Playing Catch up #1 - The Pumpkin Patch

Back in October Seth, Lucy and I went to the pumpkin patch with a group of our friends.  It was a nice day, the day we went.  We learned about pumpkins, went on a hay ride to pick our pumpkins, fed the animals and played. 

The kids always enjoy going to the pumpkin patch.

A trip to the Dentist

This morning we made our semi-annual trip to the dentist.  Jacob, Emma and Seth all had appointments.  They all did amazing.  Seth even commented, "I am a brave boy, I did not even cry."  And told his dad, "Remember last time I was really nervous, I am not nervous anymore."  Seth's teeth look great.  Emma was told by the dentist that she needs to stop sucking her fingers, which we fully agree with but have lost the battle, so far.  We have tried everything we can think of but it is a losing battle.  I will gladly take any suggestions.  She does not do it as much as she used to but still does it quit a bit.  Emma also has two "wobblers", which was exciting for her.  Jacob did not get the best report.  He has two cavities.  He is not too excited about it.  It is his first time.  Luckily they are on baby teeth.  We will get them filled and try to do a better job with the brushing.  I do not enjoy the dentist, AT ALL, and even taking my kids is hard.  I do not want my kids to fear the dentist like I do so I put on my big girl mommy face and go.  I do not think that I will be able to take Jacob to get his fillings though.

Halloween 2010

The past week was a fun filled week.  Each of the kids had a school party.  Seth and Emma both had a trip to the pumpkin patch.  Thursday night we painted and carved our pumpkins.  Saturday night we went to a Trunk or Treat at church.

Lucy loved painting her pumpkin.

Emma loves to paint.

Seth was very serious about his pumpkin.

Jacob is the only one that wanted to carve his pumpkin.

My little Monkey and beautiful Princess.

My skele-boy and Scooter accident victim.

Free Ice Cream for a Year!!!

There is a new ice cream/sandwich shop in town.  For those of you that are local you need to check out Skipper's Dips and Deli in Charles Town on Washington Street.  Monday night they had their grand opening.  We had been there several times before and it is delicious.  We headed down for the ice cream, fun and festivities.  When we got there they were starting a "Cow Pie Eating Contest".  Jacob wanted to enter.  The "cow pie" was and Oreo cookie with a scoop of chocolate ice cream and whipped cream.  The kids had to eat it without their hands.  

I am ready!!

YUM!!

This is good.

I am finished.

And Jacob won!!  The prize was a free scoop of ice cream once a week for a year.  He was VERY excited.  Several of his friends were there to watch.  Apparently he was the talk of the school Tuesday morning.  Everyone knew he was the kid who won a year worth of ice cream.  I told him that I would be happy to eat his free ice cream if he does not want it but that probably will not happen.  So, we now refer to him as "cow pie" boy and he likes it.

Lunch Buddies

Things around our house are a little bit quieter these days.  I will get to the back to school posts eventually.  But, Jacob and Emma are gone at school all day.  Seth goes to preschool 4 mornings a weeks.  Lucy and I get some one on one time in the morning.  It is fun.  Lucy and I go pick up Seth and come home and eat lunch.  Below is a picture of what lunch at our house is like.  Just the two little ones.  It is an adjustment but we are having fun.  We have fun playing games, coloring, doing play-doh and making cookies.

My new lunch buddies.

My cookie helpers.

Jacob's lost tooth

He looks likes a good ole' West Virginia boy now.  He has lost a total of 5 teeth now and his other front tooth is very loose and I am sure will be out any day now.  Unfortunately for him he has lost them all in the summer, 2 last summer and 3 this summer so far.  The nurse at his school gives out cute little tooth holders for kids who lose their teeth at school.  He would really like to get one but no luck so far.

Summer Vacation - Week 2

Another busy week, which is good for mommy and the kids.  Emma and Seth had swim lessons this week.  They both did really well.  Several months ago when I signed them up I asked Jacob if he wanted to take them also.  He said no, because he already knows how to swim.  Well, all week he was wishing he had signed up.  He did get to swim this week though.  Friday he went with a friend and his family to a big pool in our area.  On the same day I took the other three kids to a different, somewhat smaller, easier for me to manage pool.  All of the kids are doing really well in the pool.  We also got to swim today at Sean's parents pool in their neighborhood.

The kids started doing school work this week also, I know I am a mean mom.  They only have to do a few things and I try to make it fun.  So far so good.  On Thursday we made a "summer chain". (I took a picture but do not have it with me, I will try to remember to post it later.)  There is a chain for each day of the summer.  We wrote different things we have planned this summer on the links.  Each day they get to take a link off.  The last link is the "first day of school".  It was a fun little project for the kids.

Tuesday we went into Leesburg and spent the evening with my good friend Jen and her family.  The kids really enjoy having them closer and getting to see them more ofter.  They have a new baby, 3 months old, Emma and Seth love to hold little Spencer.

Thursday Sean took the older three to the movies to see Shrek, Forever After.  They all enjoyed it.  I also enjoyed having an evening with only Lucy.

