About Me

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I'm a child of God, wife to Charlie, mom to three beautiful girls, daughter to Dennis and Susan, and friend to as many as I can meet. (In that order.) Welcome to my bloggaroni. :) Follow me on Twitter: thatsmykimjay / Go to my site: www.kimjay.com

Friday, May 28, 2010

I wonder...

Every time I see sweet little Titus, I wonder.  Those precious little eyes, that soft, auburn-ish bald head...I wonder.  IF God had given ME a boy...would he look like sweet little Titus?  Well, if He did - I wouldn't have been any happier.  And, neither are his sweet parents, and grandparents!  Enjoy, little Titus...











Monday, May 24, 2010

Boop, boop diddum daddum waddum chew!

"Hello.  My name is Kim Jay, and I am a sushi-a-holic."
(all-together) "Hi, Kim."
"It has been 23 hours since I last ate raw fish."





Okay. So WHAT is the deal? What the HECK do they put in this stuff that makes it soooooo addicting? I'm not even kidding.  I have come to the point in my life where I realize I have a problem.  A real, serious, problem.

Let's go back in time, first, shall we?  Five years ago, not only would I not eat sushi, I would not eat fish of any kind.  I think it all started when I was about 17, and we went on a family vacation to Panama City, Florida.  On that trip, we went deep-sea fishing.  On that trip, it rained.  It was pretty rocky out there.  On that trip, a man stood at the front of the boat and puked his guts up the entire time.  On that trip, the smell of the squid we were using at bait, combined itself in my memory with the smell of that dude's tossed cookies.  And, on that trip, I was  turned off fish and it's smell of any kind for the next 20 years of my life.  A tragedy.  A moment of silence, please.  (Oh, and by the way...on that trip, I caught the biggest fish and won the $64 pot!)

So, flash-forward to 2007.  I'm pregnant.  No fish for me, and that's just fine and dandy.  Or was it?  You see, Charlie got my girls hooked on the stuff, and guess where everyone wanted to go as a special meal out?  Sushi.  But, I could not partake, so I just sat and watch them in utter delight and wonderment of the meal they were enjoying.  Suddenly, my little teriyaki chicken wasn't looking so hot.  I wanted that fish.  I had tasted it on our honeymoon in Maui as sashimi, and it wasn't bad at all.  No fish taste!  But, now I was pregnant and was forbidden the roll!  They ate it on birthdays, they ate it in the Bahamas on vacation, they ate it on Saturdays, they ate, they ate, they ate...

SO, we get to Memphis a year later, Peanut is 8 weeks old and my dear friend, who will get my entire estate when I die because of this, told me about Osaka.  And, once at Osaka - there was - THE CORDOVA ROLL.  It has been downhill/uphill since (depending on whether your name is Charlie/Kim.)  Why?  Cause the stuff ain't cheap!  I find myself scraping my pennies, downloading coupons, memorizing the lunch specials, and paying cash so Charlie doesn't know...that I've had the fish.  I've even begged and pleaded on Facebook for someone, ANYONE...TAKE ME OUT FOR SUSHI!


So, I'm scarfing it down in my car in a parking lot, and Charlie calls:  
"Whatcha doin?"
"Just grabbing a bite to eat while I'm out."
"YOU'RE EATING SUSHI AREN'T YOU?!?!?!?!?"
"Maybe?"  (And, I even give him the cute little puppy dog face over the phone - which he totally sees in my voice - because, you know, we're married and have those super-powers now.) 
"You're not right!  You wouldn't even eat FISH when I met you!  I'm scared to look at the AMEX bill.  You've GOT to stop."
This, I know.  I do have a problem.  So, do YOU have a sushi problem?  Anyone else out there?  Am I alone in this?  Here are some of the signs:


  1. You're hoarding cash so that you can eat sushi without your husband knowing.
  2. The people at Osaka know your name, and your mom's name, and your friends' names, and your brothers' names, and your kids' names, but not-so-much your husband's.
  3. You equate large sums of cash to how much sushi that could buy.
  4. Your daughters are now on their own for college tuition.
  5. Your 2 year old can properly use chop-sticks.
  6. You have chopsticks in your glove-compartment.
  7. You have chopsticks in your purse.
  8. You have chopsticks in your closet.
  9. You have voicemail from friends telling you where they saw coupons for Osaka - and you DARE NOT delete them!
  10. Your friends are trying to find you and drop by Osaka just in case...
  11. Your mother (aka ENABLER) calls and says, "Did I hear you say you wanted to eat sushi today?"

So, I did come to the realization that I had a problem and needed to hold up to my part of the family cut-backs and put down the sticks.  I told Charlie THREE WEEKS AGO, that the next time I ate sushi, it would be HIS idea.  Well, that day came.  And, it was last night.  And, it was good.  (Wait. Hold that thought a moment.  Mmmmmm.)  But, now?  I want more.  So, I'm writing about it instead.  And, dang, those little fishies are just gonna have to keep on swimming - but not forever.  

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Two.

My sweet little Peanut.  She, is two.  She is SO two, that her birthday was May 1st ("Mayday, mayday, can you hear me?") and I am JUST NOW blogging her birthday.  She's a keepin' me busy!

So much.  Here goes...

