Josh got a dirt bike, I got a vacuum!

Ty loves to ride the dirt bike! Dad bought helmets with the $200 mom gave him!

Daddy's new riding boots! Ty loves to put these on!

Just the perfect height! What a smart idea!

Okay, so this is a little late, but life never seems to slow down for me! Josh has been using Ty against me the past month or so. Ty loves to ride on Grandpa Jensen's dirt bike, so Josh tells him to ask mom for a dirt bike! This was happening everyday, several times a day! Everytime we get our tax return Josh wants to buy a "big purchase"! This year I finally put my foot down and said "no, absolutely not!!!" I still didn't hear the end of it so I made him a deal. I told him if he sold the 4 wheeler, then he could use that money to buy him a dirt bike. Every night he would be on the internet searching for the perfect bike with the perfect price. He tried to get his dad to buy the 4 wheeler, but his wife said "no" too! We finally put it in the paper and the next day I have 2 men at my house looking at the 4 wheeler. Before they came to my house, I had 2 salesmen knock on my door and they were selling cancer insurance. I invited them in and listened. Then, Josh calls and says, "can you go clean up the 4 wheeler, there is a guy coming in 20 min. to look at it?" I LOVINGLY say, "honey, I have 2 men at my house talking to me about cancer insurance, but I will try to get to it if I can." About 15 minutes there is a knock at the door...it is the man who is looking at the 4 wheeler. I leave the 2 salesmen in my home, while I got outside to open the shed and get the 4 wheeler out. He makes me an offer, I can Josh and we make a deal. Right after this the other man shows up at my back gate (salesmen still waiting for me) and wants to look at the bike and will pay full price for it. At this point I was soooooo mad at my husband. We had already made a deal and now this guy is going to pay more! AHHHH... what do I do! I call Josh and he laughs and says, "take whoever will pay more!" I am thinking I am going to have a bidding war in my backyard, while I still have 2 men waiting for me in my home! I tell Josh, "you are in so much trouble and I will just take care of it!" I tell the second guy, "I am sorry, but we already made a deal with this man!" Needless to say, he was not happy with me, but I felt like I did the right thing! Yes, we could have made $200 more, but what about my integrity? Josh wasn't too thrilled, but I told him I would just give him the $200! About 20 min. later I return back to the salesmen and finish up the presentation! I loved the plan because you get all your money back if you never use it, but if you do use it we will have great coverage! I felt it was like a savings account!

Now I had to go get the bill of sale ready for the man who bought the 4 wheeler! He came back and brought his mother with him and I knew for sure that I had done the right thing. He was buying it for his father-in-law and they were probably in there 70's! She was the sweetest little lady and I felt so good inside! Josh was just happy that he sold the bike and could now buy his dirt bike! He spent every spare moment on the computer searching for a bike and found one.

The next day I am at home again and I get a knock on my door! What is it with my house? Do I have a sign that says, "I am a weak women who feels bad for salesmen?" This time it was a vacuum salesmen! Okay, so I have been wanting a new vacuum cleaner for probably 3 years now...since we bought this house! Ours was a cheap one and it was sooooooo loud! Even Josh hated how loud it was! Of course, they show you all the nasty stuff in your couches and carpet as a way to get you to purchase the vacuum! Well, my carpet wasn't even a year old...how could it be so nasty? Josh got home and I thought for sure he would tell the guy, "No, Absolutely Not!" I was shocked when he said, "Is it quieter than my other one? If so, she can buy it!" What was that? You were suppose to save me and tell me, "No!!!" To this day my husband thinks I spent $800 on the vacuum, but I will never really let him know how much it cost! Lets just say my sister and good friend know the truth and it will stay with them! I decided I was going to put a sign on my door that says, "Go away, I can't afford anything else!!!" Do you think that would do the trick! I guess I just need to not be afraid to say, "NO" to people who knock on my door! Does anyone else have this problem? I will say that I love the vacuum, it works great, and is so quiet compared to my other one. I have since vacuumed everything in my house, including the ceilings where the cobwebs start to form! With that said, I have a 10 year warranty on it, but Josh says I will never buy another vacuum again! He's right....we can't afford another one!

Good thing about the vacuum: I can adjust it to Ty's height! He already vacuumed his room with a little help from mom! I am teaching him young!

My baby is 10 months today!

Cousin Meb caught one of our chickens and let Tag pet it.

I love those big blue eyes!

Our happy little boy!

Aunt Janarah and her family came over today and we had a great time playing in the back yard! Tag and Ty had so much fun with their cousins!

I just love this picture of him! I think it's because of his cute little body!

I cannot believe that Tag is already 10 months old! Time has flown by and I feel like my baby is not my little baby anymore! Tag is such a funny little boy! Some of the things that make Tag who is are as follows:
1. he hates wearing a bib and will pull so hard that his face turns bright red, usually he gets the bib off (he clenches his teeth together while doing this and makes a mmmmm sound)

2. whenever he wants more he screams really loud...we are working on sign language, but I think he knows he gets moms' attention a lot faster when he screams

3. he will not sit still when I change his diaper, so I have to restrain him with my leg and he absolutely hates it.

4. he makes a funny face when he "fake" cries...he closes his eyes really tight, scrunches his nose, and grits his teeth/gums! It is the funniest thing and I hope to catch it on film one day.

5. he LOVES to eat!

6. he LOVES bathtime

7. he goes CRAZY when the front door opens and he can't go outside!

8. he can't stay away from the swinging doors in the laundry room, but is always getting blasted when the door shuts...you think he would learn!

