Happy Thanksgiving!!

Tomorrow morning we're getting up at the crack of dawn and hitting the road to visit Matt's parents in LeMars. It'll be our first visit back with all three kids, and holy cow .... just packing for the trip is an event in itself. I forgot all the stuff we'll need to bring with us for a new baby. It's crazy!! Since I'm still not done packing, I just may throw caution to the wind and leave some "necessities" here -- the bobby pillow, breast pump, bouncy seat, etc... There just isn't room, and really .... when you need to stuff the car with so much stuff you can't see out the windows, it's better to just stay home.... which is exactly where we're leaving Riley! We decided to leave him with his groomer and not deal with the extra hassle of bringing a 4 pound furball with us! Good riddens!!

Tonight we had some friends over to have dinner and hang out before we all went our separate ways for the holiday. Katherine and Caleb had a blast playing with their friends, and were exhausted by the end of the night. Bonus!!

I'm going to be celebrating Black Friday in LeMars and getting up relatively early to hit the sales at Wal-Mart. There's a couple of things I want to pick up for Katherine and Caleb, and as luck would have it they're on sale! Woo-Hoo!! I won't be standing outside with the crazies, but will be there shortly after the doors open. Hopefully I can find a shopping buddy for Friday morning. I'd love to head down to Sioux City for a little while and see what bargains I can find. OOOOOOOHHHH, FRAN!!!!

Anyway, the real reason for this post ....

Happy Thanksgiving to each and everyone of you! I hope that you have a wonderful day spent with family and friends. I hope that good health has found you. I hope that you are blessed beyond measure. I hope that you find meaning life's smallest joys. I hope that laughter crosses your lips often. I hope that your arms are filled with hugs. I hope the best for each and every one of you.

7 weeks......

Here is my precious little baby boy! He was 7 weeks and one day when these pictures were taken (last Friday).

He is now smiling and cooing at anyone who will pay attention to him.

He's a nosy little guy -- always looking around to see what what he's missing.

He has amazing head control.

He loves to be held and cuddled with. He's a super snuggler!

No matter what time he goes to bed, he always wakes up at 12:30 am give or take 15 minutes.

He's a great baby and never cries unless something is wrong -- ie he's hungry or needs to be changed.

When he was first born, we thought he looked just like Katherine, but as time passes, he's looking more and more like Caleb. However, even this young, he has some of Katherine's trademark moves.

Oh, how I love him!!

AAAHHH... isn't he just yummy??? There's nothing better than snuggling with him. If only I could do nothing else all day!

It's a new day!

I used to love scrapbooking, and looked forward to the times when I could sit down and create pages for my kids ... detailing their lives, the stories that make them who they are, their relationships, and the funny/sweet/thoughtful things they do. However, when I was pregnant with Andrew, the creativity left and my scrap mojo went right out the window. The thought of actually scrapping wasn't something I was into at all. As a result, my scrap room became a great big catch all. In other words, it was a total pit, and turned into the family dumping ground. It was so easy just to say, "Oh, go put it in my scrap room". So as time wore on, even if I wanted to scrapbook, clearing out the clutter so I could sit down at the table was overwhelming. So... For months, I didn't scrap..... I had no desire.

Well -- In the past few days, it's all changed, and I have the desire to scrap again! It all began when I decided to get a jump on Christmas and start buying presents. I found a Michael's coupon and decided to use it and grab Caleb a new train for his train table. (They carry Thomas stuff). When I went in to the store, I realized that all of the "organizing" scrapbook stuff was also 40% off, so I decided to make a few purchases. I immediately went home and got to work -- I threw out a ton of stuff, gave some stuff to a neighbor, and purged the rest. Wow... what a mess, but it feels great to finally make some headway in that room. Oh, and it does wonders for the scrap mojo!!

