The Hanson Crew

or maybe I should say mommy long legs! This is a fun picture taken in MN last Sept by Lisa. We found it today looking on her computer for another picture...it really made me laugh. Although, I really do love it at the same time! We are looking forward to some alone time in a couple weeks. I'm going to bring along my laptop on the trip so I will try to upload some favorite shots while we are there (and to skype the kids). I better get to bed, the day flew by.

John and the boys put together our 300 piece 24 puzzle...unfortunately, it is now a 298 piece puzzle. They had fun doing it together and were proud of the result! FYI - 24 has been on now for 5 hours and we are looking forward to the next 19 hours!!

...we had some exciting news announced in our family around New Years! My sister-in-law tells it best on her blog and shares some awesome photos too! Check it out. Congrats Carol!!!

We took this around Christmas and I just found it....he is always keeping up with his bigger brothers. And he never misses dress up times. Here is Jonathan charging!

i just finished this wonderful fiction novel by Randy Alcorn called Safely Home . It really made me long for Heaven, look inward at my desire to live in the world, and really explains in detail the persecution going on in China. If anyone out there is in between books and want something that will really change the way you think, check it out! I am going to try his Heavenly Man next.

John and I are returning to Hawaii in a few weeks. The last time we were there was Aug 1998 for our honeymoon. We have been planning out activities for this trip the past few days and I thought I would ask for some opinions. We will be in Kauai for 5 days and Maui for 4 days. We have never been to Kauai before, but we here it is less commercialized and very pretty. We have heard that the hiking there is amazing so we are definitely doing that one day...and of course, some beach and snorkeling time. What we have been thinking about is a deep sea fishing trip or maybe a zip line tour through a forest of waterfalls?? There were also some cool tubing thing or a kayaking trip brochure to think about. We already parasailed on our honeymoon and have decided to avoid a horseback ride or take a helicopter ride. So I think we are looking into not so popular activities now, the rustic and adventurous side of Hawaii...any other suggestions???

or at least pretending to!

Ashlyn played her first Upward Basketball game yesterday....she did very good for her first game and with only one practice....she is number 41 Each game, every player gets a star for their t-shirt and an award for what the star represents. Ashlyn was awarded the start of "Best Sportsmanship." We are very proud of her and can't wait until next week for another game and practice.

We are big fans of Old Time Pottery's doorbuster ads on Thursdays...they usually have awesome decor and kitchenware for extremely cheap. The bad news is that it is almost an hour drive for me so we don't get to go very often. Last time we went, Ashlyn saw a great deal on monogram lunchboxes....unfortunately, they did not have any more "A" lunchboxes left (it was a great deal - just can't remember how much!) So we bought it with the intention to add an "A" and "D" to the "H" lunchbox. This was before Christmas...well, yesterday, I finally got around to fulfilling my promise. We got some iron on letters that looked close to the font of the "H" and went to town. She really likes it alot! Here it is....

Caleb got another bad head injury this past Monday night. He gets these alot! He usually gets hurt somehow twice a day (and hardly ever cries!) This time a door was shut on him and the door knob slammed into his forehead. Today, it is really black and blue and not as swollen. Poor guy, but still smiling for his picture!

Thanks to Auntie Carol and Rylee for the fun Christmas gifts!

Today when Joshua and I were practicing for his weekly spelling test he cracked me up. Every Friday his Kindergarten class has a test over 10 words they work on all week and some phonograms they have memorized for reading help. Joshua HATES handwriting...he would prefer to take every test he is given for the rest of his life orally and never write anything he learns down. So today, the word was "mother". I said "mother" and then gave an example of the word in a sentence. I usually repeat the word again after that while he writes it down as it is spelled. Today he just sat there staring at his paper and didn't write anything by the time I repeated the word. After a few seconds I asked him why he hadn't wrote anything and he told me he was wondering if it would get it wrong if he wrote "mom" instead of "mother." I laughed of course and had to share the idea....we don't think it will be much longer before he writes "Josh&qu

First there was a major clog. Then lots of plunging and Drano. Then a loud scream and alot of flooding. Now there is a bleached floor (yes, Drano is really Bleach in another bottle) and a plumber coming on Tuesday :) We are glad John remembered our home warranty...we'll keep you posted.

Our Amaryllis plant is catching everyones attention here!

