Jensen Daily

Mackay Pooped a Dime Today

Not sure how to comment on that.  We do our best to keep non-edible foreign objects out of his mouth.  Sometimes the little suckers just slide on by . . .

Eating with a Spoon 101

 

 

 

Whatever it takes Mackey Boy.  Whatever it takes.

Mitch Does This From Time to Time

We always tuck him in snug as a bug in a rug. 

Later we find him like this:

 

Or this:

 

I have no idea why.

CONGRATULATIONS JARED!!!

We are so happy to announce the best news we've received all year!

Jared passed the Texas Bar Exam!!

He is a bonified, rootin tootin, Texas shootin' attorney.

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Eggs, Chocolate, and Baskets... OH MY!

Just a few pictures of our Easter eggcitment :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Droopy Poopy....

Oh Mitchell...

Today was a full day of school, running errands and then off to the park for an afternoon of friends, fun and sunshine (finally after a rainy cold week.) I rushed home from the park to get Rand's football gear so we could rush over to the field for practice, we ran in the house and got dressed, when Jared offered to keep Mitch home with him, while I took Rand and Mackay with me to football practice. Great!! 2 kids instead of 3 is always easier right? So, we got Mitch set up in the living room with his favorite friend, the Wii, while Jared was working upstairs in his office, and off we went.

Fast-forward 1 1/2 hours later....

I drive in the driveway after chasing Mackay all over the park and wishing Rand would pay better attention to the coaches and less practicing his latest karate moves on the guy next to him on the line of scrimmage. Nice.. anyway, we are met by Jared in the driveway with a sick look on his face asking if Mitch was with me. I shake my head and say..."Jared, you kept him here with you, where is he?"

He can't find him, anywhere... He's searched upstairs 4 or 5 times... No Mitch....

We all start to panic, Rand runs across to the neighbors, (this is all sounding very familiar isn't it? Didn't I post about Mitch running away just a year ago? Geesh..) Anyway, Rand asks all the neighbors if they've seen him. I'm helping Rand in the search outside, because Jareds swears he is nowhere to be found in the house.

MITCHELL!!!     MITCHELL!!!     MITCHELL....   MITCHELL.....

At this point, I have tears in my eyes, my heart is pounding, I'm shaking all over, and I am SO MAD at Jared I can hardly see straight. How could you lose our child? How could he just disappear? Why were you not checking on him more often? WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU? All things I yelled at Jared while we're running around looking for him. Just as I yell at Jared to call the police, I turn on the bathroom light upstairs and see this.....

 

 

One more a little closer up... he's completley out.. snoring and drooling.

 

Nighty Night little Pooper.

Dr. Pepper, Texas.... a.k.a. Dr. Pepper Land

For the last possible day of Rand's spring break, we decided to leave all the stress and distractions that we've had lately, and go on a little road trip as a family. It's sad that sometimes we have to leave home to be a family. So we loaded up and drove 2 1/2 hours down the road to find Jared's heaven on earth. The first Dr. Pepper bottling plant! The town is actually known as Dr. Pepper, Texas. It's probably a town the size of Koosharem, (where I grew up)not many people there or much to draw you to it, except for this little plant. It is here in Dublin that they still use pure sugar to make Dr. Pepper, gives it a little different flavor, but it's still yummy. Rand and Mitch were in heaven at the little soda shop that ajoins the plant, where we let them drink fully caffinated/sugared Dr. Pepper. They made Dr. Pepper freezes with the pure syrup, blended with vanilla icecream. YUMMY! We bought abottle to bring home and have made several since. It was a fun day of indulging in our favorite drink. I drank a few in honor of Grandma Opal, she would've loved it.

On our way home we stopped in Fort Worth at a great park and enjoyed a family train ride, and the beautiful spring weather. It was a nice way to spend the day.

Here are some pictrues from our adventure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Breast Cancer 3 Day....

I know I know... I am terrible at updating my blog. Lots going on here right now, that will have to wait for later though because... I am so excited about this Breast Cancer 3 Day! My sister (D'Le)  and I decided that this is the year to do something BIG to honor our mom and to try and do something to stop our own families and others from having to go through what Mom has had to go through. Being the rock that she is, Mom decided that she's not going to sit back and watch from the sidelines, so she signed up to walk it with us. The woman who inspires me daily to go on, gives us yet another example of strength and courage. So...

On November 6-8 (3 days after my 30th birthday) we will lace up our walking shoes and begin a 3 day -60 mile journey to be part of the movement that is putting an end to breast cancer.We'll join thousands of others who want to become part of something much bigger than just a stroll down a stretch of road. At the end of each long day, we'll pitch our tents with our fellow walkers and sleep for a few hours before getting up and hitting the pavement again.When we reach the finish line, I know we will have gone the distance in our fight against breast cancer, 60 miles of laughter and tears, three days of celebration and determination.

