K & J & j & e

Today's Doctor Visits - 26 Weeks, 1 Day

2012-02-01T11:42:00.000-08:00

Today was great! Baby B is now head down, right where he needs to be. A is 2 lbs and B is 2.4 lbs. Both look great and are moving all over the place.

Baby A and Baby B

Baby B

Baby A

Today's Doctor Visits - 23 Weeks, 1 Day

2012-01-11T17:08:00.000-08:00

One of the unfortunate aspects of being considered high risk is that not only do I have an increased frequency of doctor appointments, I have an increased number. Every three weeks, I will have to have two appointments in two locations: one for a sonogram and one for a regular check-up. The sonogram is to check on placental function, cervical integrity, and the babies's growth. Today I am 23 weeks, one day and both babies are measuring 23 weeks, one day. Perfect!

They each weigh about 1 lb, 10 oz which is the 67% percentile. Both babies are amazingly active with long limbs and chubby cheeks. Baby A is head down, Baby B is frank breech. I'm told that there is still room for them to move, but I don't see how that is physically possible. I am so uncomfortable!

I have been struggling with my 3500 calorie diet. It seems like every day offers the choice of either making myself sick or depriving my babies. I know that they are doing well, but statistically speaking, I should gain 30-42 pounds by week 28. I have 5 weeks left and 6 pounds to go...

The pics from today weren't outstanding, but I'll post anyway:

Baby A

Baby B is folded in half!

Back in October...

2012-01-08T18:25:00.001-08:00

Back in September...

2012-01-08T17:36:00.000-08:00

Oh... Hello there, forgotten blog!

2012-01-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

I suppose some interesting things have happened since August...

Ella Started Dance
Jake Started Dance
Jacob Performed at the Irish Festival
Jessica Started a New Job
Jessica is Pregnant!
Jessica Went to They Might Be Giants
We Bought New Furniture
We Picked Apples/Pumpkins
We Decorated Pumpkins
Jessica is Having TWINS!
Roadtrip to Texas
We Went to a Halloween Party
We Went Trick-or-Treating
Ella Learned to Read!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Jacob Lost a Tooth!
My Camera's Memory Card Broke
Maternal Fetal Medicine Appointment
We Picked out a Tree/Decorated
Grandma's Here
Ella's Tea Party
Merry Christmas!
We Painted the Nursery
Happy New Year!

I will *try* to take time and write a little about each or at least post a picture...

What I Did on my Summer Vacation - Part Four

2011-08-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

We went to GenCon!

What I Did on my Summer Vacation - Part Three

2011-08-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

We went to the State Fair!

What I Did on my Summer Vacation - Part Two

2011-08-18T09:56:00.001-07:00

We painted! Everything is still a work in progress, so we'll post more pics later.

(Unfortunately, the colors aren't true to life...)

Zombie Jacob and Ella in Wonderland

This is dark blue, not black. I promise.

What I Did on my Summer Vacation - Part One

2011-08-18T08:17:00.001-07:00

*Finished baseball

*Princess Ballerina Ball

*Lots of swimming

*Visit from Grandma

*Moved to a new apartment

*Visit from Maroua, Ryan, Rami, and Laila

We're Back!

2011-08-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

After a busy/relaxing summer, we're back to school.

Ella's entering Pre-K and Jacob is in First Grade GT. We're so proud of them both!

Playtime

2011-05-17T06:37:00.001-07:00

Sometimes We Play Baseball

2011-05-16T06:37:00.001-07:00

Jacob is enrolled in Skiles Test Baseball. His games and practices are right next to a playground so Ella gets to play while Jacob practices.

With Coach Mike

With Coach O'B

Go Lugnuts!

Jacob's first game was cold and miserable- it was 40 degrees and raining. Despite the cold, I think Jacob had a good time. He was certainly ready to go home once it was finished though! Since then, we've had 3 more games and 1 rained out. The team improves with each game.

Sometimes it's Easter

2011-05-11T06:45:00.001-07:00

Sometimes it's Spring

2011-05-10T09:57:00.001-07:00

Once every two weeks it's nice enough to go outside...

California Day 7

2011-04-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

Somehow I've gotten my days mixed up for the California trip... I know for sure that this was our last day, so I guess there was a day that I didn't take pictures or something. Anyhow, enjoy!

Hope had everyone over for dinner (shoot, so did Bridget... which day was that???) so the kids played and the adults tried to keep the kids from killing each other. A good time was had by all.

