I'm crafty!

I'm totally feeling like a crafty lady this month! Check it out!!


My halloween house!

Below are my projects from my Super Saturday at church. It was so much fun!

A tile with vinyl stuff, super cute. I totally love it.


These mummies took for ever, in fact I didn't get a chance to finish them Saturday so I finally finished them today! Super cute!

Micron Celebration

So Josh's work had a big celebration a couple weeks ago for hitting a goal. They were to make so much of something in so much amount of time (that's all I know). They threw a huge bar-b-que at this beautiful ranch called Marriott Ranch. There was tons of food, balloon animals, face painting, popcorn, games, wall climbing, pony rides, ice cream, rodeos, you get the idea. It was fantastic. The kids had a wonderful time. So did I but I enjoyed watching the kids have some serious fun. We got Ginger's face painted. Zoey's too, but just a small butterfly on her cheek. We had to wait in line for almost an hour. But it was worth it just for her pure look of joy while it was getting done and then when it was finished. The kids loved the fact that they could eat whatever they wanted to and mommy and daddy didn't care. Ginger LOVED the pony ride she thought it was the most coolest thing ever. The rodeo was kind of a bust since 10 min into it one of the cowboys horses tripped and the horse rolled on him and kinda squished him sooo.... we left. But Ginger did get some candy from them throwing them out in the crowd.

Here is her beautiful face!

And this what it looks when you have to wash it off. It was very traumatizing for her.

School

Here we are on our way to school!!


Oh my...

On our way in....

Waiting for class to start. She could hardly stand it.

I don't really know why she's upset here, but, I do know that it did not last long!

Getting ready to start her very first school work

Here is Ginger's cubby. It's the bottom one.

This was after school, as you can see she had a wonderful time!

Ginger has officially started pre-school and she LOVES it! So do I. Not only does she get the learning she needs it's preparing her for kindergarten. And while she's in school Zoey is napping the whole time that she's in school. So I have a solid 2 hours with no children running around and screaming at me. So peaceful. She was so excited to start going to school. She didn't even cry when we had to leave her leave her there. I didn't either (yeah me!). Apparantly Ginger assigned herself a seat cuz' when another kid sat in her seat she freaked out! Normally the teachers will wait till they assign seats so they can see how all the kids interact with each other and make the necessary switches but the teachers made a mental note to make sure that Ginger's seat remained her seat. I thought was hilarious.

OBX

The beginning of September we went to Outerbanks, North Carolina. It was beautiful. Even the drive was pretty and it was 8 hours. We camped on the beach, of course! I guess I must look like some stuck up housewife. Cuz' the park ranger checking us in looked in the car took one look at me and said that this was a simple campsite with no showers, just bathrooms. Ooookkkaaayyy, and I care because?? I'm camping at the beach!! The ocean will be my bath... So I was totally expecting outhouses and to my surprise there was running water and no stinking outhouses! Alright! And there was showers, cold ones but showers nonetheless! I was at the 'Hilton' of beach campsites. :) The girls couldn't wait to go play in the ocean. Even Zoey seemed to finally enjoy all the awesomeness of the beach. We were at the ocean playing in the water three times a day, the girls were exhausted come bedtime. The best part about the East Coast beaches is that the water is warm. There is no shock factor. We saw dolphins, lighthouses and even a drive-thru just for drinks. We took a ferry to another Island and enjoyed looking out in the water and seeing all the sandbars. On our last day there, there was hurricane Earl coming in a few days so the waves were HUGE! We boogied boarded till our arms couldn't take it anymore. It was awesome.

Amanda and Ginger Hansen's Page

This is Ginger's very first fundraising event and we are pretty excited about it! Our goal is to earn $400, a hundred dollars for how old Ginger is. Ginger's school goal is $1500. Any donation would be wonderful. Thank you! Amanda and Ginger Hansen's Page

Ginger's B-Day!

