Hanson Crew

Jonathan got to know a very pretty and very sweet girl this year at our weekly bible study at church. Caleb and Jonathan were the only "regulars" at the childcare each week. There was 2 nursery workers, Lois and Katey. Katey is 16 I think and very pretty. Both boys were spoiled rotten during these 2 hours days because they each basically got a one on one friend the whole time....Jonathan immediately started talking about her at home. We thought it was pretty cute how he would go up to both of them at church and wave really big and want them to pick him up. But, recently I have noticed something else he is doing....every time he sees a picture of a pretty young girl or one in person, he yells "Katey!" And with a huge smile on his face like he has been waiting to see her for along time! I had to tell her a couple weeks ago that he does this because it really is adorable. She will be leaving in a week for a year and he is going to really miss hugging her each w...

The kids and I managed to get out of our house yesterday in John's car and drive down the street to our neighborhood sledding hill (it was just too cold to walk). It worked out perfectly because only Ashlyn and Joshua really wanted to do it so Caleb and Jonathan could stay warm in the car. I snuck in and got warm too sometimes...the hill is HUGE, which is probably why Caleb opted out this time...it is really hard to walk back up. But man it is sure fast to go down - it took them 11 seconds in this video...I filmed with my camera phone so the quality isn't the greatest...they look like little dots at the bottom of the hill because it is so big. We got more snow last night so we might go back today or Friday....Enjoy the clip!

Here is John when he was a baby...and yes, this is what all four of our children looked like at this same age! Very serious toddlers with curly hair (only we cut our boys' hair, Poor John!)...maybe he's not smiling because of his hair! Ha!!..... Here is a picture of the typical John I know...not very serious at all...all those locks have fallen out now and he uses a towel for hair! We love you hun , Happy 32 nd Birthday!

Ever since we moved into this house I have been wondering what to do with my bedroom ceiling. It is a really big room and has a huge vaulted ceiling. The bad this is that there is crown molding in the flat middle part of the ceiling, but not around the room where the ceiling begins (and slants to the middle). We hope to one day add crown molding there, but not anytime soon. The entire white ceiling has the bubbles on it or crackles or whatever you call that 70s stuff they spray everywhere. Anyway, I thought originally that I would paint the inside of the molding part (the flat part) a color. I just didn't know what color. The room would basically be blue, have a white slanted stripe, and then some colored square on the ceiling. After much thought and countless nights staring at all the white, I came up with a new idea. I decided to paint the slanted part the brown color of master bathroom color and leave the flat ceiling portion inside the molding white....I am excited about...

Well one thing Kearney really has going for them is their snow removal process. I can remember only a couple hours after the snow stopped snowing how quickly the roads were plowed. Kansas City is quite the opposite story. This snow storm was a little worse than the last one we had in Kearney, but I don't remember the side roads being like this there ever. Unfortunately, our street can only be accessed from the main roads from 3 hills. That means no matter which way you come to our house, you have to go down a huge hill...in normal weather, that is not a problem. But in this weather, it makes it interesting to LEAVE our house. Most cars or vans that have attempted it this weekend and rolled back down and turned around (but not all - those experienced drivers fly up the hill). Those with 4WD have no problem. They have plowed once I think, but only around all the parked cars somehow that appeared everywhere in front of our house. We have one car (my Durango) with 4WD and hav...

Since we have been snowed in most of the weekend (which we love!), Ashlyn and I decided to sneak away from the boys for a few hours....they have been enthralled in our new Star wars Wii game anyway. We wore our new brown snow boots we both got for Christmas and matching outfits :) It was a lot of fun....then we went to see The Blind Side and the grocery store. It was a great fun day just us girls!

We love this excellent minute and a half explanation of the true meaning of Christmas....we will be reading it from the bible too and can't wait until all four of the kids can read it out loud too! In the midst of presents, greed, and craziness, may you slow down and remember the real reason we celebrate this Christian holiday....we love you all!

We've been busy baking...here's what we have so far: Peanut clusters, sugar cookies, Peanut Butter Balls, Vanilla Oreo Balls, Chocolate Cake balls, puppy chow, ginger snaps, snicker doodles, peanut butter cookies, mint chocolate chip cookies and more chocolate cake balls....up next, Vanilla almond bark pretzels, oatmeal Scotchies , and some good ol ' fashioned cookie dough! Tis the season to get fat!!!

