American Idol, Baby

AMERICAN IDOL...

What can I say? This show just makes me so happy. Every year I look forward to January for some high quality television - aka - American Idol!

(Bless my beloved DVR for making it possible to watch!)

I was BOUNCING off the couch with elation last night as my man Lee Dewyze was announced as this season's winner.

YAY LEE!!!

(Did I call it or what? :))

He is so humble, so talented, so good, so cute...so -- I might have a tiny crush. No big deal.

Chris is well aware. :)

If you missed his Hallelujah performance last week, check it out HERE. It's AMAZING - probably my favorite song all season. Just watching it will make you a fan too if you aren't already.

Or I dare say there might be something wrong with you... :)

....& I just have to add that the finale was GREAT! Besides Lee winning, my favorite moment was seeing all the old Idol winners and runner ups singing together.

LOVED IT!!

Let's admit it, next year just isn't going to be the same without Simon Cowell. You either love him or hate him and I love. (not that I love it when he's rude...hate rudeness he somehow gets away with it...) Honestly, I was tearing up when they were doing his little tribute. As big of an Idol fan as I am, I just don't know that I'll be watching in the years to come without him!

Oh well.

Anyways, here's to a great ending to American Idol 2010!

GO LEE! :) :)

I don't sound at all over-the-top obsessive in this post - do I?? ;)

New Yorkers

My awesome little brother scored an amazing internship at Times Square in New York City this summer! He and his cute wife leave tomorrow for their 3 month adventure of living in the Big Apple.

HOW LUCKY ARE THEY???

We got together for a little farewell party last night at our sweet Grandma's house - who recently was able to return home after months of being in the hospital and then rehab center. We are so happy to have her back home!

We will sure miss Kylie and Steven for the next several months but are so excited for them and this incredible opportunity!

If you have any New Yorker advice for the new Big City explorers, please share!

GOOD LUCK Kylie & Steven!

We'll miss you!

Careful of the terrorists, please. :)

Super fabulous homemade pizza

I realize that most people love their Saturdays. Well, honestly, I don't. I pretty much dread them. The explanation is that Chris works all but one Saturday a month. (Before you go pitying me, he does have Mondays off which is so nice.) The hours that he is gone (8:30 a.m. to 6:45 p.m.) on that day of the week seem like an eternity. I guess that this is a pretty normal work day for most, but we love his weekday schedule of either 8-4 or 2-10, which leaves us a nice chunk of the day together as a family either in the morning or the evening.

So when Saturday rolls around we are left with very little time together as a fam as Chris makes his appearance during bathtime which is just prior to bedtime. This translates into ME being at my wits end by day's end & the last thing I have time and patience for on top of a crazy day is making some great dinner with little munchkins whining and screaming at my feet. So lately I've been trying to find ways to simplify,(not an easy task for my complicated little brain) and this I did by finding the perfect solution for dinners on my dreaded Saturdays...and a tradition Parker looks forward to.

Well, a few months back after a little research, I found the greatest homemade pizza recipes. Not just kinda good -- REALLY GOOD! So I started the Saturday ritual of giving the kiddos early baths and then having homemade pizzas ready to pop into the oven just as Chris is getting home. The kids absolutely love decorating their own pizzas, they love eating the pizzas, and they love the little bit of time they get to spend with their Dad on Saturday nights just before going to bed.

I love that I don't have to think about what I am making for dinner that day, LOVE that they are SUPER EASY, super cheap, & I love that they are all homemade. & don't tell anyone but I especially love that I don't have to deal with any raw meat... you could say it's definitely NOT one of my favorite pasttimes.... ughh. But that's another story...

And did I mention that I. LOVE. THIS PIZZA!?

This is some of the tastiest homemade pizza I've ever had. Seriously - SO YUMMY! I love it so much that I wanted to share these great discoveries with the three people who may be lucky enough to have made it this far into my post without falling asleep.

Really - these recipes are worth the boring post - I promise!

Here they are:

(super duper easy!)

