Preparation

Kindergarten starts Monday. Just three short days away. We have done much to prepare. Step one was Joe's four kindergarten shots. Next came school supplies. Grandma Dolly, Joe and I spent the afternoon at Target picking out markers, glue, folders and other supplies essential for a successful year. The new 5T shirts and pants are hanging in the closet ready for cooler fall weather. New white tennis shoes are sitting by our front door. Joe will start Monday with his Jonas Brothers backpack filled with all the tools he needs to be prepared to start his educational journey.


And it is clear that I am not prepared. And the truth is that I've never been prepared for this wonderful journey of motherhood. In planning for our family, I was not prepared for the double, confirmation, blue line on the pregnancy test. I cried and cried. I was not prepared when my OB referred us to a perinatologist who said "your baby is not growing." I cried and cried. I was not prepared to fall instantly in love with a small, blonde baby boy named Joe. I cried and cried. I was not prepared to receive hugs and kisses from a one-year old that was a spitting image of me. I cried and cried. And so on Monday when I have to watch my baby start his first day of school, I will cry and cry. It is clear I am not prepared.

FORE!!!

Joe has been participating in The First Tee Program over the past couple of weeks. The program is designed to get kids interested in the game of golf. It also teaches them etiquette to use in golf and everyday life, such as introducing yourself to others by shaking hands and looking the person in the eye. Although there is good meaning behind it, the day I was present it didn't seem like the kids truly understood the eye contact part of it!

To a bunch of 5 year old kids, golf may not seem like much fun. It doesn't have the excitement that baseball, kick ball, or putting your little brother in a head-lock does. However, I'm sure one day Joe will find out how fun it actually is to play golf. When you are thirty-something, out on a golf course in the middle of summer, with 3 or 4 other friends, acting like you are five all over again, is fun. Actually, it's a lot of fun!

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Where Has The Summer Gone?

Well once again, here I am apologizing for not blogging about the boys as much as I'd like to. However, I am very excited to now be able to blog from my BlackBerry! Thank you Blogspot for finally creating this opportunity!

Anywho,what have the Jacobson boys been doing to let summer 2009 basically fly past us in the blink of an eye?!

Joe was in his 2nd year of tee-ball. He by far was the Joltin' Joe, the Ted Williams, the D-Lee of this group of youngsters. Compared to last year, he has matured so much on the field and understands the game so much more. I think I was most impressed with his ability to play 3rd base, or "the hot corner" as Joe has begun to call it. Joe made every play one inning while playing 3rd base. Properly played, no errors, and on-the-mark throws to first! "No runs, no hits, no errors and nobody left." Way to make Daddy proud Joe Joe!

Besides cheering on his big brother at tee-ball games, Jack has been busy himself. Jack attended zoo camp this summer and loved it. Now, every time we drive past the zoo jack shouts from the back seat, "Mommy, my zoo camp! Daddy my zoo camp!" And from that point on we need to talk about Jack's days as a toddler zoo keeper at the Great Plains Zoo.

We took our first true family vacation in July. We ventured out to the Black Hills and "roughed" it at Custer State Park. All of us, especially the boys, had a wonderful time! You name it, we did it! Wall Drug, Dinosaur Park, Storybook Island, Bear Country, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Flintstone Park, pontooning at Lake Pactola and not to mention having our lunch the first day we were at our cabin interrupted by one large and wild buffalo!!!

Now as the summer winds down, we are now T-Minus 9 days until Joe begins Kindergarten. Where oh where has our baby gone Mama? To everyone who reads our family blog, this is your warning to buckle your seat belts and hold on tight because I know Mama Jacobson is going to be taking to the Blogspot soon. And when she does, it will be an entry devoted to her first born graduating from day care and moving on to the public school system. I already have my box of Kleenex!


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Balloons Balloons Balloons

A few Saturdays ago we had the best time at the 34th Annual Great Plains Balloon Race. There were about 40 multi-colored balloons launched. The best part, is that the balloon race allows for spectators to be right next to the balloons as they launch. The balloons were all unique and beautiful. Joe's favorite balloon had fire flames on the side. Jack liked all of the balloons. Matt's favorite balloon was the Uncle Sam balloon and my favorite balloon was the fruit lady. We went with Asher and Zander & their mom & dad. We had a blast. Enjoy the pictures.

Friends: From "A" to "Z"

Matt and I have been blessed in our lives to have a large, close-knit group of friends. We've been friends with the same crew for over 20 years. It is hard to believe, but it is true. Thinking back to kindergarden, I can remember playing with another little girl named Amy and sitting next to her on the rug at reading time. Amy was probably my best friend that year. Matt's family often talks about a little boy named Billy who Matt was friends with in Storm Lake.

The boys are also blessed with friends. The boys met Asher and Zander at iCare...and wouldn't you know it that Asher and Zander are brothers who are almost the same age as Joe and Jack. Joe and Asher are separated by 8 months. Jack and Zander are separated by 2 weeks. The boys play well together - or as well as boys can play together without too much injury. One of my favorite things is listening to and watching Jack and Zander together. They've known each other over half of their lives, and they were the first to understand each other's language and attempts at communication. They are quite the team.

So here is to friendship...from "A"sher to "Z"ander.

Joe & Asher

Jack & Zander

Joe & Asher

Jack & Zander

Baseball 2009

We've started t-ball again this year. It is hard keeping Jack off of the field. Joe has been doing great! I know that I'm his biased mother, but he is truly one of the best players on his team.

Easter

We had a very nice Easter. The weather was nice so the Easter Bunny hid his 4,000 eggs outside this year. (He really didn't hid that many, but it was close.) The Easter Egg hunt was on Saturday. On Sunday we went to my dad's in Wallace. Enjoy the pictures.

