, Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.  Test yourselves.  Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you are disqualified.

Yikes times two.

Again, the good news is that if you have been called by God, you will persevere because He will make you persevere.  Stop being afraid.  Stop getting distracted. Examine your life.  Stop rushing into sin that you know you have no business being involved with. Repent and fully give your life to Him.

Turn to Him even if it doesn’t “feel” like He’s there.  How do you know if you’re saved?  Look at the fruit in your life.  Do you love Him?  Are you willing to forsake the world for Him?  If you feel like you’re coming up short then cry out to Him in your weakness.  He knows you’re pathetic.  He  made you, remember?  He is strong in your weakness because that’s when you realize how much you can’t fiddle around and make things work by your own efforts.  That’s actually good news.

Lord, sometimes it’s so easy to ‘fall asleep at the wheel’.  These are hard times for so many.  God help us to see you.  Help us to understand your glory and our own insignificance.  Flatten our pride, Lord.  Forgive us for trying to find the answers on our own.  Help us to be patient in affliction.  Give us a love – a true love – for our brothers and sisters in the Lord.  Give us a passion to reach out and minister to others whether or not we’re suffering or prospering.  Thank you for loving us; thank you for your kindness.  Help us to live a life that’s worthy of your calling.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him

And for those of us who are not suffering thru a trial at the moment.  Thank God for this time of rest and strengthening.  Minister to those who feel crushed and overwhelmed or who have real needs.  Do not grow weary in doing good.  Don’t waste times of strength.  Use it to serve the body of Christ.

March 23rd, 2009 - Posted in 2009, Uncategorized | | 24 Comments

My friend, Susan, got me thinking about names.  I’ve always loved names – I think most girls do.  We dream about what we’re going to call our kids one day.  And we dream about what we *wish* our name was.  And, along those lines, I think most kids slap a new name on themselves and ask people to start calling them by their self appointed title for a time.

When I was little I did not like my name at all.  I had the two most plainest, common, boring names in the whole country.  You don’t get much more common than Jennifer – and then when you stick a boring ordinary name like Wright after it…  yawn.

I especially didn’t like the way my name was spelled – Jenefer.  I thought it looked sort of ugly.  My dad spelled it with all e’s because he said in the Spanish language e’s were considered feminine.  And naturally that was important to him since he was German and all.  I don’t know what letter German considers feminine, but I’m guessing it sounds like somebody hacking something up.  HHRRRCCCCKT!  Yet I digress.  I didn’t like the spelling, plus, you couldn’t ever find shoelaces or bookmarks or coffee mugs with “Jenefer”. 

Growing up I wanted my name to be Sandy or Jackie.  Mostly I was called Jenny (gag). As a teenager I wanted my name to be Coie.  As a young adult I went by Jenna for a while.

When I met Geoff, I thought his last name was terribly unfortunate.  It just sounded funny to me.  But it didn’t take long for me to love it.  I *was* born in Japan, after all.  And it means Fifty Storms.  That’s just neato.  But it wasn’t until I hit my thirties that I really realized how much I like my name.  The fact that it is spelled the way it is, and the fact my last name is now so uncommon makes it truly unique — I think there is only one Jenefer Igarashi in the whole big world.  I like that.

Jess has been doing a lot of research on names and origins and such.  Jenefer means “fair” and is derived from the old English name Genevieve.  Genevieve is a cool name.  I don’t know what definition “fair” covers tho.  It could mean White (which I am very), or Just (which I think I am) or “lovely” … um, ok, so maybe I’m just the first two definitions.

My kids’ names seem to suit them.  Geoffrey (Dippy) = peacemaker, Aaron (Bo) = strong mountain, Emmiko = happy child, Ryann = little ruler, James = supplanter  “Coie” doesn’t mean anything so I’ve decided to dub it = content and calm (actually.. kait the great gave her a definition once but I can’t remember what it was).  James definition scares me… supplanter? hmmm

So what’s the story behind your name? What does it mean? Does it describe you? Do you like it?

March 19th, 2009 - Posted in 2009, Uncategorized | | 33 Comments

I’ve been doing a swell job of blogging less.  And I’m pretty surprised about that because generally, eight times out of ten, when I decide to do something different, I don’t follow thru.   

