The Hanson Crew

We celebrated Caleb's 3rd birthday Sunday with our family and had a great time. Caleb LOVES gum (or as he calls it bum) right now so we had a "gum" cake with some little cars he found at the dollar store on it. It was nice enough outside to allow the kids to play on the swingset and trampoline while the adults caught up.... He especially enjoyed his rake set from his grandma, Map/Dora backpack from Ashlyn , and his fishing pole from us.... His all time favorite present though was yes, gum! His actual birthday is on Friday the 4th.

Ashlyn went to an awesome birthday party on Sat for a friend at school where they got to pick a costume, get their hair done, and then walk a catwalk on a stage. After presents and cake, they got to dance around on a stage. They had it decorated really fun with dimmed lighting and candles on the tables - it was a really FUN day to be a little girl! She kinda looked like Gwenevere in her outfit and of course so grown up on the stage - maybe we should start doing more girly things like dance class or something before she becomes a tomboy hanging out with her 3 brothers. We are thinking of doing soccer this summer since her PE teacher keeps telling me she is very athletic!

john's genes + deanna's genes = alot of freckles and moles on children ( We are noticing an abundance of freckles on Caleb's cheeks now who is joining Ashlyn ...Joshua and Ashlyn daily find new moles on their bodies...so far...we will keep an eye out for more to come!)

This one made me laugh... One winter morning during breakfast a husband and wife in northern Minnesota were listening to the radio. They heard the announcer say, "We are going to have 8 to 10 inches of snow today. You must park your car on the even-numbered side of the street, so the snowplows can get through." So the good wife went out and moved her car. A week later while they are eating breakfast again, the radio announcer said, "We are expecting 10 to 12 inches of snow today. You must park your car on the odd-numbered side of the street, so the snowplows can get through." The good wife went out and moved her car again. The next week they are again having breakfast, when the radio announcer says, "We are expecting 12 to 14 inches of snow today. You must park..." Then the electric power went out. The good wife was very upset, and with a worried look on her face she said, "Honey, I don't know what to do. Which side of the street do I

John is going to be going out of town in a week for his annual Maids meeting in AZ and I won't be joining him this time - Oh the joys of having 4 little ones to hand over to someone else for almost a week. I think they should do another cruise like in 2006, that's totally worth the separation anxiety for me. We are excited to see if they get any awards and any more information about buying the St. Louis franchise. Anyway, in his absence Caleb will turn 3, we will have to drive to and from school, tackle church alone, and the everyday stuff the 5 of us normally do for 4 days! We are trying to plan ahead a little this week and trying to think of something fun to do to pass the time...besides some redbox movies and homework. Any suggestions? Oh yeah, a funny Maids story - they cleaned the wrong house for the first time this week! Can you imagine walking into your house and having a really clean house and have no idea why? It was a small duplex mix-up, and went down as a first for

So Jonathan is determined to be the child who is so different from all the others. He is always doing things I can't believe. His new thing these days is something I call bum scooting. He is really trying to move around, but is just too lazy and uncoordinated. He can army crawl, pull-up and walk around furniture by himself now. He really enjoys holding onto my fingers and walking around, but doesn't have the guts to let go quite yet. So when he is not hooked to my hip or holding onto my fingers walking, he is usually sitting on the floor playing. Instead of crawling to get that toy out of his reach, he scoots over to it using his heels and legs still in the sitting position. It is the funniest thing to watch and has to be so uncomfortable. He is actually getting pretty quick at it. I think when he does start walking he will probably become a little more coordinated, at least I am hoping and this interesting scoot will stop. It definitely will go into the baby book f

We spent the morning at church and then had family over to our house for a big dinner and egg hunt. It was pretty cold outside, but the kids still had fun... When we got back from church, the kids were greeted with a small gift from us and then they were spoiled by both grandmas... Ashlyn got a new chore chart, Jonathan a book, and the other 2 boys a golf set from us. This picture cracked me up because it captures Joshua's true self!!! He just loves taking pictures :0)

Looked easy and fun... (a birthday present we were saving for a rainy day) We followed the instructions and waited for the candy... The end result...a small crystal of sugar water? (we are obviously not of the inventor kind!)

