For Someone Special!

Here are 2 reasons for a smile today Aunt Cara! :) We love you!!!

Corn, anyone?

These are from several weeks ago. Last time Papa & Binga were here, they brought Iowa sweet corn! YUMMY!!!

Papa also fixed our dishwasher. Phew!! Of course, Anna "helped".

Mama...LOOK at all dis corn!

Look at the wheels bending! haha And there's not a whole lot left! It is so good. And my kids absolutely love it.

Jacob was being quite silly at breakfast one morning. He preferred eating a plastic lemon over his cereal, I guess. And wearing a rag on his head.

He wasn't the only one being silly!

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

Next I'll post a picture from this weekend (yeah, only one. Good grief!). Grandpa & Grandma came and the boys worked on a project. :)

I Love This Place

The Country School

It takes me back a century

Simpler days
When it was expected for the teacher to open the day in prayer
And having a school verse
Proverbs 22:6 is this one's


It's surrounded by reminders of God's great creation

*even if some of them are fake*

Even a grape vine growing around an archway

Gorgeous flowers everywhere

It wouldn't be Kansas without sunflowers

********************

It makes me want to stay out there all day

But life beckons and I return to the "city"

One of these days............

The Preschooler

Anna's first day of preschool was Monday. I was nervous about the early start! My kids routinely sleep until 8 or 9 (sometimes even later). So having to be AT preschool at 8 meant leaving at 7:50. Which meant getting her up at 7:15 (which meant Mommy getting up WAY TOO EARLY! haha). In my defense, I work online (not blogging...an actual job thank-you-very-much) til midnight so those early mornings are rough! :) Anyway, Anna did great Monday morning! After I finally got her to open her eyes, she popped right out of bed and headed for breakfast! She'd picked out a new outfit for her first day and couldn't wait to wear it. "My teacher will looove my new clothes, Mama."

I even had enough time to take a picture (and video!) before we had to leave! Jacob slept through it all, so Daddy stayed home with him while I took Anna to school. I was nervous how it would go because all evening/night Sunday, she kept saying she didn't want to go to preschool. I knew she would love it, but I think she was just nervous about starting something new. I told her she had to try it for a couple of days and if she didn't like it, she didn't have to keep going. To say she loved it would be an understatement!!

Anna and Mrs. Z (and Mitzi...she couldn't get her to go away!). Anna is going to love Mrs. Z and school! This preschool isn't part of the school district. It's actually about 3.5 miles outside of town. This couple has an actual school house on their property. I think she used to teach kids out there up to 4th grade, but retired a while back from that. Her daughter (who goes to our church) talked her into un-retiring to teach her last grandchild to read--since she's taught all her others to (talk about guilt!). I think Mrs. Z was more than happy to un-retire! There are only 5 students and Anna was the lucky 5th one Mrs. Z agreed to add!!

Anna at her desk!! They each have a desk like this, their own computers (reeeeeealy old ones, but who cares?! They're all so excited to have their OWN computer!), and a white board table. Anna marched right in, took her shoes off (the grass was still wet and she hates having wet, grassy feet/shoes!) and went right to her desk and starting coloring!

When I picked her up 2 hrs. later, she talked for at least 30 minutes, non-stop! We had to call Papa, Binga, and Grandpa & Grandma. We had to wait til lunch time to tell Daddy all about it. I'm quite certain she'll be reading by Christmas. She is so ready to go! :)

I honestly didn't have a hard time with this day! I really don't get very emotional about this kind of thing unless hormones are high (like the first time she held Jacob! Which I don't even remember crying about, but Aaron says I did.). Plus the morning was so busy with taking Jacob to his 2 yr. checkup and barely getting out of there in time to go pick her up! The 2 hrs. goes by pretty quickly (for all of us I think!). I was afraid this would seem like a huge time commitment that I wasn't ready for, but I think it will be good. She's really loving it (all 2 days!). And we'll just pretend that we did NOT oversleep on her SECOND DAY of school and wound up being 10 min. late!!! I'd never do anything like that! Sounds like a "Not Me Monday" post!

And here's the super cute video of the school girl :)

Translations:

Just a little bit excited. Too much excited.

When I asked her if she was going to have fun:

Swim in da pool!!!!

Mrs. Z has an awesome pool behind her house and invited the moms to take their kids swimming any time after school. Of course, it hasn't been above 65 any morning so far this week. Luckily Anna was too distracted by the actual school part to remember the pool!

My Birthday Boy!

Jacob, I can't believe it's been TWO years since this day...

You were a BIG baby...and you've stayed a BIG boy!

On that very first day, Anna fell in love with you. She's been your companion and protector since! (you're only about 3 weeks old in this picture!)

People told me when I had Anna "You'll forget how little they are!" and I just thought that was crazy!! But when I had you, even though you were a big baby, I had forgotten how little babies are! You loved cuddling (still do sometimes!) and were such a good baby! Unless you were hungry...that hasn't changed! :)

Sleep is one of the few times when you are completely still! I love your cheeks.

You are so full of energy. And you are 100% BOY!!! Once you finally started walking, there was no turning back. You do things in your own time and no one, no matter what bribe they offer, can get you to do it faster! You wear me out Bubba!

You still love wheels! You got so excited to see a fire truck under the wrapping! Such joy. Your face is very expressive. And you have the Nuckolls eyebrow look down pat!

Daddy wasn't nearly quick enough at getting that truck OUT for you!

Sheer happiness!

Seriously Dad? I don't care about the card!! Lemme at that package!

