Fall Is Here...

Well, there is no denying it any more....fall is here. It's not that I don't like fall, it's that I LOVE summer. I really could handle fall better if it was followed by spring and we could just skip winter all together.

One of my very favorite things about fall is that it is harvest time. I love driving any where and looking across the fields to see all of the combines, tractors and trucks all hard at work. My Dad has worked at a John Deere dealer for as long as I can remember, so I always knew when it was "busy season." Keith grew up on a farm so he grew up in the thick of it, too. Keith's Dad quit farming a number of years ago, but Cale was able to enjoy harvest for a few years. He got to ride in the combine and then we'd put his car seat in the truck so he could ride to the elevator. He got to ride in "Grandma's Pick-up" (Keith's Grandma's pick-up had a topper on it) out to the field to take Daddy and Papa something to eat and then we'd picnic in the back end. What a great experience for a kid!! Keith's Dad quit farming before the other 2 boys could enjoy harvest, but they still like to visit the John Deere store with my Dad.

These pictures were taken exactly 5 years ago at my Aunt and Uncle's near Hampton Iowa. We took the kids up there on a Sunday afternoon and they got to ride in some of the equitpment up there.

This is Cale with my cousin, Alan...

Jared and Keith are with my cousin, Mark.....

Keith and Jared with Alan.....

I tried really hard to get a good picture of my boys in the corn field. Trevor was not enjoying the stalks that tickled his legs and he kept trying to walk away.

They really should've had long pants on. I can take the boys to the farm, but deep down they are still City Slickers......

Eden

I was looking back through some pictures and realized that these pictures were taken 3 years ago today. Meet Eden Levetzow......

Eden's Dad, Kurt, and I are cousins and she would've been 6 months old when these pictures were taken. Kurt, Selena and Eden live in Washington, Iowa. Eden's parents were in town to go to an Iowa State football game, and we were more then happy to watch this little red-headed princess while they enjoyed the game. To say that the boys adore her would be an understatement. They want to do everything for her, and bring things to her. I'm pretty certain that she was over stimulated that whole day because someone was always in her face. Even to this day whenever we are in the store the boys will see something and think of her "We should get that for Eden." "Eden would like that." "Can we buy that for Eden." Truthfully: "Aunt" Heidi has a hard time saying no sometimes, but we'd be in the poor house if we bought everything that made us think of her!! She is never under loved at our house!!

Eden has had her share of challenges in the last year and a half. In January 2009, she was diagnosed with leukemia. She was 20 months old. She has had to endure chemo and all sorts of pokes during this time. We have only been able to see her once during this time, but she has never been far from our thoughts and is constantly in our prayers. She ended up losing her red (curly) hair, but it is coming back in. Eden is going to be just fine, but it has been a long road for her and her parents. She is lucky to have the parents that she has that have been strong every step of the way! Good job, Kurt and Selena!!

One Friday night last January, I knew that Selena and Eden were in the Ames area. Eden's counts were up so they ventured away from home and visited a friend in Ames. They made a pop visit to our house to see us. I knew that they were coming, but the boys didn't. They were so shocked to open the door to find their favorite little red head standing there! The boys didn't miss a beat. They were still in her face trying to do anything and everything for her. They didn't realize how independent and grown up she had gotten. Selena said that it was a little scary for her to take Eden so far from home. I can't say that I blame her, but we were so glad she did!

Kurt, Selena and Eden--The Jensen's are eagerly anticipating next spring when all of Eden's treatments are over and we can see more of ALL of you! It will truly be time for a celebration!

Picture Sneak Peak!

We had family pictures taken last Friday night, and here is a small sample of what we came up with. I'm pretty happy with what I see so far!!

www.stacyseayphotography.blogspot.com

The Best Pictures....EVER!!

Keith's sister-in-law (Teri) and I had some sort of brainstorm when Cale and Garret were little that we should have the boys' picture taken for our father-in-law for Father's Day. So, when they were about 9 months old we headed out to Penney's to have these pictures taken. I still think they are the funniest things I've ever seen!! They make me laugh every time I look at them......


And you know that Teri and I were both standing behind the photographer dancing around, making all sorts of faces and generally making fools of ourselves. And still, no expressions from them. We even took the props away, and still nothing....

What do you think?.....Do you remember the guys from the Bartles and Jaymes commercials? Or maybe Dumb and Dumber? I don't know--other then they are just 2 of the cutest little guys!

Happy Birthday, Garret!!

Today our nephew, Garret turns 13. He and Cale are only 19 days apart. We live just a few blocks apart and Cale and Garret have lockers right next to each other at school. His life is full of sports and just plain staying busy. Garret is growing into a polite and kind young man who is enjoyable to be around.

