Snow Drives

Minnesota has very little snow this year, but yesterday, we did wake up to a dusting. Last night as we drove up the driveway, Aubrey noticed the car's tracks. Her words, "Look at all the cool snow drives!" Don't the "snow drives" look lovely?

The Life I Planned

Has someone seen the life I planned?
It seems it's been misplaced.
I've looked in every corner;
It's lost without a trace.

I've found one I don't recognize --
Things missing that were dear;
Promises I'd hoped to keep,
And dreams I'd dreamed aren't here.

Faces I had planned to see,
Hands I planned to hold;
Now absent in the pictures;
Not the way I told.

Has someone seen the life I planned?
Did it get thrown away?
God took my hand from searching;
Then I heard Him say --

"Child, your ears have never heard,
Your eyes have never seen,
Eternal plans I have for you
Are more than you could dream.

You long to walk by sight,
But I'm teaching eyes to see;
I know what I'm doing --
'Till then, you must believe.

He's done so much, I felt ashamed
To know He heard my moans.
To think I'd trade in all He's done
For plans made on my own.

I wept over His faithfulness
And how He'd proved Himself;
How He'd gone beyond my dreams
And said to Him myself,

"No, my ears have never heard,
My eyes have never seen,
Eternal plans You have for me
Are more than I could dream.

"Yes, I long to walk by sight
But You're teaching eyes to see;
You know what You're doing --
'Till then, I must believe.

I felt His great compassion --
Mercy unrestrained.
He let me mourn my losses
And showed to me my gains.

I offered Him my future
And released to Him my past.
I traded in my dreams
For a plan He said would last.

I get no glimpse ahead;
No certainties at all,
Except the presence of the One
Who will not let me fall.

Are you also searching
For a life you planned yourself?
Have you looked in every corner?
Have you checked on every shelf?

Child, your ears have never heard,
Your eyes have never seen,
Eternal plans He has for you
Are more than you could dream.

Perhaps you long to walk by sight,
But He's teaching eyes to see;
He knows what He is doing --
Child, step out and believe.

By Beth Moore

No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived what God
has prepared for those who love Him.

{1 Corinthians 2:9}

Fall!

Family Pictures

My friend Lori Jo of Lucid Light Photography does AMAZING work! Check out the latest pictures...

http://lucidlightphotography.com/hanson2011/

Halloween

My daughter is 4 years old and I took her trick-or-treating for the first time this year! We had a great time with friends as we ate dinner with them, and then headed out. Here are some pictures...

The Water Cycle

HAAAA!!!! This is an example of the posts I put on my school blog, but accidentally posted here!

Science: We have been doing so many cool things with the water cycle this week that it needed it's own separate post! (2.6)


We watched a video about the water cycle .


We've studied posters.


We've created awesome diagrams and wrote stories about Wally and Wilma the Water Drop's Trip. (These will be in the hallway!)




We've sang songs to help us remember the cycle.




We've even done an experiment! Once again, sorry it's sideways :(

Reminder: Our Science 9 Weeks test is next week on Thursday, November 3rd.

Ugh...school!

I feel like I just posted yesterday how school was out, and now I could play because it was summer!!!??? Now work has consumed me once again! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE my job because of the awesome students I get to teach, but it is a taxing job. It takes a lot of time and thought and money and other resources to get into the groove. Us teachers call it the "Back-To-School-Blackhole", and we've already had our first retreat! And that's also why I haven't posted in a month.

To catch you all up with the Hanson Girls, we've had an AWESOME month. Soccer is going well; Aubrey has finally adjusted to school; my parents came to visit; saw Disney's Princesses on Ice; we picked pumpkins; and just have enjoyed day-to-day life being together. Here are a few pictures...

She has started posing now!!!

"MOM!!!!! ALL THE PRINCESSES ARE HERE!!!!!!"

Coach Will

Craftin'

This is Aubrey's new favorite hobby. She crafts, which means she cuts, tapes, glues and colors.


P.S. Her first soccer game is tomorrow if it doesn't get rained out. :)

FIRSTS

As Aubrey gets older, there are less and less "firsts", so when there is a new first, it's exciting. Like Aubrey's first soccer experience. She had evaluations in which she had to complete 5 stations and show her skills at dribbling, kicking, and running.(We now know what we need to work on!) Practice starts in a couple of weeks and then her first game!

She also had her first day of preschool. She was so excited! She told me that she would have to do "homework" when she got home. Her first day was a success! She was a good girl, learned lots, and made new friends.


We almost had another first of cutting hair! Aubrey came out of her room with a pair of scissors in her hand and asked if she could cut her hair. Boy was I glad she asked before she did, which has been a lesson we're learning lately!

2011 Minnesota Top 10

The best way to summarize my vacation home last summer was with a Top 10 list, and so the tradition has been started... :) To see more pictures, like 250 some, check out: http://hansongirls.shutterfly.com/

10. Birch Trees. I really miss seeing Birch Trees in VA. I love their white bark with black/gray splotches and tiny, silvery green leaves.


9. The Duluth View from the hill side. This was taken near Enger Tower, and EVERY time I see this, I want to cry! On a funnier note, we were soooo worried about Aubrey falling on the rocks, and guess who did instead!?