The Philosophy kids (and Annie, the neighbor kid):
Jacob 2005
Ethan 2006
Kate 2007
Ella 2007
Benji 2008
Luke 2009
Fiona 2011

I totally dropped the ball for 2010. Sorry ladies ; )

The Philosophy Wives Club

California Day 6

2011-04-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

Ella wanted a flower cake.

Jacob wanted a Zergling cake that said "Happy Zergday."

The kids had pizza, fruit, veggies, and birthday cake before going out to the playground.

California Day 5

2011-03-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

Today was Disneyland! We started things right by getting the kids some mouse ears with their names embroidered on them. Jacob chose classic black and Ella chose Minnie Mouse.

The kids had their picture taken with Minnie Mouse and the Queen of Hearts.

We explored Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

We hit up the gift shop where Jacob picked out a sword and shield and Ella picked out a princess dress...only... it was $65. She had been promised said princess dress since her birthday, but I didn't realize that they'd be any more expensive at Disney than they are at the Disney store. After talking her down from her disappointment, she decided on a musical jewelry box and a bracelet with all the princesses on it.

We met up with the Kidds and the Bullios and headed for the teacups. Ella was still bummed about her dress so she and I sat this one out while everyone else rode.

Next stop: princesses! Jake went with Hope to ride a ride with the boys (Peter Pan?)

After Autopia, we headed indoors for some lunch. Happiest place on earth!

Next was Small World. Ella wasn't interested in this one either, but I wasn't going to miss out on TWO iconic rides so I dragged her along. Once inside, she really enjoyed it. She liked looking at all the dolls and she enjoyed the music. Towards the end, she saw three veiled dolls and yelled, "Ninjas!"

Later we waited in line for 100 years (or at least it seemed that way!) to get pictures with three of the princesses. I was really surprised that Ella would have anything to do with meeting strangers, but she was really happy.

Meanwhile, Jacob attended Jedi school! We had gone to an earlier showing, but Jacob didn't get picked. The next time, Kris made sure Jacob was front and center and Kris even held him up above the crowd. Jake had some Jedi lessons and successfully defeated Darth Vader! I was with Ella in the princess area when Kris texted me, "I wish I had the camera." Bridget said, "Go! You can make it!" so I left Ella with Bridget and racewalked (no running in the park!) over to the Jedi training. I was just in time and got tons of pictures.

We rode the jungle safari, the Pirates of the Carribean, saw Minnie Mouse's house, rode the train, ...and I've already forgotten everything else! We wrapped up the evening by watching the fireworks over Sleeping Beauty's castle.

California Day 4

2011-03-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

Today was our trip to California Adventure. Hope was able to purchase Park Jumper tickets so that for $20 more, we could spend two days at Disney/California Adventure instead of just one.

We "let the memories begin" with a family photo. Ella wasn't interested in participating, but that's how she rolls.

We met up with the whole gang and started the day by going to the Muppets in 3D followed by Monsters, Inc. Next we headed over to the Bug's Life area for bumper cars.

Ella wasn't interested in the bumper cars so I took her to look at other rides. She picked Flick's Flyers. She was still a little mopey so I held her while we were in line and we talked about which flyer she wanted to ride in. She chose the one that looked like an apple juice box and when it was our turn we were fortunate enough to get it. She was very excited to be going on a ride and I was very relieved to find something that she liked. And then she got her finger pinched in the seatbelt... She cried for a while, but did calm down towards the end. (Enough for me to talk her into getting her picture made, anyway!)

Jacob's favorite ride was the water ride. (I can't remember the name of it, but it's like Roaring Rapids at Six Flags.) We waited in line forever but it was fun. At Disney parks, you can ask for a "pass back" so that if your party is split up, they can take the pass back and go in the fast pass line. We ended up doing this all day because of babies, height restrictions, etc. When we finished our ride, we gave Bridget's dad the pass back and Jacob was able to ride the ride again.

Next was Soarin' and then lunch.

The kids had multiple rides on the carrousel while the grown ups took turns riding the roller coaster, California Screamin'. Kris and I rode first and it was so much fun! neither of us had been on a roller coaster since the mid 90s so we were both surprised at our reactions. I was laughing uncontrolably the entire time and Kris kept repeating, "Oh my gosh!" over and over.

The kids watch the roller coaster zoom by.

ON SALE NOW!!!

We separated for dinner and we ended up going for Mexican food. Mine was too spicy (I know, I'm weak...) so it ended up being a giant waste.

