Glasses and Paul

9 days ago I finally got Audrey into the eye doctor. She's been complaining about the words on the chalkboard and overhead at school being blurry for a little while.

Once she mentioned her problems with blurriness I knew it would mean she would end up being a Kindergartner with glasses, just like her mom was!


So after she said she was having trouble seeing I told her we would have to get her in to the eye doctor and have her tested - and that she'd probably get glasses. Well ever since that day she was so excited to get glasses! She would ask me if I'd made the appointment right when she got home from school. It took me awhile because I wanted her to take the eye exam at school first to make sure, and the school nurse was out of town for 2 weeks. Once she took that test and failed the distance portion I made the appointment with Dr. Sparks. She was so happy!

It was so funny because Dr. Sparks has been my optometrist since I've been married (going on 8 years) and right after he had Audrey take the first test (he had 5 or 6 different ones) he said:

"WELL, THERE'S NO WAY THE NURSES GAVE YOU THE WRONG BABY AT THE HOSPITAL!"

He said she will probably follow in my footsteps (how sad) and end up with really bad eyesight like me (I'm legally blind.) He said when children have to get glasses before 2nd grade there's about a 90% chance they'll end up with a very high prescription as an adult. He said most kids who have glasses first get them from 2nd-5th grade.

I find it humorous how ecstatic she's been about getting glasses.

This was her on the way to go pick them up today. She knew that it was supposed to be 7-10 days and yesterday she mentioned that Tuesday would be the 10th day and they had to be there by then! (She counted the days out on her own.) I honestly can't remember how I felt as a 5 year old when I got my glasses but all the memories I do have of glasses are all pretty much the opposite of happiness! But, good for her! I hope she enjoys them until I let her get contacts (and I'll definitely let her get them fairly young - I was 12 and could've had them earlier.)

She only has to wear them for seeing things 6 feet or more away. I'm going to try and be strict with that because if she wears them more than she needs she might get worse faster. (The eye doctor said she'll probably get worse as often as I did and that was once a year for a long time...)
I have to mention that a couple of weeks ago Kevin and I took her to a highschool production of Bye Bye Birdie (one of my all time favorite movies) and she said to us:

"MOM, THE FACES WERE BLURRY BUT I STILL ENJOYED IT!"

THE GLASSES ARE SO TINY!

My purse in the picture is not one of those huge purses - it's very average size.

Oh and I feel very forgetful because over 3 months ago my sister-in-law Kellie's husband had a birthday. (The day after Christmas - and he's said to be used to having his b-day forgotten because of the day it is, but I still feel bad.)

So, PAUL, Happy (Extremely Late) Birthday!

We think you're the perfect husband for Kellie and a great father to your 2 (going on 3) children!

Love ya,

Kev and Nettie

Birthday Roundup

Happy Late Birthday to some, just plain Happy Birthday to others and Happy Early Birthday to more

(and least I won't miss the ones that haven't happened yet this way!!!)

January 19th - Kevin - 29 years old!

Kev I can NOT express to you what it means to me how you are so wonderful to our kids. That day last month when you spent 5 hours (without EVER coming in the whole time) in the snow with the kids making this snow fort (and the snowman) amazed me. I just felt so special to have a husband who is so fun and dedicated to being there for his children.

This was taken the night of the ward Valentines dinner and dance. It was so fun to ballroom dance with you for over an hour. You are so good and it's awesome (and necessary) for me to have a sweetheart to dance with.

February 11th - (niece) Ivy - 13 years old!

Ivy you have always been the sweetest thing! You are a great older sister to Sage and you KNOW my kids adore you!! The other day we heard "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne on the radio and Kyle said "mom this girl's voice is beautiful, she sounds like Ivy." And Audrey still to this day asks if her laugh sounds "like Ivy's" when she giggles whole heartily!

Ivy I just can NOT believe you're a teenager now. I remember when I met you and you where a little toddler, when you were younger than Audrey and one of my flower girls at the receptions, and when you used to leave the cutest singing messages on the answering machines. Now you (and your mom) are a NUMBER #1 Edward -from Twilight - fan!!! And you were a (gorgeous) fork in Beauty and the Beast!!!

