Steve 1 - Blue Crayon 0

After getting back from Christmas I tried to tackle laundry, putting toys away etc. agressively. I didn't want to, but I tried.... I washed a load of jeans and put in the dryer. Thursday morning I got up, went to pull out a pair and noticed some bright blue one them. Got to looking and every single pair had it on them. I look down and there is a bright blue crayon wrapper that is on the floor. ERRRRRR..... My two decent pairs of jeans (including one I just bought), most of P and E's and also Steve's good jeans all had the good fortune to be in there. I attempted to get off with no luck. Friday Steve didn't have to work and when I came home the jeans were pretty again. It had to have been a labor of love, but I'm glad I wasn't the one doing the labor! I figured that's what I'd have to do this weekend. I'm not very "housewifey" so I guess I'll keep Steve around since I've learned he can now tackle stains in addition to cooking and cleaning!

I bit the bullet and picked up my scrap room a little last night since I haven't been able to get in there for awhile due to the chaos and some recent purchases.... Hey HL had papermache stuff half off, I couldn't resist! Today P and E were best buds and played together a lot so I made some Christmas stuff for a call. I'm actually pleased with everything so far. I'm now burnt out on the holiday so if I do stuff tomorrow I'm moving onto something else! Now I have the exciting task of photographing and submitting. Two of my resolutions for 2008 are to have a better submitting system and to figure out how to run my camera!

Little Pets, Robots and Pokemon Oh My!

As usual we came home with the van loaded down with Christmas loot. It's amazing how fast Christmas comes and goes! With so many Christmases and late nights the kids did great. Most of the stuff is now sitting by the door and I'm trying to muster up the energy to put some of it away. P is showing E how to play her Game Girl and she's catching right on. On the way home I stopped at Archiver's while Steve ran to work for an hour and picked up some cool goodies. In my defense I had a gift card!

The trip to Vegas in February for Judi's 60th bday is a go. I can't wait. I've never been and it'll be 4 girls loose on the town! The other big news is that Judy 2 (Scott's Judy aka as Uncle Judy by P and E) got a diamond ring for Christmas - cool!

Not much else to report. Back to work tomorrow. Year end is crazy at work. Steve only has to work tomorrow poor guy.

Santa - So Much To Do, So Little Time

In the Hansen house, Santa comes a day early. Last year he wrote a letter to the kids explaining that he makes a special trip a day early for all the kids who won't be home on Christmas morning. He'll then make another trip to where they will be on Christmas (grandma and grandpas). If I was still a kid, this sounds like a pretty sweet deal. Two nights in a row of excitement and waiting for Santa to leave presents. We had to come up with something since we knew they would start putting two and two together otherwise. We did over hear him tell Grandma Blue House the other day on the phone say that Santa comes a day early to our house. Isn't that a little weird?

There is also another Santa that makes a trip tomorrow night at G and G Blue House...Silly Santa (as Emma's calls him) aka as Krusty Klaus aka Robert. Emma had Santa visit at school on Friday during their school party and Parker asked her if it was the real Santa or the Silly Santa? She said it was definitely the real one! This is the first year we have left cookies, carrots for the reindeer and milk. Emma also made Santa a snowflake, wrapped the whole thing herself and wrote on the package for him. When "Santa" opens it, I'll have to be sure not to rip up her writing. The backwards N is super cute! I'm feeling a scrap page coming on!

Busy today wrapping presents (I hope I hadn't stashed some somewhere and have forgotten) and making grub for the Christmas dinners. Once I can confirm the munchkins are asleep I will tackle theirs. Half of them have been riding around in the back of the van for awhile in a box. Friday night after work I looked for one last thing for P. The crowds were actually comical. I could not believe how wiped out the toy section at Target was. I then stopped at southside WM (hate that store) because I knew the Indy one had what I wanted but I figured while I was in the area I'd stop there instead. People where probably 20 deep at each register. They didn't have what I wanted so I could have just went to Inday and skipped T and WM and saved tons of time. Although I got a ton of cute $1 stuff at Target..it's a secret! This included little metal mailboxes I can alter. I'm about a 90 percent cardmaker/papercrafter, 10 percent scrapbooker anymore.

Last night Steve attempted Abelskeivers in his new pan. I'm pretty sure I have never had one before. Being Danish and all it's probably not something I should admit..although we did eat a lot of frickadillers growing up. They are basically a pancake that is shaped like a small muffin. Parker ate 8 of them and probably would have had more but we had to cut him off. I think E had 6...so they were a definite hit!

Well better check to make sure the Game Girl is charged up. Every day she's been telling people that's what she wants for Xmas. Santa did good!

Third Time Is NOT The Charm

Well...once again the same tire has gone flat today. 3 different times in less than 3 months. And 3 different holes in the tire...sigh... I actually stayed in a pretty good mood today and luckily it happened on the day that Steve is coming back from KC. None of the times has it happened on my way home and I've been stalled by the road so that's good. This time the tire went down fast. Steve came downtown and put on the spare so I could get home. He's playing tonight so I had to be able to get the kids picked up and P had TKD tonight.

While he was at TKD, E and I ran to WM so she could spend some bday money. I thought I'd seen every toy out there, but I guess not. She bought a Barbie that comes with a dog that poops. You even have a stick to pick it up with...eeeww..... You can also get a Barbie with a cat that poops so of course that's on her wish list now. She's so funny sometimes and such a thinker. Tonight as we were dropping P off she could see some of the guys in their robes. She said, "Mom - I know why they called it TaKwenDo. It's because they "tie" their belts." Tomorrow is her holiday party at school. They are making gingerbread houses and exchanging gifts from the sounds of it. They got their present from Lauri today and they were huge hits. Emma was squealing all the way home.

Where are all of these new Christmas toys going to go in our house? They are only beginning!

Boys Can Scrapbook Too!

Tonight was Parker's den meeting...this is of course after I remembered at the last minute and we rushed to get there. Christmas is severely sucking the few remaining smart cells I have left I swear. I did remember last week though that I needed to get pics printed for his scrapbook, so I did save face a little anyway. We were in such a hurry that Emma went exactly the way you see her in the picture. I am so embarassed! I probably should have taken an extra minute and changed her clothes, but she's such a dawdler it'd take 10 instead. They made a pinata today at school and she is covered in flour glue. Including her hair...so even if I'd changed her clothes her hair was trashed. She had just eaten some ice cream so she also had a messy face. Man I wish I still kept wet wipes in the van.... Luckily there were only a few parents there and I didn't know any of them.

Their craft for this time was a scrapbook about family, friends, pets, Scouts etc. He did a really good job and wrote some cute things without even being asked. He was excited because he said now he's getting older since he can do things that mommy does. Emma will be wanting to do one too I'm sure. She did really good at the meeting just coloring in her Pets book. No fits about the fact that she wasn't making a scrapbook. I also included a picture of the dreamcatcher he made at the last meeting.

Question of the Day: How can one 7 year old boy with no hips, butt, or an inch of fat on him eat a grilled cheese sandwhich, six fish sticks, a big granola bar, carrots, an ice cream cone and a piece of pizza and then come home from the meeting and say can I have some popcorn? He probably would have eaten more, but we had to leave for Scouts. One day he ate 15 fish sticks. In my defense though on that one...that was Steve's doings!

All Dressed Up With Places To Go!

Here is Emma in her new Christmas dress. You can't see in the picture, but it even comes with snowflake tights. (Of course the full shot of her is blurry. I'm the worst picture taker ever!) I know E thought she was pretty darn cute in it. Mom thinks so too! She's already giving daddy a heart attack when he thinks of her as a teenager....I didn't get any pics of P dressed up since they were at his Cub Scout Christmas party at the time. I also included pics from her Winter recital that was yesterday afternoon too. She's standing in the middle. I wish I could have gotten a close up pic of her in the antlers :-( But I had to get in there and jockey for a seat in the gym. The recital went well and so did the Christmas program at church. I'll see if Steve got any Cub Scout pics and if he did I'll post some another time. Parker was excited to have a day to veg and play his game boy today. Emma is learning about all the different holidays. Today it was Kwanza and Friday she came home with a dreidel made from a milk carton.

