Confessions of a Star Wars Addict

This is Jacob’s new Star Wars backpack.  I had gotten it for him for Kindergarten in the Fall, but went ahead and let him have it after it came in the mail a couple of days ago.  He has pretty much not taken it off.  He even wore it while mowing the lawn with Brian on Saturday.  I also got him a Star Wars towel, since he'll need to take a towel to class every day for independent reading time.  The towel is inside his backpack, and he keeps taking it out, laying it out and putting it on stuff, then putting it back inside his backpack.  He's a full-fledged Star Wars Addict.  We have now seen the first 4 movies, and plan to watch the 5th next Saturday.  He has this tattered Star Wars book, which he has memorized and "reads" to whoever will listen, which I've had to tape several times, he has a few figurines, he's got the Star Wars sheets (thanks Uncle Jason!), and he's got his build-a-bear with now a Darth Vader outfit and a Obi Won Kanobi outfit.  You should hear him and Gwyn talk about Star Wars stuff, she is usually saying something that isn't quite right, and Jacob is right there to tell her EXACTLY what happened.  He was into Spider man at 3, Batman at 4, and now Star Wars at 4 1/2...let's hope it lasts til the Fall, ha!  

Thought it would be fun to write down some of the things the kids are “into” every so often, so here goes:

Jacob:  Star Wars, light sabers, baseball, bugs, lizards, books, swimming, riding his scooter, riding his bike, reading class, collecting sticks, digging with sticks, riding in Daddy’s car with the windows down going to Tadpoles.

Gwyn:  Making up songs and singing, picking flowers, yogurt drinks, Rapunzel/fairies/princesses (including princess Padme and Leia from Star Wars), riding her bike/tricycle, stickers, telling on Jacob and Annie.

Annie:  Mommy, fruit snacks, her pacifier, playing in the kitchen, destroying the house, getting all the toys out after we have picked them up, juice, sitting right in the middle of whatever is going on, her Tag baby doll.

Well, this past week was the Easter play at Jacob and Gwyn's preschool.  I was a flower :)  Jacob and Gwyn loved seeing their Mommy in the play, and Gwyn said, "Mommy, you were the star of the show!"  (I didn't even have a speaking part, ha!)

Jacob and Gwyn are regulars at Tadpoles with Brian.  They love going, spending some time with their Daddy.  There are usually about 8-9 dads there and about 15 kids or so.  They were in charge of craft this week, and Gwyn picked out those plastic beads that you put on a little tray and then iron so that they melt together.  I did those when I was a kid, so I was so excited when she picked those out.  Here is Jacob's dog, Gwyn made a flower, but she gave hers to Isabel:

Brad, Erika and Maddy came over this weekend.  We love getting together with them, we just don't do it often enough since we live on opposite sides of the city.  The kids LOVE playing with Maddy, so they had a great time.  Maddy brought Gwyn a bag of clothes and shoes, and this was about the 4th outfit change that Gwyn had in the 4 hours that they were here!  She also gave Gwyn a few pairs of flip flops that Gwyn was SO excited about.  We loved hanging out with them, the kids played, swam, we grilled out, and have a date set in May to go to the beach, whooo hooo!  This was the only picture we got of the kids together before they were heading out, Annie had long since gone to bed, poor baby!

Brian was out of town in Louisiana for a few days earlier in the week...I really would not make it as a single parent, ha!  We survived, but we were so excited when Daddy came home (especially Mommy!). The weather was great, so we've, of course, spent a ton of time outside.  Jacob has turned into a little trickster, and wanted to play a trick on the mailman (yes, we have fake snakes around the house, it is not fun, they freak me out!):

Annie likes to carry her little baby doll everywhere, this has also been her sign for me when she is ready for her nap, she will grab her doll and point towards her bed, and if her baby isn't around, I usually pick up on the fact she is ready for her nap after she has been crying inconsolably for about 20 minutes:

I took the girls to Clay's restaurant after the Easter play, while Jacob was still in school.  I don't recommend it for anyone wanting to enjoy their lunch, since it does smell like manure, but if you have kids, it is a great place to take them to play in their huge sandbox surrounded by a ton of animals that you can feed.  I went with a few other moms and their kids, it was nice to sit on the deck and eat while the kids played.  Gwyn had fun on this horse, but then decided to cry like her heart was broken in two because she didn't get to ride the zebra...the poor child is so mistreated!

Here is Annie loving the goats...from a safe distance!

Our little family of 5:  Me (the busy bee), Annie (the lil' ladybug), Gwyn (the butterfly - she picked this one because it is so BEAUTIFUL), Brian (the cardinal - for obvious obsessive-compulsive-Cardinal-baseball-issues), and Jacob (the grasshopper - since he's so active). I got these from the front landscaping, and the kids love them.  They put them all over the place, but when they put them all together I had to get their picture!  

 Jacob has reading class on Wednesdays for 50 minutes.  There is a Walgreens next door, so Gwyn, Annie, and I go browsing/shopping every week at Walgreens to kill this time.  I'm getting a little bit better, the first week I think I spent about $75, the second week $65, the third week $30 and last week I think I only spent $12.  If you've received a card or gift from me recently, it is probably from Walgreens.  Gwyn knows exactly which aisles she wants to go down first, and if you go through my purse you'll find pretty much everything Walgreens brand that you would ever need from tissues, hand sanitizer, first aid kit, etc.  Here is Annie during one of our weekly trips, I couldn't resist those bunny ears!

 We picked up new goggles for the kids, Jacob has taken to wearing them like this at random times throughout the day.  You never know when you are going to need them, so it is best to always keep them on your head!

 Sweet little Gwyn taking a much needed nap while watching Hello Kitty.

We had breakfast for dinner one night, and we used the "fun dinner" plates from John and Claudia.  We also used these when Maddy was here, these are a big hit with the kids!  I made Jacob try the french toast, and I told him that if you like candy, you'll like french toast because it has sugar AND syrup on it.  He tried a bite, and then said, "I do like candy, but I do NOT like this."  Thanks for trying it buddy!!  

 Artwork from this week, anyone like spiders as much as Jacob?  He asked me one day if a moose could fit into a web.  I said, "a spider web? A moose would be too big."  He said, "It would have to be a really big spider."  Let's hope we never see that!

 Jacob, who is also obsessed with snakes right now, said that if he lived in the zoo he would play with snakes, yuck!

 His class made a yellow pages book, his said for playing baseball, call Jacob, but he spelled it backwards, first time he had ever done that and it looks more like Borat??

Funny things the kids said this week:

Jacob:  Can I have a pet rattlesnake? (NO!)

Me:  See you later alligator.

Jacob:  After while alligator.

Gwyn:  See you later crocodile.  After while shark.  (we’ll get it eventually!)

Jacob:  I want to be a baseball player when I grow up.  (We’ve come along ways since previous answers to this question have been Batman, Jedi Knight, Daddy, etc.)

Gwyn to Brian after she woke up:  I dreamed about Jacob, I love him.

Jacob to Brian at 6 am:  Let's watch some baseball Daddy. (oh, how Brian loves this boy!)

Gwyn’s various excuses when getting up after we’ve put her to bed:  I thought it was morning time (after being in bed 5 minutes).  I am hungry.  I am thirsty.  My blanket came off of Sparkles.