Arrrrgggghhhh - Emmett's 4!!!!

I can hardly believe that my baby boy turned 4 today!  While he still plays daily with his trains and cars, pirates are a new love for him.  In that spirit, we had a really fun pirate themed party with pirate pizza, arrrrrrhugala salad (a pirate's favorite vegetable you know) and a pirate birthday cake.  His gifts were (you guessed it) of the pirate variety :)  We had to pry the ship out of his hands with promises that he could play with it just as soon as he woke up tomorrow.

The kids had fun choosing gifts for him.  Kate was really excited to buy him the pirate spyglass and was even more excited to see how much he loved it!

Jackson loves his little brother so much.  He is a great example for Emmett, most of the time.... :)  Jackson is a very giving young man.  He went out on Black Friday with a full wallet and carefully picked out this birthday gift for Emmett and Christmas gifts for his family.

New Family Pictures

We couldn't get Emmett to smile for the life of us.  He is usually such a happy guy!

All of the cousins...

Looking so grown up!

Big middle schooler

Ava wanted her own personal photo shoot I think.

Finally got some REALLY cute candids of this little guy!

Christmas Advent 2012

Well, it's here...the Christmas countdown has begun.  This is one of our favorite traditions each year (closely followed by the turkey shoot).  Here's what we have in store...

1. Go to Patti's Cajun Christmas Party
2. Decorate the tree
3. Donate canned goods to the school
4. Make hot cocoa and watch a movie
5. Send Christmas cards
6. Make popcorn and cranberry garland
7. Sing Christmas carols
8. Go to see Rudolph Puppet Show
9. Make candy cane pizzas
10. Make paper snowflakes
11. Go to Jackson's orchestra concert
12. Have Emmett's birthday party
13. Start the 12 Days of Christmas giving for a friend
14. Make gingerbread houses
15. Go Christmas caroling
16. Read Christmas books by the fire
17. Go to the Fox Theater and see How the Grinch Stole Christmas
18. Go to the Temple and see the lights
19. Drive around the neighborhood and see the lights
20. Deliver neighbor gifts
21. Go see A Christmas Carol at the Alliance Theater
22. Go on a carriage ride through Piedmont park
23. Make and decorate sugar cookies
24. Read the nativity story
25. Take family picture and watch old family Christmas DVDs

2011-2012 New School Year!

Well, another summer has flown by and our family has officially entered the world of middle school! Here are a few pics of the kids flashing their digits (representing their grades and Jackson with an "m" for middle school) and their smiles. :) Time really does go by too quickly!

Ava's teacher is Mrs. Spencer and we are so excited about it! Although her BFF, Bailey, is in another class this year her other closest friends, Coco and Alima will be joining her. I will have the pleasure of being her room parent again and am really pretty excited about it.

Kate's teacher this year is Mrs. Rich. She is known as a creative and fun teacher who I know will make this a very special year for her. She too, has several great friends in her class including Lucy, Maddie, Kelsey, and a super cool "boy" friend who shall remain nameless. :)

We put Jackson on a bus for the first time as he set off for middle school. There were nerves, jitters and tears (ok most of those were from me) but he made it there and back in one piece. I really didn't enjoy those junior high years so I am dreading guiding my pre-teen through the drama that accompanies that time of life. Gratefully, Jason only has good memories of Jr. High so perhaps Jackson will follow suit.

They come in 3's, or so I'm told...

And I'm really hoping that it is true because...

#1) Last Monday our basement flooded (This isn't a picture of our basement but it helps you get the idea)

#2) Then on Tuesday I broke my ankle while running to the car- this is the best that it looked!

#3) Finally, on Wednesday I drove through my garage (trying to drive with my left leg).  I know, I know, I'm never living that one down!  Unfortunately, this IS a picture of my house!

Seriously.  It can only get better.  Right?

Digging in the Dirt

Jason and I learned many things from building our first home and would actually enjoy doing it again, now that we have that experience under our belt. One thing that we learned is to be present when the landscapers are putting in the sod and planting! Our sub-par, contracted, landscaping team, simply covered up large plots of dirt, concrete, old bottle caps and garbage with pinestraw (that's the southern equivalent to mulch) but not a plant in sight around the side and back of the house. Side note -we did really like how the front yard turned out though.

We've had good intentions of tackling the left over landscaping project for the past 2 years but haven't ever managed to get to it. It's like we've been busy or something! Well, spring break found us with a spare moment so I headed to Pike's Nurseries for some guidance. The heaven's apparently took pity on my serious lack of gardening skills and put a landscape architect in my direct path. Moments after I walked into the store, an employee approached me asking how he could help and yeah, he had no idea what he was getting into. I immediately confessed that I was a novice in the gardening world and then showed him the barren pictures of the outside of our home and told him that I need landscaping that was easy to care for. That angel then sat down with me and literally mapped out a landscaping plan, (including dimensions and directions) for our planting endeavor!