Anyhow, I’m blogging today because I have things to be excited about.  Unfortunately I’m not allowed to go into reason number one.  But, eight times out of ten I will go ahead and go into things I’m not supposed to.  Therefore, I’ll go ahead and say it:  I’m looking forward to Wednesday thru Sunday.  There.  I said it.  For those of you who know what’s going on this week (which, granted, aren’t many because Coie goes beet red and cringes when I start alluding to it) you can snicker and wink wink along with me.  But I shan’t name any names, nor shall I post any pictures, nor shall I say anything more about it.  Except this… I am glad that there are godly families raising up godly children who grow into very neat-o adults for our adult children to get to know better.  Isn’t that right, MammyPie?

Ok, the second thing I’m excited about is that I won a contest – yes, me!  And I actually won something that I want.  Now how’s that for good news?  Thanks, Chickadee for hosting such a nifty contest, and thanks, Katrina, for such a great gift!

I’m also excited because three of our goats have had little babies.  Poor Daisy, after being forced to take a kid that wasn’t hers, she had her own little sweetie a day later.  And then on Sunday Willow had two more.  All four babies are pure white.  Emmiko also discovered a mama-hen who hatched nine of her own little fluffy yellow chickies.  It is spring at the Ig Farm.

Reason #3 to be excited… Emmiko got her tonsils out and I have about six months worth of ice cream treats to share with her.  She’s a weird kid.  All she has wanted to eat is chocolate malt shakes and Chicken McNuggets. 

#4 Me and Coie are leaving for OH in a month.  I am so excited about all the friends we’re going to be able to meet up with.  Our pals from Home School Enrichment are planning to be there and we’re looking forward to hanging out with them again.  We’re also all set to party with Julie Park, Spunkarella, Marshie-mellow, the Heart of the Matter girls, Maggie the Magnificent and Kim Wolf just to name a few. And even my profound friend is making plans to drive up.  I cannot WAIT! And it all happens on my birthday weekend.  How’s that for marvy?

#5 My entirely excellent son, Bo, is turning 12 in a week.  This boy is so marvelous that he defies description.  I am one lucky momsie.

Lastly, here’s a video that made me laugh.  You have to admit, even if you’re a Dem… this is funny:

 ……………..

March 16th, 2009 - Posted in 2009, Uncategorized | | 21 Comments

Just look at this cute little fellow:

…and I didn’t think any of the goats were pregnant. Silly me. Either that, or the goat we “borrowed’ from Maria earlier this week is one potent Billy.

The sad thing is that the mama, Daisy, can’t stand her new little baby.  He keeps trying to approach her and snuggle and the mean old thing just head-butts him.  Emmiko had a clever idea of putting Daisy on the milk stand and then putting the little guy up there to nurse – but when they are not on the milk stand Mean Mama doesn’t want anything to do with her little boy.  So Emmi has become his mommy.  He follows her everywhere and rubs his little floppy eared head against her ankles.  Sad but sweet.

In other news, there’s new life everywhere I turn

I love this time of year, I really do.

This little fellow is sort of new, too.  He’s six months new.

He’s my very favorite little bunny in the whole world and I just love him and his siblings and his mommy. 

 ok, i’m going to cut this short — we have all sorts of fun and exciting things happening around the Ig Farm.  I’ll try to update again semi-soon.

  Praise God from whom all blessings flow

**** Edit and Update!

Ok… *now* I know why Daisy refused to be a good mama to little Milo.  It’s because Daisy was NOT his mama.  Coie’s goat, Gee, is the mama.  Once all of us dummies figured out there was a mix up at the hospital we were able to put baby and the real mama together.  He is nursing and getting along just fine.  Boy are we incompetent farmers.  I hope there’s not a law suit…

March 9th, 2009 - Posted in 2009, Uncategorized | | 27 Comments

My daughter Emmiko needs to stop baking cookies.  I don’t like the result of cookies.  Whenever Jess comes to town I gain 50 pounds. 

