Hansson Happenings

What a difference a year makes!

2010-09-07T20:50:00.000-04:00

Last year at this time I was heartbroken, angry and weeping because my "baby" was so miserable on his first day of school. He had a teacher who rarely smiled, who didn't give them a recess and who told him to go to the wrong place at dismissal.

This year I am thrilled, excited and smiling because my "not so baby anymore" was excited to go to school this morning and had a wonderful day with his 2nd grade teacher. She smiles, gave them a fabulous recess, read them her favorite book and gave them high fives or hugs on the way out the door this afternoon.

This is going to be a wonderful year!!!

Meet the Teacher

2010-09-03T20:00:00.000-04:00

Thursday we met Jakob's 2nd grade teacher, Ms. Linn. It was a very different experience this year. Yeah!! She greeted us right when we walked in the door and said, "You must be Jakob." Jakob was all smiles. His best friend from 1st grade is in his class and he was waiting for him in the classroom. Ms. Linn talked to Jakob about his summer and about her life growing up in the Air Force. It was wonderful. Jakob and I went to the art room to see Mrs. Z and she was so happy to see us. We even went into Ms. Pavia's classroom to say hello and she saw Jakob and said, "Oh Jakob, it is so nice to see you, how was your summer?" She even gave him a hug. Now, Jakob took it all in stride and hugged her and told her about his summer. I, on the other hand, had to consciously not ask the women who she was and what had she done with that emotionless and uncaring teacher we had last year. WOW! It is going to be a great year!!!

A Week of Fun!!

2010-09-01T23:16:00.000-04:00

Monday Jakob and I spent time with the Frego's at Pirate's Cove Water Park. It was a little disappointing after Water Country in Williamsburg, but still a fun day in the sun. The pool was huge and had a small slide and a bucket that dumped out lots of water. We spent several hours swimming and laughing and eating. The perfect summer day.
Tuesday we bought groceries, you have to eat even when you're having fun. We also played outside with friends.
Today we drove to Baltimore and visited Port Discovery Children's Museum. Jakob climbed a huge playground structure that was 3 stories tall. I followed him once and even though the sign said "parents are encouraged to join in" I struggled to climb through some fairly small places and Jakob encouraged me by saying "mommy it's a bigger opening up here". I have chosen to believe it is not my width that slowed me down but my height. They had a great water room where Jakob put himself in a bubble. So cool! There were lots of great activities. After the museum closed we walked down to the harbor and met a friend from Wichita for dinner. I met her when she was 8 and 21 years later we still have so much fun when we get together. Amazing! We made it home by 9:30 and found a wonderful letter in our mailbox. Jakob's teacher for next year is the one we were hoping to get. We were so excited we jumped up and down and called George to share our GREAT news!! Then Jakob fell into bed and was asleep within minutes.
Tomorrow we meet his teacher and attend his last book club meeting. The summer went by so quickly, but we have really enjoyed this last week. Friday is open, but I'm sure we'll find something to fill it.

Burke Lake

2010-08-28T19:21:00.001-04:00

With the summer winding down and thoughts of school beginning to cloud our minds we have decided to do as much as possible in this last week of freedom. Yesterday we spent the majority of the day at Burke Lake National Park with friends. We had a picnic lunch, played miniature golf, rode the train twice, rode the carousel once, had ice cream and took a hike. It was wonderful and the weather was beautiful, especially in the shade. The family we spent the day with has two children, however one is 16 and has a very busy schedule so it is nice to get together with them and their daughter who is Jakob's age. They enjoy each other's company and get a long so well. I get to talk to the mom whom I think is awesome and Jakob gets to spend time with a friend doing the fun things 7 year-olds enjoy. This family has truly been a blessing to us and we cherish this time the Air Force, our service, and the Army, their service, have given to us. We will most likely move around the same time, 2014, and hope the kids will stay good friends. It is always fun for me to look forward and think of how Jakob's relationships will change as he ages. "Will he still want to hang around with this "girl" friend when he is 10 or 11?" "Will she still think it's fun to do things with this 10 year-old boy?" I know I can't predict anything, but I do enjoy watching his relationships grow and change. I pray he continues to be a strong leader and an empathetic friend. I know he is kind, but will he always choose that path when it's a harder one? I hope so. Wow, there I go off on a tangent...

Back on track: Today was Daddy Day. George is packing up and heading to Savannah for GV training for the month of September and today is the last full day the two will have together for awhile. This morning they went fishing and caught a few small ones. This afternoon they headed to the library to return a book and turn in Jakob's summer reading list. Then it was haircuts and a trip to the bookstore. George came up with an idea to make the next month a little easier on Jakob. He wants to read books with Jakob every night using Skype. So they picked out 4 books and got two copies of each so they can both read to each other during George's trip. I think it was a wonderful idea and Jakob is super excited. We are very lucky to have such a wonderful man in our lives.

Next week will be a water park and a trip to Baltimore for a children's museum. We want to make sure we end the summer with a bang.

VACATION!!

2010-08-22T21:26:00.002-04:00

For one week this summer we were living LARGE. Williamsburg was our destination and having as much fun as possible was our assignment. We accomplished both in grand style.

At the Palace

My mom accompanied us on this trip and I was very grateful for her company as George couldn't take leave for the entire week we were scheduled for. My mom, Jakob and I arrived at our "villa" a beautiful two bedroom suite at the Marriott's Fords Colony. We toured the two pools, tennis courts, volleyball court, life-size chess and checker game, movie theater and game room before setting off for the grocery store to purchase some vacation necessities. Milk, eggs, fruits, veggies, alcohol and s'more makings. Because we had a full kitchen we were hoping to ease the stress and cost of eating out all the time. I made several dishes to bring from home and we supplemented with the groceries. It worked better than I had ever expected.

George joined us two days later and it was off to Colonial Williamsburg for the first of our two visits. The weather was mild and we had a great time learning about the "older" days, as Jakob used to call it, and eating some great burgers. We toured a beautiful museum and the most fascinating displays were from the asylums and hospitals. Not much difference back then. The restraints were horrific and the medical instruments weren't much better. Our second day began with a reenactment and very hot weather. We saw how they made silver products, an archaeological dig and a blacksmith. We learned so much about Williamsburg and how things used to be.

WHAT DID YOU DO NOW?

Our other days were filled with a trip to Busch Gardens and Water Country. Jakob rode his first roller coaster, The Griffon. It is one of the scariest coasters I've been on, be he loved it. Well, he loved it a few hours after he rode it. I think he was in shock what roller coaster could actually make you do. It was amazing to have him ride with me. I hope I have turned him into a coaster junkie so we can ride them again next year. I think Jakob's favorite day was spent at Water Country. If he could he would spend all day in the water. His favorite place in Water Country was the wave pool. There were no lines and you could be in the water the entire time.

The rest of our time was swimming in the pool, riding on the bike trails near our room and shopping at the outlet malls (my favorite!) We had such a great time and hope to visit Williamsburg again soon.

July! Where did it go?

2010-08-12T14:34:00.000-04:00

Our Sunflower

We were super busy in July and I found no time to update the blog. So, here is a rundown of our adventures and I'll post pictures as I get to them:

Because it was July we should have been in the midst of boxes and chaos as we are every few years. This year we were blessed enough to not have a move. We did sign a 3 year lease with our current landlord and plan on staying here until George retires in 2014. We have, however kept very busy. Jakob's first camp was with Hidden Pond Nature Center and he did many dirty and slimy pond adventures. Every day I dropped him off clean and I picked him up slimy and smelly 3 hours later. He loved it! We were fortunate enough to have the class with a friend he met in Kindergarten and they had several activities together after camp hours. It was so much fun.

The next week Jakob started swim camps. He progressed from level 5 (think freestyle half-way across the pool and learning breast stroke) to level 6 (diving and long distance swimming) in the four week camp. He is a fish and it has been amazing to watch him progress through the levels. He has a beautiful freestyle stroke and can swim across a pool with little effort.

July also brought book club to our routine. Jakob had a tutor throughout the school year for reading. His wonderful tutor has a book club during the summer where same age children get together and improve their reading within a small group setting. He knows over the half the children in his group and has come to love reading even more. Mrs. Dutke has been a true blessing in our lives. He can read so well.

Our silly boy!

The middle of July Jakob attended VBS at our church. He invited a friend from school to attend with him and they had a wonderful time learning about the God and all his love for his children. It was a great experience he enjoyed sharing with his friends.

The last week of July my mom visited and we saw Mary Poppins at the Kennedy Center. It was an amazing and wonderful musical. Jakob loved it and is still singing the songs. He especially enjoyed "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". The performance was outstanding and we would recommend it to everyone. WOW!!!

It was a busy July!

Father's Day Weekend

2010-06-25T19:09:00.001-04:00

I planned and planned and planned to have a fun Father's Day Weekend. George made sure his schedule wouldn't conflict with my plans. I planned on going to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum the Saturday before Father's Day for "Become a Pilot Day" Family Day. We were going to ride in a hot air balloon and see great planes and do fun activities. George was on call Friday, but made sure he wasn't on Saturday so we could go. On Friday he says, "There are some people who never get called in the three years they've been in the squadron." His on call day started Friday at 8 a.m. He stayed home and got a lot done around the house. His on call day ended on Saturday at 8 a.m. We were leaving for the museum at 9:15 so we would be one of the first ones there to ride the hot air balloon.

"Ring, ring," goes his cell phone at 7:09 a.m.

"Crap," I say looking at the clock.

"Gotta go," he says and heads downstairs to tell Jakob.

"No, daddy," wails Jakob.

Jakob and I headed to the museum on our own and rode in that hot air balloon. We sent pictures to George to show him what he would have been doing had he not had to take someone to play golf for several hours. We called him when we got home and told him all the fun things we did while he sat for 4 hours and then flew someone back after the golf game. He did come home that evening and we had a wonderful Father's Day with church, golfing, a new pressure washer and even a nap for the deserving Father. It was all good.

But it could have been better.

It's Over!!

2010-06-25T18:51:00.000-04:00

Jakob is officially a 2nd grader! We couldn't be happier. He had an amazing report card and did so well throughout the year.
His teacher and the school did a few crazy things this week just to keep us on our toes and remind us how much we disliked this year. But it is over!
On to fun in the sun!

It's Almost Over

2010-06-06T10:47:00.000-04:00

14 Days!! Only 14 Days!!

Jakob has had a rough 1st grade year. Not only was it a new school and he didn't know anyone in his class, but the teacher was/is terrible. He has done so well adjusting to an atmosphere so different from home. He has learned how to respect a teacher, but not blindly follow someone in authority. He has learned that no matter how hard you try you will never be perfect in some areas of your life. He has learned that Mommy and Daddy will go to the teacher and make sure she doesn't take away snack, or bathroom privilages or recess because another child did something unacceptable. He has learned life is never fair. He has learned that some people are never happy. Most of all, he has learned he will NEVER have this teacher again.

He has survived!! So long Ms. Pavia!

Would You Like Fries With That?

2010-03-20T19:59:00.003-04:00

George, "Jakob I can get the RosettaStone material for free through the Air Force."
Jakob, "So you and I can learn Spanish?"
George, "Yes."
Jakob, "Daddy why do you want to learn Spanish?"
George, "When I get out of the Air Force in a few years it will help me get a job."
Jakob, "Daddy are you going to be a Manager at McDonalds?"

