celebrate the season-celebrate a birthday!

rode polar express

in jammies

good times

decorated for the season

bought tree

smells sooo good

need to decorate tree

happy holidays

ruby's first birthday

decorations

presents

cake

family

balloon wishes

one tired little girl

Happy Day Jamie!

I still remember timing my mothers contractions with my snoopy watch the night she was born. My dad and sister went and got us some take-out from Long John Silvers and there was no way I was going to leave my mothers side for a minute. I was so excited for the new baby brother or sister that was coming. It was a baby sister. I remember the day she came home from the hospital and I wasn't the one (Niki) who wanted to go outside and play 4-square or ride my ten speed, I wanted to hold the baby and just be with her. My dad really wanted a boy, and he even bought boy clothes for her. He also wanted to name her Jamie Craig, his name being James Craig but my mom won that battle thank goodness and she was named Jamie C. My dad put those boy clothes on her hoping it might turn her into a boy. And I have to say it might have worked a little bit, she was the only one out of the three of us that played sports. All kidding aside we all know my dad loved her every bit as much as he would have loved a son. So Happy Birthday to my baby sister today, who is all grown up with two babies of her own. She is such a beautiful person, and I am so thankful she is my sister. Have a wonderful day and we all wish we could spend it with you! love you..

surprise

she may have been our surprise baby-but the only surprise to us now is how much we love and adore our little ruby.

fiona flies in for the night..

every year fiona the witch (aka grandma) flies in for a fun halloween party. the kids look so forward to this every year. games, crafts, freaky food, pumpkin carving with awards, bobbing for apples and the favorite of the evening ghost pie. lots of people came this year, angelina jolie, brad pitt, indiana jones, a hippie and many more. a great time was had by all who came. fiona sure does a great job with the help of her partner mildred (grandpa) evan was a tire, yes a tire. he loves all tires, and will check every SUV to make sure they have a spare tire underneath. crazy i know. i wasn't sure how i was going to make a tire costume, but we were at walmart and i saw a wheelbarrow tire and it just happened to fit perfectly around his waist!

"medium"

this is a funny story that i have always wanted to write down. and tonight i thought i would. when lily was about 3 she was my little shadow. she loved going with me everywhere. she especially loved going to the dry cleaners. she loved the high school girls that worked there and thought they were so pretty. she was also fascinated by the little lever they got to push to one side to make all those clothes go round and round. she was so surprised that they would stop right in the exact spot where our clothes were hanging. every time we would go she would always ask me what the girls name was. i told her i had no idea because they didn't wear name tags. a couple times a week we would visit the dry cleaners, the girls knew who we were, so when we would drive up they would type in our last name and then holler at me what kind of starch do you like and i would holler back "medium" the pretty girl would walk our ticket to our window and off we went. one day after several visits to the cleaners, lily asked me the usual question, what is the pretty girls name? again i would say, "lily i have no idea what her name is." this time lily kind of chuckled in the back seat and said, "mom I know her name" i replied "you do? what is it?" she then told me," mom, her name is medium."

HB Mom

happy birthday mom! today she is in colorado with my little sis, jamie and her cute family celebrating her birthday. we were able to celebrate a little before she left and we will celebrate a little more when she gets home. i hope she has a fabulous day!

my mom has a very special gift, she knows exactly what her family needs and how we go about getting what we need. my sisters know this too, without any doubt. this summer i was getting over being sick and pretty much couldn't get back on track. i felt like i was in the deep end of a swimming pool and my chin was barely above the water. my house looked like a bomb went off, i had laundry that was so overwhelming that i didn't even know where to begin. one day my mom said to me, "tomorrow i am coming over to help you with anything you need help with." how did she know? she hadn't been to my house or seen the laundry room. did i have written on my forehead "HELP ME I AM DROWNING!!" that only she could see? of course not. she just KNEW. she always just KNOWS. she saved me. she is saving all of us all the time. this is just one example of the many times. i love this special gift she has.

she is probably wondering where this picture was taken. i was a senior and we were in florida for one of those silly cheerleading competitions. of course they were not silly at the time. we went to florida my junior and senior year just ME and HER. It was so much fun.

