Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Beat the Heat!!

I've spoke about Avery trying out and making the '01 Futbol Club of Bartlesville (FCB) competitive team. Well, she's been practicing in our crazy, triple digit, Oklahoma heat this summer and doing lots of fundraisers to help with team expenses. But now was their first time to play together as a team! We were so excited to see them finally play! This tournament was called "Beat the Heat" and it was held down in Edmond, OK.Our first game was Saturday morning at 7am, so the girls needed to be on the field at 6:30am. We left Friday right after school to head down to the hotel so Avery could get a good night sleep. The early morning hours actually work good for our girls, and we won our first game 6-3.
After that game, we were in pretty good spirits and headed back to the hotel for a little swim...and, for Randy and I, just a little relaxing! The next game wasn't until 7:30pm, so we got in some naps and ate lunch. We also met up with one of our high school friends, Brad Schmitt, since he lived down in the area. At first I was thinking we got a bad schedule, but with the triple digit heat, I was super happy that our games started under the lights and ended under the lights!
Our evening game was another great game that ended with another win, 3-0. One of the girls from the other team actually ended up with 2 yellow cards and was taken out, but I was proud of our girls for keeping their cool.
Ashton and Addie did soooo good at all the games! We sat by our friends, the Revards, and their kids helped to entertain ours! Here they are, all smiles and cheering on their sis!Since we were 2-0, and the team we would play the next morning at 7am was 2-0, we by-passed the first game and went straight into the finals at 11:30am. I was more hoping for the 7am game because I knew how hot it was going to be but I also didn't realize how tired I was!! It was hard enough getting to the fields by 10:30am! The older B'ville team was playing in the tournament also and my cousin, Mariah, is on that team. They always played at the same time so we didn't get to watch her but I snagged a pic of her and Avery before they went to their own fields to warm-up.
Our last game was a lot more intense! In fact, the other team scored first which we hadn't let happen in any of the games so far! We ended up scoring almost immediately after they scored so it was back to even.
It was a more physical game than the other two but we handled it really well and gave everything back that was being dished out. This is actually a picture of one of Avery's best friends, Kaleigh Revard. After half-time we really picked it up and scored 3 more goals pretty quickly. But then we let up a little and the other team came back with 2 goals. It was getting too close for comfort and I was watching the clock all the time hoping time would run out. But luckily we scored one more goal to ease my nerves and it ended with us winning 5-3. The girls were so excited to win their first tournament that they ever played in! There were some "hold your breath" moments and some "what were you thinking" moments that still need to be worked out but I'm excited to see them continue to grow together as a team. Way to go girls!!We were so proud of Avery and how hard she played and hustled and passed the ball! She did amazing! Her head was in the game and she was there to not only play but to win. And we were so blessed to be able to watch it all! We were missing one...
Austin was planning on going until the last minute when his Aunt Julie asked if he could go with them to the rodeo. Well, it didn't take much convincing to get him to go! This was Austin's first time to the rodeo. They decked him out in cowboy attire and he and Tanner got to go try to round up some calves and watch some real cowboys... he can't wait to go again! We miss you, Austin... but thank you, Julie and Derek, for making Austin's weekend!!

First Day of School!!

The kids started school on August 17th. This is my last year to have the kids all at one school, so I'm going to really enjoy this year! Avery is so excited to be head of the school! She is now in 5th grade and she got Mrs. Henderson as her teacher. She was so excited because her dad also had Mrs. Henderson for 5th grade! This is her second time to have the same teacher as her dad!
Austin was a little more hesitant to start school. He is more of a home-body like me! Austin is now in 3rd grade and has Mrs. Trotter as his teacher. He really likes his teacher but doesn't have as many of his friends in his class as last year. But luckily boys are different than girls and his friends still play with him at recess even if they do have different teachers in the classroom!
Addison is now in Kindergarten! Addie was really hoping for Mrs. Swanson, and she got her! I went in to school with the kids on the first day and they all ended up leaving me to go to their classes... even Addie! It made me really happy though because I knew they were comfortable with their school, teachers and friends.
Ashton was trying to sneak into everyones pictures...
So I finally took one of her by herself!! This is mine and Ashton's last year together so we are going to make the most of it! No school for her this year. I decided not to do Mother's Day Out because she doesn't like it and I didn't want her to hate school yet!
When I picked the kids up from school after the first day they all came into the van saying how much they loved school and loved their teachers. I almost cried with happiness!! Here's hoping this attitude keeps up for the whole year! Avery even said it was her favorite day ever... besides Disney World! Wow, that's big! :)

Addie's 5th Birthday!

