Hanson Crew

Caleb's preschool had a Halloween parade today at his school. They walked around all the grandparents and parents twice, sang about 8 songs and then picked up their party stuff. Here is Caleb with his loot in his mask and costume. He didn't wear the mask for the parade or concert, which is my favorite part of his costume. Tomorrow he will be a blue power ranger (like in the last picture when the boys tried on their costumes for Grandma Peggy).

and we did it! We painted the exterior of our house in 3 weeks!! Off and on with lots of rain that is (and some help from 2 friends and a painter!) But it is done!!! Thanks again Kansas City for the free paint! Not only did we paint the house, but we also removed the shutters, painted all the iron black (from white), replaced some windows and took down a bunch of small trees and bushes close to the house. Here are some before and afters. The afters were taken when we finished one night and the sun was setting. I also did not use a wide angle lens like on the befores so they are a little chopped up....enjoy! The front (before): The front (after): The back (before): The back (after):

This week at Caleb's preschool a few moms were talking about their children with speech disorders. It was amazing to see how many other kids at this preschool or siblings have some kind of disorder. Two of them were even diagnosed with verbal Apraxia, which is what Caleb was originally diagnosed with. So after talking with them for awhile about therapies, First Steps, and other methods of treatment, I was so excited to give something new a try! Both moms said their pediatrician told them to give their Apraxic child fish oil each day to help that area of the brain develop that was not developed yet, causing the disorder. When I got home, I researched it more on the Internet and was amazed at how many testimonies of young toddlers with speech disorders are taking fish oil. I couldn't find many reasons or side effects of taking the oil if they didn't need it (it sounds like everyone should take this amazing stuff - even you and me), so we are going to try it out! We are...

Ashlyn has inherited my hair knowledge...that basically means she has no idea how to do her hair! We both like to keep things as simple as possible - no blow drying, curling, or up dos. Well, yesterday I went crazy and we got her hair cut (we had a $5.99 coupon!) Not just a trim like normal, but an actual style! We got a stacked bob, which means the back is stacked alitte across the back. The rest of her hair is about to her chin and goes all around her head the same length. We decided not to go too crazy and angle her bob like most people are doing these days (longer in the front and shorter in the back). Here are a couple pics of the back and front....it came out really cute! We even went to our pond and took some family photos for our holiday postcard after...

So we lost our first family pet since we have had kids. Ashlyn knew one of our cats a little when she was a toddler, but didn't even notice when she died. Yesterday, Mystery, our brown gerbil, died. I wasn't sure what their reactions would be. We all went to the cage and the first thing Ashlyn said was "Since dad won't let us get a dog can we get a Guinea Pig now." I guess she wasn't too sad....oh, I forgot to tell you about a week ago, she gave her gerbils to her brothers. She said they were too loud in her room and it was time for the boys to have them....maybe the lack of food this past week contributed to poor Mystery's death? Either way, Caleb had the biggest response. He kept asking about death and how you really know someone is dead (His open eyes freaked him out a bit). He continued to wonder what happens after you die too. It was a great conversation and I think he is very curious about death and what happens after. I think I have becom...

For Ashlyn's birthday this year, I took her and 2 of her closest friends bowling. We bowled, played at the arcade, ate pizza, and had cake. It was a lot of fun listening to them all giggle and talk all night. Here are some fun pictures of our night...

We are officially DONE!!!! Nothing left to do but the shutters and we have decided to keep them down for awhile....we had one really good day of weather today, and John and I worked from morning to night, while Grandma Sue took the kids to another fun pumpkin patch/orchard....before and after pics to follow soon!