Yard Work

This past week we have been spending a lot of time out in the yard expanding our garden, getting flower beds ready and cleaning up massive piles of "pokies" as the neighbor kids call the unreal amount of fallen pine needles. I love having a big yard (two acres) but it is a lot to take care of- I am very lucky to have such a sweet husband who does most of the yard work.

Porter of course loves has loved every second of being outside and even tries to help. Today I was hauling sod with the four-wheeler and he kept trying to drive for me-

Lately the neighbor kids Miss B who is almost 8 and Mr. T who is 5 come over when they see us out in the yard. Porter loves their visits and is always sad when they go. Even though they are older they do a wonderful job of playing with him-

Today they played with Porter while I was raking and hauling off pine needles. When Miss B found out I was hauling off the pine cones too she couldn't believe that I was getting rid of them then she proceeded to come up with a list of great ideas of how to use them for crafty type things- including my personal favorite a pine cone lamp lol! (She's a creative one) After that they took Porter around the yard and collected "baby pine cones" to take home- it was so cute!

Speaking of Cute here's the little guy helping out

Big Changes......

Sometimes it's hard for mommy to realize it but Porter is really growing up- I love to watch him learn and grow but sometimes I wonder who took my sweet little baby and traded him off for this rambunctious silly little tornado of a toddler?

As of today he has been officially done with nursing for two whole weeks and down to one nap a day- The next big step we are working on is getting him to sleep in his own bed and last Saturday we took a BIG step in that direction.

Bye Bye Crib.....

Hello Big Boy Bed!

It is hard to tell in the picture but his new bed is shaped like a car and Porter loves it! I think his favorite part is that he can climb in and out all on his own and put as many toys as he likes in it. We still haven't gotten him to actually sleep in it although he thinks it's fun to "pretend" sleep in when he is playing. One day at a time!

Easter 2009 Part 2

Sunday Porter got to wear his new Easter outfit to church. He was a bit tired when we got home but mom and dad were anxious to give him his Easter Basket. He loved his automatic bubble gun which took him less than 5 minutes to empty and of course M&M's!!

Mmmmm & Mmmmmm's

Enough Pictures already Mom!

Daddy taught Porter to fold his arms and
Porter is very good at it!

What a handsome little man!

We went to Grandma & Grandpa J's after church for dinner and croquet.
This pic cracks me up he is way into making faces lately

Gardening tools from Grandma and Grandpa
Just in time for our garden!

Bubbles with Aunt Tessa

Porter loves Bubbles and his Aunt Tess What a perfect combination!

Easter 2009 Part 1

On Saturday we had an Easter Egg Hunt at Nanna and Pa's with Kam and Kars. I was really surprised how quickly Porter caught on to picking up the eggs and putting them in his basket.... Until he realized that there was candy in the eggs then he was mostly interested in opening them up!

Porter's Basket from Pa & Nanna
He loooves the Teddy Bear that sings ABC and Counts

Picking Up Eggs

More Eggs.....

Ohhhh Candy!

Things I swore I would never do....

BEFORE I had kids there were several things that I swore I would never do...

• Let my kids sleep in my bed
• Give them candy before they were 1
• Give them too many toys
• Let them watch TV
• Not make them sit in their highchair at dinner
• Give them pop

AFTER I had kids reality hit-

• Let my kids sleep in my bed- There is just something to be said for this sweet little person snuggled up next to you- and plus if your a paranoid parent like me and sure that the house could burst into flames at any given moment you don't have to worry about getting to their room through the raging inferno.
  
• Give them candy before they were 1- But how can you tell such a cute little face no? Although we ALWAYS do brush teeth!
  
• Give them too many toys- Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles, and a mom who has trouble avoiding the toy clearance isle need I say more.
  
• Let them watch TV- Nothing will get you an extra 1/2 hour of rest better than propping up you little one in front of an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
  
• Not make them sit in their highchair at dinner- It's a nice thought... but easier said than done especially at the restaurant when the child LOUDLY protests- I mean really who wants to fight that in front of dozens of glaring eyes that silently yell - "I don't care what you do but just keep that kid quiet!
  
• Give them pop- We don't drink pop much at our house other than the rare occasion so this one isn't too hard... Well for the most part - but there are times that call for desperate measures and if a pop keeps him still for grandma the world won't end!
  

Porter's Little Buddy

Porter loves to play with his cousins and it is nice to have Kam and Kars so close by. Earlier this week when the weather was nice the boys came over to play. Porter and Kars have a cute little connection- Every time they see each other they both get all excited and want to hug and kiss hello- although most hugs end up with them wrestling (friendly) on the ground.

They are only 6 weeks apart in age and its fun to see how similar their interests are - they are both at the stage where "Mine" is one of their favorite words so the mom's end up doing a lot of refereeing. Kam plays well with both of them too- and thankfully is better at sharing than the both of them put together-

I love this one- Kars is all happy just getting pushed and the look on Porter's face is like
"Lay off the Oreo's Kar's your getting to heavy too push"

"Boy's Only Clubhouse"

"Blond Buddies"

Spring is Coming....

A few weeks ago we decided to put up Porters new playground that he got for Christmas from Mom, Dad, Pa & Nanna- and then last week we woke up to this.....


Fortunately Monday and Tuesday this week were much much nicer and we got to spend time playing in the yard, raking, and getting things in order (more pictures on that later). Today however is back to cold and rainy and poor Porter is stuck inside and not happy about that in the least bit!

Jensen Family Pics

Last month the whole Jensen family was able to get together for Layla's baby blessing and we managed to get the first complete family picture in a looong time. It's hard to get good lighting inside but I think that it looks fairly good considering we didn't have a professional photographer or camera... I've been playing with the backgrounds and I'm not sure which I like the best probably #6 What do you think?

#1 Light Background

#2 Medium Background

#3 greyish blue

#4 Medium greyish blue

#5 Light Blue

#6 Medium Tan

#7 Darker Tan
The following are per Aaron and Scott's suggestions

#8 Waterfall
#9 Paul's Resivour
#10 Our favorite lake
#11 Snowy

$20 Giftcard Giveaway

That's right everyone I am giving away a $20 Gift Card to the store of your choice (as long as I can purchase it locally or online) There is however one little catch.... I entered a contest for the "messiest" craft room and I need your vote to win!! And If I do win I'll even give away two more gift certificate each for $10!!

For details on how to enter my give-oh-way check out my scrapbook blog Audra's Little Scraps

If you just love me and want to vote you can do so Once a Day per Computer until April 22nd at The Original Scrap Box . I am #11 (I have a blue tote in the left hand picture and a stereo speaker and stacked spools of ribbon in the right hand picture) It is really easy - You don't have to register or anything just click on the check mark next to my pictures. (Note the voting site has had a few hiccups so if it doesn't work the first time check back a little later)

So go vote on your computer- your husbands computer- your laptop- anywhere you can!!!