Bobsled

2010-02-12T21:09:00.004-05:00

Our house has an awesome feature we have recently discovered with all the snow this winter. From the front of the house you can sled down to the end of our backyard. We have also discovered a great use for our boogie boards we purchased in Hawaii. They make really fast sleds. Jakob, George and I have had some great runs. I forgot to mention that are backyard is full of trees. So our sled run was a little tricky and you had to pay close attention to where you were going. After our latest snowfall (over 2 ft) I was watching George and Jakob from the dining room window and noticed there was potentially a better run if we built a bank to make the sled go to a larger opening in our back yard. It was awesome!! And yes I am totally taking credit for it.

Blizzard 2010

2010-02-07T16:16:00.005-05:00

I have never seen this much snow. Our official measurement for our yard was 25". Once we shoveled the driveway and sidewalk we had piles well over 5 feet. The first time we shoveled it was at 18" and three hours later we shoveled another 7". I just found out our cul-de-sac is the worst. We cannot get out of our driveway yet because our road has not been plowed since early Saturday morning. We are unsure of when we will be able to get out and about. Our neighbors at the end of our street have been driving around, it is impossible for us to do that yet. The joys of living in cul-de-sac.

Everything appeared to have a hat.

It was such a pretty sight until you had to shovel it.

Our street. Those large mounds are cars. This is after the plow had made two runs Friday evening and early Saturday morning.

George after the first shoveling.

We did have a lot of fun yesterday after we shoveled with building forts, snowball fights and sledding. It has been a wonderful experience and will provide great memories in the years to come.

King of the mountian.

Explanations by Jakob

2010-01-12T19:32:00.003-05:00

Jakob had a play date scheduled last Friday. This was a non-mommy play date and his first with that condition. He was a little apprehensive until I informed him they would be playing Wii games and I would pick him up after an hour.

Thursday after dinner the play date mom called and said her son hadn't been to school that day and he had thrown-up after dinner that night and the play date wasn't going to happen. When I told Jakob that Zack wasn't feeling good he asked what was wrong with him. I was explaining that his stomach was having issues and when I began to talk about what had happened after he had eaten dinner Jakob asked, "Did he un-eat his dinner?"

Yes, yes he did.

Pinewood Derby Time

2010-01-08T12:31:00.002-05:00

This month has been filled with Pinewood Derby planning. At the pack meeting last month Santa delivered presents to all the boy scouts. Pinewood Derby car packs. This present came complete with a block of wood, tires, metal axles and instructions. Jakob and George have done been sawing, sanding, oohing and awing about the car. Jakob is so excited about racing his car on the 30th.
I am looking forward to the race too. I am not looking forward to the 50+ races and the three hours it is going to take to get through the Pinewood Derby Races. George said that when he raced it was only one race and they were done if they didn't win their heat. The rules now are that every car must race in each of the four lanes, and against every car. Meaning if there are 8 kids in the Tiger Den there will be a ridiculous number of races. THEN, the other 5 dens will have their races and the 6 & 7 year-olds will wait patiently while they finish. (Sarcasm intended) You are all invited.

The Month of Christmas

2009-12-23T20:16:00.004-05:00

December has flown by and we are two days away from Christmas. We are finished shopping. I was finished a week ago and George finished last night. For those of you that don't know my husband well, this was ahead of schedule. He is the last minute shopper and is so proud of himself for getting it WAY before Christmas. I just asked him if he was going to wrap the gifts tonight. He shook his head and said, "Definitely tomorrow." LOL.

This past weekend we headed up to New Jersey to celebrate an early Christmas with George's family. The drive there was brutal. It usually takes 4 to 4 1/2 hours and this was a good 7 to 7 1/2 hour drive this time. There was lots of traffic and a few accidents. We were told to expect snow showers in Virginia Friday evening and continuing through Saturday. In New Jersey it wasn't supposed to snow until Saturday and stop Sunday. Perfect for our travels. We saw a beautiful snow storm Saturday night in New Jersey and Jakob and his cousins spent hours shoveling the sidewalk, driveway and grass.

On Sunday morning they were all up at 7 wanting to go out. The snow was 6 or 7 inches by then. We made them wait until 8 and out they went for hours of snow fun. We set out for Virginia around 3 and made excellent time. We were home by 8 with a dinner break and some traffic in Virginia. We were amazed at the height of the snow when we got home. I would estimate 16 to 17 inches. We were very grateful to have the Pilot as we had to plow our way up our driveway and into our garage. We actually had to shovel out the snow we had plowed into the garage from the underside of the Pilot. It was a lot of snow.

Monday was a day off for all of Northern Virginia. They shut down everything from schools to military bases. We spent most of the day digging our way out. It took us 3 1/2 hours to get the driveway cleared. The major roads were fine, it was just the side streets the plows had yet to do

Tuesday we ventured out to see Santa and finish up George's shopping. Still no plow in our neighborhood. We have since given up on them coming.

Wednesday we went to an amazing event called ICE! at the Gaylord Hotel at The National Harbor. If you ever get a chance to see this take it. It was beautiful and a great family event. You walk-through a winter wonderland carved entirely of ice... TWO MILLION POUNDS to be exact. It is kept at 9 degrees and it was beautiful. We had a really fun time.

We will be on our own for Christmas this year. It is the first time for all of us. We are hosting a small get together Christmas evening and then my mom will be in the next evening. We are so grateful for a wonderful year. We've had our trials and our tribulations. We've learned many things this year and we are looking forward to another wonderful year in Virginia.

Have a Merry, Merry Christmas.

"I want to go to school today ...

2009-12-15T11:47:00.002-05:00

because you won't be there!" This is what I heard from my 7-year-old. The first few words were music to my ears. We have been struggling for some time with school and how "un-fun" it is. I was thinking yeah this is wonderful ... or not. His last few words were said because I had told him to make his bed on a "non-making bed day" The horror. I let it go for a little while. I did say, "Nice," but then let him go brush his teeth. When he came back into my room I told him what he said really hurt my feelings. He broke down crying and apologizing. My sweet, sweet Jakob. I love him and his kind heart. And the bed was made with no extra comments.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-13T19:48:00.002-05:00

Of course I am still behind in my posts.
This Thanksgiving we had George's parents with us. I have to say it was the best Thanksgiving meal I have ever made. My philosophy this year was to keep it simple. Sure you hear that saying all the time, but do you really ever try to live it? I had a few friends buy the prepared dinner from Wegmans or Whole Foods. That was definitely the simplest approach and I may try that some year. I did run around like a crazy person the week prior to Thanksgiving. Shopping at 4 different grocery stores, cleaning every room in the house and preparing the menu for the 4 days we would have guests. However, this year my "simple" was a pared down menu with some really good dishes. The preparation for the dinner was an all day event. But, isn't it supposed to be? My usual problem is trying to do too many dishes that were too complex. This year my menu was:

Rosemary Roasted Organic Turkey 13lbs
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans and Shallots
Cranberry Citrus Sauce
Carrot and Chestnut Soup
Rosemary Bread
Apple Pie w/ whipped cream
Mint Pie

To make things stress free Jakob, George and I made a few dishes before hand and really had a good time measuring and cooking together. I used a few Schwan items to cut down on preparation time and I only made one vegetable and one potato. George's mom made the apple pie. Dinner was planned for 2 PM and everything was on the table by 2:15 PM. All the items were hot and the turkey was moist and delicious. My favorite dish was the carrot soup. I have made it 3 times now and we love it. The bread was wonderful too and Jakob loved that everything was homemade. He was in awe. He said, "It must be an important holiday. Mommy is cooking from scratch. She never does that." In my defense, most of our dinners are from scratch. They are usually things like spaghetti or chicken and veggies. I think he was most impressed with the bread. I rarely make fresh bread and he got to help a lot.
It was a wonderful meal with lots of family time. We played many games and shared many stories. Jakob is starting to understand and appreciate traditions. We checked a book out of the library about pilgrims and have had a wonderful time learning about the pilgrim children and the significance of celebrating Thanksgiving.

The Treadmill

2009-11-21T15:45:00.003-05:00

The last few weeks have been emotionally trying on George and I. (probably Jakob too) We haven't had any tragedies or anything horrible happen we were just really down and tired. I finally asked George what he thought our problem was. He made an observation that was so simple yet so true. We were functioning like we were on a treadmill. Lots of effort, really tired from running yet getting nowhere. The stresses of the last few months have really caught up to us. Our family is used to getting answers, fixing problems and moving on. God has given us a few trials these last few months that we have been unable to get answers, fix the problems and move on from.
Jakob is still struggling with school. He has made great strides in overcoming his separation anxiety and the overwhelming difference of kindergarten and 1st grade. However, we are still very concerned with his teachers views and personality. We are constantly battling the inconsistencies we are seeing in her discipline and expectations.
George has been in training to fly the GIII for his new job since the second week of September. He has been unable to get qualified in the airplane to actually fly missions. Not because he isn't ready but because of scheduling issues with the planes or the planes keep breaking. He has gotten up at 4:45 am and driven 35 minutes at least 4 times to find out the plane was broken or they had to use it for something else. He is very frustrated with the process and we hope it all comes together before the holidays.
So after much discussion we have decided to enjoy the little things we have been able to conquer as a family and be content with not having all the answers yet and letting God show us what His plan is. It's a trial some days, but most days it is a lot easier than running on that treadmill.

Still Catching Up

2009-11-14T18:49:00.004-05:00

Stage 1 - Jakob's Make-Up

Stage 2 - George's Make-Up

Stage 3 - The costumes

Stage 4 - BJ joins in the fun!

The Friday after Jakob's birthday we had my mom and her husband in town for a visit. We had a soccer practice that was cancelled due to muddy fields. We went anyway and kicked the ball around for awhile. Saturday was the game. Finally. We had missed several games due to weather and it was nice to finally see Jakob play. After the game it was pumpkin carving time. We almost missed it. That evening Jakob and George dressed up as clowns and headed out into the neighborhood to get some candy. As in previous years our doorstep was not visited often and we handed out very little candy and Playdoh. I am always tickled to hear the older kids get so excited about Playdoh. I bought two packages 3 years ago thinking I would give it all away. I still have one whole package left and few singletons from the other package. We just don't get the kids in Virginia.

Monday and Tuesday were days off from school for the kids because of election day. It is one of the perks of living so close to D.C. It's a BIG deal here. On Tuesday we took a walk around our favorite lake, Mercer Lake, a saw all the beautiful foliage. It was a wonderful visit with my mom and Roger.

Missed a month!

2009-11-07T07:25:00.003-05:00

The pictures:

Jakob is 7!!

Concentrating hard while painting his plate.

Jakob did not request toys for his birthday. It was a dust pan and broom, a grabber and the Hannah Montana movie. Who's child is this?

October is always a crazy month for me. Jakob's birthday is at the end and we have many visitors. This year was no different. I have not uploaded pictures from any of our events and I might get around to it before Thanksgiving. So check back often as things may change frequently.

Here is a preview of our September/October events:

George was in Texas for sim training. He had class for a little over three weeks. Jakob was not thrilled with going to school every day and with George being gone it was an even bigger battle. Once George was back in town things got a little easier for all of us. Jakob is beginning to enjoy some aspects of school and has shown improvement in his reading and writing. Yeah!

The Friday before Jakob's birthday my dad and his wife flew in just in time to attend the Fall Festival at Jakob's school and a soccer practice. George's parents drove down from New Jersey that night and met us at our house later that evening. Saturday was filled with soccer pictures, costume buying, soccer game (which was rained out 10 minutes after we got there) and shopping for birthday gifts. Sunday was church and a party at Color Me Mine in Fairfax Corner. There were 6 very well-behaved children painting pottery for an hour. It was amazing how patient they were in painting their pieces. We had ice cream cake, pictures, balloons and headed home for goodbyes to the New Jersey clan and prepare for Choir practice at 5. WHEW!!

