The Best FHE Game Ever!

The Family:  A Proclamation to the World

Successful families are established and maintained on ..... wholesome recreational activities.

The Sock Game

How to play:  

Put on ankle length socks and get in a circle on your hands and knees.  When Mom says 'Go!' try to pull  socks off while protecting your own socks from being pulled off.  The person with the last sock on wins!

Rules:  

Do not kick the person grabbing your sock.

Stay on the carpet.

Be as loud as you can!

Beware of rug burns!  

Ouch!

Oreo Doggie

We love Oreo.  She brings such joy to our crazy family.  Despite being banned from family prayer for a time (everyone watched her instead of closing their eyes), she is a peace maker.  She performs fun tricks and loves a good tummy rub.  The kids adore her and we wouldn't be a complete family without her.  

Oreo LOVES LOVES LOVES the sound of the piano.  She spends hours just lying under the piano listening to the kids play.  No matter where she is, inside or outside, once she hears the first notes of a song, she runs to the piano for some music appreciation.

Procrasti-Jarin

We have all been there.  As a kid I remember staying up way late with my dad finishing up a big school project or math assignment.  Thank you Lico!   Now it's my turn.

How do you spell procrastination?

P:  Play a little more.
R:  Read a book not related to your research subject.
O:  Obviously forget.
C:  Call a friend to hang out with.
R:  Run outside with friends.
A:  Avoid school work after school
S:  Stay up late the night before to get it done.
T:  Think about it later.
I:   Insist that you have it all worked out.
N:  Navigate towards the TV
A:  Ask for help at the last minute.
T:  Tell mom that you won't put it off this late again.
I:   Invent an excuse to do it later.
O:  Opps!  My assignment is due tomorrow!
N:  Never-ending cycle.

Jarin is the one who gets his stuff done in a timely manner - cough cough.

1.  Egypt Project - he had to write a report and present two items to go with his project.  Report done but no visual aides.

We made this canopic jar full of healthy internal organs the morning of his due date.  The Barbie head is compliments of an early morning phone call to a neighbor.  Canopic Jars were used by the ancient Egyptian during the rituals of mummification processes.

Yucky!

Thankfully Trevor offered to build a pyramid for his second visual aide.

All done!

Jarin was grounded for 1 week.

2.  Roman Project:  write a report and make armor for a battle to happen at the Roman Feast.  Learning his lesson with the Egyptian project, Jarin told me about his armor project a week in advance and did nothing until I threatened him two days before.  We pulled off an impressive suit of armor from recycled cardboard and duct tape.

 

Details finished the morning of the Roman Feast.

Jarin got a sound warning

3.  Solar System Project:  Jarin actually thought about this project all week.  The solar system had to be unique.  Look how unique the play-dough planets turned out?   Yeah, it's wasn't going to work.  At 7:00 the night before Jarin recruited the whole family to brain storm and assist him in his dire state.

With Makayla as manager we came up with a splendid solar system made out of paper plates.

It was a good night!

Jarin got a pat on the back!

I now save all projects and posters under the guest bed for future uses, all except the organ jar. :)

Bike Fisher

The boys were complaining that their bikes needed some TLC.  They assumed that they could bring their bikes to dad and he would fix them while they hung out and played.  One great thing about dad (there are so many) is that he won't fix anything without an apprentice, young or old.  He believes in the old Chinese Proverb:  Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.   Today he taught the boys bike maintenance.  I, on the other hand, rode my bike to him and skipped away to make dinner, do laundry, take a nap and/or read a good book.  We wives/mothers have special privileges that include starving when the fisherman is gone.

Oh, oh.  Three Jensen heads together!  

The possiblities!

Jazz Band

Do you know what is amazing about my lovely daughter?  She can do anything!  She and I are a lot alike.  We have the same demeanor, the same looks (she's cuter - thank goodness) and the same strength.  Even so, she has more courage in her youth than I have ever had.  She is not afraid to try and fail and succeed.  Her friends persuaded her to go out on a limb and try-out for the jazz band pianist her freshman year in Jr. high.  She auditioned even though her friends are in high school.  Makayla took a chance by herself and didn't look back.  Jazz band took her skills to a whole different level.  Thank you friends!  

Reality vs/ Fantasy

 My kids think one of two things...
1.  Dobby the Elf is real and lives in our home.
2.  Dobby the Elf secretly serves the Jensen home.

We have proof.... before and after shots.  Note the slobbery mouth guard - gross!

