Josh's 16th Birthday!!

Josh turned 16 today!! He and I have really been focusing on his driving hours the past three months and he finally finished his 35 hours. One of the driving instructors contacted him this week to set up the hours he needed of instructor driving time. Since Josh has soccer after school he had to schedule it before school -- at 6:00 a.m.! At least the roads are much less busy at that time! Thankfully Rick brought him, because I am not awake at that hour! He did this for a couple of days this week and then drove after school one of the days since he had a soccer game and didn't need to be at the school until a little later. There was no school Friday due to Easter Break and so he was able to get a few hours in that day and a couple more hours on his birthday. He finished all of hours and so now he just needs to take the test! 

Josh was hoping to put together a party tonight with a bunch of his friends, but too many of them were going out of town for Easter and so he ended up postponing it. Thankfully Jared invited Josh to hang out with him and all of his friends at his apartment. They had a smash tournament and then went to the encampment mall at Dixie State University to play spike ball. They had a great time! Then Josh met up with a couple of friends to play night pickleball. So it ended up being a good day. Jenna and I made this balloon arch for Josh. I thought it turned out really cute!! 

Happy Birthday, Josh!

Today was Josh’s 9th Birthday and we had his birthday party after school at Blackrock Park.  I was a bit worried about the unpredictable weather but it was fine.  There were about 20 kids between all of the kids he invited and all of our own kids.  We did the water balloon launcher.  Chris’s family gave that to our kids for Christmas a couple of years ago when he had our name and we have used it at several birthday parties and it is always a big hit! 

We had cake and ice-cream and opened presents early on since a few kids told me that they had to leave early.   He got a lot of money and nice presents!   After that the kids played soccer and basketball and played on the playground and did an obstacle course.  We did have a mishap though – Mariposa fell and hit her wrist wrong and Rick ended up bringing her home early.  Turns out she got a small buckle fracture.  So we felt bad about that!  I was glad that Rick was there to help since we had so many kids and it was a little crazy! 

Josh's Birthday Party

The kids were out of school today for Easter Break but DSU was still open and so I still had classes to interpret for this morning.  Before I left I boiled all of the eggs for Josh's party and baked his birthday cake.  Rick was off too and was getting ready to go work out and then go to the temple.  I told him I was worried that the kids wouldn't get the house clean and get everything ready for Josh's birthday without one of us there and so he dropped his plans and stayed home to help out, for which I was grateful.  The kids filled all of the Easter Eggs with candy for the Easter Egg hunt and Jared filled up about 250 water balloons.  I got home at lunch time and then hurried to finish cleaning everything up before the party.

The party turned out really well.  We had 14 kids there (including our four youngest).  Everyone dyed eggs and then Jared helped all of the kids launch balloons.  Then Janelle and Layla hid all of the eggs for an Easter Egg Hunt.  All of the activities were a big hit!  Josh opened his gifts (and got a lot of fun ones) and then we had cake and ice-cream.  The kids put on music and played and danced in the basement.  Things were getting a little wild and crazy the last few minutes with the kids playing tackle football in the basement and so I was glad that it was almost time for parents to come start picking up their kids.  I was glad that everything went smoothly and that Josh could have a fun birthday party!

 

Happy Birthday Josh!

     Josh turned six today!  I will never forget his birth.  It was 1:00 in the morning on Easter Sunday and my constant contractions had gotten strong enough to wake me up and keep me awake.  After timing them for almost a half hour I woke up Rick and said that we probably needed to go to the hospital.  We wondered who we could call at 1:30 in the morning to be there at the house with our five sleeping children, ages 10 to 2.  We debated a few options but the contractions were quickly getting stronger and more painful and we knew we had to hurry and call someone on the way.  So we grabbed my bag, the cameras, and ward directory and headed to the hospital.  We noticed that Rhonda Gentry's lights were on (Rhonda was my visiting teaching companion at the time) and so we called her to see if she could go over to our house to be with the kids.  She said she would and luckily none of the kids woke up.  Rick and I made it to the hospital and I had a difficult time even walking in because the contractions were so strong at that point.  I barely had time to put on a robe and get on the bed before Josh made his appearance -- just seven minutes after we arrived.  Rick says that it is a good thing we didn't hit any red lights or people may be calling him Doctor Jensen instead of Brother Jensen.

     Now six years later we celebrate the wonderful day when Josh came into our lives.  Josh is a delightful boy and we love him so much.  He has really matured this past year.  I have mentioned in past posts that we have struggled with his temperamental behavior.  By that I mean Josh would let out these blood curdling screams several times a day. Talk about pushing my buttons!  But I am happy to say that Josh has FINALLY outgrown this behavior (for the most part, it still happens every now and again).  Josh is now at quite an easy stage.  He loves kindergarten and always reads his take-home book and does his homework without prodding.  He is really starting to enjoy reading and like I have mentioned before, he is really into puzzles. He can easily do 500 piece puzzles all by himself.  I got him a couple more for his birthday and he informed me that I should have gotten a 750 piece puzzle instead of a 500 piece!  He also loves to play games on the computer.

     This morning Josh opened up his presents from us (more puzzles and two pair of desperately needed shoes since his were completely falling apart).  He also opened up his present from Grandma and Grandpa Westra (Puzzlemania books,stickers, glow sticks, and a long sucker) and he got his card and money from Grandma and Grandpa Jensen today too.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!  I took Josh, Seth, and Jenna out to McDonalds for lunch, which was fun except for Jenna getting stuck up in the playground.  That has happened with almost every one of my kids -- I really hate that playground for that very reason.  She was crying and scared and since they make it so most adults can't fit I was stuck with coaxing and reassuring from the ground.  I finally got a chair and held up my hands to try and guide her through the tapestry of holes that was preventing her from crossing and she finally made it down.

     Tonight we all went to the ward BBQ at the park which was fun, except Jenna was tired and whiney and kept crying.  The past couple of days she has reverted back to peeing in her pants for no apparent reason -- a fact which is making me absolutely crazy!  Unlike Josh who has matured from "difficult" to "easy."  Jenna is still very much in the "difficult" stage.  I know I should be enjoying every moment of her pre-school age, but part of me looks forward to the time SHE is six!