For Jakob's birthday we headed to Coastal Flats in Fairfax Corner for his favorite kids meal of steak and fries. We had dessert at a gourmet cupcake shop. The next day my dad and his wife left and we prepared for our next visitors just before Halloween. I am beginning to realize why I fell behind in my blogging. Did I mention I caught a cold in between Jakob's party and Halloween? I'll finish the next weekends happenings in a later post. It could be next week or it could be next month. You never know.

Game 2

2009-09-19T15:24:00.003-04:00

Jakob's soccer team had their first practice Friday night and their second game today. They decided on a name for their team: The Bald Eagles. It is a very hard name to say when you are cheering. Jakob did an amazing job of handling the ball and working his way down the field. He scored the first goal for his team and he loves it. The weather was perfect and the game was fun.

Go Bald Eagles!!!

Burke Athletic Club

2009-09-15T20:30:00.003-04:00

This year Jakob is playing league soccer for Burke Athletic Club (BAC). Their first practice was Friday, Sept. 11th. Alas, it poured down rain that day and practice was cancelled. Saturday, Sept. 12th was their first game. These children had never met their coach, their teammates and some had never played soccer before and did not know anything about positioning. The coach requested we be there 10 minutes prior to the start of the game to meet each other. Meet they did and the game began. There are 10 players on each team and they split the teams in half and play 4 on 4 with one sub. The other team had obviously practiced. They knew each others names and knew what positions to play for 4 v 4. Amazingly enough our team, dubbed the "blue team" because they had not gotten together yet to choose a name, played so well it was a tie game when all was said and done. The kids didn't care and score was not kept by the coaches, only the parents. The best part for most of the kids was the tunnel of parents at the end of the game. Gooooooo "Blue Team!!"

This Friday we are hoping for a practice. But we know we'll have lots of fun at the Saturday game even if there is no practice. However, the name will have to change because they will be wearing their red uniform. Goooooooo "Red Team!!"

First Day

2009-09-13T20:50:00.002-04:00

Jakob started 1st grade this past Tuesday. This year he is attending a public school close to our home. I am second guessing our choice of schools after only 4 days however. I am not happy with the teacher he has and I have been unimpressed by the school administration. We have been supremely blessed the last three years with wonderful teachers and well run schools. We are struggling with the number of children that greet us everyday and the numerous staff we are trying to get answers from. Jakob, from day 1, has not wanted to go to school. He has yet to make a connection with his teacher and struggles to enter her classroom each day. His first day was not ideal. It was pouring down rain, we didn't have any idea what the procedures were for getting to the classroom and there was no recess or time to talk. We are working out the kinks and are considering this our learning year. On a positive note, we will be stronger and better problem solvers at the end of this year.

Jakob is coping and learning that not everything is easy. He is adjusting to a full day and the many different rules this school enforces. He is a great kid and we are hoping this school year will be just a fulfilling as his others.

Swim Lessons

2009-08-28T20:42:00.004-04:00

Once again we enrolled in a program called SwimKids. We loved the teaching philosophy and the results of last summer. We were not disappointed this year either. Jakob took 3 sessions over the summer and can now freestyle across the pool. He even learned to do the rotary breathing the last two days of the last session. The technique is perfect and he looks amazing going across the pool. We are so happy with his progress and even though it was a 35 minute drive each way for a 30 minute lesson we will be signing up again next year. I watched a few of his friends swimming this summer and his technique is so much better. The levels he passed this year taught him how to bend his arms for each stroke, rotate his shoulders so he could side breath and prepared him for learning the breast and butterfly stroke next year. We love this program and he has such a great time achieving each level.

New Assignment

2009-08-14T21:27:00.003-04:00

George worked his last day at the Pentagon yesterday and started his new job today. He is now at Andrews AFB and will soon be flying a GIII. No more desk job and a lot more time in the cockpit. A pilots dream. He is so excited to be in a squadron atmosphere and can't wait to start his training. Always the pessimist, he is worried about his check rides already. We know he'll do great and have a great time with the 89th. Tonight we celebrated with dinner at Panera's (George's favorite sandwich is there) and an ice cream cake from Friendly's. Perfect.

Lost Tooth #3

2009-08-10T08:27:00.002-04:00

Last Friday Jakob and I headed to the Pentagon to meet with George for lunch and get a new ID for me. (I misplaced my other one) A few days earlier Jakob had bit into a carrot and loosened a tooth. It was loose enough that he could lay it down onto his lip. I told him on the Metro he could be one of the first people to loose a tooth in the Pentagon because I didn't think it happened very often. He said, "Unless someone knocks it out." Boys and their violent minds!!

Many of you have been in the military long enough to know that getting anything done takes patience and perseverance. Jakob used this thought process for getting his tooth out. While we were arguing with the ID person on what the requirements were for obtaining a new ID Jakob diligently wiggled and pulled at his loose tooth. When the conversation became heated on how inept the front desk people were when giving out information over the phone Jakob popped out his tooth and exclaimed, "I did it!!" The tension was broken and the conversation turned to how great it was he lost his tooth. In the end we got my ID with little more time lost and Jakob gets to tell everyone he lost a tooth in the Pentagon. All in all a productive day.

Wichita Visit

2009-08-03T20:55:00.008-04:00

Last week Jakob and I visited Wichita. We spent a lot of time in Tutu's pool and a lot of time around GranPa's lake. We also spent some time with my cousins and their kids. It was great to catch up on everything.

Driving a go-cart @ Allstar Sports.

Mini-golf @ Allstar Sports. Jakob thought the color of the water was way off.

Kookaburra @ Sedgwick County Zoo. We saw the baby donkey too!

Bubbles with Tutu!!

Fishing with GranPa. They caught a catfish.

It was such a great visit. Can't wait to do it again. George worked all week and did a few projects around the house. He missed us a lot, but I'm pretty sure he enjoyed his alone time too.

This week is more swimming lessons and in-laws in town for a few days. Busy, busy, busy. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Tan, Tired and a Little Spoiled

2009-07-17T19:00:00.007-04:00

Home again after a fabulous vacation to Myrtle Beach. Our trip started last Saturday and we pulled into our driveway today around 3 PM. We had such a good time and really enjoyed the South Carolina sunshine.

We have come to find that we do not do well on road trips longer than 5 hours and take this into account when we are planning such a trip. We stopped in Raleigh on Saturday for an overnight stay and a fun time at a little shopping center that reminded us of Fairfax Corner. We had a great dinner at a place called Firebird and ice cream at the Ben and Jerry's.

Sunday we headed off to the Myrtle Beach Marriott and arrived there in plenty of time to swim in their pools. We vacationed two years ago at this hotel and loved it. We had great accommodations and access to a private beach. Most of our days were spent swimming in one of their two pools or in the ocean.

Jakob and George dug lots of holes and made lots of moats

Boogie Boarding is in his blood. He is part Hawaiin.

Surfing is next.

The view from our room.

The pools.

On Tuesday we spent most of our day at the Nascar Speedpark. There were go-carts galore. We also played miniature golf and arcade games. Lots of fun. We had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack and Jakob loved the line dances they did. (Cotton-eyed-Joe and the Macarena) Salt water taffy was next on the list and Jakob found out he LOVES it. I don't.

Jakob driving the go-cart. He was excited it was the Home Depot car.

Riding the ferris wheel with Daddy.

Eating crab at Joe's.

This was the first time he cracked his own crab legs.

He thought he was the man.

Thursday morning found us at the ocean one last time before we headed to Raleigh. Not much traffic today and we were home in 5 hours. We are much tanner (if not a little burnt) and very tired and feeling a little spoiled with all the special memories we made. What a great vacation. Next week is VBS for Jakob and George has one more week of vacation to spend with us. We are truly blessed.

How many days does it take?

2009-07-03T08:27:00.003-04:00

In May we decided Jakob needed a larger swing set. We had a beautiful plastic set with swings and slides, but Jakob was getting too tall and too heavy to have much fun on it anymore. We cleaned it up and put it on Ebay in hopes we would make a few dollars to offset the cost of a new wooden swing set. Two hundred and eighty dollars later we were amazed and excited to go get a new set. I scoured the internet and found a perfect size and price for us at Wal-Mart. To avoid the shipping cost ($180) we decided to drive to Stafford, VA (approx. 35 min.) to pick up the swing set. Once there we were told they sold the last one the day before, bummer. The next weekend we were headed to La Plata, MD (approx. 60 min.) and they had one!! We loaded it up and headed home.

In June we finally had a weekend to work on the set. We had to sort all the wood (there was no labeling) and begin the building. There are over 100 pieces of wood to be assembled and I can't even guess how many screws, bolts and nuts had to be used. The first day we assembled the slide. It took over 2 hours to do this. We really thought by the end of the first day we would have half of the set put together and would finish the next day. We knew this would be a one, maybe two, weekend project. WRONG.

Three weekends and countless hours later we are done!!! I do have to say we are not the type of people to get up in the am and get to working. We didn't start most days until 2 PM. This does not leave a lot of time before dinner to get things done. Especially when problems arose, which they did. Jakob loves the set and George and I didn't argue too much on whose way was the better way. Now what are we going to do this weekend?

The Last Day of Kindergarten

2009-06-16T16:00:00.003-04:00

Prince of Peace 2008/09

Butterfly Class

Friday was Jakob's last day of Kindergarten and there was much fun to be had. Our first event of the day was Butterfly Chapel. This was the only time the Butterfly Class (Kindergartners) were in Chapel by themselves. It was a wonderful beginning to a day of celebration. Lots of singing and remembering. Pastor John delivered a moving speech to the parents once the children were gone of his children's last day of Kindergarten and the steps that follow. He spoke of learning in small steps to let go because someday soon your children will truly leave the nest and start a journey of their own. His daughter is getting married this summer. It brought tears to many just thinking that scenario was even possible for our 6 year-olds.

A few of Jakob's teachers.

Next was a picnic. Even though the weather was beautiful we had our lunch inside. It had been raining a lot and the ground was saturated. After the picnic we headed out to play on the playground and say our goodbyes. It was a great ending and a promise of new beginnings and continued friendships. We will miss our Butterfly Friends and the wonderful cocoon we were able to grow in within this school. Thank you Prince of Peace and thank you Michele for introducing us to this wonderful group of educators.

Author & Artist Day

2009-06-10T19:24:00.008-04:00

Instead of a Kindergarten graduation Prince of Peace hosts an Author and Artist Day where the students display their art and "published" book. We were asked to arrive @ 10:30 to view the Art Museum. As we entered the hall for the Kindergarten room we were greeted with alphabet animals done in the style of author/illustrator Eric Carle. The children did one letter on their own and collaborated with another student on a second letter.

Jakob created the horse.

Jakob collaborated with Julia to make the rabbit.

The next display was a black and white construction paper creation. The students were asked to make a building with blocks and then recreate that building with black construction paper shapes on a white background. Jakob couldn't remember which one was his, so no picture. Following an introduction and short story we made our way into the room across the hall which had been set up as an art museum. We first had riddles to solve with a clay creation display. Each child had sculpted and painted a likeness of themselves and then had been asked three clues about themselves. The parents were asked to read the clues and guess which student it was. Amazing creations.

The Art Museum.

Jakob is in the second row with the brown hair. His clues were: My favorite food is bread sticks. I like recycling trucks. I like learning to read and write.

There were several other displays:

This is done on canvas with brush strokes. Jakob painted a bald eagle sitting on a branch. We saw this on one of our trips to Mercer Lake.

This is symmetrical art. Jakob's is the pink and yellow one on the lower left corner.

