getting old

Well, you know you're getting old when you start forgetting important belongings places.  In the last week I managed to  forget my purse somewhere twice!  Yikes, that is awful and scary.  The first place was church so I wasn't worried but today was a different story.  Me and the kids stopped at a park in town really quick and I have no idea why I even brought the purse out of the van, but of course I put it down right away as I was helping Kason and Ani climb rocks and different things.  Normally I wouldn't leave it there but we were the only ones at the playground so who cares.  Well, no one if you remember to pick it up as you're leaving.  I waited for a train to cross for about 15 minutes on the way out, drove all the way to our house and that's when I realized in horror the purse is gone.  I look at the clock, it's a couple minutes after 5pm so I frantically call Ehren (because it would take him less time to get there from work) who works till 5 and when I finally reach him he's still at his desk but ran right out the door to go get it.  Just minutes after I hung up with Ehren our phone rings.  Someone says "We found your purse" and I can't even believe it.  I just have this big smile on my face and keep saying "thank you so much".  They waited until Ehren got there too which was so nice.  It just shows there are people out there who care.  I also started thinking, would I ever see my beautiful leather purse from Italy if we lived in a big city or even if I was back in Slovakia?  Most likely not.  So it made me really grateful for our tiny town, even though I know bad things can happen anywhere.  My husband is probably worried the most right now, where is she going to leave her purse next? :)  So I better work on that, but for now, I'll be happy and thankful for the nice people that found my purse, what a lovely blessing.

August

As our kids are becoming school aged, I start having pretty mixed feelings about the month of August.  Part of me wants to enjoy the last days of summer with the kids, the beautiful weather outside and then there is part of me that cannot wait for the school to start.  Seriously, 3 months of school off is way too long for the kids.  They need structure and learning and "jobs" to do and seems to me that every year since Kade started going to school by the time August hits I can just tell he needs school in his life.  I'd be more than ok with having an extra week off of school sometime in the Spring and cut their summer break short.  I just think we all become lazy, including me.  My daily routine is messed up, the preschool age kids don't listen as well because of having two 8 year old boys at home during the day, and I think in some ways we are just tired of no daily plans.  I know it is mostly my fault and I should be ready to do structured activities with them and really, all June and July seems to go great and we have lots of fun but then that August hits and I run out of steam or something. :)  Kids drive me crazy, I can't think of anything productive to do with all of them at the same time and am pretty much waiting for September so they would go to school already and I can once again have my alone time with the preschool kids, return to the organized days and everything.  It is only about one more week now before the school starts and it is great to see the end of the tunnel but also to remind myself to enjoy the nothingness of these days because they will soon be gone and we are going to be running around way too much soon enough.  I do love our week nights at home now, very relaxed and no rushing to go places and I will miss that for sure.  But even if I will miss some quiet evenings, I am so ready for school to start.  And I am ready for church to start. :)  As if there was no church during the summer, but some of you know what I'm talking about.  It's nice when everyone starts showing up on Sundays again, when we can plan things and be proactive with new people that come.  I'm really looking forward to that this year and that's part of why I'm ready for the school year to start.  So here's to another week of laziness and hopefully enjoying the days I get to spend with all these precious kids at home.  

Kade's birthday party

I finally sat down today and I could fall asleep right now but I had to at least share these pictures because the rest of the week does not look any less busy.  Tonight we had a lovely birthday party for our Kade who is turning 8 this Saturday.  It was so fun to watch his little buddies just enjoy their time together.  The giggles, running around, laughing and having a good time together made all our effort worth it.  And it also made me think, in this day and age when so many parents try to outdo the last birthday party their kids went to, you really don't need much for the kids to have a great time.  Yeah, the all Martha Stewart looking parties are cute and so put together, it all has a theme and every little detail is thought out, but in the end what really matters is if the kids enjoy their company, have a good time together and  if they can just be kids.  So we really didn't do that much, just a few sports games outside like an obstacle course, a soccer dribble and shoot course, running a lap around our house and the boys really enjoyed those and getting prizes for winning.  After they ate we did a treasure hunt with 8 clues and they were so excited to figure out the clues.  In the "treasure" there were some candy treats and a treat bag for each boy to take home.  And the birthday cake was a huge success again and it is somehow becoming a tradition of mine to come up with the perfect cake for our child for that specific year and what they're into.  I knew for a long time I wanted to do a figure 8 cake to symbolize Kade's 8th year but he has been telling me how much he wanted a Super Mario Brothers cake so I got the idea of buying the little cake toppers.  The boys all loved the little toys and it worked out perfectly that they each could keep one to take home.  They are also fun to play with because you pull them back and they shoot out really fast.  So they had fun with racing those on our laminate floor.  Overall, just a great fun birthday party and I am so thankful Kade has these boys in his life to call friends because they're just sweet boys and they love having fun together.  I hope they can stay close friends for a long time.

