Firefighting Academy

Our homeschooling group got to take a trip to the Firefighting academy here in MA. Surprisingly, both boys listened the whole time.

They got to try out some equipment.

Jacob had fun too.

As we were waiting for them to set the building on fire the boys got to climb around on a truck.

Unfortunately, the burn that was supposed to happen occurred about 10 minutes before the group was outside. So we missed out on that excitement. The boys still had a blast.

The Life Saver

I got out the Jumperoo a friend gave us today. This is the best invention ever. It is a mix between a johnny jumper and an excersaucer. Most importantly: JACOB LOVES IT. This will save my back and many a burnt dinner.

Mommy's trip to Colorado

My sister, Michelle, flew Jacob and I out to Colorado this weekend so that we could introduce Jacob to her family. This was so exciting for me. I barely ever get to see my nephews. It is hard to believe that Kevin just turned 10. I remember vividly being at his birth. And Zach is already 6, I helped for 2 weeks after he was born.

Here is Jacob playing on their floor.

Seconds later he rolled over for the first time. I caught the second time on tape.

Just too cute.

Here is my nephew Kevin. I was lucky that the boys had their school performance the weekend I was there. I got to watch them sing and dance; it was great.

Zach loved to hold Jacob. As you can see, it became pretty apparent that Jacob was growing out of the 3-6 months clothes. His pants had to be loosened most of the time.

Here Zach is playing with his cousin again.

And Kevin again.

I had a wonderful time with my sister and her family. I can't wait to go see them again.

Last Soccer Game

Alex finished up soccer this fall much better then he started. For one he actually played the last game all the way where as he sat on the sideline pouting for the first game.

He got to play goalie one last time. I was very happy for him since this is his favorite position.

We was so proud of Alex. He got through the whole season and loved it. He even has a trophy to remember his first soccer season. Both Alex and Jonathan are already signed up for the spring season. I guess I will be the soccer mom after all.

Here is some great video of Alex as goalie:

Halloween 2010!

This year I handmade all the boys costumes. Alex's was very easy as it was Mario with a regular red t-shirt, I just had to make the hat.

Jacob was a little alien.

Jonathan wanted to be a red alligator but I could only find a dragon pattern. He was perfectly happy with the trade.

We went to our 3rd Halloween parade through Wilmington.

Here is Jacob in the full gear.

We also went to our moms club halloween party to do crafts and decorate cupcakes.

Jacob had a blast.

We spent time the day of Halloween decorating the biggest pumpkin. It was nicely rotten inside so it disappeared shortly after trick or treating.

And here are all the pumpkins we dealt with this year. Lots of paintings. We had a great Halloween season.

Pumpkin Patch and Apple Picking

We were very fortunate to have Adam with us on our annual apple picking and pumpkin patch outing. I am not sure how I would have done it alone with all 3 boys. First we hit the hay maze. This is always great because there is so much running involved that it gets out that first bit of excited energy before they need to listen more to us.

The apples were gorgeous this year.

And so were my boys.

After we picked about 20 pounds of apples we grabbed a wagon and headed off to the pumpkin patch.

Can you believe that I got this shot on the first take?

We found out pumpkins pretty quickly. The boys were pretty easy to make happy. I just picked one I liked and said "Hey, how about this one?" Done.

We had a great time and can't wait to be running after Jacob in the patch next year.

Jumpy Thing

I have to start with a cute pic of Alex and Jacob.

The boys have spent the last couple of weeks saving their change for a ride on the Jumpy Thing in the Nashua mall. This ride is about 5min long and costs $7 so we were reluctant to just let them go whenever. They performed odd jobs around the house to earn dimes and quarters until each of them had enough. I was very worried that they would pay their money and the freak out once on the machine. But I was very wrong.

Here is Alex waiting, barely able to contain himself.

Jonathan was told to stand on a square and he did not budge until it was his turn.

They both got hooked in. They were so small compared to the usual riders that the operator had to switch around all the harnesses.

Alex really caught some airtime.

Jonathan did pretty good. He had a hard time pushing off hard enough. The operator kept going over to him, grabbing his leg and slingshooting him up. It was very cool.

And as you can see they had a great time.

All smiles on these boys.