I ran to WM during P's TKD tonight and got a few more Christmas gifts crossed off my list. The freaks are really starting to come out in full force! Steve is going to KC until Thursday and has his first band gig Thursday night. Luckily this weekend we don't have a thing going on so we can finalize all the Christmas wrapping, buying, food making etc. I'm off on Weds and home with Parker so I'm planning to get Xmas cards done that day. I will post some outtakes from those another time.

Got a pleasant email surprise tonight. Something I had sent to Paper Crafts last May was also selected for the kids magazine that I'll have a headband in too. Now I just need to remember where I put it?

PSA: Do not make Peppermint cookies if it involves smashing candy canes. I was covered in chunks from head to toe last night. And in the end I didn't have enough for my cookie exchange and they were crumbling apart anyway, so I ended having to make even more cookies. The recipe was thrown away!

I'll Admit it...I fly by the seat of pants sometimes....

Long story short, the Hansens are busy!

Last night I went to a girls game night with all the people from my department. Very fun. Played Apples to Apples (love that game) and played Mad Gab for the first time. That one is pretty funny. Especially after some of the people had a few drinks! I had to be good though since I had to drive home and had a ton to do today.

This morning there were haircuts, cooking and cleaning and then we had the final practice for the SS program tomorrow. Steve even has a part. No one every asks me to perform..wonder why...lol. I helped to fill the 100 goodie bags for the kids and finished up stamping them this morning. In my defense though I got about 75 percent of them done earlier this week and so only had to hurry up to finish the last few. Robert, Judi and Brad then stopped by for supper and we also made a quick trip to winery near our house. Steve made all the food...yeah! I'm in the process of making my cookies for tomorrow. I am pooped...so they aren't fancy!

Speaking of waiting till the last minute, I realized that I had the date wrong on a Paper Crafts call earlier this week and it expired that night, not next week. I quickly made a couple things and had one of them get picked up. It's for a Kids issue coming out in June. Also quickly made some things for another call due yesterday, but haven't heard back on those yet. Another call ends tonight so I might zip upstairs and crank out a card or two, we'll see.

Oops this blog has pretty much been about me lately. I need to get back to talking about the kidlets! Mainly the kids are just counting down the days till Christmas. P doesn't have school this week since year round gets an extra week off at xmas. E goes thru Friday.

Happy Holidays!

Ice Ice Baby

As most of you know the big news around here this week is the ice. The kids didn't have school today and Daddy didn't have to go to work (lucky duck). I actually didn't think the roads were very bad this morning or the afternoon. I could have stayed home, but there was a lunch at work today I had already paid for and I didn't want to use up anymore more PTO. Very slushy though! Our gravel road was slippery but we don't have to travel very far on it. I left work a little early to beat the rush and the best news is we've never lost our electricity at home! Nothing worse than losing electricity with little kids around. They just can't grasp the concept...plus we all get bored fast! As I was getting ready today the deciding factor for me was if I'm able to dry my hair before the electricty went out I was going in. That'll probably be my deciding factor tomorrow too! Parker's school is already 2 hours late tomorrow and I'm sure E's won't be far behind.

Lots of stuff happening around here later this week...involves a lot of baking on my part!

A Bit Ripe....

Thankfully we had no expected visitors today since we smell and the house is trashed. Since it's a yucky day outside...no need to shower right? Steve left last night to go hunting and today we didn't have much on the agenda. P's Scout pack had swimming this afternoon, but I would have needed to take E and I don't think she'd been too happy to not be able to get in the pool. Plus it's more for the older kids since they can test for badge stuff. There were free movies in town, but it was getting sleety out by then and with my luck I'd get the van stuck in our drive again and he wouldn't be around to get me out this time. The kids will get a bath tonight and I'll have a shower in the morning so I promise we won't be smelly for Drake and Rylan's bday parties tomorrow!

I'm pretty sure that if family did not live in Iowa, I still wouldn't live here. It's been snowing this week and I hate it! I don't mind how pretty the snow looks, but then you have to drive in it and it's cold out. Thursday night P's last TKD class of the session was cancelled. Testing was today, but we didn't go since I don't think he's ready. Although he was showing me all these moves the other night and maybe he would have been after all? Last night I stopped at FW for food rations. The had hamburger for $1.59/lb...so 20 lbs later we should be set on that for awhile. We were also out of milk, mac and cheese, hot dogs and pizza...the essentials in our diet when Steve is gone!

I haven't scrapped since the middle of November and there are a million calls coming up in the next 10 days that I'd like to make some stuff for. My room is once again trashed so then I dont even want to scrap, since I need to pick up first. I did get Oceans 13 on Netflix so maybe I could watch that while I clean. Plus next weekend is jampacked and I'll need to do things during the week to get ready for that. I'm sure I'll be making the 100 treat bags for the SS program at the last minute as usual....

Well that's about all. I need to remember to wrap the presents tonight unstead of waiting till the last minute in the morning. At least I finally bought some tape. The last 3 presents I wrapped involved a glue stick.

Back When the Dinosaurs Roamed....

Right now P and E are watching Rudolph that I DVR'd last night. When I was your age.... we had to wait all year to watch it once! And we couldn't forward thru the commercials. I do remember that around 4th grade we got a VCR which was pretty fancy for the time. Then we watched the same 3 things over and over. A pretty quiet week for the kids - just the usual TKD and baton. Steve has a lot going on in the evening so the kids love that it's "Fun time" when dad's gone. Weather permitting Steve is hunting this weekend. Last weekend he was supposed to go to the KC game, but couldn't because of the weather. Instead he battled the huge leak that happened in the walkway to the garage. Usually that kind of stuff waits to happen till after he leaves.

Sunday was busy with church and Sunday School, Christmas program practice and the Advent workshop in the afternoon. Each year at church they have a bunch of crafts for the kids and cookies to decorate. The kids are getting old enough, I actually wasn't the one making crafts this year. E is pretty creative and was stamping her cards way better than I can. Maybe I should have her start submitting? One craft involved button wreaths and Steph and I were drooling over all the buttons. I finally convinced Emma to make one and she picked pink and blue buttons...sweet!

It sounds like snow is coming. Hopefully not too much since I'm about out of PTO days! But if all goes well I'll probably take the kids to a movie Saturday. They have some free ones on the weekends here in December and I think it's Happy Feet this weekend. Sunday is Drake and Rylan's combo bday party.

One of these days I should try to finish up the Christmas shopping!

Lethal Weapons

Parker has been doing TKD for a few weeks now. He's been bugging us that he wants a robe ($30), but we've kind of put him off since my plan is to have him do this just during the winter to give him something to do. (He gets bummed when there is nothing on the calendar for the week - he's Type A like me). You can also test them at the end of the sessions ($40), but I think our plan is to have him go thru the beginner class again (sans robe). There are a million things they need to be able to do just to get the yellow belt and I don't think he's there yet. Anyway, Steve went yesterday and even thought I've been to almost every one, I miss the big doings last night. He broke a board with his foot! It took a few tries, but I guess he was beaming when it happened and everyone cheered. Of course no pics of it either! I'm afraid now he's going to run around trying to karate chop everything.

The biggest news of yesterday was that I got a new niece and P and E got a new cousin...a girl even! The girls are slowly gaining ground on numbers. Lauryn Alyse is her name. Very cute with lots of dark hair. We probably won't see her for a few weeks, but I'm sure the kids will be all over her. Especially since they have been asking alot lately, when will there be another baby in my tummy? (The answer is no!)

