2009

We went to Party City to purchase some basic party supplies to celebrate the New Year.  We purchased party hats, balloons, noise makers, streamers, bingo cards, and a few other supplies.  The boys enjoyed the evening and watching the ball drop on television.
 
Journaling: We brought in the new year at our apartment in Lewisville, TX.  Roland - 13, Jakob - 3.

Inspiration from the June 21st Sketch from Sassy Lil' Sketches.

Weekend Update

I finished reading a Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evavovich on my Kindle a few days ago.  I am finding that I am more interested in reading recently and just relaxing.  The author will be making an appearance on June 24th at a Barnes and Noble near us.  However, I doubt I will worry about it.  Wristbands will be distributed at 8am and then the event itself is not until 6pm. However, it is neat to me that she will be there!

Three To Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As always, Janet Evanovich writes a comical mystery involving her klutzy bounty hunter Stephanie Plum! Many laugh out loud moments throughout the book!

View all my reviews

Since I finished the book, I was debating on a different genre to read.  I started looking at USA Today's top books and came across Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin.  Reviews were pretty good so I thought I would give it a try.

Yesterday, the four of us went and saw Thor in Irving using some free movie tickets Jeff won from a radio station a while back.  The movie was pretty good.  After the movie, Jeff asked if I liked it and I told him the beginning was a little slow but other than that, I enjoyed it.  The whole time I was trying to figure out what movie I knew the Professor from and right as I was looking it up on my phone I realized he had played on Mamma Mia!

Jakob is excited about this upcoming Monday.  His teacher will return from maternity leave.  He also has Kindergarten graduation on Thursday!  Kindergarten sure went fast!

Broken Arm and No More Braces!

Jakob had a follow-up appointment for his arm today.  The X-Ray looked good and his bones are healing well so far.  His next appointment is in three weeks and his cast should come off and they will do another X-Ray.  At that point, they will decide the next steps in making sure his arm heals properly.

This past Monday, Roland's appointment was scheduled to get his braces removed. Roland started his braces the summer of 2009 and wore the braces for almost two years.  He now has a retainer to wear on his top teeth during the day and night along with a retainer to wear on his bottom teeth also at night.  Not only are the before and after pictures neat to see regarding the changes in his teeth, but look at how much he has grown!  WOW!

Before - 6/29/2009

After - 5/9/2011

2010 Family Portraits

Jeff and I have not done family pictures in three years, and knew it was time! 

Jakob (5 years old) and Roland (13 years old).  Roland is about to have his 14th birthday on December 1st and Jakob will be 6 years old on February 1st.

I really like this one of Roland and Jakob.  Both boys are growing like weeds, but seeing the height differences is really cool.

This was one of the last pictures and Jakob was wearing out.  Our photographer was great and kept Jakob just laughing and saying funny things.  Jakob was adding his own comments, but he couldn't have had more fun!

Santa Claus Pictures

Today, Jakob and I went to visit Santa Claus.  After getting home, it was too hard not to look back at the other pictures and see how much everyone has grown.

2006
Roland (9 years old) and Jakob (10 months old). Our neighbor, Sarah (6 years old), joined the boys this year and had her picture with us too.

2007
Jakob (almost 2 years old)
I love this picture and remember right after he took it I was so sad because Jakob was so sad.  I had debated about buying it, but then knew I would want to have it to look back on.  It's now one of my favorites as he was surely thinking, "Mom why are you leaving me with him?"  He has a slight tear on his cheek and he toughed it out for a picture.

2008
Roland (11 years old) and Jakob (almost 3 years old)
After this picture was finished, I realized what Jakob was upset about.  Around this time period, Jakob started carrying a bunny rabbit all over the place and he wanted it from the stroller!

2008
Jakob (almost 4 years old)
This was the year I decided to schedule last minute pictures of Roland and Jakob on the day before Thanksgiving!  It was a crazy idea and sure learned my lesson, but was so impressed how good both boys did that day and talk about some great pictures!

