Moving on

Well, I guess it's no secret that I've fallen behind in updating this blog as regularly as I once did. I'm writing one last post, for those who still check this once glorious, now sort of sad, little blog. I've actually really benefited from writing these entries over the last couple of years. It was a good way to process my own thoughts at times, and it was always very satisfying to finish a post complete with pictures, quotes, and anecdotes. =) I know there were those who appreciated the effort on my part, particularly long distance family who craved pictures of our cute little offspring. But, I find myself, along with many others, abandoning my blog for facebook. I haven't left our loved ones in the dust, however. I've successfully signed up all my parental units and other family members on facebook, where I'm finding it easier and more efficient to keep everyone up to date. I'm keeping this blog for a while so I can transfer some of my posts to the journalling portions of my scrapbooks. But, in the not too distant future, I think I'll just delete it so as not to unnecessarily clutter up cyberspace. Thanks for reading. Hopefully I'll see you on facebook....

Splurge

For a little over a year I've been a part of a Splurge group. Ten of us women who get together once a month, throw $20.00 in a pot and draw one of our names out of a hat. Whoever has their name drawn walks out with $200.00 to spend on herself in a "splurg-y" manner, and then hosts the next month's gathering, showing off her purchases or telling about how she spent the cash. It's wonderful for sooo many reasons.

First of all, it's a rare occasion for me to hold $200.00 cash in my hand that I have to spend on something I want! We don't really spend very frivolously in the Hansen household, so this is not something I'm used to.

Second, it's been a really fun outing for me to look forward to every month. I think even if I didn't get to spend the $200.00 on myself every year, it would be worth $20.00 a month just to have a really enjoyable evening with the girls to look forward to once a month. It's a pretty cheap boost to my social life.

Also, I had only been in Chilliwack for a few months when I was invited to join this fabulous group of ladies, and it's been an awesome way to really get to know other women who live here and are generally in the same stage of life as I am. This has really been the best part. I love our time together. We laugh so much and have really gotten to know a lot about each other. I'm so grateful.

One of the elements that I've loved the most, which I wasn't expecting was hosting the girls for my once a year shin-dig. Last year I had the girls all send me a song ahead of time that was meaningful for them and I put together a CD so we could tell our stories and take home a CD from the night. This year, I had grander plans, so I hosted an all-ladies murder mystery party. I was a little disappointed in the game itself, but not at all in the girls! As I expected, they got really into their roles and made the best of some lamely scripted moments, and we laughed, as usual, and had a super fun time. Five of the girls are currently very pregnant, and one was there with her newborn. (As mentioned, we're mostly all in the same stage of life...kids and babies galore...) But, despite their big baby bellies, they threw themselves into costume and character and we had another great night of memories.

Dwayne's parents try to come out to Chilliwack once every couple of weeks to hang out with the kids and let me do some uninterrupted work. It's a win-win-win situation. They get fun bonding time with their grandkids, the kids get wonderful focused attention from their nana & papa, and I get a chance to work or catch up on household stuff. I love it, for all of us. =) If only all the grandparents lived this close... These were a couple of shots nana took of the kids at the park last Thursday.

(This is one of the rare occasions when Abby left the elastic I put in her hair for more than 10 minutes...)

Spring has sprung

I've also decided I'm not going to worry about the quality of the photos I post on my blog, or again, I'll never get around to posting much. I took a bunch of pictures of the kids outside in the park and on the slide, but none of them turned out that great. Still, here they are in all their glory enjoying the sunny, mild weather.

Have I mentioned lately that it's great to have a little playground soooo close by? Probably not, because I haven't posted much at all lately. So, it's worth mentioning again. Abby currently has bronchitis, hence the snotty nose, but she seems to be on the mend. That's what's happening in our house this week. Check again soon. =)

Keeping things brief to keep you posted

I'm obviously falling far behind on this blog, so if I don't just throw a bunch of pictures on here, I'll never catch up. So, in the interest of covering a lot of ground, I'm going to post a sampling of pictures with brief captions to get us up to date, and hopefully I'll be able to post more regularly for the next little while. Here's hoping...

4 generations. Mom, Larry, Grandma McGowan, and Auntie Sharen joined us for Christmas dinner on the 22nd. Larry had to work Christmas this year, so we had pre-Christmas-Christmas. I actually don't have a picture of us all eating dinner. Classic shot, totally overlooked...

Josiah pulling his sister through the sloppy snow. We actually saw a lot of the white stuff this year. More than usual for these parts, but still less than usual in my winter experience...

Josiah got a hockey card binder and 400 hockey cards for Christmas this year from Grandma Shannon & Grandpa Larry. These were and are a big hit. Dwayne was just as excited as Josiah to sort them and put them in order in the binder.

Reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

I just love Abby's expression here. This was a mini-ATV, by the way. =)

Here's the kids dressed up for dinner on the 25th. We went to Dwayne's Auntie Janice & Uncle Graham's house for the family dinner this year. For my Facebook friends, some of these shots will be repetitive...

This looks like an idyllic Christmas scene of mommy looking at lights with daughter. You'd never guess that it ends in alarms, being followed by the cops, and 3 police squad cars pulling up at the Hansen home...

Just a cute shot of Abby after church one day in January.

Another cute shot of Abby in the tub last week.

Josiah & Abby playing superheros in their pj's. =) Notice Josiah's very accurate facial expression...

We took the kids skating at the Prospera Center last week. Believe it or not, this was Josiah's first time on real skates. He loved it, although, as usual, he struggles with doing things he's not already excellent at. We really built up the fact that he'd probably fall a lot, so he was expecting as much, and seemed okay with it. I think he's actually looking forward to getting better.

Abby seemed to love skating more than all of us. She was on little bob skates, and couldn't get enough of it. Perhaps she'll be our little hockey player...=)

Okay, there it is. The synopsis of 2 months. I'll try to be more regular. Check in again soon.

Welcome 2008

Well, that was busy! December and the early part of January seemed to fly by. We had a great Christmas, a super fun New Year's, and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of Dwayne's holiday. This is a picture of us on the night of the 22nd when we had our "Christmas Eve" dinner at our place with mom, Larry, Grandma McGowan, and Auntie Sharen. Larry had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas day this year, so they came and stayed in Chilliwack from December 19-23rd. Since the 22nd was our last night together, we made it our Christmas Eve with a turkey dinner and opened all our presents. We had a great time. I will post more pictures later, but for now I thought I could keep you interested with the shot of Dwayne and I because pretty much all of the rest of them will likely be of our kids...