Oh to be a kid again

At 4:30am the two eldest Jensen children sneaked a peak at their goodies, were caught at the top of the stairs and were hurriedly shewed back to bed by their mother.  At 5:30am, mom hears beeping and other noises and finds little man downstairs all alone playing with his presents.  He goes back to bed with mom and dad until 6:15 and then is shut in his room to look at books and wait . . . until 6:45am, which we tried to make 7, but finally gave up and decided to let the joyousness begin!

How it works at our house:  You are allowed to check out your stockings and your gifts from Santa at your own will, but for all other presents, you must take turns, youngest to oldest.  The kids really don't mind that much, and it kind of makes it funner to know that it is "your turn".  And maybe its just me, but (1) I can't stand the "free for all" present opening and (2) I want to see my kids open the things I got for them!  Plus, I think its important to make sure they know who its from, so they can properly thank them later.  (My husband and I have differing views on this, can you tell?) 

Despite our early start, we had a great morning.  We even took a break in the middle to have a yummy breakfast - crepes!  The boys' favorite!

Cody and Colton loved their play kitchen from Santa, and Grandma Jill had no idea that her aprons would go so perfectly.  They have been put to use many times already.  Daddy loved his mug from the boys that had pictures of them on it.  It will get good use at the firestation.  Cody loves his BYU jersey, since he goes to school there, and would wear it everyday if I let him.  I think Corbin's favorite, at first, was his Diary of a Wimpy Kid book set or his drawing book, but since he figured out his electricity science kit, it has definitely topped all presents.  Colton's favorite and most used present is his toy vacuum - and would you believe, it actually sucks things up!  We will put that to good use! 

And before we went over to Grandma & Grandpa's we had to try out the fingerpaints from Grandma Jill...

 

The rest of the night was filled with cousins and food and games and more presents, of course.  With 14 grandchildren, it was a house-full, but the boys sure had fun!  Thanks to everyone who made this such a wonderful holiday for our family.  We hope everyone else had a day of joy and cheer as well.

 

Merry Christmas!

On the Eve of His birth

I think it is because of our traditions growing up, but I have always liked Christmas Eve to be the "spiritual" part of Christmas - forget about the presents and Santa, the treats and the parties, and just focus on Christ.  We have had several discussions and activities throughout the month about Jesus Christ and the "real" meaning of Christmas and I think my kids actually "got it" this year.  It made me so happy to listen to them re-tell the story themselves and to hear them telling each other that we were really celebrating Jesus' birthday.  So this year for Christmas Eve, we stuck with our tradition (for the 2nd year) of going to Temple Square to see the Nativity and the Christmas lights.  And the evening turned out to be just right.

We rode the "train" into downtown and luckily planned a little better this year and instead of eating at the first place we saw, we had a perfect dinner at the Olive Garden.  We actually don't take the kids out to eat very often, so this was a treat.  How can you go wrong with all you can eat breadsticks and noodles?  And the best part of dinner was that two people came up to our table and told me what a lovely family we had and how well behaved the boys were.  (Maybe they were thinking about Santa coming.)

After dinner we bundled up and headed 2 blocks over to Temple Square. The beauty of it never disappoints. The pictures really don't do it justice.  I am always amazed at how every tiny limb is illuminated, and of course the temple was gorgeous as always.

The boys and I squeezed up front to see the life-size nativity.  For just a moment, it is possible to completely forget about the cold and to be enveloped in the story.  Even though it gets crowded, and even though it looks the same every year, I love it every time.  And I love seeing the renewed awe the boys have as well.  (I wish I could have gotten better pictures of the wise men and the shepherds, it really is quite neat.)

All in all it turned out to be a great night.  Most importantly, we spent time together, we made memories and we rejoiced in the birth of our Savior.  So until next year...

 

Twas the night before the night before

When I was a kid, we had a tradition of sleeping under the Christmas tree the night before Christmas Eve.  And I was so excited to start this with my kids this year!  Last year Cody was still too young and Corbin didn't really want to do it by himself, but now it's begun!  We had a great night of cuddling and reading Christmas stories and eating Egg Nog ice cream sandwiches (that may be a new part of the tradition).  And I was quite surprised that once we settled down, the boys didn't really have any trouble going to sleep (or maybe that's because it was already an hour past bedtime).  I love these little angels!

All I want for Christmas

I woke up one morning to find that quite a bit of wrapping paper had been unfurled . . . so before Daddy got home, we hurried and wrapped up a present for him.  He liked it.  :)

Bittersweet Snow Day

7am - Start shoveling massive amounts of snow because I am supposed to take five gallons of hot chocolate to Corbin's class for the Polar Express party (and I actually have to go to my in laws to get the jug first).

7:10 am - I realize there is no way I am going to make it to my in laws because they always have more snow than us and their road never gets plowed, and I don't even know if I can make it out of my street.

7:20 am - 2 cars have gotten stuck in my cul de sac so far.  No one is getting out.  School buses have been cancelled (for junior high).

7:40 am - Still shoveling.  Colton has joined me in his soggy diaper pajama pants, but at least he has boots and a coat.  Mom in law calls and says school is cancelled. Woohoo!  I don't have to try to get out!  Boohoo - Corbin's last day before break is cancelled - no party, no hot chocolate, no gift given to teacher...

7:45 am - 3/4 of the way done with the driveway and ready for a break.

8 am - Eat breakfast.  Get dressed for real.  Feed kids.  Get them dressed.

9 am - Bundle up and head out for ROUND 1 of fun building forts and having snowball fights!

10 am - Still snowing

12:30 pm - Venturing into the backyard for ROUND 2 of fun building a fort under the tramp.

1:45 pm - Ready to come inside!  Look at those red cheeks!

2:15 - Round 3... Cody doesn't mind playing outside all by himself.  He even found a little snack.