In other news… HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the greatest second oldest daughter in the whole entire earf.  My Ryann is fifteen years old today.  FIFTEEN! That is crazy.  It’s just not natural for her to be that old.  It makes me sad.  But I have to admit that I really really really really really really truly like her at this age.  She is so magnificent and marvelous and funny and generous and godly and smart and so wonderful.  I like her because she makes our family look good.  Why yes, it is all about me.  But seriously, she does make us look good because she is so exceptionally perfect that people think I must be a spectacular parent.  I dig that.

I also have to say that she is decidedly better looking now than when I first met her.  Whoever said “all babies are cute” never saw my daughter, Ryann, as a newborn.  Boy Howdy was she one jacked up looking tyke.  Her limbs were two sizes too long, her toes were about as long as her fingers.  Her nose took up half her head (and her head, by the way, was covered with bright carrot-colored hair).  Wow — she was certainly something to behold.  She was sort of a mix between a rat, an orangutan and an orange alien.  Ask Geoff the Great, or Coie.  I’m not making it up. 

But now… now I wish that some of that ugly would have stuck.  I don’t like taking her out in public because she gets gawked and stared at.  She is phenomenally pretty (fashion model pretty).  And I don’t mean that as a compliment.  Pretty people are seriously at a disadvantage; but so far she has beat the odds and it has not affected her genuinely beautiful godly character and compassionate/generous personality.

So Happy Birthday to my favorite second oldest daughter!  Please always stay as excellent as you are now.  But stop scaring me all the time.  And stop stealing my Q-tips.  And stop jumping on my bed; you’re gonna end up breaking it.  And stop always asking to use my special coffee creamer that was bought especially for me.  And stop chasing James around the fireplace all the time.  And stop always grossing me out with your gross green retainer. But other than that.  Stay exactly the same.

Thirdly, Happy Birthday to my birthson, Aaron.  He and Ryann share a birthday on Feb 26th; he is turning 17.  He is also exceptionally fabulous looking.  And he is also a total joy.  I sure hope we’ll get to see him again this year. 

Fourthly, Happy Birthday to beautiful Maria.  I love love love love love this lady and I am so honored and lucky that she lets me be her friend.  I get to see her again in a week and I can’t wait.  She is the bestesterest.

Lastly, Emmiko gets her tonsils out on March 12^th.  That will be fun, because honestly… surgery and hospital stays never get old <gritting teeth>.

February 26th, 2009 - Posted in 2009, Uncategorized | | 18 Comments

The fellas have been hard at work over the last two days building, welding, metal grinding, blow torching, etc.  They are building us a super powered Robo Bar-B-Que Grill.  I think it also transforms into a race car and a hair dryer.  We’re gonna throw some steaks on it later this afternoon. 

Here’s some pics of our frolicking fun

When Coie, Jess, Ryann and I went out for a birthday date, we dragged Tyrannical James along with us.  That hat was purchased by Coie who is still mortified by his haircut. 

I like this picture of Coie – this was when Jess and Co got their toesies done.  I refused to participate because I had to make sure Tyrannical  James stayed chained down in the waiting room chair.  But it was most entertaining.  Ten minutes into the pedicure Jessica started SHRIEKING and laughing and kicking and bellowing, “IT TICKLES!  STOP IT!  IT TICKLES!!!”  The poor lady at the end of her foot didn’t know what to do with her.  She was looking around with a blank stare, like, um… “what am I supposed to do now?”

And I guess I might as well add – while we were in the nail shop all of a sudden I detected this really potent gag inducing foul odor and then James looked up and said, “Um… Mommy?  I think you might need to wipe me”.  Oh heavens. What an adventure.  Lucky for him (and me), it was a false alarm.

Anyways, this year Jess and I decided we were going to do something different than go to Gatlinburg for our annual Couples Date Night.  And this time we dragged Coie along with us.  We ended up in Gatlinburg.

and then we wrapped up the evening by buying 40 dozen Krispy Crème Donuts.  That was Jess’s favorite part.

Monday is our last day before they fly back home.  I cannot believe how fast the time has gone.  It really is unfair.  But we have had the bestest time together and I am so thankful.

Coie and Jess both posted pics, too.