2009
Jakob (almost 5 years old)

2010
Jakob (almost 6 years old)
Now comparing all the years, it sure is hard to believe how much Jakob has grown.  Santa looks the same each year (except in year 2008).  He was quite proud to see Santa this year and read the letter to Santa that he wrote to Santa.  Santa said to put it under the Christmas tree so he would know what to leave.

Boo

My goal this year was to create 50 scrapbook layouts.  I'm doing pretty good with 36 layouts completed so far.  The layout above is from last year's Halloween.  Jakob enjoyed his costume last year and went with Jeff to Southwest Airlines for their Halloween event.  The boys both carved pumpkins after visiting the Pumpkin Patch.

 

The layout was created using paper from Coordinates Collections.

Good Times

This weekend MTV will be throwing their a bash to honor the greatest and latest musicians to rock our airwaves and to celebrate that we are having our first ever Scrap It With a Song BLOG HOP!!!

To be in the running for the goodies on the main blog you need to complete this week's challenge and comment on each of the DT blogs and then comment back on the main blog's hop post when you're done. The hop will last until Sunday at 8pm central time. If you found this page first, go to Scrap It With a Song and get started.



Okay, so the Trace Adkins song, "You'll Gonna Miss This," was my inspiration in my layout!  As I was pondering a great song, I came across this song and it made me think about this perfect picture I took of the boys shortly before Christmas.  The weather was beautiful outside and for anyone who has or ever has lived in Texas, you know if you don't like the weather - just wait since it changes often.  The boys were able to ride their bikes on 12/21/2009 and they even stopped and smiled for my camera!  As I heard the song, it made me think how they both are getting so big and one day before I know it they will be all grown up!  So I thought how I would feel along with how they will feel one day.  One of the lines in the song says "Good Times," which is where I pulled the title.

Over the weekend, I found a new blog with sketches and really liked the variety and colorful sketches!  I used Scrap A Little-Sketches #30 and Coordinates Collections paper from kits to create the layout.  If you are interested in the lyrics, they can be found here.

Thanks for visiting!  Time to go check out Tina's blog for the next stop!

Boys are with Grandparents

This week is sure going fast! Last Thursday, I picked up Roland since Jakob and him were headed to visit with Jeff's parents for the week.  We met Gerry on Friday at Chili's in Fort Worth and had a nice lunch.  Jakob was funny as we were leaving.  I got him buckled in his seat and was saying bye and he was like, "Mom, we're leaving - shut the door!"  Jakob was extremely excited to visit with Jeff's parents and all he could talk about was he was going to the Mimi with the trampoline.  It is also the first thing he told Roland when we picked him up on Thursday!  The boys will return this upcoming Saturday.

On Saturday, Jeff and I went to Olive Garden with Joe and Brenda.  We had a nice dinner and afterwards went to Strikz Entertainment to bowl.  Jeff and I went and saw Toy Story 3 on Monday.  It was a cute movie and afterwards we did some shopping.  I found a dress to wear to my brother's wedding later this month.  I still need to do other things to get ready, but we'll get there!

I spoke to Lana today and she said Jakob was having a blast and said he wasn't ready to come home.  She said he says he misses us, but is obviously enjoying his time with grandparents!  She told me at the lake he jumped off the ten foot dock at Horace and Kay's house!  Once he did it once, she said he swam back to the dock, and did it again and again! At the lake, she said he rode the intertube with his Uncle Brett and with Roland.  He sure loves the water.  After they returned from the lake, they have been doing things around the house.  She mentioned she purchased a Slip'n'Slide and both boys have really enjoyed it!  As mentioned, Jakob was excited about going to their house because of the trampoline.  She said, they have been on it everyday since they got to the house! This afternoon, they are going to watch Toy Story 3.

I have been doing chores and scrapbooking this week.  I had a dentist appointment yesterday and it went well, no cavities.  Since I had no cavities, I treated myself to a pedicure.  I have made four scrapbook layouts since the boys have been with grandparents; three of the layouts are completed and posted on my blog.  (Links below).

