A Shout out to Single Moms!

I have been a single mom for the past 2 months and what a hard job it is! I just wanted to let all you single moms out there know what a hard job you have and what tough women you are!! But of course you already know this!! I will hopefully not be a single mom for much longer because my husband should be returning home soon and I really feel for those of you who are not so lucky! Whether you are a single mom because your husband is in some branch of the military, widowed, or divorced it makes no difference! It is a hard and demanding job and I want each of you to be proud of the title of "mother"!!

I often take for granted the tremendous help my husband is to me! If I have to go anywhere, I have to find a babysitter, friend, or family member to help me with the kids...what a big fat PAIN!!! Normally, I would just have my husband stay home with the kids...not the case when they are not there to help! While making dinner the kids are normally screaming, crying, or wanting my attention and that just isn't possible, but when my husband is home he can take care of them so I can make dinner! Oh the joys of being, "Mrs. Not So Handyman!" I have learned how to put on training wheels (which had to be fixed by my great brother-in-law)! Who knew you had to use 2 wrenches when trying to tighten them...NOT ME!! This is not in my job description, but when you don't have a man by your side EVERYTHING is in your job description!! Not only do I clean toilets, do dishes,laundry, make meals, grocery shop, etc., etc....I also do yard work, attempt to fix the broken sprinkler heads, drip systems, put on training wheels, and whatever else decides to break down! What a complete NIGHTMARE!! Don't even get me started on trying to go to church with 2 VERY WILD BOYS!!! I am sure I could write a novel on all the woes of single motherhood, but for your sake I will not!!

I just really wanted to give credit where credit is due....REAL SINGLE MOTHERS!!! I am just a TEMP and will soon enjoy the luxuries of having a husband by my side! For all of you who gripe about your husbands (ME INCLUDED) try and cherish them, even when they don't pick up after themselves because you will miss them when they are gone!

To my WONDERFUL HUSBAND....I love you, miss you, and NEED you in my life! Please hurry home! I think the boys are starting to think that mommy is a liar when I tell them, "when daddy comes home...(fill in the blank)!!

A trip to the Zoo

One of the many kangaroos

I want that Turkey

The HUGE Porcupines!

Lemurs

I loved the otters too...such sweet little animals

The cute little monkey in the tree with the sloths (very interesting creature)

This is a baby kangaroo...called a "joey"

My friend, Jill and I, decided to take the boys to the local zoo! They had a GREAT time, but it was a little hot for all of us! We saw kangaroos, otters, sloths, monkeys, lemurs, zebras, camels, goats, porcupines, ostrich, tortoise, and some other animals! The kids loved the otters and even got an otter kiss! There was a monkey that would jump on people and loved hair! I wasn't quick enough with the camera when the monkey came to Tag and Ty...darn it! Ty wanted to go pet the African or Asian (can't remember) porcupines and I FREAKED out! I don't think he understood that you had to go a certain direction or be caused great pain! Tag loved the animals and wanted to get as close as he could! I really think he would have chased the turkey into that tunnel...not where I wanted him to be! We would have loved to stay longer, but I was sweating to death and our poor boys cheeks were bright red! We were bad moms and brought no water with us...thank goodness for the misters! Next time we will go in the fall or spring! Summer is just too hot, but we all survived and had a great time!

Bunko Night

Once a month I get together with 11 other women, who I now call friends, and we play a fun game of Bunko! I look forward to this night all month long. I love hanging out with all of these wonderful friends and we laugh and talk and just be "girls"! We usually have a theme and this time it was "Grouchy Grammy!" I am a little embarrassed to put this picture up, but for memory sake I am willing to sacrifice! I am on the phone with my sister...she was wanting to see my outfit and helped give me some ideas! I had some problems keeping my bottom lifted, so I finally had to tape it on (advice from my hubby)! I am just sad that we didn't get a group picture because there were some really good "grannies!" We always take a group picture, so I will try to post a group one next month! I added some bright orange lipstick and gave myself some fuller hair which is not shown in this picture! Thank Bunko girls for all the fun memories! This is our 2nd year of doing this and man have we had some good times! No Men are allowed for a reason and the "theme" night is one of the main reasons! I wouldn't even get out of the car when I picked up some of the girls because I didn't want anyone to see my attire! I think, so I know, our husbands think we are all a bunch of "nut jobs!", but at least we are a bunch of fun "nut jobs!"

Let me know if you have any good themes...my turn is in April!

Labor Day Weekend 2009

Ty with his cousin, Becca..."cheese"

I think Tag ate more dirt than food! YUMMY!!Ticia, Uncle Rod, and Mike

Jaden, Tag, Janarah, Ty, and TrevonUncle Jacob with his little girl and Ty

Tag and Anson playing trucks

Every year during the Labor Day Weekend, the Jensen Family has a reunion. We went up to Kolob and camped from Saturday to Monday! We (me and the boys) had a great time, but it still wasn't the same without Josh there! Kolob is so beautiful and we couldn't have asked for better weather. I had to wear a sweatshirt most of the time and I loved it. It was hard to come back to the 100+ weather we are still having here.

