Happy Holidays!!!

The holidays are officially over... but I need to do some catching up.

Tim started shutdown the 18th.... he will be return tomorrow night. I haven't wanted to kill him yet for being around so much, that's always a good thing!! But he creates some bad habits while around the house so much. He likes to have a meal, and I could do with a little bit of something for lunch, and that's it. He drinks pop with every meal if possible... and I could go all day without having one, but he brings me a pop just to be nice. I wasn't feeling so bad about my lack of exercise until the holidays, and being around Tim... it's really made me feel not so good about myself. He doesn't make me feel bad, I have just have snacked more than ever before and the kids didn't help matters much either. I made them plenty of goodies for them to enjoy over Christmas break, which means, I too enjoyed!! ugh. So I have plans to get myself moving and motivated again... I will share on another post.

The 19th was Jensen Christmas dinner. Mom's year to do that, which means all us kids needing to pitch in to help feed the 100 some family members we had. I thought it all went very well, we seemed to really please the Jensen clan. My mom never does anything small, and she has passed that on to us kids. So we all know, if we have something to do..... "we do it right' and not half ass anything. So, that meant table decor, games, tons of yummy food... the whole thing. And I think it was one of the best Christmas dinners yet. Lots of hard work, from Mom and Dad, to Me and Gina trying to help out. It was fun, and another Christmas memory to add to our family!!

Christmas Eve.... eve... (ha ha) we enjoyed the much awaited Alvin and Chipmonks with the kids. It was a cute movie and the kids LOVED it!! We also decided to celebrate Tim's mom's Christmas early due to the bad weather forecast! It was a good time!! Not the traditional Christmas Eve morning breakfast we have all come to love, but we still enjoyed our time together as always!

Christmas Eve we headed to my parents for a day of Christmas celebrations, kids playing, presents, and great food!! Always an enjoyable time with all the cousins playing together. It was really wonderful special Christmas this year!! Not that the past haven't been, but this one was extra nice!!

The day was horrible weather so the big girls didn't chance getting to town to go to their mom's. We got to enjoy the whole day evening with all the kids together and then tuck them all into bed for Christmas morn!! -- Tim and I felt bad about the girls not getting time with their mom that day, we know if the tables were turned, we would of definitely been upset about the situation (and Mother Nature...lol). But it was more important to all of us that everyone was safe!! The roads were not good.

It was a wonderful Christmas time with all the girls on Christmas eve and morning. One I will definitely treasure for a long time. Probably one of the last "magical" Christmases we will really have with all the kids. Tim switches every year with their Mom, but it had been 2 years since we had the girls Christmas morning. The year Brian's health wasn't looking good, we gave Jenni and Brian our Christmas morning so they could have that special time together, those Christmas morning memories. Tim and I were more than happy to offer this to them, but by the time this year rolled around, we were really looking forward to Christmas morning with all of the girls again!!

Well, enough of my ramblings for now. I will add more posts with pictures to show you our holiday fun!!

Hope everyone is staying warm and safe!!

i know.... i know..... it's been a while again

Sorry to everyone, I've heard about it from several people that I need to update my blog. I have had PLENTY of things to write, and probably could of squeezed in the time to do it, but I wasn't motivated to sit and write. But now, the end of the year is fastly approaching, and the in-laws are off on their few month stay in warmer weather, so I better keep them updated too, along with the rest of you.

Where to begin..... we'll start with the kiddos first.... they always come first.....

Cailyn is doing great!! Smart, loves life and being home with Mom and Dad still. I see little peaks of her coming out of her shell, but that doesn't last long, always depends on who we are with. My best friend and her husband, we've been lucky enough to spend a few evenings with them over the last couple months, and Cailyn is just now starting to warm up to them and will talk and play with them. It's so cute and funny!! Cailyn is VERY excited about christmas. She is counting down, and keeps talking about her surprises she is going to get. She just wants to open the presents, doesn't care so much about what's in them. Christmas should be fun... we get to have all the girls on Christmas morn this year, so that will make it extra special.

