The Hanson Crew

So, because of the Leap Year we all got an extra day in February today...this is a hard thing to explain to someone learning about months/days in school. Joshua is really into the calendar and looking to see what we have planned for that day. I told him today was an extra day in Feb that only happens every 4 years - he kinda looked at me funny and said "I am four too mommy!" Maybe he'll get that one when he is 8. So our extra day was pretty busy and what I would call a "Love on our car day". We started the day going to speech therapy where Caleb got his picture taken with Miss Catherine to hang in the Clay County Health Dept lobby area (this was kinda exciting since she only picked one person for the speech dept). Then Caleb and J and I went to Grandma Sue's to pick up Joshua who had a sleep over there last night. We then went to the drive- thru car wash (holding Caleb's hand the whole time - he hates that thing) and then vacuumed the whole van (w

After a lot of messy drool and constant chewing, tooth number 5 has arrived. It is J's 3rd on the bottom. We think 2 more on the top should be coming next - probably just in time for our 12 hour drive to CO...we hope it will wait till we get back! He is sure getting so big!

In between laundry, diapers, meals, bible study lessons (ends next week already) and cleaning I have been trying to spend some one on one time with each child. It doesn't happen each day, but I am trying to schedule them into our busy time together. Here is what we have been working on: Ashlyn - She is working on an inventors unit in school, memorizing the Beatitudes in Sunday School, finishing up her last 2 jewels in her Sparks book, and working on her normal 1st grade work on Tuesdays and Thursdays with me. Joshua - He is learning to write his letters, read them, and continues to work on his shapes, colors, writing his name, and manners. Caleb - Still potty training here and there, learning colors and shapes, working on his speech lessons/book, and working on using his words in every day play, etc. Jonathan - Reading more with him, laying on the floor with him to bribe him to crawl, pulling up a little, and trying to stand. In a nutshell, teaching Ashlyn to memorize, Joshua to re

We noticed at dinner tonight that the kids and I had two Disney made meals today. Both were actually pretty good.... for lunch... Disney frozen pizza and Cars pasta for dinner!

So I am working on a friend's photography website and need some help. Does anyone know a really catchy, fun song? I am thinking something that is so easy to start to sing along with. We can't come up with something and we are hoping to have a song playing in the background while her slide show of work plays. Any help would be greatly appreciated.... PS - We found Baba today!!! He was under Jonathan's crib and we are all very excited (well, mostly Caleb!)

Yep, Baba is officially missing again...we are hoping he was just left at Daddy's work today for lunch, but if not, this day might have been his last day with us. We had him after bible study and on our way to work....we thought we had him here before Hobby Night, but we just can't remember for sure....we'll keep you posted on his where abouts or if Letterbox will become Caleb's new best friend.

We got a Friendship Bracelet book for Ashlyn's 6 th birthday and we finally gave it a try today - a year and a half later. It was a little hard for her after awhile, so I finished them up. It was a fun, different activity for us. Ashlyn chose to wear hers on her ankle and the boys picked their arms.

A new winter cut just in time for cousin pictures in freezing Colorado! Jonathan got his cut too, but not this short - he is napping so we didn't get a picture. John went ahead and let them decide how short they wanted to go - they must really admire their daddy cause they want to look just like him! Just kidding John!

So my little sister gave me the heads up about a promo code that works the whole month of Feb at the RedBox for a free movie. We took advantage of it this morning and got "Undercover Dora." If you are interested in a free flick, click on "Enter a Promo Code" when you first get to the RedBox. Type "President" for the code - celebrating Presidents Day. Select your movie, and you'll see it is free when you check out. You will still need to swipe your card in case you bring it in late and off you go! Thanks so much A - we love great deals like this :)

I think we're in trouble when this one becomes a teenager! Maybe he can teach his older brothers to be a little less like their mommy (picky) and eat a little more.

"Mom, were you done with this?"

