Some Favorite Things

Julie tagged me...so here is how it got started:

Tanya Purcell came up with a great idea. Here is her idea:Whenever Oprah does her ‘Favorite Things’ show, I am always curious about the things she chooses and why. The best part of her ‘Favorite Things’ show is that she shares them with others! Well, the other day I thought to myself, “I don’t have to be Oprah to have ‘Favorite Things’. I started to think about the day to day things that I have or use that bring me some form of enjoyment. I thought it would be interesting to find out the ‘Favorite Things’ of my friends and family too. So here it goes…If money were not an issue and you wanted to load up a basket of your most ‘Favorite Things’ and give it to your friends, what would you choose and why? During your day to day life, are there things that you use each day that make you smile or feel good? Is there something that you look forward to everyday? It can be something simple, like the type of pen you use or something big like the type of car you drive. I will list my ‘Things’ and then I will tag a few of you to do the same thing. Here they are, in no particular order...

1- Chacos (the sandals, especially the ones that go around the big toe).  I love these sandals they are the greatest for hiking and my summer working for a wilderness therapy program really taught me how fantastic they are for hiking.  It is great not to have to wear socks when you hike in the summer and really let your feet breath.  I don't really hike (or mountain bike) in any other shoe and I don't know that I ever will again.  The great Z tan that you get on your feet is an added bonus! (If I can find and scan the picture from my Walkabout summer I will post it later)

2- Veggietales.   My kids love them and somedays that are really bad, Veggietales is the only 30-45 minute break I get.  What I really love about their videos is that they teach scripture stories but they are really creative and actually funny; their silly songs are hilarious too!  I am glad that my kids love some sort of videos that I can stand watching over and over without wanting to commit myself!  (Plus Larry the cucumber has a lisp which I really relate to!)
3-  iMac.  I recently got this computer and as I mentioned on an earlier post I LOVE IT!   It barely takes up any room on my desk and it has a big beautiful screen.  I also opted for the wireless keyboard and mouse which means the only cord is the one that plugs it in!  I love that I have iPhoto on it too because I really love the program and their templates.
4- Canon digital Elph.  I love this camera!  It was a birthday present from Jared's parents and it is awesome.  I love the size, it is barely smaller than a deck of cards and I actually take it places to take pictures because it fits in my pocket.
5- Dodge Grand Caravan SXT.  I love my van, I know that I should be embarrassed that I was driving a minivan so early in my life, but when you have kids 2 at a time it is a must!  I love the remote power side doors, they have been a lifesaver when carrying two children in or out of carseats.  I also love the stow-n-go seating, all of the back seats fold into the floor which transforms my mom-mobile into a yuppy pickup.  We have transported couches, Christmas trees, etc... and it is nice to have all the room I need for groceries when I already have 2 double strollers in the back.
6- Blistex Complete Moisture chapstick.  I love this stuff!  I have used it since High School and it is the only chapstick that I have ever finished complete tubes of.  It feels like water when you put it on and it smells like sprite, but it is amazing for chapped lips and has spf.
7- KitchenAid Mixer.  Infact I just used it to make some homemade cinnamon rolls (my house smells incredible).  I use this for so many things and I would never be without, in fact when we were looking for a house to buy one requirement was that the kitchen had enough counter space that I could keep the KithchenAid on the counter.
So there you have it!  I really do wish I could get at least one of all of these things for all of you! Now I would love to know what favorite things Sarah, Kaci, Carrie, and Amber have (I know it is not your usual blogging style Amber, but I am sure you have some great ideas).

Little Mr. Animated

Claire had her own post a week or two ago, so it is time for a Jacob post.  He is such an animated little boy, it is just so much easier to capture some of his personality on camera than it is to capture Claire's (she just ends up with bizarre looks on her face).  He really loves to play with Play-Doh and cookie cutters and always begs for me to cut out a car, a truck, or a duck.  If it is a car or truck he drives it along the tray and makes engine noises and says "beep beep"; if it is a duck he says "quack quack" then hugs it and gives it a kiss on the beak.

He is a very energetic and happy little boy, he loves to make noise and smile and really loves to have his mouth open.
You can really see how much he loves to splash (making any sort of mess seems to really make him happy).  Notice that there are no bubbles, so he is unafraid to touch the water.
Jacob is a very affectionate little boy and loves hugs and kisses, he is also very sweet with little babies and loves to watch them and is good not to touch them without permission.  He really loves to get real close to a baby and say "HI BABY" while waving.  In this picture he is attempting to hug baby leh la aka Ella, physical barriers like carseats don't seem to deter his need to give unsolicited hugs!
He knows no boundaries between girl things and boy things and he loves to dress up with his sister.  This is a new hat that I bought for a dollar at Target for Claire and they both really love it, but I just can't get over how pretty Jacob looks in it.  I love the look on his face in this picture, if you look close enough you will notice that he is holding the horse puzzle piece and he is making the horsey sound.

My New Look

I finally got up the nerve to try a new template because I am not very computer smart.  It did take me forever to try to get everything back to normal on the side, but I kind of like it.  I have a really talented friend that has been designing blog templates.  Check them out at http://www.leeloublogs.blogspot.com 

"Bubble Bubble Bubble Bubble..."

This is a huge file!  But it's worth watching!