The entire class worked on this for Thanksgiving. They created the Last Supper.

The children created angels using the technique of batik. This requires them to use wax on different areas throughout the dying process. It is done on fabric.

After seeing all the wonderful art displays we headed back to the classroom to read Jakob's book, "My dog BJ" Unfortunately I did not take pictures of this book and I will do so and post them as soon as school is done. This book was a labor of love for Jakob. He talked about making a sloppy copy and a final draft. He kept us updated on the number of pages and his decision to include end pages.

Lastly, we were blessed with a slide show of a day in Kindergarten. The pictures were set to music and broken down into different activities the children did each day. The mothers were crying and the children were thrilled to see themselves. We will truly miss this class and this school. We have had an amazing opportunity to witness the work of the Lord in our child's life through this school and through Jakob's teachers. It will be very hard to top our first year of school. What a perfect beginning to a lifetime of learning.

Happy Birthday G.B.

2009-06-08T14:04:00.003-04:00

George's dad celebrated his 70th birthday June 6th. Luckily we were able to join in the festivities. We had to do some creative logistics to accomplish it, but we did it. On Saturday, just after Jakob's last basketball class, we left Virginia. Several hours prior to our departure George left Germany bound for Newark. We all arrived at the NJ Hanssons within an hour of each other with very little hassle. We love when that happens. We enjoyed visiting and celebrating G.B.'s birthday. There was great food, ice cream cake and family and friends on Sunday to make it a special weekend for everyone.

Happy 70th year!!!

Gardening

2009-06-01T08:32:00.004-04:00

Cucumbers

Our 1 Bean

Peas

Radishes

Lettuce

This spring George and Jakob planted a vegetable garden. Jakob checks his garden almost everyday. He waters it when he thinks it needs it. He can't believe how tall things are growing. This weekend we decided to harvest a radish and some lettuce. Jakob wouldn't taste either one, but was so proud to have grown them.

Our Salad

How to catch a Bass

2009-05-25T09:13:00.002-04:00

When George was a little boy he used to fish at a pond in Grover Cleavland Park in New Jersey. He remembers catching sunnies and some pond gunk, but he never caught a bass or catfish. Jakob and his cousin Shayne love fishing. At the pond last weekend they caught, not just one bass, but 4 bass. The boys caught crawfish and used them as bait. Those poor crustaceans were poked with a hook, hurled into the water, pulled back up again with perhaps a really big fish trying to eat it and then hurled right back in. Anyway, when the first bass was caught it was true excitement for the boys. When the second was yanked from the pond it was amazement they had caught two. As they were releasing the second fish Shayne checked his catfish baited line (a hot dog laying on the bottom of the pond) and to his surprise there was a bass attached to his hook. Now from what I have learned bass eat things that are alive (or appear to be alive) and moving. As we all know a hot dog is definitely not alive. Hours later the boys were home and sharing tales of fishing and catching a "huge" bass with a hot dog. Miracles do happen.

Reunion

2009-05-20T19:38:00.004-04:00

Last weekend we spent most of our time in New Jersey. George's 20 year high school reunion was on Saturday (he is soooo old) and Jakob spent the night with Grandma and Papa. This was Jakob's first sleepover without us and he was excited.

George and I left for our hotel in Morristown around 5 and checked in. We went down to the bar for drinks. An official date. It is a rarity for us. We had such a good time meeting all his old high school friends and acquaintances. There are some really great people he graduated with and I hope we can keep in touch with the two we talked to the most. After the event we headed to the bar again to chill out and let our eardrums have a break before we headed up to our room. George got his butt pinched by a bride-to-be at her bachelorette party. He wasn't sure how I was going to react and didn't make to much a scene. I laughed, I think his butt is pretty nice too and as long as it was just a pinch I was willing to let it go. Had she caught me on a bad night Jakob might have had another sleepover at Grandma's while Daddy was getting Mommy out of jail. Oh what a night!!!

Airshow @ Andrews

2009-05-19T20:59:00.004-04:00

Last Friday we went to an airshow at Andrews AFB in Maryland. (This is where George will be working in August) We left our house around 8:30 and dropped BJ off at the Vet for boarding. We were going to New Jersey after the airshow. George has said we need to get a closer vet ours is a 30 minute drive south. He's probably right.

It took at least an hour to get on base and find a parking spot. Lots of reserved parking but hard to find the general parking we needed. I asked George if he was going to important enough next year when he is working at the base to get us a reserved parking sticker. He just looked at me and laughed. I guess that's a no. Once we found parking we had a small trek to the shuttle buses that would take us to the other side of the base and drop us off for the show. Of course there was a sign at the shuttle bus stop that said NO drinks and NO food allowed on the buses. Nice to know before you have packed everything neatly in the backpack and locked the car 1/2 a mile away. See you in a little bit honey:0) Once George made it back it was easy sailing(flying?).

We toured a few planes and paid $40 for a lunch we ate while sitting on the runway waiting for the Thunderbirds. Jakob wasn't real enthusiastic about the show until we were watching one plane come from the left and he realized there was another plane coming from the right and they almost crashed into each other. He thought this was the greatest show ever!! "Did you see that daddy? They were flying right at each other. Did you see what they did daddy?"

After the show we saw a few more planes, helicopters, tanks and really big machines. About 4 PM we were in the car and ready to drive to New Jersey for Jakob's first sleepover and George's 20 YR Reunion.

Easter Weekend

2009-04-27T15:34:00.005-04:00

So, so far behind. I remembered that we we didn't do REI on Friday, but instead we did it on Saturday. I remember this because for Saturday I had great plans to go to a garden center and then take a garden class but it poured down rain so we decided to go to REI instead.

So, on Friday after the commissary and refrigerator thing we had lunch and went for a walk around Mercer Lake. Usually Jakob and George head to this lake to ride and run. On this occasion we just took a long walk. BJ joined us and was super tired when we got home.

On the Saturday before Easter we made lots of food for the next day. It was fun to have both grandmas and Jakob to help me with the food prep. That afternoon we dyed eggs and set out carrots and milk for the Easter Bunny.

Sunday we found eggs and peeked into the Easter Basket before we left for church. I loved walking into church with our family and filling a pew in the front. It is always a blessing to have our visitors and to be able to share them with our church family is a joy. The service was beautiful and Jakob was entertained with 5 adults at his beck and call. Sunday dinner was fun with a spiral ham, lobster and shrimp kabobs, sweet potatoes, bread from Wegmans, green beans and asparagus. Our dessert was a delicious frozen key lime pie. Perfect.

George's parents headed home Sunday evening and we had one more day of Spring Break to have some fun. Now, what did we do?

Spring Break Day 5

2009-04-24T20:21:00.002-04:00

I am sooooo behind. Oh well. On day 5 of Spring Break we had everyone in town and staying at our house. Okay, only my mom and George's parents. George was busy on this morning trying to get a refrigerator to the Pentagon. This is a crazy story all on its own. (I might tell it later if I ever catch up). My mom and I made a trip to the commissary (the grocery store on base, for those of you not familiar with military lingo) and Jakob stayed home with George's parents.
We all met up just before lunch and headed to REI. We have a membership there and Jakob has wanted to climb the rock in their store for awhile now and he got the chance to do so today. And with two parents and two grandmas no one had a camera to take pictures. Figures. He started of slow up the HUGE rock wall and the female belay was amazing with him. She encouraged him to keep trying and where to put his hands and feet and how to stay against the wall. After 15 minutes I was the one telling him he didn't have to go all the way to the top if he didn't want to. The belay was telling him he could do it and he was determined to make it to the top. Five minutes later and with much grunting and groaning from the parents and grandmas, Jakob reached the top. He was ecstatic. His hands were also sore the next day from clinging to a rock for 20+ minutes. It was awesome.
Next was lunch at Potbelly's. We love the sandwiches there and their oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are soooo good! After lunch was Wegman's and all the specialty items I couldn't get at the comm. They have the best bread there. They have over 20 varieties of rolls you can choose from. George and mys favorite is the olive oil and rosemary bread. Jakob loves the cheese bread. Yumm!
Home to prepare a few things for Easter and a wonderful dinner with a great family. Tomorrow? I hope I can remember.

Spring Break Day 4

2009-04-20T19:04:00.002-04:00

I have no idea what we did on this day. George's parents were due in this evening sometime after 8 and I remember Jakob was asleep within 5 minutes of being in bed. He usually reads and listens to music while he is waiting for Grandma Betty and Papa, so we must have tired him out this day. It was a good day!
George's parents didn't get in until almost nine and we all sat around and had some cheese and crackers along with a few drinks and some good conversation. Friday would be a day of preparation for Easter.

Spring Break Day 3

2009-04-16T19:14:00.002-04:00

I have found the problem with doing the documentation of events a week after the fact. I forget what we did. I think on this day we had our first, and only, sunny day of Spring Break. We headed to a nearby park and shot some hoops and played on the swings. BJ went with us and he had his first ride down the slide with me. I think he enjoyed it because he followed me up several more times and hopped on my lap for a few more rides. It could have been he was on a leash and had to do what I did. I'm going to believe that he enjoyed himself.

We headed out to lunch in Kingstowne. We ate outside in the courtyard and had Noodles & Co. It was sunny, but there was a cool breeze that had us keep our coats on. We saw a lady there with a Wheaten Terrier and we decided to go and meet the dog. Her owner was very impressed we knew the breed and proceeded to talk to us about her dog for 15 minutes. She said she wasn't married and had no children so she bought a very expensive dog. It was an interesting meeting.

Spring Break Day 2

2009-04-15T20:04:00.005-04:00

Monday, April 6th, we finished getting the house ready for our guest. We picked up my mom from the Springfield Metro Station and off we went shopping. Our first stop was the Springfield Mall, not my favorite place, but they had the stores I was looking for. Next was lunch at Subway and then a trek down to Woodbridge to the Outlet Mall. We bought a ham at Harry & David's (best ham we've had) and Jakob and I each got a new pair of shoes. We finally brought my mom to the house to settle in for her 10 day stay.

Tuesday was a D.C. trip to see the cherry blossoms. It was sooooo cold. We headed up early to meet George at the Pentagon because I needed to renew my license and George knew there usually wasn't a line at the DMV in the Pentagon. And he was right, there was no line, however he forgot to tell me I needed a passport or birth certificate and a social security card. Ooops! We went to lunch at Potbelly's by the White House. Once we dropped George off at the White House we headed to the Mall to see the monuments and the cherry blossoms. Jakob loved the Lincoln Memorial and had lots of questions: Is it made from one stone? How old is it? Was Abraham Lincoln a good president or a bad one? On the way out of the Lincoln Memorial we are pretty sure we saw Sasha and Malia Obama along with their grandmother and 10 secret service agents. There was not a positive identification made, but we are pretty sure it was them. The tidal basin was beautiful even though most of the cherry trees were past their blossoming prime. Jakob took the picture of my mom and I. He's pretty good. We were very ready to get back on the metro to warm up and head home.

Spring Break

2009-04-14T20:18:00.003-04:00

Jakob's Spring Break started Friday, April 3rd. His break went by so fast and we did so many things. I will tell a few each day until I am caught up. It's nice to be back on a normal and predictable schedule.

Our first day was spent cleaning and shopping for food. Jakob's Tutu (my mom) was coming on Monday, April 6th. The weather for the weekend was awesome. We planted our little vegetable garden on Saturday and Sunday. Jakob planted carrots, radishes, lettuce, yellow squash, zucchini, cilantro and wax beans. At the end of the driveway he also planted several different sunflowers. He is so proud of his garden and as of today the only sprouts we have are radishes, but I'm sure once the sun comes out there will be many more.