The side of the garage - Phase 1 before

The side of the garage - Phase 1 after

For those gardeners out there - We planted a Tea Olive at the front corner of the garage and the shrubs are Cleyeras. Truth be told, it wasn't nearly as complicated as I'd expected (once somebody told me what to buy, where to put them and how to plant them - hee-hee). But then again we started with the easiest part of the plan. The kids loved mixing the dirt and running through the sprinklers all day long. Not a bad way to spend the day together in my opinion (Jason and his back have another one I think). I'll post phase 2 this weekend. This is what we are starting with ...

Ava Update and Funny

That Mavala stuff is a MIRACLE! Ava did in fact cry herself to sleep that night (in my bed) and woke up the next morning with a very bad taste in her mouth but NEVER sucked her thumb again! Two days later we were driving home from the airport when Ava says to me, "Mom, I didn't suck my thumb the entire day - not when I was at home, not when I was driving in the car, not when I was watching TV..." (you get the idea). We stopped applying the Mavala to Ava's nails after the 2nd day and she hasn't even once put that little thumb back into her mouth. Yea!!!!

Now for the funny. An hour ago Ava was sitting on the counter while I was making dinner. We had a discussion that went something pretty close to this...

Ava - "Mom, Kate told me that I can only be one thing when I grow up".
Me - "You can be as many things as you want to be. You could decide to be one thing and then change your mind and do something else".
Ava - "I want to be three things"
Me - "Oh really? What are those three things?"
Ava - "1) A doctor 2) A dolpin rider and....(long pause) 3) I want to clean toilets with that brush thingy".
Me - Laughing hysterically. Can't respond for 30 seconds and then can only hug my funny little girl.

It's No Joke

Despite a very teary protest, we applied a little Mavala to Ava's right thumb this evening. Over the past 2 years she has blossomed into a full blown serial-thumb-sucker. We have tried all kind of motivational tricks of the trade but she was not buying into any of our schemes. When we once asked her why she wouldn't stop sucking her thumb her reply was, "Because I don't want to and it tastes like 'nilla (vanilla)". So there you have it.

The industrial strength, nail sucking deterent arrived by UPS today. We figured that April 1st was as good of a time as any to begin the intervention but I didn't count on how truly upset she would be. I tucked in a tearful little girl moments ago and said a silent prayer that she wouldn't cry herself to sleep tonight.

Have you ever been this tired?

You may recall the post last fall where Ava fell asleep standing up. Well, she may have outdone herself today. After Ava changed and showered this afternoon, I told her to go to her room and put on the clothes I'd laid out for her. About 15 min later I found her on the steps outside of my bedroom, sans towel, but with her clothes laying next to her. She was so asleep that she didn't wake up when we dressed and put her in bed. It was the most bizarre thing... Wonder where she gets her uncanny ability to sleep anywhere?

Kate's Journey Part 1

This is a new year for the Hansen Family - the first since 2007 that is CANCER FREE! Our leukemia journey with Kate will never be forgotten but we are happy to move forward to healthier days!

At Kate's end of chemo party in August, Jason made this wonderful DVD chronicling her last 2 years. Since August he's been asking me to put it on the blog but I encountered some technical difficulities. Due to the length of the clip we had to separate it in into two parts. As I just watched this again my overwhelming feeling was of gratitude. Our family has been blessed! We hope that 2010 brings your families an abundance of blessing too!

Kate's Journey Part 2

Emmett's One!

This year has definitely been the fastest one yet. I can hardly believe that 365 days ago I was snuggling my newborn baby boy at Northside Hospital. Sigh... In an effort to make up for my sadness, we planned a really fun night with our little family. It was so much fun that they kids just barely went to bed at 10:30! The party started at Emmett's favorite Mexican restaurant (ok - so maybe it was ours, but he still enjoyed it). Then we came home and things got crazy (ok-so maybe not crazy, but definitely silly).

Emmett was all giggles while we were singing Happy Birthday to him. This one has no problem being the center of attention.

He went to town on the cupcake, attacking the cake before we were finished singing. Once his hands were good and chocolatey he didn't like that his hands were dirty though! How can I have two boys that are so the same?
Love those messy birthday faces!

Time for presents. He kind of got the idea of opening the gifts.

Reading books from Gramma Hansen.

How cute is that hat? Hansbergers, You Rock!

"Kissing Dad" - which is a lot like biting Dad.

Trying to get a hug in between the playing.