9. he is the messiest eater...why do I even bother to clean the floor!!!

10. He is the SWEETEST, CUTEST, and MOST LOVABLE little boy that has the biggest, vibrant, blue eyes that melt his mom and dad's heart!

11. Daddy's nickname for you is "Lucifer" because sometimes you like to wake up in the middle of the night to eat or you get really unhappy when you are tired! When mommy was on her girls trip, you stayed up most of the night and daddy was not happy with you. Good thing your Grandma Jensen was there to save the day or should we say night!!!

We really are lucky to have Tag in our home! It AMAZES me just how much joy a child brings into a home! We love Tag and couldn't imagine our lives without him! I know his big brother, Ty, loves his little brother and always lets mom know when he wakes up from naps! He loves to play with Tag and I think he gets a little lonely when Tag is sleeping! WE LOVE YOU TAG!!!!

2008 Annual Girls Trip!!!

Applebee's...this was the night my allergies decided to kick in!

Carson decided to start making this funny face while we were there!

This was Carries tradition each day while we were there! That poor bunny!

Chocolate marshmallow bunnies for breakfast!

Mom and Lauri on a team!

Can you believe she gets the senior discount!

Go Brita!

I love this picture of Carrie!

This was outside of Aunt Chilada's...authentic Mexican...yummy!

Aunt Lauri and little Carson!

This was the REALLY long walk we went on Sunday! Lauri and her poses!

We have talked about having this trip every year, but we finally did it!!! My sisters (minus Rikki...so sad she couldn't be there), mom, and sister-in-law, Brita all went to Phoenix for a week with no children and pure FREEDOM! My other sister-in-law, Kristen wasn't able to make because she had a 1 month old. Brita brought Carson, who is 5 months old, and he was a little doll! He did such a good job and we all loved spending time with our little nephew! We all flew into Phoenix on Saturday February 21, 2009! Mom and Carrie drove, so we didn't have to rent a car and that was nice. They were at the airport to pick up me, Lauri, and Brita! I don't have all of the pictures yet, so I will be posting more when I get them from Carrie! Lets just say we had a BLAST!!! We talked, laughed, stayed up late, slept in, relaxed at the pool and hot tub, played tennis, shopped till we literally dropped, ate out every night for dinner, saw a movie, and just had FUN!!! Funny story: On Sunday, we got up and went on a really long walk! We had decided that we wanted to go to church and there were 3 different times we could go. We missed the 9:00, 11:00, so the 1:00 was our last option. We all wanted to go to church because we had no kids and could just enjoy the meeting. We get all dressed up and head off to the chapel! Well, we couldn't find the chapel. We drove around for probably a good 40 minutes and never found it. So we went back to the room, changed clothes, and headed off to lunch. We looked on the map and if we would have just gone up 1 more street we would have been there. However, it would have been the Spanish branch and we didn't know that! At least we tried...right?

I don't really remember what we did each of the days, but I know we went to Ross a lot! We went and saw the movie, New In Town, and laughed our heads off! It was so fun to watch a good movie that made you laugh and feel good at the end! We played tennis everyday and I loved that! Talk about a good way to exercise and enjoy it while you do it! Carrie and Mom were by the far the best players, but I really think that we all improved and definitely want to play tennis on our next trip! The weather was in the 80's the entire time we were there, so we really enjoyed going to the pool and getting some sun on our white bodies! I was going to take a picture of us the last day there, so we could see that we really did get some color while we were there, but I forgot! The pool was pretty cold, but it felt really good after baking in the hot sun! Carrie and I pulled mom and Lauri in...we are so mean! Mom only played 1 round of golf and that shocked us all! She got a massage while the rest of us saved our money for other things! We bought groceries at the beginning of the week and decided to have breakfast and lunch in the room and eat out for dinner! It worked out really well and we saved a lot of money that way! Our cheapest meal was Little Caesars pizza ($2.50 each) and I think our favorite meal was the Cheesecake Factory! We stayed at the Legacy Resort and it was so beautiful! When I get the rest of the pictures, I will be sure to post them! They had beautiful flowers and I don't know if that was the reason my allergies were so bad for a few days! I was a little miserable, but after my sister, Carrie, told me to take Benadryl before bed, I was good as new! You saved me, Carrie!! Our room was very nice and I have to thank my mom for the accommodations! We were able to use her points from their timeshare, so we didn't have to pay any money to stay at such a beautiful place! Thank you Mom!! Carrie and I shared a room, mom slept on the pull out couch and Lauri and Brita shared a room! It worked out great!

Although I enjoyed being away, I missed the hugs and kisses from my kids and husband! I have to also give a BIG THANKS to my husband! He is such a WONDERFUL husband and father! He WILLINGLY stayed home with the boys for the entire week and played the role of "mom"! He did such a great job and he really enjoyed being home with the boys! I was also impressed that the house was still in tack when I got home, just really dirty(he tried)! I was so proud of him because he didn't complain at all and he even accomplished a few things! He taught Tag how to hold his own bottle...thank you, thank you, thank you!!! He got Ty to go to bed on his own again (music to my ears)!! Do I have a GREAT husband or what! To pay him back I let him go to the Gun Club with his friends and have the entire day to himself!

I had a blast and I can't wait for next year! I think it is the best thing you can do for yourself and your family! Having that time away has definitely made me a better mother and wife! I feel like I had "my time" and now I am back to work! I want all of my sisters and mom to know how much I love each of you and look forward to many more girl trips! Thanks for all the fun memories!!