Lainers on the go!

Went to the beach...

2009-07-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

What Andrew does, Tori must do. I love watching these two "hard at work"!

Cute Couple

2009-06-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

This is Howard and Kate. Aren't they cute??? They're getting married next month!

And, yes, I took the picture which is why its here. Because I like it. And because they're cute. And they make me smile. And its my blog and I can do whatever I want.

So...here's to Howard & Kate!

I also really like this picture of Auntie Stace and Tori

More fun at the fountain!

2009-06-24T19:19:00.001-07:00

Went back to the fountain this afternoon to show Andrew how much fun it is!

Some Special Outings

2009-06-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

Life has been insane these days and it just keeps getting more busy! But we're having fun!

First off, I took Andrew to a nearby park close to the river and let him take pictures of whatever he wanted. Its REALLY interesting what a 4 year old deems "photo worthy". He had a blast!

Then, while Andrew was at VBS, we took Tori to another park with a fun playground and fountain. She had so much fun she asked to go back after nap time to show Brother! Can't wait!

Fabulous!

2009-06-20T20:17:00.001-07:00

Went to a bachelorette party for a close friend and this is me and my momma! We're super cute!

The cutest things ever!

2009-05-31T18:54:00.000-07:00

What do you do with your sunshine???

2009-05-17T20:56:00.001-07:00

Wordless Wednesday!

2009-05-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

She did her own hair--don't blame me!

To the beach!

2009-05-10T18:13:00.001-07:00

For Mother's Day, we spent the afternoon at Haystack Rock. Fun!

Birthday fun!

2009-05-09T08:06:00.000-07:00

This is one spoiled little girl!

Two years ago today...

2009-05-08T07:37:00.001-07:00

...we went from this:

To this:

Happy Birthday to my baby girl!

Just because they're cuter than cute!

2009-05-03T15:23:00.001-07:00

The coolest choreography ever!

2009-05-03T13:03:00.001-07:00

Okay, maybe not EVER, but it is pretty stinkin' cool!

Playtime with Tori

2009-04-25T18:12:00.001-07:00

Some recent pictures of my Tori girl!

Lesson Learned!

2009-04-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

What is the lesson Lani learned while on an outing with friends last night?

Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, leave your cell phone unattended with these people nearby. I made a quick trip to the restroom and came back to the table and they were messing with my phone. Didn't pay much attention to what was going on.

Then I discovered THIS:

...is my new wallpaper on my phone.

This one:

...I have no idea...its pretty! But it kind of makes me sea-sick!

And this one:

...these are the crazies who took the pictures!

Good Thing My Momma Didn't Name Me 'Grace'!

2009-04-14T19:59:00.001-07:00

Today started off pretty well--got up, got ready, went to Starbucks and got my coffee and Dr. BH's coffee and went to work.

Pulled into my parking space, gathered up my purse, cell phone and two coffees and stepped out of the car. As I started to get out, I saw Dr. BH pull into his space, smiled, stood up and tripped over the curb. Into the bushes. Rolled my ankle. Twisted my knee.

1. Why did I have to demonstrate my incredible grace and talent at all?

2. Why did there have to be a witness? And not just ANY witness, but one of the doctors? SERIOUSLY...

3. The best part: didn't spill a drop of coffee. WHEW!

Prayer with Andrew

2009-04-13T16:28:00.000-07:00

The other night Mark & I instructed Andrew to eat at least a portion of all the things on his plate (standard rule at our house--you have to at least TRY everything). When he heard that, he informed Mark & I he would not.

He was spanked for being disrespectful and told otherwise.

He argued. We informed him of his options: sit there and eat warm dinner or sit there, let his dinner get cold and still have to eat it.

He argued some more. We walked away and left him in his seat at the table with his dinner in front of him.

After a little while I headed back into the kitchen to start cleaning up when I heard Andrew wimpering under his breath. I glanced over and saw him, head bowed and hands folded in front of him.

I heard him pray,

"Dear Jesus. Please just make it go away..."

I had to leave the room so he didn't hear or see me laugh.

What are my kids doing today?

2009-04-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

Answer: Enjoying the fact that we live in a house with hard wood floors. They are racing Tonka trucks (courtesy of Gimpa & Gamma Cooke) up and down the halls and living room and kitchen. They are squealing and laughing all the way!

Answer: Andrew has a "lunch date" today with Laurie from my office. He said he wanted to take her to Taco Bell so we--HE--is taking her to Taco Bell today.

Answer: Trying on clothes. We are going through growth spirts and needing to "purge" our closets and dressers. So far, I have two bags and a box of clothes we are passing on. Yay for cleaning stuff out and making more space! Boo for growing out of clothes and discovering we need to get new ones!

Answer: Dancing. They have decided music and dancing is their new favorite past time between truck races. Their current favorite songs include "I Need You" by Evan Earwicker, "We Could Run Away" by Need To Breathe, "Arms Wide Open" by Creed and "This Fragile Breath" by Todd Agnew. Are these some of Mom's favorites? You betcha!

Answer: Learning that whining and pouting won't get them anywhere (this is a daily lesson...hourly...minute by minute???). Andrew said, "But Moooo-OOOOM!" And I said, "When you whine, I can't understand you." He tried again and again and again. And then he said, "Mom, is it like a different sound that you can't hear when I whine?" "YEP!" "Mom, that's weird." "Yeah, kind of. But that's just the way it is." He shrugged his shoulders and then said, quietly and in his regular voice, "Mom, may I have some crackers please?" Crackers it is! WAHOO!

Answer: Counting. Andrew is showing Tori how many cars they have. He loses count and starts over. Considering they have a bajillion of them, he starts over a lot!

Answer: Making me tired but making me smile!

Palm Sunday!

2009-04-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

Today at church our 3 to 5 year olds sang on the stage--our boy was SO cute! He didn't get into the performing TOO much but he did manage to enjoy himself a little. We had over 40 kiddos on stage and only a few melt downs. SO FUN!

Just because its cool...

2009-03-22T20:46:00.001-07:00

I took this picture of my friend, Christy. Its on the windshield of my car and made me smile! I think she's beautiful AND I think its a cool picture for an "accident". It was totally random after a girls afternoon out of ice skating and dessert for a friend's birhday.

Meeting me where I'm at...

2009-03-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weeks have been busy and hectic and pure chaos. I'm weary and drained but in the midst of it, finding my way into The Father's lap.

I have friends going through struggles. I have children trying to get well. I have a husband teaching and leading children and influencing their lives and trying to manage to get through to Spring Break (this next week! WAHOO!). I have in-laws trying to find their way in caring for an aging parent--my husband's grandfather who is close to his heart. I have my own schedule to contend with and a new house to put together and the regular ins and outs of life--laundry, dishes, appointments, etc...

In the middle of all of this there is a disconnect between me and God. I've surrounded myself with music about Him, with His word and am trying to figure out where that disconnect is. In the process of finding that disconnect I was reminded of Psalm 139. This particular Psalm has always found a way to speak to my heart. To my soul. Its who I am. Its how I find my way back to God over and over again. It holds my life verse (Psalm 139:14) and is my CONSTANT reminder that God knows me to the very core. Knows me better than I know myself. He knows where the disconnect is and will meet me where I'm at if I will simply have Him. He'll pick up the pieces I've dropped and hand them back to me. He'll hold me and rock me.

I also had a friend--no, a man who loves me like his own child--pray over me and tell me to read Psalm 84 and to focus on verses 1-5.

"How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living god. Even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young--even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and My God. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You. Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage." ~Psalm 84:1-5 NKJV

And so I sit and read that and I'm halfway there. My heart does cry out for the living god. Now if the flesh would follow and cave and let God be the god of my heart and my life...

Urgent Care Take 2!

2009-03-07T20:47:00.000-08:00

We ended up back at urgent care with Andrew last night and came home with stronger antibiotics.

What started out as a double ear infection, a sinus infection and early stages of pneumonia has turned into blisters on his ear drums that have caused an infection to spread to his eyes, throat, tummy and bladder. Another 24-48 hours and we would have had to drain his ears and his throat & mouth would have been coated in blisters.

Here we are waiting on test results...

A little fishy face action!

And some peek-a-boo!

Even feelin' like pooh, he makes me laugh.

Now we're taking stronger antibiotics and using pro-biotics to replace the good stuff the anti-biotics are getting rid of along the way. Here's hoping this is it!

Really? REALLY?

2009-03-06T09:17:00.000-08:00

Reasons to call your chiropractor:

1. Your back hurts. Duh.

2. Your legs, arms, ankles...whatever, hurts.

3. Headaches/migraines.

4. Food sensitivies (yeah--they do that, too).

5. Orthotics Fitting.

Reasons NOT to call your chiropractor:

How do I choose an egg plant?

