Big Boy

Jacob got 4 shots today and did not cry! I am so proud of you. He is doing great. 75th on weight (of course) and height. We may have him evaluated for speech, just because his "d" and "g"'s don't come out right sometimes. It's nothing alarming, but just want to get ahead of it.

Happy Birthday, Hayley!!!! We love you and would love to see you soon. Jenna would like to play with you!!

Birthday Fun

I wanted to post pictures from Jacob's birthday. We had a good day around the house and then went in and got happy meals and took them to Shelley Lake. The kids had a great time playing and then we had our picnic. We played some more and then went over to mom's house to have cake and ice cream! I almost forgot to give Jacob his presents!! Jack reminded me at 8:30!!! I was going to give them to him over at mom's house, but I forgot, and I guess Jacob forgot about them too. More fun to come Saturday with our friends!!! Here is our old pool and our new pool. Thanks, grandma....Jacob loves his b-day present!!

Happy Birthday, Jacob

My little boy turns 4 today. Happy Birthday, Jacob!! You are growing so fast! I can no longer say I have two 3 year olds!

You were so cute as a baby...being bald for 18 months!! You are adorable now too!

We are running some errands today, including picking up his Curious George cake and then we are going to the park tonight for a picnic dinner and the kids can play on the playground. Saturday morning is his party at Pullen Park!

Happy Birthday, Jacob.....We Love You!!

The Sunday School Lesson

So we are at the table today and I asked Joshua what he learned in children's church today. He said "Don't ask another dad to come build a swingset in your yard". He was just as serious as he could be. I had to laugh. Come to find out it was about a little girl who saw a neighbor whose dad was building a swingset and it was better than the one she had and she wanted one better. Moral of the story....be content with what you have, and of course don't ask another dad to build a swingset in your yard!!

Saturday News

I am really late at posting today! We went to a few yard sales, but they were all duds. Believe it or not, I wasn't in the yard sale mood today. I guess I just figured it was the holiday week and all so there was not much to see. Oh, Jack posted some of the stuff he got at a yard sale two weeks ago. He paid $10, and resold it on Ebay for $95, so we are back in the re-sell business. I think he has some other stuff he may be able to turn into profit. We took Joshua over to Frankies to meet Travis. They had a blast. They did putt putt, bumper boats and other stuff. While he was there, we did some misc things and stopped by my moms house for about 10 minutes. Then, we went back to Briar Creek at Uno's to meet the Cooleys. We had pizza and cake with them. Thanks guys! We appreciate that. We ran to Target to get Jacob's pool and some other stuff for his birthday. Jack and I still need to get him something too. Tuesday will be here soon! Then, we were playing outside, getting groceries, taking trash away, and I am trying to coordinate meals for the church. It's going to be a fun job, but right now it's just crazy because we have 4 people who have come home from the hospital within a week!! Two of them are covered, and I am working on the other two, although they have not come home yet. I guess it will just go in spurts. Anyway, that is our Saturday in a nutshell.

Preschool Pictures

Jacob's class (he is wearing his b-day crown)
My class (Luke, James, Carter, Isabella and in front is Ella, Clifton, Sumaiya, Blake and Stella)
Snack Time!!
Jacob and his teacher, Miss Ann
Jenna with Miss Kim (asst) and Miss Christine

Jacob's Birthday Cookie
Jacob and his bear "Bud"
Jenna running from one water thing to another

Story time for Jacob's class

I decided to post my Friday post early since I have extra time tonight and since my mornings can get rushed at times. We had a great day at preschool. Jacob had fun with his "teddy bear picnic". He also took a birthday cookie to share since his birthday is Tuesday and we won't have school. Jenna had a blast with water day. I enjoyed the time with "my kids" as this was the last day with them. I got showered with gifts. I got an Eddie Bauer cooler, two plants, chocolate, a box of cards, a book, a bag full of foot massage stuff (which I can't wait to use). It was like Christmas all over again and made me feel very special. I got a lot of hugs and a lot of thank you cards from the parents. There is a chance that I may take on more hours next year. I am considering it for two reasons....one is that this may be the last year I can do this if we should decide to home school Joshua (and Jacob?). second, I have to take Jacob on M/W/F and Jenna on T/Th, so I am there every day anyway dropping them off. It would pay for their tution and give me spending money every month. I haven't been officially offered the position yet, but Melody got offered the job for the lead teacher position and she and the director talked and she wanted me to help her every day. I'll have to think and pray about it so if I am offered, I can be ready for the decision. I know some people look down on me for working, but I think it is the perfect job. I am off when all my kids are off, I can take my kids with me etc.