Meeting the Namesakes (sort of)

When I was pregnant with Claire and Jacob some close family friends offered to start a college fund if we named Claire and Jacob after them.  It was all in fun, so after they were born we first sent a false birth announcement to Wayland and Gloria announcing the arrival of Gloria Nan and Wayland Kip (Jared's middle name, after their son).  Anyhow, They responded with these t-shirts and a note that read:

To Our Darling Little Wayland & Glorta (aka Jacob & Claire),

As you can see from our picture, we are elated and overjoyed that you will carry on our name and hopefully or legacy forever.  We've waited a long time for our namesakes to arrive, but you two are worth it!!!!

We don't know you yet, but we love you!  You don't know us yet, but you'll love us!  We look forward to meeting you soon.

Lovingly, 

Gloria and Wayland 

Yes, I kept that note...I kept it in a folder meant for a scrapbook that I know and knew that I will never make, but maybe someday I can just pass along the folder.
Well, Jacob and Claire finally got to meet their namesakes a couple of weeks ago and they all loved each other.
We expect that both Jacob and Claire will go to and Ivy League school, so I sure hope Wayland and Gloria are saving their pennies.

Valentines Day (In Style)

Jared and I were very excited about this Valentine's Day and we just might have to make it a tradition.  On Valentine's Day White Castle takes reservations and you have a little table with a table cloth and centerpiece and a server, it is pretty great!  For those of you who don't know what White Castle is, it is a low tier fast food chain with really cheap tiny burgers.  We decided to really get into the Valentine's Day spirit.

They printed up menus for us with little hearts and everything.  They also give the girl a flower and give you dessert when you have a reservation (pint of ice cream).  White Castle doesn't usually have dessert.
Notice the tablecloth and the floating candle in the bowl, they also gave us paper plates with hearts on them.
Jared in all of his glory!
Dani in all of her glory!
A close up.  Notice the eyelashes, they were my personal favorite extra touch!
It was a really fun and inexpensive way to spend Valentine's Day, I think the grand total for dinner was $9.50 and we had quite a bit of food, we also only had to pay a sitter for an hour.  (For those of you who know about White Castle,  my stomach seems to be holding up fine today).  I am glad that I have such a fun loving Valentine, we do a lot of laughing together.  I love you Jared!

Little Miss Dress-up

Claire has really been into dressing-up lately!  It is actually really funny because we don't really have any dress-up clothes so she obsesses over hats and shoes; she is always trying to put on my shoes and Jared's shoes and shoes that she and Jacob have outgrown, it is a really frustrating hobby for her.  She really loves to get her coat on too, and whenever she is wearing her coat she MUST be wearing her hood, it is pretty funny!

Here she is in her jacket (with hood on of course) with her miniature BYU backpack on.

With the same backpack on, and her brother's old hat.  She really loves hats!
One morning while wearing her footed pj's she insisted on wearing her shoes, so daddy put them on over the pj feet.  She wouldn't be seen without a hat though!
Here she is with a hat, the backpack, her baby bed and some really great pink  slippers with white puffs on them that a friend handed down to her.
It is so fun to see the personalities develop.  Claire is such a little princess and a little tomboy all in one!  She and her brother make us laugh every day!

Dancing to the Gilmore Girls

Kiddos are hilarious when they dance!  One of their favorite things to dance to is the end credits of the Gilmore Girls, which Dani has been obsessed with recently.  When the WB appears at the end, they just start yelling.  See for yourself:

January Lessons

I have so many pictures from January that I decided to pick some and try to sum up most of the month in one post.  So here are the lessons learned in January at the Jensen house.  

Lesson 1:  Getting a good picture of two members of the household is very difficult, sometimes two members have to be trapped to even get a picture together at all. (Please try to ignore the nose nastiness, we had a lot of January illness).

Lesson 2: Toddlers can produce pencils out of nowhere.  I left them alone for a few minutes and I could hear them laughing and having a great time.  When I discovered the damage to the wall (and all the way across the windowsill) they had moved on to some other activity.  I can not figure out where they got the pencil and I have NO IDEA where the pencil is now!  It has been a few weeks and I am still just hoping that I find it before they do.
Lesson 3: Sick kids can fall asleep anywhere.  Both Jacob and Claire were sick a few weeks ago (of course they had to stagger it by 5 days so it could last a full 2 weeks) but they were both just so exhausted and had really high fevers.  My kids NEVER fall asleep anywhere but a crib, pack-n-play, or occasionally a carseat, but they were just so tired.  Jacob curled up and fell asleep in his toddler rocker with his bear (he spent about 3 days in that chair and always had his bear).  Shortly after this picture was taken I moved him to a bed.
Claire woke up early one morning and we brought her in our room to let her play next to our bed and she fell asleep on our floor under a pillow.  She slept there for over an hour.
Lesson 4:  Kids pick-up on the funniest things!  Jacob sometimes leans on his hand and rests his elbow on the table (or high-chair) while he tells us stories (streams of nonsense).  Both of our kids have also started playing 'night-night', a game where they lay down while yelling "nigh-nigh" and then they make snoring noises, then they pop-up and scream "WAAY AH!" (wake-up).  The whole process then begins all over.  

Here Jacob is playing his Night-night game.  The other night he woke up screaming and I went in to find him with his elbow stuck in his sleeve and his hand up by his chest, so I fixed it then he just threw himself down and yelled "nigh-nigh" and started making snoring sounds, so I just went back to bed.  It was actually really hilarious!