Josie is doing awesome in school. She still loves it!! She is really working on reading and sounding out words and figuring out how to spell them. That's awesome!! My Josie Posie has really enjoyed watching Rachel's ball games.... she has been quite the character. Long story short..... 7/8th graders didn't end up having cheerleaders this year, so Josie found it necessary to represent the Falcon cheerleaders at a couple of Rachel's games (she was a Falcon cheerleader for halloween). It was quite embarrassing and cute on my part..... not sure why it embarrassed me so, but it was funny and cute. She would get up in front of the crowd just the same as other cheerleaders when it was half time and do her only cheer she knew for the crowd. Josie definitely has the voice for it, and isn't shy, and the Wonderful school we attend, the parents were more than encouraging and supportive of her cheers. They would clap along and cheer right with her. It was so nice!!! -- and the best part, Big Sister Rachel didn't care, she wasn't embarrassed by her, she thought she was pretty cute too.

Amberlea is still a ball of fire!! She keeps us busy working on homework, and listening to her funny stories, and just going, going all the time. She is SO good with Josie and Cailyn and they all just play and play when they are together, but I see glimmers of Amberlea's maturity shining thru. Some things she used to 'go along' with, now she is starting to see how annoying some things can be. It's always funny when you remind them that not so long ago, they were doing that too... and you just love the look on their faces, like "i don't think so.... and please don't remind me"...... Amberlea is getting ready to play the part of Mary in the annual 4th grade skit of the Birth of Jesus. She is SO excited, she could bust!!

And then to Rachel.... she has kept us on the run!! She has finished with Volleyball and Basketball. We were VERY proud of her!! She worked really hard and being one of the few 7th grade girls that got to play all the games. She didn't make a whole lot of points (even with her dad's bribe of $1 basket) but her defense skills are great!! She keeps this up, we're going to have an awesome ball player to be cheering for in Highschool. Rachel is keeping us entertained in her own ways, she is definitely growing up. She is definitely very social, (her bff... has now been adopted by our family), they are inseparable these days, between the texts or just hangin out talking about boys, geez. - Tim is REALLY stressin' he's just getting a tiny glimpse of the future, here within the last few weeks, and it's not good....lol... no, really, we trust Rachel and hope and pray the close relationship we have with her continues and it won't be so bad. Tim just needs to invest in a good shotgun, cause the boys are already trying to break down the door. lol...

-- a few weeks back I hit a deer on the way home. That put a kink into our thanksgiving week. It was a mess, but thankfully we have great support of family that helped us out while we were without the family car. I know there are tons of things I am missing from the last few weeks I've been absent. Some good, some not so good. But we are still here, all together, and that's what matters.

We are really looking forward to Christmas with the kids. And I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas too!!!

I will do better at keeping up over the next few weeks...... until then.......stay warm, safe, and healthy!!!

It's been a long time....sorry

Rachel has been bugging me about updating the blog. I keep telling her, I know... I know... So, here is a short update to catch everyone up.

My computer is having a malfunction, so that's part of the reason I haven't got it done yet. I have been having to use my old slow one that doesn't always cooperate with me. ugh...

We went to the zoo the 1st of October. I have a ton of fun pictures to show you!! Another day though. It was so much fun with the girls and Tim. Even though it was cold and rainy, it was a Friday and no one was hardly there. Since it was during the week, we got to see them cleaning the aquariums and stuff that we wouldn't normally get to watch. We really had a wonderful time!! I laughed so much that day. I love my kids when they are little, but there is just something about as they get older and start to understand some of the more mature humor in things.... that I love too. Tim, Rachel and I were just crackin' up all day long. (Rachel wasn't excited about going to the zoo again, but I think she ended up really having a good time with us).

We also went to the Pumpkin patch that same weekend. So, it was a blur of fun cause Rachel also had her last home VB games for us to watch her play. She did good, the team came in 3rd in the tournament. So that was nice to watch. -- Rachel got a 3 day break from VB ending to BB starting up. She told us last night that she is #13 again.... she picked it. She had asked her dad back when she was playing VB what #'s he always was in school. He said either 10 or 3. I told her that 13 was the combination of the both of them and would be a Great number to have!! She thought so too.... so Tim was pretty happy when she chose to be #13 again for Bball.

