Long time no blog, oops

Jonah and I in front of the small jelly fish tank
Jonah and Tony playing in the water with the animals

Jonah in the shark tube

Tony, Jonah, and I at the aquarium

Jonah and I in the jaws of the mega shark

Tony and Jonah in the jaws of the mega shark

Jonah and I on the beach, windy and cold, brrr

Jonah would live on the beach if he could!

Sorry it has been such a long time since I have blogged. I kinda sorta got water in my laptop and have been a slacker ever since! Anyway last month Tony took a week off and his boss let us use their beach house. The house is gorgeous, but the beach was not so much while we were there. We went anyway but not nearly as much as we would have liked. While we were on the coast we also went to the aquarium. Jonah LOVES sharks, I think partly because his Aunt Marji HATES them, but either way he was so excited to see them. It was a fun and good trip.

Goodbye Kindergarten!

Jonah and his best friend Jacob at the end of year BBQ at school.

Jonah and some of his classmates on recess.

Jonah's self portrait, May 09

They did yearbooks and had the kids sign them. The girls were lined up!

Jonah LOVES to do math! He did NOT get that from his mom!

Jonah is now done with kindergarten! He recieved an Outstanding Attendance Award today in the school assembly. He was adorable and very proud! He loved school and looks forward to first grade!

Jonah also got a certificate from his amazing teacher Mrs. Dunn that we love!

Jonah's on the Front Page of the Paper!

This article was on the front page of the News Review on Friday May 15, 2009. It's pretty cool and a great experience for the kids. It has opened up other doors of service for us. Jonah wants to help the soldiers. We are currently looking for one to write and support. It was great all the way around. For Jonah's birthday this year he says that he wants to send medical supplies to the war!

Boy's birthday bash helps feed the hungry
Kathy Korengel
At his recent birthday party Calvin Davis, 6, second from right top row, had party guests bring food for the homeless in lieu of gifts. The kids got back together at Calvin’s home on Thursday. In front are, from left, Levi LeMert, 8, Seth Davis, 1, and Jonah Hanson, 6. In the back, are, left, Remington LeMert, 3, Landon Davis, 3, Calvin Davis, 6, and Sailie LeMert, 5.
ROBIN LOZNAK/The News-Review


Calvin Davis and his birthday party guests deliver their food donations to Umpqua Community Action Network.
Courtesy photo
Calvin Davis, 6, recently held a birthday party that ended up being a gift to the area’s homeless.“Calvin is just really compassionate about other people,” explained his mother, Regina Davis, at their Roseburg home on Thursday. “He really notices when other people don’t have things.”He’s also curious. And he started asking questions when he saw homeless people on the street. Davis decided she wanted to build on those traits by throwing a unique birthday party for him, one where he gave instead of received. “Something I really wanted to instill in my kids was a desire to serve and help other people,” she said.She looked online for ideas, but found none. Then she remembered getting mail from the Umpqua Community Action Network about how the social service agency’s Food Bank was struggling to keep up with the rising demand for emergency food.So Davis decided to ask Calvin’s guests to bring food and personal hygiene items for UCAN, rather than presents, to his party on April 9.She called her friends, Mandy Hansen and Lura LeMert, the day before his party to invite their four children. And she told them her plan for presents.“I think it’s great,” Hansen said. “It’s really hard to teach kids service. I only have one (kid). It’s really hard to teach compassion. You learn things with siblings that with an only child you don’t learn.”To get ready for the party, Davis got bags for the kids to color, and in which to deliver the food. She put together clues for a treasure hunt in which the kids would hunt for the food at the party. And she made plans for a relay to give the kids a fun way to put the food in bags.After the party, “we had two very full trunkloads of bags of stuff,” LeMert remembers of the ride to UCAN.Once at UCAN, the kids got a tour. They saw the showers and laundry facilities UCAN provides for the homeless. They talked to an employee who advocates for the homeless. They even learned about some of the other things UCAN does, such as teaching people how to save energy.They also did a few traditional birthday things. Employees sang “Happy Birthday” to Calvin in every department they passed through. A “Happy Birthday” banner welcomed him in one department.“A 6-year-old birthday party, that they’re having a party that does social service, it is just great,” said Nancy Southerland, the volunteer coordinator at UCAN who arranged the group’s visit. “It just touched my heart,” she said, “in fact of all of us here. ... Some people were teary-eyed.”Asked his thoughts on his birthday bash, Calvin said the party was “good, because I was helping others.” The UCAN tour was “good” too, because he learned “what kind of food you could bring there ... (and) how the people work.”Hansen’s son, Jonah, 6, said the party was “cool ... because we got to help people.” He remembered getting to see a meeting room at UCAN and what temperature to set your fridge at for optimum energy efficiency.LeMert’s son, Levi, 8, remembers how “cheerful and happy” everyone was at UCAN. He learned “it’s nice to give and to be cheerful and to be happy and it’s good to help other people.”There’s one more thing he learned. “It’s like a present to kind of give. It’s kind of a present for you.”