Yes...I did receive that call yesterday. A patient called and said they were at the grocery store trying to figure out how to choose a ripe egg plant and could I please ask the doctor what they should be looking for?

"He's with a patient..."

"Can you interrupt? Its just a simple quick answer..."

"No...he's with a patient but let me put on hold and check with someone else..."

Thank God for google.

Weekend Whirlwind!

2009-03-03T08:40:00.000-08:00

We are moved! As in, we have all of our belongings moved from the apartment into the house. MOVED IN? Maybe not...

We were so blessed to have so much help and it was great! We got everything out of the apartment and into the house by 3, took care of a few things, went down to Corvallis for an evening church service with my mom, headed back up to Canby and crashed out at about 11:30 that night. Mark woke up at 2 AM throwing up and was either running for the bathroom or flat on his back all day Sunday. The kiddos were with his parents, which was a HUGE blessing to us. Mark was able to get rest while I ran back and forth between apartment and house cleaning, unpacking, cleaning some more, running some errands, cleaning some more, unpacking some more and doing my best to get it all done. I managed to get the apartment cleaned and keys turned in at 10:45 Sunday night. The kids' shared room was semi-put together for when they arrived with Nana.

Nana and the kiddos arrived, we managed to get them in bed and I went back to the apartment to finish things up.

Yay for being moved! Pictures soon...I work all week, so it might be until later.

Moving = Opportunity

2009-02-24T11:18:00.000-08:00

An opportunity to "lose" toys, that is. See, there are a few things around our house that Mark & I were either crazy enough to purchase ourselves or grandparents (while we DO love and adore them) were nice enough to purchase for us.

Some of these toys will "fall off the truck" Saturday (yes, that's right--we move SATURDAY).

Things like the Chicken Dance Elmo. Tori loves this toy. Mom can't handle it. Andrew used to be scared of it, but now tolerates it. Today, it will be "lost".

McDonald's Happy Meal toys. My kids love these little things! But they are irritating and have pieces missing. They, too, will be finding their way out our front door.

Hokey Pokey Elmo. Andrew loves this toy. Tori is afraid of it. Mom hates it. Bye-bye Hokey-Pokey Elmo.

There are others, but we won't list all of them.

I can't wait to move!!!

Fun with Grandpa!

2009-02-21T18:44:00.000-08:00

Mark's dad was in town from North Carolina and we spent the day hanging out with cousins and playing at the park. Fun!

They must be feeling better...

2009-02-11T16:16:00.001-08:00

...because they're collaborating. I hear them playing and chatting in Andrew's room when Tori comes out and says, "Mommaaaaa! Brudder. Money in hand! Money. Hand. Brudder..." And the whole time she's pointing from one hand to the other and then pointing down the hall to Andrew's room.

I'm confused, but doing my best to follow when Andrew comes out and says, "Sister! What did she say? Did she give you money for my bank??"

You see, Andrew knows that if he finds spare change around the house, we let him have it for his piggy bank. He also knows that he's already asked me for any spare change today and I've told him not to ask again because I don't have anymore.

But he THINKS maybe if Tori asks, things will change.

It's That Time of Year Again!

2009-02-11T07:38:00.000-08:00

We spent Sunday afternoon with Andrew at Urgent Care. He was having trouble breathing and his cough (compliments of a kickin' flu virus that causes vomiting for 24 hours and ends with a chest cold) was getting worse. His chest x-rays came back clear, so we were sent home with the typical, "rest, fluids, inhaler" instructions. We were also told that, yes, the cold had settled in his chest and could possibly turn into Pneumonia. If he spiked a new fever in the next week, we needed to do head back in for another x-ray.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I got a call from my daycare lady saying she was headed into the hospital herself for extreme abdominal and back pain, could we come get the kids? So, after doing some shuffling at work, I headed over and picked them up. After we got home, I realized both kiddos were a little on the cranky/sluggish/not-like-themselves side. So I cuddled with them and, sure enough, they both felt warm. Checked their temps and we were headed to the doc for more x-rays on Andrew and a peek at Tori's ears.

We headed home last night with antibiotics for both kiddos. Double ear infections all around! And Andrew has a touch of the beginning stages of Pneumonia but his antibiotics should kick that in the process of kicking the ear infection.

Here's hoping and praying this is it for this year's round of cold/flu/Pneumonia!

Another Friday Post

2009-02-06T13:27:00.000-08:00

Not sure what it is about this song, but it always speaks to my heart. It speaks to it in multiple ways: it expresses how I feel about God but also how I feel about my husband.

I have to watch a close friend of mine go through each day wanting this with their spouse and not knowing how to find it. How blessed I am to feel SO STRONGLY towards my husband. How blessed I am to know that God gives us this love and its because God is in our lives and in our marraige that I can love my husband the way I do.

Five for Friday

2009-02-06T10:51:00.000-08:00

Five (or more) things we are SO looking forward to in our new house:

1. THE YARD.

2. No speed bumps in our driveway.

3. An actual laundry room and not just a laundry "area".

4. Hard wood floors throughout and not linoleum up and down the hallways (yes, there is a TON of linoleum in this apartment).

5. Having a garage so I can store actual linens in my linen closet and not storage containers full of things I don't need year-round (like Christmas decorations).

6. I can let the kids run in the house. And they can run in the house with the big tonka trucks up and down the hallway just because they like the noise.

7. The fridge. Stupid, I know...but yeah...I'm still looking forward to it.

8. It has lots of windows. And the windows look out into our yard and not out into a parking lot.

9. I won't be lugging bags of groceries up two flights of stairs.

10. I won't be lugging my 30 pound wonder-one-year-old up two flights of stairs or waiting for her to climb the stairs on her own which she INSISTS on doing when I'm in a hurry and would rather lug her.

11. We get to have a garden!

12. The kitchen has a pantry!

13. When (if) the neighbors smoke, it won't come through the heater vents in my kids' rooms.

14. When I invite people over and give them directions, I won't have to say, "Park in an unmarked space so your car doesn't get towed..."

15. When we eat dinner at the table, it won't be sitting in front of our television and won't feel like part of our living room.

16. We can have BBQ's/parties/get togethers!

17. Its still close enough for me to walk to work, but its outside of the district Mark teaches in, so there's a little "space" for him but I can enjoy the proximity to work.

18. Its within walking distance to my favorite thai food restaurant.

19. Space permitting, I *MIGHT* get to move my piano from my mom's house to our house. I still need to talk to Mark about that one, though. So its a toss up.

20. Its ADORABLE. Pictures coming soon...I PROMISE!

Wordless Wednesday with Andrew

2009-02-04T18:22:00.000-08:00

What the heck...why not???

2009-02-01T18:19:00.000-08:00

Pay it Forward

Pay it Forward Exchange. I got this from my friend Lisa's blog. If you'd like to join me follow the instructions below. This is how it works:

Pay It Forward Exchange is based on the concept of the movie "Pay it forward". I will send a hand made gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join the PIF exchange. All the gifts will be made and posted out 'sometime within the next year'. How exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive!What you need to do in return, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. This Exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PROMISE TO POST THIS SAME 'PAY IT FORWARD' MESSAGE ONTO YOUR BLOG, WHICH MUST BE ACTIVE IN ORDER TO PLAY. YOU WILL PAY IT FORWARD TO THREE PEOPLE WHO COMMENT ON YOUR BLOG. I'd love for you to join me! Will you? Other comments are welcome, but only the first three will be my Pay It Forward recipients. Come and join me!

Mildly irritated--and I told him so!!

2009-01-31T15:57:00.000-08:00

I just got home from a trip to Fred Meyer (for those not from around here, it's a large grocery/department store) where I picked up a few items and headed to the check out. There was a young guy behind the counter--probably early 20's--who did the normal "Hi, how are you today? Did you find everything okay?" conversation.

After paying for my things I smiled and said, "Thanks--don't work too hard this weekend!"

To which he replied, "No chance of that! They don't pay me enough to work hard."

Oh no. You did not just say that to me. Not the person to say that to. I have too many family members and friends who are either currently out of work or headed that direction.

I quietly set my things down on his counter, smiled and said, "Look here, Skippy (yes...I did REALLY call him that even though his name tag read "James") at least they're paying you. At least you're employed. Not everyone around you can say the same thing. ENJOY your job. ENJOY your paycheck. Be grateful for it. Have a nice weekend."

And I took my things and left. He was speechless.

If you're working, remember to enjoy the busy-ness of your job and the paycheck you receive. If you're not working, know that we are praying for you and know that God has a plan for you.

25 for Friday!

2009-01-30T11:14:00.001-08:00

I put this on my Facebook but it was kind of fun, so I thought I would put it on here, too!

