My Silly Yay-Hoos

My kids are so funny to me. I have such a fun time with them and love hearing all their silly stories. Alden recently told me that he wants to move to Mexico. Knowing how proud he is to be from the United States made me immediately ask him why.

"Well," he responded, "because Mexicans are so funny, Mom. They are always telling funny jokes."

"Humm," I said. I reminded him that although Mexico has good things about it, that many people in Mexico want to move to the United States because there are so many great things here. He gave me a "Whatever, Mom" look and walked away. I'm not sure why he thinks that. Michael often tells him funny jokes in Spanish. I guess I need to tell more jokes, so he'll not only think that America is the land of opportunity but also the land of funny people so that he'll want to stay here. Later that evening, we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant in Lima, La Chareata. It is completely staffed by people who speak Spanish, so Alden loves to talk to everyone he can there in Spanish. It was so much fun to listen to the things he'd say. I must admit that I was really impressed. Our server asked him where he goes to school. In a perfect Spanish accent, he said, "Bath." He paused for a few seconds, and then said, "Bano." He also told her that he wanted gallina for dinner (in Spanish gallina is chicken the animal and pollo is the meat that you eat). He knows the difference, but for some reason, he got it in his mind that he wanted to eat chicken the animal rather than the meat. Our server got a big kick out of that.

Thobe has become so much more indepedent. He is doing such a great job getting dressed and taking care of his bathroom stuff. He occasionally runs into a few problems, as evidenced by this picture. Somehow, he got his body into the head hole and couldn't figure out how to pull it down. He came to me in tears, and being the good mom that I am, I started laughing. Fortunately, he was a good sport too, and after a few silly pictures, we got things situated. He is also such a momma's boy lately. I must admit that I secretly love it. I love it when he calls for me or when I hear him say, "I just want my mom." He loves to tell us that he loves us. I've written before about how Alden is not a fan a Thobe telling him he loves him. Tonight as we were eating dinner, Thobe was telling everyone at the table that he loved them. Michael said to me, loud enough for Alden to hear, "I sure wish Alden would tell Thobe that he loves him." Alden sat there for a minute, and then uttered rather quietly, "Thobe, I love you." Thobe's face lit up as bright as a 1000 watt light bulb. He said, "I love you, too, Alden! Now I want to give you a kiss." Immediately, both boys shot out of their seats and started running around the table. Thobe would intermittently stop to give Michael and me a little kiss and then he'd chase after Alden. We were all laughing really hard. I'm not sure why Alden is not affectionate to Thobe--he's very affectionate to Michael and me, but for some reason, he's decided that such affection is not appropriate for Thobe. They are very best friends though and play so well together. I love that, so I should count my blessings.

Hyrum is a little goof ball. The other night I threw Thobe in the bathtub before bed, changed Hyrum's diaper, and then went to get his pajamas. Seconds later, I heard quite a bit of yelling from Thobe and ran upstairs to see what was going on. Hyrum decided that he wanted a bath too, so not worrying about his clothing, he climbed into the tub with his brother. I couldn't help but laugh and laugh and laugh. He is such a happy, crazy character! Also last night we were watching the Ohio State game. Like always, the boys were super excited to watch their Buckeyes play. Alden and Thobe were climbing up on our church pew that we have in our basement and jumping off. Hyrum said, "I jump! I jump!" and stood on the edge of the bench ready to jump off. I told him that he was too little to jump off the bench. As if to say, "Oh yeah...well watch this," he lept off the bench and landed in a ball on the floor. He said, "Ouch," and then got back up to do it again. Alden is too much like his mom and didn't want to see him get hurt again, so he'd have him jump to him, and then put him down gently on the floor. They sure make me laugh.

The Dragon

The dragon sits upon his face

The steam rolls in and out

Poor Hyrum squirms and kicks and cries

And then he starts to pout.

As big old tears well in his eyes

He looks up to ask me why

Must this torture continue on,

Again he starts to cry.

The TV calms the tempertantrums;

The dragon starts to sputter.

His breathing sounds much better now

The dragon cleaned the clutter.

Hyrum's breathing treatment made me think

About my own life too

When seeming dragons keep me from

The things I want to do.

