Sa---wing......Romney!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYzbeexc-tA

Ryan and Blake and then Robbie all had airtime. I have to add that Ryan watched Robbie's swing probably 30 times in a row. It was awesome Robbie!

a few weeks ago a film crew from Mitt Romney's headquarters in Boston came to our house (it was kind of random how it all happened). We found out the day before they came and I was under the impression that it was going to be a media interview...then realized after talking to the campaign's head field guy in NH and then the creative director at the HQ in Boston that it was a 3 hour film shoot IN OUR HOUSE. I got a little flustered. I had about 3 hours I could clean our house that day in preparation because it was such a busy day anyway. They showed up BRIGHT and EARLY Saturday and captured "life". When they showed up Ryan was even still sleeping because they came early. Nothing a little Visine can't fix. They set up and started filming immediately. The kids were on the couch in PJ's watching Saturday morning cartoons, Ryan and I made breakfast, fed Blake and then we all ate at the table together, helped the kids brush teeth, pretend to go to school (since it was SAturday), play baseball in the backyard, jump on the trampoline, brush hair, read books on the couch , etc. It was actually VERY fun. I was surprised how easy it was to just do normal life (at a MUCH slower pace obviously) with cameras, lights, etc all around us. The kids acted completely normal (well, Hallie was eating up the cameras and performing:). They guys on the crew were pretty fun to talk to. One of them is a writer and did a lot of the lines in Toy Story (the Picasso line from Mr Potato head was one of them). Anyway, we didn't realize till we were signing the contract (signing our privacy away) at the end as they were packing up that they were going to use the footage from the shoot all over the country. We thought it would be regionally. Anyway, if anyone in FL sees anything...let us know...

Very cool experience.

A few more weeks have past...

Our ward Christmas party. Aubrie sang a duet with her friend Nycole. Robbie was a wiseman and Hallie was an angel. Hallie says, "mom, now I am three, I am not scared of Santa. I'll sit on his lap this time."

Aubrie and Hallie our reindeer, Blake is Santy and Robbie was the elf.

Aubrie is on a Destination Imagination team and she likes it a lot. I on the other hand, although I love being the manager am questioning the timing of agreeing to being the manager. It is SUCH a cool organization (its internationally available just FYI) and it is teaching her skills that I don't think she is getting in school. I just don't know if 11 kids 7 and under at our house is that great of an idea. :) I think we're switching to the school next meeting, we'll see how that goes.
The activity in the picture above was the ant/bridge instant challenge. The kids have 2 yardsticks and a sheet of newspaper and a "river" 6 feet wide. They had to build bridges (the more they built the more points) that thousands of ants could cross the river on. There could be no gaps and as a team they could not leave the "banks of the river". They had 3 minutes to plan and 6 minutes to build.

I mean really...

Robbie's first school performance. He is cautious (doesn't like to get in trouble), a planner and very observant. This performance was a big deal for him. He was so excited about it . He had everything all planned out in his mind how it was going to be. He did a really great job drumming and being a really cute pilgrim!

Sitting at lunch with Blake and Hallie and thought he needed a snapshot taken of his cuteness. He just got his first tooth and did a REGULAR crawl across our house. Watch out!

I am loving the "better" camera that is so conveniently connected to my phone that I have constantly with me. a little more life documentation.

On belay

Another Fun Friday night at the Y. You have to be 5 to climb so one of the girls there had Hallie help belay. Then they all could boulder around afterward. They are getting more brave. The first time they did it I don't think they even went 1/2 way up the wall.

Tis' the season...

Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus and our Wisest Woman (great gift!)

4th annual Creches, Carols and Cookies. Creches from all over the world set up around the cultural hall, and a kid area with dressups, crafts and nativities they could play with.

Someone was taking a picture of them right next to me and the Iphone borrowed their flash I guess:) Kinda cool.

Color for Christmas (A Jensen tradition carried on. We find the over-sized books at Sams)

Trimming the tree :) & our "beloved" Little People Nativity (and we added a Playmobil one this year and its a hit!)

And, the "Easter Egg" (coined by none other than DuVall Laws) hit 200K. Word!!!

Robbie: "Hey mom, did you notice that I am not coughing anymore"

Me: "No, I didn't. Thats great Robbie. How did you do that....I need your secret for me"

Robbie: "I just use the hand sanitizer for a few days. It works 99. Almost 100. Aubrie told me that. So it just made my cough go away"

Me: Staring at him very confused.

Robbie: "You know it works 99-99."

and then I just started laughing. Hand sanitizer. It kills 99.99% of all germs. I LOVE the way their minds put things together. Who needs expensive antibiotics???