Hanson Crew

You guessed it, watching the movie and munching on Mexican food! We never did get that winter storm everyone was talking about today, but we were prepared anyway :)

Joshua came up with this one during our family reading time and only lasted about 5 minutes inside - he was out quick. I really need some new pillow cases I think (maybe some that match), don't you?

Yesterday I went through all of our newborn through 9 months stuff and really organized. We were able to give a trash bag of clothes to the Racheal House, a bag to a friend expecting her first boy, and a queen size bed full of Craigslist opportunity! My garage is looking bigger already. In the midst of all this organization and walk down memory lane, I worked up a new project I am excited about. We have one huge tub of Ashlyn's favorite baby outfits already saved away. We made one yesterday for all the boys stuff too (it all fit in 1 1/2 tubs really for all 3). We are going to print off some baby pictures on some fabric of each child and make a memory baby quilt for each of them . I am so excited to do this! Because each 0-3 months outfit is kinda small, each quilt square will be smaller with a bigger photo in the middle (great idea Lisa). I am imagining a 3 foot square blanket for each. Joshua keeps asking me today, when we are going to start. I admit, it will be hard ...

You can never be too prepared!

So we went to the big Kids Clearance thing at Kohl's this past weekend and found some great deals - 80% and 90% off. Here is a favorite...a fun Church outfit for Joshua, only $8. The best news is that soon it will be Caleb's and then Jonathans :)

So today, Jan 27th is Chocolate Cake Day ! It seems to only be advertised on most eCard websites and come calendar sites. I thought it was pretty exciting so we made chocolate chunk brownies for the occasion! Our crew LOVES chocolate! Go out and get something warm, gooey, and chocolate today!

So I took a picture of Jonathan at 8 months and saw Caleb for the first time. Usually I think Jonathan resembles Ashlyn as a baby...so I pulled out some pictures of Caleb and Joshua at 8 months to check it all out. It is clear that Joshua looks nothing like the other two...definitely takes after the Hanson side. The other two both resemble Ashlyn a lot, maybe those 3 are good mixtures of both mom and dad (Caleb might take after John a little more - he is our mini-John). Ashlyn's 8 month pictures were unfortunately not digital and my scanner is broken. Here are the 3 boys though all at 8 months... Jonathan Luke - 8 mos (Snuggling with Ashlyn's baby blanket) Caleb Ryan 8 months Joshua Paul - 8 months (Loving his stroller ride)

Meet two of our new family pets, Gab and Letterbox. They have become quite fun for everyone - they are WebKinz pets so we play with them a lot now on the computer. They came into our family right after Christmas and are pretty fun! Caleb has especially become attached to Letterbox (the frog) and sleeps with him each night with his dog. So we are a crew with 4 pets now - these two and Clue and Mystery (the gerbils).

So Ashlyn and Joshua were a little older when they started attending worship service with us on Wed night. Caleb has started pretty frequently lately and last night was his first experience of a communion service (he still goes to nursery sometimes on Sunday mornings though). We have already explained to Joshua and Ashlyn why we take communion and why they are not yet able to participate. They both do a pretty good job during this service now. We had not yet talked with Caleb before last night - who is not quite 3 yet. As soon as the bread was passed out, he says "me, me". I whispered "No Caleb, I will explain later why you cannot have this yet." He began to stare at the cracker and smile, licking his lips (note to self - feed my children more before Wed night services with communion). Have I not mentioned how animated this child is...it was like torturing him with candy or something. Then he became a little worried about John and pointed to him repeating "da...

Jonathan usually screams when he is frustrated (like at the intro of this video). This past week he has started voicing his anger with some baby babble...something like "mamamama babababa daaaadaa". It is so cute even when he is mad. I thought I would share it even though it was so mean to make him sit there wanting me to hold him for 2 minutes :) I held him when I finished recording for the picnic. Now if I can only get him to talk when he is happy :)

So despite what could have been a real life 24 episode, our very own Jack Bauer (aka Kiefer Sutherland) was released from prison today without any kind of jailbreak! Maybe he can focus on bringing back 24 now or at least convince those writers of his to begin again :)

So Caleb is by far our most expressive child...not with language, but facial communication. He will look at something or get excited about something and his whole face lights up literally! Well, we knew that when we actually began potty training we were in for a treat... The first time Caleb went to the bathroom standing up without a diaper, was at a Dr's. office. He had to pee in a cup and was a little weary. To help ease the process, John put on the bathroom sink a little. It worked like a charm. He was SO excited and finally understood how this all works. So this past week we have started putting him on the potty a little. He has a routine now of what to do... He turns the light on, moves the step stool to the sink and turns on the water. He then moves the step stool back to the toilet, lifts the lid, goes (with pure excitement I might add!), puts the lid down, flushes, and then pulls his pants up. He washes his hands and then runs to everyone yelling "pee, pee" with t...