Ella had her face painted.

We were waiting for everyone to regroup so we could all ride the giant Ferris wheel, but by the time we all got together, they were shutting it down to prepare for the A World of Color show.

A World of Color was really cool. Lights, water, and music were used to highlight all the Disney cartoons.

And by the time the day was done, both kids were exhausted and went right to sleep.

California Day 3

2011-03-28T06:56:00.000-07:00

On day #3 we spent the morning over at Hope's house holding small things: first, baby Fiona, then the soon-to-be-given-away guinea pigs. The kids played with Legos and cars until it was time for lunch.

Just like in the "old days," we walked to In N Out.

Hope was on-call that night so we said our goodbyes and went to the beach. Neither Jake nor Ella could remember ever going to the beach so it was nice to see them rediscover everything. It was probably only 65-70 degrees but the kids insisted on wearing their swimsuits. Jacob had fun playing tag with the waves and Ella, ever the little mermaid, kept trying to get deeper and deeper in the water. I should have put on my swim suit, too, because I got my jeans soaked chasing after her! We saw two dolphins who stayed by the shore the entire time we were there. That was a first for all of us! Later we met up with the Bullios and watched the kids play in the water. We took a walk to the tide pools, but Jacob was starting to feel cold, so he and Kris stayed back. Ella was interested in everything but had no desire to touch the sea anemones. She and Kate found (and put back) many, many shells along the way. Around dinner time, the Bullios headed home and we headed to our old haunt, BJ's pizza, across from the beach.

California Day 2

2011-03-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

The kids woke up at 5am (how is this even possible!) and after about an hour, I got up and took them to the doughnut shop a block away. It was lightly raining, but not cold. The kids were excited to see all the different flowers we passed so I tried my best to remember what they were all called. Ella's favorite was Bird of Paradise and Jacob liked the Bougainvillea. At the doughnut shop, the kids picked out milks (chocolate for Jacob, strawberry for Ella) and doughnuts and I picked bottled frappuchinos and doughnuts for Kris and myself. We stayed in the tiny shop as long as we could to try and allow Kris a little more time to sleep.

Once we headed back, I turned on PBS and crawled back in bed. Couldn't really sleep with the kids talking and running around so Kris and I begrudgingly got up. We knew the Bullios and the Kidds would be in church still, so we decided to take in an early lunch at the Steelhead. We arrived right as they were opening at 10:30 and sat down in the familiar club chairs and prepared to order some of our old favorites. Kris and I split the Margarita pizza and ordered cheese fries for everyone. The kids ordered mac and cheese that neither of them liked and neither of them ate, so basically they had a lunch of fries.

We walked through the University Center on our way to campus. I pointed out where Jacob had his baby pictures made, where Ella used to watch the birds, and where Jake and Rami used to play in the grass.

Walking through campus was a million memories... the rose garden, the library, trips to Starbucks, meeting Kris for lunch, our many trips to the Philosophy department...

After our walk we headed over to the Bullio homestead where the kids played on the playground until they were worn out.

California Day 1

2011-03-26T10:37:00.000-07:00

Our friend, Katie, drove us to the airport at 1:30 to catch our delayed flight at 5:30. We took our time, having a late lunch at McDonalds and walking slowly to our gate. Delta charges $25 per checked bag so when they announced that the flight would be very full and that they would be checking bags for free, we jumped at the opportunity.

Our first trip was to St. Paul, MN. I ended up talking to a waterpump engineer for the entire flight while the kids worked in their journals and Kris slept. Flying over St. Paul, we could see a vast expanse of snow and ice. And I thought Indiana was bad! We landed and hiked to our next gate. Once there, the whole waiting area was super crowded so I went in search of food while Kris stayed with the kids. The best I could come up with was $20 worth of Starbucks (read that as 3 drinks, 1 sandwich) so we snacked before boarding our flight.

The flight to LA was pretty uneventful. We watched a green-tinted version of The King's Speech with no sound while the beverage cart came through offering tiny pretzels and ginger ale. Jacob was the first to fall asleep, followed by Ella. This made getting off the plane a little difficult, but we managed. Thank goodness for that double stroller!

It took 30 minutes to get our checked bags, 15 minutes to get a shuttle bus to the rental cars, and another 30 minutes to get the rental car. By the time we were on the road, it was after midnight and we still had the 45 minute drive to Newport Beach ahead of us. We used our trusty Garmin (thanks mom!) and made it to the hotel, threw the kids in bed, and at 1:45 Pacific Time (4:45 Indiana time!) Kris and I finally went to sleep.

