My Funny Valentine

Dean Thomas Hanson was born in the wee hours of February 14, 2002, and he was the best valentine I ever got!

Dean is in second grade, and very bright. We do fight about school most days because he hates change. It's funny because he picks up new ideas very quickly, but he's always terrified he won't be able to figure it out. I am afraid I have passed on my perfectionistic (I'm aware I'm totally making up words here) fatal flaw to him. He is such a pleaser, and always wants to help out. He loves to do chores with me, and I can remember when we had to get him his own toy vacuum because he wouldn't leave mine alone.

I love Dean's sense of humor! He's a pretty sarcastic, I'm afraid he gets that from me too. He has a true knack for exaggeration also. His scout leader told me today that Dean really keeps her laughing during cub scouts. Speaking of scouts, he is so excited to finally be one. For the last two years he's been sad every week when Alec goes of to den meetings. So we finally got to get him his own uniform that he wants to wear all the time.

I told him I was sad that my baby was getting so grown up, and he told me that he hadn't been a baby for a very long time. Unfortunately he's right, and I'll be so sad when he won't cuddle with me anymore. He and Alec are the best of friends, and I hope they always stay close.


This year Dean's birthday fell on a Sunday so we had a small family dinner with a sleep-over the following weekend. Fortunately he decided he wanted a store-bought cake since I still haven't recovered from the pirate ship craziness last year. Rodger also continued his tradition of buying our children weapons for their 8th birthday. Obviously I was overruled.



Happy Birthday Dean....you'll always be my baby.

All That Glitters................Is Sometimes Snow

I have really been enjoying all the snow we have been having lately. I keep making the boys go outside so I can take pictures of them playing in it.

At this point, they are hoping that it will quit snowing so that I will stop making them come outside and pose for me.

I love when it snows and there is no wind because the trees look so lovely. These two were my favorite.

Happy Birthday to Me!

This year for my birthday we took a little trip down to hang out with my mom. I love that my birthday sometimes falls on MLK day because everyone is off from work and school and I can pretend it's all for my b-day!

My Mom kept the kids on Saturday so that Rodger and I could go on a date. We finally got to go see the Blind Side, and it was well worth the wait. I liked it so much that I tried to check out the book that it's based on from the library. I wanted to know more about the family and how it all came to be, but no help from the book. As it turns out it is a football book, all about plays and stuff, and the family story is secondary. Oh well. Anyway we also got to go out for Chinese food. I love PF Chang's lettuce wraps so much!

On Sunday my mom went a little crazy with cooking, so overall I ate way, way too much. I took pictures of the shish-kabobs because they were so pretty. She also made me a 3 layer, from scratch, lemon cake with cream cheese frosting.

On Monday we went to the best little mani/pedi shop for one of the best pedicures I've ever had. I will say that the massage wasn't the best I've ever had, but the polish was fabulous. They have tons and tons of styles to choose from, and they were pretty inexpensive. I'm going to post a pic, but I don't think you can tell how cute the argyle pattern is.



Anyway, I had a lovely weekend, and thanks to all my sweet friends and family for birthday wishes and gifts.

The Hanson's vs. the Volcano

Last year my mom gave the boys a very cool science kit. We have been using this kit in our homeschool on science days, and I have to say it's a lifesaver.

The boys did this project almost all by themselves. I helped them read the directions and gather the needed ingredients, but the creativity is all theirs.

They made the cone out of plaster one day, and after it had fully dried we got to paint it. The boys also glued on rocks and other "debris" to make it realistic.




Today we got to stage the eruption though, and that was everyone's favorite part. I love homeschool!

The Stockings Were Hung...

I'll just go ahead and admit I'm lame right now since Christmas is over and I have so few pictures to show for it. I wonder if it's psychological? I have been asking Rodger for a new camera, and I didn't get it, so maybe I'm mentally blocking the whole picture thing. Or perhaps I'm lazy, and that's enough said.


We had a lovely, white, cold, Christmas. It started snowing two days before the big day. Just in time to really mess up our drive down to the valley. We went down early to exchange gifts with my Mom since she was going to Utah for Christmas. We had a nice lunch, gotta love El Charro. It's a "hole in the wall" if there ever was one, but we love it. Nothing says holidays like Mexican food in our family. Anyway it was a good trip and we were happy to see Grandma.

We had a crazy Christmas Eve and the traditional Sloan family program was pretty good. I did take a gift to the face from a disgruntled (aka a poor sport) relative during the heated white-elephant gift exchange. Alas, I can't name names, but for those of you that were there, it's going to be a good laugh for a long, long, time.


