Posted by stamper on Jul 8, 2008 in
family With a title like that you are probably asking yourself what the heck I’m talking about, but in the course of one 
day we did lose a ton of hair off our dog (like 8 inches) and hopefully will lose a ton of water from our backyard. By this, I mean that Todd has taken the week off to work on our bog situation. 
Last Sunday when the kids were finding tadpoles and mosquito larvae swimming in the standing water, he decided it was time to action. He rented a sod cutter, but opted against the trencher and instead dug it all by hand-what a man! I considered helping, but instead opted to head to the mall for a little birthday R & R. Now the weeks we spent waiting for it to be dry enough to dig have been replaced by wishes for a good dumping to see if this tile system can handle and remedy our swamp. So, essentially my title could have been Basic Clean Up, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as interesting. Oh, and the cricket farm update…….. our first “litter” of crickets are successfully hatching! Microscopic, but definitely thousands of them….wish us luck.
Posted by stamper on Jun 28, 2008 in
family 
Oh the joys of being a “repti-mom” are endless. I must say that when we signed up for a reptile, I went in rather blindly, who knew how expensive one little critter could get? He’s grown so much that last week I had to upgrade his aquarium, restock it with calcium sand ($$$) and rearrange Trevor’s room to accomodate more furniture to house the thing on. The cause of his rapid growth? His appetite. Since he’s eating about $2.25 worth of crickets and meal worms A DAY and he’s still a baby I figured there must be a better way. So…… I order 500 (bulk) crickets on line, eliminate countless trips to Petsmart and save myself over $35.00-you know the saying “if it sounds too good to be true”? Well, I unknowingly signed up to be a cricket farmer. Further research shows that you only need @30 crickets to start a colony, and since they lay 50-100 eggs per female/per day, we’ll be totally infested in about 2 weeks. Oh yes, I’m beco
ming an expert on crickets-who could ever have guessed? I’ve even learned a life lesson along the way…when you order 500 crickets, open the box VERY carefully! But THAT’S another story!
Posted by toddjensen on Jun 21, 2008 in
family,
ramblings No I didn’t get a facelift, tummy tuck or whatever else fits in the category, but as you can see the blog did. I’ve upgraded to the newest version and have gotten rid of as much of the customization as I could to accommodate easier upgrades in the future. It’s always fun to look at the different looks (or skins as the techie would say), ways of displaying information and what have you. Amy is getting ready for a scrap day with her friends. I’ll be mowing the yard, enjoying the little boys, and maybe hit a movie.
I’ve been preparing for a presentation for the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District. They’ve asked me to teach them the reigns of podcasting and how it might be another way to increase their reach to their stakeholders, customers, and constituents.
Let me know what you think of the look, post a comment for once if you are reading. Always nice to know if someone is out there…ttl.
Posted by stamper on Jun 15, 2008 in
family 
Todd returned late Friday night from a conference in New Jersey. His father was originally slated to pick him up, but since the kids were still up after 10 p.m. (and excited), I figured we may as well surprise him. It was the beginning of our early Father’s Day celebration since the big kids were leaving on a week-long fishing trip.
Saturday was spent mostly outside, the weather was perfect, the kids tho grumbly (tired) were pretty good sports and we embarked on a few of the Lincoln Safari sites on East and City Campus. After eating Chipotle downtown, we wandered over to the Sheldon Art Gallery, Morrill Hall and found that it was fun just to play outside and be silly (okay, I’ll admit it, I probably had the most fun… ). We then loaded up for the East Campus Dairy Store which was the real draw for the kids. It was a hit, especially for Trevor with his double fisted spoons and Eric who wanted every last drop! Our day concluded with a drive to Fremont for dinner with my dad at Whiskey Creek. We also bid farewell to Emily and Trevor (our fisher people) as they embarked on a trip to North Dakota in search of walleye and northern.
Posted by stamper on Jun 12, 2008 in
house 
Just as I predicted (and planned for) the Jensen crew is well on their way to becoming scrapbookers! We spent the afternoon (just about 2 hours) working on their brand new albums. Of course being the teacher, I didn’t get a chance to work on my own, but figure these early pages are laying a foundation for future independence and creativity. Trevor added more journaling than I’d expected, Emily (who’s done this before) wowed me with her embellishments, Eric had a vision for his pages that stretched the imagination and Ryan was surprisingly independent and opinionated~he knew what he wanted and definitely did things his own way! I figure that this project not only forces us to spend quality time together (in close proximity), but involves sharing, writing, (for Ryan copying letters) and a bit of math (trying to make the pictures “fit”. Okay, maybe that’s a stretch, but regardless, they all enjoyed it and it was organized. I bet it will be one of the highlights of our 2008 summer!
