Starting the summer off with a bang!

We’ve officially kicked off summertime at our house!  It was Gwyn’s last day of school on Monday, and Jacob’s last day of school on Tuesday. The week started off a little rough, with Brian taking off Monday and Tuesday, his second and third sick days in 10 years of working!  He was pretty miserable, and thankfully the rest of us came out relatively unscathed…Gwyn did throw up on Sunday a few times, and Annie threw up Tuesday about 5 times…lots of laundry for me!!!  Thankfully, everyone is healthy again, and we were able to have a great rest of the week and weekend.  Oh, and that is Gwyn with her new summer haircut, her second ever.  She was so excited to show Brian when she got home.  

Here are a few pictures of Gwyn’s last day of school.  I wasn’t able to go to the splash day with her since I had my urologist appointment (yeah, I passed my kidney stone!).  She and her little BFF Laura are pretty much inseparable, but Gwyn won’t be going to the same preschool with her next year.  Her mom and I are planning to get them together a few times this summer.  Here they are with their teachers.

 Here is Gwyn wrapping up after their Super Summer Send-Off splash day, which was full of multiple slides, bubble houses, painting in shaving cream, sprinklers, etc.

Here she is riding a tricycle around and pulling Laura.

A friend of mine watched Gwyn and Annie for me on Tuesday, so that I could go to Jacob’s last day.  I missed the splash day part, but I was able to pick up the pizza for the kids and catch the last hour of the party.  Hungry little Jacob ate 4 pieces of pizza and a breadstick!

Here he is with his sweet teachers that love him so much!

Here is a picture of the cute little bag they made him.  Both Jacob and Gwyn also were given little picture books, filled with pictures of them throughout the year.  It was so much fun to look through them and see them doing things that you never knew they did…a look into the daily things they did the entire year of preschool.

Oh how times have changed.  I ordered Jacob’s school supplies online, $63, and it took me about 3 minutes to do it.  I was a little sad because one of my favorite things about going back to school was going to pick out all my school supplies…I may just have to let Jacob do this in the Fall, and just let him keep it at home for us to useJ

Jacob and Gwyn got to go to Tadpoles at church again this week.  Next week is their last week, they don’t know it yet, but it is a surprise trip to Chuck E Cheese!  They will be excited.  It was our turn to bring snack this week…POPSCICLES!  Brian said it was the first snack all year, that there weren’t any complaints out of the kids and they all loved it.  They also made some goo…which we played with everyday until it mysteriously disappeared one night after the kids went to bed…it was a mess.  Here is Jacob in control of his goo:

 Here he is having a blast with it, but getting a bit crazy!

 Gwyn in control of her goo:

 Gwyn with it getting a bit out of control:

 Annie trying it out (it didn't make her fingers blue, she had colored them blue earlier in the day).  She did also try to eat it too, but apparently glue and borax don't taste too good:

So, with three days last week of nothing really going on, I decided to take a trip to Nordstroms with all three kids.  Jacob had been wanting some “tie” shoes for awhile.  There are a few kids in his class who can tie their shoes, and since Jacob only has Velcro (poor kid, it is just so much easier for me, and when you’ve had 3 kids in 3 years and 3 months, you’ve gotta take some shortcuts!) he didn’t even have a pair of shoes to practice with, much less know that they were called tennis shoes, just that they had shoe laces that you tied, thus, “tie” shoes.  So, we had to go to Nordstroms to return something, so I took them up to the kids’ shoes, and I realized that I had never taken him into buy shoes before.  He just picked up the first shoe that he thought was cool.  Put it on, said it fit (it was a size too big), and said he wanted this one.  He then looked at me very confused and said, “but I’ve got two feet, why do they only have one shoe out here to buy???”  We got someone to help us, they brought him two shoes in his size, he tried them on, we bought them, and left.  We were done in about 5 minutes…boys!  Oh, and they give away “free” balloons (Brian would say you are paying for them and they aren’t really free), but we got 3 of them.  This picture was the best I got with my camera phone, but we looked pretty funny walking out of there with our balloons.

