Girly Get Togethers

After the chaos of Christmas I had some fun outings scheduled which consisted of friends, food, and shopping. The Friday after Christmas I met some of my High School friends at Pei Wei. We try to get everyone together during the Holidays, which proves to be a rather difficult task. It is always fun to catch up on each other's live (which is now easier since everyone blogs) and laugh at old times.
Moving left to right, Scharee, Cecilie, Sarah, Chesney, Melissa, Me. We missed all you girls that couldn't make it. Maybe next time....

Then Friday Trent's family came up to celebrate the boys birthday. They took the boys shopping to pick out a toy (which was so cute and nice of them). After they were done with that, Teri, Jill, and I did a little impromptu shopping outing. I had a great time strolling the stores not really looking for anything. It was good to get out of the house and relax for a bit.

The next event was the celebration of "Heidi Day." We all met at Pei Wei (yes, again. I don't mind at all because Pei Wei is one of my faves). Afterword, all the girls went shopping, where I found a nice wool coat (a stretch for me since I don't wear nice clothes) and some of the cutest jeans ever (which are inspiring me to get back into the Fat Girls No Mo' program because of a little tightness issue). I always have a great time with my sister-in-laws and love their input on fashion, especially since I have no fashion sense what-so-ever!

Jill, Me, Jamie, Brooke, and Heidi. Teri is taking the picture and poor Jenny caught the horrible cold that I am sure my kids gave to her, so she was at home sleeping.

My after Christmas celebrations were just about as fun as all my actual Christmas celebrations. It was a great ending to a perfect week!

Our Christmas...

Wow. What a Christmas. We had so much fun with all the parties, family, food, presents, traditions, and Christmas JOY. It was a fun (but hectic) year with the hoard. Aiden and Andrew really understood "Santa" this year, so that part was fun (and useful for bribing). I had over 300 pictures from Christmas day, so to save you all from ultimate boredom, I just picked 1 picture for each of us and a group shot. If you have a deep desire to see all the pictures come on over and we can take an hour, eat a snack, and go through them all!
The Group getting ready to go and see what Santa left them. They were all so excited. Even Paige and Morgan....although they had no clue what they were so excited about.

Aiden opening his gift while watching Andrew open his. Focus boy!

Stockings are one of my favorite things to do. I love finding little stocking stuffers. Andrew was so excited for his McQueen toothpaste!

Oakley opening her Tinkerbell movie. That girl loves her Tinkerbell!

Paige would just go around playing with every one's presents. When someone dropped a toy she would be there to pick it up.

Poor Morgan. Too bad she can't eat some of that chocolate money. She did love carrying it around though.

Mom acting surprised at her gift. Every year I buy something for myself and have Trent wrap it. This system works well for us. (Trent does surprise me with gifts too)

