Tuesday Today

We had a busy day today! Zachary had his gymnastics this morning, after gym class we went to the library w/ Hope and her boys, then to McD's for lunch (bleh!), and headed to the Discovery Center. Jakeb went back to play with Alex at Hope's and while Zachary rested and Gavin napped...neither of which were done! Darn car naps! The boys had a fun day and are now snuggled down w/ a special treat: sleeping in the "toy room bed"...ie the sleeper sofa w/ a movie. Which is a rare treat and is usually reserved for nights that they are extra tired or they would never go to sleep!
It's supposed to be HOT this week! The past two days have been sweltering so we are playing pretty low key indoor activities. Yesterday we didn't do a thing and the kids didn't even go out to play til after dinner around 7, at that point it was very comfortable out.
I am trying to get more into my scrapbooking lately..or I should say pick it up again. I guess I started about 3-4 months ago and it's a lot of fun but I don't know if I have that "creative gene" to do the artsy fartsy cool pages people do! I try but get so stumped and it just doesn't come to me, I like the pages I have but some are just not what I was imaging. It is fun to do and that's all that matters! And fun to shop for which we all know is something I LOVE to do, haha!
One of these days I will get some more pictures up, I need to post some from the other day of Slipn'sliding!

Well not much to ramble on about tonight, the dog is outside doing his barking routine which is distracting and maddening! He will stand at the door and bark and bark until we let him in...grr! So I guess I should go do that so I don't loose it.
Oh! Zachary starts school on the 14th and has his orientation on the 7th, his teacher called tonight. She wasn't as talkative and friendly as I had hoped but then again I am comparing from last year and when she called we talked for a good 5-10 minutes! So hopefully she is more friendly in person!

ALrighty he's barking louder.....have a good one!

Grab it..

I was just putting Gavin down for a nap, rocking him, like I always do, for a few minutes before I lay him down. I was looking at him realizing that in a few days he will be 15 months old and in the same amount of time since he turned 1 he will be 18 months old...which is also the same time I will be graduating and Jakeb will be getting ready for his Christmas break from kindergarden. The same time, I have been so anxiously waiting for and wishing would hurry up and get here. So I am looking at Gavin and realizing that 3 months have passed by so quickly and the next 3 will be just as fast and wishing I wasn't so anxious for it to go by! Because I will never get those 3 months back, never will have Gavin be 15 months then 16 months etc again. Never will take Jakeb to his first day of kindergarden again and watch him change and grow as he gets into his school years and never will have Zachary going to his first year of "real" preschool again. I know that everyone gets caught up in the day to day things and is ready for the next day, the next month, often the next year and it's hard to stop, slow down and take it all in but I hope at least for today (and many more to come) I have.
We have had a great morning. I got up this morning and made us pancakes, bacon, and eggs...which is our routine for either Sat/Sun mornings. Robert has to leave in about an hour so he headed out w/ the boys to mow the back yard, I picked up a bit in here, and then came out with them and set the slip n slide up for them to play in. I really didn't think anyone but Gavin would play in it, it squirts water out so he likes to walk thru it. But Zachary and he both had a great time in it. After Robert got finished mowing we talked him into "showing them how it's done" and then he proceded to drag Zachary down and then even Jakeb! Both of them thought it was great and took turns having Daddy push them down the slip n' slide, they were so cute laughing and giggling. I got the video camera out and also snapped a few photos. I eventually decided to give it a little try and that water was FREEZING, Robert had to wrestle me in brrrr! But it was a lot of fun!
We cleaned up and had some lunch and now the boys are down for their naps (or actually UP from their naps claiming they need to go potty...of course!).

Weekend is nearly over and Robert heads out to Greenville, SC this week!