i hope you have a wonderful day mom! thank you again for always saving me. love you. i know kind of a long post- but my mom is worth it.

my very special lunch date

we went and had lunch with our favorite 1st grader today. our little 1st grader who really had a hard time with school this year and didn't want to go for the first 2 weeks. so today when she was getting a little teary eyed before school, i said, "how about i come to lunch with you today?" she threw her arms around me and said i was the best mom in the whole world. i wish it was always that simple. if you can't tell by the picture, evan really wasn't enjoying himself there. love ya lils!

welcome

last weekend jessica went to a "new" friends house. whenever she goes to a "new" house she knows the drill. i take her to the door and meet the mom or dad and make sure everything is ok. we were invited in. the house was so inviting and warm. when i got home i went to my front door and opened it. did my home feel the same way? not so much. there are new rules at our house. no more shoes in the entry, no more backpacks in the entry, no more jackets in the entry, no more junk mail on the cabinet or whatever else anyone decides to throw on it in the entry. no more nothing. i want visitors to come to my door and feel invited, warm and welcome as soon as they walk in. this is my goal. i know this is kind of a silly goal and you might think how hard could it be, but with 5 kids even the entry can look disastrous at times.

9/11

I looked out my front window today and saw the flags. At first I didn't know why they were up, and then I realized what day it was. 9/11. I remember this day like it was yesterday. I was pregnant with Lily and turned on the tv first thing in the morning and saw the 2nd plane fly into one of the Twin Towers. So many awful things happened on that day, but so many good things happened in the following weeks. I think about those families today who lost loved ones, and I think about those who were heroes on this day 7 years ago. I am so thankful to be an American. God Bless the USA!

bath time

there is nothing better than a baby who has just gotten out of the bath and has been lathered up with baby lotion. one of my favorites. i also love the orange tint she is sporting lately because of all the yummy fruits and veggies she loves that happen to be orange in color.

life is good

life is good when those big kids are at school. ruby is in bed. my mom is doing the dishes. i can play my sisters ds and she can't get mad because she doesn't even know i have it in my hot little hands. no one is bugging me. life is good.

Back to School

We ended our summer with a Back to School Dinner with the whole family. It was so much fun. Each "student" got to pick their favorite dish. With 7 kids going back to school we had quite a bit of food. We ended the evening with a fashion show (which by the way was the kids favorite part of the evening) with the kids modeling their "first day" outfits, and grandma even had balloons for each student, their school colors of course. Thanks Tiffany for the great idea!

when i leave the room

when i leave the room for only a second, i come back to this. he saw the 4 or 5 puffed fruit snacks and just thought that wasn't enough for her..and he was dressed when i left the room also.

LOVE

i LOVE your cute little face.

i LOVE how every time i pull into the garage you say, "thank you so much" for the ride i just gave you.

i LOVE how you say your full name, Evan Ricky Jensen with such enthusiasm.

i LOVE how you sometimes call me Mommy Ricky Jensen.

i LOVE how you love to read the same books over and over and over.

i LOVE to watch you play.

i LOVE how you sing with me before bed each night.

i LOVE that you will still let me rock you to sleep.

i LOVE you.

Happy 11th Jessica Kate!

Happy Birthday Jess! I am a little sad she is not here on her birthday, but I know she is having a ball in Lake Powell with her grandparents and cousins. Jess is the most caring, thoughtful, easy going, loving daughter I could ever ask for. She is just the best! I tried to think of 5 things she enjoys the most at this point in her life, we will see how close I come.

1. wakeboarding (we never thought her skinny arms would ever pull her up, well they did and she is amazing now)

2. a hamburger with mustard and pickles only and fries

3. shopping

4. Camp Rock

5. Taylor Swift

This is what Jess will be coming home to find, she is going to look so cute on this thing zipping around to all of her babysitting jobs! Wish I had one of these when I was 11, instead I had a bike I had to pedal! Happy Birthday Sweetie-we love you!!!

I LOVE these colors!!

I would love to redo Jess's bedroom just like this! She is wanting a more "grown up" room. I am loving the apple green, black and splash of pink! Don't think I can do it right now, but I am thinking a bathroom would be pretty cute done in these 2 colors and cost quite a bit less. Fall is right around the corner and a project is calling my name!