Guess who turned 4!! Yup, Ginger did. 4 days after we got home from Idaho. So that didn't leave me with much time to plan anything or shop, but that's okay. I made a cake and invited one of her best friends for cake and ice cream. She was in heaven! This was her first birthday without any family around, so it was more sad for me and Josh. I'm sure she didn't notice. She loved the clothes that me and Josh got her. Especially her spongebob panties, she did specifically ask for them for her birthday. I was glad I was able to make that dream come true :). She truly had a wonderful day. I'm so blessed to have such a girl as her to be my daughter.

here are four things that I love about her:

1. She loves her sister

2. She's outgoing

3. She loves to be silly with me or dad or uncle

4. She starts preschool

Ginger and her best friend Samantha!

Trip to Idaho 2010

Yup this is our classic Ginger! (how cute would of this been if the finger wasn't there??)

I know it's been a while since I've been back, but I think it's about time I wrote down everything and shared with all of you. Me and the girls flew down to Idaho a full two weeks before Josh was to join us. It's always hard traveling with kids but doing it by yourself makes it a little harder. This time I kept my stroller with me and checked it at the gate and boy was that great! It made going through the airports soooo much easier. Especially since we had a 3 hour layover. The kids did great on the plane rides. A little crazy on the first flight but then slept through the second (which was the longest one). It was so great to see everyone. Of course I cried, and of course Zoey clung to me like she was paper and I was glue. We had many things going on while we were there. Josh's side of the family had a family reunion and his mom got re-married. I tried my best to visit as much as possible and see as many people as I could. We also hit up the waterpark while we there. Ginger LOVED it! It was so much fun seeing her light up and enjoy the day. Zoey loved it, as long as I was always within her sight. She kept falling in the water and would end up floating on her back with the life jacket and Ginger would look at her and laugh and say "mommy look zoey's swimming!" she wasn't she just couldn't get back up to a standing position. After a while Zoey was doing it on purpose. Of course my kids LOVED their cousins! It was like we were never gone. Zoey's most favorite person was Madison. Boy did she love her. Ginger's most favorite was staying the night at unce Matt's house. I loved hanging out with Matt and Desi, we also did a camping trip up in Cascade, Idaho. It was beautiful! I sure missed the land of Idaho. As gorgeous Virginia is, it doesn't really compare with Idaho's mountains. And seeing the new babies... OMGosh!! They are so flipping adorable. And of course they love me! :) Ginger and Zoey loved their new baby cousins. I so want one now, and Josh thought that holding the babies would help with my baby hunger, hahaha. The family reunion was a little intimidating to me since I hardly knew anyone. But I guess that was what Josh felt like at my family reunion back in 2007! We had a lot of late nights and great days. It was so fun to have everyone see how much my girls had changed since we've gone.

I feel like I've missed a lot but I haven't really, I mean we were busy but it was mostly just hanging out! Which is what I wanted to more than anything.

New York City

For mine and Josh's 5yr anniversary this year we went to New York. It was AMAZING! It was everything we thought it would be. We only went for the day, but we saw as much as we could. We took a bus there, so it was nice to really just enjoy the drive with Josh since he didn't have to worry traffic and what not. Once we got there we were dropped off in front of Macy's, the largest department store. We didn't go inside though :(. Then we went to the Empire State building. That was great. The views were amazing. After that we had lunch in Bryant park! That was exciting to me since I watch Project Runway and that's where they have the final fashion show :). Then it was off to grand central station where we rode the subway, which wasn't as crowded as we thought but it was pretty dirty, to Times Square. All I have to say about Times Square is OMGosh!! It was unbelievable. I wish I could of seen it all lit up at night, but we had to catch our bus. While in Times Square we went to the Hershey store and M&M world. Then we rode the ferry to Staten Island, it's free, and then rode it back. We passed right by the statue of liberty. Then we went to see the world trade center site. It wasn't really impressive and it was hard to try and get any feelings for the place since the whole area is under construction. We bought hot dogs from a street vendor. They weren't as great I thought it would be. We also hugged a couple of black dudes. They were holding up signs that said 'Free Hugs' or 'Hug a black guy and get addicted to black', so we thought what the heck. We also got free Dr. Peppers, and while I was crossing the street to catch up to Josh this bicyclist crashed into me and smashed my pop all over me!!! And then he just left, what a true jack ass! He's lucky I didn't get hurt. After an amazing day in New York we caught our bus and headed home.

Biggest Loser Results

No judging!

