Fall Festival

A couple weekends ago we took the kids to the Fall Festival at Rheault Farms. We had a blast. We went on Sunday right around noon and I think that’s when everyone else decided to go because it was busy. They had a couple Games Galore games, pony rides, barrel train rides, carnival type games, straw bale maze, pumpkin patch, decorating cookies and pumpkins and you could even make a scarecrow hat. It was a lot of fun. We didn’t get a chance to pick a pumpkin out of the pumpkin patch or ride the barrel train ride but MaKena rode on the ponies and loved it. I think she would have gone back several times but the line was too long. The kids ran through the corn maze and petted the animals. We then stood in line to decorate a cookie and pumpkin. That was a lot of fun. I definitely think we’ll do it again next year. Except we pick a better time to go and not go around nap time!

Jacob and MaKena walking up the steps of the slide.
MaKena on her way down!

Jacob on his way down!

They had a bunch of fun little areas set up for picture opportunities so we took advantage.

Waiting in line for the pony rides. (Can you tell she loves her daddy??!!)

MaKena on the pony. She loved the ponies. No fear.

(Someones little fingers smudged the camera lens and I didn't know it until I was looking at the pictures on the computer!)

Jacob and MaKena in the straw bale maze.

Daddy helping MaKena decorate her cookie.

Jacob decorating his cookie.

Mommy and MaKena decorating her pumpkin.

Adding the glitter.

Jacob working on his pumpkin.

MaKena showing daddy her scarecrow hat.

4th Grade..........for real??!

Yep, that’s correct; Jacob is a 4th grader this year. Where did the time go? I still remember his first day of preschool like it was yesterday. He was so excited to start school then and he’s still excited about school. I’m thankful that he enjoys school and I really hope he keeps enjoying it as he gets older. This was the first year I didn’t bring the camera with me to school. I figured he was getting too old for a picture at his desk. It was probably just me thinking that way. I did walk him to his classroom and got a good-bye hug and kiss. So I’m sure the camera wouldn’t have embarrassed him!

The first month of school has been busy for Mr. Jacob. He has had several spelling tests, a math test and a social studies test. His spelling tests he’s gotten 100% on the pretests so he gets out of having to take them again on Friday’s. On his math test he was 1 of 4 kids who got 100% and his social studies test he got 89%. He is off to a good start!

I thought it would be fun to look back on the pictures I’ve taken of Jacob on the first day of school each year. I always take his picture standing in front of the door. It’s neat to see how much he’s grown each year. Hope you enjoy the stroll down memory lane!

First day of 4th Grade.
First day of 3rd Grade.
First day of 2nd Grade.
First day of 1st Grade.
First day of Kindergarten.
First day of Preschool. (He's so little!)

It's official!

Our baby girl is potty trained! Yippee!! We’ve been working on this for months and finally she’s got it down. Labor Day weekend Lane and I decided it was time to put MaKena in panties all day except for nap time. She did great on Saturday and I was so proud of her. On Sunday she had an accident but we cleaned her up and put her back in panties. Ever since then she’s been almost accident free. I think she’s had one accident at our house since Labor Day weekend and one accident at daycare. Along the way we’ve given her little rewards like books and Strawberry Shortcake characters. On Saturday we decided to take her to Wal-Mart and let her pick out a bigger toy for all her hard work. Surprise, surprise she picked out Cinderella’s castle. And daddy decided she also needed the movie Princess and the Frog. She’s got her daddy wrapped around her little finger!! I am so happy we’ve finally reached the big mile stone. Finally no more pull-ups!! (Except at bed time!) Way to go baby girl!!

Mini Golfing

The middle of August Jen and I took the kids (Emma, Jacob and MaKena) to Thunder Road to do some mini golfing and go cart riding. Except we didn’t get to ride on the go carts because it rained and we had to leave. But we got 18 holes of mini golf in and the kids had a blast. MaKena and Emma hadn’t been mini golfing before so it was hilarious to watch them. I should have taken some video of them. I would help MaKena with her first shot and then she’d run after the ball, pick it up and drop it in the hole. She didn’t understand that she was supposed to hit it in the hole with the putter. I was able to get her to try it but eventually she’d just pick it up. I suppose it was a lot easier that way! Surprisingly we only lost MaKena’s ball once and I think that might have been my fault. Thankfully Jen and Jacob were able to retrieve it out of the water. By the time we got done mini golfing we decided to purchase some tickets to ride the go carts. It was extremely busy that day and by the time we were at the front of the line it started to down pour so we called it a day. The kids had a blast.

Jacob, Emma and MaKena waiting for their turn.
Jacob getting ready to golf.

MaKena putting her ball in the hole. This is how a majority of her holes ended!!

Emma hitting the golf ball. Look how she's holding the club. It was cute. Jen and I tried to show her the right way but she kept going back to holding the club this way.

MaKena trying to get her ball in the hole.

She gave up and resorted to the easy way.

Reading Time

MaKena loves to have books read to her and Jacob loves to read to her. One night he was reading to her and crawled in her bed. It was the cutest thing ever! MaKena had her arm around him and was really paying attention to him. Moments like this just melt my heart. I hope they grow up to be the best of friends. I love my kids!

Do you see MaKena's arm under Jacob?
She was really listening to him read.

Sleeping in her big girl bed

Here are some cute pictures of MaKena after she’s fallen asleep in her bed. She loves to have books read to her and then takes them to bed to “read” to herself. Lane and I usually check on her before we go to bed. A couple nights I just had to get the camera out and take some pictures of her. It was so cute.

MaKena sleeping with the book. We read this book before bed and she had to bring it to bed with her.
I just love these pictures. She's so cute!

I think this was the 2nd or 3rd night in her new big girl bed. She wasn't used to no rails!!

We moved her back into bed but had to get some pictures first.

Big Girl Bed

The middle of August I decided it was time to change MaKena’s crib to a toddler bed and move out the changing table. She started to climb on her changing table to get stuff off her dresser and I didn’t want her to get hurt so we moved it out and bought a toy organizer for all her toys. She was so excited about her big girl bed. She even had to “help” take her crib apart. So far she has done really well. She stays in her bed for the most part. If she gets up it’s to get a toy or book and then she goes right back into bed. On the weekend she stays in bed until Lane and I tell her she can get up. Usually we’ll hear her yelling Mommy, Daddy I’m up. It’s pretty cute. I’m trying to figure out where my little baby went. She’s growing up way too fast.

Here is a picture of MaKena's room from the door. Notice all the stickers on her dresser! She loves stickers.
MaKena sitting on her big girl bed.

She loves her big girl bed. I think she really likes that she can get in and out of it all by herself.

More from the weekend with the Baukols

The weekend that Jen, Emma and Gunnar stayed with us I realized Sunday morning that I hadn’t taken any pictures of Gunnar. So I grabbed the camera and snapped away. Poor kid was probably seeing stars by the time I was done. He is such a good baby. I hardly heard a peep out of him all weekend. Once I was done taking a million pictures of him, Jen and I took the girls outside to play. They got on the bike and trike and drove up and down the driveway and sidewalk. They were two wild and crazy little girls! We came inside after playing for awhile and put the girls down for naps so the mommies could have some quiet time. But it didn’t last too long! Then before we knew it, it was time for them to leave. It was a fun filed weekend with them.

Isn't he cute??!! Baby Gunnar.
I see you!!

Tummy time.

I love this picture. He's such a doll!

The girls swinging on the swing. Can you tell they are saying Cheeeeeeessssssssseeeeeeee!

More swinging

Beep beep, coming through.