Odds and ends....

I just got back from weight watchers with the crew (my mom, Danyel and our newest addition, Kelly, who I used to work with back in the Principal days) and left with a smile on my face. I lost another 3 pounds, which I was elated with considering the mountain of Easter candy I've eaten over the past week. I'm just glad that the number on the scale is going in the right direction! Oh, and watch out... I just might get crazy and start exercising!

In Andrew news.... Over the past few days his sleep pattern has been horrible. He's been up 6 or 7 times a night ... sometimes needing to eat, but most of the time, just needing to be comforted. On top of that, his nose has been running, and he's been a total drool factory. Anyway, I was feeding him yesterday when he decided that it'd be a *great* idea to chomp down on me as hard as he could. Oh man, I'm tellin' ya..... I about hit the ceiling. Seriously, it brought tears to my eyes. My reaction shocked Little Man and he started to cry. Actually, WAILING would be more accurate. I felt horrible, and gave him a big hug. After that, I checked out his gums and guess what??? A tooth! His first one! It's barely there, but if you look VERY closely you can see a tiny white nub. Now -- here's the deal. Getting a tooth at 6 months is super dooper early in the Hanson household. Katherine got her first tooth the week before she turned 1 and Caleb was right around 11 months. However, the tooth explains a lot -- the runny nose, sleepless nights and wanting to be held. I'll take a picture of it as soon as you can actually see it, but for now, you'll just have to trust me that it actually exists!

Today was a gorgeous day. We spent the majority of it outside and enjoyed the sunshine. We went to the park with three other families in our neighborhood, and then resumed the play date in our backyard. When the little ones went down for their nap, Caleb had a friend over and they continued to play until the big kids got home from school. When that happened, the backyard was filled with kids running around. At one point there were 10 little ones running around! The kids had a great time!

Tomorrow is supposed to be another great day, so I'm thinking of taking the boys down to the zoo in the morning. Tomorrow night is Katherine's big music concert, so we'll be skipping gymnastics and heading over to school. If we can get a decent seat, I'll take pictures and post them tomorrow night!

Our weekend in pictures

We had a wonderful weekend, jam packed with activities -- outdoor play dates, an Easter egg hunt, a birthday party, a trip to the park, a roaring fire in our fire pit, and most importantly, lots of time spent with family and friends. It was a wonderful few days!

So -- here's the pictures from this weekend. For some reason, they didn't upload in the order I intended, but that's fine I guess.....

My sweet Andrew. He absolutely loves hanging out in his little swing outside. He sat in here while the kids played outside and later watched the egg hunt from his perch.




Katherine and Caleb waiting to check out their loot after the hunt.

Katherine and Caleb with their cousins, Morgan (the one in the pink coat) and Hannah.

Just watchin' the hunt! I can't help but to wonder what he's thinking about ...

The kids in action!

Isn't this little outfit a hoot??? My mother in law made Andrew the most adorable blanket, and some of the material is this super soft, dimpled, light blue fabric. One day when my mom was out, she found this warm full body suit thing for him to wear with it. Isn't it perfect??? Those ears are irresistible! They just crack me up!!

These next pictures are from the park.

Here is my little Katherine -- climbing high!

Caleb LOVED the slide and went up and down it about 100 times -- head first, sideways, on his tummy, running up it -- pretty much every way imaginable. He had a blast!

Katherine practicing the monkey bars...

Katherine and Emma loved this spinning thing. It made me dizzy just watching them!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope your weekend was as wonderful as ours!

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter!

We've been super busy the last few days. Friday night we hung out with the neighbors and played outside. Oh, how glad I am that the warmer weather is upon us! Yesterday we had a birthday party to go to for one of Katherine's friends (and coincidentally Matt used to work with her Dad at Principal, IMG and Aviva), and then last night we had the traditional Easter egg hunt at our place and ordered in some super yummy Cool Basil takeout for all the adults. So fun!!

Oh, Friday morning I had to take Andrew to Dr. Jon. He's been sick and I could feel wheezing in his lungs when I was holding him. Wouldn't you know.... bronchitis. UUUUUGH! If we're all healthy for a solid week it'll be a miracle. With his surgery coming up, I have NO INTENTION whatsoever to have him leave the house for the week leading up to it. If he's at all sick, they won't put him under and given the nature of the operation, I really think that the earlier we can get it done, the better. So NO PLAY DATES for us for an entire week.

