Thursday, January 29, 2009

My little one year old artist

I know this is the third post for today, so I apologize. I'm trying to catch up a little. Lately, my little one year old has become quite the artist. Today he wanted to show some of his latest work:









It only takes a second. He not only colored on this wall, but he also colored down the hall and on the front door. I've always said that terrible two's start at 1 1/2 and last until 3 1/2. (Lasts 2 years long).

Birthday Fun

Mckenna, a friend of the girls, had a birthday party last week. It was supposed to be at the park, but it turned out to be a rainy day (what are the chances?). I offered my house since McKenna's family lives in an apartment and there is a little bit more room here. She had a princess party. Here are some pics:This is the birthday girl. One of the games they played was to practice walking gracefully like a princess. They had to balance peas on a spoon and walk up and down the hallway. Some were more graceful than others. They also had to practice their table manners by feeding pudding to a partner. Mmmm...
McKenna opened her presents and, as you can see, she is soooo happy to have such good friends to give her all these presents. Here's the whole gang! They all had a great time playing games, eating cake, and spending time with each other.
This is the fourth birthday party my girls had this month. Needless to say, they can't wait for their birthdays. Happy Birthday Mckenna!

Just another Day

Last week the kids didn't have school on Monday & Tuesday because of MLK day and a teacher work day. On Tuesday, they played all day with some friends and I ordered pizza for them. They had a fun day.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Girl Scout Cookies?

My girls are selling girl scout cookies until February 3rd. If you are interested in buying any, just let me know. They are $3.50 per box. Cookies will be delivered on February 21st and no money is due until then. Cookie flavors are:

Caramel deLites (aka Samoas)
Vanilla cookies drenched in caramel, sprinkled with toasted coconut and laced with cocoa strips. Approximately 15 cookies




Peanut Butter Patties
Crispy vanilla cookies layered with real peanut butter and blanketed with a chocolaty coating. Approximately 15 cookies




Shortbread
Traditional favorite with a buttery, light flavor. Approximately 40 cookies.





Thin Mints
Thin chocolate wafers dipped in a rich chocolaty coating with a burst of pure peppermint. Approximately 32 cookies.




Peanut Butter Sandwich
Deliciously smooth peanut butter sandwiched between crunchy oatmeal cookies. Approximately 20 cookies.




Thanks-A-Lot
Shortbread cookies dipped in rich fudge. Approx. 16 cookies





Lemonades
Savory slices of shortbread with a refreshingly tangy lemon icing. Approximately 16 cookies.




Daisy-Go-Rounds
Crispy cinnamon flowers blooming with flavor in every bite. Approximately 5 servings.

If you don't live in Pahrump and you would like to order, you can pay to have me ship them. I heard that they freeze well.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Biggest Loser

Is anybody else mad that Damien was voted off last night instead of Joelle? Joelle doesn't deserve to be there and she even admitted she wanted to leave. I can't believe they didn't vote her off. Did you see her reaction when the other members started voting Damien? It is ridiculous. Although, now the producers have drama to air at least for another week. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!

Monday, January 12, 2009

2009

So our year started out with ear infections, sinus infections, and pink eye. Now with that out of the way, I'm hoping for a healthy and happy 2009. I always set a million goals throughout the year, but believe that if you write them down there is a bigger chance of accomplishing them. Here are some of the goals I have for this year:

*Staying in the primary presidency. Even though this is the 3rd ward that I have been in that has put me in the primary presidency, I still love it. I wouldn't trade my calling for anything. I really don't have any control over this goal, but if I have anything to do with it, I'll stay put.

*Take more time for myself. (Read more books, scrapbook, exercise, write in my journal, read my scriptures, etc.) Sometimes I am so busy runnin' from dance to piano to cub scouts to girl scouts and doing homework on top of running my business, keeping up the house, laundry, church calling, chasing Mason, etc. (you get the gist) that I don't take time for me. I realized that if Mom is happy, then the rest of the family can be too.

*Build a stronger relationship with God.

*Have more dates with my husband.

*Become wiser. My goal is to be wiser than my husband, but I know I am just fooling myself. Maybe someday...

I always have lots of goals that I am working toward, but my most favorite goal this year is to truly enjoy life. Enjoy my kids at the age they are now. Enjoy spending time with those around me. There are so many people that are not truly happy. They pretend to be happy when they are around others, but deep down are suffering. I am going to truly enjoy life.

