J'adore Octobre!

This is why I love October...

It is the perfect weather to be outside in, so momma, Cam, Audrey, and me went to Canton where we people can go to buy the things they never knew they wanted...
This picture pretty much says it all... It's kindoa like one big garage sale on the one side, and on the other side, people sell the things they've made-- like a big craft fair! While I loved both sides, Mom and Cam only liked the craft side!

After walking and walking and walking, we sat down to take a quick rest... Audrey was completely worn out by this point!

This is the before picture of the stroller. It has a baby in it... and that's normal.

Here's the after picture of the stroller... No baby... Lots of stuff!

Ahh, there she is-- looking cute as can be! Sassy little thing in the Sassy baby 'store'

Group shot!

Orange Pumpkins are one of my favorite things of all time. I love orange, and pumpkins wear the color so well! We went to the farmer's market Saturday and we each picked out a pumpkin!
There were lots to choose from...

Jensen family picture!

Audrey was the cutest little witchey-poo, and loved the pumpkins!

Lance was even with us :) :) :)

Family picture! It was early in the morning so the sun was in a bad spot... but I love this photo!

Look at that bird... he was just perched on the wheel!

General Conference is the first weekend of October, and i love general conference! I love conference because it's a time to listen to the Lord's prophet and apostles' counsel for us. I love conference because it is a time to spend a good solid weekend with family. I love conference because it is the most uplifting weekend of the year!

Audrey playing with Grandpa's hat... So cute!

Rock-a-bying with Uncle Trev.

...And holding on for dear life with mama.

I love October!

My Perfectly Perky Perspective of Last Weeks Events

This last week was a whirlwind of family togetherness- It was awesome, and I loved it! Here are only five of the many good things that happened last week:

1. I learned from my Tick-Tock Grandma how to make strawberry freezer jam, I learned from my Papa-Bama Grandma how to make bread, and I have been enjoying the taste of my newly-found skills!
2. I bought a vogue doll pattern and a way cute apron pattern! I told Audrey I would make her her first dolly... and with all my friends who are getting married this summer, I certainly have my work cut out for me as far as the aprons go! I'll be getting busy on these two projects soon!
3. When I got to work on Saturday, the first thing my manager said to me was, "Oh, thank goodness you're here!" They needed another server there who actually knew what she was doing-- and that server was me! It is such a good feeling to know I am appreciated and a valued employee! :)
4. We had a lovely Mother's day, and I was delighted to be able to spend it with my momma, my two grandmommas, and the newest member of the momma's club- my sister! We had a delicious shrimp/corn/potato boil, and garnished our dinner with the watermelon we bought at the farmer's market!
5. Cami and Kevin finally announced they would be starting a family blog. Not an un-blog. Not an email with weekly updates. But a real live blog! It will be set to private, but if you want to know about the happenings in the Jensen family from someone besides Auntie Chelsea, have them add you to their list of blog readers!

"For today and it's blessings, I owe the world an attitude of gratitude!" -Anonymous

A Springtime Outing With A Sweet Ending...

Looking a lot like the Blueman Group, we all piled into the Suburban Monday afternoon to take a trip down to one of my favorite places ever-- the Dallas Farmer's Market! We went with the intent of buying strawberries to make my Grandma LeSueur's famous freezer jam, but of course, we left with a few more things than just strawberries! :)

All in all, we accumulated the 16 pounds of strawberries we set out to get, two mangoes, six tomatoes, two baskets of baby red potatoes, 16 ears of sweet corn, a watermelon, a white hydrangea plant, a betterboy tomato plant, and a partridge in a pear tree. We all love the farmer's market!

The Red Barn is like the costco of the farmer's market. This is where we go whenever we want something fresh, and a lot of it. LOVE this place!

This is the man who sold us our strawberries!

Mom with her tomato plant... I can't wait 'till we have some homegrown tomatoes to eat!

Look at how yummy everything looks! I love fresh fruits and veggies!

This was Daddy's inaugural trip to the farmer's market... We were SO excited he was there, but when he moved the car from the food section to the flower section, he decided he would stay in the car. What a party-pooper!

Mom with the hydrangeas... These are her favorite flowers! Mine too!

The Jensen family

The women of the family... Looking great (as per usual)


Today we took those strawberries and mushed them up, added lemon juice, sugar, and pectin, and canned our strawberry freezer jam! This was a great Mother-in-Zion lesson taught to us by none other than domestic goddess, Grandma LeSueur. She has been making freezer jam since the sixties, and one of my favorite memories of visiting her house growing up is the yummy strawberry jam she always had for us to put on our breakfast toast! It's wonderful being able to recreate this childhood memory at will now- I think a new era has dawned in my life!

Preparing.

Mashing.

Boiling.

Canning.

We got fifteen pints and four half-pints out of 10 pounds of strawberries. No. We won't share with you- but feel free to call us for some pointers... we'll defer all questions to one Ms. Audree LeSueur!


Thanks Grandma!

Our Search For The Perfect Pumpkin

It has long been a tradition in our family to go to the Farmer's Market in Downtown Dallas to get pumpkins, bales of hay, stocks of corn, and flowers! When we were little, my mom would take us kids while my dad enjoyed a day at best buy, looking at a new toy for him. This is the first year in a while we have been able to go- so it was great to restart this fun fall tradition, and throw Kevin into the mix- even if he did roll his eyes at the scrutiny with which we examined our pumpkins and the copious amount of pictures I took! When we got downtown, we got some lunch at Dos Panchas, this cute little Mexican food restaurant, where we watched part of the University of Texas vs. Oklahoma University college football game. Texas and OU are major rivals, and Texas WON!!

So when the boys (and Baby J) were fed and happy, we started off on our search for the perfect pumpkins:

We saw all sorts of pumpkins- really really big ones, grey ones, white ones, teeny tiny ones,
warty, bumpy ones


green ones that look like ducks,


orange/red/white/green ones that look like Rafiki's bum, according to Kevin,


many terracotta pots,


and lots and lots of beautiful fall flowers!


These pumpkins look so neat when stacked with other flat-ish pumpkins. They're S-U-P-E-R HEAVY though!


Mom and Cam looking for the flawless 'designer pumpkin'.


While we were obsessing over the perfect pumpkin, Trev and Kev were taking it easy- probably following some football game on Trevor's phone. BUT, I feel like I should stress how wonderfully complacant they were after being fed lunch. Rather than whining, they were just sitting patiently, letting us girls do our thing. Thanks Boys! :)

We finally found our perfect pumpkins and hay just as the farmers were closing their markets- Once we get them arranged in all their fall splendor, I'll make sure to document their perfection!

Here are some other cute pictures from today:
Cam and Kevin were thrilled to see a sign advertising meats since they now know (and have educated all those who read their blog) where the different cuts of meat come from!


My talented soccer player brother, juggling a water bottle his feet!


Me and my momma with the beautiful fall flowers


It's the great pumpkin, Cami J!


A cute picture of Mom and Trevor at Dos Panchas!


Kevin loves posing for pictures!!


This is all of us- my skirt has a little bit of Marilyn Monroe action going on, my life is ever so exciting! We all had a great time today, and yes- while we were carrying on the tradition of Farmer's Market pumpkins, Daddy carried on the tradition of shopping for his own toy at Best Buy. Apparently he has been thinking about replacing his not-mac laptop for a mac, so he was able to spend his 'daddy time' getting information about that. In case you didn't know- macs are sent from heaven. I highly recommend everyone within eye shot of these words pay a visit to your apple store today and see all the things a mac can do for you! Once you're fully converted, your life will NEVER be the same... And oh yeah- Happy Fall too :)