Mandy Turned 30!!!

Happy Birthday to Mandy, Happy Birthday to Mandy..... I turned 30! this past week and it felt like a week long celebration, no complaints! To start it off my friends threw a birthday lunch, I have wonderful friends, which was so fun and my mom could come too! Then was my actual birthday which is when Tony and Jonah both told me what they were getting me. Jonah got me Roll and Grow, preplanted flower seeds in sod, and Tony got me a laptop! I love both, one more for the thought and the other because now I don't know how I lived without it! Thanks boys! That day Jonah and I had hung out and I had a sick friend so her 3 adorable boys came and hung out with us and it was so fun! My sister Misty had invited us to dinner and ice cream cake but by the end of the day we decided to put it off until the next day and then just relaxed at home and watched The Biggest Loser, I love that show! Speaking of the Biggest Loser, it's a weight loss show, anyway they have this arm band thing called the BodyBugg that counts how many calories you burn in a day, is a pedometer, and how long you have been in your target burning zone, anyhow my wonderful family all went in together and got me one! I love it and since last September have lost about 45 pounds and am hoping this helps motivate me even more, especially after the fun and fattening birthday week! We went and had cake the next day and hung out with Asa, Misty, Maddox, and Marley. It was super fun and Marley had picked out a heart ice cream cake. The next day after school we went over to my mom and dad's in Sutherlin and they came down and so did my moms parents. We were all so excitd to see all of them! Jonah thought his great grandparents were like the greatest people ever and he wanted to hang out with them the whole weekend! They have a mobile home which what kid isn't going to love? Anyway we all hung out that Friday and I got a 24 hour fever which was no fun, but don't worry I still made it to my big party that my parents threw on Saturday at Ten Down Bowling! It was hecka fun! My mom chose and Italian theme, perfect, and we ate pizza, my favorite, and bowled and played games, so fun! Jonah loved playing I Spy with great grandma and air hockey with great grandpa. Everyone had alot of fun and everything was great! Thanks so much mom and dad! The next day with everyone at the Hansen house out of the fever zone, Tony had it Thurs and Fri, we had g gma and g gpa, mom, dad, Misty, Lonnie, Maddox, Marely, Asa, and Marji over to our house for a birthday lunch for Cookiema-my mom, and Uncle Lonnie-my brother in law. I made a pioneer woman lunch. This woman is amazing and I am obsessed! Anyway it was so yummy and I think everyone had a good time. Thanks again everyone, It wa perfect!

Jonah and I at Lowes with his finished jewelry box, 2-14-09
Jonah at Lowes with his certificate and finished jewelry box, 2-14-09
Tony and Jonah at Lowes working on the jewelry box, 2-14-08

Valentines Day

This Valentine's Day was fun and active. Tony, Jonah, and I went to a Lowe's project class, so cool you should go and take your kiddos-free and super fun, and made a jewelry box. Jonah had so much fun and was so proud! It was adorable! Later that day we had friends over for a Valentine dinner. Tony made yummy rib eyes and burgers for the kids. There was lots of Mario Kart and visiting. We had a really good day and finished it up by watching the new Open Season 2 as a family. We hope that everyone else enjoyed their day too!

Mother/Son Dance

The wedding dance from last September

Jonah wanted to give me a flower like he did at the wedding last fall but they were out at the dance so he found some greenery on the floor and rather than put it in my mouth he took a picture of it in my hair! He's so stinkin cute!
Jonah and his friend Caleb dancing
Jonah and mom before the dance

Tony, Jonah, and Mandy before the dance

Ooooops, I put the pictures in the wrong order but you get the idea!!!

This past Friday night Jonah and I went to a Mother/Son dance with our friends, Angie, Ethan, and Caleb Gibby. It was so sweet and so fun. Last fall we had friends get married and there was music and Jonah asked me to dance, naturally I gushed about how sweet and special it was so he has been wanting to dance again. We first went to dinner at Applebees and then the dance. Jonah was a dancing fool! It was so much fun and so sweet! He is one special kid!