Jacob's Current Favorite Thing

Jacob's current hobby is this.

Every.
Single.
Day.
Multiple. Times. A. Day.

Pulling out EVERY. SINGLE. PLASTIC. CONTAINER.

Over.

And Over.

And over again.

But I love every single second of it! Quinn did this too.  And I know there will come a day in the not so near future, that Jacob will no longer find it fun to destroy his Mommy's kitchen. And that will be another last time that I'm not looking forward to.

Thank you Lord, for the blessing of busy boys!

Counting the Days

About a week ago, my parents came up for the day so we could all celebrate my birthday.  They brought a little something for Quinn and Jacob, and we put Quinn in charge of it, seeing as how he is the older brother.

 

I'm sure you are saying, "What's the big deal? It's just a calendar."

Well, to Quinn (and Jacob if he understood), it's a very big deal.  This calendar counts down the days until the boys go to SC for their week of "Camp Grandma and Grandpa"!! 

This tradition started the summer Quinn was 18 months old, the summer of 2009. (You can re-read the fun here.  And here.  And here.)  What I remember the most is he got sick and I had to pick him up early. He had a double ear infection, which was the last one before the doctors FINALLY decided to put tubes in.  He also went in the summer of 2010, and the summer of 2011.  He did not go down last summer because Mom used her two big breaks from work to come stay with Quinn while I was in the hospital having Jacob, and then again when I had to go back to work.

So it's been two years since Quinn has gone for his stay at his grandparents. Needless to say he is really excited about going to their house for "the big sleepover" as he calls it.

So we are counting the days and marking them off.

Only 17 more days!!

Making Bubble Snakes

I've determined that this summer I will have specific activities for all of us to do together.  I finally bit the bullet and joined Pinterest, and now I'm wondering why I put it off so long!  Of course, you can find a million and one different things on this site.  Some of the ideas are way too crafty for me, but I've found many I can't wait to try.

I decided today would be our first activity, as the first "unofficial" day of summer...Memorial Day.  We took advantage of Jacob's nap time, and Quinn, Buddy, and I made bubble snakes!

First you take a 20 ounce water bottle and cut the bottom off.  Take an old sock and wrap it around the bottle, securing it with a rubber band, duct tape, etc.  Also take a pan, squirt some dish soap and add water until it bubbles up.

Dip the sock bottle into the bubble solution and blow....you get bubbles that "snake" out of the sock!

 

Was it fun?  I think this smile says it all!

A Day Just For Me!

Today was the best day.  I was at work when I got a random text from Buddy, asking me if I had any plans for after school.  Normally I have a meeting or some things I need to do, but today I was actually free as a bird.  I told him so, and later in the day, I got another text.  This time he asked if I could run an errand for him.  I'm always happy to help, since I work not far from many of the places we need to go to, and his projects are often too far for him to do the errands himself. 

But this errand request was pretty odd.  He texted me an address, told me to go there, tell them who I was, and they would get me what I needed.  I was teaching, so it wasn't until after school that a chance to look up the address so I would know where I was going and how to get there.

Boy, was I surprised!  The address was to a hair salon...the errand was that Buddy had arranged a pampering afternoon for me.  I got my hair highlighted, cut and styled, and he had made all the plans without me knowing!  Usually he can't keep a secret, but he certainly surprised me today.

Quinn's K-4 Field Trip

Today was Quinn's field trip with the entire K-4 group at his school.  Again, we went to Dan Nicholas Park in Salisbury, about 30 minutes away.  We went there last year with the K-3 group.  The difference was, this year, Quinn and I rode the bus.  He was so excited to ride a real school bus, even if his school's bus is red, white, and blue, and not the typical school-bus-yellow.  Last year, I drove separately because I had 6 week old Jacob with us!

At the entrance to the park. It was a pretty chilly for a May morning in NC, but we shed our coats by 10am.

