Halloween

Our Halloween was yet another fun-filled....face stuffing (w/candy)...spook-tacular weekend. The kids had an absolute blast Saturday night at Nana's annual Halloween party and loved being the center of attention. Of course, trick-or-treating on Sunday with the Huerkamps was the highlight of Nate and Leah's night.

Our lil' 50's Sweetie!

Star Wars!!!!

They're obsessed!!!  Nate is dressed as Anakin, Jack as Darth Vader and

 Luke as Luke Skywalker.

(Please excuse Nate's crazy eyes....too much candy.)

Pictures taken right before they left for their Harvest party...bounce houses, hay rides....games etc. 

Good  times!

Happy Halloween!!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Here's the Hanson family (plus Uncle Billy) throwing down our Halloween rap.

Happy Birthday Leah!!!!

Baby Leah is the big 2 today!!!!

You truly are gift from God.

Happy Birthday sweet sweet girl!

 BTW..please click on the picture for a closer view of "the look".

 

First day of school

The first day of school has finally arrived and I couldn't be happier. Does that make me a bad mom? You don't have to answer that...

Anyhow, Nate's first day was on Tuesday and he's going everyday. Leah started Wednesday and she has the M-W-F schedule. Nate and Leah couldn't have been more ready to get to school yesterday and I couldn't find enough time before 9 to get them ready. Always late...story of my life! Oh well.....

  

The kids had a blast at school and received good reports from their teachers.  In fact, Leah's teacher mentioned how well adjusted she is for her age.  Ty and I are the parents of two social butterflies...big surprise there.

Here's my little Dollface!

Hanson Hybrid

Please watch the drummer in this video!  He is a cross between my husband, Ty, and my seven year old nephew, Jacob.  Enjoy!!!

It's been waaay to long!

Well I wish I had a good excuse for my lack of blog updates, but honestly I don't.  This summer has been mad crazy, but I've definitely had enough time to blog about it.  Frankly, I've just been lazy, but my sister-in-law, Jessica, has been great with her blogging.  Therefore, I will be attaching the links of some of  her posts for a few of my updates.  :)  Thanks Jess!

This summer has been a total blast despite the fact that it's hotter than Hades!   I made a trip down to Orlando the last weekend of May for my soon to be sister-in-law, Jessica, with my mom, sister, and baby brother. (Yep...I soon will have two sister-in-laws named Jessica, which works out well for someone like myself who can't even remember her own name!) Anyhow, we got a good visit in with the soon-to-be Mr. & Mrs. Billy Jensen!!!

We had an awesome time at Portifino in early June with the family.  The kids had an absolute blast at the beach, pool, waterpark, etc.  Fun in the sun and plenty of good eats!!!  My only complaint was the visit was waaaaay to short!  :)  We'll definitely have to extend our stay next year.

The following weekend, Ty and I, had a sprint triatholon, which was short and sweet.  Just the way I like it.  The next two weekends included the 4th of July, and Blue Angels.  The Blue Angels put on a great show along with all the drunks running around Pensacola Beach.  Kidding aside the BA show was spectacular!!

Now on to my special trip away from the life of Laura.  I flew out to Texas to visit the Devenny's (Jess, Mike, Jacob, Parker, & Eden) sans my hubby and kids.  I felt guilty at first about leaving them behind because I knew they would have a blast with their cousins.  However, that guilt quickly went away when I was sitting at Cheesecake with Jess, Ashley, and Erin enjoying a glass of wine over lunch!  :) The long weekend went a little like this.  Jess and I got the "twins" question thrown at us the entire visit (much to Ty's dismay!).  Anyhow, I had a blast and got a real good visit in with Jess, Mike and the kids. 

The party didn't end there....I rode with Jess, the kids, and their new puppy, Sixer, back to Florida.  My kids were finally reunited with Jess's kids and all was well.  Although, my desire for a bigger house grew intensely when the house was packed full with 5 kids all under the age of 7, three super cool adults, and one teeny tiny pup!  Wowzers!  All and all...it was still loads of fun no matter how tight the living conditions.  Anyhow, we  celebrated Jacob's 7th birthday with him at Big Kahunas and came home to enjoy cake!

                                       

I was also lucky enough to enjoy another GNO with Jessica and all her high school friends.  Good times!

