Happy Birthday Antie!

I think most of you have heard that Emma has been having tummy troubles. It is very sporadic, but has been going on since probably the beginning of the year. She gets terrible stomach cramps, throws up here and there and often gets the scoots. It does sound like the stomach flu, but it isn't. It usually lasts 24-48 hours, although she had a 4 day episode in May where we went to the dr. They weren't sure what it was but gave her some acid reflux medicine. (Usually her episodes start in the middle of the night or after she gets up in the morning). She had an episode a couple weeks ago and she had to miss school so we went back in. The doc sent her to a pediatric gastronologist this Weds. He did an initial exam and then they had to do the dreaded blood test. (And of course we kept getting lost in the hospital). They did a bunch of tests including testing for celiac disease (gluten allergy). The women in my family and also some in Steve's family have stomach issues too so the poor thing is probably screwed. Today we went back for an ultrasound and and xray where she had to drink Barium. I thought it was an MRI, but I guess not. They were also checking to make sure the tube to her stomach wasn't twisted. If it is she'd need surgery, although the dr is pretty sure it is probably abdominal migraines. I have never heard of those!

She was a trooper! She asked the cutest questions and was totally adorable. They mixed the barium with Hershey's syrup and she said it was delicious. She did have some trouble getting the pop rock thingies down, but they looked like shards of glass...I wouldn't have wanted them either! After she got all done the child liason lady let her pick a toy. She picked a Beanie Baby anteater..and I will name her Ant she said. We looked at the tag tonight and it's bday is today...how weird is that? Today she drew some ants and cut them out for him and tonight we had a bday party for Ant. She made him a hat and we wore party hats too. We sang Happy Bday to him and we celebrated with slices of cheese with candles in the middle. Of course I didn't have the camera! And she said real seriously to me, "Now Mom, you know I ate Ant's cheese for her don't you?"

We should know the results of everything early next week. The migraines are treatable with medicine (although she would have to have an EKG first, so that's a little creepy) and they also said you can outgrow them. Of course that might not be the problem, we'll wait and see. Right now she's feeling 100 percent!

I'll end this post with a tap dancing unicorn!

We've Made Progress!

We've had the hole in the back yard for a couple weeks...then it rained....

The cement dudes were finally able to get started and they've been here yesterday and today and this is what the back looks like now. Stay tuned for more excitement!

Halloween Hijinks

Since it was too windy to go to any Trick or Treat stuff tonight, we tackled the pumpkins. Emma is also excited that we are roasting some of the seeds. Can you tell whose pumpkin is whose? I just can't believe how artistic she is! Parker's was very simple and clean and also very cool.

Here they are in their costumes when we went to Night Eyes Friday night. It stopped raining long enough that we were able to go. We had about a million things to do this weekend (and the flu also hit us during some of the craziness) Emma wanted to be a unicorn or pony again (she's been one the last 2-3 years) but we could no longer squeeze her into it. Most of the little girl costumes were "prostitoty" and she didn't like them anyway...whew! We went with another unicorn. Unfortunately they only made them in small, but since it just sits around your waist we should get another couple years out of this. She gets a new costume and Parker ended up with a 25 cent Frankenstein mask. That is what he wanted to be, so everything worked out ok. Still trying to fit in time to go to LHF, also hitting a TorT thing tomorrow night at a park, and the local college on Thursday - weather permitting. And Steve is gone part of the week so I will be deranged by the weekend. Sprinkle in some TKD and dance and the week will go by in a blur.

Also wanted to post a some bday pics when Parker turned the big 0-8 on the 19th. He got bday muffins in the morning (he totally hearts muffins so that was perfect), wanted UB Funkeys and a Sponge Bob Cake.

I will try to post again soon with more details of other Happenings, but no promises. I've been getting some grief the blog hasn't been updated, but my life is nuts so you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!

Miss Noodle is Six!