PIZZA DOUGH

(courtesy of Martha's website, but Wolfgang Puck's recipe)

One 1/4-ounce active dry yeast

1 tsp honey

1 cup warm water

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp coarse salt

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and honey in 1/4 cup warm water; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine flour and salt. Add oil, yeast mixture, and remaining 3/4 cup warm water; mix on low speed until dough pulls away from the sides fo the bowl and clusters around the dough hook, about 5 minutes.

2. Turn dough out onto a clean work surface, and knead by hand until dough is smooth and firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer dough to a large bowl, and cover witha clean, damp kitchen towel. Place bowl in a warm spot, and let rise for 30 minutes.

3. Divide dough into four balls, about 6 ounces each. Work each ball by pulling down the sides and tucking under the bottom of each ball; repeat 4 or 5 times. On a clean, unfloured surface, roll the ball under the palm of your hand until the dough is smooth and firm, about 1 minute. Repeat with remaining balls; cover witha damp towel and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Prepare as needed and arrange desired toppings; balls can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days.

(Makes four 8-inch pizzas - or one large)

*Note: I like to bake the rolled out dough for 4 or 5 minutes before I put any sauce or toppings on - then cook with toppings for additional 10 minutes or so at 400 degrees. But then again, we like crispy crust around here...

MOVING ON TO THE SAUCE....

The super fabulous sauce recipe is from one of my favorite food blogs - Our Best Bites. Click here to never ever want to use the jar marinara sauce ever again. Who ever liked that stuff anyways?! This is super easy and super tasty! I love it.

Don't be intimidated by the fact that one of it's ingredients is some of their homemade garlic bread seasoning. Yes, you'll have to make that too to make the recipe work but trust me it is fast and easy... the only strange ingredient are the marjoram leaves (well at least to me that is) but I found them with no problem in the seasoning isle at Smith's and they were even under $2.

Here I go rambling - what else is new??...

Just try out these recipes! You'll love 'em! Er you can call me crazy. :)

HAPPY PIZZA MAKING!!!

More cuteness

HOW CUTE IS THAT?

There is something I just love about 17 little 3-5 year old boys chasing balls around a gym! What a site! Besides the fact that it's pretty stinkin' cute, I love that they are constructively putting their spastic little hyper active bodies to beneficial use by aquiring new skills, gaining coordination, and learning to take turns, all the while spewing out some of that endless energy they all seem to have bottled up in them!

Itty Bitty All-Ball was a huge success this week! SCORE! Once I peeled Parker off my arm on Monday(bribery courtesy of Cold Stone worked like a charm for later that day) he kept up with the best of them playing soccor and he even made a goal. That-a-boy. :) More importantly, he had a great time. I was worried today that he would revert back to his clinginess - which he did for the first 5 minutes but then he jumped right in to play basketball and once again had a great time! Yay! So---yes. I bribed him. Again. This time with a trip to Target for popcorn - but hey, bribery works and sometimes whatever works is the best option in my book. :) Especially when it's to get over an initial hesitancy about something...

Parker's words about class today: "That was so so SO way totally fun, Mom!".

This session is all over for his team but we are gearing up to start Itty Bitty ALL Soccor next month with several more friends & we're excited!

...& this little girl....we don't want to leave her out. I snapped this picture on our way out the door this morning. I might be a teensy bit biased but seriously how could you not adore that little face?! I just love her.

Mother's Day...

All I can say is that MAY has been one CrAzY month.

There has been so much I have wanted to post but I am still catching my breath just trying to keep up with everything...& the month is still running....FAST. But here is a start...

Better late than never right? Let's start off with Mother's Day....

I am one lucky Mama! I love these kids!!!

*(Notice hair obsessed Parker's fistfuls of my hair - the kid never lets go - I swear!)*

It was such a great day!... P & E were still getting over their sicknesses (but on the upswing) so Chris and I had to tag team church. Chris cooked us all breakfast, and the kiddos gave me some pieces of art they had colored with attached gift cards for my favorite smoothies, to do a little shopping & get a pedicure!

What more could a girl want???

Sacrament meeting was actually quite rejuvinating because I got to sit in peace and actually hear what the speakers had to say since Chris was home with the kids.

