We're Still Alive!

Jason and I competed (sort of - you'll have to use that term loosely) in our first triathalon this morning. We drove down to beautiful Peachtree City at 5am for the good times while our very sweet neighbor, Jo, watched our kids. Neither one of us knew what to expect and were both pleased to find that we finished feeling pretty good (I know, we were surprised too)! Here is a post race shot - medals and all.

As expected, the biking was the easiest for Jason and hardest for me and the running was easiest for me. (It felt good to pass runners after being blown by like 100 people during the bike portion). Jason felt like the swimming was the most difficult - citing completely murky, algea filled waters and clamoring people as the biggest challenges. Since it was our first race, we had no time to beat so we both just tried to pace ourselves. Jason finished in 1:46:41 and I finished in 1:41:11. We'll see if the next triathalon will find us with better times. Here are a few more pics of the good times.

It isn't hard to believe that this man was voted best legs in high school is it? I think that those legs are still smokin'. :) Sorry Jason. I type the blog and can embarrass you from time to time.

I knew that the race was going to be good when I picked up my number yesterday and it was 777! Luck was on my side for sure!

PS- You know we are both strong (and brave) people if I am posting pictures of us clad entirely in spandex. Is there no other way? Yikes!

Lessons learned: For the next race, I think I'll actually buy a road bike and ride it before the race day (I borrowed my friends mountain bike with hybrid tires yesterday) and Jason will invest in a more comfy seat. :)

Tennis Anyone?

Jason and I so love this time of year. No it isn't that fall is around the corner or that school has begun again. It is US Open tennis that we love. (We are completely exhausted but we love it!) One of our dreams is to go to the US Open in NY and watch the matches for a full week. Some day.... Until then we settle for staying up until 2 am watching them in the comfort of our own home.
I actually LOVE watching the players amazing tennis skill and not those sweaty biceps and gratuitous fist pumps if that is what you are thinking (I will admit that Federer's last opponent Lopez was gorgeous, but I digress). Andy Roddick and Roger Federer played in the quarter finals until the wee hours of the morning last night and I have to admit that I really wanted Federer to lose! As my brother Craig said, "He's like the Michael Jordan of tennis." Federer needs to be beaten every once in a while and make the outcomes of the matches less predictable. Plus I was totally turned off by his, made for the US Open shoes, that have 3 swiss flags on them - one for each win at the US Open. Over confident much? Somebody has got to take him down! Although my man Andy Roddick didn't win last night, he did put up a great fight and gave us some fantastic tennis to watch. Maybe the next Grand Slam will be his turn. Federer can't stay on top forever. Right?! Somebody please beat him!

Ava's First Day of Preschool!

Today was Ava's first day of pre-school! Too bad it had to be the day after a terrible day in the ER with Kate (see Kate's blog) because I was at home with Kate and her Daddy had to take her to school. It actually may have been kind of a good thing for him to drop her off and save me the waterworks of tears, now that I think about it. If there ever was a Mama's girl, it is Ava. I am pretty sure that her teachers didn't want me to send her with her lovie but I could see no possible way for any measure of success without it. We'll work toward leaving it at home by Christmas. :)

She'll be attending school M,W,F from 9-12. This gives her some time to play with little guys her age and for me to be able to volunteer at Jackson and Kate's elementary school. Hopefully she warms up to the idea soon. :)

A few more cute shots of our littlest one - note the lovie in every picture!

Hansen Family Movie Night

For the first night in a quite a few weeks we didn't have anything in particular planned. So we decided make it a Hansen Family Movie Night. We laid out a picnic blanket, ordered pizza and even broke out our special High School Musical plates (thanks Gramma Hansen) for the occassion. "Chill Out Scooby Doo" was premiering on cartoon network so after the pizza we snuggled up for the feature presentation. Apparently Jason and I were tired though because we both fell asleep during the show. After we put the kids to bed at 8:15 we lasted for about another 1/2 hour until we decided to go to sleep to. We are getting old!

