4 Year Old Preschool

Jacob is thrilled to start his four-year-old preschool year off with a bang. Jacob and Joshua posing before meet the teacher day. Jacob went for about 20 minutes with only one other child in the room. I kind of liked that he was signed up with someone who was not in his class last year. He got to know one more familiar face before school started.

 His teacher didn't pull out cars and trucks on meet the teacher day because she knew a bunch of little brothers and sisters would be joining in the fun that day. Jacob was thrilled when his teacher told him she would pull the cars out for the first day on Wednesday. The whole evening I would ask Jacob if he was ready for his first day of school, and he would tell me, "It's not my first day. It's my first day of school with the cars!" Mrs. Johnson knows the way to his heart already.

Even though it was the same school as last year, we took the tour and Jacob was pleased to find he will have music class this year. But, he kept asking Mrs. Roe, "what about shark petting?" He saw pictures outside the classroom of the kids last year at the zoo petting sharks. Funny what they look forward to!

Jacob posing before heading to school for the first day. The first day, only half of the class comes at a time. So, Jacob went with 7 other boys and girls for only an hour and a half. It helps them get comfortable, but I think Jacob is just ready to get the whole thing started! He was a little bummed that all of his friends weren't there - he was in a group with only one other little boy from his class last year, and all of his other really good buddies were coming in the second half of class. He will be thrilled tomorrow when he sees all of the boys at school again. Luckily, he has seen most of them throughout the summer, but it's always nice to play at school again!

 His little silly face!

Jacob was pleased that his name is written on a school bus for where to hang his bag at school. When he hung his bag, Joshua kept trying to pull it down. Joshua will be glad to get some one-on-one time with me, but sure will miss his big brother! They play so nicely together, that I'm sure Joshua will be so happy when we pick up his big brother every day! Jacob was so sweet and gave Joshua a big hug and kiss before we left the room.

I'm not sure what exactly the teachers have planned for tomorrow, but Jacob keeps telling me they are going to have fish toys out, complete with a stingray and all. He has talked about it at least four or five times, so he is very excited for tomorrow! He also left school super thirsty, and that's all he would talk about until he got his drink!

We are really looking forward to a wonderful year of school. He seems like he will learn a ton, and do some really great activities. Mrs. Johnson seems like such a great fit for Jacob this year, and I'm really excited to see how much he learns and grows this year at school.

Art Class

Jacob and Joshua enjoyed a Saturday morning Gymboree art class together. I was amazed to see the difference in Jacob's interest from the last time he did an art class here when he was two years old. Now, he really gets into the projects and enjoys them!

They always start the class with some free painting on the wall, which the boys enjoyed.

 They made a piece of pizza. Jacob took his time and carefully painted the ENTIRE triangle to cover it with "sauce." He then carefully selected his toppings and glued them on one at a time. Such a perfectionist!

 Joshua ran around like a crazy man and ended up with paint on his face.

 Enjoying story time and a snack.

 Their finished masterpieces - Jacob on the left and Joshua on the right.

Last Days of Summer

Despite the heat, we wanted to make the most of our last few days of summer. We painted with water outside. I don't know if Joshua remembers doing this when he was a little younger, but both boys enjoyed themselves this time. I kept them up close to the house because it was the only sidewalk in the shade! This occupied the boys for over an hour, which is huge for active little guys!

 Painting the  house, of course!

 Breaking out the ironing board for the first time since Jacob was 2 years old, which is the last time we used it as a ramp, haha. Joshua got a kick out of it, since this was his first time experiencing the awesomeness of an ironing board ramp! Again, occupied the boys for over an hour, and they wanted to play with it again the next day!

 The last Friday before school started out rough, but I decided to break us out of our funk and took the boys to the museum. Daddy met us there after work, and they had a great time together playing dinosaurs, looking at trains, and riding the carousel before having to head home for dinner.

Nature Walk and Book

The boys are early risers, and with the 100 degree heat, it's been nice to get them outside for a little bit in the morning before it gets way too hot for Joshua to be outside. This morning, I decided to take them on a "nature walk" around the neighborhood. So, at 8 a.m., we headed out the door with notebooks, pencils/crayons, and a Fisher Price camera to record our findings.

 Joshua did a great job on his first walk together without a stroller. He waited for Jacob whenever Jacob stopped to "write down his observations." Sid the Science Kid needs a huge thank you from parents for teaching our kids these big words for science experiments! Joshua enjoyed the freedom, and enjoyed stopping for birds and ants.

 Jacob was fascinated with these apples. He took pictures of the rotted ones, and green ones, and then stopped to watch the ants crawl in and out of the holes and eat. He moved all of the apples on the ground together so the ants could "eat all day and all night and all day tomorrow."