I plan on bringing him some wafer cookies to surprise him at school. (And to embarrass him a little, too!) He loves those cookies, so I get him some for his birthday and for Christmas every year. (There is a picture of him with some in one of the pictures below). Naturally, the cookies make me his favorite Aunt! :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GARRET.....AND MANY MORE!!

Fun on the Farm

We spent the Saturday of Labor Day weekend at Keith's Mom and Dad's. They have sold their farm and are in the process of building a house in Coon Rapids. The 5 of us, along with Keith's brother and his family spent the day there just enjoying all there was to do outside. It was a beautiful day and everyone had a great time.

The big hit was to drive the lawn mower all over their big yard. There were all sorts of giggles due to the bumpy yard. Whoever was riding in the back was sure to get bounced around quite a bit.

I think this was the first time that Jared actually got to drive, but it didn't take him long to get the hang of it. This was my view of him. You can almost see the devil just shooting out of his eyes!

This is the view that Jared had when he turned around. Me and his cousin, Garret. Garret and I just laughed the whole time. We never knew what Jared's mind was up to or where he would take us next!

Then Jared talked his Daddy into coming out for a ride. He would turn and look at us and just chuckle. Do Keith and I look a little nervous? Well.....we were!! I wasn't about to let go!! He would stop and start on a dime and nearly send us out on our heads!! He loved going from the grass to the gravel on the driveway and stomp on the brake just so he could slide it a little. Oh, boy. How long do I have before he turns 16??

Keith and his dad had to work at fixing up the clothes line, so Jared and Garret were supervising. And yes, Garret does have a BB gun in his hand.

Trevor was just so thrilled with this wooden airplane that Garret and Maddie helped him make. He wanted to be sure we had pictures of it. So, I took one of him with it. And then he thought he should take one of me with it....really close up! And then one of the airplane all by itself. Oh, the simple things.

This was probably the last day that the kids could really enjoy the farm and all of Papa's toys. They all had a great time, and made some last, final memories. They were outside all day and were sure exhausted by the time we came home. Everyone at our house slept pretty good that night. And I would be willing to bet that everyone at Grandma's house slept good, too!

The Kids, Grandparents and Cousins

Having everyone here for Cale's birthday seemed like a perfect time to get some pictures! This is a picture of my parents with all 5 of their grandkids.

Jared (9), Luke (14), Cale (13), Abby (16) and of coarse Trevor (6) is in the front with Grandma and Papa.

You would think that with all of these boys things would get a little wild....but notice that Abby's the one with the broken finger due to a volleyball injury!

They thought they needed a silly picture. I think my favorite part of this picture is the look that Luke is giving the rest of them! (Maybe he's just trying to figure out where he could get a really COOL Iowa State shirt like Jared!)

And now the Jensen grandkids....Cale (13), Maddie (11), Jared (9), Trevor (6) and Garret (12)

And here they are with Papa and Grandma Jensen........

Cale's 13th. Birthday

I'm a little behind at getting Cale's birthday pictures up here. It doesn't look like he got much, does it? Well, he wanted an iTouch, so that took up most of his allotted money. He also got some Zebra Cakes to go along with it from Grandma Jensen, a Gilbert Baseball cap and some good old cold hard cash! And, as you can see he got another Cardinals shirt. Keith and I thought he needed this one because it was #28, and his birthday is on the 28th. And if you are wondering YES he does have enough baseball shirts to wear one each day for a week, and YES it does drive Mom nuts, and YES Mom is the enabler here!

My Mom and Dad with the Birthday Boys....Cale turned 13 that day, and my brother, Kevin, turned....ummmm.......a few more then that!

The Zoo

After we left the Bob Feller Museum, we made a stop in Des Moines at the Blank Park Zoo. All summer we heard Trevor reminding us that he is 6 years old and had "never in his WHOLE life been to a zoo!" Are we bad parents, or what? Trevor LOVED it!! Except when Keith tried to get him to take just one tiny step toward the croc.....

And if you remember....Trevor LOVES turtles. The one in the top picture was on a walk...a very slooooooooow walk and just dropped right there in the sun.

This tiger would walk right up to the window and then walk into the other room, and then turn around and do the same thing over and over. Even when it laid down, it got right back up and started pacing again. I couldn't believe how close he was for my picture! (No zoom!)

The ostriches. Cale does a great ostrich imitation, but refused to show them! ;) In fact, he'll be REALLY embarrassed that I even brought it up here!

It was a short, but very warm afternoon at the zoo. At least now Trevor doesn't have that to hold over our heads!

The Bob Feller Museum

Keith took an afternoon off in August and we headed out to Van Meter. With the 3 big baseball fans in our house, we thought they should see the Bob Feller Museum.