Basketball

2009-04-04T07:13:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday was Jakob's first basketball practice. He will be learning the rules and techniques to use on the court. He only knew how to dribble and shoot. It was great fun to watch him do drills and scrimmage. He was impressed with himself that he could run backwards and not fall down. The coach seems good and has a great sense of humor with the kids. The kids range in age from 6-8. Jakob is not the tallest and fits right in with all the other kids. It was fun and we are looking forward to todays practice. Watching Jakob run drills brought pack bitter-sweet memories of the pain and exhillaration of playing a sport. Oh, those were the days.

Talapia

2009-03-25T19:30:00.003-04:00

Jakob has found a new food group. Fish. He had a sample of talapia at SAM'S and has been having it weekly since then. Today we went to Wegman's, my favorite grocery store, and had lunch. The variety in this "food court" is amazing. Jakob had seared talapia with green beans. When asked what kind of sauce he would like he requested ketchup. The chef raised his eyebrows a little at this request, but did provide the ketchup on the side.
Another wonderful thing at Wegman's is their rolls. They have the most delicious rolls in all kinds of flavors. My favorite is the olive oil and rosemary roll. It takes just like the bread and olive oil you get at Macaroni Grill without having to dip it. Jakob likes the cheese rolls and the pretzel rolls. They are all wonderful. We walked out with a dozen for our small family of 3. We love it days old too! The minute George walked in the house he went for the rolls and said he had been thinking about them all day. Yummy!

Why?

2009-03-23T18:55:00.002-04:00

Jakob is asking a lot of questions lately. Well, he's been asking a lot of questions for the last 3 years. The questions he is asking lately are harder than they ever have been. The following are a few I remember:

Why did God make me?
What is the difference between regular paper and money?
What are my nails made out of?
Can we get a new dog when BJ dies?
How did I get out of your belly?
Why do all the unhealthy foods taste better than the healthy foods?
Why do I have to practice reading when I am not in school?
Why does time go slower when I am in the learning centers at school?
Why are some people blind?
Why are people mean?

These are just a few questions he has asked lately that I have really had to think about my answers. I have put him off sometimes by saying I had to think about that for a little while. (sometimes he'll forget his question) I love his curiosity, but I am struggling to find the answers he will understand. Some of the answers I don't understand.

Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun...

2009-03-22T18:29:00.002-04:00

Finally shined down on us! This weekend we spent most of our time outside.
On Saturday it was a little cool but Jakob and George were determined to get the vegetable garden started. They dug up a lot of ivy and prepared the soil for veggie seeds. Jakob has pumpkin, sunflower, radish and carrot seeds. We will hopefully plant them next weekend. I cleaned the house in the morning and then went for a manicure and a pedicure. A sure sign sandal weather is on its way.
Sunday was beautiful. After church and lunch we spent all afternoon outside playing and doing yard work. Jakob is getting so good on his bicycle. He crashes a lot, but only because he is trying new tricks. We love our new front yard and the cul-de-sac. It is so much more kid-friendly. Lots of room to kick a ball and ride scooters.
Next week brings more opportunity to play outside. Warm weather should be here to stay. Tuesday will be soccer in Woodbridge. Wednesday I have bible study and Thursday we have a play date with Jakob's school friend, Olivia.

2009-03-16T20:16:00.002-04:00

Today we made a trip into DC to visit some museums. We tried to get tickets for the Treasury Building to see how money was printed, but they had no more tickets. We headed to the American History Museum and played in the lab. Jakob did several experiments with carbon dioxide. He saw what happened when you added the gas to a liquid acid indicator and it changed color. He liked when the instructor poured the invisible gas from dry ice on top of a candle flame and it went out. He explained the carbon dioxide smothered the flame and didn't allow the oxygen get to the flame. Then he went on to have the kids blow through a straw into the acid indicator and their breath turned the water a different color. WOW!! The best experiment was the smoke stack that happened when you put it in with some kind of water the kids filled with carbon dioxide and then put a straw in the beaker and sealed the top so the water vapor could only escape out the straw. COOL!!! The last experiment was dry ice in soap and water. Great soap bubbles that smoked when you popped them. We spent hours in the lab.
For lunch we made our way over to the Natural History Museum to see the Butterfly Exhibit. Lots of butterflies. Lunch at the cafe and we had a full day. Home before the rush and early to bed for another full day tomorrow.

Sign, Pee and Summer

2009-03-16T19:36:00.004-04:00

Sunday was another super busy day. The highlight was while we were sitting in church. This Sunday we had a unique experience hearing an orator, Marquis Laughlin tell the first part of the Book of John. While he was telling the story Jakob wrote a note for George. It said "Kac Me" or in our words, "Kick Me". He put it on George's chest. What a great literary contribution our son has given to the world.
After church Grandma Betty, Jakob and I went to a birthday party at Hidden Pond Nature Center in Springfield. Jakob got to pet turtles, snakes, frogs and other crawly pond animals. It was great. The best part was when the frog peed on the first row of kids. EWWW!
I have started signing Jakob up for classes. At the end of March he will start basketball on Saturdays and a week later he starts a class on recycling paper. This summer he is signed up for two, one week, half-day camps at Hidden Pond. I think he will enjoy the nature classes. They will be exploring the pond life and native animals. Jakob's pretty sure he'll get dirty and wet.

Bears, Sales and Fish

2009-03-14T20:40:00.005-04:00

Today we had George's parents visiting and we had a lazy morning and a busy afternoon. We started with a great breakfast and playing with a lunch/snack following. We all piled into the car and we were off to the Potomac Mills to buy a bear. Jakob has been getting a $3 allowance since he turned six. He puts .25 into a charity fund and $1 into a save fund. He spends the rest on whatever he wants. When a coupon from Build-a-Bear came in the mail it was a stuffed animal he wanted. He saved $6.00 to cover the cost of the animal and was thrilled with his choice of "Lilly" a tan bear he picked out.
After the mall we headed to Manassas to pick up some consignment items I had dropped off the previous Saturday to sell. We only had 7 things that didn't sell. A great success.
George's mom has wanted to eat at Bone Fish Grill for awhile now and we were able to fit it in this visit. Once we were seated we ordered drinks. The waiter brought Jakob a regular tall glass of water and said, "I brought you a regular glass of water, don't spill it." And of course we know what happened 10 minutes later right? The tables are covered with paper and it was soaked. Luckily we hadn't gotten our meals yet and with some effort the staff changed the paper and got us all set up right before the meal came. The manager was super nice to Jakob and offered him calamaris (which he declined) and brought over a fish book at the end of dinner to show Jakob the kind of fish he had eaten. During the fish discussion the manager showed Jakob a fish from Hawaii. When Jakob informed him he had been born in Hawaii we were shown all the fish from Hawaii. A very fun meal with lots of individual attention. Great food too.

Snow Day

2009-03-03T09:53:00.003-05:00

Yesterday brought 8 inches of snow to Northern Virginia. Beautiful, fluffy white stuff that we haven't seen so much of since we left Wichita in 2000. Jakob and I headed out for a day full of shoveling and snowball making. We bought a snowball maker yesterday at Target in anticipation of all this snow. It was the best purchase I've made in awhile. Jakob kept thanking me for the purchase and kept saying, "This is the best day ever!"

Jakob always got frustrated when making snowballs because, quite frankly, it's hard for a kid to get it packed down and a form a snowball. The snowball maker is perfect because it packs the snow together for a perfectly round snowball. So much fun. BJ really enjoyed it too. He was pretty sure he could catch the snowball and got really frustrated when he couldn't find it after he had caught it in his mouth. Hilarious.

We made two trips outside for snow fun and eventually ended up back inside for some hot chocolate. We are sad George missed the snow. We are hoping there is enough still around tomorrow when he will be home. Jakob and I have plans for that snowball maker. Hee hee.

A New President

2009-02-28T18:25:00.002-05:00

With the election of the new president our lives have become increasingly more hectic. For the month of February George was home a grand total of 14 days. We are not starting off well in March either because he will get home the 2nd for a grand total of 5 hours and leave for Kansas City until the 6th. I had allowed myself to get comfortable having George home most days. It had been very slow travel the last few months of Bush's presidency.
I am looking forward to the new job, once the 3 weeks of training in Texas is over, and having George home more than he is away. Jakob is very aware when Daddy misses a weekend and is having major withdrawal this month. He gets weepy and very sad at bedtime. He has been a real trooper though and sleeps well once he is sad for a little while.
I have friends whose husbands have been/are deployed for 9, 12 or 15 months. I have the utmost respect for them and how wonderfully they handle the responsibilities of keeping the family going. I am grateful we only have a week or two each month and hope to never have to take on the responsibilities without George. The military life is interesting to say the least.

Friends

2009-02-11T21:33:00.004-05:00

The weather has been "spring like" the last few days and we are spending more time in our front yard playing. Monday we had our neighbors over for some baseball and tree climbing. The girl is Lily and she is 10. Jakob loves to play and talk with Lily. One of the toys they were playing with got stuck in the tree and they decided they could climb the tree and get the toy. This was Jakob's first tree climbing experience and he thought he was the man.

Today we had some friends over for lunch after school. As a special treat I had them make dog cookies out of heart shapes. (It is Valentines Day in a few days) It was so much fun and they turned out so cute. We also made it outside for some bubble blowing and chalk drawing. We have such good time with our friends and can't wait for more warm weather.

Ice, Ice Baby

2009-01-29T10:35:00.003-05:00

Monday and Tuesday were teacher in service days for Jakob's school. We had a great snow on Tuesday and Jakob and I played and shoveled all afternoon.

On Wednesday we had ice. Everything was super frozen and school was canceled. George had a delayed start and played outside with Jakob for an hour or so before he had to leave. We have a great hill on the side of house that our blow-up sled flies down. George said Jakob's eyes got so big as he sped down the hill and at the end he said, "That was the funnest thing ever!"

It's great to be a kid.

Snow in New Jersey

2009-01-29T10:24:00.003-05:00

Sunday, the 25th of January, was George's birthday. Last weekend his mom had invited us to visit New Jersey to celebrate with George's family. It was short up on Sat. back on Sun. visit, but lots of fun. There was snow!! George's dad had put all the snow he had shoveled from the driveway into a big pile on the lawn. When we drove up Jakob was ready to play. He has been waiting all winter to play in snow. He played for hours with Grandma Betty and PaPa in about and inch of snow.

What are you grateful for?

2009-01-18T19:15:00.002-05:00

GRATEFUL

1 a: appreciative of benefits received

2 a: affording pleasure or contentment

Most Sundays George and I attend an informal Bible study at our church while Jakob is in Sunday School. It is called the "Mug" and meets in the lobby of the preschool. Every Sunday Pastor Ken has us introduce ourselves and tell some little tidbit about ourselves. This week we were asked to tell what we were grateful for. The majority of the people expressed gratefulness for their family. I felt this was the easy answer. Most were thankful for their jobs in this tough economy. Still a little lame. I wanted to hear what people were grateful for that may pertain only to them or something that recently happened to them. I wanted people to be creative.
There were two people I felt had something interesting and out of the ordinary to be grateful for: A woman expressed gratitude for losing her job because it has given her the opportunity to get to know her children better (ages 6 and 3). The other person was my wonderful husband who was thankful that we lived in a country where the McCain party was not going to try to overthrow the Obama party after the election. Where people do have the freedom and power to choose their leader and there is no war or injustice that follows because of who won. Sure, we all know not everyone was happy with the election outcome; however most accept that the majority won and wish them success to make this country even better. I thought both feelings were a reminder to look for the positive in times of struggle and uncertainty.
Are you wondering what I was grateful for? I was grateful for my new mattress. Lame, but true.

