Jake's first day of school

blue and yellow M&M "K" for Kindergarten pancakes for breakfast on a special "Celebrate" plate
An official Allen Frear "Little Rider"
I hope he's always this happy to go to school!
He was thrilled to be the line leader on the first day of school. Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. Day. Her husband was in the Air Force and her son is a loadmaster in Andy's old active duty squadron here! Small world!
Jon and I made "monster cookies" and put Happy 1st Day! on Jake's

Well, I've gotten all caught up with all our summer stuff. The end of the summer always means back to school and this year is Jake's first year at regular school! He started 1/2 day Kindergarten on Aug 20th at Allen Frear Elementary School which is about 2 minutes down the road from us. I take him and pick him up because I switched him to the morning which worked better for our schedule (all three kids take a nap in the afternoon!!), but that messed up the bussing. To be honest, I enjoy taking him, seeing his teacher each day, and holding on to my "big" guy for just one more year. So far, Jake seems to love school, though getting him to tell us what he learned each day is proving to be a chore! I thought that wasn't supposed to happen until later!!! Every day I hear that he colored and did the calendar! Surely there's more to his 2 1/2 hours than that!!! I've finally wised up and have started asking the other moms who are there picking up their kids. Together, we're getting a better idea of what they are actually doing each day!

Jon

Jon "camping" in the Poconos: that's what he calls having a campfire
Wearing his creative cap he made at the Crayola Factory
That's my Jon!!!
Isn't he a sweet treat all wrapped up???
Ya gotta love that kid!

Lizzie's Milestones

Loves to be on her belly!
If it's not her fingers, she's chewing on one toy or another! She'll even squeal and talk to the animals and toys on her exersaucer! It's too funny!
Yes, that's a cucumer daddy's feeding her! She cried when he took it away!
So happy to eat her rice cereal!
Being fed by Jake. Jon took a turn, too.

Well, it seems like we're always in such a hurry for our kids to do that next big thing. I guess it makes me a little sad when I think of all the things Lizzie is doing now. My little baby is growing up so fast it seems! She had her 4 mos check up back in July and had gained almost 6 lbs since birth and grew 4 1/2 inches! She loves to stand and hold onto your fingers...what strong little legs she has! She rolls to her belly almost instantly when you lay her on her back and pops up onto her hands looking all around. She'll even give a big squeal when the boys are near as if to say "hey guys, I'm here, play with me!!!" She loves her brothers! They make her giggle, even belly laugh so often, especially Jon! Just today, we were at the gym and Jon was running up and down off the aerobics step in front of Lizzie and she was seriously cracking up at him! It was hilarious! Lizzie has started eating a little rice cereal now. She loved it at first, but recently has been making faces at it, so we've slacked off giving it to her and will try later. We started her at 5 months just because she seemed so interested in our food. She'll usually sit on Andy's lap when we're eating and she's constantly grabbing at his plate and watching as his fork goes from his plate to his mouth. It's pretty funny. She's tried a couple things...Andy's given her cucumber (she cried when he took it away!) and an orange (bad Daddy!) and I've let her try a couple pieces of mushed up banana. She loved all of it! She's sitting with a little help. She can stay balanced on her own for a couple seconds, but will topple over. She's "talking" so much! Andy keeps saying she's like her Aunt Kristen :-) ! When she's on her belly, she'll lift up her bottom or push with her toes or push up on her arms and do "push-ups". She hasn't figured out how to combine it all yet and quite frankly, I'm glad!! We are certainly not babyproofed anymore! Lizze's also taken her first bike ride and loved it! Andy's trying to make a ball player out of her as you'll see in the picture below. Well, Lizzie, I love ya, kiddo and am in no hurry for you to grow up. You stay sweet forever. Regardless of the milestones you reach, you'll always be my baby!

Isn't she just the sweetest thing???

Cousins

David (4), Jon (3), Gabrielle (9), Lizzie (4 1/2mos), Natalie (6), Darnel (13), and Jake (5)
Darnel and Lizzie
Nat and Liz

Gab, Nat, Liz (and Jake trying to get into the photo, too!)

My nephew, Darnel, came to visit us for five days this summer. We went to the pool, to the waterpark at Killen's Pond, to the beach at Cape Henlopen, and to the DE State Fair. He also got to go golfing with Uncle Andy. Darnel is great kid and fun to be around. The boys absolutely adore him (and so do I!!!). My sister Jenn, Dad, Kaycee, my brother Mike, David (Darnel's little brother), my sister Cheryl and her girls, Gab and Nat, all came down to pick Darnel up and have dinner with us. I love when all the cousins can get together to play. They always seem to have a blast together!

Sea Isle City, NJ

A ride on Uncle Frank's boat after dinner

Lizzie's feet get wet in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time! She wasn't sure what to think of it, but didn't cry at all! The water was pretty chilly, too!
Jake had fun making drippy sand castles.
Jon had fun making "sand angels" on his belly! Thank goodness we were visiting my Gram's sister, Aunt Ruthie, who has a house on the bay side of the island, just two blocks from the beach...and most importantly with an outdoor shower!!! Thanks, Aunt Ruthie and Uncle Frank for a fantastic day and delicious dinner! It was great seeing you both!

Training Wheels are OFF!

Another milestone this summer...Jake learned to ride his bike without training wheels!!! We had been riding around our neighborhood a lot...especially in the spring and early summer, so Jake was very comfortable on his own bike. He started counting the number of seconds he would ride without his training wheels hitting the road, so I asked him if he was ready to try without the training wheels and he said "yes". As soon as Andy came home from work, the tools came out and the wheels came off. Andy held onto the seat a couple of times as Jake pedaled in our driveway and that's all it took...he had it! I couldn't believe how fast he took to it. Starting off on his own and turning took a little more practice, but that day he rode around our neighborhood! It was awesome!

Swimming in the Pool

Lizzie, Kimmy, Jon, Andy, and Jake in Mommom and Popsy's pool

Jake and Jon have been practicing swimming without their lifejackets on this summer. Jake made it all the way across the pool and Jon about 3/4 of the way. Jon is actually more relaxed in the water and goes under to swim, pops up for air, and goes back under again. Jake does a frantic doggie paddle the whole time. They love to jump in, too! Both of them LOVE the water!!!

Lizzie's first time in the pool...she loves the water like her brothers!

4th of July

Andy and Lizzie at the parade. Thanks for the USA Baby onesie, Aunt Kristen!!!

Tait, Heather and Jack Stamp joined us at Kimmy and Don's house for a 4th of July BBQ

Aunt Kimmy and Mr. Don giving Jon zerberts...did I mention Jon had been tossing cups of ice water on them???

Okay, so far, so good. I finally downloaded all the pictures from my camera onto the computer and edited them, so we're good to go. I'll start with the 4th of July and give you a few from this summer's outings, happenings, vacations, etc. This is Jake waving the red, white and blue at the parade in our hometown of Woodstown.

It's Our Turn Now

Well, it seems like all my friends are doing it now, so I might as well join in...blogging that is!!! Josh and Katie, Katie and Jake, Kristy and Jon, Michelle and Lee, Robyn, Shelley, now Shannon and Steve...okay, it's our turn I guess!!! Actually, it should be a good fit for me, as long as I can muddle my way through all the technical stuff. I'm not really ever short on words (you all can attest to that...)and people are always asking me to send more pictures out, so hopefully this works out well. We'll see...
Stay tuned as I try to figure it all out and actually post some photos.