Ninjago Party!

We had Jakob's 7th Birthday party this weekend, he chose the theme of Ninjago (Lego Ninjas). This was our first real party at our house, I mean real party, the adults had just as much fun as the kids, it was GREAT!

We had a Ninja cake, ninja head bands to make with their chosen Ninjago character, a bounce house - very exciting for Jakob and well worth the $80 - blow up ninja swords, and potato sack races! It went pretty smooth - had a few snafuus with the blow up swords - boys don't know when to stop with the swords but, with a little guidance things settled down!

Ninja cake, made by Grandma Kathy!
The Birthday ninja boy in the bounce house!
Swords and balloon game in the bounce house - they had to see who could keep the balloon in the air the longest - you can see the Birthday boy in the lower right corner - cheating?!
Potato sack races!
Sarah, poor sweet girl at the almost all boy party (one other girl). She did NOT like losing the races or games, she is pretty competitive this one! I'm thinking she is going to rock those boys later on - at basketball or volleyball maybe? Until then, she'll just look tough!
Dad's against the top boy finishers! Look at Mark - he was doing a full rodeo swing here! I so wish we had the ending of this race on video, he managed to come up right next to Jakob and push him out of the way so that he could win - HYSTERICAL!
Great Grandma Willy's first visit to our new house, we felt so blessed to have her here with us for the festivities!

One of Jakob's favorite gifts (thanks Ted and Loretta!) - a 394 piece Lego Hero Factory set - he did a lot of it on his own, just a couple hours with Daddy!

The weekend

Kids finished their soccer with the YMCA, and got some very special medals!

Sarah finally played more than a few minutes in a game, that is an accomplishment for her!
Jakob rocked his soccer game, had lots of shots on goal and played some EXCELLENT defense. He has such speed and determination. He had parents on the other team cheering him on for his speed and defense skills!


Today, we went to the pumpkin patch - it is 45 minutes from us but it took us over 2 hours to get there, apparently it is the busiest weekend of the year to go there! Won't make that mistake again. Needless to say, the kids did not want to turn around once we were 1 hour into the drive. So we tried to make the best of it - but it was about 90 degrees and past Sarah's nap time, so it was umm,.....DIFFICULT!

At least the kids had a favorite part of it - for Jakob is was the shaved ice and for Sarah is was the horse/carriage ride. I guess I would have to say my favorite part is the hunt for the pumpkin, it was a short one b/c it was so hot and it was quite picked over but it's still my favorite part. I think for Mark, his favorite part was sitting in the shade with a cold shaved ice, probably would've liked a beer instead, he did work hard hauling our pumpkins around!! I haven't taken a pic of the pumpkins we picked out but we have a "family" pumpkin that is 35lbs, it's our biggest one yet! Jakob and Sarah picked out some other interesting little ones for Nana&Papa, Grandma Kathy and for GG Willy.

Mark hauling the load!
Sarah's found one!
Jakob too
One of the "Big Mac's" as they call them in this field.

Overheard Sarah say...

"Daddy what kind of human is that over there, a boy or a girl?"

"I don't want this underwear anymore, they're too cute with flowers...I want Batgirl underwear."

"Jakob you are being really annoying" (Hadn't heard her say annoying before)

"Jakob you look like a strong man" (Jakob was in his soccer uniform)

Last week, she had a "night dweam" as she calls a nightmare and said it was about the "Big Bad Wolf". When reminded that he isn't real, she nodded and went into the bathroom. While in the bathroom she says to herself, "If I saw that big bad woof I would poke him in the paw."

I wish I could remember everything she says, seriously out of the mouth of babes!

Wow that flew by...

September came and went, and it was a busy one!

Long story short this is what happened: Jakob started first grade, doing daily homework, PTO meetings, fundraisers, Sarah and Jakob in YMCA soccer, my 35th Birthday, Ben Harper concert, Wild Animal Park, camping at the beach and now we are on to planning Jakob's 7th Birthday party!

Jakob is showing off his yoga skills, he practices at his after school program,

Sarah and Daddy at the Wild Animal Park
Sarah's first soccer game. She was not too excited about a team sport, but when she gets the ball she goes for it.
The whole family at the wild animal park! So fun!
One HAPPY 35 year old, 10-15 rows back at Ben Harper!!
You know who!!