races

loking for clues

excited to go get the next clue

looking for the treasure

They got it

the Super Mario Brothers cake

  

today in pictures

Today (actually written yesterday :)) - just an ordinary day and an ordinary evening.  And yet a little something that made me smile and made me grab the camera.  I found these in our little garden.  And when I say little, I mean Little.  Actually, I don't think I've seen anyone around here say they have a garden and not have a huge piece of land designated to all kinds of vegetables and berries you can think of.  But today I don't care.  Today I have a tiny produce from my tiny garden and it is sooo juicy and sweet.  I am so thankful our kids love to eat cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes just freshly cut, no hiding them in some salsa, salad or spaghetti sauce.

The peppers are taking off, even though it seems like we have 3 or 4 different types of them growing and it is hard to know when a pepper is ready to pick.

Flowers are still blooming nice, even the one on the right will bloom soon that appeared totally dead last year.

and today we had our usual weekly meal for dinner - homemade pizza.  I used to make just one pan but with our growing kids, we only have a few pieces left now when I make 2 big pans. :)  I love making my own dough and for years I had no idea just how very simple it is to make it.  I also don't remember the last time we ordered a pizza just for our family and I'm so happy about that because this is so much healthier and so so much cheaper.

family time

 It was a very busy weekend for us as we had our Hanson family reunion at the cabin.  All 4 kids and their families got together for a weekend which means 4 couples, nana and papa, and 9 grandchildren.  It is too bad I didn't take more pictures but frankly there was no time.  Ehren and I rented a cabin with Brent and Ingrid and our 5 kids which helped a little so we weren't all cramped under one roof.  Yet somehow, with the ages of all of our kids (anywhere from 1 to 8 years old), no matter what a person does it is exhausting. :)  I feel like I'm pretty used to big commotion at our house with taking care of 7 kids all by myself, but it wiped even me out.  I was so glad to get home to our quiet house and do nothing.  There was a moment when I just sat on a couch and stared out the window for a while and couldn't get myself to do anything.  Just recharging.  All the adults were worn out by the end and the kids were overly tired because of skipping naps and not getting enough rest at night.  Yet at the same time it was so fun to watch the little cousins having a blast together and enjoying every moment of the weekend.  There was fishing, swimming, gathering shells, tubing, running, laughing, eating, birthday party, Sunday family church and so on.  At one point, I think it was while the kids were having a time of their life on the tubes, I couldn't help but think how our kids are growing up so quick and pretty soon we'll be getting together like this, except our kids will be teenagers and will be so independent from us.  So I don't mind the craziness and the fussiness of the tired babes because it lets me know they still need me, their mom.  They still depend on me, they still want to be nurtured by me, they want me to watch every little new thing they get to do and it is good.  It is how it's supposed to be.  Since Ehren's brother Seth and his family live in New York state it is a very rare occasion when we get to see them and it was so nice to be around them again.  It is also fun to watch their children grow and become their own persons and to interact with them again.  We are so blessed to have such a big and healthy family and I really hope I never take any of them for granted.

kids swimming even if all the adults were too cold to get in

resting and warming up after the swim

lots of fishing

Emily and Ani

Brent and Ingrid with girls and Kjell fishing

Sage loving the tube

Seth in the water with all the kiddos

Kade and Sarah

Sage and Kade

one of our meals together

all 9 cousins together - Adam(4), Clare (3), Kason (3), Sarah (7), Kade (8), Aveah (1), Sage (5), Ani (4), Emily (4)

decorate your own cupcake

     

enjoying the treat

Kason after the cupcake