Wednesday night, Michelle and I ran over to Archivers and I bought myself a motherload of goodies. And guess what???? I can't wait to start using it! Then, tonight we went over to their house for dinner and to hang out and she showed me her new scrapbooking cabinet. It's totally cool, and exactly what I need. So...

Tomorrow we are having Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house and plan on being done before the Iowa game. After dinner, everyone is coming over to our house to watch the game and hang out. Tomorrow is going to be a super busy day, but the plan is --

First thing in the morning, we're going head to the tree farm and pick out/tag our Christmas tree. Since it's so cold and we'll have Andrew with us, we won't stay long, but will make time to chat with Santa and drink some hot chocolate.

On the way home, we're going to stop by Lowe's and pick up one of these great cabinets.

When we get home, it's cooking time in the Hanson household. I'm making several dishes for Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house as well as munchies for the game later that night.

Then, during the game, my dad and Isaac can help Matt put together my new scrap cabinet. I can't wait! I'm so excited to get organized and start creating again.

OK -- where is all this leading and why did I find the need to blog about it??? I've decided to turn over a new leaf and find "projects" around the house, or "projects" in our lives that need to be done. Right now, it's the scrap room, next it may be painting the hallway, then it may be purging stuff in our storage room, but I've decided to start tackling one project every week/month/2 months, etc. I'm not sure how long some of these projects will take, but I'll keep you updated and maybe post pictures. I wish I had a "before" picture of my scrap room. You wouldn't believe the mess in there. Quite honestly, it was embarrassing!

So, this is it -- my life in projects, and the happy return to scrapbooking. Oh, happy day! I can't wait to get this first project finished! If you're lucky I just may take pictures of my layouts and post pictures!!

Bubbles!!

Katherine is in full swing at Chow's. She just completed her first week, and is loving every minute of it. Tuesday after we got back from class, Danyel asked me if she did a lot of conditioning, and I immediately told her no.... Then, on Thursday, I woke up and actually watched the class, and realized that well over half the class was conditioning. They did 50 sit ups, 20 push-ups (not the girly kind), leg lifts and pull ups on the bar (in addition to their pull-overs, front and back hip circles), and every time they were done with their vault, they'd do squat jumps back to the starting point. They also did handstands along the wall and other random strength building exercises. My body just hurt watching her! So...

I suggested that she get in my whirlpool tub when we get home. I thought a nice hot bath with the jets on would do her a world of good. Well -- this definitely falls in the "good intentions" category, but didn't quite work out that way. Matt drew her water and added the bubbles and by the time the jets went on, bubbles were all over the bathroom. Upon seeing this, Caleb was NOT to be left out, and insisted he get in with her.

So fine .... two kids in the bathtub with more bubbles that any adult needs ... Here's the evidence!

They were covered in so many bubbles that I couldn't wash their hair or get them rinsed off, so I had to throw them in the shower, which they thought was a total hoot!

So Chows .... It's going well. I thought that Katherine would be in the bottom half of her class, skill wise, since all the other girls had been in class together since June and practicing the same skills. I'm glad to report that that's definitely not the case. She's doing amazingly well, and can do almost everything the rest of class has been practicing. You wouldn't know she just joined the class!

Oh, what else .....

Yesterday I put Caleb down for his nap and about 30 minutes later, I heard him hollering. Riley was in his room and wanted out. When I opened the door I found broken pretzels all over ... evidently he smuggled them into bed. When I asked what happened, he looked at me sweetly and said, "I was just pretending that I was a zoo keeper Mommy. Riley was the lion and he was hungry". How can you not chuckle on the inside. He has such a great imagination.

Santa is on the way!!

It's official ... Christmas shopping has begun! Woo-Hoo!! I feel such a sense of accomplishment to have started before Thanksgiving.

I asked Katherine if she'd rather have a few big gifts (which I promised she'd love) or several smaller gifts. Like any smart girl, she went for the pricey stuff! LOL! It works out perfectly because I was planning on buying her a balance beam anyway, and it also falls into the "big expensive gift" category. So, yesterday I got on-line and picked one out. It should be here in a few days, so now I just need to find a way to hide all 8 feet of it. LOL!

