Family Photo Session

We had some pictures done in Oct. while Mark was home, with my sister... Melissa Weiss. She does great work! For not actually being a family photographer ,according to herself, I think she does an awesome job! I will post a link to our gallery soon which will include pictures from the entire session.

Jensen Harvest Festival

Tonight we had our harvest party. We stayed home, dressed up, played a ton of games, (bob for apples, sock war, charades and more) made homemade shape pizzas, and finished with homemade caramel apples! It was alot of fun. It was nice to be able to talk about how God is so faithful to provide for us, in so many ways. Zach helped me plan out the evening and it turned out to be enjoyable ( and a bit exhausting) for us all.

The 5 Year Old Princess

October brings us to Madeline's birthday here in the Jensen household. She turned 5 this year. After much debate, she decided on a hello kitty party theme. ( after all, a girl has the right to change her mind..a few times.) We celebrated her birthday a bit early this year so that Daddy could be with us again. Maddie did not have any problems with this arrangement. She is such a sweet little thing, but is smart way beyond her years at times. ( We were informed this month that she has marriage plans!!!) Maddie melts our hearts. I admit, she might be a little too much like her mommy at times though. She was absolutely thrilled with everything about her special day... as the pictures reflect!

Luke's First Birthday!!!!

It is amazing to me that this little man is a year old already! He is such a fun baby and is always making us all laugh. The more children we are blessed with, the more I realize what a unique gift each one is. Each bringing something valuable and precious to our family. We celebrated Lukes first birthday in September while Daddy was home. The kids picked mickey for his party decor and we made his cake. Now before you judge it too harshly, you should know that we do not use any dyes in this family and we make everything from scratch. He had a fun night and enjoyed being able to eat some chocolate cake for the first time. I love this little bundle of joy and look forward to watching him grow.

The First Day of School

I decided that I should be taking more school days photos of the kids this year, so we started with first day of school pics. The kids were excited to get to be in the newly finished schoolroom and to be able to get into thier new school supplies. This year the kids are in the following grades.... Zach is in 7th. Ethan is in 3rd, Andrew is in K/1st, Maddie is in K, and Sammie is in Pre-K. We have the two older boys doing Piano this year and we are all doing a joint science class with another homeschooling family on Botany. We hope to do some dog training classes with the collies as well. It has been a great year so far!

Our New Schoolroom

With the addition completed on the house we were able to make use of our existing basement and turn one of the areas into our schoolroom. I was determined to have it usable by the time we needed to start school this year and I did it. It turned out pretty cute and very practical. The kids and I all enjoy it. It is really nice to have a space other than the dining room to keep all of our school supplies. Trust me.... it is quite a lot of stuff!

This our 9th year of homeschooling...we started when Zach was 3. IT is such a blessing to see your children grow, mature and learn so much and to know that you have had a major part in it. I thank God for giving me the oppurtunity to teach my children at home.

News on the PC status

A while ago I posted about issues that we were having with usb ports and my computer. Well, they still exist. However, Mark was able to set up our old PC down in our school room ( pics and info to follow on this) with internet access and the photo program. So, I will be able to catch up with some photo blogging now...as the oppurtunities present themselves. I did Luke's birthday, minus the party pics I will put up later, because it was our biggest event to blog. I will be filling in some more when I am not as busy as I am at this moment. For those of you who follow our blog.... I apologize for being so very far behind.

Luke's 1st Birthday

Luke Sept. 2010

Luke Sept. 2009

In September we celebrated Luke's first birthday. It is hard to believe that he is already a year old. Luke has been such a blessing to our family. He is an easy going, sweet natured child. He loves his siblings and the family Collies. He already says many different words. His favorites are dawg, num num (food), and hi. Luke is not yet walking independentaly, but mommy is not heart broken. He does pull himself up on everything, walk along things and is quite the little racer on his knees. He is by far my best sleeper at his age. Sleeping thru the night for a while now and naps well in the day. Luke still sucks his ring finger and middle finger together.... a habit that I am certain is not going to break easily anytime soon. The beautiful pictures are the work of my very talented sister Melissa. Here is a link to more of her 1 year photo shoot with luke. Passcode is cuteness. http://www.melissaweissphotography.com/proofbuddy/index.php

The trouble with PC's

As you can see I am behind on blogging....again. I will do my best to get things caught up on here. However, my PC has decided that it will not read any USB devices at this time. Nor will it read the SD card from the camera. This is quite frustrating to me.. seeing as how uploading pictures is close to the most commonly performed task I do with my computer. Or shall I say...did! We will be looking into getting this problem fixed and then I will be able to add more photos, which have been stacking up on that memory card waiting to join my files. I will add blogs of our summer activities as soon as I can. We are now preparing to get our new school year going. A big task this year as we move into our "school room" in the basement finally! I have about 3 weeks to get it painted and set up. Pray for me! :) We are excited to actually have a designated space for all our "stuff" other than the dining room! I'll take pictures...and share them, eventually!

