As you can imagine, Kev "the Gris" Hanna has attempted to see exactly how many strings of lights the new home can manage. The "Cottage of Wattage" is truly beginning to resemble the festivities captured by Chevy Chase. Kevin also made the Jeff Foxworthy list with: "If you've ever stood on a ladder in the bucket of your tractor instead of buying a bigger ladder, you might be a redneck."
(See 6th picture to left)
Other than continuing to tweak and complete projects around the Wilderness, our 2012 was filled with lots of family time enjoying our new pool and playing ping pong. Kevin, our resident house husband, has substituted the quintessential bridge club for a Friday Ping Pong lunch with the fellas.
Tina continues to love her work at South Central Industries and Group Homes working with individuals with developmental disabilities. One new client that came to SCI in the summer kept telling me that I reminded him of Dolly Parton. After having him "evaluated" and his medications adjusted, I decided to humor him at the annual Halloween dance and dress up as Dolly! NOTHING was left unaccounted for costume wise. Talk about having your bubble burst (or in my case my balloons popped) when the client remarked I looked more like Phyllis Diller than Dolly Pardon!?!?!?
The three girls continue to grow more and more each day.
Gracie, 12, is a 7th grader at Grove. She is a cheerleader, basketball player, band member and continues to love to dance. Gracie's joke for the year is: What do you call a nun walking in her sleep? A Roamin' Catholic.
Gracie continues to move full-steam ahead toward her teenage years and chooses to focus more on her social activities versus being overburdened with academic pursuits. Imagine our surprise when the 7th grade newsletter came out with Gracie prominently displayed as the advice columnist and her opening diatribe was to expound on the virtues of proper preparation and study habits. Kevin & I were always under the assumption journalists were required to have some basis in fact for their subject matter!
Following is a plagiarized picture from a friend's facebook page. It hit too close to home and was too good not to share. When Gracie saw it, she remarked, "That is so you, mom!" I think she missed the point:)
(See 7th picture to left)
Faith, 10, is a 5th grader at Grove. She began playing basketball and the saxophone this year and swapped the violin for the guitar. Faith's joke for the year is: What do you call a smart blonde? A Golden Retriever.
Faith has taken to basketball like a duck takes to water. She eats, drinks, breathes and dreams about basketball. Occasionally she will even practice. (Just joking). Every week the two of us go to OBU where I try to extrapolate the treasures from 3-on-3 basketball circa 1988 to today's fast paced run up and down the court and shoot game strategies. Because of Faith's size and height, she is most often utilized in a post position. Therefore, my main coaching points have been: 1) Get large in the paint 2) Be agressive and 3) Use your biggest asset (rear-end). Well, true to life with Faith, fast forward to her 5th grade English assignment where her teacher asked her to journal about something they had learned. Faith chose this opportune time to incorporate both her learning of journaling with her new found knowledge of abbreviations. Her heading for this journal entry was "THINGS MY MOM HAS TAUGHT ME: #1. Use my big a**." I'm still waiting on a parent/teacher conference!
Hope, 7, is a 2nd grader at Grove. She continues to dance and do gymnastics and recently began playing basketball. Hope's joke for the year is: Why did Goofy wear two pairs of pants when he went to play golf? He was afraid he would get a hole in one.
What to say about Hope other than she is constantly in motion. If something is broken, we no longer even ask "who" yet Hope can be heard wailing through the house proclaiming her innocence. She loves driving the golf cart and go-cart and it has brought a tremendous sense of relief to my heart that Kev finally re-installed the brakes! Yes, she drives like her daddy:) Hope always knows when there's a camera nearby or when there's an opportunity to perform. This past dance season, she was honored by ShowStopper's as "Top Mini Dancer" and will be featured in one of their magazines. Yes, she mentions this to her older sisters from time to time.
We can't wait to visit and share stories about the year at the Open House. Hope to see you then!
The Hannas
