Jacob is SIX!

Oh, how I love this boy! He has an unwavering enthusiasm for life, has more energy than the energizer bunny, feels everything (love, joy, sadness, injustice, and everything inbetween) very deeply, and has an uncanny knack for getting hurt. Thus, I am even more confident in God's great plans for his life, because he's still alive today! He gives the most ferocious hugs, and needs lots of physical contact to feel loved. If he's having a hard day (and is thereby creating a hard day for me), the best response is to pick him up and give him an unending bear hug! He has provided the greatest number of parenting challenges, which provides an equally great number of moments filled with love and joy.


















And so we celebrated his 6th birtday with gusto! He was SO excited to be "real 6," as opposed to the "pretend 6" for his party. Chocolate-chip pancakes in the shape of dinosaurs and relief from dishwasher duty started his day off right!
























On his birthday, we had Mel and her family and Nana and Papa over for dessert. Jacob opened a few more presents, including from Grandma and Grandpa M. the ever-popular blue jeans (he pretty much refuses to wear any other kind of pants) with cowboy and indian toys, which used to be Mark's, stuffed in the pockets! He was pretty excited!


















With a pan of gluten, dairy, and egg-laden brownies for the adults, we were able to stretch the party cake another day!


















Happy Birthday, dear Jacob! I love you to infinity, and beyond!

Jacob's Birthday Party

Jacob had, according to him, "the best birthday ever!" Obviously, Buzz Lightyear is the prevailing interest lately. No, we haven't even seen Toy Story 3 yet! Thanks to my friend and creativity coordinator Amy, we pulled off a little more fun than usual!















One of Jacob's most obvious characteristics? His capacity for pure joy!















Jacob had remembered, from over a year ago, some Buzz Lightyear fleece we saw at Jo-Ann's. And lately he's been complaining of being cold at night...sooooo, my mom made him a new fleece Buzz bedspread! Add to that a set of Buzz Lightyear sheets I found for free, and the boy is set! There were many other gifts that he has been really enjoying...pure joy!

More Berry Picking!

My Carhartt Kids

Faith Mountain Academy: Kindergarten Reading

This was a quick activity I definitely need to repeat! In chalk, I wrote all along the deck the letters whose names/sounds Jacob has been working on. When I gave either the name or the sound, he had to run to and then stop at the correct letter! He LOVED this, and it gave me the evaluation tool I needed while he was doing what he does best...moving!

Refreshingly Modest!

Anna has a new princess nightgown (love those hand-me-downs!). She likes the princesses. Except for Belle and Ariel. Her reason? "They're showing too much tummy" above their dress!

Those eyes...

French Braids

I love that she will sit still to let me do this...it always brings back good memories of doing my nieces' hair whenever we go back east!

Anna and Sophie

No words needed...I just love this girl, and the dog has some good moments, too!

Jacob's 1st Lost Tooth!

Jacob was SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY to finally lose a tooth! His front two teeth had been loose for a while...we finally noticed that his two permanent teeth were already coming in behind them! He was a trooper, asking me to pull it out when it was finally so loose that it was bugging him. The second one he pulled out himself the next week!

Vegetable Harvest

Well, here's the harvest results.
Amy grew this pepper. I put it next to my phone for size comparison. Obviously, not enough sun this summer!


















Our potatoes, on the other hand, did quite well! Which, to her credit, Amy actually planted also. I had been saving cut pieces of potatoes in a baggie in the fridge for a few months. After Amy knew me well enough to know that I actually never would get around to planting them and that I really wouldn't be offended if she just did it for me, she planted them in July. Given the short season they had, I was pretty pleased with the resulting six pounds of potatoes! Thanks, Amy!

Berry Picking

The kids and I spent a few afternoons in our own backyard picking lowbush cranberries. Anna just plops herself right down and just pops in her mouth every berry she picks! The boys did pretty well, and it was a great way to enjoy the autumn sunshine!

A little hike!

After spending the night in Homer, we drove to Soldotna the next day. Mark had stores he had to work at, so the kids and I spent the day hanging out at Tricia and Jerry's house! We took all of our school with us (reason # 326 why I love homeschooling), and took a hike down to the river for P.E.! It was the most perfect kind of day!