RULE: Once you've been tagged you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end, choose some friends tag! You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you it's because I want to know more about you.

1. Mark and I have been married for five years and have moved 6 times. In less than a month, we will move for the 7th time.
2. I have really big feet for my height (or lack there-of).
3. I'm very organized everywhere but in my own home.
4. Since I've been married, I've cleaned a bathroom MAYBE three times. Mark is good to me.
5. I find that, despite what might be considered "appropriate", most of my friends are guys. I don't deal well with other women and the "drama" that comes with them.
6. I hate the color pink but am learning to like it and use it thanks to my daughter.
7. When I was in high school I changed my nail polish every morning to match my outfit.
8. I love manicures but not pedicures. I don't like people touching my feet.
9. I've been a runner since I was 7.
10. I LOVE pictures and am borderline obsessed with photography.
11. I bought my wedding dress at a consigment shop for $200 but was told, by a bridal shop owner, it was worth more than $1200. Also, I chose my wedding ring and, when we went to pay for it, discovered it was on sale. It cost us $28.
12. I'm having a really hard time coming up with 25 things about me. I'm just not that interesting.
13. I love music but I can't sing at all--I'm almost totally tone deaf.
14. I was on a jump-rope team for, like, 5 years. I can still do some of the crazy tricks we used to do in our competitions.
15. I fractured my ankle during a cross country race in high school but it was taped for tendonitits, so I ran on it for another half mile before my coach pulled me out of the race. The doctor cast it a day later and I was out for the season. It was our first race of the year. I was devastated.
16. I hate paying full price for clothes, shoes, household stuff, but will fork over $3.80 for a mocha on an ALMOST daily basis. Yeah, figure that one out.
17. I hate math but I love to quilt--which is basically math with fabric and a sewing machine.
18. When I was younger, I wanted to be a lawyer or a journalist. Now I'm a mom and a receptionist at a chiropractic clinic which I think is WAY better than being a lawyer or a journalist!
19. I hate politics because I am very conservative but most of my friends are extremely liberal--makes it tough to have discussions about political stuff and remain friends.
20. I don't like diamonds or pearls.
21. When I found out I was preggers with Tori, I wanted a second boy. I wasn't excited about having a girl until about 7-8 months into my pregnancy with her.
22. My belly button has been pierced twice but the piercing got infected during both of my pregnancies and had to be taken out. I've considered getting it done a third time, but the last time I pierced it, I got pregnant with Tori. I'm not saying that was the reason, but hey...you can never be too careful. :) Plus, I would rather get a tattoo.
23. I've had fermented mare's milk (think: REALLY sour milk mixed with REALLY strong Vodka) for a "snack" in Outer Mongolia. It was one of those, "its rude not to" kind of things and a BIG deal to the host of the family. My husband's sister-in-law, my brother, and my mom have had the same experience. So have several of my friends.
24. I'm 28 and have been recently mistaken for my daughter's teenage sister--the nurse who questioned it told me she thought I was 13 or 14. She was SHOCKED when I showed her my ID and gave her the go ahead on Tori's flu shot.
25. When I was in high school, one of my best friends was 6'09" and I was chewed out by a tall girl at a coffee shop for "stealing" him from other tall girls. We never dated but have been mistaken for a married couple more than once when we traveled together. People who knew us in high school are SHOCKED we are not married. We laugh--we love eachother but would drive eachother CRAZY if we were married.

I tag Jessica (Beaver Bunch Momma!), Carrie, Stacy, Nikki, Lisa "Little Miss Sunshine" Newton and whoever else wants to do it!

Picture Time!

2009-01-28T18:55:00.001-08:00

Playing a bit of catch-up! Here are a few from our trip to the coast and a few new ones of the kiddos.

Some things are worth jumping up and down about!

2009-01-28T07:52:00.000-08:00

We have had a VERY blessed week...

It started with a wonderful weekend away to the coast for Mark's birthday. We walked on the beach, we shopped, we ate at nice restaurants and enjoyed time together while our kiddos enjoyed time with Nana & Papa. I gave Mark a guitar for his birthday because he showed an interest in taking lessons and learning to play. Its beautiful and he loves it!

Then we came home and I got a call at work Monday from the landlord of an adorable little house with a HUGE backyard that we had looked into. They want us to rent it!! YAY! We move on March 1st. Its less square footage than we're in right now, but has more of what we're looking for when it comes to the kiddos. First: its a house and not an apartment--the benefits there are pretty obvious. Second: it has a 1/2 acre fenced backyard with a covered patio and huge tree and space for a garden. I'm going to become the mom that says, "Put your coats & shoes on! You're going outside to play!" Third: they recently remodeled several things (including the bathroom!) and put in a kickin' new fridge. Yes, I'm a dork, but I'm *REALLY* excited about this fridge. Fourth: the family that owns this house is really nice and they were so willing to work with us on the money side of things. Now its time to get packin'!! I can't wait!

And then last night, we started up with another round of swimming lessons for Andrew and he swam on his own! YAY! He was like a little froggy in the water! I was so proud!

Five for Friday!

2009-01-23T11:01:00.001-08:00

Five things I'm excited about this weekend:

1. We are going to the coast for the night without the kiddos!

2. Mark's birthday present is VERY cool.

3. We find out when we're moving on Saturday!

4. I get to see the ocean! I love the ocean!

5. Packing for the kids and NOT having to pack diapers. WAHOO! NO DIAPERS!

Thursday 13!

2009-01-22T06:38:00.001-08:00

In honor of Mr. Hanson's birthday (on Monday):

13 things I love about my hunnah:

1. He prays.

2. He's a GREAT dad. There's something very comforting about knowing your husband would move heaven & earth to protect you and your kids.

3. He's supportive about whatever I want to do: stay home full time, work part time, work full time...he's always told me to do what I want to do or what I need to do.

4. He tells me I'm beautiful.

5. He's not the jealous type. I have plenty of guy friends and he's never had an issue with that.

6. He LOVES football but he doesn't HAVE to watch it--even when his Patriots are on.

7. He loves music.

8. He's just as addicted to 'NCIS' and 'Friends' as I am!

9. He's a math & science teacher which means when our kiddos are in school, I won't have to help them with THAT homework.

10. He cleans bathrooms.

11. He does laundry.

12. He does dishes.

13. He puts up with my temper tantrums and loves me anyway.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUNNAH! I LOVE YOU!

Sometimes they just don't quite make it...

2009-01-21T16:01:00.000-08:00

Tori doesn't always want to stay in her bed at bedtime. And sometimes she gets out, plays with all the clothes in her dresser and, eventually falls asleep. Sometimes she just doesn't QUITE make it to the bed:

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-14T22:18:00.000-08:00

Playing Basketball at Daddy's School:

Showing off those big brown eyes:

Sometimes Brother knows best!

2009-01-12T06:34:00.000-08:00

I was doing some laundry a while back when Tori discovered some of Andrew's unders. She wanted to wear them over her diaper and thought it was the best fashion statement ever!

When we started potty training this week, she wanted to wear her Elmo underwear (she calls them "Mo-mos) or her Curious George underwear. But last night...

It was all about the baseball underwear she found in the clean laundry I was folding.

I would call that success!

2009-01-11T17:21:00.001-08:00

Yesterday afternoon we had a lunch thing with a group of friends (see previous post titled "Mongolia!") and Tori REFUSED to wear a pull up or a diaper. She wanted to wear her big girl undies and that was that. So I shrugged my shoulders and rolled with it. Well, that, and a purse equipped with a spare outfit and plastic bag *just in case*.

We were gone for over two hours and I asked her, twice, if she needed to go potty. Once, she said yes and we headed to the bathrooms. But she immediately changed her mind after seeing the public restroom toilet. I was disappointed, but understood and just braced myself for the inevitable accident.

On top of the length of time we were gone, was the fact that it was the middle of nap time and I was dragging her into a restaurant and asking her to be social with complete strangers!

After we said our goodbyes, she melted down as we were getting in the car and started yelling, "Poo-Poo!!! I need to poo-poo!" Greeeeeaaat.

I tried to talk her through it knowing we lived only two minutes away. We pulled into our parking space, I undid the carseat straps on both kids and we ran, full speed ahead, up the stairs and into the apartment. Both kiddos thought it was hilarious! I got her in the house and she was still dry! Ran to the bathroom, set her on the potty and she went....and went......and went some more! All three of us did the victory dance, clapped our hands and had our M&M's as a reward. I even rewarded Andrew and I for running so fast to get her upstairs.

Yay for dry unders, fast running and M&M's!

Mongolia!

2009-01-10T15:53:00.000-08:00

Many moons ago--okay, more like, 10 years ago, I went to Mongolia for a couple of months on a missions trip. Completely changed my life! But there's not enough room here to really elaborate on that.