On Saturday, we took our semi-annual trip to the beach with the Mulsow’s (Brad, Erika & Maddy).  The kids had SO much fun.  Jacob and Maddy were little mud messes, and Gwyn LOVED the water.  Annie was content sitting and watching the birds who kept trying to steal our food.  It was a great night with roasted hot dogs and smores.  Everyone say "CHEETOS!"

 Annie mesmerized by the birds:

 Gwyn having fun digging in the sand:

 Jacob, while he was clean:

 He was covered, head to toe, in sand:

 Some brave birds after some leftovers:

 Sweet little Annie:

And here is the one video I got:

To round out our eventful week, we played outside for several hours per day, went to the park, and the kids got wet just about every chance they could.  The kids are constantly trying to one up each other by figuring out words that rhyme, it is funny to hear some of the made up words that Gwyn comes up with.  “Bread rhymes with snead,” she said this week.  You’re right, that does rhyme??  Gwyn also has been trying very hard to keep a secret.  Brian told her the secret that they were going to tadpoles.  She made such a big deal about NOT telling me, that she forgot what the secret was when Brian told her to tell Jacob.  She's hilarious!  Here is Jacob and Annie playing Angry Birds:

 Gwyn with her water squirter...best $5 spent at Target yet!

 Jacob trying out the basketball and goal for the pool:

 Jedi fighters:

 Milk mustache?  That's for babies, a brownie gotee is what's in now:

Jacob helping Brian put in an automatic chlorine tab dispenser thingy this weekend:

Annie is getting to be so funny.  If you tell her to say please, she’ll say “peeeeeeeeeeeesssssss.”  It really lasts at least 30 seconds!  She will run across the room to give you a high five, if she sees someone else giving one…she doesn’t want to miss out, those are important!  She loves babies, has a stuffed animal of some sort with her every night for bed and for her nap.  When she gets up, she wants to take it with her.  She has at any random moment, at least 4 in the car…when she got sick, I had to wash about 5 of them as well!  She likes to pretend to give her babies food, bottles, pacifiers, etc.  Here she is trying on my shoes:

 Here she is trying to put her little cabbage patch doll's pacifier in her mouth:

 She thinks sticking out her tongue is super funny:

I had to throw these few pictures that Jacob has done this week.  He came and asked me how to spell I love you.  I told him, and then he had taped this picture to the back of my chair at the table later that day.  So sweet, he says that is me and him.

Here is a picture of our family.  All 5 of us, along with Obi Won Kanobi, who Jacob says thank goodness was there because that is General Grievous sneaking up in the grass.

Here is the grocery list.  He was so excited about the beach, he wanted to help with the list.  Smores, Chips (spelled backwards), Buns (spelled backwards), and Hot Dogs.

Funny things the kids said this week:

Jacob (while Brian was sick):  If you got sick too Mommy, then there wouldn’t be any adults in charge.

Me:  Maybe you would have to be in charge.

Jacob:  But kids can’t go to work!

Gwyn:  Daddy, when you are sick, you can’t have any juice (since I cut her off of juice after she threw up a few times)

Me:  You can have milk or water, which do you want?

Jacob:  I’d like my water with a lime in it (seriously!)

Gwyn:  Annie can’t go to tadpoles, she pukes.

Gwyn:  If you see a snake, you’ve got to tell Daddy, not Mommy.

Me to the kids before we walked into Nordstroms:  Stay right by me, don’t run off, and no acting crazy.

Gwyn:  I not gonna act crazy Mommy.

Gwyn:  Mommy, if I was really tiny, I could swim in that (pointing to her ketchup on her plate)

Jacob:  I might marry Maddy since she can ride her bike without her training wheels.

Me:  What about Grace?

Jacob:  Can she ride her bike without training wheels?

Me:  I don’t think so yet, she’s a little younger than you.

Jacob:  Then no.

Gwyn:  You can’t marry your brother, you have to marry someone else like Stacy or Justin or John or Claudia.

