Looking for a Leprechaun

Alden is so funny to me. He's so incredibly practical about everything. Things are very black and white in his world, but he's so amazingly cool. I love everything about my little 5 year old. We went to the dentist on Wednesday, and when the hygenist who was wearing Ohio State scrubs walked into the room, he said in his surprisingly adult sounding voice, "Oh I really like your shirt. It looks nice. I really like the Buckeyes too." He then sat up straight in the dentist chair as still as could be with his mouth open wide while his teeth were cleaned and examined. I really can't believe how much he's grown. Despite his grown-up ways, he is still a five year old. On St. Patrick's Day, he came home and told me that Mrs. Curl, his teacher, caught a leprechaun and was going to show him to the class. He said that when she opened the box to show everyone, the leprechaun had escaped. They looked and looked for him, but they couldn't find him. He came home and wondered if perhaps (a favorite word of Alden's) he had come to our house. I told him that leprechauns don't actually exist to which he adamantly told me that they do in fact exist. I still haven't convinced him otherwise. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that I'm right. I wonder how long he'll insist that they are real.

Since moving here, Alden has made a quite a few new friends. He loves the kids in his class, especially his friend, Jack, and he's also really loved his friend Thomas at church. Sadly, Thomas and his family moved back to Utah this month. We were sad to have them go, but Alden assured Thomas on several occasions that they'd get to see each other when we went to visit Utah. From all of our moving around, Alden has grown especially close to his family. The other day he told me that his cousins, his brother, and his grandparents were his best friends. I'm so happy that he loves his family so much. We had Michael's parents come for Easter, and he was bouncing off the walls with excitement to have his grandpa and abuelita stay at his house. He really is such a lovable, sweet boy.


He is really into calling people right now on the telephone. He loves to call me. Today I was just sitting here, and the phone rang. I was puzzled to see my cell phone number on the caller ID. I picked it up and heard, "Hello, Mom. This is Alden." He was in a chatting mood, so I suggested he call his grandma. He knew everything but the last 4 digits of her phone number (he's only called it one or two times). He's a smart cookie.

The other night after we had read stories for the night, I saw "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch sitting on Thobe's bed. I asked the boys if they'd like to hear one more story that always makes me cry. They are always excited about hearing another story, so I read the book and ended up crying harder than I remembered crying the last time I read it (what a cry baby). Anyway, at the end of the story, the mother tries to sing the song I'll love you forever to her grown up boy but is too old and sick to finish the song. Alden looked somewhat worried, like he always does when I cry, but I told him I was crying because I love him and miss my mom. I told him that I am so happy to be with him, so everything is the way it's supposed to be. Then Thobe asked me to lie down by him, so I did, and soon the room became quiet and two little boys, I assumed, were headed off to dreamland. Soon, Thobe's eyes closed and his breathing became slow and steady. It was then that Alden asked, "Mom, old people don't sing very well, right?" I realized that he had been thinking about the story. I told him that some do, but some don't when they are tired and sick. Then he said, "Mom, when I'm a grandpa, you'll be an old grandma, right?

"Right," I assured.

"Oh good. Well goodnight, Mom," he said as he relaxed and drifted off to sleep.

The Ides of Hyrum

Hyrum has become my crazy kid! He is into EVERY- THING! He gets into pots, pans, cups, the dishwasher, food, the toilet, papers, cupboards, pens, markers, toys, remotes, phones, clothes, and, well, you name it, he's into it. Just in the past week, he has hurt himself so badly that he has bled quite badly twice (in one week). He also is very determined and knows exactly what it is that he wants or doesn't want for that matter. Last night he did not want his dad to put him down, and when Michael sat him down on the floor to quickly do something, Hyrum threw himself so hard onto the floor that he cut his lip and bled profusely. He looks so different with a fat lip! He is constantly climbing, pulling, pushing, and running. I really think that he must have a guardian angel that keeps him safe from all his mishaps, and boy, am I grateful for that guardian angel! I can't keep up with him.

