~Spring Is Upon Us! ~

That wonderful time of year is upon us again! Flowers blooming, people laughing, birds chirping and the world coming alive again after a long winter.
Something about it just makes me want to sing for joy. Everything is stunning. Everything is blooming with life.
What joy!
What bliss!
What Ecstacy!
Is there any felicity in the world superior to this?

I love spring!

Plans for the month:

Enjoy the weather.

Enjoy the fresh flowers.

Go to Canada.

Buy the patterns for our Jamestown Garb.

Buy the fabric for our Jamestown Garb.

Jump up and down with joy....

WE'RE GOING TO JAMESTOWN!

Now I'm really happy!

And I took a Narnia quiz (I know, i've been way to into quiz's lately! lol.)
And I hate the person that I turned out as. But hey, I answered honestly. oh well. lol.

Tagged :)

<-H.M.S Suprise

Joe tagged me. So here goes! :)

1) What goes on a fried egg sandwich other then egg and toast? Nothing. ew gross. I hate egg sandwiches!!
2) Favorite book in the Bible? Psalms. It's so poetic.
3) Who’s your mentor? My Mom.
4) How many computers do you have in your house? Um...(let me count them!) 6.
5) Tag the last 5 people who commented you. Elizabeth, Brooke, Delaney, Elissa and Darby.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, and I took a "Which Princess Bride Character Are You?" Test. You'll never guess who I was....



Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti




Yikes. Yikes. Yikes. Count Rugen???!!! I'm freaking myself out. I think I'm gonna die.
Okay, so maybe not...but I'll faint anyway. I never considered myself...*ahem*, quite like him before. But then again...you never know! :D

~jessica~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fingerprints of God by Steven Curtis Chapman

I can see the tears filling Your eyes

And I know where they're coming from

They're coming from a heart that's broken in two

By what you don't see

The person in the mirror

Doesn't look like the magazine

Oh, but when I look at you it's clear to me that...

I can see the fingerprints of God

When I look at you

I can see the fingerprints of God

And I know it's true

You're a masterpiece

That all creation quietly applauds

And you're covered with the fingerprints of God

Never has there been and never again

Will there be another you

Fashioned by God's hand

And perfectly planned

To be just who you are

And what He's been creating

Since the first beat of your heart

Is a living breathing priceless work of art and...
Just look at you You're a wonder in the making Oh, and God's not through, no In fact, He's just getting started and…

life

Grrr. I'm so frustrated. Blogger just deleted my whole entire post (it was nice, long and poetic too...okay, so maybe not, but it was long!). I don't really feel like typing all that up again, so this will be short...sorry. :)

well, tommorow is william's birthday, but I've already posted on that.
And the 16th was my blog's 2nd birthday!!!
Happy Birthday to insertfootinopenmouth.blogspot.com
Happy Birthday to insertfootinopenmouth.blogspot.com
Happy Birthday to insertfootinopenmouth.blogspot.com
Happy Birthday to insertfootinopenmouth.blogspot.com
All sung to the tune of the "Happy Birthday" song, of course.

Hmm...what's been happening? William and I danced around the kitchen to crazy music today. I think he'll be any excellent dancer when he gets...taller. :) it's so good to have him back home! :D
AND, Father and Mother went out today and bought a JOHN DEERE! We're all really excited and have decided that we're now officially "Countrifyed". :D

well, I said this wouldn't be long, so I'll go ahead and close now. :)

~jessica~

Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound!

What a lovely evening we had last night! Dad, Melissa, Caleb, Abby, Myself and a bunch of friends from church went to go see "Amazing Grace" last night. It was beautiful! Ioan Gruffud did an excellent job as William Wilberforce and Ciaran Hinds made an excellent bad guy (I've seen him in a lot of movies and he's always a better bad guy!) and I really liked William Pitt as well (played by Benedict Cumberbatch.). The story of his fight against slavery was portrayed powerfully and it was very, very moving.
My favorite scene was a part where he was lying in the grass one morning, looking at the flowers
and the spiderwebs. His butler finds him out there and starts to wonder if his master is crazy. I don't remember exactly what was said, but it went something like this:

"Oh, so you've found God, Sir?" Sayeth the Butler.