This may be TMI, but I'll share anyway since it was funny. Yesterday I was in the bathroom downstairs ironing my shirt for work (it's also the laundry room) and Parker bursts in and says very seriously, "Mom, why are you always wearing your boobs?" (He meant bra.)

Tonight after an interesting day at work, we went to a hockey game tonight. I had won Club Seats/parking at the last crop I went too. Club seats also mean free beer! I think we also could have eaten dinner there free, but by the time we got there after work and dropping the kids off at the neighbors we were too late. With tickets, parking and beer, we figured it was at least $100 worth of free stuff. Can't beat that.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to go to a crop about 3 miles from here. The weather is supposed to get bad so we'll see what happens. Plus I still haven't packed. I'm tired though so that'll have to wait till morning. Actually though I really haven't unpacked since the last crop on the 17th so I may just pick up and go. Of course this means I haven't made anything lately since my tote is still in the garage....

Anyone for A Pop Tart??

Ok two posts in one day. I was cleaning out our "junk" basket and came across some Shrek tokens I had been saving from Pop Tart boxes so they could get free Shrek or Donkey covers for their bike helmets. I looked up to see how many I need and I am one token short. They are on the top of some Pop Tart boxes, but now I one see Pirates on the boxes at the stores. (Parker wants to get the pirate clock too so if anyone has any of the pirate coins, save those for me too please). But anyway if anyone has any Pop Tarts at home could you check to see if there is a Shrek token. Or if you happen to see any at the store give me a shout. If I only get one helmet cover...they're gonna fight over it!

Thanks!

Deliciouso!

Not much new to report around here. Steve had band practice tonight so the kids and I got to run amuck here at home again! I did get a baby card picked up for the April/May issue of Paper Trends so that was fun. I thought I'd share some recipes of things I make and get asked by others for the recipe. I said I'd post them on my blog and then didn't!

Beer Bread
3 cups. self-rising flour
1 cup sugar (I've seen some recipes where they leave the sugar out)
1 can/bottle of room temp beer (I've heard you can use pop too)
Mix and cook in a bread pan for one hour at 350. I like to cube and use for dips.

BLT Dip
1 pkg of Hormel bacon pieces or bits (you can use more or less). If you are frying bacon use 1lb.
1 cup mayo (not Miracle Whip)
1 cup sr cream
Mix these together and when ready to serve chop a couple tomatoes and add them in.

Baked Potato Soup - it hurts your heart a little
2/3 cup butter
2/c cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper (black is fine too)
6 cup milk
1 cup sr cream
4 potatoes baked and cubed - it says to peel them too, but I buy the red pots and so I leave the skins on. I nuke them in the microwave to cook them. I love chunks so I probably use more than 4 potatoes
1/4 cup green onion (I just use regular ones since I usually don't have the others on hand)
10 slices bacon (crispy) - I use the package of Hormel pieces and then add as many as I like.
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I usually add more than that)

Melt butter in a large pot. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Pour in milk and bring to boil. Cook for 2 mins, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Whisk in sr cream. Add potatoes and onions. I cook it till it's super thick. Top with bacon and cheese before serving if you like. It said serves 8-10.

P.S. I hear I'm going to be an aunt again tomorrow!

Game Girl

Thanksgiving was busy as usual. The kids stayed up too late and I was glad that they actually slept in on Friday. I helped Judi at the shop on Friday and then we left the kids there and headed back home. We stopped at On the Border to eat for Steve's bday. Usually on a weekend, any of the restaurants over there are packed, but I'm assuming since everyone was already at the mall bright and early that morning, no one wanted to come back for supper. They were busy, but no wait, so we were in and out in probably 30 minutes. We've decided that we are the worst dawdlers ever! We try to kill time and we can't. Came back home and started cooking and packing for out KC trip the next day. On Saturday we got up bright and early to finish getting ready. I am disappointed that I didn't get more sleep that morning since this factored into me dozing off during the end of the game when KC missed a field goal. On Saturday the girls did some shopping while the guys watched sports and drank at a nearby sports bar. E has about 100 things on her wish list and one is a "Game Girl." Parker already has a "Game Boy." (It's the pink and blue Game Boy Advances). I had checked at T and WM and no one had them. They came out a couple years ago so not suprised. We stopped at a used game store at the mall and they had one for half of what I bought Parker's new one for and their games were buy 2 get one free. Parker even got a couple games for xmas too. I got a few other things including some magnetic tins for scrapping and some cool Primas at the scrap store. Also some cheap clothes for the kids at Steve and Barry's. Everything there is pretty cheap. Then I get home and find out a mall here has one! My friend and I proceeded to get separated from each other at the mall and by then we're lugging heavy stuff around the mall. Finally she had to page me (of course my cell was dead!) We picked up the guys after 4 hours at the bar (they were pretty giggly) and then went to a BBQ place and the guys watched the KS/MO game. We had seen all the traffic backed up for this game earlier in the day on the interstate. I bet it was backed up 10 miles, no lie! People were tailgating along the side of the freeway. The hotel we stayed at was very nice - even had a big screen tv and a living room and we didn't get to enjoy either since we were just there for about 8 hours. And only $50!

On Sunday we headed out bright and early for the game. We had premium parking so we were right near the stadium. It's insane how much decorating/tailgate stuff some of these people bring. For food we had ribeyes, cheesy pots, baked beans, grilled veggies and brownies. The weather ended up being pretty nice. I even took my coat off for awhile. It was far different than the snow/ice/cold wind we had last year. Plus our seats were on the first level near the end zone so that helped too! (and they were free) The Chiefs lost at the end. I remind Steve that as he is ogling the cheerleaders Emma could be one some day! We also got out of the parking lot within a few mintues after the game is over. This is no small miracle when you see how many people are there. A quick stop for ice cream on the way and the weekend was over.

I was a bad scrapper and didn't take any pics at Thanksgiving or at the game.

Last night P had his Cub Scout pictures and I'm hoping they turn out decent. It didn't look like his smile was too weird.... Daddy is in KC tonight so we call it fun night when he's gone. They had pizza in front of the TV and watched Ben 10 cartoons. We'll it's their bedtime so over and out!

Gobble Gobble!

We've about down packing and then we're heading back home for our usual "double" Thanksgiving day. I ended up with 4 pumpkin pies. I may have gone a little overboard! I also made Cream Puff Dessert and Steve made a Sweet Potato Pie. I think we may have desserts coverered! The kids are staying back there until Sunday (since we are going to KC on Saturday and I help in Judi's shop on Friday) so I always tend to overpack for them. We're even throwing in the snowpants because all they've been asking since yesterday since it snowed, is when can we play outside?

Emma had her Thanksgiving skit yesterday at school. She was the narrator. She's a bit of a "talker" so not surprising she was assigned that part! Then she informs me yesterday morning that she did not want to do it and talk into a microphone. She was very stern about this. So I was really hoping that the play didn't consist of Emma with a big pouty face while the Pilgrims and Indians enjoyed their feast. When I got there she had a big grin and was in a good mood so all was well. At first she was talking pretty quietly and then by the end was doing pretty well. It was all very cute. Mrs. Gibson told me that up until about 5 minutes before I got there she still insisted that she wasn't doing it. Dang she's a diva! (I took some pics, but forgot to have my flash on - dang!)

I'm also beginning to think the van is cursed. So far I've had two flat tires and proceeded to get it stuck at the bottom of our driveway yesterday and was about 2 inches from having it go sideways into the ditch by our lane. Blue was saved by the tractor!

Well better finished packing. Steve looks antsy!

Pretty in Pink

Two fun things happened to me today!

1-Opened my mailbox and found a bunch of Rusty Pickle goodies that Jill (www.jillcornell.blogspot.com) had RP send me. It's the Princess Pirate line (www.rustypickle.com, then click on CHA Summer 2007)- papers, stickers, chipboard, you name it! It's pink and black, two of my fave scrap colors. I had bought a couple princess books to alter at MB on Saturday just because I liked them and they will be perfect for this line so I can't wait to get started! I think I'm going to list the ways that E is a pirate and list the ways she is a princess on one of them. I'm thinking I have a picture of her in an eye patch. If not I need to find the patch and snap away! Thanks again Jill!!!

