California Here We Come

Well, its official.  We have done lots of considering the last few months, and Chris finally decided to take the job he has been offered from a company in Southern California.  It was just too good an offer to resist.  We are lucky that he gets to work from Arizona for 2 years, and we will just have to see how things go after the 2 years of working from home!  If and when we move to California, we will be living in or near Ventura.... which is about 60 miles north of LA.  I am definitely excited about him being home all the time (except when he travels, like he currently does), and moving to CA seems like an exciting adventure as well!

More Ava Jolie-isms

The other day Grandma Jensen was over, and Madison had put Dora tatoos all over Ava.  She came to show Grandma, and Grandma said, "Wow, you have a lot of tattoos!  Who do you think you are, Angelina Jolie?"  Ava: "No, Grandma, I Ava Jolie!"

Ava rarely has accidents since she has been potty trained.  She had one the other day, and the next day she was very certain she wanted to keep her new ones clean.  Mom: "Ava, your panties are nice and dry today, good job!"  Ava:  "Yea, Mama, I keep these ones dry, they precious and pretty!"

Everything in Ava's little world is either a girl or a boy.  And most things are girls.  The other day I was reading her a book about numbers, and she pointed to the six and asked, "what's her name?"  "uhh... six?"  "that right, Mommy." And then the other day, Chris was talking about our house and Ava said, "no Daddy, this Mommy's house."  Chris said, no this is Daddy's house... "no Daddy, it a girl house!!  Its Mommy's house!"  And since Ava is so OCD about stuff, he just had to agree with her... (good job Ava girl!)

She also likes to make things Mommies, Daddies and babies.  Today she was playing with her string cheese, and of course the big piece was the mommy and the little piece was the baby. ;)

Ode to Laurie

Okay Laurie, here it is. I haven't been posting cuz I'm addicted to Facebook. I stay up too late, I ignore my blog, and I just feel terrible. But lets face it, I can get a lot more done on Facebook in 30 min than blogger any day. I can find 10 new friends, comment on 5 friends walls, add a few pics, and check out a few of my friends pics. On blogger I can only write a short post and maybe add 1 picture. Well, mostly cuz I spend so much time editing them and arranging them on the page. And then of course, I have to change my background, put a new picture in for one of my kids that just had a birthday, add a few songs to my playlist (well not recently), and try to read some recent posts of my friends. But after I've done all this, I've been on the computer for 2 hours, and I could have made 2o more Facebook friends! :)

But of course blogger takes priority, its how I document my family's life.  I've just been a little neglectful lately cuz I found a new friend.  Sorry blog.  

Ava-isms

Yes, Eliza, I am copying your Owen-isms.  Since they are getting married some day, I thought it would only be fitting.  

Yesterday for our Sunday activity, we made handprint turkeys and wrote down what we are thankful for.  To get Ava to cooperate, I explained kinda what we were doing and asked her what things "make her happy...?"  She told me hearts, and drawing pictures, and pennies, and smiles (oh and chicken, but that one just doesn't sound as cute)

Then today when she was sitting on my lap, she was deep in thought for a while, staring up at the ceiling fan, and she said

"triangles make me happy"

"and squares make me happy"

(short pause)

"circles make me happy"

"lights make me happy"

"fans have circles, Mommy"

I just sat and listened, resisting my urge to ask her if this or that made her happy...  then she said, 

"Mommy, you make me happy"

and my heart melted :`) 

Primary Program... Whoops!

Today was the annual primary program at church... always my favorite Sunday to go to church besides Mother's Day, when the kids sing to their Moms.  We are usually late to church, since it is now at 8 am (who am I kidding, we've always been late to church), but today we made sure to get there early, so we could sit up close and watch our 3 cute kids in primary!  My favorite parts where when they signed and sang the song "When Jesus Christ was Baptized," and at the end, when they sang "I am a Child of God...." you could really feel the love of all the sweet little kids when they sang that last song that I love so much.  

The whoops of the day was when I felt something wet on my leg and I looked down at Mia to see her staring down at a big puddle on the carpet below us.  I couldn't figure out where it came from.  No water bottles, no sippy cups in sight... hmm... so I assumed she had spit up a whole lot.  I cleaned it up with an old shirt I had in my bag... I was surprised how much there was, and how food free it was for baby puke.  A few minutes later I picked Mia up and felt that her legs were wet, and then when I sat her on my lap I realized she didn't have a diaper on!!  She had pulled it off, peed on the church chapel carpet, and stared at the ground to admire her work!  How the heck she got her diaper off is beyond me.  But I guess thats what I get for not putting bloomers on her with her dress!!  Needless to say, I put a little more work into cleaning it up better.  Later when Mia was playing with her blanket on another part of the carpet I started to wonder... What other kinds of things have been "spilled" on this carpet??

