Kira & Trenton LOVE Tessa!

People ask how the kids are making the adjustment to having a new sister, and so far, the answer is, amazingly well! They are both so excited about their new jobs as big sister, and big brother, that they have been nothing but soft and sweet and loving to Tessa. For those of you who have seen Trenton wrestling lately, you will understand why that is so amazing.

These pictures were taken the first time the kids got to meet their new sister at the hospital. First is a close-up of the shirts they were wearing for the occasion, which Shanda made with them while Barry and I were at the hospital (can you see why I'm considering nominating Shanda for sainthood?)

Trenton has been very welcoming of Tessa because her being here solidifies his position as a big brother--not to be mistaken as a baby any more. He is systematically rejecting anything "babyish" because he is a "big brother." For example, he was happy to relinquish the hooded towel he has been using to Tessa, because he needs a big towel now!

Here are a few of his comments about his new sister:

“She looks pretty, she looks cute, and very unusual.” (He has said this more than once. I have no idea where he got it!)

“She’s the cuter!”

“She’s the cutest baby in the whole wide world!”

“Daddy can I see your fruit leather man?”---OK. This has nothing to do with Tessa, but I had to write it down. He is referring to Barry's knife, not something to eat.

It seems like Kira had some choice comments, too. Mainly they come in the mornings when it is time for her to go to school. She says something like, "I just can't bear to go to school and leave baby Tessa here all day!" Followed by something like, "when can you bring her to school?" To which I reply that won't be for a while citing germs, etc. Today she was trying to come up with a way to protect her from germs and take her anyway. "I wish I could just take her to school by myself!"

So at least while she can't argue or get into any of their things, the newest Halterman is being warmly welcomed by her siblings!

In the meantime...Awesome Autumn Activities

Today I am watching contractions and the clock, to see if they will develop into enough of a pattern to warrant a trip to the hospital. I was about to say I didn't think so, but then, I just had another contraction. Who knows?

IN THE MEANTIME...we have been busy making preparations for baby and other crafty endeavors. I am so glad that Shanda has been here this week. One of the reasons is that Barry had 74 hours for the week when he got home from work late last night. It has been great to have a sister to help with the kids and keep me company!

Since Barry hasn't had a chance to get to the storage unit to get any of our Halloween/Autumn decorations, I bought and made this little pumpkin display.

These are the Halloween invitations we came up with for Shanda's Halloween party she is throwing back in Colorado when she leaves us. We finished assembling those last night.

This was actually our activity a few weeks ago for family home evening. We made caramel apples and had intended to deliver some to friends, but instead have been enjoying them ourselves.

Ah the sweetness of Autumn! (Just keep bringing that thermometer down!)

Trenton's Truck Birthday

INVITATION:

Going completely against my nature, I bought invitations this year. This was only because the invitation was the exact concept I had concieved and was trying to create with clip-art, etc.--the dump part of the truck lifts up to reveal the party info. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone and added Trenton's picture in the window, and black stripes to the yellow envelopes.

DECORATIONS:


We decorated the ramada with construction signs and caution tape.
The table was covered with a road (black with yellow tape) tablecloth, caution cones made from frosted icecream cones, chocolate graham cracker squares and filled with m&ms. (I couldn't find sugar cones, so bought waffle cones and sawed them flat--big pain!)

FOOD AND FAVORS:
Each boy got his own construction hat to decorate with stickers. Then I figured that every construction worker needed his own lunchbox. I found these nascar themed ones at Target and spray painted them yellow. I had grander schemes for them, but settled for personalizing them with letter stickers. This made serving the food really easy, since each boy had a kid-friendly lunch already packed. The "cake" was pretty easy, too. I used the big Tonka truck Grandma had given him to hold chunks of brownies. I added some crushed up oreos and gummy bugs for effect and found these fun sign candles. The wind didn't really give Trenton the chance to blow out his candles, but he was a good sport and posed for the picture any way.

