Thursday, December 18, 2008

Merry Christmas

This year our Christmas card will be online. I already mentioned in the previous post that I am not sending out cards this year. But I wanted to get this up anyway.

Garr and I are busy parents and we love our kids. We can't believe how fast they grow.

Jacob is 12 and was ordained a Deacon this past October. He loves being in Young Men's. He is so fun to be around and is always making us laugh.

Peter is 9. He has been in the school choir this year and enjoys that. We attended his Christmas concert last week and had a blast. He is always positive and helpful - a great kid!

Alison is 7 going on 13. She is a beautiful girl and a joy to be around. Alison is a great artist (she takes after her dad) and very organized. She gets great grades in school and loves helping the other kids.

Michael is 2. Need I say more? He is actually very sweet and funny! He does typical two year-old things which makes me both crazy and happy. He loves cars and trains and his older siblings. He is spoiled with love and we are all happy.

We are looking forward to the birth of our 5th child sometime in June 2009 and know that he/she will bring us as much joy as the rest of our troop.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you. May you find much joy and happiness this Christmas Season as well as in the New Year.

Love, Garr and Jennie Ovard and kids

• Here is a link to a photo of us that was taken in October. http://garrcreative.com/family/ovards-2008-sep.php

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Christmas Cards

I was just reading a friends blog and commented on something she wrote so I decided to expound here. She was talking about whether to mail or e-mail Christmas cards. She pretty much said, why bother? That's what blogging is for. In a huge way I agree with that. I mean, there's Facebook and blogging. People read about your life and see pictures all year long, so why do you need to send a Christmas card? I think it's nice to send one in the mail to people that you almost never hear from. But I don't need a card from most of my friends and family because I read their blogs and keep updated on Facebook.

Another thing is that cards can be very time consuming and even costly to mail out. Every year I stress out about getting pictures printed (and if I even HAVE a current picture of my family, it's a miracle), getting envelopes, colored paper to print the letter on and who knows how many stamps! Not to mention what to write about in the Christmas letter. I write and rewrite and wonder what to say and what not to say.

This year I told myself I wasn't doing Christmas letters or neighbor gifts. Not because I am being a Scrooge, but because of my morning sickness. Now with neighbors bringing gifts to us I am feeling a little bit guilty but I just can't stress about it this year. I can only do what I can do.

I know we will receive cards from people that are not on Facebook or that blog, and that is wonderful. I will probably mail a letter back to them and tell them about my blog if they want to see pictures of my family.

For those of you who may disagree with me about this, I totally understand. Christmas cards in the mail are a great tradition. It's fun to get them, but if you want me to read your blog instead, just shoot me an e-mail. It's great to hear from friends anytime of the year, not just Christmas!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Exciting news

So I had this great exciting news that I wanted to tell everyone and then Garr said, "Let's wait awhile." So we did, but we told the kids. They, of course, were so excited that they started telling people, which was fine, but we were still going to wait.

So yes, I am pregnant which a lot of people found out on Facebook. I haven't gotten onto my blogs for a few weeks because I am sicker than a dog. I don't mean to be a wuss, but I really get very sick and if I don't have drugs to help me, then I am in bed or throwing up all day for 8 weeks. Even when I do have drugs, I still have days when I can't hardly move.

So I guess I am going to start every paragraph with the word "so". I wanted to wait awhile longer to tell everyone in the world this news because I wanted to hear the baby's heartbeat, etc. Yesterday was my first appointment and Garr and I did hear the heartbeat and it sounds wonderful! And there is just one baby. :)

So this is going to be the last child and I am really hoping for a girl and so is Alison. I'm getting too old and it's just too many kids, you know? he he.

So this is the last paragraph and if anyone wants to donate to my eating out/craving fund, please send a check to my address.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Now it's November

The only reason it has been so long since I have posted a blog is because the kids are off-track and I am always extra busy during those times. Besides the fact that the kids often want to play on my computer and I have limited time to use it myself!

I'm sitting here thinking about all of the things that are happening in our lives right now and not wanting to write about them yet. There are going to be three major changes happening in the next little while, but I'm openly discussing them at the moment. So, I am sorry for the short and boring blog post, but there will be more info coming very soon. Stay tuned!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Week before Halloween

My kids are off-track right now and the weather could not be better! It has been so nice outside for the longest time. I am glad it is finally cooling down somewhat, though. Fall is my favorite time of year and right now the weather is perfect!

I love Halloween. It's so much fun to send the kids out trick-or-treating. Tonight was the ward trunk-or-treat party and we stuffed ourselves on chili and cheese nachos. Then the trick-or-treating began along with the candy eating! Jacob and Peter went around to all the cars about 5 times each. They are so loaded up with candy now and don't have a problem sharing with Mom and Dad!

The kids had fun creating their own costumes this year. I'll have to take pictures of the kids on Halloween night and put them up. Have a great week before Halloween!!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Jacob's Birthday

Saturday was Jacob's 12th birthday and I can't believe I'm old enough to have a Deacon! He was ordained yesterday and it was wonderful. We had a very fun weekend. Saturday was the last day of flag football. Peter played a double header and his first game was at 8:00 a.m. followed immediately by a 9:00 a.m. game. Although they tried their best, they lost both games. :) He was pretty worn out and spent the next few hours playing Game Cube. Jacob's game was at noon and, with Garr as his coach, they won the game! Both of the boys did great and I will put a picture up soon.
For dinner we went to Red Robin. That's where the kids always like to go for their birthday dinner. Yesterday we had family over to celebrate and visit. It was a busy and fun weekend!