Winning isn't everything...but it sure is fun!

Brendan got invited to play ball with his old team this last weekend up in Idaho. So my mom and I took him with no other kiddies. It was quite fun. I call it a vacation if I only have 1 child to take. I know I said a couple posts back, that I don't care if Brendan wins or loses as long as he has fun. Well we happened to have an excellent time since they won all 5 games and then won the championship game! It was great, I got to sit in my chair and watch all of the games without even having to get out of my chair, unless it was to go to the concession stand for a drink and treat! Thanks Brendan and mom for a great weekend!

things that make me smile

this picture

when evan says, "hello shunshine" to ruby

when lily walks the diving board like it is the catwalk

staying up late with jess and watching chick flicks

having my boys home

these are just a few things that have made me smile lately...

Baseball....it's just a game

This is our family vacation this summer and sadly the entire family did not go. I admit I was a little bitter about the whole thing. Maybe it was because the day Rick and Brendan left for Cooperstown I had the flu. Yes, it was the 4th of July and I was sick in bed all day and my 2 big boys were off for a wonderful, exciting, baseball filled week in beautiful New York. I admit it I was jealous. I wanted to go with them, but it just wasn't possible for me to go. My jealousy is now fading as the week goes on. Rick calls everyday a couple times a day and tells me how much fun they are having and what a great experience it is. Brendan is having the time of his life, Rick said he might be enjoying just hanging out with his baseball buddies more than actually playing ball. This is what I wanted more than going with them, for the 2 of them to have a great time and make wonderful memories that they will remember forever. I was able to watch some of Brendan's games on the Internet. I could see Brendan and hear Rick in the stands yell, "nothing gets by you boy" when Bren was playing catcher, so it was like I was right there with them. Ten years down the road I will be off for a wonderful, exciting, baseball filled week in beautiful New York with Evan. I am a little sad I didn't get to go and experience it with Brendan, but am so happy he got to go with his biggest fan, his Dad. As far as how the team did, they won some, they lost some. I have never really cared, if Brendan hits homeruns, if he strikes out or if he pitches a no hitter, as long as he has fun that is all that matters to me. Afterall it is just a game..

awwwwwww

HB Brendan!

Happy Birthday to my Brendan! Crazy that this picture was 11 years ago! And I now am the mother of a teenager! Let the fun times begin! Brendan was quite a handful when he was this age. He could start a car and was always locking himself in the car. One time when I was about 9 months pregnant with Jess I could not find him anywhere. I started to really panic, I had the whole neighborhood looking for him. I finally found him in the neighbors car in their garage, he was just pretending to drive the car without a worry in the world. He loved anything with a motor and could make all the different motor sounds, like a car, grandpa's boat, a wave runner and a motorcycle! Each motor sound was quite different! He also was an escape artist- I remember we had to put special locks at the very top of all of our doors and gates outside. He loved being outside and still does. He is a little more mellow now and is usually a delight to have around. He is the man of the house when Rick is not around and is always willing to help me out when I need it. I love him and have had 13 beautiful and exciting years with him..he is a great son, and I am so lucky to have him! Happy Birthday Bren! I love ya..

Tag I am it!!

I got tagged. This is a fun one, thanks Holly. You are supposed to list 3 Joys, 3 Fears, 3 Goals, 3 Current Obsessions and 3 Random Surprises about yourself. You are supposed to tag 5 people, but I only have 2 to tag. I don't have many friends in the blogging world, but I really do have friends in the real world!!

3 Joys

1. My kids
2. Kissables (candy)
3. Summertime

3 Fears
1. Flying
2. One of my kids getting hurt
3. mice

3 Goals

1. Eat healthier
2. To raise good kids, not necessarily perfect (duh), just good kids who are loving, polite, friendly
hardworking and most importantly always willing to serve
3. To keep a cleaner car

3 obsessions

1. Bags, any kind of bag, purse, diaper bag, church bag I love bags! Always have!
2. Cafe Rio-pork salad
3. Baby girl clothes, headbands and shoes mostly right now!!!

