My baby's not a baby any more

My baby turned 3 last Thursday!! I can't believe it. We had such a great day and it was even better that the boys got out of school at noon so we could all spend most of the day together. First, he helped me make his cake. I let him do everything but the eggs. Not real comfortable with him and those yet! Then, he watched while I decorated the house with streamers and balloons. Which, by the way, were the biggest hit. We're thinking next year, all we'll give him are balloons! When the boys got out of school, we went to Chuck E Cheese for a few hours and had a ball. Jacob's favorite thing to do there was ride the little car. Of course, Daddy's favorite thing was the hunting game and I prefer anything that will give you lots and lots of tickets!! Sammy and AJ were into the ticket games as well, until they started "hunting" with Daddy. Can't wait to go there again in 2 weeks for Sammy's birthday! When we got home, Jacob opened up his presents and we had cake. It was one of the best days we've had in a long time and I love that little boy to death. Happy Birthday, Jacob!!

A boy and his bear

I finally got a picture of Jacob with his guitar. Of course his bear has to be right beside him! I never dreamt in a million years how much he would like his bear. He's even named him "Bear". Yeah, he's not real original!! I think the name is perfect though! He's already got a hole under his arm from where Jacob drags him around the house all day! And when he thinks no one's listening, you can hear him saying "I wuvee too bear!" So cute.

Christmas Pics

This is what Santa brought Sammy and AJ this year. They had really really wanted a wii, but I told them that if Santa brought them a wii, I would throw it away because they don't take care of their other games and until they did, they wouldn't be getting any more game systems. No way was I going to tell them that Santa couldn't find a wii (or afford one!). That just doesn't make sense. Santa can do anything. As spoiled as my children are, I will give them this: not once did they mention the fact that they didn't get a wii for Christmas, and for that I am very proud of them.

This is one half of what Jacob got from Santa. His other present was a guitar with a microphone. I finally got a picture of it, so I will post that sometime soon. He loves this bear!! He won't go anywhere without it. (pictures to be posted)

The boys got 2 different presents this year that were pretty much the same thing, just different colors. This is their nightlights. It was so funny to see them oohin and ahhing and then asking "what is it?" Jacob broke his the next day, broke AJ's 3 days after that and Sammy's lasted a total of 6 days. I won't even start in on how mad I am about that!!

Jacob holding his nightlight

They were so curious about these presents forever. It was a pain in the butt to wrap them, too!

Once again, it took a long time to figure out what they were. We finally had to tell them they were banks. I have no idea where Jacob's is. How can you lose something that big and colorful in a house?!?!?

This turned out to be one of the biggest hits as a present this year. It was one of my favorites growing up and the boys love to play it. I got a lot of games this year that is specifically for the family so we can spend more time together. It's really nice. If you look close in the background to the right, you can see Jacob's guitar!!

Presents from Grandma Pat

Jacob holding his picture words he got from Grandma Pat. He likes those the best. We've went through them and if he doesn't know what the picture is, when I tell him, he can repeat it and remember it next time. It's fun to watch him get all excited when he sees something he knows!

Sammy loves the show "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" so this was the perfect gift for him. A hand held version of the game. He'll sit in his room all day playing it, every so often yelling out a question if he doesn't know it!

Here's AJ with whatever it is. I thought it was some kind of legos, but the kids have informed me "no" it isn't! But I do know that you can put them together and build things, so if it's all the same to them, I will continue to call them legos!

Sammy with his new sweatshirts. Very much needed, thank you, Grandma!!

New pants as well. I swear, every time he comes home from school, he has a hole in his left knee and I still can't figure out what he does to his pants where it just rips the left knee. He says it's from sitting "criss cross applesauce" but I don't think so.....!!!

Jacob with his little outfit. I'll have to get pictures of him wearing it since you can't really see what it is!

AJ with his outfit. It was a size 7 and looked WAY too big for him, but they fit and the top is almost too small. Is he too young for dieting?!

Merry Kitmesssh and Happy ??? yeeeeaaahr

That is as close as I can get to writing how Jacob says Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And it took forever to figure out what he was saying! The kid cracks me up. Of course, if he hears and repeats a bad word, you have NO problem understanding what he says! Once again, we weren't able to go back to Iowa for Christmas and had to spend it at home. The boys didn't seem to mind it, but I grew up every year spending Christmas with grandparents, all my aunts, uncles and cousins on my mom's side and I really want that for my children. Those were the best memories I have growing up and it was always so much fun. So it makes it hard for me when we don't get to spend the holidays with my family. I tried to make it a happy one though, but I just don't think that's possible any more in this family.

As always, the kids were allowed to open one present Christmas Eve and the rest Christmas Day. Here's Sammy with his present (Nerf Darts) which he has since either lost the darts or Jacob's ruined them.

Here's Jacob with his present (thank you Grandma Pat!) A learning game of numbers and pictures and the other one is a learning game of the alphabet. We started working on the alphabet one and soon will start the number one.

Here's AJ with his present. Perfection. (thank you Grandma Pat!) He's not sure about it though. He gets frustrated so easily anyway, and this game doesn't help. All of us sat there that night trying to get all the shapes in their right places before the timer went off and I was the only one who was able to do it. Of course, it took me 5 tries, but I did it! I was quite proud of myself too, because when I was growing up, I (stress I) hated that game! The first time he gets it done right though, he's going to love it.