I was going to post a goo goo baby picture of her and then realize I wasn't digital back then! Too much work this late at night to find a "regular" one and then scan. Maybe another day :-)

She has been WOUND up all day from the sounds of it. Apparently bday cupcakes aren't a good idea? Every single person she met today at school, at soccer, on the bus etc. heard it was her bday. I've never had to worry about her being shy.

I would post pics from the morning, but the camera currently hates me and we're having some uploading issues. So instead here is one of her (and her hair) recently at soccer. It was a little cold!

Goo Goo Babies

The kids were asking today about when they were goo-goo babies and again there was the story of how Parker didn't cry when he was born, but peed all over the doctor and then Emma screamed her head off. Pretty much they are still that way!

Then I jokingly said to them, "What if Mom had another baby?" I've asked before and they very adamantly say NO! Well that backfired on me today. Parker definitely wants a brother or sister. He said he didn't care if they cried and if it was a boy he wanted to name it Josh and if it's a girl Leah. He said you have a belly is there a baby in there? (He's not winning any points here!) He then wants to know how long it takes to get a baby in my tummy, how does the baby come out, etc etc... Emma says, "I know how the baby gets in there. Mom and Dad get married. When they decide to have a baby Mom takes a pill and gets a baby in her tummy. It's like those pills on TV that you put in water and turn into a farm animal." She was very serious as she's mentioned the pill things before...lol.

I told Parker that babies cry a lot and that he would have to help with the diapers. He said that was more of a thing that moms and dads do but he would play with it. I'd better get them the fish they've been asking for to take their minds off this baby business!

He's Got Catitude!

This time of year seems to come up so quickly...the dreaded annual vet appointment. Actually it's been 2 years. We kept procrastinating and last year it got away from us. When he was a kitten the visit went smoothly. He is now 12 plus, and does NOT like the vet. He never goes anywhere and so the minute he's in the car and them smells all the animals at the dr, it gets ugly. The last few years we've had to medicate him. The vet has a "Panic Attack" note in his chart. The vet would try to wear the leather bird gloves and Cooper would still try to gnaw his arm off. Each year we are given a pill to break in half. One half for this year, one half for next year. One year it was the big half and he would be a little more mellower than the small half year. He would try to hiss but couldn't quite attack. After we'd bring him home with his kitty hangover, you'd have to try to keep him from walking around for a bit since he was totally stoned. Once the buzz wore off, then he was mad at you for a day or two. This time the vet recommended the whole pill since he was pretty violent the last time. I haven't seen Cooper at all today, so apparently he's still sleeping of the 'ludes! Cooper can be a bit stuck up, but he generally isn't mean (well ok most of the time he's nice....). He was once an only child, then put up with two moves, then two kids and we never had any of the peeing, spraying, destroying issues so I'll give him props on that. Now that the kids are older he will let them pet him sometimes and he especially likes Emma. I'm of course his favorite and the minute the kids go to bed, he climbs out from sleeping under the bed and is attached to my side or lap for the rest of the night.

Thank goodness it's another year before checkup and shots! This is always way more stressful than when the kids got them!

P.S. He also doesn't like to wear hats!

So Far So Good!

I know, I know. It's been forever since I posted. Just busy with life as usual.

I've been getting some heat to post some updated pics of the front porch. Here is where it's at today. Steve has been working hard and got it shingled yesterday. I'm guessing a month or so from now they addition will be started and eventually that ugly siding and trim will be gone! The rooms will be added to the back of the house. Contrary to what someone thought - no - we are not jacking the house up and putting the basement under it. The basement is going in the back with two bedrooms above it. (The back of our house is already partially underground already) We're still in discussion about if we're keeping the rock front or not??

It's almost midnight so I'm off to bed.

I'm Now A Face On The Book!

Like I'm not online enough the way it is, I joined Facebook last night. I haven't figured out much yet besides the basics. Of course this has cut into my updating the family blog time!