2- Ran to the grocery store while P was at TKD to get a few things I needed for my Tgiving desserts and a few things for the tailgate on Saturday and picked up some beer. Guess who got ID'd?? And I don't think it was even a sympathy ask! She looked at it and said "wow." I used my manners and said thank you.

These two things totally offset the fact that the usual people were annoying me at work today and that I am still having tire issues on the van.

Most of All, We Need Snowpants!

That was his big "line" for the 1st and 2nd grade music concert on Thursday. We had him practice saying it with enthusiasm since he tends to mumble. Guess what?? There was mumbling :-) He still looked very dashing in his sweater and didn't forget his line. (In the pic he's waiting for his turn) When he first got on stage I could tell he was looking everywhere for us and probably mad that he couldn't see us. I forgot to tell him he wouldn't be able to. They sang a bunch of songs and played instruments too. I guess when there are 100 first graders up there, you get to actually hear what they are singing!

Friday Lauri had to take the day off so I got to leave work early on Friday to get him off the bus. Always nice when you get to leave on Friday! Lauri didn't know that there was a surprise party for her that night (big 50). We went into that and the kids were pretty excited. They were a little too "excited" for my taste at the party, but I guess we are just picky about how they act in public.

Saturday I went to a crop in at MB. Got quite a few things done. I was working on some Father's Day stuff for a call and I'm sure people around me thought that was weird since it's Thanksgiving time. I won a couple primo seats to a Stars game and VIP parking for next Friday. If Steve can't go then P will be my date. That'll mean thought that E and I will have to have a date sometime too then. When we were getting ready to go, the extremely dumb girl behind the counter got my order all messed and kept asking me how to fix it. Probably 20 minutes later it was finally resolved so we got out of there 30 minutes later than expected. I did get some cool new goodies and even used some of them too. P and E also had a busy day - haircuts, grocery shopping and P had a bday party to go to at the pottery place in town. He made this really cool mosaic P. I remember when we had bday parties, there was just cake involved! I really need to get in for a haircut. I've said that for months, but I'm hoping sometime this week for Tgiving. I'm like the Shaggy DA!

Just the usual Sunday business around here and getting ready for another busy week. Trying to make sure I have all the fixins for my Thanksgiving pies and food for our tailgate this weekend. We are going to a Chiefs game this weekend with some friends and Friday is also Steve's 39th bday!

We're an American Band, We're Coming To Your Town....

It's official - Steve is in a band again. It's a rock/county (ok primarily country) so he's hoping he can take it! Hopefully it doesn't cut into my crop schedule...lol.

There really wasn't much going on this weekend besides the usual church stuff and Steve hunting on Saturday, so the kids and I (primarily I) didn't do much. On Sunday the weather cleared up and they were able to jump into some big leaf piles. Daddy and Emma's coughs got worse as the day went on so most everyone got a nap in on Sunday. Monday both of them stayed home and got a bunch of meds from the doctor. Today E seems much better and we're only taking the pink yummy medicine now. P had tiger cubs tonight and they made dreamcatchers. He's sharing with Emma since she gets bad dreams and he wants to make sure she doesn't get any. He's so sweet!

Just the usual work and kid stuff around here I guess. Not much else to report.

Footloose

Last night was the big Mother/Son Dance. It is put on by the Parks and Recs department. For no bigger than our town is they have so much for the kids to do. I even wore a dress and pantyhose and a little makeup! P got me a corsage. I did stick myself a few times trying to get it on, but it's the thought that counts :-) There was a word search on the table and that seemed way more interesting than the dance at first to him. Then it got too dark and he began to bust a move. Sometimes the busting consists of jumping up and down or running around the dance floor, but there were a few (in particular Footloose) where he got his groove on. He even danced a slow one with me at the end, but I think he almost fell asleep on me. He'd been dancing for almost two hours. The punch was too "spicy" - I think it had 7 up in it - so he just drank water. I didn't get hardly any pics taken, but I thought this one is pretty good - just ignore the mess in the background.

Thursday night I had P's parent teacher conference and then went to TKD. His teacher gushed on about how great he is. Well mannered, sweet, smart etc. It makes a mom proud!

Today we did a WM run, but other than that we pretty much just hung out. Daddy was gone hunting, so Mom's rules can get pretty lax sometimes!

Just the Facts Ma'am....

Starting to slip on this blog thing a bit so I'll just update with a few "facts" from the last few days.

* Parker got a speaking part in his music program at school next Thursday. His line is about snowpants...riveting! Also found out Krista Madsen's daughter is in his class. Small world!

* I was doing a layout about Parker and was using a facts card so I had him get on the scale to see how much he weighed. I about died. He's at 54 lbs. He has no hips, no butt and skinny arms..where is all this weight? He is really solid though, guess it's all muscle...lol. He is 48 inches tall and Miss Emma is almost 46 inches and is 48 lbs.

* Parker went hunting for the first time on Sunday back home. It was pretty nice out so half of his camoflauge stayed home. The whole thing makes me a little nervous, but it sounds like he and daddy had a great time. They didn't see a thing, not even a squirrel.

* Miss Emma is really starting to read a lot. Awesome parent I am hadn't really noticed, but in my defense she refused to read for me at home and would only do it for the teachers at school. The other day she finally read to me and she was pretty proud of herself. She can't read every word, but is doing pretty well for a preschooler. They are giving her some one on one reading time each day at school. Neither of them wanted to be read to when they were little so how I got two early readers I'm not sure. Plus they were formula fed!

* Had a great time at the crop Saturday. I was very impressed on how it was organized and will definitely go again if they have it. I even won a door prize..of course Steph won two, but what's new? I got 6 layouts done and started on a mini album about myself. I did the layouts for some mag calls so we'll see if I get any love.

* I did find out today that a beaded bracelet I made with be in the March/April issue of Bead Trends Magazine. I was just messing around with some beads and made a few things the other month and two have already gotten picked up. Guess maybe I should make some more...like I need one more hobby, since I never get much time to scrap it seems the way it is! I also found out I made it to the 2nd round of the Daisy D's design team contest. It sounds like a lot of people did though, so hoping for the best. If not, I'm a big girl and won't cry! I'll just comfort myself by buying more supplies!

* I'm sure I'm missing something since I haven't posted in awhile and still need to post some pics. There's always tomorrow.....

Tag - You're It!

I've been tagged by Jill (someone from my hometown who is getting to be a very well known scrapper!) www.jillcornell.blogspot.com . I can't seem to get hyperlink to work so you guys will just have to look at more words!

1. I have to sleep with a blanket at night pulled up to my chin. This goes back to when I was little and was afraid the headless horsemen would chop my head off. I figured if he couldn't find my neck maybe he'd chop someone else's head off instead.

2. I eat sugar on my tomatoes. I think this is a Danish thing?

3. I love old "murder solving" shows - Murder She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder, Matlock, Columbo, Perry Mason etc. I currently have 6 Columbo's on the DVR.

4. Most things about my body aren't normal - I have two false teeth (the ones on each side of my top front ones), I have scoliosis so I tip to the right, my neck curves backwards because I fell out of my bunkbed when I was young on my head and my right arm is extremely crooked because I broke it in 4th grade and it never healed properly. Ok so I was a little clutzy!

5. My kids have 3 sets of Hansen grandparents (two sets of greats (one on each side) and one set of grand). My mom was a Hansen and I married a Hansen. We are from the same town, so probably way back when we could be related...creepy....

6. I've been read my rights. I was never charged and it happened in high school. I hadn't done anything wrong, so it's not nearly as rebellious as it sounds.