Saturday, her actual birth day was pretty uneventful.  She really doesn't even understand "birthday" except that "birthday cake" is involved.  THAT, she gets.  I guess all the birthdays in her class at school this year prepared her for the magic of flour and sugar and eggs and BUTTERCREAM ICING.  Her other favorite, "Cock-oh-whoa."  Or, chocolate milk.  So, Saturday, she's thinking, isn't anything special because...no cake.  

birthday = cake + cock-oh-whoa  

Since we have not had her dedicated at church yet, we thought it would be good to go ahead and do it on the birthday party day so our friends and family could kill two birds with one stone.  May 2, the dedication...at our wonderful new church that we LOVE.  And, they love us.  Which made the day...beautiful.

It started out okay.  The novelty of Nana and Pa, and Memaw (her GREAT-grandmother), and Matt and Amy, and Wendy and AnnaGrace and her family - at Peanut's church was fun for her.  (I just adore this picture.  It's not technically very good, but look at the way my daddy is looking at her.  LOVE)


Then, she started getting antsy during the announcements.  I'm thinking, Oh boy.  We better get this show on the road before it all comes to a head.  They call us up, announce our new membership, and begin on the important task of dedicating our sweet little Anna Katelyn to the Lord.  

Well, it is truly as if she woke up that day, said to herself, "Wait.  I'm two now.  Yeah!  Let's turn this mother out!"  And, in typical Roaten-Jay overachieving fashion...she was TWO.  Terrible.  Terrible.  Two.  She's gonna do "TWO" like no other kids has EVER done two!  Words can't do justice, and I'll spare all the mundane antics of just trying to get her OUT OF THE HOUSE that morning.

So, then, the service.  Notice the look on our dear friend and elder's face (the red-head) at one point.  She had run around the podium several dozen times, peeked through Charlie's legs continuously.  Jumped off the step, got back on the step, jumped off the step, got back on the step...  All, while our dear new pastor was asking us though oh, so important questions.  "Will you promise to raise Anna up to be a godly woman, and to love Jesus, and to..."  Then, the prayer with the anointing of oil.  She looked at those elders and her face said, "Oh no your NOT gonna put your hands on me!  And, whatever you have in that bottle, you can KEEP TO YOURSELF!"  





So, it all turned out okay when he brought out the little Bible with her name on it.  "Okay, presents?  Well, NOW we're talking!  I can hold still for that!"


So, she has been dedicated to Christ.  Just as my older two girls, and generations and generations before.  The whole time, I was praying to myself, "Lord, let it TAKE."  Ha, ha!  Because, above all else I want for my children, it is for them to know the Lord.  It is THE most important thing ever.  They will grow up, make mistakes, make bad boy choices, try things they shouldn't, maybe NEVER learn to keep their rooms clean, and will fall away from Christ many times.  My only prayer in life...is that they always go back to Him.  

The biggest blessing of the day.  Glenn, another new member (so, I don't know him very well at all), came to me and told me, that he really felt he needed to tell me this.  That God was impressing on his heart, that Anna would grow to be a fine, godly woman one day.  That she would really come to love the Lord one day so much.  That it was a very strong feeling he felt was from the Lord. 

Wow.

My heart.  I told him that he couldn't know how much that meant to me, and that I was going to write that in her little pink Bible they had given her.  So, maybe.  Just maybe.  God will make the promise complete.

And, so the tantrums have revved up.  Majorly.  I am having to physically force her to sit in her time-out chair for the entire two minutes.  Even, as she is clawing and hitting and screaming.  And, as I hold her there, calmly waiting for her to settle down for the time-out-post-mortem-talk ("Now, one day you will be able to control yourself and be a big girl.  But, until then, mama has to HELP you control yourself") I pray.  I pray for God to give me glimpses of that godly woman to be.  

I love you, Anna Jay.  You are the light of your daddy's and my eyes.  And, you are the light of Jesus' eyes, too.  Let em' shine, girl!







Tuesday, May 11, 2010

3,000 calories...

I've known Daina for, hmmm....let's see....what is it? 10 years?  Well, if you go back to the year she and my brother were in Mrs. Wojcik's Kindergarten class at Altruria, it would be about 28 years!  Her beautiful daughter Madeleine  and my daughter Morgan went to the same elementary school as we did, and had the same teacher together - Mrs. Wojcik!  So, yeah, we tight.  Ha!

AND, both of us having 16 year-olds to contend with, well, both of us were out of our minds at about the same time and decided to have babies again.  We caught up with each other at high school registration last year and we both just laughed at each other and our little diaper-bag-toting selves!  Although, I'm sure she occasionally joins me in the What was I thinking? moments, we also get to enjoy this fun two-year-old time.

Jackson was a hoot!  And, he was FAST!  We did a lot of aerobics chasing him and trying to entertain him long enough for an in-focus shot.  At one point, I even bribed him by promising to carry him to the top of the fire-escape.  During which time, his mother, who was holding my camera for me, thought it would be funny to snap a shot:


Yes, I'm sure I burned 3,000 calories on that photo shoot!  But, we sure had fun!  Enjoy, Madeleine and Jackson...









Monday, May 3, 2010

Self-portrait...

Been soooo busy working on Peanut's birthday, a couple of other sessions, and just everyday stuff.  Will be posting pics from the Anna-Dedication-Extravaganza-Bonanza soon.  As well as a video that is.....well, Peanut.

But, today I was working on sweet little Elly's session, and wow.  That girl's eyes.  Gorgeous.  So big, so clear and beautiful, well...I could see myself in them.  Made me think (and I've talked about this before), can God see Himself in MY eyes?  I'm going to open them up big and keep them as clear as I can, so maybe, just maybe, He can.

Today, my self-portrait.  Can you see me?  Love to you all.