Jacob's in Kindergarten!!

I don’t even know where to begin with all that has gone on since my last update (a little over a week ago!).  Let’s just say that the biggest news is that we have a Kindergartner in the house, the cutest Kindergartner in the world that is!!  This is a picture of him before we took him to school on Monday morning.  I told him to turn around so I could get picture of his backpack, and he really wanted to make sure he got his Darth Vader lunch box in the picture:

Jacob with his little cheerleaders:

So, we all got in the car and went up to the school to walk Jacob into his classroom...



I got this one picture of him in his classroom before we left...Annie wanted to stay and Gwyn wanted to know when she was going to be 5 so that she could go:

He did so well, I gave him a hug and told him I was proud of him, he got busy drawing a picture and then we walked out the door.  I got a little teary on the way out, it just hit me that he's in school now...for the next 16 years of his life.  Gwyn, Annie and I then went to a "Boo Hoo breakfast" that a friend of mine had for all the other moms who had a child going to Kindergarten this year.  It was great fun, especially for Gwyn since it was at her friend Laura's house.  I was a little anxious all day, until we waited outside for him to ride home on the bus.  Jason and I walked with Gwyn and Annie around the corner to the bus stop...here they are waiting on Jacob:

The bus was the highlight of his day, and when he got home he asked if he could ride the bus to school tomorrow and ride the bus home from school again.  Here is his reaction right after he got off the bus:

I didn't get a picture of him getting off the bus because I had to talk to the bus driver, but here is a picture of him getting on the bus this morning...super excited about the bus picking up and dropping off at our house!  Here is what came home in his backpack...a pictorial view of his first day of Kindergarten.  He said his favorite part of the day was recess, and he liked eating in the cafeteria, but did not ever want to eat the cafeteria food.  He got two tickets and is really excited about earning more tickets for good behaviour and spending them at the ticket store for computer or itouch time...yes, I said itouch time...they use itouches for writing letters, number games, etc!

Here are a few pictures from this morning of the kids waiting on the bus:

 Jacob about to get on his first bus ride to school...Brian was saying, "hurry up and take the picture, you're holding the bus up."  Hey, a mom has to do what a mom has to do!!  I had to document how excited he was about riding the bus.  As soon as he got on, he sat in the second seat and was lifting up his head to see me and waving with a HUGE smile on his face.

 Gwyn, who loves skirts now also likes to pose:

Little Annie finally fits into Gwyn's old gold sandals...I love those!

Well, to recap the week, Brian and I had taken Jacob to meet the teacher last Friday.  I had been telling Jacob this was a special day for him, and he had been counting down on the calendar.  I got a sitter for Gwyn and Annie and we went up to meet his teacher, who is really nice and who I had heard a lot of good things about.  Here he is, super excited on the way to the school:

 In his classroom, which is huge, has a smart board, reading/writing/math/calendar/weather/science/art centers, and the most important thing of all...2 water frogs...HELLO, he was in heaven!

 I then took him shopping so that he could pick out some school clothes...the first time I had ever let him pick out any clothes, ha!  He picked out two pairs of athletic shorts, two pairs of athletic pants, 4 t-shirts (baseball, football, soccer, and a rock and roll one), a pair of jeans (picked by me), a belt (he was most proud of this purchase since it was just like Daddy's and he wore it the rest of the day with athletic shorts that had no belt loops), and he really wanted to pick out a necklace for Gwyn, so sweet!  We then went to Target and he got some underwear (Phineas and Ferb and Lego Star Wars) and some socks.  We then met Brian for lunch at Jacob's choice for lunch...Pei Wei where he got his favorite (honey chicken), and I let him get a Dr. Pepper (which he sucked dry!).  I had told him a couple of weeks ago, that on a special day he could get a coke, since whenever we go out to eat he can only choose Sprite, lemonade, water or milk - believe me, he does not need any caffeine)...it is the one thing he remembered when he woke up that he got to get a coke that day, and when he got there he picked Dr. Pepper!

