Saturday, December 29, 2012

Amazing Snow Dog!

Wow, doesn't he look amazing?!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

The Angel's Room, Completed

Finished, save for a bit more additional storage - a dresser from Aunt Betty that needs a coat of white paint, huzzah!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

My Angel

Krista was cast as an angel in her school's Christmas pageant. She looked heavenly with her sparkling halo and white, jedi-master outfit (Josh thought she just needed a light saber...). I was so proud of her exuberant singing and her attempt of directing, sometimes your hands just have a mind of their own.



Here's a video of her practicing We Three Kings. Here's a video of her Grand Performance as an Angel. And here's a video of her singing/Directorial Debut of a song.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Girl Drama

Unfortunately, even 1st Grade is old enough for girl drama to be present. I don't remember it being that way when I was small, but I do have a bad memory... I picked my daughter up and she was boisterous and excited and talking a mile a minute. Not sure what happened on the playground that day, but this was her rendition:

I had to have a discussion with the girls on the playground today at second recess. So, I had to yell really loud to get all the girls to hear me, especially G*****. She thinks she knows everything. I told her she doesn't know everything and she said, "Yes, I do!" I told her that doesn't make any sense. I told her that F makes, "ppfffff," and Ph makes, "ppfffff" and they should get along. The girls should get together and I was trying to get them all together. G***** and K******* were telling the other girls that C****** was mean. So I was playing with C****** and trying to get us together. They will play with me, but don't want C****** to play and I said that was mean.

She went on for a little while on this wild tale of her standing up and being the hero. I'm not sure how much of this story was fictionalized  but I appreciate she plays with the outcast (which is not exclusively any one girl, it depends on the week). And I appreciate that sometimes she just gives up and plays with the boys, instead of playing into the drama.

On another note, she told me she may get to read an intention at Mass for the first time in the coming week. She told me, "I feel scared, but I want to do it anyway!" I'm so proud of my shy girl!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Progressing & Painting

Slowly, but surely, we are progressing through our new house - getting it move-in ready! First we took down the horrendous wallpaper - flowers, stripes, vines and more - oh my! Then we moved to the fun part, painting! At least it is fun getting the new colors up, then it gets tedious with the edging and second coats and what-not.

 Beautiful Wallpaper.

 The car-dudes' room. Still need to do edging in white and scrape off popcorn from the front of that hang down portion and paint it gray. Also need to replace the ceiling fan.

 Princess Krista's room. We painted her drop down after scraping the popcorn and it looks much better. Still need to do the white trim work and replace her ceiling fan.

Child labor at it's best as Krista tries a hand at painting in Nana's room. Nana's "horse" room needs the trim painted and will be complete. The office needs trim paint and will also be finished.

Still need pictures of our master, which also has fresh paint and the downstairs family room. I have pictures of our backyard with the new awesome hand-me-down swing set installed that I will pull from my camera later this week. I have a moving sale at our old house next Thursday-Friday and we hope to move most of our stuff next weekend! 

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Monster Story

By Gabriel Hatchell

If a monster smaaashed my head... I'd get a headache.
If a monster punched my bottom... I'd feel like I was poopin' cars.
If a monster pulled my arms... I'd feel like he was eating my skin off.
If a monster crunched my bones... I'd feel like I'm eatin' jello.

The End.


Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Firsts and a Second

Gabriel's much anticipated first day of Preschool went off without a hitch. He ran right in and started playing with blocks and when I came to pick him up he was playing with blocks and used selective hearing to stay as long as he could.

Logan had his first dental visit and charmed all of the female dental assistants and dentists with his giant grin with squint-y eyes face. He was calm and did what they asked, probably their best almost 3-year old patient ever (says this proud mama).

The second news is about a "second". We put an offer on a house - so we will be selling our current first home and moving to our, hopefully, forever home! So I guess this means goodbye... at least for a while, as we pack, paint, clean, do yard work, move, move and move.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Thanks.

For getting me a paper towel....


Monday, August 27, 2012

Monarch Release

This morning, our butterfly looked a little sad - we wondered if the poor gal didn't make it - she turned all black in her cocoon.