7. I slept at someone's house in 4th grade who's brother later turned out to be a school shooter in the 90's on the West Coast. Also another creepy....

I've tagged (do I know 7 people with blogs??) - www.allisonavenue.blogspot.com (Marnie), www.barelycontrolledchaos.blogspot.com (Heather), www.rachelanderic.blogspot.com (Rachel), www.bakerstories.blogspot.com (Roni), Mom doesn't blog anymore and Jill and Steph are already taken so there are only 4. Am I missing anyone? If I did consider yourself tagged.

THE RULES:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Halloween Recap

What was I think having a child born around Halloween...not only are there a million trick or treat things to do, but then we had to throw a party in there too! He didn't ask about having his friends over for a party and I didn't push it. The Hansens have been busy getting candy.
Friday: That night we went to Living History Farms (I get free tickets). This is their 3rd year of going to their T or T thing and it's pretty much the same stuff, but they still have a great time. Also last Friday I took the day off from work to go on Emma's class trip to a local pumpkin patch. There were a million things for them to do there - including a sandbox full of corn, haybales to climb on and tractor rides. It was pretty cool. There were a bunch of different schools there, including the 40 kids in Emma's preschool. It was an early out day at school which was good since she was pretty worn out by the time we got home.
Saturday: I went to a crop. It's always a good one and once again Steph was a big winner and I wasn't! I may or may not have bought a bunch of "goodies." There was a Halloween party in town on the square for the kids, so he took them trick-or-treating that morning. Parker was a little bummed though that his Power Ranger costume didn't win the costume contest. Since his mom doesn't sew...poor kid will probably never win one. That night the kiddos went to Aunt Steph's for the night and we went to a Halloween party. We went as Dwight and Angela. I pretty much just dressed like myself and but added barrettes. She's also in accounting. It was a little creepy all of the similarities. We ended up going out to a bar later and I was a "bit" draggy on Sunday.
Sunday: Didn't do much of anything (see Saturday). I did get brave and let the kids paint some figurines
Monday: The usual Monday stuff - TKD and baton.
Tuesday: Since the weather was nice I took them to town to T or T. I picked a road where I knew quite a few of the people, so I felt less guilty about being in a neighborhood I don't live in. Plus it was a cul-de-sac. I didn't realize though the road was still super long. We walked forever and hauled in a lot of candy. Of course half way thru Emma says she needs a potty break...sigh.... Parker was trying his homemade jokes out on people. I don't think he'll be headlining at the Funny Bone anytime soon.
Wednesday: More T or T. The local college (SC) has it in the dorms and houses on campus. There are also snacks and games for the kids. It's all free and it's awesome. After a few games we went on the candy tour. Each one of them filled their entire bucket. Parker walks super fast and Emma walks slow (plus we got stuck behind a weird kid who would dig thru every candy basket for 5 minutes), so of course I temporarily misplaced him. He wasn't concerned at all though, actually I don't think he knew he was lost. He just kept trick or treating. Went back to the student center and did a few more games. Then the kids wanted to go on the other tour. I had to get them plastic sacks since there were no more room in their buckets. They stayed up way past their bedtime. I think Parker got over tired because at one of the last houses, they had an elaborate display of live characters etc and he got scared and ran screaming and crying. Luckily no bad dreams that night. I had to leave E to chase him down across campus and figured she'd be scared since she kept saying she was scared earlier. Nope, this time she loved it and one of the parents took her along.
Thursday: Pampered Chef party at Marn's house. That meant Steve had to take P to TKD - ha!
Friday: Had to work late because of month end at work. Should pack for the crop tomorrow, but will just drag along most of the same stuff from last week.
Saturday: I'm going to a 15 hour crop (longest I've ever been too) and P has a bday party to go to. Hopefully Steve gets groceries since we're pretty much just down to candy to eat.

I haven't been home all week and I'm pretty much tuckered out. I keep eating their candy to give me energy!

I have a millions pictures from all of our shenanigans this week and will post sometime.

Drawing Diva

I just had to share a picture Emma drew on her Doodle thing, before she erases it. I'm amazed with some of the details she comes up with on her pictures. I can't draw to save my life and neither can Steve. At her age, Parker wouldn't even pick up a crayon. I'm also sharing a little paper mache purse I found at HL for around $3 (even came with the beaded handle) that I altered today.

Tae Kwen Do with a Cub Scout Chaser

I swear ever activity my kids have ever been in always happens on Monday. Monday's are always manic, but that means the rest of the week is not as crazy, so when we get thru Monday's the rest of the week is a breeze!

Steve took E to her baton/tumbling and he said she did a good job paying attention tonight - whew! She also was going crazy with her twirling and Ms. Jan noticed how good she was doing again. With her personality (and the fact that she likes to be in the spotlight) I think baton is a good fit for her.

P had his 2nd TKD class again tonight and is still enjoying it. It's pretty intense (discipline, paying attention etc). A lot of the stretches and moves they do I think I'd fall right on my a$$ if I tried. He would probably have loved it if I had done it...probably should have since I am extremely out of shape. He also had his Cub Scout pack meeting tonight. It started at the exact time that the TKD ended. We did a quick costume change and got there just a little late. (The first part of the meeting is pretty much just spent getting the kids quiet anyway). We get there and the school is locked - argh! Luckily I had a cell # for someone in there and they came down to get us. Tonight he got his Bobcat badge and he was super excited about that. He wanted it attached immediately. I told him it'd probably be his dad that would have to do that :-) I also included a pic of him rolling a potato with his nose tonight (one of the games they played) and some from the bday party and Night Eyes. Enjoy!

The Party's Over....

His bday party today went off without a hitch. The weather was even nice enough that the kids got to play outside for awhile (sorry Steph about the grass stains on P and R's church pants). He got the loot he wanted - Pokemon, Ben 10, a couple Game Boy games and some dinosaurs. He carried everything around with him till bedtime and about half of the stuff is sleeping with him tonight. I might update with some photos tomorrow - I'm too tired to mess with that tonight - but in all honesty I didn't get a whole lot of pics taken. But I know Grandma White House did...whew!

The kids had a busy Saturday too. They had a bday party at BK on Saturday morning for a kid from daycare and came home with a couple cool toys that haven't left their sides much. We then went to Night Eyes at the zoo that afternoon. The weather was awesome. Emma's costume was kind of skimpy so I had her wear a turtleneck under it and she got hot. For those of you that don't know, Night Eyes is trick-or-treating at the zoo along with ice cream, free bounce house stuff and other things for them to do. For $3 it's a great deal! We still have at least 3 more T or T things going on in the next week, so I figured we'd better spread this stuff out a bit. At least the kids get a lot of costume usage!

Well I'm off to bed...cooking and cleaning for this party wore me out. I'm not used to it! (I will post my potato soup recipe this week for those that are interested too)

You Say It's Your Birthday!

The hunting clothes were a bit hit (once he figured our what they were...lol)!! Here are some pics from this morning. Tomorrow we are going to a bday party at BK in the morning and planning to go to Night Eyes at the zoo in the afternoon since the weather is supposed to be nice....sometime I need to clean for Sunday, but I'll procrastinate on that as much as possible. Picked up a couple fun things tonight at HL to alter. Of course it took 20 minutes at the check out aisle. If everything wasn't on sale, I'd be upset.

Next Saturday night Steve and I are going to a Halloween Party. The kids are going to Auntie Steph's house (sweet). We're going as Dwight and Angela from The Office. Steve is already working on his props (Schrute bucks, sideburns, etc).

That's about all to report. Emma said she was on red today, but there was no note...so trying to figure out if she's teasing us about getting in trouble. She is quite the actress sometimes.

Karate Chop!