 He came home and told Gwyn all about it, and I told Gwyn that before she goes to Kindergarten, she will get to have a special day with Mommy just like Jacob did.  She then wanted me to show her on the calendar when that day was...poor girl, my calendar doesn't go to 2013!

 Walking into the movies with Jason, they thought it was so cool that Annie didn't  get to go because she's a baby...Gwyn must have said this 5 times:

 Excited about a 3D movie and their popcorn snack packs:

What is a summer without staying up past your bedtime to go meet some friends for snow cones!  We met my friend Kate and her boys Jackson and Ben for some yummy flavored ice, and we decided the other day that Annie must be immune to brain freeze because she put away her snow cone in about half the time as the other kids...she did spill it and caused a fiasco since it was what seemed to her as the end of the world, but was quickly rectified by super mom...that's me, ha!

 Rainbow was the favorite, but Gwyn got Superman and said it was the best!

I also went on a little getaway with a group of friends to Austin last weekend.  I was only gone for one night, but we had a great time getting pedicures, having lunch on Lake Travis, hanging out and talking, going to dinner, sleeping in and then having breakfast in the morning.  Brian did great with the kids, I think they ate out every meal, he did no laundry or dishes, and Jason met them for pizza one night where Brian really impressed Jason (so much so that he earned the title of genius), by bringing in his own set of scissors to quickly cut up pizza into little pieces for Gwyn and Annie rather than using a fork and knife, which takes too long!  Jason also watched the kids for us, so that Brian and I could attend a new parent orientation at Jacob's school...thank you Jason for helping us out!

The one part of the week that wasn't so fun was spending over 2 hours in the Dr's office last Monday with all 3 kids...Jacob had a fever over the weekend before, and I took him in and sure enough he had strep!  We then had to check Gwyn and Annie, which was NOT fun.  I never really knew what gnashing of teeth meant, but I do now...picture having to hold Gwyn down to get a sample from the back of her throat for the strep test...it is gnashing of teeth, oh, and screaming!  Brian rescued us by swooping in and bring chick-fil-a, he sat in the car and fed the kids while I finished up with the paperwork and billing.  Not a fun day!  We were thankful that it happened a week before Kindergarten rather than the next week.  Two days later he was just fine, and thankfully the girls didn't get it!  A picture of the kids in the Dr's office...we had some time to kill!

 I also discovered during the Dr's visit that I could just barely get two little pigtails in Annie's hair...they didn't last long, she pulled them out, but here they are!

 She is going to look super cute in little pigtails, I loved Gwyn's hair at this stage too!

 We made a giant donut cake, it was much more fun to make it than it was to eat it.  It didn't quite turn out like we intended, but the kids had a great time helping!

 Little Annie loves to carry babies around, push them in strollers, and sit them in time-out.  She also has to have a purse with her, and she loves to drape her purse over her stroller handle.  This baby apparently needed one of Jacob's toy light sabers, ha!

 Here is Gwyn showing off the blue heart necklace that Jacob picked out for her...this has been the highlight of her week, and she is making sure Annie doesn't "mess it up."

 Jacob likes to rock and roll, and usually has the girls in a band.  Gwyn usually drums, and Annie usually gets to shake something...it is pretty entertaining, although the song that this guitar plays is constantly playing through my head!

 LOVED this picture and this sweet little face.  She wants to wear sunglasses on top of her head all the time...I honestly put a pair of sunglasses on her like this at least 10 times a day, until I can distract her long enough to hide the sunglasses:)

We are very excited to have our neighbors across the street back from their month long vacation.  Gwyn has especially missed them.  Gwyn and Annie and I have some extra time to hangout and have fun.  Gwyn is going through a phase where the highlight of her day is picking out her clothes for the day, and then immediately wants to change, and change again, and again, and would 10 times a day if I let her.  Annie is still into shoes and has just discovered Gwyn's slippers from last year, they are extra fun for her to slip around on the tile!

