Happy Fall

Who knew it could be so easy to entertain two high-energy boys with just a pile of raked up leaves?  

We have a TON of trees in our yard, which Lee has a love/hate relationship with.  He loves that there are trees for his boys to climb and shade in the summer and trees mature enough to hang a hammock from.  But, he doesn't love the raking that goes along with all those trees in the fall.  This year, though, we learned 2 things:  1. Jack is an amazing leaf raker and will work for hours putting leaves in piles and bagging them up and 2.  these boys will entertain themselves for HOURS with a few piles of raked up leaves.

These are just a small sample of the pictures I took a few weeks ago after Jack and Lee raked the leaves.  They jumped and rolled around and threw leaves up in the air and at each other and at me.  

This was mostly what I saw of Jacob - if his body wasn't buried under the leaves, he was running right at me with an armful of leaves. And, of course, they ended up right in my face, hair, jacket.

Keeping Up With Us...

This is for our grandparents, who don't get to see these boys as much as we'd like them to.  Our boys have so much going on and are changing and growing so much and we don't want their grandparents to miss anymore of it.

So, Mimi, Papa and Grandpa - here is what has happened in the last few weeks at our home...

Jacob started preschool.  He LOVES it.  He goes 2 days a week (Tuesday/Thursday) from 9:15-12:15.  We started him at a different preschool than the one Jack attended and I am so glad we did.  It is such a sweet, Christian program and he is having a blast.  He cried the first day when I walked him in but, when I came to pick him up, his first words to me were, "I had a great time and I didn't miss you at all".

The first picture is his actual 1st day of preschool and the 2nd picture was his "Meet the Teacher" day that was held the week before school started. I just think the 2nd picture with Jacob in his "fancy shirt" as he calls it is such a typical Jacob pose.

 

Jacob turned 3!! Of course, you know that but these are a few pictures from his little party we had at the house.  We invited 3 families that we spend time with - all 3 families have a little guy that Jacob enjoys playing with. 2 of the families have other children so we had a total of 10 kids in our home for his party.  He had a great time!! We had cupcakes here and then headed to the pool to swim.

 

Jack and Lee decorating for Jacobs party while he took a quick nap.

 

The birthday boy enjoying cupcakes with all his friends...

 

Jack started playing flag football in September. It is adorable!! All 6 and 7 year olds who have never officially played on a team before.  I think in the 3 games we have had that only one kid has run in the wrong direction.  Lee is coaching and is totally stressed out having a great time.  The league is through a local church that has a wonderful sports ministry.

 

Jacob and I try to make it to his practices, which are Wednesday evenings.  This is kink of what Jacob thinks of Jack's practices...

He entertained himself for about 45 minutes with the football cones that were marking the field.  He balanced them on his head...

 

And played a little game of soccer (he is one good soccer player!!)...

 

 

 

This is Jacob watching Jack's 1st game.  Doesn't he make a great little, old man??

 

The teams meet on the field before and after each game to pray.

 

Jack is # 3 - most of the boys have more fun playing with their mouth guards than they do playing football.  You'll see mouth guards hanging out of mouths in most of these pictures.  Jack is to the left (in the red shirt) of the boy with the ball.  See?  Mouth guards hanging out everywhere.

 

Once again, Jack to the left behind the boy with the ball.

 

Cant forget the all-important time spent on the bench.  Upside down, of course.  Yes, that's Jack.

 

That's Jack right before he got handed the ball.  He hasn't made a touchdown, yet.

 

And, of course, Jack turned 7!!!  He also had a small birthday party. He invited 5 friends to go to Frankies Fun Park for the afternoon and then come to the house for cake.  He had a wonderful time - he invited 2 friends from school and 3 of the neighbor boys. 

 

So, this is just what has happened in our home in the past month. As you know, changes are coming and I'm sure there will be many more posts to come.  Love you guys!!!

For Mimi...

For my mom (Mimi to her grandsons) who really wanted to be here for one of Jack's swim meets.

Our new neighborhood has a swim team and we signed Jack up this year.  They have a 6 & under division - it is too cute.  It was awesome to see the progress Jack made with his strokes this summer - he can swim backstroke, freestyle, dive off the side and the diving blocks (ok, he still belly flops a lot of the time but he's got the concept) and he just started learning breast stroke.  People take their swim team pretty serious around here and it can be a big committment.  We took things really slow around here - we went to most of the practices but Jack only participated in one swim meet.  They are super looooonnngg (think several hours in the scorching heat with kids EVERYWHERE) and every week.  That was just way too much for our family, especially with Jack still being 5. 

