Soccer, Spring Fest, Easter and Book Fairs

I don't love to be pregnant. Though it be a miracle, I choose to fill up my time and stay quite busy during pregnancy so that I don't dwell on the fact that I feel like a beached whale trying to get out of bed in the morning. That being said, we have been busy the last few weeks. We went to Purdue's Spring Fest which is a big outdoor event that the colleges within the university put on. The entomology department has food with bugs in it that you can try and a buy petting zoo, even cockroach races and a tractor pull. Different tents have treats or games you can play. The kids watched a sheep getting sheered and pet a baby pig. (you know, piglets are pretty cute, but I bet OUR little piglet will be even cuter.) Colton came home with this stylin' hat balloon hat.
Colton also really wanted his photo taken with the Bee. He liked all the bug stuff and touched everything he could. Brownies with meal worms he did turn his nose up.
Lydia just wanted PINK cotton candy. While we were eating cotton candy, it started to pour, but it was still fun. Colton even stood out in the rain so he could participate in Cricket Spitting. He spit the cricket two whole feet. For a little boy who won't put most dinner's in his mouth, I was shocked to see him stick a bug in.
As many of you know, I like event planning, and so, I volunteered to run the Spring Book Fair at Lydia's school. I greatly enjoyed it and the kids both thought it was pretty cool that they got to help with things. I loved working with great people. (Like the Amazing Dacia pictured above.)We also did a program called 'One for Books' where we collected spare change as a school and if the kids could collect $1500 they could earn a pajama day. The money we collected was sent to an elementary school in Southern Indiana that was hit with one of the tornadoes awhile back. It was amazing to see how compassionate the children were. Some envelopes contained more than $50 cash. Some had pictures drawn on them and little notes of sympathy. One little girl received change in her Easter Eggs and sent it all to the program. The kids ended up collecting a whopping $1700. Who says that children aren't capable of changing the world? Children really are powerful examples.
Colton trying to snap.
Soccer season has begun! Lydia loves it! And we have been blessed with excellent coaches. Lydia always wants to play goalie. She keeps her hands up, ready to go, but often she is watching everywhere else. I love this league. The defense gets bored and starts picking dandelions. If someone throws in the ball, their team mate will go and catch it. They run to coach if their cleats come untied because they can't tie their own shoes. Goalies go cry to their mom if they get scored on. It is fun to watch them learn.
Colton easter egg hunting. He got off to slow start, angry because he couldn't find a BIG egg. Once he got the hang of it, he was mad again because most of the eggs were gone.
Lydia and her chocolate easter bunny. She was so pleased. What a happy girl she is.
And, as promised a pregnancy photo, taken today after church. 9 more weeks to go.

Today I substituted a class in church and I was so glad for the experience because it really made me look at my blessings. Not only have I been blessed physically with an able body, a home, food, good kids, a husband getting his education, but I have been blessed spiritually. Teaching this lesson really made me look at that. I have been given a precious gift- my life. I have a Savior who loves me and died for me. I have the Holy Ghost to inspire me and prayer as a means of communication with my Heavenly Father.

And, to keep myself busy, in the future there will be posts about the family photos I have agreed to take, the baby shower I am hosting, the camping trip we are going on, Mike's half marathon coming up, etc.