Steam from my dragon clouds my view

I feel trapped and very sad

I kick, I pout, I question why

And sometimes I feel mad.

Prayer always calms my tempertantrums

Answers aren't always quick

But I find if I am patient then

My dragon's done his trick.

Another rough edge is rounded off

My dragon did his cleaning--

I understand a little more

About God and my life's meaning.

I'm happy to report after an unpleasant bout of pneumonia that our little Hyrum seems to be on the up and up. I don't know if it has been harder on me or on him, but let's just say that we are both really, really happy that he's back to his playful, happy self and are all gearing up for his second birthday in a week from today.

Hurling, Hacking, and Happiness with the Hansgens

Back in July, I found a killer deal on airline tickets from Las Vegas to Detroit ($80 per round trip ticket, including tax). Immediately, I called my sister Diane. Since we moved to Ohio, we talked of flying her and her family out to come and stay with us. I figured at that price, I could do it, so we booked the tickets for her family to come out in October and anxiously awaited the day. Alden was estatic! He couldn't wait to see Davin, Diane's oldest son that is his age. He made general announcements in school and in Primary a month before they came that his cousin Davin was coming to visit us in Ohio. Thobe was almost as excited to see James, Diane's son that is his age. When I told him that their whole family was coming, Thobe expressed his excitement about seeing James. I said, "Well Thobe, don't you want to see the rest of James' family?" Thobe thought for a minute and then responded, "No, I just want to look at James."

Last Monday, October 13, the long awaited day arrived. I took Alden out of school an hour early, dropped the kids off in Toledo to spend a couple hours with Abuelita & Grandpa Monday, and then drove up to the Detroit airport. I was thrilled to see my sister and her family. I must admit that my nephews are incredibly cute and fun, and I was so excited to get to know my newest nephew Joshua who I had only seen once prior to their visit. Joshua with his contageous smile, stark blue eyes, and happy disposition quickly won his way into my heart. I felt as though I had known him as long as I knew the other kids and loved him just as much. On our way home, we stopped in Toledo to pick up my kids. I don't know who was happier to see us, Alden or Grandpa. Poor Grandpa changed a whopping 5 poopy diapers in the hour and half that I was gone (Michael's mom often tells me that when his kids were little he changed a total of 1 diaper). Needless to say, I felt terrible. To top it all off, Grandpa Monday then generously offered to fix us all one of his famous meals--Little Caesar's Pizza. It was a welcomed, delicious, and appreciated meal. Afterwards we all went over to Handel's Ice Cream where I treated everyone in a feeble attempt to pay Warren back for his gallant diaper changing feat.

I had planned that we would do so many fun things while Diane and Doug visited. I thought we could go the the children's museum in Lima; Diane and I love to exercise together, so I got us a bunch of passes to the YMCA where I work out. I also thought I could give them the grand tour of Lima, go shopping, and maybe go to the Columbus temple and then take the kids to the zoo afterwards. Unfortunately, on Monday night, Hyrum threw up. On Tuesday, Bridger puked. On Wednesday, James was ralphing. On Thursday both Diane and I were doing the old heave ho. On Friday morning, we were all feeling relatively well, so we quickly, before anyone else got sick, got everyone bathed and dressed and loaded into cars, and headed down to the Wright Patterson Air Force Museum in Dayton. The kids had a really great time!

For those of you who haven't been to Wright-Patt, I would highly recommend the trip, especially if you're in the area. Admission is free, which is great for cheapies like me, and there is so much to see and to do. The first part of the museum has models of the first planes and focuses primarily on the first planes used in World War I. There are many replicas of our Nation's earliest planes with thousands of historical artifacts and stories that go a long with them. When you get to the middle of the World War I era, there are actual planes that were flown in the War. The boys especially loved the shark plane and insisted on getting a picture taken in front of it. James and Thobe went from sign to sign asking, "What does this say?" Patient Aunt Diane willingly read each sign to the kids as long as they would listen. Bridger wanted to ride or push the stroller that I grabbed for Hyrum in the museum. Hyrum wasn't really fond of either arrangement, which may explain many of his grumpy looking photos (he also wasn't feeling really great that day either). From World War I and planes from the 1930s, the museum then has a hanger dedicated to World War II. It's amazing to see all the airplanes that were flown in the war. It even has the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima as well as a replica of the smaller bomb that was dropped. It is always interesting to me to see many of these planes and learn the history behind them. I would love to take Michael's grandpa there someday (he was a pilot in World War II) and have him give us a tour. They also have tour guides, but with a bunch of little kids, I don't think it would be all that informative.

