The Goodwill Find!

Two weekends ago while I was up in Grand Rapids I found this awesome Pier 1 set at the local Goodwill. I initially fell in love with the look of the vase and bought the plate too after a lady pointed it out. (Good thing since I didn't see it at all!) I thought they would be a good filler on our large, what-do-we-do-with-that-space? shelf in the entryway. Now that it's up there I'm not too sure. The color blends in with the paint and it doesn't really pop at all. Plus, what should the layout even look like? Once again it makes me realize how much I dislike decorating. I watch HGTV and love the outcomes of those shows, which make a house look like a home. When I try to do it, though, it all falls apart. I think the main problem is that I don't know what my style is and I haven't taken the time to play around with different things - pictures, colors, vases, etc.
Clearly, this space needs some else, right? For one thing I would love to add some color to this room. My exciting finds don't really add that at all.
Any thoughts or suggestions? Any takers to just decorate my house so I can be done with it???

Play-Doh Time

Clearly, I haven't grown up yet. For some reason Play-Doh has always been a fun activity for me and growing up I wished I had all of the "cool" accessories that went along with it. Anthony got some great Play-Doh gifts for Christmas and recently we have been playing together. (I am SO HAPPY he loves playing with it and using his imagination to make spaghetti and pizza and snakes because it means I get to play too!) The amazing part for me is that he'll sit there for almost an hour at a time trying new things and having fun. Looks like it is a win-win situation for Anthony and mommy!

Breakfast with the Easter Bunny

Anthony posing with Grandma Kathy and Grandma Carol. What a lucky little guy to have two grandmas that love him dearly!

He really enjoyed the egg hunt in the gym!

Coloring Easter eggs was fun too, but that darn bunny kept coming around!

Anthony got lots of cookies to decorate and give out to the people he loves.

Finally, a smile appears on his face! After two-hours of being a bit skeptical of that goofy Easter bunny - Bun, Bun.
Does the bunny look familiar to you?
She should!

Last weekend Anthony and I traveled up to Grand Rapids to have breakfast with the Easter bunny at the YMCA. We invited the grandmas to come along with us and have lots of fun too. The whole set up was great and it should have been a blast for A; however, he was not into the bunny this year. Last year he warmed up quite quick to the bunny and did a great job. That wasn't the case this year. He didn't smile, didn't laugh and wouldn't even look at the bunny. He just continued to stare straight ahead whenever the bunny would come around. The bad news for him is that darn bunny kept coming around to visit and tickle him with her ear.
Have you figured out who the Easter bunny is yet?
Drum role please...
It's the one, the only --- AUNTIE MANDA!!
Of course there are many perks to having your auntie be the bunny. Unfortunately, Anthony wasn't liking all of the extra attention until the very end when all of the other children left and he just had some one on one time. We all thought she had totally tricked him and he didn't know her identity, but right as we were getting ready to leave he asked where Uncle Damon was at. I guess nothing gets past him.
Thank you, Grandma Carol and Grandma Kathy, for coming with us! And thanks to the crazy, wacky and super fun Easter bunny/auntie too! Can't wait until next year to do it again.

11,000+

WOW! In one year of tracking visitors to The Hanson Hat Trick site there have been over 11,000, which seems a bit crazy to me. Granted, there are plenty of sites out there that get large amounts of visitors daily; however, I never planned on being that type of site. I just wanted to have a family blog to share photos and stories with all of our loved ones who we don't get to see as often as we would like. I know several of those family members and friends check in on a regular basis as well as many other people from various parts of Minnesota and beyond.
So thank you for caring and continuing to come back to check out what we're up to. I'm really blown away...

Tonight's Funny

Tonight while eating supper I was talking to Mark about asperger syndrome and students that have been in my classroom who had this diagnosis. Anthony was busy eating and not paying too close to our conversation or so I thought. After swallowing the massive amount of taco soup on his spoon he blurts out, "ASS BURGER". (Granted, asperger sounds an awful lot like ass burger and overall it's just an awful moniker for a syndrome that impacts school-age children. Knowing our luck this will be his new word to use at daycare and various other places.) The hard part is to remain expressionless (not burst out laughing) and try steering the conversation somewhere safe and void of swear words. Mark and I really tried hard not to laugh, but we were overcome by giggles, which caused a couple more ass burgers to fly out of his mouth.
Oops.
Oh boy.
ASS BURGER.
It really was hilarious!

Weekend Visitors

Anthony enjoyed LOTS of reading time with grandma and papa.
Mom brought down three new Sesame Street books that he loved.
(Thanks for reading them over and over and over, mom!)
One had monsters in it, which is right up his alley!

Mom and dad came down for the weekend, which was great being they hadn't made a trip like that since September. (Completely understandable given the circumstances they've been under the past eight months...)
Anyway, it was great to have them here for a visit, eat good food and give Anthony some grandparent time. (Mark and I were even able to go out Saturday night to see a great movie, Taken, and eat some yummy food at Applebee's.)
They stayed through Monday and Anthony had a busy day baking cookies, having papa read him lots of books on the couch, making a kite and ducky during craft time and playing constantly. He had a great time and is definitely looking forward to the next visit.

Anthony loved spending time with papa and helping him "fix" things around the house.
It was pretty funny when he checked out papa's left hand and realized two fingers were missing. He kept staring, running away and then coming back for another look. (Don't worry, Bubsa Bo, it took me a long time to figure it all out too and not be completely freaked out!)

Our budding hockey star

Hockey has become a new obsession for Anthony. He loves it and is always talking about the sport - skates, ice, puck, net, helmet, etc, etc. One night before bath time he was naked and "skating" around with two books under his feet, which was hilarious. Almost every day he'll pick up something - a golf club, his bat, a ruler - and call that his stick. If someone mentions watching or playing basketball or football or any other sport he'll chime in with HOCKEY! So it really wasn't a surprise that I found the boys playing hockey in the driveway today. (Okay, A is actually caring around a gigantic golf stick and hitting a gigantic golf ball, but you get the picture, right?!) What a bunch of cuties!