The Hanson Crew

Caleb's 3rd grade class has been learning how to bowl in PE.  His class took a field trip to Gladstone Bowl and a pizza restaurant this month for a field trip.  Here is his class with his teacher, Mrs. Carlson.

One would think that changing ceiling fan in an older home would be a couple hour job.  Not for our crew!  In our defense it is a vaulted ceiling. So we had to use a large extension ladder along with a step ladder. The old fan that we took down worked fine, but was from the 70s and out of date.  I decided to search Lowe's the last month for newer ones and preferably one with a remote control.  I ended up finding one at Home Depot this past week.  It was originally $269 and was clearanced for $135.  It came with a remote control, but no box or instructions.  The employee told me to print off the instructions off the website.  I decided to have John come take a look at it before I purchased it. Fast forward to Home Depot Trip #2. John and I went and bought the fan.  We printed the instructions and the demolition began.  We convinced them to give us a new circle light bulb since the one in the display wasn't working correctlty. The kids and I took down the old one while Jo

I finally found a wonderful sign for the boys bathroom to help them remember to wash their hands.  I wonder if standing facing the sign three times a day will help them memorize it!

Looks like the snow is melting enough for us to skip the gym and enjoy a bike ride!  Hoping for more of these PE days in the Spring.

Jonathan has only talked about one girl the whole school year.  Her name is Haley.  Here is a picture of her sitting in between his best friend Tyler. Notice Jonathan's eyes.  That explains his true feelings toward her.  This is our first real crush in our house.  We are not sure how our last child is the first to have these feelings, but is sure has been cute.  He always talks about her.  All the time.  He even smiles just to say her name.  He has hung her school picture above his bed.  We wonder if they will get married some day and the above picture will be seen on their wedding invitation...

John and I decided to shop for Valentine's Day together this year on our Monday date night.  He bought some jeans and a couple shirts.  I bought a movie and some candy.  He still surprised me in the morning of Valentines Day with flowers and a CD.  It was a great surprise.  I look forward to surprising him next year on our 18th Valentine's Day together :)

We have been enjoying our Wed evenings as a family the past month. We have named it Family Game Night.  We have enjoyed card games, Phase 10, poker, and recently Risk.  I think the kids like Risk the best right now.  We are ready to throw Setllers of Catan next...

It's hard to believe my niece Rylee is turning 16 today!!  Where has the time gone.  I remember when Carol first told us she was pregnant.  I remember when she was just 6 months old at our wedding. And I remember watching her grow up into the beautiful lady she has become.  Happy Birthday Rylee!!

Our boys have really started to enjoy name brand clothing and since we don't have the money to buy them new, we typically search our thrift stores for certain brands.  This past week, we scored a huge basket of Under Armour!!  The best part is each shirt or pants - $5 thanks to the 50% off tag sale!  We have been able to find a lot of Under Armour at our Park Hill Clothing Center too this year.  That is where Park Hill students can go to get free clothing two days a month.  I volunteer there and just love this parent volunteer ran "thrift store."  Everything is donated and hung up, and then given to students.  We have started donating all of our clothes there now.  Such a great blessing!

Our home school group decided to venture to home school week at Crown Center this week. They had inexpensive tickets available to many exhibits, stores, museums, etc in this district for homeschoolers that week. We took advantage of $7 tickets to Lego Land, a field trip with the group to Kaleidescope and then a tour through the Liberty Memorial. It was a fun couple days. Jonathan was home on a snow day for Lego Land so he came along as well to that one. Here are some pictures from Lego Land...

Both Joshua and Ashlyn enjoyed sending Flat Stanley out of the state in second grade when they were reading the books. We were the recipient this time of the Flat Stanley project. My niece Abby sent him to us and asked us to take him on a Kansas City adventure. We chose to go today before a big snow storm hits... We began our adventure by displaying his presence in Kansas City :) But quickly after, an eagle snatched him... We survived that and ventured down to our favorite free art museum.  We love the Badminton statues there! Kansas City is also known for numerous fountains around town.  We like this one in North Kansas City with a mother statue followed  by her five fun children!  It is too cold for the water to run right now, but usually they each have water spraying around their fun personalities.... Another favorite fountain in the Northland is actually on year round.  It is very frozen right now, but continues to have the water flowing.  Close up, you can see the w

We enjoyed Superbowl 48 with a few friends this year, but missed the Cordovas like usual!  Although the team we were cheering for didn't win, we had alot of fun and loved this football season.  What a great team and great quarterback. Maybe next year Broncos!