Today looks to be another beautiful day.  We are able to spend the afternoon with family going to a zoo.  It will be a crazy yet fun outing I am sure!

Yesterday was Jacob's "21 month day".  I wanted to write down things that Jacob is doing at this point, so sorry it's not an interesting post.

At 21 months old you::
*are approximately 25 lbs and is 32-33 inches tall and wearing 18-24 month clothes. 
*go to bed around 8/8:30 and wake up around 7. 
*take one nap in the afternoon for about 2, sometimes 3 hours. 
*We sit in a chair at nap/bed time and sing your favorite songs with you.  Your favorites are Zaccheaus, Only a Boy Named David, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, & ABC's. 
*know the first 5 books of the Bible and can sometimes say them on your own without being prompted.
*can count to 11 on your own, but don't always make it that high.
*Make a basket in your hoop standing on the floor (before you would climb on your step stool or the love seat so you could make it)
*repeat absolutely everything you hear, it's cute, but scary at the same time because we can't control what other people say.
*are beginning to put your own thoughts together and verbalize it.  Often your brain is working faster than your mouth can get it out so if we're patient eventually we can figure out what you are saying.  On the way home from our picnic/swimming outting you said, had fun with girlies.  You are also able to remember various events that happened throughout the day and the people that you interacted with.  It's fun to be able to know what things you remember that you did. 
*know what a triangle and circle are, we are still working on colors, most things are either green or yellow to you :) 
*Kissing your oweies makes them ALL BETTER!
*ask to go outside nearly 50 times a day :)
*can jump and both feet leave the ground
*are an excellent car rider
*love your babysitter Shelby
*like to watch clips on youtube of "real monster trucks", bert/ernie/elmo
*can be naughty when mom or dad ask you for something you are holding (that you're not suppose to have), you run the opposite direction and typically throw whatever you have.  We are practicing giving things to mom and dads hands when asked. 

*Most of all you are so much fun and we love being your parents.  Your growth and development amaze us every step of the way.  We love to read to you, sing songs with you, take you golfing, play ball with you, push you on the swing, take walks and teach you new things.  God has given us a wonderful gift in you.  We think you're the best and are such a good kid!  We pray for you daily as well as your birthfamily.  We know they love you and we give them updates of what you are doing and send pictures to see you grow.  It's hard to believe that you are going to be 2 years old in 3 months!  I miss the tiny little baby that you were, but wonder what you'll look like in a year and what your favorites will be.  We love you Jacob!

Friday and Saturday continued with the weather that we had on Thursday.  It's great and I love it.  I try really hard not to complain about the "hot" temps because I complain all winter long about the coldness.  I truly do love the hotness and how it soaks into my skin to my bones.  A much greater feeling than getting cold to the bone. 

This morning we slept in and took our time getting ready for the day.  We packed a picnic and headed to a state park roughly 25 minutes away.  There is a playground which Jacob toddled around for awhile and water for him to look at.  We enjoyed our lunch: 

Sitting at the picnic table on his own - he sat very well, but was pretty far from the table.

So for part of the meal he sat on dads lap, I think they liked it!

After we ate had our lunch and cleaned up we prepared to go to the beach and see how the water went with Jacob.  He was pretty timid at first, not wanting to get wet, it was on the chillier side, being that it's only May it was no surprise. 

But it really didn't take him too long to get warmed up to the idea.  He walked the beach coveting every other kids shovel, buckets, etc.  So of course we would walk back to get his shovel, bucket, tractor, ball....whatever, and by the time we got to his....he didn't want it anymore!  Naturally, right?  He finds friends easily and says hi to everyone he sees, and continues saying hi until they say something back.  He gravitates towards girls or "girlies" as he called them today.  Once he was in the water, splashing, kicking, he didn't want to get out! 

Any time he stumbled and fell over into the water he thought it was great.  A few times he put his face in the water (he does this during bath too) and blew and then giggled.  Certainly not the cleanest water.  We are glad that he had fun and enjoyed a day doing activities we don't do all the time!  The pool should be great fun this summer and we are anticipating it greatly!  The pool in town opens on Monday - yesterday or today would have been perfect being the temperatures are so warm.  Oh well, hopefully we'll get to enjoy it this week some. 

It was fun to do something different as a family.  We enjoyed the outdoors and we are now enjoying some quiet rest time.  We have more plans for the weekend, so nap time is a must to keep him in a happy, cheery mood! 

Can you believe I posted just hours after an event!  We haven't even been home 2 hours! 

It's unofficially SUMMER!

and that means 90 degree temps with bright blue skies with a gentle breeze is welcome EVERY SINGLE DAY from now until September! :)  I LOVE IT!  That is what our day was like today.  Absolutely gorgeous.  The best part was the time we spent together as a family at the golf course.  We took Jacob out once last year with us and it wasn't fantastic, I ended out not golfing.  Today Jacob enjoyed it more as he took a golf club along.  Nate and I played competitively and unfortunately I came up on the short end this time.  We didn't play the greatest or the worst either really - but that's not what it was about - Nate and I both agreed.  We enjoyed time together as a family and enjoyed sharing one of our favorite things to do together with our son.  He likes it and wanted to put the ball in the hole!  He was even strong enough to pull the flag out of the cup!  He was cute and liked it and we liked watching him.  He called the golf carts "cars" and waved and said bye bye flag as we left the greens. 