Despite being a holy terror right now, he is also so dang sweet! He jabbers and jabbers and jabbers. When I say, "Oh really, Hy?" He says, "Yeah," and then giggles and giggles. It's got to be the cutest thing I've ever heard. I can't get over how cute it is. He also has started singing the ABCs song. He says, "A B C D" really clearly. He also loves to sing, "Oh boy, I got joy." Of course the words aren't super pronounced, but they are certainly discernible and oh so cute! He also loves "I Am a Child of God." Today I was rocking him and he sang something that sounded just like "I am a child of God." It was really cute. I know I've wrote in here before that he loves music, but that love for music grows everyday. It soothes him when we're in the car or at night, and he loves for me to sing to him while I rock him to sleep or stand next to his crib. He also loves to dance, and at church, he likes to grab a hymnal and sing along with whoever is singing. It's so much fun to watch him.

Recently Hyrum has discovered shoes. I don't usually even bother with shoes until the kids are ready to walk around outside, but he discovered them and wants to wear them every chance he gets! I'll attach a video of the third time he tried on boots. I wish I had him on video the first time. It was hilarious, but this is pretty good too!

"It's My Fault Also"

I'm not sure where it comes from, but for some reason, both Alden and Thobe have this very cute little accent. Everything that ends in the letter "O" has a cute little accent on it. I don't think Michael and I talk that way, and I imagine that Thobe learned it from Alden. Where Alden got it, I don't know for sure, actually, I have no idea. Either way, every time they do it, Michael and I smile at each other and often imitate it after they've gone to bed (what a romantic way to spend the evening after the kids go to bed).

Anyway, I digress. We are still having issues with Thobe and potty training. Some days he's a champion at it and other, days, like today, well to put it nicely, he stinks (literally). I'm going to digress again. I think it's so funny that now that I'm a parent that I spend a lot of time talking about bodily excrement to Michael and other parents (as tempting as it is, I try to not bore other people who are not going through the nightmare of potty training). We went out to dinner with our friends Cortney and Emily Bird Saturday night. Their kids are our kids age and have similar potty issues. While we were eating we talked our kids peeing their pants and pooping their pants. This was a couple that we knew while we were dating who were also dating each other at the time. It's funny that if you told me back then that 10 years from now that we'd be sitting down to have dinner together and would talk about pee and poop, I'd think that you were crazy and disgusting. Such is the life of parents of young children, I guess.

Anyway, back to today. We got back from running a lot of errands (one of which was visiting teaching, which always takes longer that I think it will). At our last stop, I asked Thobe if he needed to go to the bathroom or if he could wait until we got home. He said he could wait, so we quickly went home. However, when we got home, I forgot and ran a couple things in the house and quickly checked my email (I was expecting an important email regarding my sociology class and wanted to see if it was there yet). Anyway, I then hurried up to get the kids out of the car. When I got to the car, Hyrum was asleep, and Thobe was waiting patiently in his seat (he doesn't know how to unbuckle it). I apologized for leaving him there and reached back to unbuckle him. He then said, "I peed my pants, Mommy."

"Oh, Thobe," I apologized, "I'm so sorry I left you out here. I'm so sorry. It's my fault, Thobe."

Then in his cute little innocent voice, putting an accent on the "O," he responded, "Oh, Mommy. It's my fault also."

What a fun little guy! I really love him!

A Weekend with Grandpa and Abuelita

Last weekend, we had stake conference and saw it as a good excuse to go visit Grandpa and Abuelita (I also had to speak in stake conference which was a first for me). Anyway, we met Grandpa and Abuelita at I-Hop for a yummy dinner on Friday night, and then went to their house that evening. That night there was a big snow storm (oh, how I can't wait for Spring! All this snow, cold, and gray skies could make even Jack Frost long for warm weather, blue skies, and sunshine). Despite the drab weather, we had a wonderful time. We enjoyed Abuelita's yummy treats and delicious meals (Chris always tells me that she can only cook about five things--that is a big joke. She might make five delicious things per meal--if you have a meal at Michael's parents' house you can plan on a tasty main dish, a vegetable with some delicious seasoning sprinkled on the top, an aesthetically and tummy pleasin' salad, some type of bread, and either fruit or some kind of delectable dessert. She also makes the best Reuben sandwiches or any kind of sandwich for that matter that I've ever tasted). The boys are always so excited to see their grandparents and vice versa. They love to read stories and rattle off Spanish with their Abuelita (she of course thinks that this Spanish thing is a complete waste of time--haha). She loves how much they are learning and is so pleased that they talk in Spanish to her. They love to watch sports with Grandpa and spent part of the time watching the 2005 Mudhen's championship game rerun with Grandpa. The boys love to play in the basement with all of the toys that are down there. We really need to go up there more often. We feel so blessed to be only 80 miles away!