Lt. Colonel Hansson

2009-01-06T19:51:00.002-05:00

It's official. George pinned on Lt. Colonel yesterday at the Pentagon. His mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew were all there to help celebrate his achievement. The ceremony was very informal and great fun. We are all very proud.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-05T21:06:00.002-05:00

Our last night in Wichita was spent at my Uncle Bruce's house. He is the social director for the family and his house is the place to be for food and fun on New Years.

Jakob stayed up until 1 am to help celebrate. By the end of the celebrating there was confetti everywhere in the house and lots of wonderful family memories.

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful time. We especially enjoyed meeting Emma and catching up with Keiran.

Great Wolf Lodge - Kansas City

2009-01-05T20:45:00.003-05:00

I have heard from many that this excursion was a must with kids. My mom gave this package to Kansas City as a Christmas gift and we loved it. We headed to KC two days after Christmas and immediately went to the water park. Jakob would have spent his entire time at the park had we not left for lunch, dinner and sleeping.

He was tall enough to ride all the tube slides without an adult and loved the big bucket that poured 10,000 gallons of water on your head every 5 minutes. George and I loved that it was a controlled 82 degrees within the park and the water was warm.

We went to story time the two evenings we were there. The lobby was beautiful and still decorated for Christmas. The animated animal show with songs was a big hit and it snowed in the lobby. Awesome.

Our last night at the hotel we went to a dinosaur restaurant called T-Rex. Lots of animated dinosaurs and good food.

We are ready to try the Williamsburg Lodge next year.

Go Carts

2009-01-03T10:00:00.003-05:00

The day after Christmas we went to The Alley in Wichita and drove go-carts and bowled. Jakob was tall enough to drive his own car and sped around the track as fast as he could. He was smiling the whole time. Next up was my dad, Caroline and me. As most of you know I am very, very competitive and was determined to pass them all. I started in last and finished in second, passing them all. I loved it.

Jakob is the top score.

Bowling was next and George and I sat out and watched the three of them battle it out. I have to say it was close. Jakob held his own through two games. Jakob used the bumper guards, however he bowled a strike and the ball didn't hit the guards the whole way down. So much fun.

Santa Arrives

2009-01-03T09:53:00.002-05:00

This year we celebrated Christmas in Wichita, Kansas with my family. On Christmas Eve we attended church service with my dad and Caroline's family. When we returned to their house it was dinner and presents. Jakob got so many great gifts. His favorite was a spy camera that he could drive around and see and listen in every room of the house with his special spy glasses. Hours of fun.

Santa arrived at Tutu's house with Jakob's one requested gift: Wall-E DVD. Jakob was so happy Santa had read his letter and commented that the "helper" Santa at Tyson's Corner must have gotten the message to Santa too. Another year of magic.

The Gingerbread House

2008-12-21T20:08:00.004-05:00

I bought this house from Sam's Club 2 years ago. Finally, I opened it only to find out the icing was very hard and useless. I decided to make frosting from a mix I had gotten. It called for shortening and I used some I had bought 3 years ago. BAD IDEA!! I gagged repeatedly when I tried it. I still used it to hold the house together though. Jakob and I went to the store the next day and bought frosting and finished the house. It was a bit more time consuming than I had originally planned, but we had a great time.

Spelling

2008-12-08T19:11:00.002-05:00

George and I were having a conversation about him not doing something and me doing everything. This happens in all good marriages right? So, Jakob was around listening to us playfully bickering when I said to George, "You know why you do this right?"
George of course replied in an ever so nice tone, "No why?"
I replied back, "Because you are L-a-z-y." Spelling it because I didn't want Jakob to come back a few weeks later and tell someone they were lazy. Not a word I thought he was ready to use.
Jakob pipes in, "What does that spell?"
I explain it is a word he doesn't need to know yet. Then I started thinking maybe he is beginning to know how to sound out words and I might be surprised with his guess as to what the word is.
So I ask, "What do you think it spells?"
And he replies in his oh-so-sweet six-year-old voice, "Stupid."
Forget spelling. Our son is going to guess a word by how it is used in a sentence. George and I were in tears laughing.

The Perfect Picture

2008-12-08T18:55:00.005-05:00

Saturday evening we decided to take a picture for our traditional Christmas card. This year I decided a solo shot of Jakob would be good so I wouldn't have to coordinate outfits and remember how to set the camera to take a delayed picture.

George decided he wanted to try a shot in front of the fireplace. The following shows our evening. The final picture you'll get in the mail.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T10:39:00.002-05:00

We spent Thanksgiving with George's family in New Jersey. When we went around the table to say what we were thankful for this year Jakob said, "I am thankful for Mommy." I love you too Jakob.

Leaves

2008-11-24T19:05:00.003-05:00

This year Jakob thought we should make a tunnel through the leaf pile. George didn't think it would be possible, but he thought it was worth a try. The tunnel started off very small and Jakob was thrilled when you could see through the other side.

We thought we'd try to make it big enough for him to crawl through, warning him it would probably collapse. It did not.

In fact it stayed up through several passes by Jakob, Mommy and Daddy.

Emmaline May Solbach

2008-11-15T08:07:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to Josh, Mel and Ben Solbach.

Emma is beautiful.

Air Force One

2008-11-14T20:10:00.003-05:00

George has wanted us to join him on a trip so we could tour Air Force One. It became more of a pressing matter to him because of the change of command next year. Every time a new president is elected there is potential for rules and preferences to change and he wanted to make sure we took advantage of the opportunity.

We were at the airport by 8 a.m. and watched everyone scramble to make the area perfect. Vehicles were moved, a small stadium for spectators was brought in, helicopters were put into position and stair trucks were measured. Jakob helped measure the two stair trucks and make sure they were the right height for Air Force One. He loved that.

The stair truck.

The plane arrived around 10:30 and we watched the President and First Lady descend from the plane and walk to the awaiting helicopter. The amount of people who exited that airplane was amazing. They were all headed to the dedication of the Intrepid Air and Space Museum.

Our tour of Air Force One was so cool. We saw the "Oval Office", their sleeping quarters, meeting rooms and seating for the various guests of the President. The carpet in all the official areas have stars in them and as you move to the back of the plane the carpet becomes more plain. The blue carpet is used to let guests (reporters and invited distinguished guests) know where they are allowed in the plane. There are an amazing amount of televisions in the airplane. All able to play different things. We saw the communications section and were in awe of the technology it possessed, with capabilities to accept calls, make calls and fax information directly to the White House or any other place. The communications area also controlled the entertainment and outgoing calls from the rest of the airplane.

The cockpit was our last stop and Jakob was most impressed with all the buttons. He actually got to turn off four knobs. We still don't know what he did. The whole tour was a memorable experience. We loved it.

The next First Family?

Jakob did a presentation for his kindergarten on Wed. and his teacher, Mrs. Ariale was amazed at all the information he could remember and all the different experiences he had. The Air Force has definitely given us many wonderful opportunities.

New York

2008-11-12T18:44:00.007-05:00

Sunday evening we left New Jersey and headed to the Waldorf=Astoria in New York. George was working a stop at JFK and Jakob and I were invited along to watch the arrival of Air Force One on Tuesday.

The Waldorf=Astoria Entrance & Lobby

Driving in New York is a skill I don't think I can ever master. George did an amazing job getting us to the hotel with no new dents or scratches in our car. Jakob commented on how noisy everything was and why did everyone honk all the time.
Sunday for dinner we met a few of George's agents and had dinner at a great little restaurant in NY. Jakob had an omelet the size of his head. He ate about 3/4 of it. Amazing. Jakob is at an age now where he can entertain himself and needs very little help with eating. He did such a good job and even had a few conversations with our dinner companions.
Monday, George was working at the airport and Jakob and I were on our own. We had a late breakfast at a McDonald's on Lexington Ave. In New York it is mandatory for all fast food restaurants to post the calories of each item on the menu. It was a very eye-opening experience. I ordered the Deluxe Breakfast for the two of us to share. It was 1350 calories. WOW!

Bryant Park

After breakfast we headed out to Times Square. We started in the wrong direction and ended up at The Container Store. It was huge. Next was Times Square. We stopped at Bryant Park. (I am a huge Project Runway fan and this was so cool to see) Once we made it to Times Square we went to Toys R Us. Inside they had a Ferris wheel. Not a small Ferris wheel, but a full size ride. We purchased tickets and rode this incredible ride. It was so much fun. After we explored the store we headed to M&M World.

Toys R Us Ferris Wheel

On the short walk to the store Jakob asked, "Why do they call them M&M's? Why don't they just call them M's? I thought about it and told him that was a very good question.
We bought red M&M's and mint M&M's. Yum.

M&M World

The Hershey Store was next. It wasn't nearly as cool as the M&M store, but the smell was wonderful. We bought more chocolate.

Times Square

By now it was almost 3:30 and we headed back to the hotel. Dinner was at a great little Restaurant and Pub. We ate lots of food. We didn't eat lunch (I think I was still thinking about the 1350 calories at breakfast) Jakob had a great time in New York and wanted to know when we would be back to see other sites. That night we were exhausted and excited about seeing Air Force One the next day.

Weekend in New Jersey

2008-11-12T18:31:00.004-05:00

We had a busy weekend. George had to work in New York and Jakob and I tagged along for some fun.

Friday afternoon we headed out to New Jersey to spend the weekend with George's family. We celebrated George's brother's (Erik) birthday with a meal at Cracker Barrel. George's brother is a police officer and doesn't eat out much because most of the people he arrests work in the resturants in his town. The Cracker Barrel was a good 20 miles from George's parents house. What a crazy life. Erik's son, Shayne, had the staff sing "Happy Birthday" to his dad. He was so proud of himself for surprising his dad. Sunday we watched Shayne play a football game. They won!! Jakob and Shayne worked long hours on Saturday to make a sign for Shayne's game. Jakob was thrilled to have his sign and waved it often. After the game Shayne told Jakob how great it was to have the one and only sign at the game with his name on it.

Jakob loves playing with his cousins and has so much fun at Grandma Betty's and Papa's house.

National Building Museum

2008-11-03T18:49:00.003-05:00

Today was Parent Teacher Conversation (Conference) at Jakob's school. After I met with his teacher Jakob and I went into DC to check out the National Building Museum. We had such a good day. I would recommend this to anyone with children over the age of 3. There were so many great things to do and see.

We took 3 different metro lines to get there, however it was a fairly short trip. Once there, we picked up a Tool Kit and did some fun activities looking for patterns within the building. The architecture was beautiful. This kept us busy for about 45 minutes. Then we were off to an exhibit about keeping the earth green and how industrializing our towns has changed the way we live a green life. There were interactive maps and lots of learning opportunities. Our second exhibit displayed blueprints, columns, and bricks. The museum shop was amazing and the items were fascinating. All having to do with building and architecture. On the way home we looked for patterns throughout the city and talked about the architecture we saw.

Halloween

2008-11-03T18:41:00.004-05:00

Jakob was so excited about Halloween. He was sure there would be lots of kids this year and he couldn't wait to give them our treat (playdoh). We had 1 child from 6:30 until 7:30. We had 7 teenagers around 7:30 and 1 preschooler at 8:30. Jakob didn't seem to notice there weren't very many kids (he was thrilled he went trick-or-treating himself and didn't miss one kid) and the teenagers thought the playdoh was "cool"

Jakob was a firefighter this year:

George was his dalmation. What a great dad.