We were with some of Tim's family over the past weekend. They had just sent their oldest daughter off to her 1st Homecoming dance that evening. We sat and chatted and laughed about texting and making fun of us girls, how the kid will text the mom from the backseat of the car... just cause she may not want dad or the other kids to hear what she is saying.... lol, this happens with Rachel and I too. The other dad was telling Tim his time was coming, to being stupid and embarrassing.... and all that, it was all going to be ending soon. I hope not, Rachel is pretty open with the both of us, and she is still happy every time she sees her dad and hugs and kisses him first thing. So.. I'm praying that day won't be coming anytime soon. Lol....

I've been staying busy enough the last couple weeks with a couple shows. I'm excited for the opportunity to be out there more and showing other some of PR great products. I can't say I'm making a big profit at it yet, but I am having a good time so far!

The other girls are all doing good. Staying healthy and doing good in school. Not too much has changed so far. Still homework on a regular basis, Josie is much more interested in learning to read, and Cailyn is going nonstop these days. Soccer is also pretty much done, so that is nice to have out of the way!

We have a busy month ahead of us still.... this weekend we are taking some family pictures (finally), Trick or Treating at Mozingo on Saturday night, I need to start to get the house ready for a Halloween party we are having for the girls and their friends in a couple weekends.... and my dad's birthday is also at the end of the month. Busy as always......

Thanks for checking in with us. I'll update with pictures soon I hope, once I figure out what is the matter with my other computer.

What I know.......

This is what I know that is going on right now in our busy life.........

I know that Cailyn is as spunky as ever. I know I wish that more people got to see the side of her I get to enjoy everyday. She is growing up so fast and I don't know how I feel about it. Cailyn is also starting to be more interested in learning her name and alphabet, so that makes me happy. She has also found a love for her "magazines" the Highlight magazines that my mom got her, she loves to sit and look through them over and over. And truthfully I don't know so much if it's the magazine, or the one on one time she is getting with us. This is something she's not gotten too much of cause she is the youngest and we are also so busy with the older girls. Kind of makes me sad to think about :(

I know that Josie is LOVING school. She is telling me about caterpillars turning into butterflies. Reading buddies, show and tell, rhyming words, had been drawing me some awesome pictures, and last week she was child of the week! That was exciting! She hasn't been too difficult to wake in the mornings, I'm very surprised. It's been nice that Tim now gets home in time in the mornings to help get the girls up and fix them breakfast. That really helps me out in the mornings and gives me more time help do their hair and make it all cute! Josie is also doing good at soccer. We've played 2 games and she is enjoying every minute of it! She is also getting excited for Halloween, and is practicing already to be a cheerleader. We have watched a couple of Rachel's Volleyball games... and you can hear Josie loud as can be shouting...."Go Falcons"!! It's so funny! She is full of team spirit!!

I know that Amberlea is also doing great! She is trying to work on her study habits cause she has found 4th grade to be a little more challenging. She is doing good and pretty proud when she sees her hard work pay off. We are all proud of her too. She is still a ball of energy!! Always running around and giggling, or has some story to tell!! She is enjoying soccer and is looking forward to the Family Fun Fest this weekend along with her sisters! She is still a big help anytime I ask.... and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that! She loves anything she can do to be with you, either working or playing, she just loves any kind of attention!

I also know that Rachel is doing very well!! She is really Loving volleyball!! They lost their first match last night, but it was a tough game and they did good. The other previous teams haven't been much competition, so this was good for them to lose one. Keeps them on their toes! She is still doing great in school. I love the fact I don't have to hound her about her homework and can trust that she is getting it done. She asks for the occasion help, especially on the big projects, and I am always glad to help out... (if i can...ha).