Snack gone bad

Sometimes the forces are conspiring against me I swear! So, I was trying to get some errands done before the kids got out of school and we had to get to the grocery store. Ava and I were really hungry though so I stopped at Smoothie King and picked up a 32 oz strawberry yogurt delight. Ava never drinks a lot but insits of her own cup so usually they give me a small cup that I can pour some into. So today I pulled around to pay and asked for a cup. They told me that they couldn't give me a cup anymore. What? So I said, "Can I buy a cup please." "Um, no we aren't doing that anymore either", the cashier replied. Seriously folks. What kind of establishment needs to make that a policy? No extra cups? Anyway, I wasn't going to let that get to me, I thought I'll be flexible. I decided to give Ava my drink until she tired of it and then I could drink the rest. So I strap her into the cart with the tub o' smoothie in her little hands and lap. She's drinking happily as we begin shopping in the produce department. While choosing some strawberries I hear, "Oh, no...mess Mommy". I turn around to see the entire smoothie on Ava's lap, legs, shoes and dripping through the cart. Nice!
Gratefully, there was a kind employee who grabbed me a roll of paper towels to clean Ava up. That was hilarious. I stripped her down to her diaper and bagged up the mess. Then I used an entire roll of paper towels wiping down everything and finally put her back in the cart. As long as we were there I was going to get my shopping done so I continued through the store with many a strange look from other shoppers as they stared at my 2 year old sporting only her huggies. The judgements were nearly audible but we got our shopping done and are all cleaned up. Good Times! :)

New Favorite Meals

So all of you probably make each and every one of your meals from scratch :) but I am one of those that often needs to rely on a quick meal or else go hungry. I recently tried this Kashi meal as well as a Southwestern Chicken and Chicken Pomodoro. They were all great! The fact that they are relatively healthy (as far as frozen dinners go) is a plus too!

Book Reviews

While on vacation I was able to read quite a few books and I enjoyed each and every one of them. Here are a few thoughts.

On the recommendation of my friend Emily, I started this series. I really enjoyed Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin so I grabbed the next 2 to take with me on vacation. Just the kind of fun quick reads that I needed. They are not a series but each book has the same characters in it, just one of them is spotlighted as the main character. Each of them are at different stages of their lives and I just loved them all for different reasons.

Ummm, LOVED it! (No surprise there). It was easily as captivating and overall wonderful as Twilight and New Moon. These are a series, so if you happen to be of the few people that haven't read them you really must, just start at the beginning.

So I was kind of skeptical when I began this book but after a few hundred pages I was into it. I am amazed that she was able to put out 7 books with equally intriguing twists and turns. Quite a fun read.

While I don't think I would have chose this book based on it's description, I had to read it for book club and really enjoyed it. It is a fantasy book in which 2 boys struggle with being pushed out of their childhoods too early. Gives you something to consider about our humanity and was a nice deviation from the above mentioned reads.

This was such a great book that was recommended to me by my niece, Lauren. I did fall in love with the characters and thoroughly enjoyed the writing. I am looking forward to reading more books by Shannon Hale.

Summer Cold

Those two words are definitely a contradiction in terms and yet I still have a HORRIBLE summer cold. It is kicking my butt! My only friends for the last week have been these two little items:

I have so many things to do and this is really putting a cramp in my style. I have been trying to will myself better but to no avail. Well until then my laundry, dishes and dust bunnies will wait.

First Day of School

So before I get into the vacation blogs, I thought I'd begin with the present day. Today Jackson started the 2nd grade and Kate began Kindergarten. Despite going to bed at midnight, they were all smiles and eager to get out the door for their first day. Our cute idea of pancakes and pictures were lost on them though. They couldn't wait to meet their teachers!

I have found that Jackson is most ready to talk about his day when he's going to sleep. Just before nodding off tonight he told me that his teacher called him something he'd never heard before. He giggled and said, "She called me "Mr. Talks-a-lot" and then she laughed". Let's hope that Mrs. Roseberry is still laughing in a week and that Jackson is talking less in class.

Kate is lucky to have Mrs. Law for kindergarten (the same teacher that Jackson had). Kate came home today with her "Super Kid" star and was so proud of her first day at school. Jackson and Kate saw each other in the hall and stopped to give each other a hug. How cute is that? I can't believe that I had 2 children in elementary school. Like Jackson said tonight, "it won't be long before we're going to be in college". I almost cried...

I'm Back!

Wow, that was quite a vacation! As soon as I can unearth my camera from the mountain of dirty laundry I'll get to blogging...