The boys had a blast with all of their cousins. They roamed around all day long and could be as loud and as dirty as they wanted. I had a great time catching up with all of the family that we don't get to see very often. We played a really fun card game, "golf"! I took the kids on a few 4-wheeler rides, but I had a hard time driving the mini-4wheeler. There was a mix up and the big 4-wheeler didn't make it to the mountain.

This year they spotlighted my father-in-law, Kelly. My sister-in-law, Janarah, put the video together and she did a fantastic job. It was so fun to see pictures of Kelly in his younger years! My children were not behaving themselves so I ended up getting them showered and into bed, so I missed all the fun stories that were told about him by his brothers and sister and other families members. I was a little sad that I missed it, but I wanted others to be able to hear the stories and that wasn't possible with my very tired and crying boys.

My in-laws are so terrific and helped me out with the boys. We stayed in a camp trailer with them and it was very nice to have a comfy bed to sleep in. By the end of the day we were all tired and didn't take long to fall fast asleep. I love camping and being out in the fresh air. The best part was having bathrooms and showers to use...the best of both worlds!!

As you can tell from the pictures, I have another little boy that loves 4-wheelers. If there was one around he was on it. He even was making "vroooom, vroooom....." noises! What am I going to do with 2 boys that love to go fast? I am sure I will worry a lot and pray even more. Another thing that we discovered about Tag is his love of dogs. There were a lot of dogs there this year and he loved all of them. He was constantly talking to them and petting them. I was a little nervous that one would get tired of him and bite him...thank goodness that didn't happen. When he saw the first dog ( a little weiner dog) he screamed and stomped his feet! It was so funny to watch and I tried to get it on video, but I don't know how great it turned out.

In conclusion, we had a wonderful weekend and were sad to leave. Thanks again to my great family for helping out with the boys! I have to say that my husbands twin, Jacob, was such a help! He took the boys on rides and was good to help me with Ty when he wouldn't listen. We are going through a stage where he doesn't want to listen to mom and is always testing me. It is hard to not have a father figure there to help discipline when he is misbehaving. Thanks Jacob for stepping up and helping me out! They boys are lucky to have such a good Uncle, even if he has to help mom with the discipline! Ty seems to listen better when it comes from Uncle Jacob!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Labor Day too!

Now that I have my Camera Back...Carrie comes to visit and Tag's 1st Haircut

The firing squad!

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Look at that beautiful hair:( How can daddy not love it?

Bree was such the "little mommy" to Tag while they stayed at our house...it was really cute!

How do I look?

Before I left on my trip to Oklahoma, I visited my in-laws and just happen to leave my camera there. Therefore, I took very few pictures while in Oklahoma and never did a post on the pictures I took before we left. These are a bit late, but better late than never!!

My sister, Carrie and her 3 kids came to visit for a week! We had a great time and the kids played and played and played! We did a lot of swimming because that is all you can in the summertime in Southern Nevada! It is just too dang hot to be outside unless you are in the water. We took the kids to the splash pad and they loved it and had so much fun running through all the water. Then we took them to the outdoor pool with a kiddie area and a really big slide for the older kids! Bruce and Beau went down the slide most of the time while we were there...they LOVED it! Ty usually likes to go down, but he didn't want to go down this time. Carrie took Bree and I think she enjoyed it too and Tag is just so laid back that half the time I don't know what he is thinking! He didn't cry so I am guessing he liked it.

Brian caught up with us for the weekend and we headed up to my in-laws to do some shooting and "country stuff"! However, it is usually cooler up there and since we decided to drive up there it was a really hot day! We ended up staying inside until it cooled off. We had a mean game of "scum" and had fun visiting with each other. I think the kids had fun playing together. I know they enjoyed shooting the shotgun and petting the horse. As you can tell from Ty's face, they got really dirty and had fun doing it! We even made them take a bath before we went home!

Before Carrie left, I made her help me give Tag his 1st haircut. Josh couldn't handle the long hair anymore and threatened to shave his head if I didn't cut it. I loved his hair and was sad to see it go. Now he looks like a "big boy" and my little baby is gone. He does look cute with the do, but he was just as cute with the shaggy look. Thank you Carrie for helping me cut his hair. Funny story, the brand new scissors I had were not sharp at all, so we ended up using my huge kitchen scissors. Carrie was really nervous, but she did a great job. Thanks Carrie for coming to visit! We loved having you and your family stay with us!

Last but not least, my kids have this obsession with dumping the clothes out of their hampers and running around the house with them on their heads! They think it is the funniest thing and I just laugh as I watch them running into each other and multiple other things! Kids really are great entertainment! I love my kids and I love all the fun memories they give me each day!!!

