tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24753396434680771402012-02-16T04:21:39.803-06:00Hansen Kids Blog SpotNicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.comBlogger351100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-3768977613729173382010-11-22T19:41:00.015-06:002010-11-22T20:56:33.344-06:00

THE CRIME:It was a dark and stormy night (it REALLY was!). I walked into the kitchen to get the dessert I had labored over the phone to prepare when I felt my stomach sink......or maybe it just grumbled in ruined anticipation. Somebody had eaten all the chocolate sauce that came with the Chocolate Dunkers from Pizza Hut!! I could not let anybody get away with such a dastardly deed in my house

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-90906353406880782912010-02-25T13:37:00.010-06:002010-02-25T14:11:16.935-06:00

Phew! A disaster of incomprehensible proportions was narrowly avoided this afternoon. After a long, frantic search, Asher and I finally found Avery's Hello Kitty plush toy so she could finally lay down for her nap, sniffling from the recent trauma of not knowing where her beloved toy was, but with a content smile. So, where was elusive hiding spot? Well, perhaps I should explain.....Avery

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-50099417139799100972009-06-28T18:37:00.010-05:002009-06-29T17:10:36.151-05:00

Conner and Jude's piano teacher recently moved, but before she did they had one final recital. The boys both worked hard and performed their pieces very well. A BIG thank you goes out to their fabulous teacher, Nikki! We will miss you!! (Yeah, she'll probably kill me for this!)A couple of days later, Conner wanted to play for me all the songs he had learned in school on his recorder. However, he

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-53508933008240235202009-06-28T18:24:00.008-05:002009-06-28T19:29:14.191-05:00

We had two big graduations this year *wink* - Jude graduated from kindergarten and Asher graduated from preschool (or at least one year of it).Jude got his very own cap and tassel to keep. His class worked very hard on the program. It was full of songs, with actions and dancing, as well as poems. The whole thing was SO cute!! Afterwards we took him out for lunch.Asher's graduation was also

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-47500889327731819702009-06-28T17:41:00.012-05:002009-07-15T10:14:24.968-05:00

Conner and Jude's birthdays are only a day apart, and this year we celebrated them mostly together. We pretty much let them call the shots as to what we did for a whole Saturday. So, here is what a 6-year-old's and 9-year-old's collaborative day of fun looked like:1. Get up early and go to McDonald's for breakfast. Kind of a funny request, but one that has a bit of a back story. About two months

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-30381988823369304712009-05-28T19:07:00.003-05:002009-05-28T19:15:26.368-05:00

We had Chinese take out tonight and everybody topped off their meal with a fortune cookie (well, Avery topped off her meal by throwing a fortune cookie). Jude got what is very possibly the BEST fortune ever:Dessert CAN make you happy.

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-44709295198805668392009-05-09T19:54:00.008-05:002009-05-09T20:30:11.709-05:00

Last weekend we went with our ward to a couple of local parks to help clean-up and beautify as part of the annual "Park Pride Day" extravaganza. The park district provided all the materials, but the man power was all from local citizens. It's a great way to get invested in the community and build unity in neighborhoods. Here is a run down of the kids' activities:Conner and his friends Matthew

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-76175229009098610282009-04-07T07:49:00.003-05:002009-05-06T10:21:57.874-05:00

On Friday we took the kids to the Crete Family Fun Center for a final hurrah for spring break. We played miniature golf - always one of the kids' favorite things to do - but the highlight was the laser tag. Conner had played one or two games before at birthday parties, but this was our first time as a family (my first time ever!). They had a special where you could play as many times as you

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-78533352958569519552009-03-13T20:12:00.006-05:002009-03-13T20:35:29.783-05:00

I was just at the bank and picked up several of the "gold" dollar coins in preparation for St. Patrick's Day and was reminded of this funny little incident:Every year our kids build a leprechaun trap (a box painted green with lots of sparkly stickers, rainbows, and pots of gold drawn on it) and set it out to try to catch a leprechaun and his/her gold. The first year they came up with the idea,

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-68832705329931034872009-03-11T21:11:00.009-05:002009-03-11T21:44:05.154-05:00

I can't believe our baby has already turned one! It really does go by so quickly. Watching her grow has been so fun, but I'll always miss those infant times, too.We had a pretty low key birthday with just our family. We made cupcakes and of course opened her presents, which she thoroughly enjoyed. Asher chose pink cake, pink frosting, and princess themed decorations - I didn't realize that he

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-37105837102638777792009-02-25T19:18:00.006-06:002009-02-25T19:45:34.977-06:00

For the last few months, Asher has been using "my throat hurts" to mean anything on his body hurts.  It could be he stubbed his toe, has a stomach ache, or even a poked eye.  It has NEVER meant that his actual throat hurt.  So a short while ago I said something to the effect of, "He just needs to have  a sore throat once so that he can understand what part of his body it actually is."  The

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-18883365883673328892009-02-18T20:19:00.012-06:002009-02-24T21:16:37.255-06:00