I have been finished with school for 2 weeks but have been diligently working on cleaning up my classroom during the mornings.  I am not finished with my work (I'm blogging instead of finishing...oops!) and also enjoyed family time instead of finishing work.  I keep saying - I have rainy day work to do and we're not getting that - which is OK by me!  My work will get done but right now my family is coming first and that's the way it should be.  I'm in no big hurry and the work will get done in time. 

I've been able to get work accomplished in my gardens but I just don't feel like I stay on top of it, I need to get some annuals planted (well and purchased too!)  Have you ever heard of alyssum being a perennial?  I have alyssum growing in a few places that it's been the past couple years - mixed in with TONS of weeds that barely got touched today because I was way too hot with the sun beating down on me that I quit!  Anyway, I'm excited about my random flowers growing!

Funny story of the day - I had just gotten Jacob changed into his swim gear after naptime, set him down to run free as I clean up the changing table.  I walk into the kitchen to find my son holding my almost empty pop can I had been sipping on since lunch in one hand and he's dancing and shaking the can and yelling, MESSY!  I'm mad at first and then laugh pretty hard.  It was my own dumb fault and guess what...my floor is still sticky...it's wiped up, but the blow-up pool was calling our name as well as the sand table.  Then it was bath, supper, grocery store, a walk, a treat with the neighbors and then bed for the little guy.  Which then became time for my shower and wind down time and I completely forgot about it! 

I'm hoping that throughout the summer I'll be able to reflect at the end of each day and think about the fun, enjoyable moments that happened, the successes of parenting and being a family.  To end the day thinking of good, positive aspects of life.  Hopefully I'll have some funny things to share as well.  I'd also like to track how many times Jacob asks to go outside in a day, but that's impossible!  Bring on the sunny days where we can play outside so that when those rainy days do inevitably come it'll be fun and exciting to play inside as well.

Here's a few pictures from the day taken with the good ole cell phone camera!  So I apologize for the poor quality.

through the tulips

Can you guess where we spent a lot of our time this weekend?  After about 2 weeks of yucky weather we were finally able to spend some quality time outside enjoying the gorgeous weather.  It seems like a very long time since we've been able to comfortably take Jacob outside to play.  A friend from Minneapolis area came to visit, the little girl in the pictures is her daughter.  She's almost a year older than Jacob.  They had a great time playing together!

Ring around the Rosie by the tulips

We're not dutch (Jacob and I) but I get kisses from him whenever I can - and in front of the tulips seemed fitting

See how gorgeous it was - not a cloud in the sky and such a pretty color of blue.  Also - there was no wind which made it easier to snap pictures of those tulips.

Of course a trip to the downtown park was necessary for the kids to *safely* run around - still a ton of kids - and lots bigger than Jacob.  I accidentally took a mid aged child out while trying to save Jacob from the merry go round.  Oops - thankfully the mother and child understood and no one was hurt. 

awe, how cute!

Don't you dare pick that tulip - the fine will come out of your piggy bank!  :)  He was being gentle and never came too close to actually picking a flower.

Hamming it up for the camera while patiently waiting for the parade to being. 

Overall, we had a great weekend!  It was refreshing after a very busy week.  School is technically finished for me, but I have a lot of responsibilities to take care of before I'm officially on my summer vacation.  It's also on my own schedule so that helps me feel like I have the freedom I enjoy. 

MAY?!

It's unbelievable how fast this school year has gone! 2 weeks remaining with my precious 4/5 year olds doesn't seem realistic! They're going to Kindergarten next year....I have some friends/family members whose first child is going to K next year and they can hardly believe that either. It's amazing really. I've been blessed by being their teacher this year. Now the preparations are in full swing for the end of the year quickly approaching. Yikes!

Today we had a first - Jacob stuck something in one of his holes. Ugh! Seriously!? It really could have been much worse and I fear for when that time will actually be much worse and we have to go to the dr. because he sticks something in a hole in his body. It was minor really - it was lunch time. We had a roast + other stuff...one moment I notice a piece of roast at the tip of his nose, I think about saying something, decide to take a bite and then JACOB!!...get your finger out of your nose........the roast is now in his nostril. Nate went to get the tweezers, I tried to get Jacob to blow it out - he can blow his nose, so I blocked the "clear" nostril hoping he had enough strength to push out the meat. Nate returns with the tweezers (and asks to get the camera...I didn't care, but he didn't), I tilt J's head back and grab it. Really, it was minor, but hopefully he gets the point we don't like it when he puts things in these holes. Silly boy.

We spent a lot of time outside this weekend going yard and garden work. Jacob has enjoyed the extra time spent outside - this has been shown by his longer nap in the afternoon and sleeping later in the morning! Both a bonus - however we'll see how it goes when we have to wake him up in the morning tomorrow. It's so hard to wake the little guy in the morning, but he has to be up by 6:45 so we can be ready to leave by 7:30.

Jacob is getting much quicker these days - especially when going after our kitties. Louie has been very tolerant while Sadie isn't a "holding" kitty and doesn't always appreciate Jacob's kisses, hugs and discovering of the cats body parts. Today Jacob was playing with Louie and he was getting a little more aggresive than usual (J) which made Louie get defensive. We caught the little dual on video and added a lot of laughter to our day! I'm struggling to get the video added to facebook - and for some reason I struggle even more to get videos posted to the blog. It takes FOREVER! I'll try to put it on here though because it's pretty good!

Have a great week!