The Hanson Crew

A stroll down memory lane for ya (at least from when we got a digital camera - our scanner is broken for the really old stuff!)... We love you and think you are a wonderful husband and father!

too much of course, but here are a few highlights - grandparents rock (as they say in our movie this week, High School Musical ). Now its time to sell more old stuff on Craigslist!

So unlike you all in CO, we did not get a white Christmas here. We were lucky enough to have some snow on the ground still from our last storm though. And we did get fresh snow the day after...the funny thing about MO is all the ice. We parked at the top of Grandma Sues driveway on Christmas and when we went to leave, all the cars had slid down the driveway onto the sidewalk! My mom even had her emergency brake on..it was funny enough to get on camera! Good thing she doesn't live on a busy street - it did make it interesting to carry all the kids and gifts to the car too!

We started our first Christmas morning breakfast this year at the Hanson house. We typically sleep at Grandma Sues house Christmas Eve and have Christmas morning there, but we decided to start a new tradition this year. We hope to continue this one every year going forward (and less packing on our part!). We used the wedding china that was passed down to me for this special occasion and hope to use it each year. The kids thought it was sure fun to drink oj from a fancy tea cup. Here are a few pics...

Our family Christmas Eve '07 (an unedited family picture - for Jamie!) The Hanson grandkids at grandma & grandpa's

After driving through a small blizzard, we safely arrived in Omaha to visit extended family and enjoy a night at a cabin. We had a great time and made it home last night. Here are the friendly people we stayed with - John's family who live here in Missouri with us. We'll be spending Christmas Day with them too. Cousin Rylee with Ashlyn Daddy and Caleb (and baba - he's back) Mommy and Jonathan Josh with his Grandpa Gary Auntie Carol and Grandma Sue

To celebrate Ashlyn's conclusion of 1st semester 1st grade, we had a girls night out :) First dinner at taco bell (we actually ate inside which we never do with the boys) and then went to see Enchanted. What a great movie! We both loved it and really appreciated the free ticket from Liberty Theatres to promote their remodel. We highly recommend this movie of romance, humor and enchantment!

We began the 3rd book in the Narnia series last night and are chugging along. We have really enjoyed this time together. We have also started a new family game this week called "Who can make the biggest mess the fastest." It has sure kept our household busy and it is becoming harder and harder to determine the winner. We'll keep you all posted on when that game ends - hopefully after the holidays and who the winner is :) We are starting to pack for our weekend getaway to Mahoney State Park in Omaha with John's family...we'll post pics when we get back.

So one of our favorite Christmas desserts had to be shared...its easy and fun for the kids (especially smashing the graham crackers in a baggie). Give it a try if you get a chance, I think they have something similar now in a ready to make box, but this one has been in John's family for a long time. Best Ever Bars 1 stick butter 1 pkg graham crackers 1 bag (16 oz) of chocolate chips 1 cup chopped nuts 1 cup coconut 1 can sweetened condensed milk Warm butter in pan and mix in crushed crackers. Layer that mixture in the bottom of a lightly sprayed 9x13 pan. Layer chocolate chips over that layer and then top with coconut. Put the chopped nuts across evenly and pour the can of condensed milk on the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool and cut into squares.

We just love Craigslist ! I have started selling things on there and then using that money to buy more Craigslist things. It has been great. I sold a infant stroller for $10 then bought a toddler stroller for $10. It's like our weekly budget is never being touched for these kinds of things - yeah! So this month I sold our double stroller on there for $75 because we have a side-by-side double stroller we use more (now that we no longer need the infant carrier and J can sit up) and then re-invested that money... We got this 30" tube TV last night for $50 (our 27" broke last month and we have been borrowing a 19" in the meantime - he was upgrading to a fancy HDTV so just wanted to get rid of this one). What a huge difference 11" makes - I have been wearing my glasses this past month! We also got a new cordless phone with an answering machine for $25 at Walmart with the stroller money because our answering machine died too! What a great deal! Yesterday I got $10