And now Trent's turn. He bought this DVD himself and I wrapped it. We are such a fun couple!

~~~

The rest of the day consisted of Christmas fun at the Jensen's and the Veigel's. It was so much fun to see what everyone else got, enjoy a good breakfast, exchange gifts, have Luke cook me the best ham and cheese melt ever, and, simply, loving the Christmas feeling. We hope you all had a great Christmas and here is to another great year!

Aiden and Andrew turn 4!!!

Today is the day my story sounds less shocking. I can no longer say I have 5 kids, 3 and under. It seems far less of a feat to have 5 kids, 4 and under, but maybe I still have a chance of getting on Oprah and having my house remodeled or something! ;)

Not too many people get the "opportunity" to have a picture of their kids in this stage of their lives. I am guessing the one on the left is Andrew, because of the mess that is surrounding him.

I will post more about the boys B-day celebrations when I actually start planning some celebrations. So stay tuned....

Happy Birthday Boys!

Family Christmas Dinners Galore!!

It seems all of our family Christmas parties all ended up being these last few days before Christmas. Every night we have gone to a different party and every night we have a great time and eat way too much food.

First: The Progressive Dinner

Trent's family (Trent's mom's side) does a progressive dinner every year. We go to different houses and enjoy different courses. The food is always so good and the company isn't too bad either! It was actually fun to see all you bloggers in real life instead of the 2 dimensional one I look at everyday! The progressive dinner is one of Trent's favorite traditions and it was a great start to the week of celebrating!

Second: The Veigel Dinner


My dad has 1 brother that lives close, so we alternate houses every year and have dinner together. We hosted the party this year. It is always so nice when people will travel to us instead of packing the hoard up and going to a non-child proof house. Once again we had some delicious food and had fun watching the kids come up from the playroom in different costumes. Who would have thought we would celebrate Halloween and Christmas in the same day?

Third: The Dodee Dinner

Last night we had the Dodee dinner. For those of you who don't know, Dodee makes the best food ever. It is always a treat to get Dodee food! We all enjoyed the "breakfast dinner," listened to past Christmas memories, and opened gifts. Dodee and Papa are always so generous and they really make the night fun. My kids had the best time!

Thanks to all the families that put so much time into these parties and making Christmas so much fun. I love ALL Christmas traditions and can't wait to start some of our own!

Merry Christmas to All!!!

Christmas Cards

I love, love to get Christmas cards in the mail. In the past my fridge could barely hold them all, so I decided to get a Christmas card holder. I love it almost as much as I love getting cards in the mail! This year has got to be a record for getting the most cards. I have loved finding a new one (sometimes multiple) in my mailbox everyday. So thanks to everyone that sent us a card. I love them all!

Here are the pictures I used for our Christmas card this year. I think the pictures turned out pretty cute. I apologize to anyone that didn't get a card from us. I had to make the cut somewhere. It is a lot of work to hand make every card. I had to stop at 60. My mind and hands couldn't take anymore. Maybe next year I will get smart and do the cute ones you just print off at Costco or something and then I can send out hundreds. Well, maybe not. I don't know that many people that would actually be interested.

Not exactly like the card I made, but pretty close.

Jill was the excellent photographer for this picture. I love that everyone one of us is looking at the camera and that most of us are smiling. And it helps a lot that my kids are just so darn cute!

Really, if you didn't get a card and want to be on the list for next year let me know. I will for sure get one to you!

That's What I Get...

We use the phrase "that's what you get" a LOT during the course of each day. We, as parents, have no sympathy when our kids get hurt after we have told them to stop whatever they are doing a few times. When they come crying to us after wrestling, jumping, fighting, throwing things, or just doing dumb things against our advise, we just tell them "that's what you get." Our kids have followed our example and they even say it to each other (usually after they have just hit the other one and made them cry). So, Friday was a day that I said this phrase to myself over and over. I had seen a few posts with cute moms that had made cookies and such with their kids and I thought maybe I should be a cute mom too. I have only made sugar cookies one other time in my life and I was about 7 months prego with Paige and Morgan and I swore I would never do it again. But I thought maybe I just hated the experience so much because I was the size of a whale, with legs like an elephant, and a back that hurt continuously even when I wasn't leaning over for 2 hours making cookies. So, I thought I would