vivid imagination

jake is really into playing imaginary scenarios and right now, hunting is his favorite. i gave in and let him have a toy shotgun and he makes me and steve pretend to be deer that he is hunting. he also likes to play "bear" too. but today, he got to go hunting for real, with steve. they went for an hour right before dark. they sat in the double tree stand that steve got for xmas last year and jake took his gun :) they saw a few does and steve said that jake did very well - sitting still, being fairly quiet (which is a challenge for jake) - they had fun! every time they leave together, henry cries and cries because he wants to go too. poor buddy - one day he will get to go. and then i will be all alone - what in the world would i do with the time???? lol :)

another cute thing was that henry said "book" and "choo choo" today - and jake asked me "peel him up" an apple (he meant cut it up) :)

before i forget

sometimes i feel desperate to write memories down, before i forget them. my video camera charger is lost and i felt so sad to no record the boys on video in their halloween costumes - this will be the 1st year this happened - and yet, it is too late now - grandma got them though - hopefully i can record from her recording.....anyway, henry was a state trooper and jake kept calling him "henry cooper" instead of trooper :)

last week at school, it was a special week and each day was something fun. they had pajama day, wear red day, and wacky hair day. jake kept calling i "waxy" hair day :) at school, he can now write his letters A through I :)

henry is saying more words, like moon, bugs, shoes, milk, me...he loves the moon and points it out all of the time :)

jake also says "we haven't done that for a few whiles"

pumpkin patch patrol

jake and henry are policemen for halloween this year. jake is an officer and henry is a state trooper. they are absolutely adorable and i had the most fun posing them in the pumpkin patch as my "pumpkin patch patrol" :) they were so cute that tonight, at jake's school's halloween festival, henry won BEST COSTUME for his age group :) he really was the cutest one there!

henry is growing and maturing each day. he understand everything we tell him but does not talk much. he did say "papa" today (pointing to my dad) and points and says "moon" every night that he sees it in the sky. he also says "golly goll" for ball and is also saying the acual word "ball" too :)

jake is doing great in school and can now write letter A-K on his own (needs help with G and I) and can copy the entire alphabet by looking at it.

more later - hen is fussing

down the slide

henry went down the slide for the first time today, by himself :) no fear - loves it and of course, cries when we take him back inside. he likes to be outside - he likes to ride in steve's truck with him. he also likes to pull the chains on the ceiling fan and lights and throw a FIT if we don't let him. he loves to eat and had pasta, blueberries, and cheetos for dinner :) we are trying to reduce his bottles and he has only had 2 today (down from 4-5 normally at this point in a day)-

jake is so cute and has grown more since a few weeks ago. some of his size 6 clothes are too tight! he can recognize his numbers 1-6 and is doing well on the alphabet, over half. he starts school on wednesday and will be going all day from 8-3....i might get a little sad about this at first - i hope he will be ok and not have anxiety - fingers crossed, a little prayer is sent :) i love my babies and don't ever want them to feel sad or scared.

'pend the night

steve and i are going to an overnight farm meeting/summer expo in woodstock virginia. the boys are staying the night with grandmother and mackdaddy (pend the night, as jake would say)-

last night we asked henry where the corn was and he looked and pointed the ears of corn on the stove. and this morning we said 'henry, what happend to your hair?" - it was sticking up - and he reached up and touched it ;) he is easily entertained by taking off/putting on lids from bottles/cupe/etc and would play all day in the dishwasher if he let him. he als likes to climb up in the chair and mess with the laptop (bang the keys/shut it/ pull the internet card off)-

jake has been into dinosaurs lately and knows the names for about 4-5....he can also recognize his numbers pretty well, definitely 1-6....also i noticed this past school year that he was starting to color closer in the lines towards the end of the year, when compared to the beginning of the school year :) we went ahead and ordered his school bag for this year and he picked out a super cute dino theme (with matching thermos and lunchbox) -

my boys

jake loves his grandparents - every time he sees his grandma, he has to get a juicy and fruit-snacks before he leaves her. a little too much sugar sometimes, but a ritual that is sweet :) just now, she came over and left her goodies. but since it is 9:24pm, he had to choose between the 2, rather than have both so late....he said "i'll save the juicy for 'morrow" :)

we went to the va living museum today with grandmother, mackdaddy, and cousin ethan (who is visiting for the week) - they had a dinosaur exhibit which jake loved. henry had a great time too and was very content and good. we did have to exit the planetarium movie early because he kept talking and wouldnt sit still. but a nice time overall.

jake also went to "camp grandmother" for several days, to stay with her and spend time with ethan. they went to busch gardens, the children's museum in richmond (played with the awesome race car display), and tried to camp out each night. but it always stormed. they did manage to roast marshmallows though! he had fun and spent 3 nights away from home! i'm glad he's back home now :)

henry can follow simple directions, such as when we tell him to take a toy to daddy. he is so cute - smiles alot - likes his mama- cries when you tell him "no", especially if your voice is stern. he says "hello" very clearly when he pretends to talk on a phone. and calls a ball a Gall - wearing a size 6 shoe now - seems to be bigger than jake was at this age - will climb the ladder to jake's bunk beds if he can - knows where his eye and mouth are - does a lizard where he sticks his tongue in/out really fast :)

tidbits

when jake wants to tie 2 things together, he says he is going to "tangle" them :)

we were making pasta salad the other day and jake was helping. i asked him if he wanted to try it. he said "no, it might give me chiggers."

today, i handed henry a french fry to eat. after a few seconds, he said "ta-tu" (thank you)-

jake has had 2 ticks on him this summer. when steve pulled them off, he SCREAMED! poor buddy~