Bob Feller ("The Heater from Van Meter") was only 16 when he signed his major league contract. His signing bonus with the Cleavland Indians, in 1935, was $1. Here are some interesting facts about our fellow Iowan:

*In his rookie season as a pitcher he won 17 games and the next year won 24. He actually had 6 seasons where he won more then 20 games.

*He threw 3 career no-hitters, and 12 career one-hitters.

*He is the only pitcher to throw a complete game no-hitter on Opening Day. (1940)

*In 1941 he enlisted in the Navy and was discharged 44 months later. He served most of his time aboard the U.S.S. Alabama in the gunnery department where he earned 8 Battle Stars.

*During his first season after his discharge he set an American League record for strikeouts in one season-348. In April of that season, he pitched his second no-hitter against the New York Yankees in New York.

*He played on 9 All-Star teams and participated in two World Series. (1948 and 1954)

*His overall record was 266-162, and he compiled 2,581 strikeouts.

*He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.

These pictures of the boys are taken with the bat that Babe Ruth leaned on during his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium on June 13, 1948. Babe Ruth was weak from a malignant tumor on his neck. When he came out to give his farewell speech, he walked past the visiting team's dugout and grabbed a random bat to lean on and steady himself. He had no idea who's bat it was, and it turned out to be Bob Feller's bat. After The Babe spoke, one of Feller's team mates had Babe sign it, and then hid it. After many years, and several different owners, that bat is in the Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter.

Here are pictures that I got off of the computer of Babe with that same bat. Pretty Cool!!

The boys (all 4 of them!!) enjoyed their time looking at everything. Who knew that there was so much history right here in Iowa?!

Casanova

Trevor is quite the ladies man. Not sure how to explain it, or where he learned his moves, but the girls just seem to gravitate to him. I've even had the teachers tell me at school that he is always sitting with a table full of girls at lunch. 3 years ago he came home from preschool and announced that him and Ellie were going to get married. He proposed and she accepted. (I'm assuming that they are registered at Toys R Us??). He has since announced that he has about "37 girlfriends." I've tried to tell him that this sort of thing rarely works out. He doesn't care. The MAIN girlfriend, (Aubrey) and Ellie are both blonde haired and blue eyed, and just cute as can be. They are also really good friends, since they live across the street from each other and their Dad's are both physicians working at the same place. I'm seeing a pattern here.

He plays more with Aubrey at school, however, and they've both been to each other's house. When Trevor had his birthday party, Aubrey could come, but Ellie couldn't make it. When Aubrey found out that Ellie was invited she sat up straight and asked about it in a very serious tone. Keith began to run a little interference with the cat fight that he was sure would ensue when the girls were together again. 7 months later we're still laughing about the look in her eyes!

Tonight, Trevor announced that he was going to be a major league baseball player when he grew up. (Really no surprise there!) He told me that he would just take Ellie with him where ever he went, and that he hoped she liked to travel! I told her that I knew her Mommy did, so I'm pretty certain that she would, too. A couple of months ago when we were shopping for a new refrigerator, Trevor picked out the one that he and Ellie would have in their house. He's talked about what sort of a pet he would surprise Ellie and the kids with some day. He's got some big ideas for a 6 year old!!

The odds of either of these relationships resulting in a marriage in the next 20 years are pretty slim. But on the outside chance that it would....wouldn't it make a GREAT story?!

Like Father, Like Son

As I was looking through baby pictures of Cale, I found this one of Keith. I believe they sort of look alike!

What do you think?

Happy Birthday, Cale!!

Today, I become the mother of a teenage boy! Cale turns 13!!

Cale August Jensen

Thursday, August 28, 1997

6:50 AM

7 lbs. 12 oz.~~22 inches.

Cale's middle name came from his Great-Great Grandpa, August Pralle. It is also the middle name of his Grandpa (my Dad), and Cale also shares the same middle name AND birthday with his Uncle Kevin, my brother. Keith's Dad's initials are also CAJ.
3 months, and 6 months......

9 months and 1 year.......

Where on earth has the time gone???

HAPPY 13TH. BIRTHDAY, CALE! DAD AND I ARE SO PROUD OF YOU AND THE YOUNG MAN THAT YOU ARE BECOMING! WE WISH YOU MANY MORE HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!!

T-Ball

I was just looking over what I have posted over the last few months, and realized that I had never mentioned Trevor playing ball this summer. It's no secret that he LOVES baseball!! He takes it all very seriously, and is a little annoyed when others don't. As you can see...if nothing else....he looks the part!

And would you believe that I heard the boys talking today about how they can't wait for baseball season to roll around again!?