The Hanson Crew

We decided to paint the boys' room this past weekend to make it look a little bigger now that there are 3 in it. The room was a bright yellow and red w/ a car border in the middle before. So we took down the border and I had the kids help prime it white before I painted it a light blue grey color. Here are the kids helping out...I'll post pictures of the new room tomorrow . They did a great job!

So now that Ashlyn is a great reader it is always fun to hear her read to the boys and I. Well, today she mispronounced something that made me laugh so I thought I would share. We have been waiting for the UPS man to come ever since we ordered our books online and today he finally came. As he pulled up, Ashlyn yelled "the ups (like the direction up) man is here!" We haven't quite gone over abbreviations yet! She said it like 3 other times talking about it to the library. It made me chuckle each time she said it.

This is Amazing! Now each of you should take a deep breathe and smile. Then, realize that there are people (even men) demonstrating a lot of patience today. Enjoy your day, especially with your children this afternoon a little more :)

Better late than never ... coming soon to a mailbox near you! (Click on the image to enlarge)

with all six of the crew!

The Before (yes, the spaghetti won most days!) The After (6 are improved and all will probably last about 6 months)

So we did a little more research about moles, grubs, and gophers and I think what we really have is a pocket gopher! The dirt in the piles is very sandy and there are only about 3 piles (no obvious tunnel). These are two things that point more towards a gopher. We could try to flush the hole with gasoline or water and see what happens. We'll keep you posted on the progress of that this weekend. Thanks so much for all the advice with the moles...if it turns out to be that instead, we will start with the grub stuff. Thanks so much!

After my last post I realized how many of you might be wondering what kind of place I am raising my children in! Besides, the occasional 4 foot snake, garter snakes, poison ivy, and now moles, our backyard truly is a great place! It keeps 3 very active children (and soon Jonathan) very busy in the Spring and Summer. I thought I would share what it has to offer in spite of all these bad visitors. We've got a very safe trampoline (minus the screw in the leg that gave Joshua stitches), an awesome swingset, a couple playhouses, some shade, and landscaping! If you are ever in the Kansas City area or even in Kearney country (for those who live here), please feel free to stop by and visit... The great swingset that was here when we bought the house From the deck, a hideout for the boys Our deck and playhouse for the kids to also hide in Some shade and beautiful blooms in the Spring The evidence from the mole under the shade!

So Monday night John was cutting the grass and we noticed evidence of another bad visitor to our yard. I really do love my yard, but it is becoming a little too "country" for me! The evidence this time...about 3 or 4 piles of brown dirt in a line. I went ahead and did my normal investigation steps and typed "piles of dirt in my yard" in the Google search bar. Yep, you guessed it, moles! The Hanson's have always hated moles, no not the kind we have in our yard, but the ones all over our bodies. I think every child so far has inherited this gene from John or I as well as freckles (especially Ashlyn). Now we have added this kind of mole to our list. So I called pest control to come and trap our unfriendly mole and it is crazy how much that costs...so we are going to talk to a person John knows through work to see what to do. Any tips on how to mudjack this one away?? Advice is always welcome!

So when we had Ashlyn many years ago, we were determined to do everything the nurses, drs, etc told us about child raising. One of the first things we were told at the hospital with her was not to try a pacifier since she was nursing. We quickly listened and never tried. When Joshua came along, we thought it wouldn't hurt to try one so we bought a couple brands and he spit them all at us! So we moved on with him as well and just nursed him when he needed to suck on something. Caleb was another story...I remember feeling so discouraged that I was nursing all the time! Anyone who hung out with me for more than a couple hours would wonder or say "wow, he sure nurses a lot." It was not time to feed him, but he would nurse to simply suck or get happy in between meals (not entirely snacking either). Well, I was REALLY excited to try any new pacifiers they have come out with for Jonathan and talked about it during my pregnancy. "This child will be different, and I won'

"Don't mess with us cause we'll come and get ya!" (Caleb's already coming...)

One of John's favorite hobbies is Cigar smoking. He enjoys sitting on the deck in the late evening on a cool summer night reading and smoking a great smelling cigar (not good smelling to the rest of us though). Well, last night we were at a friends house and it was the perfect night. Unfortunately, he forget to bring his usual cigar friends that we are all used to seeing at home. So John and his friend Nate enjoyed one of Nate's favorite things...an old fashioned pipe. Lisa and I were inside taking some pictures of the babies and Ashlyn came in. She said "Dad is still smoking his tuba and won't play with me right now!" Lisa and I couldn't stop laughing. A pipe really does resemble a small tuba, especially to a 6 year old!

finally saw it and loved it. Thought it was more like the first.