We have a new... President?

Yes, we were a bit disappointed last night about the outcome of the election.  I mean I just can't picture Obama as our President.  Of the whole country.  For four years.  Or more...??

But to tell you the truth, I couldn't really picture McCain as president either.  More so than Obama for sure, but neither really seem authoritative enough to run our great country.  We will sure see in the months and years to come how things turn out.  

On a happier note, I am extremely glad that Prop 102 passed, in fact I am pretty pleased with how most of the propositions turned out. I'm glad Arizonans saw through the guise of sneakiness claiming to benefit the whole, like Prop 200 and Prop 202.  Thank goodness!

*I would love to hear all of your thoughts on the elections as well!*

We are so blessed that we live in a country where change is possible and our voices matter.  I pray that we will continue to be as vigilantly involved in what is happening in our country as we are at election time (especially me!)!

I wanted to share a wonderful quote on patriotism that I came across as I was preparing FHE last night...

“Patriotism is more than flag-waving and fireworks. It is how we respond to public issues. If we ask only, ‘What’s in this proposal for me?—What do I get out of it?’—we are not patriotic and we are not good citizens. But if we ask, ‘Is this right?—is it good for the … people?—would it preserve and strengthen our freedom?’—then we deserve to stand in the company of [great patriots]. Patriotism is trying always to give more to the Nation than we receive. It is selfless service”
-Ezra Taft Benson, The Red Carpet [Bookcraft, 1962].

Party, Party, Halloween!

Ok, so the theme of Halloween this year was definitely party it up!  

Since we have a system of points for the kids for their behavior, we like to have a big reward every few months so they are motivated to stick with the program.  In the summer, we converted their "points" to money to spend on souveniers, and yes, some kids had more money than others because of more good behavior points.  I won't say who ;)

Since August, the kids have been collecting pumpkin points, and we told them if they each got to 600, we would have a Halloween Party!  They all did!  No easy feat.  So including the ward Halloween party, our Halloween Party, school Halloween parties, and Halloween itself, the kids were all partied out!  Well, at least Mommy was!

For our Halloween Party, we invited both of our families, a few neighbors and a few friends.  I would have loved to invite more people, but we had 65 as it was!!  It was great.  We all ate yummy Mexican food, mingled a little bit, and then got to the games.  We had apple bobbing, pumpkin painting, a pinata, face painting, carmel apple making, popcorn balls, and a costume contest at the end.  Chris did a great job coming up with awards on the spot.  And everyone looked so great in their costumes!  (including adults... thanks to those who joined in the fun and dressed up with us!)  A super thanks to everyone for bringing such great food, helping out with the activities, and coming to make our party great!  Hopefully next year we'll get to the spooky stories and have even more fun activities!

I have to mention the fun time we had at our other parties... at our ward party, we had a chili cookoff, and out of 20+ chilis, Chris's chili won!  Go Chris!!  I knew he was a good cook, but.....  ;o)

We also had a great time on Halloween, we got together and ate at Chris's sister Jen's house and went trick or treating in her neighborhood, we were a little late so some houses were out of candy (thank goodness, the kids didn't get too much candy this year, for the 1st time EVER), but since she lives in a super nice neighborhood, we got some really great candy!

p.s.  I would love any more pics from the Halloween party if people want to share!  There were some people we weren't able to get pictures of... :/

Brandon and Karli Jensen <3

We have had many events going on in the last few weeks!  The first of which was the marriage of my youngest brother, Brandon and his new wife, Karli!  They were married on October 23rd, in beautiful Fountain Hills, outside, with gorgeous weather.  Everything turned out so great... we are so happy for them, and glad Karli is officially a part of our family now!  She and Brandon dated for about 4 years, during High School, writing on his mission, and of course afterward.  They are so cute and happy... we love them.

We really enjoyed just having Cameron, Madison and Mia with us, it reminded us how mature and independent Cameron and Madison have gotten... we didn't have to get on them the whole evening... in fact, we didn't see them a lot the whole evening, they were off socializing and having fun with all the great "kiddie" stuff Brandon and Karli had at the kids table.  I loved watching Madison and Emma as the flower girls... they were both soo beautiful and did a great job gracefully laying the flower petals on the ground.  Good job, girls!  I also loved seeing Cam and Maddy dance together on the dance floor!  Cameron kept picking Madison up... it was way cute.  

