Annie is 3...where has the time gone?!?!

I can't believe our little Annie Jaye is 3!  How fun it was to see her so excited about her birthday.  It was also fun to have her birthday party on the same day as her birthday.  The girl got to blow out three different sets of candles.  Here she is starting off the celebration with candles on her pumpkin muffin for breakfast...she didn't look too impressed with that pumpkin muffin (probably because Jacob said, "we usually get donuts!")...

She decided to blow them out anyway:

Rick and Sue were in town for the birthday celebration, she fell asleep on the drive out to her gymnastics party while holding on to her new little puppy she got from our neighbors, she's so stinking cute when she is sleeping!

My friend Kate and I decided to do a joint birthday party for Claire and Annie who are both in the Ladybug class at school together...what an awesome idea...we split the cost and invited the whole ladybug class...the girls had a blast and loved it!

I didn't get many pictures of Annie  because she was constantly on the move with a big smile on her face as you can see from this picture:

She loved being with her Daddy!

Waiting in line to jump into the pit:

Her birthday party:

Annie and sweet Claire

Birthday girls with their cookie cake:

Blowing out some candles:

Here are a couple of videos from the party:







Brian of course did not disappoint and made Annie her requested Peppa Pig cake...she is bouncing in "muddy puddles" which she usually does on her show:

A picture of the real Peppa...Brian did an awesome job!!

So excited about her cake!

A rare family picture, and of course Jacob is doing a goofy face and Gwyn isn't looking at the camera,  but hey, we're all in it!!

Here is one more video of us singing to her, I just love her smile and her laugh...we are so lucky to get to have this sweet little girl!

On Friday it was the Fall Festival at Jacob's school.  It is a huge fundraiser for them, and I decided to step it up.  Things like being valedictorian and Udall scholar don't do much to impress the kids, especially when I'm married to the cake-decorating-high-dive-flipper-furniture-builder-trampoline-trickster-pumpkin-carving-chewbacca-wookie-talking phenom known as Brian.  So, here is my Perry the platypus (from Phineas and Ferb - our favorite cartoon) pumpkin that I decorated for a contest at Jacob's school...it did win Silliest (which I was quite proud of until I realized that pretty much EVERY pumpkin that entered won something!).  It did do one thing...impress my kids and that was what I was going for!

The back, showing the tail:

Here is the actual picture of Perry:

I also, yes, I made the owl cupcakes for the cake walk for the festival as well, and yes, they were a hit and one of the first items to be picked...yes, I brought it this year, but as Emily reminded me, I've also set the bar high in future years to do the same...I didn't think about that until after, ha!

A couple of more pictures from the Fall Festival...Jacob got to have his first carmel apple, which he has been wanting for a very long time, and always asks when there aren't any around:

Sweet little Gwyn, gotta love her selection of chocolate yogurt with sour gummy worms, yuck!

This one barely came up for air while having her yogurt with sprinkles!

The festival also had raffle items, Jacob tried hard to win a giant blow up cat for our yard and a live hamster...thank the Lord we didn't end up with either of those, although the ipad would have been nice!  We did unfortunately win 3 live goldfish...all of which didn't even make it to the next morning...we made sure they were fully acclimated to the water in a big bowl and forgot to make sure they got enough oxygen...so another "pet" bites the dust in our house!  We finished a busy week with the Fall Festival, soccer (Jacob's scored two hat tricks in a row the last two games!), ballet, Annie's birthday, and dentist appointments...whew....oh, and it is Monday, so we're ready for another crazy week!!  We are loving life!

Funny things the kids said this week:
Gwyn:  What time is it?
Me:  10 am, why?
Gwyn:  Just wondering if Chick Fil A is still selling hash browns.
Me to Annie:  What are you doing?
Annie:  I'm doing Facetime.
Annie:  I like chocolate milk, it is yummy in my tummy.

Daddy/Daughter Date Night & Tiger Cub Scouts

These kiddos are so much fun...I find myself laughing out loud at something they say or do every single day.  What a blessing they are!  Brian took the girls on a Daddy/Daughter date night to Brio while I took Jacob to a birthday party...they were excited to go!

We've had another fun-filled, busy, non-stop week.  Ballet, dentist appointment where we learned that Jacob had a pretty bad chipped tooth (how I didn't notice that, I don't know!), soccer practice, soccer game (Jacob scored 3 goals!), birthday parties, and we finished out the week by watching OSU beat Kansas with Brad, Erika and Maddy...they are pregnant with a little boy due in February, so we are super excited for them!  Jacob thought it was so funny to act like he was cheering for Kansas, he was way outnumbered!    He is such a little jokster!  He told me it was opposite day the other day...I told him I said that when I was in elementary, he looked at me like I was crazy, like he invented it:)

Gwyn and Annie got their pictures taken at school...if I would have known they were going to do a sibling picture, I may have coordinated their outfits instead of dressing them in clashing patterns, but oh well...of course our little Annie refused to smile:

We also got word from some people that have a daughter in the same Sunday school class as Annie about how much their daughter loves Annie, and she's even named her stuffed animals Annie...I thought, really, our little stubborn Annie??  Apparently, she's a hit!

