The Hansen Family

I am getting some May Goals completed and I'm excited about it since I posted my May Goals a little late. And May is crazy with kids sports, end of school and school field trips. Our evenings are packed with softball, baseball, dance, and soccer. Still, I was able to get this simple project done.  The hardest part? Finding time to run to the store to get buckets and hooks.  I feel like this project is one of those Pinterest fails. But really, it's reality. It may not be pretty, but it works. The buckets are from Dollar Tree, four buckets, four dollars. I went across the street to Target to get the 3M hooks in a value pack, I think they cost under $5. There you go, another May goal off the list. Oh - and here was my Pin-spiration: (original source) What do you do for summer organization?

First, I would like to thank all of the people who have served our country on this Memorial Day. Thank you for your courage and strength so that we all may live in our beautiful free country. Here in Iowa, our Memorial Day weekend has been cold and rainy. So rainy that we have been under flash flood warnings, farm fields are starting to look like ponds and it really doesn't feel like summer. Which is probably why I am not prepared. But I need to be. I have printed out last years summer rewards for the kids and this year they are going to help come up with ideas for reading, math and spelling. Follow on Bloglovin so you don't miss out! Now it's time to hop on over and link up your blog.

Our youngest just "graduated" from Preschool this week.  It's hard to believe she is growing up so fast. It's hard to believe school is almost out, summer is here! This means it's time to start scrambling for the end of year teacher gifts.  I am doing a couple different ideas this year. Like usual, I get most of my ideas from Pinterest. However, the Preschool teacher gift, I came up with, by myself. It's a mixture of many ideas on Pinterest.  I really wanted to give Sweet Basil as a gift. I had no idea how hard it would be to find! When I got this idea, I was so excited. I wanted to have a cute little chalkboard sign and a Caprese Salad recipe attached.  As it turned out, I had to go to four stores to find sweet basil. FOUR stores! I ended up settling for a 4" pot of basil. That is all I could find.  It was a nice size for basil and I thought I would split it, since I needed two for two preschool teachers. I found the white square pots at Wa...

Our girls bathroom is really small.  So small it's hard to take a picture, but I tried to get the main point. We had a basic shower curtain rod and the bath/shower needed a little more space. Therefore I wanted to add a curved curtain rod. Oh and look at our bath mat. Yes, just a rolled up towel. We needed to update that mess. I went to Target and purchased the curved rod for $39.99. I installed it in less than 15 minutes. Seriously people this was easy. No drilling into the wall, nothing. It's basically like the old rod, just curved. Adding the green bathmat, really made a difference to the whole room. Little steps people, little steps. What do you love about your bathroom?

I can't believe it's the end of the school year already. I'm gathering ideas for Teacher Appreciation Gifts. Here are some ideas that I have from Pinterest. I love the idea of a plant or something they can have in their classroom. Or something they can use all summer. Better yet a gift card where they can get what they REALLY want. The Starbucks card would be MY favorite! Stay tuned for what I did decide for teacher gifts. Follow on Bloglovin so you don't miss out! Now it's time to hop on over and link up your blog.

Oh my monthly goals, remember those? Recap of previous monthly goals: January February March April Sadly, I fell off the wagon in April. But when I looked back at my April goals, I did get some of them done. May Goal s: Call company to clean carpets (started) Start outdoor uplighting on house Create summer gear mini zone for towels, flip flops, sunscreen etc. Buy Father's Day cards and gifts   (original source) April Goal s Completed: Start planning kids summer schedule Create landscaping list and outdoor organization Start outdoor uplighting on house Organize kids closets to prepare for spring/summer clothes Call company to clean carpets Buy Mother's Day gifts/cards What are you planning to organize in May?

I am so excited to say that our Patio project has been posted on Pinterest numerous times.  But most recently Cassity from Remodelaholic put our project in her Top Ten! Wow! Now that the weather has FINALLY turned nice in Iowa, we are excited to enjoy our Patio. What outside projects are you working on?

Every Mother's Day we have a tradition, planting flowers. My mom drives out from Chicago and we spend the weekend making my outdoor spaces look pretty. This year we had a packed weekend which included my brother-in-law graduating from Iowa State University. Sidney and I at graduation. My family is so amazing. They gave me Salmon Sperry Top-Siders for Mother's Day. We went on a walk at a local park and took a break on a park swing. Here we all are swinging. L to R: my mom, Sidney, me, Sawyer, Josh and Kennady. The kids made a beautiful dandelion bouquet for my mom and I. We started a fairy garden. My mom brings the best candy on the face of the Earth. Cora Lee Candies, english toffee.  Seriously people, it melts in your mouth and it's hard to stop eating it. YUM! Follow on Bloglovin so you don't miss out! Now it's time to hop on over and link up your blog.

I am excited to finally showcase what we did for our Pinterest Challenge, hosted by Bower Power and Young House Love . I have had this plan in the "works" for about six months. Creating "heart prints" for the MGMC Annual Benefit featuring the Kentucky Derby benefiting the William R. Bliss Cancer Center. Each heart represents someone who has been touched by cancer and each individual who attended the event filled out a heart.  We displayed it at the event with these heart strings. My original inspiration was here: (original source) We have had a very interesting May. Snow, kids sporting events cancelled, the MGMC Kentucky Derby event and soon Mother's Day. Today I am very excited to show you all how the Kentucky Derby event went.  Remember last year's event ? And remember the gift gathering party we threw here ? The event was this weekend and we raised more than $238,000 for our local Cancer Center . This is a fantastic group of peop...