Okay, so maybe it doesn't have quite the poetic poignancy of the phoenix, but it sure is cute!About two months ago our frog (symbolic of our household and my sanity) suddenly aged and burst into flames leaving only a pile of embers and ash.  The good news is that recently a new frog has sprung from the debris and all is happy once again in the magical realm of Hansenland.  What, you may ask,

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-82444005204524190912008-12-20T09:28:00.008-06:002008-12-20T10:51:46.543-06:00

Jude did it!! After a lot of hard work and practice, Jude has passed his examination and received his yellow belt in Taekwondo. It started snowing a couple of hours before it was time to head out to the testing site, so all the roads and freeways were a mess. Of course it was rush hour, so snowplows didn't have time to clear anything. Basically the weather turned a 30 minutes test into a five and

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-17005362495139094822008-12-04T11:15:00.008-06:002009-05-06T11:30:57.822-05:00

For the week of Thanksgiving, my brother Ben; his wife Rebecca; and kids Lilly (6), Jeremiah (23 months), Zack (15 months), and Leo (5 months) drove out from Las Vegas to stay with us. Yep, we had 4 four kids under 4 in our house for a week. While there were moments of insanity, we had a really great time. We took all the kids to the Children's Museum at Navy Pier (unfortunately we all forgot our

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-63873663326794664762008-12-04T09:39:00.007-06:002008-12-20T08:59:08.455-06:00

Being a devout Twilighter, I went to the midnight opening of the Twilight movie with soem friends. We started off the night with half price appetizers at Applebee's. Actually, to be truthful, we started off the night with me running over the curb for several seconds while I was trying to apply masacara and drive simutaneously. I don't think my friends will ever let me live that one down! We got

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-56463227556540252622008-12-04T08:56:00.003-06:002008-12-20T08:58:36.594-06:00

Sorry I have been delinquent with updating. With Thanksgiving, house guests, and of course Twilight mania, I got rather distracted for while. For better or worse, I'm back!

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-89790083453772876732008-11-07T08:17:00.009-06:002008-12-20T08:58:06.887-06:00

I have used a body pillow religiously for the last eight years or so. I don't sleep well without one. The problem is that ALL body pillows that are easy to get are horribly insufficient. They are not long enough, poofy enough, or made of long lasting materials. I strongly prefer down pillows, but it's hard to find 100% down body pillows - most have a high percentage of feathers which can poke

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-65815061857585923302008-11-05T20:17:00.013-06:002008-11-07T07:57:55.731-06:00

Here's a rundown of the 2008 Hansen Halloween:Avery was a little ladybug. All the girls who came to trick-or-treat loved her. She does have a huge noggin, so the hat sat on top of her head instead of around it, but that's what you get having my dad as a grandpa (love you and your big head, Dad!).Asher was Thomas. I know, it's a shocking surprise. He actually would tell people that he was Thomas'

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-56920859295303957362008-10-25T21:36:00.007-05:002008-10-26T07:52:21.170-05:00

At Conner and Jude's school, every grade has a concert at some point during the year. The third grade concert was this week. What's special about the third grade concert is that it is the only year where all the kids play an instrument. Conner got to play the bass xylophone. Here is a short clip of him playing accompaniment. I don't have him playing while the choir is singing because some little

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-58774236399683278952008-10-20T19:54:00.006-05:002008-10-26T14:29:26.882-05:00

The good news is that I voted today! I love the whole early voting option.The bad news is that I changed Asher's stinky diaper before I headed out this morning, but forgot to throw it out before I left. Coming home three hours later was not pretty.

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-63010450214340753352008-10-16T09:21:00.004-05:002008-10-16T10:04:55.090-05:00

Since Avery was born, she has had fairly severe skin reactions on her upper back. The skin gets scaly and red and then the skin ruptures and oozes some icky brownish-yellow goo. It was obviously a reaction to the tagless labels printed inside many baby clothes since a few times her clothes would stick to her back only where the tags were, and we would have to peel them off, along with some of her

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-81761539092316771492008-10-12T21:16:00.003-05:002008-10-12T21:22:40.345-05:00

It happened. Avery's first tooth has officially broken through. We could tell that it was coming for the last two weeks or so, but now the painful part is over. There is one more that should break through soon, but there's no sign of the top teeth yet. Good work, Avery!It's hard to see, but trust me - it's there. She's bitten me a couple of times while nursing. Ouch!