Easter 2010

I love celebrating Resurrection Sunday! I am so thankful that God sent his Son to die for my sins and made a way for me to have fellowship with Him. O.K..... not just me, but all who believe! I love sharing the good news with my children and though this is not the only time this happens, it is a special time. We also enjoy some family traditions on this day... one being a family photo, which my very sweet and talented sister always does for us. Somehow even on a busy day, with little to no set-up or forethought, she is always able to still capture a nice shot of our (seemingly) ever-growing crew.

6 years old!!!

April brings us to Andrews birthday around here and we celebrated this year super mario style! It was not the easiest theme to find, but he was thrilled with our efforts. It is hard to believe that he is 6 already. Andrew continues to make strides in dealing with his sensory processing difficulties. We tried many "new" foods this year and mom is figuring out some diet restrictions that have improved behavior issues. This child will melt your heart with his smiles! I'm trully thankful that God protected him in the womb thru the difficulties and blessed our family with him!

And then she was 3!!!

Samantha turned 3 on March 24th. She had to have a Tinkerbelle party...for the 2nd year in a row. Perfect for the little pixie that she is...;) We celebrated her birthday early while daddy was here and could join in.

She is growing up so fast on us and there is never a dull moment with this one! She is onery to the core but has such a sweetness to her at the same time that allows her to wrap people around those tiny little fingers.

Family fun nights

Around February in Montana one sometimes finds the need to entertain youngin's with "cabin fever". This particular night we decided to make a tent for some movie watching fun. We made some no-bake cookies, hot cocoa, and homemade pizzas. It doesn't take alot of money or alot of effort.... just some creativity and fun!

January 28th.... Zach is 12 !!!!

I'm getting old! I know this because I have found a couple gray hairs in my dark brown hair. I know this because I get worn out from an hour of shopping in Costco. I know this because my body aches if I go up and down our stairs a couple times more than normal. I also know this because my kids are growing up and up and up! My oldest turned 12 and I remember his birth like it were yesterday! He is ready for Jr high and football and go carts.... no more Thomas the tank engine, Veggie tales or training wheels! It really does go to fast! Now that I have had my "mommy" moment, I will say that I am very proud of the young man that Zach is becoming though! He is such a great kid, a huge help to mom and a blessing to our family. We celebrated his birthday late with daddy home. He chose a football theme for his cake etc.... ( shock) He got his first pair of football cleats, a bunch of Eagles stuff, a few games, legos, some money.... I think he had a nice time! Zach will be starting piano lessons with Ethan in a week.... they are both excited about it. He is trying to be patient about waiting to start football. He really wants to play! He also wants golf lessons this summer. He enjoys youth group at our local church as well. He has taken to the kitchen recently also.... becoming quite the little baker! I haven't minded this one bit! Happy Birthday Zachy Man!

Snow fun

So... this has not been the most snow filled winter here in Montana. However we have had a few snowfalls. The boys love to play in the snow. They always complain that it snows before or after Daddy's trips and not while he is here to do some real sledding with them. Despite this fact, I did manage to catch them having some fun on thier own....

Christmas 2009

We were blessed to have a full house for Christmas this year. It was so nice to have Mark's brother Michael, his wife Joy,and Mark's mother visiting us. We enjoyed a quiet Christmas morning at home. Had a big breakfast and then exchanged gifts. The kids were fun to watch and behaved great all day. We hosted Christmas dinner and had our not-so -traditional Italian feast. All the food was great! We had 23 of us here, I would not have wanted it any other way. I love my huge family! They are each a gift and a blessing. Speaking of gifts.... we are most thankful for God's gift to us, salvation through Jesus Christ His Son.

Ethan turns 8!

Ethan is now 8! It hardly seems possible. He enjoyed a party at home with an Army theme. He especially loved the cake. Good thing... seeing as how mom ordered it last minute, over the phone, without seeing it in person. Daddy and Honey Grandma were with us, as well as Papa and Nana. Ethan is trully a blessing to our family. He adds smiles and warmth with his one of a kind humor and sweetness. Happy Birthday buddy!