                                      

My other sister-in-law, Sara, came in town with her two little girls, Kaitlyn and Kylie, for a quick visit while her hubby, J.E. (my big bro), partied with my lil bro, Billy, @ his bachelor party.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to visit with them as much as we would like, but we did leave them with parting gift.  My kids got her kids sick!!!!  Sorry Sara!!!!  I owe you one! 

Okay, so that's it for now.  I am absolutely sick and tired of blogging today!!!!  I really need to get on a schedule with this blogging crap because I don't like playing catch up...it's to much work!

The many faces of Leah

Lil' Lady

Here's my lil' lady rockin a shiner. She can pull off every look it seems...eye boogers, runny nose, and even black eyes. That's my girl!

Happy Birthday Nate!

Wow!!! I have a four year old!!! Where has all the time gone?!! It seems like just yesterday that I was bringing Nate home from the hospital. Oh he was so cute with his baby fuzz back hair!!! I miss those days, but that's not to say that I'm not loving life now. Nate is growing up to be an amazing kid if I do say so myself. Extremely outgoing and everyone's friend...caring...hyper...WILD...and absolutely perfect for our family!!!! I couldn't ask for a better son. :) Happy Birthday Nate!

                                         Like Father like Son

Easter Morning

Soccer

We signed Nate up for soccer thinking it would be the best sport for him to burn off all that extra energy along with learning about team sports. We had no clue what we were getting ourselves into....

We had to bribe Nate with ice cream and toys in order for him to perform. Apparently he really liked that deal and scored goals in all of his games. I sure hope his performances now at this age are no any indicator of his future atheletic skills, because we're going to be broke for sure. He definitely excelled but always for a price and I have feeling that that ice cream and toys won't work for a teenager. :)

Needless to say, we are going to give sports a rest for the summer, because Mommy and Daddy need a break. I don't know how we're going to do it when all of our children are involved in activities. The mere thought exhausts me...

Day of surgery...

We finally took care of Leah's blocked tear duct.  No more eye boogers!!!!  Hooray!!!!  Leah's surgery began at 7:45 a.m. and lasted a whopping 15 minutes.  She was in and out!  Everything went well and we were glad to have her back in our arms. 

Here's a little video of her before the surgery.  They gave her some pink medicine that helps patients wake up a little faster post surgery.  The side effects are similar to that of intoxication.  She is totally nutty in this video....bless her heart!  :)

Here's a little video that may make you giggle.  Most of us have experienced this to some degree at our local nail salon.  Enjoy!  :)

Go Nay Nay!!!

As most of you know there are two Nathans in my life. My crazy and wonderful son, Nate, and Nathan, my sweet baby brother. It seems like just yesterday that my mom brought Nathan (a.k.a. Nay Nay) home who looked like a swollen beet because of an allergic reaction he had from something my mom ate right before giving birth. He was quite the handful for my mom with all of his allergies and asthma, so I decided to take on the role as Lil' Momma to help out. Of course, me thinking I was Nathan's second mom wasn't always helpful. In fact, I was so bossy and overbearing that I might as well have been called Big Momma!!!! I was just trying to help. :) With that said....I love my baby brother and it blows my mind that he is already 17 years old and headed to college in the fall. CRAZY!!! He has grown up to be a smart, polite, funny, and extremely caring young man who I deeply respect.

Enough of all the cheesy stuff....here's a video of Nathan being a dork with his friends. It cracked me up and should be entertaining for anyone who knows him. Enjoy!


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Leah at 18 months..

Little lady is already 18 months old!!! CRAZY! She officially has turned into a sassy little girl who can hold her own in the Hanson house.....which says a lot. Especially when it comes to her big brother, Nate, who is constantly picking on her. Anyhow, she went in for her well-baby earlier this week and all went well. She measured in at 27.5 lbs and 33 1/2 inches long. I don't know what her exact head measurements were but Dr. Robin said they were off the charts (big surprise). Big heads mean big brains...Right?! :)

Leah finally went into the optometrist for her blocked tear duct and they scheduled the surgery for April 21st. It's about a 15 minute procedure which obviously required general anesthesia (BOOO!), in order to keep her still. We are ready to get that taken care of and be done with all the eye boogers!!!