From the World War II hanger they have a hall dedicated to the Jews in concentration camps that leads to many of the planes that were flown in the Vietnam and Korean Wars. In this part of the museum they have planes that you can walk inside of and some really impressive airplaines, including one that made it from New York to Los Angeles on 1 hour! They then have a hall dedicated to the fall of the Berlin Wall and then a hanger with modern day war craft, including my favorte, the stealth bomber. They also have a room that has five rockets that were not launched into space as well as a Flight Hall of Fame. We all had a great time. When we returned home, not only did we find Michael home from work, but we also had Michael's cousin Don Milnor and his son James there. The boys had a great time playing and dressing up. That night poor Uncle Doug got sick.

The next morning, Alden up chucked. It didn't slow him down though. He was determined to make the most of his time with his cousin Davin. We didn't send him to his last football game, but we did go and see a parade in Ada with our friends the Talbots. The boys all dressed up in costumes and got a lot of candy thrown at them for that reason, I assume. We then went over to the ONU campus in Ada and decorated cookies, had balloons made for us, and had a whole lot of fun. The kids really enjoyed it. Later that day, we went to Suter's Farm. Our good friends, the Burkes and the Places, told us we needed to go. They had places to take pictures and little duck races. They also had a hayride where they talk about animals in the area and a corn maze. We figured we'd do the corn maze first, but ran out of time to do the hayride. The kids were sad about that, but we had a lot of fun in the maze. We then got some delicious apple cider to drink and went home exhausted.

Sunday morning, Michael and Thobe were sick with the runs, and Hyrum had a bad cold (which we later found out was pneumonia), so the Hansgens, Alden, and I all went to church. We then came home and had a nice dinner, started a blog for Diane (http://hurricanehansgens.blogspot.com/), and then played games and just spent time together.

Doug, Diane, and the boys left bright and early (3 a.m.) the next morning. We were so sad to see them go and were sad that not only did we all have the stomach flu, but Hyrum also shared his sickness too. Nonetheless, despite not feeling well, we are so glad that they came. Thank you, Di & Doug! We loved you coming. Diane made jam for us, and it was so delicious! By the way, Diane, Alden told me that he's going to start calling you Jam Maker because you're the best jam maker in the whole world!! We love you and hope that Josh & Bridger get feeling better soon. We hope you'll come again (we'll all take our ecinasia or First Defense stuff next time). We love and miss you!!!

Our Super Saturday

Several months ago, Michael's dad bought tickets for Michael and himself to go to The Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to watch his Toledo Rockets play the Buckeye's rival, the Michigan Wolverines. The Monday before the game, Warren (Michael's dad/grandpa) called and said that due to the Rockets' embarrassing performance the previous week that he no longer wanted to go to the game in Michigan, especially since the Rockets were by far the underdog. He told Michael that he could give the extra ticket to someone else. At first we thought it would be a very fun date for the two of us until we remembered that Alden had a flag football game. Normally, we would just let that slide; however, the previous week, Alden decided that he wasn't going to try and just stood out on the field. We told him that we didn't care if he was good at football, but we did expect him to try. We also told him that he needed to try in his last two games, so we felt like someone needed to take him to his game. As I've explained many, many times, Thobe is a huge sports' fan, and Michael and I both knew that being able to go to a game at Michigan's stadium with his Dad would be a very, very cool thing for him. On Friday morning we told the boys what was going to happen. Alden was surprisingly happy about the arrangement, especially when I told him that he and I would do fun things together, including go to McDonald's playland and have a Happy Meal (both the boys think Happy Meals are so much better than Sad Meals, the kind of meal that you get when you don't get a toy). Thobe of course was thrilled! Unfortunately for Thobe, Warren called that afternoon and told Michael that he decided that he did want to go. After doing a little research, Michael found that he could likely get a ticket for cheap from scalpers, and Grandpa generously offered to pick up the cost. So that night, we went up to Toledo to spend the night.

