The Hanson Crew

We grabbed Panda Express and rented Brave from the Redbox for our first evening together.  Today's plan, alot of homework.  Tonight, some Wii.  John and Ashlyn made it safely to Oklahoma and will start their volunteer work this morning.

Ashlyn and John leave in an hour for a short trip to volunteer at Voice of the Martyrs in Oklahoma.  They will be going with 6 other friends from church until Sat.  They will be working from 8-5 on Thurs and Friday helping the ministry with their publications (folding, stuffing, stamping) and other ministry needs they have this week.  Please be in prayer for their trip and the ministry they are supporting.  This will be Ashlyn's first volunteer opportunity away from home and for a couple days. We are so thankful we are homeschooling and for this opportunity for her. For more information about the Voice of the Martyrs, please visit www.persecution.com . I will be home enjoying just the boys for a few days.  We will be juggling drop off and pick up at both schools, some homework, and hopefully some fun movie nights.  Pics to come from both groups...

We kept up our 3 year tradition of shopping on Black Friday this year even though this year it really was mostly Thurs. My mom, Ashlyn and I went to Wal-mart around 8 pm and found our best deals there. Then we ventured to Target and found a couple more deals. We took a QT break to refresh and hit Kohl's when they opened at midnight. We got a big family gift from Macy's around 12:30, then a few gifts from Toys R Us around 1. Our last stop was the busiest, which was Old Navy. I got a lot of gifts there though for extended family which was great. We got home around 4:30 am and headed to bed. Caleb woke up around 9 ready to venture out on Black Friday (I think for the first time) and got me up. So he and I left around 10.  I think we went to four or five stores, mainly getting batteries and a couple small things for Jonathan I thought of later. We got this free Gingerbread house from Kolh's because of a $10 off $10 or more coupon I had forgotten earlier when I went.

Monday, November 26, from around 2:30 pm to 3:15 pm.  Huge snowflakes, but it didn't stick.  Beautiful to watch from the window of our lit Christmas tree :)

From The Maids in the next couple weeks.  They are ordered and moving into the process of being stuffed with a magnetic calendar for all 600+ clients.  The really good news, I ordered our family postcards tonight too...progress, progress, progress.  Next plan, wrapping, baking and some homemade calendar work.

This was the first Thanksgiving that the kids really helped in the kitchen. Joshua and Ashlyn made a homemade French Silk Pie. Then Ashlyn helped make homemade Butterhorn rolls, while Joshua made his first homemade pie crust. We all made the pumpkin filling and finished the pie together.  When we got to Grandma Sue's, John and I made homemade Mac and Cheese.  Ashlyn made some cute name cards for the table this year as well.  Here are a few pics of our homemade Thanksgiving...

Jonathan has decided that when counting anytime out loud, he will omit the number 13.  He doesn't even realize he is doing it.  I think he can recognize the number 13 on a flashcard, but just refuses to add it to his recitation when counting.  It's pretty funny. So according to his 2nd quarter progress report, he still needs work on "Counting to 100!"

Joshua's class just finished studying Greek Mythology and instead of a traditional Thanksgiving Feast today, they celebrated a Greek Festival. My friend Joy and I were in charge of the party. We had a costume parade, Greek Bingo, Greek God Charades, and some yummy Greek food. Here are a few pics from the fun, complete with Medusa and her crew...

Our church has a wonderful ministry called "Drop n' Date" that happens once a quarter.  Basically our kids get to hang out with all their friends in a structured environment, enjoy free pizza, a craft, a movie, and some kind of game, while John and I go out on the town for four hours.  It's wonderful.  This time was a special Drop, Shop n' Date, but since we don't have any gift ideas yet for our kids, we enjoyed dinner on the Plaza.  We ate at our new favorite, special place (we went there for our anniversary too) called Fogo De Chao.  It's Brazilian food and the best customer service you will ever receive at a restaurant.  We walked around the Plaza a little, enjoyed Sheridan's for dessert and started a Blockbuster movie.  Then we picked the kids up.  It was a relaxing and much needed date night.  We can't wait for the next one!

Ashlyn's volleyball team won their season tournament today. She was excited to get a first place medal. She really improved this season, and has really mastered the over hand serve. She is not certain if she will play again with Gladstone or FCA's team next year, but is looking forward to the summer camp she went to last summer. Here are a couple pics from the win. Way to go Electric Lime!

I surprised Jonathan yesterday for the Line Creek Elementary Thanksgiving Day Lunch.  We went through the hot lunch line together, ate some turkey and tators and had fun conversation with his friends.  His expression on his face describes the yummy, square pieces of turkey we had!  I told him I would try to start coming for lunch sometimes on Tues or Thurs when the other kids are done with their homework early.  I'll bring some fast food those days though :)

Ashlyn had a couple good friends over yesterday to bake three fun Pinterest recipes we found.  All three girls really enjoyed their time together.  We hope to do it again soon.  Here are a few pics of our fun and the results of our delicious "experiments" as they called it.       I think their favorite part was separating the egg whites.  I heard an abundance of laughter during those times...

We are enjoying two favorite shows together this fall...both are getting close to ending.  We find ourselves yelling at the TV and jumping up and down sometimes.  We haven't enjoyed TV like this together ever I think.  What favorite shows do you enjoy with your family?

Ashlyn prepared MO ballots for our crew to participate in our own family election last night.  It was fun to see the kids so excited about who they were picking.  We had an interesting conversation when it was done to discuss the results. John and I will go vote at the real polls today in this very important election.  Have you voted?

Yep, our sweet Caleb has to line up all of his candy to fully understand just how much candy he got.  It didn't take too long to get it all done though and it was completely his idea.  He didn't get too upset when we dumped it all into 2 gallon bags later on when I promised to get a picture of it like this :) So I thought I would share it.

Our crew enjoyed Halloween yesterday with the Chally's. They had some pretty cute costumes.  Altogether, we had a french artist, Indiana Jones, a Mad Scientist, an adorable lion, Mario, Air Force guy, Red Power Ranger, and a nurse. We began the night with our traditional Chipolte dinner (John and I dressed up too for a $2 meal) and then we headed out to trick or treat in our neighborhood. We missed Grandma Sue and Grandpa Gary who usually join us, but were able to see them for a few minutes before dinner. Here are a few pics of the fun...the last picture is our loot we ended the night with! Enough candy for movie nights through the rest of the school year.