Funny things the kids said this week:
Annie (pointing to this picture): Papa

Annie (after Brian did his chewbacca imitation):  chew bac a
Gwyn (all excited):  Mommy, Ben and me rhyme.
Me:  What?
Gwyn:  Ben and Gwyn rhyme (she was so proud of her discovery!)
Me:  Jacob, what are you doing.
Jacob:  I'm writing names of everyone who has to get shots today.
Me:  Who is on the list?
Jacob:  Only Gwyn (shows me the list and GWYN is written)
Gwyn (crying):  NO!!!
Me:  Gwyn, he's just kidding.
Annie's favorite things to say:  Gen, gen, gen! (again) Mere, mere, mere! (come here!)
Jacob after I told him a few things about Kindergarten:  What is recess?? What is a cafeteria, what do they do there??
Gwyn after a lady in the store said hi to her and Annie:  She's a really old grandma.
Jacob to a guy in a security booth:  Goodbye old man!
Me:  Jacob, don't say that
Jacob:  What?
Me:  People don't like to be called old.
Jacob:  But he WAS old?? (I couldn't argue with that)
Gwyn (telling on Jacob):  Mommy, Jacob did something back to me.
Me:  Well, what did you do to him?
Gwyn:  Hit him (oh Gwynnie, when you will learn not to tell, especially when your telling gets yourself in trouble!)
Jacob:  YES!  I got the sticker prize!!!
Me (wondering what this excitement is all about):  What??
Jacob:  My slice of apple had the sticker on it!  (oh, to find the joy in such simple things!!)

Swimming, Swimming and more Swimming!

We went to a pool party this evening and the kids had a blast.  Jacob is a little fish, swims everywhere, and goes down the slide continuously.  Gwyn finally worked up the courage to go down the slide, and then continued to go down it over and over again.  Annie has a cup of lemonade in her hand in this picture...she isn't very experienced with cups without lids on it, and it was a bit embarrassing how much she spilled everywhere.  She would lean over to pick something up off the ground and basically just pour her drink out and then get upset when she didn't have anymore lemonade.

We have been spending our days in the pool.  The only way to beat this Houston heat outside, is to be in the water, which we are...every...single...day.  I actually think my kids may be as exhausted as me this week, ha!  Annie loves the water and constantly asks to "sim" with you.

Gwyn is gaining her confidence, she likes to swim across the pool on only one breath.  She can lift her head to take a breath, but usually loses momentum.  I think she's figured out that she swims better without taking a breath?!?

Jacob is my little daredevil.  Brian put this little waterfall thing in last week and the kids just love it.

Annie loves her big brother!

We watched my friend Julie's kids Lauren and Nicholas on Friday night.  Jacob and Gwyn were so excited that they were having a sleepover.  Lauren slept in Gwyn's room and Nicholas slept in Jacob's room.  The kids did great, everyone played great together, and we even had a picnic snack before it got too hot:

Sweet little Jacob starts Kindergarten in a week!

Annie is working hard on her "cheese" face for the camera:

Lauren taught Gwyn how to jump rope, and Gwyn tried very hard:

Love those little pigtails:

Gwyn is growing up so fast.  She loves to get her fingernails and toenails painted, and surprisingly Annie sits very still in order to get hers done as well.  Gwyn always says how much Annie likes her, I told her it is because she is her big sister and Annie wants to do and be just like her.  Gwyn, who in the past has always HATED to clean up, has been volunteering to do her own room.  After a few days of this in a row, which I thought was surprising, I noticed that a lot of her toys were missing.  I asked Gwyn where they were and she said, "under my bed."  She thought it was great and explained that you can fit a whole lot of toys under the bed.  I thought that was pretty funny, her bed had been on the floor before, but now that she has two full size beds on their frames in her room, she has extra storage and her idea of "cleaning" is to shove everything under her bed...not sure where she learned that from!