So...moving right along.

Today, I got to see one of my translator-friends for lunch! Oyunnaa (Oh-yoo-nah) is in the states with two kids, Hurley & Jack, who were having some medical stuff done in Portland that they can't have done in Mongolia. While they're here, we decided to get together!

Another funny thing: three other people who went to Mongolia the same time I did live in my home-town. Here are a few pics from our lunch today. SO FUN! And we are SO blessed!

This is Jack & Andrew ready to race their trucks. These two are the perfect example of being able to communicate without speaking the same language. Jack speaks a tiny bit of English. Andrew doesn't speak a lick of Mongolian. But these two love to play together!

This is Hurley! She's one of the sweetest people you could ever meet. I wish she lived in the area--she loves my kids and would make an awesome babysitter!

Here we all are! Oyunna, Steve, Donna, Sue, Bonnie holding Andrew, my mom, me holding Tori, Hurley and Jack! So much fun!

Please pray for safe travels for these people--they head home soon and we will miss them!

Victory Dancing at the Hanson House!

2009-01-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

You may remember a while ago I posted that Tori had started asking to use the potty (thanks to the Elmo's Potty Time DVD she received for her birthday). We let her use it when she asked but didn't feel the need to really pressure her. I told Mark I thought she might be ready a few days ago and she is doing awesome! Today, I took her potty after breakfast, got the kiddos dressed and we headed out the door to run some errands. We were out for over an hour and she came home dry, used the potty and ran out to the living room to play.

I'M SO EXCITED I CAN HARDLY STAND IT! WAHOOOOOOO!!!!

Its like hearing myself...

2009-01-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

Today Andrew and Tori were having a little disagreement over whether or not to play in his room. I could hear the argument escalating when Tori yells, "NO, BRUDDER! AN-ROO MICHAEL STOP!" And then Andrew responds with, "DON'T YELL AT ME, SISTER! VICTORIA JOY!"

When the kids are in trouble, I have a habit of "middle naming them". I guess I might do it a little TOO often.

Moving right along...

2009-01-07T08:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, this is taking way too long and probably not really THAT interesting to other people!

After the family time at the restaurant, we headed back to Grandpa's house and did some more sorting, packing, donating and dealing with all that comes with a death in the family.

Saturday night Dad, Tori & I said goodbye to Joanie, Chad, Jonathan, Kristen and William. Then we headed to dinner, came back for a good night's sleep and got up early Sunday morning to drive the four hours from Tulare to the Sacramento Airport. All was going well until about 7:30 AM when my cell phone rang and it was Mark. A raging snow & ice storm had gone through the northwest and all flights into Seattle & Portland were cancelled. As in, I wasn't going to get home Sunday afterall!

I started out by calling one of my best friends, Miriam. She and her family recently moved from Las Vegas to Sacramento (how convenient!!) and I knew she would have mercy on Tori & I. Sure enough, she was more than happy to pick us up and take us home. BUT...we had to get a new flight booked before we could leave the airport.

We stood in line for four hours and spent another two and a half hours at the front counter working with the ticketing agents. Tori played with her carseat, ate her snacks, read her books, stripped all her clothes off (TWICE!) and informed me, while I was standing at the front counter with no place to go, that her diaper was yucky. So, I did what any good airline passenger would do: I put her blankey down on the checked luggage scale and changed her diaper. No way was I giving up my place in line and leaving my luggage to go change her diaper in the bathroom!

After lots of negotiating with other airlines, Alaska Airlines got me a guaranteed flight the next day from Sacramento to Los Angeles to stay with my brother until Portland thawed out. The best they could do was to get me into Portland Christmas Day at 4:30 PM (weather permitting). My other option was to fly to Reno to stay with my dad and stepmom until New Years Eve. Or I could stay in Sacramento at the airport and fly standy-by until December 28th.

We took the LA flight and headed to Miriam's for the night.

Miriam's two year old daughter shared her toys with Tori and they had a ball. Miriam and I took advantage of our unexpected time together and caught up on our girl-talk. We got the kiddos to sleep, ate snacks, drank rum & cokes and stayed up late.

The next morning, she took us BACK to the Sacramento airport and we hitched our ride to LA. Jonathan picked us up at the airport and took us to his and Kristen's apartment where Tori and Will looked a little confused. They had just seen eachother and said goodbye two days ago. And here they were again. Hmmm...

We stayed all week with them. I checked the stand-by list every day to see what our wait would be like to try and get home. Tuesday all flights were still cancelled. Wednesday I called at 8:30 in the morning and I was number 86 on the stand-by list. Wednesday I was number 97. Thursday, we opened Christmas presents with my brother, sister in law, nephew, cousin and auntie and then headed to the airport. I overheard a couple get on the stand-by list as passengers 107 and 108. They were told they would be better off going home and booking new flights for about three days out. I was thanking God for taking such good care of us all that week. I was blessed with people to stay with, a warm shower every day, clean clothes and good company the entire time I had been "stranded" in California.

We went through security and headed to our gate.

Our flight was delayed.
We went and got lunch.
It was delayed again.
And then we boarded. And then we were off!

We made it home that night. And did Christmas as a family Saturday morning. Yay for unexpected family time and a Christmas we won't forget!

Family Time!

2009-01-04T12:33:00.001-08:00

After the funeral and the graveside service, we headed to Grandpa's favorite restaurant and had lunch. It was a nice time to remember things and spend some time with family we don't normally get to see.

This is my dad with his sister, Joanie.

Here's a proud grandpa with two of his four grandkids. Well, five if you count the one in the womb (NO NOT MINE!!!):

This is my big brother, Jonathan with his wife, Kristen and their son, William. Their second is on the way! Yay for babies!

Dad & Tori hanging out. She still asks for him and asks to call him. She misses him!

By the end of the day, Tori was losin' it. And this is what I was seeing:

We spent two days sorting and packing...

2009-01-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

And then we had the funeral. It was overwhelming because the city employees (police and fired departments) ASKED to do a Color Guard at the service. He was honored in a way we didn't expect but greatly appreciated. They had never done anything like this before and spent many hours planning, arranging and rehearsing. By the time the service started, our family was swelling with pride. I'm thrilled to be his granddaughter and a part of his heritage.

We showed up at the church in Tulare and we were greeted by these finely dressed gentleman in the parking lot.

And these gentleman carried Grandpa's casket into the church.

My Uncle Mark (married to my dad's sister, Joanie) officiated the service.

There was singing by Charla--a member of Grandpa's church for...as long as I can remember. She used to sing in his church all the time and he loved her voice.

And then Joanie read a poem she wrote for Grandpa--she did the same when Grandma died three years ago.

And then it was time to head out to the cemetery for the graveside service. The kiddos did well during the service but were ready to get out the door.

Here they are headed to the gravesite:

And then there was the whole flag ceremony and presentation:

The current Mayor giving the flag to my dad and my auntie. They are sending it to my uncle, the oldest child, in Canada. Jan was not able to make it to the service.

During prayer, Dad & Joanie held the flag:

After all that, we headed out for some family time at Grandpa's favorite resaurant.
More pictures to come!

A momma, her girl, a funeral, a few airports and some unexpected family time Part I

2008-12-30T18:16:00.000-08:00

We made it home in time for dinner with our boys Thursday night--not CHRISTMAS dinner, but we managed a bite of Mexican Food at a restaurant on the way home. Christmas dinner came Saturday night when we had "Christmas" as a family.

BUT--how wonderful to have been "stranded" with family and not stuck in an airport like some people.

We left Wednesday morning and headed to Portland to fly out. We landed in Seattle, boarded our next flight and we were on our way to Sacramento where we met my dad who was driving through on his way from Reno to Grandpa's house in Tulare (about four hours from Sacramento). My daughter is amazing and such a great traveler! She played at the airport, ate when I offered her food, slept on the plane and in the car.

Then we got to Grandpa's and met up with my Aunt Joanie to start working on the "logistics" side of things. Grandpa had a lot of stuff. Books. Papers. Pictures. Plates...plates from everywhere in the world. He and Grandma collected them anytime they took a trip. I counted 86 plates on the walls and I know there were some stored in the cupboards. I brought four home with me from trips I remember taking with them.

BUT...enough words. Here's the first round of pics:

There was some unpacking and undressing...

There was some wearing of Great-Grandma's Christmas Apron...

...and Great-Grandma's Jewelry.

Then my cousin showed up and we played and ate snacks together.

And then I was tired and crashed out.

Next up: pics of the funeral. But first, because we're home we have some other stuff to work on. Dinner. Baths. PJ's. Stories. Bedtime.

We're home!

2008-12-25T20:03:00.001-08:00

FINALLY! More pictures and details of our trip to come later!

Portland or Bust!

