Lily the Artist

 Our Lily has always loved to color, but she tends to scribble and just draw shapes.  She has been working on learning to write her letters and numbers at preschool and she has gotten rather good at writing her name, but still, she hasn't been one to draw pictures.  She prefers to just color things in.  Sunday morning I was shocked when she told me that she was drawing fairies.  She showed us her pictures, you could kinda see some faces with scribbled dressed, but nothing solid.  She went back to work wanting to draw more and she has been drawing fairies and princesses all week.  This evening she sat down to draw some more and my goodness, I could tell what everything was.  She has come a long way in just a few days.

This is her drawing Tinkerbell this evening.  She is busy adding the little white balls that go on her green shoes, but the white colored pencil was missing so she went for blue.

The red things by her eyes are her wings.

Oscar sitting for our little artist as she worked on her picture of him.

Such a bright little thing.  I'm amazed at all of the things that she is learning and how big she is getting.

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

We are in for a major change around here.  Not only are we expecting our third child (due at the end of May) but this baby is a BOY!  

Tyson is excited, and relieved.  He loves his girls, but he has always worried that he would never get a boy so he is very happy about it.  Lily was certain that this would be a baby sister.  We took her with us to the ultrasound and she even told the tech that it would be a girl, but she was wrong.  Didn't bother her though, she was excited about a baby brother and when the tech handed me a photo and CD of images Lily took them, hugged them to her chest, and said "I love my baby brother!"

I'm very excited, but all of the sudden this afternoon I started to feel a bit overwhelmed and nervous.  I've got girls down, I know how to handle baby girls and I have everything that I need, but this boy is going to be a new adventure.  Tyson and I had both felt for a while that this must be a boy, this pregnancy has just been so different, and I just felt like it was a boy.  I kept bracing myself to hear that it was a girl though, it had to be, I have girls, and I didn't want to let myself be disappointed by getting my hopes up.  Turns out that gut instinct was right though, this little guy was very clearly a boy.  He wasn't very cooperative with pictures though, so what we have is very limited.  

Forearms and hands

 back and neck

 one little foot

 and the little guy giving us a thumbs up!

We are really excited for this new chapter in out lives!

Looks like I need to get my sewing machine back out and get to work, not that I really need an excuse, but now I get to try out a bunch of the fun baby pins that I've been finding on Pinterest for the last year.

Drawing on the Windows

When shopping for Christmas I was looking for some dry erase markers for Lily, but I wanted washable ones since the regular expo markers are miserable to get out of clothes.  I found some Crayola washable dry erase markers and next to them were these window markers.  My kids climb up on the chest that sits in front of our big window and color on it when I'm not looking and colored pencil is a pain to get off, so these seemed like a great compromise.  I figured that they could color on the window sometimes, but using the right materials so that clean up would be easier.

Charlotte opened them up on Christmas morning and they have been a hit.  They are great distraction when mommy needs it to be quiet for a few minutes.

 Lily was very intent on drawing her spider web this morning and putting spiders and bugs all over it.

 It is hard to see their drawing in this photograph, but it covered the entire window and used every color.

I love toys like this; just a few bucks, hours of fun, and easy clean up.

New Years Resolutions

I used to be one that hated New Years resolutions.  They always got broken, nothing really changed, so why bother.  I have so many friends that HATE them, others that say it is silly to wait for New Years, if we want to change just make a change, along with a myriad of other comments.  I used to agree.   However, in the last few years, my opinions have changed, and my attitude has adjusted.

Now I love the new year and the opportunity for a new start.  I have, however, replaced the word resolution with the word goal.  Resolutions are thoughts or determinations, goals require a plan of action.  I expect pitfalls, I accept failure, because I'm not perfect.  No real change ever happens over night.

Last year I made several new year goals and at the end of the year I had accomplished over half of them.  Those that didn't get checked off were still worked on and improved a bit and this year I will continue to work on them.  Just a few from last year:

Read 25 books- Because I never take time to read anything other than parenting material anymore and I love my books!  I needed to make reading for pleasure a priority again and I did.  I read nearly 40 books in 2012 and I'm happy to have reinstated the habit of reading for me.  I believe that it is good for my children to see their mother read for herself in addition to the time spent reading to them.

Run a 5k, 10k, and half marathon- Check, check x4 and CHECK!!!  I completed the Couch to 5k program in December 2011 and I wanted to set some goals to make me continue to push myself.  I've developed a love for running and the power that comes with it.  Running my half was one of the hardest things that I have ever done, but it was exhilarating and I can't wait to do it again this year.  To accomplish this goal I wrote up a training plan, signed up for races, and let people know to help hold me accountable.