February 22nd - my mom - 68 years old??!!??!!??

I know the math works out to that number but I just can NOT believe it. I know you use Mary Kay and that has to be a part of it but - hello! Seriously!

Anyways you know you are the world to me and because of you, any good I am to those people in the picture (my husband and kids) is from what you taught me.

It's so fun to see you with all of your grandchildren. You are one of the best moms ever and now you are one of the best grandmothers on earth!!!

March 9th - (nephews) Michael and Joshua - 3 years old!

Mike and Josh - what can I say? Look at how tiny you started out (and you were 2 months old here - what cuties.) You were and are such a miracle to everybody.

And now you are the most handsome, fun-loving, energetic, smart and athletic twin boys I've ever known! And I love this picture that gives the glimpse of the future missionaries!

March 25th - (nephew) Isaac - 1 year old!

Isaac this is the first time we met you - when you were one month old -and you and your parents came to visit from AZ. We had to get a picture of you next to Kaden - you're only 9 months apart so you'll always be close and have lots of fun playing when we all get together!

Now you are so big and good-looking. A heart breaker already!

March 28th (sister in law) Mindy - 26 years old!
March 29th (Kev's brother) Steven - 26 years old!

You guys are awesome! I can see why you're so alike (and yet different) - you almost have the same birthday! You're perfect for each other!!

And although 26 isn't old - it doesn't seem like you could have reached that age yet - you're so young at heart!!! (And I love it.)

Goodbye President Hinckley

I'm so happy President Hinckey is with his beloved wife and eternal companion again. Since his death I have been thinking about how glad I am that he's with her, after waiting to be for awhile. Also, I have thought about how I know that he was told "Well done thy good and faithful servant" by his Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. And, what a joyuous reunion it must have been! Him knowing he had truly done his very best he could do on this earth - and God and Our Lord Jesus being so thankful for all that he did.

Today I was able to watch his funeral on t.v. and I was so touched by the Spirit during all of the wonderful talks and enjoyed every word

(that I was able to hear - I'm glad I taped it since Kev's at work today, now I can hear more when I watch it with him, tonight.)

I have to admit that during the closing song when they had the video of him I lost it. It was the first time I had seen him since I heard of his death and with the beautiful music and everything, the Spirit and my emotions took over me. I love to feel the Spirit and try to (and depending on the day or week - usually do) often. But once in a while - there are moments and experiences that allow you to feel it in an overwhelming, powerful way that just takes over your whole body. Today was one of those days. I am so glad and thankful to be able to have had that experience and let the tears flow during it as I reflected on his life. Like one of the talk's theme of footprints in the sand - I am such a better person becauase of this man and his teachings than I would be without his life.

Another thing I wanted to mention was that I was watching it on a local news channel at first until the Presiding Bishop started talking in 3-4 different languages other than English all at once. After about 2 minutes of this, I switched to KBYU and there were no technical problems so I left it there. But I do admit it hit me - there are millions and millions of people all over this world who loved this man as much as me! What a widespread legacy he is leaving!

One more thing I want to add is that Audrey is the same exact age I was when President Spencer W. Kimball died. I remember the day my mom told me he died. I remember it was over breakfast and I remember I cried. Now Audrey has never cried over President Hinckley's death, but she has mentioned how she knows he's in heaven. Today during the funeral she was pretty attentive during the beginning and ending of it's airing. I hope she realizes some day what a special Prophet she had in her first 6 years and 4 months of her life. I was also thinking about how the next Prophet will probably live long enough to be as big of an influence to her as President Hinckley was to me. What new changes and stricter standards of the church will we see in the next 20 years or so? Look at all President Hinckley did. Look at how the world changed one way as he asked us to make changes the other way. Wow, today is just one of those thought-provoking days for me and I am so thankful for the Gospel and my testimony of it! I will follow our next Prophet in faith just as I followed our beloved and now "late"

President Gordon Bitner Hinckley!

Hello - I'm HERE!!!

It's been a month since I've posted! There are a lot of different reasons why I couldn't make it a priority to do so, and I wish it could've been different - but I will NOT beat myself up over it!