Despite missing the party, it turned out to be a fun day of snow and hot chocolate.  And luckily by by 5pm, the roads were drive-able and since cabin fever had set in, we braved the weather and went out for pizza and a movie.  What a fun day!  It was a great start to our Christmas break!

"Gingerbread" houses

Graham crackers, leftover Halloween Candy (+ a little extra) and some creativity makes for a fun evening.

I think they turned out fantastic and three happy kids say they had a great time - and that's what counts!

A Fire Station Christmas

The Murray City Fire Dept Christmas pajama party is an annual holiday tradition we have come to love! 

There's lots of food and friends and a visit from Santa with individual presents for each child!  This year they also had face painting and Christmas crafts to keep the kids occupied while waiting for the big man.  It was great!

Ready for Santa!

Bringing in the Season with the Rockettes

Corbin and I had a great date night right after Thanksgiving weekend . . .

Radio City Christmas Spectacular right here in Salt Lake! It definitely got us in the Christmas spirit and we LOVED it! So many talented dancers and singers and it was very family friendly. We had a great time! Thanks Grandma Jill for the tickets!

(This was one of our favorite numbers with a real bus driving right on stage!)

More Turkeys

Corbin's "thankful turkey" he made at school:

I am thankful for . . . food. So we can live and not be hungry and so we can give it to other people and do the food drive and so we are helthy and so animals and plants can eat.

I am thankful for . . .earth because it is preety and because people help it and because it gives us foo and water and because it gives its really pretty and fun.  I LLLove earth.

I am thankful for . . . miss nelson because she is nice and fun.  she is awesome and cool.  she helps us learn and read and write and she lets college students come to her class.

I am thankful for . . . my dad because healways does his workout with me, he sometimes drops me off at school and sometimes helps me with addition, subtraction and times.

I am thankful for . . . my mom because she cooks for me. she drops me off at school. she does the dishes. She cleans the house. She helps me with my homework.

I am thankful for . . . water. so we can live and be helthy and so plants and animals can live and so we can swim in it and we can drink it and so we can paint.  I love it!

Cody's "thankful turkey" from school:

Family, Friends
Turkey, Ham
Pizza, Chips
Mom and Dad
World
Leaves, feathers, birds and clouds

We are grateful for so many things!

A little bit of gluttony

is okay when its shared with family and done in the spirit of giving thanks, right?  Our day of food and family was perfect and since there's not much to say besides "yum", I will just share a few pics and a few recipes...

And here's what I made to contribute to the feast:

RASPBERRY JELLO YUMMY-NESS (this would be really good at Christmas too)

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen raspberries
1 (6 oz.) pkg. raspberry Jello
1 c. boiling water
1 c. applesauce (used my homemade sauce!)
1 c. sour cream
2 c. miniature marshmallows
Dissolve Jello in water; stir in raspberries and applesauce. Pour into 8 x 8 pan. Let Jello set. Mix marshmallows and sour cream together. Spread marshmallow mixture over the Jello. Allow to set in refrigerator several hours. (I actually doubled it and use a 9x13).



SWISS VEGETABLE MEDLEY (this is seriously good.)
1 (16 oz) package frozen boccoli, carrots and cauliflower, thawed and drained
1 can condensedcream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (4 ounce) jar chopped pimientos,drained
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese,divided
1 (2.8 ounce) can French-fried onions, divided
In a bowl, combine vegetables, soup, sour cream, pepper, pimientos and 1/2 cup cheese. Stir in half of the onions; mix well. Pour into an ungreased 1-qt. casserole. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese and onions. Return to the oven until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.  (I doubled this too and used a bigger baking dish)

I also made Pumpkin Fudge, which was really good, but I will wait to share the recipe, because if you live anywhere near me, you may be getting some for your neighborly Christmas gift. :)

Hope everyone else enjoyed a great day of giving thanks as well!

What We're Thankful For

We made our "Thankful Turkey" for family night on Monday.  Here's what the boys came up with:
Daddy
Snow
Earth
Family (Cousins, Bros, Daddy, Mommy)
Heavenly Father
Grandma
Jesus
Mom
Brothers
Food (Noodles, Fish, Garden)
God's Creations
School
Friends

I should preface this though with the fact that we did spend some time talking about having an "attitude of gratitude" and being grateful for the things that money cannot buy.  It was actually a great discussion and right during the middle of it, Cody wanted everyone to be quiet so he could pray and tell God thank you.  It was sweet.  And so far this week they have still remembered what we talked about and have been expressing great amounts of gratitude in their prayers.  Let's hope it sticks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Star Attraction

Corbin has been asking me for awhile now when I was going to write another post about him. He LOVES to read this blog, and informs me that he has read everything about himself.  Plus I think he wants to make sure his name stays at the top of the "labels" list over there on the side.  So I thought this would be the perfect time since Corbin was the "Star Attraction" in his school class last week.

I was so proud of the poster he made! I helped him arrange the pictures, but he picked them all himself and chose what he wanted to write.  He did most of the writing and did very well! 

Since you probably can't read it all in this high quality photo I snapped after he brought it home from school and a couple things had already fallen off, here's what it says:

I like tubing.
I have two brothers.
I like riding bikes.
I like hiking and rock collecting.
I love my family.
I like kayaking.
I like horseback riding at my Grandma's house.
I like swiming.
I like playing video games.
I like zip-lining. (sorry that was one of the pictures that fell off)
I like camping.

He also had his "favorite foods", but I think they may have just been foods that he likes and were the only pictures he could find in the magazine.

He wanted to add more at the end, so we added:

He also cut out a picture of a bottle of shampoo and conditioner and wanted to put that he likes to take showers, but we didn't have enough room on the poster. ;)

I love this kid!