This is a picture of the front of the house this morning. The stinky dog poop smelling bushes (and they smelled that way before we got the dog) are gone! I also can't wait till we are rid of that ugly siding and trim. Of course we haven't gotten the final quote yet, so maybe I will be looking at this ugly siding for awhile longer!

Just the usual kid doings last week. Each had a soccer game. It started to rain during Emma's so it's always fun to sit in wet capri jeans and watch 5 year olds roll around on a soccer field. Although I think they still won by 10 goals or so. Parker's team played a tougher team this week so that took a little wind out of their sails. They ended up tying 1-1.

They started riding their different bus on Wednesday (when traditional school started). The bus comes a little later which is nice since the princess isn't a morning person. She may get that from me?

Well it's midnight and once again I'm still up messing around on this stupid puter.

Thoughts on BB: I think Dan made a stupid mistake.

Thoughts on The Hills: Yes I'll admit I watch that trash. Could there have been anymore commercials on the season opener?

Did You Eat the House Bosco??

This is what the kids have been asking the dog...lol. He has been known to eat anything that wasn't nailed down, but this is actually Steve's doing. Bosco didn't eat the porch! I snapped this picture Friday morning, but since then the bushes are gone and he's hammered some wood to make the porch roof. I'll try to remember to take one tomorrow to update everyone on the house doings.

Miss E has had quite the week. First her rockstar reading, then she had her first soccer game on Thursday night. She scored two goals! I knew that she had the skills, but in practice she often laid down or did sommersaults, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect :-) The whole team did great! They looked pretty rag tag during the practices, but I think almost every kid made a goal or at least made a lot of contact with the ball. In the other teams defense half of their team was missing so they were getting pretty tired, but E's team still had a pretty strong victory (although you don't keep score at this age, but of course every kids does!) On Friday then she casually mentioned that her art teacher didn't send her project home because he wants to feature it in the school art show. Go Emma!

Tonight Peyton and Rylan spent the night with their cousins. They are all now hunkered down in Parker's room. Emma claimed the floor and Peyton and Parker are in one bed. Rylan is in the top bunk. Hopefully P and P don't kick each other too much! Before they went to sleep Parker explained to him that he likes to get up early because that's the best part of the day and you can get a lot done. He is SOOO like his father!

Thunder Thighs

We are now officially into the soccer season. The kids have had a few practices and Parker had his first game last night. Emma's first is on Thursday. Parker's team spanked the other team 8-0. Parker was excited when it was his turn to be goalie, but the other team couldn't get anywhere near our side so he didn't get to boot it out of the end like he wanted. He has a really great coach who has been working with them a lot. Now that he's older they play positions too. I so don't understand soccer, but there is offense and defense like there is in basketball.

The Hansens also tackled the State Fair on Sunday. We get there bright and early to we can see the popular stuff like the Big Boar and Butter Cow (Butter Shawn Johnson did not look like her...what's up with her monster thighs? Or maybe it was more her monster shoulders?) We had the usual variety of fried foods and topped it off with ice cream. I get free tickets, food and concert thru work, so it's a pretty cheap day for us...sweet! We did skip the Wynonna concert. The weather was gorgeous in the morning. I really expected to be sweaty. About noon it did get hot (and it didn't help I had to walk a mile to go back and get Emma's missing hat), but we survived the fair once again!

The Hansens house renovation has officially begun. We haven't signed a contract yet with anyone for the remodel, but since Steve has ripped off the front porch, I think it's a go! With the remodel I'm getting a little hosed in the scraproom department, but P and E will get bigger rooms and I'll be a good mommy and put them ahead of my scrapping :-) I'm going to take over their 2 bedrooms (so I guess I have a supply room and a crop room?)

My reality thoughts:

The Mole - although I was wrong about who I thought it was, I was very happy with the outcome. If witchy woman had won I would have been mad! I was glad that Mark won the money - he really loved his family and wanted to help them out.

Big Brother - I'm not sure why this show sucks me in every year. I guess to help me realize I'm not the nutcase like I think I am....when you look at some of those weirdos! Speaking of weirdos, man our WM has gotten skanky lately. When you see a 2 year old named Bubba it makes you go hmm.....

