The Hanson Crew

So I am totally addicted to Pinterest now. What a great place to find some amazing craft and decorating ideas! I decided the other day to try making a fabric canvas for the Maids office I am redecorating that would match the new curtains I made for in there. It was so easy that I decided to make two! Here are the steps I used to make one. 1. First buy enough material to cover the canvas size you are making. I made a 20x20 canvas so I went to Lowe's and had them cut my lumber to the size I needed. To make one canvas, I had to have them cut two pieces of wood that are 18 inches long and 2 pieces that are 20". I also bought a package of wood screws while I was there. I think I got about 27" of material for each canvas too. Here are my supplies... 2. Then I built the canvas frame. I put the two 18" pieces in between the 2 20" pieces and used one screw on each corner to keep them together.... 3. Then I layed the material face down on the floor and put t

While Gary and Sue are retired in AZ for 3 months (winter hibernation), I have had the opportunity to get more involved with our family business.  Gary printed weekly invoices and financial statements and in his absence, I have begin doing that an hour or 2 a week.  He was also responsible for ordering cleaning supplies, vacuum parts, and shopping at Sam's weekly for our Maids breakfast items (yes, we provide pastries, cereals, oatmeal, and waffles for our teams before they go out and clean every morning).  So I have also taken over those job responsibilities each Wed at Sam's. So while I began my new "job" a few weeks ago, I found a few things that could be re-organized and improved to make my new job easier. I began by completely re-organizing the inventory garage where all of the supplies are located. Bought new shelves, labeled everything and got re-stocked on everything. I also moved anything that was not cloths or inventory to an attic storage area. That r

John was able to go on a fun Sat adventure with 6 other guys from church this past weekend.  They drove 6 hours to Arkansas, then hiked 11 miles on the Buffalo Ridge Trail, and then drove 6 hours back to KC.  He was a little sore when he got home, mainly because of a bad blister on the back of his heel.  He is excited to go again sometime and to start taking the boys on (shorter) hikes more often.  I am thinking the wives of those fellas might need to take a girls hike sometime soon one Sat all day.  You know, where we drive 6 hours to Mall of America, walk around for about 6 hours shopping, and then drive 6 hours back.  We'll see if that plan works out soon!

We got our $1 poster in the mail yesterday for the boy's door.... We also hung the wood letters in the stars that Caleb painted black above their beds... I am moving on to Joshua's mural...

around our crews house. We are trying to be more hospitable in 2012 and planning a weekly dinner/fellowship time at our house with couples/families we don't know well at our church. We bought some "new" Craigslist furniture with some of our Craigslist money we have saved from selling things on Craigslist this past year. We moved our old loveseat and oversized chair from our front living room into our family room. Now we have a couch, loveseat, and chair in that room for company.  Before, we only had a couch and large chair... Since we took the furniture from the front living room for the family room, we used the money we got for the old oversized chair in the family room to buy a new loveseat for this room ($50). Then I found some awesome gold and red chairs to finish the sitting area off Craigslist. I think I spent a month looking on Craigslist for various couches, chairs, and loveseats to finish off these 2 rooms along with our basement where our other new couch w

Caleb and I worked on his Army room today. I painted some camo stars above each bed... And he painted some paper mache letters for under his shelves... The finished project... Tomorrow we hope to buy a white wooden "J" letter for the star above Jonathan's bed and a "C" letter for Caleb's star.  After their camo pillow cases, I think I can move back into Joshua's room to finish his city mural :)

Jonathan: Alvin & the Chipmunks 3 Caleb: Cars 2 & Captain America Joshua: Captain America & Thor Ashlyn: Harry Potter 7, part 2 & Sherlock Holmes 2 Deanna: Mission Impossible 4 & Courageous John: Courageous

I was able to do a few website projects since Thanksgiving and have been putting aside that money for something our family could use that would not normally be in our budget. I realized around Christmas when we got an awesome TV from my dad that a new sofa for downstairs would be perfect. We had bought the set that was down there from my friend Jennie back when we were pregnant in 2003. It lasted a long time, but was at the end of it's life. After playing Wii or watching a family movie night, someone was sitting on the floor or complaining about the spring in their back. So the Craigslist for a new set began at the beginning of December... You would think that finding a new living room set for under $400 about 20 miles from your home would be an easy task, but let me tell you it is not. I spent hours refreshing my list, calling and emailing for the "perfect" deal, noticing most of them were an hour away or from a smoke filled house. Until I found this gem....

