My little elves

Alex Kelley's 1st b-day

We gave our little cousin a fluffy chick for his birthday. We got some cute giggles from him when we threw it like a ball. Thanks for sharing your 6 month and 1 year birthday with us Alex! We love you.

Last presents to open

Christmas morning

I won!

I won my library's Jane Austen trivia contest. It was 2 pages on things about her books mostly. I won this teapot and cup/saucer. I haven't used it but it's fun to look at and remember my good luck.

Jared at the piano

Snow Day!

Eagle Board of Review

Jared passed his board of review last night and will have his Court of Honor the end of February!

Christmas parade

Andy, Adam and Betsy got to ride in a neighborhood holiday parade. Jared and Marcus rode their bike and scooter next to the trailor while I walked the 2.2 miles and led the children in Christmas carols. Of course they were excited to throw candy but got ride of it within the first few feet of the parade.

Adventures in Andyland

Andy and I were talking and he said something really unique and silly. I asked him "where did you learn that from?" He answered "from my brain". So after I acknowleged he had come up with it himself he told me that yes he had "gadgets" in his brain. What a character!

Thanksgiving

Here is an apple cranberry pie I made for Thanksgiving with the Bently family this year.

Jared is showing his approval for the pie and fruit trifle we are about to demolish.

We are thankful for all of you our friends and family, Love The Richardsons

My baby is 4!

Today is Andy's 4th birthday. He got a fried egg, sausage biscuit, gogurt, banana, magic stars cereal and milk for a birthday breakfast in bed. He got to open his presents before Dad left for work. Then we got to enjoy cake and ice cream with Ken at work after lunch. Finally we ended the day with time at the fun science museum, made our own personalized pizzas and watched Elf.
Andy is such a special little guy. We went around the table and the nice things said about him were, "He has a bright smile and eyes, he is so friendly, he is fun and silly, he is always nice to me, he's enthusiastic, he is a loving part of our family.
We love you and hope you had a happy birthday Andy!

Betsy's missing front tooth

Birthday

Today I'm 38. Ken and the kids gave me breakfast in bed. Orange juice, waffles, strawberries with whipped cream, yoplait yogurt, scrambled eggs and mint m&m's on top of the waffles. I was given new scriptures, musical tickets, york mint patties, and potted mums. I am thankful to my family for making me feel special.

new smile

Betsy has a new smile. After some drama, she let me pull out her front tooth. I'm late in posting this news because I have been living in a hole with no internet. So my posts have to be few and far between on dial up. Thanks for your interest and sorry I have not been up to date. I am trying to upload her pictures but they are frozen for some reason.



I will also update on the super saturday crafts this Saturday. We are making beaded hoop earrings, photo clips and a framed glass wall hanging of the word Noel in red vinyl lettering with red ribbon.



I enjoyed eating at Olive Garden today with my husband for an early birthday date. I'll try to post on my birthday to detail if the breakfast in bed made by my children is edible.

Siblings' Day

On the morning of election day we celebrated our annual tradition of "Siblings' day". This came about because the kids felt left out that there is a Mother's day and a Father's day but no kid's day. So every fall I surprise them with breakfast in bed and a new book from the scholastic book orders. That's as elaborate as I get. They think it's a real treat and lets them know they are a special part of our family.

Garden cosmos with girl

We grew cosmos from seed in our garden this year. We waited all summer for them to bloom. Betsy was so excited when they bloomed that I couldn't resist showing off her feminity with this shot.

Happy Halloween 2008

Gratitude

I felt inspired by Elder Bednar's talk at General Conference to pray with more gratitude. Today I just felt so blessed for my life, my 5 healthy children, a priesthood holder husband, the gospel of Jesus Christ, a home, cars, light at the end of a long medical training road, beautiful fall trees and weather, and the list goes on...Tell me what you are grateful for today, offer a prayer of thanks and comment on this post :)

Ideas needed

I am helping with my ward's Super Saturday craft day. I would appreciate any ideas from anyone. Thanks!

recipe I made for a lunch group

Microwave Carmel Popcorn
1 cube butter or marg.
¼ tsp. baking soda
¾ cup brown sugar
1 bag microwave popcorn, popped
2 T. light corn syrup
1/8 tsp. salt
Microwave the first 4 ingredients on high for 2 minutes.
Stir. Microwave an additional 2 min. until comes to a boil. Stir in soda. Pour over popcorn.

