Chloe came home with a school assignment yesterday. Her teacher's instructions were to find reasons to be thankful for things that she normally might not be grateful for, here's the result:
I'm thankful there are jellyfish in the water cause it means we can't go in the wrong place.
I'm thankful there are trees in the forest so we know there's no campsites there.
I'm thankful there is sap in trees because sap helps us make honey.
I'm thankful there are dresses cause they let us look are best.
I'm thankful there are yams even thou I don't like them. But there a thanksgiving tradition.
I'm thankful we have mistakes because we can learn from are mistakes.
Well said Chloe. I'm feeling so grateful this season, mostly for family, near and far, older and very young. Truly life's most important blessings are the people we love. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
feeling thankful...
making me happy...
There's a huge pile of boxes on the curb that used to hold all our food storage and now it sits on these wonderful shelves put up on Monday by my Dad, Loren, and Cody. Amazing how it looked like so little when we got it on the shelves, but I'm hoping to start hitting some case sales and stocking up. In college I had food piled on our washer and dryer and since moving here, it's all been in boxes, making it hard for me to want to buy any extra. Now where our washer and dryer used to be is this storage room, it's a delight to walk into. So a HUGE thanks to the brains and brawn behind the work, I love it!
And of course there's little Ivy, she's been such a pleasant gal. She does pretty well at night, waking only to eat then dozing off by me again. And I know they say babies can't smile until they're around 6 weeks, but I tell you, we've seen some little grins. And I don't believe babies smile because of gas, who smiles because of gas, nobody. She's happy with the exception of diaper changes. I'd forgotten how wonderfully fresh and sweet new ones are, so cuddly. I'm adjusting to not being able to do things on my schedule, for now Ivy sets the schedule. I know it will pass so fast, it has with all my other babes. So there may not be many posts without a picture of Ivy, she's hard to resist :)
SHE's here!
We welcomed Ivy Robenia on Wednesday November 12 at 9:58 p.m. She was a whopping 9 lb. 3 oz. and 21 inches long. We're all enjoying her, her chubby little cheeks aren't lacking for any attention. Here's a few pics, more updates later...
Do you need a paint stirrer with that?
I feel asleep at 10:30 last night and was woken up by Cody coming to bed around midnight. Finally, I got comfortable with my 2.5 pillows and went back to sleep again. I awoke with a start at 3:07, my water had broken! I turned over to tell Cody, where was Cody? I stumbled out of bed and went to open the bedroom door. The hallway was filled with people all lined up and heading into the baby's room. I hear Cody, "I'm in here." Only it's not the baby's room any longer, it's your friendly neighborhood Sherwin Williams store and my husband is mixing paint for complete strangers at three in the morning. Hmm, paint, I wonder what the significance of that is? When I tell him we're about to meet the newest little Hansen, he's tells me to hold on, he's busy. He's WHAT? Where's my attentive husband who calls from work all the time and gives me that look saying, "Are you feeling anything?" He obviously didn't make an appearance in this wacky pregnancy dream. Ahh, I'll miss all the weird dream plots when I finally have this baby.
Still waiting patiently, my due date found me waddling around Walmart, stocking up, I've been doing lots of that lately. I just don't know what to plan on. But, we're all feeling good, just hoping it might be this week. This is about my third picture of me while pregnant, just haven't gotten around to it. But I figured we'd better, since hopefully it's close. I never really want pictures, but there's something nice about looking at it in 2 years. Since I seem to forget what it's like to be pregnant and right now, have forgotten what it's like to NOT be pregnant, funny how you get used to whatever. Even being overdue :)
what kind of cook are you?
Well, this time of year always gets me in baking mode, from about now until after Christmas. I think it's how the oven warms your home and the comforting smell of something yummy baking. I just can't walk past those huge displays with the 12 kinds of chocolate, nuts, and everything else needed to make your kitchen smell delicious. Having discovered these little lovelies last year I just couldn't pass by all the supplies today at Walmart. So standing in my kitchen today baking all afternoon (because it's makes a big batch mind you) I had to ask myself what the deal was. Being almost ready to have a baby my freezer should be stocked with quick, tasty, and healthy meals. But lately it's baking that's been happening around here. I've got bread, rolls, buns, apple bars, pumpkin cookies, and a lone pan of mac n' cheese for my post-natal lineup. We'll be eatin' well in that department anyway.
Which brought me to a whole other question. What kind of cook are you? Cody teases me because I don't always measure too precisely- or at all. Not because I'm an expert by any means, just too lazy to dirty a teaspoon. Especially when it's something like muffins that I've made hundreds of time for breakfast. I would much rather make bread than dinner, cookies over lunch. I think I get stuck in a dinner rut too often, fixing the same standbys until my family is so tired of them they aren't standbys anymore :) So help a girl out, if you have an awesome tried and true dinner recipe, post it, or post a link, I'd be forever grateful! But do try the cookie recipe, I'm betting it will ruin you, other pumpkin cookies just won't stack up! Happy baking...
happy halloween...
Well, here are our little spooks, some spookier than others. Cody's family came up and we went to dinner then to the mall. It wasn't too crowded and would be perfect for cold weather, although yesterday seemed pretty mild. By the end, Noah was saying "trick or treat" and "thank you."
Chloe is the vampiress and is still sporting the dripping blood a bit today, that stuff has staying power! I was a bit worried as to how her cape would turn out, but I think we pulled it off. I'm not terribly fond of masks, but Lauren wanted to be a skeleton. At the mall she had to take it off, we eventually ended up cutting between the teeth so she could actually breathe. :) Noah finally decided on the clown costume, it was a bit big, but he makes a sweet-looking clown.
For all those wondering how gynormous I am there's an excellent picture for you. WAY past the cute baby bump stage, and more into the large and waddling part. Crazy to think my due date is only 10 days away! Exciting!
Lauren and Chloe reminded me so much of myself at their age when they got home. We put Noah to bed, he was completely wired and strung out on candy. (Cody keeps reminding me to let kids be kids- I struggle with the sugar highs and lows that invariably strike the entire week following Halloween-but that's a WHOLE other post.) L & C dumped out their entire night's collections and sorted and traded. It was fun to just sit back and watch, I remember doing that with my siblings, comparing and trading, not wanting to eat anything quite yet, just reveling in the quantity and that it was all mine! Well, we can't get our costume groove on for another year, but I'm sure there will be enough other sugary holidays to tide us over. Hope it was happy for all of you!
what witches eat for lunch...
tuna, pears, and yogurt?! Little Noah has completely enjoyed Halloween. I'm not so sure he knew what was coming, but every day all week he's been dressing up as either a witch, clown, pirate, bee, or whatever else he could scrounge out of the dress up totes. He wore the hat for several days, during lunch and naps, what a funny man!
