Mother's Day Recap and House Hits the Market

Last weekend was a mixed bag with all kinds of stuff going on. With the news that our contingent offer was accepted, following Kenzie's 1st T-Ball game (more on that later), we spend most of Saturday getting the house a bit more tidy for the coming week. Thanks to both mom and dads we were able to move out a few things to "de-clutter" and get the yard, etc looking pretty snazzy. On Sunday we ventured down to the Pike Place market for some good ol' market time, followed by lunch at the Steelhead Diner. It was a place that Steph and I saw this last December on our weekend downtown and it just happened to come to my head on Friday. We got a great table and the food was really good.

We (Steph) did some final cleanup on the house and we were ready for the broker's open on Tuesday. There were about 35 agents that came through and feedback was all pretty good. Since then, another 6 or so agents, 3 with clients have come through as well. So, the activity is there...Next big date is the classic Sunday open house from 1-4pm. Ideally we get some activity (i.e. Offers) from that Open and things go from there. We realize this is all out of our hands at this points and if it is meant to be, it is meant to be.

Here is our MLS Listing. Spread the word !!!

FOR SALE!!

Since we dont have much going on and life was getting kinda dull around the Jensen house, we decided to shake things up a bit. We got word tonight that we came to mutual agreement to buy a new house about 1/2 a mile from where we are today in West Seattle. We have been looking on and off for a couple years, and when we saw this home, we had the feeling that this was the one. The sale is contingent on selling our current place....and quick. So, we are going to be spending the next few days getting the house ready to go on the market. Broker's open is scheduled for next Tuesday. If you know ANYONE interested in a charming, 3bedroom, 1.75bath home in West Seattle....send them our direction. Wish us luck, and pray that a buyer comes along so that we can make this happen. We love our house, and it has been a great for us, but with a couple growing girls, we just need some more space.



Once the MLS is up we will get that posted.

Maddie Birthday Recap

Maddie made a visit to the office today and it reminded me that we had not recap'd Maddie's birthday weekend. It was filled from start to finish. It all started on Friday with a Friend party at Paint the Town. Twelve 8 year old girls painting pottery...Yikes!!! They had a great time, and it was a true sign of things to come. We then moved to Sunday, where the original plan was have the grandparents over for lunch/cake, etc. But them Maddie made a comment about, wanted to go to Mariners game...she is a big Griffey fan now...and since they were playing on her actually Birthday, we thought that was a great idea. So we packed up and headed to the game, parked a block or so away, got Kettle corn and enjoyed the game. With Maddie involved in softball she is actually getting into/understanding how it all works, out, hitting, etc. Kenzie on the other hand, well, she was about ready to leave by the 3rd inning. Oh well. After the game we topped of Maddie's bday with a trip to her favorite restaurant, The Old Spaghetti Factory. I think she would eat there every week if we would take her. We met the grandparents, and great grandparents there and she got the full Birthday treatment from the OSF.

Finally this last week, I was able to dig up her annual birthday pictures like we did for Kenzie last month. This took some looking into the digitial archives, but we found some. Enjoy...Maddie from 1-8...Happy Birthday Maddie!!!

Opening Day at Maggie Lake

This weekend marked the opening day of fishing season.  As is our new tradition, we were up at Maggie Lake for the Opening Day kids fishing derby.  The community reserves opening day for the kids, with a little help from adults.  As we were heading to bed on Friday night, we asked Maddie,"OK, so we will get up at 5am?" to which she answered..."Ummm...how about 6?"  So, 6am it was...alarm was set...poles were rigged up.  6am came early, but we loaded up the boat and headed out on the lake.   After about 30 minutes, we settled into a spot and made a short cast of power bait with the brand new $14 Big5 spinning rod...suddenly the line starting peeling away...partly because this new fancy rod didnt have the drag set, but mainly because we hooked into a big boy.  After finally getting the drag set, and luckily not losing the fish, we were able to haul it in to the boat.  You should have seen how big Maddie's eyes were!  

Not to be left out, after we got the big one in, we (I) headed back out to get a fish for Kenzie. OK, it wasnt quite as big, but KK loved it!