Today we headed to Sean's parents for the weekend.  The kids and I are heading to South Carolina tomorrow morning to visit my mom for a week.  I am not looking forward to an eight hour drive alone but I know it will be fun.  We will come home next Saturday night.

Free Food

Oh what do you do in the summer time....Emma and Seth decided they were going to have a "Food Stand" today.  They had a good time going in the cabinet and fridge finding things to put in the stand.  All of the them are enjoying eating everything that the food stand has to offer.  Emma was amazed that I even let them put some candy in it (see I am nice sometimes).

And one more makes three....

On Saturday afternoon Jacob lost a tooth.  Last summer he lost the two bottom middle.  It is hard to tell from the picture but it is the bottom left tooth.  He had been working on getting it out for several days.  Sean tried one night but still could not get it out.  He was at a birthday party Saturday, eating snow cones and cotton candy.  He did not know he lost his tooth at first.  He just thought it was a piece of ice from the snow cone.  He put it under his pillow and the tooth fairy brought him a dollar.

Summer Vacation Week 1

Let's see if I can make it all the way through the summer keeping the blog up to date this year.  :-)  Emma's last day of school was Thursday, June 3rd and Jacob's was Friday, June 4th.  Last week was our first full week of summer vacation and we stayed busy.  It was also Sean's first week on his new schedule which is Monday - Friday 7:30am-4:00pm.  He has never been on a "normal' schedule since we have been married.  I am really looking forward to having him home every evening for dinner but more having him home every Saturday also. 

On Monday and Wednesday Emma had her last two gymnastics classes.  She really enjoyed her class.  She is trying to decide if she wants to do a dance class or be a cheer leader in the fall.  She loves anything that is girly.  I am not sure where she got that from.  On Tuesday we had a very busy day.  In the morning we meet some friends at the park.  It is a new park for my kids, which is always nice, and there are never any other kids there, except when we invite our friends to join us.  Jacob is going to continue to take piano lessons over the summer.  His wonderful teacher has a pool at her house and told us to plan on swimming every Tuesday when he has his lesson, so we did.  Jacob had his piano lesson then we swam until about 4pm.  We came home, just in time to make dinner and get Jacob ready for his baseball game.  He also had a game Saturday and his last one is this coming Wednesday.

We had to have new brakes put on our van so Thursday the kids and I spent the day at home which was a nice break from running around.

We started babysit swapping with two other families so that we can get to the temple monthly.  We took the first turn to have all the kids.  So, Friday night we had 12 kids at our house while their parents went to the temple.  Our kids were very excited to have all of their friends over.  The night went really well.  We played games, watched movies, caught fireflies, played tag and many other fun things.  About 10pm, when things were winding down I told Sean, "I thought that went well."  To which he replied, "Yeah, but I do not want to do it again tomorrow."  It was a late night but the kids made some great memories.

Saturday was going to yard sales and working the baseball concession stand for mommy, yard work for daddy and birthday parties and   baseball games for the kids.

Girls Night

At the end of May our church had a Father/Son campout.  (I did not get any pictures of the boys before they left)  So, daddy took both boys to camp in the woods.  They had s'mores and slept in a tent, what could be better. 

While the boys were away the girls played.  Emma, Lucy and I went to Panera for dinner.  After dinner we headed to get some ice cream.  Then we went over to a friends house for a girls night.  We stay out until about 9pm.  Once we got home I put Lucy to bed and the pampering began.  I did Emma's hair.  She had never slept in curlers before.  She said it was not that bad.  We also painted our finger and toe nails.  I loved spending some time with just my girls.

Daddy/Daughter and Donuts

Emma's preschool had a "Donuts with Dad' at the end of May.  Emma was very excited for her daddy to come to school with her.  They enjoyed donuts and milk.  The kids also sang the dad's a couple of songs.  They both had a lot of fun.

Another, not so nice, present

Last Saturday, Mother's Day weekend, Sean's parents were able to spend the weekend with us.  Jacob is playing baseball, maybe someday I will take a picture or two of him.  When we got home from his game Belle, our Chocolate Lab, was out back and would not stop barking.  I yelled out the window for her to stop but that did not work.  The kids went out back to play on the swing set, which always makes her happy, but she was still barking.  I went over to the window to see what she was barking at.  Belle was standing at the top of the stairs that lead to our basement barking.  I figured there must be something down.  I headed to the basement, from the inside, and this is what she was barking at.......

Let me just tell you that I DO NOT do snakes.  In fact, I can feel my heart racing and am very jumpy as I am typing and can see the snake in the picture.  I have always joked with Sean and told him if he wanted me to move out to just bring a snake home and I would be gone in less than 5 minutes.  I called him at work and asked him if it was a hint.  :-)  Luckily, he told me "no".  I looked online and I believe it is a "ribbon snake".

Sean's dad was here and I was very grateful for that.  He would not kill the snake like I wanted him to but he did remove it from our backyard and put it in the bushes way out back.  The snake was not happy with him and was doing all it could to let Sean's dad know he did not like being moved with a snow shovel and rake.  Hopefully this snake will never be seen again in our yard.

