A NEW PHASE

Ah, the first day of school. I was pretty excited. I had made the kids' lunches last night so the morning would go a bit more smoothly. As I put out 2 more pieces of bread for Maren's sandwich, 2 more pieces than I have for the last 3 years, I got a lump in my throat. It had suddenly occurred to me that nobody would be eating lunch with me anymore. That's all. I got teary, and Brandon chuckled sympathetically and invited me to eat with him at the high school anytime I wanted. But the lunches were made. I drew a heart on Maren's napkin, and a happy face on Chelsea's. I think the boys are done with that kind of thing, but I should ask. I took the younger kids to school and of course walked Maren to her first day of all-day kindergarten. It was a little rough, but we called Daddy and he came over and she got brave. Yea, Dad! She will be fine. So will I. It is very quiet. Well, except for the dishwasher. And the washing machine. And the dryer. I have cleaned the kitchen from the morning chaos, picked up the clutter, and switched over the contents of my old purse into a newer one. I have signed up to help in Maren's class on Thursdays, and at the Middle School in the library a couple of other days a week, something I have never been able to do. A thoughtful friend called to see how I was faring. I am going to be painting some furniture and getting the basement ready for the construction crew coming to finish it late Fall, and organizing the garage as the weather cools. There is plenty to do, and I do have some girlfriends to eat lunch with occasionally. I will probably call my Mom more often than I have been calling her, and of course, at 3:30 I will be running around to piano, dance, choir, scouts, tennis, football, and whatever else comes our way. I may even pick up a brush and start watercolors again. Do I dare try oils...?

Beach House

winding under green canopy
leaving cityscape to itself
moss grows on red trunks
sunlight breaks through leaves
cool comes through trees
I feel it.
passing fields of verdant
jerseys on the mead
red barns meet old fences
flowers shock against the green
inhale the fresh breeze
I smell it.
climbing rock and woods
curve around the bend
lift the lid of shady hue
open wide daylight blue
flashing water fills the view
I see it.
fleeting through sand hills
grasses wave along
salty mists touch skin
rhythmic hushes welcome
bare feet fly to cool foam
I am home.

~Krista Jensen

Comments From The Car

Well, the reunion is over, the beach was beautiful, and the last Harry Potter is read. Check, check, check. My summer checklist is dwindling, but that is just fine...so is summer. I feel so fortunate to have had such a full holiday! I have several ideas for blogs, so I will have to spread them out a bit.
We came home to a garden that had doubled its size. Unfortunately, I am referring to the weeds. But after clearing those out, the tomatoes, onions, turnips, and sunflowers, hollyhocks, and daisies are looking quite alive and well, so that is exciting to me. Planting a garden in a new area is a little like trying a new kind of firework on the 4th. You know what should happen, you just don't know if it will. And sometimes it is a dud (remember the little black tablet "snakes"?), but sometimes it is so much better than you thought (like the one we tried that said it would "hover and spark", and it hovered at about 3 feet, then shot 100 ft. in the air and exploded and landed in the neighbor's yard and we all scrambled to bed right then.) So, I am just hoping for somewhere in between and I will be just fine. Gardening is a challenge I face with a smile.
I have to make a note on Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows (no spoilers). It was so satisfying, and I have to say my instincts were right on. I love it when that happens. I am a Harry Potter nerd, I know. Thank you, J.K. Rowling, for some escape time.
A portion of our trip to Washington was spent in the car (36.5 hours total) and as we drove along, I jotted down some amusing quotes to share with all of you (there are about 7 of you, right?). So, there will be more thoughts of summer to come, but for now, I will leave you with a smile.

Chelsea, 14, in Seattle traffic inching along: "That guy looks like Brad Pitt."
Krista: "What's he doing to his nose?"
Brandon: "Looks like he's Brad Pick."

Maren, 5, to boys not getting along in back: "Stop arguing guys...RIGHT NOW!"... stunned silence, followed by her intake of breath and, "I HAVE TO GO POTTY!" (I guess the first yell got her going.)

Chelsea, being silly: "I'm telepathic. I can read minds, ooohhhh!"
Braeden, 12: "Well, I'm a psychic, so I can tell the future. But, only every 2 weeks."
Jacob, 9, perplexed: "But...I only get deja vu!"

Maren, sad: "Why is Chelsea being mean?"
Krista: "Chelsea is grumpy because she had to stop putting her finger in her nose (a gasp from Chels and giggles from Maren). Well, the Dr. said if she stopped putting her finger up there, she wouldn't get so many nose-bleeds." Followed by more giggling and Chelsea trying to put her foot in my face from the middle seat, laughing.

4:50 A.M. Spokane,WA
Krista: "Why are there people out this early?" (referring to traffic in town)
Maren: "Maybe because they have somewhere to go, too."
Krista & Brandon, impressed with her answer: "Yup, I think you're right. They have somewhere to go, too."
Maren: "Yup, like McDonald's. People have to go to McDonald's all the time."

Brandon, quite jovially: "Oh great! Just what I wanted to hear, my oldest daughter complaining."