Sometimes I forget that that was once possible in my former life....Ahhh. It was nice. :)

After church we sanitized our germy kids the best we could and headed over to the Hansens for a big Mother's Day partay. To our surprise, it turned out to be a Mexican Fiesta with the boys cooking YUMMY authentic Mexican food (Zach served a spanish speaking mission in NC & cousin Lara's husband is Mexican). Chris' Dad Lance is great at putting on a shindig and a shindig it was, complete with gameshow games & even a pinata. It was also Chris' littlest sister - Sarah's (youngest of 6 kids) 19th birthday and courtesy of Mexican tradition she received an extra special birthday treat by having her birthday pie slapped all over her lovely face. Nice. Happy Birthday, Sare!

My favorite moment of the night however had to be Chris' precious 93 year old Grandma Lonczyna beating the pinata (pictured above).

Love that girl. She makes me smile! :)

YAY for Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day

This woman is such an inspiration!

Stephanie (aka Nie Nie)....She is the survivor of a plane accident that happened in 2008. You may have heard about her on the news, watched her on Oprah, or you may be one the hundreds of thousands who follow her blog...what an incredible perspective she has on her second chance at life & what a wake up call it is for the rest of us to stop sweating the small stuff & to be GRATEFUL for our many blessings.

She offers so many heartfelt messages...Motherhood truly is a divine privilege & and I hope I never take it for granted. I also love how she says, "I am not my body...." How true that is and such a reminder that we are all so much more than the packages we come in...a hard thing to keep in perspective as a woman!

Take a few minutes to watch - it will touch your heart!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

The latest...

Sheesh! It seems that lately we've been go-go-go... with what exactly I'm not even 100%. I must be getting old or just have a mommy brain but I can hardly remember what takes place from day to day. It's as though it gets deleted as soon as I move on to the next one. All I know is that I'm exhausted by day's end.

That is where my friend the blog helps me out...I can journal a few things that otherwise I know will never make it to my hard drive.

So here are a few happenings as of late...

(Let's see what I can remember...!)

PARKER:

P started an Itty Bitty All-Ball class with his friend Zach through our local rec center. Today was his 3rd class of 6 and they are exposed to soccor, football and T-Ball. It's pretty darn cute, I must say.

WHEN Parker chooses to participate that is. For the last few months my little man who was BORN independent (previously this kid could walk around a mall with no parent in sight without batting an eyelash) has suddenly turned into a VERY clingy/whiney 3 1/2 year old when we do things with other kids. At our house he seems fine. But All-Ball class, Sunbeams at church, & playdates he REALLY struggles to detach himself from my arm. It drives me a bit crazy (& Chris even crazier) and we're not quite sure how to handle it. Even bribery of playing the Wii, chocolate, or another love - the reward of popcorn at Target don't do the trick. When those didn't phase him I knew we had a big problem on our hands. But we are trying. And that is why I signed him up for this. He NEEDS this interaction in group settings!

EMMIE....

THIS little girl (who is sick AGAIN by the way!) has developed a strong sense of style. Well, I'm not sure STYLE is the right word seeming as most days she's a complete rag-a-muffin, but she has a STRONG opinion for what she wants to wear each day.

One of many examples:

The other night I heard her throwing up in her crib at 3 a.m. (awesome), so I go in, clean her & her crib up and get her new jams to wear. I found out that the ones I chose were NOT acceptable when she started screaming, "No! No!" over and over again. Really? You are throwing up, have a fever and it's 3 a.m. and you have an opinion on what jams you want to wear?

YES. She did. Whatever the 20 month old wants. So we had to lay out all her pajama options from her drawer so that she could make what she felt was the appropriate choice. It took her about 4 minutes of debating before she finally pointed and said, "Dose". I'm afraid this is only the beginning of a very opinionated girly girl. Happy day. :)

CHRIS

Has recently developed a love for Blu-Ray DVD's. This red-head doesn't express a lot of excitement over many things, but he gushes about those Blu-rays. He even convinced me to watch Iron Man with him. He was a bit offended that I was giggling in disbelief half way through (come on - the dude turns himself into a flying transformer that saves the world) but nontheless it was exciting and the blu-ray was pretty sweet - I will even admit. :)

ME:

So I have developed a strong liking for THIS American Idol contestant:

No, not Ryan Seacrest. LEE DEWYZE. He is amazing and I'd purchase his tunes in a minute. Not to mention he's pretty cute. I am rooting for him all the way!