"No,"William Wilberforce says with a short pause. "I think he found me," and then jokingly adds, "and I must say I find it quite inconvenient!"

Let me tell you, it was a beautiful film. If you haven't seen it, you must. I cried at the end. Though, there were some humerous parts, and Sierra, Lenna and I had a good time laughing at several wigs and hair-dos. :D We walked away from the theatre very pleased indeed.

jessica

HAPPY EASTER!!!

O, love, how deep, how broad, how high,
How passing thought and fantasy,
That God, the Son of God, should take
Our mortal form for mortals' sake!

For us baptized, for us he bore
His holy fast, and hungered sore,
For us temptations sharp he knew,
For us the tempter overthrew.

For us to wicked men betrayed,
Scourged, mocked, in crown of thorns arrayed;
For us he bore the cross's death,
For us at length gave up his breath.

For us he rose from death again,
For us he went on high to reign,
For us he sent his Spirit here
To guide, to strengthen and to cheer.

All honor, laud, and glory be,
O Jesus, virgin-born, to thee;
Whom with the Father we adore,
And Holy Ghost, for evermore.

_____________

I know, I know, I've been dreadful about posting lately. I most apologize, but I haven't really had anything interesting enough to post about for some time. Of course, I could have posted anyway, and bored you all to death with reports of the weather and everybody's health, but I didn't wish to make y'all suffer. :)
Anyway, I finally have something to post about now! :) One, is Easter! The time to remember Christ's Resurrection...a time of love, hope and joy. I must admit, Easter and Christmas are my two favorite times of the year! :D
Secondly, there are two very important birthdays this month! :) William Alexander McDonald, my darling baby brother is turning 2 years old on the 19th. We're so sad that he's growing up so quickly, and we miss when he was small enough for us to hold in our arms, but, now he's a little boy, running around, making gun noises, blowing up the girls doll houses and blowing kisses (lol. I know, shocking. He blew a kiss to a girl at church today...of course we all thought he was the cutest thing ever! :D). He is certainly a joy to be around and we love our "little man" more and more every day!
The other birthday is that of my dear friend, Abigail Allison, who turned 14 years old yesterday! I'm so blessed to have such wonderful friends...I've known Abigail for 2 years now, and she has proved to be loyal, sweet and encouraging. You're so special to me, Abigail!
Happy Birthday William and Abigail!!!

Now shall I bore you with weather reports? :D Well, I can explain the weather in one simple word....FREEZING!!! Gracious me, it's Easter! It's not supposed to be cold on Easter! lol. Oh well. It was a lovely day anyway. :) We got our Easter dresses done in time (for once! :D)...we all came in white. It was a lot of fun! And David Price was getting family photos so we got ours done. I'll try to see if I can post it sometime.

Well, I'm kind of in a "Pride and Prejudice" mood right now. Tiff, Melissa, James and I were watching it the other night, and let me repeat...I love that movie! If you haven't seen it, you must! It's excellent. If you've seen it, who's your favorite character?? Sorry, but I love knowing who people like best in that movie, because, unlike most movies (where everyone likes the main character and that's about it.) people have a variety of favorite characters. :) I think I like Fritzwilliam, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley, Lizzie, Mrs. Bennet and *drumroll* (y'all are going to kill me) Mary! :D I know, she's such a bore, but she's so hilarious. :)

Well, we're watching "The Winslow Boy" tonight as a family, and I'm being summoned (it's starting). So TTFN (Ta Ta For Now). :)

Happy Easter,

jessica nicole mcdonald

Happy Birthday Virginia Grace!!

This is a little belated , but I want to wish my little sister, Virginia Grace McDonald, a happy 6th birthday.

I remember the day she was born, we weren't allowed to see her because the doctors told us that she was having breathing problems. We all cried and cried. We were finally allowed to take her home from the hospital a week later and I was able to hold my beloved baby sister for the first time. I'll never forget her beautiful little face looking up at me, her curious eyes darting from one sibling to the other. We knew she was special from the moment we saw her.

