December Joys!

Oh the many joys of December. As you all know, I have been in the Christmas spirit for the last month (or longer), and now everyone else has caught up with me, so it's twice as fun. We went to temple square as a family the first Monday the lights were on and our kids loved it. It was so fun to hear Kale (who's never seen Temple Square) saying "Woah!" over and over at all the lights and manger scenes.

Secondly, (and most important) our sweet Hallie is now 3 years old! While she acts the exact same as she did a week ago, I'm sure this is a monumental occasion. Now that Hallie's 3 I have high hopes of potty-training, less water all over the house, and the eating of less sugar (all of which are Hallie's favorite pastimes). Although there are some things that Hallie does that are pretty crazy, we love her so much and love how adventurous and hilarious she is.
She was so sweet and so excited to open all her great presents from Grandma & Marmee (and the families). And just so you know, she loves the toys and gifts that were given even though you couldn't tell it during the frenzy of opening. She plays with them all the time. So, thanks to all who came and made her day so special.

This is just the beginning of the December fun. We can hardly wait for all the Christmas parties to get started next week. We do our countdown every day, and Rachel is so excited for the 23rd, as she knows that's the real start of the Christmas festivities. Wahoo!!

Thanksgiving at Grandma & Grandpa Castleton's

My family was the first to show up at Mom and Dad's new house. The girls were so excited because Grandpa had told them that they got to sleep on bunkbeds. When we got there, the girls immediately ran downstairs to see "their" room. Not only were there special beds for the grandkids, but Grandma had purchased new dress-ups for the girls to play in while we were there. Aren't Grandma's the best?!

After dinner we just hung out and talked about playing games (we didn't actually put our words into action until later that night). We mostly just watched the kids playing with each other, or in Kale's case, watched him stalking Peter to try and steal his toys. He literally circled around Peter waiting for him to drop some toys. Pretty darn hilarious.

After dinner was cleaned up, the boys went outside to Play a game of basketball. Even Dad and Rob went and played for a couple of hours. Mom and Dad have a big spotlight on the side of their garage, so they could see what they were doing. Unfortunately, the spotlight made it so the camera wouldn't take any good pictures, so this is all you get.

We slept over, which gave the kids the chance to play in the leaves the next day. Jon went out with the 4 girls and raked all the leaves into 2 huge piles. One pile was right next to a big rock which was perfect for jumping off. I put a picture of Rachel jumping just regular, but know that most of her jumps were like dives (literally, like she was diving into a swimming pool). It's a good thing Jon was out there instead of me -- I would have been afraid that she would break her nose when she landed. That's why dad's are more fun I guess. Anyway, they had such a fun time. I love that these girls like to play together so much.

All in all it was a super fun Thanksgiving. Sleeping arrangements are always tricky when there are so many babies involved (like, one would cry until another one woke up, then that baby would cry and wake up another one, and so on, and so on). But, despite the lack of sleep that we all were feeling by the next day, it was definitely worth it to be all together. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us come and crash your peace & quiet for a few days. We love you guys.

Party Girls!!

Perhaps you're wondering why on earth I have this picture on here. No, I'm not some crazy Twilight fanatic (although, granted, I have read all the books). The picture is simply to let you know about the way fun night I had with my sisters (at least those that are nearby).
Some of Becky's friends from her neighborhood invited her to join them in a special double-feature of Twilight and New Moon. Twilight started at 9 pm, followed by a midnight showing of New Moon. Becky, being the great sister she is, invited Sarah and I along for the fun. And it seriously was fun! People are crazy about that show -- I really had no idea.
First of all, people started lining up for this show at like 4 pm. Even Becky's friends were in line by 5 (which worked to our advantage because they saved us a spot). There was cheering and swooning going on left and right. Every time it showed Edward or Jacob (the main guys in the book (I'm writing this part for Tammy's benefit since I know she has no clue)), the theater would erupt in cheers and cat calls. So, Becky and her friends decided to cheer when Carlisle came on the screen. Pretty hilarious.
Anyway, it was so fun to be with my sisters and revel in our late night hilarity -- we laughed at all the wrong places, but no one really seemed to mind. We got home way late (like 3 am), but it was worth it to me to feel like a carefree kid for the night. So, thanks Becky for letting us have such a crazy, fun-filled night.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