give it another go. It started out okay, but quickly turned into a not so fun time. I had just finished making the dough and all the kids wanted a taste. I even gave some to Paige and Morgan, risking the chance that Morgan would throw it right back up. And sure enough, as I started rolling out the dough, Morgan threw up the cookie dough and her entire breakfast all over my feet. As the throw up was seeping through my toes I tried to get Morgan, the cupboard doors, the floor, and myself cleaned up. It was everywhere. Throughout the 15 mins of cleanup I just kept saying "that's what I get." I finally got back to the cookie making and as I was rolling out the dough for a second time Paige decided to make things more fun and pulled my camera off the counter. It crashed to the floor and the battery compartment broke open and wouldn't keep the batteries in. I pulled a "MacGyver" and taped the thing shut with some handy scotch tape so I could still pictures to document this "joyous" occasion. We continued on with the cookies and the kids did have a good time cutting them out, getting flour everywhere, and making snakes out of the leftover dough. After the cookies were done baking I handed them all a cookie, except Paige and Morgan (I didn't feel like cleaning up anymore throw up). Aiden was the only one that ate the cookie! After 3 hours of work I have a Tupperware FULL of cookies that no one will eat. But I guess "that's what I get" for trying to be a fun mom.
So the moral of this story....don't try to be something your not. In my case: a fun, cute mom. It will just come back to bite you in the...well, you know.

1 Year Anniversary!

In honor of having our blog for 1 whole year, I decided to repost my very first post. It is still one of my favorites!

A Day in the Life of the Jensens:

There are 35 diapers (at least 2/3rds poop)

2-3 leaking diapers

50 wipes

20 tissues

6 feedings

6 burp clothes

4 bibs

24 spit ups

10 bowls of cereal

5 peanut butter and jam sandwiches

6 bowls mac and cheese

7 snacks

6 refills of juice cups

1 tube pringles

5 temper tantrums

10 fights

65 "No's"

8 timeouts

5 times remaking beds

12 owies

1 fat lip (Andrew of course)

3 loads of laundry

35 messes

35 cleanups

4 baby einsteins

3 hours of sleep for Trent

2 1/2 hours of early morning crying (Paige and Morgan)

And almost 1 nervous breakdown.

But there are 45 please's, thanks you's, and your welcome's

50 kisses

60 I love you's

200 smiles

25 peek-a-boo's

15 high fives

20 songs

45 hugs

10 games

5 cute kids

and 1 family prayer thanking Heavenly Father for the Day!

Aiden's Prayer

Aiden is very good at saying his prayers by himself. We just tell him to say whatever he wants and to be thankful for whatever makes him happy. Here is how his prayer went the other night:

...Thank you for family (names everyone), thank you for day, thanks for Transformers, thanks for Ironman and the new Batman...Amen.

I guess he knows what is important in life. At least he did say family first.

Snow...

Trent had to go into work way too early yesterday, but that meant he got home a little earlier too. He decided to take the kids outside to play and take advantage of being home before it got dark. The boys stayed outside for such a long time. They absolutely love the snow. Oakley....not so much. I guess she would like it better if she had snow pants like the boys to keep her warm.

My favorite picture is the bottom left. He crashed at the bottom of the hill and thought it was pretty funny. We call him George Costanza in the bottom right picture.

Andrew's face cracks me up in his sledding picture. He screamed with happiness the whole way down! And I love him just chillin' in the snow with no cares in the top left pic.

And what can I say about my cute Oakley. She looked so tiny on the sled. She only went down twice. Once because she didn't know what it would be like and second....because I made her go down so I could get a picture. Poor girl. And I love the boy look she is sportin' with her hand-me-down coat. It goes perfectly with her cute beanie!

Paige and Morgan were snug in their beds taking a nap during this outing. One of these days I will take them out and let them experience snow. I am just too lazy to bundle up 5 kids for 5 minutes of play. At least the boys stay out longer now. It makes the 20 minutes of getting their snow clothes on worth it.

Lights!

We went up to Layton Park to see some Christmas lights. We usually get out of the car and walk around, but Trent and I just didn't feel like bundling the hoard up and walking in the freezing cold. So, we just drove through the park...not once, but twice. The kids wanted to do it a third time, but Paige and Morgan were getting sick and tired of their car seats. If anyone is looking for some fun and different lights head up to Layton. They have dragons, animals, bugs, dinosaurs, cars, and train shapes all in lights. The kids loved it! They did keep saying they needed James and Josh to see the lights. I think there is a competition between them to see who can find the best lights!

Whatever We Wanted Whenever We Wanted.

