The Hanson Crew

Jonathan is enjoying his sister's stuff more - especially her shoes. And he is really starting to dress himself which is kinda comical at times. Here he is being a little silly yesterday.

Under the ugly pink wallpaper with duck border, we found more fun wallpaper and this time it was stuck to the drywall directly - we think in the 60s....we are going to have it covered with stucco and then paint it a sage green...pics to come.

We were blessed with some housewarming money and we used it all for some furniture off Craigslist . Here are the deals we got the past 2 weeks...we were very excited! A contemporary couch for $150 A comfy chair for the family room - $50 (we used the throw pillows it came w/ on the couch) A love seat for the living room & over sized matching chair - $150 (the chair (below) will get a throw pillow along with the love seat above) This is a very comfy chair and will hold 2 people A 32" TV for the living room since we moved our old furniture and TV downstairs - $25

Sorry we have become such bad bloggers ....we promise to get back on track once our house is all unpacked. We are getting down to our last boxes this week. We are still painting like crazy in hopes that we will finish it all before school starts on the 17 th and we can adjust to our new Fall schedule without any additional house projects.... On that note, we have noticed a few small perks about living in KC city limits lately (even though there are many cons too - I will try to stay positive) that I thought I would share. 1. They have a Paint Program! Which means the city will provide you with exterior paint if you fall in the income requirements - looks like we do and we are going to take advantage of this in the fall (thanks for letting us know about this Greg!) 2. No more trash fees - we used to pay about $15 in Kearney for this service and here it is free - but you can only have 2 bags of trash a week...we are using REALLY big Contractor bags that are about the size of me when the

We managed to finish the kids room this weekend and they are officially in their beds right now. We painted, put up furniture, unpacked, and started wall hangings. We were also able to take a couple small breaks to enjoy the swimming pool. That place is awesome and huge. They even have lifeguards on duty all day. The baby pool was the highlight for Jonathan and Caleb and the diving board for Ashyln. Joshua and John enjoyed the shallow end of the big pool. John has me looking out for a canoe on Craigslist to try out on the lake...I am still searching for a couch too. We will take some pictures very soon and post them on here - at least of the 2 rooms we are done with - I found my camera and all it's parts the other day. The plan for this week is to tackle the kitchen and schoolroom in time for school to begin. Hope you are all doing well!

Just wanted to let you all know that we have made it over to our new house! We have signed all the paperwork, have the keys, and have begun Operation Makeover. We will try to take some pics soon - there is so much going on. We have discovered new layers of wallpaper, started painting, and a little unpacking. We might just have to start investing in Home Improvement stores soon since that has become our second home. Thanks a whole lot to the many friends and family who helped us get this far. We'll keep you posted....

Returning in about a week from a new location....unless we get completely overwhelmed with painting, unpacking, and repairing...then, maybe later...

The kids finished their summer reading program this week at our Kearney library! Our goal was to finish all 5 lists before we moved (you have to participate at only one library for the whole program). The boys listened to me read 100 books and Ashlyn read 50 chapter books by herself. Caleb chose a cool harmonica for his prize, Ashlyn and Joshua got an art set, and Jonathan got a "Mr. Stinky Feet" CD. We were very excited that we made our goal! While the kids had their own goal for the summer, I had my own. After finishing my Christian book series by Karen Kingsbury , I went ahead and read the Stephenie Meyers Twilight series. Many of my friends had read it and I was pretty curious. I had seen the movie before I started the first book so I kept seeing those actors throughout the book, which was a little frustrating I think. But overall, it was well written. The storyline obviously is much different than the series I had just finished, but it did have some interesting twi

Visit a Chick- fil -A store near you on Friday the 10 th dressed like a cow, and get some free chicken! The details are on their website ! Thanks for letting us know Missi !

I've been working on a few small projects for the new house. We got this off white bookshelf/hutch off Craigslist and a free wicker shelf with 3 wicker baskets. We are doing a beach room for Ashlyn and have an awesome quilt we are using for all her color choices. It looks like her room is going to be an aqua blue with white trim with white furniture. So we painted the shelf white and added some pink ribbon. Then we painted the wicker shelf white and sprayed 2 of the baskets orange and 1 pink. It came out pretty cute. I am currently painting the boys bunk bed navy - it has been primed and has one coat of blue....pictures to come soon. Here are the before and afters of this project...

An Apple Jack contribution to our blog post progress! Thanks for reading!!

John survived his 3 minute interview today on local news...the kids and I were so proud of him! Unfortunately, the video is not working correctly online yet - it only shows the first 10 seconds. But here is a link to the story and the beginning of the video...we hope it will be fixed soon for you to watch the whole thing - if not, we have it on VHS and are wondering if the station will be sending him a digital copy soon. Enjoy! House Cleaning Tips from the Experts

For our local friends and family...John will be on local TV Monday morning (tomorrow) on Fox 4 News. He is supposed to air sometime between 8:30 and 9:00. He is going to be doing a 3 minute (I think live) performance on some "Cleaning Secrets." Needless to say, he is a little nervous and been practicing some this weekend. We are going to try to tape it and put it on here later. So if you're bored tomorrow around 8:30, turn on the tube to Fox 4 News and check out our handsome Maids Mgr!

Sorry about the lack of blog posts lately...we are still packing! But man, are we making progress. We have 2 bedrooms and the kitchen left. Our plan for today is to finish the 2 bedrooms. We had to wait on more boxes that we picked up this morning. Once I finish those rooms, my plan is to prime and paint the boys bunk bed Navy. John is going out of town next week for a few days and we hope to finish off the kitchen then. We also got permission to go to the new house next week and tidy up the yard a bit before we move in. We are hoping to start that project on Thurs. Then we move next Sunday and Monday! It's kinda crazy and coming too quickly. We'll keep you posted this week on how it all goes. Have a great and safe Holiday weekend!