First Day of School 2011-2012

Traditional first day of school photo.

This is the beginning of my 9th year teaching, Lauren's third school year at Mariah's and Annie's first school year (and only 4th day ever) at Mariah's.


Well we survived our first week of the 2011-2012 school year and I would have to say the girls handled everything better than I did! In fact, Lauren even asked me if I could go to work today too (I don't work Fridays, thanks to my wonderful job-share situation) Guess that means they are very comfortable with our daycare provider and the other children there. That makes everything so much easier for me. However, I very reluctantly returned to work Monday morning. The past 9 months and especially the summer months have been so wonderful. The week at school turned out better than I had anticipated, but I must say today was by far the best day this week! Amazing how much more I treasure my days home when they are a bit more limited now. Lauren and I went to the Botanic Gardens this morning and then the whole family went to the pool before enjoying a wonderful pizza dinner. I was even able to get all the laundry done and clean 1/2 of the house. What a perfect day!


Annie and Lauren on Mariah's doorstep. Lauren was very eager to get inside, but I asked her to show me her backpack. She still has her Elmo one and loves it. She happily carries Annie's bottles in it and can even put it on her back and take it off herself now. Both girls had two successful days at Mariah's house this week. Then, they were fortunate enough to have Aunt Stephanie come and stay with them the other two days. We are very blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives to be with our girls when we aren't able to.

Random Summer Photos

As our summer is quickly coming to an end, I thought it might be fun to post just a few random photos from our past few weeks. Monday is my first day of the 2011-2012 school year. There is not one part of me that wants that day to come, but I know it is, so when it might be easy to become overwhelmed and saddened, I take a step back and am so thankful I was able to be home with Annie and Lauren for the past 9 months. And hey, it's only teaching part-time, right?


The girls and I at the Lake Forest Day parade. I just LOVE this photo. It captures each one of our personalities so well. Annie, who my friend, Ryan nicknamed The Little Professor because she so intently studies everything. Lauren, such a happy, go lucky little girl. She wakes up in the morning and asks, "Where are we going today, Mommy?" And me, completely content and thrilled to spend time with my little girls.

We went to this parade and the carnival in the park afterward with my teaching partner, Diana and her two children, Logan and Cora. Our playdates are so enjoyable. The kids get along so well and are really starting to interact and play together more and more.



Annie enjoying one of her first swing rides. When we were on vacation in Minocqua there were many swings at The Lighthouse Resort. I figured, Annie doesn't sit up very long on her own yet, but I bet she would love a gentle ride on the swing. Yes, swinging is a hit! Now when we go to the park, Annie doesn't sit just in the stroller anymore. Swinging is her new hobby!



Snack time in the cabin at The Lighthouse Resort. This photo captures the different stages of the two girls, and their love for one another as well. Lauren didn't want Annie to feel left out having her bottle alone on the floor, so she grabbed her bowl and laid down on her tummy right near her. Annie and Lauren love each other so much and interact more and more each day. Lauren is very helpful with Annie and uses such a sweet voice when talking to her. Annie continues to light up and laugh each time she sees Lauren.



A HUGE congrats to Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Jon for running in the Rock N Roll Chicago Half Marathon. The Hanson family was so excited and proud to cheer them on last Sunday morning! Can you believe they are almost to mile 10 and are smiling? I would be dying at that point.

Fun with Family

Lauren LOVED jumping off the raft into Daddy's arms. Mia and Jack were right there cheering Lauren on.

While in Minocqua last week, we spent quite a bit of time with Geoff's family too. His extended family has a cabin on a small lake up there. Grandpa Hanson came up to spend some time with us too and even volunteered to stay with the girls Tuesday evening so Geoff and I could have an evening out.



Lauren and Mia, her new best friend.

Mia was so kind to Lauren. She is going into 7th grade, but didn't mind swimming, playing games and just helping with Lauren all week long. Thanks Mia, I think you have a new little buddy.



Lauren, Mia, and Jack at the Min Aqua Bats waterski show.


On Thursday we hosted Geoff's family at our place for a pontoon ride and taco dinner. Lauren was happy as long as she could sit between Mommy and Mia on the pontoon.

Boating Adventures

Ok Dad, I'm all ready to go! I've got my swimsuit, towel, and life jacket, so I can be safe. (Dora reference for those of you not up on that show)



Last Thursday evening we rented a pontoon boat for a few hours. Geoff did a wonderful job navigating the lakes and channel. Lauren loved helping Daddy "use the driver." She calls a steering wheel a driver.


Annie loved the boat ride too. She even has enough hair now for the wind to blow through it. Notice the keys in her mouth too. She is happy these days, as long as she has something to chew on. Her second tooth popped through last Thursday. So she now has her two bottom teeth.



Lauren decided it would be fun to take a paddle boat from the beach over to our cabin and have lunch. So that's what we did! Only about a 5 minute ride, but probably enough for just one paddler.

We also had a few family evening row boat trips. Geoff did a wonderful job rowing us around. The evenings on the lake were so peaceful. The water was just like glass and the sunsets were so colorful.

I Caught Four Fish!

