1st Swim of the Year!

We like to claim that we use our pool from March - October...so this year we had our first swim on March 31st!  It was a chilly 81 F, but the kids didn't mind at all and neither did Brian after working outside for awhile...I on the other hand took about 30 minutes to slowly emerge myself:)  The kids loved it and are now thinking that we will be swimming everyday...probably just on the weekends the next couple of weeks.  I was happy to see that Gwyn wasn't afraid and I think will pretty much pick up where she left off, she just learned to swim across the pool at the end of the summer, and our swim lessons won't start at the house until probably the end of May.

It is surprising Annie is as healthy as she is...considering this week I found her in her hiding spot (between the couch and one of our living room chairs) with Jacob's packs of gum and 11 empty wrappers!!!  That and she has eaten about 3 of Gwyn's tubes of Hello Kitty chap stick...a travesty!  I really do feed her, I think she just likes getting into things of Jacob's and Gwyn's that she knows she isn't supposed to have:)

Jacob got to bring Tah Tah home for a couple of days, each kid in his class gets to take him home, take pictures of him doing stuff with them and then write it in the journal and bring it back to class. Jacob was so excited that his name got drawn on the day he had a baseball game that night, so we (Me!) brought Tah Tah to the game and took some pictures.  Jacob got to take the book back to class and got to read what he did with him, he thought it was great!

 Tah Tah watching Jacob get a hit:

 Tah Tah eating chips and queso after the game at Los Tios with some friends:

 Tah Tah likes to play Star Wars:

 Jacob's finished part of the book:

Poor little Annie looked like a little wet dog, we sat in the rain for almost 2 hours for Jacob's baseball game until I moved to the car...

Gwyn loves to practice writing and drawing while Jacob does his homework...a little lefty (and Annie is left handed too!):

 These kids are getting predictable..Gwyn brought home Fancy Nancy from the library and Jacob brought home Gila Monsters and Spiders Spin Silk.  What is so funny that Annie is intensely interested in the books that Jacob brings home, she is enthralled and doesn't take her eyes off those type of books:

I was surprised to see how well Jacob could hula hoop, and I love his style!  Gwyn needs some practice!

I was so upset about this video!  We went to eat dinner and the kids run around and play in this big courtyard area afterwards, and I thought I got about 1.5 minutes of all the kids running around and dancing and then I ended up with just this snippet!


One funny thing is that Snow White shirt that Annie is wearing in the video above used to be Gwyn's FAVORITE shirt last year.  Well, when I cleaned out Gwyn's clothes a couple of weeks ago I moved all of Gwyn's old 3T clothes directly into Annie's closest (Hooray for being able to just move things that Gwyn grows out of so that Annie can immediately start wearing  them instead of keeping them in a separate closet until Annie grows into them!), anyway, as soon as Gwyn saw Annie wearing that she said, "Where did you get that shirt?!?!"  She was pretty upset about it, but I told her it was really a baby shirt now that she used to wear and that Annie wears:)  I can just imagine them sharing clothes as they get older, please help us, ha!!

Here are a few samples of Jacob's school work...I can't believe he's almost done with Kindergarten!

 Jacob has come home with several of these book reports...I asked him why he didn't like the story and he just looked at me and said, "it was about a butterfly mom, that's so girly!"  At least he's honest!

 Jacob likes to keep score when they play Memory, well, I should say he likes to go back and keep score after he's on the winning team:

1st Baseball Game

Jacob had his first baseball game this past week, it was so much fun to watch.  Brings back lots of memories of being at the ball field, and I can only imagine what our lives will be like when all three kids are in sports and activities at the same time.  This week we've got two practices and two games, just for Jacob!  We are fortunate to be on a team with some great families, and all the younger siblings run around and play together.  It is hard to be able to watch the game and watch the girls, but this week Rick and Sue were in town, so that was nice...I got to watch at least one of Jacob's at bats...he got two hits!

I almost didn't get this picture above, the ball is in the air and he hit the first pitch!  My camera zoom worked pretty well to get a couple of him on base and in the field:

Precious little Gwyn's favorite game right now is memory, and she is crazy good at it.  She beats me, Brian, and Jacob all the time, but she's so sweet and will give us some matches so that we will win some games too.  At times I think she isn't paying attention, but she is, and she amazingly remembers where the cards are!  We are playing with Jacob's superhero game, so I think for Easter I'll get her a "girly" memory game.  She always says, "good game" to whoever she is playing, whether she wins or loses...so sweet!

Love my baby Annie, who gets to stay the baby so much longer than Jacob or Gwyn did.  Annie isn't quite 2 1/2, and when Jacob and Gwyn were both that age they had a 1 year old sibling!

Gwyn's school took pictures of the kids during Rodeo day, she's the cutest little cowgirl around...she will tell you that that is a REAL rope!

Perfect weather outside for us this weekend, Brian worked all day Saturday (a rare day that we didn't have something going on) on the cabinets for the bathroom which are coming along great, I just can't wait!  The kids played outside for most of the day, and they had a picnic lunch in the shade.  Jacob got to go with Brian bowling with some of the other Kindergarten dads and their boys.  He had a great time, and loves hanging out with his Dad!

The kids discovered they can climb our little tree on the side of the yard...poor tree!

