Little Man

Kinson is growing up. He turned eleven years old last month - I remember when I was that age! Fifth grade was when I moved from La Grande to Aberdeen and went to four different schools that year. Kinson will have gone to four different schools, too. But he will have returned to La Grande!

Our oldest child is a talented kid. We've treated him like a little man from the moment he was born and we had no clue how to be parents. We have expected a lot from him and many times catch ourselves, realizing that he needs to be a little boy. Kinson is not afraid to speak or sing or act in front of an audience. He is highly impressionable, and he remembers everything he hears or reads. Sometimes he will quote verbatim (adding in voices) Calvin and Hobbes comics he read months ago and laugh at them, then say, "I'm not really sure what that meant. So, what does it mean?" And he loves to read - he has read all of the Harry Potter series - but he has an odd way of piecemealing his reading. He read the series out of order, sometimes reading the endings first.

Kinson has a perfectly round head. I can shave him bald and he looks great! Or I can give him any haircut without worrying about cowlicks or bumps, like most of the rest of the world. His hair is thick and is getting darker, though he spent his young life as a light blond.

I love Kinson. He is dramatic, energetic, kind, intelligent, creative, and sentimental. I could go on all day talking about what a great kid he is. I'm glad he's my son.

Home of the Brave

We moved into the house a week earlier than we had planned, because Sam got the idea into his head that we would, so we did it. We moved from Elgin to La Grande on Saturday, March 14, and since there was only one more week of school until Spring Break, I wanted the kids to go to the same school that week and start at a new school after the break. That meant driving early in the mornings from La Grande to Elgin (20 miles) Monday through Thursday, and sometimes coming back to La Grande during the day to get things done, and then having to drive back out to pick up the kids and drive them back home to La Grande. It was the best solution under the circumstances.

This home is large, and the land it was built on is an acre. I didn't know how big an acre was before, but now I'm glad I have only an acre. Everything, and I mean everything, inside and outside, about this house is unfinished. There is so much work to be done. Not only that, but it is filthy. I have never had a true concept of filth, though I thought I did, until now. The kitchen cupboards were so covered in grime that had to be scrubbed for a really, really long time before it even made an iota of difference. My mom came over and helped to clean my kitchen for a couple of days before I moved in. Nothing had been cleaned before our move except what we did. A dumpster was parked outside the house - I think it was the biggest we could get - and it was filled to the brim with garbage taken out of this house and around the yard. The ceiling in two rooms on the main floor had to be removed because of a water problem upstairs that had to be resolved. The house stank like moldy wood for days and has been airing out since before the move. None of the rooms in the house is completely finished. Nearly every window sill in the house has yet to be put in. The house is at 95% completion, so we get to decide on the finishes we'll put in, flooring we can install, wall colors to paint, edgings, light fixtures, and all manner of coverings. There are mature fruit trees outside, just waiting for a different season before we can harvest their fruit. There is a big, fenced playground in the back for the kids to play on. There is a vast area ready for preparation to plant a garden. There is a chicken coop and run area that we have been preparing for our baby chicks, who have been living in a special plastic tote in the sunroom (we have a sunroom!). We have so much room to work and play, and I am happy that we found this wonderful home! It's a work in progress, that's for sure, but I can see the potential. Every day it looks a little better. And all of us are happier to spread out - and to be closer to Grandma and Grandpa Jensen!