Jacob went on his first little Tiger Cub Scout field trip to the police station where they got to take a tour, check out the patrol car, and see the jail.  He came home and told me about how you only get a corn dog and a cup of juice every 4 hours...he didn't seem to think that was too bad, ha!

Jacob thought it was really funny to scare me to death when I walked back into the house from grilling chicken.  He screamed at me and I just about wet my pants and screamed.  I told him about paybacks, and how now, he's in for it.  I let a couple of days pass, then I scared him to death in the shower.  He's now on the prowl for his paybacks....he's so funny!

A few pics of artwork this week:

Funny things the kids said:

My friend Julie to Annie:  What do you want for your birthday?
Annie:  Cake.  (She also told my mom she wanted a present...that's about all she's given us)
I overhear Jacob telling Gwyn:  You know he's from Japanese don't you? (talking about a little boy in his class)
Gwyn:  No.
Jacob:  Yes, you don't know he's from Japanese??  (seriously, little sisters believe everything their brother says to them...even if it is wrong!)
Jacob:  Mommy, will you please punch me in the face?
Me:  No, why??
Jacob:  I really want to lose this tooth. (Maddy told him she got $5 / tooth, thank for that Mulsows!!)
Gwyn to Jacob:  When you grow up you're going to  be an old grandpa!
Jacob to Gwyn:  Well, when you grow up you're going to be an old grandma!  (Gwyn dies laughing!!)

Our Weekend with Kipp the Guinea Pig

 The biggest news of the week is that we got to babysit a friend's guinea pig Kipp.  No, he wasn't named for Napoleon Dynamite's brother Kipp, he's just Kipp, but every time I say that name I picture this:

The kids LOVED Kipp, they would beg to hold him and loved to feed him carrots.  I got the lucky job of cleaning the cage, this is why we don't have pets!  I'm trying to talk some friends into having a pet co-op...we each get 1 week every other month, I'm sure I could round up 8 other families of whom are also depriving their kids of having the experience of having a pet without having any real responsibility!  This is a great idea!

 Gwyn was in love, she loved Kipp the most and he liked her the most too!

 Hours of entertainment...I'm sure this would wear off if we actually owned a pet, but babysitting a pet is a rarity, so they take advantage of it!

The week has been busy as usual, ballet, soccer practice, soccer game (the Cheetah's won!!! and Jacob scored a goal!  He and his little friend Tyler make a great time passing to each other and they both scored a goal after getting a pass from the other one!).  Brian was mystery reader in Jacob's class last week...first mystery reader ever to get a round of applause...seriously, he outdoes me every time.  He picked a book that Jacob loves "who would win, Komodo Dragon vs. King Cobra."  Brian was going to leave out the part where it says that sometimes the komodo dragon moms will eat their young, but Jacob interjected that Brian forgot that part...hope he didn't traumatize anyone!  Jacob has gotten 100% on all 3 of his first spelling tests, and he also got a 100% on his first states test...he had to locate 10 states on the US map, spell them correctly, AND tell their two letter postal code...I thought that was a bit much for 1st grade, but he did it!  My parents came into town to help Jason complete his move, and my Dad surprised Jacob and had lunch with him up at school.  Jacob was excited!  Brian was having a lot of one on one time with Jacob lately, so he came home and took the girls to lunch one day.  They picked the bagel store...they do love their Daddy!

Gwyn and Brian found a new fairy dress up game...I often finding Brian playing it after Gwyn has gone to bed...he says it is so that he gets a bunch of points for Gwyn to spend the next day, but I really think he likes it!

 Brian took Jacob to the batting cages, and I took the girls to a girly birthday party...the pinata was busted and Gwyn and Annie turned around and asked if they could get a piece...you know we weren't at a boy party, only girls would do that...Jacob would have dove in and filled his shirt with candy!

 Gwyn with her two animal loves (this week), they change frequently and are usually named after baby sisters of girls in her class:

 Annie had her first set of braids, they were so cute!

 Here is a video of Gwyn at ballet...too cute:


And this is what keeps Annie occupied while we wait on ballet...sticking stickers all over herself:

The kids have greatly improved their hula hoopin' skills:




The new favorite game of the kids...build homes out of Jenga blocks for Jacob's lego guys:

Funny things the kids said this week:

Me to Annie at bedtime:  Do you know how much Mommy loves you?
Annie:  Yes, 40.
Me:  Yep, I love you 40.
Me to Brian:  I think I'm going to do Gwyn's birthday party at AG.
Brian looks at me crazy:  Attorney General??
Me:  No, American Girl (get with it Brian!)