This is me! I had gained 30lbs while I was pregnant with Zoey and I had just never lost it :(. I blame it all on the fact that I had moved far away from my family for the first time ever and I had quit smoking. I told myself many times when I looked in the mirror and saw myself that I would rather be fat than smoke another cigarette! It had nothing to do with the fact that I would 2-3 packages of oreos a week... or so I told myself. Then an amazing opportunity presented itself and I jumped at the chance. Aunt Dani had started a Biggest Loser competition among the family and I couldn't wait to get started. I knew I wouldn't win. There was just no way it could happen. I could only lose so much weight and I didn't want to go back to my pre-pregnancy weight cuz' it was just to skinny for me (125lbs). I worked out 3 or more times a week and was careful with my portion sizes, although I would splurge. I'm still continuing to work out, though not as much since I have no motivation what so ever!! I'm so proud of myself and what I've accomplished, check out the results!

It's so amazing to know that it is possible to lose the weight! It's a lot of HARD work and I never want to do it again. But at least I know that I can. I can do it. It's an amazing feeling.

Fun for Cheap

Cuz' you know that's how we do!

Our newly invented fun thing to do... Slide-boarding (that's what Ginger calls it)!!!

Booty Dance

I just had to capture Ginger dancing cuz' it cracked me up!

Now watch her face, it's priceless! Whenever she watches this she calls this her booty dance...

Easter

Easter was pretty easy going for us this year. I would of loved to have gone and had Easter dinner with some family but... they were on vacation :). The girls dyed eggs on Saturday. They sure did love that. And then they went to bed with the anticipation of the Easter Bunny coming. Ginger fell asleep quickly that night. When they woke up Zoey's basket was on her high chair, which Ginger found and came running into my room to wake me up and ask where her basket was. When I told her it was hiding and she had to look for it. She freaked out!! She didn't like that at all. It took maybe 9 minutes to find it. I helped her a little. I just told her the general idea where her basket could be. After lunch and Zoey's nap they did a little easter egg hunt outside, right in front of my downstairs neighbors porch. They had so much fun doing the hunt. Ginger found ALL of them, not really giving Zoey a chance to look for them. But Ginger would find Zoey's eggs and put them in her basket. There was also one golden egg that had double the candy and 50 cents. Ginger was very proud of her money. Which she promptly lost later that day.

Miami Baby!!

So the last weekend of March we were off to Miami! It was fantastic. We were there for a real estate class. I was supposed to go with Josh but we didn't find a sitter who could come with us so, darn it, I had to take care of the kids and take them to all the fun things to do in Miami. It really was fun. Most of the days it was cloudy and rainy. But it was still beautiful. And on the only sunny day that occurred while we were there, me and the girls went to South Beach. Wow, it was just gorgeous. I had never seen ocean water so clear. Ginger loved every moment of it. The day before South Beach we went to Key Biscayne but could only stay for a short time cuz' it rained :( but we made the most of it anyways. Ginger was happy cuz' there was sand for her to dig in. Zoey on the other hand HATED the sand, she absolutely refused to stand in it. It was pretty cute. She would only stand on the towel, boogie board or stroller. And Ginger sure knows how to make friends wherever she may be. While we were at South Beach she even made friends with some college boys (I know, I know), she danced for them (I know, I know) and she even kissed one (I know, I know trust me I know). The girls and I got totally fried from the sun, I felt horrible about Ginger's sunburn, the poor girl couldn't even pull her pants down to go potty without screaming. I'm a horrible mother. The next was cloudy and a chance to rain so we went to the zoo. That was fun. The girls loved it. On Monday Josh was out of class and finally able to play with us. That day was also cloudy and stormy and rainy but we headed off to Key Largo anyways, beautiful just beautiful there. We got some key lime pie while we were there as well. And then we headed off to the Everglades. Now that was amazing. It was crazy to see so many alligators in there natural habitats and knowing that the only thing between us was a wooden fence. It was a relaxing trip and the girls did pretty good throughout the whole thing. On our way home we stopped and played a little bit in Savannah, GA. That was great, very pretty. I thought it would of been more hopping than it was but it was amazing. And we also went to Ft. Stewart, GA the place where I was born. We drove on the army base and took pics of the hospital that my first breath occurred. It was pretty cool.