I know I love all my girls for all their different personalities! They are so much fun! I miss Rachel and Amberlea often we they are not with me and wander how their day went, and how they did on this test or with that activity?? It's hard for me at times. But they are just a phone call away. I don't chat with Amberlea as often as I should, but Rachel and I keep in touch with our texting back and forth. That's nice. I know some people may disagree with her having a phone at such a young age, but I've really seen how it has actually brought us closer together when we are not always around. I know her Mom would agree with me on this too. Plus we are building trust that she will do whats right and take the responsibility that comes with it, and so far, she is doing awesome!

I know that I have yet to mention that I have started a new business a couple months back. It's been difficult getting it going, but I'm excited at the thought of what it may be like when it takes off! And I can't say it's my own business, I joined under my best friend that does it for a full time job and Rocks at it!! I started selling Pure Romance products. I have been hesitant to say much about it, never knowing what people may think. Being a mom of 4, PTO board, member of the catholic church. But I'm slowly getting past this. I really believe in this business and the products they offer! If you've never been to a show, you are missing out!

I didn't go out thinking this was what I would do, never in my wildest dreams! But I'm so thankful for the little push I got from my friend. I wanted an opportunity to make a little extra money, something to get myself out of the house and socialize (i'm thinking a part-time job at wal-mart..ha), and knowing how she has made a full time job from PR and has the flexibility to work when she wants, I gave it a shot. Let me tell you it wasn't easy. I never thought in a hundred million years I would be able to stand in front of a room of woman and talk about something so private and help others. I'm very shy when it comes to expressing myself in this way, it was the way I was raised, and there is nothing wrong with that. I've since come to see what a boost in confidence it has given me. I still feel nervous, but every time I have another show, it gets better. I am bonding with woman out there that do have questions and concerns and and are just the same as me and are looking for ways to improve their relationships. It's really a wonderful experience. They have so many products from massage to beauty to spa to romance enhancers. It's really a great company, very tasteful, professional and is proud of what they offer and I'm proud to be a part of it!

My goals are to work on my business, get my name out there more, and hopefully some day... make it MY full time job! I'm excited for now getting to travel here and there and meet other woman. I hope that in the future I will get to travel even more. PR has taken my friend Tonya to several meetings states away, to Florida recently, Vegas and she has won a cruise to Alaska even! That's incredible to me. I've barely been out of MO, so the thought of seeing other places, makes me extremely happy! Tonya is working on her way to making it to Italy, can you believe that? wow... jealous... and I believe she can do it!

Well... that's enough about me... now you all know a little more about what I have also been up to. I'm looking forward this weekend to spending some time with the kids, Tim will be taking them to the Family Fun Fest alone though, this bothers me, I'd like to join. But I had the opportunity to attend a training meeting in KC with the CEO of Pure Romance and learn more about the company to help build my business. They don't do it often in our area, so I am going to have to miss out on the fun with my kids, but I hope they understand in the long run. That has probably been the hardest part of it all, cause I don't often have to miss anything of my kids, but I am doing this for them, for us.... and for ME! I don't often choose my own needs or wants before theirs, but I am working on this too. They say if Momma ain't happy..... no one is. Not that I'm not happy, but I hope this helps me grow and build confidence in myself that my kids will see and admire! (not that they know what mommy is doing, they just think she has lots of meetings to attend right now...lol).

We have soccer games tomorrow morning and might attend the NW game in the afternoon. Busy as usual at the Auffert house! Thanks for catching up with us. My camera is giving me fits, so I don't have many pics to post right now. Hopefully I can get that worked out and add some more soon.

Have a great weekend!

Going Pro....

Ok, maybe not PRO, but here is a picture of Rachel in her first ever real Volleyball uniform. She looks so nice, and beautiful, and competitive, all at the same time. You never know... she just may go PRO! We can only dream, but I would guess she'd love to do that in BBall more than Volleyball, either way, she is enjoying the sport. And that's all that matters.