In order to participate in the event I need to raise $2,300, and thanks to so many of my dearest friends and family, I am almost half way there. I have been so overwhelmed by the generosity of so many, and feel so grateful to feel so much love and support in something so near and dear to me. Thank you so much!!  

If you feel like you could donate or know somebody else that might want to donate something towards making this happen, all you have to do is click on the button on the left of the screen.  I am so excited for this and promise to update on our progress in fundraising, in training and of course a recap of the event after it's all over.

Here's to my mom!!!

Monkey on the Table

Mackay has decided to give up his high chair and trade it in for the table... right on top, yea yea,  I know I shouldn't let him sit up here, but it makes him happy, so last night as Jared was eating his dinner, Mackay decided to help himself.  I'm talking handfulls of food at a time.... see for yourself... (I realize this is an overkill on the pictures, but wanted Grandma and Grandpas to see it all :)

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

  

 

Tonsils + Teething = Popsicles

Thank goodness for a freezer in the garage is all I can say. We have single handedly kept the Popsicle companies in business this week.....

Rand's history with tonsillitis goes way back to when he was a baby with ear infections all the time. He's been getting strep throat at least 4-5 times a year for the past 4 years, so Wednesday morning at 7:30 they finally did us all a favor and took them out.  He was so brave, I was so proud of him, he walked right into the O.R. with the nurse and didn't even look back. An hour later, the nurse came and got Jared and I and took us to the recovery room where they had me climb into bed with Rand so when he woke up, I was holding him. He woke up, ate a Popsicle there, and by 9:30, we were on our way home with our tough little patient. He has done great, hasn't complained, in fact the other day he thanked me for having the doctor take his tonsils out saying that he didn't talk funny any more. He's been sleeping through the night for the first time, maybe ever. We look forward to a much healthier little boy :) For now, he's eating his fair share of  frozen treats, and playing entirely too much Wii, and loving every minute of the attention.

As Rand finally sleeps through the night, I don't get to enjoy a night of uninterrupted sleep yet, because Mackay is trying to get his 4 top teeth all at once. YIKES! He's been pretty grumpy. So while I'm handing out Popsicles to Rand and Mitch (Mitch thinks he's entitled to one every time Rand gets one) , Mackay gets one too.  Whatever it takes to get through it right? 

 

Mackay also reached the 8 month mark this week, hard to believe!  He's eating anything and everything he can get his hands on that is NOT baby food. He loves adult food and doesn't want to sit in his high chair anymore, he prefers sitting right ON the table with everybody else.  He is way too speedy at crawling, and will pull him self up to every thing and then stand by himself for a bit. He's already pulling books off the shelf, and "helping" me unload the dishwasher. He has finally decided that his daddy is not such a bad person either, he'll actually let Jared hold him and play with him for a few minutes. Little stinker didn't stay a baby long enough. It's fun to see him develop the way that he is supposed to, but really sad to realize that my baby is now a trouble maker just like his big brothers.

Mackay in his wifebeater after a rootbeer popsicle, could we look any more white trash?

 

   

 

Rub a dub dub...

 Oh how I love these three little men in my tub!

 

All because 2 people fell in love....

From left to right bottom... My sister D'Le's 4 kids, Natalie, Cameron, Heidi, and Nathan... then Tyler's little boys Spencer and Nicholas. Middle Row.... Cody (D'Le's husband) D'Le (sister) Amelia (Brian's wife) Colin (Brian's little boy) Mama Shelley holding my baby Mackay Daddy T holding Eric's little boy Matthew, Jenna (Eric's wife) holding baby Noah, Sydney (Eric's girl). Back Row... Younger brother Brian, Jared holding Rand, Me holding Mitch, My brother Tyler holding baby Tate, Olivia (Tyler's girl), Debbie (Tyler's wife) and Eric (my brother).

27 of us all together at My Mom and Dad's house for Thanksgiving! I am pretty homesick for all of these crazy people during this time of year when family is so important. We've grown a little from the days when it was just us 5 kids and Mom and Dad. Just wanted to show off a few of my favorite people, and introduce them to my friends who have never met them, or who haven't seen them in a long time.

More of my favorite people....

