Fun on the Farm

Jacob has been so excited for the end of the year picnic at his preschool, he goes to Children's Farm. He was able to invite family and show us around the farm. He was disappointed some of the guests he invited couldn't make it. (Dave, Papa, and Nana) They had been practicing a few songs to sing for/with all of the parents and siblings. The kids were able to show us around the farm, go on hikes, ride the horses, feed the animals, etc. Here are some snapshots:

The first thing he wanted to show Sydney and me was the baby kittens. He handled the kittens very gently and with great confidence. (fun to see) And I wasn't surprised that Sydney wanted to bring one home. I held very firm in my NO.
The swinging/climbing rope he enjoyed.

Jake was very excited to show Sydney the new calf that recently arrived. Each spring there are several different "baby" animals that arrive. Sydney enjoyed feeding the calf named Daisy.

Here are Jake's teachers, Jenny and Vicki, leading all the kids and their families in a group sing-along. From what Jake tells me they have group signing time each day. Last fall after he started school at Farm, he suddenly really, REALLY wanted a guitar. For Christmas, Santa brought one, but Jake hasn't kept his interest in learning to play!

Jake took us on a hike (the class frequently goes on hikes to various places on the farm). He proudly showed me the garden that they've been planning and working on over the past few weeks. He told me about the Rhubarb they made a cake with, and explained to me that the leaves are poison, but the stems are good for eating.

And the last thing Jake wanted to show us before he left was how well he could ride the horse. The kids all ride bare-back, and are expected to swing their leg over and get up mostly on there own. You can see the stump in the picture that the kids stand on to help them mount the horse. He sat up so tall and proud that he was on top of such a large animal. He was beaming....very sweet.

Jake will definitely miss going to Farm School. I could tell that he really felt a part of the farm and all the happenings there. Jake and Sydney are going to a 2-week camp there this summer. And Sydney will start preschool there in the fall. What a neat experience!

Treo/Palm or Blackberry

For some strange reason I've been drolling over the PDA/Smartphones lately. My phone works fine, so I don't understand why I seem to keep thinking of getting a new one. Back in my working days I thrived on my iPAQ. Maybe I'm craving some of the organized and routine days of yesteryer.....Nothing about my life right now feels organized.

Anyways, back to phones...the "smartphones" seem to do just about everything. One of the ones I looked at even has GPS on it. Crazy...so know I just need to decide on the Treo/Palm or Blackberry? (And start saving for it :) ) Are there any opinions out there? If you have one and love it, or hate it, tell me why. Thanks!!

Water Bottles

I've had lots of friends ask me where I get my sigg water bottles, so I thought I'd toss it on here for people to reference. The site I order them from has all the designs, and sizes ranging from toddler to enormous. http://www.nubiusorganics.com/ Here is a discount code for 20% your total order RHR25 . Here are the ones I've gotten for the kids:

Fairy Pirate Zoo Animals

For those of you that don't know what Siggs are here is a quick description:

• SIGG combines 100 years of Swiss quality & craftsmanship with a fresh, fun perspective on contemporary style – delivering a water bottle with both function AND fashion!
• Plus using a premium reusable bottle like SIGG greatly helps reduce unnecessary environmental waste caused by plastic PET water bottles. Sadly, Americans add over 30 million plastic water bottles to our nation's landfills – everyday!
• While not everyone is ready to purchase a hybrid vehicle, we believe every little bit helps. And thinking "reusable" instead of "disposable" is a great place to start. So, Rise Above Plastic – and consider the advantages of hydrating with a SIGG.

I just went to the mySIGG website, and it looks like there are closing down their 'internet' retailing portion because of the recent super high demand for siggs....so Nubuis Organics may be running out. Let's hope not, saving 20% is a lot better than paying full retail and tax.

My Little Man

Jake has his last day at Farm School this Friday. It is a family picnic, and he is very excited to have us visit. I will be sure to post some pictures. He is all about turning 5 on Sunday! I can hardly believe it. We are celebrating with family next weekend because some close family will be out of town this weekend.

He seems to be asking more "grown-up" questions lately...a few examples; He asked me why Papa's friends are so loud? Since when does he notice how loud other people talk/laugh. Does he have any clue how loud he can be sometimes :)

OH, and here is a really good one....we're driving in the car, and he says; "When I grow up, I don't want to work." Before I could think of a wise response, he then proceeds to say, "I am going to 'hang out' with my kids all day. My 'honey' can go to work." I can't remember quite how I responded...I wanted to blurt out laughing, somehow I kept control of myself. He must think I don't work; he'd be in for quite a surprise!

Jake has now been telling me who he is going to marry...it is no longer me (sad I know), he has moved on to future potentials. It changes between Peighton and Robyn, both girls in his preschool class.

We've decided that he will not be going to Kindergarten at our neighborhood school next year. He'll go there the following year. After much thought, opinion gathering, and following our gut we are going to wait until he is 6 to officially start kindergarten. The long and the short is there are way more pros than cons than waiting a year to send him. I am still looking into a few different options. A few private kindergartens and a few High-5s programs. All of the options I am looking at still have room for next fall, so I have a little bit of time to make a final decision.

Back at It

Now that some of the kids activities are coming to a close for the spring, I've been able to get back to the gym on some mornings. So, sore muscles....

I am finding that I am quite out of shape. (not that that is a huge surprise or anything!) Today I went to a great pilates fusion class, taught by a great instructor, Joy. I love classes, spinning, boot camp, total conditioning, kickboxing, etc...but anything that requires a lot of coordination I'd rather avoid. Yesterday I was late for the 9:30am class, and didn't check to see which one it was. I wish I had because it seemed that I had two left feet while trying to keep up with instructor. Oh well, at least I was there.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day has always felt like an awkward day for me...I've never know what I should be doing since my mom isn't around to thank and pamper. It always reminds me of what I've lost and no longer have, when I was younger, painfully so. As I've grown up, I accept the holiday for what it is..a day to honor moms for all they do. My mom did a lot! She raised four little girls, loved us, and nurtured us as long as she could. Even now I kind of fumble around. This morning I took the kids to pick out some flowers for their Nana. We'll get together this afternoon after things have slowed a bit at the restaurant.

This morning Jake made me "mothers day" breakfast. (he has been talking about this all week) I have no idea where he came up with the idea, maybe they've been talking about things the kids could do for their moms at preschool. He was saying things like pancakes, and waffles...and honestly, I was a little nervous when I heard him talking about making me pancakes. That would have be one giant kitchen mess. He ended up making me a bowl of something, the ingredients included raisins, animal crackers, almonds, and one piece of cheese! I thanked him :)

For me now, Mothers day is still a day to honor my mom, and my MIL, but also it is a day when I am so thankful for being blessed with 3 healthy and happy kids. (This is a picture from last year on Mother's Day...before Regan joined us) It doesn't get much better than that!

Loving it!!

Over the past few days the weather has been so nice. I just love being able to be outside, and of course the kids are clearly enjoying themselves!
Today we were able to spend time with some friends and enjoy the weather.

I am busy getting ready stuff for a garage sale. The BIG Woodbury weekend of garage sales is approaching. The back end of my car is loaded to bring to my friend's house. I will not be buying/looking for anything this weekend....I am trying to purge.