Cousin time

Jake and I spent the weekend with Chad, Cassy, Cohen and Channing so that I could attend the first ever Project Mom! I had a great day being refreshed and rejuvenated as a mom. Jake once again couldn't get enough of playing with Cohen plus he was spoiled and loved by Nana and Big T, so it all made for a great weekend. Friday evening, Cassy and I had the kids and we all loaded up to grab a bite to eat. Cassy was wondering if 3 carseats could fit in her Hondo Accord. Well, the answer is yes... I didn't get very many pictures at all, but I promise you, Jake loved all the play time he got with Cohen and Cohen's cool toys. One of the things he loved was this footbally helmet. He just had to wear it, even if it made it hard to see...

The boys had a blast playing football, and I tried to stop the action in order to get a pic. This picture is hilarious to me. Jake is totally covered by the helmet, Cohen has his mouth on the ball(which he hadn't done at all beforehand), and Ty is trying is best not to crack up...

Jake's Vacation

Jake got to go on a special vacation with Grandmama and Papa. They have been wanting to take him to San Antonio, and I needed some time to study for my LCSW test (which I passed!!!!) so the trip was perfect for all. They stayed in a really nice condo that included lots of amenities. There was a gameroom they visited each day that Jake LOVED. Here he is driving race cars...

Also playing air hockey...

They also had a really nice pool, with a lazy river, and cool slides. It rained a lot while they were there so there wasn't much time for swimming, although they did get to take a dip one afternoon. Here is a view of the lazy river....

They went on lots of adventures away from the condo too. One morning they visited San Antonio's Children's Museum. They said the museum was great and Jake loved it. Here is a replica plane where Jake was able to explore and even wear a captain's hat!

From the stories they shared, his favorite part of the museum was quite possibly the mini grocery store. This area was sponsored by HEB and was really nice. Jake LOVED pushing around the shopping cart and loading his groceries...

A day at the grocery store wouldn't be complete without a visit to the produce section...

There was even a check out area with real scanners! Nice, huh...

I guess Jake knows exactly what to do after all his trips with me to the grocery store. It's always nice to have a friendly person greet you at the check-out ;-)

Jake had a wonderful time, and it was really nice for me to have peace and quiet to focus on my studies. Thank you, Papa and Grandmama, for a wonderful vacation!!!

Our Saturday Morning

Cedar Park held the BYDEE Art Festival at Milburn Park this Saturday. Kevin was coaching, so Jake and I decided to head out and see what it was all about. I was pleasantly surprised by this quaint Cedar Park Festival. It was really great for young children. There were several booths where kids could make FREE arts and crafts! Jake was just a big young for some activities, but we still managed to come out with his own mini maraca and this air glider... As you can see, this is a very simple design and after my first look I thought there was no way it could ever fly; but I was wrong, it actually can fly just a little...

I brought our lunch so we picniced together and afterwards I planned to go back to the festival to walk around the booths. Jake had a different plan. He saw the playscape and pointed toward it, asking, "Please!" So, I pointed to both sides of the park and gave him a choice: one side playground, one side festival. Here's what he chose...

He had a great time playing for the rest of our time at the park. He's definitely a big boy now at the playground and goes on everything all on his own.

He even climbed this on his own. The first two times up, I was kind of nervous and had my hand underneath him the whole way up, but he proved he was perfectly capable with both successful attempts, so the next time around I stopped my overprotectiveness to capture some pics...

I honestly can't believe he's this big, but I guess it's really true!

The Simple Things

I love how kids can find happiness, fun and joy in life's simplest things. I truly believe that it's not the latest toys or gadgets our children need, but more time and love from us enjoying the gifts God has naturally given us. Jake has always loved to be outside, but this time of year has brought about a new hobby for him: acorn collecting. Lately, if we're outside, you might see Jake doing a little of this... and this...

and this...

What does all of that amount to? A full cup of acorns and one proud little boy! We could truly fill a full cup everyday with the amount that fall from our oak trees around here, and it doesn't seem like Jake's getting tired of it either. Oh, the simple things...

Storytime

One of the things we've been doing lately to keep busy and get out of the house is enjoying the free story time provided by our public library. We started it out earlier this summer, and it's been a great place for Jake to listen to stories, practice following directions, and learn new songs. Even though we'd been singing with him his whole life and had been trying out songs with motions, it wasn't until he went to library story time that he actually did the motions...figures. Oh well, it's just fun watching him do "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," "The Wheels on the Bus" and other favs.

Once we get to the library, it's sometimes hard to actually get to the storytime room since he discovered this...
Jake is OBSESSED with these computers. I honestly don't understand why b/c he doesn't hear anything or really see anything cool since he can't operate it correctly, but nevertheless, he has to sit in the chair in front of it EVERYTIME. He loves playing with the mouse and likes to wear the headphonese even though nothing is coming out of them. I guess he's just mimicking what he sees us do at home on a special Jake-sized version.

