Friday Photo Flashback

Alicia has started this meme on Fridays called Friday Photo Flashback. It's for those of us that have pictures from the pre digital camera days. I love to look back through old photos so this is so much fun for me.

This week Alicia went back and shared a picture from Halloween so I figured why not..I'd do the same since tomorrows the day.

This is a picture of Jacob's second Halloween. Since Lucas and Jacob were both born in Oct their first Halloween they couldn't do much other than lay there. I have pictures but I can't find them right now..either that or I'm just not looking very hard :) Jacob was a giraffe and Lucas was a red power ranger.

This is a picture from about 4 years ago. Jacob was Superman and Lucas was Darth Vader. This was during the Star Wars stage that my mom got him started on. He was all about it at that point. I love how Jacob is looking up at him :)

So head over to Alicia's and join in the fun so we can see your flashback also.

LLLLOOOONNNNGGGG Week

I got up this morning and said Thank Goodness it's Friday....it took a few minutes for it to hit me that it's only Thursday. :( What a week it's been....maybe it's because I never really got a weekend last weekend since David was sick the entire time. Whatever the reason I'm ready for Friday!!!!

Caleb is definitely going through the "terrible twos" stage right now. Most of the time he's well behaved and easy to handle but during the day when it's just he,Allie and I the terrible two stage shines through. Somedays I want to scream.

Allie has decided that she can pitch a tantrum when she doesn't get what she wants and when she gets upset boy there is no stopping her. I'll admit I'm ready for this stage to pass with both of them and get my regular happy kids back all the time!

Jacob has pajama day today...he's excited about that and then tomorrow is 50's day at school. I need ideas since I wasn't alive or even thought of in the 50's. What does a little boy in the 50's wear? I am clueless!!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Forever Love

Most of the time these two absolutely love each other. Caleb and Allie get along better than I ever imagined. I thought there would be extreme jealousy between the two of them when Allie was born but from day one Caleb has taken to her like I never thought. They have begun to have their spits and spats. Sharing hasn't been coming naturally to the two of them and Allie thinks everything belongs to her whether she has it or not. Caleb obviously doesn't agree most of the time :) I spend a large part of my day trying to teach them that they have to share with each other and that Allie can't take something away just because she wants it. Caleb doesn't like to let her play with his cars or he'll give her a particular one when she wants a different one. Sometimes I just can't make them happy. Most of the time however they get along wonderfully and I take such joy in watching the two of them together. Seeing their relationship grow even more since the older two are in school has been such fun!!

Pooped

If it wasn't for these faces I'm not sure I could have made it through the last three days. I've done more laundry than I can count...lysoled more times than I can remember(seriously,I've used almost an entire can in 3 days)...changed more sheets than I care to yet there is so much I still haven't gotten to. I still need to strip the kids beds and wash the dogs linens for his bed. I need to clean the kitchen floor and tackle the bathrooms. I will have more laundry to do tomorrow undoubtedly! But when I get stressed or overwhelmed I just look at these little faces and everything becomes so much easier! These have been my steadfast helpers these last few days while their Daddy has been sick and although we didn't enjoy him being sick and I am utterly exhausted tonight  I really enjoyed being with them all!

Jacob's Field Trip

I was able to go on Jacob's first field trip with him last week before the "flu" hit our house. We left first thing in the morning heading to the orchard and Jacob was so excited that I was able to go with him. I headed to school with my camera in tow of course because I couldn't let the day go by without capturing all the memories!

There were many things they did at this orchard that I thought was cheaply put together...I think next year I'm going to look for a really good quality orchard to go visit as a family but his class enjoyed it this year and of course didn't know the difference between cheap and not.

The first thing we did was go on a wagon ride. I think it was technically supposed to be a hay ride but there was no hay!

After that they got to see the bunnies and then we moved to the goats/roosters and there was a baby pig. I could have scooped the pig up and taken him home. Of course as soon as he got huge and fat I would have wanted to get rid of him but he was absolutely adorable as a small little piglet.

Then they went through the maze...supposed to resemble a corn maze but it was just put up with fake walls...not too impressing.

Jacob is on the front row..second from the left.

They finally got to get their apples and a small pumpkin and we had lunch while we were there at the picnic tables. Shortly after they loaded back on the buses and headed back to school.

Since it was so close to dismissal I went ahead and sat in the line waiting on Lucas and Jacob. I brought my book with me and was able to sit in line for an entire hour and read all by myself....it was pure bliss!

Lucas' 9th Birthday and Happenings

I'm way behind and it doesn't look like things are going to get any better around here. I can't seem to find any time lately to read blogs so please don't think I don't care..I'm just completely exhausted and out of it. Allie has been sick with a cold again and hasn't been sleeping well..I've spent the last 48 hours trying to get vomit smell out of my bedroom from when she got sick two nights ago and today David came home from work with a diagnosis of the much beloved flu at the doctors office. I'm just now getting around to getting Lucas' birthday pictures uploaded to my computer and there's no telling when I might actually get to the rest of them.

Lucas at his birthday dinner celebration! He chose to go to Kanpai-a local Japanese restaurant for his birthday dinner. It is one of his FAVORITE restaurants to go to and his grandparents informed him that he could go anywhere his little heart desired. His eyes got wide and his smile got big and he let them know that he wanted to go to Kanpai. They granted his wish :)

Lucas with his Nendny

Caleb at the restaurant. He thought it was really cool he got an umbrella in his drink :) He was very happy until the chef started a fire on our grill and then he spent the rest of the meal up against the wall until the chef was done cooking.

Jacob has been absolutely terrified of Kanpai since the last time we went took the kids there. He was so scared of the fire that he cried for a week in advance when Lucas decided this is where he wanted to go. After the fire was over and he realized everything was still okay he was a much happier kid!