Thanks again Grandpa Phil and Gramma Velma for our Wii

...from today include: We found our Home Alone 3 DVD, which has been missing since Christmas night, and was hidden under the base of our TV We found a library book that has been missing for about a month We found the DVD player remote, which was lost last night and actually the item that helped us find the other 2 items above while looking for it We have no school tomorrow, which means we have only had 1 day of school (not counting the homework at home days) since Deb 18th! We are officially all caught up with laundry again (which maybe hasn't happened since the 18th either :)

The item I propose we save for (or close to): The reason for it: My leggings are still stuck to my jeans, my fingers are just now staring to bend again and I have 2 icicles hanging from my nose. Did I mention this is the 3rd time I have shoveled this driveway and walk in the past 3 weeks....oh, and it is negative 15 wind chill outside! I'll have to run this one by John when he gets home from work, but really would like to give it a try at least! Hope you're enjoying your blizzard like conditions where you are.

Every year at Christmas, my sister-in-law Carol grows an Amaryllis plant. I have always enjoyed going to Sue's and seeing all their plants and flowers just flourish in their kitchen window. In case you are new to this blog, we have blue thumbs in our house (not green like all of our relatives!) We are not sure why everything we ever plants somehow dies before we see much green of anything, but Ashlyn has finally come to understand to not even ask to try those cool science projects all her friends do at school. Well this year, Sue was going to surprise Carol with a bulb when she left for the Philippines so they could grow one over there and keep to her tradition. Because the airlines and customs have gone a little crazy, she was unable to take it on the plane. So Ashlyn and I were handed a small box before she left labeled "Amaryllis Bulb Kit" It looked pretty self explanatory, like most of the other plants we have tried before. Pour the dirt in the provided pot, ad

So we survived our first day back from break. Ashlyn had a really hard time falling asleep last night, but she woke up, got ready and enjoyed her first day back. Joshua slept the night away, got ready and forgot his lunch, but still enjoyed his day back with his friends. Caleb fought the idea of going back to preschool, but was bribed with a new winter hat and glove set (clearance deal at target the other day I found) and rode happily to school in the freezing cold. The temperatures here are freezing, or maybe I should say way under freezing - negative 15 I think. And the prospect of tomorrow and the rest of the week for that matter isn't promising. More snow and more freezing temperatures. We are sure loving our fireplace more :0) I have had the opportunity to read numerous blog posts, facebook posts, and website remarks on New Year's resolutions. As usual, both John and I pray to lose more weight and get more in shape this year - especially with a short term goal in

Our winter break is done (and it is still freezing outside!) Looks like we are ready for our routines and busy schedules again. Although we have sure gotten used to pj days and lots of sleep! Somehow we are not running around with our heads cut off in preparation (like other times)...the house is clean, the laundry is done, baths are given, kitchen is stocked, lunches ready, clothes picked out, cars filled with gas, and everyone is playing their last hour of Wii as I type. Now we can only hope we actually all wake up at 6:00 am...that's about 5 hours earlier than we are used to! Ashlyn is most excited for the week to start....she will start Basketball practice this week. And this is her first time ever trying it out. We are going through Upward at a church close to our house. She starts on Thurs night. We'll keep ya posted on our first day back to school tomorrow...

When we bought this house this summer, the kids were very excited about a room that I don't think I have shared about before. Downstairs in our storage room, an unfinished room downstairs that holds our big freezer, Christmas decorations, and furnace/water heater, we have a secret hideout. That's right a place that is unseen from the entrance of the room! We can walk behind the furnace and walk down a narrow hall like room to access our breaker box. There are 2 lights in the hallway so the kids can go in there and play...the boys especially like it in there. We think it is there because the furnace pipe thing that goes across the ceiling there is low and so the builders chose not to have the school room go all the way against this back wall. Instead they left this narrow playhouse or tornado shelter.... Since it is still freezing outside (and now snowing again) we decided to start painting the unfinished wall. We decided to trace all 6 of our bodies and paint them on the

These were one of John's gag gifts from the Maids for his birthday...the boys were playing with the underwear while Ashlyn played with the sleeping mask. They surprised him with a McD's breakfast and some great presents...we took him to Panda Express and made him some favorite brownies....he had a great birthday.

Ashlyn & Joshua made this homemade banner for our New Years Eve party...we had a fun time playing board games (10 adults) while the kids all watched movies and played (17 of 'em)! We look forward to 2010 and are excited to see what the Lord has planned for us :)