With fish in hand/bag, we headed over to the park for the official measurement. Maddie's fish came in at 18 1/2 inches, and Kenzie's was 9in. With Maddie's we thought we had a chance to be in the top 4, however, in looking at the sheet, there were 2-20in fish on the board...but in the end, Maddie's fish placed 3rd in the age 5-8 category. In the 4 and under category, an 18mos old caught a 19in fish...umm, sure. Anyway, they had a great time, and loved getting their trophies and candy bars.





So, opening day was a success. We had a great time....never hurts to catch a big one for once.

Play Ball!

Tomorrow marks the first regular season game in Maddie's softball season.  Last year was her first year playing softball (after 2 years of t-ball), and this year she is the "veteran" on the team along with her best buddie Mikayla.  We have a total of 9 girls this year, so everyone will get a lot of at bats and play every position.  Maddie is becoming quite the athlete as she approaches her 8th birthday (this Sunday).  Today she participated in her first basketball clinic and she has been practicing her dribbling in the back alley when it is sunny out.  Rumor has it that she might be getting a portable hoop for her birthday (hopefully she doesnt check this blog at school.)

Aside from Softball season starting up, we just returned from our annual trip to the Oregon coast for Easter.  This year we had a packed house with 11 adults and 5 kids.  The kids were 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7.  It was a a bit crazy...but fun.  The weather cooperated for us on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday was a down pour all day, and for the drive home.  Stacey and Haas flew up for the weekend so it was great to spend some time with them.  Here is a slideshow of pics from the weekend:

Maddie's Thoughts

Tonight, like every Sunday night, we settled in as a family to watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition.  We started watching this as a family a couple years ago, and we really enjoy the messages, the stories, and I guess the goodwill it shares.  It is not uncommon to see a few tears shed.  Tonight was a special 2 hour edition...probably a little too long for Kenzie, and Maddie was starting to fade as well, but with Spring break this week, we let them stay up for it.  About 1/2 way through the show, we noticed that Maddie had taken a notebook and cleared out some of the scribble pages and was writing.  We can always tell, because she asks for help in spelling some words.  Anyway, after the show was over, she wanted to share a "song" she wrote called "Life is Happy."  This is ALL HER.  We had nothing to do with it, which makes it even more special to hear.   We asked if we could put this up on the Blog because it meant sooo much to us to hear her thoughts...our only wish to her (and we told her)...is that we hope that she always feels this way :-)

Life is Happy

Things are happy, so is Life.  I love it every night.  Life is very happy!

God gave me Life so I love it and I cry life is so happy!

I Love my Life.

Since this is pretty "deep" we thought we try to uncover what all made her life happy....and see what was going on in that little, almost 8 year old, head.  Here is the list she rattled off:

1) Everything

2) Family

3) Church/Sunday School/Jesus/God

4) Nice Home

5) The Cabin

6) Friends

7) School/P.E.

8) Sports (Softball, Soccer, Basketball)

9) Nice Neighborhood

10) Arts and Crafts

11) Animals

Pretty Cool.

COOKIE TIME!!!

OK...calling all Sweet Tooth fans, here is your chance. Your chance to have 2+lbs of pre-made cookie dough at your fingertips. When that urge is there to bake some cookies, simply scoop, bake and eat. How easy is that!

Maddie's School is having a fundraiser where they are selling Otis Spunkmeyer (I love that name) cookie dough. They also have, pretzels and brownies. There are about a dozen different types and all are $15 each. We have about two weeks (April 7th) to collect as many orders as possible. So we need your help. Here is a link to the "brochure"

If you have any trouble accessing or viewing the brochure we can send it to you via Email.

Of course we would love everyone to buy multiple tubs, however, there is 1 snag. When the orders come in, they come to us....so as much as we would love to have those of you in California, Arizona, Louisiana, etc. buy a few items, it might be a bit tough getting 3lbs of frozen cookie dough to you. That being said, another idea is that you buy a Tub as a donation, and we will find a local group that could benefit. A WIN WIN WIN situation.

So, that is it. After looking through the brochure if you find your mouth watering for a cookie, simply drop us an email (mjandsj@comcast.net) or give us a call and we will work out the ordering details. Again, we only have a couple weeks, so hurry while supplies last!!!