Aly J.

Love this girl! She is such a sweetheart. I love the beanie in the top pictures with the pea pod on top- it was Kennedy's and it was fun to get it out and put it on Alyssa. The last picture is exactly what Aly was wearing the other night when Nathan and I were out with her and nobody new that she was a girl, in spite of the pink threaded throughout the overalls and on her shirt, not to mention a white and pink blanket over her...I knew because when people would ask about her or tell me she was sweet they would use gender neutral terms that though they thought they were being inconspicuous, these certain phrases are red flags for when people are fishing for gender confirmation. Here, I will give you an example, instead of saying she/he is cute they will say "oh, what a sweety!" and then to ask how old he/she is they will say simply, "How old?" And the most obvious is when they ask, "What is the name?" ...'the' name? Come on people! You might as well just come out and ask if it is a boy or girl. This same night the hostess who seated us went on and on about our baby boy and made all of these male gender specific comments about 'him'. I usually don't care but I thought two things: Probably my fault for not helping out the general public by putting a bow on Aly's head (though that still doesn't seem to help a sorry few) and also, is that outfit really that ambiguous? Does Aly really not look like a girl? No one is going to tell me if she doesn't I suppose but still...With the bow on, if you can't figure it out I suppose you got bigger problems then not being able to tell the difference between a baby boy or girl!

School Is In!

As a mother I don't feel like I am the overly ambitious, do-it-myself-cuz-I-can-do-it-better type. I wasn't dying to do a co-op preschool. I would rather not stress about having 6 or so, three and four year olds over to my house and the pressure of trying to keep them in control, and entertained all while attempting to teach them something. So when we moved to Virginia I was excited to get Kennedy into a preschool, only to find out that here you have to have your child on the waiting list the moment they are conceived or they won't get in. You will also pay tuition that rivals that of most colleges- and I am not even kidding. I was bummed and sure that I had just officially messed up Kennedy's life (heretofore it had been 'unofficial') because there was no way she was getting into preschool this year. After a bit of searching I discovered that the high schools here do preschools where there is a teacher and students that teach and they are actually affordable. After literally hounding 2 of these teachers through emails I was able to get on a waiting list for next year and just recently found out that Kennedy made it in to the fall 2007 program. Meanwhile at home we started playing school as a pretend activity and Kennedy loved it so much we have turned it into the real deal. Kennedy is SO excited everyday- she has me pretend to ring the bell to signal the start of school and she and Kohen (decked out in shoes and coats that Kennedy has put on them) come into school (aka-the kitchen) carrying backpacks all ready to learn. Kenna calls me 'teacher' and 'Mrs. Jensen' and is enthusiastic about our learning program to the point that there can be tears when school is over or it is the weekend. The picture of the place mat shows just how neat and tidy Kennedy is. It asked you to match the # to the groups that had that # of objects in it. She wouldn't draw a line through the directions and I was impressed with her willingness to go out of her way to avoid an unsightly break-up of the directions. Check out the #5. She started to the right of the number then draws up, all the way to the left, then carefully down and back to the right to the middle group of ducks! In that moment I knew she was related to her Papa Dixie, just a little...retentive...you know what kind. Any way, we are having fun doing all sorts of activities and Kohen mostly colors with a dry erase marker the whole time while I teach Kennedy her lessons. I love that picture of him hunched over his work like an artist obsessed, he takes his scribblings very seriously. Anyway, for now we are having a good time...And I never thought that I would say that about teaching at home!

You Can Try...

Notice the little tiny 'Polly Pocket' shoe in Kenna's hand

What Kennedy chews on instead of gum

You can try to keep your children from making the same mistakes that you did, but sometimes it is hopeless. I chewed so much gum growing up that my jaw is a complete disaster now. So I have been really careful to keep gum out of my children's immediate reach, not that that stopped me when I was young...but I digress. I have tried to only use gum with children on occasion for a really special treat. So of course I became suspicious one day when Kennedy appeared to be walking around the house chewing gum. Turns out she was chewing on a teeny, tiny rubber shoe from her 'Poly Pocket' princesses. Then I realized she has started keeping all of the shoes together in a baby doll sippy cup as a stash of chewing shoes! I got to tell you, I never saw this coming. Over the last month I have noticed her chewing shoes on nearly a daily basis- so much so that I finally had to pop one in my mouth and chew on it for a while to see what all the fuss was about- and you know what? Not so bad. Definitely a viable alternative...and I am the expert.