Rachel had a good weekend with us having a friend all last weekend to hang out. We did a little shopping together, she has money to spend and thought she had to have new jeans. Well, she was right, and not cause hers were bad, but cause she has grown an inch over the summer and slimmed down 2 jean sizes. She was feeling pretty good clothes shopping! We are so proud of the wonderful young lady she is becoming. She is doing awesome in school and staying on top of the homework, even weeks before it is due....(lol), balancing school, activities, socializing and the family time. Rachel has been pretty easy to "get along" with too. No crazy hormonal teen fits... ha. Let's hope it stays that way!

Her first games start next week! She is so excited! I'm sure I'll be taking lots of pictures to add on here.

Until then....

No time to Blog

Sorry about my time off from blogging.... it has been one busy week.

Last weekend Tim was gone to Bristol, and it is amazing what I got accomplished around the house. I was pretty busy. It included 2 trips to st joe and an evening at the rodeo. It was a lot of fun, I'd never been and so it was all new to me. The girls had a good time, my brother and his kids came up and Gina, Mike and Tanner also came out. They were so cute all the kids playing in the dirt and watching the horses. Tim had a great time in Bristol, he got back home later in the evening on Sunday night.

Tuesday was Tim and I's 8th Anniversary. It was spent at a PAT water night and then the kids went to Grandma and Grandpa's so Tim and I could have supper together. It was a nice time, nothing big, maybe by our 10th Anniversary we'll do something real special, plan a trip together, but we'll see if that works out or not. I won't hold my breathe, this time of year is always so crazy for us. A little recap.... married August of '01, broke ground to our house Aug '02, Josie was born in Aug '03, Aug of '05 Cailyn came along. August is a special month to Tim and I, many celebrations including Tim's birthday and with school starting, it's not easy to find time to ourselves to celebrate. But that's ok. We have much to be thankful for.

Wednesday Cailyn turned 4. Very exciting for her, I definitely don't have any more babies around the house. She is so full of energy these days. I see her changing so much with Josie headed off to school this year. She has really stepped up to be mommy's little helper, and I'm really enjoying our time together. Cailyn has always been so laid back, never really had interest in learning typical things most toddlers do, doesn't ask too many questions, much different than Josie. I hope to work with her more and teach her some of these "big" girl things, but it's hard to teach someone who doesn't care to learn. It's so funny, she is very smart, she is very artistic, she definitely has her own way of doing everything, and that's just fine with me. Cailyn is ok with not growing up, not that she is a baby, but she tells me she never wants to go to school or be away from Tim and I, she might just live with us FoReVer... lol.

Josie turned 6 on Friday, and she'd probably move out if we let her...ha. She is so independent, she was thrilled to get hang down earrings for her birthday to wear to school. She tries so hard to be just as big as her older sisters, that it scares me at times. I wish at times she was more like Cailyn. She knows too much information that I don't think a 6yr old should know. Nothing bad of course, she can just hang out with older kids and is perfectly fine with that, sometimes kids her own age just don't interest her. That's not always good.

Josie is doing GREAT in school!! I got to talk with her teacher briefly the other day and she said that Josie was doing wonderful. That's good to hear, according to my "know-it-all" 6 yr old, there have been several kids in trouble at school. She keeps telling me she hasn't got in trouble 1 time, I believe her, this is how she always was in preschool too, but I know my Josie, and she can be a trouble maker at times.

Both girls had wonderful birthdays! They were very happy with the presents they got and we made some special treats to celebrate. I always make sure all my girls get some sort of special dessert of choice to celebrate on their birthday. I didn't want to do just cake cause I would be making that for their parties, so Cailyn picked homemade cinnamon rolls and Josie a big cookie. I enjoy baking, and I had my fill this week. I made a cake for Cailyn to have with the daycare kids, cinnamon rolls for that night, Josie wanted dirt pudding for her class at school that had to be in individual cups, then a big cookie that evening and I then created a castle cake that ended up taking me 3 mixes and 3 batches of frosting, but I was pleased with it and the girls thought it was so cool!! That's all that matters.

