Exhibit X, Y and Z

It tells me in my patriarchal blessing to choose wisely who to marry as he will be the father of our children.

I found all these engagement photos that I don't think we've ever "saved" into our family journaling.  Had to add. 

I didn't even know how good my choice was at the time (how can you really??:))

To remember a few of the fun extras he adds to life:

Most days he "reports" to Aubrie and Robbie of which classical composer will be "bringing them to school" that morning (he drops them off at school on the way to work).  Joplin, Mozart, Beethoven, Handel, Liszt, John Williams....     He has a collection of CD's he keeps in his car and he chooses and plays one every few days.  He said the other day he was playing Beethoven's 9th symphony and Aubrie was so excited because she recognized the tune from one of her chorus songs.  There is usually some eye rolling when he brings it up, but it is something I think they will remember fondly when they are older.


We have many tapes of stories from the scriptures from a friend here and Randy and Karen.  Ryan listened to them every night growing up and it is amazing the names and stories he knows especially from the Bible because of it (ones I have never heard of).  So about 2 years ago he started listening to them at night with Robbie.  It doesn't happen every night but when he is home, he often puts the boys to bed and then he lays down next to Robbie, scratches his back and they listen to one side of a tape.   And as a side note I noticed at the end of the week last week that Robbie was acting so grouchy and uncooperative and it was getting so frustrating.  All of a sudden I realized that Ryan hadn't put him to bed the whole week and that is really his "snuggle" time with us and Robbie's love language is DEFINITELY affection.  I mentioned it to Ryan and we tried to snuggle him when we read scriptures and Ryan put him to bed that night and it was like magic.  His bucket was just empty.

The kids love to play "tiger" with Ryan, which has been passed down from my dad playing with us. You put an item on one side of the room and all the kids go on the other side of the room and they have to get the item back to their side without getting eaten/tickled by the tiger.  We loved it growing up and our kids love it now.  And an added bonus is that Ryan will mention they can play when he gets home but that they are playing in the playroom so it has to be cleaned before they can play.  It gets cleaned without one word from me.

Our kids really enjoy sports and a lot of that comes from Ryan--because it is one of his greatest loves--to play, to watch, to talk about--he will play any sport with them pretty much anytime, keeps them current on players/games with whatever sport season it is, and the boys especially love to "watch foo-ball (Blake)" with Ryan.

All of last year I was teaching the kids piano and trying to help them practice every day and I was hating it.  I really wish that I could say that was too strong of a word--but it's not.  I really dreaded it everyday--it was hard to be consistent with the lesson part of it and it was a fight many days.  So, I suggested after Christmas that we get a piano teacher for the older two at least.  Ryan decided that he would start giving the older 3 kids a 15 minute lesson on Sunday mornings before church and the first couple weeks really taught them how to practice on their own and told them it only needed to be 10 minutes and showed them exactly what to do (Hallie still needs help) and it has been HUGE.  They have already memorized a song, practice every day without really complaining because I think they feel ownership over it and it's do-able to them.   It has been the biggest weight off my shoulders too.

There are lots of other things, but I'll end with the fact that Ryan really cares that our kids are disciplined and it sure comes in handy for those many times that I can be too soft or not as firm with them as they probably need.

Week of Aubrie

Mrs. Aubrie had a fun full week at the school.   Thursday evening the school had their annual 4th grade POETIC VOICE.  4 years ago a local artist/author started it and set it all up and they've continued it as is annually.  They have the whole cafe decorated really nice (I was actually impressed, esp for a school function) and the students had all prepared for weeks--choosing which art selection to be inspired by:), writing their poems, editing MANY times, reading in front of groups, choosing musical selections to play in the background as they read them, etc.   They sat behind the big screen so you could only hear their voice while they read their poems--introducing their art/artist and music selections and then reading.  They all read with feeling, slow and enunciated--you could really tell that a lot of work had gone into the whole evening.  I was blown away by some of the poems and hearing only their voices while classical music (They had chosen to match the mood of their piece) played in the background.
Aubrie's art selection was Pandas by Hung-Chu Lee.  Her musical selection was "Music for 1001 Knights" by Moroccan Spirit.

