so much fun today

I Have always wanted to teach my kids to cook. Today I felt like Glen was old enough to start helping me. We mixed corn bread to put in our chili pie. He dumped the mix into the bowl and helped crack an egg (he liked that) pour the milk (which he tried to drink first as you can see) and stir the corn bread mix. I had so much fun helping him make dinner, and I think he enjoyed it as well.



This is the first smile I have been able to catch on camera. Benjamin smiles so much, but they are so fast that by the time I get the camera out and ready the smile is gone. What luck to catch this one. Benjamin is such a happy smiley boy, and so talkative. I love it!

My Amazin' Rainins

My two boys are simply amazing, I am so pleased with them. Glen has learned so many new tings in the past few days. He can now open the fridge, take off his shoes, socks, and to my dismay his pants and diaper as well, he cam also zip zippers (like on his PJ's) He is learning so fast, what an amazing boy he is.
Benjamin has recently started to smile and coo a lot. I so love to lay on the floor with him and hear him cooing to me and to see his smiles, well that just makes my heart happy. Grammy Mitchell got to hear him cooing on the phone today, what sweet sounds he made for her. Benjamin has also started to play with the toys that hang down from his play set. If I prop him up on the Boppy he is just the right height to reach the mirror rattle and he loves to whack that thing til it swings.
I am so blessed to be a mother, and I love my boys so much. They both amaze me with their sweet personalities and the new things they learn every day.

New Christams Traditions

This year John and I started a few family traditions. I wanted to take an angel from the Angel tree to have the opportunity to help others, we were going to start this tradition next year, but somebody dropped a jar of money off on our doorstep that allowed us to start this year. This year we chose a little boy age 2 and went shopping. It is easier for me to shop for little boys since I have two myself. After a stop at kid to kid and Wal-mart we had gotten what this little boy needed and a few things he wanted. I felt good being able to serve another and I am grateful for the money that allowed us to do so.

This year I wanted to wrap gifts in newspaper to save a bit of money. That is how it started anyway. Glen had so much fun coloring the paper for the gifts that I want to do it again next year. I think this tradition will continue while my kids are small, and maybe longer. I want to get plain paper next year so the pictures are clearer. To tell the truth I had fun coloring the wrapping paper with Glen.

Merry Christmas (yes I still say Christmas)

Fall Fun

We don't have any trees with leaves, so we went around the corner to where there is a tree with great leaves to jump in and we played.

Glen had so much fun he though Benjamin should join in, so he went over and pushed the stroller into the pile of leaves and let Benjamin play, until he was distracted by a truck. Watch the videos one after the other, it will tell the story better then I can.

This was a pumpkin Grandma gave us to make pie with. Glen loves "pakins" pumpkins. He loved playing with this one and the ones we carved. When he broke one open he even tried to eat it, hehe that was funny. Apparently, raw pumpkins don't taste very good. To bad it disappeared shortly after Halloween along with the rest of our pumpkins that I was going to cook. Oh well, we have pictures.

The Windows of Heaven

Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing , that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

The Lord has opened the windows of Heaven to our family. Since John lost one of his jobs a few months ago we have slowly been using up the extra food in the pantry and eating away at our saving account. But we want for little, we are so blessed. Over the past few months I have come home often to find something left on our doorstep. A gift, some cloths, food, different things. Each time we have been given what we need when we need it. Rarely more then a day goes by when I think of something we need that we cannot afford before it shows up on our door step. I know the Lord is looking out for us because some times it is an item that no one knew e needed. A few days before the space heater used to warm the nursery broke I found a pair of Blanket Pajamas in Glen's size, an item I had wanted but told no one about. Yesterday I went shopping and depressed at how little I was able to take home. Today two boxes full of food were given to us.
I do the math and there is no way we should be surviving on one part time job at less then $11, but we are. The Lord has truly opened the windows of Heaven and I feel about to burst with the blessings he has poured out on our head.

Halloween

After we went Trick or Treating we headed to Grandma's house. All the way there Glen asked for a treat. When we got to Grandma's house he ran off and found his treat. He had found an apple. Yay for healthy treats. Glen is a turtle, he didn't like the mask se he just had his shell. He had so much fun trick or treating.
Benjamin was a tiger this year. He got to wear Glen's costume from last year and it was pretty big on him. I called him the saggy baggy tiger. I love his little nose and whiskers, they are so cute.

John was a zombie we spent a lot of time getting his outfit properly ripped and dirty. He was pretty dirty and smelly by the end. His favorite part was the brain flag. If you aren't geek enough to know he is a zombie from the game "Plants vs Zombies" one of his new favorite games. Here John is trying to eat his friend James's brains, some friend ;)

I surprised John with my costume. I put on his USSSA umpire uniform and trick or treated as John. Most people couldn't tell who or what I was, it was mostly to make John smile, which it did.