Satan's Cookies

Don't be deceived by all the shiny, happy, wholesome-looking girls on the box. If you eat what is in that box you won't feel shiny, happy OR wholesome! The problem is, the cookies only come around once a year, and the $ supposedly goes towards those cute little girl scouts selling the cookies, and those two reasons always seem to compel me to impulse buy them (for a 'good cause' I tell myself, ignoring the fact that clogged arteries are not exactly a 'good cause') and to buy more now because you can't buy them later which is classic supply and demand. I thought I was doing so good this year not having bought any cookies (though mostly because I hadn't had the opportunity) until Sat. when Nathan was out with Kennedy running errands and I was out with Kohen and Aly running errands and I was STARVING. Naturally when Nathan called and said, "they are selling girl scout cookies, do we want some?" I replied, "Yes, and get a lot!" I was so delirious with hunger he could have offered to bring home gourmet dog biscuits and I couldn't have been responsible for giving him the okay. So, I beat him back home and was able to eat something and as the immediate hunger subsided I started worrying about the license I had given Nathan in the phrase 'get a lot'. Yeah, he came home with four different kinds of cookies...oh boy. Now, I hardly ever eat so much that I get sick. Rarely do I do that. But Sunday night, I don't know what came over me. I ate my entire daily caloric intake in girl scout cookies alone! I felt so sick- just looking at them made me feel gross. The picture above is what is left after the cookie massacre, minus the box of Samoa's which were the first to bite the dust. In my defense, Nathan did help...a little. So today, Monday, I am feeling better and that overly full sensation is starting to fade into a distant memory...until I went to get something out of the freezer and saw what is pictured below...CURSES!...Duty Calls!

Maiden Voyage

Well after 6 months we finally gave in and bought a table. We left our old one in Boise. It was one of Nathan and I's first purchases after we married, which we were naively high pressured into and it was the biggest piece of over-priced junk ever! So after quite a bit of looking we settled on this beautiful set. Since we moved we had been eating with Kennedy in a booster seat thing that hooked to the island and Nathan and I ate on our bar stools next to her with Kohen in the high chair. Nearly every night when we would sit down to dinner either Nathan or I would comment "we have GOT to get a table!" But our Kitchen is set up a little odd and so making a table fit is a bit of a challenge. I love this table and I all ready feel myself going a little bit overboard trying to keep it in good condition (notice the kitchen towels under the children's plates, I had to improvise until I get the proper place mats or some such). With little children around and the occasional clumsy adult (okay, mostly just me) I know it will be a slow death for this lovely table. I haven't taken the protective plastic off of the seat cushions yet, and the vinyl table cloth I put on for the school lessons we do has remained on since shortly after this picture was taken. Nathan is worried. He keeps trying to bring up a dialogue about what my long term plan is with the table cloth. But I just can't bear to let the gouging and scratching begin just yet. Anyway, we enjoyed our first meal together at our table sharing home made pizza which was so fun. Then I tried Alyssa out in the high chair -she looked so tiny in that big chair that Kohen had filled out so aptly!

Frosty the Snowman

Nathan, Kohen, Kennedy, Erin and Alyssa
Sledding Feb. 2007

Marianne, Kohen, and Kimmy with the beginnings of Frosty.

Nathan and Kennedy after a particularly awesome ride down the hill

The Bell Family (well, 4 of 6 kids present)

Top left: Marianne, Rosie and Tom

Bottom left: Peter and the twins Kim and Katie

Everyone, minus our photographer Rose, posing in the awesome scenery!