Windows and doors coming up next...

Our classical school does not normally take Martin Luther King Jr. Day off from school. Today was our first time in the 6 years we have been there. We are excited for the change even though we go a day longer in the Spring. The weather was beautiful today! We spent the time re-arranging some new living room furniture we bought, playing at the park, working on some invoices at the Maids, and then rock climbing and pizza. We managed to sneak in about an hour of school work too in the middle. Caleb was fortunate to not have any homework tomorrow, which is normally a home day. Joshua got his normal amount for Tues and Ashlyn got enough for the weekend, Mon, and Tues. She will be very busy tomorrow. Here are a few pics from the park...

In December, John and I joined a community center down by his work since we get a business discount that was only $15 more than his individual membership he had somewhere else. We were able to get a family membership this way. The kids and I have enjoyed the pool and I have officially started working out some :) Although I do hope to be more consistent once our school routine gets back in full swing from our winter break, I have started going twice a week (I speed walk the other school day each week with a friend). One benefit of the membership besides the pool, fitness classes, and the workout area, is a cool rock climbing wall. You have to be 8 to participate. So I took Ashlyn and Joshua today. They LOVED it! We hope to go back again soon. Here are a couple pics of their first climb...

Ashlyn and I came up with these fun pink and orange curtains to go with her new room.  We hope to replace the windows in the summer to bigger ones she can crawl out of in case of a fire.  For now, the small ones are much brighter and cuter :)

So we have painted the room, touched up the navy bunk bed paint and made camo curtains for the room. We also build a 40" square table to go behind the "L" shape bed idea (we took apart the bunk beds for 2 twin beds instead). That table will be covered in camo material and then hold a army lamp or lantern, reading books for bed, and some army decor we find at thrift stores. There will be two white shelves and the letters "ARMY" above this table too.  Here is a couple shots of the beginning...

Ashlyn doesn't say too many things that make me laugh anymore.  So this one needed to go on record. While shopping at Joanne's for fabric: me: "Hmm, why can't find anyone who works here to help me?" ashlyn: "Um, because this is not Hy-vee where there is a smile in every isle!" It's kinda funny that she would know that AND say it in normal conversation...

came on January 11, 2012....not quite an inch, but the streets were covered and it froze to a nice think layer of ice just in time for rush hour the next morning.  We are still praying for more snow so we can go sledding and build a snowman...

 We sewed a new pillow case today after school work  This year's Avengers Halloween pic below a pic of the First Avengers Framed comics on his closet door

We are supposed to get about 2" of snow this evening and more possible tomorrow...we haven't seen any snow all winter so we are all a little excited!  I'll post a pic tomorrow if it really happens!

This past week, the kids and I have been discussing 2012 trips we hope to take.  John is going on a short term mission trip over Spring Break to El Salvidor in March, which we are all very excited about!  While he is gone and the kids are out of school, we are planning a 2-day trip to St. Louis with Grandma Peggy.  We are going to see the Arch, visit the zoo, and go to the Children's Science Museum. This summer, instead of doing our traditional boys canoe trip and girls American Girl trip, we are combining them this year.  We are going to take a family canoe trip!  We hope to setup our tent and camp when we first arrive this time and canoe down the river for two days, without all of our supplies/clothes/tent/etc in them. Ashlyn and I will man a boat, while the boys are in another.  We have been talking about this trip all week! We also are excited to plan a trip to AZ this summer.  This will be a road trip through CO and down to the Grand Canyon.  We will then spend a few days

I was able to move Joshua's furniture in his new room today and am about to start the mural on the accent wall. He bought some Avengers comic books the other day too that we are going to frame for the other walls. Here is a sneak peek at the room before the pictures and wall are done... This last picture is the wall that I will paint building on as well as some kind of vinyl stacker phrase. Joshua wants "Avengers Assemble" in the sky. I said we would look around before we special ordered that one. The little boys are anxious to start their room now. I told them after the mural, I may need a week's vacation. We'll see what happens...