We had a great time dressing up and going around the neighborhood as a family. I am glad that Glen prefers apples over candy and that he had fun. He was even saying trick or treat by the end of the night.

Painting Pumpkins

For a family activity Friday we all painted our Halloween Pumpkins. Daddy got to help Glen and Mommy got to help Benjamin. We didn't have much paint so we used permanent markers. Glen really enjoyed getting to color on the pumpkin (he loves to color) and learning to say pumpkin. He says "pukin," so cute. I really liked John's idea of putting different faces all around the pumpkin.
And the best part about painting the pumpkins instead of carving them? Next week when Halloween is over we can bake the pumpkins into cookies. Mmm...

The Difference

The difference between Mom and Dad

A little girl walks up to her dad and says "Daddy, can you show me how to make love?"
"Umm..." the father isn't really sure what to do so he says, "Go ask your Mother."
He follows his daughter into the living room to hear what mom has to say.
"Mommy, can you show me how to make love?"
"Sure, sweety. L-O-V-E" Replies the mom.
I love being a mom.

Benjamin

John and I welcomed Benjamin Steven Hansen into our lives at 8:50 on Sunday October 11, 2009. He weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 inches. He has grown so much in the last week, and boy can this kid eat. It's enough to make any Hansen proud, even his Uncle Steven and cousin Enoch.
Today is the first day he has stayed awake a lot, most of the day so far.
We are so happy he is here. Glen has brought us such joy and now with Benjamin we have twice as much joy. He is a very sweet boy and he is so strong.
As you can see Glen loves being a big Brother. He is so gentle with Benjamin (most of the time) and gives him hugs and kisses all the time. The other day I was in the bathroom when I heard Benjamin start crying. I was afraid Glen had been a little rough with him, but when I peeked around the corner I saw Glen trying to calm him down. He kept patting him and hugging him. He kept saying "hurt?" It was so sweet.
I love my two boys so much. I am so blessed to have them.

Just like Dad

One of Glen's favorite things to do right now is climb up in the chair at the computer and "type" on his keyboard. (you can see the real one on top of the computer) When I discovered it was nearly impossible to keep him out of the chair and away from the computer I found a way for him to have a turn that prevented fatal errors. :)
As I was thinking about how much Glen is like John I began to think of Christ and compare the two. Glen is such a daddy's boy. Anything I can do is much better with dad. He loves his daddy so much. Because Glen loves his daddy so much he tries to do things just like daddy. We often want to emulate those we love the most.
Christ loves His Father very much as well, and like it says in the scriptures He did that which He had seen His Father do.
Little times like this remind me to set a good example for my children so that when they emulate me they are emulating righteousness.

Glen's Tower

Here is Glen's first tower. He built it all by himself, I just held it and cheered.
He was so pleased when he finished it, he is still playing with the blocks and
building more.
I was a little surprised to see him put the first blocks together and when he had a hard time with the next few I thought it may have been a fluke. But then he put together the whole tower after I took apart what I had built. His tower was over 27 inches tall.

Determination

de⋅ter⋅mi⋅na⋅tion
/dɪˌtɜrməˈneɪʃən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [di-tur-muh-ney-shuhn]–noun
1. the act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose.

Reading in Moroni tonight I was very impressed by one verse in particular. (Moroni 6:3) The word that stuck out to me was "determination" Those who were baptized at this time had a determination to serve Christ to the end. They weren't baptized and then the first trial that comes a long makes them lose faith. A determination to serve Him to the end. I want to put that in caps the way it jumped out at me. I feel that same determination. I will serve Him to the end, the very end. All that He asks I will do, no matter how hard, no matter that it may not be my plan, I WILL follow and serve Him to the end.

The Peach Joke

Have you heard the Peach Joke? Ask me to tell you some time if you haven't, it's great.
Speaking of peaches,-did you like the smooth flow there?- we have a peach tree in our yard. For quite awhile Glen has been checking on them every day. He will go over to the tree and say "peash" and every day I have had to tell him "no, they are not ready to eat yet" Today they were ready and so we picked a few and Glen had fresh peaches for a bedtime snack, he was so eager that he was picking them off the tree and trying to take a bit out before I had checked for bugs or washed them.
He loves peaches. During snacks and meals he usually talks and plays a little bit, but while eating the peaches...let's just say I'm glad he stopped long enough to breath. He ate two peaches and probably would have had more, but it was time for bed. I'll have to keep an eye on him when we play outside from now one, otherwise he may go pick more peashes and eat them all.

Summer fun

Now that summer is coming to an end I am a little sad. We have had so much fun as a family, but especially Glen and me. We did so much this summer, I will try to pick the best to share. There are a lot, but it's mostly pictures.