It's true that at the Hansen household, the Christmas season lasts twice as long as most other houses. I just can't wait for the decorations, the smells, the music, and the good feelings -- there's really nothing that could take it's place. Upon the request of my sisters, who don't get to enjoy our festive spirit all the year through, here are the pictures of our decorated house.
We put up our family room tree the day after Halloween. It was incredibly early (the earliest we've ever decorated, in fact), but definitely worth it. We have loved just sitting in the family room--whether morning or evening, just so long as it's dark--and looking at the Christmas lights.
I was way excited to put up the entry tree because it was brand new this year! I used some of my money from teaching at the music school and purchased this huge tree (of course the cheapest one I could find -- I was excited, but I'm still crazily frugal). The entry tree took a few days to assemble and decorate (as I was mostly doing it myself while Jon worked), but I feel pleased with the end result.
The trees are lovely, but you may have noticed that all the decorations (on both trees) start about 3 feet from the ground. Kale absolutely loves the trees, and if the decorations are high enough, he generally leaves them alone. But, put a few within reaching distance, and he thinks they are his personalized toys (unfortunately, we found this out the hard way).

So, the pictures above are the family room (p.s. does anyone in the Castleton family recognize that special advent calendar hanging on the wall?), our village, and the fireplace in the living room. Just so everyone knows, the decorations in the living room #1-look better than in this picture, and #2-have a little more than you can see. On the other side of the mantel, there is a glass vase full of gold & silver sparkly balls with sparkly branches coming out the top. It adds some nice color -- if I do say so myself.

The final (and frankly, my most favorite) part of our decorations are the manger scenes. There is something about a manger scene that I just love, and one day I hope to have so many I won't even know what to do with them all. They're just so beautiful. So, this year we're up to 5 thanks to Mom's hand me down manger scene that she was going to throw away this year (thank goodness I put a stop to that travesty -- throw away a perfectly good manger scene? Never!)
You may be wondering why I included the picture of the mantel, but what you may not realize is that there are 2 very tiny manger scenes there as well -- although, to be quite honest, you really can only see the trains. Oh well, just knowing it's there is enough.

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot that the girls also have a manger scene. Actually, it was given to Rachel about 3 years ago from Marmee, and she loves it. Sometimes it is an acceptable play thing, but on the night we were putting up the decorations, we had an all out war on our hands trying to get Rachel to accept Hallie's help. The above picture was taken after many, many attempts at setting it up to perfection which were almost all foiled by the nefarious Hallie Hansen (at least that's the Rachel viewed it). Seriously, if you had been here, you would have thought there was some serious trouble taking place, but it was really just Hallie messing up Rachel's organization. I never realized what a perfectionist Rachel is. I know she doesn't get that from me.

So, there you have it -- the Hansen's have officially started there Christmas season, and we are loving every second of it!

Dressing up!

There is something about Halloween that is just magical to me. I don't really like the scariness of the holiday anymore (although, I used to love it), but who doesn't love a chance to dress up and be something, or someone, different for one special night? Not only is there the magic of being someone different, but you also get the benefit of candy galore, and that can only be a good thing!

Kale was a very dashing Harry Potter

Rachel claims she was Willa from the movie Mariposa (for all those whose homes have not been infiltrated with such delights, Mariposa is a Barbie movie), although she wasn't dressed as such. She did have blue hair though, and that's why she thought it was a valid claim.

Hallie wanted to be everything this year, and since we didn't have to buy any costumes, we humored her. She started out as a fairy/Cinderella, next came the 80's punk fairy, and lastly was Pocahontas. How adorable!

The girls and I convinced Jon that he needed to dress up this year, and he actually agreed (I'm pretty sure it was the girls that got to him and not me). We had just gone through Mom's old costumes and luckily there we found a pirate costume. So, thanks to Mom for making it possible to rope Jon into dressing up. The girls thought it was super fun to have Jon in costume.

Well, Halloween is now over, and the fun of dressing up gone with it. Now it's time to get started on thinking about where I'm going to hang my Christmas decorations. I know it's early, but it's tradition for me to decorate just before Jon goes out of town for his November stint, and I must uphold the tradition (that I made for myself).

Pre-Halloween pictures

Although it's not quite Halloween yet, the girls and I got to dress up for Halloween today. We had music school this morning, and since it's Halloween week, we got to dress up. Not only did everyone get to wear their costumes, but we also trick-or-treated in class, which was a big hit! It was fun to have everyone in their costumes. I also included a picture of one of my classes. It was tons of fun.

Hallie, Hallie, Hallie...

What a nut Hallie is. We totally love her craziness!!