8 Hansens Happened

Summer

2010-08-01T10:41:00.001-07:00

This summer has been so much fun, so here are a few pictures to update everyone (minus our Canada trip, I still need to go through those pictures).

Brynlee has been bugging me for months to take off her training wheels, but I assumed she needed more time and I kept urging her to wait awhile. She was persistant enough, that I finally gave in, ready for having to work and teach, and see her frustrated, and just really be a bit annoyed. Well, I was wrong. I gave her the bike, gave her a push, and she was off. She's now a pro. The sad thing is, then Shaylin wanted to try, so Nels took her wheels off, gave her a push and she crashed...quite a few times. She finally said, " I can't ride my bike because I haven't lost a tooth yet" (Brynlee had lost her first tooth a few days prior and it made a great immpresion on Shaylin). Thankfully, about a month later she tried again and was sucessful. But sadly, I didn't get a video of her because Haley was the one that helped her (what a good sister. Where was her mother you ask, yes, she was inside doing housework! Dumb dirt, it's always getting in the way). Oh, yes. I almost forgot to tell you what Brynlee's motivation was for learning. I didn't even realize it until after it was too late. For months I've been saying that the girls can't ride their bikes in the street. They'd always ask why Haley could, and do you know what my answer was? Yes, I didn't think it through very well, it was, "Haley can ride her bike in the street because she has a two-wheeler." I guess I figured that they'd never learn to ride a two-wheeler. But oh well, we live in a double-culdesac so there are very few cars, and they are pretty good at watching for them. All we have left is Elise, and I think she could do it no wif I let her. She was riding Brynlee's right before we took them off, and she wasn't hardly even using the training wheels. They grow up way too stinking fast! Haley and I took a trip out to Sacramento, CA to see my sister, Shauna,where we met up with my best friends form High School (it's been over 10 years, and it felt like no time had passed at all!!!)
I also got to see one of my bestest friends from church(it too has been over 10 years, and was so much fun!!!)
I got to see my Dad and Marte, Uncle Joseph with his girlfriend Dimple. We went to San Fran, had a wonderful meal, shared a bucket of donuts, and froze our butts off walking around :)

And Haley and Skyler got to be reunited! (This was our makeover picture session!)

One day after we got back, Nels went to Idaho to visit his family, and then two weeks after that we left for Canada! It has been very eventful, but thus far, one of the best summers ever!

End of school owie

2010-07-31T08:33:00.000-07:00

Sadly, being the amazing mother that I am, the school year went great, until we got to the end. Up to now we have had only one broken bone and no stitches between all six kids, but I decided we just needed more. So I took it into my own hands and threw Kaden into the street attatched to his wheelchair. Wow, I am a good mom. Okay, so here's how it went down. We were outside waiting for the school bus, so he was all ready to go in his wheelchair, and he put on the brakes. Then for some reason, he thought I was still holding on, and he un-did the brakes, sending his wheelchair down the rest of the driveway, and right onto his chin, with his wheelchair still attatched to his waist. Poor kid! All his weight, and the weight of the wheelchair were on his chin right into the cement (thankfully not asfault). As soon as I picked him up I knew he needed stiches, so he got to go to the doctor, then (because I fet so bad) his choice of lunch. He picked Red Lobster (what a good choice, mmm, I'm hungry now!) Anyway, so we have now added stitches to our list. Here are a few pictures, that you may or may not want to see. :)

We had to put antibiotic ointment on his chin and he touched it one day, making it look like a goatee. He was pretty proud!

After!

Before

Updates

2010-07-31T06:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't been doing a very good job at updating things, so I will add something today since I have a few moments. We just got back from our vacation in Canada, but considering the fact that I don't yet have Haley's or the boys birthdays posted that's where I'll begin! These pictures are Haley's birthday party back in March that we invited her entire school class to. Thankfully only 14 came, even that was a bit crazy, but fun none-the-less. We did a sports themed party (she chose it, not me),so we had relay races, and lots of fun games. I hope they liked it, because I had blast!

A gift of "chicken poop" chapstick!

The whole gang

The football cake she requested (very fun to make!)

Presents from Mom and Dad werea hit this year (last year we got the coment, "Is this it?")