The next day, they got up bright and early to meet the bus that was taking Grandpa, Mike, and Thobe to the pregame party and game. Thobe was estatic! He was really excited about going to see the Toledo Rockets play in the Big House. From what I understand, he was the star of the party. People gave him treats and footballs and all sorts of things. Michael snagged a few people to take their picture, and the highlight of the whole trip for Thobe was when he and Grandpa got to go and meet the new Rocky the Rocket. Of course, the highlight of the game for Dad and Grandpa was when Toledo, the definite underdog, pulled off the victory. Michael came home completely hoarse from yelling and cheering and screaming. Thobe had a big smile on his face for the rest of the evening. He just looked so, so happy! I was especially pleased that he got to spend one-on-one time with his dad and grandpa. Even though he's only 4, I'm sure it's a day that he'll never forget.

After a nice sleeping in morning in Toledo, Alden, Hyrum, and I headed back for Lima. We ate a quick lunch and then went to Alden's football game. When Alden was in, he played really hard. He even got the ball once, and even though he ran the wrong way, he made a good effort! I don't think we're going to have any college football scouts knocking down our door in a few years from now, but I'm really proud of Alden for trying. Of course the highlight of Alden's day was going to McDonald's Playland. He did remind me that it was the Playland that gave him stitches but decided that he was willing to take a risk. We really had fun. I played air hockey for a short time with Alden, who can tell you that he can beat a grown-up at air hockey (which he can by the way--unfortunately for him, the grown-up that he can beat is me), and I played air hockey for a long time with Hyrum. Whenever the puck went in his hole he would cheer like crazy. It was pretty hilarious. After that, the boys and I played basketbal ran into a bunch of walls on a skateboard video game, and for the first time maybe ever I went up in one of structures that you'll find in almost any McDonalds' playland. I must admit that I was hesitant. After all, usually when I think of my children playing in these configurations of chaos, I admittedly cringe a bit. Too many times when I've poked my head into the cacophony to make the dreaded announcement that it's time to go home, I've caught wiffs of urine and who knows what else that have convinced me that such a palace of play is merely a gross gathering of germs instead. Despite my interpridation, I joined Hyrum and Alden and now understand why they love those places so much. Not only were there holes to climb through and obstacles to climb up there was a smorgasbord of fun things to do. I had a great time, oh yeah, and I think the kids did too!

We of course were all excited to be reunited again that evening, but it was a pretty terrific day for everyone.

A Moment of Gratitude

The past few weeks, I have felt so, so blessed. Sometimes I literally feel like God has opened the windows of heaven to me that there is barely room enough for me to receive all he's given me and my family. I don't know if I mention enough how much I love Michael. He is so good to me and such an amazing father to our boys. I am sometimes jealous of his ability to be such an incredible parent. He is so consistent with the boys. He has several lines that he has set that the boys know they cannot cross. If they do, Michael always imposes a consequence for them—always! For those of you who have seen Michael regularly with the boys, his greatest skill in parenting is not his discipline, but the way he loves the kids. His boys consider him their best friend. Michael has long, long days that begin at 4:45 every morning. He is out the door by 5:45 at the latest, teaches seminary (he is incredible at that too), and then he goes straight to work. When he comes home from lunch, which he does most days, he always spends at least a portion of his lunch playing a board game, playing ball, or just talking with Thobe and Hyrum. He usually gets home from work at 6:00 p.m. and rather than just kicking back and watching TV or reading the internet, he plays with his boys. We eat dinner, and he helps me clean up the kitchen, and then even though he's exhausted, he plays with his boys until we read Scriptures and say our prayers, and then he tucks his boys into bed. After that he spends time with me and somewhere in there he prepares a seminary lesson. I can't tell you how amazing he is to me and how much I love him!