These kids are so much fun.  The other night we played duck, duck, goose in the house.  We all sat in a circle (except for Annie who just walked around the circle saying duck when she touched peoples head the entire time we played), and when you got picked you had to run into the kitchen, through the living room and then back to the playroom.  The kids thought it was awesome.

Jacob and Gwyn went to gymnastics one day this week with their friends Jackson and Ben.  We also had a play date with Gwyn's little friend Laura from her preschool, the girls dressed up and had so much fun.  Jacob didn't want to go, but had a great time with Laura's older brother and came back home asking for an iphone, ha!  We took a trip to the library this week, where Jacob picked out a Star Wars and a book about spiders, Gwyn picked a Fairy book and Pinkalicious book, and Annie picked out a Dora (with the help of Gwyn), and a Backyardigans book.  Jacob showed Gwyn how to do a headstand the other night...I remember doing this with Jason:

Somersault time!  Jacob is supposed to be practicing his somersaults because the next swim lesson he gets, he's going to start working on underwater somersault turns...he's determined to be an expert!

Annie's hair is finally growing, whoo hoo!  She has those cute little flips around her face that I just love!

Brian is such a good Dad, these kids have such fun with him.  Annie is enjoying her ride in this little blanket wrap:

We had a movie night to watch Rio, Annie was intensely watching when I took this picture because you couldn't get her attention she was so engrossed in the movie.  I find this quite funny considering Jacob didn't watch hardly any TV until he was 3, and now Annie is glued to it at 21 months!

Poor little Annie had to sit in time out...she wasn't too happy about it:

Jacob is my little helper, he helped me write my grocery list and then went shopping with me:

Annie continues to love to put on shoes.  She had my tennis shoes on and thought it was just great how she could hold onto the laces and walk around.  I love this face of hers when she has something figured out!

Jacob got ahold of my camera one day, and here is what he captured...sweet little Gwyn resting in my bed after having a fever and not feeling well:

Silly Annie posing for Jacob:

A ceramic tiger:

Phineas and Ferb on TV:

Lastly, Brian has impressed the kids once again with his juggling skills.  The kids thought this was just great, I thought about offering to do some differential equations for them to show them my "skills," but I don't think they would have been as impressed:



Funny things the kids said this week:

Annie (as she picks up the remote and hands it to me):  Kids shows.
Brian playing dolls with Gwyn, holding Barbie:  Hi, my name is Barbie, short for Barbara
Gwyn:  Hi, my name is Belle.
Brian:  Is Belle short for doorbell?
Gwyn (smiling):  Yes
Gwyn:  Why do people start off as babies?
Gwyn to Annie:  A hog is a pig, okay?
Jacob:  If you invite the whole world to your birthday party, you'd get ALOT of presents.
Gwyn:  Mommy, I need a dollar.
Me:  Why?
Gwyn:  Jacob says that he'll be nice to me if I give him $1, but he'll be mean to me if I don't.
Me:  Go tell Jacob that if he is mean to you, then he has to give you $1.  (she runs off smiling)
Jacob holding the popcorn seeds from his snack:  We can plant this and grow a popcorn tree and then we wouldn't have to buy it at the store.
Me to Gwyn when Annie put her finger in Gwyn's mouth:  Don't bite her.
Gwyn:  I wasn't going to bite her, just chew on her.

We've got ants!