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-49876476630981445672008-10-12T21:02:00.005-05:002008-10-13T08:54:05.753-05:00

Here's a cute video of Asher singing - I bet it won't be a surprise about what the song is. Just a little background info: We have a had a small baby doll since around the time that Jude was born. All of the kids have at some time liked to play with, including Avery who enjoyed sucking on its head. Well, a few weeks ago I lost it during an outing and I replaced it with a Water Baby brand doll

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-49749284111908361952008-09-24T12:50:00.010-05:002008-10-26T14:30:02.044-05:00

A few days ago the missionaries came over for dinner. The whole thing was pretty much a nightmare. Firstly the lasagna I made didn't cook right, so the top layer of noodles were rather chewy. Yum! Next, the apple crisp that usually cooks in about 45 minutes took an hour and a half, so we were all stalling the dinner conversation - rather awkward. Then Jude decided to remain true to his Rogers

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-90978195210545504452008-09-21T18:32:00.006-05:002008-09-21T19:58:38.425-05:00

So, last weekend it rained. And rained. And rained. We had the leftovers of two hurricanes back to back. The morning after the first night of major rain, Asher comes running into our bedroom saying, "The basement has a flood!" We got up to check, but thought it more likely that he just got confused. To support this theory, I opened the basement door, looked down briefly, and thought everything

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-59449835530739731342008-09-10T08:00:00.004-05:002008-09-10T08:09:50.185-05:00

A little while ago, Asher comes to me saying that he got the scriptures and that it was time to "cuddle and read our scriptures." At the time I was busy cleaning our living room, but how could I say no? So, I stopped what I was doing and sat on the couch. Asher climbed up into my lap and handed me this:We may be in for a surprise at the coming General Conference!

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-71932781733383429552008-09-09T22:54:00.007-05:002008-12-20T08:59:26.218-06:00

Jude is our little activity monster. He wants to do it all - swimming, soccer, baseball, football, karate, taekwondo, ice skating, piano lessons, cooking classes, gymnastics, etc. Yes, he has actually asked to do all of those things within the last month! So, we decided that he could comtinue with piano lessons and then choose two more physical activities. His choices? Swimming lessons and

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-51750113427305950872008-09-05T09:06:00.010-05:002008-09-05T09:22:50.683-05:00

So Chris and I finally got to see The Dark Knight (we took turns going since we just couldn't seem to manage a time to go together without kids). I LOVED it!It's crazy seeing Christian Bale in such a role, but he does a brilliant job. Despite the fact that I have seen him in several movies that I really liked (Batman Begins, The Prestige, A Midsummer's Night Dream), I still can't get the picture

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-4067155856543398432008-08-22T19:39:00.004-05:002008-08-22T19:53:17.990-05:00

Since Avery is essentially six months old now, and she has also taken to staring at us while we are eating while smacking her lips the whole time, I have finally broken down and fed Avery her first solid food: watery rice cereal. Yum! Of course most of it either got on her face or made into her mouth and was promptly pushed right back out with her tongue, but a few spoonfuls actually made it down

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-43350705668887770922008-08-21T19:43:00.009-05:002008-08-21T20:05:56.789-05:00

Today was it - the first full day of school. Conner is in the 3rd grade, and so excited to be back with all of his friends (and for the new shoes he got for the event) . So far he seems to really like his new teacher. He was so sweet with Jude today. He held his hand all the way from the time they stepped out of the door to when they got on the bus. The whole time he was telling Jude about how

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-24093023746538482972008-08-17T14:18:00.010-05:002008-08-17T14:47:39.896-05:00

Friday was the big day! Our family went to Union, IL for "A Day Out With Thomas." Imagine a big fair full of games, rides, food, and live shows, except EVERYTHING is about Thomas the Tank Engine! It was at a railroad museum that is also part of a functioning railway. So, along with all of the museum trains (real and model), they had a life sized, functioning Thomas engine pulling coaches that

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-14037495986252418232008-08-11T20:48:00.016-05:002008-08-11T21:54:21.337-05:00

(Disclaimer - I am a complete, unabashed Twilight Saga fan. While reading the following, stop frequently for the shrieks, squeals, etc. to truly appreciate the feeling behind this post.) Breaking Dawn is here!!! *shriek* While this is undoubtedly one of the most exciting days of the year, it is always sad to finish off a beloved series. *sniffles* I know, I know. Midnight Sun is in the works, and

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-89715739739888428662008-08-11T20:31:00.006-05:002008-08-11T21:57:08.021-05:00

Just thought I would throw up a couple of cute pictures of Avery doing her latest yoga positions. She's still obsessed with her feet, even though she found them a few months ago.Chris had to go to girl's camp last week for one evening and one of the leaders from another ward had brought his 3 year old daughter with him. When he introduced his daughter as Avery, Chris snapped his head around and

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-41522390273542577132008-08-11T20:16:00.010-05:002008-08-11T22:11:49.375-05:00

So, it's a bit late but here are some pics from Asher's birthday. I'll give you one guess what the theme was! Of course - it's THOMAS! He had a Thomas cake (poor kid, it was pretty nasty allergen free cake - we won't be making that kind again!) and pretty much all of his gifts were Thomas themed as well. He got a bike, helmet, backpack, lunchbox, a couple of engines, and a magnetic Thomas play

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475339643468077140.post-40112850848703880282008-08-07T17:21:00.008-05:002008-08-12T00:30:43.914-05:00

I have finally decided it was time to set up a blog for our family so that we would be able to stay in touch better with everybody. I'm new to the whole blogging business, so be patient with me, but I hope to write frequently and include lots of pictures.About the title - it comes from one our favorite Jude moments. One Sunday during sacrament meeting the speaker was talking about the Holy Ghost

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05480736998807705669noreply@blogger.com0