Moving Day

Wish us luck as we move from our first home in the burbs to a bigger one for our expanding family!

Mother's Day

What a great trip the girls and I had back to Michigan for Mother's Day and my future cousin's baby shower.

A photo of four generations - Mammie, Lauren, Great Gram, Annie, and Mommy

Annie loved squeezing the mud with her toes in the field.

Annie decided to eat her toes. Don't worry, this was before she stuck them in the mud.

Lauren was so excited to spend some time at Papa's farm.

Planting pumpkin seeds with Mammie and Papa.

A pregnant Mommy - 27 weeks in this photo, currently 29 weeks.

Papa and Lauren rode around the farm on both tractors. Annie wasn't so sure about the noise and would only sit on the tractor with Mommy. What a fabulous weekend we had in Michigan visiting with so many family members. A huge thanks to Great Gram and Papa Bruce for letting us invade their house, Aunt Sarah and Cousin Shelby for watching the girls while I was at the shower, Silly Aunt Debbie, Cousin Jessie and Cousin Molly for playing with the girls, and Mammie for loading and unloading our luggage multiple times! We had a great time playing with Grandpa and Grandma Hanson before we headed back home too! The only thing that would have made our trip more enjoyable was if Daddy would have been able to come. We sure did miss him!

Visit to Mommy's School

Last Tuesday Geoff came to my school and played in a community band concert. The 6th, 7th, and 8th grade band students asked various family and community members to come play with them in the evening concert. One of my students asked Geoff if he would come play and Geoff happily agreed. So I hung out with the girls while Geoff rehearsed with the band. Sorting colors on the SMART board, as well as using all the art supplies in my classroom were very fun activities!

Annie could barely reach the SMART board, but she sure did try. Climbing on the classroom chairs was pretty exciting for her too.

Daddy and Lauren before the concert began. Geoff was in his glory playing his trombone in a concert situation again and Lauren even had a chance to play a train whistle during the last song. This was after she ran up and played the wind chimes all by herself when the entire gym was quietly listening to the band director speak. Leave it to the three year old to add her own entertainment!

May Mayhem

First, let me start by saying we are THRILLED to be beyond busy and in somewhat of a crazy state these days. Why? Well, we found out last Tuesday that the house we put an offer in on and then found out is a short sale IS going to be ours. So in just a few short 3 weeks, we will be closing and moving into a new house. So what have we been up to lately? - Aunt Stephie and Uncle Jon came to visit last weekend, along with Mammie and Papa. What a great time we all had. When Lauren saw Aunt Stephie at the airport she went running down the hallway to give her a huge hug. It was so cute Steph and I both had tears in our eyes. The only thing I regret is we didn't get a photo of Aunt Stephie and Uncle Jon with the girls. Aunt Stephie was the co-coordinator of an event sponsored by The Junior League of Chicago, called A Family Affair. It was a fundraiser and carnival of sorts for young children. The girls had a blast! Great work, Aunt Stephie. Annie really enjoyed dancing to Jeannie B and Lauren was able to take part in so many art activities she didn't know what to do next.

In the evening we went over to Mammie and Papa's hotel room and Geoff, Mammie and the girls enjoyed the swimming pool. The ham inspired dinner buffet provided by Mammie was delicious and enjoyed by all.

- When I was at the doctor's office for my 26 week check up last week, I had my glucose test for gestational diabetes and quickly found out the following day, I failed. Probably didn't help that Wednesday happened to be teacher appreciation day, so I enjoyed plenty of cookies and bagels before taking that test later in the day. I have to take another test coming Wednesday, which means another day off from work. - I realized today I have just over three more weeks to my current teaching career. The current 8th grade class graduates on May 30th and then school is out for the remaining students and teachers June 5th. With so many other events happening in my life right now, I haven't even really had a chance to reflect on how I feel about this "end". - Today I had the opportunity to help host a baby shower for my friend Laura. We have been friends since working on a Science Olympiad project in 8th grade. I bet neither one of us thought we would still be friends 20 years later and both pregnant and expecting pretty much around the same time. Laura is due 3 week ahead of me. How exciting for all of us! The shower was just perfect and it seemed like everyone really enjoyed themselves. Kelly hosted at her house and had everything decorated so beautifully. Sara found the most delicious and colorfully decorated cupcakes and did a great job of averting a possible soup disaster. Lisa created such cute, little owl ornaments as favors for all the guests and Clara and Kim, as well as Kelly, Lisa, and Sara helped prepare some of the scrumptious food. Great work ladies! - Lauren took a swim test last Friday and was moved up to the next level. She is now a Little 2. Her new classes start Monday. Can't wait to see what skills she will learn now.

- Annie's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. She is still very interested in Elmo, or Ello as she says. She also figured out how to nod her head yes and usually does it appropriately. No is one of her current favorite words and she insists upon walking down the stairs now by herself. After her somersault incident on our outside steps a few weeks ago, I make sure she holds my hand when walking down those steps even though she really doesn't want to.

- Geoff and I just determined we will only be together 6 of the next 14 days. He has plenty of travel and a little golf weekend planned and I will be traveling back to Michigan with the girls for a bridal shower for my cousin-to-be. Even though we are looking forward to all these events, being a part and not together as a family will be tricky. Not to mention, we have an entire house to box up and move very, very soon. What can we say, the Hansons love staying busy! - Thank goodness for Geoff taking care of all the mortgage and house logistics the past few weeks. He did a great job of working with our lawyer, realtors, and mortgage broker to coordinate everything. Thanks Geoff for taking care of all the business aspects! While we wait for the appraisal to come through, I will work on coordinating movers, cleaners, and a lock smith. - Thanks to all our friends who have not only offered to help us in so many ways during the next few weeks, but have already given us so much emotional support! Susan came up, let us borrow some of her boxes and helped me pack boxes while the kids played last week. We wouldn't be able to do any of this without your help. - As you can see, we are in the middle of May Mayhem and are loving every moment of it! Wish us luck on all our new adventures. - Here's a little shout out to my friend, Stef who encouraged me to figure out the photos on this new computer and get a new post up! It was great seeing you Saturday.