Hanson Crew

Jonathan has gotten a little more brave this past week and has officially taken about 4 or 5 steps alone... He is 12 1/2 months old (our latest walker so far) and is very excited about being mobile. He is crawling, still scooting (he really did take his nickname seriously - chunky monkey because he gets around pretty quick this way and kinda looks like a gorilla while he is doing it!), standing alot, walking along everything, walking holding on to his mama's legs all the time, and holding Ashlyn's hand. We think by 13 months he should be on his own and running...we'll keep you posted!

Ashlyn cut about 3 1/2 inches off her hair yesterday to help with the Missouri heat we have started getting already - we got a bob about shoulder length... She is enjoying tee ball so far and has her first game next Thursday. She is most excited for her uniform shirt and still is wondering why there are people standing by all the bases...leave it to the girls to care more about the uniform than the game itself!

Picture it: 10 girls, 1 RV, no kids, a whole weekend in MN!! I am pumped! Just bought my ticket today to go see Beth Moore in MN in July with some friends from church. We are going to drive the 5 hours in a big RV, organize meals to make together, camp in it, go to the Women's conference Friday night and Sat morning, and shop downtown Minneapolis! My kids are already embracing for a weekend with dad and no mom (I think they are excited to sleep on my side of the bed the most) - this will be my first real road trip since having all the kids and I am finally able to go ALONE (no children attached to any part of me)! I'll take some pictures and let you know how it goes for John all day Friday through Sunday (the weekend of July 18 th )... Oh yeah, John and I are going to be returning to Minneapolis in Sept for the Annual Desiring God conference again this year too, and we just got our rooms for that...again kid-free! We have gone 3 years now and had to take 2 babies who wer...

So I heard today that Linens n' Things is going out of business and even though I don't usually shop there, went to check it out tonight (the girls had a gals shopping night while the boys did some yard work). Right now, everything is 10-25% off and there is a huge selection. I am going to go back in about 3 weeks to see if it is a little more picked over and 50% off...wanted to let everyone know about the sale since the whole business is closing nationwide - I'm imagining new towel colors in each bathroom and possible some new cookware...we'll keep you posted!!! Some exciting news....on our girls adventure, I finally found a Red and Stanley Cars figurine set and for $7.99!!!! We have been keeping our eyes out for this since Christmas and we now finally have our entire (well, except Sarge) Cars collection - the old collection, we are not starting the new set of them. For anyone else looking....we found it at Gordmans!

My friend Alicia inspired us to try a garden this year...our mission - tomatoes (3 kinds), strawberries, oregano , and cilantro. She helped us find a sunny spot in our yard, and we got to work... Everyone pitched in and we got a small area made for the garden... It got dark, but we kept on digging... and now we have a garden!!! We'll show results soon...

and we all LOVE it!!!

As Caleb talks a little more and is finally potty trained, I have noticed a big difference in his personality. He is so different from his big brother and little brother! I just love how God gives you so many different personalities in one family...ours began with 2 very different adults who have actually grown to be much alike. Now we have created 4 little people so different from each other. I am an awe of how creative and smart they all are...and I am most excited to watch them grow more. Especially watching the boys has been very neat for me - I come from a family of 3 girls and no idea of what little boys are about - it has been interesting. There are many days where Ashlyn and I will look at each other and just laugh at some of the things they say and do. We look forward to a summer of relaxation and growing together...