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.

Worst Week Ever?

Ever feel like you are having the worst week ever? Yeah, that was us last week. Monday started with a trip to the doctor for Jacob. He had strep throat. Oh yeah - and a "foreign body" in one of his ears. OK. Never thought I would be at the doctor's office for that issue. If it were Daniel, I probably wouldn't have been so shocked. But, Jacob? He never does stuff like this. So, Tuesday morning, we are getting ready to head off to the ENT's office. That's when I notice that he has broken out in a rash from his shoulders all the way down to the tops of his feet. Yikes. I call the nurse and she thinks it could be an allergic reaction to the antibiotics.

Meanwhile, we still have to go to the ENT doctor, so I gave Jacob some Benadryl and off we went. We arrived at the ENT's and everything was going OK. Jacob was really scared about getting all of this done, but he did really well. Until they actually pulled it out. Apparently, it must have been a little bit attached to the inside of his ear because the doctor said that it probably felt like someone just ripped a scab off. You know - off of the inside of your ear! OUCH! All in all, I still think he was a trooper. The doctor said that most children have to be sedated in order for them to get things out. Oh - and what was in his ear? A balled up sticker. It was one of those small rectangle stickers that some stores put on items. You know the kind that they put on with a sticker gun and a price or date is stamped on them? It was all the way shoved down next to his eardrum. How in the world that didn't bother him, I have no idea!

After we were done at the ENT's, we stopped by his pediatrician to pick up a note for school. His doctor went ahead and took a look at him and said it was NOT a reaction to the antibiotics. It was strep rash. But, he would need to stay home from school for a third day. Great. We left with our note for school (which had the wrong dates on it and I had to go back to get a new one) and headed off for our closing on the refinance on our house. Phew - what a week! And it was only Tuesday at this point.

Nothing major happened on Wednesday that I can think of. Praise God! Thursday - Dylan's radiator busted. We took it to the shop on Friday and they wanted $500. Dylan decided to do the repair himself. We saved about $400 doing it ourselves, but I have to admit that I didn't think he would be able to do it. He definitely proved me wrong.

Then came Saturday. My parents came out to see Jacob's baseball game and then we all went out for lunch. After my parents left, we decided to start looking around for some furniture for Jacob. Daniel has been out of his crib for a week now. He is getting so big that we were afraid he was going to break the bed. No kidding. When he wasn't sleeping in his crib, he would just walk around inside the crib in laps or jump up and down. So, now he is sleeping on his crib mattress on the floor. We decided we would buy new furniture for Jacob and Daniel will get Jacob's current furniture. So, we headed out to Farmville to check out a furniture place out there. On the way home, Jacob started complaining that his stomach hurt, so we stopped at a gas station. And hello, stomach bug!

And that was my worst week ever. Except, I should really say it was Jacob's worst week ever. I mean, the poor guy had strep throat (with a lovely rash to go along with it) and a stomach bug all in one week. Yuck.

Saving for a Rainy Day

Yes, I know - we're all well aware that the economy is bad right now. So, we have been doing everything we can to stretch a buck around here. I've always been an avid user of coupons. I am one of those people that will not buy something at a store if I didn't bring my coupon with me or if I know a coupon will be coming out shortly for it. I try to never pay full price for anything, but with groceries, that is kind of a challenge. I mean, ground beef never really goes on sale. Well, actually - I did get a pack of ground beef at Sam's last week for 25% off, so I guess that's not really true. Anyways, like my two dear friends in Midlo (you know who you are!), I am in love with coupons!!! Dylan has actually started to get into it, too. Last night, he asked me if I have been keeping track of how much money I have been saving. Uh... no. I just know that when it comes time to pay, I love that I am saving $20-30 on average because of coupons.

Here's a picture of my latest haul. It's not a standard grocery trip by any means. These were just items that we always keep on hand in the house and they were on sale.