I was a little perplexed just now as I was getting his pic and noticed that he was born the same year as my little bro - 7 years my junior. Really?? Dang. I really must be getting old.

Well that is plenty for now. Exciting, I know - for the one person who might still read my blog.... !

Barnyard Party

~Parker, Emmie, Atticus~

Hooray for cousins!!!

A few weeks ago P & E's little cousin Atticus & Aunt Cindy (Chris' brother - Eric's wife) were in town from Texas so clever Grandma Hansen put on a cute "Cousin's Barnyard Party" for the reunion.

Activities consisted of hunting for hidden little animals around the house, singing 'Old MacDonald with props made by Gma H, an animal toss into the barnyard (notice flying green bear in front of carefully aimed Atticus), playdough animals, & even peanut butter sandwiches in animal shapes. They also got to take home cute barnyard sacks full of fun prizes!

Thanks Grandma H for such a cute party.

The kiddos loved it & loved hanging out with their cousin A!

Best scent ever

I LOVE Bath & Body Works!

But then - what girl doesn't, right?

I am obsessed with their hand soaps...I feel like a bad home exec (help me out -sounds better than homemaker, right...maybe? Maybe not.)

if I don't have one at every sink in our house.

I am currently IN LOVE with this scent:

(pull out all the stops - this is definitely deserving of a drumroll and maybe some spectacular fireworks...)

*ISLAND NECTAR*

Seriously - AmAzInG...probably my favorite ever -- & there are some pretty good ones out there.
I recently stocked up with 6 of them myself...
The only thing wrong with it is that they don't carry this scent in lotions...(what are they thinking).... just soap and home fragrance.
I'm okay with it though. I just feel blessed to be associated with it as
my beloved foamy soap.
It makes me inhale with delight everytime I wash my hands.
Which tends to be alot since I'm a bit of a germaphobe...

Seriously... TRY IT!!! It's so worthy of a trip to the store. You won't regret it.
& in case you were thinking of getting me a gift sometime...a box of these would be a welcomed treasure, for sure... :)

Spring trip to the desert

On Sunday we got back from spending 8 days in sunny St. George, visiting my Mom & Reed. We had a great time and were so happy that Chris could join us for half the trip!

{The good old doggy door always provides some pretty rad entertainment... the two munchkins were chasing each other round and round...}

We had a great time at this popular splash park over by the Tabernacle.

E & P both had a blast, but H20-obsessed-Emmie was especially in heaven!

The cute but cautious one above got a little wet....

But Emmie was FEARLESS and needless to say ended up SOAKED!

She was so funny not only trying to drink the water, but she also got a kick out of sticking her bum in the waterfalls over and over again!

We did not come ready to get so wet and the poor girl was shivering but she loved it so much she didn't whine once with the cool breeze hitting her wet clothes...braver girl than me - for sure! :)


On our last day there, my Mom and I took the kids to a Kite Festival.

It stinks when hundereds (thousands? A LOT!) of people show up to such an event armed with their souped up kites and the wind doesn't show.

No wind meant no flying kites but tons of bouncy houses and yummy snowcones kept my two monkeys occupied and thoroughly entertained!

I was completely entertained watching them bouncing, sliding, climbing and laughing.

If my kids have fun - I have fun!

Emmie once again was fearless and wanted to do everything her big brother was doing. And she pretty much did!

My poor Mom has had problems with her arm/shoulder for the last few years... so much so that she hasn't been able to work out or put her makeup on with her right hand for the last 6 months. She is finally having surgery today to have the rotator cuff in her shoulder replaced and will be out of commission for the next several months.

Not fun! :(

Good luck Mom - we love ya and we'll be praying for you!
Thanks for a fun trip to the desert!

Just helpin' out

Emmie gets sick of me asking her big brother to do simple tasks over and over again with no follow through on his part. One example he struggles with each day is getting dressed into his clean clothes that are freshly laid out for him each morning.

