Trick or Treat!

Jacob had a hard time trying to decide what to be for Halloween this year.  We have a couple of hand-me-down costumes and some other dress up items on hand, so he had a few to choose from.  He finally settled on Darth Vader, which was perfect because we were then able to dress up Daniel as Yoda.  And it was really cute because Daniel actually knows who Yoda is!  He's seen the movies enough times and watches Jacob play the games on his XBox, so he even knew how to use his stick to walk like Yoda does.  Dylan surprised the boys and dressed up as an old man.

I was amazed by the amount of trick-or-treaters we had.  We live on a street with about 25 houses and I thought that I had bought more than enough candy.  Well, what I was not expecting was the amount of people that drove to our neighborhood to go trick-or-treating.  We were out of candy by 7:15.  Now I know that I will definitely have to buy more candy for next year.

Now I will leave you with these pictures while I go raid my kids' huge hauls of candy.  :)

Think I am cute, you do.

Mommy, I am your son.  Now give me all your candy.

Had to get one to show who was under that scary mask!

Dylan signed up for his AARP membership shortly after this picture was taken.

The crew before heading out.

He wanted a picture taken with his pumpkin.

Getting ready to head out in the rain.

Seriously.  How did everyone manage to not give this cutie all of their candy?

So, we finally bought a new laptop for me (my old one died back in June) and I kind of love it.  But, really for just one reason.  Apparently, it has some sort of recovery feature on it and it was able to pull the defective pictures off of our memory card from last Christmas!  Yay!!!  And seeing as we have less than two months until my favorite holiday, I figured that I may as well go ahead and post these.

Jacob puts the finishing touches on our sugar cookies we made for Santa.

Watching Santa Tracker on the computer.  Jacob was really into the "magic" of Christmas this year.

The boys open their new ornaments for the tree that Daddy found for them last-minute.  Daniel got a Little Einsteins one and Jacob got Buzz Lightyear.

In their matching PJs that they got to open on Christmas Eve.  Getting ready to head off to bed!

And this picture wasn't one of the lost ones, but when I came across it, I just couldn't resist.

That's Jacob hamming it up in Dylan's glasses.  He's always trying to come up with new ways to be silly and this one just makes me smile every time I look at it.

It's been a few weeks, but I thought I would share some pictures of Daniel on his 3rd birthday. Wow. 3?!? I can't believe that he is really 3! Time has just flown by with him. He still seems like a baby to me at times and I have to remind myself that he can't possibly still be a baby since he is no longer in a crib or diapers. :)

Daniel with his Elmo cake.  He was so excited to be having a birthday!  And I was so excited because this was the first year that he actually was aware of the fact that he was even going to be having a birthday!  :)

His gift from Dylan and I - his very own big boy bike.  The tricycle just wasn't cutting it anymore and is going to be sold in my yard sale this weekend.

Make a wish!

Oh, and apparently when you turn 3, you instantly become a man because I came around the corner one evening to find this:

He is just too much for words!

Back to School

Well, the summer is officially over for us. Jacob headed off to the 1st grade today. Daniel was very disappointed when we dropped Jacob off at his classroom and he didn't get to stay and play. Poor guy. I told him not to worry - he only has one more year and then he'll be off to preschool! Jacob didn't say much about his first day other than that it went well. He said four of the kids from his Kindergarten class last year are in his new class with him. Unfortunately, his best bud was not one of them.

I still cannot believe how quickly summer flew by! And I also cannot believe how hard it is to wake up at 7am every morning once again. Yuck! I actually went out last weekend and bought a coffee maker because I knew I was going to need some major caffeine to get through the first few weeks of school being back in session. Plus, I start school tomorrow and I have a feeling I might need it to burn the midnight oil here and there.

Today also marked the beginning of our fall soccer season. I didn't get any pictures of his first practice tonight because I was too busy being eaten alive by the bugs. But, we are very excited for this season - Dylan has signed up to be the Assistant Coach for Jacob's team. I'll be sure to get some pictures up of his next practice. In the meantime, here are the pics from today:






Showing off his new backpack.


I promised him he could do a silly pose if he gave me a few good pictures first.


I'm so happy about this picture! Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to get a good picture of the two boys together???

