Bellevue Botanical Gardens: Garden D'Lights

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ~Norman Vincent Peale

Last Christmas Season I wanted to go see the lights at the Botanical Gardens so bad, but we never made it. This year I was so determined to make it we went Opening Night. I loved it (despite a grumpy soon to be 4 year old). My plan is to get every family member to go with me this year so they can see just what they have missed out on (and it will probably become a new Hansen family tradition! hee hee)

You are not imagining anything in the picture below - i am glowing from happiness! (with the help of a little Seattle raindrop)

Tom had a great attitude about the whole thing. Too bad it didn't spread it's way to the red head.

And Uninvited Guest Keeps Showing Up

Siblings are the people we practice on, the people who teach us about fairness and cooperation and kindness and caring - quite often the hard way. ~Pamela Dugdale

Sibling Rivalry

It's started. No longer can we say "He is just a little baby"

This brute of a little 10 month old is making messes, scratching, pulling, pushing, biting, and worst of all changing channels on the TV!! But they also love to cuddle, give each other kisses and I'm seeing them play together once in awhile.

Prescription For The Holidays

And remember, no matter where you go, there you are. ~Confucius

Thanksgiving morning I ran in a 5K Turkey Trot in Seattle with my friend Lynne. It was beautiful to run by the old Seattle houses, sailboats and the georgous view of the Olympic mountains. What was not beautiful was my extremely heavy breathing. Lynne was so patient - I really did not want her to run with me because to her this was an easy stroll. But I did it - and because of her I was motivated to beat my 5K time by 2 minutes.

But.. Thanksgiving day... yummy! The whole Holiday season is usually filled with me disappointed in myself that I gave in to so many wonderful treats!

So my prescription for my holiday cravings is:

If you are miserable, forget your troubles. March right out your door, and find someone who needs you. ~ Robert L. Backman

Diets and Despair can be saved for New Year Resolutions. What a wonderful season to be focusing on others!

Don't worry - I won't go crazy this holiday season. I'm just not going to be so hard on myself.

2008 Day of Thanks - BOWLING!

Exercise is a dirty word. Every time I hear it, I wash my mouth out with chocolate. ~Author Unknown

Our Thanksgiving exercise - Bowling!

We started a new tradition (Tom says a tradition in the Hansen house is that we are always starting new traditions, which I will agree with him) I am pretty sure this one will stick! Because it was a blast! After dinner cleaned up and piled in the cars to go bowling. It was so much better than sitting around bloated and arguing over which Christmas movie to watch.

SO MUCH BETTER!

A week away from being 4 - Preston got to bowl! And he was very proud of himself:

The non-competition type who just like to have fun:

The people watchers:

The slurpee ICEE drinker:

The serious competitive bowlers (my dad should be in this picture, but he isn't.):

The winner: Hannah (Round 2)

See you next Thanksgiving bowling!

Wesley had his fun before we left the house - Hannah pushing him around on the rocket. Then he was confined to the stroller or grandma.

2008 Day of Thanks

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. ~W.T. Purkiser

I loved Thanksgiving this year. I loved how simple and fun it was. We each contributed to the dinner which made things easy on everyone. I am so thankful for the wonderful family, friends and people in my life.

The two babies born into our family in 2008:

Grandpa and Grandma Hansen

This is Preston's last year eating at the small kids table by himself:

Our two Turkey Bowl boys tired from the morning game.

The pictures below are a reminder that you should never ask Tom to take a picture. He thinks he's really funny. These pictures are the result of me asking Tom to take a picture of me with my sisters. Maybe he needs his eyes checked?

Happy Thanksgiving 2008!

My Thanksgiving Wish To You!

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

~Author Unknown

We made these cute "Turkey" hats at Playgroup last week (Thanks to Grace!). We couldn't get Wesley to keep his on. Gobble Gobble - Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

P.R.E.S.T.O.N. Speech

There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave. ~Dale Carnegie

One car ride home from preschool Preston says, "Mom, listen - P.R.E.S.T.O.N" and I said, "What? You learned how to spell your name today" "Yep - P.R.E.S.T.O.N." I did not realize they could do this at this age! We practiced and took many shots of him spelling it for you today, but he was a little hyped up. These videos are my Thanksgiving gift to Mikey, Marc and Grandma Great! We love you! We miss you!

The other day I was shocked to also see him typing his name on a computer. It's the time of his little almost 4 year old life when he is learning something new everyday. oh we are having so much fun with our "orange" headed kid!

One (or two or three) LARGE Step for Wesley

Success will never be a big step in the future, success is a small step taken just now. ~Jonatan Mårtensson

These two video posts are for those family members who we love that we don't get to see all the time. Here is our little Wesley taking some steps - and at 9 1/2 months. He is our Hercules! (very strong!). Probably in a month we will look back and see this as no big deal - but today, it's a big deal!

Surfs Up!

From the cradle to the grave, Lies a haircut and a shave.~Samuel Goodman Hoffenstein

"Wesley is such a cute baby"... Me: "It's the hair - if he had short hair he would just look like a regular baby"

So is the conversation the last couple of weeks. My surfer baby's hair was getting a little out of control so one day at my mom's house we said, "let's clean it up a little

My mom is great at cutting hair, but we just didn't know what to do with this beauty... should we cut this, should we cut that. Pretty soon is was a little short on top and it looked like he had a girls bob cut in the back. I was so afraid to cut more of his beautiful hair that we decided to leave it.

Here is after mom's haircut... still cute

Here is the back - it was a little high up the neckline and long so he looked like a girl in the back - he was still adorable though!

Preston was a little shaggy himself and with Wesley's bob we decided to visit our Edward Sissorhands:
Lu at Totally Awesome Kids Cut (my pal!)

The guy is seriously amazing to watch - 5 minutes, perfect haircut. Preston went first and then I showed him the back of Wesley's hair and asked him if he thinks I should cut it shorter to fix it, "Oh yeah, definitely" so he worked his magic on Wesley. Wesley sat so still - Lu commented what a good baby. I said, "Remember that one? (pointing to Preston). Oh yes! (maybe he does still remember Preston kicking him in the private area! - I thought he forgot)

So... a lot of money later (too much for 2 boys haircuts in my opinion), my two boys look fantastic with their short haircuts:

And Wesley is still cute and adorable - but I can't wait for it to grow out again! I love my Surfer Dude. Thanks to my mom for trying - we will try again!

November Sunshine in Seattle - Yummy!

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. ~John Ruskin

When you are expecting rain all winter long, when a sunny day comes a long unexpectedly - Bliss! The three of us celebrated November Sunshine by going to the park by our house.

Matthews Family Rule: Pajama Day on Mondays and Fridays (and sometimes Wednesdays, Saturdays, Thursdays, Sundays - you get the point!)

Bare piggy toes - my favorite! (especially when they are cutely spread out)

Wesley was like a bump on a log for several minutes just watching Preston.

“The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.” ~Plato