Coordinates Collections January 2-Page Sketch: Step by Step

I used the January 2009 Confetti kit from Coordinates Collections and the January 2-Page Sketch to create the layout! I saw the white scalloped paper and instantly grabbed these 2008 snow pictures. I could not think of a title other than the usual. I have to thank Lindsay for her inspiration for my title because this was the first time Jakob really experienced snow. Since we live in Texas, it is usually more ice/snow mix and on this occasion it was primarily snow and we had a decent amount of it, rare.  Feel free to see my other layouts here!

My Favorite Pictures of 2009

January
Schools were closed for two days in January of 2009 due to pure ice.  It was extremely thick on this area near our apartment.  We went outside on the second day because I thought I would take Jakob to school.  I could not even get my car door open the ice on the car was so thick!  Our neighbors had her car going because she was trying to run to the store for dog food!  Instead, I gave her some dog food so she didn't have to risk it  Jakob enjoyed playing carefully on the ice for the short time we were outside.

February
Jakob turned 4 years old in 2009!  It sure is hard to believe and he is getting so big.  We celebrated with friends and family at Going Bonkers.  He loved every minute and enjoyed having his friends with him to play with and celebrate his birthday.

March
We headed to the Fort Worth Zoo over Spring Break!  It sure was fun and so busy!  I did not know but Spring Break is the busiest time for the zoo.  When I stopped to think about it, it really does make sense.  This upcoming year, I have asked my mom to purchase season tickets to the Fort Worth Zoo so we can go throughout the year and enjoy it in the different season!

April
Southwest Airlines hosted the 36th and Last Annual Chili Cookoff.  The boys were able to do rides, play some fun games, and eat.  Jakob finally started enjoying the rides while we were here and since then has loved all the rides!   He used to hate carousel rides, but now he loves them!  We also tasted lots of different chili from different people who work for Southwest Airlines.

May
We visited our apartment pool many times this past summer.  These are a few of the earlier shots of Jakob playing in the splash zone. He absolutely loves playing in the water in the summer time!

June
We went to California in June.  The trip started at DisneyLand and we spent 2 days visiting the parks before heading to San Diego to also visit Randy and Nikki.  We went to the San Diego Zoo while in San Diego.  I was really proud of Jakob at the zoo because he walked and walked!  Jakob was so excited to get the pictures with Mickey Mouse and Pluto.  We almost had a picture with Goofy, but each time we got in line the line was closing.  Regarding DisneyLand, I totally under estimated our time for Disney!  Jeff and I went to DisneyWorld for our honeymoon and we were able to do most everything.  However, I forgot about kids getting tired and naps, etc!  Oh well, we can go again!

July
We usually go to Lake Brownwood for the 4th of July.   This past year, it was amazing to see how low the water was at the lake.  It was so low that not all boat ramps were open, but Jeff's parents still had access.  This year was the first year I got up on the wake board.  I attempted it on the first day and before water skiing so I would not be sore.  However, the day after wake boarding and water skiing, I was sore!  It is so much fun though!  Roland also water skied without extra support from Daniel.  It took him some work, but he did it!  Jeff and Jakob also rode the intertube and Jakob laughed so hard while riding!

August
Jeff and I  purchased a home to build in late August.  We had looked at Horizon Homes many years ago and went and looked again in August.  We completely fell in love with a model being built!  It is 2300 square feet, with an open floor plan, eighteen inch tile, granite counter tops in the kitchen, three bedrooms, one study, two and half bath, and two and half car garage!  We love it!

September
Jakob played soccer in the Fall.   He took some cute pictures, but at least last season it was not his favorite sport.  We might try it again, but I have not decided yet. 

October
I took the boys to the Flower Mound Pumpkin patch.  It was the first time Jakob had been to one and I think it was the first time for Roland.  They both enjoyed it and we took some nice pictures!  While we were there both boys picked out pumpkins to carve.  They had fun picking the "best" pumpkin...it was funny to watch them look!  Roland went through the maze with Jakob, but Jakob got a little scared halfway through and climbed on top of the hay bales to get to me fast!

November
Jeff and I bought my new camera on Black Friday.  We were in Abilene visiting family for Thanksgiving.  Roland, Jakob, Hannah, and Lana were on the trampoline when my camera was charged and ready to go!  I tested the sports mode on the camera and was extremely happy to receive clean, crisp photos that were not blurry with streaks from the movement!!  I was able to capture Roland jump high in the air while they took turns jumping high!

December
We had a great Christmas visiting family.  Jakob visited Santa and asked for Bakagan toys for Christmas and was excited when he opened his presents from him!  We visited with my grandparents in Austin on Christmas Eve and then headed to my grandmother's house on Christmas Day.  Jakob really enjoyed opening presents, helping others open presents, and really enjoyed passing presents out to people!   For Christmas, I received a new camera and I have been working on taking pictures with it daily for my Project 365 challenge.  I changed my camera settings to Manual to attempt to take a different picture of our Christmas tree before I put all the presents underneath.  I really enjoyed having off this Christmas and Jakob appreciated having some time off from school too.

Emergency Rooms are NOT Fun!

Jakob started Vacation Bible School at the United Methodist church near us this past week. He went each day except Wednesday, to let him rest after the long night in the ER. He had fun while there. They did many activities and created many crafts. He also brought home things that were made by others and has continued playing with the random things. His two favorite things are a riced filled water bottle with objects inside and a stuffed green turtle. They also took a picture of everyone in his class on Tuesday and created a cute frame too!