Wow!! I can't believe my little Addie John is five years old! Addie's birthday fell on a Tuesday, so she had two birthday celebrations. The first was, of course, her actual birthday. She started off the day with cinnamon rolls and a couple presents.
Then we headed over to her Great-Grandma's house (Gum-Gum) to have lunch and dessert with her Nana and Gum-Gum.
Nana is always so good to set up a little special day for the kids with her and Gum-Gum.
My mom made this awesome ice cream cake out of angel food cake and sherbet ice cream. It was super yummy!
Next we went home to meet daddy and head to the mall where Addie was surprised with permission from Avery to get her ears pierced! Addie's been wanting to get her ears pierced for a long time now but Randy and I always said she had to get Avery's permission. We made Avery wait until she was 8, so we thought it was only fair for it to be Avery's decision. Thanks, Avery!! Addie wasn't nervous at all! She didn't even need to hold anyone's hand.
Just a little pinch and ...
Ta-Da!! Already smiling!! She picked out the flower earrings which look so cute on her! One more thing to make her look even more grown up!
Next, and I'm sure with a little coaxing from her brother, she chose Buffalo Wild Wings as her birthday dinner. Austin loves this place!
After that we hit a movie. We saw The Smurfs, which was actually a lot better than Randy or I thought it would be!
And we followed the movie with some custard from Jared's! What a full day! Big smiles from the birthday girl!! I hope you always know how special and important and loved you are, Addison!! You are a beautiful little girl inside and out!!
Then came her birthday party on Saturday. Addie was so excited to have her party at the ConocoPhillips Gymnastics Club.
She and her friends entered the gym and turned into monkeys right away! Here is Addie and Ellie Christiansen just hangin' out!
Some more monkey business from Sam Davis...
and Lanie Hansen!
They also played hide and go seek! Austin is trying to figure out who is going to be the first person to seek! I think it might be Ethan!
Peek-a-Boo, Kate!!
It looks like Lucas might have won that round!
But with all the fun of everything there was to do... the top choice was of course the pit!!
That was a great dive, Austin!
Avery was so sweet with Kate, making sure she had fun doing everything!
Ashton LOVED having Randy throw her into the pit!

One more jump into the pit before heading upstairs for cake and presents. (Avery, Ellie, Blythe and Ashton)
Addie had so much fun at her birthday, she still talks about it!
Happy Birthday sweet Addie! High five to the five year old!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Time for a roast!!

Yes, the day finally came for our cook-out! We had a couple of rainy days, so it pushed our cook-out to the night before we left. But as long as we got it in, my kids were happy!
Austin and Todd were the only men this year (thank goodness for Uncle Todd!), so they got to be in charge of starting the fire!
Ashton threw a couple sticks on there too!
As you can tell from the smile on Addie's face, we love hanging outside in the backyard at the Jensen's!
Maybe because of the people we are around!
Yup, that's probably it!
And knowing that we were leaving bright and early the next morning had us all in a loving mood!
But back to the campfire! Austin threw a couple of Harry Potter spells on the fire to really get it going!
The girls took it easy until they were told it was time to roast!
Here is Ashton helping Uncle Todd.
And Miss Addie loving on her Auntie Mamie!!
Austin is all smiles when it comes to being around fire!
He and Avery both cook up some mean hotdogs and smores!
It's always hard to leave our Tennessee family!
And Kaylee won't be home for Thanksgiving this year because she'll be out at BYU, so we will really miss her!
But we are always grateful for the time we get to spend together !! Thanks for having us Jensen's!!! You made our summer so fun!!