This is the video from his meet - he swam backstroke and freestyle.  Thats his coach in the pool with him (they do that for the 6 & unders who need a little extra help not running into the side of the pool!!).  At the end of each lane for his age group they have "kid catchers", which are just older swim team members who basically "catch the kids".  He doesnt swim the whole length of the pool in his age group so they get them over the rope and to the edge of the pool.

What I love most about these videos is all of our neighbors who are cheering Jack on. He was not too happy about swimming with all the random people around. His coaches were awesome about getting him in the water and he had a whole cheering section. It was awesome!!!

Backstroke - big kid!!!

Jacob's version of the backstroke - crazy kid!! His legs go straight up in the air and wave all around and he gets this huge, crazy smile on his face. This kid LOVES to swim, though. He never wants to get out of the water and loses it every time we leave the pool.





Getting ready to dive in for freestyle - look at him go!!! His kid catcher thought she really needed to catch him - he popped his head up and gave her a look that said "leave me alone!!" 



We are so proud of you, Jack!!!

Time to catch up...

It has been a reeeeaaallllllyyyyy long time since I have posted anything (as Mimi pointed out the other day). Our summer was AWESOME!!! I cannot believe that Jackson starts kindergarted next year!! I tried to soak up every single second with him and his brother this summer and just enjoyed my time with my boys.

So, since I took a nice, long break from blogging I have a ton to catch up on. This is just a tiny, little peek at what we have coming up. Just to give you a little hint - I will be blogging about....

a Zoo trip with Jack's best friend Riley, Jacob's 1st birthday, summer adventures, July 4th, our beach trip (x2), a mimi and papa visit, Jack starting Tball, Jack's first day of his last year of preschool, Jacob crawling, Jacob's first (and long overdue) haircut, and many, many more adventures!!

Just to wet your whistle - here a just 3 small pictures of my boys!! Enjoy and see you soon!!

Whew!! Summer is here!!

Can you say busy???? And HOT!!!!

It seems like since preschool ended for Jackson two weeks ago, we have been going nonstop. It has been a ton of fun but I am ready for a vacation (fortunately we are headed to Mimi and Papa's for a few days - praying for some down time in the country where things are always a little slower).

We had 2 weeks of swim lessons - where my big man was in the highest level he could be in for the preschool lessons and they go up to age 6!! He can swim and float on his back, dive (well...maybe belly flop but at least he is trying), and is starting to do some strokes.

He is also learning how to ride his bike with no training wheels!! Lee has taken him to a soccer field several times and let him ride without the training wheels - the field is easier on him when he falls. He is doing so good with this...it will take some practice but, wow, he is really doing it!

No training wheels and Lee isn't holding on to him!! He rode the entire length of this field several times without falling.

And this is just for fun. This is Jackson, Riley and G (and G's little brother W) on their last day of preschool. G and Jack are superhero OBSESSED and often wore the same superhero shirt to school. On the last day all three boys planned to wear their Superman shirts and I just had to get a picture. Of course (as I am learning is normal for 4 year old boys and deserves a post all it's own) they cannot and will not take pictures without making silly faces.

More posts to come - when I can find the time. Jacob just started crawling, though, so I dont see that in the near future.

Look what we're learning to do...

This is the big man the first time he was able to pick up a puff and actually get it in his mouth. He was so proud!! Before that, he would just pick them up and get them stuck to his hands or cheek or shirt. He still has a problem with them sticking everywhere and last night when I put him to bed he had one in his diaper. Super cute - he is growing so fast I cannot believe it. Since this video, he has moved on to little pieces of bagel and banana and (as soon as I make some) he'll try pancakes and waffles.

And this is my bigger man READING!!! Wow, I am so proud of him. I got this Bob book from the library. He has been incredibly interested in figuring out what letter words start with and asking me several times a day "how do you spell (you fill in the blank)"? I really didnt think he would be interested in this book because he got several Curious George and Henry and Mudge books that I thought he would like more but when I showed him how to sound out the words he spent a good hour reading this.

Now, this is the best video I could get of this kid. When I am not filming Jacob, Jackson really wants nothing to do with being filmed.

We just started letting Jackson leave his bedroom light on for a few minutes and "read" after we put him to bed at night. Well, last night he asked for this Bob book and after several minutes called Lee up to hear him read. He read a whole sentence!!! Go big guy!! I am so proud of you!

These boys are growing so fast I cannot keep up! Love them and am enjoying every minute with them!

First words...

Jacob said his first work ("Dada" of course) Easter weekend. Grandpa was here and got to witness it. Since then, the words have just spilled out. I got a "Mama" today. Yes, that is Jackson in the background saying "Dada" every time I ask Jacob to say it. And, yes, he is in the bathroom as he is saying it. Yes, we have lots of conversations while he is in the bathroom. Jacob is just beginning to talk - Jack never stops.