Jacob

Where oh where do I begin with Jacob...

We're one month in to the new school year and things are going GREAT so far!  He is in the 5th grade, which meant he moved to a new school in our corporation.  His teacher has provided me with nothing but positive feedback.  Throw in his currect grades, A's, one B, and one C (in reading), and that makes this Mama very happy.

Aside from school, Jacob stays incredibly busy with sports and extra curricular activities.  He's playing soccer, basektball, and his favorite... baseball.  He also showed cows and goats at the 4H fair this summer.

I can't wait to see what the future holds for my boy... But for now, I'll enjoy these days because Lord knows, these days will be over before I know it...

Kaylee

I'm going to dedicate a post to each of my kids, in hopes of catching you up on what's been going on in each of their little lives.  Since she's the oldest, let's begin with Kaylee...

She's 12 going on 17.  I love this age... I love all the eye rolls, I love getting talked back to, I love how tidy 12 year olds can be.  Like I said, I LOVE THIS AGE!

Uh hem... what I really mean is, I'm counting down the days until she can tolerate me again (and vice versa!)  Holy cow, not gonna lie.  Some days are T-O-U-G-H!  She's a great kid, don't get me wrong, but somewhere in the midst of her stretching her wings and gaining her independence, she's become a grizzly bear to live with.  The same kid who wants more responsibility and thinks she needs a phone, can't remember to hang up her towel in the bathroom or brush her teeth each evening... Really?  Because hanging up your towel and brushing your teeth is a new thing around here, right?  I know she'll get it, she will... And she and I will be friends again someday, right???  Hopefully sooner than later!

Kaylee is in the 7th grade this year... which I find very hard to believe she can be in the 7th grade since we just brought her home from the hospital, swaddled in a little pink blanket last week...  Where does the time go, really?  She is so smart... She loves math and hates to read.  (Not my kid, I was the opposite!)

She is in the midst of volleyball season right now and is looking forward to basketball season.  She gave up soccer this year since it coincides with volleyball.  She spent 5 days at Taylor University Basketball Camp this past summer.  She was not crazy about the idea of being away from home for 5 days, but the deal was if she went to camp and made it the full 5 days without melting down and begging us to come get her, then we'd get her a cellphone.  She was beside herself when I picked her up from camp with the cellphone in hand.  We were very proud of her for stepping outside her comfort zone and making it through camp.

She is still C-R-A-Z-Y about her cows.  Two of them are due to calve any day.  She's looking forward to that!  She will tell you 4H and showing cows is her all-time favorite activity.  She's a huge help to her dad on the farm.  Driving 4-wheelers has become a thing of the past.  She's now a pro with the pickup truck and tractor.  Having not grown up on a farm myself, she amazes me...

So that's Kaylee in a nutshell... Typical pre-teen I'm sure!

Sled Riding Fun

Had a blast sled riding with the kids...

 

 

 

BEAUTIFUL!

My little hunter...

Jacob is loving his new BB gun.  Nearly everyday after school he asks if he can go out in the woods just next to our house and hunt.  He likes letting his rabbit dog, Haley, out to go with him.

 

October 2012

Raking leaves in the backyard

 

 

Halloween 2012

Kaylee's pumpkin was a bat flying through the moonlight

 

Jacob's pumpkin was the IU logo (go figure)

 

Anden's pumpkin was of a cat

I'm huntin' wabbits...

Jacob's Birthday & Christmas lists

Jacob has been coming up with ideas lately for what he would like for his Birthday.  It's just around the corner... he'll be 7 on November 7th.  I found these lists as I was tidying up the kitchen after they left for school this morning...

 Birthday
Binoculars
Helmet


Squirt gun

Cake

Basketball

Candy



And as you can see, he's already thinking ahead for Christmas too!

Christmas
iPod
IU Football

Pedal Tractor

Fake gun
Deer
TV
Candy
IU


What a crazy kid he is!  That's why we love him SO MUCH!

Photo Shoot

I took the kids to my favorite photographer (Little Things Portrait Studio) to have Anden's 2 year pictures taken and then some pictures of the kids together.  Anden was a little stinker... normally the happy-go-lucky toddler turned Terrible Two's just in time for his pictures!  Agh!  Fortunately, Kristen & Adrian worked their magic and got some very good photos of them.  I can't wait to get them back!

After we finished up there, we came home and I took the kids back to the lake for our own little photo shoot.  The kids love acting wild & crazy and I love catching them in these silly moments that I can now relish in F-O-R-E-V-E-R! 



Springtime Fun

Such a fun weekend we had...

Jesse had a ton of paperwork he needed to get done but Jacob was not in the mood for Dad to spend the weekend buried in paperwork.  Fortunately, Uncle Jeremy came to the rescue.  He took Jacob fishing and mushroom hunting.  Jacob is so lucky to have such an awesome Godfather!

Here is a picture of Jacob and Isaac with their big catches.  It was Isaac's idea to have his fish look like it's gobbling up Jacob's fish.  Such sillyness!  You can tell by the look on Jacob's face that he is in heaven.