Maren: "Mommy, I want a mint."
Chelsea: "Mommy is out of mints."
Maren: "NO, there's mints in the purple bag. See? They're in the green bag in the purple bag."
Chelsea, half looking through things: "There aren't any mints!"
Maren: "I want the mints in the PURPLE BAG."
Chelsea finally hands her the green bag from the purple bag.
Maren, exasperated and pointing: "SEE, it says 'MINTS' on...the...bag!" (It doesn't say 'mints'.)

Maren, clearly: "See, Dad, I am being VERY good." (as Chelsea is getting pummelled by Mom for poking, and tickling, and pulling Mom's hair through the back of her seat. She was given ample warnings.)

Happy traveling!

Because You Loved Me

Someone asked me to picture the person I think of when I hear the word "integrity". I pictured my Dad. No hesitation. And he would probably try to push that adjective away, because he is also the first person I would picture if I heard the word "humble". My Dad was my first best friend. I am told it was that way from the start. He was the first one I wanted to share exciting events with ("I am the fastest girl in the whole 5th grade!"), the one I upheld the family name for with my feats of dexterity and skill (getting up on those darn water skis), the one I was devastated by if I let him down in any way, and usually all that took was a look, and "Ah, Kris." My Dad is described as quiet, kind, and shy. I once wrote about him, "In the quiet that is my Father, I hear mountains being moved." So, he isn't a loud personality, but he taught me to appreciate silence, looking up at the stars or sitting on the beach, walking in the woods. He taught me patience with others and how to listen. He taught me how to study directions and sit long at a project, to do it right, to sigh, smile, and shake my head if I made a mistake, to swear in jibberish, "Oh, gotcha-ma-hooey" or just, "Dog-gonnit". My Dad has great faith and always seemed to reassure that it will be alright... in a way that you have no trouble believing it... my first lessons in positive thinking. I always knew he would do the right thing. I trusted him. My Dad was the one that had us up and running races to the fence and back, he taught us each how to throw a frisbee, a baseball (like a boy), horseshoes, to fly a kite in the wind. He didn't push hard, but we wanted to please him. Hearing, "There, you got it!", was enough to make me smile and try even harder. My Dad isn't always quiet, of course. He has the loudest sneezes I have ever heard in my lifetime. Every once in awhile I throw out a whopper as a tribute. One of my favorite sounds, to this day, is a man whistling. My Dad would whistle and trill and whether it was a particular tune or just happy notes, I would be drawn to wherever he was and whatever he was doing, working in the garage, fixing the television, or putting up a fence. I would just be by him, roller skating or doing cartwheels, handing him what he needed. He has a particular whistle, as a lot of Dad's do, that brought us kids running from all corners. Just that sharp, short up-note, that meant, "Here. Now." Then there were the times, usually family trips, where we were getting a bit obnoxious (O.k., maybe a lot obnoxious), and Dad would just deftly pull the car off the road and reach one arm over his seat to look right back at us and threaten to "turn this car around!". He wasn't loud very often, but when he was, we listened. My Dad is the reason I love camping. He is the reason I try to be honest. He is the reason I have a stunt kite for the beach. He is the reason I felt respected as a girl.
No matter what, I always, always feel like my Dad knows I can do anything. And that has meant much more to me than he will ever know.
Happy Father's Day, Daddy.

I love you,
Your Krissi

The Hey-Days of May

I have never thought of May as a particularly busy month. I never thought moving to another state would impact that idea whatsoever. I just didn't pay it much attention. Would you? But here we are at the end of May, (and I have gathered similar testimony from other migrants to this area) so I now attest that the month will forever be a distinction, and geared up for with more fervent action in the future. School gets out for Summer vacation on May 25th, instead of the usual 2nd week of June so many of us Northwesterners have grown up with, and that single event seems to be the catalyst to the organized mayhem messing up my calendar on the kitchen wall. I have been given several reasons for such an early release: 1) to take as much advantage of the short summer season as possible, 2) students are needed to staff the tourist-driven businesses of Cody, 3) we've been cooped up long enough. After I first learned about it, I was with a group of women and the subject came up. I made the mistake of assuming their feelings would reflect my own when I asked, "What are you supposed to do with the kids home that early?" I received blank stares...then one of the women said, "Enjoy them! Go see things! Go visit places!" I raised my eyebrows and nodded, thinking, "Your children must behave." But, that was before the long winter, before -13 degrees, the wind blowing so hard at night you ducked under the covers in anticipation of the window glass giving way, trick-or-treating in 7 degree weather, and filing February garden catalogs away until 2 weeks ago. Before our schedules filled up with piano lessons, football practices and games, basketball practice and games, ballet lessons, cub scouts, boy scouts, choir practices and concerts, women and co-ed volleyball leagues, track meets, baseball practice and games, science projects, computer projects, parent-teacher conferences, homework, and more homework, calls from school begging to bring the forgotten item by next class period, packing sack lunches every morning, going through paper piles every afternoon, all juggled precariously on a write-on-wipe-off calendar, whose magnetic pen finally ran out of ink and was replaced last week. So, May brings the end of track season, the last ballet lesson and Spring recital, the last piano lesson, the final cub scout pack meeting with the last batch of homemade brownies, the last day of babysitting, the final choir concerts, the volleyball championship tournament (our women's team took 2nd!), tonight's 8th grade graduation ceremony, for which the final touches on the formal dress were made last week, the last study session for end-of-the-year tests, the 6th grade 3-day Nature Camp Brandon chaperoned with Braeden, the planning and assignments for the Jensen reunion in less than 2 weeks, and the itinerary laid out for our summer trip to the coast. I also must mention the window for getting the vegetable garden in is pretty small here, "After the last frost, but before June 6, or it will be too late." So, the vegetable garden is dug, composted, furrowed, planted, and staked, and I bit my lip as the temperature dropped to 35 degrees 2 nights ago. (We covered things up and the seedlings look great.) And now, as the class parties are being held and baseball survives its place on the calendar for a bit, I find myself anxious to have the family home and doing lots of nothing in particular, but making it fun. We are starting this weekend by celebrating Brandon and Jacob's birthday, May 27th, with Pirates of the Carribean III, and a day trip to Yellowstone, where we have a really good chance of seeing some bears. After that, who knows? I do know one thing: I will enjoy my kids, go see things, and go visit places. I just won't have to look at the calendar to do it!