Date night once a month- We've never been good about this, and I'm happy to say that we just missed one month this year.  They were simple, mostly inexpensive, but good for us.  Yet another goal that helps create a healthy habit.  To accomplish this one I wrote a date night on our calendar for every month at the beginning of the year.  My husband is a very busy man, so it was pretty well up to me to plan them, but because I saw them on the calendar I was expecting them and worked our schedule around them

This year I have several new goals, some are carried over from last year and others are totally new.  For instance I want to do a triathlon.  I've picked my event and I have written up a training plan for me to get ready after this baby comes in May.  I also want to do another half marathon and I have that scheduled as well with a training plan ready to go.  I even integrated it with my triathlon training plan so that I have specifics to get me ready for these events.  Also, as soon as registration is open, I will be putting the money down and registering.  Cheapskate that I am, if I pay for it I have to do it because I can't bear to waste the money.

We have also decided that we need to be truly consistent about family scripture study, prayers, and FHE.  I've printed up a calendar, posted it on the fridge, and explained to Lily that we will add a sticker for each day after we read our scriptures.  I believe that this visual reminder will help us remember and develop a stronger family habit.

I also want to start keeping a journal again.  I used to be so good about it, but I haven't written in a journal in at least 6 years.  I went out, bought a new one, and set it next to my bed, on the nightstand.  I don't expect myself to write every day, that would be too much and I'd be sure to fail, but regularly.  My children are growing so fast, this time of life is so precious, and I need to take the time to record my memories, thoughts, and feelings about it all.

There are more, but those I am keeping to myself.  Do I expect to falter?  Absolutely.  Do I expect to fail?  Of course!  But that won't keep me from trying.  We can't get better, we can't become more, unless we are willing to fail, and when we do we just have to get back up and try again.

To Grandmother's House We Go

A few days after Christmas we loaded up the car and headed down to Utah to visit my husband's family in Sandy.  The girls just love getting to see grandma and grandpa and are spoiled rotten with attention from aunts, uncle and grandparents.

While we were there we visited the aquarium which they loved!  Lily was being stubborn at first, insisting that she didn't want to go.  But when we pulled up and she saw the posters that indicated what was inside she changed her mind pretty quickly.  Her favorites were the sea horses, sea turtle, red-eyed tree frogs, and the anaconda.  I think that Charlotte liked the much more active otters and penguins the best.

 They have a fun little area for the kids to climb and explore while the tired parents rest for a minute, which is of course the only time that I bothered to pull out my camera.

Most of this trip was spent with family.  The girls have such a fun time playing with everyone and since they are so involved this mama gets a bit of a break from entertaining them.  

As part of that break Tyson took me to see Les Miserables, which I have been anticipating for about a year now.  I was not disappointed.  Les Miserables is my favorite book, I love it, and I have yet to be satisfied with any production of it.  While the musical is not exactly true to the book, in many ways, because of the music, it captures the ethos of the story better than conventional movies.  While not perfect by any means, the new production is powerful and is the best production of Les Miserables out there, by far.

Sunday was the family Christmas party with Tyson's mom's side of the family.  Lily and Charlotte chose their costumes and parts in the little Nativity production the night before and Lily was so excited to be a wise man.  The costume didn't come off until she fell asleep and I took it off of her.  Charlotte got to be a shepherd and carry around a cute little fluffy white sheep.  I left my camera in the car so no pictures, which is sad, because they were just so cute.

Christmas Dresses

Like every year I made the girls some new Christmas dresses, but unlike every other year, I remembered to take a picture this time.  Too bad my kids didn't feel like cooperating.

Anyway, you get the idea.  I think that they turned out pretty cute.  I really love the lace overlay on the bodice.

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas everyone!

I didn't take a ton of pictures, I never do, I prefer to just enjoy the moment. 

 Lily and Tyson checked out their stocking together.

I'm amazed by this little girl, I thought that these lacing cards would take her some time to figure out, but her fine motor skills are pretty good, she was able to lace them just fine. Charlotte had already made a mess of her pajamas so Tyson put her in one of my t-shirts.

 Lily gave Charlotte a new baby doll, which of course made Charlotte very happy, she loves her babies!

 We made the girls a dress up center out of an old entertainment center, and well, they sure seemed to like it.  They went right to playing dress-up.

After opening gifts and playing for a while we had the traditional Hansen Family Christmas Breakfast of Aebleskivers and sausage.  I'm really starting to get the hang of making them.  I made over 2 dozen this year and didn't mangle a single one, which is quite a success for me.