Glen got his first haircut

We took a lot of walks. Glen loves to point to trees and walk Mo (Nemo) the dog upstairs.

We took some really silly family pictures John looked so goofy with his shirt suffed full of muscles

We did a lot of swimming, I had hoped to do more but it was enough.
(Glen loves to swim, especially when I don't make him wear a life jacket.)

We went to the 24th of July parade, it was Glen's first and he loved it, he had so much fun.

We went to the park quite a bit,

and visited the Museum of Natural History

Glen discovered dirt tastes gross.

Running through the sprinklers and playing with the hose is something Glen loves (water)

Up at East Canyon where we spent a week on vacation Glen got to play in a stream for the first time. Again water, he had a blast. We also went swimming a lot up there, hiked, played games, and I got bitten by a snake. It left cute little teeth marks in my finger.

we had a Twister tournament at East canyon

and the Twister Champ...Grandpa. But I get a rematch after the baby is born (he said I had an "unfair disadvantage,")

All in all the summer was great and we are already looking forward to next summer when we can do even more. And I'm trying to think of ways to cram all of what we still want to do into busy a schedule before it gets too cold.

I finally did it

I finally worked up the courage to give Glen his first hair cut. It's not that I'm bad at cutting hair, I just loved the little curl he had at the back of his head. I couldn't bring myself to cut it...until I was giving him a bath tonight and saw that it was longer then his shoulders, the front was to his eye brows and the sides were below his ears. It was time.
I took the first snip while he was occupied in the tub, that way the curl was wet and curly. Then I finished up while he ate a snack before bed. It looks pretty good, not awesome because he moved a lot, but pretty darn good if I may say so.
From here on out the hair cuts will be easier, right? It's just the first one that gets mom's. I cut out a little heart and wrote "Glen's 1st haircut" and the date. Then I taped his curl to it so that it will stay in the curl. Hey, if John can make me save his umbilical cord, ewe, then I can save a little bit of hair.

Still here

Just wanted to let you all know we are still here. Glen is learning so fast. His new words are horse, neigh, and duck. He also makes a really cute duck sound. He loves climbing on everything and hiding in the curtains.
John has taken on more hours at the library since he lost his other job. He is also spending time with our neighbor to learn more computer stuff. Because he has been home more John has been a huge help with Glen and the house, especially when I don't feel well. He has taken some things over completely. Bless his heart, and the rest of him too. :)
I'm doing pretty well. At church someone told me I didn't look as far along as I am and that I looked great (at least she didn't say I didn't look pregnant. That is NOT a compliment) Whatever anyone says I feel huge. For about 3 weeks now I have been having terrible pain in my lower abdomen. My midwife says it's just my muscles irritated at having to carry so much weight, but it sure hurts anytime I exercise, or move for that matter. She told me to take it easy, right, with a toddler? She also said Benjamin is in the 56th percentile, which means he may weigh now what Glen did at birth. Wow. I hope he doesn't gain much more wight. But hey, on the positive side at least I am not putting on a ton of weight, I have not gained much this time for which I am very grateful.
Check back soon, I will try to get up the post I have been planning. It will be a summer post with lots of cute pictures of Glen, and maybe a sneak peek at the East Canyon Twister tournament.

Daddy's Boy

Glen has become such a Daddy's boy. At first I was a little jealous that Glen wanted to cuddle and play with daddy more then he did me. I missed him coming to me all the time and wanting me to hold him, wanting me for comfort. I felt sad. But then I started thinking how great it is that Glen HAS a dad. I never had a dad growing up and I am happy that Glen does. I don't feel bad anymore when Glen reaches for Daddy after a nap or runs to him to get a hug. It makes me happy that he has the opportunity. Besides, I will have another chance here pretty soon. A new baby who wants to cuddle with me and it may turn out well that Glen prefers daddy.

Like Mother Like Son

Glen is reading the dictionary. It is enough to make a mother (and Grammy) proud. My mother and I read the dictionary for fun, looks like it may run in the family. =DHe does look like he is enjoying it doesn't he? Of course he likes any books. Before the dictionary he was reading my check book...out loud. He made it sound good :)

Giveaway

Here's how it works. The first 5 people to comment on this post will get something homemade from me.

However this offer has some rules and limitations so please read carefully.

1. This will be an item homemade by me especially for you, however it is a surprise. I cannot give you a hint or guarantee that you will like it, but I hope you will.

2. You will receive your item some time this year, or early next year.

3. I must be able to contact you via email. So make sure I can find your email address if you're not sure just put in your comment.

4. This item will be delivered by me, or available for you to pick up.

5. In return you must post this giveaway on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 people to comment. (If you have already done this it counts) This step is the most important! I will check your blog for YOUR giveaway before I send you an email.