 I told Jacob he had an ant on him, and he said, "That's fine. I don't mind. I'm investigating." Again, thank you Sid the Science Kid! Hearing my little guy say investigating in a regular day-to-day setting is amazing! I love this picture of the ant on him and how interested he was in the whole thing.

 I am shocked that all of the above pictures were taken by his Fisher Price camera - the camera worked out really well! I sent the pictures to Meijer right away and ordered the prints. We picked them up before lunch, and then right before bed sat down together to make a nature walk book.

 Jacob kept telling me he had homework - where do they learn what homework is?! I have never told him homework exists! But, he enjoyed doing his "homework," and was thrilled with himself for cutting so easily this time. In the past, the scissors have been a little bit of a struggle, and tonight it all came together for him! I was super impressed with his cutting skills tonight, and how he cut out exactly what he wanted from a lot of the pictures. He did a great job putting his book together all on his own.

 He wrote his name on the front. This is the best the picture would come out with the pencil on green paper, but I was proud of him for writing better and better every day. He still runs out of room most of the time, so he just finishes writing his name down the page instead of straight across sometimes!

I had a blast doing this with him, and was shocked we did this today considering I had zero plan for the day. I love days we just wing an activity and it turns out better than anything I could have planned the night before. Glad Joshua was involved in the morning portion, and that Jacob could continue later on his own for more fun. Joshua wrote in his own notebook on the walk, too. He loved being just like Jacob and refused to use the crayon and would wait his turn to use the pencil.

Back to Normal

Bob headed back to work today. I got Joshua out of his crib this morning, and the first thing he asked was, "Dada?" I told him daddy was at work and  he laughed. Fitting, I thought!

Both boys woke up early, and we ate breakfast and headed outside. We enjoyed the weather before it got super hot, and had a popsicle at 10 in the morning. The little things make the boys happy! I had wanted to try the new read and build Duplo kits, and Mom picked one up for us at Target the other day. I saved it for today for something special the kids could do on the first day without dad. I'm very pleased with the book and steps to build the bugs. Jacob built them all, since Joshua had no interest until they were built. Four bugs later, and heading inside when the heat became an issue, the boys were happy to sit and play with the bugs for a while.

 After lunch, the boys took a whopping 1 hour nap, and then they wanted to build a train track. I love when they play together for a long time together without issues! Makes me happy at the friends they are becoming.

We had to take Joshua to the doctor for a rash that we thought was poison ivy from camping. But, it turned out to be a rash associated from a virus he must have had at some point. Luckily, the rash itself is not contagious, and the virus is long gone from his system, so we are good to go!

Overall, a great first day back into the swing of things. I love spending my days with these two cute boys. Jacob is really into talking about the things he is going to be doing in school this year. We had a parent orientation last night, and found out all of the fun field trips and activities planned for the year. He is thrilled, and we both cannot wait for next week when the school year starts!

Jacob Sayings

When Jacob was a toddler, he said some really funny things. But, in some ways, I really enjoy his funny sayings even more now. They are logical, and just a funny way to see situations. He is super smart, and I love looking at situations through his eyes. However, he is extremely hilarious most of the time with his thought process!

"When I'm Daddy's age, I'm going to be a daddy that doesn't work." I asked Jacob how he will get money if he doesn't work. "I'll buy a wallet and have lots of money, money, money!"

One night I was taking him to the bathroom before bed, and he started asking about why he is a boy and I am a girl. I told him because God made us that way. "I don't remember seeing God when I was born," he told me. I told him that he didn't see him, but he created us all. He then got a smile and his face, and told me, "I'm from God island!"

The Olympics has been on quite a bit this week, and we have been talking about Michael Phelps winning his medals. Too many famous Michael's, though. While were were watching Phelps swim, Jacob said, "I think Michael Jackson is going to win!"

Jacob has been excited about heading back to school. This morning, he woke up and the first thing he said was, "Joshua, bad news. I'm going back to school soon." I asked him why it was bad news, because I thought he was excited to go play with his friends. He told me, "Not bad news for me. Bad news for you and Joshua." Silly man, I am glad he thinks we sit around and just wait for him to get home from school.

Christmas in July

Jacob and Joshua were very blessed this past Christmas, and received way more than they could ever play with all at once. So, we saved some toys back for throughout the year. Jacob has been wanting us to put together his Playmobil pirate ship and pirate island Uncle Mike and Aunt Kris gave him for Christmas. We had to gear Bob up to do it though, considering it is hundreds of little, tiny pieces!

Surprisingly, the pirate ship wasn't hard to put together, and Jacob waited patiently for Bob to finish.

 Pirate Island, on the other hand, took some time while Jacob was in bed that night. He was thrilled in the morning to wake up to his own pirate paradise, and we are sacrificing our kitchen table for a while so Jacob can play without Joshua tearing it up.

This toy is actually really neat, with secret places to hide treasure and lights. Thanks, Mike and Kris!