Awwww...Leah is reading a book (upside down!).

Up to no good! :)

Up close and personal...

Here are some close-ups of my little munchkins. Bath time is the only place I can get some decent shots of the kids because they're confined into one area. Anyhow, these happen to be some good shots of their eyes.

It's been too long..

I seem to be getting worse and worse at keeping up with my blog. No excuses this time.....I've just been lazy, because I make time to window shop online everyday....yet somehow I never get around to updating my blog. I haven't had alot of interesting stories to share and I've felt far from creative......soooooo....here we are.

February was pretty low key except for are super fun trip to Texas (Devenny Fix). We had a blast and the kids got along so well. In fact, Nate and Parker are quite the duo...DOUBLE TROUBLE!!!!! I can't tell you how many times I walked into a room to see Nate/Parker flying in mid air off some piece of furniture/electronic. YIKES!!! The girls got along well and Leah had to step up her game to try and keep up with her super agile cousin, Eden. Good times!!!

It was so much fun having all the kids together and Ty and I of course enjoyed our visit with Jess & Mike. Hanging out with them is so easy....our days consist of working out, kids, eating, and the occasional shopping adventure. What more can I ask for?! :)

Like I said before..February was kind of a bore besides our trip. I don't have many pictures to post, however, I did get a video of all the kids interacting. If you do decide to tune in then I should warn you that this video may make you a little dizzy. Oh and you might want to turn the volume down because I'm doing the narratting, which means it's LOUD!!!!!

Fro DADDY!!!

This hairdo is the envy of all women over the age of 65.

(Wow!!!!)

Sick and tired of Winter...

Okay I'm officially over Winter.....come on Spring!!!!! It has been way too cold here! I know alot of you are thinking that I don't even know what cold is, but I live in Florida!!! We are not supposed to get cold here!!! I just got back from Lake Tahoe with loads of snow and it feels colder here in good ole Sunny Florida. I mean...come on already....I'm ready for some warmer temps! I know that majority of my fellow Floridians feel the same way. Okay enough of my complaining....

Here's the latest....

Trying to enjoy the park despite the frigid Florida winter. :)

Leah is prooving to be a sweet girl....hmmm...seems to good to be true!

Nate has finally shown some interest in art...maybe he'll take after me.

Window shot of Lake Tahoe...

The Bear

The clouds were magnificent on my flight out to Tahoe.

I didn't take many pictures when I was out in Tahoe, because I didn't think anyone wanted to see what I ate for every meal. Yep, that's right....we basically ate the entire time! :) Now that's my kind of fun.

Yummy recipe...

Yum....last night I tried this new recipe by Giada, because it looked "oh so good". Let me tell you....it was "oh so good" and then some! :) Check it out!




http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/everyday-italian/baked-orzo-with-fontina-and-peas-recipe/index.html

We had steaks and a mixed green salad along with this delicious orzo. The steaks really complimented the orzo and was definitely a crowd pleaser. You can't go wrong with that.

2010!!!!!

New Years Eve was great.....got the kids down to bed early at my parents....got to get dressed with no distractions....headed out to a yummy dinner at Global Grill with John Eric, Sara, Billy, Jessica, and Ty.....enjoyed a delicious meal....and.......got a phone call from my mom that Nate was sick with chills, bad fever, and barfing!!!!! I couldn't stand the thought of not being with my baby when he's sick, although, I knew he was in good hands with my mom. Soooooo I ended up being a total kill joy for everybody's New Year. They were all very understanding....thanks again guys!

J.E. & Sara

Billy & Jessica

Ty & I

Nate holding his barf bowl and wearing a fever pad. Poor little guy!

Oh yeah, did I mention that the fever/barfing was the onset of hand foot & mouth disease which Nate so kindly passed onto his sister. Lovely! We have been confined to the house for an entire week now. I've got myself a serious case of cabin fever. :) Happy 2010!!!!

Heads up....

I've got a ton of pictures to download on the blog, so expect to see more by this evening. :)

Pictures!

Here are some pictures documenting last months adventures.

The boys first official "camp-out" together.

Movies and smores.

Nate's Christmas pageant

Nate's girlfriend, Olivia.

Nate's best bud, Jack.
Christmas at the Hansons
BEFORE
AFTER :)
Christmas at the Jensens