Bridge Jumping

Jumping Jackson

The cousins and Uncle Kurt went bridge jumping this afternoon. I was planning on going when the skies were sunny and warm but chickened out after things became gray and threatening. Boy am I sorry that I didn't go. It looked like a blast. If tomorrow is warm we are going to go again because everyone had such a good time. This time I'm not going to be left out either!

Uncle Kurt showed the kids how it was done by diving and tossing in a spread eagle jump once.

Matthew was a little daredevil. He jumped from the very top of the bridge once, did toe touches and even a flip!

Jackson was more cautious as this was his first time jumping but he did throw in an occasional cannonball. He had a blast playing with his cousin Matthew. Boy are those boys two peas in a pod.

Kate thought that they were all nuts and just played by the river. She did say as we left, that she would jump off with me tomorrow though. We'll see if she feels as brave when the time comes.

Thanks Mr. Turner

This morning we went for a leisurely drive and hike on Ted Turner's property in Big Sky, MT with hopes of seeing some wildlife. Let me say that it was ummmh...AWESOME. Even in Yellowstone, I have never seen so many buffalo in one place. The kids were enthralled by the animals and if the number of pictures taken is any indication of my excitement level, then mine was a 10! My pictures can't quite capture what we saw but here are a few glimpses.

Westward Bound

So in the early morning hours tomorrow, we'll be packing up for our 8am flight to Montana. I don't know how Jason arranged it this way but I am flying both ways with the kids and no husband! Good times....at least I only have one layover is SLC and a direct flight home. Could be worse (which incidentally is my motto as of late). We have many fun excursions planned in Montana and then we are driving to Utah where we'll meet Jason when he flys in for the week. We'll stay in Utah for the week and attend a family reunion as well as the usual Utah summer destinations. Then the kids and I'll drive back up to Montana for a few days before we fly home. Who bets that I'll be more exhausted at the end of the "vacation" than I am now?

Fun Project

Here is a really fun project that Jackson and I finished today. Aunt Shauna bought these for the kids to put together and last week Jackson put his Triceratops together and Tyren made a T-Rex. Kate opted to not put hers together and instead put the pieces in a ziploc baggie. Unfortunately, she threw away the directions. Well, this morning Jackson and I felt like a challenge so we tried to put her dinosaur together. We were pretty proud of ourselves for figuring out this puzzle.

'Da Braves

One of our favorite Atlanta summer destinations is Turner field where we watch the Braves baseball games. This spring and summer got away from us though and we just made it to our first game of the season on July 16th. One of the physicians that I work with couldn't go to the game so she gave us her tickets which were awesome! We usually buy the $6 seats, way up in the stadium and love every minute of it. For this game, however, we were behind the Braves dugout in row 26! Who knew how awesome that was going to be? Nice view, let me tell you.

I liken this experience to sitting in first class one time and then realizing how much better it is than coach. We know it's back to coach for us but we sure did enjoy this ride!

Kate likes watching the game.

Jackson likes the food but not when they lose.


I can't believe it, but he's been to at least a dozen games and had never seen them lose. Looking forward to the next game (and hoping they win)! :

Shauna is Awesome!

Top Ten Reasons Why Shauna is Awesome!
10. She laughs at all of our ridiculous jokes.
9. She doesn't mind getting messy and playing with the kids.
8. She always has a smile on her face.
7. She did ALL of my laundry.
6. She brought fun games and books for the kids to enjoy.
5. She left her 3 children at home to come help us out.
4. She brought Tyren so we could play with him too!
3. She decorated the house and helped the kids make my birthday special.
2. She worked out with me and didn't get mad when one day I didn't get up at 6:30.
1. She organized my scrapbook room! Hands down, this wins as my favorite b-day gift!

Just look at her amazing work! (I really should have taken a before picture because you have no idea what this room looked like, pre Shauna.) Now she may get embarrassed but I have to tell you how awesome my talented, scrapbooking sister-in-law is. When she decided to organize my scrapbooking things I am pretty sure that she had no idea what she was getting into but it didn't stop her once she started that major project. In a few days Shauna organized all of my papers, stickers, punches, scissors, mementos and she even managed to sort through and organize boxes of pictures dating back to high school. Now I have a clean, user friendly area where I can go to town. Thanks Shauna!

The BIG 33!