A Shadowy Night with Pandas

By:Aubrie Jensen

Fur, black as night//

White, as the moon//

Shadows dark as the blackest cat/sweep over the ground/

Changing/the green color of the grass/to smoke of a burning fire//

Trees hang over the pandas/

Like ghosts of the night//

     The sky is gray.

She lets her cub nuzzle/into her black-and-white fur, grabbing bamboo with its fluffy paws//

Her fur/darkens/in the light of the black sky/

A breeze//

 It ruffles the pandas’ belly fur/

They hope that they will survive/from the lurking dangers of the pandas’ forest/

And who knows?

They might die tomorrow/

For poachers could attack day or night/

It is a mystery untold to human//

The next morning she represented her class in the school spelling bee.  She had "kind of" been studying for it for the month and a half leading up to it (there could have been a little or a lot more effort) and they practiced at the school daily the week leading up to it.  She was so nervous that morning and it brought back so many memories for me.  She went out in the third round on the word barge (she heard barch unfortunately) and was very disappointed.  I wanted to cry in the audience.  I think it was because I knew that she could've done better and I felt frustrated for her--or maybe it's because I am pregnant--I don't know.  Anyway, overall great learning

experience.

Robbie and Aubrie brought home report cards that afternoon and they are just awesome. Both really excelled in oral fluency/comprehension with their reading.   Today Robbie told me he really wants to go to BYU (and boy do I hope he does too).  Keep those report cards coming buddy!

My week highlights

We'll try a little Sunday journaling today I guess.  I mean its a beautiful white winterland outside and we don't have church until 1:00.  Seems like I should.


On Friday Aubrie came running in from the bus telling me that she forgot her snow clothes at school.  And not only is it a long holiday weekend but there is plenty of good snow to play in. I told her we could run over as soon as Blake woke up to try and get them at the school.  Blake and I waited in the parking lot while the 3 older went all over the school looking for her clothes to no avail.  I happened to check my google voice messages while we were waiting and there was a message from her teacher Mr. Buffett calling to tell me that he had realized Aubrie left her clothes in the classroom and he felt bad for her to not have her clothes for the long weekend so he brought them home with him and he could come bring them to our house.  We ended up picking them up at his house a few minutes later (luckily he lives close), but I was amazed again at how great her teacher is.  It will be a sad end of the year I think.

Game night last night with some couples from our church.  It was so much fun.  We introduced some Ultimate Uno to them, played Ellen DeGeneres' game Heads Up and then Two lies and a Truth.   I love being with friends and we've been trying a lot harder lately to get together with them.  It seems way too easy to just stay busy in our own lives cleaning, helping kids, running errands, etc.  We used to do a game night every month and rotate houses but it has been a long time since we've done it.  

I enjoy cleaning and we spent most of Saturday cleaning our house, garage, snow removal, run to the dump and getting rid of a lot of things.  It felt GREAT! (well my back didn't...but it was so satisfying going to bed last night). Some were not quite as excited about cleaning up the house and doing Saturday chores.  However, much to Ryan's credit instead of getting frustrated with another "gumby" (what Ryan calls when Robbie drops to the floor when he doesn't like something), Ryan decided to really show Robbie how to throw a solid tantrum.  And I was laughing for a solid 10 minutes.

Sledding with Spencers in their backyard.  They have the perfect backyard for kids.  It was one of our favorites as far as sledding goes.  Ending it with popcorn and hot chocolate was perfect (the kids (and us) are doing a year with out treats/candy/soda but we had decided hot chocolate was NOT on the list.  Its essential for survival here in NE:))



I found not one, but TWO long lost library books (we are talking months lost) and now we don't owe the library Ryan's next paycheck.  Happy day!

On Thursday after school we decided we need to expend some energy and the kids try out their brand new "nice" goggles at the YMCA.  Swimming there is a life saver in the winter.


