Want a good laugh?

My brother-in-law never ceases to amaze me with the things he thinks up. The latest, though, is truly "redneck" and hilarious. Be sure to check in with Team Tuttle to see what happened to the poor deer Damon got this hunting season when he drove it home. I would have loved to see this sight drive past me!

Abby

Last night "Abby" - The Single Sister - spent the night with us after having a Lia Sophia party at Jenn's house in Monticello. (We were trying to get Anthony to say EMILY, but he heard her say Abby in conversation and got that name stuck in his head. Apparently, Emily can be Abby too. Who knows what's going on in the mind of a two year old.)
Anyway, it was great fun having the little sister of my best friend since forever over for the night. We were able to chat a lot and catch up as well as play her new and fabulous Wii. I had a great time showing her my awesome bowling skills, acting like a fool playing tennis and totally getting smoked in Mario Kart.
The night was only complete, though, when we stepped into the Mac's photo booth! Hopefully the pictures showcase just how much fun we had.
Thanks again, "Abby", for putting up with Zoey's dog hair and spending the night with us. It was great to see you!

Boys ONLY Fort

While I was cleaning and washing laundry downstairs on Saturday the boys were busy upstairs having some fun. Mark had built a super fort and they were having a blast inside playing with the Halloween flashlight. Of course I joined them, but quickly learned it was a BOYS ONLY fort. Much to my dismay I was kicked out by A. Luckily I was able to snap a few photos off first, though.
As you can tell by the last photo, Anthony really wasn't too happy when the fort was taken down. He was still trying to play.
Maybe next time a fort is made a girl can be included too.

We're Still Here...

It's been awhile, but The Hanson Hat Trick is still here. I think the winter season/time change has really put a damper on our activities. As soon as it gets dark I'm ready for pajamas and bedtime - not blogging. (Amazing, I know.)
Needless to say, we're still adjusting to the colder weather and finding things to do inside to occupy our time. I really am missing the long days of summer being in the backyard, going for walks and finding lots of fun things to do.

Here's some highlights of the past few weeks:
* Anthony is hopefully getting over the cold junk. He started to get sick last Sunday and ever since then we have been dealing with the coughs and tons of snot. Of course he keeps wiping it away with his hand, which mean his hand and cheek/eye/ear is covered in slime. It feels like germs are everywhere in our house. Just curious - When do kids learn to blow their nose? We've been trying, but so far it has been completely unsuccessful.
* Anthony is beginning to count! Sort of... He likes to say two, three and then two, three over and over again. Sometimes he'll mix it up with another number or two, but he's really focused on just those two.
* We celebrated Rylan's - aka the Oracle - third birthday last weekend in John Deere style! It was a fun get together and it was great to celebrate another milestone in Ry's life. It's amazing to think how much he's grown and changed in just three years. He's talking so much more and is getting so big. He is a joy and we are so thankful to have him in our lives.
* This past week Anthony was feeding Zoey some "nummies" - her dog food - through the gate. He would bring over a small handful and then feed her one piece at a time. This occupied his time for a good thirty or so minutes, which was great because I was trying to make supper. At one point I looked over and saw A giving one piece to Zo and then taking one piece for himself. I feel like he's now completely initiated in to being a true kid now. Who hasn't tried dog food or worms or dirt or something disgusting?
* More words seem to be popping up in Anthony's vocabulary daily. He is constantly surprising us with his new words, phrases and sentences - crackers, Mama I would like..., etc. Just last Friday he said birth mommy without any prompting from Mark and I. We were looking at photos and we came across a picture of when he first came home. He pointed out mommy, daddy, Anthony and then birth mommy. It was really sweet and of course we had to call Cynthia right away to share the news. Hopefully this is the first step among many to understanding he's adopted and that we're all here loving and supporting him the rest of his life. Since then he's used her name several times and it's touching to know that she's a special person in his life too.

Of course we are really looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday as well as everything Christmas - visiting Santa, baking cookies, wrapping presents, being with family, playing in the snow, decorating the house, etc. Hopefully I'll be much better with updating the blog and continuing to share our lives with all of you.

Cabela's

This morning we decided to take a little trip over to Cabela's in Rogers so that Anthony could see the all of the animals. We thought he would like it, but we didn't expect that he would love it.  We were in the store over two hours and he did great.  The only time he got upset was when he wanted MORE. Fortunately for us there was "more" around every corner in the store.  His favorite part was the aquarium. We spent a lot of time looking at the different native fish of Minnesota.  He probably could have stayed in there all day.  (Perhaps we should plan a visit to Underwater World in Mall of America - I bet he would love that too!)

I love this photo!  He such a big boy.

The moose was the first animal he saw and he was really into it as well as everything else around him.  The polar bear was HUGE and after seeing it that's when he really started to talk and point.

The African Exhibit was also quite fascinating for A.   The elephant, zebras, lions, rhinoceros, etc. were all quite captivating.  He loved looking at everything, but was a bit nervous as well.  I think he was trying to process what was real and what was fake.

Because it is opener weekend of rifle hunting Mark thought he would try his luck! Okay, so he didn't get the 8 point buck that Uncle Damon got, but he still had fun.  Plus Anthony was totally into it.  This was the area he really didn't want to leave and started to cry/whine MORE!  

I should mention that I tried as well, but I definitely wasn't as good of a shot as Mark.  Perhaps there is a reason I only deer hunted for two years.  Oh, and the fact I had to watch a beautiful deer die right in front of me - STARING AT ME -while mom is cheering as she's coming across the field.  Without a doubt, I will continue to leave deer hunting to Mom and Manda.  Good luck, ladies!

On another random deer hunting note, I realized this weekend how weird it is to not wake up to shooting.  Opener weekend was always busy up north and filled full of rifles going off throughout the weekend.  I grew up with that noise and I just realized this year that it's been void in my life for many years now.  It's interesting how much life can change and how memories can flood back to you over something so minuscule. 

Last Weekend

Last weekend Mark's parents came down for a visit and to attend a family bridal shower.  Anthony definitely kept his grandparents entertained and had fun getting all of their attention.

Do you love the look?  He's wearing his new, flashing devil hat even though he's sweating and had to take off his pants and put on some shorts.  

As you can see all of his jumping and throwing of the football was keeping grandma and grandpa quite busy and full of laughs!

The toy box became a new favorite hangout for whatever reason...

Sunday morning he had lots of fun playing with his mega blocks.  Grandma built him a fence for his animals and cars, which was a BIG hit!