Oh and all of a sudden today, I started losing my voice. I'm hoping it's nothing a good night's rest won't cure. Besides, tomorrow is Daniel's 3rd birthday and I've got a long day of cake baking, decorating, present wrapping (& opening!) ahead of me. Oh yeah, and after all that, I have to go to class tomorrow night. I'm tired just thinking about it.

What We've Been Busy Doing

Potty-Training! As soon as we got back to the beach, we resumed potty-training. Daniel wasn't into it all on the first day (or at least it didn't seem like it). We had a few successes, but I began to think it wasn't going too well. Then, the next morning, he woke up dry and went potty all day with no accidents! I was absolutely amazed! It appears that he potty-trained in just one day. We've had a few mishaps here and there, but nothing big. We're back to our schedule as usual and he's doing just fine. He hasn't had an accident while we've been out and about and has even used the public potty (yuck!) Now that he has potty-trained, I am finally coming to terms that there are no more babies in my house. You know, that and the fact that he is turning three in 11 days! The crib, changing table and pack & play are all leaving this house soon. It's sad, but if you know me, you know that I love cleaning my house out so it's kind of making me happy, too!

We had a great time on our vacation this year! I don't know if it was because Daniel has become so independent or what the difference was, but I really felt like this was the first year that I felt relaxed. Next year should only get better!

Jacob, climbing through the boogie board tunnel they made.

Daniel with his water buddy, Sarah. She was the one that got him to go in the water last year and this year! She's definitely his lucky charm when it comes to the ocean.

Jacob looked like a surfer dude out in the water this year. Every time I looked, he was either boogie boarding or jumping waves that were bigger than him. And all without a swim vest!

He still spent plenty of time in the sand building lots of sand castles.

I'm already counting down to next year's vacation!

Right now, my nieces are staying with us for the week to wrap up our summer vacation. Last night, we all went and played mini golf and had soft serve ice cream afterwards. Tonight, I am taking them to see Night at the Museum 2. They are really excited and so am I! The kids are having so much fun together that I have hardly noticed that I have 3 extra kids in my house. ;)

On the road again

We are back from our 3 weeks of travel! Whew! I'm glad we got a chance to visit everyone, but man! That was exhausting. The kids and I spent one week in Midlothian, one week in Lovettsville and one week in Georgia. We came home on Fridays and left on Sunday or Monday each week. Dylan had a nice break, too. He had the house all to himself for those three weeks. Although, he says that he spent most of his free time at work so I guess that wasn't too much of a break. I thought we were going to have this past weekend at home, but we ended up back on the road again.. We had to make a quick trip back to Midlothian to return the truck that Dylan borrowed.

And you'll never guess what we are doing on Thursday. That's right! We're getting back in the car and driving to Georgia again. This time, it's for my Uncle's 50th Birthday party. We'll come home from Georgia on Sunday and then on Saturday we leave for the beach! I have never needed a vacation so much in my life! Last year when we went to the beach, it was two weeks before we moved to Lynchburg. I needed that vacation, too, but I really never felt relaxed during that week. I just kept making a list of all the things that I had to do when I got back home. It will be sooooo nice to just put my toes in the sand, a drink in my hand (and maybe a book, if I'm lucky) and RELAX!!!

Oh - and yeah - three weeks of travel and I don't have any new pictures to show you! I guess we were just having too much fun hanging out to be bothered to take pictures. Don't worry, though. I'm sure I am going to fill up the camera when we go to the beach.

I guess the only other new news is that we started potty training with Daniel. I would have to say that it has gone really well! Unfortunately, because of all of the travel, we haven't really been able to stick with it. So, I have postponed finishing the training until we get back from the beach. With any luck, we can say goodbye to the diapers FOREVER! No more babies = no more diapers. I'm really happy about that, but it's also a little bittersweet. I'm going to miss having a baby in the house. Not that we've had a "baby" for the past year or so. I mean, Daniel is going to be 3 next month!

We hope everyone is enjoying their summers as much as we are!

Two Years!

Today marks the day that I began blogging two years ago! I can't believe it has been that long. I also can't believe that I have blogged so little! I am trying to do better at updating it on a weekly basis and maybe that will happen in year three of this.

Well... let's see what's new. Jacob is now 6 years old! I cannot believe how quickly the last 6 years have gone by. I thank God for every day that I have with my boys. They truly are a daily blessing in our lives. Jacob had a great birthday. We all headed to Putt-Putt where we spent time together on the bumper boats, go-karts and playing golf. I could not believe how much Daniel enjoyed riding in the go-karts. I wish I had a picture of us driving those things around, but of course, Dylan and I were a little busy doing the driving!