Lastly, YIPPEEEE! We got our Rosetta Stone convention schedule.  Coie and I will be at the following:

Midwest Homeschool Convention, Cincinnati OH, April 16-18

Homeschool Bookfair Arlington TX, May 8-9

North Carolinians for Home Education, Winston-Salem NC, May 21-23

Christian Home Educators of Colorado, June 18-20

CHEA, Long Beach, CA July 9-11

Southeast Homeschool ExpoCobb Galleria, Atlanta GA, July 31-August 1

Come and see us!!!

February 23rd, 2009 - Posted in 2009, Uncategorized | | 16 Comments

So guess who is TWENTY today?  Good golly… one minute she’s one year old and dropping doodies on the window sill, and then the next thing you know she’s a grown up, beautiful adult.

I have two words for you.  Bitter.  Sweet.  But it’s still mostly ‘sweet’ because I still get to see her every day.  Holy Mozers it has gone by fast.  And I can honestly say that she is one of the best (and godliest) people I have ever known. And possibly the smartest.  But most definitely, hands-down, she’s the most uncoordinated least groovin’ dancer I’ve ever met – oh wait, that’s not counting Geoff the Great.  My daughter aint got no groove.  Don’t ask her to Disco dance with you cause it simply won’t happen.  Bobo and Emmiko, on the other hand, got the mama’s funky moves.  Lucky them.  Although Coie can swing through a mighty sharp Virginia Reel.  Yet, I digress.  We’re supposed to be complaining about how old Coie is.  Me, Jess, Coie and Ryann are going to spend the day shopping and eating and eating and eating.

I love you, Mookies.  But I’m sort of disappointed that you keep getting older.  No really. Stop it.  It’s rebellious.

In other news, this is the best week so far of 2009.  Charley and Jess are indescribable.  Think of the most fun you’ve ever had, and then times it by twenty.  That’s what spending a day with them is like. We love them so much and are incredibly blessed to have them in our lives.

And they are big time present givers.  I won’t even go in to everything they’ve done, but the highlights have been a spankin’ brand new ruby red Dell laptop that Jess decided to just run out and pick up for me – they also took our entire family to Wonderworks, out to eat several times, fixed our broken oven, plus got me set up with a trippy little doo-dad that plugs into the side of my laptop and gives me fast internet.  I am now officially off dial up.  That last one has been my favorite.

Some of the other highlights have been seeing the end result of Jessica’s hair cutting talents:

And then, naturally, Charley felt compelled to, um, “fix it”.  And no, that’s not photoshopped. That’s the real deal. 

And to round things off with a weather report, today our property flooded.  But it was a fun flood.  No damage, just neat-o conditions for Charley to take really cool pictures.

PS Congrats to the lovely Austins for putting together such a sublime Barn Dance Benefit.  Click here to see the fabulous pictures 

February 19th, 2009 - Posted in 2009, Uncategorized | | 22 Comments

Isn’t it a drag when there’s something you want to say, but you can’t really say anything, but it’s really interesting and neat-o, but you’re not allowed to say anything?  I hate that.  But life is suddenly more interesting around here, and Coie walks around with sort of dumb grin all the time.  Oh heavens, I’m getting old.  But that’s all I’m going to say. Period.  I mean it. At least for now.  But for the record… um… nevermind. 

In other news, Emmiko had *major* strep throat this last week.  Seriously.  You should have seen her tonsils.  It looked like she had two golf balls lodged in the back of her throat.  Goodness Golly it was gross.  And the problem is they aren’t getting any smaller – even with the antibiotics.  And then she started going deaf.  It has been really annoying.  She can’t hear, so she automatically thinks all the rest of us can’t hear HER and she YELLS everything she says.  For instance, the other day I was giving the kids a spelling test and it went exactly like this:

ME: Ok kids, spell “honey”

Emmiko:  ONIONS!!!???????

ME: No Emmi, HONEY

EMMIKO:  ONIONS???????!!!!!!!!!

ME:  NO DANGIT…. HONEY!!!! STOP SCREAMING “ONIONS”! I SAID HONEY!!!!!!!  HONEY HONEY HONEY!!!!!!!

So I took her back to the doctor and he took one look at her throat and said, “Whoa.  Those things are huge.  She’s probably gonna need those tonsils yanked out”  Apparently her golf ball tonsils are so big that they are interfering with her ear-balls.