Tres Gracias

Three things I'm thankful for lately:
1 - was almost sideswiped yesterday and I managed to miss the guy by about 2 millimeters. His big truck with the 8 in the windshield would have won against my Sedona I'm afraid!
2 - Picked up P's nosespray tonight. Hopefully the prescription is finally straightened out. First the insurance didn't like the way the dr wrote the prescription. Then Walgreens was supposed to store in the fridge and didn't. They can't seem to get that part right. I have to call them tomorrow since the last batch they gave us they didn't have in the fridge either. Anyway the good news is that the retail on the nosespray is about $500.. and we pay $10! Yeah for insurance! I guess I'll keep working...yick. Oops this is supposed to be a thankful post...lol.
3 - Some scrap goodies I won came today. See this link to see the shirt they sent Steve :-)

I'm Melting.... (Picture the Wicked Witch)

Well at 6:00 tonight it was still 94 degrees...and this didn't include the heat index factor! Well the Hansens ventured off after church today to the I Cubs game. I had already bought the tickets and it was Scout Day and I didn't really want Parker to miss it. We had to be there an hour early (were already drenched in sweat just walking from the car - I refuse to pay $6 to park so we had to walk a little) and as usual it was disorganized since it was Scout related! I had broken the I Cubs law and smuggled in some contraband aqua. I put I Cubs hats and sunscreen on top of it and and chatted up the ticket guy, so he just did the quick cursory peek and I was in! Cub Scouts are about honesty and integrity...but for $4 bottles of water, I break the law sometimes.... After they walked out on the field we tried to sit down and wait the next 45 minutes till the 1:05 game started. The seat were literally burning our butts! We tried a couple different places and still it was hot cross buns! I was trying to convince Steve we should sit in the assigned seating in the shady spots, but Mr. Honesty didn't want to get in trouble. So in the end, we left the game and didn't see one minute of it. It was just TOOOOO hot. I still have a headache from the heat. We ended up going to Steph's since G and G White House were visiting. The kids got to play with their cousins and the women hit WM and Dollar Tree to buy a lot of useless knick knacks! A few scrap thing may have accidentally fallen into my cart.

Our last night plans of going to the last night of the Balloon Festival was also a dud. It was so windy that we didn't even bother going. Next year we'll need to get our cabooses out there earlier in the week! We just had too many kid things going on this year.

Miss Emma's Latest Card

Emma's Latest Creation - pretty cute I think!

Long Time No See

Schnakees!!! This blog thing is slipping away from me! How can work go so slow most days, yet you look back on life in general and weeks go back in the blink of an eye! Once again I'll need to just highlight our Happenings...and along the way forgot funny stuff since it's been forever since the last post!

* Steve went on the Warren County tractor ride for the fair. He did this last year too. He got her all shined up as usual. He's so proud! I'm hoping we can afford to build some kind of shed/building thingy where he has more room to tinker!
* Took the kids into the county fair last Saturday. Glad we didn't wait till Sunday since it rained (I mean monsooned! We lost electricity for about 5 hours...BORING!) Anyway, the kids loved all the animals and are plotting to get some chickens to raise. Also got them ride wristbands. For once I even thought of it before the fair, so we got them at a discount. For $12 a kid, they can ride as much as they want for 4 hours. I think they only rode for an hour or so and I bet they each went on 15 rides. When rides are $3plus a piece...it's a good deal! Parker got brave and went on some bigger rides. Emma mastered the carousel pretty well!
* Finished up with swimming lessons last week. They got a lot braver as the lessons went and could do more things. They didn't pass to the next level, but to be honest I didn't expect them too. We never get to the pool, so their swimming knowledge so far is pretty basic. I just want them to be comfortable in water more than anything.
* The National Balloon Classic has started and Parker and his Cub Scout troup were in the parade last Saturday. It's about 1/4 the size of the 4th of July parade in my hometown (thank goodness). Emma still collected a lot of candy! Their float involved water guns and as you can tell by the picture he was having a great time! We're going into see the balloons tomorrow night. That's one of my fave things about living in this town...the balloons!
* Both kids started soccer practice this week. Their first practice was cancelled due to tons of water on the fields due to the monsoon like conditions on Sunday. They had practice last night and it was hot, hot, hot! Parker is 7-8 group now and I see a difference in the teams. They are now expected to do more passing, play positions etc. In the 5-6's if no one cries or you actually get a goal...it's a good day! He's got a pretty good set of legs on him and I think he'll have a good time again this year. E had a good time too, even with her head drenched in sweat! She was laughing and giggling so I'll to help her to focus...lol.
* Tomorrow is a neighborhood garage sale...I'm letting Steve tackle that...nuf said.
* Sunday we head to another I Cubs game, this time for Scouts. It's a 1:00 game and it's supposed to 95, plus Heat Index...so Mommy will try really hard not to get crabby! I wasn't thinking and I should have just gotten Daddy and Parker tickets and E and I could have had a girls day!
* This is my 300th post!!!