3 Random Surprises about me

1. Worked at McDonalds for a day at Crossroads Mall
2. Had hair below my shoulders and cut it all off , like way short- still can't believe I did that!
3. Won a coloring contest when I was young at Chick-fil-A and met Dean Butler I know you are all wondering
who Dean Butler is, he was on Little House on the Prairie . Don't be jealous!! he he

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Rick!! Here is why your kids think you are the best dad in the whole world!!

Brendan said-he's the best because he makes it to every one of my baseball games, and I have quite a few!

Jessica said- he's the best because he surprised me with Hannah Montana tickets and took me to the concert, and he will always take me to Olive Garden whenever I ask him.

Lily said-he's the best because he takes me on dates!

Evan thinks he is the best because he will share his sandwich, chips and drink with him!

Ruby (not pictured- she was asleep) just loves him!

I think he is the best because he is a great dad and husband. He will pretty much do anything I ask him. A funny thing about Rick is whenever people ask him how many kids he has, he always looks at me like I need to help him answer the question! We don't have that many!!! Love ya Rick! Happy Father's Day!

Cousin Day

We dedicate our Thursdays to "Cousin Day" where we do fun stuff with cousins. My kids love their cousins more than anything and they would spend everyday together if we could. We went to Fat Cats today for some bowling and Pizza! It was so much fun! My mom comes along and so does my aunt and cousin with her kids, it is a blast!!! I didn't grow up with any cousins and wasn't really close to my grandparents, so my kids are very lucky to have their cousins be their best friends and have the most amazing grandparents!! The only thing we are missing is our little sis Jamie, we miss her so much and wish she could share in making these fun memories, we all just hope she can move back someday, we love her and miss her and her sweet little boy Will, and can't wait for the arrival of our newest cousin, Baby Ivy-due any day!

Just call me Betty

Betty Crocker that is. Jess gave me a fabulous cook book for Mothers Day and yesterday was the first time we tried anything out of it. Jess made the Cheese and Tomato toasts and I made the Chocolate Cherry Cakes. Both were so yummy! The toasts were easy the cakes, not so much. But we enjoyed our time together in the kitchen! We had to take a picture because nothing ever turns out just like the picture but these 2 did!!

Sitting pretty..

I am not sitting pretty yet..i am 6 months old and the size of a 9 month old and just can't get the hang of this sitting up business. My mom needs to work with me a little bit more, but from what I can tell she sure is busy doing lots of other things. I just hope I can sit up soon, laying in the baby seat and not even having to work to reach the toys is getting kind of boring..

My Superstar!

Lily had her dance recital tonight, she did such a fabulous job! She is quite the dancer. After her recital she said, "So now I can quit right, and start taking gymnastics?!" Ruby is my last chance at getting a dancer, I won't hold my breath!!!

Evan being Evan

Whenever Evan sees the camera he just sits right down where ever he is and waits for his picture to be taken. I should probably work on combing his hair right after the bath, it might look a little bit better or it might not..

Everyone needs a Brendan

Yes he washes my car, mows the lawn, cleans the garage and even cooks steak dinners!(I did make him put on the

apron!) His best buddy was out of town over the holiday

weekend, so he just hung out at home! What a treat-minus

the teasing and tormenting he did to his sisters..I guess he can't be perfect..

Big Kids

Brendan asked me why he was never on the blog and it is always the little kids-well here is Brendan-the back of him..this is where we spend our Saturdays, at the ballpark. Double-headers, you gotta love em!

A good friend told me it doesn't matter what gift you give a person, it is all about how you wrap it up! With this gift we went for a pink theme, so fun....bought Walmart flip flops and added the hot pink flowers! Jess wanted to keep this one!

Is there anything cuter than baby feet? Yes baby feet with painted toenails!

Things that really tick me off

I will keep my list short and to the point...

1. when i don't get my Monday cleaning done, and it is waiting for me on Tuesday

2. people that call Rick about work stuff while he is at home

3. being married to a work- aholic

4. giving my tax refund to the dentist

5. the weather-where are the 70's-i have a feeling we are going to skip right to the 90"s

My tree

I saw this tree and thought it was the cutest thing ever! I wanted it for Lily and Ruby's room, so I thought it doesn't look to difficult, I can do that and then I thought again, I don't have time to do this...so I know a very artistic, talented guy, who happens to be my dad and he did one for me!! I love it so much! Thanks dad, you are the best!! The tree in the catalog was about $200! Too much for me and not the right colors!