Who needs sisters?

Arizona Fall Break Trip

Happy Birthday Ken

Happy 38th birthday Ken! You are such a great husband, father, doctor, high priest, Young Men leader, BYU fan, etc....

Jared's eagle project

Museum pass

We've had fun using a museum pass that is good all around the world. You can get one for your family for a year for only $35. You just call a historical society in Florida ...let me know if you want the phone number.

This is Jared riding a bike on a high wire above the ground floor of the Explora science museum in Albuquerque.

Adventures in Andyland

Here are some recent quotes from my 3 1/2 year old Andy:
"This is gorgeous!" (When he thinks something is cool)
"Mom you is gorgeous" (when he thinks I did somenthing cool, not the litreal meaning unfortunately)
"When me dies you will have to take me to the doctor in Albuquerque." (a bit alarming)
" When me die you have to go to the store to buy a new Andy" (again, alarming)
"Mom, me wuvs you" (Me wuvs him too)

Quote from I am a mother

I liked this quote I read today
"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that he is building quite a different house that the one you thought of-throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace" (Mere christianity, 205 C.S. Lewis)
I just thought this was ironic for me right now since literally my roof is leaking and the plumbing had to be repaired in my bathroom. Even though my house isn't a "palace" maybe I can trust Him to make one inside of me.

Me , Myself, and Andy

So my four older kids are back to school now which leaves just my 3 1/2 year old Andy home with me. It has been an interesting time exploring our alone time together. I've tried to do a few fun things with him. One of which ended in a peircing alarm system going off in a public library, and me handing a dollar bill to a stranger in McDonalds. I wouldn't classify those Andy adventures as "Fun", but they were memorable. After attending a Jiggle Jam music time at an unfamiliar, distant library, Andy and I stayed to explore the children's area. I averted my eyes away from him for a split second and was loudly and immediately reprimanded for it by the emergency exit door he happened to push. We attracted alot of unwanted attention by all library personel and patrons. So, then about 30 minutes later we are at McDonalds having a lunch date at the playplace and Andy is complaining that he wants more food after scarfing down his happy meal hamburger. He sees some unattended food at a nearby table and is too tempted to resist. Unfortunately he was not in my reach by time he put a chicken nugget in his mouth. So, There was no way around it, he had to eat it and I had to apologetically explain to a stranger that my ravenous child had no manners and hand her a pathetic dollar for her understanding. But through all the humiliation of a three year old's antics, there are the little silver linings like..."You're the best Mom!" and "You're great!" and my favorite happened today. Andy asked me to turn his inside-out shirt from "Out to in", and when I did he said "Mom you're a genius!"

If I cannot give my children a perfect mother I can at least give them more of the one they've got--and make that one more loving. I will be available. I will take time to listen, time to play, time to be home when they arrive form school, time to counsel and encourage.

Summer fun

We enjoyed a fun visit from my sister and her daughter and baby. We were able to have a picnic in the park, tour Old Town, and quilt shops, eat sushi, hike the Petroglyphs, go to Explora, watch movies and Brian Reagan, and make jewelry. Of course we had a lot of fun with food too. We all missed them very much when they left. My children keep asking when we can see them again or do anything fun this summer. We are pretty much homebound with the cost of gas at $3.90 and the tank of a Suburban. Money is tight these days as usual. I want to be happy with what we have and not wait for life to begin when we have the financial means. I'm just tired right now of the excuse that we can't do this or that because of money. I decided to try to make staying home with Mom fo rhte summer a little more fun around here. The other day I initiated a cookie bake off. We all got to make our favorite cookies and then rate everyone's with stars. yesterday we had a "mommy lesson" time where each child could choose a skill I knew to learn about. Marcus and Betsy chose sewing lessons. (very basic and primitive on my part) Adam and Andy chose to make a wood birdhouse. Jared chose to share in some dance steps with me. I'ev come to realize that the only summer project I can do with the kids home is the kids.