You Don't Get Any Cabbage Unless You Pick Up Your Toys

This isn't a phrase you normally hear in a house with kids, but Emma has some weird love affair with green vegetables. If it's green she'll eat it! She was all excited when on her first day of school they had broccoli. We've never had at home, but we had to go to Fareway first thing then next day to get her a bag of it. Daddy also found a cabbage in the garden the other day and she dug into that too (raw....eeeew). She's also been known to eat an entire can of green beans. She doesn't get the green veggie love from me...peas and beans are as crazy as I get...although I will eat broccoli if it's in a cream soup!

The kids have evening swimming lessons this week and last week (they end at 9). I hate doing them this late, but when you're a working mom and apparently most lessons are scheduled for people who don't work in the summer, I make do. They are having a good time although it seems like half the time they aren't in the water - once there was a swim meet, one night I guess a kid pooped in the pool (again eewww) and tonight it rained! Tball is over for E and next week both of them start their soccer practices. It sounds like they both got great coaches, yeah!

I forgot to post something funny Parker said over the 4th. There was a black dog that was hanging around at G & G Blue House that everyone loved (but gma) and Parker said, "He knows my senses. That's why he's staying here."

P.S. I was wrong about the Mole...now I'm stumped! BB - I'd like to root for Jessie since he's a local boy, but he can't stop looking at himself! That's a little freaky.

Penny Pinchers

Here they are all spiffed up on their first day of school. Of course Parker has hair issues and Emma is making a face...well I get what I get and I don't throw a fit when it comes to pictures!

Parker is excited because they are already learning about science and they also got popsicles on Friday. I haven't gotten too much info out of him so far. Emma sounded like she might have been a little too excited on her first day of school Friday.... she got a green flag which means she had one time of not following the rules. From the sounds of it she was blurting out things when the teacher was calling on other kids. We'll call that a friendly fire and she said she was just sooooo excited. She did get a light speech from mommy. I'll keep the green flag as a first day of school memento!

Here is a goldfinch habitat that Emma made today. It has everything a goldfinch could want. A nest, food (it's in the nest), water, yard decorations and some sticks to perch on!
The entreprenuers got busy again today - this time it was selling Hi-C and apples. They aren't going to be striking it rich anytime soon. Parker set the prices at one cent. I tried to give them quarters and he said no it was a penny and they are trying to save up for $5. Ok, maybe he won't be an accountant like mommy when he grows up? He's not understanding the value of a dollar!

I'd like to go where no man has gone before, but I'll probably just stay in Aurora...