She's bigger now. She can dress herself, make her own bed, and read all on her own. She wears an intelligent pair of glasses and she can ride her own bike...she's growing up so fast! But we'll always remember the wonderful day that she came into the world. A blessing from Heaven. We love you, Virginia Grace!

Happy 6th Birthday!!



p.s. Her birth date is March 12th.

Jane Austen Heroine Quiz

I took a Jane Austen Heroine Quiz! And guess who I was??

Take the Quiz here!

I guess that would make sense, though. :)

-jessica nicole

p.s Here's a Guy version. Jane Austen "heroes" :)

SOOOOOO

if I'm Marianne does that mean I'm related to them?

And does that mean I marry HIM?!

Well, I do LOVE her wedding gown....:D

Little Brothers :)

A conversation with my two year old brother, William:


Me: William do you like Daddy?
Him: No
Me: Mommy?
Him: No
Me: Bubba (James)?
Him: No
Me: Christa?
Him: No
Me: Tissy (Tiff)?
Him: No
Me: Lala (Melissa)?
Him: No
Me: Me?
Him: No
Me: Bubby (Caleb)?
Him: No
Me: Abby?
Him: No
Me: Grace?
Him: No
Me: Emma?
Him: No
Me: Do you like frogs?
Him: No
Me: Do you like bugs?
Him: No
Me: Do you like John Deere?
Him: Yes! John Deere!

LOL. That's a little brother for you. :)

Tagged! :D

Friends,

You might know how much I absolutely love tags. Well, this time my dear friend Brooke tagged me. So here goes! :)


Tag rules: List two things people do that you like, and two things they do that you don't like. You may tag no more than five others:

1. I love it when people actually overcome their embarrassment and give dancing a try!!
2. I like it when people admit that the game Taboo really is a lot of fun.
3. I don't like it when someone decides to ruin everyone's good mood by displaying their bad mood.
4. I don't like it when someone has no sense of humor and gets mad at practical jokes. :)

I tag (I know, y'all are all getting fed up with me tagging y'all all the time. hehe.)

1. Megan Carlson
2. Ashton Bandy
3. Jessica Erber
4. Jonathan Erber
5. Sierra Candler


Happy Wednesday,

jessica nicole mcdonald

p.s. I made a test to figure out how well you know me. :) Enjoy!!

A funny moment last week.


Emma walks into the kitchen. "Mom said to get me some milk please." She announced walking up to me.
"Alright." I replied on my way to the cupboard. I pulled out a cup. But Emma was not pleased.
"I want a purple cup..."
"Orange lid...."
"this amount of milk..."
I let out a long sigh. "Emma," I finally crossed my arms and said looking down at my little sister. "You are a very spoiled young lady." I smiled.
She put her hands on her hips looked up at me. "Jessica," She said levelly. "You are a codfish!"

LOL. Okay, so she's watched Peter Pan one too many times. lol.

Oh, and try to guess what famous author said this.... (I found it and I laughed so hard...it's so her...the author, I mean.)

jessica mcdonald

Emma's Surgery...Over!

Thank the Lord! Emma is safely out of surgery and the "bump" is removed. Apparently it was several blood vessels tangled together. As we watched my father get her out of the car she was fast asleep. We were told that her head hurts terribly and so does her throat (due to the tube being stuck down it during the surgery). We're all eager to see our little Emma up and about again, but we're waiting patiently (or trying!) for her to awake on her own. My parents said that she was very brave, of which we are glad. She's always been a very courageous little girl! :)

Thank you everyone so very much for you prayers and encouragement, they mean so much to all of us and especially to Emma.