2008-12-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

Here's my girl doing her best to get home! We head out for Portland tomorrow! Tonight we're going to Christmas Eve service at my auntie's church, eating a ham dinner and then getting packed up! We'll hang out with my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, auntie and cousin in the morning and then head to the airport tomorrow morning. Pray we make it home!

One more flight down...one more to go!

2008-12-23T08:33:00.001-08:00

We are in Los Angeles until Thursday when we (hopefully) fly back to Portland. This weather is so strange!

Anyway--we're having fun hanging out with my brother, sister in law, nephew, auntie and cousin. At least I am not stranded at an airport sleeping on a floor trying to figure out how to feed me and Tori. God is good.

Off to play with the fam!

I'll be home for Christmas....

2008-12-21T18:00:00.000-08:00

well...sort of. My flight was canceled today thanks to the kickin' storm rolling through the great northwest. I'm at a friends house in Sacramento until tomorrow when I take a flight down to Los Angeles for a few days. I fly out of LAX to Portland Christmas day at 4 PM.

Ugh. Super sad. But there is a reason.

Headed out!

2008-12-16T07:25:00.000-08:00

You may remember I posted about my Grandpa being in the hospital several days ago. Saturday night he went home to be with Jesus and see Grandma. He gets to celebrate Christmas where they celebrate it best!

I leave tomorrow on a (too) early flight out of Portland and into Sacramento. Tori and I will meet my dad who is driving through Sacramento from Reno on his way to Fresno. He'll pick us up and we'll drive the last three to four hours with him. He'll also be taking us back to Sacramento Sunday morning to get back home in time for work and normal life on Monday.

Pray for safe travel for all of us. Pray for peace for all of us. Pray for peace and an incredible testimony for those who knew Grandpa and will be at the service but don't yet know Jesus. Pray for Tori to LOVE flying and to be (unusually) mellow and well behaved for me.

As always, thanks for praying...

Walkin' in a winter wonderland...

2008-12-14T14:09:00.003-08:00

For those of you who live somewhere that gets a lot of snow, bear with us. We hardly EVER get snow and its quite the novelty when it shows up! SO...my kiddos woke up to a light (very light) dusting of snow on the ground and got all sorts of excited about it. It has continued to snow throughout the day which means school cancelations are likely tomorrow. WAHOO!

Andrew: "Can you say snow?"
Tori: "SNOOOOOOWWWWWW!"

Andrew: "Good job! High Five!"

Andrew: "Now we watch the snow. Isn't it awesome?!"

And now we play in the snow!

Yes, Tori's gloves are too big and make her fingers look broken but it was the best I could do. This child INSISTS on wearing gloves JUST LIKE Andrew's and refused to leave the house without them. *heavy sigh* Oh well! Could be worse: she could refuse to wear gloves all together and then we would have freezing fingers. So I guess gloves that are too big are better than nothing!

They call him "Pastor" or "Mayor" or "Mr. Cooke" or "Bill". I call him GRANDPA.

2008-12-13T13:38:00.000-08:00

My grandpa went into the hospital last week with a leak in his brain (no, I don't know the techinical medical term for it--just roll with it). We thought things were getting better, but it seems things are going downhill. He's had a series of several small strokes and his heart is working too hard and not getting enough work done. They've put in a temporary pace maker to see if that helps. If it does, they'll make it permanent. If it doesn't, its back to the drawing board and really only a matter of time.

In the mean time, I've been doing a lot of remembering (death or near death does that to a person) and the thing I remember most about my grandparents is that they were pastors of a church, or teachers, or the mayor or something like that. Everyone around me always had to use a title with them. I always thought it was pretty stinkin' cool that I got to call them Grandpa & Grandma. I mean, really--its, like, a cool INSIDE thing. At least, that's how its always been for me.

I call him Grandpa and my kiddos call him "Great pa-pa". I will miss him terribly when he goes, but I also know he gets to see Grandma and do a lot of celebrating when he gets there.

Then & Now:

2008-12-10T22:10:00.000-08:00

This was then:

This is now (3 years later):

So many things, so little time...

2008-12-09T20:04:00.000-08:00

Some things weighing heavily on my mind...

1. My grandpa was taken to the hospital the other night and then flown to Stanford because there was "a leak in his brain". They were considering brain surgery but have opted out because the leak is healing itself and is so small, its really tough for the docs to find. But still--its my grandpa. And he's in the hospital. And that makes my heart heavy.

2. My step mom is doing really well--they've taken her arm out of the sling and are talking about her putting weight on her leg December 29th!! That is good thing and not really a "heavy" thing. Just on my mind.

3. My dad's job is slated to end tomorrow. However, tomorrow morning at 9:00 he has a meeting (read: interview) with numero uno in the "new" company (the company Dad was working for was bought out...you know how it works). We are praying he chooses to keep Dad employed.

4. Work is busy and it makes me tired but in a good way. We hired a new receptionist and she's doing awesome, but its a heavy burden to realize I'm responsible for her training. If she's poorly trained, that would be *MY* fault. I don't really care for having that kind of responsibility. But, on the flip side, I'm a total control freak and do not deal well with mistakes and incompetence so I suppose I should be the one to train her so I can blame no one but myself. Ugh. Sucks to come to that realization, but also a good reminder.

5. It's Christmas and we have two kids we are doing our best to raise to know the REAL reason for this time of year. We don't want them to do the "gimme, gimme, gimme". We want them to have fun. We want them to appreciate their savior. We want them to know its about GIVING.

My tummy is growling. Time for food.

My Crazy Husband

2008-12-05T17:36:00.000-08:00

Mark always manages to find a way to make me laugh--sometimes very unexpectedly.

The other night we busted out our Christmas decorations and took some pictures of the kiddos helping out (they're really fun this year!). I downloaded the pictures and found the following:

We have several nativities around and, apparently, Tori's Monkey Toy is a part of all that this year...

My Tori Girl

2008-11-30T18:11:00.001-08:00

She will always make me laugh...

...and maybe cry a little, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T22:01:00.001-08:00

TURKEY DAY! I love to eat so this is one of my favorite days!

I am grateful for so many things. Way too many to get into.

SO...I will go take my cough medicine, go to bed and post pictures later in the weekend. I took a bunch but forgot the cord to download the pics. Dumb me. ANYWAY...yeah. going to bed. way too tired to think straight.

Go watch Elf Yourself. Its funny.

The best part about tonight: now that the day is over, we get to focus on CHRISTMAS STUFF!!!! WAHOOOO! Andrew has been talking nonstop about getting a Christmas tree so now we get to go do that!

Bedtime.

Elf Yourself!

2008-11-25T19:11:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Our Sensational Sunday

2008-11-23T19:18:00.000-08:00

Today has been a good day. A *GREAT* day.

1. Tori has been using the potty all day. WAHOO! GOODBYE DIAPERS! No, she's not COMPLETELY potty trained, but she's stinkin' close and that's exciting! Diapers are expensive!

2. We sold our crib today! No more storing it and a little extra dinero in our pocket.

3. My step-mom is doing awesome! Recovery is going well and her boss has asked if she would be up for working from home. Yay for recovery and yay for working from home!

4. The sun was shining this afternoon so we went to the park. Unfortunately, it was freakishly cold, so the kiddos didn't do much but wander around with their hands in their pockets. *sigh* I guess its that time of year!

(notice the "poopy face". She was NOT happy about the cold...)

Another Not Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-19T07:37:00.000-08:00

Whew! We are busy! But its all good stuff!

Today we start Andrew's Speech Therapy appointments and we are way excited to see what happens! Pray we are successful and learn how to help him speak more clearly and better cope with his anxiety. Yes, he has anxiety issues that we can't quite seem to put our finger on, but we're praying our way through it and doing the best we can. In the mean time, we're focusing on speech! WAHOO!

Mark has yet to hear about the coaching job. Frustrating! But we're still okay with it--just pluggin' along, doin' our thing.

Lots of changes going on at the clinic I work. But they're all good changes for all of us. It will be tough training a newbie, but, that means I'm not the newbie anymore! Yay! I start training newbie tomorrow morning. She'll take over the opposite reception hours that I work because the other receptionist is going to be a chiropractice assistant because one of chiropractice assistants is leaving to start her own home business that she's always wanted to do. So, like I said: all good stuff, just LOTS to deal with.

Rindy is doing well--recovering and working hard.

Anything else to report? Who knows. I'm not terribly focused this morning since I have to work since this nasty cold/cough/flu thing is running through the office and everyone is getting sick. We go to speech therapy and then to daycare and then to work and, at some point in the midst of all that, I want a starbucks mocha!!!!