5 packs of applesauce cups
4 packs of orange cups
4 cans of soup
8 boxes of Mac & Cheese
Frozen Lasagna
Frozen potato skins
Cheez-it Crackers
Soft Scrub

Now, the retail price of all of these items is $45. You know how much I paid??? $16!!! That's right. I saved $29 because of sale prices and coupons. I know, you're jealous of my mad couponing skills. It's OK. :)

And if that didn't do it for you, here's a picture of what we paid for gas last weekend:



No, your eyes are not failing you. It really does say $0.79/gallon!!! Thanks to Dylan's Mom (Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!) and her Ukrop's points, we were able to fill up for less than I have ever in my entire life! All I know is that I am going to be very sad when my tank is empty and I have to fill up for almost $2/gallon. :(

Spring is Here!!!

Well, it's the first day of spring and I watched it snow on the Today show this morning. Hmmm... seems like we might be waiting a few more weeks for the weather to catch up with the new season. Jacob woke up this morning so excited that it was finally spring! He was confused when I told him it was going to be cold today and he would still have to wear a jacket to school. He told me that all of the trees were going to grow leaves on them today and then he wanted to know if spring break started tomorrow. Poor thing! It seems he has been waiting a long time for spring to start, only to find out that it's not all it's cracked up to be at first. I guess him and I will both be working on our patience while we wait for spring to truly arrive. :)

School's Out... Forever!!!

Or at least that's how it seems! There is no school again tomorrow and I wouldn't be surprised if it was cancelled on Thursday, too. At this rate, Jacob will be in school until July! I don't mind that he's home from school - I'm actually loving it! We are having a blast sledding and walking around outside. Of course, the best part is we get to have hot chocolate when we come in. :)

And Daniel has really gotten into sledding! It's hilarious! Yesterday, when Dylan came home, we got him to ride on the sled with either Dylan or myself. He loved it! Well, today I took the boys out again. Daniel wanted to ride down by himself, so I put him on the sled and off he went! Then, Jacob and I rode together. When we got to the bottom of the hill, I looked up at Daniel and he had already gotten on the sled by himself and was coming down the hill! He was having so much fun and I was having fun watching him. Dylan should be home soon to take the boys out again and this time I am getting pictures! I don't know very many 2 year old kids that would go sledding down a hill by themselves. It's just too cute!

Here's some pics from our sledding yesterday:

Dylan's first attempt at sledding. Umm - it didn't go so well. :)

At least he was a good sport about it!

Jacob shows off his new sled.

Daniel had a blast riding down the hill with Daddy.

A REAL snow day!!!

After months of waiting, we got a real snow day!!! Eleven inches to be exact! Yep, the weathermen were wrong. But, what's new, right? I guess they should have stuck with their original prediction of 5-10 or 7-14 because all of the Lynchburg area got anywhere from 9-12 inches! But, I'm being told that the Richmond area news is reporting that Lynchburg only got 2-4 inches. Ladies and Gentlemen, I show you Exhibit A:

Anyways, you should have seen Jacob when he came in our room this morning. Last night, before he went to bed, we told him that they were now only calling for 3-6 inches of snow. Dylan told me before he left for work that the news was reporting that we had an average of about 10 inches here around town. So when Jacob came in and I told him that we actually got 10 inches of snow, his eyes just about popped out of his head! It was just too cute!

So, we ate breakfast, got all bundled up and headed outside. Daniel had a blast! He wouldn't sit on the sled, but he still had plenty of fun pulling it up and down the hill. Jacob had a ton of fun trying out our new sleds. He wasn't going very fast, though. So, while he went down on the inner tube-style sled, I came down behind him on the other one. Well, I immediately took off flying! Oh - and remember how I said I came down behind Jacob? Big mistake! I bumped into him and since I was going so fast to begin with, we just both started flying down the hill together. We must have looked like an out of control train. I had to stick both of my legs and arms down in the snow to stop us. We had so much fun!

The boys check out the snow on the back porch.

Jacob tries out his new sled.

Daniel had fun just walking up and down the hill.

Jacob finally got to make a real snow angel!