ACTIVITIES:

I had lots of ideas for truck races or digging excavations, but with the heat and the nature of 3-year-old boys, I'm glad that we didn't worry about too many very structured activities. We decorated hard hats, opened presents--lots of very boyish stuff that Trenton didn't have yet because he has a big sister--, ate, smashed the pinata, and played in the water at the splash pad to cool off. A few of the boys enjoyed playing with tonka trucks in the dirt, but I think most of them would have been happy eating candy for two hours.

FAVORITE FRIENDS:

Isn't this the cutest bunch of little "men at work"--or play? Thanks guys for coming to Trenton's party. I guess it was a success since Trenton asked me if he could have his truck party again.

My Insanity--Gourmet Group Edition

Barry and I have a saying about any project I get involved in that requires creativity. We call it my insanity. I used that term to explain to him once that although there were much easier gifts to give our neighbors at Christmas than the home made star cookie Christmas trees (which required about 25 cookies a piece) that my artistic vision was involved and I was going to complete the project, even at the risk of my sanity. (In other words, "back off, and try and support my crazy ideas, because they are part of what makes me, me.") Why is it that things are always so much simpler in my head than in reality?

Anyway, when I joined the gourmet group, I realized that this is a group of women just like me (except that most of them are better cooks than I am). Women who care that there is a centerpiece and notice what it looks like. Women who work their tails off to create a gorgeous and delicious meal that will be devoured in a couple of hours and all that will be left to show for it are the pictures. And still take pleasure in the creative process and in doing something out of the ordinary.

August was my turn, along with my friend (and really good cook), Kim. The difficulties included the fact that I am pregnant and tired, and have a Trenton all day, and that Kim has two very young boys, a young business, and had the gall to move to the other side of the valley in January. Planning was a challenge. Every event we have gone to all year has been beautifully done with delicious food, so slacking wasn't really an option.

We eventually settled on a Northwestern theme--I have never set foot in the Northwest, but Kim just returned from a trip to Washington state and has relatives there that could help in determining appropriate cuisine and decor. She was mainly incharge of the menu (I helped cook) and I was mainly incharge of the decor, etc. I made the invitations above, with real ferns behind the vellum (I have blotted out personal info to keep Barry happy so I don't have to shut down my blog.)

My big frustration was that my vision was an outdoor meal. And we did everything possible to make that happen in Phoenix in August. We scheduled the meal for 7:00 in the evening, bought misters and installed them around our patio and had fans to blow it all around. Alas, since we were in the process of breaking our record of days over 110 degrees, all of our efforts just didn't seem to be enough. So at about 6:30pm we abandoned the plants, fountain, and all of the white Japanese lanterns we used at our wedding 8 years ago. And moved the tables indoors. I admit, my head was throbbing so badly at this point, that I left Barry and Kim to try and come up with some way to fit two long tables in our small living room. It wasn't pretty, but the couch ended up in the kitchen (almost) with just one walk way in and out. Ofcourse, this put us behind on cooking, but despite my disappointment (which always comes from unfulfilled vision), I believe the meal was a success.

Everyone enjoying appetizers and our place settings. Kim made the rock napkin holders/ bracelets for our guests to take home (They also got to keep their rocks that I painted. :-)).

Our Menu:
Blueberry Italian Soda
Crab Stuffed Mushroom Caps
Smoked Salmon and Pesto Appetizer Cheesecake

Crab bisque

Northwest Stuffed Salmon
Squash and Couscous Risotto
Berry Poppy Salad with Poppy Seed Ginger Vinaigrette

Iced Chocolate Chaud (French hot chocolate, served iced)
Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

Our group enjoying dessert.

Mission "Kim Possible"

Here is the Birthday Party report (I must warn that this is long--it was easier to cut and paste the work that I had already done, than to type up new report):
INVITATION: You see here one of the "kimmunicators" we made for invitations. This is actually the sloppiest one, since we gave the best ones away. The screen was a window and opening the front reveal the rest of the party details.

PRESENTS: We tried an experiment this year. We don't have room in our house for a lot of new toys, so I suggested to Kira that we consider having her guests bring presents for someone that needs them more. She was suprisingly agreeable, so we inserted the following request into the invitation.