Back to my story....the kids and I came home and I got a meal ready to take over to someone at our church. I picked up Joshua, went for our annual Thursday Dairy Queen with Anna and Olivia, came home, got the meal finished, took that over, ran to Target for Travis' birthday gift, went to McDonalds, came home, played and put the kids to bed. Tomorrow I'll run errands, do laundry, change sheets etc. Jack may work late, so if he does, family night will be Saturday. Joshua wants to go to the park and eat push-ups (their new favorite treat). I'll post again Saturday, but Happy Memorial Day weekend!!!

pictures of all my gifts

Last Day Of Preschool

Today is the last day of preschool. It's hard to believe it is all over. At least it will be a calm day. The three year olds are having a "teddy bear picnic" and Jenna's class is having water day. She is excited because she gets to wear her bathing suit. She looks so cute in it. The kids helped me all morning making cookies and brownies for their teachers. They are very proud of their work. It will be nice to have some extra time now. Joshua has two more weeks left and then he will be done too.

Wonderful Wednesday

Jenna painting at preschool

Well, we are half way through the week!! It's hard to believe that a week ago I was in California getting ready to come home. Time flies when you are having fun. Today is another busy day in the McLean household. The kids and I are going to run to Target and BJ's to get some things we need and then we are going to come home and make some cookies and treats for the teachers. Tomorrow is the last day of preschool so I thought I would make treats for the teachers. It gets a little costly by the time you pay for two teachers and two assistants, so I thought I would just make an "appreciation gift" for them. I do appreciate the teachers. All of my kids have be blessed with really great teachers.

Beat The Heat

I got called into work yesterday and they had "fun in the sun" day. Jacob's class got to go out in this bouncy thing and they also had this water slide you could climb up and slide down. I was surprised he did it. Anyway, he wanted to do more, so we got our pool out and started cleaning it. We realized pretty fast that the pool had a hole in it. We had it for two years, so we got our moneys worth. I guess I'll go down to Walmart and get another pool. I hope to get one a little bigger since we need something to do over the summer and we can't afford to get a pool membership. (Angie, I think this used to be Haley's swim suit!!)

Success

Joshua learned to ride without training wheels. If you remember a few weeks ago, I posted him on his first day. We didn't have any luck that morning and then we just never tried again, mainly because he didn't show interest, and thing were so crazy around here. We found this nice Incredible Hulk bike at a yard sale this Saturday and bought it. We bought it for to resell, but thought if Joshua wanted it he could have it. We told him he needed to learn to ride, and Jack went out there with him and I went out a few times too, and he took off with it!! He still needs to learn to stop a little better, but each time he goes out he gets a little better. He is so proud of himself and is enjoying going out with the neighbors now. We are proud too, Joshua!!

Reasons Why I Would Not Like to Live in San Francisco

I came up with a list of reasons why I would not like to live in San Francisco. I could definitely visit again, but California is not for me.....

1. Not one restaurant served Diet Coke. Every one had Diet Pepsi. I had to have caffeine, so I had to drink it, but I missed my diet coke.

2. Too much traffic, too many "weird" characters that live there!

3. Not one Chinese restaurant offered Sesame Chicken!!

4. People in California do no know what "sweet tea" is. I don't like tea, but Jack loves it, and everyone looks at you funny when you order sweet tea!

This is one of the characters you will see, although there are a lot of bums, and a lot of other interesting people. This guys sits here behind this fake bush and scares people as they walk by. It was pretty funny!

Jack's Back!!

I am so glad to have Jack back even though we were only apart for two days. The kids were glad to see him. They had fun at the airports riding the escalators and the walkways. I could have entertained them for hours. We made a sign for daddy. His plane was late, but we eventually found him. I was getting worried there for awhile.
We are both tired but got up today for another community yard sale. We got a lot of good deals and once again the kids were excellent. We found some good re-sell items, and I got some really cute PJ's (toy story and spider man) for the boys at 50 cents each. I was really happy with what we found today. I think I will get groceries and catch up on the pile of laundry. Other than that, I think we will enjoy ourselves and play with the kids! I also wanted to show pictures of my teacher appreciation luncheon from Thursday. The kids made an "All about Ms. Jennifer" book where they answered the questions about me....very cute and funny. They also took our class picture and made it into a book bag and put all the kids finger prints and names on them.