Whew

It's Thursday night....ALMOST Friday! YAY! Zachary had his post op appt today for his tonsilectomy, he looks great and we are done with the ENT! After his appt we ate lunch with our friends down the street, rushed home for naps, everyone got woken up to head out to Franklin for Jakeb and Zachary's Sport Skills Development Class at the Little Gym. It's a great class, it's been WONDERFUL for Jakeb. I see him feeling more confident in his physical activities and more eager to do things...he even says he wants to play soccer, with other kids, on a team! That's big for him! Our friends from down the street, Hope, Alex, and Evan have come with us the past 2 times and Alex has joined the class with us. The kids really seem to love it and it's fun to have some one to chit chat with while the kids are in class. Gavin and Evan wander around playing and getting into things like 1 year olds do! After gym class we all (Robert, Hope, Alex, Evan, Jakeb, Zachary, Gavin, and I) all piled back into the van to grab dinner and head to the park. Where we ate, the kids got wet and muddy playing and then we drove our loud, wet, muddy kids home and here I sit! Kids are bathed and in bed and I am unwinding from our busy day. It's thundering now so I may not get the quiet not I am hoping for...Jakeb and Zachary are afraid of the thunder...in fact Jakeb just walked in telling me about it...oy vey!
I am SO ready for my classes to start, I am very anxious to get back into my photography class and learn some more...it's a film class but I learned a lot in B&W film, I really like film...I wish I had the means to have a blackroom and develop my own. Shooting digital is much more cost effective but I almost feel like it's cheating...I can go in and edit a near crap picture to nearly perfect so I feel like that's not good photography that's good editing, so I try to edit as little as possible. There is a lot that can be done in the dark room too so I try to remember that and stick to what can be done there...but I want to be taking GOOD photos not taking ok photos and editing them into good ones...which I know a large part of the picture taking process is in the developing so. I love taking pictures but I feel a bit discouraged with so many other photographers out there, they are a dime a dozen these days. I am certainly no pro nor do I really aim to be one but it's a fun hobby and maybe one day will be something I pick up even more once the kids start school. With the technology we have now in cameras and what not it's much easier for people to pick up their camera and grab great shots. I remember chasing my brothers around and making them pose with my little pink 110 camera and my friends in elementary school...I have all kinds of goofy photos that I took as a kid LOL!
My other class is a cultural geography class which should be pretty interesting, it' s with the same professor I had in the spring so that will be nice...I got an A in that class and I expect it to be the same style which is good!
3 more weeks til Jakeb has his very first day of school! Zachary keeps telling everyone he is going to kindergarden as well, so hopefully his excitment will still be there when he goes back to Preschool, he wasn't happy about going last year. And still has issues with me leaving him, praying that isn't the case this year!

Ok I think I am rambling at this point. Nighty...night :)

Light the Night

On the day I started this very blog site, a friend from my playgroup (actually the one who created the group) passed away due to complications from Leukemia. She left behind 3 small children, her husband, her family, and many friends who all miss her greatly. It was very sudden and has left so many in shock and disbelief. I wish I had posted before about this but quite honestly I wasn't sure what to say and still am not. Jenna was a wonderful mother, wife, and friend. I wasn't close with Jenna but when anyone you know dies it's hard, especially someone you share common things with someone you "see" everyday. Someone *I* felt like I knew more than she knew me, she has a blog and I like so many others followed it nearly daily, as well as her postings on the board. It was and is a very sad thing, I still don't understand why it happened and probably never will. A large group of Jenna's friends (myself included) are gathering together to do the Light the Night Walk in Jenna's honor. Raising money to be donated to Leukemia research. Here is a link for any wanting to donate or who would like to walk and raise money: http://www.active.com/donate/ltnNashvi/2024_rae7anne

I appreciate ANY support you can offer and please continue to keep Jenna and her family in your prayers.

Baba

Gavin is starting to talk more! Just a few moments ago he said Baby...or technically "baba" but at 14 months that is close enough and he pointed to a picture of a baby and said it so it counts! The other day as I was leaving I said "I love you" to him and he responded with "iaaahh ooo" in the sing songy voice w/ the same "tune" obviously trying to say "I love you" back to me. Even Robert heard him! He says "ta oo"--Thank You, and of course Uh-oh and has said Mommy and Daddy (not just Mama, Dada) but only once! He seems to try to say Jakeb but I couldn't even begin to spell it but he gets A for effort. He says his version of boat, ball, catch, and hush...all of which *I* understand but anyone else would be clueless but he is putting the sound/word with the object (or action). So that is exciting! He is a little later to talk than Jakeb and Zachary did but with all these other people talking and doing for him all he needs to do is squeal and squeek.
Jakeb has less than a month and he will be in FULL time kindergarden, I can't believe it and while I am not ready for him to be gone all day all the time I am ready to get him started and "get it over with". He's very excited to go and I think he will do great...we'll see how we do at home with out him. I hope school doesn't make his sassy attitude worse. He's such a good helper with his brothers though!
Zachary is being his usual silly boy self, he fell off the hammock yesterday and chipped a good chunk out of his front tooth...large enough to warrant a trip to the dentist to have it checked out. All is good with it and we will go back sometime soon to have them file it down a bit. He's been quite the character lately, while on vacation we were at dinner and Jakeb was talking away about something and Zachary leans up to the table and asks him "What are you babbling about?" It cracked us up! And his new argument for not having to go to bed at night is that he is not tired and "People who aren't tired do not have to go to bed!!" He's at that funny 3 year old stage...and also at the not so funny fit throwing 3 year old stage...bleh!
Robert and I are both doing well, he will be of the week Jakeb starts school. So he can go with us on his first day of Kindergarden and will also be able to go with me to the Open House. I start classes on the 28th and Donna (Robert's mom) and a friend who lives on the neighborhood's daughter will both help out with the boys. Our original plan fell thru so we are having to figure things out with that a little last minute, not fun! But darnit with 2 more classes and 5 months before I graduate I WILL figure it out.