JCP Pics

2011-03-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to Jacob's and Ella's Birthday pictures:

http://tinyurl.com/4huqg6p

Jacob's 6 Year Doctor Visit

2011-03-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

Everything went well... Jake's healthy and doesn't require any more vaccinations. I was kind of thrown for a loop when we found out that he's 30% on height and 40% on weight since he's always been ahead of the curve, but the doctor didn't seem to have any worries so we won't worry either. I'll go ahead and tack on that Jacob has been admitted into the STRETCH (GT) Program. He'll no longer be at Mary Castle, but at Brook Park Elementary. We are very excited and very proud since he had to go through three rounds of testing to get in. I know that he loves school, but is sometimes bored with the classroom activities. Luckily Jake has such a good temperment that he's never complained. His teachers allow the students to have their own take on learning so even if the class is working on something too easy, Jake can extend it to his own needs. Next year he will be in a dedicated classroom with teachers trained to work with gifted students. We are so excited for him!

Happy Birthday Ella!

2011-03-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

Ella's birthday breakfast of choice was chocolate doughnuts and strawberry milk. We sang Happy Birthday very quietly and gave her the gift from me and Kris. Ella received Secret Fairy Barbie, much to her delight. She also received an outfit that it has been too cold to wear. Eventually Indiana will get Spring figured out...

Party #1 for j & e

2011-03-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

We had a small party for Jake and Ella on Sunday the 20th. Our guests were Bethany, Jaden, and Layla and Amy, Olivia, and Emma. Several more people RSVPd but mysteriously failed to attend. This resulted in far too many pizzas and cupcakes, but we certainly gave it our best effort! The kids had a great time and received wonderful gifts. It was nice to have our friends over to join in our celebration. Also, I have no idea why Ella is wearing a bonnet... that's just how it went that day!

Jacob's Birthday

2011-03-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

Jacob's breakfast of choice was cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk. We sang Happy Birthday (too loudly, in Ella's opinion) and Jake opened his gift from me and Kris. We got him a Lego board game called Minotaurus. I figured it combined two of his favorite things: board games and Legos. He and Kris spent that evening getting the labrynth set up so they could play.

St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

Kris and Jake started out the day together driving to the first school of the day, Christ the King. Things went well and they headed to the second school, New Palestine Elementary. Unfortunately, the two schools were so far apart that everyone was late getting there and the program didn't start on time.

At 10:30, I left work to meet Kris and Jake at the parade downtown. Parking was a mess so I ended up parking very far away. Once I found the dancers, Kris and Jake were nowhere to be seen. Kris didn't have his phone so I decided to walk alongside the dancers until I saw them. That parade was a million miles long! I caught up with Kris near the end of the parade. He must have been 30 yards behind me the whole time and didn't even know it. After the parade, Kris was going to head to work and I was going to take Jacob to the third school. Unfortunately (and I'll use this word a lot) Jake's shoes were in Kris's car and Kris couldn't remember where he'd parked. I'd written down where I parked so after walking the wrong way for three blocks, we got turned the right direction and found the car. Kris and I got to the car first and started opening our doors when Jake started walking into the street. (He thought that his carseat was on the street side.) We both screamed at him to stop and for some reason, this made him start running. This made us scream even more and introduce some new words into Jacob's vocabulary. Kris grabbed him and put him back on the sidewalk and the two of us proceded to lecture Jake for the next 10 minutes straight.

It was difficult to get to Kris's car. The parade had closed streets and the pattern of one-ways was difficult to navigate. The parade ended at around 12:30 but we didn't get to Kris's car until 1:10. I zig-zagged back and forth trying to get to the main street but again, the parade route and the one-ways made it so what should have taken 2 minutes took 15. At 1:25 we were finally leaving for the school. We were supposed to be there at 1:30...

On the way, we hit every single red light. All of them. It was ridiculous. When we had only 10 miles to go, it became painfully obvious that I'd need to find a restroom. I figured we'd make it there and I'd run and find a restroom at the school. BUT! We continued to hit every red light and so with three miles to go, I was going to die and we HAD to pull over. Stopped at a Starbucks, used the facilities, bought a chocolate milk, then ran to the car. Still took another 5 minutes to get there and we were 10 minutes late. Jacob's group had already danced. He was a bit disappointed at first, but said that it was okay because he was able to see the older kids dance.

