A very thoughtful friend sent us these pictures of Jacob.  They are from his last soccer game.  This friend was standing behind the goal taking some shots of his son and was kind enough to take these of Jacob.  He got some great shots!

Here he is getting  the ball...

 a little pushing and shoving, he keeps on going...

breaking free...

I love the action in these shots- look at the little boy grabbing Jacob's jersey!

Go Jacob, go!!

shooting the ball!

SCORE!!

High five from the coach!  Makes a four year old boy's day!

Run, Jacob, run!!

shoots again..

thanks again for the pictures- we really are so glad to have them!

American Girl!!

Warning- you are about to be overloaded with way too many pictures of 5 adorable little girls and their dolls!  This Spring/Summer four of these sweet little girls are turning 7 and instead of having birthday parties, their moms and I decided to take a day trip together to Atlanta.  Elizabeth, Virginia's little sister came along for the fun and was a trooper!!

We went to Northpointe Mall and hit the American Girl Store and then did some other fun, girlie things in the mall.  It really was one of my all-time favorite days with Abby!

Here we are at 7:30 am, ready to hit the road!!

Here we are about to go inside- they are SOOO excited!!

right away, Abby found Laine, the doll she was getting!

If you are unfamiliar with AG dolls- they each represent a different time period in American History.  Each doll has six little novelettes that tell what it would be like to have lived during that time.  They are very well written and really great books.

Each year they also have a girl of the year.  Laine is this years' girl- she's into gardening, animals, and keeping journals about her adventures- so she and Abby have several interests in common!

Abby and Emma Grace in front of the Laine display

Abby and Virginia with the Kit display.  Kit is the doll from the 1930's during the Depression.

Abby and I have read all her books together.  Her Mimi and Gramps gave her Kit for Christmas!

After looking around for just a little while, we had lunch at the Bistro. They have chairs for the dolls to sit with the girls and each girl gets to order from her own menu.  It really was super fun!!

Since we were celebrating their birthdays, Ms. Shanna made some YUMMY cookies and we sang Happy Birthday to each girl!

A couple of the girls had their dolls' hair fixed at the salon so we headed over to watch!

When everyone was finished shopping- they plopped down to show each other what they had gotten.  It was really fun to see their individual personalities come out in what they picked out !

Abby and Emma Grace both got a new Laine doll.

We took this group shot just as we were leaving!

After several hours of fun in the AG store- we set out to explore this super fun mall!  The girls had a dance party in the Disney Store!

We finished our day with a ride on the carousel and a treat from the Nestle cookie store!!

It really was such a fun, special day!

Happy birthday to the 7 year olds- Virginia, Emma Grace, Virginia, and Abby ( in July!)

K-4 program and friends!

It got hot enough several times in May to get wet-so we invited some friends over and had a blast in the backyard!

I didn't capture any of the slip and slide play- there is no time for a camera when you have 8 kiddos 5 and under and water is involved!!

Jacob finished up his k-4 year with a program. 

They sang " I will love the Lord with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul and with all my strength!" and it had some precious motions!  They also recited the verse out of Matthew.

Here is his entire class- they were SO cute!

Transition

This past Sunday we moved Jacob out of the room he shared with Abby and into "the boys' room!"  He and Nathan now share a room and Abby has her own room.  When we first mentioned it to her, she was so excited about having her own room.  As the day progressed she got a little sullen, and eventually ended up in tears.  She said that she was really going to miss Jacob and who would she talk to at night?  It was very heartwarming to see how much she loves him!  She and Jay spent a while rearranging her furniture and in the end she was thrilled and did perfectly that night!  Fast forward to Monday night.  The boys were in the shower and Jay went to get their pj's and found Abby in the hall with her sleeping bag.  She said she was lonely and so she was going to sleep on the floor in the boys' room.  Jay offered to let her stay up for an Uno match and that seemed to dissipate the sadness... temporarily!  Tuesday night she sobbed for about 15 minutes and actually said, " I'm the only one in our whole family who doesn't have anyone to share a room with and I'm SOO lonely!"  Wednesday night we made it without any tears.  Thursday night was a little better too!  Tonight (Friday) holds the promise of a sleepover in the boys' room if she wants to!  I'll keep you posted on how she does!

As she gets older I don't want to forget how sad she was about losing her sleeping buddy- I know the sentiment for sharing a room won't last forever!
As for the boys- they have adjusted just fine.  Nathan is beyond thrilled to have someone to talk to at night and Jacob has done great with his new roommate!

Dollywood April 2010

A couple of weeks ago we went to spend the weekend with my grandparents in Knoxville.  As always, we love being with them.  While we were there we decided to spend a day at Dollywood.  When I was little and would spend summers with my grandparents, we always went to Dollywood A LOT and so it is so fun for me to get to take my own kids there.

It was our first time at a park with rides as a family of 5 (we went before w/ Nathan but I carried him in the baby bjorn the entire time!) 

It really was the perfect day.

We had so much fun.

This is my little daredevil- she will ride anything

Here we are riding the real choo choo train.  It has a steam engine and the boys loved this!

The old-timey cars were definitely a favorite of all 3.  Even Nathan could "drive" and he thought he was big stuff!!

This picture cracks me up.  We had been on the eternal ferris wheel ride and it was finally stopping to unboard people.  Jay and Jacob were above us and snapped this picture!!

Back at mamma and Pappa's house we had lots of time to snuggle...
Jacob loves to crawl in bed with pappa in the mornings!

Abby loves to help Mamma cook and set the table!

Nathan and Mamma snuggled and read several times

their basement club- these three would disappear in the basement and read and color for hours!