I'm also thinking of buying her a Nintendo DS. The other day the kids were pretending to play video games with a remote control, and she loves to play with her friends' systems.... So I'm thinking that might be another winner.

Caleb -- I have NO clue what to get him this year. I'd like to avoid buying any more trucks, because man... we have so many we about need to buy a new house just to have a place to put them all. But that's a worry for another day! Today, I feel like a million bucks! I just ordered my first Christmas gift. Let the holidays begin!

Caleb ...

Just a little thought from Caleb ....

C: Mommy, why doesn't Daddy ever help you feed Andrew?

M: Because Daddy can't honey. That's not the way God made him.

C: We'll I can't help either. All I have is my belly button!!

Oh, good night child. Do you have to be THAT observant??? LOL!

First meet

Katherine had her first gymnastics meet today and did a GREAT job!! She was all smiles and most importantly had a wonderful time.

Katherine with the three other little girls in her class --



Ready and waiting for the vault --



Getting ready to start her floor routine --

During the floor routine --

Lining up and getting ready to warm up on the bars -- If you can't tell, she's the last one in line....

During her bar routine --

The four Superbunnies waiting for the awards ceremony --

All smiles after the meet and showing off their hardware --

Katherine and Miss Rachel. Rachel was her Superbunny coach this year and really taught Katherine a ton. She will be missed!!

Katherine with Mr. Tarry, her first coach and beloved mentor.

Taking time out for a quick picture with Grammy and Poppops after the meet.

Great ..... Just Great....

Tonight the four of us (we're leaving Andrew with my mom) are heading downtown to see the Tour of Gymnastics Superstars. Just guessing, but I'm thinking it'll be a huge hit in this house! LOL!!

So at about 4:30, I'm running around the house like a mad woman -- trying to feed the kids supper, pump some extra milk for Andrew tonight, get his bag packed, locate the tickets, you know... pretty much total chaos around here.

Anyway... I just had finished pumping and Andrew starts SCREAMING. So I'm holding him and trying to calm him down, while juggling the kids' dinner plates. All of a sudden, Katherine says, "Wow Mommy! I love your underwear. Are they new"? UUUUMMMMM, what is that? I'm fully clothed mind you! Evidently, the pocket ripped out, and there is about a 2 inch square piece of the butt of my jeans missing. Oh, and these are the same jeans I wore to Katherine's school this morning when I volunteered in her classroom. Great. Just great. It just doesn't get any more real than this!

Swimming Dolphin...

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, Katherine is learning all about Native Americans and their clash with the white man. They've watched clips of the movie Dances With Wolves and discussed problems the characters faced and how they determined their Sioux names. Today, they came up with their own Sioux name -- there were only two requirements (i) it had to refer to something in nature and (ii) be about something they enjoyed. So, Katherine named herself Swimming Dolphin. Not sure how she came up with that name, but there you have it.... Swimming Dolphin. So if you see her in the next little while, you may refer to her by her new name!! LOL.

Final day...

In a few short hours we'll enter Urbandale for Katherine's final practice there. Where has the time gone???

I remember a year ago when Mr. Tarry was her coach and she was begging to enter the big gym, but couldn't quite yet because she wasn't even 5. Heck, a year ago now they wouldn't even let her do a bridge because she wasn't old enough. What a difference a year makes.....

In the past year, she graduated from the little gym to the big gym, went from the recreational program to the competitive, and started at Chows. A year later, she is on the verge of quitting Urbandale and joining the TAG team at Chows. She's about to embark on a wonderful life experience that will take her as far as she has the drive and ability to go.