Pumpkin Carving

2008-11-02T17:56:00.003-05:00

We are way behind this year with our holiday plans. We got our pumpkin the weekend before Halloween and we carved our pumpkins the day before Halloween. We did get it all done though.

This year Jakob picked a spider stencil for George to cut out. They did a great job and got complimented on their work.

I found a McCain stencil and set to work to carve a political pumpkin. It actually turned out really well. I am so proud.

Pumpkin Playground

2008-11-02T17:35:00.004-05:00

Last Sunday (the 26th) we went to Burke Nursery for their annual Pumpkin Playground with our friends the Drums. Right when you walked in there was a huge pile of dirt with surprises buried inside. The boys would have stayed there for hours digging to China if we let them. The kids played in a pirate ship, inside a huge pumpkin, slid down two slides, rolled down a hill in a plastic tube and took a "spooky forest" hay ride. They were a solid shade of brown by the time we left.

The Letter A

2008-10-29T18:26:00.003-04:00

I am falling behind in my school duties. Here are the letter A activities.

alligator

drawing of an apple

an apple art project

SIX

2008-10-29T18:17:00.003-04:00

Jakob turned 6 on the 27th of October. It is truly amazing he is 6. George and I do the typical parent thing and tell him how we remember when he was so tiny he could fit here or there and how he couldn't talk not that long ago (that's a hard one to believe) and how lucky we are he is here with us.

On his birthday he went to school with a special snack for the class. His school is very rigid about always having a healthy snack and on birthdays they can bring ice cream and fruit. He was so excited. That evening we had a small cake and opened presents. He loved everything.

Jakob is most excited about getting an allowance now that he is six. We debated as to how this allowance would work and came up with a way that worked for us. He will get $3 every Sunday and will divide it up into spend, save and give. He is already planning a trip to the Dollar Store to spend his loot. He decided he could get more bang for his spending buck. I'll keep you up-to-date on his purchases.

Bible Study

2008-10-19T20:40:00.003-04:00

Earlier I had mentioned I was attending a bible study on Wednesday mornings. I am enjoying the fellowship and the book. (Everybody is Normal Till You Get to Know Them) It has definitely given me much to think about and lots of questions about myself and how I make friends and acquaintances.
The most important question this book has made me ask myself is, "How do I appear to others?"
During college I was often told I looked angry or upset. I had a hard time believing this and thought maybe it was a new pick-up line so they could come up and talk to me. (most of these comments came from men I hardly knew) I was a cheerleader in college and I thought I was very outgoing and had lots of "friends". Looking back I had many people I saw on a daily basis, however they never really knew much about me and I no longer keep in contact with them. I wouldn't have trusted them with any of my ABNORMAL ways.
I look at pictures from college up to the present and notice I hardly ever smiled if I didn't know the camera was there. I asked George what he thought of my "approachability" and he confirmed I almost always look "pissed off" (as he so graciously put it).
So this book has made look at myself and how I look outwardly when I am around other people. Once I established I did not look happy I asked the question, "Why?"
I fear rejection and failure. I have since I was a child and if I don't put myself out there and I make it hard for people to get to know me then I will not be rejected. I need to change this because I long for conversation. I enjoy talking to other people. However, I fear they will look at me and my beliefs and think I am wrong, uneducated or naive. I am trying to find a way to overcome this and have taken little steps to open myself up to other people. It is unbelievably hard.
We are only on chapter 3 of this book and it already has changed my life. So far I would recommend it as it makes the reader look at community skills, interpersonal skills and accepting others and we know God accepts us (abnormalities and all).
My sincere thanks to all my friends who have broken through my walls and know some of my not so normal ways. What is normal anyway?

The Holiday

2008-10-12T15:47:00.004-04:00

After we got home from church today Jakob asked, "When is North America Day?"
Without a second thought George answered, "It's Monday and it's called Columbus Day."

I like Jakob's holiday name.

The Letter F

2008-10-02T21:16:00.002-04:00

When your Kindergartner comes home and says he is working on F words this week your mind goes there. Okay, maybe just mine.

Anyway, Jakob brought home a painting he did of the letter F and it was awesome. It had a blue capital F and a lowercase f surrounded by a sea of red and brown. He also brought home a page of words he had copied while he was at the writing station. He was not the least bit proud of these and didn't think I would want to keep them. I told him how wonderful they were and how proud I was he wrote these words.

"But mommy," he said, "I just copied them. Is it okay to copy words and not just think of them myself?"

My overachiever. He thought I would only want words he thought of and then wrote down. I explained how important it was for him to copy all his words at the writing center and how proud I was he took the time to make each letter.

Can you tell what the words are? I know the first four and I'm still guessing on the last one.

friend, Friday (he even capitalized the F), fairy, fall and ?

Send me your thoughts.

How Things Work

2008-10-02T21:03:00.003-04:00

Jakob has long been fascinated with how things work. He will study electronic items and try to understand what makes it do what it does. While we were moving we had an old computer tower we wanted to get rid of. George let Jakob take a screwdriver to it and he loved every minute of it. George said he would have spent hours on it if he'd let him.

Last week Jakob's boom box stopped playing CDs. Jakob goes to sleep every night with music and if he wakes up in the middle of the night he will turn it on again and again and again. It was played out. We bought a new one so he wanted to see if he could fix the old one. With a screwdriver and wire cutters he and George tore apart the boom box and saw all the cool circuits and wires. Jakob decided he couldn't fix it, but it was fun trying.

Kindergarten

2008-09-27T10:37:00.003-04:00

My goal is to post a weekly "happenings" from Jakob's school so you can see what he is doing each week. I am already behind and will probably never catch-up. However, I will still try to post his "happenings" as often as I can.

Two weeks ago they worked on the letter M. Jakob's teacher introduced a puppet named Marvin and he was a Mouse. Jakob loved it and had lots of stories. There are centers in his classroom and during Learning Centers they drew pictures of things that begin with M, marble painted, played with magnets and made play dough M's. There was an oral presentation (show and tell) where Jakob showed his microscope and mosquito slide. He loved it.

At home last Saturday Jakob and George helped me make vegetable empanadas. The recipe called for corn meal and somehow a large quantity of it made it onto the counter. Jakob proceeded to make an M in the cornmeal. WOW!

Next is the letter F.

Class Picnic

2008-09-21T19:07:00.005-04:00

On Friday Jakob's class had a class picnic where the parents were invited and asked to bring a snack for the last 45 minutes of class. We met at the Butterfly Playground and spread out our blankets and all had a great time snacking and playing. It was a great chance to meet all the children and their parents. Every child had a parent there and over half had two parents attend. Luckily George arrived in town around 9:30 am and I picked him up from the Metro and we both headed to Jakob's picnic. It was great to see the involvement of all the parents and the enthusiasm of the teachers.

There are 17 children in Jakob's class and his teacher is Mrs. Ariele and the assistant is Mrs. Kelly. They are always with the kids even in Art, Music and PE class. The kids all seem great and Jakob has made many new friends. We are enjoying this year and can't wait to see what happens next.

The kids are all wearing the same shirt because they got them as a gift on Thursday and were asked to wear them on Friday. They will wear these shirts if they have a field trip, which this was considered.

Wednesday Morning Women's Bible Study

2008-09-17T19:59:00.003-04:00

Today was the first meeting at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church of their Women's Bible Study. This group meets at Jakob's school during his class. I attended with the hopes of meeting lots of new women and reading a book with some spiritual content. There are several small group discussions one could choose to join, each having it's own book and subject. I chose "Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them" by John Ortberg. It discusses community and the need to build relationships within it. I am looking forward to my Wednesday mornings and hope this will be the beginning a great journey.

Week One of Kindergarten

2008-09-13T22:23:00.003-04:00

Jakob has completed his first full week of Kindergarten. This week was filled with new activities which included: art class, two music classes and physical education class. He loved them all. In art they finger painted and their art work was displayed on Friday. Beautiful. In music class they heard drums, beat sticks on the floor and sang. The music teacher told them the drums "speak" to her. We'll have to get more details on this observation. In PE they played hide and seek in the "Butterfly Forest" (his class is known as the Butterfly Class) and saw the PE teachers closet full of all kinds of balls and equipment in the indoor playground. He couldn't have been more impressed with all his new classes.
However, his favorite part of this week was snacks. Each child is asked to bring a snack on their assigned day. The first child's snack will be impossible to beat. Blueberry bagels from Panera and orange sections. Jakob was so excited we had to ask where the nearest Panera was. We do miss our Sunday lunches there.
Overall he loves his school and is doing very well. He is a little tired at the end of the day and wishes school didn't start so early. We were used to a 12:30 start time and this 9 AM time is hard to adjust to.

Kids N' Motion

2008-09-08T19:05:00.002-04:00

With Tropical Storm Hanna greeting us Saturday morning we were off to the airport to drop my mom off and then on to a birthday party in Woodbridge for Jakob's best friend Matthew and his little sister Lindsay.

We were drenched in the 10 steps we took from the car to the door. Luckily the party was indoors and lots of fun. The name of the facility is Kids N' Motion and they have huge blow-up slides, obstacle courses, wood play structures and other really fun activities. The equipment is big enough for adults to play on too.

Jakob loves this place and is a sweaty mess by the time we leave. It was a great way to spend a very rainy day.

Happy Birthday Matthew and Lindsay!

Travis, Trevor Whatever

2008-09-08T18:57:00.003-04:00

So, Jakob's new friend turned out to be named Trevor. We know this because my mom and I looked for Travis' name on the hooks outside the classroom and there was no Travis. When I asked Jakob if his friends name might be Trevor, he shrugged. When I told him I had looked for Travis' name and I only found a Trevor and a T.J., Jakob asked, "Are you sure there wasn't a Travis?"
He has made a few new friends the first week of school, not one was named Travis.

First Day of Kindergarten

2008-09-06T16:47:00.003-04:00

Jakob's orientation was Tues. This 20 minute meeting was for Jakob to meet the teacher again, get comfortable with the classroom and meet a few classmates. He was not in a good mood and did not want his picture taken for this day. George, my mom and I decided it was the anticipation and uncertainty of the day. He did well at the school and made a picture while we were there. He got his tote with his name on it and a magnet to put on our car. This was the best and it put him in a little better mood.

The next day (Wed.) was his official first day of school. My mom was in town for the big event. When I asked if I could take a picture this time he was more than willing to stand with his tote and a smile. He asked, "Am I in a better mood today Mommy?" He was excited to stay for the full 3 hours and thought he might be able to get more done this time. When we picked him up he was so excited and told us he had made a new friend, Travis. He had asked Travis if he could help him build with the blocks and he and Travis made a "huge" city. He had such a good day and wanted to go back the next day.

Breakfast in Bed

2008-08-30T20:24:00.004-04:00

Last Wednesday George didn't get home from a trip until after midnight (I guess this means he didn't get home until Thursday). Thursday is our trash pick-up day and they usually come around 6:30 a.m. I asked Jakob not to come into our room and wake up Daddy to see the trash, he could go downstairs and watch.

Sure enough the trash guys came at 6:30 and Jakob didn't come into our room until 7:30. What did he do this whole time? He watched the guys and then got a stool, climbed up on the stool, got my cereal box (Sam's size), a spoon (tablespoon size) and brought them up for my breakfast in bed. He explained he tried to get a bowl but he was afraid he might break it. And the milk was too heavy and I would have to get it myself.

What a sweet boy.