Vacation was very nice...we definetly would love to vacation at Anna Maria Island again, it was so pretty and quaint and just a cute little place to go. It was wonderful to see my family, i wish we could have visited more. The boys loved the beachbut I think we are all glad to be home!

Alrighty it's dinner time...so until next time!

On vacation! Currently am sitting in our hotel...laptop in lap (very fitting eh?), feet propped up on the table enjoying a relaxing afternoon while the kids nap after a tuckering morning swimming in the Gulf of Mexico! We have had a very busy week, Disney World and Epcot last week. We are not right on the beach so we have to drive 20-25 min to get to the beach which isn't too bad. Because of Robert's hotel points we are somewhat limited to our hotel choices unless we want to foot the bill ourselves, which we don't so we will make the drive! The boys have had a great time, LOVED Disney World of course. Zachary did just what he said he wanted to do and hugged Mickey, Jakeb drove the race cars, and Gavin took it all in and enjoyed his very first lolipop at Disney which for him was enough fun! The are loving the beach and this year both Jakeb and Zachary are jumping right in and swimming around like they have been here a million times, just having so much fun. It's great watching them. Gavin likes the water but isn't too keen on the sand but he's getting used to it as the week goes.

Tomorrow we are checking out of our hotel in Clearwater and heading down to Anna Maria Island to the Tortuga Inn for my cousin Kate's wedding, we will be there until Saturday when we head home. My mom is coming down tomorrow as well and I am really looking forward to seeing all of our family.

Trying it out

I have seen several family blogs floating around and I find them quite interesting and have been toying with the idea of this and finally decided to give it a shot! Just a spot for me/us to update what's going on with us/the kids/the family, our lives overall. It's a nice way for everyone to stay updated, I hope!

So here we go...today is Wednesday-- middle of the week, the boys are napping and I am trying to unwind for a bit. We haven't done too much today really I thought it would be nice to let them paint for a little while and let Gavin has his first artistic experience with painting. His mouth ended up a nice shade of yellow because he thought he first needed to taste the paint on the brush and wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Jakeb and Zachary love painting and finally are at an age where they can paint without making a huge mess, thank goodness! So they had a good time doing that and I have yet to finish cleaning up the mess...which is what I should be doing.
Robert is in Columbus, Georgia this week and will be home next week doing a remote training and then off the next. We leave for Florida Tuesday evening woohoo!! My dad is coming down with us for a few days and treating us to a day or two at Disney, which in July will be very hot but it will be fun anyway! We are all very very excited! It will be nice to hit up the beach and just relax away from home.
My friend, Jennifer, from college was in town for the afternoon yesterday and we hung out with her. It was so nice to visit with her and the boys just thought she was sooo cool! I miss my friends from school, I love that we have all been so good about keeping in touch with each other. Of course we could do better but I could not talk to them for a year and still call any one of them up and pick up right where we left off. So it was nice to see her and visit and catch up. I am the only one with multiple children, which is always a little odd I think!
So hmm let's see some other recent tidbits to share. Gavin is walking and is very proud of himself as are all of us! Zachary had his tonsils out 2 1/2 weeks ago and was a trooper, he's doing very well now and totally back to normal. Jakeb is now 5 1/2 and is starting kindergarden this fall, which he is VERY excited about! Me...not much going on with me really, I start my last semester of school on the 28th of August, which I am VERY excited about. Have been trying to get a little more into my photography but it seems everyone is wanting to do the same which deters me a bit. But I'll figure out my niche one of these days :)

Alrighty I guess I will quit slacking and get to picking up! We'll see how this does, I probably won't update everyday but here and there is good!