Wow, how many of you have about 8 loads of laundry a week like me? I am sure some of you might even have more than that and it is a little overwhelming isn't it? My biggest problem with my laundry has always been the putting away part (well, and the drying and folding too!) at least that is what my laundry room displays most of the time. I have been coming up with new ways to help with my procrastination of this chore by putting a clothes rack above my dryer where I keep the excess hangers so as I take them out I can hang them up right then (in case they don't get brought back upstairs right away). So besides having an abundance of both clean and dirty clothes all the time, I still have another big problem - shrinking clothes! I have come up with a small solution to this problem lately.... So the dryer we have right now has multiple settings and I have always been favorable to the one kind - Permanent Press/Normal Dry. This is the one that goes from high heat to low heat and ba

We had a fun first Spring day yesterday outside. The kids and Grandma Peggy rode bikes and played outside for about 2 1/2 hours, while Jonathan and I got caught up on housework. After lunch, they had a fun time dying Easter Eggs with her... Once we were done having a great day with Grandma Peggy, we ventured over to Grandma Sues house to hang out with her and have dinner. It was a fun day enjoying grandmas! Caleb had a little more fun this year coloring eggs and is at that age where he was proud of his work. Each kid has a dozen eggs in the fridge they colored and hope to hide then eat by the end of the month :)

While we were in Colorado we tried to take our first professional picture of all the cousins on my side and it didn't turn out so well. So I took this one of them all at my older sisters new gorgeous house in the mountains. I think it came out pretty good. My older sister has two and my little sister one. We hadn't ever taken one of all the cousins before so it is a keepsake. We hope to take some pictures with John's family this spring so we can get one with Rylee too (the only cousin on John's side).

or at least that's what the calendar says (I think we are expecting snow on Sunday)

So let me begin by explaining how horrible my pregnancies are - constant throwing up for the first 6 months or so, major dehydration, weight loss, many hospital visits, extreme tiredness, lack of helpfulness, early labor and bed rest for the last 3 months, oh and I get a REALLY, REALLY big tummy so I bleed and have really bad skin problems toward the end (its those 9 pound babies I have). That being said, as a family, we thought it would be best for me to stop being pregnant forever! We went ahead and had the vasectomy last year after Jonathan, with the understanding that God could still get me pregnant if he wanted to under his sovereign hand, or we could adopt to keep our family growing. I have been called "Fertile Myrtle" by a few friends after conceiving 2 children without any attempts, but still trust in the odds of the vasectomy, even knowing a few people who have conceived after the surgery. So when we got back from Colorado this week I had my first doubts. Extreme

We have a black and white picture collage in our kitchen eating area where I can display some fun pictures of our family as decor. We try to update it each time Lisa takes our pictures, but I noticed today I am a little behind. I am getting some printed this week and adding some close ups of each child being themselves. Here are a few I am going to use.... Our shy and smart Ashlyn Our curious Jonathan Silly and expressive Caleb Charming and lovable Joshua

on a CO walk with daddy!

Ashlyn was so excited to get a letter that had "Miss" in her addressed name - she has decided to keep it forever. Thanks Papa Phil and Gramma Velma - this made her day! The other 3 kids also loved their cards...there is nothing like getting mail for them!

So we are back from our 6 day trip to Colorado. We enjoyed seeing family, cousins, and some friends while we were there. We had great weather and even found 2 CO letterboxes while we there. Unfortunately, John was sick the first half and Caleb the second half of the trip - but things are getting better already. We will be posting some fun pictures we took while we there soon. Sorry for any bloggers who check this one daily - we had a small utube problem while we were gone and we had a video I tried to post last Tuesday appear 3 times on Friday for some strange reason. Thanks to A for logging on and fixing that while we were gone :) Oh, the really exciting news - Jonathan started crawling while we were there (more like scooting), and I am so proud of him! FYI - when going on a week long vacation, have a friend or family member take the garbage out to the curb on trash day!!! Thanks for the Wallflowers plug-in Adrienne, we started using that thing as soon as we walked in!