When I think back to a year ago, the thought of leaving Urbandale didn't even cross my mind. Quite honestly, I thought we'd be there for a long time..... maybe forever. I remember Tarry pulling me aside one day and telling me that if Katherine still loved gymnastics when she turned 6, as much as she did at that time, then I should take her to Chows... he thought she had the talent, drive and strength to make it there, and since it's one of the best gyms in the country, I owed it to her to give her a shot. I remember thinking -- Why? She loves it here....

However, a year later, our lives took a huge turn. She had an after school activity 4 nights a week (which is insanely ridiculous for a kindergartner) and I was ready to scale back. That's when Li took a look at Katherine and offered her a spot on the TAG team.

So tonight is the final chapter in one way and a new beginning in another. It's saying goodbye to the comfortable and familiar, and embarking on a new journey that can take her as far as she wants to go. Tonight is definitely a time for reflection. I'll be sad to leave the friends she made, the coaches she adored, the gym that taught her so much, and the place where she fell in love with the sport. Urbandale will always be a sweet spot for all us. With that being said, she's on the verge of one of the most wonderful opportunities of her life. She's been given the chance to train in a gym with the best equipment, the best coaches and the the best chance to succeed. She will have all the tools to make it as far as she wants to go. But, it's the unknown..... I'm sure she'll grow to love and feel as comfortable there as she does at Urbandale, but it's still the unknown. Just yesterday she was asking me exactly what they would be doing in class. She can't wait to meet her new coach and wonders what she'll be like. It's all the unanswered questions....

Anyway, tonight is the final time..... the final time she'll enter the gym as a superbunny, the final time she'll call them her coaches, the final time she'll have these girls as teammates, the final time she'll practice there..... So as happy as we all are to be going to Chow's, I'm sure I'll be walking out tonight with a heavy heart and a tear in my eye. At least she'll get to compete in the meet there this weekend.

Random thougths...

I have so many things to blog about, but since it's it's late you get the short bullet point version!

1. Since Katherine is officially starting at Chow's next Tuesday and she wants to focus all of her time and energy on gymnastics, we decided to pull her out of dance. So, today on the way to Caleb's story time I made the call. I don't know why it hit me so hard, but pulling my only daughter out of dance nearly killed me. By the time I was off the phone, I had tears in my eyes and seriously questioned if I was doing the right thing. To make matters worse, one of the little girls in Caleb's story time was wearing a leotard. What are the odds??? Oh, and by the way, it was FREEZING here today, literally in the low 30's... Not exactly leotard weather! Was is a sign????

2. Friday night while we were eating dinner, one of my neighbors rang the doorbell. He was carrying a huge bouquet of flowers that was delivered to his house since we were gone and stopped to chat for a while. When he left I asked Matt why he sent flowers, and he quickly told me that they weren't from him. HHHHMMMMM..... They were for Little Miss Katherine. When we opened the card, it nearly took my breath away... Some of our neighbors got together and sent the flowers to Katherine as a congratulations for making the TAG team at Chow's. Wow... Just wow. Totally unnecessary, and very unexpected. It made her day and made me realize how truly blessed we are. There are people who love Katherine and celebrate in her success as much as we do.

I'll take a picture and post it soon!

3. Caleb constantly says stuff that just cracks me up. He's one of the funniest kids I know, and thinks of some of the most random stuff imaginable. Here's one from today.... We were sitting in the kitchen eating lunch, just chatting away, and we have this conversation:

Caleb: Where's Daddy?
Me: He's at work.
C: Why does he work?
Me: He works to make money... so you can have nice clothes to wear, good food to eat, a house to live in, and get to do lots of fun stuff.
C: Well.... I'm hungry for ice cream.
M: Well then, you need to eat your chicken first.
C: Well.... I'm hungry, so Daddy needs to work harder!!