Joe's B-day

On Saturday we were invited to spend the day at Dani and Brents and celebrate Joe's 4th birthday. It was so fun! Dani made a yummy cake (I didn't take any pics of it so she'll have to post them) it was so cute too! The kids had so much fun playing together. The bully was there, but it was all good. (he knocked down Zoey and hit Ginger in the face and kept taking Joe's new birthday presents)I'm glad he's not my kid. Asher Ginger couldn't of been more happy to be there. And to top it all off we stayed the night. Ginger and her cousins loved it. I did to.

Valentine's Day

Oh what a day Valentine's Day was. It was my first year doing a special breakfast for the family. And let me tell you... I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. Just watching them when the first saw it was so worth the effort. I'm still new at it so I didn't do as a faboulous job as my mom did when I was growing up. But every year I hope to be better. And I couldn't find the candy red hot hearts anywhere! Dani says that they are hard to locate so when you find them buy them on the spot and then you'll have them for next year. I'll be looking everytime I go to the store. Heart shaped pancakes and juice for breakfast, but for this year, it was more than enough to please my babies.

This is my Valentine's Day shirt that I made :)

Here's the back.

More Snow Pics

We took this pic of a random house with a random family all working and playing together to clear out the snow. We thought it was fun/sweet.

You can see the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and the US Capitol. This pic was taken at the Iwo Jima Memorial. Pretty huh?

Here are some more snow pics that I had from the crazy storm we had a couple weeks ago. The snow is slowly starting to melt and we're starting to finally see some grass! Yippee!!

A what Sandwich??

Thursday Ginger and Zoey were playing and getting along great (woohoo!!) when I heard Ginger repeatedly saying to Zoey "You want a ??? sandwich?" and she's saying this in a sweet voice you talk to babies in and she just kept saying it, and that's when I realize she's saying "You want a knuckle sandwich?" I was just like what? where'd she get that? when I hear her ask Zoey that one more time and then Ginger winds up her arm and then punches Zoey in the head. I was speechless... I couldn't believe what I just saw (not the hitting itself but how it was executed, come on they're sisters this wasn't the first punch thrown). I put Ginger in time out. Zoey didn't even waste her breath or her tears. And I struggled to keep poker face so that Ginger wouldn't see me almost breakdown and bust up laughing. Knuckle Sandwich... they learn so early these days.

Weekends... where'd you go?

Weekends have been sucking it up for me here lately. In January the first weekend was fine a whole new year and everything. The next... we went to philly. It was great. We had a blast and we learned tons at the seminar. The next Ginger got Scarlet Fever, the one after that Ginger had some stomach bug, the one after that we were snowed in (not heavily, I really hate driving in the snow) and now this weekend. Snowed in AGAIN and this time quite literally. Man, I'm feeling a little cabin feverish. Taking the girls out for a winter walk isn't quite enough since they are done in about 10 mins. I'm ready for the warmth of spring to sneak in. I'm ready to be thawed out. I want to take the girls to an actual park and have play themselves to exhaustion.

Snow Globe 2010

Oh boy! It has been snowing like crazy here on the East Coast. Gotta say I kinda like it. I'm glad I don't need to drive in it though! We've gotten like 2 ft. That's just insane! It took Josh like an hour to dig out our car. Then he helped a lady out with hers then moved the cars to a plowed parking space. It's beautiful out there. So quiet and clean looking. It's just amazing. Josh took Ginger out to go sledding. Well she didn't really like. What 3 yr old doesn't like sledding? Maybe tomorrow we'll go walk around in it.

These are pictures from the 1, 3 and 5, 6, it's been a snow crazy week!

2/06/10 Josh took Ginger out to play in the snow with the boogie board
2/06/10 So clean looking
2/06/10 It's just gorgeous
2/06/10 So much snow!
2/05/10

2/03/10 Me and Zoey... Snow Bunnies!!
2/03/10 Zoey loved walking on the sidewalk, but get her on the snow... she hated it!
2/03/10
2/01/10 Making a snow angel

2/01/10 I had to hold her most of the time to get her to walk in the snow :)