The End of First Grade

Jacob has now finished first grade and he has really mixed feelings about it. We have some things to do for the summer, (math, reading, ect.) but he wants to start second grade NOW! I am glad he is excited, I am excited too, but we both need a break. As a result he has increased his reading tenfold. Every free minute he has it seems he has a book in his hands reading away. It is fun to see him enjoying books I loved as a kid. I think his favorites so far are the Mouse and the Motorcycle books. He is now buzzing through these A to Z Mysteries as though they were honey!

Philip's firsts

Each day it seems Philip is finding something else to do for the first time. He is now crawling (finally), pulling up to stand by furniture and toys, walking while holding onto things, and talking (Da Da and Ma Ma). This week I woke up to Emma exclaiming that Philip had another "first." When I entered their bedroom she screamed, "Look Mom! Philip's first rooster!" Sure enough Philip had a rooster and it was determined to stay up throughout most of that day. I am beginning to feel Philip's first haircut shortly on the way.

Pray with me

All week Philip has been praying with us. This is a great accomplishment simply because we are used to hearing him wail throughout the prayer Waiting for food was just a little unbearable for him. But this week he started being silent or at least more silent than the weeks past. It took us a few days to realize he was actually folding his arms and joining us in prayer. It then took us a few more days to catch it on film. After all we don't take pictures when we are REALLY praying. But we finally got this sweet image right when we sat down before we started tonight. He actually still looks as though he is doubting our true intentions, but he did fold his own arms all by himself. Now if we could just teach him (and Benjamin AND Emma actually) to close their eyes!

Happy Mother's Day Grandma Taylor!

This video was made for Grandma. We taught the kids the words, but they made up ALL the actions themselves. Of course, their silliness is also created by them. They were so excited to make the video, they just couldn't contain themselves. We hope you have a great Mother's Day Grandma! We love you!

Air Show 2009

One of the great benefits of living on an Air Force Base is the convenience of attending air shows. We actually live so close to the flight line we easily packed up the kids for a short walk down to see all the action. We saw planes, planes and more planes. After all, this is what air shows are all about.

Friday night Jacob and Robin walked down and watched the night flying, complete with parachutes and fireworks!

Today we just went for a short time in the morning hours. Emma, Philip and Robin spent their time in the shade watching the stunt fliers. Jacob, Benjamin and Nato did the exploring. We have learned that when it comes to boys, planes, guns and bombs are a definite attraction. At least OUR boys.

Leaps and Bounds

Today for the very first time Philip pulled himself up to a standing position. We were all so excited to see him getting bigger and stronger.

Only15 minutes later I discovered another first. This one was a little more nerve racking.

I wish I would have caught it on video, but he was cruising and made it to the top before I had a chance.


It seems he has decided to wait for us to show him the world long enough and now he is determined to discover it all by himself. I guess it is time to get the baby gates out again.

Sci-Port

This Friday we decided to take a little field trip to Sci-Port Discovery Center with some friends. It is a hands on discovery museum. It seems we were not the only people in a field trip mood. There had to be 8-12 school buses in the parking lot! The place was PACKED! Luckily there was a small area that is formatted for younger kids to explore and so we headed there. Most of the school kids were older. We were delighted to be left almost to ourselves and ecstatic to learn that this small area still had hands on learning for older kids too.

Benjamin, Jacob, Emma and their friends donned hard hats and started "building" a house. Benjamin's favorite was driving the truck.

Emma also enjoyed sailing this small boat. I am not sure how we could have had more fun even with the entire museum to ourselves. They were all sad to leave and I was sad I didn't get many pictures, but I promised them we would return. Probably AFTER field trip season is over, for the local schools at least.