St. George was our trip without any responsibilities what so ever. We really did whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. It was a good escape from kids and life. Here are some highlights (and 1 or 2 low lights):



~ The trip started out on a sour note. We took Ody to his new family on the way down. It was really difficult for me to say goodbye. I cried for 45 minutes afterward and then periodically throughout our little vacation. Sad times.

~ We went running at the same time. Usually at home we have to alternate so the kids are taken care of. And I am sure Trent appreciated not having to wake up at 5:30 to get his run in.

~ We hit In N Out 3 times while we were down there. We haven't been fond of their fries in the past, they are not cooked enough for our liking. So, we learned a little secret and asked for them crispified. Our problem was solved and now we can say we love EVERYTHING about In N Out!

~ We went down to Vegas to see Mandi. It was fun to finally see her house. I never have wanted to drive the extra 100+ miles with my kids, so this trip was the perfect opportunity. Thanks for letting us invade for a minute Mandi!

~ Another not so fun thing was driving from Mandi's house to the outlets in Vegas. It took 1 hour to go 6 miles. I absolutely HATE traffic/construction. But I did get a good deal on some swim shorts (a must for me), PJ's, and a cute shirt. So, maybe the traffic was worth it....maybe not.

~ Eating was a major part of our trip. Besides In N Out, we ate at Chili's and Texas Roadhouse. It was so nice to go into the restaurant and hear them call out "Jensen table for 2" instead of "Jensen table for 7 with 2 high chairs and 3 boosters." And the food was delicious!

~ Saturday morning I called and woke Brooke up so she could go shopping with me. We hit a ton of stores and I found a ton of cute things. Brooke was so strong and passed up the cutest jacket and settled for some earrings instead. That was all she purchased the whole morning. I am proud to call her my sister-in-law.

~ After shopping and another meal at In N Out we went and did some wheelin'. We came across some sand dunes and had a pretty good time. I was a little nervous at parts, but we brought Brooke and Annie with us so they could pull us out of the sand if we got stuck. ;)

~ We watched several movies down there. Out of the four, we had one good one, one that started out good and didn't end that great, one that was a one timer, and one that we didn't even finish. Even though the movies we picked weren't the best it was fun to sit and relax and watch a flick without interruption.

~The best part of the vacation was getting to enjoy the Honeymoon Suite (as Teri calls it). It was so nice to walk out of the room and take a few more steps into the hot tub. The cool weather and the warm hot tub were the perfect combination. Thanks Brad and Teri for letting us use your house for our great escape. It really was heaven.

That about sums up our little retreat. It was a much needed break from kids. Thanks to Grandpa Brad, Grandma Teri, Jenny, Big Brad, Heidi, James, Josh, Jamie, Mike, Annie, Grandma Holly, and Grandpa Larry for watching the hoard while we were gone. It really is a big task taking care of our kids, so we really appreciate it.

8 years....doesn't it go by in a blink.

This weekend we are celebrating our 8th Anniversary. I can't believe we have been married for 8 years, but at the same time it seems like we have been together forever. Here is a little trip down memory lane. While I was thinking about this post a lot of fun (and not so fun) memories came to my mind. Here are some tidbits, factoids, and other things that have happened during the different stages of our lives together:


The Courtship:

• Our first date was at Yanni's where I had my first taste of Greek food. Followed by a trip to Maga's to play Guesstures and watch "Broken Down Palace."
• Trent and I used to drive to each other's houses on 2-15 because I-15 was under construction.
• Our parents both bought their first DVD players.
• Trent's youngest sister was 6 years old and I couldn't believe he could have a sister that young.
• We both got our first cell phones.
• I bought my first car.
• Trent and I bought our first DVD U571 and took it back back because of the dual layer pause in the middle. We thought it was damaged or something. Trent has come a long way in his "entertainment" knowledge.
• We would email each other every day and more than once too.
• I thought I was fat when we were dating (duh). Little did I know the girth that would be coming...
• Ultimate frisbee was the majority of our dating activities. So. Much. Fun.
• Trent would listen to 107.5's top 10 countdown driving home from my house every night.
• Cade and Emily got married and Trent came to the reception and met my whole extended family less than a month after our first date.
• Heidi met Brad, the future "Big Brad" as my kids call him.
• Trent was a PAR at Deseret First.
• I worked on a support line for JC Penny. Not a support line for drugs or eating disorders, but computer "type" problems. I know, me fixing people's computer problems. Ya, amazing.
• Trent introduced me to Utah football. I had NO idea the kind of emotions that were in the game of football.
