CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

The kids and I are really getting into the Christmas spirit. Our shopping is done and the last of the gifts were wrapped yesterday. Our house is decorated inside and out. We visited Santa & had pictures taken with him. We've made our homemade gifts for the grandparents/great grandparents. Our baking is well underway, the Kiss cookies, fudge, peanut clusters, turtles, Oreo bark, Ritz cracker cookies, pumpkin bread & banana bread are done. There is a little more baking left, letters to write to Santa, holiday parties, Xmas concerts & family get togethers...I'm not sure who loves this time of the year more, me or the kids?!?

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

We spent Thanksgiving Day here at home. I made a traditional Thanksgiving meal. After lunch, Allie and I started working on getting our inside Christmas decorations up while the boys went outside and put up our lights and lawn decorations. That took all afternoon, but we got it done.

On Friday morning, the kids and I jumped in the car early and headed to my parent's house. Allie spent the day with my mom while Jake & I went to Michael & Kim's house. Kim and I hit the shopping scene (& had a ball) while Michael & Jake hung out all day (they went to Chuck E Cheese's, walked down by the river, played football, and ATE). We went out to dinner with my grandmother & parents Friday night.

On Saturday, mom watched Ben & my kids while Mandy & I went to some gift shops. We came back to Mom's for lunch and a game of whiffle ball in the back yard. The weather was wonderful!! The kids and I came home Saturday afternoon.

Sunday was spent running a couple of errands as a family. When we got home, Allie & I did some holiday baking while Jake & Scott played video games & watched football.

Now we are back to our usual schedule. Allie has a birthday party this afternoon/evening so Jake & I will spend some time alone. We have tumbling, CCD & dance this week. I will be in Jake's classroom this morning and have lunch room duty later in the week. As always, we will keep busy!

Christmas Trees, Riding Bikes & Thanksgiving

The kids put up their own Christmas trees this morning. Both have little 3 foot trees in their bedrooms decorated with the things that they love most. Jake's is sports themed and Allie's is just girls (hearts, ballet, Care Bears etc.). They are both lacking ornaments, but we can add to it each year until they are full.

The weather was gorgeous here this afternoon. We went outside and rode bikes & scooters. Jake finally got up the nerve to have me remove his training wheels (it is about time). He did pretty good until he got frustrated. With another nice day forecasted for tomorrow, I'd guess he could be almost a pro!!

We are having our Thanksgiving dinner here tomorrow. Just Scott, the kids and myself. The boys are also planning to get the Christmas lights up while Allie & I get our holiday decorations inside the house done.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

BUSY WEEKEND

We had yet another busy weekend!! There is something going on every weekend from now until the end of February!! Maybe not something that takes up the entire weekend, but something (Christmas celebrations, basketball games, a play, b-day parties, a concert, etc.)

Michael & Kim came up for a visit on Friday night. We went to dinner with them and then just hung out around the house.

Mom, Dad, Mandy & Ben came up Saturday morning. The guys sat in the basement all day long & watched football. The girls went to the Festival of Trees at UNI & the Holiday Ballet.

Allie danced in her first ballet on the "big stage". She performed on Saturday afternoon at GBPAC at UNI for the Holiday Ballet. She did well for her first time on stage & looked adorable (I may be biased).

We celebrated my dad's birthday a few days early on Saturday night. We ordered pizza and had dessert. He opened his gifts and then we all sat around and talked. It was fun having a houseful!

This morning we had brunch here and then everyone left for home. Allie & I got dressed up and went back to UNI for more Festival stuff. We attended the Teddy Bear Tea together. Santa made a visit and Allie spent some time with her friends.

PACK MEETING

On Monday night, Jake's Cub Scout Pack had a meeting. The Pack invited a Sheriff & his drug dog to do a demonstation for the boys. Everyone had to leave the room while the officer got set up. He planted drugs in the room while we were gone. He then talked awhile about his dog & had the dog do a drug search and find the hidden drugs. It was pretty cool to watch. After the search, the officer put the drugs into his pocket & continued on with his talk...is that legal??????

WHINE

Allie announced this morning...

"I AM NEVER GOING TO WHINE AGAIN!!"

I had to laugh out loud at that statement...nothing could be farther from the truth!

SNOW

It snowed about .5 inches on Friday. There was no school, so the kids made a "mini" snowman and played outside for a couple of hours. The neighbor boy, Paul came over too for his first time playing in the Iowa snow (he is from North Carolina).