Gwyn singing after church:  Y and D, Y and D there is a fountain flowing Y and D

Me:  I think it might be deep and wide, deep and wide.

Gwyn:  No, that’s not how you sing it Mommy.

Brian to Jacob:  Sit in time out and think about what you did.

Jacob (immediately):  I thought about it Daddy, can I get up?

A guy at tadpoles:  You guys can go play or sit and wait patiently while we get the goo ready. (every kid goes to play except for Jacob and Gwyn who are still sitting)  You guys can go play, and we’ll call you when we’ve got it ready.

Jacob:  We’d like to sit and wait patiently.

Daddy's Little Helper

 Jacob LOVES to be his Daddy’s helper.  This weekend, Brian had to clean out the drain from the A/C unit and Jacob was right there assisting in any way that he could, asking hundreds of questions.  He also helped Brian change the oil in his car.  He thinks he is super cool, and carries tools around in his pockets.  He loves to be with his Daddy.

I stayed inside while all this fun was going on…cleaning and doing dishes by hand…yes, the dishwasher is still out!  It will be 3 weeks on Tuesday, and surprisingly we are surviving without a dishwasher.  Well, I should say we are surviving without an automatic dishwasher since I am now the designated dishwasher.  Poor little Gwyn threw up twice today…not fun for Mommy!  She took a much needed nap while Annie napped too, and seemed to be feeling much better this afternoon.

This weekend was fun-filled with a bike ride up to the elementary school, Jacob can ride around that parking lot making all these twists and turns for hours if we would let him.  We also practiced some baseball, he’s getting amazingly good at hitting (spoken like a true bragging parent!).  Brian and I also squeezed in a date night on Saturday night.  We have been using a high schooler who volunteers in Gwyn’s Sunday School class at church.  The kids have been doing great with her.  We also went to the Houston Food Truck Festival.  They had all these trucks that specializied in different types of foods.  We got there when it opened, and Jason, Brian, and I each stood in line with one kid each at three different vendors.  We were able to try several different things, the food was great, but the kids thought the cupcake truck was the best!

The two major fiascos of the week were that I have another kidney stone, and we seem to have a 4 ft long snake that lives in a hole by the outside water faucet.  I have been on medicine for a week, and go see the urologist tomorrow (it is ridiculous that we are on a first name basis!).  Hopefully, it has passed, the good news is that it was small and I didn’t have any kidney pain.  On to the snake.  I got home with the kids on Wednesday, and Jacob was playing in the landscaping while I was getting Annie out of the car.  All of the sudden, I hear, “SNAKE!”  I run over there to see this 4 ft long snake slithering through the landscaping heading towards the snake.  I run back to the garage, get the shovel, and by the time I get back, I get to see it slide down into this hole by the outside water faucet.  I FREAK.  Call Brian at work and want to call an exterminator.  Brian says to calm down (mainly because he’s excited to have a mission to get this snake).  After googling “how to get a snake out of a hole,” he decides to pour boiling water down the hole.  Nothing.  He then fills the hold in water and dirt.  Two days later…the hole is back.  Jacob has since been on snake patrol, and checks the hole (which we filled back in) at least 5 times / day.  We have no idea how big the hole is, it is right by the foundation, so it could go underneath the house, the snake could have moved out, or he could have his belly full and be content to stay underground for awhile.  We are now all on a mission to get this snake.  One way or another…we will get you snake, your days are numbered!

Not the greatest video, the camera kept trying to refocus.  Here is Gwyn in her dance/gymnastics class.  Her recital is coming up.  She doesn't practice at all, so it should be interesting to watch!