I don't have the heart to tell them that Hogwarts is just a fantasy.

I really want a cleaning elf wand!

More Teeth

Just documenting Tooth Fairy visits....

2-23-11

Rebekah lost a tooth.

Kerri was a little distraught.

2-24-11

The very next day I pulled Kerri's dangling tooth out.

 

2-26-11

Rebekah lost another.

 2-26-11

I yanked Kerri's other loose tooth out with a wet towel.

Both girls went to bed happy.

The Tooth Fairy is working overtime.

Kerri has lost a total of 5 teeth.

Rebekah has lost a total of 6 teeth.

Such cuties!

4-19-11

Kerri 

4-26-11

Kerri

5-11-11

Rebekah

Piano Pleasures

The main D key finally give up the ghost and quit playing for us.  We were up a creek on what to do for a piano.   With five kids in lessons and one as the pianist in Jazz band, we needed the D key really bad. 

A little background on our beautiful upright grand.... 

I was in grade school when I petitioned my parents to purchase a piano.  It didn't take too much to coax my parents into seeing that it would only improve our young minds.  My parents took the whole gang to the piano gallery and I walked past every piano touching them and saying, "Not this one, not this one, not this one."  Finally in the back of the store I spied the piano I wanted.  It was a big mahogany piano and it sang to me.   Sadly it had a 'sold' sign on it.   My parents smiled and told me the sold sign was there because they had already purchased it.  Wow!  It really did sing to me.  I'd love to say that I practiced everyday and became amazing but I didn't.  One sister actually went on to play rather well.  My other three siblings took piano and then pursued the string family.  They play the violin and viola beautifully.  I was fortunate to lay claim on the piano a few years back and my mom was happy for extra living space.  My disclaimer at the cost of my parents' hard earned money spent on lessons is that it paid back ten fold one generation later.  I am indebted to them.

On to the story of the broken D key....

Although I did not want to replace the piano, I had to come to grips that it was getting old, 105 years old to be exact.  It needed a bit of internal surgery.  We researched the latest pianos and took all the kids to two different piano galleries.  Makayla instantly took to the $100,000.00 piano and played it for over an hour.  The younger three begged for the piano that played by itself. We had one salesman tell us that our kids would progress amazingly well with a $15,000.00 grand piano.  I agreed, but we thought feeding and clothing them was a bit more important.  We finally decided on a nice Yamaha upright for half that much and went home to sleep on it.  Let it be known that Cameron and I ALWAYS sleep on a decision - it drives us nuts.  During the night I had piano dreams.  My piano cried out and whispered of untold pleasures it still had for our family.  The next morning I called a highly recommended piano technician (I do my homework) to come over and take a look.  She played it and shook her head and said,  "Oh, I wouldn't replace it, she sounds great."  Ten days later and money saved in our piggy bank, we now have a fully restored piano that plays like an elegant grand.  

THE Lego Book

Three weeks ago:  Trevor came home from school breathless with excitement.  He really could not breath.    

"Mom!  You have to drive me back to school.  (gasp)  The book fair has the coolest Lego book and it's the last one!  I hid it in back of other books and I'm going to buy it!  (gasp) Where's my money?"

I'm sorry to admit that I instantly burst his little bubble by sending him out the door to Cub Scouts.   Mean mom!  Luckily, Jarin witnessed the whole thing and offered to ride his bike to the school to purchase the book for a whooping $23!  Bless him.  Trevor gave Jarin detailed instructions on where to find it and what it looked like, then handed over his hard earned money.

Last week:  Dad took the valuable book away to encourage chore completion.  Trevor found it later after his chores were done.  It's good to know that we have some parent leverage.

This last weekend:  Trevor spent his last $20 on two Lego Star Wars kits.

To date:  Trevor has spent countless hours pouring over his holy book and his collection of Legos.  Fortunately, it is full of good reading material and has counted toward his weekly reading minutes for school.  He has reduplicated many of the models and printed pictures off the internet.  In fact,  I can hear him digging through his Legos from downstairs right now. 

Priceless! 

See his book right behind him.

He's such a cutie!

One Week Later

One week after Rebekah's crash....

Can you believe it?  She healed so quickly.  Thanks to antibiotic creams, little prayers and daddy's blessing.  So beautiful.  She had little friends call and give her well wishes all week.   She was touched by them all.  It was wonderful to see her little face light up and learn what service and love really means.