Got together with some friends and exchanged gifts and had dinner Played the fun new game we got from our friends Skyped with Carol, Rylee, and Sue a couple times for a long time (it was really a fun time!) Slept in Saturday, stayed in our pjs and watched movies while John finished preparing for his Sunday School lesson Enjoyed our Christmas sermon and then our Christmas fellowship at church Baked some sugar cookies Made about 4 HUGE forts, tents, and beds and played a LONG time in them Cleaned up the house for about 2 hours (mostly putting away tent, fort, and house items) and got caught up on laundry Made Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls (my first experience with Parafin wax - it was interesting and only took 2 trys...) Made some Peanut clusters and started making another huge fort (stopped in the middle by a frazzled mom) Changed all the twin sheets just for fun - not sure why the kids really enjoyed doing this! Organized all the presents under the tree for different gift exchanges St...

it's official.... WE ARE ON BREAK! and I might be more excited than the kids...our plan: lots of sleep, movies, baking, and eating!

We are spoiled rotten! John and I will be visiting our honeymoon location this Valentines Day! Before hitting Maui for a few days, we will be trying out Kauai first for a few days...I was thinking about warmer places today in this freezing cold. The Maids are paying for the trip since we had such a great 2009 year! And we have found a very kind babysitter for the week :) Time to start swimsuit shopping and stop bragging! It's just 2 months away...

Because John bought a new car this year, Gladstone Dodge paid someone to come and put up lights on our house this year. They will even come take it down after the new year :) The kids love it of course - here's what it looks like...thought we would share since there is no way we are climbing up on the ladder to do it again!

And they are so easy - only 3 ingredients! Chocolate cake mix, tub of chocolate frosting and a package of chocolate Almond Bark. First you make the cake and let it cool. Then you break it apart into a bowl and mix in the tub of frosting. Roll that dough into balls and freeze them. Once they are frozen, melt the almond bark and dip the balls in the chocolate. Then freeze them again to set the chocolate....they really are amazing!!!

Our kids don't watch a lot of TV, only movies, and so we don't get to see all the excellent advertising done by toy makers at Christmas time. They are usually pretty content with thrift store presents or some clearance toy they have had their eye on as we walk the clearance isles. Rumor has it that there is one REALLY popular toy right now. We heard some friends talking about them at school the other day and none of the children had even heard of them. Well today our entire crew went to Toys R Us to spend Joshua and Ashlyn's $3 gift cards they got for their birthdays in October before they expired. We were amazed at how busy the parking lot was. I could tell John had wished he didn't join us on this fun Sat adventure as soon as we got in. He was very proud that our family had finished Christmas shopping I think. There was a huge line for the above mentioned popular toy and people had been standing in line for 3 hours to get one. They passed out coupons to everyon...

I took the boys to the Metro North Mall yesterday to ride on the free Christmas train. We were excited to see one of Joshua's friends there too so they all rode together. Then we watched the fun balloons and fountain for a while. Then the 3 boys rode it again before we headed home for lunch. Here are a couple pictures of the fun...

We are big thrifty shoppers here and are always so thankful for coupons. My favorite coupon is the one that says "Our gift to you" basically free money. I get these often from JcPenney where I tend to only visit when I have this coupon. So I was excited today to go to 2 favorite stores with these kinds of coupons! First, my friend Lisa and I went to Victoria Secrets, where we could get $10 off anything in the store....we had a blast and I can't remember the last time I went shopping there for myself. I walked away spending only $2 and love my purchase! Then we went to Lifeway Christan Bookstore and got a $10 CD - the WOW Hits 2010 - and it was completely free. Now I get to do the same visits tomorrow with my mom-in-laws coupons since she is out of town for double the fun! Do you just love these coupons too?

Yesterday it was freezing! We had a negative wind chill and it was our first snow day...so the kids begged me to go outside for along time...and I finally gave in. I said they could shovel the driveway and walkway first to see just how cold it was before they built a snowman or went sledding. Why not use this begging for good use right? So off they went... They did an awesome job, while Jonathan watched from inside...I went out a little later and finished up the shoveling job... For all their hard work, they decided to sled a little on the hill in our front yard...they shot out across the street! It was a lot of fun I think and the whole street joined in (on our side at least where there are hills)... Here was the end result - a pretty clear walkway and really rosy cheeks (except Ashlyn who says she was sweating - maybe she did the most work)... When John got home at 3:30, he took them to the Coves sledding hill by the lake. Of course it was so busy all day that there wasn't...