This is Logan Edward Buffington and he was born a few months too early. He weighed 1 pound 11 ounces when he was born and was 13 inches long. He is healthy for his age and seems to be doing very well. He is wearing his dad's wedding ring on his right arm and is so little. Please pray he will continue to be healthy and his parents while they travel back and forth to the hospital the next few months...these are good friends of John's family. Thanks!

Got this in an email tonight and had to share it...it made us laugh!!!

Well, I am about half way done with this great book by John MacArthur and had to write a post about it. This book is designed for people who have lost a child, whether it be unborn, stillborn, or a young child. I wanted to read it after a friend told me about it when she miscarried. It is awesome! I am always interested in reading someone's opinion about something the bible doesn't clearly answer...and because there is no plain explanation about what happens to young children and babies when they die, I have to agree with this author and the scripture he references. Some friends and I got into a pretty deep conversation over the 4th of July about it and we were all sharing what our husbands believed. Some believed only the elected children would go on to heaven and we do not know which children are of the elect just like adults (I agree that only the elected adults go to heaven as it is explained in Romans 9). Others, with myself included, thought that the bible says over and

So I'm not sure if you all remember the really big snake we had in our front yard the beginning of summer, but I sure do. I watched it slither into a small hole we had at the end of our driveway one day. Since that day, I would go out to check the mail or be outside playing with the kids and wonder if that snake was still in the hole or not. I would expect to see him on the driveway when it rained. When we bought our house 3 years ago, our driveway had two spots that did not pass our safety inspection. The driveway and sidewalk sloped way down right where these people are...and in that slope was the "snake hole." Well I am excited to report that the city of Kearney came and fixed our sidewalks this month with this Mudjacking company. This picture shows a great view of where the hole used to be...right in that corner next to that bush....notice no more hole and yep, hopefully no more snakes! I am so excited to check my mail again!! We did go back this past weekend and fil

Joshua had his first official eye exam today at Children's Mercy to make sure he does not see double like John did at 3. He was starting to close one eye when he pointed to things and we were a little nervous. John did that at 3 to focus on things because he saw double. It was so cute to hear him name all the pictures on the monitor (instead of letters since he is so young) and we were so proud of him...20/20 vision. The Dr . said he probably has picked up a new habit (maybe he'll be a great target shooter someday!) and can see great! Now if only Caleb and Jonathan don't inherit this bad gene, we might have no pediatric glasses after all :)

A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her nameplate that her name is Patricia Whack. "Miss Whack, I'd like to get a $30,000 loan to take a holiday." Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog says his name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's okay, he knows the bank manager. Patty explains that he will need to secure the loan with some collateral. The frog says, "Sure. I have this," and produces a tiny porcelain elephant, about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed. Very confused, Patty explains that she'll have to consult with the bank manager and disappears into a back office. She finds the manager and says, "There's a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000, and he wants to use this as collateral." She holds up the tiny pink elephant. "I mean, what in the world is this?" The bank manager looks back a

We finally got around to adding Jonathan to our family website this past week. We will try to update all the picture slide show soon when we get some more pictures taken. We added a short story of our family too called "Our Family Story" explaining how and when we became 6. Here is the link to the site: http://home.kc.rr.com/thehanson5 (Nope, we are not going to change the link for now to the hanson 6 because alot of people have this link already saved on their computer for our Christmas updates...maybe later though.)

The kids and I went to a friends new apartment to swim yesterday and had a blast. It was a little challenging for me and Leah to keep up with 7 kids alone, but we did it. Jonathan slept most of the time in a playpen, while I kept tabs on Caleb and Joshua. Leah had 1 year old Katherine and 3 year old James to keep up with, while Ashlyn and Abigail swam together (the pool was 3 ft and 4 ft). It was fun...and I have a reminder, a very red back!! I love Aloe Vera today! Me, Caleb and a very safe Joshua! Jonathan ready for his very 1st swimming adventure (a cute new Chocolate Soup outfit from Grandma Sue) Caleb enjoying Katherine's floater Joshua ready to jump in again and still very safe! Leah and James Ashlyn and Abby swimming around The girls ready for the pool (a little outnumbered by the boys!)

We finally got one of Jonathan's smiles on camera to share!

Ashlyn's proud platefull Joshua enjoying his piece of art The two working together side by side Caleb's favorite part...the frosting!