- Meal in a Pumpkin -

Here is a fun idea for dinner tonight.

I had the Mia Maids over & we made this for our activity. It turned out really good. The baking time seemed too long for a YW activity, so we cheated a little bit. I made sure everything was warm, & then we used a pumpkin shaped casserole dish. This is a good recipe. My family enjoyed the left overs!

- Baseball in the Snow -

"BRRR!" Do you think it's time to move to an indoor sport?

I guess it depends on who you ask? If Kyler had it his way, he'd play baseball all year long. Deron helps him shovel a path in the grass for playing catch. Jeron, however, is anxious to start basketball (his favorite sport). He'll shovel the basketball court faithfully all winter too. This should be our last week of baseball in 2008. The fans are starting to freeeeze. This weekend we are forecasted to be in the 70s, though. Our fingers are crossed. The boys have a tournament in Salem & then two make-up games here on Saturday. If the weather holds, they'll play 6 games in three days -- seven if they make it to the finals. What a way to spend the UEA break!

GO BEAVERS!

- 8 Things Tag -

I've been tagged by Julie!

8 Shows I Like:
1) Days of Our Lives (I must admit this is my weakness!)
2) Good Things Utah
3) The News (When I'm home)
4) The Today Show
5) The Biggest Loser (but now I have YW on Tuesdays)
**Honestly, I'm not very exciting. We're never home to watch TV at night, & when we are, I'm out numbered BIG TIME, there's usually a ball game on! I can't even come up with 8, & we don't have Tivo!

8 Things I did in the last 24 hours:
1) Made Halloween cookies w/ Hayden
2) Arranged Lodging for all the families going to the boy's baseball tournament this weekend
3) Laundry
4) Dishes
5) Carpooled
6) Went to lunch w/ a few friends
7) Attended Kyler's last flag football game
8) Went to Young Womens'

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
1) Our family get-a-way this weekend to the boy's baseball tournament
2) A few free nights as we end baseball & football (Maybe I'll pick up some new favorite shows!)
3) The Holidays
4) Getting a new cell phone
5) Getting Hayden's pictures back (I took him to the school for sibling pictures today, & he smiled. It was a small miracle!)
6) The Economy getting back on track
7) Getting back to the gym
8) Catching up with friends I haven't talked to in awhile

8 Things on my Wish List:
1) A housekeeper
2) A larger kitchen
3) A 3 car garage
4) The gas prices to go down
5) Permanent Financial Stability
6) More good days for my grandparents
7) For Jeron & Ky to let me cuddle with them once in awhile. (They think they're too old.)
8) Continued good health for all my loved ones

- Fall Baseball in the Rain -

I keep feeling guilty that I haven't posted for awhile, but I really don't have any new pictures to post. I guess I don't have to have pictures for every post, right? I'm still new at this.

Our weeknights and Saturdays are pretty much all eaten up by baseball & flag football practices and games. Right now we have four practices & four games a week. I shouldn't complain, because this is less than we had in the summer, but add homework, and it's a little crazy. Soon we'll be done with these two sports and then we'll jump into basketball. I'm hoping that we will see a few open nights in the weeks to come.

Saturday was a memorable day of "Fall Baseball in the Rain." The boys were scheduled to play a double header in Kaysville. This was conference weekend. It always rains on conference weekend. We knew the forecast was for rain, woke up to rain, as expected, but got word that the games were on, so we headed to Kaysville. It was raining so hard at times during our drive; I kept thinking that we would drive all the way down there just to have them cancel on us. Much to our surprise, they had us play one game in the rain. (This is why I don't have any pictures. I didn't want to risk using my camera in the rain!) It never stopped raining, & by the end of the first game the infield was starting to really puddle up, so they cancelled the second game. Luckily Deron had purchased an EZup recently. He's been wanting one for a long time, & I've been dragging my feet. No complaints from me after this experience. It fit over half of the bleachers, so most of the moms and kids were able to stay dry while our boys played in the rain.

It ended up being a great memorable game. Jeron pitched four innings and had 9 strike-outs or K's, as they call them. Kyler got three great hits and was named MVP of the game. It was so fun to watch him try not to smile as he ran around the bases and the fans all cheered for him. He looks so little out there with all of the 9 & 10 year olds. After a great win, we had our picnic under cover with the Jensons (family friends through baseball) and then went to Krispy Kreme doughnuts to celebrate. We had never been inside to see how they make the doughnuts. Jeron wasn't with us, but Kyler and Hayden thought it was so cool. Can you believe that their glazing machine was out of order? That was just our luck, but Kyler picked an assortment of other kinds for us to share.

Needless to say, we created some fun family memories in the rain. We have been pretty spoiled with good weather throughout our baseball season that started in April. I just have to comment on the filthy baseball pants that were thrown in my laundry pile when we got home. (They did change for the drive, thank heavens.) Words can't even express the condition of these pants. I feel like I've dealt with some pretty bad stains in the past, but adding the water to the red dirt and grass brought on a whole new level of filth that I'm still struggling to get out. Jeron's pants are looking pretty good, but Kyler's still need some work. (He did a lot of sliding on his big MVP day!) I've tried all the tricks I know. If you have any pointers, I'd love to hear them! The weather forcast is looking even worse for this Saturday (40s and rain - last week was 60s and rain), but at least the games are here. Maybe we'll get a Saturday off, who knows? If we play, I'll have more dirty pants to clean!!