We were greeted by a huge box of presents Friday afternoon that contained over 20 presents for the whole crew (a 50 pound box). We let everyone open one present that night and are saving the rest for Christmas morning. THANKS AGAIN grandpa Phil and grandma Velma! We all loved everything - here are some pics for you. Wish you could be here :) John and I got season 1 & 2 of 24 - a huge surprise! (we'll have to learn some control now that we own it) Ashlyn got a new baby - her name is Lucy (I think the name came from Chronicles of Narnia book) Jonathan got a cool toddler bed set of Cars bedding (Pillow case, sheet set, and blanket!) The boys got the Cars bedding for their room It is very nice and everyone loved everything! We are very spoiled

So we have been writing on this blog for a little over a year now and this is our 300 th post. Our crew has enjoyed sharing some of our favorite moments, pictures, and videos with you all. It sure has helped me to take more pictures of my kids - which really helps make those scrapbooks more enjoyable (when I find the time to work on them). Thanks for reading and we hope you continue.

Or should I say, new shiny head! John was feeling a little lonely this weekend and decided to have another Hanson boy look a little bald....nothing like a good winter hat to wear each day! He sure stands out in a crowd now and sure looks cold. We couldn't convince Joshua to let us cut his hair after this one.

This child loves to eat and try anything! Of course, this is one of his new favorites (like the rest of his chubby family), we usually have some on hand. Anyway, he sure had fun with that bowl.

Josh does

there are many more to share..these were my 3 favorites

So I was thinking of this past week and how crazy this season is. It was really busy and sure went by fast. I had a few bad moments this week that I wish I could re-do (I usually have many of these) and I had to share. Being a stay-at-home mom is sure fun and enjoyable. Watching your kids grow each moment and being there for all the things they say and do that you will never forget makes life here amazing. Anyway, finishing up Christmas shopping, wrapping, cards, homemade gifts, website work and still trying to keep up with the normal daily activities like cleaning, laundry, and eating sure makes for a long week. My 2 and 4 year old can't quite understand why all of a sudden mommy is too busy for everything....anyway, here are a few highlights of our week that have me so thankful to be back to our "normal" routine. 1. "Caleb I really need you to watch this movie so I can wrap your presents...look at the funny looking little man, it looks so good." 2. " Ashl

The whole crew really enjoyed this one! Click the genie to give it a try...its amazing!

What a great idea Dani. Hope everyone is having a great week so far. We are working on some last minute Christmas stuff like cards and shipping. We're also freezing here like the trees outside. Hope you are all well...

Click on the image to check it out early!

Faith Christian Academy had a small Christmas program last night and at the last minute Ashlyn volunteered to read 5 verses of Luke 2. She did so good and we are so proud of her...she is shy and was on the stage in front of about 100 people. This was one of those moments that I couldn't stop smiling the whole time she was reading up there. Great job Ashlyn !

We were so excited today to see that our rain/ice mixture we were all planning for today turned out to be a light snowfall! The kids and I planned a fun day at home all day - in pajamas of course! John usually works late on Thursdays so we had already had some of these ideas in mind originally, but changed it a little to kick off our Holiday winter season! Our Gameplan: 1. Breakfast 2. Pick up the house 3. Make daddy's favorite treat - almond bark pretzels with sprinkles 4. School time 5. Lunch 6. Prepare some treat bags for Awanas on Sunday 7. More school time 8. Make Swirled chocolate chip cookies (red and green) 9. Dinner 10. Finish up school time 11. Wrap some birthday presents for Grandma Peggy's party on Sunday 12. Maybe a short movie with hot chocolate right before Daddy comes home So that is our funfilled plan for the day, with some feeding breaks, diaper changes, laundry, and breathing treatments (yes, Jonathan is weezing again!) as needed. I know this couple inches of