Then we looked closer and I could see more colors...

Not 30 minutes later, voila - she popped out and was stretching her wings.

We completed our plan this evening and set her free at the Sunken Gardens - it was a beautiful evening.

We caught the moment on video - she flew off as fast as she could and hung out in a tree for a while. After we climbed the stairs and looked over to the spot, we saw the bright orange of her wings fluttering by the flowers in the area we released her!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

This Week

A good week thus far, involving in no particular order...

Krista starting 1st Grade - her nervous excitement could not be contained - and happy that she is not the only girl in her class after all. I am thankful she is not old enough to not want me there or avoid my invasive camera.

Her classroom, she has a small class so they will be on the "other side" of the kindergarten building this year.

Our little cocoon smoothed way out, waiting our 10-14 days for him or her to emerge - we plan on releasing our butterfly at the Sunken Gardens, which has some beautiful blossoms right now.

Silly faces, each unique, each precious and hilarious in their own way.



My birthday - with an impromptu birthday party at my parent's house - including a delicious lunch and blueberry crisp for dessert - yum! And my funny attempts at a self-portrait to update my profile.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Houseguest

We brought the poor guy inside, he was hanging around outside our house... he's already changing so much and it has only been a day - not much longer and he will flit away.... he was a crawling Caterpillar yesterday and this morning he was hanging by a thread, an hour later he looked completely different.





Very cool for our little eyes to see how quickly this metamorphosis takes place.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Loving Leaps and Bounds

Logan loves his weekly physical therapy sessions at Leaps and Bounds. He asks every day if we are going to see his therapist, Miss Strehle.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

It's Hotter than....

and when it's hot, there's not much to do besides this:




or this:



Monday, July 16, 2012

Finally Fourth Pics

Finally uploaded my pics from the 4th - wheeee!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Mr. Manners & The Fish

This summer, Krista rediscovered her absolute love for swimming. She is taking 2/week swim classes and spending entire mornings/afternoons in the awesome pool handed down to us. She wants to be in the water constantly. She is getting over her hesitations and I see less and less of her little head above water as she wants to actually swim!

Gabriel is not quite there yet. He took a parent/child class and did well, but has far too much fear to complete the child alone classes. Even in the small pool outside, I asked why he doesn't put his head under and his simple reply is, "I don't like that." But he does go down the slide, splashes and sits in the water. He doesn't like the "bigger" public pools or anything that could possibly be deep.

He has been, how ever, Mr. Manners. I ask him to do something and he says, "Of course I can." Maybe honing his skills for a future career in hospitality, I'm not sure. I've heard lots of, "Oh, thank you" and "Yes, please" and "Oh yes, that would be great." Krista has a yellow sundress that is his favorite and one day she put it on and Gabriel's words to her made me laugh to tears:

Oh, Krista - you put on my favorite dress for you. You look so pretty in that dress. I love you in that dress! (all while approaching her for a big hug)


I think his removal from chocolate has help ease some of the crazy out of him. He still gets a good sugar rush with non-chocolate treats, but not nearly to epic levels.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Current Catch Phrases

Krista: "I was only kidding!" (after not listening/teasing/anything that may get her in trouble)

Gabriel: "You have got to be kidding me!" (no idea where this one comes from, rolling eyes)

Logan: "NAAAWWOOO!"

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Cart Wars

After a melt-down situation during our last shopping trip, where Krista (the big girl) got so upset to tears/whining because she did not get a turn in the "car" cart, I decided to have a talk with the kids before going shopping again.

Me: Okay, we are going to the grocery store and if they have a car cart available I will get it. Now, who is sitting in the cart?
Gabriel & Logan: ME!
Krista: Well, Gabriel, maybe you can give me a turn, too.
G: No, I can't.
K: Why?
G: Because I have crazy legs and they can't walk.
M: Laughing.
G: Stop laughing, Mommy!
M: Laughing louder and hitting the steering wheel.
G: Mom, don't hit the steering wheel... laughing.
K: OK Gabriel, you can sit in the cart the whole time.