EMERGENCE

It is finally here... Spring. I feel like Cody, WY has been in a cocoon. A snowcovered, quiet, protected cocoon, and now it is happening: The emergence. The signs were small at first. Kids could be seen outside, riding bikes, running to a friend's house, ok, building snowmen. Then we heard the birds! One morning, waking up. "Ah! Do you hear the birds?!" They sounded SO good. Like heralds assuring our hopes. Some daffodills speared their way through the cold to brighten up the white and brown surroundings. Then a few days before Easter we had a "small" blizzard with 2 feet of snow, followed by brilliant blue skies, snowball fights, and sunburned faces. The snow melted and greened everything up. Willows around town began to leaf out in that color called "spring green". The deer appeared again on the streets of our town, and the antelope could be spotted again off the highways. Yet, I heeded the warnings that this was not it, and I had noticed no tulips blooms or tree blossoms. Sure enough, we woke up to 4 more inches of snow 2 weeks ago. But again, the sun came out and warmed everything up and deepened the pale green. A rabbit hopped across our street. So, in just the last few days, with 70 degree weather, I have delighted in seeing flowering plum, cherry, crabapple, lilac buds, tulips, the greening of the hills and mountains. I have taken a class on how to garden in Cody (it was a short class, haha) and have made my designs and budget. In the warm sunshine I have stomped on my shovel, turned up warming earth, pulled up sod and planted a tree, 3 shrubs, 2 small plants, 7 bulbs, and wiped my forehead with the back of a muddy glove. I have a farmers tan, and a red nose. The kids threw on their swimsuits, grabbed their water guns and squealed. Brandon spread the lawn with fertilizer and we took a walk hand in hand around the neighborhood, picking up landscaping ideas along the way. Of course, the laundry was late getting done, and the fridge needs to be cleaned out, and I didn't check my email for 4 days, but how can I resist the desire to go to the window and feel the sun, open the door and step outside, breathe the fresh air deeply, return the greetings from neighbors out doing the same thing, search for what can be next on my gardening to-do list, and work my muscles to exhaustion, preparing my own plot to resemble a fraction of that first garden, Eden? Welcome, Spring. We're so glad you've come.

My, You're Practically A Lady

For months and months I have repeatedly answered the question, "How long 'til I'm five years old?" This year, Easter marked Maren's birthday, and as the decorations were set out and the Easter eggs dyed, Maren's anticipation grew. So, when she woke up Sunday morning, her excitement that Easter had come was quelled by the discovery that she was 5, but not any bigger than she had been the day before! I reminded her little pout that she had grown 2-3" since she had her 4th birthday, and that we had to buy her all new pants because her legs had gotten so long, and that we had just replaced her size 9 1/2 tap shoes with size 11's! She immediately cheered up with her hearty giggle so much like mine. And so the day was sunny and bright for our youngest child, who will leave me in the Fall to start all-day, every-day kindergarten. But we won't think about that, yet. What is it about turning 5? I remember the introduction scene in the Sound of Music. "Yes, you're Gretel. And you're 5 years old? My, you're practically a lady." That was so endearing, you just had to smile at the thought of this little dumpling of a girl being referred to as a lady, but you felt it was somehow true. Turning 5 means you are no longer a toddler or a pre-schooler. You are old enough to leave the house on a bus without your parents and go to school. You are old enough to get yourself dressed, tie your shoes, write your name and a few other things if you wish to. And you wish to! It means you can ride a bike, or walk to the triplet's house to visit, with Mommy only watching from the front porch. It is a beginning of an independence. So, my sweet, funny, bossy, caring, tough Maren Lily, with the pixie voice and deep laugh, Happy 5th Birthday, and welcome to the beginning of a new part of life! May it be joyful, adventurous, and worthy of everything your Father in Heaven knows you are.

Happy Easter!

How grateful we are for our family and that we can be together forever!