This is what we woke up to...about 2 inches of snow and a -10 degree wind chill. I checked the fox 4 website at 5:30 and just about every school district in the KC area was closed. I checked Caleb's preschool - Closed. I checked Faith Christian Academy - closed. So I went back to bed with a smile on my face. At 7:30, the phone rang and I heard John talking to another FCA parent. When he hung up he said that the school is delayed to start at 10:00. What, that's not what it said at 5:30. I logged back onto the computer and the Fox 4 website said a 90 minute delay now, which made the start time 9:30. I checked my email and it said 10:00...a little confusing I thought. The email said that if you choose not to drive in the bad weather, it would be an excused absence. We decided to ask Ashlyn when she woke up what she wanted to do and she said stay home. So we made the decision. I emailed the school and started making cinnamon rolls. I still had an uneasy feeling about her skippin...

Aunt Nancy got the boys these cute hooded towels for Christmas. They are really big and have little mits for their hands. We are excited to give them a try today when we stay in out of the freezing cold and take warm baths!

Sorry for the delay of posting some pictures. We have been enjoying a relaxing school day at home, wishing for a snow day tomorrow! We're not too sure of it right now, only about an inch. But we still had fun baking a little and watching movies when we finished up homework (just in case it doesn't get canceled.) Here is a short sideshow of our fun... Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We made it back tonight from Omaha. We stayed at a cabin in Mahoney State Park for two nights with John's parents...it was very relaxing. Here are a few fast highlights, pics to come tomorrow... snow flakes on Sunday deer on a hike with dad a great smelling fire and the Husker game Lots of fun at the ball pit, tunnels and slides leather craft bracelets Ice skating in an outdoor arena Gift exchange with great-grandma and a couple great-aunts Traveling in the new Dodge Journey, including the fancy TV in the back for the kids Lots of grandma and grandpa time before they leave for the Philippines Lots of COLD Nebraska weather and the sneak peek of colder weather heading our way in a couple days :)

We have gone to Mahoney State Park 2 times before near Omaha. Once we stayed in the lodge and the last time a cabin. We are venturing back again this year with Jonathan and are very excited! Caleb was Jonathan's age last time we went in 2006. They have a huge ball pit that even John and I enjoy. I think the boys will be there most of the time. Ashlyn and I are going to give ice skating a try on their outdoor rink. We might even try the craft room or theatre this round too. We finally got smart and will be there a full Saturday to play and are staying in the cabin two nights. We always feel like we don't get enough ball pit time when we drive up, play and then sleep. I am hoping to take a lot of pictures. We are celebrating Christmas with Grandma Sue and Grandpa Gary there before they go to the Philippines. We will also celebrate Christmas with Great-grandma Steiner while we are there. And the best news, we might get a little snow right when get home (or at least b...

We just finished updating our family webpage for our Christmas cards and in the process we created a slideshow for our move. We thought we would share it on our blog too. Enjoy! Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Proud of their gingerbread creations

and furry friends are starting to hibernate to warmer places...

My friends Alicia and Ginny are having an open house this Tuesday, Dec 1st from 6:30 to 9:30 to promote their items at Sisterluvcrafts. They are also having a sale at their website right now at http://www.etsy.com/shop/sistersluvcrafts and will have those items available to purchase at the party along with free gift wrapping! If you are interested in attending, please comment and I'll send you the address...it sounds like a great place to finish up your Holiday shopping and they have extra cute stuff! If you can't make the party, but still want to buy something, just check out their website above.

So about a month ago I wrote about our first real pet loss. Our second brown gerbil Mystery had died of starvation I think. Well since his death, we have lost 2 other family pets....can you believe it! First our snail didn't survive a tank change and then today, Princess Leia, our 1 year Beta fish died too. We only have 2 pets now, Clue the gerbil and our non-named African Water Frog (He is 2 1/2 years old - straight from being a tadpole experiment in 1st grade). We aren't sure if we will be replacing any pets next year so we're hoping these two last a little while longer. we'll keep you posted....

Caleb loves to watch for the mailman and then goes out to grab the mail from him. Today he stood outside our house for awhile with another truck moving mail back and forth between the trucks. Caleb was very intrigued and would love to be them someday (if the firefighter thing doesn't work out). It was so exciting to watch, that we took a picture and had to share it with you....now if only I can get that mailman to stop bring depressing bills so often and more exciting sale ads or Christmas cards!!

and we have them both this year! Tall and Skinny and short and fat! (We have skipped our traditional real tree field trip this year $$ - can you tell that we are cheap now? Well maybe that hasn't changed...)