Along with the snow came the potential for snowman building. After the snowfall subsided, Michael, Alden, and Thobe headed outside and built a very friendly snowman. Alden had two pairs of gloves on his hands, a hat on his head, and his hood from his coat on too. Thobe, as you can see in the picture had no gloves (he can't keep them on), no hat, no hood, and was lucky to have his coat on his body. Cold doesn't bother him, I guess. He didn't complain at least. They had such a fun time. After the three balls were carefully assembled, the hunt for snowman parts began. Over and over, the doorbell rang, and Alden, on his father's errand, came looking for important components for their snowman.

"Our snowman needs a hat, our snowman needs a nose, our snowman needs eyes."

They wanted radishes for the eyes, but unfortunately, those were already used in the salad, so Michael was resourceful and found briquettes ("two eyes made out of coal"--I must admit that the radishes were probably more creative). After the snowman was complete, we all got our shoes on and admired their work. Hyrum was the most impressed and kept pointing at the snowman saying, "What's that?" over and over again.

I'm so grateful that my kids have such an incredible dad. Michael is always doing stuff like that with the boys. They love to do things with him, and it's not hard to imagine why. I really love him for a lot of reasons, but I really love him so much for being such a great dad to our boys. He's really incredible!

We were also so grateful to Kathy and Bob Deck who watched the kids while we went to stake conference on Saturday night. The kids had such a great time! Thanks, Bob and Kathy!

A New Little Hansgen Boy

Yesterday, March 5, around 9:00 a.m., my newest nephew, Joshua Wells Hansgen, was born to Diane, my charming and lovely sister, and her husband, Doug, who is also charming but not so lovely. Joshua is by far their smallest baby weighing in at 7 lbs. 14 oz and only 18 inches long. As you can see from the pictures, he really is adorable. His three older brothers, Davin, James, and Bridger, are very excited (so I hear) about the new baby too.

I am also excited about this new little guy (clearly) and have been dying to see him! Emily sent the pictures to Michael's phone last night, and I finally got to view them an hour or so ago. My mom learned how to upload pictures to her computer and sent me the pictures I have here (who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks, right mom?). Anyway, I'm very excited to see my new little friend in person. I must admit that this is by far the worst part of living far away from home. I don't like it one bit!

Congrats, Di and Doug! I love and miss you so much!

I've got a sad face

Today when we got back from picking Alden up from school, we had quite the zoo. Thobe was asleep and wet his pants (ugggh), Hyrum was screaming because he hasn't been feeling well, and as usual, I was reminding Alden to get all of his stuff from school and to put it away in the house (teaching responsibility to a five-year old boy is difficult). In the meantime, I tried to carefully lift Thobe out of his car seat to keep him asleep without touching his wet pants (yes, I am a mom, but I still am not fond of being covered in bodily discretions). Unfortunately lifting 32 pounds of dead weight is not easily done when crawling on one's knees and trying to only carry the top portion of a child. Needless to say, Thobe woke up crying, partly because I was carrying him crazily and partly because he was soaking wet. I laid him down on top of a towel on the floor, thinking he might fall back to sleep, and then tried to get my sick baby to sleep. Unfortunately, none of my desires where achieved, and Thobe cried for awhile, and Hyrum didn't go to sleep either. When I realized that Thobe also needed comforting and that Hyrum was not going to go to sleep, I went downstairs with a clean pair of underwear and pants and tried talking to Thobe. He was happy to see me until he saw the pants that I wanted him to wear. He told me that he want to wear great big pants, not those pants. Exasperated, I told him that he needed to find his own pants. Again he threw himself on the ground, and the crying ensued once more. We then had the following conversation:

Me: Thobe, it looks to me like you need a hug.