- Happy 3rd Birthday Hayden! -

Three Things we Love about our HAYDEN

(a.k.a Haydee Love):

(If you ask him his name right now, he says, "Haydee Wuv." He doesn't like Hayden Jace for now!)

1.) His sweet, tender spirit . He is truly a peacemaker in our home, & he still lets us cuddle him most of the time. (Mom's trying hard not to let the brothers ruin this for her.)

2.) His enthusiasm for helping with any job we're doing. He is my best unloader of the dishwasher. One of his favorite gifts was a "Handy Manny" tool set -- he loves to help daddy too. He especially loves to help his brothers and join in on their backyard ballgames. He also loves to take care of Champ, the dog.

3.) His independence. He can do everything all by himself! He dresses himself and changes outfits often. This independence earned him stiches earlier this year when he thought he could get out of Grandm's car all by himself.

Three of Hayden's favorite things at age three:

1) His special soft and silky blankets

2) Riding his big bike (blue bike -- he loves blue)

3) Malt flavored Ovaltine

We celebrated Hayden's 3rd birthday by going to Kaysville for the day to watch his big brothers play baseball, surprise, surprise! He didn't seem to mind, however. He's grown up at ballgames. His brothers gave him some real baseball pants, so he was dressed like a player too. We brought birthday cupcakes to share with the team and all of the other little siblings at the ball park. After the games were over, we sat Hayden up on the bucket of balls & sang to him. He got embarrassed, of course, but I know it made him feel special. Most of Deron's family lives down that way, so several of them were there to share the day with us. We then raced home so that Hayden could go to the Aggie football game with his dad, Grandpa, & Jeron.

Hayden wasn't sure he wanted a birthday. He kept telling me that he didn't want a birthday, he just wanted a big gun to shoot the birdies (lovely, huh)! After opening two presents and crying because they weren't a big gun, we decided we better give him his big gun so that he might show some enthusiasm for his other gifts and not hurt people's feelings.

I was determined to take him to Kiddie Kandids for a birthday picture. As usual, he had other plans. It is so hard to catch a good picture of him right now. (Notice the picture where he's hiding under the table at his party.) He runs from the camera, & if he decides to stand in for a quick shot, he won't look at you. I'm learning to be really sneaky, but after 1 1/2 hours at Kiddie Kandids, I gave up. The poor photographer was only able to push her button one time, because he wouldn't pose for her at all. You'll notice this non smiling picture on his cake! We will remember his third birthday as the one where we never got a great photo!

Hayden also got to celebrate on Sunday at his great-grandparents' house with my side of the family. Birthday dinners at Grandma's have been a long standing tradition in my family. I'm so glad that our kids get to have these memories too.

WE LOVE YOU, HAYDEN!

- Early September '08 at a Glance -

Another busy week at the Hansen Household.

We welcomed a rain storm, even though it kept us inside over Labor Day weekend. The boys were excited to put on their rain jackets. We hadn't had a good storm since June, if I remember right.

Fall baseball & Flag Football both started this week. Kyler is playing on Jeron's fall baseball team, because a couple of players are out playing tackle football. On the morning of the 1st baseball game, Ky probably asked 10 times if it was time for him to get dressed yet. He got hit the 1st time up to bat, but proudly took one for the team and ran to his base. As I noted, he caught the only fly ball at the 1st game. The crowd really cheered for him and many were surprised he is only 6. Jeron had some awesome hits to the outfield and pitched very well. He also made some great fielding plays; I can remember at least one double play. A highlight for the boys this week was that Jeron's buddy, Landon Jenson got to spend the weekend with us while his dad rode in the Lotoja bike race.

Ky is in the younger division for flag football, but their teams are both the 49ers, so they have the same shirt. Ky scored two touchdowns at his first game, & Jeron played great also. He got to QB.

Hayden couldn't stay awake long enough to blow up his new punch balloon from Gma. Evelyn.

I'm sure he'll love me for that picture someday!

I also finally got an outdoor patio set. We have been using a plastic set that we got for a wedding gift. This was going to be my Mother's Day gift, but I had to wait until I found the right one, and then until it went on a late season close-out sale. Deron is such a great handy man. He put it all together quickly, & we ate out on the deck twice this week. We have great shade in the mornings and evenings, but now I'm on the hunt for an umbrella so we can enjoy it in the afternoon as well.

- A New Era begins for me! -

I got a call to work in the Young Women's Organization as a Mia Maid Advisor. Holy Cow! This is a calling that has always made me nervous. I don't have daughters. I'm not used to being around young women, & I'm nervous about teaching. Gone are the days when I pull my primary manual out on Sunday morning. This is going to be a lot more work. Tuesday night activities are going to be a new thing for me too. I'm filled with mixed emotions. I'm excited and scared at the same time. Last night we had a training meeting with the stake leaders. Things have really changed since I was a YW myself. Yesterday was my first Sunday with the girls, & luckily I didn't have to teach. I was so nervous for Leslie, who was teaching her first lesson. She did such a good job, but I was so frustrated that some of the girls were visiting and folding paper airplanes all the way through. How do you handle a situation like that? As a new leader, I want to be their friend, but at the same time, I also want their respect. I would love any pointers and/or tips with anything pertaining to Young Women's or just teenage girls in general.