John and I had a relaxing dinner/movie date today while the rest of the crew went to Grandma Sues. We ate at the Texas Roadhouse for lunch and then went to see Mad Money. Both were excellent. The movie actually takes place here in KC and stars many of my favorites - Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes, Ted Danson, and Curtis from 24. It kept me laughing and was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

One of John's favorite things to do when he was young was play Star Wars with his mom. They had all the pieces to the original movies and would set up the entire thing. They would play for hours and my mother-in-law really could never part with all of it. Our boys love Star Wars right now so John asked his mom for his old toys back. It was fun for him to go through this huge tub of toys and explain everything to us. He even had some old cars he made in middle school, old cowboys and Indians , and some old awards. We got rid of some of the smaller pieces and misc stuff and are excited to find the people in storage to play. While we were pulling it all out we started talking a little about toys in the 80s. John and I had a few toys in common - Garbage Pail Kids Trading Cards, Transformers, and Choose Your Own Adventure Books. While he enjoyed playing Star Wars and GI Joes with his mom, my sisters and I loved playing Barbies and store/bank/house. What were some of your favorites?

Words of Wisdom from Joshua tonight at dinner: "Jonathan you are getting SO big. Someday you are gonna be a kid. And then a big grown-up. God sent you to be a kid and then be big like a dad, Jonathan. I am so proud of you!"

We have had 2 people tell us about this now and are going to give it a try soon...thought I would share so those moms who are a little more organized than me can give it a shot sooner. You might have to click on the picture to read this better or print it....enjoy!

As promised - Joshua was a little camera shy when I recorded this so he didn't sing as much as he normally does....he still had all his moves. (There is no physical basketball in the video, but he pretends to have one most of the time!) We have officially became High School Musical crazy here...today we bought the DVD Board game on Clearance...what can we say a family obsessed with 24 and now HSM , something a little more kid-friendly!

Joshua actually know the words to this song now and walks around singing it all the time...here is the actual song from the movie, High School Musical...Joshua's song debut video coming soon!

Very cool, huh? HT: Amy Henry

So I can't remember exactly when my sister was here last, but I think it has been close to a year. When she came to visit, my 1999 mini-van started doing weird things (remember that drive from the airport A?) Anyway, the battery would work intermittently while driving and everything would turn off all of a sudden (the radio, the digital speedometer, air, etc) and the car would kinda jerk. We thought it was the battery connectors since the battery was really new. We tightened them and it seemed to help for awhile, except when we hit a pretty big bump. A few months later it happened again and then a few more months after that. We stuck pin needles inside the connector to help it be tighter and had to clean off the corrosion each month. It seemed to be doing better until today. Yes, on Wed, a very busy day for the Hanson household. We started the day by waking everyone one at 6:30 (not a fun task to do when 4 sleeping children want to keep sleeping!). We all got dressed and had...

We got it for Christmas from Auntie Karen and Uncle Ben in Colorado and love it! The kids are better at it than the adults! Highly recommend it for a few laughs...great family fun for everyone!

John just called and said he found his ring at the gym today! He told me to update my blog so everyone knows that he is not losing his mind. It looks like he will be enjoying more books with all his gift money after all :) Oh, and he wanted me to say that it was Heltzberg Diamonds where we got our wedding bands in Colo Springs...so maybe my mind is slowly going too! He laughed because I said it was one of my favorite memories and I didn't even remember the correct store we made the actual purchase. Ha! Thanks for reminding me John!

