Hanson Crew

Can you believe it's finally December? This year has been awful, but the end is in sight and there is still much to reflect on and be grateful for. Fortunately, we made it through most of 2020 without COVID until this week. Half of our crew has tested positive and the other half is getting tested today. It's been bearable and sometimes feels like the flu. John had it the worse, but overall, we're pretty glad to know that we did have it and that we now have some antibodies. Reflecting back to 2020, we have many things to be grateful for. We enjoyed much more time as a family for sure. Ashlyn was in her first year of college and ended up coming home for her last quarter. That was a great surprise for me! She was also supposed to move to Seattle for the summer to work at Amazon, and that job ended up being remote from home. So we got to have her home from March through August!  We played quite a bit of board games and video games together in 2020. We baked, we cooked, we binge...

 As you all know, 2020 didn't turn out the way we were planning. Like most of you, we had many plans and ideas that never happened. Here are a few of ours... In December of 2019, we made the decision to homeschool Jonathan for the rest of his 7th grade year. This was all prompted because a friend of mine was doing an online school with our same school school district for her daughter and loved it. It was basically all the same curriculum, but from home on a 4 day a week schedule. We were excited to try that along with extra bible and reading curriculum we would add in. When we approached his counselor in December and eventually the online instruction department, they told us they do not allow students to participate for only one semester and that he could apply in 8th grade and do it for that whole year. We told them we would homeschool for the rest of 7th grade and then try it in 8th grade. They said we could not do that because once we pulled him to homeschool him, he was no long...

 I've not been consistent again with our blog, but thought I would add some 2020 pictures for our Christmas postcard. We were finally able to get some updated pictures this summer with my friend Lisa. We hadn't taken pictures with her since 2016 when Sue wanted to get some pictures with her grandkids while doing chemo. She passed away the following January and I just wasn't ready to take them again. The boys have really grown since then. Joshua was just catching Ashlyn and I in height and Sue knew he was going to pass her that month. Caleb and Jonathan have both passed us since her death. Here's a few of the last time we took pictures (Fall 2016) with Grandma Sue and one from this summer 2020. Notice how Ashlyn towers over all three boys in 2016. This year, she is the shortest of the bunch. It's crazy how quickly they each have grown in 3 years. Thankful I get to be their mom!

 We usually host Easter and try to hide eggs for Carol's kids. We usually have a big lunch after church service. Well, because of COVID and of course no family gatherings, we decided to make lunch for just our crew. But we still made the same traditional food - Joshua's yummy ham, homemade mac and cheese, and all the other sides. It was delicious, but we missed everyone.

 My mom has been hospitalized for some time now with pneumonia. She has a cat named Colie who I have been taking care of. Long story short, I know it will be awhile before my mom can go home. She is likely to go to a rehab center for awhile after the hospital because the ventilator made her very weak all over. She can't walk, needs speech therapy, needs oxygen now 24 hours a day and has lost 50 pounds. Instead of going back and forth to her place during quarantine, we decided to bring her cat to live with us. This is hard because John and Ashlyn are allergic to cats. Plus, we have a large black lab who does not do well with small dogs. My guess is she won't do well with cats either. My plan is to set her up in our laundry room and try to keep the cat downstairs the whole time. We'll slowly introduce him to Bear. I'll keep you posted. Here is Colie.

  Caleb turned 15 today! He got his learners permit the following Monday. He loves his job at CFA, enjoys hanging out with his friends, roller skating, and snapping on his phone. Sorry you had to have a COVID birthday Caleb! But so thankful for you!

 Yep, it's still bad here in KC. We spend most of our days doing school, watching movies, baking, doing puzzles and taking walks. It's been refreshing to see so many neighbors out and about walking with their families. We are getting a little claustrophobic here. And sometimes it's nice to all go to our rooms and just get a little privacy from each other. We can't wait to get back to normalcy. At least go to church in person instead of online. It's been a crazy month for sure!

 So COVID-19 is the US and our city is locked down. We are quarantining in our house all of the time. Stores are empty without so many things, especially toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Ashlyn ended up not returning to school. Truman went virtual this semester so did the Park Hill School District. So learning for all four kids is now at home. Jonathan was so disappointed! He was loving the one on one time and is glad he is still able to be home, but will definitely miss the field trips and homeschool we were planning for. I'll keep you posted on how this long this lasts...

 We stopped at a fun tourist destination on our way home. There is an actual town in Madison County that have all the Bridges in it from the movie. We only saw two of them, but there is a map you can pick up and visit them all. I hope to return one day for a girls trip :)

 Ashlyn's Spring Break didn't line up with Park Hill so we decided to take a little vacation with our homeschool student too. The three of us drove up to Minneapolis to enjoy a little R&R. We started going to a cool outdoor art center near downtown. We stayed at a hotel near Mall of America. We spent two days shopping and riding rides at the indoor theme park there. It was so much fun! Eating out is always a highlight of vacations too. And ice cream. We had a lot of ice cream. We found a mini golf course in the mall and an escape room too. Jonathan had never done an escape room before and he loved it! We are not sure yet what we will do with the other two boys for their Spring Break, but this vacation was wonderful!

  I tend to have a thing for used couches. My friend Jennie and I laugh because I think I have been given three of her old couches the past 10 years. She tends to move a lot and I guess gets new furniture and I love her old furniture. John and I bought one couch brand new when we were first married - a green fake leather couch. It lasted about 4 years and was so hard to get rid of. When we buy cheap couches or get free ones, they are so much easier to sell or throw out. Today we bought a used couch online and paid a little more than we ever have - $300. But man, is this couch awesome! And it is worth close to $1,000. It real leather has a recliner, a chaise lounge and cup holders. We love it! Next up, a bigger tv and a new tv stand. Looks like we are going to all be hanging out in the family room again!

 

 I've been told that I tend to decorate with a lot of words. I had noticed a few years ago that I do have a lot fo H's around the house, but didn't notice words. When I walked around today I found that it is true! I have more words hanging on my walls than actual photos. I thought I would share a few of my favorites...

  Our other three kids learned cursive at the private school they attended in elementary school. Jonathan never got to learn cursive so we decided to add it to his homeschool curriculum. This book was on Amazon for a great price and has really been good for him. If you have a teenager that missed cursive and they want to learn it over the summer or some other break, we highly recommend it!

  It's still so weird to see Ashlyn's room sit empty. I have often contemplated moving Jonathan upstairs to this room so he can have his own room and it won't be empty all the time. Ashlyn plans to be in Seattle all summer working for Amazon, so she won't be here much in the summer either. Joshua loves having his own bathroom when Ashlyn's gone so he is good with Jonathan staying downstairs with Caleb. What do you all think?

  It's hard to believe John and I have been "dating" now for 23 years! He asked me on our first date Feb 14, 1997. We were working at Blockbuster Video together. It's hard to believe how fast the time has gone by. Ashlyn is the same age we were when we got married! It's crazy! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

  Jonathan and I ventured out for a History fieldtrip today. He believes this is one of the best parts of homeschool. This week was Homeschool week down at Union Station so we got a great deal on the museum entry! The museum also has a cool activity for kids - kinda like a scavenger hunt while you walk through. Jonathan and I rocked it. We also enjoyed many discussion about what we were seeing. We are looking forward to more and more field trips like this one the rest of semester!

The entire KC area has been celebrating since Sunday and today was the biggest event. Schools and businesses were shut down to all go downtown for the Superbowl parade. It was pretty chilly and we knew the crowds would be awful (we loved the KC Royals parade & new it was so crowded down there), so we voted on watching it on TV. I'm glad we did. It was pretty crazy.