word of the day...

baluster!

1.	Architecture. any of a number of closely spaced supports for a railing.

2.	balusters, a balustrade.

We finally have some! I posted three pics of our wall becoming a rail. Of course it still needs some paint, stain, and trim work, but I'm not going to miss the sheetrock and 2 by 4 that functioned as a rail for several weeks and kept kids from careening over the edge. So excited to see it go up today. We are priming the basement and are slowing getting there, slowly, ever so slowly. But I think the worst is past as far as demolition. It gives me much encouragement to see things being put up instead of torn down, although that was liberating in a odd way. Many thanks to Nate our tape and texture man and Shawn for the staircase.
Hope everyone has a good weekend, if you're itching to get messy and paint, you know where to find us!

memorial day...

Among other memories of this day, it ALWAYS seemed to either be very cold, rainy, or both. Growing up we always had relatives in town and went to the cemeteries to put flowers on the graves. I'm missing that today, kind of wish I was in Bancroft. I was going to plant the garden this afternoon, glad I opted to do it this morning, even though I had three helpers :) Two really are helpers at this point. I got everything in except the greens, lettuce, spinach, chard, all that before it started to rain. We're supposed to have rain all week, the girls are going crazy, they just want to be outside all the time.
Going into the bathroom last night I found this little list Lauren had made, ah, the life of a seven year old!

7:00 wakeup
8:00 eat brekfest
8:30 do hair
9:00 get dressed
9:30 play with Noah (how nice, too bad he only gets ten minutes :)
9:40 go outside
10:00 eat lunch
11:00 get sun loisun on (sunscreen-yeah I'm one of THOSE moms)
11:30 get shoes on
12:00 play with Jenna (a neighborhood friend)
12:30 go outside
1:00 Jenna go home
1:30 watch tv
3:00 snack in room
6:00 dinner

Not bad, putting shoes on by 11:30 is pretty optimistic! L & C planted a few pole beans, sunflowers, and zinnias by the fence where nothing is really growing right now. I hope for their sakes that they grow, that would be fun for them. We're off this afternoon to hopefully hit some sales and get our carpet and paint picked out. Hooray, I'm a little on the indecisive side so thankfully Cody is coming, although, last night looking at Behr's site, he wasn't bunches of help. The site is pretty neat though, if nothing else, just to see which colors look good together for the decoratively impaired people like me. After looking at several shades of beige he finally admitted they all looked the same, nice. I think we're going pretty neutral with the walls. I'll save the color for pillows and accessories. Although my sewing and laundry room I'm looking at some soft yellow shades, we'll see what we come home with, so many choices. Hope everyone has a good Monday, holed up out of the rain!

Hooray!

Well, this announcement might come as a surprise to some of you or maybe not. When I was pregnant with Noah I always thought that if he was a boy we would be done with our family. But Cody and I both felt like we weren't quite there, so we are excited to welcome a new little one sometime around November 10! Hearing the heartbeat at the midwife's last week really made it feel real to me, since I'm one of those lucky gals who doesn't get too ill. I have felt a bit nauseous at times and tired though, par for the course. Babies are so precious, new, and sweet, we can hardly wait!

signs of summer...

Ah yes, two more days of school and the hot lazy days of summer will start. As you read I'm typing from the floor of what was Chloe's bedroom, doesn't make a great computer desk, but for the time being that's what I have to work with. I've totally been avoiding any household cleaning figuring what's the point since it will be dusty and dirty the next weekend when work resumes. I guess I could still clean the bathroom! However, my yard has benefited the most from this remodel. Since the kitchen is the only somewhat clean and intact room to hang out in I head outdoors a lot lately. I feel behind on planting my garden this year, but I did get it ready and the hay aisles laid down, probably tomorrow. I did get my tomatoes in, in a much better spot than last year, so I have high expectations.

Signs that summer is upon the Hansens...
-dirty feet all the time, the ritual of washing feet in the bathtub before bed begins- even for me, I'm just as bad as the kids
-sidewalk chalk everywhere, on cement, bodies, clothing, shoes. Hoping for a good rain when I can't handle anymore.
-fragrances-my neighbor's lilac bush, basil in my little herb patch, freshly mowed grass, sunscreen, sweaty kids...
- Reed's Dairy for the best and cheapest ice cream. They also have hay and manure aplenty for folks like myself :)
-homemade popsicles, I'm not a huge fan of Otter pops, mainly because I pick up plastic all summer. These are so yummy, I'll probably still make them when my kids are all grown up and gone :)
Two of our favorites you can try:

Blend chocolate soy (or dairy) milk with a banana or two

Blend frozen cherries with apple juice concentrate, a little water and a few frozen blueberries

What are signs that summer is coming YOUR way??

happy birthday Noah...