• Trent asked me what I thought about getting married about a month after we started dating. My response..."To you?"

Ahh. The days of just laying around doing nothing but stare into each other's eyes. ;)

It was so much fun to snow shoe to/from the cabin in the dark. We had many a dates snow shoeing around mountains.

The Introduction. Utah football was a big part of Trent's life that I had to get used to. My family really wasn't into watching sports, but I will have to say I have grown to like football. You would be amazed at how many players I actually know...

I love the scenery behind us. We did a lot of stuff outdoors while we were dating. Good times.


The Engagement:

• Trent designed my ring with his Grandpa and had it custom made.
• I had a "6 Month Rule" before I could get engaged. And sure enough, 6 months after we started dating we were engaged.
• We got engaged right before my first semester of nursing school started. It is hard to focus on school when you are planning a wedding.
• Trent proposed while we were camping with my family in Greys River.
• It was a difficult task to plan a reception when you know the whole groom's side had a firm belief that receptions were evil.
• While apartment hunting my dad found a house for us to watch while a single sister went on her mission. We were first introduced to the "Blue Lagoon."
• We counted down the days until our wedding.

The Pose. I always wanted the fall colors in my wedding announcement picture. I still love how it turned out. Man, we look young.

The Wedding:

• We got married on Thursday, December 14 2000 in the Salt Lake Temple.
• It was FREEZING that day.
• We had to wait forever for our turn because the couple before us forgot their recommend.
• I loved having so many people their to share my day with.
• We got married during finals week. I do not recommend that at all.
• We had hot chocolate and donuts for our reception food.
• I loved finally getting sealed to Trent after all the planning. It was the best part of the day.
• The day was perfect.

The happy couple in front of the famous tree. Trent will probably never wear a tux again in his life.

Everyone who shared the day with us and everyone who waited a LONG time at the wedding breakfast while we finished pictures. (I LOVE Pom Pom's coat!)

The Honeymoon:

• Trent and I went to Hawaii on our honeymoon and that is all that I am going to say about that....

This is my favorite picture from our honeymoon. It has all of my favorite things from the trip: Trent, the beach, the warm weather, the clear water, and snorkling.

The Newlywed Years (the years without kids):

• We didn't have TV for the first year of our marriage. It didn't come with the Blue Lagoon package.
• We added our first additions to our family. Milo and Ody.
• We bought our first house which was the cutest little house ever.
• I started realizing how amazing Trent was and how he can really do anything. He remodeled our house and built the most amazing pergola (Jake helped quite a bit with that structure).
• Trent traded in my first car without me knowing and bought me my first brand new car.
• We travelled around. We went to Wisconsin (to visit Jake, Becky, and Lynn), Nauvoo, San Fransisco, Disneyland, The Price is Right (Trent hated every moment), and the usuals-Wyoming and Moab.
• Trent and I graduated and got "real" jobs.
• We went through too many infertility treatments to count. I wasn't a happy person during this time. I feel bad for Trent (and really anyone who came into contact with me), I was a horrible, angry woman.
• We continued our favorite past times of snowshoeing and mountain biking. I haven't done either of these things for 4 years.
• We would have Jamie and Jake up to the "Fat House" for many meals and movie nights.
• Luke, Jake, and Jamie all went and returned from their missions.
• Trent started becoming obsessed with TV's picture and sound.
• We couldn't wait to have kids.

Our first additions. It has been an emotional week getting rid of these two. I still can't believe they are gone. They were both the cutest puppies ever.

Our cute house. It was really hard to leave, but it was a good thing we did. I couldn't imagine having my hoard in that house. Yikes.

Trent's (and Jake's) masterpiece. I can't wait until they can build one for our current house. It was the coolest Pergola ever created.

One of our many trips to Moab. It was so fun when we would go as a big group. We really had some great times down there.

And the snow shoeing group. I really can't believe how many times we would go. The best part was the sled ride down. We would laugh so hard at the crashes!

The Chaos Years:

• We finally got our wish and got Aiden and Andrew after 2 1/2 years of trying.
• Our family grew to a family of four.

• Then 8 months later we got the biggest shock of our lives (at that point anyway). Little Oakley was on her way. We still couldn't believe it happened without any shots, petri dishes, or infertility specialists.
• Now a family of five.

• And 8 months after Oakley was born we really got the biggest shock of our lives. We were pregnant again, but with twins. Cute Paige and Morgan were ready to join in the chaos.