Annie is getting to be so funny.  She knows what she wants, and she will find a way to let you know.  She is starting to say so many words, and is repeating everything.  She even called Brian, Brian, after I said it.  She thinks it is funny to say stinky, and laughs when she has a dirty diaper.  She saw Jacob and Gwyn using forks at dinner and demanded to have a fork of her own too.  She was throwing straws out of our Ziploc/straw drawer and I told her not to do it.  She looked at me and did it again.  I told her she was going to have to go to time out (I didn’t plan on putting her there, it was mainly for the benefit of Jacob and Gwyn who were paying close attention).  She immediately started crying and went and sat by the door, putting herself in time out.  She didn’t stay there long, but I couldn’t believe she did it.  She also LOVES shoes.  She tries to put everyone's shoes on and walk around...mine, Brian's, Jacob's, Gwyn's, random shoes she finds at dance class, etc.  Here she is in Gwyn's twinkle toes:

She also loves to read books.  She has even been throwing a fit before bed because she wants to read books with Jacob and Gwyn in their room at bedtime.  We will be adding her to this routine soon, but right now she is a bit out of control!

Here is that last chapel picture of Jacob’s class.  They are all so cute!

The weather has been great, and the pool has been a very nice 85 degrees.  When it is time to go swimming, Annie will start whining and push on my legs or Brian’s legs to try to push us over to the pool…she LOVES being in the water and wants to swim with us the entire time, and as soon as you walk out the door she wants to get in as soon as possible.  Here are some pictures of the kids in the pool this weekend:

 Two sisters enjoying a popscicle.  Right after this picture was taken, Gwyn dropped half of hers on the ground and before she could pick it up, Annie swooped in and grabbed it and put it in her mouth.  You've got to play offense when eating popscicles at our house!

 Cutest little boy ever!

The kids have so much fun playing together.  They have been making forts in the playroom just about everyday.  Jacob's teacher sent him home with some Star Wars paper cups and napkins, and I think they played with these for at least three days.  This is usually done during Annie's naptime since she seems to think the point is to knock the fort down.

 Playdates, playdates, playdates!  This week we had Carter over after school one day (Carter also was involved in finding the snake...don't worry, they were very far from it and I did tell his mom before he had a chance too!).  We also have been playing every week with Jacob's new friend, Henry, who will also be going to Kindergarten at Jacob's school next year.  He has a little brother, and all 5 kids got so filthy after last week from a combination of water squirters and a sandbox...we had bath time before dinner that night!  This is Jacob dressed as part Darth Vader/part Storm Trooper.  We were at a Lindsee's house and he came downstairs dressed like this.  Too funny!

 Three kids trying to share one stepstool.  Emily's Dad made her a double step stool, they are hard to find, so I'll have to add that to Brian's to do list:)

Here are a couple of artwork pictures for this past week…school is winding down.  Only one more day left for Gwyn and two more days left for Jacob.

 I put notes in their lunch boxes sometimes.  Gwyn could pretty much careless, but Jacob gets so excited when his teachers read him his notes.  This one said, "May the force be with you Jacob Skywalker."  His teachers said he was so excited and thought it was so cool.  He kept this note for days, wanted to take it with him in the car, would put it in my purse, then dig it out again to take it somewhere else.

Things the kids said this week:

Jacob:  I'm Mr. Fix-It (more like Mr. Break it) 

Gwyn:  Daddy says I talk a lot.

Jacob:  When we catch that snake, can we keep it as a pet?

Gwyn:  Mommy, are there a lot of Jesus’s?

Me:  No, there is only one Jesus.

Gwyn:  He lives in my heart.  Does he live in your heart too?

Me:  Yes, and Daddy’s and Jacob’s and Annie’s, and so on and so on…

Gwyn:  Then there must be a lot of Jesus’s.

Me:  It is the same Jesus, He lives in all of our hearts when we believe in Him.

Gwyn:  OK. (not sure if this made sense to her, but she was thinking about it)

Jacob (after getting in trouble for breaking one of the chairs in his room):  Mommy, I prayed to Jesus and told him I was sorry for breaking that chair.

Me:  That is so good Jacob.  When we pray to Jesus, and tell him what we did wrong and are sorry about it, He forgives us.  Mommy forgives you too.

Me to Gwyn:  Do you want to get your haircut?

Gwyn:  No, I already got it cut.  (I think she thought you only get it cut once, and she already had hers cut in December...she later said she wanted to get it cut again)