Project 365 Week 10

61/365

Pick a card, any card...ever since the cub scout banquet where we had a magician for the entertainment, Jackson has been teaching himself card tricks off the internet. Some of them are actually pretty good.

62/365

This is the sunset we saw at the end of our street tonight.

63/365

Look what came home from school today. Another sign that the school year will be over soon.

64/365

The second violin mishap of the year. Thank goodness for that insurance on the rental instruments!

65/365

A little hot tub relaxation...one of Jim's favorite things to do on a cool evening.

66/365

Adventure Princesses campout at Brazos Bend State Park. They were allowed to bring a guest so Jensen brought Jordan.

67/365

Another lax game and it's still going good.

Project 365 Week 9

Packing up today for our dude ranch spring break adventure starting tomorrow. Should have lots of interesting photos when i return. Until then...

54/365

Evidence of an obsession.

55/365

This is what 500 orchestra students looks like. Jordan played in the Zone Concert tonight. Orchestras from Riverwood Middle School, Creekwood Middle School and Kingwood High School performed together. Each orchestra performed 2 pieces separately and then a grand finale piece all together. This year the finale was the Toureadour song from the opera Carmen.

56/365

This was a total mistake. I was walking by the side door and saw some birds in my neighbor's yard gathering stuff and flying up to a tree so they could build a nest. I thought that would be a cool picture...to get a shot of a bird carrying something in it's beak...a "sign of spring" kind of photo. I grabbed my camera and went outside as quitely as I could. Of course, the birds heard me and scattered. I stood there for a while waiting for them to resume their work, but I lost patience before they came back. I saw a cardinal sitting in the tree and snapped this shot. Unfortunately, the settings on my camera were all wrong and this is what I ended up with. Good thing I never got the shot I wanted becuase it wouldn't have turned out and I would have been mad. Instead, even though this shot was a total mistake, I still thought it was cool.

57/365

Everything's better with bacon.

58/365


59/365

Photo #1 - "Hey, look at that open wound gushing blood!"
Photo #2 - "Dude. That looks like it really hurts. I wonder what we should do?"
Photo #3 - "Let's all put on surgical gloves and wrap it in toilet paper. That should do the trick."

I don't think they took 1st place in the First Aid competition.

60/365


The girls and I got to spend some crafty time together.

Project 365 Week 8

47/365

The text on the photo tells the tale. Really disturbing and just sad.

48/365

My valentine roses still looking good several days later...

49/365

Here's my little basil plant I mentioned last week. Isn't it cute?

50/365

This is Jordan's after school snack almost every day--a mozzarella and pepperoni panini--otherwise known as a "pizza sandwich." A little more hearty than Jensen's ice cream cone...mainly due to the fact that after consuming this sandwich, Jordan does three hours of rigorous gymnastics training...

51/365
No photo for Friday. I looked at my calendar for this day and one of the things I did was have lunch with Heather. I remember we went to New York Pizzeria and sat outside in the sunshine with beautiful Miss Megan. I should have taken a picture...

52/365

Jordan's first orchestra solo & ensemble competiton. Everyone in the beginning orchestra at Riverwood scored a "1" for both their solo and ensemble pieces. That's the first time that's happened in 4 years. Here are some comments the judge made on her score sheet:

Tone: "Very clean start; nice straight bow path; good job with pitch; make sure violin is in tune."

Technique: "Nice work with articulation; make dolce smoother."

Musicianship: "get instrument a little higher -- parallel to floor."

"Keep up the hard work!"

I was very impressed with the detailed comments the judge gave her...especially since he had to sit and listen to beginning orchestra students... play the same piece... all day long.

53/365

Today was our Cub Scout pack's annual Blue and Gold Banquet. Jim's den was in charge of planning the whole thing--catering, decorations, entertainment, etc.--for 200 people. It was a lot of work, but turned out great. The entertainment was a magician (a local high school student) who did an awesome job keeping the boys enthralled and entertained. Glad it's over...

Project 365 Week 7

40/365

Chocolate ice cream cone after school. Every day.

41/365

A 100 on a spelling test?? That is a rare (actually, never before achieved) accomplishment. He was so proud. And so were we.

42/365

Bella.

43/365

Our printer has been dying a slow death for the past several months. It finally gave up the ghost the other day so we got a new one. Seems a shame since it was only 3 years old, but Jean says that's how long those kind of things seem to last these days so...I'm happy though becuase it's wireless so I can finally print from my laptop in the kitchen.

44/365

Valentine class parties at school today. Those are the valentine's Jensen gave to her class mates. They needed a mirror to read who it was from...cracks me up. Jensen and her buddy Samantha being sassy. Jackson and his cronies playing a game at their class party.