This pretty much sums up the way our house hunting is going. Basically we have too small of a budget for what we want. They either need a lot of fixing up or are missing one or more of the major wants on our list. There were a couple at the toppiest of our list and I stopped last night to look at the one. It's been vacant for ever, so I did a little trespassing and peeked in as many windows as I could. Looked great! Of course someone defaulted on it and there are now so many liens against it no one will ever be able to buy it...sigh... Another one that's brand new (didn't have time to peek at that one)...the same situation! I'm not sure why I suddenly got the urge to look, when for the most part our house is fine. Of course I wish it was bigger (and had a bigger scrap room) and we need new siding etc, but it does suit our purposes. Plus we bought when the market was a lot lower and now cha-ching! everything is so dang pricey. Even if most of these things have been sitting there awhile they still want a bunch since they had already paid a bunch a couple years ago for them. My house is extremely cluttered right now and if I just purged a bunch, it'd feel like a brand new house! I just hate to declutter and clean.... Oh well now since no larger house payment...I have extra for scrap supplies again...sweet!

In other news, Parker started school Weds and E starts tomorrow. I'm afraid Emma's teacher isn't going to know what hit her! She is more than just a little bit excited! I know she won't be scared, but will probably be mad when she gets home because there will probably be at least one kid crying. Emma is an early reader like Parker so hoping she doesn't get too bored, since a lot of what they will do, she did in Pre -K. I will post pics this weekend of them on their first days. Neither got new duds to wear...oops! That reminds me, need to shovel out Emma's backpack for tomorrow. They didn't get new ones of those either - worst mother ever!

Well so far we haven't had any more monsoons. The kids and I got stuck out in it Monday when we got 5 inches and we were drenched! Also lost our electricity for a couple of hours and I was really starting to get the shakes from lack of technology. Of course my laptop died so I basically just sat in the dark bored out of my mind.

P.S. For those of you too young or too old to know...the title's a quote from Wayne's World.

Fourth Fun

Parker does some golfing after the parade. He was pretty intense!
Emma won this giraffe on the midway and he went everywhere with her for the rest of the weekend. (He did get banned from the anniversary party though)
All dressed up for the party and she was hamming it up a bit.

Key to lots of candy...master the wave! You can also see cousin Peyton and Rylan across the street mastering the wave too.
My Grandpa Hansen riding the Brayton float.
Emma loved the big slide. Parker did not have any interest at all!
Hitting another overpriced ride!
Steve did a great job with the pictures! Mine would have been blurry.

Marilyn attempts to help with the hamburgers for the BBQ. She was quickly "let go to pursue other opportunities."
Parker learned how to drive a 4 wheeler...thanks Uncle Brad....
Cousin Drake takes his turn at the pinata.
Cousin Laura waits for the parade to start. We were the 1.5 hours early :-) The one time a year the town gets traffic jams!
P and E also wait for the parade to start. By the end they were tuckered out from catching so much candy!

Here is a smattering of photos from our holiday weekend. Sorry I hadn't posted in awhile. I think just the usual stuff happened - baseball and TKD, work and then getting ready for the 4th. The anniversary party went well too. It was held at the local winery and it was a gorgeous place to have it. You can see the guest book I made here. The kids start school on Wednesday. Thank goodness you can buy the supply kit thru the school or I'd be in some serious trouble right now!

That's Some Good Parentin'

I sit here trying to drown out the screaming and squealing while the kids and I hang at BK. Steve is at practice, plus it's Friday Fun Night so we're living large. Ok so that isn't the best parenting food wise, but we don't come here very often, so I'll defend myself...lol.

While we're sitting here, some parent starts yelling up at the tubes telling his kid to punch another kid in the face. (The dad doing this has a broken hand, so I imagine he hit someone himself.) It wasn't my kid he wanted his kid to punch, but I just can't believe how some parents act. No wonder why so many kids are messed up!

Big sigh......

We'll Throw Those In For Free!

