Happy Halloween everyone! I took the kids to Broadway to a neighborhood that had tons of people walking around. That seemed to be the norm around here and the kids got a ton of candy.
Jace is Batman. Jacob is a Pixels nerd. Jay is a cop and Jenna a zombie cheerleader (not sure how she talked me into that one ~ I usually don't get on the whole zombie thing.) And Jasmine is just a great big sister and helped me out, as usual. Oh and yes, Jace has Jenna's pompoms.
Daddy stayed home ~ his ankle is still pretty sore from his last round with gout and we need him able to chase after Batman while the rest of us are at work and school.
The kids and I, along with Oma, Becky and fam and Tessa, we walked in the MS Walk 2012. Our team raised over $1,000!!! I'm so proud of everyone's efforts in fighting against MS and it's horrible effects.
Sandy ~ every step we took was in your memory so that other families don't miss out on their wife, mom, sister, friend and most important, grandmother. We miss you every single day.
At church today, the kids wrapped shoe boxes with Christmas wrapping paper. They are going to fill them with little treats and needs for children far away that wouldn't get a Christmas gift otherwise. It's called Operation Christmas Child. The kids are so excited to fill the boxes up, write their letters and then get letters back. They are hoping to get a new friend and make this Christmas a special one for another child.
We visited Sugarloaf Mountain today. I wasn't sure how the kids would handle hiking up that mountain but they did great. Really great. I carried Jay up most of the way (and the way down ~ which was pretty cool to hear a few rock climbers comment to one another "that mom is a rock star carrying her kid up"). It was really pretty when we got to the top and the kids loved the view. James stayed back some, like me; we don't do well with heights. Jacob, on the other hand, probably would have scaled back down if we had let him. He got dangerously close to the edge, scaring me half to death, along with some other hikers.
Well, I was sick as a dog today. Of course, I only get sick every few years, like the kind of sick that I can't move. Today was the day. I'm feeling much better tonight although not 100% yet. Jamie is still hunting ~ he did offer to come home but I knew I'd be feeling better before he'd make it back from the mountain.
Thanks to friends and family the kiddos had fun. Jasmine and James went with a group of friends around the neighborhood. Jacob went with Tay and Jason. Jenna went with Aunt B, Carl, Jenny, Chad, Brandon and Shannan. Jaylynn gave out candy with me. Jordan ditched us to go to a couple of parties (which is the way I guess it will be now that he is a teenager).
The kids got a rack of candy as they always do.
James was a Panther football player. Jasmine was a sailor. Jacob was a BMXer. Jenna was Princess Ariel. Jaylynn was a moneky.
Here's a few attempts at trying to get a good picture of all of them.
Where did summer go??? I can't believe it's the first day of school today. James, Jasmine and Jacob were all very excited. Jordan started his 8th grade year (ACK!) last week and is happy to be back too. He even has guitar class. How cool is that?
James is a 5th grader this year. Top of the totem pole. He got Mrs. Toomey, whom he's wanted for years. Well since Jordan had her. She's young and cute and nice and they LOVE her. James and Jasmine have one teacher for half a day for language arts and another teacher the other half of the day for math, science and social studies. It's really neat because that teacher only focuses on those subjects and can really work with the kids on it and not be overwhelmed with every subject.
Jasmine is a 4th grader and a patrol. She's pretty excited about her job but a little nervous about being the back of the bus patrol. That's where the bad kids tend to sit, although James said most of the bad ones that were back there went to middle school. She got Mr. Parker this year. Her first male teacher. All the kids have been telling her he's mean and it's going to be a bad year. James said his class last year was really bad so um, I think that has something to do with it. He seems really nice. And let's face it, every teacher loves Jasmine so I doubt she'll have any problems.
Jacob is a 1st grader and wait for it, got Mrs. Howington! He was so excited as was Mrs. H. It's kind of a requirement that she get the Combs kids. I think the most excited though was Taylor, Jacob's BFF. He had Mrs. H last year as well. I know he'll have a wonderful year too.
Here's some pictures from this morning...
JayJay being annoyed with Jacob. She's not feeling great and doesn't want anyone near her.
The boys
Jasmine patroling the crosswalk
Bus time
I can't wait to hear how their day went. It's so quiet here right now.
I'll start this update on a high note, albeit sad, but still a high note nonetheless.
Yup, that would be JayJay walking. Not even 11 months old yet. She's been doing steps here and there but in the last few days has really taken off and is starting to prefer walking to crawling. YIKES! It's so exciting to see her do something so big yet it's so sad for me. That's like a big kid milestone. Where's my baby going??
I wish I had more time to blog. I probably do but I'm just so worn out taking care of my own kiddos and everyone else's for pretty much all day that I can't put two sentences together to blog. I'm definitely going to attempt to blog once a week. I don't want to miss putting up things that I'll forget that I want the kids to read one day.
The kids only have a few more weeks of school. Officially it's like 13 days or something crazy like that! I love summer time. I love them being home. Jenna will be so excited.
Speaking of Jenna, she'll be home with me one more year. She took the Kindergarten Early Entrance Exam and didn't pass it. It's a pretty strict test (a little too tough if you ask me but whatever) that they must pass all six parts to. She passed 4. I know in the long run that it won't hurt her keeping her home another year. I just know there are so many kids that are going because their birthday falls before the magical date of September 1st that aren't ready and don't know as much as Jenna. Jenna, on the other hand, was quite happy that she wasn't going. The teacher that tested her said she did a great job on the test, fully participated and wasn't upset or apprehensive about taking it and that folks, in my book, was the amazing part. If you know my Jenna, she doesn't like to stray far from Mom and I was quite proud of her for her enthusiasm to take the test.
The four school kiddos are all doing amazing in school. Top of their classes, above grade levels in reading and math.
Both James and Jasmine just recently got cell phones much to their excitement (and my own since the house phone is now not ringing 24/7 for them).
We have a new member to the family ~ Landon ~ David and Michelle's baby boy ~ was born earlier in the week. He's such a cutie and I hope to meet him soon.
I guess that's it for now. I have kiddos asking for a snack so again, I must run.
Jordan graced us with his presence during his very short spring break and Easter weekend. ;-) Just kidding Jordan. I know you are a very busy teenager. *sigh* Anyway, we just had a nice weekend of being a family, coloring eggs and driving each other bonkers. Oma, Opa and Uncle Boo came over on Easter to celebrate the boys' birthdays too. Jordan and Jacob got gift cards to Best Buy. Jordan got an iPod Nano with his and Jacob is saving up for one now. James got his iPod Nano, which I don't think has stopped playing since he got it! He he he. My kids love music and I love that they love music.
Here's some of the pictures from our weekend.
Trying to get a nice one of all the kiddos...
I LOVE this one of Jaylynn!
Coloring eggs
While coloring eggs...
He swears they look nothing alike...
And just because she's freaking adorable
After Oma, Opa and Uncle Boo left, we went up to the middle school to play some basketball.