HOCKEY GAME

It was Scout night at the Black Hawks hockey game last night. The boys enjoyed watching the Waterloo Black Hawks beat the Des Moines Bucceneers 4 to 2. Jake's favorite part was when the players slammed up against the glass. The boys also got an earfull of yelling from the TRUE hockey fans...not always something nice came out of their mouths!! We had to explain to Jake the "You suck ref" isn't being a good sport!!

COLLEGE SQUARE

Jake & Allie each had a friend (Paul & Abbie) come to the mall yesterday for BK lunch, Santa's arrival, Fun Bunch art projects and mascot day. They loved meeting the mascots. There was Upper Iowa's fighting peacock, The Crash Test Dummies, the Sprint cell phone, UNI's TC, the Black Hawk (hockey) and the Texas Roadhouse Armadillio (Andy). The kids were ALL about meeting mascots!

CONFERENCE

Jake had his Fall conference last night. He is doing great in his subjects at school. He is reading above his grade level, does well in math & spelling and he really enjoys the science/social studies topics. However...he is a bit chatty!! I had to crack up at part of his comments on his report card..

"Jacob seems to have good leadership qualities and a large circle of friends. One thing he continues to work on is raising his hand and waiting his turn to talk. He likes to share and sometimes does a little too much talking with neighbors. Jacob is a neat kid. I enjoy having him in my class"

I don't know WHERE ON EARTH he gets talking too much from??? Mrs. Wyckoff told me that he has the "gift of gab"!! I think that is the nice way of saying that the kid talks WAY TOO MUCH!!

JAKE LOSES A TOOTH

Jake lost his first tooth at school this afternoon. He was eating his snack and it came out. He got a sticker that says "I lost a tooth today" and a small box in the shape of a tooth to keep his tooth in. He was VERY excited and had to tell every teacher he saw on the way out of the school.

Another busy night here. Allie has tumbling, Jake has his conference and both kids have swimming lessons. It's always something!!

SLEEPOVER

Jake went to his first sleepover last night at his friend Paul's house. Paul's birthday was a few weeks ago & he chose to invite 3 boys over to spend the night. They also got to go see "Santa Claus 3; The Escape Claus". Jake thought the movie was good, eating at McDonald's was good and spending the night with his best buds, Adam, Paul & Ben was GREAT!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN


Jake's school party and parade was this afternoon. His class enjoyed seeing each other's costumes, eating snacks & being goofy. Allie got to come along & march in the all school parade. She thought that was really cool! She's all ready for her Kindergarten party next year!

After school, we headed right down to Main Street in Cedar Falls to trick or treat. We met up with several of Jake's friends & bumped into a couple of Allie's buddies too. After Main Street, we ran to McDonald's for supper & headed on home to trick or treat in our neck of the woods. (the pic is of Paul, Jake, Mason, Sophie & Makenna who are all in Mrs. Wyckoff's class & Allie's friend Jordyn).

Jake had a great time trick or treating around the neighborhood with his friends Mason & Paul. We also bumped into his buddy Ben several times. Allie complained most of the night. Her feet hurt, she was cold & her bag was heavy...go figure!

GETTING READY FOR HALLOWEEN

We went to a Halloween party Saturday night. Jake dressed as a green skeleton & Allie was Belle from Beauty & the Beast. The kids went on a scavenger hunt, ate tons of junk food, made a pumpkin craft & watched the movie Monster House. They crashed right when we got home.

Sunday night we carved pumpkins. Allie chose a ghost & Jake chose a scary pumpkin face. They were pretty excited about the finished products.

HUMAN HOT DOG & STRAWBERRY SHAKE

We had a "money" drive at Hansen that lasted 9 days. When the final coins were counted, the Hansen families raised $20,795.49!! The kids are SO close to getting the first Phase of their playground installed this Spring. It was an exciting day at Hansen. The class that collected the most money got to douse their principal Dr. Reid with ketchup & mustard. Jake's class won by collecting $6547.95!! The 2nd place class (another first grade class) got to make the PE teacher into a strawberry shake!! We had an all school assembly that included a visit from TC, the Panther mascot! Check out the pictures!!


SCOUTS

The Cub Scouts went skating on Monday night. Both kids quickly caught on to skating. We also had a den meeting on Thursday night. The boys used some crafts to make funny faces...

