The Hannig Home

There is some exciting stuff going on around the Hannig home.  Uncle Joe (our 3 year neighbor in the guest house next door) got engaged on Thanksgiving!  He is getting married on December 20th (similar to Paul and I, he got engaged on a holiday and is getting married 3 weeks later.  Those Hannig boys know how to get it done)!  And he is marrying a wonderful woman, Hannah Tornquist.  Now all 4 Hannig boys will be married...and I couldn't honestly have asked for better sister-in-laws.  Now Hannah will join the Mrs. Hannig's - Ann (our matriarch), me, Eryn (Pete's wife), and Virginia (Mike's wife).  Welcome Hannah!  We love you so much.  And more exciting news on that front - they may actually live in the guest house for a while!  They have a home that will be ready in July.  Those plans are not firmed up, but can you imagine how much fun we'd all have for the next 6-7 months!?  Our kids will never forget these days, getting to know uncle Joe so well, and now Hannah, t

It's 2.15pm on a Wednesday afternoon.  Luke is at school until 3pm.  Ben and Meredith are napping.  I have paid my bills online, done a few things around the house - all while listening to Christmas music - and now have a few uninterrupted minutes to write. I heard someone on the radio refer to this time as Novemberary.  Ha.  It's perfect.  We have a foot of snow on the ground, below average cold temps (lows below zero, highs between 10-20 degrees), and it all started around the 9th of November.  There is no chance the snow will melt, so it looks like we might as well embrace it and buckle up for a long winter.  We have already created some killer sledding hills on the south side of the house.  I'm creating a 'winter activity list' for the days when boredom sets in and little boys start to fight because they are sick of being cooped up. Luke is thriving with the school routine.  He has yet to *not* want to go to school.  He can't wait to go each morning.  Wh

It was 10:30pm on Halloween night.  As we are about to leave our friend's house and head home with tired kids and lots of candy, Luke said, "Mom, when are we going to carve OUR pumpkins?" Oh boy.  Okay, I will admit, I did not forget, or even drop the ball.  I thought of it often throughout the entire month of October.  The kids would see pumpkins at the store and ask if we could buy them *now*, and I would tell them that we'd wait until a little closer to Halloween.  My intentions really were to carve pumpkins, but at the time I was selfishly avoiding it because, for some reason, I didn't have the energy to attack it.  I do LOVE carving pumpkins.  Perhaps when Meredith is a year older and I can be sure she won't cut herself with the carving knife or stick her head in the jack-o-lantern and get it stuck, then I will be able to find the energy to carve the most amazing jack-o-lanterns ever.  So kids, I'm apologizing.  We still had fun, I mean we hun

I was lying in bed with Luke a few nights ago. I love lying there, hanging out with him and hearing about his day at school, going through our little bedtime routine. He put his arms around me and gave me a kiss on the lips. What a sweet boy. I said "I love you, Lukey." Luke replied "I love you, mom. I love you...I love you just a TINY bit more than dad." Ha!

Mer-bear, I have a few facts about you in my head so I better write them down before I forget.  You are 15 months, almost 16 months old.  You still do not say MOM!  You have been saying dad (daaa!) for about 6 months now, but you have yet to refer to me as anything.  Sometimes we ask you to say "mom" and you respond by saying "daaa" so maybe, just maybe, you are calling me mom by calling me daa.  Hmm, not sure..because usually you yell DAAA pretty adamantly when you see dad drive up, or when you are trying to get his attention. You know a little sign language and use it often - more, please, and thank you.  You also nod your head 'yes' very aggressively when we ask you a yes or no question, like "do you want a snack?"  Up and down goes your head in excitement.  Your chin goes all the way down to touch your clavicle. You continue to love waving, and have the prettiest, most graceful little wave.  You are very friendly and a lot of passing cars