Joe & Auntie dying Easter Eggs

Joe & the Easter Eggs

Joe, Traci, Grandma Mpls, Amy, Jack

Family Easter Picture

Younger Brothers Jacobson

Older Brothers Jacobson


Jack

Joe

Jack

Joe

Ready or not, here comes Kindergarten

There are only 4.5 months or 139 days until Joe's first day of Kindergarten...but who is counting? Last night was Kindergarten registration. We were able to go the school, have a tour, meet the teachers and see the classrooms. I was impressed.

As some of you may know, I'm a bit emotional about Joe starting school. I'm happy and scared and excited and nervous all at the same time. Thank goodness for Michelle!! Michelle, my BFF and Joe's Godmother, is the world's best Kindergarten teacher. I've asked Michelle countless questions and she is doing a terrific job coaching me through this transition.

Our experience last night was wonderful. I loved meeting the teachers. Our tour, provided by 5th grader Hannah, was valuable. We saw the library, lunch room, learning "pits", music room, art room, computer room, and many other areas of the school. John Harris has 4 sections of Kindergarten. Joe's excitement was visible. He ran down the halls with his head on a swivel, trying to take it all in. In each of the Kindergarten classrooms, there was an activity for the rookie class. Joe got to cut with scissors, mold play dough, complete a puzzle and color a picture.

So ready or not...here comes Kindergarten.

Kindergarten Hallway (Jack trying to sneak into a room)

Classroom: reading and calendar area

Our Tour Guide Hannah

Keeping up with the tour

Hannah showed us the yellow line (painted on the playground) where Joe will line up when the bell rings

Joe meeting one of the teachers - his mom close behind

Wii're One Musical Family

Our Wii was an addition during the 2007 holiday season, and it has been a source of fun and exercise. When I bought it (actually Auntie Traci bought it) I knew Matt and the boys would love playing the sports games. This most recently holiday season (2008), Matt added Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Matt is a huge music fan. We have countless (literally countless) CDs, minidiscs, LPs, and cassette tapes of music. Some of it legal, some of it illegal. I swear I could “misplace” half of his collection and he’d never notice. His collection includes everything from Abba to Warren Zevon (of course Madonna, Poison and Pearl Jam are somewhere in the middle). Anyway, Matt has gotten the boys involved in his love of music. Here is the proof:

Shame On All Of Us...

Well just like Amy titled her post well over a month ago, "Shame On Me", it could have easily been titled, "shame on all of us"! I have been meaning to blog but just never got around to doing it. At least I have been collecting my blogs in my mind and I have finally sat down to put them all together. Here we go....

"I want to know if love is wild, girl I want to know if love is real"

So Amy and I are looking forward to seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in concert this May. Speaking of Bruce, I picked the boys up from school recently and I was listening to Bruce in my car. "Born To Run" was playing and I happened to be singing along. Joe must have been paying close attention to what I was saying and he asked me, "Daddy, is love real?" I turned the question back to him and asked him if he thought love was real or not. He said that love was real and when I asked him why he thought that it was real, he replied with, "because it's beautiful, cool, and awesome." It truely is all of those things, Joe Joe. Thanks for making my day in about 60 seconds!

"Oh Mexico. It Sounds So Simple I Just Got To Go"

And Go is exactly what we did! At the beginning of March, Amy and I went to Cancun and the Riviera Maya. We had an amazing time and we are looking forward to going back, hopefully sooner than later. While we were vacationing, Joe and Jack stayed with multiple friends and family members. With their help, we were able to enjoy a little R&R on our own.

Don't ask me what I shot, because I'm not telling.

"It's A Beautiful Day. Don't Let It Get Away"

Up until this past week, we have had some beautiful weather in Sioux Falls (I give props and much dap to Amy's boys over at Keloland for creating the weather with their "Live KELOLand, HD, 8000 doppler radar, with Viper storm cells that spot Canadian Clipper Systems 9 months in advance". Big ups boys.) OK, what just happened there.....for a second there I thought I was giving shout-outs to so-called weather scientists, but I know that wouldn't be the case. Anywho, from the following pictures you can see how all of us have enjoyed the recent spring like weather!

It's Always Safety First with Jack-A-Roo

The unveiling of the grill 2009

Grilled Halibut on cedar planks

Hopscotch

The boys put the old pond pit to good use.

"Where Is The Moment You Needed The Most?"

Little Jack-Man-Doo has a bit of a musical side to him. As seen in Amy's recent blog, the three Jacobson boys get together for a late night jam-session from time to time. Jack was rockin' the drums as if he were Dave Grohl in the early '90s with Nirvana. It seems as if he could be our front man as well. My apologies to Daniel Powter.

Shame On Me

It has been over 3 months since I've blogged...shame on me. And instead of making excuses and trying to explain myself, I've decided to make a list of changes and updates from the past 3 months and move on with current events at our house.

November 2008 - January 2009

Joe and Jack were Batman & Robin for Halloween, respectively.
We went to Webster for Thanksgiving.
Joe turned 5!
Joe and Jack had a friend birthday/halloween costume party.
Daddy started a new position with Alltel.
The boys saw Santa at the mall & shared their wish lists. Joe asked for Ben 10 toys. Jack asked for (via Joe) Mickey Mouse toys.
Joe had his first hair cut at a salon. Joe did great.
Jack had his first hair cut at a salon. Jack cried and cried.
Christmas was busy and full of gifts.
We took the boys sledding at Great Bear.
Mommy left the medical school and joined Children's Care Hospital & School.
We attended "Here Comes Kindergarten" informational night. Mommy cried.
We had the downstairs fireplace resurfaced.
We hosted a Superbowl party.

I'm sure there are events that I've left out. I hope this is a start to getting me back on track. Pictures are on the way...