LARRY THE CABLE GUY

We went to see Larry the Cable Guy's show on Sunday night. What a riot!! Kim got us tickets & back stage passes. We met Michael & Kim at Chili's and had dinner and drinks. Then we went over to the show, met Larry the Cable Guy (& his wife & baby son). We enjoyed 11th row seats and laughed until our stomachs hurt. Kim & I loved watching Michael & Scott laugh so hard!! A great night...thanks Kim.

WHAT A WEEK!!

It was a long week of running!! I spent every morning at Hansen counting money for their coin drive. Week 1 totals are in and they have raised $6193.03 in coins, bills, parent & business donations for their playground! Their goal is now raised to $10,000 by Friday the 27th. Their assembly on that day will have TC, UNI's mascot present. The class that raised the most money in the coin drive gets to spray ketchup & mustard on the principal making him into a human hot dog. The PE teacher agreed to be a strawberry shake to go with the hot dog! The kids will love it.

Next week I will finish up the coin drive & plan the assembly. I also start my weekly spelling tests with Jake's class and my weekly lunch room duty at Hansen. Never a moment of sitting still here!

Tomorrow night, Scott & I are meeting Kim & Michael to see Larry the Cable Guy. Kim's cousin got us tickets AND back stage passes. We can't wait. It should be awesome!! The kids are excited to have a babysitter...how sad is that??

Here's a picture of the kids from summer 2005...we are supposed to get snow tonight & I'd rather think about the heat!!

STUFF

Allie had her friend Hallie over yesterday for a playdate. They played GREAT together. Allie rarely gets friends over...there aren't girls her age in our neighborhood so she often gets stuck without a friend. Jake's just show up on our door step or in our back yard since they all live less than a block away. Allie was delighted to play yesterday.

Hansen is having a coin drive at school this week. Day 2 and the kids have collected $1994.00!! Each class is competing with the other classes for the chance to make the principal into a human hot dog!! We told parents that we'd welcome their tax deductible checks during this drive, so about 1/2 is actually parental donations. Jake was bummed...his class hasn't won either day. They were sure that they won today with $99 in change, but another 1st grade class had $75 in change & $300 in parent's checks! I keep telling him that maybe another day his class will win!!?? What matters is the overall total, not the daily total...we'll see how he fares on October 27th!

GOOD TURN FOR AMERICA

Yesterday morning some of the boys from our Tiger Scout den went throughout a neighborhood dropping off plastic bags on people's doors. The bags are to be filled with non perishable goods to be picked up on Saturday by the Scouts. After we dropped bags off, we had a bonfire & toasted marshmallows and had a whiffle ball game. The boys had fun while doing a good deed!

HIKE

The Tiger Scouts went on a nature hike yesterday. We had a good turn out & everyone brought their parents and siblings along. We learned about the "Leave No Trace" rules of Scouting and did a leaf rubbing. After our hike, we had a quick snack and headed on home.

BEN FISH'S BIRTHDAY

Allie went to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's last night for her friend Ben Fish.

ALLIE'S FIELD TRIP

Allie's preschool class went on a field trip to Heartland Farms pumpkin patch on Friday. She was pretty excited about riding the bus & getting a pumpkin. They went on a hayride, played in the various jumping features, checked out the animals, played on a giant hay slide and had a snack. It was super cold & windy outside, so it wasn't as much fun as usual. I know that I was freezing & ready to go home!! (Allie is in the top row, 2nd from the left)


RAMS VS. BEARS

Jake's last football game was this morning. It was really chilly out!! They ended up losing at the last second by only 1 point. Jake was disappointed to end the season 2 & 4. He can't wait 'til next season though.

OTHER STUFF

-Allie had a playdate here on Thursday. Her friend Olivia came over for a few hours.
-Allie went on a playdate yesterday to Hallie's house. After their playdate, we all went to the puppet show at the library. Hallie gets to come over here on Monday after preschool.
-The times for the mile are posted. Jake was 2nd out of the ENTIRE 1st grade class!! He was pretty upset that he wasn't 1st, until I explained that being 2nd out of all 60+ 1st grades was AWESOME!! He was beat by his buddy Dylan.

JAKE'S FIELD TRIP

The entire first grade class at Hansen went to Hartman Reserve today for a field trip. They spent about 30 minutes hiking, collecting leaves, collecting acorns & looking for wildlife (of course no one could stop talking so we saw NO animals). They then got to explore the nature center where there are various animals, skins & skulls/bones. After that, they got to make apple cider in an old fashioned press. What a great time we all had!