Dean informed us right before bed that we needed to leave a plate of snacks for Santa. Don't ask me where this came from because we've never done it before, but far be it from me to interfere with the magic of Christmas. As we headed off for Grandma's in the morning we had just enough time to see that we had a visitor as we hustled out the door. Santa was also kind enough to leave a note which delighted the boys. I think we are safe for at least two more years.




Opening the presents took forever as usual and we all had a good haul. We also filled the baby Jesus' stocking with our gifts of service and love for the coming year. Since I haven't managed to complete it yet, I will be working on the same thing for the 4th straight year. I wonder if that's a sign?




We are glad we got to spend time with our loved ones, and I will have more entertaining posts about our shenanigans to follow :).




P.S. No your eyes are not playing tricks on you. Dean does have a black eye in the pictures. Thanks Austin, the boys had a great time, and can't wait for you to come back.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

A couple of funny stories:

While my mom and I were Christmas shopping she was telling me that I should get the boys this new electronic hamster that everyone wants this year. My response was that I already have a dog and two cats, and that we were bound to have more goats so what would I want with a "virtual" pet.

Then last week after we had put up the tree and got the lights on it, we decided to take a break before the decorating and head over to Dairy Queen. When we came home I saw the tree rocking slightly. Now last year at this time we came home from church to find bird feathers all over the house. We searched high and low for a little body knowing that our cat had dragged some poor bird into the house, but we couldn't find it anywhere. Later that day I saw movement in the Christmas tree and to my surprise the bird had managed to get free and was now seeking shelter in my tree. I opened the front door, and out it flew, minus a tail. This was my immediate thought when I saw movement in the tree this year. But no, I was wrong again. The kitten had climbed up into the very tree top as if this was his new jungle gym. He was having a wonderful time batting at the lights. Upon being removed he climbed right back up and then got a spanking. Now he waits until we are all in bed before making his nocturnal venture up the tree and knocking down the ornaments and destroying my branches.



The cats have also staked out my beautiful handmade Christmas tree skirt as their new bed...ugh. why do I have cats again?



Oh, and Oscar has discovered house plants. He loves them. Digging them up, sleeping in them, doesn't matter it's all good to him.




Merry Christmas to me!

Time Flies

Well I wish I could say that I haven't been blogging because I've been having so much fun, but that isn't really the case. It's been a rough month, but with happy moments too.

November was filled with family, tears, laughter, goodbyes, hellos, and of course lots of food. We had planned to go and spend Thanksgiving with my Mom, and we still did that, it was just a much longer trip than I had planned. The weekend before Thanksgiving my cousin Steven passed away, he was only 23.

Steven might have been the cousin I felt I knew the best, despite our age difference. I was his baby-sitter for several years. He was such a cute kid, even if he was a rascal. I wanted to post some pictures, but a lot of my pictures from earlier this year have somehow become corrupted. Steven was a mechanical genius, when he was young his parents used to go to D.I. to buy him old appliances to take apart and put back together. He was very hardworking, and even scored an internship with Honeywell while he was in high school. That later translated to a full-time job with them while he went to college. He also served his mission in California. He was very good natured and sensitive to the feelings of everyone around him. I can't express how hard this has been to get over. Life is so hard.

So we wound up staying in Phoenix for a week for the holiday and the funeral. We had a lovely dinner with family and were glad we have such fun relations.

I convinced my mom that Black Friday is the best day ever, and she actually went shopping with Ali and I. We got all kinds of great deals and had lots of fun together. I was surprised at how quickly we found everything we wanted and were back at home and back to sleep by 9 AM.
That evening we went bowling, and I have to say it was hilarious!




Now I haven't been bowling in a while, so I'm probably the last person to know this. The bowling alley now has these fantastic electronic bumpers that only pop up when it's the person they are assigned to's turn comes up. Dean was very happy for this new invention. Fabulous! Alec also started doing these funny little robotic dances after his turn.







One of my other cousins also returned home from his mission to Argentina that week, and so much of our family journeyed to Texas to welcome him back. Then they all turned around the next day and drove 16 hours back to Phoenix for the funeral. Lots of fun.

It was nice to be together even if we cried much of the time.

The day after the funeral we packed T.J. up and sent him off on his mission. He will be returning to the North Carolina, Charlotte mission and we couldn't be prouder of him. Dean and Alec already miss him so much, and our farewells included much more crying.

I have to say how much I love Rodger. He has been my emotional rock through all of the past few weeks. He has know just how to comfort me and what to say to ease through the transitions. I'm so grateful for him.

We are finally home and I need a stress-free, emotional breakdown-free, December. Good luck, right?

In my weakened state the boys also convinced me that we should keep one of the kittens. So now we have Oscar joining the family.