After dinner Lucas wanted to go bowling so we headed to the local bowling alley.

It was Allie's first time...she had a few missteps at first but fell in love shortly after!

Caleb loved when it was his turn! We put the bumpers up on the kids lane and they had a blast. Sorry Mom for the butt picture but it's so cute with both of your rearends sticking up in the air :)

After bowling we headed home for cake and presents.

I told them I needed a picture of them as proof that they actually did care about each other :)

Lucas opening his watch from his Bubba.

The new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book he's been wanting.

Opening his BIG present!

When we went to Target the other day I discovered the new Spongebob collection of the First 100 episodes. It was a box set that contained 14 discs and 38 hours of Spongebog. Lucas fell in love and wanted it more than anything. We wanted to get it for him for his birthday but I wanted to be clever about the way that I wrapped it so he wouldn't know what it was. David had a fan box in his truck so I put it in there and stuffed it with plastic bags so he'd be clueless. When he first opened it he saw the fan and thought it was for his new room we are fixing for him. I was shocked he was actually happy about it. I figured he'd be disappointed when we told him that but he wasn't. I then told him he should open it up and take a look at it.

I think he was alittle more excited for the movies,don't you?

I love the expression on his face!

Lucas loves cookie cakes so he usually chooses to have this instead of a regular cake for his birthday. This year was no different.

His actual birthday was on Sunday night but since it was a school night we celebrated on Saturday with family. On Sunday he got to choose what he wanted at home to eat and he chose sloppy joes. Last thing you would think a kid could choose but it's his most favorite meal in the entire world!!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Nine Years with Lucas

As I sit and look through Lucas' baby pictures I can't believe it's been nine years since we first laid eyes on him. It continues to amaze me how quickly time passes us all by each and everyday.

One of the many times he was in the hospital during his first year of life. RSV/rotovirus/meningitis. At home he slept on my chest each night so the hospital meant nothing different to him. At that time they were very strict about the babies and would not let him sleep with me in the chair...he had to be in the crib so I had to be up there too. Let's just getting up there was very interesting and my body hurt like never before each morning.

David and Lucas used to race on this slip and slide...it was so fun to watch the two of them!

This picture brings tears to my eyes. I can't express in words how much Lucas wanted a sister. When she finally got here he was almost in tears and was so excited. The very next day he got sick and had to go stay with one set of grandparents..wasn't allowed around her for a week. Broke my heart...I still vividly remember being on the phone crying because he couldn't see her...now he complains when she unplugs his video games :)

Doing what he loves!

I'll have his party pictures up soon....I need to sort through them.

Friday Photo Flashback

Alicia at More Than Words started this Friday meme called Friday Photo Flashback. It's where we take all our pictures from the pre digital camera days and scan them into our computers. I could sit and look at old photos all day so this is so much fun for me.

This Sunday is Lucas' birthday so I had to share a flashback of him from the very beginning. I had to cheat though because I don't currently have a scanner..I started looking through his baby pictures this morning and decided to just take pictures of pictures with my camera. Whatever you do ignore my horrible hair!!!! The pregnancy hormones got the best of me during the incredibly hot summer and I chopped it all off....seriously they shouldn't allow pregnant women to do that because we really don't know what we're thinking! Don't pay attention to my horrible swelling either...I was incredibly sick with toxemia and had been on bedrest for the previous week and a half not even able to take a shower at the time. After this I was on magnesium for the next 24 hours and proceeded to hallucinate up a storm before it was all over. The swelling was horrendous!!!! The pictures aren't the best quality but they'll have to do for now. Look for more pictures of pictures on Sunday for his birthday post.

These are from his actual birthday :) Hard to believe it was almost 9 years ago to the day. So much has changed since that day and it amazes me that he's almost in double digits...makes me feel old!

Jacob's 6th Birthday

We celebrated Jacob's birthday last Saturday. We've started doing things just as a family on the kids birthdays and in the past couple of years have found it easier than doing huge parties. Each year on their individual birthday they get to choose where they want to eat and pick an activity that they want to do. After that we come home and have cake and open presents.

Surprisingly Jacob decided he wanted to go and eat shrimp for his birthday. After I picked my mouth up off the floor with his very unusual request that is what we did. At the restaurant David told the waitress that it was Jacob's birthday so they came out and sang to him and brought him a piece of cake. He had no idea that his dad had told them that and honestly I don't think he even knew it could be done so he was completely shocked! His mouth fell open and he looked like a deer in the headlights. After it was over he let his dad know that if he ever did that again he was going to be highly upset with him. You can look at his face in the pictures and tell how surprised he was. Afterwards we went to Frankie's which is a local attraction that has arcade games inside and then race cars,bumper boats and other rides outside.

They all had a blast riding the go carts and Caleb even decided he wanted to ride this year. We were all shocked that he was interested in doing it so young but he insisted and had a blast. Jacob rode the go carts 3 times and went on the Fun Slide that was who knows how many feet high 3 times.

After that we headed home for cake and presents. Jacob is obsessed with Power Rangers this year so everything we got for him had something to do with Power Rangers. He got several different toys and then a couple of movies.

Everytime he started to open another present Allie wanted to take it from him. As soon as he got it halfway open she immediately grabbed it or started yelling at him to give it to her and then would go and give it to her grandmother. He handled it very well though and let her have them when she wanted them. It was the cutest thing! Christmas is going to be tons of fun with her this year..I just can't wait!

I realized after we got home and I was getting his cake ready that I forgot to buy candles so I had to get creative. You see my result.

After eating cake Jacob and Lucas decided they wanted to go back to their grandparents house and spend the night so we packed all the new toys up and off they went.

Now we have another birthday this week....Lucas' is this Sunday so more preparations are ordered...I'll be ready for a break after Sunday.