August-September-October-November-December 2012

In August, we went on a family trip to Lurray Caverns, The National Zoo, and Pirate Boating Adventures in Maryland:

 

 

Funny and sweet things the boys say:

Henry just said "all builders report to work" - lol

Jake calls a hamper a "hamster"

Henry calls a drive-thru a "driveway"

Jake came home from school one day and said he had a "suspect" teacher that day - (substitute)

Henry calls going online going on "dot cime" (dot com) :)

Henry just asked me if I would go with him to Heaven - I said when and he said
when he was old, old, old. Made me cry.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We said goodbye to our sweet Patch on 8/18/12 - Patch was a blessing in our lives ever since we adopted him in 2004, as a stray who showed up in the strawberry patch (thus, his name.)

We miss you, Patchie Boo, and we will see you again up in Heaven! 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Henry on his VERY FIRST day of school - Preschool, 3 year old class - Teacher Mrs. Ongor

 

Jake and his class on their first day of 1ST GRADE - Teacher Mrs. Judkins,

who also taught me and Steve!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Jake's first season playing FALL BASEBALL - COACH PITCH!!!

He is learning to hit the ball! Does a great time in the out field, too!

 

 

Henry's first field trip EVER, to his own pumpkin patch! Here he is with his buddy, Brody Webb :)

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HALLOWEEN 2012 - MY PIRATES

 

 

 

 

In early Thanksgiving, we adopted a new cat into our family. She was a stray in Surry that needed a home, and we named her MRS. PRETTY :)

Henry had a Preschool Thanksgiving Program at school and sang alot of fun songs!!! He poses with his friend, Skyler, in this photo :)

We had a nice Thanksgiving and, as always, the boys wore matching shirts for the occasion :) Although Henry did have the stomach flu the night before, he felt better by Thanksgiving Day :)

 

However, the day after Thanksgiving, Henry and Jake were running inside and fell. Henry landed the wrong way and broke his right collar bone. We took him to the ER and they gave him a sling to wear for a week, and then a harness to wear for about 5 more weeks. He healed nicely but it was a scary time for him. Jake broke his elbow at age 4, so the two of them are making sure to keep up with each other in the broken bone department!

 

 

December was alot of fun! The boys were in the church Christmas program as sheperds and were very cute and adorable. They sang a duet together "Up On The Housetop" :) Steve was the narrator, as always, and did a good job :)

 

Jake asked Santa for alot of things when he wrote him a letter, including a tv for his room, a 3DS, a trowel, and a camo wallet. But on his lap, he requested a guitar and a football wii game. Henry decided months ago that he wanted Transformer Rescue Bots and that is exactly what he asked Santa for. That and a money box :)

 

In December, we also adopted a 2nd stray cat that had been visiting us at the patch for several months. We named him MR. HANDSOME and he and Mrs. Pretty are the best of friends :)

 

On Christmas morning, we woke up to wonderful blessings from Santa! He certaintly thought Jake and Henry had been good little boys because he left alot of nice gifts and toys!!!

 

 

 

May-June-July of 2012 info

Another 3 months have passed since I have made an entry - wow! Lots to tell!

Jake graduated from Kindergarten in May. It was sad for me to see this school year come to an end. I get very emotional about my children growing older....I wish they could stay little for alot longer! But by the end of Kindergarten, Jake was reading and had high scores in Math, which seems to be his best subject so far :) He participated in the school's AVA day at the end of year and was in the Soccer Kick contest and got 4th place :) I got to chaperone that trip and really enjoyed it :)

Jake also lost a filling, had to return to the pediatric dentist, and get a silver cap. He immeditely liked it because it reminded him of a pirate. Henry still tells people about Jake's "gold teeth" :) Jake also finished up his 2nd year of TBall, as the team's 3rd baseman :) He was selected to play on the         All-Stars team and did a great job!!!

Henry celebrated his 3rd birthday and had a BACKYARDIGANS birthday party, which is tv show from Nick Jr. which includes Austin the kangaroo, Tyrome the Moose, Pablo the Penguin, Tasha the Hippo, and Uniqua the unique creature :) Henry's favorite gifts included his trampoline from us, and his Thomas the Train tricycle from Sassy, Bizza, and Becca :)

Henry also started attending Speech Therapy every other week to help him with his stuttering. He really enjoys his sessions because his therapist, who he calls Miss Julie, makes it fun and always has LOT of fun toys to play with :)

At the start of the summer, we visited the Currituck Lighthouse in NC with Grandmother and cousin Luke. We climbed the 200+ steps and visited their giftshop afterward :) The boys also came a long way with their swimming. Jake can now go under water to get dive sticks or swim through someone' legs :) Henry loves the water & would stay in for hours if you let him :)

We took Henry to his first movie, which was Ice Age 3. This was special because Jake's first movie, when he was 3, was Ice Age 1. Jake's Poppy & Sassy took him to see it :) Henry sat through the entire movie & really enjoyed the popcorn & pepsi :) Jake went to visit his Aunt Missy & Uncle Bryan and got to go to a super neat pirate museum :) Henry also went to the dentist for the first time, and like his big brother, did GREAT! No cavities :)

Jake weighs about 70 pounds and is almost 50 inches tall. He was able to ride the Loch Ness Monster roller coaster for the first time this summer! He wears a size 1 shoe and size 8 clothes :) Henry weighs about 40 pounds and is 39 inches tall, wearing a size 10 shoe and size 4T clothes. He was able to ride the Grover Roller Coaster in Sesame Street Land at Busch Gardens :)

Updates for February-March-April 2012

Wow! It has been about 3.5 months since I last updated so there is alot to tell, if only I can remember it all! My laptop got a virus so we had to switch to a new computer and I am not getting back to the blog!