Tonight was P's first night of Tae Kwon Do. He had wanted to do it a couple months ago, but it interfered with soccer. This might replace wrestling for the winter activity this year...whew! The Parks and Rec dept puts it on for a small fee, plus it's on our side of town which is nice. He was very excited to get to do "karate." I'm sure he thought all they'd do is run around and karate chop each other. I only saw about the last 15 minutes, but fortunately there was no crazy karate chopping. He seems to like it and they were helping him a lot. It's a beginners class, but there is a huge variety in ages. Of course as soon as class was over, Aiden and Parker started karate chopping each other.... I have a feeling Daddy might get chopped below the belt sometime...hee hee...

Tomorrow Parker turns the big 0-7! Hard to believe! He wants to go hunting with daddy so Steve picked out some clothes for him for his present- coat, boots, gloves and of course the orange vest and hat. We already informed him he would not be carrying a gun. He did offer to be the dog and help find the pheasants! Right now I have cupcakes in the oven so he can celebrate at Lauri's after school and blow out a candle on a cupcake in the morning. Hopefully the kids want to get up tomorrow. They have both been having a hard time getting up. It's like they know daylight savings time is coming. At school treats have to be pre-packaged so Little Debbies it is! Also need treats for Sunday School. Parker will get a lot of sugar in the next few days!!!

On the scrap front, got a couple more things (including a beaded bracelet) picked up for Giftmaker and a picture frame for Paper Crafts. I was very happy with the frame and so it's nice when someone loves it back! I used some Basic Grey rubons I forgot I had and they were perfect for it. I celebrated by going to HL today...oops spent too much again.

P.S. We had a crisis on our hands. Gameboy had been lost for a couple days, but Daddy saved the day and found him in the couch cushions...crisis averted!

I Made Up Some Sign Language

Emma in the tub tonight - "Mom. When you shrug your shoulders that means I don't know. That's sign language, I made that up."

Had Parker's last soccer game tonight - it was muddy! They killed the other team again. At this point, it's actually kind of embarassing. The coach is now trying to emphasize sportmanship with them, since they are getting a little "over confident" now. Tomorrow is Emma's sharing day at school and since they are learning about the letter T, she wants to bring her big red Trex that roars. She said the boys will think it's pretty awesome!

Trying to think of what else has been happening besides rain. We pretty much just stayed inside yesterday after church (the kids sang at church and Emma just put a big grumpy face on - she was belting it out in practice..err..) . I made a few scrap things - most I was even happy with! Now we'll see if they get any love or not.... Peyton and Rylan came to visit most of the day on Saturday. In the afternoon all the kids went outside which means Steve watched the kids most of the time (they may have gotten just a tiny bit muddy).

Red Light, Green Light

Tuesday was Parker's first day back at school. Apparently he was a little rusty, since he came home bummed that he was on yellow. He said he had laughed at something someone did in class. Wednesday he was apparently a little rusty again....this time then he moved to red. He shouted out an answer to a question really loud I guess. One thing about Parker is he's pretty honest and not deceitful (yet). He fesses up when he gets in trouble. He did get banished from gameboy Wednesday night. I consider these "friendly fire" infractions. Meaning he wasn't being mean, a bully, lying, shoving etc. and that they were for talking, being goofy etc. If he was being mean, the punishment would have been worse at home. Emma is on yellow every once in awhile and fesses up too - hers are usually talking related. Her number got lost that goes on the stop light, so she told Mrs. Sellers that she could never be on yellow or red anymore...she's a thinker! Pretty quiet nights here kid-wise this week. We have our last soccer game on Monday.

Last night at work was the annual "Raffle Dazzle" party for United Way. People create gift baskets and then you buy tickets for to try to win them (of course I won nothing). There is also free food and drinks involved so of course I had to go! I didn't mean to stay the whole time, but couldn't let my tickets go to waste! Plus Daddy could get some kid time in since he'd been gone for a few days.

Today I went to the Scrapbook convention that was downtown. A project I thought I'd have to work on today got delayed till Monday so I decided to take the afternoon off to go. I didn't want to try to find parking so I walked from work. I had a sweatshirt on so was good and sweaty by the time I got there. I took the skywalk, but I work on the south side and it was on the north side so it was a pretty good jaunt. It's a really long jaunt back too - when you're hands are full of purchases. I bought a new trimmer (50 percent off) so hoping I like it. I've never been happy with my other one and I've had it for a few years, so I treated myself. Also got some things to alter. Also got some cute Doodlebug glitter. (Most of my stuff I bought was at the MB booth - I could just go to their store since it's 10 miles from there..duh) There were quite a few cute scrapping supplies I haven't found in the stores around here, but I was good and said no to most of it. There was a booth that mostly Scenic Route paper (one of my faves) and I even passed on it - mostly because I couldn't decide and wanted it all! Feeling guilty about how much $$ I spent then I got home and found out how much I'm getting paid for a couple cards and all was well again :-)

Tomorrow Peyton and Rylan are coming for the day. P and E are of course excited. Hopefully it's nice out and they can all burn some energy outside. I'll try to keep an eye on them on occasion!! Steve will be home and I'll try not to leave all the watching to him. I am hoping though to get some scrap stuff done. There are some deadlines coming I'd like to make some things for.

Over and out!

Better Late Than Never

I worried that the kids wouldn't get enough sleep last night because of not getting home till 9 last night. Turns out there was no need to worry. I woke up at 7 today and they were still sleeping. The bus comes at 7:05...so that obviously wasn't going to happen. Right after I got up P and E woke up too. P was all bummed because I had told him he could sleep till 6:30 and he slept till 7 instead. He is just like Steve... a morning person. It can get annoying sometimes, although at least on the weekends Steve is already up when they get up..so no point in me getting up so early too!! More than once Parker has told me I'm wasting the day and that I sleep too much. Emma is a little more like me...we hate the morning. I really thought I had turned the alarm clock on. Oh well...we all eventually got to school and work. Steve is usually the one that makes sure we're up. We ate on TV trays the whole time he was gone...we're such rebels!

Go Emma...Go Emma.... (shameless bragging)

Tonight was the usual Manic Monday. It was more manic than usual though because Steve is out of town and E's parent/teacher conference was tonight too. We have nothing going on the rest of the week...yeah!

Left work early to get everyone picked up and to baton/tumbling. I was watching and Emma wasn't paying much attention to what was going on - we are still working on the focusing part sometimes. Then they started doing the helicopters (it's what I call the regular baton twirl) and she starts going to town. The owner even noticed and had her stand in front and show everyone and then she did it with her left hand too. To be noticed by her is a pretty big deal. She runs a huge baton/dance place nearby and has all the twirlers at the big colleges around here were taught by her. This year's Miss XXXXXXX was taught by her too. Although not sure how good I'd want Miss Noodle to be since if she turns out to be pretty good in a few years, that'd mean competition team and more scheduling!!

Anyway back to the bragging... so we had time to kill between baton and conferences so we went to McD's for quite awhile. No playland, but the kids sat pretty quiet and kept themselves entertained. We get to conferences about 7:20 - ours was at 7:30. They were running behind (they always are). This weird man was sitting beside us and was the 7:15. Finally he went in and I swear he stayed in there as long as possible just to make us wait. It was at least 8:15 before we finally got in there. The kids didn't end up in bed till 9, so good luck teachers tomorrow! (P starts back to school tomorrow) The kids did really well considering we sat out in the hall with nothing to do for at least an hour. I received glowing reviews on Emma and she seems to have sucked everyone in with her cuteness. We talked a little about her moods, looks she gives you etc and how she can sometimes be a bit stubborn....not sure who she'd get that from?? She gets along very well with the other kids and the teacher kept going on about how smart E is. She got a perfect score on a reading assessment test and has been reading a bunch of stuff around the room. I knew she understood rhyming since she helped P when he was in presechool. I'm also amazed about how detailed her drawings are. They are going to do some extra reading work with her. I sometimes think that E knows more than she lets on and the teacher agreed. I think sometimes she likes to act all helpless and dumb. Isn't it too early to act that way???