February 25, 2007 Sunday

It has taken Nathan and I a little getting used to the fact that if there is even a dusting of snow they cancel everything here. Mainly (and understandably) because Virginia doesn't have the salt, sand and snow plows needed to clear anything but the main roads and even that is a stretch. So even when we received almost 4 inches of heavy, wet snow this past Sun. morning we were still surprised when our phone started ringing with calls that Church had been cancelled. No, you read that right, Church was cancelled! Nathan and I proceeded to do the stupidest happy dance jumping up and down and shouting "woo hoo" before we realized what we were doing and started laughing at ourselves for being idiots. Don't get me wrong, we love church and the boost that it gives us to take on the upcoming week- but having church cancelled was a first for both of us, and forgive us for being a little overly excited. We will repent...next week, when we have church. Any way, we went sledding with the Bells and had the most wonderful time! Everyone took turns bringing Kennedy and Kohen down the hill, and I even went down with Alyssa strapped to me, a few times which was fun (don't worry Dad, I only went half way down, and I started right below the tree stump that everyone kept coming dangerously close to. You would be proud, I even brought the kid's bike helmets with me but lost my nerve when I saw where we were sledding and the lack of imminent danger). Then we started building Frosty. He was about 6 ft tall- so huge! And quite handsome if I do say so myself. It was everything you dream about for a snow day and playing in the snow. After, we went home and I put a swimsuit on and got in the tub with Kennedy and Kohen so we could warm up and sweet Nathan brought us all hot chocolate with marshmallows!!! Love that guy! Then we got in our sun. clothes and headed across the street to the Bell's home. The Bishop had authorized us to bless and have the Sacrament in our homes and so we shared a really neat experience doing that with the Bell's. It was a good reminder for me of how thankful I am that my husband has the Priesthood and was able to participate in blessing the Sacrament, and also a good reminder of how grateful I am to have the opportunity to recommit myself to my baptismal covenants each and every week by taking the Sacrament. I know it is a heavy topic for a blog but I have to be honest, it was a wonderful experience. Anyway, there are so many pictures from our fun snow day, I didn't even scratch the surface. The post beneath this is just more pics of the fun we had. Enjoy!

Snow ball Fight!

6ft 1 in Marianne making a snow angel next to 3ft 2 inch Kennedy!

Kohen clears his mouth of snow after an awesome ride down with Katie!


The Snowball fight that ensued was a lot of fun, even with Aly strapped to me I still got in on the fun. You may be thinking that having her with me would give me a clear advantage seeing as no one would want to hit the baby, however I can't actually hit my target with the snowball so I remained as ineffective as usual!

Peter and Marianne battle it out while Kennedy and Kohen put their two cents in. And it wasn't snowing anymore, that is all the flurry of the snowball fight my friends!

The girls get pelted!

The best snow day ever!

Mr. Mischief

My sweet Kohen has turned into a mischievous little 2 yr old! I am unable to get anything done because if I turn my back on him or let him out of my site for 30 seconds (30 seconds, people!) he will have dropped paper towels in the toilet, rubbed chap stick ALL over his face, given a quarter to Alyssa to play with, tasted the powder laundry detergent, gotten out 2 steak knives to chase Kennedy around with (though in his defense I think he was just chasing because she was running)...these are just a few off the top of my head. Now, I know this is somewhat typical and perhaps not even that bad compared to some, however-I don't care. It still is not all that fun. I think it is the sheer volume of incidents rather than the deviance of them that gets me down. In case you are judging me about why he had access to knives, detergent, quarters and the like, well I didn't think he did! He has proven himself a worthy opponent climbing and snooping and finding all of the things he isn't supposed to. So I have compiled a few pictures from some of his less urgent adventures. First off we have Kohen standing next to a tiny cup from Kennedy's kitchen. One morning he found a full adult size cup of water that a guest had left out that I didn't find the night before. Not to worry, my helper Kohen found it and I saw him out of the corner of my eye. Knowing how he thinks I tried to cross the room in 2 steps shouting a slow-motion "NOOOOO!" he hurriedly dumped the entire glass into that teeny cup. Did I mention the tiny cup was sitting on the couch? Next we have Kohen holding Kennedy in what looks like a hug but became a full fledged headlock as soon as the picture was taken. This is a common practice he uses to get his sister all upset. We have also caught a "hug" he was giving Alyssa turn into what looked like him doing chest compressions on our sweet girl! Ahhhh! And finally, this Monday during family home evening Nathan was taking turns with the children playing a song for them on the piano and they could choose to sing a song or play along with him. Kohen had his turn and then I became distracted while listening to Kennedy make up an impromptu song while Nathan played. It was so darling until I realized Kohen was missing. And not only was he missing, he was quiet- that can only mean one thing...mischief! And there he was standing on the bar stool with the big 'ol pepper shaker- shaking it ALL over the place! There was a thick dusting of pepper all over the counter, chair, and floor. So I go to get him down so he could vacuum it up -and he does what he usually does when he gets caught-he frantically tries to finish the task at hand before I can stop him. This time that meant that he reaches out with both hands and in a frenzied motion sweeps his little hands back and forth sending the pepper in every direction. To my let-the-punishment-fit-the-crime delight he then put both hands in front of his mouth and took a great big lick! He sneezed intermittently for 10 min after that- I even got a picture of one. What a boy. Even with all of his 'creativity' how could you not love this kid?!

