Halloween

This year I was in charge of the Trunk-or-Treat that our church put on, so unfortunately, I don't have many pictures of that night. Brad was great and got the boys ready for the party while I was busy at the church setting everything up.

This year for Halloween, Jacob said he wanted to be Luigi! He would go around saying "Luigi Time" like Luigi does on Mariokart Wii. I'm not really sure why, but he was excited about it. Then, if you asked Levi what he wanted to be, he would say "Mario Time!" So, I decided to go about things the old-fashioned way and instead of buying the cheap, lightweight costumes from Walmart, I found some great overalls online, some nice Mario and Luigi hats online, and a red and green shirt for each of the boys. They LOVED their costumes!

Brad tried to get a good picture of the boys before heading off to the Trunk-or-Treat. But the neighbor was using a leaf blower, or something really loud, so Levi thought he had to cover his ears :) He went ahead and took this picture, but then remembered that Mario and Luigi have mustaches, so he ran back inside to make the adjustment.Ah, a picture with the mustaches. For the Trunk-or-Treat, the mustaches were a little "Hitler-ish", so we changed that for Halloween night.

Proof that I attended the Trunk-or-Treat. Believe me, as a six month pregnant person running the show, I was EXHAUSTED by the time the night was done. Every part of my body was sore by the time I got home. I took a nice hot bath, some pain meds so I could hopefully sleep, and I still had trouble. Oh well, the night was a huge success, so I guess it was worth it!

On Halloween night, Brad's sister Angie and her two kids came over and Brad and Angie took the kids trick-or-treating. Here is Mario, Spiderman, Luigi, and a little lamb all ready to go trick-or-treating!
We used our little cart/wheelbarrow for the kids to ride in around the neighborhood.
All four kids, piled into the wagon. It didn't last long and Brad wasn't sure the wagon was necessary by the time the night was over, but the kids had a great time. I, er, the kids got some great candy, and I stayed home handing out candy to the kids who came to our door. Another Halloween success!

You've Had a Birthday, Shout Hooray!

On Friday, the 28th, Jacob turned 5 years old! He was pretty excited to be 5. He had been four and a half for almost six months, so it was a big deal to him!

We had a small family party and Jacob had a great time. Both sets of grandparents were able to attend and wish our birthday boy a happy birthday.

One of his favorite presents was Army men that he got from Levi. It came with a jet, two tanks, and a helicopter. Jacob sure was happy with it. Good job, Levi, on picking the right gift for your big brother ;)


An odd gift Jacob asked for from Grandma Smith was an electric toothbrush. Jacob was so excited when he opened the gift. He has been looking forward to, and talking about his electric toothbrush for weeks now. He really enjoys brushing his teeth with it and is very protective of it. Grandma also gave him extra batteries and a charger so he wouldn't run out of battery power.
Jacob picked out his own cake. It turned out to be a rather small cake, but since we weren't having many guests, it just meant less leftovers...which is probably a good thing.
Blowing out all five candles!
The theme was the same as last year...Star Wars. Jacob was very excited to get the light sabers on the cupcakes and also the shield rings.

Displaying one of the shield rings!

Jacob is such a fun person to have in our family. Here are five fun facts about Jacob:

1) Jacob loves, loves, loves to wake up early. No need to set an alarm clock with this kid around. Heck, half the time, he's up before the sun. I think he should've been a farmers kid...he would've gotten a lot more done...that or he'd learn to sleep in ;)

2) Jacob has an amazing memory. He will still talk about things that he saw or did when he was 2-3 years old. Sometimes I'm not sure if it's because we have talked about them recently and he's remembering conversations or if he truly remembers. Other times, he'll remember something that I know we haven't talked about for a long, long time, so I'm pretty sure his memory is better than mine!

3) Jacob has been working on reading lately. He can read most 3 letter words and many words which are much longer. He doesn't have a very good attention span, so our learning is done in short bursts, but he definitely has the hang of things. I can even ask him how to spell van and from memory and sounding it out, he can do it (along with other words). I think he's pretty dang smart for a five year old!

4) Jacob's favorite people are his Dad and Levi. He looks forward to nights when mom is gone and he gets to have a 'boys night' at home with Dad and Levi. The minute he hears the garage door open, he runs to it asking for Daddy! If you ask him who his best friend is, he will most of the time answer with Daddy...sometimes Levi...rarely (if ever) Mommy.

5) Jacob has a love for technology! He loves to use Brad's android phone, the computer, the Wii, and anything else that seems too technical for a kid his age. I'm pretty sure he knows how to use Brad' s phone better than I do.

Jacob, we love having you in our family, even if you do wear us out! Love you and happy 5th birthday!