4 Years Old

On November 29, James turned 4. He had preschool that morning and I was afraid it was going to be a hard day, which it was. Not because it was James's birthday, but because one of James's teachers had died unexpectedly the day before. It was very somber. They talked about what had happened at the beginning of class, and the parents were allowed to stay for a little while. I don't know how much 3 and 4 year-olds understand. I know they tried to make the rest of the day special for James. He seemed okay when he came home.

That night we had cake and opened presents.

He got a glow in the dark shirt from Grandma Brower.

It says, "THIS KID IS AWESOME". He got some stickers from Grandma Felt.

Cars and Toy Story. Not pictures is a Jake and the Neverland Pirates Game/Computer he also received from Grandma Felt. He got two new cars from Mommy and Daddy.

He loves them!

Jacob loved the cake!

There are some videos from birthday following this post. I hope it was a good day for James!

New Cars

James got some new cars for his birthday.

As you can see, he was very excited about it.

Sarge Is Heavy

Another video from James's birthday.

He was trying to convince us that Sarge was not heavy, but then he realized that Sarge is heavy.

October 2012

We got back from our trip out West in time for Halloween. Here is Jacob watching TV while he waits for Trick-or-Treating.

Sheriff James

Jacob, the lion

A few of these because I'm not sure which I like better.

Here is a comparison. Jacob on the right. James in 2009 on the left.

The lion behind bars.

Trick-or-Treating was fun! James had lots of fun and got some good candy.

Preschool Halloween Party

James wanted to be a cowboy for Halloween, but he would not wear his costume to school when the had their party. I talked him into wearing the shirt under his t-shirt.

They had a parade for the parents.

James was one of the first with his teacher.

They sang songs for the parents too.

James the pumpkin.

They made goody bags by decorating a paper bag with stickers.

Decorated cupcakes.

James loves sprinkles. Played in the water table

with his friend, Nico.

and Natalie and Mackenzie.

Finding spiders in the water.

Snack time!

Fun times!

September 2012

Here is a video of Jacob starting to try and walk.

August 2012

I found some pictures from August so I will be going back to before our trip to start my "picture dump." My boys love this bus/wagon.

 

It is hard to believe Jacob was not walking at this point in time.

This was a night that Jon was working and James was already in bed asleep.

Favorite of these pictures.

There is a video from earlier in the day following this post.

Wrestling

James and Jacob love to wrestle. This is a video of them wrestling even before Jacob could walk. James is really good about being careful since Jacob is younger.

 

They still do things like this occasionally.

Road Trip

In October, we drove from Michigan to Colorado to Idaho to Utah to Colorado and back to Michigan.  It was a LONG drive! But is was nice to see family that we had not seen in about 2 years and that had never met Jacob.

We left when Jon got off work and drove all night and most of the next day. The boys slept most of the night. Keriann slept in the back while Jon drove, until about 4:00 in the morning. Then we switched about every hour.

The first few hours were the worst and we almost turned around and said forget it. James got car sick and threw up all over himself and his booster. Jacob screamed nonstop. When we finally gave James something to help him not get so car sick and sleep, and turned on a light at the back of the van, things went more smoothly. Jacob was just scared of the dark, and we forgot that James is cursed with Mommy and Daddy's motion sickness. Here are some pictures from all our driving.

We read books.

Played with Legos.

Snuggled with blankets.

Drew pictures on post its and stuck them to the window.

And just drove.

And drove.

And drove.

We decided afterwards, that it was great to see so much family and it was nice to have our own car, but we do not want to drive that far for another 2 years.

Colorado

Our first stop was in Lyons, Colorado to visit Jon's brother and his family. We were all tired when we got there, but after some sleep, we had a great time. Chatting with Paul, Jon's brother, and letting the boys play with Erin before we got some sleep.

James did not want me to take his picture.

Maybe because he was playing with a Cinderella toy. The boys loved the horse.

James gave Jacob a ride down to the mailbox to check the mail.

More playing and so grateful to be out of the car.

Puzzles with Carson.

Katie, Anna, and Erin

Jacob

Erin and Jacob playing through the glass.

More puzzles.

We enjoyed our time in Colorado! We had some great barbecue, helped can chicken, and enjoyed running in the mountains. We hope to visit again soon!