Update on Not Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-17T08:06:00.000-08:00

1. Rindy is doing much better. She's recovering and working hard on the physical therapy part of things. Plus, my stepsister, Maggie, should be at their house now so they have a little extra help with recovery, chores around the house and property, and Rindy will have a little more company besides my dad and their dogs. :)

2. Mark hasn't heard on the coaching job yet. He should hear sometime today. We are doing fine with whatever decision comes our way. We know God has something better for us if this job doesn't work out.

3. I've been talking to Andrew about his speech therapy appointments and he seems to be getting almost as excited about them as I am! He's ready to go meet new people and work on learning new words.

We have a lot going on but we're doing our best to pray about all of it and just keep pluggin' along.

Not Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-12T13:38:00.001-08:00

We have entirely too much going on to have "Wordless Wednesday" today.

1. PLEASE pray for my dad and my step-mom. While moving some equipment around on their property last weekend, their horse shelter came down ON my stepmom, Rindy. My dad got out but he had to get her out (which, by the way, he managed with the help of a pipe, some KICKIN' adrenaline and lots of angels) and get her to the ER. She has a broken collar bone, ribs, and shoulder blade and a shattered kneecap. She had surgery yesterday afternoon (which went well) to replace the knee cap with a 6 inch L-shaped metal plate and 8 screws (say it with me now: OUCHIE). There are MANY things that God has protected them from. This could have been FAR worse and we are so grateful it was not. However, Rindy has a long road ahead to recovery and my dad has a long road ahead of helping her, working full time and maintaining their property and horses and numerous other pets. Pray for them. AND...pray for their finances. They do not have medical insurance.

2. Mark has an interview today with the head track coach at the high school here in town. Competition for the position he's interviewing for is stiff but he's an awesome coach and I know they will see that in him. Please pray for blessing and success. He would love to coach there and we would love the extra dinero.

3. Andrew was (and continues to be) a very late talker and he is SO TOUGH to understand. Sometimes, Tori speaks more clearly than he does. One week from today (Nov. 19) we start weekly speech therapy appointments. Please pray for them to go well and for him to be successful and for Mark & I to learn OUR job in all of this.

Okay--off to clean and do more laundry!

Thursday 13

2008-11-06T22:11:00.000-08:00

13 songs that make me smile:

These are in no particular order--just whatever came to mind throughout my day. You will notice a lot of them have to do with the (many) titles of God. Hmmm...something I've always been a little bit interested in and have often studied. Some of the others are just for fun and some are just because they make me smile and make me want to sing.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

My Little Fashionista

2008-11-05T17:58:00.000-08:00

Perhaps we should work on her sense of style a bit more...

Wordless Wednesday!

2008-11-05T08:42:00.001-08:00

I love him!

Halloween!

2008-11-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

Okay--we managed to get both kiddos out the door and we went trick or treating. They had a great time! Not only did they get to walk around the neighborhood and get candy, but Andrew's favorite person came along!

And, yes, I totally caved and let Tori wear a different costume. She just wasn't going for the blue tu-tu I made for her but she was pretty stinkin' excited about the pink leotard and skirt we found for her. *heavy sigh* Oh well. Maybe we'll save the blue one for another time.

Hope everyone else had as much fun as we did!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T13:39:00.000-07:00

Don't panic--pictures of the kids to come later. In the mean time, here's one of the chiropractors I work for.

Oh--and that's not a patient. That's one of the chiropractic assistants. Hee-hee! Its a fun place to work, that's for sure!

Thursday 13 on Wednesday Night

2008-10-29T22:27:00.001-07:00

13 Things I Inherited From My Mother:

1. I chew my gum loudly. Snapping, popping...its annoying. Just ask my dad or my brother or my husband.

2. I like Coffee. Mmmm...Coffee....mmmm....

3. I like Coke better than Pepsi (Sorry, Dad).

4. I'm sarcastic. Shocking, I know.

5. I love music.

6. I love to read.

7. I'm better at algebra than I am at geometry and I'm not very good at math in general.

8. I can't just SIT and talk on the phone. I pace. Both my kids do it when they talk on the phone, too.

9. I like having my nails painted.

10. I love shoes.

11. Mmm...Fried Okra...

12. I eat ice. Bad for my teeth but necessary to survive the day. Get a Coke on ice in the afternoon, suck down the coke and spend the rest of the day eating the ice.

13. I will be up until at least midnight the night before Halloween in an attempt to finish my kids' Halloween costumes at the last minute because I was being creative and thought, "Oh no, this won't take me long..." and then I get into it and it starts taking longer than I thought so I pop in another movie and keep going and get a little more creative and then...*heavy sigh* I have a little more work to do before Friday afternoon...

Wordless Wednesday With Some Music:

2008-10-29T08:41:00.001-07:00

Proverbs 22:6

2008-10-27T07:53:00.000-07:00

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." ~Proverbs 22:6

Yesterday our worship pastor and his wife taught about raising kids. They have four wonderful, respectful and highly successful children and they had so many wonderful things to say.

Two points they made really hit home for me:

1. We should constantly be warring for our children against the enemy. He will use everything in his reach to get to our kids. We should be "working The Word more than he is working the world..." We should be in constant prayer for and with our kids. We should be engaging them in the Word as often as possible.

2. We should learn to understand our children the way God made them. Proverbs 22:6 says we should raise them to follow the right path. However, something Pastor Eric pointed out to us is that we should learn to understand our children so we can raise them to follow the right path FOR THEM. "Train up a child in the way HE should go..." Each child is gifted in different ways, therefore, each child should be raised according to The Word but they should be raised to find THEIR path and THEIR gifts God has provided for them.

For some reason, this was like a slap in the face for me. I sat there going, "Well, DUH! That makes PERFECT sense! Why hasn't anyone ever pointed that out to me before???"

SO..."Train a child up in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

I will start to work harder at understanding my kids the way God made them and the way God would have me understand them. I will work harder at helping them be successful in the path God has FOR THEM.

It seems like such a small thing and, yet, it was really exciting for me!

Wordless Wednesday With Words....yeah, so its just Wednesday

2008-10-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

I decided we needed some cookies so we "made" cookies. Yes, they are the pre-made ones--I don't like cleaning but I DO like cookies! I sliced them up and the kids decorated them. SO FUN!

Yeah, Tori is too fast for me sometimes. She managed to eat one BEFORE it was cooked. OOPS!

Ready for the oven! Notice the REALLY RED one. That one was made special for Andrew's Daddy.

Andrew's favorite person...

2008-10-21T22:26:00.000-07:00

He loves his Auntie Stacy!

Be amazed. And then be praying.

2008-10-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

I rarely consider "meeting people online" as really MEETING people. You can't read their body language in a conversation and you can't see their eyes--eyes are a huge thing to me. Like some people say, "eyes are the window to a man's soul..." For some people, I believe that to be true. But I also believe God can move someone's heart to view things differently.

Months ago I hooked up to a blog through my friend, Jodi. Jodi had a link to Confessions of a CF Husband (there's a link on my side panel if you're interested). I was reading this blog and saw a comment left by a blog writer called "Beaver Bunch". I wanted to check it out because Mark is a graduate of Oregon State and I was thinking, "are they OSU alumni, too???" Negative--they are not. But what has happened since then has been WAY cool. I "met" Jessica through her blog. Have we met in person? No--she lives on the East Coast. But I get to peek through a window into her life and that of her super cute kids and awesome husband.

Right now, I am daily amazed by her. Her daughter is four and then she has two year old twins, a boy and a girl, and then they are fostering a 4 month old boy and a newborn baby girl. She deals with pure chaos constantly and, yet, never really complains. She deals with idiotic birth parents (seriously stupid...really) and manages NOT to verbally claw their eyes out. And when people ask her how she does it, she says she hands it all to God and that HE does it.

So read about their journey and be amazed and then be praying for their family and the birth parents they come into contact with by welcoming these foster children into their home. Check them out here.

Deep Breaths He's 3. He's not REALLY a brat. He's 3. Right?

2008-10-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

This is Andrew:

He's three. He's busy and curious and 100% boy. But he's also a brat right now and I am trying everything I can to keep my sanity.

"Please go put your cars away before we eat dinner."

"NO! I don't want to!"

We have tried time-outs.
We have tried loss of privileges.
We have tried spanking.

We have tried EVERYTHING (it feels like!) and he STILL does it. Ideas? Advice?

We are consistent--very. We try really hard not to let him get away with it but there are days where I feel like he spends the ENTIRE day in his time out corner or in his room. Its been going on for weeks and I AM SICK OF IT.

What happened to my sweet little boy who used to always respond with, "O-tay, momma"...

And this was Tori today as we were leaving the park. She LOVES the park.

Five for Friday!

2008-10-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

I know, I missed Thursday 13, but that was because I was working an insane 13 hour day yesterday! How's THAT for Thursday 13?!