Rebekah's story is that Cupid's arrow hit the scooter wheel causing her to tumble over.  She told me that Cupid got fired!  I'd say so!

My Sweet Valentine

Today Rebekah rode her scooter home clutching her bag full of Valentines when suddenly she ran over an invisible bump and landed on her cute little face.  Fortunately, a neighbor, Miss A saw her seconds after it happened.  She stopped and started mopping up blood.  Rebekah was able to take a breath and rattle off our phone number and Miss A called me.   There was so much blood that she thought Rebekah would need stitches.  I arrived a minute after to see a dozen kids surrounding Miss A as she held soaked napkins to Rebekah's face.  It was a little scary.  Rebekah's pants, coat, shirt, and hair was covered in blood - she even left a nice puddle of the gooey stuff on the sidewalk.  Thankfully, there was no need for stitches.  Just a missing front tooth (Jarin found it on the sidewalk), a very sore face and eyeglasses that need to be replaced.  

After the pain subsided, she told me that right before she crashed she was thinking about how perfect today was and now she can't even eat her Valentine candy.  I went through her stash and pulled out all the chocolates for her to suck on.  She was happy and I was glad to get a little sugar in her. 

I am so grateful for Miss A for being there.  I am grateful for Jarin for taking care of everything that I left behind and staying cool and calm.  I am grateful for Trevor who sat next to Rebekah and showed her all of her Valentine cards to help ease her pain.  She had angels and blessings all around her.  

Not to be outdone,  Kerri burned her thumb on a jelly roll pan right before dinner and is now sporting a big blister. 

Rebekah's note to the tooth fairy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Family Dinner

Often time dinnertime is anything but relaxing.  I have to mentally prepare myself for every nightly meal at the table.  I am the overseer of menu planning, kid job control and the quality of comments given to one another.  By the time I set my weary bottom down the fun begins in any order.....

  

1.  Jarin gets up to trade forks because someone set the "DI" fork in his place.  Why he can't just eat with the "DI" fork is beyond me.

2.  He brushes behind Makayla's chair who deliberately pushes her chair up against his toe.

3.  Jarin howls in pain and calls her a naughty name, not a bad name, just a name I won't tolerate.

4.  A time-out is in order.  Both children are asked to sit in the living room and make lively positive conversation while the rest of us eat.

5.  Trevor plays with his Lego guys while eating. 

6.  Five minutes later (I am still eating my salad and a little grumpy) the two come back with smiles.

7.  Kerri hides her spinach in her napkin.

8.  Lively conversation ensues due to Cameron's good cheer that he gets leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

9.  Rebekah reaches for her third piece of bread without tasting her soup.

10.  Out of the blue Makayla asks Jarin if he would like long brown hair.  The two begin to experiment....

I can't really complain.  I'm still weary, but at least with a smile.

Super Bowl XLIV

2005 was the year the Seattle Seahawks played against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  It was also the year we began to watch the Super Bowl.  Living near Seattle, we couldn't help but join in on the excitement that was going around.  We decorated posters, hung up blue and gold streamers and started a new tradition.... Jones Soda and game food (ahem...try-to-be-healthy game food).  Since then we have celebrated the football heros with our sodas and cheers. 

The Text Plan

I held off learning the art of texting out of pure laziness.  Having a teenage daughter whose main goal in life was to save and purchase her own iPod ruined my plans of not joining the new texting generation. She downloaded a free *app that gave her free texting and started texting me from school.   Seeing that my phone is a far cry from the latest greatest, I would fumble and tumble over how many times to push a number to get the correct letter to appear on my teeny screen.  It was painstaking at first and sometimes I would get three texts from Makayla before I had the chance to get a response back to her.  The fact that I had to pay twenty cents for every text sent to and by me didn't faze her.   Cameron finally upgraded my texting plan after I reached my limit of 20 texts (four were from me) per month to 200 texts a month.  Now I can text my mom who has been texting for four years.  I'm thinking a nice phone upgrade would also be nice - hint hint.  Perhaps an iPhone?  :)

Here's a funny text from Makayla the other day....

La:  Dear Mom, would you like to bring me my chapstick by any chance?

Me:  I'm really busy right now (grating cheese on tortillas).  Just ask the school nurse.

La:  Haha!!  I get it!!!  I think I'll pass on the nurse.  I'll survive the day.

*FYI: an app is an application that Apple calls third-party software programs that you can purchase for your iPod.  Didn't make any sense to me either at first.