Easter

2010-04-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

This proves that it takes a lot of work to get a good family picture. We found a pretty spot, hopped out of the car and took three shots...this was the best one. At least three of us looked good, and three more were kind of looking in the right direction, as for the other two, well, Kaden was mad, and Nicolas was in the middle of trying to be silly. Family's fun, but it takes a lot of cooperation (of which we didn't have after 3 hours of church and 1 1/2 hours of waiting around afterward. Maybe next time we'll eat lunch first.

Elise's birthday dance

2010-02-26T20:52:00.000-08:00

Elise is 3!!!

2010-02-26T20:36:00.001-08:00

Elise was so excited that we were singing to her, she turned to me and made this face where her chin was scrunched down into her neck and her smile stretched across her whole face. I wish I had been holding the camera so it could be seen. It was adorable!

Life is good when you get your first barbie!

Shaylin and Brynlee are 5!!!

2010-02-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

Here are the picture from the girls birthday last Saturday. They had a princess and castle cake, they opened tons of awesome presents, and they got make-up (of which they are happily sporting above)!!

Front room

2010-02-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

Yeah, it's almost done!!! Here is a video of the room.

2010-02-23T11:35:00.000-08:00

Caught with his pants down!

2010-02-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

Kaden needed help getting his pants up after going to the bathroom, but we were busy getting creal for everyone, an the next thing I knew, he was sitting at the table eating his breakfast with his pants still around his ankles. Then later that morning I caught him sittin at the piano playing and singing 5 Little Monkeys. What a cutie!

EKG

2010-02-23T10:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we have missed way too much! I've been redoing our upstairs with a new paint job and we got new floors put in, and tomorrow we get our new furniture! Yeah, I love new!

I was looking through the pictures last night and realized how much I've missed, so here is one where Nicolas had to get a 24 hour EKG. We had to see if his heart could handle the ADHD medication. The stickers itched him, so he hated it, but he was a trooper.!

2009-12-14T15:14:00.000-08:00

Directions and tips for making my delicious cinnamon/orange rolls

This is the yeast mixture as it's getting bubbly and activated. I put the dry yeast in the bowl first, then pour the warm water over the top so that I don't have to worry about over stirring it.

This is the dough after I've given it a good kneading and it's ready to rise. It's still very soft, but not sticky.
I put it in a greased bowl and cover it with a wet wash cloth.
I make sure that it's full rung out.

Then I put it over the bowl and place it in the oven which I then turn onto 170 degrees. Once it says that it's heated to that, I quickly turn off the oven (as that temp can cook the dough if it's in too long), then let the dough continue to rise for 45 min. or so. By doing it this way, you cut the rising time in half.

2009-12-14T09:14:00.000-08:00

This is the video showing how I cut the cinnamon rolls with a string. Very simple, very efficient, and it doesn't smash the dough down at all or stick to it like cutting with a knife could.

2009-12-14T08:20:00.000-08:00

This is what the dough should look like after it's risen. It's sticky again, so I put quite a bit of flour on the counter, and cut the dough in half to roll out one half at a time.

It's rolled out to about 1/4 inch thick, then the orange filling is added.

I roll up the filled dough, and cut it with a string about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide, which I'll put a video on showing that.

Once cut I put them on an ungreased cookie sheet with a little space in between them This is after they have risen for another 30 minutes.
This is them cooked for 17 minutes at 350.

Here is the cinnamon roll dough with filling on it.

This is them rolled and cut.

This is after they've risen for the 30 minutes.

This is after they have cooked for 17 minutes at 350.

Halloween

2009-11-02T18:33:00.000-08:00

Here are the lovely pictures of our Halloween night!! I took the kids to the library for a trunk or treat where many strangers asked them to stop and pose for their cameras because we had, pretty much everyone covered in the cast. They were adorable!

Getting ready for Halloween!!!

2009-10-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

The kids were so excited for the start of this month becase they know that Halloween is coming!!! We broke out our wigs and had one for everyone, but Brynlee decided to wear a hair net instead, just as nice. :) Aren't thy cute?

Wayne County Fair!!!

2009-09-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

This last week was the Fair, and boy was it fun. Elise was so excited to see all the sweet baby animals, and Nicolas was afraid that everyone was going to get bit. It was so sweet to see him trying to protect them by moving them (unwillingly) away from the cages. The kids get a day off for the fair, so we all went Monday, and the kids each rode the dragon roller coaster!! We had cotton candy and watched the tractor pull, which is my personal favorite. We told Nicolas that next year we'll get tickets to the demolition derby, and I can't wait for that! It's funny how something so destructive can bring a child so much joy!