Karli's parents hosted a reception the next evening at their house in Mesa, that was beautiful, too!  A little more hectic for us, we had all of our kids to chase around, and our older kids are a little more rowdy when they have their younger siblings to provoke them.  It was a great evening of seeing lots of friends and family though.  The kids loved the hammock over in the corner... :o)

*Sorry about these first few pics!  I didn't know how to reduce them, so you'll just have to click on them to see the full view!*

These flower girls sure do love each other! <3

Ava, Karli, Mia (kinda hidden), and me

My sweet baby brother and my sweet Maddy Lou

Jacob and Brandon love little Ava!

Ava with Pretty Grandma Jensen

Isaac swingin on the hammock

Wow, Mia smiling with Papa... someone other than Mom!  And she actually looks like she's saying cheese, doesn't she?  

The whole Sly crew!  Yeah, we're not all looking or posing... but so what, we're still cute

Joyeuse Anniversaire Ava Jolie -- 3 ans!!

Happy Birthday, Ava Jolie-- 3 years old!!  We all love you so much!

From the time I was pregnant with Ava, I knew she was going to be someone special.  I had this feeling about her... I actually started to wonder if she was going to be handicapped somehow because I just kept feeling like she was a very special spirit.   And so she is!  She brings so much happiness into our family, I can't even tell you!  She is such a good friend to everyone, always trying to help and learn and new things for herself.  And she is an amazing help to me, especially for a 2, now 3 year old... always by my side, cleaning up, putting things where they go, helping me make things, and of course wanting to be Mia's second Mommy.  Maybe Ava was to be special to our family because she was the first child that I actually realized would grow up so quickly... I cherished every moment of her babyhood, as I missed the other 3 being so small. And now she adores every moment of Mia's babyhood as we adore her growing into her childhood! Its just happening too fast though!

I can't wait to continue watching Ava grow up, learn about life and become even better friends with her baby sister Mia, as well as Maddy and the boys.  I thank my Heavenly Father for all the joy He has sent me in my life with all my children... and today I thank Him for the gift of Ava, the strong willed, sometimes shy, ever inquisitive, controlling, yet loving, little mini ballerina, Dora lover, Daddy's little princess!

WARNING:  LOTS OF PICTURES TO FOLLOW!

Always Daddy's girl... here they were enjoying the snow when she was 5 months old

Contemplating life at 6 months old

Bathtime with the whole crew (this was for photo purposes only =] )

Mommy loves Ava

Grandpa Sly loves Ava

Daddy looovvves Ava!

Maddy loves her little sister so much too...

Havin fun at Lagoon... 9 months old

On the go!  Hiking in Provo Canyon

Time for kisses from Daddy

Ava loved baths then and still does now!  She would bathe 10 times a day if she could!

Ava's 1st birthday and 1st baby doll.. she loved babies even then!

Ava's 2nd Halloween (she was only 2 weeks old on her 1st!)

Chicken pox!!  15 m0nths old

At Legoland with Goodman cousins and Isaac and Maddy- 21 months old

3rd Halloween! (Ava's pumpkin is the 2nd from the right, its carved as a bat)

Ava as Princess Dora

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Happy 3rd birthday, ballerina princess!

Arriba, Arriba, Go Eagles!

Well today was Cameron's 4th football game, only the second I have gone to... yes, I am a bad mom in this regard. His first game was so hot and long that felt I had an obligation to keep my other kids safe from heat and boredom!.. and me from their craziness after sitting for 3 hours in bleachers! Well today was a different story... not only was the game much shorter, we didn't have to sit in bleachers, and we were actually COLD! Cold in Arizona before Halloween? Not a commonality.  Today was special, too, because it is my Dad's 58th birthday... he and several other members of my family came to watch the game and afterward celebrate his birthday by taking him out to lunch. Cameron did such a great job today... he made a few tackles and also facilitated 43 yard run for a touch down! Yay Cam! We had a great time at Arriba's for lunch, too. So happy birthday, Dad, and good job Cam on a game well played! Go Eagles!!

