Missing Nana!

Nana left on Sunday, Sarah got diagnosed with a third ear infection on Monday morning, and we are all tired and in need of Nana's cooking and cuddling!! Seriously, Jakob got a bit spoiled with the cuddling - but that's what Nana's are for!

Here are a few pics I took of Nana and the kids - many failed attempts at a nice picture of her with the kids!

Nana - pitching to Jakob!

Nana showing Sarah the "baby" on the camera - really Sarah is pointing to the picture of herself!
Out walking/riding
Independent Women!
Nana and grandkids - Attempt 1 (trying to distract Sarah by feeding the ducks, she was not enthused)
Attempt 2 - seriously, look at poor Sarah (probably had the ear infection starting this day), and do you think Jakob could possibly look up at the camera!

Love you Nana, sorry we didn't get a good pic of you with the kids - but we have the memories and all the pictures definetly show their personality and age!

Ice Skating

We had a special date night with Jakob tonight, his first time away with Mommy and Daddy - without Sarah in a very long time. We took him ice skating, quite the experience. Jakob went from not being able to walk on the carpet in his skates to skating without using the wall, we are very proud of him. He only fell a few times, luckily he was wearing his mittens, (helped to cushion the inevitable fall). The great thing I figured out with ice skating is, if you are freaking out and whining, you just need to calm your body down and you'll be ok - so I used that a lot "Stop whining, calm your body down and you'll be fine," and he was. Also, pointing out people that aren't doing as well as him, helped too - not as nice, but it did boost his confidence seeing the 20 year old guy gripping the wall and falling!
About an hour into our ice skating, the Zamboni came out - quite exciting for Jakob to watch. Then there was a little performace by a young girl (9 or 10 years old). As she started her routine, she did one spin and Jakob yells "WOW!"
Then he says, "Mommy, does everyone get to take a turn by themselves after her?" (There are at least 75 people standing around waiting to get out on the ice)
Me:"No, honey, you have to be a very good person to get out there and do that."
J:"But, I am a good person."
Me:"Oh, I mean you have to be a good ice skater."
J:"I am a good skater, now."
Me:"You are getting to be good, but can you do what she does?"
J:"Oh, no. Can we go skate some more?"

First steps on the ice

Moving along the wall!

Getting braver!
No hands on the wall!

Jakob's special after ice skating treat! His first McDonald's soft serve cone - yes his 1st, (he has had one other soft serve, I think from Dairy Queen). Oh and yes, he ate the whole thing!

Jakob asked in the car, "When can I go ice skating again?" I am so happy that he wants to do it again and that it wasn't a traumatic experience!! 

Fun with Yogurt

This is how Sarah eats yogurt now, she completely refuses to be fed!
I'm sure she is laughing at the complete mess she has made!

Visit from Nana

Nana is here for the week (my spring break) and we are keeping very busy! Have had a lot of rain and really cold weather, but still managing to get outside a bit. We've gone out on a short, very cold hike at Mt. Tabor, played some tennis, been to the library, to the park, to the bakery, and to the toy store of course! We are expecting sun at the end of the week, so we will hopefully get to go to the tulip festival, the zoo and maybe a hike?! I have yet to get a picture of Nana with both kids!

Jakob playing tennis

Sarah, the ball fetcher for Jakob - it looks like she is telling Jakob something like, "Listen, I've had enough of picking up after you here."
Running super fast down a hill
Sarah, after she ran down the same hill - she did a face plant and had a bit of a leaf left on her forehead - didn't seem to bother her one bit!
Nana and Sarah on a walk home from the Library.
Jakob riding his new scooter from Nana!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Jakob was very excited about the possibility of "trapping a leprachaun" at preschool. Every year those pesky leprachauns make a visit to the preschool, usually making a mess, hiding their shoes and leaving a shamrock trail to a treasure. This year they did the same thing - during naptime of course! 

Jakob said, "They came when we were sleeping and left a trail of shamrocks, up the steps into the hall and then we found our shoes!" 

"If somebody would have stayed awake, maybe we could have trapped them, and got their gold."  Yeah, if only a one of those kids could have stayed awake!! Too cute.

"Do you know that leprachauns love to slide on a rainbow into the forest, that's where they live and they have a lot of gold. On the other side of the rainbow is a cloud, that's how they know that is the end of that side of the rainbow." 

"I think next time they come, I will trap one and put him in a net, hang it on a stick and carry him over my shoulder, to the forest to get his gold."

Honestly, I just love this age of imagination, he seriously believes this, no questions asked, it's awesome!! 

A Message for Nana

WEEEE!

Jakob's motorcycle, (from Grandpa Noel) is Sarah's new favorite toy!

Sar bear - or Sarah bear

That's what we call her around here, it doesn't just sound cute - it fits her personality so far! She is so darn cute and cuddly and so hard headed and determined to get what she wants!
Here are some pics I took of her today:

Here she is doing her best to get to the camera

Looking stylish in her stroller (sweater knitted by the late GG Dode and pants by Auntie Rebecca!)

Riding in the swing and watching the "guk" aka ducks


Climbing up the play structure - the hard way.
Sweet success!
Heading to the slide, head first

Realizing she is going down on her bottom! Sarah usually backs up to the slide and goes down feet first but on her tummy, not today - she's 13 months working on 2 years! Of course, she flew down the slide and landed in the soggy wood chips at the bottom, this didn't stop her from doing it over and over again!

Sleep

Oh to be able to sleep like a child...