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.