Random January Pictures

I found a few pictures of Matthew throughout the month that I thought were cute. Eating popcorn, playing games with the boys, playing with his little assortment of cups and toys, and the rice cooker that he constantly loves to drag around and play with. This little guy definitely keeps life fun.

Happy Birthday Jacob

Today was Jacob’s 5th birthday. I still can’t believe that my little boy is really already five years old! Every year older is a big step, but 5 years old means so much. It means he’ll be starting kindergarten this year, and he’s halfway to 10. I’m glad he’s only 5 and not older than that. I’m having a hard enough time thinking of him going away to school already.
For Jacob’s birthday, we kept up his annual favorite of making rice pudding for breakfast. We were able to put candles in it and sing Happy Birthday that morning.
Last night I took Jacob out to run a couple errands. One stop was at ToysRUs. If you sign your child up for the birthday club, they’ll send a $3 gift card on their birthday. Jacob was pretty excited to carry that around with him. He kept it in his pocket and would check every so often to make sure it was still there. It was fun to walk around the store with him trying to find a little gift that he could pick out. He was so proud to know that he was buying it with his own money. Jacob kept track of how much money he received for his birthday ($13) and after figuring out tithing, and how much his toy cost, he told me, at the checkout stand, how much money he would still have left. He did it all by himself. This boy is definitely showing an interest in money early- hopefully he’ll be a saver and bargain-shopper!
That morning Jacob was able to play with the little nerf air gun that he picked out the night before. We spend the day playing games, reading, running a few errands and letting Jacob decide what to do. He’s definitely a boy- one of his favorite aspects of his birthday was being able to choose what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Jacob wanted to have pizza for dinner, so we drove down to pick up some pizza (and I made a little stop to get some paper for card-making…I might have a job designing cards for an outsourcing company) When we got home, Khoa came over –bringing a cute little ‘Kung-Fu Panda’ gift for Jacob, he’s too kind. We had dinner together, then opened gifts and had cake and ice cream. It was pretty low-key but we had a fun evening.
Jacob got some really fun gifts including a telescope- he’s been asking for one for months now, the movie Wall-E, a ninja turtle toy, a spiderman lunchbox- for next year, some shirts, a cool train & car that you can put together and take apart using a drills that really works & screwdrivers, plus a couple treats. He was pretty excited with how the night turned out.**

5 Years Ago Today...

I can't believe my baby is five! When did he go from being a tiny baby to such a grown up, sweet big boy? The past five years have flown, and I'm sure the upcoming years will also. I'm grateful Jacob is only 5. I'm already sad knowing that he'll start school in just a few short months. I'm not ready for him to grow up yet! At the same time, it's so exciting as a parent to see your child develop and grow into their own little personality. We love you Jacob and hope this upcoming year is as exciting and wonderful as the past five years have been!

January 28, 2004

January 2005

January 2006

January 2007

January 2008

January 2009

'Gertie-Simon-Frosty' The Snowman

Jacob and Caleb have wanted to build a snowman forever. It’s been cold enough that we’ve put it off for a while. On Saturday, it was a beautiful sunny day and Jeff took the boys out to finally build a snowman. Our snow has slowly been melting, so they didn’t have much to work with. In fact, I was surprised they were able to build one as big as they did. Jeff would push snow over and they would pack it together.

They had such a good time playing together. When they finished the snowman with a face, arms and scarf; Caleb insisted on finding a hat. We found a little toy that would work for a hat and as soon as we put it on him, Caleb said, “Now I want him to talk.” I guess he’s convinced that Frosty the Snowman was a true story. It was kind of funny. When it came down to a name for the snowman, Jacob wanted ‘Gertie’ and Caleb wanted ‘Frosty’. They ended up naming the snowman, ‘Gertie-Simon-Frosty’. Big name for such a little snowman, but I think it fits him well. I’m glad the boys have such a fun daddy who loves to go out and play with them. They all had a fun time playing together.