Mother/Daughter

Emma's preschool class had a Mother's Day Tea.  We were asked to dress up.  Emma was very excited to wear a nice church dress to school.  The kids escorted their mom's to the tables when we got there.  I could tell they had practiced this very hard.  Then the kids all sang us two songs.  "You are my Sunshine" and "Twinkle, Twinkle" with mom words added in.  After the performance from the kids we were able to enjoy some cookies and punch.  I had a fun time with Emma.  At the end Emma presented me with a flower and picture with her hand print.  Those are the best kind of Mother's Day present to me.  Emma and Mom had a wonderful morning.

Where to start??

Again, it has been a while.  Life seems to be passing me by these days.  I have several posts that I want to add and hopefully I will be able to do so in the next day or so.  And, my mom is harassing me to get some pictures up, SO, here it goes.

At the end of April Seth's preschool class went on a field trip to a farm.  If you are in the area you should go, it is www.greatcontryfarms.com  The kids were able to plant a sunflower, go on a hay ride and feed the animals.  There are several playgrounds, some big slides, tricycles for the kids to ride and a huge jumping pillow.  That was a hit.

 

Seth getting ready to plant his sunflower.

Seth's preschool class with a few added siblings.

Feeding the animals.

Crazy Hair Day

Today is "crazy hair day" at Jacob's school. He has always wanted a mohawk, to which I tell him, not while you are living in my house. He was very excited that I let him have a mohawk today.  For a while he did not think that I would really let him have it.

Seth decided that he was going to join in on the fun also.  I guess Jacob's spirit week has become a family affair.

Like Father, Like Son

Today is mismatch day at Jacob's school.  He was pretty excited to get dressed this morning.  The first thing he picked out actually matched so he had to try again.  I think he did a pretty good job.  The entire outfit was his doing.  He even had me spike up half of his hair.

On Tuesday afternoon Sean goes to Jacob's class to read.  At lunch Sean said to me, "I think I am going to be a fun dad today" (he is always a fun dad).  I asked what he meant.  Below is our fun "mismatched" dad.

Crazy weather

Yesterday evening we had a hail storm.  I have seen hail before but never this much, it covered our deck and sidewalk.  It was amazing.  We were down in the basement watching a movie and heard something strange.  We then realized that it was hail hitting the house.  We all enjoyed going out in between storms.  We had three in all.  After talking to some friends today not everyone had hail.  Friends who live about 4 miles away just had rain, strange.

After the last storm our neighbor took all the neighborhood kids around for a ride running through the puddles that were left.  That was the highlight of the evening.

Busch Gardens

We spent all day Tuesday at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg.  It was hot and crowded but the kids had fun.  We had lunch with "Elmo and Friends".  It was nice because it was inside an air conditioned building so it gave us all a break from being outside in the heat.

Lucy, Seth and Emma enjoyed watching the Sesame Street show.

Lucy kept pointing to all the characters and saying "this, this". She liked them from far away but did not like it when any of the characters got close to our table.

The characters were all great.  They all came to our table at least two times.  I think Seth enjoyed it the most.  He was giving all the characters hugs and high fives.  Bert even did the "pigeon" for us.  The kids were ready to go once they were fed.

Emma was brave and tall enough to ride the Elmo roller coaster.  Sean went with her.  He said she was a little nervous at first but did a good job.  Jacob decided he wanted to try some of the big roller coasters.  I can not ride too many roller coasters or I get sick but I did want to ride at least one.  So, Jacob and I rode the Lochness.  He loved it.  In fact, at about 5:30pm Emma, Seth, Lucy and mommy had had our fill of Busch Gardens.  We headed back to the hotel so that daddy and Jacob could ride the big boy rides.  Sean was surprised how many rides Jacob rode.  They had a good time.  We went back to pick them up when the park closed.

I think this is how we all felt at the end of the day.

We had a wonderful Spring Break trip.  It was good to be home but we made many wonderful memories.

Family Reunion

Kris, Kim and Kira

Kris and the kids.

Me and my aunt Jane.

I have an aunt and two cousins that live in the Hampton Roads area near where we were.  We were able to meet them for dinner on Monday night.  It has been several years since we have seen them.  It was a lot of fun to see them.  We had dinner and then headed to "Kidsburg", which was across the street from their house.  It was a very nice, VERY large playground.  Jacob and my cousin Kris even played a little basketball.  As you can imagine our kids were exhausted after a long but very fun day.  They all slept very well.

For Spring Break we took a quick trip to Williamsburg, VA. We left our house Sunday evening and took a pit stop in Fredericksburg at Sean's parents house, even though they were not there. It was a nice stopping place so that the trip was not so long on Monday. Monday we headed to Williamsburg. We checked into our hotel room then headed to Jamestowne, VA. It was a great place. We took what was supposed to be a quick tour but lasted a bit longer. We had to leave the tour a little early because the kids were getting restless. It was a good time and the kids learned a little about our country's beginning.

Mommy and her boys in Jamestowne, VA.

The kids in the fort at Jamestowne, VA

Glassblowing, it was amazing.

After we left Jamestowne settlement we headed to the glassblowing house. It was amazing to watch how quickly he turned a blob into a beautiful heart shaped glass bowl. The kids enjoyed watching him work.