Cow(boy) Jessie and Johnny Appleseed

Our little dude. He thought he was so cool wearing Averie's Cowgirl Jessie Hat.

Just walking around in my hat and carrying my bucket.

For several weeks now Averie's class has been studying Johnny Appleseed. On Monday they had a party to celebrate. Normally she has to wear a uniform everyday but on this day they got to dress up as Johnny if they wanted to. Maybe I am biased but I thought she was was super cute. Also, I have to toot my own horn just a little. Please look at the hat. Johnny wore a pot on his head so I decided to make her a pot thinking it would be more comfortable. It took two attempts but I do think it turned out great. The reason I am tooting my horn is because she was the only one with a homemade hat. Everyone else brought actual pans for their kids. Ouch! Also if any Lansers out there are looking at this... yes it is made from Duct Tape!

Averie~ Hat, cut off shorts and a bag for her Apple seeds.

Here she is showing you Johnny would sprinke the seeds

Fun shot. What a pretty girl. She drew the apples that we taped to the hat.

Up close of the hat.

Another Week

Well I don't have much to report but here is a little overview.



Danton~ You can keep him in your prayers as he is interviewing with a company in Denver this week. He is applying for an EMT Postion. It is a very intense interview. He will have to run a 9 min mile, complete a weighted mile in 14 min, 10 min of continuous CPR, 200lb lift, and a 200lb asst lift up 35 stairs. He also has to repeat all the testing he just did. They are very stringent on there policies on alcohol and tobacco as well. I think he will do just fine but we aren't sure how many others are going to be trying to get the postition as well. He has to complete the physical part on Saturday and the testing part on Sunday. So if you remember you can think about him on those days!!!

School is going... He is done with the school part of his IV class on Thursday. He will have to log some clinical hours which need to be completed my mid December. My mom has volunteered herself for some practice poking anyone else...
Biology class is taking a lot of time that he really doesn't have but I personally think he is doing very well given all that is on his plate.
He starts his 3 week EKG class next weeek. That will probably be a little more intenese than the IV and require a bit more homework.

Rebecca~ Just when I had a routine down it all got changed with Averie moving to afternoon KG. It is coming around but not as quickly as I would like. If any one has some good kid ideas please feel free to pass them along. Fall and Winter are coming and we are going to be inside a lot more and could use some good forms of entertainment.

Averie~ She is absolutely loving her new class. When I ask her about her day and her most favorite part it is no longer reccess!!! It is the tests she took or the centers they get to do. What an answered prayer. Last Monday I went to her school for an orientation and recieved a great report from her teacher. She told me that Averie is a very smart little girl and that she loves that Averie keeps her on her toes.
Mrs. Pears has a reward system in her class where if you earn 5 tickets during the week you get to pick something from her treasure chest. Danton and I made an agreement with Averie that if she earned a treasure from school we would match it. She has been in the class 2 weeks and has recieved 2 matches!!! She asked for her matched treasures to come from Michaels a craft store in town or if we wanted we could give her real silver and gold treasure. I think you can guess we opted for the first option. We also told her that once she earned 4 treasures we would take her to Crack Pots, a place in town where you paint pottery. She is so excited about that and has already told her teacher what she is working for.
She absolutely loves to do art. She will color and draw for hours. She is very good and loves to use her "art" pencil to sktech and make books. She is learning to spell more and read more. Every week we go to the library and she picks out a few Chapter books. I enjoy our reading time every night before she goes to bed. And sometimes during the day if we can fit it in. She loves it when daddy doesn't have school at night and he lays with her and reads, I think she gets more than 1 or 2 chapters those nights... maybe that's why she enjoys it so much.

Mr Lincoln~ When your world changes so much in 1 year where do you begin on the new things he is doing? Who ever knew that 2 kids could be SO drastically different. I didn't. Averie is our serious child and Lincoln... well he is just funny!! He think he is so funny that he actually laughs at himself. You can sometimes get him laughing that he is actually giving a good belly laugh.
As you all know he is walking and starting this last week I think he thinks he is a runner as well. What a hoot. He loves to put things over his head and barrell forward as fast as he can. That may not show his brightest side, especially when he runs into things. He is eating more and will try anything once. As I have mentioned before he loves peaches. Only a few more weeks of those though )= He loves the extra kids at the house. He gets so excited to play with them and watch them play. He really loves his Papa. He loves his Nanny too, but Papa seems to be the winner of his affection lately. I think he knows what fun things await him in the shop!!!

Thank you mom and dad for coming over to watch the kiddos and GranDan for funding our date and night out together. They came so Danton and I could go out and celebrate out 10 year anniversary. An Italian restaurant was offering a date night special so we went and enjoyed some good food and good company while the kids enjoyed some good spoiling themselves!! Very fun and needed night out.

Well that is it and Happy Beginning to your week everyone!!!

What's New?

Mr. Lincoln is now 10 months old. He is cruising around the house on his two little feet and he loves to check out all the new things in his world. One if his favorites is the fridge. (He is his father's son!!!) When the door opens he comes quick. Today this was on his schedule...