Something that has become evident in our home lately is that:

P is a procrastinator & E is a 'get-it-done' kinda girl.

So much so, that sometimes she just goes ahead and does his little tasks for him.... Like the other day when she helped him out by putting on his (clean) undies - all by herself - that had been laying on the floor for P to wear all morning. She'd heard me tell him a million times to put these on so she took the initiative and did it herself.

She was so proud! And so was I. They were even the right way. :)

Such a nice, helpful little sis!

While I'm at it, her efficiency doesn't stop there.

This little 19 month old do-it-herselfer drops her dishes into the sink following a meal, (plastic of course!) makes sure to wash her hands before eating, puts her own socks on (P is just barely doing this himself!), tries to dress herself, and puts her dirty laundry in the hamper each night after her bath. (To give Parker some credit, he does that one, too.) She will also assist Parker in cleaning his plate when he takes too long to eat by stealing bites. And as you can see in the bottom right pic, she is always toddling around trying to help me clean.

Don't get me wrong, Parker is a great helper as well in a lot of ways.

But Em is thorough and to the point while Parker gets extremely distracted from the task at hand.

SUCH A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOYS & GIRLS I tell ya!

Well, between my boy & girl that is. :)

But I love them both the same. Even when P ignores me and E walks around in her big brother's Toy Story undies while spraying down my fridge with a water bottle....

Ready, Set, Easter!

Let the egg hunts begin!!!(Mr. Easter Bunny that is :))



We love Easter at our house and we weren't going to let some icky germs that had long overstayed their welcome ruin our holiday. So coughing, goop, and all --we celebrated our day!




Parker and Emmie were so cute hunting for their eggs. I was worried that Em wouldn't quite get what to do since we hadn't 'practiced' due to being sick, but she dove right in and filled her basket like a pro. Parker was so excited that the Easter Bunny had come and especially excited that he had left them a special note on his chalk board.
(We are LOVING our new basement by the way. Chris finished it just before Christmas and I keep meaning to do a post on it and show off his handy work but I have totally slacked... I can't even tell you how nice the extra room has been though! WE LOVE IT!!! It was so fun to have Easter down there.)




This kind of sums up how they were feeling that day. Parker was still a pretty sick little guy but Em just excited to be leaps and bounds better than she was earlier in the week.

I went ahead and dressed them up even though they were sick and despite having no church due to General Conference... but hey I figured they may as well get use out of their Easter outfits on Easter. You'll be sick of yellow and blue by the end of this post... :)


REALLY?! Snow? On Easter???


I of course took a million pics trying for just one great one. I failed...but some of them are still pretty cute.... sorry for the picture overload but trust me this is just a small fraction of what I'd like to post.... ;)

After our morning festivities mixed with some good conference, we headed over to Grandpa Todd's for yet another egg hunt and a yummy lunch. Parker hit the jackpot finding the 'bonus' egg which contained a ten dollar bill! Wahoo! Emmie hammed it up in a cute hat and sunglasses that came in her basket from Gpa Todd and Parker was of course enthralled with my cousin's new IPad computer thingy. It WAS pretty amazing! (Seriously!) Then we went and visited my cute Grandma who has been in the hospital and now in a rehab facility for the last month or so. This is the first year EVER that we haven't had our big Easter Egg hunt at her home!
We missed you, Mimi and hope you get better soon!

Then we were off to Chris' parents to close the day. We had a delicious dinner, another egg hunt, played 'Easter Jeopardy' and the Easter Bunny himself (aka Gpa Hansen) even called and talked to Parker on the phone mid-hunt. (Sooo funny!) Chris' cute Grandpa in the picture above just turned 95 on April 1st! And Grandma Lonczyna isn't far behind him.
Aren't they adorable??? I just love them.


It was great day!!! :)

The saga continues....

This little guy....

Well.

His face pretty much sums it up.

MISERABLE.

Oh the sad, sad, face.

You guessed it...poor Parker fell Victim #2....

Good news is that it didn't quite get to his lungs so they ruled out pneumonia for this one. Thank you! But he has surely been one SICKLY little guy.

