The New Classroom(s)

This morning we had the chance to be there for the "dedication" of the new classrooms up at Hope. It was almost like an Extreme Makeover moment, as Lisa and staff "got the key" on Thursday and spent all weekend getting moved in. Kenzie's preschool class moved from the church basement into their own room...while Kindergarten moved right across the hall. The 8th graders moved to a new room upstairs (they had been on table in the fellowship hall), and the 1st graders moved back to their room. So, as you can tell, a lot of moving and shakin' the last few days. I was able to snap some photos of the new Preschool and Kindergarten rooms as well as some of the activities. This was a HUGE milestone in the Church/School building projects...next step is to finish off the new driveway and playground while also finishing off the connection between Church and School.

She shoots...she scores!

This weekend marked a milestone for Maddie....after weeks of hard shots, missed shots, hitting the post, Maddie finally broke through and knocked one in. She has been SOOO CLOSE the last few weeks, and as it goes, this goal was probably from one of the harder angles than any other shot she has taken. But she took her time, sized it up, and hit it through. She actually surprised herself! Not sure if this will open the flood gates to become a scoring machine...probably not....but it was great to see her hard work pay off. Way to go Maddie!

The Final Countdown

No, I am not talking about the popular 80's song, or the movie...Rather, the home stretch to the Hope Auction. The Jensen house is all a-buzz with Auction activity. Steph is doing an AMAZING job with this. She is clearly putting her talents to use and doing something tremendous for the school.

Today is the unofficial/official deadline for donations, but between you and me, more great stuff will come in. If you have it in your heart to donate something, just let us know. Maybe there are some Hawks or Dawg fans out there that want a little tax write off by donating some tickets..while also saving themselves some more agony! Reservations are still flowing in as well, with a number of table captains (people who commit to filling a table of 10) still out there.

This has been an amazing experience to see it all come together, the tremendous generosity from families and the community, and all the support of parents/family. It will be a great event..for sure.

Hard Fall

No, I am not talking about the sudden wind and rain storm that hit Seattle this weekend. Unfortunately, it was a scary fall that Maddie had today after Church. This weekend we were watching 2 of the 3 Doerr kids so that Cary and Julia could celebrate their Anniversary and her Birthday...and after morning waffles we headed to church. With the construction at Hope we have been up at SLHS gym. After Church, the kids do their thing, running around and playing. While we were talking I glance over to see Maddie tumble off of a 6ft high ledge. Her arm/shoulder/side braced her fall...but it didnt look good. After a few minute of thinking we were heading to the ER, we (I) calmed down and everything looked to be A-OK. She escaped with a scrape on her chin and cheek, and a big scrape on her arm. VERY VERY Lucky.

Ironically the message today about Faith, talked about Faith in the good times...the fact that she escaped with no injury I would categorize as "in the good times"...a little bit more of a drop, or different angle, and she could have been really hurt. The key is that in the good times, we need to take the gifts were are given and share them with others. So, as we digested all that happened today we talked with Maddie about how she is going to share with others after receiving her gift...and us as well.

The Week(end) in Review

Last week wrapped up the first full week of school for both Maddie and Kenzie. By Friday, Maddie was drained, and Kenzie couldn't wait to go back on Monday. The weekend was GREAT..mainly because we didn't do much. There was no Husky game to watch and be depressed about :-), plus it was a cold/rainy day on Saturday. The only thing on the plate was an afternoon soccer game for Maddie. She played the entire 1st half as Goalie and she really enjoyed it. Of course, like her dad, when asked why she replied "Because I dont have to run back and forth all the time!" To her credit, at this age it is constant back and forth, almost like a good tennis rally. Although we arent supposed to keep score, they did win! Mikayla led the team with a hat trick in the 1st half. They are starting to play really well together and might be on a roll!! Sunday was another laid back day with Church in the morning, Seahawks in the afternoon (I predicted 35-13, so I was close!), and then some friends over for dinner. All in all a great weekend. Now we just have to hope that Fall doesn't come on too quick and we can squeeze some more sun out!

Weekly Plug: Remember it is Hope Auction time. Hope Lutheran, the School that Maddie and Kenzie attend, and the school that Mike, Steph, Jeff and Stacey attended, is having their auction on November 1st. We still have room if anyone wants to attend, and we can ALWAYS use more donations. If we want to contribute just drop us an email at mjandsj@comcast.net and we will gladly talk more. If you are reading this...think about it, as we are trying to do everything we can to make the event a success, and you can help!!!

1st Day of Pre-School

Last week, Maddie had her day, today was Kenzie's day. She officially started pre-school. We started the morning with breakfast and pictures on the front porch (look familiar?) Then headed out to school with backpack loaded and a big grin on our face. KK was a little timid at first as there was A LOT going on...new place, new faces, lost of comotion, etc. In just a few minutes she warmed up with all the activities in the classroom. We snapped up a bunch of pictures of her class that you can see in the slideshow. As you can imagine she is excited to go back tomorrow!!!

Pre-School

Today is the day before the first day of pre-school for Kenzie. She is READY!!! Last night she gave a performance that we thought we would share with everyone. Check back tomorrow for 1st day of pre-school pictures.