The other night we noticed something on the tile in the kitchen , but I figured it was a leaf, dirt or something else the kids' shoes brought in. No, there were at least a half dozen baby toads. They were maybe the size of a dime. We didn't quite have all of the trim put back on by the slider door yet and they must have just hatched and come in a tiny hole. I'm not scared of those kinds of things, but I was extremely paranoid I wouldn't see one and then would step on it. We thought we found all we could, but alas the great grey hunter found one. He was staring at something later in the family room and there was a baby toad by the Littlest Pet Shop (apparently looking for Emma's frog). He totally blended in with the carpet. Who knows how many escaped, but I can't imagine you could find much to live on in here! Oh wait...I forgot about all the food crumbs that seem to end up under the couch. They'll wait and get big and then if we decide to list our house, they'll make an appearance at an open house! 4 bedroom 3 bath house, toads included!

Taste the Meat, Not the Heat!

Bible School has come and gone. And as it does every year, it confirms that fact that I would not make a good teacher. I just don't have the patience, especially for brats and kids that are old enough to know better! Plus it was hot out..I don't like heat either. P and E were quite impressed with my puppet skills, so maybe I could be a puppeteer in a future life?

We are done with Little League and so now E is doing Parks and Rec tball and P is back doing TKD on a regular basis. He should be able to test for his green belt in a couple months. The big city appears to be back to normal after the flooding although I am sure they are still cleaning up in the couple areas that had a lot of water. Some of the other poor cities in the state, not so lucky. Times like this I'm glad we don't have a basement, although.... we are thinking about moving and getting a house with a basement...silly us! I honestly have no idea if we will move or not, but there are a couple houses that have peeked our interest that are bigger etc. The thought of having to get our house ready to show and getting rid of clutter and packing though wears me out, so laziness may prevail!

The 4th of July is sneaking up on me and there are a million things to get ready. Of course there is the Hansen Family BBQ, the parade (no float this year TG), the usual meeting up at the bars in town and also an anniversary party this year. We need haircuts, some new duds and so on. Plus I need to lose a lot of weight by then!! (Ok, that part won't happen in time).

Tonight we had a small miracle, Parker ate a cheeseburger! It was actually a double and he called it a Crabby Patty. They are very into Spongebob right now, but if that is what it takes, then go Bob go! He also ate corn! Emma ate a little, but was not happy about the grill marks. I've been letting the kids stay up to late and it's catching up to her and causing even more 'tude than usual.

Well I guess that's about it. Comments on the latest reality stuff: Top Chef happy with who one, wouldn't have minded Richard either. If Lisa would have won, I would have never watched again! The Mole - totally different vibe than the originals which I figured would happen. Everyone is so dramatic on this one. I think it's Clay the lawyer guy. I am 2 for 2 on the original seasons when picking at the very first episode. We'll see if I make it 3 for 3!

If You Feed Them They Will Come...

This week has seen a slight deviation in the Hansen schedule - in that I'm off Monday-Thursday to help with Vacation Bible School in the morning. I play a puppet named Nick and am also in charge of games and snacks. You feed them, so they love to see you! In the afternoons the kids are going to Lauri's. I wouldn't care if they were home, but they wanted to go there, so who am I to argue? Parker has been trading Pokemon and Emma is just uber excited to go since she hadn't gone much since last summer. Free afternoons to myself...sweet! Actually I only end up with a couple hours, because it's a busy week of baseball and soccer so I have to get them picked up early, fed and to the fields by 5 or so. I had time to make a few scrap things so check out the other blog if you want to see them.

Man this post is boring....

Scrap Stuff is Moving!

I've set up a new blog where I'll now post my scrap stuff. This blog will be more just about family doings and pictures, although I still may throw in the occasional card or layout!

My Scrap Creations

4 Band-aids, 3 Stickers, 8 Sticky Lizards and 4 Chicken Nuggets Later...

The Kindergarten shots are done! From what I hear there was a bit of crying for dramatic affect, but after a trip to Walmart all was well! I'm sure it hurt and she did go around for the rest of the day and say, "But Daddy, it's my special day!" (meaning I get what I want today) She was promised a small toy at WM and Parker knew he wouldn't get one. Emma insisted he get one too though because it wasn't fair to him. They both picked really cheap items, so Daddy caved. Emma picked Sticky Lizards from the party decor section. $1.88...sweet! Of course a couple sticky lizards are already missing. Nothing at our house stays with all pieces attached for long. They also went to BK for lunch and all the kids there learned all about their new toys and Emma's 4 Band-aids. Also learned that Emma was big for her age, but that came as no shock to us. 100 percentile for height and 93 percent for weight, so guess that means her junk in her trunk is gone!