Here is my tree! For a mere $50! I know my tree is kind of floating but I wanted it pretty high up, feel free to tell me if it doesn't look so good floating and should be down closer to the floor!! And is it too busy with the artwork, maybe I should just have the 2 birds (those blue things are birds holding the string) holding 2 pieces of Lily's beautiful artwork? Is it me or is it too busy?

Chuck Wicks

So my sister won some concert tickets to go and see Chuck Wicks. I was the lucky one she chose to go with her. We went to a bar, nightclub whatever you want to call it. This was my first experience at a bar, yes 36 and never been to a bar. I have to say I wasn't missing much. We had VIP tickets and thought we got to meet Chuck, but found out we didn't have the special VIP tickets to meet him, but we didn't care, we just kind of hung around the people with the "special" tickets and ended up meeting him and getting our picture with him. Can you say, CUTIE PA-TUTIE?!!!!!!!!!! By the way he is a country boy who sings "Stealing Cinderella" great song, even better now that I got to see him sing this in person!!

My trip to Colorado

Went to Denver to see my sis, so much fun. She has a fabulous new house, loved it. She was so great while we were there. We were sad to leave. Evan and Will are 1 month apart. We only hand to break up a couple fights, other than that they were so cute together! Thanks Jamie and Marcus it was so fun, can't wait to come back!

My Ruby, who was perfect the whole trip! All she needs is her 2 fingers and she is happy!! So cute!

We went to the mall, to shop? No way, to play on the breakfast foods. If all malls had these breakfast foods I might visit them more often. The boys could have stayed all day long.

Evan and my cutest nephew Will on a banana!

Evan on the bacon slide! Probably his favorite!

Here are a couple of things I am thankful for today
1. My baby Ruby- who never cries.
2. My other baby Evan, who is going through a rough phase of crying all day long
3. The snow that has fallen today....NOT !
4. Coke-real coke with lots of ice so I can survive the crying I hear all day long.
5. Nap time.
6. Nice strangers. I was at the airport last weekend getting ready to get on a plane to visit my sis in Colorado.
I was struggling just a tad bit with my 2 little ones and a very attractive man, attractive in a Rob Lowe kind of way came over and asked me if he could help me, I said in a very calm and polite way, Oh Thanks but I am fine, but really I wanted to scream and say Please help me, take my 2 year old up and down the escalator 25 times, since this was the cause of his meltdown!!
7. Good friends, especially those who bring me a cafe rio salads- Thanks Amy!

buzzzzzzzzzzz

So I picked Evan up from nursery today and there was a swarm of bees in there! How cute is this? The lesson was on being thankful for insects, I am thankful for the nursery leader who just gave me a halloween costume! This adorable person is my neighbor and I love her to death, and how lucky I am she loves her calling and loves my child enough to spend countless hours preparing for her lessons. Evan kept this on all day and even had a nap in it! One more thing, she made each child a spider treat out of a ding dong (I think it was a ding dong) licorice and other candies, so cute no picture of this it was eaten on the way home from church!

Happy Birthday Niki!!

Happy Birthday to my older sis! To the best big sister in the world. I know I made her kind of mad the day I was born, December 25, 1971 and took mom and dad away from her on kind of a special day, but I really didn't mean to, but maybe I did, I am the middle child! We had some great times in the good ol days. Playing office, school, restaurant and many other things. Then we both turned into teenagers and didn't like each other too much. I wonder if it is because I used to steal her clothes and wear them all day and then try and sneak them back in to her closet. I always got caught!! She used to beat me up, she was small and still is but she could seriously kick my butt! We became friends again when she got married and I went off to college. We realized we kind of liked each other. She doesn't beat me up anymore, and I really love her to death. I know she helped me out and was there for me during some hard times, and I hope I have been there for her during her rough times. That is what sisters are for! Love you Niki and I hope you have a great birthday!