Dr Seuss and Nancy Carlson

Carter's class performed a variety of Dr. Seuss Reader's Theaters for Dr. Seuss Day.  Carter was Thing 1.  He was pretty adorable, but don't take my word;see for yourself!

Alex was one of the selected students from his school to go to this years Young Writer's Conference at William Penn University.  He had to write a short story in order to go.  He wrote a story about a robot dog from outer space. It was great!  He is a fantastic little writer! While at the conference, he was able to select  which break out sessions he wanted to attend and the keynote speaker was Nancy Carlson.  She was excellent!  Alex purchased a book and had it autographed. He also picked out a young writer's hooded sweatshirt.

Alex also drew a Sneech in his art class at school for Dr. Seuss Day.  He is a talented writer and illustrator!

January- March Misc Iphone Pics

I cleaned off the pictures on my phone and wanted to include these on the blog.

 We figured out why our bird seed goes so fast.

 

 The boys and Nadya watched the Vet as she  Preg Checked the cows.  

They found it very interesting.  

She offered to let them do one, but all the kids said no. 

 The boys earned badges and participated in a skit at Boy's Scouts.

 For the 100th day of school Carter's class dressed up like they were 100 years old. 
Carter looked so much like Grandpa Hansen.

Hallie made a totem pole for Literature Class.  She is so creative!

 

The girls went to their Valentine Dance at school, but Doug and I had a little fun with them first.  Doug put on his old Football shirt that was a tad too small on him and said he was going too.  They refused to go if he went, so he opted to stay home. (He wasn't going to go, he was just teasing!)

 Valentine Cards and boxes.  

The boxes were made entirely at school.  That was a nice change!

 The boys said the kids at school are always wanting their mechanical pencils,
so this was our valentine card!

 The idea was from Pinterest.

 Aunt Diana and Uncle Joe invited us up to Lake Rathbun for the day.  What fun!

All the kids were being entertained with one Ipad for a short time.

Fourteen

Nadya Mae turned 14!  She has officially been a teenager for an entire year.  What fun!!!!  I asked Hallie to wrap her gifts and this is what I got! 

For her birthday she requested Zuppa Toscana Soup and she helped make and decorate her cake.  She wanted lemon cake and lemon ice cream!  Smart girl!!!!  I've trained her well.

After dinner and cake, she opened her presents.

After presents we all took turns giving spankings!  She was a good sport!

Her birthday prompted a growth check for all the kids!  They are all getting so big!

Hallie isn't pictured because she is being a stink!  I told her I was going to insert a sleeping picture of her, but I never got around to doing it.  I am happy to report that we've painted our mudded wall though!

Visitors

We were so happy to have my parents visit this Winter.  They rode the train out.  (It was their first time traveling on the train and they really enjoyed themselves!)  We didn't tell the kids they were coming so you can imagine their surprise when they walked in from school to find Grandma and Grandpa standing in the kitchen!

We had such a great visit.  We taught them how to play two of our favorite games- Ticket to Ride and Joker.  Carter played a few games of chess with Grandpa, we took them eagle watching by the river and even took them over for a picture in front of the Gothic House.  

The puzzle turned out great!  I loved it!

 

 

 

There were sooo many eagles!  It was crazy!

The Gothic House is always a fun place to visit!

We were trying to capture the sunset through the trees.  It was beautiful!

Alex helped Grandpa set up a website for his business.  He was quite proud!

Thanks for visiting Grandma and Grandpa!  We miss you!!!

Snow Days

Growing up in Utah, I always dreamed of getting a snow day.  It never happened.  They are so rare in Utah. It can snow a foot and they won't close the schools in Utah, but in Iowa it only takes an inch or two to cancel school. So as a result, not only did we get our first official snow day-- we got 10 of them!  That's right, TEN!  They were lots of fun at first, but then  eventually they became annoying.   I wasn't looking forward to  making them up at the end of the year.  So, instead of wishing for snow days, I wished for two hour delay days.  Those are dreamy.  You get to sleep in, go to school late, and you're not required to make those babies up!  Perfect!  We got a few of those and then we still got ten snow days.  All of that translates into plenty of snow pictures at least!

Late Night Sledding/walk  with Dad!

Sledding in the back yard.

Nadya built an Igloo!

You don't shovel your driveway in the country.

The boys loved the igloo. Garfield too!

The boys spent one snow day outside with their cousins and the neighbors.  

I had to drag them inside after spending nearly the entire day outside.