Love These Kiddos!

After a bit of research, and a 10% off recommendation - I had Tyler save up $125.00 to have these beautiful pictures of my kiddos taken for Mother's Day.  I'm so happy with how they turned out.  The photographer www.kristinacurtisphotography.blogspot.com took over 300 pictures, and then I got to choose about 40 of them.  The kids had fun too!

Check out these cuties:

I really love this old barn in Mapleton that served as our backdrop.  What a cool place!

 

It was totally overcast ... and quite cold, but this day was (thankfully) the best day of the week.  Krystal lasted about an hour and twenty minutes - and then she was all tears 'cuz she was freezing.  She was a trooper, and Kristina got some BIG smiles outta her.  :D!

Lots more to come!  It's been fun decorating my house with all the photos - it's HARD to choose which ones to use!

Choir Concert - Marissa 2011

Marissa did an awesome job at her choir concert this year!  And I got to be their pianist again, so that is always fun ... and busy!

Here she is AFTER the concert.  Bless her heart - she got so hot she thought she was going to die!  She was so nauseous that she didn't even want to go out for a treat afterwards ... and that's sayin' somethin'!!  (We went anyway - and after she got some food in her, she was fine.)  Aaaaaaaand - a picture of the beautiful flower her choir class got me for playing the piano.  So nice.  I love them.

My 9-year-old Aaron did the video taping and did a pretty good job.  This video was the best that he got.  He's right in front of the piano, so forgive the overbearing accompaniment.  I love how cute Marissa's smile is while she sings.  They sound pretty good too, yeah?

I can't believe the school year is almost over.  HAL.E.LU.AH!!

Baseball Season 2011

Well, baseball season is upon us.  So - here is the gang of support for the team Aaron is on trying to stay warm for their game.  It has been SOOOOOOO cold!!

Aaron is on a really good team this year.  I have been so incredibly impressed with his coaches and how much he has learned already!  They are seriously amazing.  Baseball feels quite real now compared to last year.  Kind of intensifying, in a way -- but, Aaron has been prepared through the awesome coaching.  He plays left field, can throw a pretty good line drive now, and catches most of the balls that come his way.  His swing is getting better and better too, and we hope he'll get a hit soon!  Baseball is a great opportunity for Aaron to pay attention ;) - and, he'll get better at that too.  haha.

Here they are after their first win (Aaron is the 3rd one over from the left):

He's on the Dodgers team, and they haven't lost a game yet!  Whoo!  The coaches have them run around the bases at the end of each game.  :)

I really like baseball, so I hope Aaron continues to do well and enjoy it!  This is MUCH better than football.  :)

A Story of Spring

March 21st.  First day of Spring, right?  Ahhhh, how we can dream.  And we DID have a few teasers ... but the snow remained.  And when there wasn't snow - there was rain.  TONS and TONS of rain.  This rain drips off the corner of our house down into our planter bed = yucky, muddy mess.  We tried some ramps to help the water drain, but they only sunk deeper and deeper into the mud, and trying to send water UPHILL onto to grass was unsuccessful.  :(

PROBLEM:

Solution NOT working (but notice those cute daffodils/tulips poking through :))!

So we thought on it and thought on it some more ... and couldn't come up with a solution.  Instead, we ignored it the best we could for a while.  And started our garden ... indoors (and, yes - that really IS dirt that Marissa is pretending to eat - not cookie dough or anything ;)):

Look at these cute little guys!

It has turned into an annoying jungle since (except that our watermelon plants died - boo)!

But, how is one suppose to plant a garden when Spring looks like this in mid-April?!?

 

Somehow the sprouted flowers survived ... again and again:

And, despite the cold and dreary, we HAVE had a few days of warmth and outdoor fun.  But - receiving a prize from Linz brightens ANY dreary day!  Look how cute this table topper is I got from her!

 I especially love the cute details in the quilting:

Thank you, Linz - for sending spring straight to our home and brightening my day!

OH, and PS - we have finally just started putting rocks of all shapes and sizes in the flood zone of our planter bed, and that seems to be making a difference.  But, I'm still open to suggestions!

THE END.

Easter Extravaganza!

... and I'm not kiddin' when I say "Extravaganza".  This post'll include ALL of Easter weekend = lots and lots of pictures.  :)

We started off Easter weekend watching these cute cousins for Brandon and Tina's anniversary.  The kids were seriously in heaven!  Letting them sleep wall to wall like this (with Amy - nearly 2 years - in her portable crib just over in the corner) was not our smartest move.  We couldn't get them to sleep until after midnight - and they were all up bright and early by 7 am the next morning.  haha!  It was a party all right.

We met up with the rest of the Jenson clan that Saturday afternoon for some yummy food, good company, and an Easter basket hunt!

 

 

Here are Krystal and Tina entertaining themselves (and everyone else) with just a few Peeps as props.  Gotta love Aunt Tina!  Ain't she the best?!

 

 Easter morning:

I think it's so funny that all three of my kids "crack" their easter eggs open to find the candy inside!  They tap them on the sides of their baskets before splitting them open.  :P  Why is this so amusing to me?

Aaron got permission from the Easter bunny to download "Bejeweled" on his phone (he'd been begging and begging AND begging for it for weeks)!  Needless to say - he dropped everything to get that going.  Silly kid.  How in the world was it ever possible to survive without phones and electronic games and internet?!  Kinda sad in a way, huh?  I'm not toooooo sad, though.  ;)  Life is sure convenient in so many ways.

The biggest hit of all were these window markers.  The kids spent all morning before church drawing on our sliding glass doors.  However - now a month later - I refuse to let them use them again, because I am STILL trying to clean off the smear marks all over the windows.  Sheesh!!  NOT as washable as claimed - believe me! 

 

 Sunday evening we headed over to the Millers for more Easter fun, yummy food, and intense game playing.

Krystal, Krystal - what in the world is this face?  hahaha!

"Stir the Pot" - now you can know (and for my kids - you can always REMEMBER) - what the "Stir the Pot" game is!  M will have to explain how she came up with the title.  And - no one will EVER top gramps in the enthusiastic "hot/cold/ON FIRES"!  

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter!  I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for each of us.  Easter celebrates that amazing man, our brother and Savior, and I am forever grateful for His example and love.  "I know that my Redeemer lives - what comfort this sweet sentence gives!"

Hogle Zoo for Spring Break!

We really lucked out with pretty good weather for Spring Break ... the snow hit the week before and then again the week after.  :)  So, we were able to enjoy a fun day at the zoo with the fam!

Riding the train:

Krystal is really the only child we need to completely supervise (Marissa and Aaron we don't worry about too much) - so, I got mostly pictures of Kryssie-roo.  She sure enjoyed every minute of the zoo!  It was fun to see the baby elephant again. 

  

Orangutans and gorillas!  Marissa found herself a VERY handsome gorilla guy!  ;)

 

 

Krystal had so much fun with this little guy.  They ran back and forth and back and forth together at the window many times.  It was really cute.  She was pretty scared of the creepy crocodile, though! 

 

 The Merry-Go-Round!!

 

Aaron was buddies with his Grandma most of this trip.  I love that!  And here are the kids on the rhino - the picture they want to get EVERY time we go to the zoo. 

We really had a fabulous day!