 Fixing tile in the field...

Pure sweetness...



Storm Damage

We had some horrible storms come through last night.  I heard today that they confirmed 4 tornadoes touched down in our county!  We had a little damage to the roof of Jesse's shop.  Our swing set was also torn to pieces. 

Here's the swing set portion.  It blew about 40 feet across the yard.  You can see the roof further down the hill there.  And the club house was blown even further down the hill.

Here's a shot of what is left of the clubhouse.  The slide came apart from it and is even further down the hill.

Just glad we were safe and sound inside our basement.  We had a slight scare as we were getting the kids downstairs.  It was 11:30 or so when they issued the tornado warning.  Jesse and I went upstairs to bring the kids down.  He picked up Jacob and carried him down.  I got Kaylee up and told her to follow Jesse down as I went to the other room and got Anden.  When I came down, Kaylee wasn't there.  Jesse & I both paniced because she's our sleepwalker and has tried to go outside before.  He started to head to the garage thinking she went out that door.  Mind you the power was flickering in and out by this point and he had the only flashlight so there I am standing in the kitchen, holding Anden, screaming out her name.  I finally heard her rustling around back in our bedroom.  We hustled downstairs just in time to hear the windows start rattling.  So thankful we were all safe and sound.  I love spring but I hate Mother Nature!

We've been busy...

fun times with friends... planting bulbs... double back handsprings... planting our spring garden... dirt under our fingernails... lunch with a good friend... waffles with syrup, LOTS of syrup... baths... planting trees... sowing in grass seed... spreading straw... windburnt faces... runny noses... chissel plowing... hair rolling... mulching... and granny smith apple eating...

Sweetness

I woke up this morning listening to my boys over the baby monitor... well actually, I woke up to a loud thud (their bedroom is right above ours) and I laid there waiting to hear if the thud originated from Anden rolling out of bed or Jacob jumping out of his top bunk.  No cries were heard, must be Jacob.  The next thing I heard melted my heart.  I could have laid there forever and listened to the two of them.

Jacob: "Good morning baby Anden... time to wake up."

Anden: "Uh?"

Jacob: "Anden, want Jay-Jay to come lay with you?"  (Jacob swears Anden says, "Jay-Jay" for him.)

Anden: "Uh?"

Jacob: "Here Jay Jay will lay with you."

Anden: "Uh?"  (If you haven't caught on by now, "uh?" is Anden's catch-phrase.)

Jacob: "I love you baby Anden.  Here lets lay here in your bed and stay warm."

Anden: "Uh?"

I cannot remember the entire conversation (if it can really be called that) but it went on for a few minutes and was so nice.  I think I should have tape recorded it and set my alarm clock to wake me up to that every morning.  In fact it put me in such a good mood that I made these for breakfast:

Okay, not such a good idea to wake up to sweet boys every morning, which then puts me in a good mood, which then makes me want to bake muffins for breakfast, which then makes me consume at least a dozen muffins, which then makes me have to buy bigger jeans, which then puts me right back into a crappy mood... kind of defeats the purpose... "Uh?"  Did you follow that?

Here's the recipe for these ever-so-scrumptous, can't eat just 1 muffins.

Applesauce Blueberry Muffins
(Makes 12... I usually double the recipe because Jesse and the kids get cranky if they don't get any.)

1/2 C. Butter (softened)           1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 C. Sugar                            1 C. Blueberries
2 Eggs                                     1/4 C. Butter (melted)
1 3/4 C. Flour                          1/2 C. Sugar
3/4 C. Applesauce                   1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tbsp. Baking Powder

Cream butter & sugar.  Beat in eggs and applesauce.  Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to butter mixture.  Spoon into greased or paper muffin tins.  Stir in blueberries.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  While still warm, dip top into melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.  Then devour them and don't feel bad about it... it has applesauce and blueberries for crying out loud!  Enjoy!

What I Love (at age 7 1/2)

I found this the other day in Kaylee's bed while I was changing her sheets.

So Sweet...



My little scavenger

Boys are so different from girls. 

Don't get me wrong, Kaylee loves to collect things...

stickers, notepads, beads, bracelets, and anything related to horses. 

She's my little packrat.

But Jacob, well... I'm constantly finding rocks in the bottom of washing machine.

This week, Jesse shelled the beans behind our house. 

So Jacob's been busy collecting what's leftover.

Here's a small stack of walnuts he found from a tree on the other side of the bean field.

He's got a seed sack full of walnuts out in the shop...

Two weeks ago, Jesse shelled corn down the hill and across the creek,

here are the leftovers that Jacob found...

He takes each ear and shells it by hand into another box...

(this is a mouse-infestation waiting to happen by the way!)

And finally, here's his stash of nuts in a pocket of his backpack

that he's picked up while he waits for the schoolbus in the morning.

What can I say... he'd make one heck of a squirrel!