Happy 2009 and good luck with your goals this year!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Family Vacation

Over the 2 week Christmas Break we took a family vacation to Utah. We had a great visit with both sides of the family. I took 215 pictures while I was there, but don't worry....I'm not going to bore you with them all. I will, however, show a few highlights of our fun-filled trip. Meet Emily Nicole Jensen. My sister Stacie delivered a baby two days before we arrived in Utah by emergency C-section. My first stop in Utah was to the hospital so I could see my new adorable niece. This is Stacie & Darren's 5th child. They now have 2 boys and 3 girls. Their family is moving to MN this week and I probably won't see them for a loooong time, so I was especially glad to visit with them before the big move. Here is Doug's side of the family. Doug is the oldest of 5, so we have the most kids right now out of all of the siblings, but I'm sure that will eventually change. We took this picture at a Christmas Party the Sunday before Christmas. Everyone had a great time!
(This picture is a little fuzzy because I took it from inside the house) This is Jordan and Kaylee playing in the snow with their cousins, Jacob, Ali, & Joshua. Lexi was sick this day and wasn't able to come out and play. :( This picture was taken BEFORE the big snow storm that came 2 days later. It was fun to have it snow a lot while we were there. We only got stuck once on the culdesac that my parent's live on. Luckily they have some nice neighbors that were able to bail us out. I don't miss driving in the snow, but I do miss the snow in general. It is gorgeous.
Every Christmas Eve my family gets together for a Christmas Party. My sister-in-law Tonya organizes the the Nativity Story and the children put it on. It was fun to see the kids all play a part in the play. Kaylee & Lexi were angels and Jordan played Joseph. Some of the older cousins watched the play with the adults because they feel too old to participate. During this party my mom always writes a story and reads it to the kids. My parents give a gift to all of the children that correspond with the story. I have a whole book of stories that my mom has written each year for this party. Here is a picture of her reading this year's story: She did a great job on her story this year and I know that all of my kids really liked their gifts.

We spent Christmas morning with Doug's family. The kids had a really great time and were spoiled, as usual.
Doug just finished his last class and is graduating with his Masters Degree. He has been working hard for the past 2 1/2 years at Boston University Online. It's been very time consuming and we are all excited that he finished and possibly will have more time with his family. Woo Hoo. I decided we should all share this excitement and arranged for a surprise party at Leatherby's (famous ice cream shop in Utah). He had sooo much support from both sides of the family and his friends. Thank you to all who joined in this fun event. Congratulations Doug!
This past year we purchased season tickets to the Children's Museum in Las Vegas which also covered entry into 3 Utah Museums. Thus, we made sure we made use of our passes. We drove downtown Salk Lake and took the UTA Trax to Grandma Farr's work. (The kids LOVED riding the train). We went to lunch and then visited Clark Planetarium first. We watched a holiday show in their dome theatre and looked at all of the exhibits. The above picture is of the kids "walking on Mars". I also have a picture of them walking on the moon. We loved spending time with Grandma & Grandpa. After the Clark Planetarium we walked across the street to the children's museum. We had a fun time there, but it was just a little much for little Lexi. She threw a fit about 30 minutes after we arrived. Not just any ordinary fit...one of those wailing screams mixed with sobbing. Needless to say, we headed home. But not before we recorded Lexi's tantrum for later use of blackmailing.

This post is already too long so I won't put everything in. Overall, we had a great trip and enjoyed spending time with everyone. Happy New Year!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Christmas Music Program

This year, the elementary music teacher was out with a newborn and was unable to conduct any christmas music programs. She promises to have a spring concert and we are all looking forward to seeing the performances. However, the Kindergarten teachers decided to put on their own concert during the day and Alexis was able to participate.

I started to take a video of her singing, but my memory card became full...oops. But take it from me....it was adorable. (Of course, I am a little biased)

Kaylee's Turn

Kaylee received student of the month for December. She was really excited because both her brother and sister received it for November. Here are some pictures from the assembly.
This is Kaylee with her 2nd Grade teacher, Mrs. Salzwedel.
Kaylee always works hard to please others and do a good job in school. I am so proud of her. Congratulations Kaylee!