• New Home
• Christmas '08
• Bright Day at the Zoo

Grand Canyon Weekend Vacation

We woke up Friday morning early around 3:30AM!  Our flight departed Love Field in Dallas at 6:20AM and landed in El Paso.  Jeff had found a flight that we could stay on and from El Paso, it would go Phoenix, AZ.  After we landed, the pilot stated it would be a full flight and he needed to see a few people.  I knew he was calling non-rev customers.  He starts calling names and I'm hoping with my fingers crossed he doesn't call any of us!  Yet, all of a sudden, he calls Jakob!!  Jakob was really excited and said, "They called my name!" Jeff went up and shortly after we all got off the plane since obviously we could not fly without Jakob!  They have all of the non-rev people in a list on the computer and we were the top group.  They had exactly three seats available and we needed four for all of us.  The attendant then realizes again that Jeff is an employee and mentions he could ride fourth in a flight attendant seat.  It was super nice of them to let Jeff fly on that seat so we all could get there on that flight!  I knew the plane would be really full getting back on it since we were one of the last ones to get on board.  I saw two seats in separate rows but together and grab them.  Jakob did well on the plane and played his game a little.  I could tell near the end he was ready to get off the plane.  I'm sure it was a little different not sitting directly next to either Jeff or me, but overall I think he did fine and didn't appear to annoy the other two people next to him!  I was glad I grabbed those two seats since once we sat down other people were still debating where to sit.

We landed in Phoenix, AZ at 7:20AM (their time) and took the shuttle to get our car.  Shortly after arriving at the Rental Car Center, we had our car and were on our way toward the Grand Canyon.  We stopped on the way to get snacks and then eat lunch as we drove to the Grand Canyon.  It is about three-four hours from the Phoneix area to the Grand Canyon.

Once we arrived at the Grand Canyon, we purchased a few waters and began admiring the beauty of it all!  We started walking east around the edge and took many pictures along the way!  We walked and walked until we came to the end of one side and then took the bus back to the visitor center.  The Grand Canyon had three different color paths and we had finished the green path.  After we returned to the visitor center, we took the bus on the blue path.  We found a gift shop once we got off the bus before walking east again.  Jakob and Roland both bought hats and shirts.  I found a scrapbook and a pink hat with a shirt.  Jeff found a few t-shirts.

We stayed in Williams, AZ on Friday.  It is about an hour south of the Grand Canyon.  After leaving the Grand Canyon, we had a few snacks in the car but decided we would eat at the Pizza Hut in Williams near our hotel.  We did not realize until Saturday that it was really two hours behind CST, so by the time we got to Pizza Hut it was really 9:00PM to us!  I laugh because Jakob was exhausted and was pretty much asleep after eating a few pieces of pizza!

We woke up Saturday morning and had breakfast at our hotel.  It was a really nice continental breakfast including cereal, muffins, waffles, fruit, juice, and milk.  After breakfast, we finished packing up and checked out of the hotel.  We headed south to Phoenix to meet Jeff's uncle for lunch.  We arrived at his house around 11:00AM and had a nice lunch together.  After lunch, we had intentions of going to a Sea Life place that I thought would be like the Dallas World Aquarium.  However, it was a small attraction inside Arizona Mills.  The mall was designed the same as Grapevine Mills and the tourist attraction for Sea Life was not worth the $20/person price!  I was quite disappointed and we walked around the mall and then went to check into our hotel near the airport.

We relaxed at the hotel for a little while before heading out for dinner.  It was really hot in Phoenix.  The temperature for the weekend was 105.  Even though they do not have humidity, it was still really hot in Phoenix!  I was pretty worn out from the overall day at the Grand Canyon.  After watching some television, we went out for dinner.  We found an Applebees and then comically we went to a nearby Costco for ice cream!

Once we finished we went back to our hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening.  We had an early morning flight to catch out of Phoenix to Houston.  Our flight left the next morning at 7:00AM.  We were able to easily non-rev the flight with plenty of seats available. We landed in Houston at 11:35AM CST.  We were able to eat lunch at the airport before our connecting flight to Dallas.  Our next flight left Houston shortly after 12:30PM.  The flight from Houston to Dallas was really short and Jakob slept most of that flight!  I told him before getting on the plane he was taking a nap!  He was exhausted and at the point where he was hyper-silly!  I wish I could have gotten a picture of him because once he fell asleep, he was OUT!  He even slept through the entire landing and did not wake up until our plane stopped at the gate.

