Giving Thanks

It's unbelievable that Thanksgiving is almost here!  We have so much to be thankful for and this time of year reminds us of our plentiful blessings.  Here are some highlights from the past two weeks!

Cooper and I both made a few special Thanksgiving gifts for our family.  Cooper made the Styrofoam crayon turkey and yummy smelling pumpkin pie plate.  I made the bumpy pumpkin in art class using clay (and yes, I thought it was so funny that clay is like our last name)!  We fired our clay pumpkins in the kiln and painted it with a special glaze.  My parents promise they will keep it forever!

 We are thankful for the tiny bit of snow that made it fun to play outside once again!  Cooper and I cracked up laughing while throwing snow at the doorbell and window.  Mom cracked up laughing when she noticed dog poop in the snow which we handled ourselves (we swore they were just rocks).  I was happy to excitedly report to everyone the next morning that "God had dropped more snow from the sky for us to play with!"

 The hunters were thankful for the snow too.  It was a chilly opening weekend, but the deer were easy to spot and hear in the crunchy snow.  Daddy shot an 8 point buck and Uncle Ben shot a 4 point buck.  Uncle Matt shot one too, but let's just say it was an unfortunate tale that we won't get into on the blog.  Needless to say, Uncle Matt is hunting tomorrow to get his deer.

We are thankful for vension sausage, brats, ring bologne, steaks and ground that are being processed right now... I meant to say the BOYS in the family are thankful for venison- Mom won't touch the stuff.

 While the big boys were hunting, the Moms went shopping and hung out at Grammy's.  Cooper and I love spending time with Bennett and Kyra.  We decided to play barbershop and soon, we were sporting Mohawks.

 While we are all giving thanks, Mom would like to give thanks for finishing her report cards today---- she took a selfie while we were on our way to Feed My People.  Speaking of which, Grandpa Jim continues to have a family charitable trust and today we delivered a generous check in time for Thanksgiving meals.  It warms our heart knowing we can help others in Grandpa's honor.

 We are thankful for hockey and especially for Daddy's help on the ice this year!  He had to take extensive online training as well as a one day clinic just to be on the ice with us.  Cooper was supposed to start hockey at age 4, but he was invited to play with us (even though he is 3 1/2).  He is a VERY quick learner and is already standing and skating (shuffling) without help.  He is a natural forward- he shoots the puck with all of his might and is very aggressive!

We are only allowed to use the gates for bumper tires- a fun game that gets us all laughing!

 I am very technical with hockey- my parents would say I am not aggressive by nature, but I am a very quick learner.  I like to skate fast (that is my favorite aspect of hockey).  My parents hope I will enjoy the game of hockey- for now, we just work on fundamental drills and we do small scrimmages with teammates.

We can't help but share some school news... first off, Mommy realized she never helped me scan in my school picture!  Out of fear of copyright, we are cropping the bottom of the photo off- the actual picture shows more stripes.

Anyhow, I LOVE Kindergarten.  I just completed my first trimester and report cards are being sent home next week. My teacher sent Mommy this email on Friday....
Hi Leslie, 

I am entering in some report card info, and I just had to share that Caden went from knowing one letter sound in September to knowing 20 consonant sounds, 3 short vowel and 4 long vowel sounds! What a rockstar!  I am so proud of him! I just couldn't wait until report cards came out to share!  

I love to phonetically write and my fine motor skills have greatly improved.  I have high scores (we can preview my report card online already) for letter ID, letter sounds, blending and segmenting and rhyming.  In math, I am working on writing numbers to 20 and story problems.  I love to count to 100 by 1's and 10's and am working on counting by 5's.  My parents are so proud of me and I am proud of myself.  Most importantly, my behavior scores were excellent- I had "outstanding" for participation in class, following school rules, and being respectful.  I love school, my friends, teacher and learning!

Cooper had his preschool picture taken 2 weeks ago, so we are still waiting for the professional one to come back.  The above photo was a cute one on my first day of Kdg.  Mom attended his first preschool conference two weeks ago (Daddy was hunting).  Cooper recognizes all colors except pink and grey (called them purple and black).  He calls many shapes a triangle (even when they are not).  He can count to 20, recognizes and traces his name and is doing well with cutting and coloring (age appropriate).  His teacher's comment stated, "Cooper is very kind, polite, helpful and he is a good listener.  He is so much fun to have in preschool."  They kept saying how much they adore our little stinker.  Mommy discussed his frontal lisp and some of his letter sound substitutions.  They agreed that a speech evaluation would help shed some light on whether or not he would qualify for speech services to help him with articulation.  He will be evaluated next week by a district speech pathologist and we will know more about what they suggest soon after.

We have so many things to be thankful for, but most of all, we are thankful for God, family and friends, good health, food/shelter, and love.  We wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!