Dad knows a Barbie AND a Dolly!

Another busy day in the Hansan house. But my wonderful husband let me sleep in and he got the kids off to school today. What a great surprise to me, it is amazing what another hour of sleep will do for a person.  The day was full, I had to drive Nathan around to apply at Long-Term Care Facilities in our area. Don't get me wrong we have a lot of fun, he is such a great person. We laugh very hard when we are together, but we also learn a little bit more about inner selves....very deep, yes, very deep.

It's going to rain for the next couple of days so attitudes in our house were a bit on edge. Not that we were scrapping one another. But we were snapping, the tongue can be a very wicked tool. Luckily the end of the day we had our last and best laugh. Side note: I am so out of shape I have very bad ab muscles. So when I laugh really hard it hurts my stomach because I am so out of shape. But tonight I didn't care, I really needed to laugh and let off some steam that way. I do prefer to laugh, do you?

We were sitting at the kitchen table, Mike, myself, Joe, and Sarah-Kate. I was looking at Mike's phone and saw that a "Barbie" called him. I said, "You know a Barbie?". I mean really, who wants to be named after a plastic, synthetic hair, and painted on face doll? Stop, Stop, Stop, I forgot I live in Johnson County Kansas, my bad. Let me just give you the dialog of our conversation:

Scene - Mike and I are in the pink car headed to Radio Shack to buy a fuse for the new big TV.


Me: "Kids we need your opinion on this, Dad and I were finally alone in the car.."
Joe: "Stop right there!! That is all we need to hear!!"
Me: "That is not what I mean Joe, we were coming home from the store, DUH!"
**Everyone is laughing now
Me: "No seriously, you all know that Dad and I never get time alone. We finally have it and guess who calls?"
Everyone: "KEVIN!"
Me: "Yep, and Dad stayed on the phone for over half the time we were together in the car!"
Sarah-Kate: "Dad, don't do that. Mom wants all of your attention."
Mike: "Oh, I KNOW!"
**I go through Mike's phone at the kitchen table:
Me: "You know a girl named Barbie?"
Sarah-Kate: "I KNOW!!!, and he knows a Dolly too!"
Mike: he turns to look at me, "And she knows a Madison."
Immediately I get it...Dolly Madison..snacks
**I'm  laughing hysterically,  I can't take a  breath, and  I am coughing. My abs hurt because I am out of shape. Joe and Sarah-Kate are laughing but they don't know why. Mostly because Daddy and I are laughing.
Sarah-Kate: "I hate you all!" Then gets up from the table and googles Dolly Madison.
Joe: Joe whispers, "Mom, who is Dolly Madison?"
Me: "Well, you know Little Debbie, right?
Joe: "No, who is she?"
Sarah-Kate: "Dolly Madison was the wife of our fourth President, James Madison."
**She was right, but really?What do you say to that???
Mike: "You know them, they live down on that street called Hostess Lane."
Sarah-Kate & Joe: "Where is that?"
****Mike and I are now crying we are laughing so hard. Plus the two kids are getting really mad, which is just an add bonus for us.
Me: "I can't take it anymore, I have to tell them. They are snack cakes"
Sarah-Kate: "I hate you all!! You all wonder why I am so messed up in the head! Because of parents like you!!"
Me: "Well the least you can do is say Thank You."

Just one of many of my crazy family stories.

I think I'm Busy, But What Gets Done?

The alarm clock goes off in the morning..... BANG! It's morning and the day is off to a good start. Wake up on the first alarm because there is no snoozing for me in this house. No way, I have to brush my teeth, wake up the three children sleeping upstairs, and try to wake up the dogs to go out. Make my way downstairs to the coffee maker, heaven, I take a deep breath of the wonderful aroma and be still.
Of course that doesn't last that long. Mike is the first one down the stairs asking me what I was going to do today. I don't have the guts to tell him I really want to nap all afternoon. He would completely have a fit. I am able to change the subject by asking him what he wants for breakfast and for his lunch. One down and four more to go, so I walk down to the basement and poke the bear. Now I have been warned not to poke the bear, AKA-Nathan, but I do it anyway. I figure he can have me wake him up in a civil manner or have Mike wake him up like a Drill Sargent.
Lunches are packed, everyone has taken their vitamins, and now I can take about 30 minutes to myself. I know I have a lot to do and I feel really anxious about it. So I start doing the items on Mike's list but I can't finish some because it is his nursing stuff. I do laundry, I am always doing laundry. I worked on Mike's resume and rewrote it for a certain nursing job he wants to get. I picked up Sarah from school and drove Nathan to fill out an application at a local pizza joint.  I didn't do a lot so why did I feel so overwhelmed?
Oh well, hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. And if you haven't filled out your taxes yet........you might want to get on that.

In Out the Door, In Out the Mouth

The dogs run up the hall to the front door, then down to the back sliding glass door. They get so excited when the kids are home from school. I wish I had that same enthusiasm. A day with no school means my house is going full of people in and out of my house. I will have smelly preteen boys playing basketball outside the house then want a drink of water, yeah right! We all know what that means, "I'm hungry and I am a growing boy so I will eat all of your cereal, pop-tarts, and anything else you will let me eat". I will also have beautiful new teenage girls who are just too awkward with themselves for me to watch. I have to give them pointers on how to handle boys, other girls, but most important how to have self esteem and self worth. These girls are so funny, they make me laugh the hardest.

Then I have the girls who are new drivers with the cars that Daddy just bought them. They are the greatest young women in the world, and I feel so lucky that they will even talk to me. If you know what I mean.  They are "so" cool, and yet so young. Finally I have the BAND! These are the boys with ages that run between 18-23. My son is the oldest at 23 years old. They have adopted me as there band mom. It is a very high honor, "I would like to thank the judges for giving me this title." I love them so much, these 4 big boys are the nicest boys that know how to make me feel so important. They really do that when I have food in the house.

I would never give up any of the time I have with all of these children for anything. They make me a better person, and I hope that I am able to somehow I make a difference in their lives. I wouldn't be able to do this if it wasn't for my hard working husband. He is a wonderful loving man and I am so blessed.