Here's a view from our side of things. I really appreciate how the librarian chooses age-appropriate stories. During the week, there are three different times for stories, divided by age, so it's really developmentally great.

There's even a "family storytime" on Saturday mornings. Jake and I headed there this past weekend while Kevin was working. On Saturday, you get the special treat of making a craft that goes along with the stories. Here's Jake in his racing helmet...

B-A-Y-L-O-R, Baylor Bears Fight!!!

Last night, we drove up to Waco to cheer on the Baylor Bears football team. A perk of being a high school coach is the opportunity to get 2 free tickets to just about any Texas college sporting event. UT football tickets are virtually impossible to get, so we decided the longer drive to Waco was worth it for some good family football fun. Our plan is to get the most out of this little perk while Jake is still small enough to not need his own seat, so off to Waco it was. Here's Jake and I in front of Floyd Casey Stadium... Daddy and Jake before we found our seat...

The view from our seats (they were pretty good for being free!)...

Jake did REALLY great through the game. He sat quietly and still on Kevin's lap just taking it all in. I had to get a close-up of my handsome boy intently watching the game...

And finally a family pic. Jake doesn't have a Baylor shirt, so his green pizza shirt was the next best thing...

When we left during the 3rd quarter, Baylor was up 34-3, so it was a great game to cheer them on and watch lots of scoring. I was very proud of my team, even if they played Buffalo, a school I thought sounded more like a pro team than a college team. Oh well, we'll get what we can take. Go Bears!!!

Preschool

I'm having a hard time believing it myself, and it just happened, but my baby boy is big enough to start preschool. After lots of prayer and looking around, we decided to start Jake in a preschool at a nearby church just one day a week. I was super excited to find a preschool I liked that offered the 1-day-a-week option. I think it's perfect for us right now. Anyhow, everyone knows the best way to start of the school day is with a good breakfast. Jake's choice for the day was oatmeal and a banana...It's also important to take good care of yourself, which includes brushing your hair and teeth... I tried some pics on a bench area in front of the school. Jake was definitely not giving me a smile. That's OK; I know he was trying to figure out what in the world was going on. We've been reading him a book about going to school for the past couple of weeks and I started our morning off with it, along with talking about school and how much fun he was going to have and things he would be doing, but it's hard to know what he really thinks...

His class are the "Cubbie Bears." There's 8 in his class on Fridays, but they have other cubbies on other days of the week too...

He did terrific when I dropped him off. I gave him a hug, said "I love you, have fun and see you later", and he was off. No first day jitters for this one. I didn't want to come in the classroom and disrupt, but I managed to capture a quick pic from over the door...

His preschool day is from 9 am-1pm, and by noon I was super anxious and ready to pick him up. I couldn't have been happier about pick-up as well. The timing was magical b/c just as I reached the door to pick him up, I saw Jake lean over to hug one of the other little boys in his class with a big smile on his face. He hadn't even seen me yet, and I have no idea what spurred the hug, but he definitely initiated it, and he definitely looked happy as can be. He then looked up and saw me, and the smile just continued as he reached up for me. Definitely a moment to warm a Mommy's heart.

So far, so good. I definitely feel validated about our decision to send him to school and the school itself. Here's Jake with his teachers, Ms. Linda and Ms. Karen...

Ms. Karen has been teaching at the preschool for 15 years, and Ms. Linda for 14!!! I couldn't ask for more experience or more kindness. I'm really looking forward to see how Jake grows and matures this year with this new addition to his experiences.

Busy Week

This has been a super busy week for us. After great family time with Daddy on the Monday holiday, we spent Tuesday morning at our friend, Cyndy's house. She had invited us over to go swimming, but that was before the torrential downpour started. We had to nix the swimming idea, but had lots of fun inside. Cyndy has 3 grown sons and she let us play with some of their cool stuff. Jake got his first try with a real guitar, not just the toy variety. Look at that hand placement; he's quite the natural...

I also 'finished' our latest house project; converting our office into a playroom. Before the conversion all of Jake's toys were in bins in our living room. I'm very happy to have my living room back and have a special place for Jake to play. I say 'finished' because I hope to add some more details later, but I'm very happy with the new space...The chest in front of the window was Kevin's toy chest when he was little, and it's handmade by Kevin's grandfather, so this part of the room is especially special.

We also had the first Wednesday morning Bible class, the first day at my new job, and the first day of Jake's preschool. My new job is helping with childcare one morning a week at a nearby church, so it's very low key. The facilities are super nice, Jake has fun, and it's a nice way to get out of the house and bring in a little money. Preschool was the biggest "first" of all, so more on that in my next post.

Cool Shades

Due to technical difficulties uploading these pics from Picasa, I had to do a separate post for this one, but it's worth it. Look at these handsome, smiley boys in their cool shades...

B-day party cont.

The party favors were these cool Rangers sunglasses. This was a perfect treat for Jake b/c he's always wanting to try on our glasses. Nana captured a couple of super cute pics of the boys and their glasses that I have to share...