The pool looks awesome, crystal clear and warming up by the day...Brian said he and Jacob are getting in on Saturday...I'm going to have to wait until it is a little warmer, and I'm guessing the girls will as well:)

We've been walking up to school to get Jacob once / week until it gets too hot, and Rick and Sue got to go with us this week.  Gwyn usually rides with Annie in the double stroller and we bring Jacob's scooter along, but this time, Gwyn rode her scooter up as well.

It was nice to be back to normal this week from Spring Break.  Jacob did go to the dentist, and has a small cavity.  He's loved the dentist so far, but I'm just not sure how he is going to feel about it once he has to get numbed next week...those Bernstein Bears books about going to the dentist I think have scared him more than helped him!!

Funny things the kids said this week:
Brian to Annie:  Come here, I'll change your diaper.
Annie:  There's some poop in there.
Brian:  I can smell it, but thanks for the warning.
Annie (about 20 times/day):  Watch me Mommy!
Me to Jacob:  Get off that, I don't want you falling and hurting yourself.
Jacob:  I have excellent balance, Mommy.
Gwyn:  Mommy, when Jacob says, "good game" after we play memory, he says it really quiet. (that's because he's so competitive and hates losing, especially to his little sister!)

Spring Break

Spring Break was this week and we have had our share of fun!  Since we didn't  go anywhere, I tried to do something a little special every day.  We had lots of play dates with friends, some of whom we don't get to see all that often, we went to see The Lorax with some friends, Jacob had his first sleep over at Ben's house (and didn't miss me at all!!), we played outside every single day, and of course we hit the Strawberry Patch with some friends!  The kids are all pros by now, especially Jacob who picked some awesome berries.  Gwyn had lots of fun, and Annie would ask, "is this one a good one?" on every one that she picked.  Annie just looked too cute walking in with her bucket:

 Gwyn getting started:

 Jacob showing Annie the ropes:

 For it being the last day of Spring Break, the field had tons of berries, we love this new place we found!

 Annie picked her share of green ones that we had to pay for, and her little thumbs went through several that were really ripe, but she had lots of fun:

 Looking for the perfect one:

 I found it!

 Jacob loves strawberries, and I'm guessing ate about 2 lbs by himself that day:

 Gwyn had to put some muscle into it:

 Look at mine!

 Annie loved the strawberries:

 Annie, you got a little something on your face!

 After everyone ate their share for the day, we put about 2 lbs in the fridge for the next few days, we froze about 2 lbs, and then I canned, yes, I canned three jars!  I followed The Pioneer Woman's recipe, and I must say that it is REALLY good!  We only made 3 jars, so no one hold your breath about getting any, we'll be keeping this to ourselves!!  I also tried to make some homemade biscuits for dinner tonight, so we could eat some jelly.  The biscuits were not very good, but Brian said if you put about 3 times as much jelly on them as you normally would, they are great!

 Jacob had a blast at the park swinging

 Gwyn having fun at the park...poor thing, her cheeks get so red when she's outside playing:

 I always knew I would be a VIP...I just didn't know it would be at the Lego store!

 One day we went over to the Lego store and the kids each picked out a set...then we spent about 2 hours at home putting them together.

We are into baseball full swing around here.  Practice twice/week and we had a scrimmage last week.  Jacob's first game is this coming week, and then we'll start practice a couple times / week and games a couple of times / week...I can't imagine what life will be like when they are all 3 doing some type of activity at the same time! I love having a little boy, can you imagine that attached to this sweet face...

 were these dirty knees?!?!  I asked him what happened, and he said, "I just got a little dirty."  Yes, a little...requiring extremely hard scrubbing to get him clean!  If you notice in this picture behind Jacob on the floor is a sticker stuck to the hard wood floors, I find about 5 of these a day...guess who the culprit is of that??

 Yep, this sweet face likes to put stickers just about everywhere EXCEPT paper:)

 Annie found the camera setting on my phone, and I've got about 25 more pictures just like this on my phone now.

 Coolest purchase ever...a left handed pink and black glove for Gwyn, so exciting!!

 I don't know what is cuter, the fact that she's drinking a juice box and driving, or the fact that she's got Gwyn's too big shoes on the wrong feet?!?!

 LOVE this face!

 I had a great birthday, even though Brian was gone.  He and a friend went to surprise John in Florida for his birthday and they had a fantastic time.  I got a sitter and a few friends went out for dinner and cupcakes!  It did rain that entire weekend, so I mainly entertained the kids inside, and they did A LOT of this:


Here is some of the artwork and things the kids have brought home the week before:

They are still brainwashing him with all things Texas:

Love how Jacob is doing math problems:

Sweet little Annie likes to get up at the table and color with Jacob and Gwyn...she only knows how to draw a sad face!




Funny things the kids said this week:

Me to the kids:  How old do you think I am?
Annie:  2
Gwyn: 6
Jacob 22 (I love these kids!)
Me to Jacob:  That is nothing to tattle about.
Gwyn:  Yes, you only tattle if someone is on fire or if there is blood.
Gwyn:  Can I listen to my CD (she got a CD from her school at Donuts with Dads)
Jacob:  We listen to that CD all the time.
Gwyn:  No we don't, we've only listened to it 4 times.
Jacob:  No, it is more like 13.
Gwyn:  No way.
Jacob:  Yes, I'm right, and when I die, I'll ask God and he'll tell me that I was right.