Poor Cinderella

Saturday mornings come around and it is time for everyone to pitch in together and clean. This Saturday Kennedy was insistent that she wanted to mop the floor 'like Cinderella'. I wasn't going to argue with that. It started out with Kennedy in the entry with a wet rag where she quickly got into character piously singing the "Sing sweet Nightingale" song that Cinderella sings while mopping the floors. It was pretty cute because for 45 min she sang the same line over and over "swing sweet Nightingale" with the occasional "hiiiiiiiiigh, above thee". Pretty soon she had solicited a more than willing Kohen to play the role of Lucifer the naughty cat (not such a stretch) to come and put dirty paw prints through her freshly mopped floor so she could cry out, "you mean 'ol thing!!!!" just like Cinderella does. As the pictures show the activity quickly escalated and to be more authentic Kennedy wanted a bucket with water- and so of course then 'Lucifer' -who knows an opportunity for a mess when he sees one- needed his own bucket and rag too. In the end they both went around sopping the floor while I went behind and dried. Though it took 3 times longer, eventually the floor did get cleaned!

Tinkle Tinkle Little Star

Potty training. It has to be done. No one wants to do it, but it must be done. At 2 1/2 yrs old Kohen was already half way there. He had been doing the dirtier business on the toilet for about a year now (a glorious phenomenon/blessing we kind of happened upon) and I knew that if I didn't take on the rest of the task soon he would get too stubborn and it would be diapers through kindergarten. We actually had a false start a week or so ago when Kohen found his 'Go Diego, Go!' underwear and was adamant he wanted them on. Eventually I acquiesced and soon forgot that he was even wearing underwear until about an hour later when he peed on the wood floor. In that moment I knew that I was wholly unprepared and unwilling to go it alone. So this time:

We Prepared

We Got Inspiration

And We Got UNDERWEAR!!!

So we started last Saturday when Nathan was home and we were able to focus on Kohen properly. He actually had an amazing first day with no accidents even though one of us was taking him to the bathroom every 20 minutes or so. The next day however, Kohen decided to use his agency and had 3 accidents in a short period of time leaving him quite distressed. He kept bringing me diapers and begging me to put them on him. Luckily the phase of rebellion for Kohen (and guilt for me) only lasted about 2 hours and then he seemed to resign himself to learning the new skill. Now -as some of you may know- the mechanics of a boy are quite different from a girl and as it turns out very...unpredictable. The distance and scope they can cover is unbelievable! So just because Kohen would make it on to the toilet didn't necessarily mean that anything made it in! It was after just such an occasion that I was kneeling in front of Kohen -who was still sitting on the toilet- cleaning up the wayward half while enthusiastically praising him for the successful half, when Kohen decided he wasn't finished. At near point-blank range I had little time to do anything...even close my mouth!!!!! In horror I rocked backwards desperately trying to gag and spit at the same time (no simple task) while Kennedy who had witnessed the whole thing comments with controlled disgust how 'it' got on my shirt and pants too! Perfect. A few minutes later as I was brushing my teeth I pondered how they hadn't mentioned this type of thing in any parenting class -and also how someone once told me that urine is sterile and I wondered if whoever had come up with that 'fact' had ever had any in their mouth! Either way I wasn't taking any chances! Later when I relayed the incident to Nathan on the phone he couldn't help himself from laughing and saying it sounded like a 'special treat' before pulling himself together and playing the role of sympathetic husband.

Anyway, I think soon enough Kohen will have completely mastered the technique of using the bathroom. And I am sorry for all of the potty talk, but I did warn you! I think from this I have learned two very important lessons. #1- My son will do probably anything for candy #2- Whether or not you think they have ammo, NEVER BE IN THE LINE OF FIRE!