I made our last payment to the Elliott hospital for Ryan's hospital stay last January when he had a pulmonary embolism.    Such a good feeling.

I feel like every time I talk to someone on the phone it is interrupted by children (ours or theirs) and this week I talked to Anna for a good 45 minutes uninterrupted (mostly).  I love to talk to my sisters (in-laws).  I love the good ideas I get, I love hearing how they work through similar struggles at this stage of life, and I love getting updates on their lives.

Wednesday night Aubrie and Hallie and I went to go see Disney on Ice together for the first time.  It was one of those "this was exactly how exciting I hoped it would be" experiences with the kids.  Hallie wouldn't even sit back in her chair she was so into the whole thing and Aubrie was asking questions and making comments the whole time which is a great indication of her interest :).  They were excited to go to a "show" and anything Disney does is always so entertaining.  I heard over and over "THIS IS SO AWESOME!"

 We love the Bedford library and go there almost every week.  I thought I'd capture at least a few pictures to remember all the time we have spent there.

A few more Christmas ones...

Aubrie's chorus teacher is phenomenal.  She does so much with such a young group of kids.  Oh how I wish that the schools allowed CHRISTMAS songs instead of "winter" songs but alas, it was still so enjoyable to attend the concert.

Our ward (aka: the Earnshaws with a lot of help) hold an annual Creches, Carols and Cookies, community event at our church.  It is a lot of planning and effort, but it is beautiful and well-attended each year.  Ryan helped out with the music schedule again this year (they have planned performances every 1/2 hour) and even ended up accompanying a violinist for one of the time slots and did a great job.   I like to help with the decorating every year.  This year I suggested in addition to the Creches and decorations we have themed, religious-based trees.  A family was assigned to each of the 8 trees and they turned out amazing.  It was so fun.  Gillyen Demers and I did  one together, "All Creatures of our God and King"

Oh the videos from Santa to determine whether they are on the good or bad list, it such a highlight.  Hallie and Blake probably watched them 10 times each.

 I committed years ago to make one homemade quilt for each child.  Blake's finally happened this Christmas.  One more to go.... :)

Our Santa plate.  We made chocolate chip sugar cookies the day before (Well Ryan and the kids) and I think Santa really liked them.  The reindeer really tore into those carrots.

 
Santa brought an Xbox and one game each on Christmas morning.  Ryan's was Madden and he and Robbie sure enjoyed that over the Christmas break.  We hope that it is used to keep the kids active (the Kinect has so many games to dance, run, hop and jump--its great!) this winter--that is the plan anyway.

Special gifts from a five year old

The most memorable homemade gift that I remember from growing up was when Sydney made my dad a hat for his birthday or Christmas.  It was red and she was really young.  She made the elastic strap to be able to put it around his head and she had a stiff cardboard square covered in fabric that she attached to the elastic band covered in fabric and then to help the cardboard square to stick straight out from my dad's head and shield his eyes from the sun, she had a little "kickstand" (like one leg on a table) that came down from the bottom of the fabric square and rested on his forehead.

it was genius.


Homemade gifts are the best.  They really are.  This year on Christmas Eve Hallie spent a few hours during the day making her gifts for all of us and putting them under the tree.  They were mostly drawings because she loves to draw so much.  The special thing about them was that she really wanted to put on paper what the person would like so she conducted interviews with the intended receiver of the gift prior to each drawing.  It was precious!

Here were a few: (to me, to Blake, and to Ryan)

Blake lives and breathes cars.  Hence, a race car for la Navidad.

If we had the discretionary income, one of the first things Ryan would buy is a motorcycle.  Actually, I think we all would love it.  So, here he is--on his "bike".