A while ago I was tagged by sister-in-law, Liza to write 6 things about me. Well, I'm going to finally take the challenge (better late than never?) and today I am going to write one category of 6 things and then later this week I'm going to write a different category (or two or three - who knows?!)

Here are 6 things that have been going on lately to where I've been EXTRA busy...

1.) After my Grandma's funeral I came home from Salt Lake a little drained - emotionally. Nothing too serious just something to recognize. I vegged a little (vegging with 3 kids and all we have to do can't be a big thing) and through it I realized that ...

a.) I am very sensitive to death - I am fully aware that when it happens, it means Our loving Heavenly Father needs that person for other purposes. Believe me it's not like I don't think it was my Grandma's time or anything, she was 94 - but still the same - the night before the funeral I was caught being emotional a few times. Embarrassing as it was in front of a lot of family members, I came to realize after reflection that I am o.k. with who I am (in that aspect) and know there's people that even love me for it!

b.) Traveling with kids is hard because they always end up being tired (and not because we don't try to give them opportunities to catch up on sleep) - and can't possibly end up acting their best or own self's. But I need to chill out about it and not worry if people think my kids aren't good kids when I know they really are!

2.) I read the Twilight Series in a little over a week (hence my little"veg".) If I had wanted it to be a bigger veg - which I really can't do - I would've read it in about 3-4 days. This is why I didn't want to read the first one - because I don't want to put good books down when I need to. But of course I'm glad Nicole gave me the first one for Christmas because then I had an excuse to get sucked in and boy am I - when's the next one coming out??!!??!!

3.) I have been really fine-tuning my organization of - well - just about everything! It's hard to face it all - but it feels SO good to have a better system.

4.) I have been fine-tuning our schedule also. I've got it written down numerous places (for each person) and it's very structured and is working so much better for all of us! It takes the guess work out of what to do - when! (I do have a "blog/computer time" to check other's posts and write my own - but I haven't gotten to either because of all the organization and such.) Right now I'm not posting during the time I want to - when the boys are asleep - but it's working -

(with interruptions galore!!!)

5.) Kevin and I have been taking a "Love and Logic" Parenting class once a week. We have been assigned a plethora of books to read (not all at once but whenever we like) and I have been immersing myself in both the literature I receive from the class and the first book I've gotten to read off the list. The other thing about taking this class that is probably the most time-consuming off this whole list is, that I'm taking the time to fine-tune the skills I learned from reading one of the "Love and Logic" books several months ago with the help of the instruction from the course. It's not easy at first to switch a lot of parenting and discipline techniques, but it's worth it when you get better results and a happier family!

6.) Kevin and I have been spending a lot of time trying to decide where we are going to build a house. I have been spending most of the time figuring out the key factors we want in the two places we have narrowed down (both in our price range, obviously.) They are as follows: the school, the location, the school, the school, the location and the school! Well last week, after going to a couple of school board meetings for one of the potential sub-divisions - District #93 (one's in District 91, one's in District 93) we decided to drive by the school our kids would attend if we moved to one of the potential areas. Well it happened to be open (although it was nighttime - parent teacher conferences where just ending) and we happened to run into the Principal and he happened to talk to us for an hour and show us the whole school and he happened to impress me with a lot of things about the school and himself but mostly his heart in being a good Principal BUT he also happened to tell me what I needed to hear (and did not hear from numerous other Principals I communicated with from schools zoned in other areas we were considering.) And what is it that I needed to hear that basically would make up 99.9% of my decision in where we build? It is exactly these words I'm going to type right now...

YES I WILL MOVE A CHILD UP A GRADE IF SHE NEEDS TO AND I HAVE DONE SO BEFORE!!!

