Cheesy

Mom: . . . ground chicken, that's healthy
Dad: not for the chicken!

oh my

Yoda, McDonalds and my girl...

Another unique quote from my one of my kids as she and I passed a nearby McDonald's sign advertising the fact that they open at 1 AM Black Friday morning. The sign read "OPEN 1 AM". But what my daughter read was "Open, I am." Her comment, as she reflected on the odd wording declaring that they are open, had something to do with the possibility that Yoda lettered the sign at our McDonald's… Gotta love my girl! Daddy

college applications

A bit of Sensenig family humor...

Joy: "Do I have to apply to go to HACC?"
Mom: "You are already a student there."

Another quote got us laughing much harder, but public humiliation will be spared.

Laughing with Joy

It's much more fun to have laugh therapy with my sister (Joy) and brother (Erin), than to balance my check book and budget and such.

"Apple just looks so much better, that's why people should get it, even if they were, like...slow."

"....dinky little Vista thing."

"As soon as I said that, I said 'just kidding!'...I only say that after I hear your responses."

"What is your problem?! Your laugh is really messed up!"

"I better watch everything I say tonight, because Sarah is in her little 'I don't feel like balancing my checkbook, so I'm going to find distractions and write everything down'."

"This feels like that commercial where they do that google map or whatever...as soon as I do it, it's right there online for the world to see."

"That's just like my improper grammar." (said with attitude)

"I knight you my queen."

Messed up or not, I need the laugh. Thanks Joy. :-)

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Mom had a full day today - Margaret's second day of a soccer tournament was today, and those can tire you out, even if you're not one of the players! Dad was able to gather our whole family together for the evening, however. After dinner and dessert (the cannoli cake pictured above), we relaxed in the living room and each shared something that we are thankful for in our mom. Sprinkled with jokes and laughter, each of us had a turn to relate a specific trait in her for which we are very thankful to God.

Here are some wonderful and beautiful graces that fill our mom (paraphrased).

Margaret: How you give up things for yourself to give to us.

Joy: How you are interested in all of our activities - what we did, who was there, what we talked about, etc. How you draw us out and get to know us better.

Erin: How you really care about our lives. You don't want me to waste my time or my life. You keep up with me, asking, "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be working on this or that?..."

Vinson: School and homeschooling. I see the value in what I didn't value when I was ten, in the hard and frustrating things. Even if you're not going to use times tables, the ability to work through things and learn is valuable.

How even though we haven't moved out yet, you miss us. It's nice to be missed. We are not a burden to you; you are not anxious for us to leave.

You have a warm house, Mom.

Sarah: How you care the most about our souls being established in Christ. How you are sensitive to the Spirit's leading, very discerning of your own heart, and submissive to the authority in your life (Scripture, Dad, church leadership).

How your life is very sacrificial. You die to yourself daily to serve others and follow God. You are an amazing example of how Christ humbled himself and gave himself up for us. Your life shows us the gospel.

Dad: I'm blessed to have you as my wife. There is much fruit from your labors that I never would have thought of when I first married you. Seeing your children rise up and call you blessed, I say, "Lord, you've blessed me with this woman who is laying her life down." You understand that it's only God's work. It's a joy.

Thanks for being interested in people when I was interesting in things, and for rubbing off on me. And thanks for raising these kids.

We love you Mom!

Here's a snapshot in words of one of the amusing interactions that had us all laughing together. I wrote it down at Margaret's urging.

Joy, finding out that I was taking notes: "I was wondering why you were typing and looking up at us like this..." she tilts her head up to her left and stares, then exclaims as she realizes, "you can't see my hands, but I'm typing!" (They were under her blanket.)

snapshot in words

setting: Sensenig kitchen after dinner - only Geoff, Vinson, and Sarah are home and starting to scatter after the meal

Dad: poured some milk into my small empty cup to give our dog a drink.

Me: stopped him and exclaimed "I don't share with dogs!"

Vinson, with an imitation Bush voice: "I don't negotiate with terrorists, and I don't share with dogs!"