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Conference Weekend

What a crazy day! The weather has been so nice for September/October and all of a sudden it's freezing, raining and windy all day today when we have two flag football games and outdoor family photos scheduled. But we're tough! Peter's game was at 8:00 this morning - that's just too early for a Saturday! We were cold and wet, but he played a great game, getting the flag a few times (Yay Pete!) and we had fun cheering him on! Jacob's game was at 11:00. I didn't want to take Mike out into the cold again so I missed the first half. I put Mike down for a nap, Peter came home to be with Mike and I got to go enjoy the second half. Garr was awesome coaching those boys. He was really getting into it and he does a great job recognizing their strengths and putting them to work. Jacob was amazing! The first part of the second half he ran 4o yards for the touchdown!!! That was so fun to watch! Boy were we all glad to get home and warm up after that!

But we were not able to relax and watch Conference like we had hoped because we had family pictures scheduled. Thank goodness we were able to find a place indoors because the rain and wind were relentless! But the pictures were fun and we are just waiting for Garr's awesome photographer brother to let us see the results. So glad everyone in Garr's family could be there. I think we had 24 people!

Our family loves to watch Conference. We treat Conference Saturday like Conference Sunday! Of course on Saturday I get any shopping done that's needed or the kids play with friends during the break, but we are always watching, taking notes, drawing pictures or playing Conference Bingo and eating candy! It was hard not to be able to watch all of it today, but we saw what we could and listened in the car. We are looking forward to the next two sessions.

Garr took Jacob to the Priesthood session for the first time. Kids grow up so fast.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Flag Football

Jacob played flag football last year and he wanted to play again. He talked Peter into playing this year, too. So now we not only have Jacob's games twice a week and practice once a week, but now Peter has games twice a week and practice once a week. To top it off, Garr is Jacob's coach! Wow, what a great dad! Garr doesn't even watch football! But he played in high school, and more importantly, he wanted to be there for Jacob. So it's fun and crazy. Garr and I can't both be at all the games and practices, but between the two of us, the boys will never be alone. There is a girl on Jacob's team this year and when Alison found out about that, she decided she want's to play flag football next year! She also likes to wear Jacob's jersey from last year to the games.

Friday, September 19, 2008

No, no, no, no, no

What a smart little boy that Mikey is! He learned how to say "no". But he doesn't say it like most toddlers. he does not shout, "NO!", rather, he calmly says, "No, no, no,no, no". It's so cute, how can I be upset when he says it? However, when I am forcefully (picking him up and moving him) making him do something he doesn't want to do. He won't calmly say, "No, no, no,no, no", he just screams.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Chores and pets

Well, it's Saturday and we are doing chores. We tend to get distracted with chores around here. Jake and Pete like to listen to music on their iPods and Alison has a stereo in her room that she uses to play her favorite CD. Mike is walking around chattering and I am trying to keep focused on what I am doing while redirecting the kids every few minutes. Speaking of Mike chattering, he is starting to pick up more words here and there, but fortunately hasn't quite picked up on the word "no" yet. I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Alison's family chore today was to clean the bathroom - a first for her. I showed her how to clean everything and she was really good about it. In fact, she cleaned the mirror to perfection! She also has been keeping her room clean for about a week because she wants a hamster. She has been begging for a puppy for months. At first I just kept telling her, "No pets. No dogs, no cats, no fish, no pets!" She did her share of crying and I think Garr finally softened up and said that maybe when the yard is fenced in we can get a puppy. Everyday for the past several weeks she has been asking when she is getting her puppy and it's about to drive me bonkers! Finally, Garr and I decided to let her have a hamster because a hamster is better than a puppy! Maybe it will satisfy her need to a pet. Although I am not sure what to do about her need for a sister! Every time there is a baby sale advertised in the paper, I ask Garr if we can go get a baby girl. To which he responds with a smile.

Guess it's time for me to get back to my chores so I can set an example to the kids!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Reading

We love to read! I (Jennie) just read The City of Ember to Jacob and Peter. We read it over the course of about 3 weeks. I like to read to the kids before bed. Alison wasn't interested in the book so I usually just sent her to bed. Tonight she wanted to stay up because the boys were up. She joined us and read her own book while I read to the boys. We read about 4 chapters and finished the book. It totally left us hanging and now I have to wait until I can get the next one at the Library!
Jacob finished reading the first Fablehaven book before Garr. Then I started reading it, then Garr finished it before me! We are going to buy the other books in the series because we'll all take turns reading them. Now I just need to get Peter to read it!
I will probably talk about reading a lot. It is something that our family really enjoys doing. In fact, Mike is interested in reading, too! He grabs books and wants me to sit on the couch and read to him. We look at a few pages, then he hops down, gets another book and climbs back up to look some more. He's not even 2 years old yet, but I am thinking I will have to teach him to read as soon as possible or he will have me tied down reading to him all day! None of our other kids have been so interested in books at such an early age.
Sorry I am going on and on, but I am such a freak about books!

Garr and Jennie

This blog is just about Garr and Jennie Ovard and our four beautiful children. It is for family and friends who want to see pictures of us and read about what is going on in our lives. We hope you enjoy coming here and seeing how we grow and change and we hope you will share your families with us, too. Happy blogging!