Decorating the tree and Breakfast with Santa!

This year Josie was very interested in decorating the Christmas tree.  I put the tree up and got it all set for the ornaments and then Josie took over.  Josie did most of the ornaments and Cooper helped with a few.  Every once in a while I would grab a special ornament or breakable one and put that towards the top of the tree but I think the kids did a really great job.  I couldn't get them to stand by the tree together so this is the best I got. Cooper is in the midst of potty training so don't mind his big boy undies!!

We also went to breakfast with Santa a couple of weeks ago and the kids were super excited.  Well, until we actually saw them.  Josie got brave enough to go see Santa and Mrs. Claus after we finished eating. 

Here she is telling Santa that she wanted the big stuffed pony from Tractor Supply.  Unfortunately Santa didn't bring it for her this year.  Although he did bring her a horse stable.

 

I think Cooper was even more excited to see Santa than Josie was, until we got there and he actually had to go talk to him.  Then he started screaming and crying.  So, we went back to our table and Cooper started crying and saying Choo, choo.  I then realized that he was mad because he didn't tell Santa what he wanted.

 

So, we went back up to Santa and Cooper went running up to him and told him that he wanted a Choo, choo.  Then he was happy and willing to take a good picture with Santa. 

Josie's 4 year pictures

We took Josie's 4 year old pictures back in the first part of September and I just realized that I never posted them.  We took them in the backyard against the old outhouse and then on a gate in our yard.  I think they turned out great.  Enjoy!

Lately

This past month has gone by way to quickly.  Corn silage was chopped and the kids loved watching the tractor all day.  Our corn was combined and so we spent 2 very long days in the truck moving trucks around and watching the combine go.  Cooper thought it was awesome watching all of the trucks and the combine.  We've also weaned all of the calves and sorted the young heifers and a few old cows out and got them set up in the barn.  Let's just say the barn is very full this year.  It was also very noisy in the valley for several days after we weaned the calves.  We also had several cows get out multiple times, so I spend a lot of time chasing cows around!

Cooper has been talking up a storm lately.  He is working on putting more and more words together.  He still is not talking in full sentences but he is able to put enough words together to tell us what he wants, most of the time.  He is loving having mom to himself two days a week while Josie is at school and I think that it is really helping his speech improve!

Josie is doing great in school. Her teacher had only good things to say about her.  She is currently average to above average in most things that they test to gage their level of knowledge.  She is really good at writing her name!  Josie loves school and has started teaching us some of the songs that she is learning!

School Update

It's been a while since school started for Josie and I thought I would give a quick update.  Josie had a couple of really bad weeks at the start of the school year where she did not want to go to school at all.  And then all of sudden things have been great.  She wakes up and can't wait to get to school.  She still says that she doesn't play with anybody.  But if I start naming kids in her class she will tell me if she played with them and what she did.  If I ask her about her day she tells me she had fun but doesn't want to talk about it.  Her favorite things to do at school are gym class, library time and music class.  She loves recess.  She prefers to pack a lunch rather than take hot lunch but some days she asks to have breakfast at school. 

This last week was the first time she had an all school assembly because the fire department came.  They got to see the firemen all dressed up in their gear and even the principal dressed up in the gear.  They also got to see a bunch of fire trucks and a tanker truck.  She also had team time on Wednesday where they got to build a scarecrow!  Team time is where all of the classes get intermixed and in each team they have several kids from each grade with a teacher or teachers aid.  They do team time once a month and this was the first time they did it this year.  Josie had lots of fun and her team teacher is our neighbor so Josie really like that.  Josie will have the same team all year so she'll get a chance to meet some of the older kids in school!

Overall school is going great and she is learning lots!

Birthday Party

Last weekend was Josie's birthday party with our family friends.  We all had a blast and Josie got lots of great presents.  Enjoy the pics!

First Day of School

Josie started Pre-K on Wednesday September 4th at Prairie View Elementary School.  Josie's teachers name is Miss Sedlmayr and the teacher's aid is Mrs. Zink.  Josie was so excited to start the day that she couldn't get to her classroom fast enough.  She found her cubby immediately and hung her backpack up and headed into the room.  We had to call her back to tell her good bye and then she started to get a little bit sad but she held it together and didn't cry.  Since it was her birthday last week she was allowed to bring in a birthday treat on the first day of school.  So, when I picked her up from school she was so excited to tell me how everyone sang Happy Birthday to her.  She had a great day and really enjoyed herself.

Fishing

This summer marked another first in the Hanson household.  We got Grandpa and Grandma Hanson's pontoon boat and Aunt Casey's fishing boat ready for the water and hit the river.  The kids like riding in both boats but they like riding in the pontoon more as they can move around a lot easier.  They also love to go fishing and in all of the trips that we went out this summer so far, the only pictures I have are of Grandpa E pulling in a carp.  Hopefully there will be more boat rides and fishing yet to come this year.

Birthday Girl

My little girl turned 4 today!!!  I can't believe how old she is getting.  Where does the time go.  Josie is getting to be so big.  We are going to school tonight for meet the teacher night as she will be starting school next week.  She will be going to 4K at Prairie View Elementary and has class on Monday's and Wednesday's for the whole day.  Currently Josie loves to play dress up.  She has really gotten into riding her bike lately.  She still uses her training wheels but she's improved so much this summer.  She is still very shy and timid but getting braver.  Hopefully school will help with this.

Loving their Baby

The kids each have a baby of their own and they always have them close by.  Here are some pics of each of them with their baby.  Josie calls her baby Sara and Cooper just calls his baby!  Josie was playing with hers in the pool outside and Cooper was playing, taking a nap!

Cousin Time!

The kids love getting some cousin time.  Especially when they only see these cousins a couple of times a year!

Riding lessons

Josie got to take her first riding lesson this week.  She was taught how to brush the horse, how to get on and how to steer the horse with the reins.  She had a blast and can't wait to go again.  The horse the she rode was named Toby and is around 26 years old.  Cooper also got to have a small ride and he was in love with the horse as well. 

Summer fun with friends

Every several weeks we do a play date with my friend Erin and her kids.  The kids always take a long time to warm up but this last play date the kids had a blast.  The kids played in the pool and then moved onto the playset.   It was great to see the kids having so much fun together!  Hopefully they will stay friends as they grow up.

Cooper's 2 year well check

Cooper had his 2 year old well check last month and here are his stats:

Weight - 30lbs 5 oz - 78th percentile
Height - 34.17 inches - 45th percentile
Head - 19.25 inches - 57th percentile

Cooper is really starting to talk a lot more lately.  He is starting to say more words with less prompting and now we are trying to get him to put 2 words together.

We took Cooper's 2 year pictures a couple of weeks ago and here they are: