Good Old Fashioned Fun - With a Cardboard Box

Greg and our neighbor came up with this idea the other night while watching the kids play. I thought it was nuts and that someone was going to end up with a broken bone - but went along with it anyway. It turned out to be the highlight of the kids' day and HILARIOUS to watch. If you watch and listen REALLY close (in first video) at the end you can see that Ellie notices the camera as she approaches me and looks at it and says "cheese". Really, really cute.

Check it out:

Jacob's Birthday Party

This past weekend we had a little birthday party at our house for Jacob. We let him pick a few friends to invite over for a pumpkin carving party. It turned out REALLY great and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. Erin was kind enough to bring her camera (so we didn't have to think about it!) and Ruby kept track of Ellie during the party (which was a HUGE, GIANT help) so Greg and I could focus on the guests and having fun with Jacob. Here are some pics from the event! You can see more pictures at:

http://www.erincantrell.com/Site/Jacob.html

Jacob and Greg's finished product!

Will after devouring his cupcake

Sydney happy after some sugar

Todd and Sam hard at work

Quinlan with her creation

Mary Reese - cute!

The Davis family working hard

Scooping out the goop

This is obviously very fun to watch...

Jacob and Sam sharing a "moment"

We have a HUGE hill in our backyard that the big kids LOVE to run down

Our little pumpkin

Addison and Jack pumpkin carving

Joey playing on the playset

In the band

Both Ellie and Jacob are VERY into music, instruments, and dancing. Jacob got his first "real" drum set for his birthday. Ellie thinks it's hers and they have been fighting non-stop over it. Some videos of the kids performing for us.

Jacob on his "stage" (aka the fireplace):



Ellie putting on a show...

Birthday Number Four!

Our little boy turned 4 yesterday! It's hard to believe that it's been 4 years - in some ways it seems like he was just born, and in others it seems like he was always with us. Ruby decided to surprise him and take the kids to Chuck E Cheese for the morning. They haven't ever been before - and they had a GREAT time. Some pics from the outing... (you can click on a picture to make it bigger if it's too small to see clearly)

Jacob said this soccer game was his favorite, which Greg was psyched about. :)

Look at all my loot!!

Sitting down to assess my winnings...

Thanks, Ruby, for bringing us to on a special birthday adventure!

After Jacob's birthday dinner of choice (tacos, of course) he opened his presents. Ellie was VERY interested in all of his new toys, too. She prefers to play with his cars, trucks, and trains over her "girl" toys.

I think Jacob had a great day - he was so excited all day about it being his birthday. This was the first year that he REALLY got into it, so that was fun. Happy birthday, buddy - we love you!

Gators Wear Jean Shorts

This past weekend I was in Orlando helping my mom and brother pack up my mom's house. While I was there, my brother told me the theme of his annual football party - this year is "Gators Wear Jean Shorts". He and his friend decided that they would send out the invitation with pictures of them wearing the "standard" UF game day attire. I couldn't resist posting this picture of he and I that we took on Saturday. Hopefully once the final invite is done (they are Photoshopping Daisy Duke where I am in the pic) I can post that, too. :) Go Gators!

The final result - complete with Daisy Duke! Nice...