We spent last week up at The Lighthouse Resort in Minocqua, WI. Geoff's company provides this resort at a discounted rate for its employees. What a fantastic week the four of us had together. I will be posting many more of our adventures throughout the week, but decided to start with Lauren's first fishing trip.

She was so excited to hold her own fishing pole.



Waiting with Daddy for the first nibble.


Notice the weather and costume change?

Not even 5 minutes after Geoff got Lauren's hook baited the previous day, it started raining so we stopped fishing that day, but tried again Friday evening.


I LOVE the expressions in this photo. Daddy so proud and excited to help his little girl catch her first fish and Lauren really not sure about this experience. They kept fishing for a bit and Lauren caught a total of four fish. They were all too small to keep, but exciting to catch. Annie and I were right there on the dock cheering them on!

Potty Power!

We are so proud of our big girl, Lauren! After one week of staying home and working very intensely with her on potty training, we are on day 7 of NO accidents.

As many of you may remember, we tried working with Lauren on potty training last fall, which then dragged into last winter, and oh here comes Annie, which resulted in some regression. So we decided to give it a break for a bit. When I looked at the calendar a few weeks ago, I determined last week was our best shot to try it again before I return to work. We didn't have any plans so potty training became our mission.

Since our challenging experience a few months ago, I have spent many hours reading every technique and strategy I could find on the subject. I decided to make this learning experience fun, yet intense.

It all started on a rainy Friday afternoon with a trip to Target. Aunt Stephanie was along for this shopping mission and couldn't believe everything we bought. She even told Geoff after we got home, "I've never seen Kate shop like that before. Whatever Lauren wanted, Kate let her put it in the cart." We bought salty snacks, three new pottys, at least 20 pairs of new unders, and a few other fun reward items. At one point Lauren said, "Mom, I am buried." (I guess that's what happens when you have a car seat in the basket of the cart. Where do all the things you are going to buy go?) We just put them all around Lauren. This, and the fact that we were actually buying everything she wanted, made for a successful and exciting start to our potty training week.


The rest of the week was filled with lots of art projects, books and DVDs on the subject. We even found a soundtrack with music on the subject. Lauren was allowed to watch, read, and listen to these things whenever she wanted. That was another change around our house. She is usually only allowed 1/2 hour of TV per day. I think there were some days when we watched some of the DVDs at least 8 times. I would highly recommend It's Potty Time and Potty Power., if you are interested. Lauren wanted to be like the kids in the DVDs and even learned many songs to keep her entertained while learning all the steps. Wearing dresses and having pottys everywhere around the house worked really well too.

The "surprises", as Lauren called them, after she went potty were extremely helpful too. I tried to make most of them salty snacks, which resulted in Lauren being thirsty, which then required a drink of water, causing the entire process to begin again soon. Repetition was key!!!

We also decided it would be fun for Lauren to earn a potty party. So we made a 5 ring paper chain. At the end of each day, if there were no accidents during the day, she was allowed to rip one of the rings. Once all the rings were gone, she earned her potty party.

She received some really great cards and gifts in the mail from friends and family too, which were very helpful. Lauren is also really excited to use the telephone these days. So if she ever wanted to call various people (you know who you are) and tell them about her potty successes she was allowed to as well.

The Potty Party!!

Lauren wanted to serve pizza and cupcakes. She helped me make and frost the cupcakes, as well as pick out the pizza. She also selected a few balloons to use a decorations and helped me pick out the favors for her guests.

The Barney Balloon


Various favors - The babies were given wipes (don't forget to wipe), the adult women were given soap (don't forget to wash), and the kiddos were given gift packs with unders, stickers, suckers, and Smurf tatoos.



Frosting the cupcakes


Waking up from her nap to find the house all decorated.

Her party was a huge success! Four of her friends were able to come with their mommies, as well as Aunt Stephanie, my friend, Amanda, and Mariah.

The kids played for a bit, we ate pizza, garlic bread, cheese and cracker snacks, and applesauce squeezes.




Then we lit a candle and sang Happy Potty Party to Lauren and everyone enjoyed their delicious chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting.


Way to go, Lauren!!! We are so proud of you.

PS - Thanks to Aunt Stephanie for all the great photos!!

Clapping and a TOOTH!

Annie has been growing leaps and bounds the past month! Last Tuesday, after Geoff gave her a bath, she started clapping all by herself and has continued each and every day since. What amazes me is that she will copy another person. So if I want her to clap, all I have to do is clap for her and then she will start clapping too. Pretty cool how such a little person already understands how to take turns communicating.

Then last Friday I noticed something white in Annie's mouth. Her first tooth cut through! It is her bottom left front tooth. We thought she might be teething, but she has always loved putting everything in her mouth, so we weren't sure if it was just that or a tooth. Guess it was a tooth. It is not all the way through yet, but keeps moving further and further up each day. Amazingly, she hasn't been too irritable either. A little more fussy than normal at times during the day, but still sleeping like a champ!

A huge thank you to Aunt Stephanie for the photo. Our camera is still broken. Sure hope it returns soon, or we won't have any photos from July 2011.