It was freezing last night (below 0 wind chill) when we got home from church, but we were still able to go out on the deck and watch the eclipse. It was fast and neat. This picture isn't so good because John's breathe kept getting in the way I think. We hope some of you got to go out and see it too :)

Does anyone else have a hard time remembering their life before 5? I know I sure do and it drives my mother crazy. She'll bring up a time or memory she loved when I was really young and expect me to remember the whole thing. But I don't. It doesn't bother me at all until I stop and realize that my children are going to be the same way! I spend every day (mainly every minute) with them and enjoy so many things they say and do. In ten years, they might not remember any of it. It's already noticible in Ashlyn when we talk about stuff in her scrapbook like our old house in Liberty or something she said and she really doesn't know what I am talking about. So all this sad talk makes me excited to share a moment Joshua and I enjoyed together last night that I think he will actually remember! After Ashlyn and I started our Girls Night Out dates, I felt like she was different with me. She would talk to me a little more openly about things we normally wouldn't ta

So we are a big movie family...not much tv (only 24) and what can we say our family foundation is built upon movies. Not really, but John and I met working at a Blockbuster Video in college. We watched way too many movies the past 10 years. Anyway, my favorite genre is Romantic Comedies and his is Action. We typically meet somewhere in between with a great comedy or family movie. I was thinking today about some of our favorite movies and how many of them are about friendship. Here is my top 10 favorite friendship movies of all time (or at least the ones I could think of tonight). Let me know if I forgot any others.... 1. Steel Magnolias 2. Stand by Me 3. Grumpy Old Men 4. The Odd Couple 5. Beaches 6. Pearl Harbor 7. White Squall 8. Nothing to Lose 9. Fried Green Tomatoes 10. Dead Poets Society I was trying to keep to those movies about friendship where the friends were not actually related. There were quite a few of those too that could make my list. Oh, this list makes me want

So tonight at dinner someone hit the table at the perfect beat (I think John) so we all started singing "We will Rock You". The kids really liked the song. It was a lot of fun! The kids loved singing it, even Jonathan who was shaking his rattle to the beat! Here's to the good ol' days! Enjoy!

So it looks like we will be buying one of those tv converter boxes now to get our tv to work in 2009! Adrienne, you still have almost a whole year to watch the first 6 seasons on DVD and catch up! We have the first two if you need them :) Carol, 5 more to go! We've got a busy summer planned now.

So our crew is being very LAZY today! We got a snow storm early this morning and our church service was cancelled. We filled our living room with toys and blankets and just hung out. John got to listen to more of his book on tape, we watched a movie and ate alot. The best news - Jonathan got a lot of tummy time. And yes, he is officially moving - not crawling. He goes around in circles on his tummy and loves it. He is really reaching and grunting for things more too. He pushed off a wall and actually moved forward, but only once. I give him another week and we might have a mover. I am very excited! I do think this child will be an overachiever with his verbal skills, so maybe his motor skills will stay behind for awhile. What a difference between Caleb and J...maybe they can teach eachother someday :) I have noticed Jonathan taking a lot after Ashlyn when she was a baby, but she moved and talked early for her age. I just love watching them all grow and change. Ashlyn is getting so big

John was looking at this CD the other day on iTunes and I heard a couple songs...it sounds really good. They have a version of "Before the Throne of God" I really like. He might be downloading it soon so we can listen to the whole thing. Anyway, if you get a chance you can check it out here too!

So Jonathan turns 9 months today and it is hard to believe how big he is getting. He will go for his 9 month check up at the end of the month, so we don't know "his numbers" today, but my guess he is not in the 90th percentile anymore - maybe 75%. He has started a few new things. He loves to clap, play peek-a-boo, giggle, bounce, stand, shake his head no, and eat ANYTHING! Some new favorites include jello, goldfish, pb&j sandwich, sliced carrots (instead of the baby food kind), crackers, and his new favorite a sucker (thanks Papa Phil and Gramma Velma for that)! He is still not mobile, which just drives me crazy - our other kids started walking about 10 months and he isn't even crawling (that tummy must be too heavy to lift for a long period of time). He will stand holding on to furniture, but I have to put him there, he will not pull up yet. He scoots backwards on his tummy and prefers to be carried everywhere - he has taken the role of the baby very seriously! H

"So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. " - 1 Corinthians 13:13 We hope you all are enjoying this lovely day! We enjoyed sleeping in today (even John) and spending last night together. We were all spoiled with gifts and fell asleep early. Happy Valentines Day!

with our new camera...we love it!