So we added our Willow Tree collection to our living room this week with a neat new cranberry wreath (we got two new figurines in Dec so its officially a collection now). I am hoping to get more of these to fill the entire shelf - there are so many. I wish I was as brave as my friend Ginny who does really neat things in her living room! We added a picture collage next to the shelf to show off Lisa's excellent photography and our beautiful children! Most of the artwork in our home includes them :)

So if there is one memory that really stands out in my mind from when John and I were dating it is going shopping for my wedding ring. He totally surprised me with the engagement ring and did great all by himself! But we went together and picked out the wedding bands to go with it. It was a long shopping experience, but fun! We went to Zales and even got a cheesy bear from the jeweler that said "Loved so much" on his little shirt - we still have that bear in our guestroom. Anyway, it took John about 4 years to loose that wedding ring. He was working out all the time and his fingers just got too thin. We think it ended up somewhere at the gym or locker room - not too sure. He bought a replacement and yes, gained most of that weight back soon after! I was thankful at the time for really good pictures at our wedding of the original, and didn't care too much about the sentimental aspect of that ring being gone forever. So, tonight he came home with some bad news...that repla...

So our first day of bible study was today and I am so excited! We are studying the Psalms of Ascents which include Psalm 120 through 134. We are going to learn and meditate on these 15 chapters over the next 7 weeks...the history behind these songs or Pilgrimage Feasts as they are sometimes called. We have learned so much already. All 3 boys did great in a strange place for 3 whole hours. I have been reminded the past few days about how quick our lives are here - a vapor - and I am excited to be able to share today with you this exciting new study. We'll keep you posted...and hope to share a few lessons learned through each 45 minute daily lesson. I really needed this discipline back in my life and have always enjoyed Beth Moore's studies before. Have a great rest of the week.

Jonathan is officially in the big bathtub now without his little blue chair. He is in 12 month clothes and always eating something! We are excited to be giving away his infant stuff now and can't wait for the mobile stage...

I have been keeping my eye on those nice big jewelry armories for awhile to organize all my new "stuff" I have been given these past couple years. Right when I was about to buy one for $75, my mother-in-law gave me a great idea. My biggest complaint about my current jewelry box is the necklace area. There are two little doors, not long enough, that hold about 10 necklaces. The bigger one that I was going to buy holds 40 and is really tall so they won't get tangled. Anyway, I implemented her idea this week - a tie rack from Target for $6 behind my bedroom door. The hooks don't overlap so you can hang a ton of chains. It works great! Great idea Sue! I also found this jewelry box clearanced at Target for $7 that same day (one of the holiday red gifts they sale at 80% off) to organize my earrings, bracelets, and necklace jewels. It is great and much more appealing than my old 80s one. Ashlyn has enjoyed getting a mom-me-down and loves that one in her room for h...

Yes, it was very late, what can we say we were bored! (We're all missing some facial hair - the person who did that was not pictured! He was too busy playing Jack Bauer and shooting us!)

A typical Monday in the Hanson household consists of a little more sleep, laundry, and cleaning. I help get John and Ashlyn out the door by 7:00 and go back to bed for another hour. When the boys get up, we have breakfast, get dressed, and play a little. I am switching laundry most of the day while we are picking up from the weekend. After lunch and naps, John and Ashlyn are usually home by 4:00. We have dinner together and then hang out doing something late since John doesn't go in until 10:00 on Tuesdays (we were excited for 24 on Monday nights, but that doesn't look too promising right now!). So in 2008, starting next Monday, our Mondays are changing! I am starting a new Women's bible study with my mother-in-law in Liberty from 9 to noon. I am excited since it is the new Beth Moore study and a church right in Liberty (10 minutes away). The boys are excited for a pretty organized childcare time with games, snacks, and lunch. It will be good for the older boys to get use...

We threw out the gingerbread houses and the snowman is melting away...we thought we should capture the artwork before its all gone! Ashlyn's snowman smiling for her photo She was so proud to do this one with no help Joshua and Caleb's house - created on Thanksgiving Ashlyn's masterpiece - most of which is in her tummy now

I asked Ashlyn what she would like to do in 2008 and this is what she said: Go to the Amazing Pizza Machine in Omaha Go to Colorado to see my aunt, uncle, and cousin See High School Musical 3 in October I want my own camera - one that comes with batteries and will last for a long time (I think this is because her Little T ikes camera she got when she was 3 was a complete failure :) Get more glue (I think her supply is low at school?) I'm going to make a new chore chart (this could be our 5 th one I think) and stick to it! Listen better (yes, mom helped with this one a little)

Happy New Year!!! This has become our background music all week...Ashlyn and Joshua (aka Gabriella and Troy) have requested this one be put on the blog. Have a great New Years Day.