Haley's Baptism

2009-09-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures of Haley opening her gifts. Thank you to everyone who made her special day, even more special with these items of rememberance!!!

Her towel with her name and CTR embroidered into it from Aunt Sara

Her baptism book from Grammy Lou and Papa

Her first set of Scriptures from Mom and Dad

A beutiful charm bracelet from her school friend

Haley's baptism

2009-09-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I realized that we never shared pictures from Haley's baptism in March, so here they are! It was a very special day. Nels' parents came to visit and share the experience with her.

Sunday

2009-08-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

I am always excited for Sundays! It's funny, when I was little Sundays were the hardest because we had to stay quiet at church, and we couldn't play outside when we got home. However, now things are different. Now, I wake up with energy, and am excited for all the things I get to learn. It's noy just the learning, but the spirit that is present when I'm doing the things that will bring me closer to my Savior. Since I work in the Primary, I get to see all the little children light up as they too learn new things. I know that there's so much for me to learn and do in life, but I am just so grateful for Sundays, and how they rejuvenate me for the coming week, and help me to better recognize all of the Lord's creations.

When we got home from church, we noticed one of the gorgeous finches, that we have around here, eating the sunflowers seeds from our sunflower. At first Nels said he was upset that the little bird was eating all of the seeds, but then he thought about how awesome it is to be able to watch the little bird so close. It just reminds me of the Primary song that says, "Whenever I hear the song of a bird, or look at the blue, blue sky, whenever I feel the rain on my face or the wind as it rushes by, whenever I touch a velvet rose or walk by a lilac tree, I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for me."

I'm so thankful for Sundays!

ATI Family Fun Day!!!!

2009-08-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Nels' work has Family Fun Day at this golf course that they own, so were able to go on Friday and ride the golf carts all around and hit some golf balls. We were even able to go fishing in one of the little ponds. Sadly, we assumed fishing lures were good enough, but we soon realized that they are spoiled little fishies, and they'd only bite for real worms. So, we only caught one fish, with the worm that we borrowed from our friend. It was a blast!!

Allergies

2009-08-19T12:27:00.001-07:00

Last night I took Kaden to his horse therapy, and Haley, poor thing, regretted the decision to come with us. She has come before and been fine, but last night, I heard her sneeze once. Then a few moments later, she sneezed again, then again, and when I looked at her face, she couldn't even open her eyes because they were watering so much. Her nose was completely stuffy and by the time we got home, this is what she looked like. Thankfully I had benedryl in the car, thanks to Brynlee's new allery to cold things, so she got it immediately. She was tormented all through the night with this allergic reation and then this morning, I thought it would be gone, but no, her eyes were still puffy. It's now almost 4:00pm, and she's just now stating to look normal. Poor thing. I told her to thank Mama Linda, but she was not very happy that she had someone to thank at all for this awful state!

Morning Fun!!!

2009-08-19T12:15:00.001-07:00

Our garage has been full of stuff that we are preparing to sell in a garage sale in the next little while, so there's a bit more space than usual. The kids finally realized this, so this morning as I was cleaning up the house, I came and found them riding their bikes in the open area. Kaden, of course wanted to join them, so I put him in his wheeled stander, and they all had a blast!

Kaden's New Toy

2009-08-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

So here's Kaden's newest toy. It's called a wheeled stander. We got it yesterday, and he was wheeling all over outside. The way it works is that we strap him in so that his feet are flat and his tummy is up against the long black thing in the front. Then, the part you don't see is that there is a support behind his butt to keep his stomach up to the front, and there's velcro all the way around his feet and ankles, so there's no way of him sliping out of the correct position. This is giving him a great stretch, and also will allow him to be upright with the kids in his gym class at school. He's such an amazing boy!

Is blogging worth the time?

2009-08-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

With so much going on, is this blogging thing really worth it? We'll see. Right now I have 8 crazy kids at home with me (two of them ,of course, are not mine). One is sleeping, and 7 are running around playing something that makes a lot of noise for a sleeping child, but they sure are having fun!