the benefits of having adult kids

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I'm pausing my normal Tuesday inspired writing series to talk about the random things I love about being a mom of four amazing adult sons. I feel like it's been years since I've shared a post about my sons, so I hope you enjoy getting to know them a little through this post! 

• they're all financially responsible for themselves
• they call me to chat at the most random of times
• I get to have drinks with them on occasion
• they sometimes randomly ask me to hang out
• they can get me to say 'yes' to anything/everything
• they don't need me as much as they used to, but when they do need something it feels really special
• I love hanging out with them even more now than I did when they were young
• their friends are cool and love me
• they don't need me to cook for them all the time anymore
• they sometimes cook for me
• they sometimes call and ask me for advice
• I get to be a front row witness to them living their amazing lives
• I get to spoil them from time to time
• they share their streaming services with me sometimes

Today is Jonah's and Noah's birthday; they're 23 now! Graham will be 27 tomorrow. I'll have the family over for dinner tonight to celebrate them; it'll be bittersweet since Noah won't be here. Such is life with adult kids, though, right? I'm glad that I'll see the three that live here! We're keeping things simple for dinner: hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and dip, and cake was about all I could come up with after a full day at work. I tried to get barbecue catered, but I was met with a resounding "no thanks" from Jonah. Ha!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of them from over the years.

Thanks for indulging my walk down Memory Lane today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 

weekending...3.9.2026.

 

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you had a great weekend! I can't wait to hear from you at the end of today's post. I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's blog post. I'll jump right in! 

Most of you know that I call Marilyn before work every morning; I always pull over at my church to do this, and I park at the back of the lot. These are the beautiful trees that I saw when I pulled in on Friday! I love tulip trees, and these are in full bloom. My routine is that I sit here until eight o'clock and talk to Marilyn; and then I call Mom as I drive to work and wait to go inside until 8:20. 

Friday was so much fun with kindergarten! My co-worker Carla made this long sidewalk game out of chalk, so we had fun going outside with them that day since the weather was so nice. 

After work, I met some co-workers for a drink and appetizers, because Chris was coming to me a little later in the night. It was about 7:30 when Chris came over; we decided on a little place in town that has really good sushi. We ordered food to share, something we always do: a spicy shrimp roll, lo mein, and dumplings. This was so good! After dinner we drove over to the town square so that I could introduce Chris to this little place called Mensi's. They have all kinds of food (for cheap!) and the best soft serve ice cream. We got our ice cream and walked over to the square and sat on this giant swing. It was a fun night! 

This was the only thing on my agenda Saturday! I haven't had a pedicure since before Christmas, so this was way overdue. I love getting to pamper myself a little in this way; do you ever do things to take care of yourself? It was so rainy here all of Saturday; because of that I didn't do much. Chris was here, so we watched TV for most of the afternoon; by "watch TV", I mean that we both napped for the majority of the afternoon. 🤣

That night for dinner, we went to Memphis Pizza Cafe, then I took my friend Kendra some dinner. She's recovering from surgery, so we sat and visited with her and her man for a while before heading back to my house to finish Ted Lasso. I actually had tickets to go see a Broadway play, but I wasn't crazy about the idea of going with the rain and because of the long Sunday I had; also, there was the time change that had to be factored in. That being said, I gave my tickets to Drew and his girlfriend Mallory; they loved the show! Sunday morning I was at church bright and early! We went to lunch with Mom and Bill afterward, then we came back to my house before saying our goodbyes and having to leave for an extra choir rehearsal. 

I shared this post on socials in honor of National Women's Day; these are the most amazing and strong women I know. I'm so proud to call them Mom and sisters! 

Think of me while I'm at work this week; we have a four and a half day work week! The students go home and twelve thirty on Friday, then I'll get to leave around one. I might end up taking the whole day off, though...but more about that later. 

How was your weekend? I'd love to hear all about it! Thanks for being here to read today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 

Friday Favorites, 3.6.2026.

 

Happy Fri-yay, friends! It's been a week. I feel like all of us who work in school settings deserve a metal for getting to this point. Ha! Yesterday was one of those days that if something was going to happen, it happened all in one day. It was the most crazy day! I'll jump right into sharing some favorites from the week. Buckle up!

This sweet baby is one of my favorites! Jonah took his baby girls to the vet on Wednesday for shots, and this one (Stella) had a very rough day there. She was so nervous that she had two major accidents in the kennel; it was so bad that they had to give her a full bath. Poor baby! She was exhausted afterward from all the trauma. 

This wall display of kindness is my favorite! I love seeing the students I work with show off their contributions they added to this display. 

I came across this picture yesterday and saved it to my phone. It's one of my favorite memories! Graham's first vehicle was a 1983 Ford Bronco, and these girls loved it. This was at a youth event one March weekend; they all climbed into his car and sprinkled glitter all over his seats, and then posed for this picture. 

Dinner out with Marilyn Monday night was my favorite! And so was this margarita.

 

Getting dressed each day is still my favorite! These are the Monday-Thursday outfits. I think Monday's was my favorite, with the oversized green button down.

Seeing Chris twice this week was a favorite! And so is Reese; look how big she's getting! She's so bad. 🤣

Other favorite moments this week have to do with my sons, and connecting with sweet students that I see everyday. This is the best part of my job! What was a favorite for you this week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all! 

Jenn