Good going, girl - and she did a great job being my helper! And, yes, Gabriel truly does have crazy legs. We are trying no chocolate again, I think it's the third day - so far, so good!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Splashing into Summer

So as the official "First Day of Summer" approaches, I feel already into the full swing of things consisting of:

  1. Sleeping in. (7:30AM, what a luxury!)
  2. Three at home... constantly. (Help ME!)
  3. Swimming, swimming, and swimming. (Swim lessons at YMCA, a newly acquired backyard pool - thanks, Kim, and family swim nights for $5 at the local pools.)
  4. Krista's hair getting lighter and lighter in the sunshine.
  5. Weekly zoo visits! (Baby Lemurs are so adorable!)
  6. Summer Reading Program in full swing. (I better win that Kindle Fire!)
  7. Mowing/pulling weeds. (This makes me sad.)
  8.  Bugs. (This makes me very sad.)
  9. Looking forward to summer grill-out's and the 4th of July! (Love these!)
  10.  Relaxed Bedtimes. (=relaxed Mommy.)

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Oh My Krista

My poor Krista is falling apart.... at least no broken bones right now!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Right Direction

Gabriel just called his van, "Uncle Joe." I think this is a step in the right direction! Logan still calls Gabriel, Van, without even thinking about it though....

Saturday, May 12, 2012

She's Ready!

All set and adorable for next week, Grandma/Nana - we're so excited!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Project Time

Krista got a little project time in yesterday, utilizing her birthday gifts from Nana and Grandma - she made a bracelet and potholder (eventually turned it into a pencil holder) for Kaitlyn's birthday. She was quite proud of her accomplishments!

Friday, May 4, 2012

Strapping Lad

On Tuesday of this week, we got some derotational straps/mummy leg wraps for Lo-gone-oh. They make these things one-size-fits-all, needless to say, they were huge. We put the "belt" around his waist and wrapped and wrapped his legs like we were about to mummify him. He stood up and walked and... lo and behold his feet were being turned forward.

So now he gets to wear these for a few hours every day. His PT still wants him to work without them as well, to strengthen his muscles - but they give a great stretch in the right direction and he's not tripping over his toes!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Bloody Bus Massacre

As I watched my beautiful daughter step down the bus steps, I noticed something. There was a big patch of red in the center of her shirt. Irritation came over me that she enjoyed another ice cream pop and spilled it all over her shirt. That girl comes home with the weirdest stains all over her shirts. Yesterday was no exception.

My irritation faded as I looked up at her face, bright red blood streaming down her nose, completely around her mouth and down her chin. Did she get punched? Is she a zombie and did she eat her classmates on the way home from school? No, just a simple nosebleed. It started the bus stop before our house, she said. It must have been a gusher. The poor girl lost her emergency tissues from her backpack and did not ask the driver for any.

It's still not as shocking as the time her skinny spaghetti arms carried a 7lb ham from the bus to the house, dropped it on the floor and announced, "This is heavy!"

Monday, April 30, 2012

2012 Zoo Time!

The Lincoln Children's Zoo has been open for the season for a couple of weeks and we finally got our first visit in last Friday. The boys had a blast. Gabriel's favorite (besides the train) was viewing the penguins. Logan kept wanting to look at everything, "Let's see what's next!"


Even though we regularly avoid the stroller to get Logan to walk as much as possible, we decided to bust it out for this trip. For me, it was much easier/faster to navigate. Although it was easy, I know I must sacrifice my own wants to better his needs - so I will most likely let him walk/stumble/navigate on his own the next trip. It's good for him, but tires him out and me (when I eventually have to lug him around a points). He weighs 30lbs and now that some of his muscles are a little more rigid, he tends to put his legs down straight when I try to carry him - so he's heavy and slips down like a fish when I carry him.


The boys got some new kicks at Payless as their shoes were getting a little worn out. Gabriel, Mr. I refuse any change whatsoever, actually likes his new shoes after trying them on with only minimal resistance. Logan's are hard to see here, but I went a half size up for more room for his superman boots -  but I'm not sure yet on whether or not it makes him trip up more or if it's due to his new boots.