jessica nicole

Liberty Day

Dear Friends (y'all),

I am excited to say that we were able to attend the 9th annual Liberty Day Celebration this year! And what a superb time we had! :)
Mr Phillips and Mr. Potter lectured on the history of Jamestown and of our Country, and they did an excellent job! With much enthusiasm they reminded us of our nations history, those who helped found it and the strong christian roots which formed it. It was wonderfully done *bravo*
Afterwards the celebration began! Everyone joined in singing our National Anthem, we heard several stunning piano (and violin) performances, singing (done by the Erberauntey singers), a hilarious performance of "Revolutionary Tea" (done by the same), as well as the reading of a winning Essay (read by Jessica Erber) that was beautifully written, and, of course, the reenactment of the 2nd Virginia Convention ( By the way, all the reenactors did an amazing job....for a second I thought I was really there...).
Afterwards we watched our brothers run off and join the military (militia or something...I can't remember exactly)...including Caleb. They left following the beat of a drum. I was almost tempted to start singing "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"...but managed to restrain myself. :) While most of the boys were off fighting for our Liberty (or marching somewhere) we had a lovely time dancing the Virginia Reel.

Unfortunately, the weather got pretty bad (a heavy amount of snow and ice) and we had to leave earlier than we had intended. But we were exceedingly happy that we were able to attend! After a long, long drive home we finally crashed into bed, happy and eager for Liberty Day 2008! Thank you Erbers (and all else involved!) for making this event possible!!!

BTW, We didn't get as many photos as we would have liked (do to the fact that we were having such a good time!) but here are some of the ones that we did get. Tiff already posted them on her blog but I'll go ahead and put them on here as well. Oh, and you can find more photos on Ashtons blog.


















Our family, except, of course, Caleb, who was away fighting for the cause of Liberty.

The Erberauntey singers performing "Revolutionary Tea" which was absolutely hysterical! :D






























Grace Bandy and I right before the dancing began (excited! We had been looking forward to that part! :D). Notice Grace's lovely dress was the one we were working on when she stayed with us a couple weeks ago!

Tiffany finishing sewing her dress (we always seem to be doing that at the last minute! *laugh*), which looked beautiful, by the way!

My lovely mother looking exquisite!






















Melissa and William enjoying Liberty Day!

William, our little Prince Charming and Patriot. He's a bit young to follow Caleb into battle though. I think we'll make him wait a few years. :)

















My brave brother showing me how strong he is (I thought the gun was heavy, but in the photo he's informing me otherwise.)!





















"Hurrah! Hurrah!" Marching courageously into battle!

William decided he wanted to play the flute. :)

__________

Quotes from the some of the men who attended the 2nd Virginia Convention:



"Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!" - Patrick Henry


"I will raise at once a force of 1000 men, subsist them at my own expence, and march myself at their head, to the relief of Boston!" - George Washington


"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

Our Trip To Beloved Texas...

Right Before we left for Texas (below). Standing in the middle of our completly frozen lake...freezing, of course. :)





































H-E-B! We miss and love you!!! :)


























Daniel and Emma



























Downtown Houston!!! :)




































Myself, Tiffany, Christa, Daniel and Melissa at the Durens house.


























Mr. Duren, John, Mrs. Duren, Mom and Dad.

Christa, Dad, Mom and Daniel together at our dear friends, the Durens home.

Christa, William and Daniel at Goode & Co for dinner.

We watched the most adorable movie today. The Slipper and the Rose.

A lovely version of the Cinderella story. I've seen 3 versions, and this, I must say, is my favorite. The music was lively and fun, the costumes GORGEOUS (underlined, capitalized, italicized, bolded and underlined!), the dances (which we're bent on learning!) beautiful and everything about it, sweet and intriguing. I highly reccomend it. It was made by the makers of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins, so don't be suprised when the dances slightly remind you of Chimney Sweeps or a bunch of old men trying to create another flying car.... :)

But it was lovely and I really enjoyed it!

jess

p.s we go to Liberty Day tommorow! I'll be sure to post about it!! :)

Happy 21st Birthday Tiffany!!!!!!

This birthday wish goes to my dear sister, Tiffany Faith McDonald. A sister and a friend.

HAPPY TWENTY-FIRST BIRTHDAY, TIFFANY!!!!!!!!!