The kids are singing this song all the time these days...I'm not sure where they first heard it, but they LOVE it! And now they add their own lyrics as they sing...it is a little catchy. In fact, we dare ya to listen to this 1 minute song 3 times and see if you can go one full day WITHOUT singing it! Good luck and have a great thanksgiving!

So yesterday was a fun day of Thanksgiving day parties (3 of them) and a time of running around preparing. Preparing for what...VACATION! Today was the first day of a very relaxing vacation. I am trying very hard to sit around and just enjoy my children this week - no work that isn't necessary. Today we started off the day with breakfast and bible study. Then we baked some homemade Coffee Cake together. Then Hy-vee provided us some free entertainment and we watched Santa Buddies together (we tried to post the preview video on here, but it never showed up for some reason?) They have been counting down the days for this one to come to DVD today...Jonathan and I kinda catnapped a little during this one, but at least we did it together all cuddled up during our family movie time. We then baked some cookies to bring our friend who had her baby and then we took her a meal. We are planning on making some fun pancakes for dinner that they love to make with Grandma Sue - these pan...

...an updated family website at http://www.thehansoncrew.com/ ! The new site will include updated pictures of our crew, 2009 & 2008 videos (including a new one of our move), and our 2009 Christmas letter. The postcards will be mailed out on Friday and the site will be up that day for family & friends to see. Hope you enjoy it too!

Ashlyn has a loose tooth on the bottom after a whole year of no activity in her mouth! Needless to say she is excited to be joining her friends again talk about their teeth loss. Unfortunately, this one is stuck! It is barely hanging on. We have tried wiggling, dental floss, eating an apple, nothing! She finally has given up on her own tactics and is waiting for it to fall out on it's own. All this teeth talk has us all wondering when Joshua will lose his first tooth...many of his 6 year old friends have lost a couple already. I am wondering if Caleb might lose his first before Josh - any bets? We'll keep ya posted as we find out...

My best friend Lisa took this amazing picture of the kids this week for my photo purse and I was so excited about how it came out! All four kids are actually all smiling and looking forward. And it only took about 5 minutes to get! I am printing the b&w one on my purse and the color one (16x20) in my entry way...and since we were working on my digital Christmas card that day, it will even appear there too....way to go Lisa! I'm finally ready to mail my postcards too...I must say that making an early Dec deadline for everything to be done really did work for me this year. We'll see if it continues next year...

Hi. This is Joshua. For Kindergarten I had to make a list of 100 things I am thankful for...and it was REALLY hard! Here is my finished list for you to read: I am thankful for... 1. my heart 2. my mouth 3. to go to school 4. Jesus 5. food 6. knowing my numbers 7. my brothers and sister 8. knowing my letters really good 9. ice and water 10. seasons 11. holidays 12. my mom and dad 13. movies 14. my house 15. enough room in my house 16. Earth 17. having pets 18. toys 19. books 20. paper 21. baby brothers 22. other people 23. buildings 24. God 25. stuffed animals 26. my desk 27. knowing my grandparents 28. deers in my neighborhood 29. games 30. my cousins 31. my Aunts 32. pumpkins 33. my muscles 34. my bones 35. my blood 36. my legs 37. church friends 38. Sunday school 39. Miss Bainbridge 40. my bed 41. sleeping bags 42. my voice 43. pianos 44. Grandma Sue and Grandpa Gary 45. Grandma Peggy 46. Grandma Velma and Papa Phil 47. Pastor Tim 48. attics 49. leaves 50. neighbors 51. my mom...

We are a family that uses middle names to really get attentions around here. If I say, "Ashlyn Diane," Ashlyn is pretty certain to finish whatever follows her full name. I am not sure if obedience necessarily comes with age and consistency or just consistency, but I have sure seen age play a part. Both Ashlyn and Joshua were about 4 when obedience became something I could actually see regularly. So, that brings me to Caleb. He is 4 1/2 and not quite into obeying still. Well, I had to crack up the other day when Jonathan was yelling at Joshua, "Wa Wa Ryan!" Stop!" And then Caleb was shouting "Ashlyn Ryan now." Do you see the theme of our house lately? Caleb's middle name is Ryan and because it is being said so much more again, everyone believes Ryan means serious stuff even though that is not their name! At least Jonathan and Caleb....

Nothing like an entire preschool class bowling together! Caleb did great and had a blast - we'll have to try a family bowling night out soon!