Pool Party

2008-08-27T14:35:00.003-04:00

This past weekend we made a trip to New Jersey to visit George's family. On Sunday we visited our sister-in-laws brother and his family in New York. They have a beautiful lot with lots of land and a swimming pool. Jakob was so happy to swim all day long. Uncle Erik, George's brother, has a reputation with the kids of hurling them high into the air at the pool. This is the first year Jakob has been flung without someone catching him. He was more than willing to go underwater. He did have a purple noodle tied around his chest for security.

It was so much different and relaxing to not have to be in the pool with Jakob every second. He swam so well and repeatedly showed he could get himself to the side of the pool if he needed a break. Yeah!

Party With Friends

2008-08-21T20:28:00.002-04:00

Yesterday Jakob and his friends got together for a water party. There was a 3-person Slip N' Slide, a pool and lots of water-guns. They had so much fun.

The older boys were in preschool together and we have tried to get them together at least once a week. They are all going their separate ways when school starts and we are hoping to keep up the "play dates". Our move has made this more challenging, however we really enjoy each others company and the boys are always excited to see each other.

We finished the day with a cookout. My friend Claudia showed-off her BBQ skills and made hamburgers and hot dogs galore. We left tired and happy after 5 or so hours. What a great day.

SwimKids "The Sequel"

2008-08-21T20:14:00.003-04:00

Today was the last class of Jakob's swim class. Not only has his swimming improved, but he is so much more comfortable in the pool. I asked him what his favorite part of swim lessons had been and he chose "anything that I get to put my face in the water" WOW!!

He didn't get to go to the treasure chest this session, but he loved it all the same. We hope we'll be here next summer and can participate in the same program. Their coaching is unbeatable.

I am always trying to find programs that teach the technique of a sport as opposed to the actual playing of a sport. For soccer we chose a program that didn't emphasis the game of soccer, just the skills he will need when he eventually plays the game. For swimming we found a similar program that taught techniques and skills to achieve the perfect "stroke" and not just the stroke. My hope is that when he starts playing in teams he will have the skills to participate in the game and not have to think so much about the skills. We'll see if it works. The potential is there he will be the kid who stands in the field and picks flowers or watches the airplanes go by. Or the boy who only wants to go to the pool to see the girls. However, he'll have those skills should he decide to participate.

T-Ball

2008-08-10T20:29:00.004-04:00

I had signed Jakob up for lots of summer camps just before school was out. We did not know at that time we would be moving to Springfield. That said, Jakob had two T-Ball camps in late July and August at the Rec Center near our old house. The first was the Saturday and Sunday before we moved. It was a great distraction from the stress of packing and planning.

The second camp was yesterday and today. The commute was 30 minutes instead of 10, however we enjoyed it more this time and it was fun to see his progress. Another bonus was a friend from his preschool was also in this camp. If you've kept up with our blog you'll remember the name Jenna and the crush Jakob had on her last school year. He was thrilled to see her and even more thrilled when the coaches teamed them up for a game of catch. Jakob wouldn't throw hard to her for fear of hurting her, but Jenna threw great and Jakob realized he needed to up his game to impress the girl. They were so cute to watch. He is very excited his birthday party is coming soon so he can invite her to his party. Ahhh!

Shopping

2008-08-08T20:05:00.004-04:00

Jakob and I have been stuck at home for the last three days waiting for various people to come help us get "things" working in our new home. Today we went shopping.
We drove to Vienna, VA. We started with The Container Store which is one of Jakob's favorites. We bought lots of cool containers to organize our new surroundings. We ended up at Tyson's Corner (this is a gigantic mall) and shopped until we almost dropped. We bought a few outfits for Jakob for school. He is into pants that don't have snaps and zippers. He is so impressed they make pull up pants we had to buy several for the Fall. I bought a new pair of jeans. YEAH. We also visited Pottery Barn Kids and bought a few unnecessary items. Did anyone know there was a Hanna Anderson store in Tyson's? If you did and didn't tell me you're on my list. We didn't buy anything there, but I will definitely check them out when they have sales.
We had a great time. Retail therapy does wonders.
Tomorrow is T-ball. I will try to remember the camera this time.

MOVING!!!

2008-08-07T20:07:00.002-04:00

I was taught early in life that if you write everything in capital letters it is like screaming at someone and you should never use more than one exclamation point because it is redundant.
Did I mention we are MOVING!!!
Well, we are moved. It was a lot of hard work and a little bit of fun to start in a not so new place. We tried to make this move less stressful by moving in stages. It worked well until the day after we moved. We still had "stuff" at the old house and the carpet cleaners came early. Arggh. So we rented a Uhaul trailer (which took 3 hours because the lights on George's truck were wired wrong) and managed to get all but 3 items out of the old house. On the day of the walk through with the property manager the house was immaculate and he was impressed. Whew!! (We picked up our 3 items)
We could not have done this move (and saved our sanity) without George's parents. They carried, cleaned, entertained Jakob and unpacked. We sent them home a week later beaten and determined to never offer to help us with another move. We are deeply indebted.
We found some great advantages to not having the Air Force move us. We were not super stressed for 3 days of packing and loading and we have been able to unpack slowly without having to maneuver around boxes. We still have one PODS in storage and are hoping a natural disaster takes our things and we can get the insurance for it LOL.
All in all we are thrilled with our new location. There are lots of advantages to living closer to DC and we are sure to find some great places to run and play.
Once the house is in order we'll have everyone over for a party in the tree house. Did I mention we had a tree house? See you there.

4th of July

2008-07-09T17:38:00.003-04:00

We spent the fourth in Wichita at my Uncle Bruce's. Jakob spent most of his time on the big water slide in Bruce's backyard. We didn't stay for the big fireworks show that night because Jakob didn't get to bed until midnight the night before. We saw an amazing amount of colorful explosions on the way to Derby though and we were happy with that. Even with all the noise Jakob was asleep by 9:30 that evening.

Wichita

2008-07-09T17:08:00.004-04:00

Jakob and I made a trip to Wichita on the 27th of June. George followed and arrived the 1st of July. We had lots of fun and visited with a lot of my family. Several of whom were in town for my mom's wedding. A few highlights:

Jakob and I went with my mom to Botanica and saw a butterfly house and lots of flowers. Jakob is beginning to know some of the flower/plant names and shows a lot of interest in gardening. We also saw small, medium and GIGANTIC carp in the ponds at Botanica.

We went to Tanganyika Wildlife Park and saw baby snow leapords and Jakob and George rode a camel. (We forgot the camera though, you'll have to trust me it was a funny sight)

Jakob is now a fish and loved swimming in the pool. We swam 8 of the 11 days we were in town. He has a tan and his hair is a few shades lighter.

The wedding was simply beautiful and mom and Roger were having a great time at the after party at the pool. I talked to several friends and family I had not seen in years (some more than 10 years) and caught up with a few of the cousins. George and Jakob swam.

We also visited my dad a few days and saw the movie Wall E and went to the Derby water park. Lots of fun.

Thank you to everyone for a great visit. We'll see most of you at Christmas.

SwimKids

2008-06-21T12:36:00.002-04:00

Jakob started a swim camp this week. He goes M-Th for two weeks for a 30 minute class each day. The first day he was less than thrilled to go because he was scared to put his face in the water. I assured him he would not have to put his face in the water unless he wanted to. He reaffirmed he would not want to.

Day one he put his face in the water and is not turning back. He will now fully submerge and loves getting things off the bottom of the pool. He is not ready for unsupervised pool play, however he has become much more confident and comfortable in a pool.

I had previously stated we would not be going to any water parks until he could go under water. On the third day of swim class he informed me he would be ready for a water park when he learned how to get from the bottom of the deep end to the top of the water and swim to the side. He wants to be able to do things on his own. That's my boy.

DinoDig

2008-06-14T10:22:00.005-04:00

Jakob had his first camp of the summer this past week. The class was all about Dinosaurs. He made a costume, an egg and learned a fun song. He also made a fossil and went dinosaur egg hunting on Friday. He loved the class.

He struggled with leaving me for the first day of class. We aren't sure if the move is adding stress or if he is trying to deal with mean kids. We had an incident in one of his music classes with a bully and how he should deal with mean kids. He is now fearful of encountering another bully and we hope we have provided him the tools to make the situation right.

Our rules: 1. Tell the kid to stop doing what he's doing and that you don't like it. 2. Tell the teacher or adult what is going on. 3. If he does it again - kick his ass. (really we just told him to push the kid away and let it be known he doesn't want anything to do with him) It was very hard for me to come to this decision, however after watching the mean kid in music I was ready to push him down and kick his ass. It is very hard watching Jakob trying to be nice to mean kids. I want him to stand up for himself and there is a fine line to being too nice or being a mean kid. Any ideas?

PODS

2008-06-06T20:28:00.002-04:00

Today our PODS arrived!! What a cool idea. The way they moved the container without the truck was awesome. We'll take pictures when they pick it up. I didn't think it would be that interesting to watch, but I was very wrong. Jakob and I can't stop telling George how neat it was.

Tomorrow we begin loading the PODS. Of course, it will be the hottest weekend of the year (96 with a heat index of 105) and we are not looking forward to the heat. We are happy we can stop anytime we want and don't have to have the thing packed this weekend. We hope this will relieve some of the stress.

We will be moving to our new home in Springfield (about 20 miles north from where we are now) at the end of July. We wanted to break up the packing and take advantage of a few of the perks of moving ourselves. There are very few perks.

Jakob and I will be visiting Wichita from the 27th of June to the 7th of July. We hope to see everyone.

Graduation

2008-05-22T21:47:00.004-04:00

Jakob's preschool has a small graduation ceremony for all the 4 and 5-year-olds heading on to Kindergarten next year. We love this preschool and will miss the wonderful staff. They care deeply for our children and teach wonderful values and skills to prepare our little ones for the next step.

Jakob was so stoic during the ceremony and took this ritual very seriously. When he got his rolled paper he stood there with no expression. Mrs. Harms, the assistant teacher, yelled for him to smile. That's all it took and he lightened up and gave a great smile.

I didn't think I would have any problems getting through this ceremony without crying. I want him to go to Kindergarten. I researched all our options, weighed all the pros and cons of each program and made a wonderful choice for his continued education. THEN, they played a song about going out into life and achieving great things and to always remember you have a friend in God should you need someone to lean on. I was on the verge of a full blown crying session. Thankfully, the music stopped and I composed myself. THEN, they played it again. STOP!!

So, I guess I was a little affected by Jakob's leaving preschool and starting Kindergarten. Who knew?

The two pictures with girls in them are two girls who think Jakob is all that and a bag of chips. (Does anyone actually say this anymore?) The brown hair girl in pigtails is Rachel and she if very shy. The blond, Jenna, is much more outgoing and has her dad scared she is going to ask Jakob to marry her. She actually told her parents Jakob was so handsome and every time she looked at him she had hearts in her eyes. Awww, young love. Jakob thinks they are both nice and likes being their friend. We think he prefers the blond. I was showing Jakob pictures of me in Kindergarten and 1st grade. He thought I looked just like Jenna.

Locust Shade Park

2008-05-22T21:35:00.003-04:00

Every year the Little Hands Preschool (Jakob's school) has an end of the year picnic with all the kids enrolled in their program at Locust Shade Park. True to its name it has lots of trees and great trails. Jakob did salad spinner art, got a tattoo of a snail on his hand and played hours on the playground. We had lunch with a few of his classmates and took a hike through the surrounding woods.

Jakob and I have made three very good friends from his preschool. The Drums, the Arratias and the Harms. The event was from 10 to 1 and this small group stayed until 3 having a wonderful time playing in the beautiful weather. Once we finally decided to leave the Drums, Arratias and us met at the Duncan donuts for coffee and donuts. We love these times and hope to have many more with this group.