Posted by toddjensen on Jun 10, 2008 in
conferences Well finally made it to the wonderful state of New Jersey, Princeton to be exact. I plan to jot some notes about my experiences. So far so good with exception of the guy I sat by on my first flight out of Lincoln. I swear he forced his legs apart as wide as he could, nearly pushing me into the aisle the whole flight. Anyway, got through that one, delayed an hour in Chicago, got to Newark, waited in the transportation line for 45 minutes, missed first bus to Princeton, caught the second one…yippee.
Sorry to make it sound so bad, actually, not bad at all, as of this writing, I’m just checking out the ‘web2.0′ following of the conference could be quite fun and different then others in the past (more techie, ha).
Posted by stamper on Jun 5, 2008 in
house 
It all started last week when the boys dug out a couple 4′ deep holes in what’s supposed to be the garden. They had grand ideas of catching a rabbit, raccoon or some other unsuspecting wildlife (consequently, they did get our dog). The traps were cool….deep pits covered with twigs and grass clipping, no doubt spurred from watching too much Swiss Family Robinson. Anyway, it rained and the holes filled up, hence the idea of a “mud jacuzzi” was hatched. They all climbed in, decided that mud and clay do have a calming, cooling effect ~too bad it doesn’t work on moms. It was a mess to say the least, and at first was a picture opportunity. However, this morning they repeated the process and then couldn’t comprehend why they weren’t allowed to come into the house without hosing down first! I guess “boys will be boys”, and I have a large task ahead of me….I just hope that garden gets planted soon.
Posted by stamper on Jun 1, 2008 in
house 
No doubt about it now! We are definitely the neighborhood hangout since we’re the only ones on the block with a play structure! Lucky for me that we found two guys willing to spend their entire weekend (for pay mind you) putting this monstrocity together. It took them @14 hours, but compared to Todd and I spending a whole summer just making sense of the 75 pg. instruction booklet, it was worth every penny! The kids patiently waited, watched and waited some more, especially Ryan who basically just camped out with them. Within minutes of our arrival from an afternoon in Omaha, the neighbors who’d obviously also been waiting and watching descended upon us and it was “kidfest” in our very own yard. I guess it’s only fitting that the house with the most kids has the most toys? Anyway, special thanks to Advanced Landscapes for saving my summer by granting our boys an outdoor diversion (and reason NOT to scrapbook) and me a bit of peace from the “I’m bored, there’s nothing to do” mantra!
Posted by stamper on May 21, 2008 in
family 
Todd has had the pleasure of joining Eric (7) and Ryan (4) on their end of the year field trips. Eric’s class went to the zoo, Ryan’s to the park, but the one thing is common was….GIRLS! Eric had a harem asking to sit by him on the bus and at lunch, but his “girlfriend” of 3 years prevailed for the train ride. Ryan had his own swarm in the sandbox vying for his attention and sand skills. I’m not sure what it is, but there must be something special because these boys are already chick magnets. If this is any indication of what our future holds, I’m pushing to drop the landline and invest in Alltel stock!
Posted by stamper on May 14, 2008 in
house 
Mother’s Day started a tad bit early this year. I was working on my scrapbooks when Emily decided to pull out her stuff (she hasn’t touched it in 4 years) and before I knew it, I had a table full of scrapbooking enthusiasts ! The boys were very into it as well, and I must admit I’m nervous about what the summer holds~I have images of the four of them gathered around a table snipping and journaling away…. in all actuality, they’ll be out doing crazy stunts that require helmets, well…. at least that’s what I hope. Just in case I’ve ordered them all their own albums, page protectors and the works so that they can leave my stuff alone!
On the “real” Mother’s Day, the kiddos prepared breakfast in bed (toaster waffles and tea), and then we ventured off to the Omaha Zoo. Quite amazing to be able to go to the zoo without a stroller, this newfound independence (all kids walking) is wonderful! Our day concluded with dinner at Old Chicago and a bike ride~ a wonderful day!