Our big guy!

Jakob started first grade today, I feel old just saying it. He's no longer officially little, not a baby, not a toddler, not preschooler or a kindergartener - ugh. My heart hurts, the time literally just flew by and I feel like I can only remember bits and pieces. I was getting teary eyed just trying to remember what he was like at a year and what his little voice sounded like. I know that the next 6 years will go just as fast, I'll be typing about how old I feel having a teenager in a blink of an eye!
Ok enough whining about the things I can do nothing about - time, change etc.

This morning we had a first for first grade, we walked with Jakob to school from our new house! Jakob actually rode his scooter with his buddy Elias, Mom's and siblings in tow and Mark! Jakob managed to fall a few times on the scooter, I managed to yell at him once because he was riding too fast - parent of the year there! Luckily I had band aids with us in our school supply bag!

It was kind of nuts at school with people trying to figure out where they were going, including us! We found Jakob's classroom, met his teacher Mrs. Murray, very nice and he promptly found his desk. Jakob mentioned to me that he thought that some kids in his class were 2nd graders, I thought maybe they were repeating first! But no, we found out that he is in a 1st - 2nd combo class and was "hand picked" by the principal for this class (along with 8 others) because of their attention span, ability to work independently etc. So, after some shock and fear of hearing that he was in this class, I felt better when she said that. I think he was actually excited to be in class with the older kids, he told me this afternoon that some of the 2nd graders have just turned 7 - and yes he will be 7 in a month!

So, all in all a day of anxiety, tears and joy!

Sarah's obsession with getting married...

It started probably a year ago, she talks about wearing a wedding dress, getting married to her brother or Daddy, I don't know why she is so obsessed with it, but she is. Well, my parents brought my wedding dress down for me to store now, (guess we have a house and we are adults, so we have to store it) and I made the mistake of showing it to Sarah. She thought that she was going to get to wear it then, and was so upset that she couldn't take it out of the box. So, I told her that when she is old enough to get married she could wear it if she wanted to, that satisfied her and now that's all we hear about, "When I'm a growm (yes GROWM) up, I will wear your dress."

Tonight she was looking at pictures on our wall of our wedding and said, "I wish I could be at your wedding, when you get married, I want to go."

Me: "Oh yeah Sarah, I'm sorry you weren't there, but you weren't born yet, and I'm not getting married again, but you'll get to go to a wedding someday."

Sarah: "Yeah and you'll be in the back seat."

Me:"Oh, what do you mean, you are going to drive me?"

Sarah: "Yeah, I'm going to get married and you'll be in the backseat."

Me: "Who are you going to marry?"

Sarah: "Probably Daddy"

I see now where I stand!

Another day in the life of Jakob and Sarah...

Just thought I would post a few pics to keep current with happenings here:

Jakob is still loving Blaze the gecko, not as excited about him, but when he remembers him, he is! I don't have a picture of what Jakob is really into right now, paper airplanes, I really need to take a picture of the 50 or so airplanes he's made on his own and likes to leave lying around the house. He really likes to throw them from the top of the stairs and/or at someone!

Sarah, being Sarah, what else can I say. She is so lucky she is cute, she's been quite the handful these days, lots of tantrums, lots of yelling and a lot of stress on the parents. We are going to be learning how to best help her soon. Until then, we breathe, drink wine/beer and try our darndest to be patient.

Sarah's first swim lessons without a parent, she did great.

Sarah's dream of holding and caring for a real baby came true this weekend, the Heidrick family came to visit, and this is Madeleine (8 weeks), a real doll!

Saved the best picture for last, this is what happens when Mom goes on a walk! Look at my boy, what a good big brother! And Sarah, she looks about 5 in this picture - scary how he has grown so fast!

We were walking home from the YMCA last week, Jakob and I were talking about how different dogs are, how some need obedience training and some don't. I said, "Yep, like some kids are more difficult than others." Jakob, "Yeah, like Sarah." Me, "Yeah, but we just have to learn how to work with her." Jakob, "Yeah, but I hope she still stays crazy, it wouldn't be much fun without her crazy!" So true!