That's all I needed to know - that night we told our friend (and millionaire financial advisor - he does our car insurance and our kid's college funds) the guy who started and is funding his own Construction Company that we will go with... that we'd decided on ST. CLAIRE ESTATES (which by the way is the place we were leaning toward anyways because the location is better than the other contender.) The next day, Tyler (by the way, Sara, his last name is Schwendiman sp?!) called and said there's one lot left in our price range!!! It's now secured and I think it's no coincidence that AFTER it was secured, Audrey (my Kindergartner) came home and said "Mom, I'm not in the first grade anymore, now they moved me up to 2nd grade!" Do you know how stressed I've been about her going to a different school next year and have to do over what she's already done this year?! If I didn't know we'd be somewhere where she'd be going to a school with a principal who will put her where she should be - I'd be freaking out! I thank Heavenly Father for the sequence of things - from the bottom of my heart!!!

SO - AMONG OTHER THINGS LIKE EXERCISING MORE AND EATING BETTER, THOSE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN GOING AROUND HERE !!! AHHH!!! I'M TIRED FROM JUST WRITING IT!!! ALL!!!

Hansen's Christmas Times!

Judging that the only comment I received on my last slideshow was from my mom, maybe these bore you, my readers - but oh well... I like them...

BTW the last pic looks like Kyle is going to pretend to hurt Audrey but really they were playing fire...she was stuck in a fire and he was going to use the axe to break the window and save her!

I'm off to Salt Lake for my Grandma's funeral on Monday - I think we'll leave tomorrow instead of Sunday as planned... wish us luck (pray) for our driving safely - there's been over a foot of snow accumulating over the last week - it's been snowing almost nonstop! And now there is a big storm coming...

Hansen's Hallmarks of December.. So Far

Among these and other things we have been asked to sing, sing sing

Nettie sang:

Breath of Heaven at Kev's sister's Single Ward's Christmas Concert two Sundays ago.

Mary's Lullaby at the Care Center (just one day after her Grandma died - this is at the same Care Center that her Grandma had lived at - she would have been there watching...)

There Within a Stable in church last Sunday

(in a sextet of seven as the first Soprano Soloist.)

Two Choir Songs on Sunday.

Kevin sang...

When Joseph Went to Bethlehem at his sister's concert she put together.

Two Choir Songs last Sunday

Audrey and Kyle sang...

Away in a Manger at the Ward Christmas Party, the concert their Aunt Melanie ran and at the Care Center.

Audrey is...

Audrey is...

Reading at a high 2nd to low 3rd grade level.

Here's a video of her reading a first grade level book for the first time - she'd never seen it before!

Audrey Is...

A Scholar.

Kevin and I were able to meet with her Kindergarten teacher a little over a week ago for Parent Teacher Conference. I pretty much knew what was going to be said and what the test results were going to be, but it still gave me a lot of joy and some good old fashioned pride (the nice kind.) She went into Kindergarten having already mastered all the goals for the children to reach by the end of the year. Her behavior and all of those areas are great, too!

When they started testing her the first week they immediately put her (and only one other child - one of her best friends, Sam) into the first grade. Sam and Audrey only spend around 20-30 minutes in Kindergarten for some recess and group time. The other 2 hours are in the 1st grade. When I saw the goals for the 1st grade and how she's pretty much met all of those it didn't surprise me either. I'm not trying to be an annoying, bragging mom. Actually, it's stressful having a gifted child when you're going to be moving and the school she's in now is the only one in the area that will move her up to where she needs to be. I'm currently praying that where we're going to build a house will be zoned into the school she goes to now. Otherwise, I might have to waive her in - and drive her everyday next year!!!

Audrey is...

A natural teacher.

While I cook dinner Audrey likes to reinforce what I'm teaching Kyle right now - how to write letters. It's easier for him with this magnetic board. She writes the letter with the magnetic pen and then Kyle gets the square magnet and traces over it. She has the best ideas!

Audrey is...

An energetic, goofy little girl.

Even if she's one of the top students in the grade ahead of her and socially mature, she is a kid at heart. She works hard but she also plays hard just the same!

Audrey is...

Still very in love with Rudolph (The Red Nosed Reindeer!)

I bought this toy at the D.I. when she was around 2 - the Christmas she fell in love with him. He was around $1.00 and every December she's ecstatic to see her friend again!

Last year I bought her a new one that sings and has his nose light up and everything, but she gave it to Kyle. She likes this one the best!