Ok. I'll stop bragging :-) Just proud!

When the Cat's Away the Mice Will Have Problems

The other weekend Steve was gone and we had a monsoon and then I got a flat tire. Steve leaves yesterday morning and when we get back from soccer and running errands the toilet won't flush. Luckily we have a couple of spares! Then this morning I hurt my neck/shoulder yet again. I'm averaging about every week on this anymore. I'll be fine by tomorrow. Then we get home from church and I pull into the garage. I immediately realize we're locked out. I had locked the door between the garage and house last night since Steve was gone and I forgot to unlock it. Luckily I remembered where the extra key was.

The neighbor girl who is 10 is over playing with the kids right now. I even made them cookies! I'm hiding out in my scrap room and working on some projects. I got a card picked up for Giftmaker and they asked that I make a gift box to go with it. Almost done with it and even happy with how it turned out. I got my advanced copy of the November issue of Memory Makers magazine in the mail yesterday that features Miss E dressed up as Sackajawea. Of course Hansen is spelled wrong in one spot in the mag. Not sure why Hansen is so hard to spell..... Oh well, just excited to be in there! I'll post a shot of it when I'm able. The most exciting part though is I cleaned my room and I can get to my desk again!!!!

We Rock!!

Haven't posted in a few days, but not much out of the ordinary going on. Parker doesn't have school this week so he's pretty much just been chillin' at Lauri's. Lauri had to take Wednesday off so I stayed home. We ran a bunch of errands in the morning, he spent his Tooth Fairy $ on a Starlee (don't ask) and Emma got out of school early at 1 so we stopped by on the way home to get her. I love picking the kids up from school. I wish I could do that more often :-(

Parker had one of his last soccer games on Thursday night. I even remembered to bring my camera. Of course I think I had it on the wrong setting for action photos, so most are a little blurry! Once again they smoked the other team. They don't get obnoxious about it although I did chuckle when Aiden (Parker's buddy) turned to us, held up his fist and said "We rock!" Here are some various pics from the game - we're purple. Of course most are off center...I'll blame that on Emma since she kept standing in front of me :-) Aiden is the kid making the face and Emma is with Aiden's brother Elijah. They have become pretty good buddies too. The other pic of Emma was taken by their mom.

Steve leaves for his hunting trip tomorrow so the kids and I will pretty much just run amuck while he's gone. Lots of mac and cheese and chicken nugs.

Tooth Fairy 101 Basics - I received an F

Well tooth fairy didn't do so well. Here I posted that I needed to remember to be the "fairy" and then I totally spaced it off and went to bed. Parker woke up this morning and checked. Tooth was still there. Luckily he wasn't too upset. I told him that sometimes that happens, especially if the tooth fairy had a busy night. It was still dark out so the tooth fairy was still on her way. (I can remember the tooth fairy dumping my tooth down the drain once...mom) I went and wrote a note that said she was pretty busy and that he had 2,543 teeth to pick up and that was a new record. Fairy also felt guilty so I left a 5 bill dollar (that's what P calls it) Of course he wants to get a Ben 10 guy with it. Last time tooth fairy visited P forgot to even check. I wasn't so lucky this time! He also asked me if the Tooth Fairy had helpers and when I said I didn't know he said, "Well I bet God would know."

Had another Manic Monday - with the usual work craziness followed by the sports/baton craziness and ending with a church meeting. There were some older kids that kept messing around during their soccer practice (I think it was kids that were practicing after them and kids of some of the parents there) and one kid kicked the ball about 2 feet from Parker and hit him in the eye and it even knocked him off his feet. He was worried about "bleeds", but doesn't look like he'll even have a shiner. I told the older kids to get off the field. I'm sure I ticked some people off but too bad.

Not much to report on Miss E. We've been playing a lot of Ponyville and I'm not sure how many more fake milkshakes and suckers I can take!

A Bit of My Stuff

I also

The buttons on the Delight layout are from Grandma's clothes.

Another One Bites The Dust....

Parker has had another loose tooth for awhile and today while we were eating lunch he kept messing with it because he said it was very wiggly. A couple minutes later out it came! It was a side bottom one. His top ones are coming in pretty big and I'm sure crooked with my dental history. I should already start saving for braces! Emma keeps wondering when she'll lose some. That reminds me the tooth fairy needs to visit tonight.....

I actually got quite a bit done yesterday at the crop (for me) and I was happy with what I created. I of course bought a few things, but even used some of it right away. I had never been to a crop before where they put out door prizes and don't give them out.... I guess it's the new way to do things or something.... I battled with my scanner today to get them scanned/stitched and will post some in a bit. Some didn't scan the best but you can at least get the general idea. We had some heavy rain for a few minutes and of course in the midst of scanning one our power surged and I had to start over. I swear creating the page takes less time than getting ready to submit it!

It sounds like the fundraiser/dinner was a huge success yesterday. I was worried my scrap stuff wouldn't be popular but I guess a bunch of people wanted it and it went pretty high. It's amazing how many people scrap though (or want to get started). I sold a ton of stuff at my garage sale too and when I did a basket for P's school last year it did well too. Yet my scrap room is still packed to the gills...I have a serious problem I will admit it...

Just a Smidge

Today Emma said she was just a smidge on the yellow. We couldn't get her tell us much about her "infraction" besides that it was for talking...shocking!! On the way in today she pointed out the principal's office and told about the kids from class who have been there. She also pointed out the seats you sit in to wait to go in and see him. (Remember he's the person with the "neck tag.") She said he wears that because he is in charge.

Parker had another soccer game tonight. We were missing 3 kids and only had 6. They play 5 on 5 so only one could sit out at a time. The other team had 9 so they had fresh legs. The Wings were still victorious!! We lost count after awhile. It's so nice to be on a team this year where the coach cares and has been teaching them skills. Winning isn't everything, but when you've always been on the teams that have gotten killed it's a nice change of pace! Then as we were leaving he of course asks if he can go home and play soccer.

On the way to the game I swung by WM to get a few pics printed for Saturday. I tried loading thru the website but since we have dial up...it is not very successful or fast. I only wanted 12 4x6's and 4 5 x 7's printed. It seemed so easy. I did the one hour so that I could get them in time for the crop. Steve said he'd swing by and get them. I forgot to remind him to look at the pics and make sure everything was ok. Well it's WM so of course it wasn't. I am not a happy camper! I'll have to stop again tomorrow and then wait until they can print them again. Wow for 1 hour service it sure is a lot of work! 2 of my 5x7's were missing, 3 of my 4x6's were black (even though index print specifically shows them on there) and they overchaged me by 25 on each 4x6. I'm debating if I'll swing by HL on the way there tomorrow since they are having huge sales.....

Work has just been insane crazy this week so the weekend can not get here fast enough!

I'm A Tiger - Hear Me Roar!

Parker had his first den meeting tonight. Today Steve went and got his uniform - complete with precut sticky stuff to stick the patches to the shirt (sweet). Steve also attached the patches. I think that's only fair since I've been going to the meetings! I've been threatening to volunteer him to be assistant den leader :-) Of course about 15 minutes after we get there he loses his metal neckerchief holder somewhere in their yard...sigh.... It was getting dark fast and E and I looked for it with no luck. It was at Aidan's house (P's best bud) so he was more than a little wound up. We will be emphasising that a Cub Scout needs to be a better listener and have fun but not get too goofy. I think he's going to a sleepover at his house soon too. If between two busy families we can come up with a date. I took some pics and this is the best one. The pics where he is upright he of course that goofy weird smirk going on. I'm tired so that all you're getting tonight on the kidlets.

She Speaks the Truth!