Life in Oklahoma

I think this will be a yearly tradition...I have this same picture from last summer! Ty and his cousin Kate



Brielle and Hailey

My sister Lauri came to visit with her girls! It was so great to see her and the girls! The kids had so much fun playing together.

Tag, Ty, Kate, and Me

Naked noodles in the hot tub! They loved takin all their clothes off and swimmin in the hot tub!

My new dress

Can you tell that I love shoes?

Yes! I have been away from the blogging world for way too long, but I forgot my camera and haven't taken many pictures with my mom's camera. Me and the boys are currently staying in Oklahoma with my parents. Once again, my husband has abandoned us for work! Only this time it is too far away to come home on the weekends, plus they are working 6 days a week! It is so hard to be away from him, but it is nice to be home with my parents. I loaded the kids up on Friday July 24, 2009 at 5:30am and we headed off to Oklahoma. I was really nervous to be driving all that way by myself, but I really had no other choice. We had a reservation for a hotel in Albuquerque New Mexico that evening, so we had to make it that far. The kids did so great in the car and I know it was because of the many prayers I said!! We really only stopped for gas and made great time. We made it by 4:30, but by the time I found the hotel I think it was close to 5:30pm. I took the kids swimming so they could get the couped up energy out and then we had dinner. They were still a little wired and all I wanted to do was get some sleep. The previous night Tag was up for a large part of the night, so I didn't get a lot of sleep. I have been trying not to drink soda, but I had to get one so I could stay awake. The kids finally settled down and we got a pretty good nights rest.

The next morning we woke up and had breakfast and were on the road again by 7:30am. The first few hours felt like forever, but then the rest of the day really went by pretty fast. We made it to my parent's house by 6:30pm. It was so nice to pull in the driveway! The kids did AWESOME and I was so proud of them. Again, I know it was a true answer to prayer because Tag usually gets mad after about 30 minutes and this was 2 ten hour days!

We have been here in Oklahoma for 3 weeks now! The boys have had a great time with Grammy and Poppy. I have loved being home again! It has been so wonderful to spend time with my dad everyday! When I use to come home to visit he would work all day and so we only had the evenings and weekends with him. I wish the circumstances were different, but I have loved having him home all day with me and the boys. Ty and Tag have warmed right up to him and often go in his room and snuggle with him on the bed or just go talk to him. It really is the sweetest thing and I know he absolutely loves it.

While we have been here we have gone to the pool, helped around the house, went to the land with dad, and ran around in the huge backyard! The boys are in heaven here...so much room to roam!! We also have train tracks right in front of our house, so they get to see the train a lot and they love that, plus the air force base is right by us, so planes are always flying over our house! What more could my boys ask for! Ty loves to ride the lawn mower and 4-wheeler with Grammy while she does yard work!

Yes, it is hard to be away from Josh, but I am so glad that we are here with family! However, Josh will be coming next Saturday the 22nd and I cannot wait! He is coming to help my dad out on his land and then we will all drive back together. It will be nice to have him here and I know that the boys are going to be so happy to see their daddy! I am a little worried about Tag freaking out because he has been doing that a lot lately with new people! He really is a mama's boy and I LOVE it!! Not that Josh is new to him, but he hasn't seen his daddy in so long and he is still young enough that he may freak! I will let you know how it goes!

Once we get back to Nevada, Josh will leave us again for another 2 months! I don't know how I am going to survive! I have had a really hard time and it has only been 3 weeks...how will I ever do 2 months? We may just have to find a way to be together during those 2 months! I try to be positive and grateful because at least we have a job, but it is so hard to be a part and I hate that my boys don't get to see their daddy for so long! This is becoming a tradition each summer and it is one that I DO NOT like!

On the brighter side, I did get to go shopping tonight all by myself! It was so nice to get out of the house and have some ME time! As you can tell, I went a little crazy on the shoes! I was so excited because I saved $200 on my purchases tonight! The closed toed shoes were only $11.99 and the sandals were $20.00! They were originally $50.00 each so I was so happy! I have been trying to find some cute brown and black winter shoes for the longest time, but I always hate everything! I LOVED these shoes and they looked so cute with my jeans! Then the sandals were just so cute on and since I always wear flip flops I thought this would help me get out of my flip flop rut!! They are so cute on and so I had to get both colors! Since I spent over $50 I got $10 off...what a steal for 4 pairs of shoes!! Then I found this dress which was $60, but I got it for $11.99!! It is soooo comfortable and I can't wait to wear it to church! Of course, I will be wearing a cute little shade underneath it! So I spent $70 and got all these great things!

On my way home I called Josh and he let me know that he got a $60 speeding ticket, so I didn't feel bad for my purchases this evening!

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to get caught up on the craziness of our life!!