I tell you the truth, I am getting reaaaaaaaaaal tired of going to the hospital.

And then yesterday, Dippy and James were playing “mad dog”.  That’s where James picks up a blanket with his teeth and then Dippy grabs the blanket and drags him around the house.  It’s usually fun, but this time one of James’ teeth came undone.  And boy oh boy did that boy flip out.  Ryann (whom James calls “honey”) kept trying to pull it out (you should have seen the thing, it was just hanging there like a broken piano key) but James kept sobbing, “No no no, Honey, don’t take him out. My tooth is afraid” 

Emmiko:  ONIONS????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So finally after 24 hours, Ryann was finally able to yank the thing out.  It’s been a long week.

My sister will be here FRIDAY!!!!  Yippppppeeeeeeeeeee!  We’re going to spend 10 days shopping for my little niece Eden. Whooo hoooooo!

February 13th, 2009 - Posted in 2009, Uncategorized | | 22 Comments

… or a choice of 21 other languages?  Drum roll please…. I’d like to announce an exciting project I’ve been working on (with help from a fabulous friend and a mix of other great writers / contributors).

There are several reasons why you would want to sign up for the new Rosetta Stone e-newsletter.  First and foremost, the monthly issues will be packed full of great info, helpful tips, and fun contests — and you will recognize a lot of the writers.

And trust me; you’ll want to sign up right now.  Click HERE to enter your email addy (it’s on the right hand side) to get on the list, and then click on the option to “view the newsletter”, which will bring you to the current issue that just went out.

And why would you want to sign up right now?

Because this month you have a chance to win Level 1 of the new Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3 Program (language of your choice!). Enter by emailing us at homeschool@rosettastone.com with your ideas for what to name this new newsletter. If your title is chosen, you win! The winner will be notified by email, and their name will be announced in our next enewsletter.

This is (roughly) a $250 value!  So start thinking hard and come up with a great name and send your ideas in to the email addy I listed above!

PS The emails you send will go directly to my boss, so make sure you don’t say anything exceptionally silly or even worse, don’t blow my cover by asking questions like, “Golly Jen, how’d a dork like you get to work on such an important neat-o project like this?” 

GOOD LUCK! 

February 9th, 2009 - Posted in 2009, Uncategorized | | 19 Comments

I really have nothing particular to blog about – well, that’s not absolutely true, but for some reason my kids object to me broadcasting any interesting items that are going in their lives.  They are *so* selfish.  

With that said, instead of talking about something neat-o, I will simply post a list of things wives ought not do on Valentines.

•  They should not weigh themselves.  Nothing good can come of it. 

That’s my whole list.  But really, that advice is good for any day.  You’re welcome.

Speaking of Valentines Day, if you’ve been around long enough you know that I detest this dumb holiday.  It’s just an excuse for women to get all worked up in frantic expectation for something they don’t actually know what they want.  They are just expectant for the sake of being expectant – all they know is that they are waiting for something spectacular or by golly, their man’s gonna be in trouble.

My husband never cooperates, though.  He knows I hate Valentines Day and yet he always brings me something anyway.  And this year he even jumped the gun and brought home a dozen white and dark chocolate covered strawberries.  My very favorite. 

Ok, while I’m trying to type now all of a sudden my whole room is permeated with a mix of combating fragrances. And I mean that literally. My son will not stay out of my bathroom.  He goes in there and makes the lotion bottles fight with the hairspray and perfume.  Or he takes all the toilet paper rolls out and builds a huge double-ply pyramid… how come he won’t just sit down, hold still and read a book for several hours?

Ok, I’m off to get the five year old off my bathroom counter.  Oh! But before I go… Maria and her kids spent the morning at Home Depot playing with my daughter and sent these over:

I can’t believe Coie gets paid to glue stuff together.

 PS WHOOOO HOOOOOO Jess and Cha Cha will be here in six days!!!  And this Monday she has an ultrasound so we’ll find out if I get a niece or a nephew.

 PPS The barn dance is coming up quick… are you registered yet?

 PPPS My laptop is seriously about to conk.  Any suggestions on where I can get a super cheap replacement?

February 7th, 2009 - Posted in 2009, Uncategorized | | 28 Comments