"I am just going to fix myself a little snack"

"I am going to need a little bit of that..."

"Darn, I am going to need that all the way in the back"

"Ah that was a great snack if I do say so myself"

A brief recap. My good friend Angela is needing to go back to work and I am watching her two little kiddos Morgan (5) and Brady (2). Angela's neighbor Lynne who is like a mom to her got 4 tickets to a Tea Party. So we each took our little girls and enjoyed some tea!!! Many of the ladies were very dressed up, we took note and next year will be ready to go!! Averie was SOO excited to go and thought the ladies were so pretty in there dresses. When it came to the food, she was not SOOO excited. She informed me that it was gross and that she just wanted the tea. Although she and Morgan did manage to show up when the dessert was served... Silly girls... Here are some pictures from the day

Mommy and Averie pre Tea

She LOVED the Sparkly Cup, espeically since the lady told her they were Magic Sparkles!!

She had so much fun

Putting her napkin on her lap

Miss Averie and Miss Morgan

Good News

We have some good news to share.... no we are not pregnant!!!

Danton took his Nationional EMT Certification yesterday and we got the news that he passed and is now a Nationally Certified. Now we just finish several classes over the next year and then he will start Paramedic school next fall.

Secondly, Averie had a great first day in her new class. The teacher said she was nervous a few times about how they did things and she mentioned she missed her friends but overall she did great. Her teacher was so great. She let Averie be the line leader during the day and she also earned herself two tickets, if she gets five in a week she gets to get a treasure from the treasure chest. We have told her that if she gets a treasure from school we will match it. Also the teacher sends home a daily report folder that tells how Averie does that day. This is already better than it was. Yeah!!! Also when I asked Averie what her favorite part of the day she didn't say recess she actually picked something from the day. What an answer to prayer.

Well off to the day. Just when I figured out a schedule for all the kids I am now having to redo that. I am sure it won't take long but here we go...

Enjoy your week everyone.

Averie and the KG Update

Wow this school year has already been filled with adventure and we aren't even a month in!!! If you have been reading we have been experiencing some stuff with her teacher. The debate was to just ride it out because it is only KG, work on switching classes, or just wait until Teacher Meetings.
Here is how everything fell. She is starting afternoon KG tomorrow with a new teacher. Averie has had her a couple of days as a sub when her teacher was gone. She responded so well to her then that that is why I tried to get her in that class.
Averie does not do well with sudden change and had a hard time when I told her about it. She was sad about not seeing her friends everyday. She knows she will make new ones and I think overall she is excited.
I will keep you posted about the first day... Oh our school adventures have just begun and just think I only have 18 more years of kiddo school to go!!!

Hello All

Wow what a week here.

We knew my dad was going to go to Iowa this week because Grandpa was a having a pretty major surgery. His plan was to leave on Monday morning. On Sunday afternoon we got a call from my brother in Oklahoma and my sister-in-law was having some severe stomach pains we found out she needed to get her appendix out. So my mom was on a plane out to Oklahoma on Monday to help her out this week. I am glad to report both surgeries went well and and they are both doing well. And my parents should be home on Monday.

As for us

Rebecca~ I am getting better adjusted to watching the extra kids in the house. Getting used to Danton's new school schedule oh and Kindergarten. I am still having some teacher issues and I am hoping to make more head way that this week.
Danton~ He is now underway with school again. Currently he is taking and IV course and a Biology course. The Biology is going to be VERY time consuming and we are just praying to get it over with and to just pass. The new work project is also very demanding. He is putting in a lot of hours and doing a good job turning it around. Just pray for sanity on the crazy days in work and school, which are most of them!!!
Averie~ School. Like I have mentioned we are having a hard time with the teacher. Averie doesn't really complain but she asks me if she can stay home because she doesn't want to go. And if you know Averie that is very unlike her. She is such a bright and talented little girl. Pray we get something figured out this week.
Lincoln~ He is really devloping a fun personality. He has now added the word BALL to his vocabulary. He loves peaches, but who doesn't!!! He loves to give kisses. He has 5 teeth. He is becoming a little mischevious. He is a walking machine and that is now his method of trasportation. Last weekend we decided to get a Noise Machine for his room. It is seeming to help some. Yeah!!! Also he has had one of his best sleeping weeks this past week. For the most part he only got up to eat. Huge improvement.

Danton and I had our 10th wedding anniversary on Friday. We actually went to some friends and all the kids played while we had icecream and coffee. It was a lot of fun. Danton is working today but will have Sunday and Monday off. We are planning on going to Estes Park for the day tomorrow. Lincoln's first time!!! And on Monday we will probably just enjoy a good family day. I am loving the feel of fall in the air. Danton and I enjoy this season the most. What a beautiful time. Speaking of that. We are going to get some family pictures done in October. They will be of the family and the kids together and idividually. If anyone is wanting a picture please let me know. It will probably be $3-5.00 a picture depending on the size. I am planning outdoor fall pictures.