Recycled Percussion, no heat and a trip to Sams Club

Ryan gave me tickets to go and see Recycled Percussion (who won America's Got Talent and headline a show in Vegas) for Christmas and it did not disappoint.  Added bonus is that they actually are from here in Goffstown so the audience was serious that night.  We both really enjoyed the energy and performing. They are so much fun to watch and the best drummers I've ever seen.   It was very different from the usual things we go to.  Loved it!

a twist of fate or unlucky break, we've had problems with our broiler/heat not once, not twice but three times in the last 2 months.  And it. is. cold. here.  Poor Blake was freezing during morning scripture study.  And I can understand wanting to be right next to the space heater but I don't know about that cold wood floor.

These two were so cute today when we went to Sams.  Hallie had brought in one of her Bob books (which she reads so well as a sidenote) and when they both got in the cart, Blake says "Can I lay on your lap?" and she just cuddled up with him and they read, talked, etc.  It only lasted for 7-8 minutes but it was awesome!

I can't keep up

Things keep happening and I don't write them down.  :)

I was a little homesick for Christmas and I think part of it is just not feeling 100% and part of it was Ryan had to work for most of the kids' break.  But at the same time, it has been such a good break.  I love our little family and I love being together.  I really do.  And I think that we all feel the same and that in and of itself makes me happy.

Some of the highlights of our Christmas break:

Christmas Eve--we ate a Mexican dinner (which has become tradition), including eating our soup out of my Chilean pot and bowls, we talked/wrote down what gifts we each wanted to give Jesus Christ this year and actually copied them to put on our walls so we won't forget after a month.  Later we did "I love you's" for the Savior--which turned out to be my favorite.  It was so special to hear the kids really think about it--and Blake even wanted to go twice after he heard what the other kids' said.   I liked sharing with the kids too.  It made me feel tuned in to what Christmas is really celebrating.  They each opened their new pj's and Blake's quilt I made him (now I am caught up for 2 more months:)), and put out their stockings and then began the 2 hour "trial" to fall asleep.  They were all SO excited.  Ryan and I wrapped for a little bit and fell asleep trying to watch a Christmas movie. 



Sledding--we went twice, once with Ryan and once without.  There are some great hills around us for sledding and thanks to the Calls, we have a fast new sled to add to our collection.

Broom hockey--we invited some families to meet us at the church on New Years Eve day and bought a bunch of cheap brooms (thanks for the idea Jared and Keri).  We had so. much. fun.  I think we all loved playing and broom hockey is the great equalizer for ages--Aubrie and Robbie could keep up with anyone.

New Years Eve--we had the elders over for dinner and made a huge Chinese dinner with Ryan grilling our honey chicken outside on the BBQ in 10 degree weather (starting a new tradition this year), had a message from them and then played games as a family till 10:00.



Reading--the kids all got new books for Christmas, plus all of our Christmas books and my kindle--which all equals lots to read and plenty of time to do it.

Chess& Beyblades--Aubrie got a nice wooden chess set for Christmas and it has been a constant in our living room everyday.  I have yet to play a game (I keep getting out of it) but I think everyone else has played 20X at least.  And the beys haven't stopped battling yet.


Caroling and our RAOK morning--a morning of singing and dropping off our gifts to some neighbors and ward members with 2 families in our ward.  I actually was a little bah-humbug about it, and then we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Ryan ended up running home from our last house we went to and Robbie begged to run with him even though it was a few miles and he was wearing jeans. But Ryan wanted him to and Robbie did great.  I think Ryan thought it was pretty cute he wanted to be with him and get some exercise.
  This was the third year we've done the RAOK morning and it is such a good way to get us feeling Christmasy.  The favorite thing of the ones we did was going through the McDonald's drive thru and paying for the car behind us and then buying hot chocolates and delivering them to all the people waiting at the bus stop.  It was so fun to see how floored they all were about the delivery.


Ryan and I went out to eat and to go see Hunger Games one night and then ended our holiday break tonight having a game night with a bunch of couples.  We played this and this game among others which I hadn't played before and now really want to own.

It's been wonderful.  And now Christmas is packed up and back in the garage, and school starts tomorrow (oh but wait, it was cancelled, good ol' snow days).


and this could be a whole other post on its own.  but Saturday chores and motivating kids to get their things done can be so fun.  we are working on it....