45/365

End of the flag football season. We had two games this last day and then had our team party. We had a fun parent/child football game...I even played for a few possessions and then claimed I had to be the "team photographer." :-)

46/365

The photo says it all. That's the story of Jackson's life.

Project 365 Week 6

Still behind but trying to get caught up...

33/365

Notice any resemblance? This is the portrait of Jim Jensen did to hang up at the Kindergarten Dance with Dads. They weren't able to go to the dance since Jensen was sick, but she brought it home from school today. The hairline is pretty accurate. Not sure about the blue ears though...

34/365

I bought this basil today at the grocery story. I thought it was cool that it had a root ball that was in water. I actually was able to use it for about a week before it croaked. I'm growing my own basil but I started it from seed and it's taking FOREVER to grow. Maybe by the summer I'll be able to plant it outside and have fresh basil whenever I want.

35/365

I volunteered in the workroom at Shadow Forest today. Mainly what I do in there is copy things for teachers...sometimes I sharpen pencils, or die cut things...all very mentally taxing things but I think it does help the teachers out. As I was leaving at the end of my shift I walked through the library and there were Jensen and Jackson! Jensen's class was having their regular weekly library time and Jackson was sitting out his recess time due to his asthma flare up. They weren't actually sitting like this...I made them pose, in case you were wondering.

36/365

A meal that I created years ago...pasta with tomatoes, kalamata olives and feta cheese. Some nights, like tonight, we add sauteed shrimp. These are staples that I almost always have on hand in the pantry and freezer so it's something I can make when I have no other plans...or when what I planned goes wrong...like tonight when I opened the package of pork tenderloin that I was planning to cook and it smelled really bad. Yuck.

37/365

The end of a long week...

38/365


Good thing she rested up last night because tonight is the Adventure Princesses Father/Daughter Dinner Dance. She got to get all dressed up and go out with Jim. I even made an appointment to get her hair done. She smiled ear-to-ear the entire time the girl was working on her hair.

39/365

Lacrosse is going well so far. Had their first scrimmage this week.

Not even one picture of Jordan this week. I guess that's not too weird since we really don't see her all that much.

Project 365 Week 5

A week behind already!! Aaaaggghhh!

26/365



27/365

Freshly manicured toes. Getting ready for my girls' weekend away. Sharing a hotel room means your toes must look pretty.

28/365

Poor guy. We had to resort to the nebulizer this week. He doesn't like to do it, but it really does help when the coughing gets bad. He also had to miss p.e. and recess this week...might as well put a knife through his heart.

29/365

That's a lot of kitties. Poor Jensen finally sucumbed to the bug that's been going around. I got a call from the nurse this morning at about 9:40 that she had a fever and needed to come home. Unfortunately, tonight was also the kindergarten Dance with Dads and she had to miss it. Hopefully all these kitties provided a little comfort.

30/365

I'm not in many of the pictures here I realized, so I thought on the days like today, when I need some filler, I'll take a photo of myself...

31/365

Girls' weekend to Canton! First time at Trade Days and what an experience! It's huge, confusing, out in the middle of nowhere, but we still managed to fill the back of the Suburban!

32/365

Super Bowl Sunday! Got back in town just in time to head to a party to watch the game. Only stayed until halftime--it was a school night--but I still managed to win the second quarter in the pool and left with $60 in my pocket!

Project 365 Week 4

19/365

A much anticipated order from Barnes and Noble arrived today courtesy of gift cards recieved for Christmas. Can you guess which books belong to which kid? Today was Martin Luther King day and no school. We went bowling with some friends...Kellers and Harpers. A fun day but looking forward to school tomorrow!

20/365

Inauguration day. Wow. Only time will tell how he will be as president, but I'm happy that I witnessed this day. From TV Guide to the Wall Street Journal, we've got the story covered!

21/365

One sick kid, one kid trying hard to be sick so he can miss school (doesn't he look pathetic?), and one kid whose birthday is this week so there's no way she's getting sick!

22/365

The pinewood derby weigh-in is tonight. It looks pretty sleek and fast doesn't it??

23/365

Pinewood Derby night and the third time's the charm! Jackson's car made it to the finals. Out of about 50 cars racing, 16 made it to the finals. It must have been all that skin super glued to the car that made the difference. :-)

24/365

Happy 6th Birthday, Jensen! Today was her actual birthday and her party as well. 20+ kids at a pottery painting party at the Mudpie. Too much fun!

25/365

Jensen is starting to read to us at bedtime now. It's so great to see her reading skills growing by leaps and bounds.