New Favorite

This is without a doubt my new favorite make-up item. Jeff bought it for me at Christmas, and because it's Maybelline, it's affordable.
The new Define-A-Lash mascara by maybelline is awesome! My favorite feature is probably the applicator brush- it's rubber, and flexible- goes on smooth, and no clumps. Plus the green mascara tube is cute!

Say What...

Kids’ sayings/doings from the past couple weeks:

Jacob

- “I have a brilliant idea!”

- I was doing some turns in the kitchen. Jacob asked what I was doing, and I replied that I was dancing. Jacob said, “Boys don’t do things like that, only princesses, barbies, and mermaids.” Then Caleb added, “And only boys do cool dances!”

Caleb

- To Jacob, “You’re supposed to be quiet and listen to the teacher!.......I’m a teacher”

- Caleb: “Sometimes my friends get mad at me.”

Me: “Oh, what friend gets mad at you?”

Caleb: “Um, Jeffrey”

- “I got bigger eating popcorn! ……I want to get bigger again!”

- To Jacob: “Excuse me little fella”

- Jeff told Caleb to eat his dinner, Caleb got a scowl on his face, pointed at Jeff and said, “You first ol’ man!” (not sure where that one came from!)

- Grandma asked Caleb if he had a new friend at church. Caleb replied, “I have a friend at church! His name is Mom!”

Matthew:

- Says: dada, mama, ball, hi, yes, no, hi dad, Jesus, dance, doggy, and ‘roar’

- One of his favorite things to play with is cups- all cups. He likes to put things in them and carry them around. (spoons, cards, toys, cars, etc)

Baby It's COLD Outside

Jeff walked to work this morning in -16 degree weather. It's been freezing here! The high today is supposed to be 10 degrees, when you factor in the wind chill it will be below 0. I find this a perfectly good excuse to stay inside all day! Preferably with a cup of hot chocolate and a warm blanket. We were out running errands last night, and just thinking of being outside again makes me want to turn my thermostat up to 80. Global warming? Not buyin' it.

I am seriously ready for summer! I can't wait for the day when I'm going to be sitting outside, sweating, and wishing for a snow cone. (I'm sure I'll look back at this entry sometime in August and feel differently). I know there are many other places much worse than ours, but for me this is COLD!

HERE IS OUR WEATHER FORECAST/WARNING for FRIDAY

... WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST FRIDAY...

ARCTIC AIR CONTINUES TO GRIP THE REGION. WINDS SHOULD STAY FAIRLY LIGHT OVERNIGHT... GENERALLY IN THE 5 TO 10 MPH RANGE. WINDS SHOULD INCREASE TO 10 TO 15 MPH DURING THE DAY FRIDAY. WIND CHILL TEMPERATURES OF -10 TO - 20 DEGREES ARE EXPECTED... MAINLY DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY.

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN WINDS COMBINE WITH VERY COLD TEMPERATURES TO CREATE DANGEROUS CONDITIONS FOR EXPOSED SKIN. THE WIND CHILL IS EXPECTED TO BE COLD ENOUGH TO CAUSE FROSTBITE IN ABOUT 30 MINUTES OR LESS... AND COULD LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. THOSE PLANNING TO VENTURE OUTDOORS SHOULD USE COMMON SENSE AND DRESS WARMLY... MAKING SURE THAT ALL EXPOSED SKIN IS COVERED.

Jan 4th-11th Review

This week has been a long one. It’s mostly been a good one and we’ve had fun together, but the first week back from vacations always seems long! Part of it is because Jeff had to work his first full week of work after having two 3-day weeks in a row, another reason is that we’ve been going to bed way too late and it makes it difficult to start the routine all over again when you’re already lacking sleep. Has this past week been long for anyone else?