I love these cool kids!  We are having so much fun in these last few weeks until Jacob starts Kindergarten.  He is so excited about going, but I’m the one who will have a hard time with it.  I remember when I started Kindergarten in the Orange Birds and I cried on my first day of school because I didn’t want to leave my mom…this won’t be the case for Jacob!  This past week we had our last swim lesson, to which I’m happy to say that Gwyn took 3 breaths on her own while swimming, so we’re getting there!  Jacob finished up his reading class and has become very interested in math, constantly asking whether 6 and 3 equals 9 and things like that.  I told him math and science were my favorite subjects in school, so we’ve been doing some sort of math just about every day.  We are counting down til Kindergarten, both Jacob and Gwyn have become very interested in the calendar, what day is it, what month is it.  Jacob and Gwyn also tried out tennis this week:

Jacob did great, loved it, and wanted to practice as soon as we got home.  Gwyn, not so much.  I made the mistake of bringing them each their own Gatorade, which they never get to have, and from the start (really after about 2 minutes), Gwyn just had to have her Gatorade.  She went another 5 minutes and then again, HAD to have her Gatorade.  Needless to say, after about 10 minutes, she was done and totally content to sit on the side with Annie and watch Jacob.  Jacob liked it so much that we did it twice this week.  We'll probably end up doing it twice a week for the next two weeks til school starts, then we've signed him up for soccer for the Fall, I guess I'll officially be a soccer mom, ha!  The kids also had two birthday parties to go to this past week, one at Chuck E Cheese and the other was a gymnastics party.  They love parties, cake, and most importantly...the party favor!  

The biggest news of the weeks is that our harvester ants arrived in the mail and we put them inside their ant farm.  We've had constant "ant checking," where Jacob and Gwyn at random times throughout the day decide they need to go check on the ants.  This is what the ant farm looked like when we first put the ants in there, it is a see-through gel that is their food as well, and it is lit up with a blue led lights:

 About 48 hours later the ants had made several tunnels in the gel, all the stuff at the top is bits of the gel that they have carried up on top as they moved it out of their tunnels...Jacob is mesmerized!

 I have to watch Annie, she is always trying to take the lid off and says "open it please!"

The kids think it is the coolest thing to pop their heads up through the sunroof in my car (don't worry, I'm parked, not driving!).  I thought this was a sweet picture of them having so much fun with something so simple!

Gwyn has continued her mothering role with Annie.  She takes care of Annie, picks out her clothes, gets her milk out of the fridge, gets her yogurt drink each morning, and just loves playing with her.  When Gwyn talks to me about Annie, she says "my baby sister."  It is pretty cute.  Annie is regularly saying 2-3 word sentences now, and is surprisingly proficient at the iphone.  She will start playing a game, and if she doesn't do something right, she holds out the phone and says "fix it."  Gwyn and Annie like playing with all kinds of babies, the other day Gwyn sat her doll in time out for "20 months" and then Annie walked over to put her monkey in time for "20 months."

Jacob, Gwyn and Annie have so much fun playing together.  I discovered they had converted Annie's closet into a restaurant and Jacob's closet into a school.  Jacob usually makes up the rules, and then Gwyn tattles on Annie when she doesn't follow the rules.  Annie is further establishing her obsession with shoes, so much so, that Brian says 2/3 of all of her whining is about shoes (needing help getting one on, fixing one that she put on wrong, etc.).  Annie is 21 months now, and still wrecking havoc on everything!  Jacob got a new card game, Annie tore up the instructions leaving us only the Spanish instructions...thankfully you can find anything on google!  When Brian told them we couldn't play it because we don't speak Spanish, Gwyn said she does and says "oncho oncho."  Whatever that means!

We joined an organic produce co-op, that we pick up each Thursday about 1/2 mile from our house.  It is all local fresh veggies and fruits.  You don't know what you are going to get each week, it varies depending upon what is in season, but we've liked it so far...I even got Jacob to eat some kale!  Annie made their weekly newsletter this past week, she's so cute!

Funny things the kids said this week:

Jacob:  Mommy, can I have a diet coke?

Me:  No.

Jacob:  Okay, how about a coke? (uh, no)

Gwyn:  Why don't you wear your glasses when you sleep?

Jacob:  When is it going to be Christmas?  Can you show me on the calendar?

Jacob:  How do you know where to go in the car, where to get places??  (I explained the concept of maps)

Jacob: Why do adults not have to ask anybody to do something and kids always have to ask their parents?  (poor kid!)