Overall, it was a really fun weekend and great experience.  Here are a few of many pictures I took from the trip!

Swimming at the Pool

Last Thursday, my cousin Janet came over with her kids, Aidan and Jack.  We took all the boys to the pool and they had a blast playing in the water!  It was fun taking pictures and we snapped a few really fun shots of the boys jumping into the pool! After we finished at the pool, we came back to the house and cooked hamburgers on the stove.  Everyone ate really good after playing in the pool for a good two hours!

The funniest part of the day was Jakob learning who Aidan and Jack were again.  He has met them before, but I think he just did not remember.  He was really excited that his cousin Aidan and his cousin Jack were coming over! Then he referred to Jack as baby and sometimes baby Jack!  Recently, Jakob found a little ball that Jack brought over and Jakob was concerned to make sure we got it back to baby Jack!

Roland worked really hard to get into this photo that Janet was trying to take.  Then I thought it was funny because he posed as a 13 year old!

Doctor's Appointments and Great Food for Dinner!

Monday was a busy day!  I had two regular doctor's appointments scheduled and Mom had agreed to help watch Jakob.  Initially, it began with one appointment when I first asked if she could come up for the day!  Then when I called another doctor's office, I was able to schedule the appointment on the same day!  Due to the time of the appointments, it worked better if she and Jakob came with us and we could do lunch in between the appointments.  While at the first appointment, my doctor wanted another test completed.  Right before heading into my second appointment, the hospital called me and I was able to get the other test completed on the same day too!  So what was initially one appointment worked out to be three appointments!  When we were all done, I thought Mom deserved Olive Garden!  We all met Jeff and had a wonderful dinner.

We went over the mall and wandered around.  We went to the Cheesecake Factory!  Boy did the cheesecake taste so good!  It had been such a long day in and out of doctor's offices.  Jakob did not want cheesecake and ordered vanilla ice cream instead.  I was taking a picture of my cheesecake and Mom's cheesecake and he asked me to take a picture of his ice cream too!

Roland had another orthodontics appointment on Tuesday.  It went well and it sure is neat to see how much straighter his teeth are now compared to when he first got his braces on about a year ago.  After the appointment, we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  I thought about going to Michael's and looking around but remembered I had to go home since I had scheduled Orkin to come out to the house and begin spraying to get rid of the bugs!

Swimming, Playgrounds, Zoos, and More!

I'm a little behind on my weekly updates!  Last Monday, I took the boys to the pool.  They both enjoyed the time at the pool.  Before leaving, they wanted to play in the splash zone area.  Both boys had a blast and using my phone I took pictures and some video!  Check out the video here!

I took Jakob to two libraries last Tuesday.  We went to Aubrey Library to sign Jakob up for their Summer Reading Program.  After the library, we had plans to go to the Lewisville Library to watch the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Brothers clowns.  Jakob laughed the entire time with the clowns!  I also went to CVS to pick up a few items after we had lunch on Tuesday.

Jakob and I went to the playground at his new school on Thursday afternoon.  We stayed for about 30 minutes since it was pretty hot outside.  I wanted to get out of the house and also let Jakob run and play for a little bit.  He would have kept playing if I had let him!  He is always full of energy!  We actually ran into a friend while we were there and visited with her for a little while.

Friday morning, Jakob and I went to Frank Buck Zoo and walked the zoo and fed the two giraffes!  He really enjoyed feeding the giraffes and I had no idea how he would react to it!  It was pretty cool to feed them!  We fed Moffey and Nelson.  We learned it was mating season and the two giraffes had been fighting, so they had to keep from separate from each other for a little while.  The giraffes would stick out their tongues and wait for the lettuce we bought to feed them!  Great moments!  After the zoo, we rode the small train and played at a playground next to the zoo.  Jakob really enjoyed the playground and especially the tire swing.

Jakob did super at his ice skating lessons this past Saturday!  I took pictures and video of him skating.  I will finish editing the video and uploading it to my blog soon.