Choose The Right

True Story: Last Sunday Kennedy came home from church proudly displaying her very first CTR ring. She of course loves it and is very proud of it and that she know that CTR means Choose The Right. Well, today Kennedy and Kohen were playing with some trains on the floor when a disagreement broke out and after a brief scuffle Kohen pulled Kennedy's hair. Kennedy cries out and immediately holds up her CTR- wielding middle finger and shouts indignantly at Kohen, "C-T-R Kohen! CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!" The irony of the moment had me laughing so hard, leaving both children quite confused! I was pleased that Kennedy reminded Kohen to choose the right...even if she shouted it at him. She seemed extra proud of herself when I wanted to take a picture of her CTR ring... then I showed her how well rings fit on our "ring fingers" and hopefully we won't have her unknowingly flipping people off and telling them to 'Choose The Right', anymore!

Pumpkin Pie

At 8 months old Alyssa is finally getting the hang of sitting up on her own! She hasn't been a bit bothered that her peers have been passing her up, by sitting, cutting teeth and for an ambitious few- crawling! Well, I like that Aly isn't feeling the peer pressure. She doesn't feel compelled to follow the trends...she is blissfully unaware. I have called Aly "Pumpkin Pie" (sounds more like "punkin pie") since shortly after she was born. I think I have called all of my children "punkin" at sometime or another but Alyssa is sweeter than pumpkin- hence, Pumpkin Pie (try not to gag on the cheese and go with it). She truly is such a sweetheart. She has a very calm and kind demeanor- very forgiving. I know this because even after Kohen gives her a "hug" (the kind that look like a body slam from WWF wrestling) she cries for a second and then she is right back smiling and babbling at him.

The other day I got the picture below of Alyssa. She was sitting in her swing that sits close to the floor, her hat box of toys sits next to the swing. Well, I looked over and watched her carefully lean all the way over and reach down into the hat box. She was unable to turn her head to look into the box so she just felt around until she found a toy she wanted and she gingerly lifted it up and carefully dropped it into her lap. Even in her hunched over, cock-eyed position I could tell she was really pleased with herself...until she realized the she couldn't get back up! "Curses!" She thought, as her poor abdominal strength came back to haunt her. It was so comical because she sat there for a second and then quietly started calling out intermitently to get my attention. She was probably a little irritated with me because instead of rushing to her assistance I grabbed the camera and took a picture first...what does that say about my mothering?...hmm...Anyway, I sat her upright and let her enjoy the rewards of her hard work for a while.

Lastly, I wanted to share one final Aly tid-bit because to really know her, you have to know about what Nathan and I refer to as "the light-bulb". The light-bulb is a motion that Alyssa does with her left hand constantly, and I mean CONSTANTLY. When she is eating baby food, when she is playing with toys, kicking her feet, being squished by Kohen, when she is excited, upset...pretty much any time she isn't sleeping she can be found doing the light-bulb. It is this motion that looks just like she is screwing in an invisible light-bulb with her left hand (go ahead, try it. I wanted to know what the pay off was too!). It is often accompanied by a frantic kicking of her feet. How she manages to do it all at once is beyond me! Maybe this is what she has been working on while all of her peers were learning how to sit!!!!

The Storm

Perhaps you have heard about the storm that has made the East a complete mess. Well, we experienced some of it with several inches of snow followed by several inches of sleet and freezing rain. School has been cancelled for 3 1/2 days and Nathan couldn't get his car out of the driveway the morning after the storm hit. So guess whose mini van saved the day!? That's right, chalk one up for my mom-mobile! Needless to say we have been spending a lot of time indoors! Check out our deck that -like most parking lots and side streets- is a thick sheet of ice! You can see that in most places it is at least three inches thick! And with the temperatures remaining well below freezing, we are going to be ice skating out there 'till spring!

Five Guys

Friday nights at Five Guys (or "Two Guys" as Kohen calls it for some reason) has become a tradition that we have inadvertently started since moving to Virginia. Five Guys Burgers is an East Coast thing- a restaurant that makes fresh burgers and fries when you order...SO GOOD! The children look forward to it all week and when Nathan gets home from work we head out.

Kennedy comes for the free peanuts...no lie, she makes a meal out of 'em (as seen below). Oh well, at least she is getting some protein. She really gets a kick out of putting her peanut shells on the floor (you are supposed to) and one time she brought a few peanuts home and I came in the kitchen and there she was sitting in her chair perched above a carpet of peanut shells! We had to discuss how Five Guys is the only place we drop our food on the floor!

Kohen is showing off his french fries (made fresh cut from Idaho potatoes!) his hot dog is long gone! It all works out well because then Kohen eats half Kennedy's hot dog too!