Who knew that a 10, 7, and 4 year old could have so much fun playing with a 1 year old's toys!
Time for a bath and bed for everyone.

The End. Couldn't resist that cute 1 year old little bottom!

Elf Yourself

A little fun holiday project from Jackson to you. He was so excited to do this. I got a serious kick out of him giggling watching all of the options. Love these 10 year old boys. Easily amused I tell you...:)
Hope that you are all finding time to enjoy yourselves during this hectic holiday time!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/joWJrqDsvhmI0n0flhLQ

I'm no Kenyan....

But I still had a blast running my 2nd full marathon! On October 25th, 2009 I participated in the Marine Corp Marathon, in Washington D.C. where I ran as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team-In-Training.

Due to a heavily over committed fall, I wasn't as well prepared for this race as the last one. I'd like to think that I made up for my lack of training by slowing my pace down and savoring the moments. I might have to do that every time because the event was absolutely fantastic! We had sunny 63 degree weather, a highly scenic course where we ran through all of the major sites, and the crowd support rocked!

Here are a few of my favorite motivational signs from the day:

- Pain is weakness leaving the body

- Release your inner Kenyan

- Never given, always earned

- Pain in temporary, pride is forever

But my favorite one, the one that made me laugh outloud at mile 23 was...

- Your feet hurt because you are kicking so much a**

How awesome is that?

I truly loved every minute and am looking forward to the next race. Speaking of....my brother, CJ and I are running the Thanksgiving Day 1/2 Marathon in 2 days. As long as the weather is good, we should have a fun time. Our goal is to finish it under 2 hours. My PR is 2:02 so I am pretty sure I can reach it. Wish us luck! If things go really well, he may even consider doing a full with me next time. (Now I just have to keep up!)

Grateful...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints put out this timely message and I feel that it is too awesome to keep to myself. They sure hit the nail on the head! (as usual ) :)
If you haven't seen it, I hope that you feel as much thankfulness as I did after watching it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuwid8_O8dk

Thanks Heidi!

Wow. A dear friend, Heidi Jamieson, did an amazing photo shoot for us last July. You may remember that we met Heidi and her family when both of our families were on the same Make-a-Wish cruise in February. As Jake (the Jamieson's son) pointed out, both he and Kate have the same type of leukemia, are both 7 years old, both have ports and are both terribly silly. What else does a friendship need? I'm pretty sure that they are kindred souls because they became instantaneous friends from the first moment they met. Kate is still asking us when we can see Jake again. Jamieson's, are you free in March?
I am just getting around to making prints from the photo shoot and thought I'd share the cuteness with you. These are seriously only a few of the great shots. I am holding off on posting my favorite so you'll be surprised when you get the Christmas card thought.
If you live in Utah and you need a photographer, look Heidi up!

I knew I could do it...

Was Ava's reply when she took off on a 2 wheeler today! This afternoon she asked me to help her ride her bike and within 15 minutes she was balanced and only falling occasssionally. Those who know Ava well can appreciate how cute it is when she falls and then pops up exclaiming, "I'm OK, I'm OK!" That girl has some serious determination that I can only imagine will serve her well in life.

Gramma and Grampa Visit

As usual, we ran Gramma and Grampa into the ground with our crazy schedule this weekend. As usual, they didn't complain one bit. And as usual, we want them to come back quickly! I don't have very many pictures because Grampa takes them all and I hope sends me some copies (hint,hint). For posterity sake, Friday we picked them up from the airport, ran to swim practices and then out for a yummy Mexican meal at Monterrey. Ava had her class stuffed animal, Flipper, so he came to.

Saturday - Jackson, Jason, Emmett and G&G went to Jackson's soccer game while the girls and I went to the church for the Primary program practice. We met up at home after lunch and spent an hour tackling the leaves in the front yard. Next, we were off to some friend's home to watch the BYU game. She'd made some delicious food and were had a wonderful time visiting. Gratefully BYU creamed Wyoming and the rest of the day was spent with happy husbands! To make the day just a big more jam packed I did a 10 mile run with a friend and then Gramma and I ran to Target for a few short hours. Soooo glad we did that because we were very productive and seriously whittled down our holiday shopping lists.

Then Sunday, we went to church. The kids all participated in the Primary Program and it was wonderful. I got teary at several points during the program but was especially touched when the children sang, "The Family is of God" with all of their hearts. There was no way that you couldn't feel the spirit in those moments. We had a wonderful Sunday dinner with friends and then Gramma and I packed up the Christmas presents for her to take back to Utah. Phew, I am tired all over again thinking about it. :)

We are so grateful to have such a wonderful Gramma, Grampa, Grandma and Papa! Our children are very blessed to be surrounded by loving grandparents. Hurry Back Y'all!!!!!!!!!