Happy Birthday to Us!

That's right, on Friday the 13th I turned the big 33. I had a great day with a few surprises (which is always fun on the birthday). Beautiful flowers, candy baskets, thoughtful phone calls, cake with friends and a night out was the perfect way to celebrate. We celebrated with Nate and Alli (who shares the same birthday as I do only 2 years younger, but we don't focus on that point) and Jason's sister, Shauna, who is here visiting.
So, Friday night a good friend of mine watched the kids, while we all went to Bones for a fantastic dinner. This restaurant was definitely a splurge but worth every penny. It's makes me laugh whenever I go to a place like this (you know the kind of restaurant where there is a team of 6 assigned to cater to your every need) because I think, "My life should always be like this". But then the night is over and the next weekend it is take out at Chipotle. Sigh...
After the above mentioned dining experience, we headed out for a movie. I know, I know, not the most original idea, but it has been months since we'd gone to a show, so it felt like a treat.
All in all, 33 feels pretty great so far.

More Summer Reading

The Stolen Child

Prep


So, I'm kind of in a reading frenzy. I can't wait until Harry Potter comes out next week (don't judge me) and Eclipse (Twilight/New Moon sequel) in August (again, no judgements please). So, I had to take on another few books in the interim. The Stolen Child is for book club next month and I've heard from a friend a good read. For fun I purchased Prep, based on a friends favorable suggestion. Since I just picked these up today I haven't gotten too far. Has anyone else read either of these books?

Friends

I just came across this quote and it touched me.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting, that another world is born." --Anais Nin

No matter where I have lived, or what stage of life I have been in, I have been blessed with the most wonderful friends. Each one has made me want to be a better person just by being themselves and has helped me to realize something about myself that probably couldn't have been realized without them. So to all of you friends, even those that don't blog :), please know that I love you and couldn't make it without you!

Crazy for Webkinz

Wow, my kids are CRAZY for Webkinz. I'm not sure if this is as big in every state but the kids in Georgia are all about Webkinz. Webkinz are these cute little stuffed animals that come with a code and then become your virtual pet when you log onto the Webkinz site. The children feed, exercise and take care of their pet. They can answer questions or play games to earn KinzCash and then use that cash to buy things to furnish their animals' rooms. Kate loves to take care of her virtual pet and Jackson is all about getting his bank account up to purchase stuff for his pet. It is a really fun diversion the kids have enjoyed this summer.
Jackson's Pet

Kate's Pet


Here is Jackson's WWS this week!
My Webkinz
I have a Webkinz named Wah Wah. My Webkinz is a Chihuahua stuffed animal. His birthday is December 22, 2006. There’s a Webkinz website that I love to play on, http://www.webkinz.com. I like to play at the clubhouse, Quizzy’s question corner and I like to feed my pet. Having a Webkinz is fun.
The End

Ava's Stats

I was cleaning up the office this morning (shocker I know) and came across Ava's 2 year "stats" from her well child visit. Jason and I have felt like she was tall for her age and based on her 2 year old numbers it seems that she is and will grow well past my height! They say that if you double the child's height at 2 years old, you will be within an inch of their adult height. Based on my calculations, she'll be 5'10". Maybe gymnastics aren't in her future? Here are the rest of the numbers -
Weight - 25 1/2 lbs 50th percentile
Length - 35 inches 80th percentile
Head - 19 cm 65th percentile

County Meet FINALS

Swim Season ENDS ;)


Well, now that the 4th is over I can give a brief update on the county finals. The Barracudas finished 2nd with a record of 5-1 for the dual meet season. They came in 8th for the county meet (out of 25 teams) and were pretty happy with that place. Jackson and his relay team did awesome finishing 6th in the medley relay and 8th in the freestyle relay. Jackson did very well too coming in 17th for both backstroke and butterfly in his age group. Nearly every other child in the race was 8 so Jackson did amazing considering it was his first year in this age bracket. He was more relaxed for this meet and had a great time swimming.
We decided to video tape the races and until I learn to post video, these few pictures will have to do. He and Kate certainly haven't had enough of swimming because they woke up this morning saying, "It's sunny! Can we go to the pool?" Maybe tomorrow, because Mom needs a break!

Best shot I could get from the balcony!


Jackson loves this shot of his backstroke start