8. Canal Park. A trip to Duluth just wouldn't be complete without visiting this very touristy spot. It's also great for rock climbing, and where else can you see a rock beach?! :) I also loved doing EVERYTHING with my mom. She's a great companion to share life with!


7. Potato Salad Challenge. So boring of an entree, why not kick it up a notch when serving it!!?? Here are the winners-Griffin, Jen and Isla :)


6. The Bobcat! Grandpa has the best toys, and here's Aubrey testing it out. Check out the cheeser! (I got that word from my cool sister!)


5. One of the best parts of being in Minnesota is my parent's large backyard and all the ROCKS they have to play with. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Aubrey playing with her rocks on the deck, but she loved it. And I loved knowing she was playing outside by herself and was perfectly safe! :)

4. Pike Lake, only this year was with Isla, the cutest niece ever!!! It was so fun watching her play in the water and I cherished being able to see a mini-milestone like this.

3. Spending quality time with Jen and Isla. My niece is so sweet, calm, and loveable. I adored that she bonded to me right away, and would give me the biggest cheesers! And my sister is an AWESOME mom. It was great to bond with Jen now as mothers with sweet daughters!


2. Camping. We had the opportunity to take Aubrey tent camping up the Arrowhead Trail where I grew up camping. I was ecstatic to share a HUGE part of my childhood with Aubrey and the experience was spectacular. She did so well, better than I could have expected because she didn't whine ONCE! It was also fun to spend some quality time with mom, dad, aunts, uncles, and cousins up in the woods. Talk about FFF (forced family fun as Aunt Carole calls it)!!!

1. Just being HOME with the PEOPLE we love in MN, and these are just a few...

My Savior, My God

We were driving to our friend's house yesterday and listening to K-Love, a local Christian station, when all of a sudden, Aubrey asked me to turn this song up and sang along. It made me smile with gratitude to hear her worshiping our savior, our God :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iSVF2XM7yQ

Borrowed Idea

My friend posted a list titled "We Want To..." and it included a list of things she wanted to do with her family. So, I am "borrowing" this idea and have created my own for the last 2 weeks I have off with my charming daughter. Check back to see which we've completed with pictures and to see what we've added :)

1) Fish at Chippokes State Park -done 8/13. This was the best $2 ever spent for entertainment, thanks to my friend's son Matt :)
Here is Aubrey holding her pole like a spear. She said the "real" handle was too fat for her to hold.

Waiting for the bobber to go down.

She caught a 6 and 1/2 inch PERCH. She was so excited!!!

She tied and got a prize for the biggest fish-2 free scoops of ice cream at the Chippokes pool store, to be redeemed at a later date!

2) Ride our bikes together -done 8/23 We were filling up our tires and the car rocked hard. I wasn't sure what it was until later I heard it was an EARTHQUAKE!!!


3) Pick some vegetable ourselves! -done 8/13 We picked the most scrumptious, juicest sweet corn ever. It was so delicious, we ate it right off the stalk without cooking it first!

Finding one...

Got it!

4) Make Blueberry Pie - done 8/12 YUM! except I probably wouldn't use wheat flour next time for the crust. Too earthy:)
5) Tour the Mazes at Norfolk Botanical Gardens - done 8/10 with good friends! :)

Potato Salad Challenge

We were having the extended family over for Burger Thursday. Usually this occurs on a Sunday and we have fabulous burgers! While planning, mom said she was going to make her potato salad. Jen said she really liked her own potato salad and that she was going to make hers. I said, "Heck! I don't have a potato salad recipe I love, but I will make one and we'll have a challenge!"

It was great fun, even Aubrey made her own.

Here are the 3 salads. Potato Salad # 3 was mom's and it was very traditional. Jen's was #2 and had a "kick" to it. Mine was an Italian potato salad thanks to Dawn coming in at #1. Everyone was to take a bite of each salad, vote for their favorite, and place their ballot in the blue cup. The competition was high and everyone was on edge!

Here were the results... Which makes Jen and Griffin the WINNERS!!! (Don't you love how Isla is loving it?)

Boy vs. Girl and sharks

I guess if you only have one kid, it's best to have the best of both worlds, all combined in one awesome kid. Therefore, I live the high life with my daughter.

Aubrey is all girl in appearance. Dresses and skirts are her favorite attire. Accessories are also her best friend. The girl likes shoes (we once spent at least 20 minutes in Target trying them all on), purses, jewelry, make-up, crowns, etc. Not quite sure where she gets it because if you know me, its NOT from me. At the same time, she is all boy in what she likes to do. For her past two birthday parties, she has had a boyish theme. Crocodiles for age 3 and Sharks for age 4. Ask her what she wants for her 5 year old birthday party and she'll tell you lions. She loves to play in dirt, touch bugs, and get those dresses dirty.

All that to say, my mom and I made a ROCKIN' cake for Aubrey's birthday this year. I couldn't have done it without my mother and it just made it SO fun to create something with her for Aubrey.

Cakes baked and ready to decorate!

Shark mouth.

Shark done and onto the water.

The finished product.


All gone!