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)