CRAFTS/MISSION: As the kids arrived I had them decorate their own small fanny pack to carry their KP gear. While they were working on this, the doorbell rang and there was a package for Kira from Kim Possible. It included some crime-fighting clothes, a Kim Possible Passport that had a secret message decoder (key) inside, a walkie talkie, pen, and a letter from Kim Possible:

K.P. here! I heard you were a big fan with the same kind of hair as me, so I wanted to do something special for your birthday. For today I am making you an honorary crime fighter. How does Kira Possible sound?
Here are a few things that should help you on your missions today. And don’t lose this walkie talkie. It is your “Kimmunicator” for the day, so I can let you know “what’s the sitch!”

From your friend,

Kim Possible

We went outside to make pom-poms (KP is a cheerleader and uses her cheerleading moves to fight the bad guys). When we were just about finished Kira got a call from KP on her walkie-talkie:
Hi Kira! Kim Possible here. Are you there?

Here’s the sitch…Wade just told me that Drakken has stolen all of the presents that you guys gathered for those kids at the hospital. So the Drama!
(we ran to see that the presents were, in fact, gone).

Don’t worry. I’m on it, but I’ll need your help! First off, I’m supposed to be cheering for the “Mad Dogs” right now at the big game! Can you and your friends learn a cheer and fill in for me? Great! Kristin is my cheer coach and she’s on her way. She’ll show you just what to do! Thanks guys! I’m out!

Kristin (Barry's sister) taught the girls a basic cheer and I video taped it.

Then KP came back on the walkie-talkie:

So, how’d it go? Thanks girls! You really have saved the day! Now, back to business. We have learned that Monkey Fist is the one that actually snatched the gifts. If you can find and defeat him, maybe you can learn where the presents are now. He was last spotted in front of your house, near the garage. Good Luck! Let me know how it goes!

We ran to the garage to find Monkey Fist and do battle with him.













Among the treasures inside the Monkey Fist pinata, was a code with a key (to the mailbox) that when deciphered, read:

PRESENTS DELIVERED TO SHEGO AT MAILBOX

We reported back to Kim Possible, then took an excursion to our mailbox, where the girls found a glowing green bracelet that must have belonge to Shego and a code that read:

DRAKKEN WILL BLOW-UP PRESENTS AT BUENO NACHO RESTAURANT.

(Side note: I have to say how much fun it was watching the girls get so into the story at this point. Those who were not feverishly trying to decipher the code decided to be on the look out for Drakken. They were totally into it!)

We reported to KP and her sidekick, Ron Stoppable:

Ron: Oh No! NOT BUENO NACHO. Any place but there!!! Kira, you must SAVE BUENO NACHO!
Kim: So the drama today! According to Wade on the Kimmunicator, you guys are only a block and a half from the Bueno Nacho location. You must get there and put out the bomb, Kira, before the whole place blows up! Hurry Fast! Head back toward your house. Go down the alley by the side of your house and look for the “Bueno Nacho” sign. We are counting on you.

We came back to the house where now there was a large banner that read "BUENO NACHO" The girls ran around back to find the bomb:


It was surrounded by presents and the candle was lit. (Barry couldn't find the sparkler candles I had bought. Oh well! As it was, the girls were asking if it was a real bomb). Kira blew out the flame and saved the day. She reported to KP. Then we partied at BUENO NACHO (that is why Barry had the hat) and ate the edible bomb with ice cream.

When it was over some of the girls asked if we could do the whole mission again. I told them that they had defeated the villians pretty seriously and they would have to rest and recover for a while before there were any more missions!

Coloring Easter Eggs with Grandma & Amber

No, Kira! Don't eat it yet!

"The brick house"

One of the traditions of cookie painting with the Hansen's is that each year at least one of us will go way over board and spend hours painting one cookie that is ridiculously detailed. This year, I claimed the honor with my red brick house. My nephew liked it, too. He ate it before I was quite ready to see it go. Ah, well! At least we have pictures! :-)

Painting Cookies

The thing that makes these cookies so special is that each on is hand painted (with frosting, of course).