She's so amazing and so sweet. (Aren't I blessed to have so many wonderful friends in my family?? :) I love you, Tiff!

The Lone Star State...um...Yeehaw! :D

Y'all...

For those who were wondering about Emma, nothing has happened yet. She's scheduled for a visit to a surgeon (it's a certain kind of surgeon but I can't remember what he's called.) on the 20th. I will be sure to update after that though.

And...guess where we are right now! :) Texas! Wahoo! (or should I say "yeehaw"? :D) We had to do some stuff with our store, so we came down on Tuesday! We're all so happy to be back in the great Lone Star state...even if only for a week. We never realized how much we all missed skyscrapers, traffic and hundreds of stores only minutes away. We drove by our old house and saw a shiny black car parked in the driveway (a bit different than our 15 passenger E350! :D) and a junior high school sign planted in the yard.
Right now we're staying with my Aunt and Uncle in Houston. So far, the trip has been pretty uneventful. Though we've seen many of our very dear friends and relatives! Daniel and Christa also came down to visit us (and help out at the store.) and we've had a lovely time with them...it being the first time we've seen them since the wedding.
I do have one pretty humerous story before I close, though.

My aunt has this huge stuffed tiger by her front door. And it looks very real. Well, we ordered pizza while we were here and this little guy rang the door bell to deliver our pizza. Tiff opened the door and his eyes got wide as he saw the savage beast. :) He pointed (his hand shaking) "T..i..g..errr..." He trembled.
"Oh, don't worry, it's fake." Tiff assured him.
He smiled nervously, took the check gave her the pizza and ran for his car. LOL. It was pretty funny and we all had a good laugh afterwards.

I'll post photos soon! :)

jess

Emma Katherine

Since Tiffany already worded it so beautifully, I'll just copy and paste what she had to say on her blog.

Late last week a strange lump appeared on Emma's right hand. She visited the doctor today and he suggested that we take her to a pediatric surgeon right away. It looks like whatever is underneath the skin will need to be removed. He wasn't sure what caused it, and thought that it was so strange, he called a colleague in to take a look at it as well.

Thankfully, Emma thinks this whole thing is rather humorous. :) Last week, she came up to me and told me she had a bump on her hand. Later, she told my parents, "my bone is too big!" ;-) She has been good natured so far, and doesn't seem to mind that the doctors will make her go to sleep so they can remove the lump from her hand.

We would be very grateful if you could keep Emma in your prayers as she has doctor visits and most likely surgery. If you could also remember our family, especially our Mom, during this time, we would really appreciate it. I'll keep you posted as things progress.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 551 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Abbott and Costello

I got this off of a friends blog and was really amused! :)

ABBOTT: Super Duper Computer Store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den, and I'm thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look in the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What have you got?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: Okay, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office and it has windows! Alright, let's just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue "W."
COSTELLO: Whatever, forget that. Can I watch movies on the Internet?
ABBOTT: Yes, you want Real One.
COSTELLO: Maybe a real one, maybe a cartoon. What I watch is none of your business. Just tell me what I need!
ABBOTT: Real One.
COSTELLO: If its a long movie I also want to see reels 2, 3, and 4. Can I watch them?
ABBOTT: Of course.
COSTELLO: Great, with what?
ABBOTT: Real One.
COSTELLO: OK, I'm at my computer and I want to watch a movie. What do I do?
ABBOTT: You click the blue "1."
COSTELLO: I click the blue one what?
ABBOTT: The blue "1."
COSTELLO: Is that different from the blue W?
ABBOTT: The blue 1 is Real One and the blue W is Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: But there are three words in "office for windows"!
ABBOTT: No, just one. But it’s the most popular Word in the world.
COSTELLO: It is?
ABBOTT: Yes, but to be fair, there aren't many other Words left. It pretty much wiped out all the other Words out there.
COSTELLO: And that word is real one?
ABBOTT: Real One has nothing to do with Word. Real One isn't even part of Office.
COSTELLO: Stop! Don't start that again. What about financial bookkeeping you have anything I can track my money with?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money....