My Family Night---Jack Comes Home

Tonight is my family night.....we are picking up Jack! Yeah!! I know I just saw him a couple of days ago, but I still miss him. The kids miss him! We all can't wait to go pick him up so we are all together again!! I think I will get the kids their free pizza and then head over to the airport to get him. Sometimes we surprise him, but this time he knows we are coming because I took the car home when I came home, so he is counting on us to come. I really can't wait! I hate him being gone! So do the kids. I must say how well they did while we were gone. I was very happy the way things went for mom and for the kids. It's like they didn't even miss us. All I hear now is "grandma this, and grandma that". I am glad though.

I wanted to finish the rest of our trip. Monday I woke up at 4:30 (7:30 here) and called Joshua. It's hard to wait around until 10 am once you have been up at 4:30. Jack and I went down for a breakfast buffet...pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausgage, hashbrowns, cereal, bagels, donuts, bread, juice, you name it, they had it! It was good. I must say, the hotel really had some great food. Jack went to work, which is right behind the hotel, and I rested and watched TV. I went across the street and shopped at Target, Old Navy, Toysrus, etc. While I was at Target, Jack called me and said that Lance (the IT manager in California) was taking him and some of the other guys over to lunch and wanted me to come too, so we went to BJ's. That was some good food too. (I don't think we had a bad meal). I met them there and ate and then went back for a good nap!! I watched more TV and then got dressed. Lance and Jessica picked us up and went to Kincaids. It was right by the bay and you could see the airport. It was a very fancy restaurant and it was good! Tuesday we pretty much did the same thing. I went to the mall to shop and relaxed around the hotel and then we went out for mexican that night. I am glad to be back. That's my trip in a nutshell. If you missed the other San Fran pictures, you can look at yesterday's pictures.

Home Sweet Home

Wow, what a trip. It's much harder when you are by yourself. I figured out where to go in California, but then, our flight to Philadelphia was delayed by an hour. I knew I would be pushing things. The trip home was long, mainly because I was hungry and by myself. They don't give snacks, only food to buy. I slept a little bit. I finally arrived in Philadelphia and found out that I had to take a shuttle to my flight!! Of course, that flight was delayed an hour too. Needless to say, I didn't get a good taste of "brotherly love". The city at night was beautiful! I'd like to see it again some day. I arrived home at about 2 am, so I am tired. Anyway, let me share some pictures and share what we did.

Sunday: Jack and I arrived in San Francisco around 9:45. We got to our hotel room around 11 am. We soon discovered that transportation around San Francisco was not that easy. We ended up taking the hotel bus back to the airport in order to take the "subway" system into downtown. That was an unique experience. I felt like we wasted a lot of time trying to wait for each means of transportation. We finally got to downtown San Fran, so we went right over to Pier 39 for some lunch. They have a lot of nice shops there. We were able to see Alcatraz and the sea lions from there.

We then went to Fishermans Wharf. Again, we got different views of the sites. We could see the Golden Gate a little closer. I really wanted to see the Golden Gate up close, but there just wasn't enough time. I did see it from here and also from the airplane.

We walked around a lot and saw different things....the horse and carriage rides, the bread they make (and it smelled so good) and they make the bread into teddy bears. I did get to ride the cable cars which was a lot of fun! We were able to see part of China town, Coit tower, and some other things.

By this time I was so tired. We had been up since 3:45 am. We took the subway back and almost got lost, and finally go to the hotel. It was about 11 pm our time. We went down and ate at the restaurant and then went to the hot tub!I'll send more pictures tomorrow and fill you in on the rest of my trip. I didn't realize San Fran was cold!! I will post more tomorrow, but I must take this time to thank mom for watching the kids so that I could have this once and a lifetime trip, and to Jack for allowing me to go and adding even more memories to our precious love story. Thank you to both. It wouldn't be possible without you! I love you