UNI HOMECOMING
We went to the UNI Homecoming parade on Saturday morning. The kids collected a lot of candy & other prizes. They enjoyed seeing TC (Top Cat) UNI's mascot. Jake had his football with him and got to throw some passes to a guy in the parade, which he thought was WAY cool! All in all, a great parade as usual!!

We tailgated before the game. It consisted of the kids, Michael & Scott playing football. Kim & I gabbed of course & Allie took a lot of breaks from the game to eat snacks.

UNI welcomed former head football coach Terry Allen back by beating his team Missouri State 38-7!! It was a great game and we had lots to cheer about.




RAMS VS. CHIEFS
Jake's football team looked GREAT this weekend. They won in OT by a touchdown. Jake had a nice carry and a couple of good tackles (pulled the flags). He was in really good spirits after their big win. Next Saturday is our last game & I am certain that Jake doesn't want it to end!

EASY BAKE OVEN

Allie bought an Easy Bake Oven at the carnival garage sale last Friday night. She paid $1 for it and was SO excited. I have to admit, I was a little excited too. I never had an Easy Bake Oven as a child and really wanted one. On Thursday, I was baking cookies and other treats for the weekend so I let Allie bake on her own. Let me tell you, baking with an Easy Bake Oven is kind of fun!! Allie lost interest in it once her cookie went into the oven so I got to play all alone!! The cookie came out & Allie allowed me to try a bite...it wasn't that great!! Our next baking will be cinnamon rolls in the EBO!!


PARENT'S DAY AT DANCE
We had Parent's Day at Allie's dance class. She really enjoys learning her ballet moves. She seems to do pretty well too. We got to see a "sneak peek" of her dance that she'll be performing at the Holiday Ballet in November. It was pretty cute!


FOOTBALL GAME IN THE HOUSE

There was an impromptu game of football in my living room on Friday night. Michael & Scott (who should know better) thought it would be fun to play tackle football in the living room with Jake & Allie. Nothing got broken & the kids had a great time!! So I can't complain.

AUNT MAGGIE

I'm going to be an aunt again!! My sister Mandy & her husband Mike are expecting their 2nd child on April 25th. She is 11 weeks along & doing great. They heard the baby's heartbeat last week and announced their big news this week. She is feeling pretty rotten with morning sickness that lasts all day long, but they are delighted to be pregnant!

I told the kids that one of their aunts had a baby in her tummy and they guessed it was KIM!! I said no & they guessed Mandy next. They then proceeded to argue over who gets to play with Ben & who gets to play with the GIRL in Mandy's tummy. I thought that was pretty funny since at 11 weeks we have no clue if it will be a boy or a girl.


PAYBACKS

I remember when I was a kid really enjoying teasing my sister. The one thing that sticks out the most is when I used to call the teacher on Romper Room Miss Piggy instead of Miss Peggy. Mandy was a HUGE fan of Romper Room & would FREAK out at the name change of her idol Miss Peggy. Well, tonight Allie was discussing what she wanted to be for Halloween & she was saying she thought she'd be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Jake began saying "oh...you're going to be DORKY???" Allie was SOOOOO mad, which of course made Jake keep repeating it. I told him to leave her alone etc. He informed me that it is ALOT of fun to tease his sister. I had NO reply...he's right...it is fun to tease your sister!! Oh...by the way, she is going to be Belle from Beauty & the Beast now due to the teasing...I wonder what he'll change Belle to???

TUMBLING

Allie started her tumbling classes tonight. We took the summer off & decided to skip September too due to soccer. She had a great time tonight on the trampoline, balance beam & uneven bars. She has a new coach this year, we'll see how that works out. Her old coach was one tough cookie, which Miss Allie needs!

THE CARNIVAL IS OVER

The 2006 Hansen Carnival is over. WHEW!!! It was a big success, a ton of work & a lot of fun for all of the kids. I'm exhausted!! The kid's favorite thing about the carnival was One Armed Pete's Casting Room...it was a room where 2 Hansen parents, both doctors applied casts to the kid's arms. Sartori Hospital donated the supplies, so the majority of student body had casts for the night! Note the pictures of Jake & Allie!



FOOTBALL

Jake lost his football game on Saturday by a touchdown. He was really disappointed. He had a couple of good runs, but by no means is a star football player. He enjoys playing & I am delighted he has fun. He had 3 extra fans at this game, NANA Terri, Aunt Mandy & Ben were there to cheer him on! The kids had a great time playing with Ben the rest of the weekend. Ben must have enjoyed himself too...he started to throw a fit when Mandy took him to leave.