Manda Panda

Guess what? My baby sister is going to have a baby!!! She just told me and I am so excited for her. The only thing that sucks is that she is so far away from me. But come May I will be on a plane heading out to Minnesota to see her and help with the new baby, oh yeah. The funny thing is that all of my kids were born in may, and now her baby will be due in may as well. What is up with August for the Jensen girls?

CONGRATS PANDA!!!

Maryland

Our vacation in Maryland!

Brent's family in Maryland, and a couple of family friends

The kids playing outside in playhouse and on the hammock. That hammock was the kid's favorite thing to play on. They would swing on it to see how high they could get it without anyone falling off. And yes they did fall off after awhile.

All of the cousins and Grandma and Grandpa Clark


Brent's mom flew us and his brother's family to Maryland so they could build her a porch. So here are some pics of the porch before they started. They needed a porch because when it rains the water runs straight into the side of the house.

While we were out there they had a huge rainstorm, or normal rainstorm for them. During the storm Brent and Russell went outside to 'evaluate' the situation. Come to find out their gutters were blocked. They were outside for maybe 5 mins and got completely soaked. But they knew exactly how to fix the problem- they needed a porch.

Brent and Russell had some help from their nephews. Golden was so funny the first time he used the nail gun, he shot out 3 nails at once instead of one.

This is Burt, Brent's stepdad, and he is a pro at observing.

Can you believe Ry climbed up without any help. She wants to be just like the other boys.

The finished product. Well, they finished framing it and Brent's mom is still deciding how she wants to finish it. But it gives the house an amazing hangout place with tons of shade.

Brent's sister Becky did a yard sale while we were out there and she had the kids do a bake sale Kennedy had a bake sale one day and all of the kids ended up buying most of her items. Ry bought 2 cupcakes one for her and one for me. But what you didn't see is that she licked the frosting on both cupcakes.

The kids found a snake in the garage and therefore had to put it in a box and examine it. They were looking in every reference possible to find out if it was poisonous, it wasn't. It ended up being a corn snake and we unfortunately found out they are aggressive if provoked.

I found this shirt at a boutique in Ellicot city, and yes it does say 'Lock up your daughters'

Look how cute they are.

Our new addition!

This is our dog Link. He is...um...a little special. Link is afraid of water, tile, loud noises, pretty much everything. He walks backwards on the tile, he is a nut. We love him to death but he is just so timid we can't take him anywhere. He won't go into Pet'smart at all because he is afraid of the floor, yep tile. So we have been thinking about getting him a friend. I have been looking into different types of breeds, Link is a Staffordshire Terrior (pitt bull). I know what you think, pitt bull=lock jaw. Don't worry I thought the same thing. But Link's breeder, Bill, is amazing! He is so into his dogs. He actually makes you sign a form that if you don't want your dog anymore you have to give him back, you can't sell them to anyone else. Bill even checks up on all of his dogs once a year, and if he doesn't like how the dog is being treated he will take them back.

So I have looked into a couple of small dogs. I even looked into being a foster home for dogs, but our house didn't pass the requirments-our backyard isn't fenced in. Then Bill, who is Brent's friend, asked us if we would take one of his puppies. He had a female puppy that he wanted to keep and breed later but he didn't have any room. Bill said we could have her if we didn't fix her. I was fine with getting a free puppy who isn't crazy timid. So here is our new addition Abbey.


Isn't she cute! Rylee absoluetly loves her. Ry will get up at 7 in the morning to let Abbey outside, she helps me watch her when she is outside. And Abbey is starting to listen more to Rylee than me. It is so cute. Having Abbey around has been great for Link. He is starting to act more like a normal dog. I was worried about having 2 dogs around but after a week of having Abbey I don't think I will ever go back to just one dog.

Aren't they cute together




Abbey fell asleep like this and she is actually on Brent's foot

That is her water dish, and yes she is asleep.


Brent and Abbey

Breaking Dawn Party

Our breaking dawn party was so much fun! We stayed up practically all night and I think I only read about 2 chapters. It was fun to have a night without worrying about the kids in the morning. I just want to warn you about our pictures. We went to Barnes & Nobles to get our book and what a sight it was. The line was outrageous, the people were dressed up as vampires and some even had prom dresses on (we didn't understand that one). People had the character's names written on their arms, and these were women in their 40's. After about 5 mins we left to go get our books somewhere else because I was embarrassed to be around everyone. So when we got to Jill's house we wrote Edward and Jacob on our arms and took pictures like the people at the bookstore.

What a night! can't wait until the next one.

I took this to test out the lighting in Jill's kitchen and it turned out to be a cute picture of Jill with her belly. She finds out what she is having next week and we can't wait to see what she will be having. They have tried to have a baby for over 2 years. I am so excited for her.

My crazy obsession!

Ok I admit it, I am one of those crazy obsessed fans of Stephenie Meyer's books. I can't even tell you how many times I have read Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. I also have read the Host twice and can't wait to get it back from whoever borrowed it to read it again. I have never been this involved with a series before. Ya, I read all of the Harry Potters and they were good. But I never got online everyday to check out Stephenie's website to see if there is news about the next book. Or a new spoiler about Breaking Dawn, or to read all of her outtakes from the other three books. (which I recommend if you haven't read them). I don't know what is wrong with me, but I can't wait until tonight so I can go and stand in line at Barnes & Nobles for her new book. (And no, I won't be standing there alone, I have my geek friends with me). Jill and Ali are just as excited as I am. Not only are we going to the midnight party to get the books, but we are having our own party at Jill's house to start reading it without any kids to bother us. Our poor husbands are stuck will the kids and they all know that we will not be home until Saturday afternoon. I should feel like this is a little over the top, but I don't. Maybe it is because I don't work as much as I use to and so I have to occupy my time with something else. I do have a blast kicking it with my kids and going out with them. But sometimes you just need something to do for yourself. And you only need a good pedicure every 4 to 6 weeks, so what else are you going to do? And believe me I tried to come up with ideas. I take the kids swimming every week, we go on bike rides every morning after breakfast (Ry won't let me forget that one), we got a new puppy to play with (I will post pics of her later), Brent and I even started playing tennis together on the one few night we have together. So what am I to do? The only thing I can think of is go to my midnight party like a true geek fan and get the book. Then after I have read it I will truly feel lost and have no idea what to do with my time.

anyone else feels this way, or is it just me?