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

You freely give hugs and kisses. You bring much joy to your great-grandparents!

THE train! You love this thing! We're going to have to move it off the front porch though...it can be heard blocks away! :) You surprised everyone by never trying to touch the train. You were happy as a lark to squat and watch it go 'round and 'round!

Deciding what cake to make you this year was a piece of cake (no pun intended!). Wheels!!! I think this just might have been the easiest cake I've made so far (except for the black frosting!!!).

You weren't sure why everyone was singing to you, but you tried to blow out your candles!

Ooohhhh! Frosting on my finger!!

You were delighted when you discovered that a CAR was on your plate!!

To say you enjoyed your cake would be an understatement!! I thought your teeth would be black for weeks (I'll never make something with black frosting again! What a mess!)

Jacob, you bring so much joy and frustration to our lives! I treasure those precious moments you give me every day...a sweet smile, an unexpected cuddle, a kiss. You are crazy ornery though!! You still won't say Mama when I ask you to...you say Dada instead! You still don't talk very much, but then you've got a big sister that does it for you. And you're pretty stinkin' stubborn. Like I said...you do things in your own time! :) You weigh 30 lbs. already! And you're already 3 feet tall! There's an old wives' tale that says double your height at age 2 and that's how tall you'll be...that means 6' for you! :)

Some days I can't wait for you to start talking so I can know what's going on in that head of yours! These days, you say Mama a lot, but it's almost always "Maaa-ma!" as if you're indignant that something hasn't gone your way and it's my fault!

You can sit and play for a long time if you've got the right toys (cars, tractors...anything with wheels!). But if you get bored or hungry...you get in trouble!

Some day you will be Anna's protector and she's lucky for that! But for now, you're content to let her "mother" you. For the most part! I can't wait to keep watching your relationship grow and change.

Daddy & I are blessed over and over by the honor of being your parents! We pray that you some day come to know Christ as your Savior and grow up honoring Him with your life. We can't wait to see what He has in store for you, Jacob! We love you more than you can know (even when you drive me to the crazy house!). Happy 2nd birthday!!!

The Long Way Home

Last weekend, the kids and I made the trip home from Iowa on our own. This is actually the first time I've done that for a long time. I wasn't worried about it--the kids are old enough now that they travel pretty well. I remember trying to make that drive alone with Anna as a baby. That never went well! She hated her car seat as a baby and she could scream and cry for a loooong time! Anyway, I decided maybe we should leave in the morning on Sunday so we would get home at a decent time and maybe then I wouldn't be so sleepy driving (yeah right). So we got off about 10am. I was tired (I'm always tired!) but the kids were in good moods. We drove for about 1.5 hours to the border. There's an awesome Missouri welcome center with a great playground, so I decided we might as well stop there so the kids could really get out and play (instead of having to run around next to a gas station parking lot). I still can't believe there aren't ANY food places w/ play-places on our way home! NONE.

Anna was a monkey. And right before I snapped this picture, she was clear up standing on the bar that's at her waist!

For the longest time, he wouldn't get up on the playground. I think he was too busy watching all the trucks drive by on interstate! We stayed for over 30 min. and then made a quick stop in the next town for lunch on the go.

It wasn't long before Jacob lost the battle.

She hung on a bit longer. She was seriously having trouble keeping her eyes open to color! I promise she's seat-belted...sometimes she put the belt behind her back and I don't realize it. Like this time!

And me? I had trouble keeping my eyes open a couple times, but we made it! I was asking in my mind, along with Anna "How much LONGER???" :) We actually made really good time. We stopped several times, but not for very long. We made it in 8 hrs (with no kids it takes 7). It didn't help that one of the "shortcut" roads we take was closed! So we had to take a dirt road. We got home just in time for supper and the kids were very happy to be out of the van! And to see Daddy, of course!

I Think I'll Just Cry Now

He doesn't turn two until Monday, but the terrible twos have already started! I'm so tired!!! If this boy gets bored or hungry, he gets naughty! And destructive! Last night he made so many messes. He dumped a cup of milk on the floor (on purpose), he colored on the floor (luckily it was on the wood and it wiped right off), he swept all the magnets off the fridge, he pulled things off the table, he colored on the carpet (with crayon, which I can't get out).........that was all in less than an hour's time (except for the carpet)!!! But THE worst thing he's done so far...happened today during "nap time". And I use that phrase lightly because there wasn't a lick of sleeping going on. I had my work done and thought, hey this would be a great time to catch up on my lost sleep a bit... And then I heard Anna -- "Mama, I tink Jacob's poopy." She'd already told me that once and he wasn't. I figured she was just stalling some more but checked because that's usually when he has a dirty diaper--right after I put him down for a nap. I walked in and could smell it right away. And that's when I saw it...his hands were brown, it was smeared all over his sheet and bumper pad, his legs were smeared. GROSS!!! He thought it was great fun. Especially the part where he got to play in the shower while I scrubbed him and cut his nails. If I knew it wouldn't hurt him, I would've bleached him! So after cleaning him and his bed up, I put him back to bed and then I just wanted to sit down and cry. How come he's so ornery?! I wasn't an ornery kid...I don't deserve an ornery kid!!! :)

But then he does something really cute, like put a rag on his head and pretend to eat a fake lemon at breakfast. And then I just smile and laugh. Until I remember the poop incident. Then I just want to crawl in bed. Papa? Are you coming yet?? I think Jacob is ready for Papa Boot Camp! :D hehe