The first day of 2nd grade

Here is my sweet Jake on Monday morning all ready for his first day of second grade. He wasn't TOO nervous about going to a new school and meeting new friends because his school is brand new so everyone there is pretty much new all over again. He was so excited about the day because I have decided to let him ride the bus this year (yikes)! I know, I know, I'm ridiculous, but I just remember some not so good memories I had of riding the bus as a child and I was scared for Jake to have to go through the same thing. LUCKILY, Jake isn't half the nerd or dork that I was so he made friends with everyone on the bus, he's so friendly!

He said the day was SO easy and that his teacher is SO nice. They were supposed to bring 2 books to school to read and he chose one of his to be his big book about guns that Austin's friend Ed gave to him. He said that about 10 kids wanted to be his reading partner because his book was SO COOL!! He said he was so popular on the first day! What a silly. The bus ride went well too, I took him in the morning, but he rode the bus home and he said he liked it, so I guess we'll keep doing that until he objects!

Wait...I have one more beach picture

Somehow this one didn't make it onto the blog but it was on my list to show, I can't leave it out...It's JAKE!!! While on vacation, Jake became QUITE the snorkeler. He bought his own mask, snorkel and flippers (is that what they're called?) and would snorkel in the pool just like a pro. He even knows how to go under the water to the bottom and then re-surface without lifting his face outta the water. He does the whole shoot the water through the snorkel thing too! It's really cute. Not only did me and Austin notice this, but my dad AND Austin's dad commented on his snorkeling skills.

Memorial Day - I know I know...I'm running late on this one!

For Memorial Day we met my parents at Restland Funeral Home because they were having some old tanks and helicopters and stuff from WWII and WWI. We thought it would be neat to show Jake everything since he's SO into military ANYTHING and all types of weapons - especially guns. Jake LOVED it and had a smile pasted on his face the entire time. He loved listening to these old men with big guts in their old military uniforms tell him about the weapons and why they were so much better back then as opposed to what they use today. Jake was in heaven! My dad took a few pictures of him with some guns and I think they turned out really well!

I only WISH I had been able to make a cake like this...

I know it seems like his birthday has been dragging out over an entire month but hey, you know who his mother is and how she likes to do HER birthday that way too. Here are some pictures of the movie party we had on Friday the 1st. Jake had 4 of his favorite buddies come over and we took them to see Pirates 3 at the movies. Afterward we came home and ate cupcakes and sang happy birthday.

It was quite an adventure, the whole day. I had planned this very exciting treasure box birthday cake to make. Usually I buy the kids' cakes because I know that I'm not a good cake maker and I don't wish to even try, BUT when my sweet Jake told me that it would really mean a lot to him for me to make it this time...I couldn't say no. SOO, I went online and found this magnificent picture of a treasure box birthday cake (see above) and I decided I would attempt it.

I started the cake about 2 1/2 hours before the party and everything was going fine. I was following the directions to a T and all was well...until the frosting part. As I started to frost this pile of cut out cake shapes, everything fell apart. The frosting was lifting up the cake and crumbs were everywhere. At one point, I really thought I could salvage this pile of frosted crumbs until the frosting got too heavy and started to collapse the "lid" of the treasure box. At that point, I squatted down on the kitchen floor and just started to cry. I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous but I was also PMS so give me a break! Jake came in and saw the hideous mess of frosting with a cake buried somewhere underneath, and me crying on the floor and like the sweet Jake he is, he just hugged me and said that it looked fine and it would still work.

I knew it didn't look fine and I was ashamed that I couldn't pull off this so called "simple" task for my sweet Jakob so I took the entire cake and scooped it into the trash, yelled for Austin to run to Kroger and get more cake mix for cupcakes and then ran to the bathroom to cry some more because there was only an hour left before the party.

All in all, it turned out fine. I wish I could have given him the treasure box birthday cake he wanted, but he was still happy with his gold coin topped cupcakes. The lesson I learned from this disaster is that I will NEVER, no matter what, attempt to make my children's birthday cakes...ALWAYS BUY THEM!!

Birthday Dinner at Chilis!!

Here are some photos I took at Jake's favorite DINNER place which of course we had to go to since he's the birthday boy. One of the pictures is right after Jake squirted a lemon in his water and it went in the wrong direction. I thought he looked pretty funny and I couldn't stop laughing about it! (I know, what a loving mother I am, huh?) I love the picture of the piglets devouring Jake's birthday treat and how Kora is turned around like she's been caught! I know I'm biased, but I really believe I have the most beautiful family in the whole entire world!!!

OH, and if you're wondering why I'm not in any of the pictures? Well that's simple, I'm the MOTHER and the MOTHER never gets to be in the pictures because she's always TAKING the pictures.

Birthday Lunch Visit @ Spicer!

YOOO HOOOO!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKOB!!! Today is Jake's actual birthday and we surprised him at school by bringing him his favorite lunch food...SUBWAY!! He loved it and Kora was so excited to see him. We got there about 15 minutes early so I told the kids to go ahead and eat, but Kora refused...she HAD to wait for Jake and eat with him. We also brought the treats we made and a single candle to put in Jake's treat. After we ate, we whispered the Happy Birthday song to him and he blew out the pretend candle, it was quite sweet. Kora seemed very lovey towards Jake and I had to get a picture of it. I'm sure I'll pull that picture out one day when she's cussing his name and remind her that she really DOES love him.

Baby Jake is 7!!!!

Friday was also an eventful day because we celebrated Jakob's 7th birthday after the graduation. We all went to eat at Mi Cocina and Jake got many wonderful presents!! Not only did he get XBOX 360 games AND mula to buy MORE games, he also got a new t.v. for his room that's ALL HIS!! So now he can play his games and be left alone by the two additional cubs we have living here. Well...not quite...as you can see Miah has set up shop right next to Jake's game chair!

Jake decided that this year he didn't want a big party with a lot of friends and family. Because Pirates 3 is coming out soon, he decided to invite a few of his favorite friends to go see it and then we'll have cake afterwards. You'll be seeing those pictures in early June so be waiting!

The most handsome Jakob you'll ever see...

Okay, here he is in all his glory. I call him my American Flag Face Boy because the colors in his face are so vivid and patriotic...aren't they? I love Jake. I know I say that a lot, but he really is just the sweetest little guy. I must be the luckiest mother around to have 3 wonderful children!

"...a life like Johnny Cash."

I love my Jake...I just can't say that enough, he really is the sweetest guy and means SO well in (almost) everything that he does. On the way home from school today he was telling me about a girl in his class named Maya and how she WAS his girlfriend until his "friend" Jake stole her away. I asked Jakob why he couldn't get another girlfriend in his class. Jakob said that Maya was the ONLY girl in his class that he thought was pretty because she had brown hair and brown skin. He said, "I only like Hispanic girls and she was the only one." I was impressed that Jake had discovered the beauty in Latina women so soon! When I told Austin, he was excited that we were going to have a fun wedding and some good food in our family in the future!

Jake also told me about his best friend, and next door neighbor, Luis. He said that Luis doesn't have a girlfriend because, "he lives a life like Johnny Cash." I asked Jake what that meant and he told me that Johnny Cash was too into his music to have time for a girlfriend (??). I told Jake that I didn't realize Luis was into music so much and Jake said that he's not...he's too into his teatherball game to play with the girls at recess!! :)