Today after church we died eggs. I'm in the process of cooking and then we're heading up to mom and dad's house for dinner. The Easter bunny brought the kids some new kites, so they can't wait to fly them at Grammy and Poppops house!

I have a ton of pictures which I PROMISE to upload before I go to bed tonight. Katherine is spending the night with Grammy, so I should actually have a few minutes to actually edit them! So tonight -- PICTURES!!

Summer!

OK, so I know summer isn't officially here. Actually, we're only a few days into spring, but that's just a technicality right??? One of my absolute favorite things about summer has begun, and it just brings a smile to my face!

Last night after school we didn't really have any plans. I was going to take Katherine and Caleb to the park to play for a while, but Andrew was still napping, so I sent them out to the backyard while I went upstairs to check on Andrew. In the two minutes it took me to check on him, Grant (one of our neighbor boys who is also in Kindergarten) joined the kids on the swing set. A few minutes later, Emma and Olivia were over, and then the Hodapp boys joined in. It was great! The kids were running around the backyard, laughing, and wearing off some of that energy that had been building up all winter long. After about an hour, all the kids ended up in my living room, and Katherine was teaching the boys tricks on the beam. If only I had my video camera. It was such a hoot!!

That's what I LOVE about this neighborhood... all the kids, all the parents who have become our dearest friends, and the sense of community our children are learning. It's so wonderful. And... I have to admit, I love that Katherine wants to invite her friends over to our house!! I love to see her in action -- how she plays with her friends, what games they make up, and what goes on in their developing minds!

I'm so ready for summer... so ready for the lazy, carefree days, so ready to abandon the rigid schedule of the school year, so ready to have kids running in and out of the house, so ready for the smell of sunscreen, so ready to have the constant noise and chaos fill the house. So ready. So very ready.

NKOTB...

AAAHHH, last night was a GREAT night! It seriously rocked! In fact, I'm still giddy about it!

I went to the New Kids On The Block concert with Danyel and her sister, and I haven't had so much fun in ages! We literally sang and danced for two straight hours, and by the time we left, my ears were ringing to the point of numbness and my throat was killing me from yelling so loud. Oh, it was a BLAST!! (.... and I'm pretty sure I racked up at least a couple weight watchers activity points in the process! HA!!).

Back in the day, I was one of those crazed little girls who dreamed of marrying Jordan Knight. My walls were literally plastered with his posters. I knew the words to every song and the steps to every dance. Oh, I'm tellin' ya.... I had mad love for these boys! So you can understand why I was sooo excited to go to the concert. I was fulfilling a childhood dream! LOL.

Seriously though.... It's been probably 20 years since I listened to their CD's and shockingly enough, I still remember ALL the words to EVERY song. It was crazy! Oh, and then there's Danyel -- she actually had the nerve to ask if a couple of the songs were their old or new stuff. BLAH! Shame on you girl!! LOL.

The other thing about the concert ... the people watching was FABULOUS! Tons of people dressed up 80's style with all their NKOTB wear. So fun! Basically, it was a mom-fest.... Tons of girls my age, listening to retro music and havin' a rockin good time! AAAHHHHH.......

Feels great!

Tonight I left weight watchers down exactly 5 pounds. It feels great! Such a wonderful start to a long journey, and I'm so glad that I'm on the way!

He's on his way....

HOME! Matt has been gone on a business trip since Sunday afternoon, so it's been just the kids and I this week. Things have gone remarkably smoothly -- the kids have been angels, we've been busier than ever, and the kiddos have gotten in some good Grammy time (aka -- I've had tons of help!). I'll fill you in on all the details later tonight when I get a chance to sit down, but I was just checking in because I've realized it's been a lifetime since I've updated.

One *BIG* piece of news.... (PUN INTENDED)....

Danyel and I have decided to join weight watchers. It's time to shed the extra weight that's been building up for AGES and get in shape for summer. It's all about healthy clean living! So there you have it.... Essentially "The Biggest Loser" 'hood style! So the race is on... the first one to lost 20 pounds wins, and we're not stoppin' there! Watch out! This 'hood is going to have two more hot mommas in the upcoming months! Can't wait! I'm soooo ready for this! I can't thank Danyel enough for suggesting this! Anyway, tonight is our second weigh in -- our first to determine how much weight we've lost! My fingers are crossed!