The first thing Quinn wanted to do was ride the train, so we went and got our tickets for the different activities. This park has no entrance fee, but it does have a train, barn animals, a zoo of sorts for animals native to this part of NC, several playgrounds, and Quinn's favorite part..."treasure rocks"...aka Gem Mining.  While we waited on the train, Quinn did this.

Waiting for the train.



The train conductor was sweet enough to take this picture of the two of us.  And yes,  I'm as cramped as I look....those train cars are super small.

Next, Quinn wanted to ride the carousel. He wanted to ride a camel. In fact, I rode too, although I did not get a picture.

After the carousel, we went down to the barn to see the animals.  They had goats, donkeys, sheep, chickens, a peacock and other birds, and this pig!  Quinn was fascinated that the pig was black and not pink.

We caught up with a few of his classmates as we were leaving the barnyard, so we walked around the zoo area with them.  Here they are, seeing if their "wingspan" compares to a bald eagle.

The kids had a lot of energy to burn, so we went to the playground. Quinn and his friends had a good time playing before we had our picnic lunch.

After lunch, we did Quinn's favorite activity...gem mining.  We got a 20lb bucket of sand with various gems inside.  We went to an area where they have water tables and mined for the gems.

 

Quinn was thrilled that this one was green....his favorite color!

I loved watching his expressions as he found different rocks.  We ended up with a small bag full.

When we got back to school, it was only about 2pm, and I know Jacob usually naps at Susan's longer than 2pm.  So while we waited to go pick him up, we ended the day getting ice cream at McDonald's.  It was a great end to a perfect day!

Mystery Breakfast

Every Sunday, our Bible Fellowship class, The HomeBuilders, have some sort of breakfast during class.  Most weeks we have DoCoJu (DOughnuts, COffee, JUice) but the first Sunday of each month is Big Breakfast. People sign up to bring breakfast casseroles, fruits, muffins, biscuits, and other things.

We usually sign up about a week in advance. Last week when the list came around, I could not think of anything I felt like making wanted to bring. So I wrote "something".....meaning I will cook, I will bring it in, but I have no idea what it will be.

We usually get a reminder email about Thursday or Friday, so whoever was not there on Sunday will see what's being brought and can decide what they want to bring.  When the email came out, by our name it said "Mystery Surprise".

Gee Whiz.

Not only do I still not have a clue what I want to bring, now I have to make something spectacular!

So what I made was this.....

....and the surprise is inside.....

I told our teacher, Zach, to be careful.....you never know what the mystery is!

PS....it was just chocolate chips!

PPS...No Sunday School teachers (or other church members) were  harmed in the making of this blog post.

Why, yes, that IS a rocketship in my living room!

Over the Christmas holidays, we did not get to travel due to Buddy's work situation.  When everyone came for Quinn's birthday, they also brought our Christmas presents.

I can't remember if it was Evan or Mackenzie who pulled Quinn's name for the cousin exchange, but Buddy's sister, Fran, was really excited about the gift they had chosen for him.  So much so, that on their way back to Ohio, they were going to come by for lunch just so they could see Quinn open the gift.  Unfortunately they got a stomach bug and opted to NOT visit...for which I'm very grateful!

When I saw the box, it was large, and I'm not quite sure what I thought it would be, but I certainly wasn't expecting this.....

 

The box is upside down, but you can see it shows a picture of a rocket ship.  What you CAN'T see, is that the box says it is 5 FEET LONG! Hmm.........

I will honestly tell you trying to put this together about put me in the mental hospital.  Who would have thought that cardboard could make you feel so stupid.  I literally had to walk away from the kit because it was driving me foolish.  Luckily for all involved, Buddy stepped in to help. If he can build multi-million dollar offices and other buildings, surely he can put together a silly cardboard rocket ship.  (He had trouble too....just so you know!)

After a lot of heartache, sweat, and a tear or two (that was me), we now have THIS in our foyer.

So if you stop by, don't be alarmed.  We won't be sending you to a galaxy far far away!

12-12-12

Today was a pretty cool day.  It was December 12, 2012.