Birthdays, and a Bit of Wit

December is a busy month for our family. In addition to the normal Christmas and holiday activities, we have 3 birthdays: Mom (6th), Vinson (14th), Joy (30th). Then Mom and Dad's wedding anniversary is on January 4th (our Sensenig Grandparents' is the 1st)! Vinson's 21st birthday was yesterday. Our whole family was home for dinner at 7:30, after his first final exam of the week. My mom got a really good deal on his present: a hardcover ESV Study Bible (from Focus on the Family's sale online). Joy made a funny, and I thought I'd should share on here, since I gave her a hard time in past posts.

My mom was excited to share the price as soon as he opened the gift bag.

Joy: "I don't think other families talk about how much they spend on gifts. 'Why do we take price tags off gifts?...so we get to TELL them how much it cost us!'"

Kudos to Joy for being quick on her feet and displaying a bit of wit. :-)

Quotes from this evening

A quote from tonight in our family room:

Joy - “Have you noticed how I’m trying to increase my intellectual by using bigger words?"

Dad responds – "hey uh Ma, see how I’m tryin’ to be more smartish by usin’ bigga vords?"

And earlier this evening in the kitchen:

Joy: "This guy honked his horn at me, and I just turned at a red light! . . . oh, I mean traffic light."

It's nice that our family can pick on Joy more these past couple years, so that I'm not alone. (obviously I'm making sure everyone knows this!)

oh, and this just in from Vinson, when Mom was telling him that we have homemade bread (but that he cannot eat the brownies Joy made for another family):

"Is there bread for humans...."

(I take every chance I get to make fun of Vinson, because he definitely dishes it out on me, but I admittedly give him easy material)

I sat there in the dark...waiting.

One night when my parents had care group, Joy, Erin, and I (Margaret) where at the Millen's house because they had care group too, and we were playing with them. Any way, around the end of the time we were there, we were playing a game called "The Family Game"

(I think.) We had played one round of it and were starting the next. Did I forget to mention that it was storming out? Well, it was. So we were playing when all of a sudden everything got completely dark! You could not even see your hand in front of your face! And it looked the same with your eyes opened or if they were closed! "Just wait, it'll come back on soon." one of the Millen kids said. I got up and started to walk around, but then I decided to just sit where I was and wait. I sat there in the dark waiting when all of a sudden I saw a light! One of the parents was coming down with a cell phone light on. It was just a little bit of light so we could leave. We where saved! Upstairs looked completely different because they had put some candles up and had flashlights. Earlier that morning Zachary and Vinson (My brother) trashed out a home. And they had found glow sticks like things that have plastic stick like things that light up! We all got some and it lit up the place! Then after a little bit people began to leave. But we could not go home because we would have to walk in the storm. So we just stayed there for a little bit. Then later my dad came down to get us. When we got home it was so cosy because there was candles everywhere! Then in just a couple minutes the electricity came back on! We dozed off to sleep by the sound of thunder and the flash of lighting!

A picture is worth a thousand words. . .

. . . which is why I so wish that I had a camera today!

The photo I would have posted is one of our Senior Pastor, Pete Privitera, climbing into the sunroof of my car.

The story behind the "picture". . .

I was driving back to the office from the bank this morning, sometime after 9:00 am. Remembering that I had not flipped up the flag on our mailbox when I placed the mail in it earlier that morning, I decided to put on my four-way car lights and stopped on the road to quickly do so, since there were no cars to be seen behind me. I soon found out that I had been locked out of my running car, with the radio on and windows only slightly open (although my sunroof was also open fully).

Running halfway up the church office drive-way, I stopped to walk backwards and observe a few cars safely avert colliding with my car or any opposing traffic around the sharply curved road.

Just like Christmas. . .

Our Mom and Dad are away this week, installing a kitchen at our aunt Cheryl's home in Charlotte, NC. Here is some of what happens when they are away. . .

After dinner tonight (Joy's yummy green-bean and chicken casserole), Vinson, Erin, and Joy (Margaret was better off safe and healthy at soccer practice) tore through boxes of baking goods and sweets we just received from a house that is being vacated.

I jotted down some comments that were flying around. You kinda had to be there, but we had alot of fun, and these comments show some of that. . .

Oh! Look at this one, it's good...only expired on May 26th! (Vinson)