In honor of V-day, I ran to the redbox to rent a romantic comedy for today's naptime. It was very good, but I think it should be labeled a drama romance instead of comedy. We are recommending this one to our bloggers if you get a free couple hours. Sidebar - after the show I asked Joshua if he still wanted to be a cook when he grows up. He said, "No mom, I'm going to be an elegant!" I said, "Do you mean an elephant?" Of course, a loud "noooo" followed that one. "You know, the man who lives in the rocket!" Oh right, an astronaut, of course! Alton Brown will be so disappointed!

prunes baby food + target brand diapers = more laundry for mom and baby

So we moved on to book 4 of our Narnia series this weekend and are very excited! At first, I wondered why they made book 4 into the next movie and not book 3 (the horse and his boy), but now that we started Prince Caspian we know why. It follows the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe story very well w/o needing book 3. This trailer seems to follow the book exactly so far, just like the first movie followed book 2 so well. We can't wait to finish before the movie comes out so we can all go together and see it!

My friend Cari is in charge of decorating a 80 foot stage at the Liberty Memorial this year for the National Day of Prayer. I had the honor of helping her design two 20 feet tall banners for the event! I worked on it this weekend and was proud of the final proof - so I had to share it. She is going to hang them on each side of the stage so that people driving by the Union Station will be able to see them on the hill. It sounds like a fun day on May 1st. For those not in KC, there is probably a location for this event in your city as well - it is a national event. We might even venture downtown to check ours out (and to see our work in action)! Now onto my next project - redesigning L and B expressions (more coming soon about that new look). Click on the image to enlarge

The new feet picture header has arrived! We hope the picture doesn't scream out all the horrible few moments it took to get it :) We love it - thanks again Lisa!

I know most of my readers are not 24 viewers, but for the few of you who are...doesn't Huckabee look and kinda talk like President Logan??? I couldn't believe it on Super Tuesday as I was watching the coverage. Too bad nobody is running resembling David Palmer (not looks - I mean personality)!

Since our church service was cancelled last night, we took advantage of a family movie night - and since we are really missing Jack Bauer and 24, we found a movie that had been around for awhile with him in it :) It was actually pretty good.

So after a couple very warm days (in the 60s and 70s), we were blasted last night with a winter storm. We woke up to see this out our front door, and the best news - an email saying there was no school! Looks like Ashlyn gets a 3 day break in the middle of the week (she only goes MWF).

Yes, the feet picture and many others coming soon...don't forget to get out and vote today!

So John has been working on the idea of his own blog for awhile and finally decided to go public. His blog is called " Yearning for Christ " and can be found under Our Theology in the left column here. This blog will keep going and continue to be used as a way to communicate our family's silly moments together. If you get a chance, please check it out.

So yesterday I hung out with my best friend Lisa who is a photographer. We were both inspired this past week with a local photographer's website and work and decided to play around with the boys a little. We did mostly individual shots, which is refreshingly fun! What a difference it makes to only be working one to smile. Everyone did great and we finished up right about when John and Ashlyn got home. We had to then take a few of Ashlyn right in time for Nate and Eli to come for dinner. Anyway, it was a great night of spaghetti and photos. Since Lisa had all of her stuff here and we saw a couple shots we wanted to try with all 6 of us - we gave it a try. First a picture of us all on our bed, the kids in focus on the edge of the bed on their tummies, and John and I in the background fuzzy watching them. It came out pretty good and will be better black and white. Then came the interesting part of our evening... Have you ever seen that picture in a magazine or card and thought, wow th

Oh, the fun of having an older sister!