The Hanson Crew

Just wanted to let all of my avid blog readers who also check my Facebook wall, that I have deactivated my account for awhile. All the time that used to be spent checking my News Feed or sharing links/pictures is being devoted to prayer and bible reading. I have seen a difference in my time management already. I plan to come back to FB after a little while. Since I have gotten a few emails about it, I thought I would post something on here as well. I hope to continue to post stories, pictures, and links on here during my FB fast. Thanks!

Last night was our first day...and yes, it was a little insane. Check it out! We'll keep you posted on how this works for us. I wouldn't let John take a before picture of me, but he took one. It should be interesting to see if we can both walk by Sunday.

This past weekend our family drove to Bethany, MO for the Lifelight Festival. We went early Friday morning and enjoyed the ranch, then met up with some good friends for dinner a concert. We had planned to do more stuff on sat, but a rain storm took our tent down. We drove home early to get our wet stuff hung up to dry. Here are a few pictures of our fun while we were there... The main stage where we saw 2 concerts The boys won a CD from K-Love radio playing a bean toss game The lake where we all tried a paddle boat and canoe Our campsite Ashlyn enjoying smores Joshua helping John cook John, Josh and Caleb Jonathan, Josh, and Landon Lisa, Ashlyn and me All the kids waiting for it to get dark so their glow stick would work

We really enjoyed our first family camp out this weekend. We drove about 1 1/2 hours to Bethany, MO for a Lifelight festival. This was a family festival advertised on a Christian radio station we listen to here. We had to pay $50 for a campsite for 2 nights and were able to enjoy free swimming at a pool with a water slide, paddle boats, canoes, fish, listen to live Christian music all day/night Friday and Saturday, as well as enjoy camping for the first time together. We got there around noon on Friday to set up camp. We cooked out for lunch and hit the pool and water slide. Then we all went paddle boating (3 per boat) and then tried canoeing. Sorry I did not bring my camera to either of these fun activities. Then we hurried to a live concert where Jonathan and Caleb won a free CD. We met up with our friends, the McKinzies to get their tent setup by ours and cooked dinner. Then we all went back to the main stage for a night concert by Sanctus Real. We all crawled into bed and

requires two vehicles to fit all of our people and "stuff"...

Swimming lessons with Micah today after a fun morning with Grandma Peggy and our friends the Knorrs. The boys are becoming little fish thanks to Micah!

So I am finding how difficult it is to update this blog this summer. I am not sure why, but it seems I am lacking in lacking in computer time, which I actually kinda like. I am finally starting to make my yearly blog books which gets me more excited about writing each day on here. It has been fun to go back over the past 5 years and re-read some of the things my kids have said. So here is my attempt at keeping this updated through the summer. I am going to post some SPAOC posts. These are photo posts showing you a Sneak Peak At Our Crew. These are going to be a photo captured at any time of the day (hopefully each day). They could be funny, serious, or just some random thing we are doing that day. I hope you enjoy the first one... We are reading ALOT this summer and trying to finish the summer reading program early like Ashlyn did!

We enjoyed the day with church together, lunch at Olive Garden, small naps, and dessert with Grandpa Gary and Grandma Sue. Happy Father's Day!

Our crew enjoyed this fun summer day with some friends. We have been busy spending time with the Cordova's who arrived last Monday from the Philippines. We helped them get all moved over to their new place yesterday and I think my kids were wanting a little R&R today. So we met up with 3 other families for a free movie at the Legends Theatre. The movie wasn't all that great, but free. Then we ate a picnic lunch by a water fountain where most of them got soaked. The Knorr's and our family went Father's Day shopping together and then met back with the other 2 families at Cabela's . We didn't get to see them as much as we would have liked to, but it was still good to see them for a short while. We did get to see the employees feed the aquarium fish this time, which we have never seen before, and it was really the highlight of our trip. These fish are huge and really ate their food quick. It is funny that Lisa and I talk about twice a day and are s

So today was Jonathan and Caleb's first hour of swimming lessons. It went well. We hired a friend from church (one of John's students) and he came to our neighborhood pool for private lessons. Caleb took off! He thinks he will be swimming all over the pool within 2 weeks. Jonathan was a little harder because of his height. We are going to try Caleb and Joshua together next time. I will try to get some video then of Caleb...he learned to go under the water, dive off the diving board, and swim across the deep end all in one hour. Oh, he also took the FCA 1st grade test today. The teacher said he did wonderfully! We'll look over the results, talk with the first grade teacher, and then decide if we send him to FCA next year. Stay tuned...