• Our family was now a family of seven.

I really can't believe how our lives have changed over the past years and I can't wait to see the changes that come our way in the future. We really have the perfect life and I am so glad I said yes 8 years ago. Love ya Trent!!!

My Bug Catcher

I no longer have to worry about bugs around my house. Oakley will find them, pick them up with a tissue, and flush them down the toilet. Perfect.

Birthday Celebrations!

Besides killing my dog I have actually had some good birthday celebrations. The first one was a combined party with Jill (she is graduating from the U). We had a delicious dinner at the Jensens, followed by Rainbow Chip cake and Root Beer floats and a couple presents. Everyone was so nice to make dinner for me and thanks to Brad, Teri, and the Bentleys for the gifts!

***
The next celebration I had been planning for a couple months. Monday night we had a girls night. We went out to eat and then went and saw Twilight. I know I am a few weeks behind all the Twilight hype, but I wanted to do it for my Birthday!

We had dinner at Rumbi Grill. Very good food. I think they might just have the best french fries ever! Going around the table clockwise, Me, my mom, my Aunt Rauna, cousin Heidi, cousin Laree, sister-in-law Emily, and sister-in-law Kimmy.

Sorry this pic is blurry, but I still had to include it. I don't know if everyone was as excited as I was...

Right after the show. We told everyone to scrunch together for the picture. I don't know if we were just giddy from just watching the show or what, but we couldn't stop laughing at my mom. It looks like we are sitting next to a stranger that just happened to get in the picture. I guess you just had to be there to think it was funny.

***

The almost last celebration was a viewing of The Dark Knight last night. I LOVE this show for many reasons. I love Heath Ledger and thinks he does an excellent job as the Joker, Christian Bale is the all time GREATEST actor (and it doesn't hurt that he is very good looking), and put them together with a good story and there you have one good flick!

I didn't take any pictures last night unfortunately, but we had quite a crew with the Bentleys and Kimmy and Oliver. Thanks everyone for making the journey and staying up late to watch the show. We are having an Encore tonight for Jamie, Mike, and Jill if anyone is interested in experiencing the Zen of Blu.

***

So, really besides one little set back of running Milo over I have had a good birthday. Trent even came home last night with Cafe Rio and a very cute running shirt that I have wanted forever. He is always good at surprising me even if I tease him that he doesn't! Thanks Trent!

***And just a side note. Trent is worried that people might not know that I was joking when I said he had been trying to run Milo over for months. That's not true, he may have thought about it a time or two, but he would NEVER do it. He just leaves the actually killing to me. ;) ***

Happy Birthday to Me!

So today for my birthday I:

• Ran over my dog
• Took him to the vet with 5 crazy kids during nap time
• Watched Milo pee blood all over the Vet's lobby
• Listened while the Dr. told me it would require a $1000 surgery to fix Milo
• Told the Dr to just let Milo go
• Payed a $200 bill (so much for my birthday money ;))
• Had to explain to the kids why we were leaving the vet without Milo
• Haven't stopped crying since I left the vet
• Almost ran Ody over when I got home...

This has been the BEST birthday ever!!!

Seriously?

We posted the dogs on KSL last night and we already have 3 people interested in taking them. We are beyond excited. Some even want to come and take a look at them this afternoon. So, I am returning from Costco, very happy, and pulled up our driveway. Milo and Ody are in the usual spots waiting for me. I wait for the garage to open and continue into the garage and BOOM. The Bohemoth jerks and I hear Milo yelp. Yes. I ran over Milo. I backed up and got out of the car. All I saw was some poop and white hair on the floor and the tire. I get into the house and Milo is sitting in his bed and has a huge cut on the inside of his groin on both sides. Seriously. Trent has been trying to run Milo over for months and now that we actually have people that want him, I run him over. So, now I am going to load the kids up and take Milo to the vet to see what the damage is. I thought things were going too easy....

The First December Snow!

I was so excited when it started snowing yesterday. It just didn't seem like the Holidays when we could go outside in short sleeves and flip flops? So, now I can start listening to Christmas music, start wrapping presents, and really get into the Christmas mood!

Aiden and Andrew love the snow this year. I think they are finally big enough to be able to play in it without falling and getting too cold. Trent took them out to the street and they made a couple of sled runs down the hill. They loved it!

And there they go! It was a long ride and I don't even think the boys cared about the long hike back up. The boys loved sledding and playing with their dad. Its moments like this that make the long days of taking care of kids worth it.