The Hansen Family

I love to decorate, but when you have to add your family's opinion, and then add a dash of tween, decorating gets a little difficult. Ahhhhh! The hardest thing about decorating is the cost. In order to save some money and have a better picture of what a room will look like I created a room inspiration board for Sidney (9). I like to have a plan that I can use, so I can decorate the room in stages.{see my Room Board page here } She picked out the bedspread and I went from there.  Of course, I had a picture of what I wanted her room to look like.  I like neutrals, nothing too bright, but I DO like a POP of color. She had other ideas... Here are some room inspiration boards that I made for her: This is the original "room inspiration board" that I preferred. This is what Sidney wanted.  I was very hesitant . PAINT: We started with the bedspread and were able to use it as an inspiration piece.  The bedspread was purchased at Bed Bath & Beyond...

Decorating on a budget can be really fun.  I love coming up with quick and easy decorating projects that can save a dime, or two or three. I've had a room inspiration plan for Sidney's bedroom {stay tuned for a post about decorating her room} for a while and slowly we are getting it finished. Part of her room plan was to make curtains. I purchased the fabric at JoAnn Fabrics and matched the fabric to her bedspread.  The fabric is blue and has a canvas like texture. {My intention was to make these from twin bed sheets, but I couldn't find the "right" blue.}  Then according to her room inspiration "plan" I decided to add some ribbon to them to make them look more custom. Supplies you need: Curtain 3" satin ribbon Stitch Witchery Iron Ironing board Pins I am going to share this information with you because it took me two times to complete this very simple project. Better for you to learn from my mistake right? First I took the ...

Today is the last day of school, which means summer is officially here! Yes. It. Is. Josh and I were finally able to sit down on Sunday night and layout the summer schedule. Wow, summer can be so busy! The kids have been so excited for the summer to start. They can't wait to "hang-out" with friends and go on vacation. I got a great idea, from a friend and a great mom, to make a summer wish-list. (Thanks Jody!) This morning I woke the kids a little early so THEY could help me with THEIR summer wish-list. We decided to hang this on our door to the garage so we will see it every time we walk out the door.   The kids are hoping they can check most of these off tomorrow on their first official day of summer break. Ha!   They wanted to include Disney World on here too. I tried to keep it realistic and I'm pretty sure we can cross MOST of these off the list this summer.   Happy Summer! What are your plans for the sum...

Our crazy weekend has come to an end.  Josh and I joked how this weekend felt like we were planning a wedding and all the stress that lead up to it, but when it was over, we wanted to do it again. (well, maybe not OVER again, but we definitely had F. U. N.!) The Mary Greeley Medical Center (MGMC) Annual Benefit featuring the Preakness Stakes raised over $229,000! Wow, what a success for an evening! Sadly, we are all touched by cancer in some form, a friend, family member, co-worker, parents, grandparents, even children suffer from this terrible disease. Many are able to fight cancer, many are survivors, many continue to fight and pray every day that a miracle will occur and cancer will leave their body. The event on Saturday was a perfect example of outreach, support and love for those continuing treatment, those we have lost to cancer and those who are in remission. Simply put, Cancer SUCKS! I am proud to say, all the proceeds from the MGMC Annual Benefit will support ...

It is very fitting for me to share this recipe this week. Our May seems to be jam-packed with events, and this week, this very specific week, is the busiest. Both Josh and I have volunteer obligations for major events that happen this weekend (luckily not at the same time) as well as Josh's step-sisters high school graduation.  Surprisingly, we will fit it all in.  The kids have two baseball team practices, a baseball game, dance, softball, a softball scrimmage, soccer practice and a soccer game. And to top it all off, I am single parenting it this week, Josh is out of town for work. Needless to say, I needed something very quick, easy and healthy for supper and this was just the dish to prepare.   NOTE: This is one way to get your kids to eat broccoli! Deliciousness in a bowl! I love sharing quick and easy recipes.  I found this recipe in a Kraft Family magazine and have tweaked it. This recipe is so easy, and only takes 30 minu...

  This past weekend was Mother's Day and our Mother's Day tradition is to plant flowers. My mom comes in from Chicago and we assess every corner of my home to see where flowers should go. This year we had a new area to spruce up...yup, you guessed it...the PATIO! We had a wonderfully relaxing, yet busy weekend planting flowers, fishing with the kids, going on a hike and lots of yummy eating cooked by chef Hansen. (thank you, honey!)   We found these great ceramic pots at Earl May (and used a 30% off coupon).   We tried a couple different varieties of flowers this year, some that we have never planted before!  My mom loves shopping for flowers, she could be in the greenhouse forever getting different ideas. We planted Victoria Blue Salvia. Salvia is also known as sage and is a very fragrant plant. I was told that some Salvia can smell like fruits. Pineapple sage smells like pineapple, while fruit sage smells like a blend of tropical d...