Happy 5th Birthday Jacob!

Today is Jacob's 5th Birthday and he couldn't be happier! He has been asking us for months if he could be 5! I guess, in his head 5 is better than 4!

Since Billy and I are both had to go back to work today, we celebrated his birthday with a family party on Saturday evening. Jacob asked for a race car cake so I attempted to make one for him. Though it wasn't perfect, he saw it and yelled "THANK YOU MAMA!" so I guess I did ok! He was spoiled rotten by everyone with more fun new toys to play with!

While Jacob is beyond excited to be getting older, I am really having a hard time with it, more so than the fact that Kyle (our older son) is getting older too! When we met the boys, Kyle was already 5, he had started to lose some of that "baby, little boy" stuff. Jacob was almost 3 and still a baby! He had just started to talk and even that was just a few words and phrases. Looking at Jacob lately, I am beginning to see that he is starting to lose that "baby look" to him!! Since Billy and I adopted to boys at the ages of 4 and 6, we missed out on the baby things. I know we can't change that and we wouldn't change it for the world but I can still be a bit sad, can't I?

The Happiest Place on Earth...

This summer we were lucky enough to take the boys on their first trip to my favorite place in the world, Walt Disney World! They also flew on an airplane for the first time! Billy and I had been planning the trip since March but we didn't say a word to the boys about it, not even the morning we were leaving. We had decided we just didn't want to hear the endless questions of "when do we leave for Disney World?" The morning we left,we told the boys we had to getup early to go to Columbus to take care of somethings. When they found out what the real plan was they were so excited, to say the least! I think Billy and I were just as excited though, if not more. At least we knew what was in store!

We stayed "in the World", at a Disney owned hotel which, in my opinion, is the only way to go to Disney. We did it all! Jacob and Kyle were the perfect age to go! The boys wanted to ride everything. Jacob had some issues with not being tall enough to ride some of the roller coasters though. I must say, our boys are thrill seekers! They loved every ride! Billy and I enjoy thrill rides so we were happy to know they do too!

We had signed the boys up for "The Pirates League" where they are made into pirates. After a bit of thought, Jacob decided in no uncertain terms he was not doing it though. Kyle loved becoming a pirate for the day. He also loved the attention he got throughout the Magic Kingdom that day for his "spooky face!"

At first, Jacob was a bit unsure of the characters, but he did finally warm up to them. He asked over and over again about meeting Minnie Mouse! We were also lucky enough to run into Lightning McQueen and Mater, two more of his favorites!

We enjoyed Donald's breakfast at the Animal Kingdom one morning as well.

We definitely can't wait to go back! I am already working on Billy for a trip next year! :-)

It's been a while....

WOW! Time goes so fast! I can remember feeling like I had all the time in the world to play, run and enjoy life when I was a kid! Now that I am a grown up, time goes by way too fast. Not enough time in the day to get everything done. We have been busy with finishing up our school years, baseball, and family time. I thought everyone would seeing some pictures of all our happenings!

Jacob has finished his first year of preschool! I can't believe it! They had a preschool completion program at school which they practiced for. Jacob sung the songs for weeks before. The day of the show, he screamed! He was very overwhelmed with the people there!

Enjoying the sprinkler on a nice, hot day at Grandma and Pop's!

Playing baseball at Mamaw and Papaw's on Memorial Day!

Kyle playing baseball.

Kyle's 1st grade awards assembly. Our big guy got an award for his effort this year. Thanks for a great year Mrs. Wilson!

Dying Eggs...

Easter

We spent Easter at Mamaw and Papaw's house, (Billy's mom and dad) with Aunt Sam, Uncle Scott, Kylee, Skylar, Monica and Terry. We had a great afternoon with beautiful weather. The kids enjoyed an easter egg hunt and some baseball and golf in the yard. We all enjoyed a great dinner thanks to Betty and Sam. This Easter my parents decided to go to South Carolina to visit with my grandparents. We missed having them at home with us but are so glad that my pop is feeling well enough to go on a trip!

Just 2 wheels...

2 weeks ago Kyle learned to ride his bike with just two wheels! He was so excited. He spent the afternoon riding up and down Grandma and Pop's driveway!

SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!

That sums up the last week or so here in Ohio! Schools were closed for three days last week due to the weather. Since today was President's Day, we had a day off. It has snowed all day with about 3 inches or so already on top of the white stuff from last week. We have already gotten the call that tomorrow is another snow day. As much as the kids are liking being home, I must say I am getting pretty tired of being home! There is only so much that you can get done at home when you have no other option!

This afternoon we bundled up nice and warm and headed out to play! We had a blast. Billy pulled the boys around on a sled (since we have no hills in our yard to go down on!) They had a blast. Our dogs romped around with us for a while. I think they may love the snow just as much as the boys do!

Long time no blog....

Life has been CRAZY around here. I think that crazy may be a bit of an understatement but it's the best I could come up with! Right before Christmas was the last night I blogged. As some of you may know, my dad has been rather sick for a long time. He was listed on the Ohio Transplant list for a liver and a kidney. After one day of a false alarm, my dad received a liver and a kidney on Christmas Eve. After a very LONG day waiting for the transplant to be over (8 minutes shy of 13 hours to be exact!) and a few weeks of recovery, my dad is doing well. Thank god. You never know how important someone is until you are faced with the possiblity of not having them. Needless to say, Christmas is a blur. Billy and I spent the day spending time with the boys. They were a blast Christmas morning. As always, they were spoiled rotten by Santa and everyone else. We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas with my parents and sister in a few weeks when Susan comes home again. The boys are enjoying the fact that Grandma and Pop still have a Christmas tree up!

This year I decided to create a photo calendar on Snapfish. It was so easy and so much fun finding pictures to include in each month. As I was looking through the tons of digital pictures we have of the last two years, I realized that our boys have done more then some kids have done in their whole life. Biily and I enjoy traveling and seeing the sights. Luckily the boys enjoy doing that as well. From day trips to long road trips, we have done a lot!!

I found some great shots of the boys and of us all together and thought I would share with everyone!