Alden is also an incredible blessing in my life. He really is my right hand man and makes me feel so good about myself. He always tells me, "You look so beautiful, Mommy." He also is so good to his brothers. When Hyrum wants water, I can tell him, "Go ask Alden." Alden will drop whatever he's doing and get water for his brother. He is also doing really well in school. He really loves going and especially loves being good in class. He really prides himself on the fact that he never gets in trouble. I'm very happy about that too. He loves math and hates writing, but we're working on that, and hopefully by the end of the year, he'll love writing too. He is an incredible reader and loves to play with words. He is really interested in other cultures and is convinced that he's going to go on his mission to Japan. Alden is always telling me a scientific fact or something that I didn't know. When I question him, I find that he is almost always right! My favorite thing about Alden is that you can always find him singing a happy song and dressing up of course. He loves to pretend and has such a great imagination.

I can hardly think about Thobe without getting a little choked up. When Michael was in Germany a few weeks ago, Thobe started having a lot more potty accidents. I was almost beside myself with the increase of accidents—I HATE poopy underwear and nearly lost it many times with him. Trying to solve the problem, I started going with him to the bathroom to make sure he went to the potty. On such an occasion, I discovered that Thobe's urine was not yellow but appeared to have blood in it, a lot of blood. Extremely alarmed, I called the doctor who told me that she wanted to see Thobe right away. After doing a series of tests and taking six vials of blood on three different occasions, they decided to send us down to Dayton to see a pediatric nephrologist (a kidney specialist) at the Dayton Children's hospital. They were very alarmed that he had no other symptoms and that there was so much blood in his urine. The Sunday before we went to the hospital, Michael gave Thobe a Priesthood blessing, and I, along with my mom and all of my siblings and their spouses, fasted for Thobe. Many people prayed for Thobe. We all prayed that God would make him whole and that the doctors would be able to adequately determine what was wrong with him. I want to testify to you that prayer works, and that sometimes, God has things like this happen to us to teach us and remind us. I realized that my children are a miraculous gift from a loving Father who loved them as his children before I did. They are precious, and I need to treat them that way. Since Thobe's sickness, I've noticed more how sweet he is. He is always telling me, "I love you, Mom. I like your shirt. Will you kiss my finger?" He too sings all the time (one of his favorite songs in the Olympic songs--my kids love Michael Phelps) and is just a laid back happy kid. I still prefer him not to have accidents, but when he does, which has gotten more infrequent, I try to remember how much I love him, and I don't get mad. I hope I will never forget the lessons that I've learned through this, and he hopes that he doesn't have to get poked again—he didn't like getting all the blood drawn but was so, so brave.

Hyrum is also such a joy in our lives. Somehow, Hyrum has gotten completely out of his bedtime routine. Part of the problem is that we've graduated him from his crib because he hates it! Since this graduation, we haven't established a bed that is just for him, and regardless of the bed that we put him in, he can climb out if he wants to. Regardless of the consequences and the causes which I'm sure are partly to blame on me and Michael, we spend a lot of time with him after the older two boys go to bed. He loves the time that he has one on one with Mom and Dad. He has really started talking. Much of his talking is jabbering. We know he knows what he's saying, but we don't understand it yet. He understands us though and can do almost anything that we ask him to do. He knows what he wants more than Alden and Thobe ever did at this age. He clearly answers "Yeah" and "No" to our queries, and his favorite phrase is "I want _____" (he usually can fill in the blank with whatever it is he wants). Like the other boys, he loves talking about Cougars and Buckeyes (last night he also added Rockets to the list). Alden, Thobe, and Hyrum's names are all "Oby." Michael is Papa (which I think is just about the cutest thing in the world), and I'm Mama (Michael is sometimes Mama when Hyrum wants help). Hyrum is by far our most adventurous and curious kid. He is always climbing and trying to figure out how things work. Unfortunately with all his climbing, he also does a lot of falling. There are days that I seriously think that we need to follow the idea that our friend Allen Renfro had in Texas and buy our little Hy a helmet. I'm sure he wouldn't keep it on (I can barely get him to keep pants on), so it would probably be money wasted, but he's clearly got several guardian angels (thankfully). I know I write this all the time, but Hyrum loves music. He, like his brothers, is always singing, and as soon as we get in the car, if I don't turn on the music, he starts crying. I'll say, "Hyrum, do you want me to turn on some music?" And he'll respond, "Yeah," and stop crying. Whenever Hyrum hears a loud beeping noise, he waves his arm in the air. Our lousy stove top smokes frequently and sends our sensitive smoke alarm into hysterics, and we respond by getting towels and waving them over our smoke alarm. Hyrum always tries to help us by waving his arm too. He also loves to help me unload the dishwasher and is actually really helpful in putting things away from me. My favorite thing about Hyrum is his happy smile and the way that he loves us. He really has a smile that could light up a room, and he loves us so much. He is always giving us hugs and kisses and saying, "Uv oo."

