Jake is 3!

Birthday Boy
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

I'm a little late with the birthday post - of course. Jake had is first party with his own friends at the Peterson Park Gymnastics Center (where he takes his tumbling classes). He had a great time and didn't stop running, jumping and moving the entire time. This is the best photo I could get:



He was a man on the move. Literally - all sweaty and red-faced by the end of the party!

Afterward, we spent a little time at our house with his cousins and rode bikes in the alley.



He's gotten pretty good at pedaling - now we've got to get him onto a bigger bike.

The construction is still in full swing next door. On Friday, Jake set up shop to watch the action.



And, finally, Aunt Jenny sent a super fun sprinkler. They've already used it a couple of times and we've got the wettest lawn around.

A kindergartener

Graduation Day
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

Megan had her pre-school graduation last Friday. She is very proud of being an actual kindergartener now. She loves her teacher, Miss Riley, and told me that she wants to go to school with her every day and stay all day. She said, "I love her so much, she's the best teacher in the world and I'm gonna miss her in the summer". Aww.





Mimi and Papa came to the ceremony and we went out for ice cream afterwards.



Here are a few of Megan's friends from class (Amanda, Megan, Lulia & Mariel). I think Amanda is going to be going to Beaubien with her:



So, now we're off for the summer and will be figuring out lots of activities to keep everyone busy. In the mean time, Jake is doing chores - like taking out the garbage:



Last week, we went to a block party at my neighbor's pre-school. The kids each got a goldfish. They were so excited to finally have a pet! Jake was a little overly excited, because he was swinging around the bag (with the fish in it) until the water started leaking out. Fortunately we were still at the party and I switched it out for another one. Oh, and I failed to mention that Jake didn't want a pretty orange one, he wanted a brown one. So, we switched it with another brown one. They named their pets on the way home. Jake came up with Jeffrey and Megan's choice was Orangey Orange Orangey.



Well, Jeffrey lasted about 24 hours before he was floating at the top of the tank. We attribute his early death to the fish equivalent of shaken baby syndrome, since Jake swung that little bag around like he was at batting practice before we got him into a bowl. They did end up with a little bit of an upgraded home.....I couldn't really see myself changing water every day in the bowl, so I sprung for the $10 kit at Walmart. Here's Jake showing off Orangey Orange Orangey since Jeffrey is "killed" (as Jake would say).



Today, we went to Walmart and got a replacement Jeffrey. This one is a bit more colorful and Jake actually calls him "New Jeffrey".



After two days, Megan said our pets were kind of boring and we should get a different pet. I said, "like what?" She said, "like a dog". You'll notice the interesting choice of decor in this little tank. The kids picked out the dinosaur. Jake said he wanted it to scare the fish. I really don't think we're ready for a dog around here.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Helen!

Happy Birthday Grandma Helen
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

We visited with Grandma Helen and Uncle Scott for G'ma's birthday today. We baked cupcakes in the morning so that the kids could sing happy birthday - the highlight of their day. At one point, as Jake sat across the table from Scott, he said, "Why you not have any hair?". That was one question that Scott actually didn't have an answer for! Gotta love the honesty of a child.

Nature Boy

Nature Boy
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

Jake has discovered the joy of peeing outside. About a month ago, we were at the park near our house and one of the bigger kids used a tree to relieve himself since there are no restroom facilities at the park. Jake was inspired and the next time he had to go while at the park, he decided to use the tree. I didn't have a problem with this, since he was newly potty-trained. I didn't think he could make it all the way home.

Well, within the last week, he's decided that he's just gonna go out in our yard. I guess he can't be bothered to walk "all the way" into the house.

Megan wanted me to snap a picture of her while doing her "Hannah Montana" pose. Here it is:



One last little story.... I'm not really sure about the beginning of this story, but I think Darin asked Jake something like, "What do you have on your forehead?" And Jake's reply was, "I don't have a forehead. I only have one head."

It's already May?!

Mother's Day
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

Wow, where does the time go? I had a nice Mother's Day yesterday. I got TWO bouquets of flowers from Darin and the kids, went on a solo a.m. run, went golfing with Darin, and had pizza for dinner!