Highlights; good, bad, or otherwise of the week include:
- Sunday dinner with Kohler family
- 'Hangover-like' headache Monday morning when Matthew was ready to get up at 6am
- Various visits of "the grumpies" to everyone
- Playing Hulabaloo as a family, and just the boys
- Despite plenty of cooking time, somewhat crunchy baked beans for dinner Thursday night with chocolate chip cookies for dessert
- Working with the boys, Jacob & Caleb doing great!
- Sometimes non-existent naps for Matthew
- Jacob telling me, "Thanks Mom, you're the best." Caleb adding, "Yea Mom, you're the best."
- Matthew's sweet hugs
- Lots of snow, shortened Church meetings, and unnecessary setting-up of room for Sunday School
- Missionaries for dinner
- Friday night "date" with Jacob and Caleb at home while Jeff slept on the couch
- Football games
- Reading books with kids
- Matthew's new favorite toy-the rice maker, he pulls it around by the cord like a puppy on a leash, and plays with all the accessories
- Sunday dinner with Slade family

As all weeks go, we had our share of ups & downs, but I'm sure grateful for a sweet family.

*Jan 4th-11th

Saturday Afternoons

On Saturday we took the boys to Chuck-E-Cheese. It’s been cold enough here, that the thought of going outside to play just isn’t much fun, especially since the rain melted all our snow. 10-19 degrees might be warm enough for some people, but I guess I’m just getting wimpy. We ate lunch before we went and used one of those great ‘100 tokens for $10’ coupons, and called it good. It’s funny how Chuck-E-Cheese is the same no matter where you are…crazy! Kids running all over, parents running all over, and not enough space. We had fun! Luckily we got there before the big rush, and were just finishing up when everyone really started to arrive. Apparently we weren’t the only ones opting for indoor fun on a cold day. We were definitely ready to head home when we were finished. Pictures are pretty self-explanatory…glazed faces and forced smiles. We parents are so mean to make kids stop to smile at the camera! Jacob’s and Caleb’s favorite “prize” was a little stretchy frog. Jacob chose green and Caleb chose blue, those along with a few other little treats only cost us $10! (Plus a fun afternoon!) And Jacob’s sporting a nice new war wound right on his nose…compliments of Caleb and the broom. It definitely goes both ways at our house.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! I love being able to look over all the happenings of the past year and look forward to the new one. It’s fun to look at goals that were set, and see how we’ve done on them. Caleb was potty-trained at the beginning of 2008, I think Jeff and I did well making improvements in health & wellness, Jeff met a goal of gaining nearly 30 pounds by weight-lifting and eating more protein, and I was able to meet my goal of running by completing a half marathon & a full marathon. I wasn’t perfect on every goal (I did miss some days of scripture study) but overall it was a good year for goals.

As far as this next year goes, I have a few in mind.

1- I’d like to keep up the running, and both of us want to keep up with working out. I guess that’s more of a lifetime goal.

2- I would like to incorporate gospel manuals into my scripture study. I’m sure teaching gospel doctrine will be a good start with this one.

2- I would like to spend more time doing things I’ve neglected somewhat over the years: reading, and sewing. Fortunately for me, I know many very talented sewers!

4- I want to spend time working with the boys on various things. I’d like to have Jacob reading before he starts kindergarten in September (I’m impressed how well he’s coming along well already) and I’d like to work with Caleb on some aspects of his speech. (saying his s’s & l’s correctly)

5- This one might be a couple years in the process, but I’d like to catch up with the scripture mastery scriptures again. Although I do remember some, there are a lot more that I don’t.

6- And finally…complete my 2008 Blog/Family History book faster than my 2007 one! (I’m almost done…)

I think it’ll be fun to go over these at the beginning of next year and see what’s happened with the goals. I do know though, that statistics have shown that women who tell others about their goals are more likely to complete them. I guess I’m taking the first step by holding myself accountable.

For New Year’s Eve, we didn’t do anything too exciting. Well, as exciting as you can get with three children under 5 I guess. We picked up some shrimp, Jeff bought me some flowers, and we watched a movie together after we put the boys to bed. Nothing too fancy, but for us it was a fun way to ring in the new year. I hope this one will be fabulous!