Jacob with all of his birthday gifts!


Blowing out his six candles on his strawberry shortcake! My Mom made some of this for the boys the last time we were at her house and he specifically requested it for his birthday dessert.

Our summer vacation is in full swing! The boys and I spent this past week in Midlothian catching up with our friends. We had a blast! The boys really enjoyed spending time with their grandparents and friends. My parents gave Jacob a blow-up pool for his birthday and the boys had a blast playing in it. Well... I should say that Jacob had a blast playing "in" it and Daniel had a blast playing "near" it! He is still not a fan of water. He has never enjoyed being in a pool except for the summer when he was less than one year old. I can understand the fear of a full-size pool, but this pool was just slightly bigger than a bathtub (which he LOVES), but he still wouldn't get in. I'll have to keep working on him.

We got a chance to go to the Metro Richmond Zoo while we were in town with our buddies, The DuBruelers! We were all so excited to see each other and it was great to get to spend the morning together. It was a hot day, but I think we all had fun. Baby Allison did not enjoy the heat, but she sure looked cute in her hat! Of course, I just realized that I don't have a single picture of her - oops! I guess that's what happens when you're not quite old enough to feed the animals. :)


The boys trying to feed the fish.


Hanging out in front of the tigers.






I was so proud of Jacob - this was the first time that we had been at the Zoo that I didn't have to talk him in to feeding the giraffes. He just walked right up and put out his hand.


Daniel and Ethan check out the alligators.

On Monday, we are on the road again. This time, we are off to my sister's to visit them for a week. We're hoping to squeeze in a trip to the DC Zoo, but I'll be happy just to hang out by the pool. :)

Our Summer vacation has started off with a bang. Jacob has strep throat. Again. Yuck! This is the 3rd time since Christmas. The pediatrician said that if he continues to get it, we'll have to go to the ENT for a consult on whether he should have his tonsils removed. I'm praying it doesn't come to that, but on the other hand, it would be nice to say good-bye to strep throat forever!

On the up side, we have finalized all of our travel plans to visit everybody! It's going to be crazy, but we will be on the road to visit everyone over the next three weeks. Basically, we will be traveling during the week and come home for the weekends. The boys and I are excited that we are going to be able to see all of our friends and family.

As for me, I am just counting down the days to the beach! We are going back to Topsail Island in July and I can't wait! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get on my treadmill before I can even think about getting into a bathing suit! :)

Our Life in Pictures

It has been a crazy life here the past month or two. It's been full of Easter egg hunting, circus going, furniture moving/shopping, swing set building, trampoline acquiring and assembling, baseball gaming... the list goes on and on.

This is Jacob's last week of Kindergarten. Yikes. He's now going to be a first grader. I think I just sprouted another gray hair just thinking about that. Where has the time gone??? He will be 6 in eleven days. Daniel will be 3 before the end of summer. Whoever said kids keep you young, must not have actually had kids. 'Cause right now, I feel awfully old. :)

Let's see... where to start with what is new. Here are the boys at Easter:


Yeah, I think they're kinda handsome, too. :)

Jacob has been doing baseball since the end of March and he loves it! He's actually pretty good at it, too. He gets better with each game. We're down to our last three games this week. I'm sad that he won't have that to look forward to each week, but I'm glad the season is ending before the 100 degree weather arrives.


Up at bat...


Made it to first base! (He's doing his signature move here - the Jacob thumbs-up!)


Home Run!


My parents with Daniel.


Next, it was time for Daniel's crib to be packed up.


Always willing to help.


Trying out the tools.


Jacob gives Daniel a hand.


Beep! Beep! Coming through!

After that, came the "big boy" bed. (AKA: my brother's old bed!)


Getting ready to climb in!


Look at me in my big boy bed!


All tucked in with Elmo.


And then there was the sweet discovery of an ice cream truck in our neighborhood:








And lastly, testing out the new swing set:


Swings? Check!


Slide? Check!


Monkey bars? Check! Good to go!

Up next in June: Jacob's birthday, trips to Georgia and Midlothian and lots of other fun! Can't wait to share our summer memories with you guys.