I got the house all ready to go with the help of my mom and dad for the Princess Party on Saturday. Mom had all the decorations I could want, so she came back and helped me turn my basement into a beautiful princess ballroom....lol. Again, the kids thought it was great... I liked it, it was a success again! All the girls had a great time. We played a couple games and Rachel and Amberlea helped me out with doing makeup and nails, and I did their hair. I thought it went great, some of the other moms thought I was just crazy for doing it, but I thought it was no big deal, I was used to handling that many kids... no problem. That part didn't stress me out at all, it was getting ready for the party that drove me crazy!

That's about it for now. I'll leave you with some pictures.

Cailyn's rolls with purple frosting!!

Josie opening her Hannah Montana movie!!!

The Castle Cake I created, the kids fought over who got the icecream cones I used for the towers.... who would of thought??

Some of the princesses getting a little pampering.

One of Josie's classmates playing the kiss the frog game Amberlea came up with. The girls thought it was pretty funny!!

All the princesses at the party!!

Busy times

This time of year is always so busy for me. I help get things organized for soccer in Maryville, have to help get volunteers for school lined up (which never goes well and I put off as long as possible), school starting up, Tim's bday, next week is our anniversary, and both the little girls' birthdays. So there is a lot going on in August for us.

I'll start with school starting on Tuesday. Josie was very excited, as Tim and I were. She looked so big and all ready to go to school. I made sure I worked it out with my daycare parents that I could go with Tim on her 1st day of school. I wasn't sure what to expect from myself, somethings upset me easily, but other things don't bother me. Well, Josie was more than ready to be there she could of cared less that she was leaving us. That's how Josie has always been. So, it was hard to get all sappy and cry when she just kept telling us bye, she was ready for us to leave. She wasn't like some of the other children clinging to their parents legs not wanting to let go. So, that's good I guess.... I wouldn't of minded a little bit of clinging though, to make ME feel better. I think Josie will do AWESOME this year at school! I'm excited to see how much she learns.

Rachel and Amberlea also had great 1st days. Amberlea seems to be very excited about 4th grade. She keeps telling me it's going to be awesome! So, I'm glad. Rachel is rachel.... not ready to get back to all the homework, but she does love to be with her friends and get more of a chance to socialize. So, she deals with the work... she is also starting VB prac today. She is excited about that! She is going to do great! She has been cracking me up the last couple days trying to "work her abs" with her dad. She got pretty good last winter, but isn't in the shape she was then ..... and let's just say, she is sore, but determined to work those muscles again. She is so funny!

* Rachel also gets her bottom braces off today!!!! YEAH!! So, I'll post a pic of the new, expensive, beautiful smile she has today!

Tim has left me for a few days.... not quite sure what to do. Ha... not really. I love my husband, and this will be the longest we will have been apart so far after almost 8 years of marriage, 4 days. But, I know he is so excited about his trip to Bristol, TN to watch the races. He has been talking about it for months now. He is like a little kid in a candy store.... about to bust! He is going with 3 other guys he is good friends with, also big race fans. They got free tickets... and they still don't know what all is included in them... he can hardly wait to find out. The guys know that they are ABC tickets that came from...ok follow me now.... one of the guy's brother-n-law is a brother-n-law to Dr Jerry Punch... (i hope that name is right) anyway, this Dr guy is an announcer for ABC that is on TV. When they called about the tickets again to see what all they included, this "guy" wanted to meet Tim and everyone and give them the tickets personally. So, they are all excited they get to meet him now too. .... Boys, I swear.

So, that leaves me alone with all the kids. I will have Rachel and Amberlea part of this time too. It will be fine. I don't mind having all the kids to myself. My only thing I don't like is listening to them cry about missing Tim. I'm glad they miss him, but it upsets me too. Cailyn has already had to call this morning and talk to Daddy. I remember when Tim years ago would go on bowling trips for like 2 days, oh.. I would be so upset and cry and cry.... not a tear this morning... lol... what does that mean?? I'm just teasing... I will miss him too... but I'm alright having my time to myself.

I am trying to plan the girls' party for next weekend... I have ideas.. I just need to get to st joe and see if I can find what I need for it. That has left me very busy too. Not sure how I'm going to get that all done.