Every Now and Then...

I brag on my children!!! ;-)

Sam got his first report card - all E's and S's... we are SO PROUD of our little guy!!! He got a Principal's Award for his good grades, as well as an Achievement Award for being a good student. At his parent/teacher conference, Mrs. Rowberry (who is Dyer's Teacher of the Year) told us that he has wonderful manners, and is excelling at school! These types of reports make a mommy and daddy super-proud!!!! He is reading already... and he loves it when we read to him!!! I have been volunteering in his class once or twice a week (which is the only way I know ANYTHING that he does at school), and he says that it's his favorite part of his day!!! Such a sweet little guy!!!

Jake also (surprisingly ;) had a good report at his parent/teacher conference. He has only gotten two yellows since school started in September... which is pretty good considering Jake isn't exactly the quietest kid I know! He gets punished at home when he isn't good at school - and these two yellows have 'only' been for talking - I say 'only' because it could always be worse, right!? He is excelling in school as well - he knows everything and way more than a typical pre-schooler should, and he sure is making his mommy and daddy proud too!!! He comes home singing and telling us stories... he knows so many nursery rhymes!!!! A far cry from Sam, who wouldn't (still doesn't) share a THING about what he's learning!!!!!

I sure do love my boys... and I sure do love that they are such good kids......

Our Trip to the Beach... Again!

Yep... we went to the beach... again! I know it seems that I just got our other beach trip posted, and off we go again! This time, we went to Seaside, Florida... BJ's dad and Inny (aka Ernie) rented a beach house for 10 days, and we were able to come down for a long weekend! It was so nice!!! And relaxing! And just what we needed!!!  We've been so busy with school, work, and life over the last few months - a little time away was perfection!!!!
You know there was NO WAY I would leave my camera behind, and I do not think these pictures will disappoint!!!  So let's get going - the pictures are way more interesting than anything I have to say anyway!!!!

The whole fam... at sunset...

Opa and Ernie...

Brandon and Mandy... did I mention that they flew in from New York for the family weekend too??? Now you understand why it was 100% perfection!?

Our crazy family... the kids were certainly the life of the party...

Our house for the weekend...

Here's a closer look at the oustside... OH YES! We were ON the beach... with a LARGE pool! Heaven, I tell you!

The water was SOOOOO clear...

And butterflies were fluttering around everywhere...

Sunrises and sunsets were spectacular... EVERYDAY!!!!

We played on the beach - a lot...

Sam and Jake dug to China - a few times!

Brandon was hunting sting rays...

We hung out and enjoyed the breathtaking views...

We did a lot of sitting on the deck taking in the view...

Spiderman even made a few appearances...

The boys played and played... hide-and-seek here...

Even the kids could appreciate the beauty (when they slowed down a little)...

Opa and Ernie again...

Me and my boys...

We had been waiting on Daddy...

Me and my man...

Brandon and Mandy...

I do believe this is my favorite picture from the weekend!

We also celebrated Jake's birthday... again - but you've already seen that post!!!! It was nice to hang out with our family - especially to see Brandon and Mandy, who we haven't seen since February - and they hadn't seen the kids since their wedding 2 years ago!!!!!!! So many happy memories!!!! Let's do it again, soon... hint, hint.... ;-)

Jake's 4th Birthday... #3

AT THE BEACH!!!!

We went to Seaside, FL to visit Opa and Ernie while they were vacationing, and celebrated Jake's birthday with them while we were there! What a way to celebrate!

Here's Spiderman - ready for presents...

Sam got some prizes too... Brandon and Mandy were laughing at the difference in their enthusiasm... Sam was quite sub-dued, while Jake was overflowing!!!!

And a couple of  'teasers' from our beach trip...

OK - here are the 'real' teasers...

BEACH POST... coming soon....

This one deserves its own post...

So I went to the dealership to get the oil changed before heading down to the beach (we were way overdue, and BJ thought it best that it be done BEFORE we go...).  I have been super-busy (praise the Lord), so the only day that I could squeeze it in was a Monday that the kids happen to be off from school..... when everyone else apparently decided to squeeze it in as well. That's just my luck...

So after an hour and a half of waiting, I see our car being pulled around - there IS a God!!!! No one came to get us. I was patient.  Weeeeelllllll....... as patient as any mother of a 4 and 5-yr-old could be with lunchtime bearing down on her!!!!  Finally, I walked out to the service drive (thinking I would offer to let Sam and Jake help them out until someone gave me my keys).  The ONE guy out there was on the phone. When he motioned for me to come over, the phone rang again... AND HE ANSWERED IT!!! Now we were in the driveway......... at lunchtime. Having waited almost 2 hours now..... I opted to take the kids over behind a railing - I am pretty responsible about most things!!!

A (fairly large) man walked up and stood beside us. Jake looked up at him, then at me... then says, "Mommy, that guy's fat." (Let me just say here that they are obsessed with FAT - people, objects, etc... just my luck)  I calmly glanced at the guy from the corner of my eye and point across the service drive and say, "You want to go see that???" (Thinking the entire time - REDIRECT, REDIRECT, REDIRECT!!!!!)

Then Sam looks at me and says, "No Mommy, he said FAT, f,f,f,f (imagine him enunciating the "F" sound over and over), FAT!"

What do you do then????? There was no 'redirecting' that one.... Thanks to Sam, I melted into the floor, and the man quietly walked away........

SOOOOO glad Sam is learning his words and letter sounds and spelling, and is using it daily.....

I quietly paid, retrieved my keys, loaded my children and left.  BJ is now in charge of all oil changes. No more good deeds from me!!!!

The Family Photo Op...

When we went to the farm to celebrate Jake's birthday, we also decided to do a family photo op... well, I decided - and Mama and Jen agreed, so the guys just had to go along with it!!! I'm super-excited about the photos we got, and I am sure that everyone else feels that it was worth the effort!!!! I don't know what it is, but MY family is the hardest to photograph... consistently!!! Why IS that????

But here we are...

And Bo, Jen Emma and Jack...

Mimi and Pop Pop...

The grandkids... I do believe that this is one of my all-time favorite pics!!!!

And the whole fam...

Now let me demonstrate my point above and show you the process to actually get the above photo...

Setting up the camera...

Positioning everyone - Jake NOT helping - and this is after Mama and I spent a good 30 minutes the day before 'planning' how we would arrange everyone!!!!

Running back and forth...

I bumped the camera, so I had to re-position... by this time, everyone is joking and making fun and cutting up (at least we're all happy about it), which makes for a little more difficulty in keeping everyone positioned!!!! ;-)

And the final product (again)...

Yep - a lot of work, but totally worth it!!!! I love my family!!!!

Jake's 4th Birthday - #2...

SCHOOL....

Jake loves to celebrate with his friends... and we had Spiderman galore!!!! Spiderman plates, napkins, party favors, and even Spiderman CAKE POPS... thanks to a new friend!!!!!

Jake's class singing to him...

Still singing...

Playing with his party favor/blowy-thingy... what are those things called, anyway!?

Eating his Spidey Cake Pop!

Seriously, mom... let me eat my lunch in peace!!!



Happy Birthday, Jake... again!!!!