My Jensen family from left to right bottom... Bo (Jared's brother) holding Shaylee(Bo's daugher); his wife Emily, my little Rand, Dad, Mom holding Bella Lucille (aka Lucy, Tiffany's baby girl), and Danny (Jared's brother). Middle row.. Johnny (Jared's handsome single brother), Jayden (Bo's little boy), Mitch. Back row... Allison (Chase's wife), Chase (Jared's brother) Jared, Brianne holding baby Mackay, Patrick (Tiffany's husband) holding Grace (Tiffany's little girl)  and Tiffany (Jared's sister). 

I am so thankful for both of our families and the love and support they give us. I look forward to someday moving closer to all of them and being able to be a part of the things I'm missing out on by being so far away.  

Random Updates... Crazy Time of Year!

Holy Crap!!

A  month goes by before I know it anymore! Seems like this time of year gets crazier and more busy each year. We've been running around doing all kinds of fun things. Christmas parties, scouts, baking, decorating and lots of trying to pass the time as Jared works later and later every day. I suppose that's a good thing , with things the way they are these days we are just grateful he has a job, but GEESH, could they really pack anymore in to one man's day?

We had fun going home for Thanksgiving and being able to actually go tromp through the hills of Koosharem and find our very own Christmas tree. My dad always knows where to find the best trees! What was even more exciting than that was tying it to the top of the ol' van and driving from Koosharem to Texas with it flapping in the wind. We were excited that there were actually a few needles left when we arrived home.

The boys were excited and surprised to see Santa arrive at our family Christmas party in Koosharem, goes to show ya, Santa is watching all the time, if he can find us in Koosh, there's no stopping him! You better watch out!!

This Santa danced a mean "jig" with the kids and left them with a warning to be good and make sure to listen to mom and dad. He also gave me his number in case my kids aren't behaving, I call him atl least once a day! I don't even have to get through, the minute I start dialing, problem solved! I love empty threats!

We've had a few elf sightings this year, but none as cute as this little one that seems to be roaming around our house, trying to crawl, sitting up, getting teeth, eating big boy food. Busy month for this little elf!

 

 

 

Rand has a gift for giving his mother much more credit than she deserves when it comes to cooking, (what does he haev to compare my cooking to except for school lunch and McDonalds) with the exception of Grandma T's I think anything is better than school lunch. Anyway.. the other day while shopping for Christmas for cousins we were in the barbie isle, and I was telling Rand and Mitch how much I LOVED playing barbies when I was young, and how they have a lot more cool things for Barbie than they did when I was a kid. We had moved on through the toy section, when Rand came running up with a box in hand... with this toy in it....

 

I can be a TV chef Barbie...

He said, Mom, I want you to have this for Christmas, because you are such a good cook you should have your own cooking show! What a sweet boy! I should not have a cooking show, not even close, but I will cherish the time I still have left when my son actually likes me and is not  totally embarrassed by me.

With Christmas less than a week away, we hope and pray for  Merry Christmas for all of our friends and families. In our house, we are hoping for a much happier and less involved 2009, and to start us off on a good foot and to remember how blessed we are, we get to look at this every day as a reminder....

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Month of Gratitude

Thanks Allison for the post idea!

November really is the month of gratitude, and I guess it's high time I stop feeling picked on and jipped and start counting my blessings:)

I am thankful for:

1.    Storm troopers, Superheroes, and monsters (see slides below)

2.    On that same note, I am thankful for baby smiles, coos and giggles.

 

3.    I am thankful for 70 degree November days
4.    I am thankful for cheese fries from Snuffers, Sonic butter finger blasts and midnight slurppee runs. Okay I am thankful to have food to eat, but some make me much happier than others.
5.    I am thankful for that moment at night when I first realize the boys are finally asleep, and the house is quiet.
6.    I am thankful for a husband that faces life's disappointments with faith and hope, and works hard to provide for our family.
7.    I am thankful for 10 star days. ( Way to go Rand our Character kid for the month of October.)
8.    I am thankful for laughter and funny moments
9.    I am thankful to have a big enough car to drive my kids around without having to close both car doors at the same time to make the three of them fit.
10.  For$1.95/gallon gas. Filled my van for under $40 this week:)
11.    For my freedom of religion and for the men and women that fight hard to keep me free.
12.    For second chances
13.    For beautiful blossoms in the spring, cool swimming pools and sprinklers in the summer,  changing and falling leaves in the Fall, and the first snow fall in the winter.
14.    For family traditions
15.    I am thankful that every once in awhile I get to hear the words, "I love you Mama" and for big wet slobbery kisses and tight hugs around the neck.

16.    For Hallmark cards and the enjoyment I get reading the funny ones.
17.    For Blue Bell icecream
18.    For foot rubs and pedicures
19.     For new, clean carpet
20.    I am thankful for family and friends who support us in good times and bad