As for the flooding around here, in our area it's fine. Weather has been nice the last couple of days and all the baseball and soccer has gone on as planned. They were evacuating downtown today, but alas we had to stay at work the entire time. Only part of our building and all our parking was in the evacuation zone, so therefore it was a no go on the leaving early. I guess the police/gov't were telling everyone to leave. Of course we would need those cars and open roads to get home, but I guess that would have been our own problem if the water came earlier than expected! Plus hey it's Friday, we want to leave early :-) Nothing happened though and my drive home was uneventful...whew! A number of people are getting flooded out here and across the state, so that is very sad.

On the scrappy front, I got a card picked up for Paper Crafts - Quick and Easy issue today. Here is also a link to another of their special issues that just came out that I have two items in - a headband and an altered pencil cup. Paper Crafting With Kids

Water Logged

It rains, it stops, it rains, it stops. This has caused a lot of flooding all over the state. Where we live is up higher and we don't have a basement, so we've been water free so far. I work downtown and last night the media was whipping everyone into a frenzy about downtown possibly flooding this week. (The media is so excited about this flood stuff, I swear some of them might wet their pants soon...I find media generally irritating on most stories). I work about 5 blocks from the river. During the Flood of 93 the lower part of our building was under water. Of course that got my brain thinking this morning and was trying to figure out where to park. I normally park in the garage, but if we suddenly needed to leave it would take hours to get out since we'd be leaving at once and I do NOT want to be stranded at work! If I parked on the surface lot I could get to my car, but it might under water or we could get hail. I was lazy and parked in the garage. About noon they showed pictures of Court Avenue (right next to the river) flooding. A friend and I walked down a couple hours later (trying to stay off TV, cameras were everywhere) and everything was dry as a bone. We missed the 5 minutes of flooding! I must admit the news people did a good job of playing that up! I posted some pics from the bridge and there are also some street lights under water in one of the pics. You are supposed to stay off the bridge, but I see some people are being rockstar parents and taking their kids out on it...duh! There has been a lot of flooding on my way to work, but I never think to take a picture. A lot of that is going down, but it sounds like more rain in predicted.

In other news, the kids are having a good time home with daddy this week. Tomorrow Emma goes for her Kindergarten shots...I know there will be drama!!! I know she'll end up talking him out of a treat or something. They also tried to trap dad yesterday. Instead of using tape though, they used push pins. Luckily Steve stepped on some that were point down. The kids had put their shoes on, so they were thinking. I believe this was also taken from Tom and Jerry. Mr. Mean Daddy quickly put an end to the trap!

Tomorrow is my 2nd Pilates class...I think I have a death wish!

Quick, Easy and Unloved

I went back and looked and I guess it hasn't been as long as I thought since I made my last layouts. I made these 3 back in March for a cover call. They had to be 8 1/2 x 11, simple, bright colors and spring/summery feel to them. Long story short...no love, so I'm sharing!

Parker update: He had said he was tired last night which is unlike him, then he slept till 7 which is not like him, then he took a 3 hour nap which is not like him. He mentioned his ear hurts. Unlike drama queen Emma he hardly ever says anything hurts on him, so we knew something was up. Steve had made a check up appt for him today, so the timing worked out well. He ended up have a really bad ear infection (I think from all the allergy drainage lately). I think his last ear infection was 5 or 6 years ago! In his checkup they also drew blood and had him wizz in a cup and he found both things quite fascinating. Maybe there is a doctor in my future after all????

I can hear it thundering...rains must be coming again....