Here's my Five For Friday:

Five things I am excited about this weekend:

1. I get to see Traci today! We have been friends since we were 6 (yeah--that's 22 years ago...we are getting OLD!) and I haven't seen her in over a year! The last time I saw her was when Tori was 6 weeks old and Hunter was...just born...like, two weeks old? Yeah, here's a picture:

2. We are going down to Corvallis tonight for the annual Faith Christian Fellowship Barn Party. My mom plans this and puts it together and its way super fun! I'm entering chili in the chili cook-off! And there will be pie for dessert, awesome music and line dancing lessons. Here's pictures from last year!

3. My hair is long enough now to put up without using a million bobby pins or an entire can of hair spray. Not a big deal to some people, but for this little girl, it's exciting news!

4. I have THREE--count them: Friday, Saturday, Sunday--days off work. Don't get me wrong, I still love my job but yesterday was long, tiring and chaotic and I need a wee little break. THREE DAYS OFF! AND...SO DOES MARK! He's had two days of teaching followed by conferences until 8 PM. We have THREE days off TOGETHER.

5. Aside from seeing Traci (wahoo!) and going to the barn party (yeee-haw!) we have no set plans for the weekend. Sometimes, those make for the best weekends of all.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-15T10:36:00.001-07:00

Isn't he the CUTEST little pumpkin head you've ever seen???

Pumpkins! Pumpkins Everywhere!

2008-10-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

We skipped church this morning (yep--we're HEATHENS for sure!) and headed to the pumpkin patch! The weather was *perfect* and the place we went to (first time for us!) was great. The kids had so much fun and we had a great time watching them and taking pictures!

Here's Mark and Tori starting out, coffee in hand (we parents do what we need to do to survive!).

PUMPKINS! Andrew couldn't wait to get his hand on a "GREAT BIG PUMPKIN!"

After hefting a few of the bigger ones, he opted for a smaller one.

Tori, not wanting to be outdone, tried and tried to pick this one up.

But she quickly decided THIS one was more her size.

After much debate over which pumpkin she should take home, she took one to Daddy and they headed out: A daddy, his daughter and her pumpkin...

To my Gimpa:

I was a little scared at first, but decided to be brave and ride a pony anyway. Sister was REALLY scared (she cried) so she didn't ride the pony. Look at me go!

Andrew's Turn

2008-10-09T13:06:00.000-07:00

This morning Andrew informed it was HIS turn to "put pictures on Momma's computer story". That would be what he calls my blog. Yeah--I don't know, either, but it works.

So I told him, "Okay, count 13 things you want me to take pictures of and tell me about them and we'll post a 'Thursday 13' for you today."

He had way too much fun...here it is! I'm typing as he's talking...

Andrew's Thursday 13:

1.
This is Tori's Car Mess. She was playing cars and then stopped and walked away.

2.
This is Momma's Sad Phone. That's all.

3.
These are my toes! I like it when Daddy tickles my toes after bath!

4.
This is my dump truck! Sister likes to sit in it and sometimes I push her around the carpet.

5.
This is George. He's not a train. He's a tractor. That's all.

6.
This is Momma Grover (he calls the big Elmo & Grover "Momma Elmo and Momma Grover" because they're big. The little ones are "Baby Elmo & Baby Grover"). He is good for hugging.

7.
This is my hand. That's all.

8.

This is my sister. She likes to chase and tickle!

9.
This is my Blue Car! Wait a minute. This is Sister's Blue Car. Yes. Sister's Blue Car. That's all.

10.
This is Sister's Fishy Blanket. She LOVES Fishies. But she calls it Football. But Football is mine. Momma, why does she call her Fishy Blankey Football?

11.
FOOTBALL! This is Football!

12.
This is my banana tower from breakfast. I eat banana slices and build towers with them.

13.
Bluuuuue Truck! And Football again! Blue Truck is a police car. See the lights?

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

I DON'T WANT TO WEAR IT!

2008-10-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

She's doing better with it, but still manages to get herself out of it rather quickly...

Updates...

2008-10-05T18:09:00.000-07:00

Update #1: I had kittens the other day over a medical record at my office. The good news is that the company who originally requested the 677 page file and then said they didn't want it, called back saying, "Wait a second--we really do want that."

The bad news: I had already shredded it and had to spend another three hours copying it again.

Okay--just kidding. It wasn't shredded so we're sending it off to them along with their happy little bill. WAHOO!

Update #2: I spent an afternoon making Tori's Halloween costume and was mucho excited about it. Then she woke up from her nap and I showed it to her and she freaked out.

*FREAKED OUT*

Ran down the hall, arms in the air, screaming mee-mee type freak-out. Seriously. I did manage to finally get it on her, but the result was NOT what I was hoping for. She pulled at it, turned beet-red in the face and screamed until I took it off.

The funny part is that its not what you're probably thinking. You're probably thinking, "Lani must've made her an animal costume of some kind. And it's a sleeper-type thing with a hood that has a spot for the face of the animal. So, of course Tori might freak out over a faceless animal when Lani shows it to her."

Nope. Its a tu-tu. A poofy, pretty, blue & white netting tu-tu. This child LOVES dresses. LOVES them. So I thought making her a ballerina for Halloween was a GREAT idea! No such luck.

I tried showing her pictures of babies (which she loves) in ballerina costumes on the internet. She sat with me, squealed over the babies (BEEE-BEEEES!!!) and clapped her hands. Then I said, "Look! Babies in tu-tus! Pretty babies in pretty tu-tus! Like your tu-tu!" and held up her pretty blue and white tu-tu. She screamed and pushed it away.

*HEAVY SIGH*

Maybe I'll make her a faceless animal type sleeper of some kind...

Totally Random...

2008-10-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

But I *HAD* to share. I just made Tori's Halloween costume and it is CUTE! Hee-hee-hee! I love it!

Thursday 13

2008-10-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

13 Things Andrew is Trying to Teach Tori:

1. Counting. He counts to four and then points to her and she says, "FIIIIIIIVE!!!"

2. Potty training. Today he has asked her, several times, "Sister, do you need to use the potty?"

3. Using scissors. During a crafty type project (pictures later) he said, "Sister, you put your hands like this and cut like this. But be careful. You might cut yourself. So I will cut for you."

4. Which toys she is NOT allowed to play with. "Sister, that's Momma's camera. No touch."

5. Colors. "Sister, this is green. This is a blue block. This one is red. Say RED."

6. Temper Tantrums. He teaches by example.

7. How to use the DVD player. Today he said, "You push this button and it pops out. You put the movie in the tray and push the button again. Then the tray goes back inside and runs up to the TV!" He put on their favorite DVD "Elmo's Potty Time" today in demonstration.

8. Manners. "Sister, you need to say please before you get this toy."

9. Shoes. "These are my shoes. These are your shoes. Your shoes are little. Mine are big. Daddy's shoes are...Daddy size."

10. Sesame Street. "This is Elbow (Elmo). This is Grover. This is Cookie Monster. This is Zoe. Pay attention, Sister! I'm speaking to you!"

11. Ketchup. Again with the teaching by example. He dips EVERYTHING in ketchup. Apples. Cucumber. Carrotts. Fries. Chicken. WHATEVER.

12. Locations. Whenever we pull in front of a house, he announces to Tori where we are at. "This is Nana's house! This is Landon's house!"

13. Love. Today he went into her room and gently hugged her when she was waking up. Then took her by the hand and led her out here and said, "Momma, Sister is waking up and needs a Momma hug."

Why do we like swimming lessons so much?

2008-10-01T21:55:00.001-07:00

We get to make new friends:

We get to learn new skills:

We get to jump off the edge:

We get to use the rope swing over and over again:

And we like it most of all because it makes our little man tired:

He "graduated" from session one tonight and moved up to session two! Next time, he gets to learn how to go off the diving board! WAHOO!

Why would we call...?

2008-10-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

So...where I work, we get a lot of requests for copies of doctors' chart notes and previous medical records. If its going to an attorney's office or a company that is NOT a medical facility, we charge $3.50 for the first page and $0.50 for each additional page (yes, it sounds like a lot, but when you're actually copying the files, it makes PERFECT sense). Yesterday I received such a request. We received a letter notifying us of a patient's appointment with another facility and they stamped the notifycation with a stamp that reads "SEND COPIES OF MEDICAL RECORDS AND X-RAY REPORTS". This particular patient has an EXTENSIVE file. By all indications of the request, they wanted EVERYTHING. So I spent the morning copying 677 pages. YES. That's right: 677 pages. That's more than one ream of paper. More than three hours of copying.

