Firestation Tour

A few weeks ago, our playgroup had the opportunity to visit and tour a local volunteer firestation. Luke was super excited about going, and in his excitement slipped and mentioned to Jacob that we were going BEFORE he went off to school. This resulted in tears and a very upset little 5 year old who had to go to school that day. (We try to keep our daily plans for the day from Jacob until after they occur, to prevent such episodes.)

Taking a turn at the hose

With some buddies

Hanging out in the truck

The kiddos all got to try on the fireman's gear before he put it all on himself. He wanted to show the kids it was just a "costume" so that if they ever came face to face with a fireman in full getup, they wouldn't be scared. Every time someone had to put on the pants, he would say "Pull up your pants!" and the kids would all laugh hysterically.

Here's Luke trying on all the gear:

"Pull up your pants!"

Put on the jacket

Can't forget the helmet

My little fireman

Look how big those trucks are!

Family Fun Fest

Last Saturday was the Family Fun Fest at Jacob's elementary school. The boys had been looking forward to it for weeks. I had to leave town over the weekend to be with family for my grandma's funeral, but the boys stayed home with David. Much to their delight, he took them to the festival for an afternoon of fun. Here are a few pictures from their activities:

A little putt-putt

Baseball

and Fishing

Jacob found it quite funny that he and Luke got to climb on "Jacob's Ladder"

Pizza

And general silliness

Of course, winning wonderful prizes makes it even more fun!

Bluebonnets

Even though the sun was shining brightly with not a cloud in the sky, I headed west from Cypress to take pictures of the boys in the bluebonnets. A tradition here in Texas, and one I've continued with my boys, is to take pictures during the blooming of the Texas state flower, the bluebonnet. It blooms for about 4-6 weeks in late winter/early spring. It wasn't the best day for quality photos (unless you have an assistant to hold a sun shade, which I don't), but I wanted to make sure we got something.

The boys were being super cooperative so I got some nice shots, even with shadows on their faces and less than vibrant colors.

My Loves

Easter Activities

Now that Jacob is in school everyday, we don't have as many opportunities for crafts and special holiday activities, so he gets really excited when I have one planned for after school.

One from last week was to make a Bunny Train. The boys and David love decorating a gingerbread house each year at Christmas, so when I saw a kit at the store for making the train, I bought it. After I put train engine and caboose together,

I let the boys be creative and have fun decorating it as they wanted.

This one cracks me up. One of the best parts of working with icing, is getting to lick your fingers...


I didn't get a picture of the finished product. I guess I'll have to do that before it gets tossed. It is definitely a work of art.

For the last two weeks, Jacob has asked about dyeing Easter eggs. With all the after school activities taking up our afternoons, we just hadn't been able to make time. Until today. Jacob ran off the bus and immediately asked if today was the day for dyeing Easter eggs. Thankfully, Luke and I spent some time before he got home, getting things ready.

Here they are, ready to make masterpieces.

Luke put one egg in each color, and it looked like he would be done in record time.

But then he decided every egg needed to go into every color.Working hard.

Jacob was ready to go.

And was very meticulous about placing each egg.

And he was very pleased with his results. Even making an egg with the word 'Mom' on one.

The finished products. Jacob's are on the left, and Luke's are on the right. 2 of Luke's took a nose dive to the pavement, as you can see with all the cracks on a couple of them.

Winter Soccer

Winter Soccer is coming to a close. Each of the boys' teams has one game remaining (it is actually the second of 2 make up games as we had 2 rained out this season.) Jacob loves to play and is turning into quite the good little soccer player as well.

I volunteered to coach Luke's 3 year old team in the fall, and really enjoyed it, so I'm doing it again this winter.

Luke likes soccer ok, but isn't nearly as excited about playing as Jacob. He doesn't have the speed and aggressiveness you need for the sport, but perhaps that will come with time. I think soccer is such a great sport for the kids, so I plan to keep them in it as long as they are enjoying themselves.