Nathan and Chris were into the game the most out of us all... don't you love how their shirts match?  They planned it of course 

The wild ones of the family... Isaac, BryLee and Elias... they are all always on the go when we get together!  But of course this is because they are so smart and curious and always wondering... whats over that hill over there?  Or what will happen if I run around in circles for the rest of the time we are here??

Gettin a little pep talk from the coach after the game...

Such a handsome Eagle

Emma and Maddy hangin out... Maddy only got to cheer for a little bit this game!  We were kinda late and they stopped cheering about 10 minutes later...

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Everyone who came to lunch at Arriba's, minus me, Chris and most of our kids  (Carol had to go home and I was in and out of the bathroom with kids most of the time b4 we got our food)

Nate, Jenn, Jake, Bryant, Jackie, Papa, and Cam

Thanks for coming everyone!! (You too, Carol, Emma, Eli, Tyler, and Tyson!)

Happy October!

October is finally here!  Maybe it will start being cool soon... yea right!  Maybe by Halloween!  Does anyone have any great ideas for baby costumes?  Ava was a spider 2 years ago, right before she started walking, it was soo cute and so easy... I want to do something like that for Mia, too.  Just let me know in my comments if you have any cool ideas or websites.  Thanks!!

The Swimsuit Phase

Ever since swimming lessons, Ava loves the water and begs to go swimming almost everyday.  At first, whenever she would see her swimsuit, she would put it on and ask all day long if she could go... she finally gave up on asking to go swimming and would just put her swimsuit on periodically.  Now she puts one on everyday.  She wakes up and says, "where my Dora fimfoup?" or "where my mermaid fimfoup?"  Can you tell I love the way she says swimsuit?  Its so cute!  And instead of changing her clothes all day long, she now changes swimsuits all day long.  Good thing (or not) she has like 6.  And of course her favorite is the old hand me down ratty mermaid one.  My new favorite is the Dora one she wore yesterday with the swim shirt underneath... yes, she insisted it be that way... isn't it just so lovely?

We had to put Mia's Dora swimsuit on to match that day.  It was actually pretty cute.  Today was the tinkerbell top with the Aqua bottoms (we couldn't find the purple bottoms to match the Tinkerbell top), and hurray, we actually got to go swimming!  Ava was so shocked when I told her we were really gonna go to Aunt Jen's to go swim.  She had a lot of fun even though she never stuck her face in the water.  She's so done with that.  Oh, great, I just realized she's probably going to start asking everyday again if we can go swimming in Aunt Jen's pool....

I had to put this cute one of Isaac and Ava, he always loves to pose with his sisters, or anyone for that matter :)

Here's the one Ava decided to wear for PJs tonight... :o)

To Share or Not to Share

Since I decided to make my blog private, I have gotten many inquiries as to why. Like many of you, I too hate when I go to view someones blog from someone else's blog, whether it be an old friend or just someone I kinda know, and its private! But I was talking to my sister in law Amy the other day and she gave me some things to think about that led me to make my information a little more secure. She had a lesson in church last Sunday about technology and safeguarding our families from harm. I think blogs, email, the internet are wonderful ways of communicating, but they also leave us open to vulnerability from crazy people who's whole goal is the promotion of evil. Specifically, she was telling me how some of these people have found a way to leave messages on your blog that contain a hyperlink that can lead you to a seemingly harmless website that, without you knowing can steal some of your information, such as your blogger name and password. I can't remember what else she said people can do, but it made me nervous... that coupled with the idea of some creepy stranger reading all about me and my kids and the things we do... I'm sure it doesn't happen often if ever, but you never know! And the fact that the leaders in the church decided this was an important enough subject to teach in a combined Releif Society/ Priesthood meeting, made me feel like it was pretty important.
I've contemplated putting an email address on my profile, for people who would like to be invited to view my blog.... probably not my regular one, but a separate one, if that will even work... we'll see! Well, I'd love to know what you all think about this... ?? :o)

Tea Time!

Ava is such a girly girl. She's always dressing up, putting makeup on, and saying, " I'm so pwetty." Probably her favorite thing to say. Well, I just had to take pics of her and Mia, and Isaac (reluctantly) having a tea party.  (As you can see in the background of some of the pictures, I was trying to do my laundry, when the cuteness of my children distracted me...)
                                                         Ava's setup

                                   "Now put the tea in here, Mommy"

                                                          Mmmmm...

                                            See?  She thinks she's big!

                                                     Is there any left?

                       Oh!  There's really tea (well, water) in here!

                                    The plate tastes the best...