After all the rush to make it to St. Maria Goretti, the trip home seemed pretty anticlimactic. I'd already taken Jacob to Starbucks so that was off the table. It was only 2:30 so he wasn't hungry for food. There was nothing to do but just go home. Jake changed into basketball shorts but kept on the shirt and tie.

What are the proportions and preferences of your children?

2011-03-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

Jacob:

Size 5 Regular pants, size 6/8 (S) Boys shirts, size 13 shoes.
When asked what he wants for his birthday, the reply is, "I dunno. Boy stuff, but stuff that I like. Not pink and not girl stuff. Maybe Legos."

Ella:

Size 5T everything, size 10 shoes.
When asked what she wants for her birthday, the reply is, "I want Disney Princesses and a castle and a pony and a crown and a princess costume that goes all the way down. Can I have dolls? I like Barbie faries, but not the little Barbie fairy, the big Barbie fairy and I want roller skates."

Jake is good on jeans, but has no shorts.
Ella is in need of modest length skirts, shorts, and dresses since she grew nearly 4 inches this year.

Lord of the Dance

2011-03-02T06:23:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, March 2nd I took Jacob to see Lord of the Dance. Jake's teacher from last year, Colin, was in the show so the dance school purchased blocks of tickets on behalf of everyone. Our seats were ridiculously high up, but we could still see pretty well. The show itself was a little weird... I think I was expecting something akin to a recital. There were good guys and bad guys and, like, a fairy or something? I have no idea... The ladies mostly did soft shoe dances and the gents, mostly hard shoe. There was one point where a girl did a sexy solo dance and I was glad that Jacob was too young to realize that's what was going on... awkward!

After the show, everyone stayed and Colin and some of his castmates came out to sign autographs. Jacob met all of the leads and had his picture taken with Colin. Jake was pretty tired by this point, so he was very ready to go home.

Colin Fleck: 2nd Place 2010 Men's World Championships

And as Jacob says, "Very sweaty."

I love my new dress, by the way!

Pro Pics

2011-02-26T16:57:00.000-08:00

Some pictures from Jacob's recital are available here:

www.pictage.com/995756

Unless you'd like to go through a million pictures of curly-headed gingers, go to the folder labeled "Jessica's Favorites." Those are all the pictures of Jake.

Our Weird Week and J&e's Shopping Day

2011-02-26T05:35:00.000-08:00

Monday was President's Day so only Kris had to go to school. Jake was a little under the weather so we just stayed at home in our pajamas and played. The next morning, Jacob had a fever so Kris stayed with him in the morning and I came home at lunch and watched him the rest of the day. Same thing Wednesday, but we had the added joy of some barfing that morning. Jacob got over his headcold enough to go to school on Thursday so that was a normal day. Friday morning we woke up to 5 inches of snow so we had a late start.

Saturday I needed to get a new dress so I bribed Ella with a new dress and a hot dog and we headed out for a day of shopping. We went by Target, JCPenney's, and H&M with little stops at the bookstore and the candy store to reward my good girl. Ella picked out a dress and a flower petal crown at Target, some sunglasses at The Children's Place, an Alice in Wonderland book at the bookstore, and some chocolate turtles at the candy store. (I found a dress for myself at Penney's.) I could tell Ella was getting tired (she'd missed her nap) but as we were headed out of the mall, we stopped by the Disney store. It was as though Ella had died and gone to heaven! She loved the costumes, the clothes, the dolls... she wanted EVERYTHING! After about the 10th time of me saying, "Maybe for your birthday..." Ella started to cry. She was so sad that it wasn't her birthday yet! I picked up my tired girl and carried her to the car. Poor thing was asleep before we even made it out of the parking lot.

Recital 2011

2011-02-16T17:44:00.000-08:00

Tonight was Jacob's dance recital. Ella stayed with the sitter so it was just me and the Jakemeister. He was really excited and had a really great time.

I was specifically instructed NOT to take any video during the performance because of choreography issues, so please... the six people who read this, don't steal Jake's moves.

Logistics

2011-02-16T05:36:00.000-08:00

Last night was the rehearsal for Jacob's recital. It was at a different location so as usual, I got lost. Luckily I had the Garmin that mom bought us for Christmas and even though Kris set it to Swedish, we arrived at the right place and on time. Kris made it over about 20 minutes later so we took Ella to grab some dinner. At six, we went back and got Jacob and we all headed home.