I must admit that this is a wonderful time in my life. I hope that I will take the time to treasure it a little more and appreciate the great gifts that God has given me, for they truly are abundant!

C.C. Steadman

So, as many of you know, Michael and I like to play pranks on each other. We certainly go through phases where we play more tricks than others. Our shenanigans are usually pretty intense and involve a lot of planning and trickery. On April 1^st every year, I always get a call from my mom and often several of my sisters asking me what April Fool's Day joke I pulled on Michael or what joke he pulled on me. From all our April Fool's Day jokes early on in our marriage, we've both become more vigilant and thus less easily tricked, especially on April Fool's Day. I suppose that's why Michael decided to trick me in August rather than April.

As I mentioned earlier, I taught sociology this summer at the local community college. I really enjoyed it and did several things that were a little off the wall. When Michael was in Turkey, I got an email from a struggling graduate student named C.C. Steadman. Calling me Dr. Monday, he told me that he had heard about some of my "out of the box" teaching methods from a friend of a friend who was enrolled in my class and that he wanted to be a sociology professor just like me someday. Flattery goes a long way with me (as Michael will tell you), and I was so happy about this compliment. He also told me a little about himself. He told me that he really felt passionate about sociology and that he was named after Cruz Castillo from Santa Barbara, a soap opera that I really liked when I was in 4^th and 5^th grade. C.C. still enjoyed watching Santa Barbara reruns and also did a fair amount of modeling. I emailed him back, feeling very happy that someone appreciated my teaching efforts and told him I would be happy to be resource for him when it came to teaching. The next email was full of gratitude for my willingness to help and surprise at how much we had in common. He also told me how he found a picture of me on Facebook and wondered if I had done a bit of modeling too. He said that I looked "a little shy, coquettish, mysterious and with a twinge of seduction" in my picture. His description of my picture made me a bit uncomfortable, especially with Michael in Turkey. I called Michael right away and read what he wrote. He assured me that he thought everything would be okay, and that to Michael, C.C. just sounded like a struggling graduate student. "I think you should continue to write him," he told me.

Not surprisingly, after that, the emails focused less on my looks. For approximately three weeks, I emailed him encouragement for pursuing his goals, and he emailed me questions and some weird stuff too. He sent me a couple YouTube videos of his favorite love scene between Cruz and Eden on Santa Barbara (which I didn't watch) and his favorite moments between Cruz and Eden (which I did). He also sent me a Santa Barbara quiz, which I failed miserably (I later found out that Michael did far better on it than I did, and he never watched an episode growing up—he did do a lot of research on Santa Barbara for the emails which I didn't do). C.C. then began lamenting that he worried that some of the modeling jobs that he'd done in the past might make teaching difficult, especially if one of his students found some of his "edgy, but not too over the top" pictures. At the end of that email, he told me that he'd like to thank me somehow for all I had done to help him and offered to get me a modeling job in the Lima area. This puzzled me because I don't exactly think I have what it takes to be a model in oh so many aspects and wasn't sure how to respond to that. After several days, I thought I should probably email him back. I opened the Rhodes State website to access my email and saw a guy posing next to the wall. I thought to myself, "I wonder if that's C.C. Steadman? I wonder who C.C. Steadman is?" Then it hit me like a ton of bricks—MICHAEL IS C.C. STEADMAN!!! That little sneak!" I wanted to trick him back and say something that would surprise him, but I wasn't absolutely sure that it was Michael. I decided I probably should just ask him. I went and found Michael and said, "Mike, are you C.C. Steadman." He got a big smile on his face and exclaimed, "Yes I am !" We both laughed and laughed and laughed. He is such a goof. One thing about Michael, he make s me laugh everyday. I'm really glad that I married him, even though I have to worry about him pulling pranks on me. By the way, I'll have to post my cunning retaliatory prank when it happens.