Two years gone by like that, so fast. We celebrated a little early on Sunday, my parents gave him this loud and extremely life-like four wheelin' man, he was pretty intrigued at how he contorted him body, funny toys. I was most proud when he ran to the trash can after tearing off the tiniest bit of wrapping paper :) That IS my boy, may cleanliness always be a priority for him, too funny. I guess I ask him to throw away lots for me.

I actually made a decent tasting cake this year, which was worth blogging about in and of itself. Cakes are not my forte. We were attempting to get him to raise the two fingers for the photo, I love the innocent expression we captured. I just have to be sentimental about my little boy. He has just been as sweet as ever from day one. I've enjoyed being his mother immensely, he's always such a pleasure to have around, mostly good natured and fun. I love his smile, his deep brown eyes, his tight squeezes, his gentleness, the way he runs when he's excited. It's incredible to me how you can love each one of your children so much, so deeply and completely. Yet it's different for each one. Truly my greatest gift ever, my beautiful children. Happy birthday Noah, many more to come, hopefully not quite so fast though!

wide open spaces...

ahh, Bancroft. Nothing quite like it, and it will always feel like home to me looking out over the backyard fence, what a view. Now that I'm a city dweller I notice how wide open and quiet it is more than ever. We spent Mother's Day with my family and also saw Cody's family. The girls were loving all the fun things to do there, four-wheelers, trampoline, the old clubhouse, but mostly the two piles of dirt you see here. I love how they've always had that in their blood. For as long as I can remember they've been drawn to dirt, sand, anything to sink their feet and hands into. Of course, they were barefoot. I knew looking at their fingernails, pants, and a torn shirt that it had been a fantastic day on the farm! Noah had his first four-wheeler ride, he was a little worried, but sure wanted back on once he got off. He must have been on the swing for almost an hour, saying "more push, more push."

I just love it when my family gets together, it was so fun to visit and just hang out together. Only Landon and Lina were missing. We got to meet Steve, Shay's wonderful beau, and he got to meet the crazies that we are. Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. A huge hug and thank you to my amazing mom and my mother-in-law whom I love and appreciate.

Can you do this?

I can't, but I know why they can. When Cody and I were dating a billion years ago we went to a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Jackson Hole. It was pretty interesting, one of the exhibits had some mirrors with some pictures of different ways to contort your tongue. I thought I remembered reading that this trick L & C are doing was rare, do you know anyone that can do it? Anyway, while at the museum I discovered Cody could do it as well. It was then I knew he'd be an excellent kisser and I should marry him :) While reading together a few nights ago Lauren leaned over and said "Look at this Mom!" Pretty cool, they didn't get their talent from me!

In other news round these parts, the majority of our basement is torn apart. Debris as high as the washer, boxes stacked in all the available corners, 30 feet of wall gone. I made the executive decision not to post any pictures until AFTER the whole ordeal is over and I have beautiful newly painted walls and carpet. Then you can compare the horrifying before with the glorious after. When? That is the question of the day. Actually the demo has gone quite fast and we have guys lined up to put in walls tomorrow. BMC delivered some wood and other stuff which I'm clueless about in the garage today. I guess our thinking was to get the basement ready for sheet rock, taping, and texturing at the same time as the bathroom and get it all done at once. A bit overwhelming for a neat freak such as myself, but when I look at it now, I know we've gone way past the point of return, so push forward with faith I suppose. It will make the basement feel more like an extension of our home rather than a duplex beneath us.

Gearing up for Mother's Day and Noah's second birthday. The little guy does get a bit spoiled, that's what happens when your birthday doesn't land near a major holiday I guess. I picked up a rug from Home Depot that you can drive cars on, I always thought those were the coolest, hope he likes it. I saw all the herbs and tomatoes while shopping today and really wanted to buy some, but it still seems a bit early. I can't wait to get things in the ground though. I have a killer batch of compost that's been cooking all winter, plus it helps to have one year of gardening here already past to know where certain plants might do better in areas of our garden. Well, happy weekend and Cinco de Mayo everyone. Go get some chips and salsa!