My sister's poem on motherhood

He looked in the cabinet and under the sink,
found the nail polish (of course it was pink)
spilled it all over the newly cleaned floor;
opened the blinds and ran out the door.
He pulled out all the movies and spread them around
Was gone for ten minutes, not making a sound.
When I found him the peanut butter was open and smeared
on the counter and carpet, just as I feared.
At the park he simply was not content
to go down the slide as I had meant.
Instead he ran away for, like a mile
So I followed, forcing a smile.
At home he wanted me to read him a book
I read one page and that's all that it took
Until he was hungry for something to eat
No, not the carrots-- only a treat.
When the day was over and I was done,
Fed him some dinner (a messy one).
Cleaned up his hair of all the spaghetti
Even though I'd done it twice already.
Put on his jammies and rocked him to sleep,
tiptoed to the door without making a peep.
Exhausted, I rested my head in my hands,
drained of all the energy a child demands.
I have to admit, with all that it takes,
all the grief, effort, time and heartaches;
What I do all day is not an easy thing
to raise an incredible human being!

Our family went to Utah for Spring Break to be a part of my sister Krisi's wedding. After seein gthe pictures of the event online my nearly 13 year old son commented how Mom and possibly Betsy were the best looking ones in our family. My husband and I had a laugh.

Summer help

With summer starting here in five weeks, I am trying to get a plan in order on how to have a house of order intead of chaos this summer. I ran across a great website that encourages kids to work and have healty habits etc. it is called milo.handipoints.com. It is a way for you to set up task lists and rewards for your kids. It is good for ages 4 and up or any that can work the computer. You can also print the list to post and mark off on the fridge. You can choose rewards that they can earn my a point system. The webpage also offer bonus points for the kids to create and dress a cartoon cat in Handiland. They can buy new outfits, cartoons and games with their bonus points. The best thing about this is it's free. Go try it out, your kids will love it, mine do!

Are you having anymore?

If I had a dime for everytime someone commented on my large family, I would be rich. I have 5 children which in some areas of the country is considered very large. Others look at me like I am a freak sometimes. In my Mom's club I am known as the one with all the kids. Most mothers in the club have one or two and get overwhelmed everytime they come in contact with me it seems. Most of the replys I get are, "You've got your hands full!" with an aire of "I'm glad it's not me!" It always surprises me when complete strangers ask of my reproductive choices. They ask if I'm having anymore, with a look of "I will rest easier to know that you are not going to overpopulate the world!" Even members of my own faith who believe that procreation is a blessing, question me this same way. I am always put in that awkward position of explaining my past and future personal decisions. My choice of reply lately is, "We haven't made a permanent decision yet". So there you have it.

favorite films

So my sister's blog inspired me to create a list of favorite movies. I will list in catagories:

Musicals:
Sound of Music
Fiddler on the Roof
West Side Story
Evita
Newsies
Annie
Mary Poppins

Comedies:
Elf
Sky High
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Raising Arizona
Napoleon Dynamite
Princess Bride
What About Bob?

Stand up:
Brian Reagan: I Walked on the Moon

Romances:
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Jane Eyre
Little Women
Sabrina (both versions)
Return to Me
Man from Snowy River
Sleepless in Seattle
While you were Sleeping

Adventure:
National Treasure
The Bourne Series
Indiana Jones series
Lord of the Rings series


Theses are just highlights of movies that have been fun for me over the years.

The real life of Jenni Richardson

I guess I am one of the last around to figure out this blog thing. I decided to take a risk and put myself out there. I am not computer savvy and like to stay in the background usually. I would like to keep in touch with family and let them in on my life occasionally.
I'm a mother of 5 children(4 sons and one daughter). I am married to Ken, a pediatric resident soon to be neonatology fellow. We have a happy life in Albuquerque New Mexico. I love the big blue skies here, pink mountains and green chilies. I love music and direct the choir in my ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My religious beliefs are very important to me and very much a part of who I am. I majored in musical theater and dance at Brigham Young University. I've only used this degree to teach private voice lessons in my home and direct an occasional Road Show. My other interests include, my children, singing, reading, cooking, making jewelry and scrapbooking. I have owned a home business for 12 years now...a consultant for the scrap booking company Creative Memories. I am holding on by a thread at this point.
You can visit my website at www.mycmsite.com/jennirichardson