As I was finishing up, I was discussing how I was going to ship this particular file. One of the gals in the office suggested calling the facility (located in Portland--about a half hour away) to see if they had a messenger service so we (or they) didn't have to pay shipping. The receptionist at the facility was not only annoying (chewing gum in my ear and using the words, "Ummm...like..." A LOT), but she was not intelligent.

"Oh...ummm...like, does the letter you received actually ASK for the records or, ummm...like, is it just stamped with a red stamp?"

"I don't know what the difference is. A request is a request when it comes across my desk. Its a stamped letter."

"OH MY GOSH. I wish you would have called before copying that file. Like, we already have everything we need."

"Why would we call when we received a letter less than a week old?"

"Well, see, we SEND the letters notifying all doctors of the patient's appointment (smack, chew, slurp) but we don't really expect the doctors to respond to the request for medical records."

*At this point, I'm about to have kittens. A whole litter.*

She says, "I'm, like, REALLY sorry. I don't know what to say..."

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?!

I was polite. But she knew I was NOT happy.

We are still billing them. $341.50
EVERYONE in the office heard about that one. I wasted my entire morning copying 677 pages that no one needs. NICE.

New Toys!

2008-09-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

I got my new camera this weekend! SO FUN! For a number of reasons, we opted out of the original plan to get the Canon and we went with the Sony a200 instead. Its easy to use, takes great shots, and not too hard to truck around with.

Here are a couple of samples of my "learning" this weekend. So fun!

She should be napping...

2008-09-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

...but she's not.

Counting the days...

2008-09-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

...until my birthday present arrives...

Isn't it beautiful?!

"My back is broken!"

2008-09-24T10:37:00.001-07:00

As I've mentioned before, I work for a chiropractic clinic which is super fun and very interesting. I'm always learning new stuff!

However, the most entertaining thing is trying to explain to my three year old son what happens at the clinic. He likes to inform me, "Momma, my back is broken. Can we go to momma's work and Dotter Hulsey or Dotter Hartwell fix it?"

Usually, I say no--as much as I love the place, who wants to go to work on their day off? However, today, I figured Andrew could use a little adjustment. Plus, he and Tori are fighting this gross snotty nose/nagging cough kind of cold and, as we learned last spring when I started working there, having an adjustment can open up the lungs and make it more difficult for the cold to settle into Pneumonia. SO...he told me, "Momma, my back is broken. Dotter Hartwell needs to fix it."

We headed in and Dr. Hartwell did his thing and Andrew was VERY excited about all the "popcorn" he heard come out of his back. We headed back to the car and, just as someone was walking by, he leaned over and said, "Momma! Look! My back is not broken! Dotter Hartwell put it back together!" The lady walking by cracked up and said, "That's good news! Maybe I should go see a good chiropractor!"

Tori also had her first adjustment. She didn't cry (impressive!) and even let out a little giggle when we were all done. We got in the car and, after watching Andrew show me his back, she decided to do the same thing. Then she rubbed her back (where Andrew was rubbing his) and said, "Not boken."

My kids make me laugh!

Look at him go!

2008-09-22T22:54:00.001-07:00

Now that we've got him convinced the water is shark-free, he's ready to go!

How do you keep a 3 year old still?

2008-09-19T15:59:00.001-07:00

Promise him cake in three minutes out of the microwave! Yep, it works! And it was YUMMY!

MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
1 Coffee Mug
4 tablespoons flour (that's plain flour, not self-rising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
some nuts (optional)
Small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on high. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT!

Thursday 13

2008-09-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

13 things that made me smile this week:

1. Andrew had a successful trip to the pool yesterday and came away excited to return to swimming lessons next week!

2. My hubby. He just makes me laugh with all his stories about his students.

3. It started out being a bit of a rough week at work but, I think, will smooth out a little bit today.

4. Reading M.O.M.'s post about her meeting regarding their son "Baby D." God is good. You should read it.

5. Tori is using the potty almost every time she has to pooh. WAHOO!

6. Coffee. Coffee just makes me happy.

7. I was delivering a Mocha to Mark at school (middle school) and was mistaken for a student. "Excuse me, young lady, what class are you supposed to be in?" "My husband's Science class." SO FUNNY when that happens. Going to be 28 this weekend and I got mistaken for a 12 year old. NICE!

8. I got my nails done Monday and the gal who did them actually understood what I meant when I said, "I need them short. I type at work." Yay!

9. One of the patients at the clinic brought us sunflowers from his garden. They're just so cheery!

10. Tori hugged me last night and said, "I got momma!"

11. Andrew said, "Momma, I sorry I threw a fit. I will try not to next time you say no."

12. Our favorite park is (finally) open again after Summer construction and I took the kids twice so far this week. We'll probably go again tomorrow!

13. My birthday is coming up. WAHOO!

Successful Wednesday!

2008-09-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

We went to swimming lessons early today and watched the "little penguins swim team" finish up their practice. We talked about how much fun they were having, how cool their goggles looked (or, as Andrew calls them "water sunglasses") and why they wear swim caps.

He said, "Momma! I want to swim!"

And...he did! Success! He got in the water, he splashed, he kicked, he got all excited about it, and then he stepped off the platform. Because his instructor was holding another child, he went right under! WAHOO! He was a little startled but got over it pretty fast. I just clapped my hands and gave him a thumbs-up and he was good to go!

On the way home he said, "Momma, I didn't see a shark in that pool. YOU could go swimming there!" I swear, on my honor, I have never knowingly mentioned my fear of sharks to him. HOW DOES HE KNOW?!

Sadly, Mommy is a yah-hoo and left the camera at home. Pictures next time!

The one where Andrew is my son...

2008-09-15T22:09:00.001-07:00

So, you may remember me mentioning my fear of sharks. Yes, I have a TOTALLY irrational fear of these creatures. But, come on! These guys are scary!

Andrew started swimming lessons tonight. We've been talking about it for weeks and he was all excited to go. Well, that is, until he got out there and saw the big pool. He refused to go in. Mark tried and tried, but he wouldn't do it. After I got home from work and talked a little bit more about it with Andrew, I figured out why.

"Momma, there are sharks! I can't get in the water--the sharks are scary!"

*HEAVY SIGH*

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, he is MY son.

After talking a lot about it, he has agreed (for now) to try getting in the pool at his next lesson Wednesday night.

Here's hoping!

My dad was remembering...

2008-09-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

Dad TRIED to get these on his blog but, for whatever reason, they wouldn't work. I had a little down time this morning and figured I would give it a go. Here ya go, Dad! ENJOY!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

Andrew at 4 weeks old:

Tori at 4 weeks old:

Lainers on the go!

Went to the beach...

Cute Couple

More fun at the fountain!

Some Special Outings

Fabulous!

The cutest things ever!

What do you do with your sunshine???

Wordless Wednesday!

To the beach!

Birthday fun!

Two years ago today...

Just because they're cuter than cute!

The coolest choreography ever!

Playtime with Tori

Lesson Learned!

Good Thing My Momma Didn't Name Me 'Grace'!

Prayer with Andrew

What are my kids doing today?

Palm Sunday!

Just because its cool...

Meeting me where I'm at...

Urgent Care Take 2!

Really? REALLY?

Weekend Whirlwind!

Moving = Opportunity

Fun with Grandpa!

They must be feeling better...

It's That Time of Year Again!

Another Friday Post

Five for Friday

Wordless Wednesday with Andrew

What the heck...why not???

Mildly irritated--and I told him so!!

25 for Friday!

Picture Time!

Some things are worth jumping up and down about!

Five for Friday!

Thursday 13!

Sometimes they just don't quite make it...

Wordless Wednesday

Sometimes Brother knows best!

I would call that success!

Mongolia!

Victory Dancing at the Hanson House!

Its like hearing myself...

Moving right along...

Family Time!

We spent two days sorting and packing...

A momma, her girl, a funeral, a few airports and some unexpected family time Part I

We're home!

Portland or Bust!

One more flight down...one more to go!

I'll be home for Christmas....

Headed out!

Walkin' in a winter wonderland...

They call him "Pastor" or "Mayor" or "Mr. Cooke" or "Bill". I call him GRANDPA.

Then & Now:

So many things, so little time...

My Crazy Husband

My Tori Girl

Happy Thanksgiving!

Elf Yourself!

Our Sensational Sunday

Another Not Wordless Wednesday

Update on Not Wordless Wednesday

Not Wordless Wednesday

Thursday 13

My Little Fashionista

Wordless Wednesday!

Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Thursday 13 on Wednesday Night

Wordless Wednesday With Some Music:

Proverbs 22:6

Wordless Wednesday With Words....yeah, so its just Wednesday

Andrew's favorite person...

Be amazed. And then be praying.

*Deep Breaths* He's 3. He's not REALLY a brat. He's 3. Right?

Five for Friday!

Deep Breaths He's 3. He's not REALLY a brat. He's 3. Right?