Back in February, we had an overnight success story with Henry's potty training. Once we got him interested, he took off with it and within a few days, he was out of pullups! Pee-pee'ing and pooping and all of it! We didn't even have to bribe him - he was just naturually interested and eager! What an easy job, compared to Jake who took months, and month, and months before he would poop in the potty.

Also, Jake participated in the American Heart Association's Hoops for Hearts fundraiser in honor of his Poppy. Jake was the highest raiser in the entire school, raising over $500! He did a great job for a good cause, and wore a photo of Poppy around his neck during the event :)

In March, Jake started playing his 2nd year of TBall, playing mostly 3rd base :) When he gets up to bat, the coach tells everyone "big hitter" because Jake can slam it very hard! He is one of the best players on the team~

On March 31st, the boys found the first red strawberry at the farm! The earliest we have ever found one - it was a very early season and we open at the farm about 3 weeks sooner than normal~

We had a great Easter this year and the Easter Bunny brought alot of fun goodies and toys!

Jake's Kindergarten class presented a play at school called "Are You My Mother" by P.D. Eastman and Jake was the Dog & Cow in the play :) Also, his 6 year molars are starting to come in and we expect him to start losing teeth soon! He celebrated his 6 year birthday at Chuck E. Cheese :)

Both boys had "firsts" at Buch Gardens this year. Jake rode the Loch Ness Monster roller coaster for the first time, and Henry rode his first roller coaster, the Sesame Street kiddie coaster :)
Jake weighs 69 pounds and is almost 50 inches tall and Henry is 38 pounds and wearing size 9 shoes and starting to wear 4T clothes...Jake wears a size 1 shoe!

Winter Updates

WINTER UPDATES:

We went skiing with my Mom's side of the family and had alot of fun. Jake did pretty good and rode on the ski lift with me again this year (note that there was not alot of natural snow that weekend, as can be seen in the photo of us on the ski lift). Henry enjoyed kiddie tubing in the kids play park :)

Jake's class also had a fun Valentine's party and this is a photo of his class :)

Henry is starting to potty train and has really taken off with it. He is pooping and peeing already (Jake would not poop until well over age 3) and enjoys being indepedent and wearing his "underwears" :) He gets a Hershey Kiss when he uses the potty and is doing a great job!

Jake now knows how to write his last name and writes it on all of his papers :) He also is starting to learn money and has memorized our home phone number, Steve's cell, and Grandma's cell number. He also now knows our address, too.

Jake's school Hoops for Heart fundraiser was this month and raised money for the American Heart Association. Jake participated in the program in honor of his Poppy (since he died from his heart stopping) and wore a photo of him around his neck.....Jake's goal was $50 but he got such a response from friends and family that he raised $565 and was the highest fundraisee. He won several prizes, including a gold medal and a lava lamp, and his class got to "pie" 2 of the teachers, too :)

We got 2 fun but brief snows this Winter. The boys enjoyed playing in it and Grandmother helped build this small snowman on their "Big Hill" that they love to play on (which is an old dirt pile in the yard that we never moved from when we were building our house) :)

Henry is such a sweet, loving child. For example, today when Steve came home for lunch, Henry said "I'm so glad you're home, Daddy" and when he was helping clip coupons with me he said "I love clipping coupons with you" - he loves to snuggle and hug and kiss. He is also pretty comical sometimes, when he calls his grandparents by their first names..."I want to go to Catherine's house" - lol. He also seems very insightful when it comes to his Poppy in Heaven and will say things like "Poppy is an angel" without any prompting. It is very sweet, as if there is a spiritual connection between my Dad and Henry. Henry has also learned how to write an "H" :)

Both boys were sick in January and February with a bad virus that caused the throw-ups, red eyes, bad cold symptoms, and high fever for Henry. Henry's needed medicine and was diagnosed as a sinus infection. Jake just had a bad, bad cold.

Henry likes to wear pajamas to bed every night while Jake usually prefers to be in his underwear :)

December 2011

We had a great month in December! We got to go ice skating with the boys (their first time and they did great) - Jake's reading took off and he read me his first short story, which was a wonderful experience as his Mom. The boys were both shepherds at our church's Christmas program and Henry wore his costume and loved it (when Jake was 2 he refused to put his costume on) :)

The boys got to see Santa at the Yankee Candle Factory again this year. Jake asked for a Knight's Castle, boats, and a hunting wii game. Henry asked for monster trucks and boats. They wore matching Christmas ties and were just precious to watch as they interacted with Santa. And Jake said that he was the REAL Santa, not a helper :) And on Christmas morning, they were both so excited to see the gifts that Santa left them! What a magical Christmas we had :) I wish I could freeze time on Christmas morning. It truly is my favorite time of the year~