 Krista had "fun night" at her school. She and the boys had fun playing games, winning tickets for prizes and seeing her friends outside of the classroom. Josh and I felt a little crowded, hot and flustered! Lots of people in the tiny classrooms at Sacred Heart School. A new recreational building would be nice, with no stairs and a big room to set up games.

So many stairs in the old school and so many people running up and down them made it a huge challenge with Logan to navigate. I ended up lugging him up and down and around and as I mentioned before, he's heavy! So Sacred Heart continues to try to raise money for the building fund (the fancy recreational building mentioned above), a "central/inner-city" school with not a lot of funding, it's been a long process and I'm not even sure how close we are to making it a reality. It sure would be nice for Logan and the elderly in the parish to more easily attend events.

The boys got matching "face" painting on their hands. Gabriel, or as he likes to be called, "Van," started the trend with his awesome green van. Then Papa wanted a matching tat, followed closely by Logan, who chose a black van.

Gabriel is looking forward to pre-school, still. He is excited to go to school like his big sister does every day. Miss Jessica, Krista's pre-school teacher, moved on to a full-time position. So he will have a new teacher next year. We look forward to seeing him progress through this new phase in his life!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Super Logan!

We got the new braces for Logan's feet - check out Super Logan!


He chose the Superman pattern. At first he was very wobbly in them, as he had to readjust his balance because it kept him off of his toes more. But on day two, he was walking around everywhere and doesn't want to take them off after they are on. After he has adjusted to these well, we will talk about wearing belt around his waste/wrapped on his legs to correct the hip issue - that causes him to toe-in. We'll see if he is as keen on that, as he wanted nothing to do with them on Thursday when he saw them (didn't have to put them on yet, but still cried/scared). Maybe after Gabriel gets his new belts from Grandma, Logan will want his own "belt" too!

And the socks work great, Grandma! This pic has them pulled up straight, but the next day I pulled them up and folded the top over the top of the brace which keeps them in place better and looks spiffy.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Cleaning Machine

I attempted to clean the kitchen today and got 3 little "helpers" in the process. I gave them each a sponge with water to clean the dirties. Gabriel did the best spot cleaning around and was persistent. He cleaned the water spots off the cabinet fronts, the stains on the floor, and even the finger smudge on the walls. At one point he came to me with a very dirty sponge and asked me to clean it off:

Me: Wow, buddy - you sure are cleaning a lot!
Him: I got the dirties in the window!!
Me: I bet that was dirty after the storm.
Him: (Shrugging his shoulders.) Well... I cleaned it because it looked obvious.

He is obviously a better cleaner than I am.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Luck of the Red Panda

I'm not sure why I didn't post about this before, but during the last zoo "season" I won a Facebook competition from our local Lincoln Children's Zoo. They asked how many lbs of biscuits they feed the Red Panda every year. I don't remember what I guessed, but I did use a mathematical algorithm that I made up - and I won! I got a special "back stage" pass to the Red Panda exhibit, where we got to go hand feed the panda inside the exhibit. The Red Panda's are all adorableness and fluffy.




Anyhow, that brings us to the current week. The zoo featured more Facebook contests and one of the days featured a question on how many lbs of sugar cane the Red Panda's and Tree Kangaroo's eat in a year. Again, my mathematical genius of a mind (haha) came up with a guess algorithm and surprise, I got it the closest!  I never knew I was an expert in all things Red Panda! This year, I won a free premium animal adoption through the zoo. The family chose to adopt the White Handed Gibbons, always a favorite to watch. I'm not sure what we will get with this, but I know it entails free train passes and a meet and greet with the keeper. How exciting for the Hatchell's who LOVE the zoo!!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

That's My Daughter

Wowsa - when did she become an adult?


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Egg-elent Easter

We had an all-around egg-elent Easter. Krista went to her first vigil mass, it started at 8PM with a beautiful candle processional into the church. She lasted through the opening prayers and one of the readings before she was out. The Easter bunny came some time in the night and hid eggs around our house and yard. Gabriel grabbed as many eggs as he could in his arms, he was a real go-getter this year! This was Logan's first year to really participate/walk to find the eggs and he did great as well.