4. Caleb has been addicted to his plug (pacifier) since birth. I don't know what it is about that thing, but man, he LOOOVES it! It's an Avent one, and he loves to flip the handle up on his nose, suck as hard as he can, and hum.... For some reason, it really soothes him so I had a hard time taking it away. Anyway, we had some friends over on Friday night and they absolutely *destroyed* the house. Every toy we own was dumped on the floor, so when it was time for bed, we couldn't find his beloved plug. We all looked for about 20 minutes, and finally Caleb went to bed without it. Shockingly enough, it's still gone, and we're on night number 4 without it..... and still alive.

Matt did find one in the bottom of the toy box, which he hid, but there's at least one more floating around the house somewhere. I can't find it for the life of me, but Caleb is POSITIVE that Libby will find it when she cleans tomorrow. He's still hoping to get that thing back and I don't have the heart to tell him that there's not a chance in the world!!

5. Andrew has turned a corner. All of a sudden, he seems to have realized that you sleep at night and are awake during the day! Let me tell you, that makes for one happy Momma!! Sunday night we went over to my sister's house for dinner, and my Mom wanted to hold him and talk to him all night long. She has the magical touch!! When we got home I fed him and put him to bed. He got up to eat three times, but wasn't awake for long stretches of time. Last night he got up twice -- once was for an hour, but other time, he just ate and then went to bed and then didn't get up until 7:30. Oh, happy day!! Hopefully tonight goes just as well.

6. I can't believe that I'm about to blog about sports, but....

I'm a Hawkeye fan by marriage. It's not that I don't root for them and hope they win, but I'd rather take a nap.... or scrapbook ....... or play with the kids ........ or chat on the phone ......... or go shopping ...... or hang with girlfriends (you get the idea) than sit idle for 3+ hours and watch them on TV. Besides, watching a game with Matt is nerve wracking. Literally, it's horrible. To be honest, I can't stand it. Now, for any of you Hawk fans, imagine my hubby watching the PSU game. Not pretty... So, I did what any loving wife would do... I handed him his sleeping 5 week old son while I cleaned and ran to the grocery store. *laugh* *snicker* *grin*

With about two minutes left in the game, I took Andrew back and we went upstairs. Right before the final play (in which the Hawks beat PSU), I heard him pacing on the main level (we don't have a TV on the this floor). The poor guy couldn't bear to watch the game. He couldn't even breathe... REALLY????? A football game? I'll never understand.........

Now -- I'm glad the Hawks won. Don't get me wrong, beating the #3 team in the country is great, but... didn't you kinda want to see old JoePa get a national title this year? Even Matt agreed........

fall pics

Last Sunday afternoon, Matt and I took the kids outside to play in the leaves and take a few pictures. Here's just a *few* of my favorites!!

pop quiz...

How do you know when your mastitis is really bad???

When you have to sleep sitting up because laying down is too painful.

I didn't sleep a wink. Literally......... YAAAWWWN..........

I want to cry!

I hate to whine about things, BUT.....

Last night when I was feeding Andrew, it was PAINFULLY OBVIOUS that I was getting my second bout of mastitis. I spent the night with tears rolling down my face from the pain of feeding him. I couldn't sleep at all and when the sun finally rose, I noticed blood on his little jammies. Unbelievable! Getting mastitis once is bad enough, but what did I do to deserve it twice?? UUUGH!

Anyway, instead of just calling in an antibiotic, my doctor wanted me to come in so he could take a peek. Oh. My. Goodness. Either you have mastitis or you don't... there's really not a lot of confusion here................. Thankfully my mom could come over and watch the kiddos, but man definitely NOT how I wanted to spend the day, especially since Katherine had the afternoon off and we had planned to celebrate her making the TAG team at Chows. Unfortunately, that'll have to wait for another day.

A new chapter....

Remember when I asked for good thoughts last week??? Well here's why....