A few weeks ago in the car driving to McD's for ice cream sundaes: Caleb: "Mom, I want a Sundae too." Me: " Ok , do you want Caramel or Chocolate?" Caleb: "Actually, instead of a Sundae, I would like a Friday" Yesterday in the car: Joshua: "Why do they have Mother's Day and Father's Day, but not son and daughter day?" A few minutes later... Joshua: "Oh, wait, we do have Sondays ! Right after Saturdays. Sorry Ashlyn !"

Not the childcare kind, but the pretty green kind. We visited the Family Nursery in Liberty for family day today. The kids got their faces painted, we got free nachos, saw some donkeys, horses, chickens, and pig at their petting zoo, and dug for some toy dinosaurs. I got a new perennial plant - Praying Hands Hostas - which is very pretty. Here are some fun faces...

First look at the garage doors when we bought the house: (hard to believe this is what it looked like when we bought it) Spray painted over the glass and painted them the new exterior color: Replaced them with new insulated trim color doors TODAY: Dare I say we are finally getting this house looking better and in better shape...

The kids and I started a big project last week: the garage. We sold tons of stuff in there the week before in our garage sale, we threw away about 2 trunk loads of stuff and got rid of about 15 gallons of used paint cans. Then we painted all 4 walls (2 were finished and 2 were cement). We organized the tool area, created a new paint area, and hung yard tools. We created a bike area, made some new storage shelves, and moved our Christmas tubs out there. I think it is almost done. All that is left is to paint half of the ceiling. We will get our new garage doors tomorrow morning, which will make it look more finished. We are very excited. Here are a few pics of our hard work... I love monograms - why not have an "H" in the garage too! The new tool area - I can now see the table and find tools/nails Organized paint area The bike area (we sold 5 bikes at the sale) The bikes are now by the door so our cars will no longer be bumped Our camping stuff is all in one place (W

My very thoughtful and romantic husband sent this to me today via a delivery lady with a note that read "Just because I love you!". It was a fun surprise. The kids were just as excited as I was I think. We love him very much.

daughter. We enjoyed some girl time today with good friends from our small group at a mother/daughter tea party. Here are a few fun pics... Ashlyn looked beautiful in her orange dress and fun hat. Can you feel the humidity here just by looking at this picture? A wonderful lunch and beautiful place settings/decor (compliments of our interior decorator friend Yvette) A variety of tea to choose from The girls after the devotion, and before the craft (missing the Simpson girls who couldn't make it this time)

Probably Sunday night...Independence 291 Drive-In....$16 for all 6 of us to go! Kids are free now this summer. We can't wait to pack up the cooler, pop some popcorn and make it a movie night in pjs with some fellow KC crazies!

Caleb is officially off for summer today! Man, did that time take forever while all the others were at home. We are still deciding about next year. Our options include: First grade at Line Creek (5 days/wk, 3 days of free speech, 1 day private speech) First grade at FCA (3 days/wk, 2 days of free speech, probably 2 days of private speech) Kindergarten at FCA (half day 3 days/wk, 2 days of free speech, homeschool with mom 4 days a week, 2 days of private speech) If FCA offered a full day Kindergarten option 3 days/wk, I think we would go that route without question. Then we would do speech Tues, Thur, and Sat I think. We're getting him tested next week by a FCA teacher to hear what they think. We are also talking to some speech friends for their advice too. We'll keep you posted on our decision as it unfolds...Caleb is torn between which school he would like to go to. After next year, a new elementary school is opening by our house where our neighborhood will transfer to.