Crying subsides to a small whimper. I give him a big hug.

Thobe: Mommy, I've got a very sad face.

Me: Let me see.

He indeed had a very sad face, and I hugged him again.

Me: Oh you do have a sad face!

Thobe: Yes, Mommy, I have a sad face. I want to have a happy face.

Me: I want you to have a happy face too.

Thobe: Sniff. Sniff. Ohhh, I have a happy face now, Mommy, look!

I looked down onto tear stained cheeks and a great, big happy smile and sparkling eyes. For those of you who know Thobe, he really has a smile that lights up the whole room. Oh, how I love that happy face!

As I'm writing this, I hear another very interesting monologue coming from Thobe. He says:

"Satan.... Satan..... Oh, I don't like Satan. Satan is bad. Satan is a friend of the Lamanites. We don't like Satan!"

I'm glad that we got that straight.

A Visit from Emily and Laura

We loved having Laura and Emily come and visit us. The boys love their aunts so much and loved being spoiled. Of course on our first trip to Walmart, Aunt Emily had to buy the boys a special treat, and Alden convinced her that he needed a Trans- former too. But more than being spoiled, they loved just spending time with their aunts. Alden was so disappointed when their plane was delayed. He thought when he went to bed on Wednesday night that he'd wake up and have his aunts there. As soon as he woke up, he ran downstairs yelling, "Aunt Emily, Aunt Laura, here I am! Here I am, Aunt Laura and Aunt Emily." When he couldn't find them and I told him they hadn't got to our house yet, he was very disappointed. Needless to say, when he saw them Thursday night, he was thrilled!

We did a lot of fun things while they were here. We played baseball in the basement, fought with light sabers, played transformers, went shopping--several times, took a road trip to Columbus, played board games, went to church, had Family Home Evening where Aunt Laura taught the lesson, went out to dinner, heard Aunt Laura's mission stories, and got to enjoy Aunt Emily's delicious cooking. My sister Emily is perhaps the best cook in the world! She replicated Costa Vida's Sweet Pork Salad with tomatillo ranch dressing --ummmmmmm (I think her salad was even better that the actual restaurant's though). The sweet pork was to die for, and she also made a delicious lime rice to also go on the salad (if you want me to send you the recipes she left me, I can).

Even more than I loved the activities and the delicious cooking, I loved spending time with my sisters and watching them spend time with my boys. When we went to Columbus, Emily took the boys to COSI while Michael, Laura, and I went to the temple. After that, we all went to the Eddie Bauer outlet where they were having a $4.99 jeans sale. Then Michael took the kids to Burger King and let my sisters and I have a stress-free dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Columbus, Salvi's Bistro (what an incredible husband, I have! I told him I'd rather that he come with us, but he said he didn't think the kids would enjoy the restaurant that much and told me to have a nice time with my sisters).

My favorite moments were watching the boys express their love to their aunts. As soon as Alden got home from school, he'd start talking to his aunts. He always had to know where they were and kept constant tabs on them. In church on Sunday, Thobe was coloring with Emily. He stopped coloring and in all seriousness looked up at his aunt and said, "Happy Valentine's Day, Aunt Emily." Although it wasn't Valentine's day, I think it was Thobe's very sweet way of telling his aunt that he loves her very much. The next day, I was holding Hyrum, and he was fussy. Laura was taking a few bites of a treat we made, and Hyrum started reaching for her. She asked me if he wanted cake, and I said, "I think he wants you." She went over and held her arms out to him, and he lunged for her and wrapped his little arms around her neck and wouldn't let go for anything. I think Laura loved that, but I loved it even more. The hardest thing about living here in Ohio is being so far away from my family. It warms my hear to know that despite the distance, my kids (even Hyrum who hadn't met his Aunt Laura until the Thursday before) will have a close relationship with my family and love them as I love them. That means so much to me!

On Tuesday, we reluctantly took my sisters back to the airport. We were sad but are so grateful for the sacrifice that they made to buy plane tickets and to visit us. Thank you so much for coming, Laur and Em! We love you and miss you!!!! Please come back soon!