Katherine is currently taking gymnastics at two different places -- Urbandale and Chows. At Urbandale she's in a class called Superbunnies, which is the start of their competitive program. She's really growing as a gymnast -- getting stronger, improving her form, learning routines, you know.... actually practicing gymnastics. However, this past summer two of her coaches quit and as a result, we believed that the program was in jeopardy. So I immediately called Chow's and enrolled her in the only class they'd take her for -- a recreational kindergarten class.

** As a side note, I asked if they'd evaluate her to see if she'd be eligible for their competitive program. It was a resounding NO. I was told that they didn't work that way and she had to start in the recreational program. So fine. I signed her up for the kindergarten class with the hope that she wouldn't have to stay in the class for that long. Oh, and I paid for a trimester which ends on 11/14.

Things at Urbandale worked out -- the coaches came back, the program is thriving, Katherine loves it. It's perfect. Oh, and the kindergarten class at Chow's is super elementary and Katherine is bored. Really bored.

Now -- the events of the last two weeks....

I found out that Chow's would be evaluating the rec girls (Katherine's class) in the next couple of weeks to determine if they were in the right class or if they were eligible to move up into a different class. Since it's impossible for me to talk with Katherine's teacher before or after class, I decided to call the gym. In a nutshell I wasn't given a good answer -- they had to talk to her teacher who wasn't in for a few days, and then the following week she had a substitute, so any questions I had couldn't be answered at that time. So I spent the past two weeks waiting for them to call. Today, I decided I was tired of waiting, and called again.

The girl I talked to told me that she had been meaning to call me and that yes, Katherine could be moved up to another class. They suggested that she be moved up to Beginner girls 1, but all the classes were full, so she'd be put on a "wait list". Not cool. Really not cool. Katherine is bored out of her mind in the rec class she's currently in, and paying $60/month for her to crawl through nylon tunnels isn't a good use of time or money. She didn't know when a spot would open, but would keep us in mind. Since I wasn't happy with the fact that Katherine could end up in the same rec class all year long, I decided to feel her out about any other options we might have. She told me that she'd do some checking and would call me back before she left for the day.

45 minutes later she called. Li (Chow's wife) wanted to see Katherine tonight and wondered if 7 would work for us. UUUUUMMMMMM, yea!

When we got there, Li was working the front desk, so I went up to introduce myself. I told her my name, and she instantly said, "Oh, yes! Katherine's mom. I hear she's very talented". A few minutes later she took Katherine into the gym while Matt and I watched from outside.

Literally, Katherine was in there for about 7 or 8 minutes. Li had her do the splits, a bridge to kick over, cartwheels, backward roll, handstands, walk on the beam on her tiptoes, a pullover on the bars, pull-ups on the bar, as many leg lifts as she could on the bar and then asked Katherine what the hardest skill she could do on the beam was. Katherine told her a somersault so she lifted her up on the high beam and let her have at it. Li gave Katherine several high 5's and when they emerged from the gym, they were both beaming. Li told me that Katherine would be a great fit for their talented and gifted (TAG) team and that she was super strong and flexible. I get the feeling that Li really didn't care what she could do skill wise ... she was more concerned that she was strong and flexible and that if she was, everything else would fall into place. She also made a point of telling me that this class was by invitation only, and that Katherine was exactly what they were looking for. Wow... Just wow. Katherine is elated. Literally she's on cloud nine, and hasn't stopped smiling yet. She told me that this is her dream..... I know I've said this before, but honestly, there is nothing in life more rewarding as a parent than finding your child's passion in life and allowing them to chase that dream. I don't know too many kids her age that have truly found what they love at 5 years old, but she has, and that is such a blessing. So as long as she wants to chase her dream, we'll support her -- physically, emotionally, and financially.

So... that leaves Urbandale. I have so many mixed feelings about it. Urbandale is where Katherine fell in love with gymnastics, it's where she's met so many wonderful people, had great coaches and made wonderful friends. It's where her confidence grew and her gymnastics skills improved. So if we decide to leave it's definitely bittersweet. In many ways, it's like breaking up, and I'm so not good at that....