On Tuesday, I cleaned our balcony while Jakob was at VBS. Since Jakob enjoys playing in the sand, I had sand over most of the balcony. I had forgotten about the sand in the container and the lid was off of it. When I walked outside to begin the process, I noticed these bugs coming out and flying in the sand! I jumped and shrieked initially...then I was carefully trying to determine what they were. I first thought they were those flying ants, but later ruled it out. I never figured out what exact bug was making a home in Jakob's sand, but they all were killed with bug spray and/or flew away! Okay, so the toys that were sitting on the sand container were thrown away. Partially because I was grossed out from the bugs, but more importantly I had sprayed bug spray on them. I carefully picked up the other random sand toys and they came into the house and were soaped down and bleached! As I continued to ensure the bugs were dead, I swept up all the sand and cleaned the container. Later, the container came into the house and it too was drenched in the bathtub and bleached! My balcony is quite clean right now, except for the colored marks from sidewalk chalk on the concrete!!

As many of you already know, Jakob fell down Tuesday evening on the stairs. We were returning from swimming and were on the way to the apartment. He had been worrying about two toes on his right foot. Somehow he had blisters on them, which I am not sure how he got those since we spent most the time in the big pool. Anyhow, we didn't get up 1 step before it happened. When he fell, I felt so bad because he was crying and I said to get up. I had not realized his hands had not caught him and he actually landed rough! At that point I realized what happened and quickly carried him upstairs where Jeff and I got him changed and stopped the bleeding. The poor thing hit right below his right eyebrow. We got him out of swim trunks and into pajamas so we would not have to change him later not knowing what time we might get home from the emergency room. I quickly changed from my swimsuit and we were off to the Medical Center of Lewisville. After everything was said and done, he had 4 stitches. We were on the way home after 11:00PM after him falling shortly after 7:00PM. He has done well this week after falling and hasn't had a major reaction to it. He did tell Roland tonight a little about the fall and reenacted some of his crying (when he fake cries, it is too funny!) and how he told the doctors he needed a bandaid! During the whole event, Jakob kept saying he wanted to eat and he wanted a cheeseburger. Since it was way to late to eat, I took him to Whataburger on Wednesday. Since Tuesday night, we have been keeping the Neosporin and his Transformer bandaids on it. He has really enjoyed wearing the Transformer bandaids! It has been healing well and I have been brave and took a few pictures of it each day so we could see the difference each day. Looking back, it is amazing how much it has already healed. I did pretty good throughout the whole event. At the hospital, the doctors and nurse said how impressed they were of me. They said normally moms have a hard time. I was down near his feet rubbing his legs and continued to talk to him to keep him calm during the event. However, when we were completely done, I became queasy and had to sit for a moment. I suppose the adrenaline wore off, but was better after a little water and sitting down for a moment. I must say I was more relieved after talking to Mom and Mema when they both asked me if he also had a black eye. His eye has shifted colors in the previous days, but them asking me made me know it was common! As of this evening, he is down to 2 stitches left. He lost 1 early on, but it was the bottom stitch and from looking at the area, it looked sealed. This evening after dinner, I went to change his bandaid and to put more Neosporin on it and realized the center stitch remaining was missing. Again, the overall area appears sealed and the hospital had said the stitches were to come out in 5 days (Sunday), but they are officially coming out on Monday. We will continue to put Neosporin on it to help from major scarring.

We decided to rearrange our apartment on Wednesday night! My computer was in the bedroom along with my scrapbook table (aka: card table). We had a loveseat couch in the living room that we thought might fit in our bedroom if we moved things around. I grabbed the measuring tape and found it would fit. It would be wonderful if the master bedroom was a little bigger, but it works. The living room looks especially larger with moving the love seat out of it. The bedroom has a cozy feel to me now and have actually went in the bedroom to read sitting on the couch. We tend to rearrange at random times. It sure is a great way to vacuum and freshen things up! I need to take a picture of the living room, but I was still finishing it up yesterday. Today, I took some time to scrapbook and created a few layouts.
On Friday, we all attended Roland's summer band camp concert. He attended all week from 8:00AM-12:00PM. I think he enjoyed it, based on what he said. Jakob enjoyed listening to the concert. When we first walked in, Roland's band was warming up on stage. Jakob covered his ears as normal and said it was too loud! He has done that at the other two concerts during the school year. However, after we got in there and sitting down he stopped covering his ears. He was quite excited listening to the songs Roland played. The other band played a few more songs including the theme from Transformers. Can you guess Jakob loved that song too?

Outside Playing

We went to Target today and bought a new outside toy for Jakob. It's a combo sand and water table made by Little Tikes. I have been cleaning the balcony and it was time to exchange the toys anyhow. It came with the little castle and characters to play along with.












We also bought some Moon Sand, which is supposed to be easier than real sand. The reviews I read talked about how it is still messy...but it's still a form of sand! I would not expect Roland or Jakob to play with any type of sand inside! I figured we'll see how it is and we could even do play-doh in the 'sand' portion of the toy when it gets cooler (since play-d0 is cheaper than Moon sand). We ended up buying the Monster Truck Moon Sand since Jakob enjoys cars...he'll probably have fun making the molds and then destroying them!

More Texas Snow!

We have had a lot of snow this winter, and even if it's only "Texas Snow", it has been pretty. I was in Denton at school yesterday when the snow began, but temperatures were above freezing, so the snow was only sticking to grass, rooftops, cars, but not streets. That was nice for the drive home. However, in the overnight hours, the temperatures dropped below freezing and another round of snow came in. I snuck out early enough this morning to get pictures before it all melted!

Our apartment is located in the upper-left corner of the building in this picture.

Apartment Pictures

Here are a few pictures of our new apartment. The first picture is looking into the living room from the front door. The other living room picture was taken looking in the opposite direction. The last picture is our master bedroom.