We are so excited about a purchase yesterday for Caleb's favorite friend, baba. We got this dog house at a consignment shop for $2 in hopes that he will stay in his home when he is not in bed with Caleb. This might save mommy and daddy alot of heartache when we are searching frantically for him at bedtime. We are all very excited for this new home :)

"Caleb, do you need to go potty?" "Mom, the telephone is ringing" "Can I have a snack?" "Caleb, do you need to go potty?" "Can I be done with school now?" "When are we going to Grandma's house?" "maa maa maa maaa" "Caleb, do you need to go potty?" "Mommy, hold me" "I'm hungry" "Caleb, do you need to go potty?" "I had that first!" "Uh, oh mommy!" "Mom, I think Caleb needs you" Obviously, today was a very crazy day for our crew. We are potty training, doing about 6 loads of laundry, schoolwork, preparing for our vacation this weekend, and trying to stay on track with everyday things too. I must say after a rather stressful busy day, what a joy it was to enjoy the evening with my husband at a concert. It was very relaxing and much needed. Tomorrow will be yet another busy day for us, but I feel equipped already! We hope your end of the week is

So the mini-van we went to test drive last night was gorgeous and in our price range...unfortunately was sold 2 hours before we got there to a friend - I didn't get the e-mail telling me this until we got home from our hour drive there :( A little frustrating, but we know happened for a reason. So on our way home we stopped and grabbed this conversion van - the kids favorite of course - more room and a tv ! This one did not fit in our garage so it isn't going to work either, but it sure was fun driving it around with the blinds down and the fun lights inside on. So we are now looking for another one and will keep you posted...it's kinda fun stopping when you see one so we might be looking for awhile :)

So our tax refund was a little bigger than we thought it would be this year, and with the additional rebate check we will be getting in May we voted to replace my dying mini-van :) It has been breaking a lot more this past year and has about 180,000 miles on it. So tonight, we are going to test drive a Dodge Caravan (yes, another mini-van - we just can't all fit in those cool small cars anymore!) we found on Craigslist. We'll keep you posted on its ownership and if it will be our "new" big purchase this year!

So Caleb is officially in underwear all the time now at home :) We are still using pull-ups for times we leave home and at bed. We started again on Saturday and he is doing great! We tried the reward system this time and he was easily bribed. I hope Colorado doesn't mess him up too bad, but we'll wait and see. Yeah, Caleb!

Jonathan is really getting fun (not that he wasn't fun before, he is just doing more). He is trying to walk around with help, waving hi and bi, clapping alot, and loves to play peek-a-boo. We got him on video today and he was so happy. He got a little distracted by the camera and his brothers later on so this video is evidence of a very typical Jonathan! Enjoy!

Yeah! We are so excited to go see Derek Webb on Thursday kid-free...he will be in Liberty at the Shoal Creek Community Church - for free! It starts at 7:00 and doors open at 6:00. Any KC Bloggers should go check him out - he and his wife, Sarah McCracken are some favorites of ours...this is his song, Wedding Dress.

John enlightened me this weekend on some new information (Easters relation with the vernal equinox) I did not know about, which helped explain to me why Easter is so early this year....I thought I would share it with you. In 1582, Gregory XIII (Pope of the Roman Catholic Church) revised the calendar for use by people all across Christendom, resulting in a new set of dates for Easter. Universal adoption of the Gregorian calendar occurred slowly. By the 1700's, though, most of western Europe had adopted what came to be known as the Gregorian Calendar. The rules for determining the date of Easter are: Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox; the vernal equinox is fixed as March 21. There are some highly technical rules for determining the actual date of the full moon, but when you take all this into account the result is that Easter can never occur before March 22 or later than April 25. The following are dat

I finished up another website project last night for my friend Lisa (she is the L in L&B Expressions). We were both very excited for the new fun look and updating the site to include many more pictures. I went ahead and added sound for all 5 individual slide shows (babies, children, etc) and used both Allison's and Laurel's song ideas for a couple of those. Thanks guys! I still haven't thought up a catchy fun song for the home page so it is quiet for now. If anyone else has some ideas just let me know. Oh, make sure you check it out by clicking on the picture above....you might see some familiar faces throughout the site :)

This is a new car favorite with the kids...as soon as it comes on the radio, they yell to turn it up louder and all start singing and dancing. It's pretty catchy ...it's called "Set the World on Fire" by Britt Nicole.