Our Jake the Snake...

I was so excited I was one of the few picked to help at Jacob's school field trip to the zoo. I like seeing him interact with the kids in his classroom and find out how he is different from at home. Its not something I get to do very often...schools are very different here in South Park and it is near impossible to go inside the school with out a bunch of clearances and special permission...one of the many things I miss about the west, but I will say that Jacob has learned a lot this year...they are very acedemic.

The boys.

The Class.

The Bus.

End of the Year school picture.

Jacob (oh I am sorry, I am told he is Jake now) has a whole new love for sports...he has always liked and played them but he has taken it to a whole new level. He is learning all the sports terminology, he fights with his sister over watching ESPN instead of a cartoon, she'll even watch a cartoon he might like and he would still pick the sports. When My dad was here, the girls had no chance...with 3 huge sports fans and the NBA finals and Stanley cup finals all in the same week!

Some of the cute things he does with sports:

1. He says the  pittsburgh penguins are "versing" the LA Kings instead of "playing"

2. He is such a fair weather fan...As soon as the penguins ( his favorite player was Malkin) lost in the semi finals, he moved onto New York (favorite player: Lundquist) and when they lost he moved onto the LA Kings (favorite player: Jonathan Quick)

3. He has to dress up when the game is on (see picture below)

4. he calls his favorite players by their first name. Andrew McCutchin of course would be Andrew, Jonathan Quick-Jonathan, and Evgeni(sp) Malkin- Evgeni...It's like he knows them personally.

This was Jake's 1st year of real baseball (coach pitch)...no t-ball this time. Even though he was the smallest on the team and had less experience than most he improved quite a bit and did well!

Favorite position to play: 1st base and Catcher

Also, his first year of competitive soccer.

Favorite position: Goalie or offence

The hockey goalie costume.

The Stance

Baseball on the wii...he does so much better on this game since playing the real thing.

The last day of first grade...it was pouring! Can't believe I have a 2nd grader...it gets weirder and weirder every year.

It has been a rough year for Jacob, this move was probably the hardest on him and it has taken a lot of adjusting for him, but he is a trooper and hopefully next year will be that much better for him because of it...so proud of my little guy!

Our Little Anna Banana...

We are very proud of this little girl! Many months ago we realized that Anna was pretty smart, not a genius or anything, but just thrived at home and at preschool. She loved to learn and learned things quickly. She misses the cut off for kindergarten by 2 weeks and we were starting to think that putting her in another year of preschool was going to be a waste of her time and our money (just to be clear, money was not the reason we did this just an added benefit). So we looked into it, and found out that that there was no way to get her into kindergarten early. Oh well, we thought, we will just put her in what they call a transition class for 5 year olds so she can still be social. But I had this nagging feeling to keep looking into it, that someone had steered me the wrong way somewhere. Eventually, I found out I was right, it wasn't going to be easy to get her in, but at least we had a chance. She had to be psychologically evaluated and given an IQ test and score above the 95th percentile of kids up to a year older than her to even be considered. Then the superintendant had to ok her and then the board had to vote for her to be officially accepted. All of this did not come cheaply, but we decided to gamble and let her take the test. Not only did she pass but she did amazingly well, scoring in the gifted percentile in many catagories. We were so relieved, but still had to wait for what the board was going to think. Well, yesterday (well, yesterday 2months ago...it took me a while to finish this post) the results were in and Anna will officially be a kindergartner in August. We couldn't be more excited for her and you should see the way this kid has been glowing for the last couple of days.

I think she has awesome fashion sense!

Graduation!

In May Anna also graduated from preschool, some may think this is excessive, but I don't care if it is or isn't I still like watching and being a proud momma.

Her teachers: Ms. Eileen, Mrs. Yobbi, and Mrs. Michelle

Her all time favorite thing to do on the playground...swing!

Getting ready for graduation

Aren't they sweet and angelic?!

Getting her diploma.

Our future son-in-law (if Anna has anything to say about it) Leyton Yokopenic

Fun Outside (and inside)

Jacob and his daddy left for the night for the father and son campout...Anna asks "when do I get to go camping with dad?" I say, "there isn't one for girls." She replies "well that's dumb!" I thought to myself, "so true, so true." Sometimes I think the church forgets that girls don't just like to sit around and do their nails. Oh well, we made do and had an indoor campout complete with indoor fire pit and smores.

Dance, Baby, Dance!!!

Baby got back! Anna shakin' her bum bum (2nd, from the right)

Come on get happy! (the song they danced to)

Jacob, not to be shown up by his sister, strikes his goalie pose.

Ta-da

The End

That's it for our Anna update...stay tuned for a special post for the 2 boys as well. 

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

Jacob is obsessed with baseball....well, and hockey, but that is another story. We went to a Pirates game Friday and here he is (or was, hand in hand with grandpa, but I didn't take the picture fast enough) walking with grandpa to PNC park. When we were walking home it was even cuter cause grandpa didn't have his sweatshirt on so they matched and even walked the same...kinda sweet.

Now for hockey...poor little Jacob was in tears when the Pitt. Penguins lost yesterday. Malkin is his idol and he doesn't think he can make it 7 more months until next season...this kid is too stinkin cute and I am mad at all the male figures in his life who have brainwashed him.