I will spare all of the lovely details except to say (okay I'm not sparing you all the details) that on top of all the nasty symptoms that Em had, that he also is having lovely vomit episodes that began right in the doctors office yesterday morning, carried through last night where I didn't have to think twice about disposing his chucked on pillow (seriously how do you salvage a pillow soaked in throw up? You don't.), to having my precious three year old take the time to tell me with his head in the toilet in between hurling this morning, "Bye Mom, I'll miss you!" as I was leaving to go to a Dr. appointment myself (yeah I'm sick too).

Always such a thoughtful Little P, even mid-vomit. Oh, how I love my little guy.

The night before last as he was burning up with fever and his little body had chills so bad he was shaking uncontrollably, I sadly told him how sorry I was that he was sick.

He looked up at me with those baby blues which were overridden at the time by redness due to illness, and told me in his sickly, scratchy voice, (while shaking),

"It's okay, Mom. Don't worry, I will get better soon so that you and Daddy can play with me!".

?!?!?! Seriously! How does he have empathy like that? He's three! And he's reassuring ME that he'll be better soon so that Chris and I will have a playmate again?? All I can say is that this little three year old melts my heart.

Yes, somedays he also makes me want to rip my hair out, but in moments like this the charm and wisdom that accompanies his tiny body, but big spirit -- FAR cancels out and overrides his naughtiness.

(I realize that I can say that at the moment because he's laying quiet in bed...:))

The GREAT news is that THIS little cutie-

even though still sick herself, is bouncing back and seems to be on the upswing!

(Fingers crossed!)

YAY!!!

Thanks for all of your concern! :)

SO, our week that was supposed to be filled with practice Easter egg hunts, sugar cookie decorating, yummy treat making, egg dying and decorating, & fun festive Easter crafts hasn't quite turned out like I envisioned.

But that is life.

And it's okay. I am just grateful for health insurance and the blessing of modern medicine that have come to our aid this week & are helping my kids overcome illnesses that in some places around the world (even right here in the U.S.) can be deadly.

(1 in 5 patients with pneumonia don't make it - so said the doctor I saw this a.m.!)

So this Easter weekend, even with all the coughing, fevers, goopiness, aches, sore throats, and even vomit in our home & with 3 of us on antibiotics, & minus all the exciting Easter festivities, my little fam has much to be grateful for! And we are!

(Here's to still hoping P will get better quick - he hasn't made much progress so far & I'm still praying for a miracle so that he can hunt for eggs this weekend...!)

HAPPY EASTER!!!

My complaining was justified...

We made a trip to the doc.

Not good.

PNEUMONIA.

EMMIE.

Awesome. :(

Nursery Times

It's official.

Her first 18 months flew by and this sweet little face started nursery last month.

Crazy. Exciting....

SO many plusses:

She is willing to go and seems to enjoy it. My 2 cute neighbors are her darling teachers. I can actually go to Sunday School and hear the lesson. I don't have to roam the hall with my disruptive toddler when I should be in class with the YW.

All great, right?

Just one problem. So far we've only been able to go every other week.

WHY?

You guessed it.

GeRmS.

It is almost inevitable that this smiling, cheerful face turns to this sad one:

(It breaks my heart)

several days later upon spending a few hours in nursery. I am so torn. Not to be negative, but a fever (102.7), cough, constant goop and a miserable little girl seem to outweigh the benefits of sending her. Especially when the following Sunday we have to skip church in order to avoid spreading the same germs that someone else so lovingly decided to bring with them the previous week and share with my Em.

Nursery may be the time in life that these little ones learn to share, but really, do we have to share EVERYTHING?

The good news is that spring is here, General Conference is next week and with stake conference soon after, we will have a little break and hopefully all this RSV and pneumonia floating around will have dissipated upon our return.

Meanwhile I am off to take care of my Em...

and to suggest to the bishopric that calling a

Lysol Nursery Specialist would be a good move. (Only kind of kidding)

Not to step on any toes or anything.

Seriously, a little disinfectant would make for a much healthier toddler rate post nursery visits.

Fact is fact.

How can it not be taken seriously when it affects church attendance??

Or are we the only ones that come home from church with sick kids?

I know, I know. What do ya do?

If you're me, apparently you whine. :)