This is Fun

I know I haven't had much of a blogging life lately. I haven't had much computer time. I've been planning the elementary book fair. It's been tons of fun and there are only two days left. This evening I found myself with the children in bed and Mike playing b.ball with his buddies, so I started editing my sister's Sr. photos. Oh so much fun! I found a new website called picmonkey.com and I loved it! Very easy. I am also taking a photo class with some girlfriends next week. Should be fun as well.
So, my last post was a photo journal of sorts. I am in a writing mood so I will share some real life details of life.
Yesterday I took a 3 hour blood glucose test. Not my favorite. Fasting for 14 hours is not the most fun for the preggo lady. Getting poked repeatedly in the same vein is not so fun, but the good news is, I do not have diabetes! Hooray. And, the 3 hour test allowed me plenty of time to finish my baby blanket.
That brings me to the baby. I haven't said too much about her. She is affectionately being called Piglet around our house. She has no real name yet, and if you ask Colton, Piglet IS her name. I was questioning the kids on what they wanted to call her and they were coming up with silly things. Piglet being one of them and it has stuck. So our little Piglet is quite wiggly and I am carrying her like I carried Colton- low and straight out. Eventually I may post a pregnancy photo. I really need to actually. I know I will regret it if I don't.
Some thoughts on Lydia. Recently, we had a parent teacher conference with Lydia's teacher and she recommended we have Lydia repeat Kindergarten. We had wondered if this would come up and you could tell Lydia's teacher was relieved when we were accepting of the idea. I feel very good about it and feel keeping her back will be the best option for her, especially now before peers will judge her and while she is building such foundational skills. There is still that worry though that people will think my child is slow. Granted, it takes her longer to grasp concepts. She needs more repetition, but I would hate for her to have that stigma placed on her, because then she might believe it. It has made me more aware of judging or labeling people. We are so quick to say, "Oh, it's because they are the youngest child." Or, "That's just the ADD." Children are so trusting. They believe what you tell them. We mold who they are by what we tell them and it's not just what we say. It's how we act. Another example, Lydia LOVES soccer, but she is not the most coordinated. Mike and I both being sport enthusiasts sometimes find this difficult. Soccer season is being a time of growth for both Mike and I as we learn to accept Lydia for who she is and what she is capable of. I am constantly evaluating what I say to her, and what I don't say when she play soccer. Do I accept her 100%? Because I had better learn now. It's only going to get harder as she gets older.
On a lighter, less philosophical note- have you ever had your clock stop only to realize how much you look at it? It is so disorienting when you look at your clock and all day long it says 9:30.
Well, I'm tired, and the dishes aren't done. Will they get done? Probably not. Good night.

Traveling and Busy

This is just a quick update and more of a photo journal than anything. There have been several thoughts lately that I've thought about posting, but I haven't gotten to it. The Book Fair is next week and I am in charge, so until the end of next week, I probably won't be doing much for recreational computer time.
For Lydia's spring break, we went to Idaho. Normally we go over the 4th of July, but since the baby is due around then, we went in the Spring and it was actually pretty warm.
While we were in Idaho, we also went down to Utah and saw our nephew get baptized. While we were there, we went to this fun skating, bounce house, obstacle course place.

Everyone before Jackson's baptism. It was St. Patricks day!
A hike with the Hansen and Hoover boys.
The super nice pilot and Colton on the flight home. You can see how pleased Colton was to sit in the cockpit.
What is a trip to Idaho Falls without some Reed's Dairy icecream?
My sister Latesha asked me to take her Sr. pics. We both had a great time. This is one of my favorites. Tesha is headed up to BYU-Idaho in January!
The Reed family.
The Reed kids. It sure is fun to get together with them!
Out of order, but the hike we went on. Hansen and Hoover kids with Papa in the cave.
My parents have a cabin in the mountains so we took the kids up for a night. It was one of the highlights of the trip. There was only a few feet of snow, but that was a lot for the kids who don't remember seeing that much. We rode to the cabin in this 'torpedo' An enclosed sled you pull behind the snowmobile.

Colton packing up the snowbole helmet.
Our little family at the cabin.
Again, pictures out of order, but we went to lunch and cupcakes with Latesha. Fun and delicious!
Mike went riding with the boys for a few hours, but the zipper on his snow pants broke. Thankfully it wasn't a very cold day, but the ride didn't last too much longer with Mike in his shorts.
We stopped by my brother's house in Bountiful and the kids absolutely loved jumping on the trampoline with their cousins!
Random, but I am quite proud of the pillows I made. They are SO much better than what I used to have.
I also made this quilt for Latesha to take to college.
Before our trip we went bowling with Lydia and Colton's best friends. It was a little crazy, but hopefully a good memory for the kids.
And I have no idea why this photo ended up last, but this is the big kids at Reed's dairy. I cannot express how much I enjoyed my experience there! They had grasshopper icecream which is my favorite. Mint icecream with oreos and caramel. Can you say Yumm-o! It was fun to be with my family there. Reed's dairy was started by my grandpa and his two brothers. They eventually split and my dad ended up taking over the farming end while the dairy was taken over by his cousin. They have a picture on the wall of Grandpa and his brothers when they were young and starting up the business. It was fun to tell my children, "That man in the picture is your great grandpa." Isn't family just grand?! I was so glad to visit them all!

