Christmas was so much fun this year! It went by so fast. Here are a few pictures of how much fun we had! The kids were both excited about opening presents. On Christmas morning I think we were done opening in about 10 mins! 
Jacob loved his bakugan's
Wow how time flies! 2 years ago today Avrey came into the world. She suprised us all when she arrived 3 weeks early. I remember the day like it was yesterday. Three pushes and she was out! She still continues to amaze us everyday! She talks all the time and repeats everything. She knows her colors and loves to dance. Some of her favorite things are playing with her babies and playing with her kitchen. Avrey is a very independent little girl. She wants to do everything by herself unlike her brother. I can't wait to how she amazes us this year! We love you Avrey! Happy Birthday!
Today we went to the pumpkin patch. We started going when Jacob was two and have been going every year since. It was such a beautiful fall day to go. We took the hayride out to pick out our pumpkins and even climbed the haystack. There were so many great pumpkins to pick from. We ended up with two big pumpkins and two little ones. Now we just have to find time to carve them in the next couple of weeks. 
Nice Family Picture. Jacob's new smile for pictures.
Climbing haystack with cousin Ashleigh
Enjoying the hayride
Actually got them to sit still for a quick picture!
Kylee in her normal postition. She slept the whole time!
On Friday night we went to visit my sister's 2 horses. She rents/leases them from someone about 15 minutes away. Jacob and Avrey loved them. We were just going to take a picture of Avrey sitting on the horse, but to our surprise she wanted the horse to "go." Jacob was the same way. He would have stayed on all night if we would have let him. I was surprised at how much they both enjoyed it.
Jacob received a Leap TAG reader for his birthday. Well, he loves it and so does Avrey. It plays funny sounds and reads the book to them. They will sit and play for awhile and actually get along. It is a little old for Avrey so when I heard they were coming out with a TAG junior I thought it would be great for her. I ordered it and it came last Wednesday. She was soo excited to have her very own Tag reader. This is her enjoying it....she is such a funny little girl! She loves dancing to the songs.
We took our first family trip last Wednesday to Cincinnati. The car ride there was great. Everyone slept.We visited with some friends on Wednesday night. Jacob was not sure about staying away from home. He wanted to know where Toby was and why we couldn't go home. Avrey on the other hand was great at sleeping away from home. You would have thought that we traveled all of the time. On Thursday morning we woke up to rain. We had planned on going to the zoo that day but made a change of plans. We went to the Newport Aquarium which was great. We even got Avrey to touch a horseshoe crab and a starfish! They had so many different kinds of exhibits. Jacob fed the lorikeets which he loved. Then it was back to the hotel for some rest. We decided to drive to IKEA which was about 25 minutes away and after a long ride (traffic) we were happy to get there. We had never been there before so we did not know what to expect. Little did we know, but the store was never ending inside. So after about 30 minutes with two crazy kids we gave up and decided to eat. We walked around for about 15 minutes just trying to find our way out of the store. It was crazy although it is a really awesome store. Maybe we will have to go back without kids. You could literally spend 4+ hours in there. On Friday morning we woke to beautiful weather so we headed to the zoo. The zoo was great and we saw lots of animals we have never even heard of. We were there for about 4 hours and we probably only saw half of the zoo! Overall we had a great time. Here are just a few pictures from the trip.
I guess that is what happens when you leave stuff where little hands can reach. I am sure it will not be the last time.
At school they put together a journal of some things Jacob has done over the school year. From cutting out shapes to writing his name. It is amazing to see how much better he does now. Well, they must have asked him some questions about me because there is a section on me. Apparently I am 100 yrs old, with black hair, and my favorite food is cookies. Isn't that hilarious? Then they asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up and he said a garbage man. It is wonderful that they made this keepsake for us to have. I will defiantly want to share this with him when he gets older.
I can't believe the year has gone so fast. I remember wondering how Jacob would do at preschool. Was he going to be upset when I dropped him off? Was he going to miss me? The answer is no. He absolutely loved it. If you would have told me that in the beginning, I never would have believed it. Preschool has changed him. He now is more confident with other kids his age. I catch him all of the time talking to kids and asking them to play when we are at the playground. Before school, he would just stand back and watch. He has also learned to write his name and various other letters. We are so proud of what he has accomplished and can't wait to see what Senior Preschool does for him next year.
We decided to go to the zoo today since the weather was going to be great today. My mom came with us too. We had a great time. Avrey loved the animals. She was soo cute. She would say "hi" and then "bye" to every animal we saw. She tried to say it's name as well. She has been talking so much lately. I can't believe what a chatter box she is. It helps that she has Jacob always trying to get her to perform. Jacob was more interested in the train, so of course we took the train ride. I thought that he might want to touch the sharks, but he said no to that. Avrey wanted to though. Too bad they wouldn't come out of the water to see her. We packed a lunch and had a little picnic outside of the zoo. Then we had to visit the butterflies. Jacob still remembers when a butterfly landed on my mom's shirt which was over a year ago. He even remembered the color. What a great memory he has! The kids were very exhausted and fell asleep before we reached the interstate. What a great day! Sorry, no pictures.
Yes, you heard right. Jacob is now 4. I can't believe that our baby boy turned 4 on last Tuesday. We had a birthday party with his friends at McDonald's last Saturday. he enjoyed it and couldn't believe that all of his friends were there. He thought only preschool friends were coming, but to his surprise neighbors came too. On Tuesday, we had our family party. It was great and he enjoyed having "2" birthdays. It has been a great four years! We love you Jacob!
The kiddos were suprised when they saw their Easter baskets. I put them on the counter after they checked them out, and my little monkey(Avrey) took her chair over and started sneaking in the baskets. She is soo funny. We went to my Dad's and Mona's house for an Easter egg hunt. Avrey missed out on it because she was not feeling well. She had an ear infection and a temp. all weekend. She did not sleep well either:( She is doing a lot better now. Hopefully the infection is gone. We go back for her 18 month check-up and Jacob's 4yr on April 29th. I can't believe how big they are getting. Speaking of that, Toby is getting big too. I will include some pictures of him too.
We had fun coloring eggs this year. Avrey decided she wanted to color all of the eggs green this year. Note to self: Never leave a cup full of dye and a bowl of eggs where little hands can reach. She dumped the whole cup of green dye into the bowl of eggs. At first we thought all of the eggs were going to be green, but somehow she managed to only get a few with the dye. 
Avrey is so silly! Today I found her playing in Toby's crate. When I found her there, she just laughed.