Tonight the kids were playing balloon tennis (balloons are raquets and you hit a balloon-hence the name) and Emma needed another balloon blown up. She said, "I can do it Mom. I'm full of hot air." I taught her not to lie :-)

Meow

Probably about a year ago Parker acted like a cat ALOT... I always hoped he wasn't doing that at school. Apparently not since he seemed to have friends. Luckily the cat phase was short lived since it was more than a little awkard when you're at Walmart and he's meowing or trying to rub against your leg. Although actually that probably doesn't stand out much at WM now that I think about it. Anyway....last week and this week is intercession at school and his group is covering Fairy Tales. He was excited because they did a drama play (that's what he called it) and he got to be the cat in "Little Red Hen." He had his first pack meeting for Cub Scouts tonight. We had football practice first so he was probably a little ripe, oh well!

Miss Emma had her baton/tumbling tonight and came home with a cute pink Superstars lunch bag from the teacher. When I asked her about it she informed me it was for toys and was NOT a lunchbox. I'm picturing it holding her Polly Pockets very soon...or more likely rocks and sticks. She goes into school like she's been going there for months. She doesn't even want me to walk her in, but Mom did put her foot down on that. We pull up today and get out and there is a guy getting into his car. She says, "Mom, that man isn't Mr. Woods (the principal). He's not wearing a tag." I assume she means a badge/ID of some kind. Her school reminds me of my grade school growing up so I was suprised they'd have ID tags. No air, a sign that says visitors check in but no one does and bathrooms with little bitty toilets. She prefers the medium toilet. Anyway, we are walking in and she talks again about the tag. She points to her throat and says "He always wears a neck tag." I knew with her it's better to not correct her. Too cute!

Tuesday is a quiet night for us, so I'll probably tackle some laundry. I didn't get around to making anything for Scott's benefit this weekend...I can't get to my desk again, my organizing went horribly wrong and the mess is worse than ever, so I'm going to cheat and put together a basket of scrap goodies instead. Hope to do that tomorrow. Scrapping all day Saturday at a Scrap Pink crop (Breast Cancer awareness) and of course I have no pictures printed yet. Man I wish I could upload from home...errr.... I am looking forward to girl company for 12 hours.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

From Emma:
While driving by a corn field - "They are carvining corn. It looks like they got tired." (part of field still had corn left.)
While singing "People on the Bus" in the van the other day - "The driver on the bus says ooh, on , at...ooh on at....ooh, on at." I tried to correct her but that did not go well!
She says this about everything lately - "OMG." We told her Oh My God wasn't nice to say so she is now abbreviating.
While asking Parker about stuff - "Hey Bud. Do you want to play?" "What are you doing Bud?"

From Parker:
Guess What??? Guess What??? Guess What??? (This gets old fast)
After coming home from school the other day - "Guess what Mom? Anna told me your middle finger is like a swear word."
When asked why he had a bag of red poisonous berries on the counter from their fishing trip today - "Guess what Mom? Whenever an animal is being mean to a bird, I'll throw a berry to them."
The majority of his conversations though revolve around Pokemon...sigh...

Well the tire is now fixed and my horrible Friday and Saturday are over. We never made it to soccer practice on Saturday and I got a bruise on my shin while trying to find a part to the air hose. I spent today back home with my family helping to clean Grandpa's house. I am not used to cleaning so I am sore and very tired! I hate Sunday nights, that means Monday morning is coming soon. I used to like working and lately not so much. I guess I'm still just down I can't afford to work part time. Plus I thought DH tonight was new and it was just another recap show....errr....

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

The day started out fine. Kids off to school, went to work. Nothing really ticked me off at work anymore than usual. Then it everything changed on the way home....

Steve was heading back to his parents tonight and helping to clean at Grandpa's tomorrow so I was in charge of picking up the kids. I tried not to dally at work since I need to get Parker picked up by 5:15. Of course I was hoping to leave a few minutes earlier than I did at work, but I still had time. I was debating who to pick up first and decided to get Emma first. On the way it suddenly starts raining - I mean monsooning. It was honestly the worst rain I had ever driven though. Luckily I'm kind of familiar with the roads to her school, but still I was terrified. It's just a two lane road and there was no where to pull off for fear someone would drive right into the back of me. You couldn't see anything at ALL. I just forged ahead.... Finally after a few miles I get to Emma's school and the rain has let up a little. By this time it's 5:15 already. I get Emma (she was super excited because she picked a tube of dinosaurs from the treasure box today) and it's raining pretty hard again. She said she didn't want an umbrella and that she likes the rain. By the time we get to van she's hysterical because she's so wet. So now I'm listening to her crying. I call Lauri to tell her we're en route. We take off and I look down and a weird light is on the dashboard. Hmmm, wasn't sure what it was since we just got the van, but I think it was telling me I have tire either flat or losing air. Considering that it was still a monsoon I didn't want to be driving with a flat, I pulled over (we'd gone two blocks at this point) and I get out to check. A wave of rain hits me and I'm totally soaked..even down to my skivies. I get out and check and nothing is flat. I get back in. By this point the inside of the van is soaked and the floor mats are muddy. We finally get to Lauri's (and Emma has stopped crying by now). Guess what? The electricity is out! The rain let up a little when I picked up Parker and then drenched us on the way home. Since the electricity is out, we can't park in the garage so we park as close as we can to the front door. At least the rain let up a little again and the kids went inside. Someone else also darted inside.... an 85 lb lab named Bosco. He was wet and terrified. For some reason (he's not very smart and he's also scared of water) he hadn't taken shelter by his doghouse (he's also scared of his dog house, but it's still dry outside the house too). I'm guessing it suddenly started raining and he couldn't get to where his doghouse is so he hid under his bush. Although it's also covered near our front door so not sure why he didn't just sit there. Like I mentioned he's pretty dumb (but lovable). It was still raining and I couldn't physically get him back outside so I got a blanket for him to lay on by the door. Of course he didn't want to lay there, but a foot from the blanket. About 3 minutes after we're in, it stopped raining!

Then the kids (and I) immediately start having electricity withdrawl..... They can't understand that when the electricity is out it's everything. They start checking lights, TV's etc. We spend a few mintues trying to to get the dog back out with no success. The house is already getting pretty dark. We had planned on pizza tonight, but with no electricity they had sandwiches instead. We ate and hung out a bit in the room that had a little bit of light. We were all extremly bored and I was trying not to fall asleep because it was so dark. By this point, Bosco had dried off and had migrated over to where we were sitting. It's a little after 7 and I told them if the electricity stays out we'll probably go to bed in a bit. Then it's a miracle - there was light! Parker put his fist in the air in excitement and off we went to sweet TV and internet access. They were able to have popcorn. I had kind of forgotten the dog was in the house and while I was checking email (found out I had nothing selected for the next issue of Paper Crafts :-( ) out of the corner of my eye I see the dog. I was worried because he was now in the family room surrounded by plastic (and for him that's food). He jumped on the couch and immediately stuck his head behind the cushion. I think he was trying to be invisible. I still tried to pull him off and get him outside - no luck. He started watching TV and tried to be as still as possible so I wouldn't see him. In his defense he didn't once try to eat plastic. I was starting to get worried though since I figured he would need to use the "facilities" soon and as far as I know he isn't housebroken. I let the kids stay up a little late (of course P was still up at 6 today). The dog and I then watched a little TV and I kept nodding off. I still couldn't get him out - I even tried tricking him with his favorite chewy. I slept on the couch for a little bit and woke up about midnight. He's still laying there on the couch. (Of course he had picked my fave couch spot). Finally with some more tugging I got him outside. He gave me those really pitiful eyes. Not sure how today will go -if he'll try to come back in tonight. He had never ever tried to come in before. It's hard to get an 85 lb dog to move! The tire is now officially flat we are supposed to have soccer at 9. I was also going to run some errands - pick up Tiger Cub clothing, kids need a few clothes etc. today but that isn't going to happen now. And to top it off my back is killing me today.

Yesterday honestly felt like one of those dreams where you wake up and so much happened that didn't make sense and you're exhausted. It was no dream!