Chicago

You go to one of the biggest cities in the US and you party it up right?! Like hanging out with the Kia Hamster. Over the weekend, we (meaning our posse of 3 brothers, 1 little sister, 2 children, 2 pregnant ladies and the sister-in-law who had to deal with all of us) went to Chicago and took in the world's largest car show. This was an exhilarating event for Mike's little brother who we had to drag out the door, but for the little sister (pictured above) the pregnant ladies and the children, it got old before too long.
Never Fear- we found things to do. They had this great big whiteboard that anyone could draw on- so the kids drew and we were all pleasantly occupied.
This is a closeup of what Colton drew. It is a picture of Mike and then Colton wrote his name next to it all by himself. I'm amazed at how much he can already do.
The night before we headed up to Chicago, the posse stayed at our house. Adding 5 extra adults to our apartment meant that our sleeping arrangements were crowded. We had bodies in every room. We expected someone to sleep on the couch and I teasingly said to Mike before everyone got here that we should let Uncle Mat sleep on the couch because the leg of the couch was starting to break and I wanted it to get fixed. Mat, weighing in around 350 pounds would be the perfect candidate to break and then fix our couch. He was big enough to do the breaking and handy enough to do the fixing. As fate would have it, Mat didn't even have to sleep on our couch. All he had to do was try to stand up after sitting on it and the leg broke off. Yay! I've never been so excited to have something break! The 3 brother's put their heads together and by 8:30 the next morning (After the boys went to the hardware store at 6:30 AM) my couch was fixed and sturdier than ever!
What would a hotel trip be without some bed jumping!
While Mike and I have been downtown before, we have never taken the children. Mike's little sister wanted to do some shopping, so we all went to Michigan Ave. where Colton and Lydia worked these hats.

Our little familia outside The Disney Store in downtown. This was by far the best part for the kids. I don't know that they have ever been in a Toys-R-Us or really any store devoted entirely to children. Colton ran from Lighting McQueen hat, to Buzz figurine to Spiderman jammies in a frenzy. Lydia took my hand and purposefully took in all the princess's she could ooohh and awww at. We let them each pick one thing. Lydia chose a princess stamp set and Colton picked out a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal. They were so excited. "I can keep it?!" Colton and Mickey have been best pals ever since- except when Colton put Mickey in time out because he was standing on the table.
This photo is out of order, but it's late. Mike really liked this little car. A Fiat. Go figure. He has traditionally really liked the Porches.

Snow Days

Yay! We finally had snow to go sledding! There is a small drainage pit in our apartment complex and the little slope is perfect for the kids- because they can walk back up it without Mom and Dad carrying them!
What a great family day. Mike mentored the kiddo's on how to make an awesome fort.
By request, it kept getting larger and larger.
Lydia liked this peep hole for the spying opportunities. Colton liked it to shoot his stick guns out of.
The fun fort that kept us occupied for a whole day. They even slept the night together in it- one kid on each end. That was fun until Colton wet the bed. Then it was not so much fun.
Ole'!

Baby Hansen

There are not too many photos of me and there aren't many of me with the kiddo's. Reading is something we do every night, so I figured it would be good to actually capture the moment in the evening I love when the kids cuddle up and I get to read to them.
My birthday! Mike and the kiddo's got me an ice cream cake. Yumm-o! I also got a gift certificate to the craft store so I can start making those pillows and that blanket and on and on. .
My funny man climbed on top of the food storage and found an excellent hiding place behind the coats. It also proved to be a great place to munch on his apple.
Colton and his best buds. These three are hilarious together. The nice thing is they all have older sisters who are 5, so we get together with their families a lot. It doesn't hurt that we all live in the same apartments either.
And the exciting part of today . . . Meet my daughter. She's so photogenic she is already smiling.
Doc. says she is healthy. Yay!