My students were really fascinated with the idea that today would be 12-12-12.  I told them we would "celebrate" at 12:12 and (12 seconds). When the clock clicked over, they held a little countdown while I waited with my camera to capture this image.

What were you doing at on 12/12/12 at 12:12:12??

EOTS: Day 5

Quinn loves to play Candy Land....or as he calls it "CandyCane Lane Land".  He was quite thrilled when he saw Jingle, and 3 of his sleepy time snuggle friends, Monkey, Elephant, and Patty (the Penguin...Quinn always calls them Patty) had played a midnight game!  It's a little hard to tell, but if you look at the picture, each friend is holding a picture card, showing where they were on the board. Jingle had the cinnamon roll so he must be winning!  Quinn couldn't figure out how Jingle got his friends out of bed and out to the living room.  I guess that is the "elf magic" at work!

EOTS: Day Four

Jingle is just hanging around!   

EOTS: Day Three

Yesterday our family went to the local Christmas Parade. Jingle made friends with the ChickFilA Cow and they both got into the candy.  I think Jingle even has sugar on his face!

EOTS: Day Two

Jingle must have been hungry when he got home this morning.  He got into all the Froot Loops. He even showed his smarts by spelling Quinn's name with the pieces of cereal!

And I realized after I took the picture that Quinn and Jingle had the same expression on their faces!

EOTS: Day One

Getting to know our family and making that first trip home to the North Pole must have been hard for Jingle, because he only made it to Jacob's swing when he returned.

Quinn thought it was hilarious that Jingle was sleeping in Jacob's swing!

A Thanksgiving Night Visitor

Tonight we had a late visitor for Thanksgiving. We heard a knock at the door, and when we opened it, this is what we saw.

This little guy was holding a note that said:

After reading the book, Quinn decided to name his little friend Jingle.  Our book taught us that Jingle has been sent by Santa to watch out to see if Quinn and Jacob are being good boys. Each night he will return to the North Pole to give a report, but will return by the next morning. He might be in a different spot, so we will have to find him each day.  On Christmas Eve, he will return home to the North Pole and we will see him next year.

Here is Quinn and Jingle.  And the most special rule of all....NEVER TOUCH or his Elf Magic goes away.

Halloween 2012

Halloween 2012 was a lot of fun.  We were able to attend a Trunk or Treat event at our church and visited a few of our neighbors.  I had hoped Jacob would be able to wear a costume that Quinn did not get to wear. Quinn's first Halloween he was supposed to be a dragon, but outgrew this costume before he could wear it. I had to settle for him being a spider instead.  I tried the dragon costume on Jacob and it fit.....except somehow the zipper broke and we couldn't zip it up. 

So guess what Jacob ended up being.....

Quinn was a Clemson Football player.

Jacob was asleep before we were done trick or treating in the neighborhood, so he totally missed out on his first Halloween.  Maybe he didn't want to be a spider anymore than I did!

Fall is for Football

One of Buddy's sisters has moved back to live in NC, and only live about 45 minutes away from us, so when she let us know that our nephew had a home football game coming up, we decided to drive over to watch him play!  Buddy's parents came too, so it was a great way to have a little family reunion.

Tre goes to a Christian school, and his team is comprised of other Christian school and home-school kids in the area who want to play football but can't because their school doesn't offer it.  They play in a league that involves a lot of travel (one game was even in Tennessee). 

Quinn loves his cousins Ethan and Tre, and he was really excited to go see a real football game.  Either that, or he was excited to eat popcorn! 

I'm going to let these pictures speak for themselves. Tre is #32....he is easy to pick out in the group shots, as his cleats have orange laces and orange on the back. 



And although Nana enjoys a good football game, I think she enjoyed watching little Jacob sleep!  He took  a great nap, in the arms of his sweet Nana!

Although Tre's team did not win, they could not have played harder or with more heart than they did. Those boys never gave up, despite being outscored!  Good job Tre....can't wait to watch you play again next year!