Megan and Jake have been pretty good about getting along and playing together lately, but like any siblings they certainly have their moments. Their threats to each other are actually quite comical. They say things like, "I'm gonna punch you in the eye tomorrow". Here's a nice moment of friendship:



Sometimes they have some whiny moments and I'll ask Jake ..."Is that crying or whining?". He usually replies, "it's whining". Although sometimes he says, "I not whining. I didn't say anything"....this is usually followed by a toy being thrown. Temper, temper.

Megan got a new bike with training wheels and she's having tons of fun riding it.



Prior to the Wisconsin Marathon last week, I was testing out some polka music to play at the event. I played the first song from the disk, and within 15 seconds of the song playing, Megan said "I LOVE it!". She asks for polka music all the time now.

Jake still says some funny stuff. Instead of saying "I don't know"....he says, "I can't know that".

I was in the car with him and he saw someone walking their dog. He said, "That's a cute dog. I wish I had that dog". He's been wishing for a few dogs around town. Sorry, Jake - not anytime soon.

It's been a while.....

Eggs or Bugs?
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

I'm pretty busy at work these days - my new event is coming up in two weeks. For those of you who don't know, we are producing the Inaugural Wisconsin Marathon - the World's Cheesiest Marathon. There are still lots of details to coordinate, so my blog entries have been taking a backseat. So here are the family updates:

Megan had a great time coloring eggs for Easter with Darin. Debbie gave her this cool "bug" egg coloring set. Poor Jake didn't get to participate because he was sick that day. He literally slept the entire day. Papa came over to drop off an Easter basket and he got to color an egg too. Woo hoo!

Our next door neighbor has a baby that's about 8 months old. Megan loves him (she actually loves all babies). Since they're renovating their house, we watched the baby for a couple of hours last Friday to give them a chance to pack (they're moving out for a couple of months). Here's the babysitter in action:


Jake has been taking a tumbling class at the Peterson Park Gymnastics Center and he LOVES it. They get to climb around on the equipment, jump on the trampoline, walk the balance beam, etc. In this particular photo, he's swinging on the "high bar" and kicking the bolster on the other side. The kicking is the best part. Whenever he sees this picture, he asks to go there:


Yesterday, the kids decided they wanted to have breakfast in bed......like Spongebob.


So, Jake is at the age where he says something really funny every day. And, the fact that he is not the least bit shy, makes it even funnier. A few of my latest Jake stories-

I usually take him to the grocery store after we drop Megan off at school and he likes to sit in the basket part of the cart. He pretends to drive the cart and when I turn into an aisle and there's another shopper there, he shouts "Look out!" It tends to take people by surprise. You'd think I was racing around the store in that cart. I then tell him that we shouldn't yell, "look out". We should say "Excuse me". So, now he screams, "Excuse me! Look out!". The old ladies at Jewel love him. Once we pass their cart in the aisle, he proceeds to engage them in conversation. He'll look right at them and say, "Who are you?" When they start to walk in the other direction, he says "where are you going?" Generally, it takes me a while to get through the store since Jake makes so many friends along the way.

The best grocery story I have took place a couple of weeks ago. I was at the check out and Jake had his back to the register, leaning over in the cart to reach something. He turned around, looked at the girl working the register and said, "Are you wooking at my butt?" She couldn't do anything but laugh. She then said, "Did you just say what I thought you said?" And he said, "You wanna see my underpants?" Yep, he showed her.

Oh - did I fail to mention that Jake is potty-trained? He's been out of diapers for about 4 weeks now - even at night. Nice!

Here's the last Jake tale and then I'll take a break. I had the kids at a restaurant for lunch one day. We were seated near the back and a relatively large woman walked past us on her way to her table. It was pretty quiet when Jake said, "She a fat wady". That was uncomfortable. There was no mistaking that one and I couldn't just turn and walk away. Ugh.

Here are some photos from the park yesterday. We're taking advantage of the sunshine!





Until next time.........

Happy Birthday Aunt Jenny!

B-day Wishes
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

The kids were very excited to celebrate Aunt Jenny's birthday. Once they found out that we weren't going to her house for cake tonight, they just got mad. Jenny - you need to move back to Chicago!