And then we remembered that we were in two cars, not one.

We drove back to the theatre, this time with the Garmin speaking English with an Australian accent, and Kris and the kids piled into his car.

____________________________

This morning I was holding Ella during breakfast when she started throwing up everywhere. Kris was able to take care of her while I got changed and he was able to take her to the sitter's since it was time for me to go. Tonight is Jacob's recital so I'm not sure what to do... take Ella and just hope she's okay? Ask the sitter to take her during the recital? Skip the recital?

I have 8 hours to figure it out.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

Our Valentine's Day was on Sunday the 13th since Kris will be working the 14th. We all went out to eat at Jason's Deli (the only one in Indiana just opened up) before heading to the mall to visit the Build a Bear store. The kids were allowed to pick one outfit for their animal as a gift from us. Jacob picked out a Storm Tooper costume and Ella picked out a Sleeping Beauty costume. Both kids were really excited about the new gear so we stopped and switched out Dog Vader's garb for that of a Dog Trooper and Ballerina Kitty became Princess Kitty.

We headed over to Border's to get some new books. Jake has already finished the three books we bought him a couple of weeks ago so we picked up the next Captain Underpants and Kris bought him Wayside Stories. Ella had picked out a princess fairy tales book but changed her mind at the last minute and went for an Elmo puppet book instead.

We headed home where the kids played for a bit before Ella had her nap. Once she was awake, she and I went to the grocery store and picked up strawberries, raspberries, and dipping chocolate. She wanted a balloon too so we stopped by the Dollar Tree on our way home so she could pick out a balloon. She chose one that looked like a red rose. For Jacob we got a frog holding a heart.

While Kris made dinner, the kids and I dipped the fruit in chocolate, some with sprinkles and some plain. They were impatient to eat their treats so they hurried through dinner, declaring themselves finished with a mass of food still in their mouths. We all ate entirely too much and played until bed time.

*Off topic, Ella woke up at 4:30 this morning because she'd thrown up. She only seemed irritated that she'd made a mess and was fine otherwise. Jacob did the same thing Friday night, barfing once and then was fine for the rest of the weekend. Could this possibly be the nicest stomach bug ever?

Ella draws the pickle:

Red vs. Green:

Our Valentine's Day Adventure

2011-02-14T09:14:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

Crisis Averted!

2011-02-14T09:12:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

Check List

2011-02-08T08:55:00.000-08:00

Dissertation Defended? Check!
Kris Home? Check!
Four Snow Days in a Row? Check!
Cabin Fever? Check!
Hacking Ice off the Car? Check!
Falling on Ice? Check!
Jake's Haircut? Check!
Jessica's Teaching Exam? Check!
Back to Work? Check!

To Do:
Family Valentine's Day
Actual Valentine's Day
Jacob's Recital
President's Day (no school!)
Lord of the Dance with Jacob
Jake's Birthday
Ella's Birthday
Spring Break
Disneyland!

Patience is a Virtue...

2011-01-28T10:57:00.000-08:00

but one I don't possess.

I'm waiting for Kris to finish defending his dissertation so I can finally breathe for the first time this week.

Also, I just miss him.

Phase One: COMPLETE!

2011-01-25T16:48:00.000-08:00

Jacob had STRETCH (GT) testing a couple of weeks ago and received his score in the mail today. This was for phase one, two more tests remain.

I looked up his score and 126 qualifies as GT, 130 gets him into MENSA... at 133 he's at the 98.6th percentile.

Ella's Dance

2011-01-25T16:44:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

Dance Party USA

2011-01-24T06:29:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

Jakers!

2011-01-24T06:22:00.000-08:00

Jacob Reading: youtube.com/krisandjessica

*Jacob was recently taught to play Risk and has beaten Kris every time they have played.

*Jacob loves reading so we took him to the bookstore to pick out some new books. He chose Junie B. Jones and Captain Underpants.

*Jacob's girlfriend is named Mya. He says he chose her to be his girlfriend because she was smart and he thought she could teach him things.

*Jacob's favorite computer game is also his Daddy's favorite game: Starcraft.

*Jacob writes stories about the aliens in Starcraft.

*Jacob's recital will be February 16th. He is excited to wear his tie.

*Jacob's dance teacher from last year, Colin, will be in Lord of the Dance this year so Jacob and Jessica are going. Jacob is excited to wear his tie.

*Although excited about riding the bus at the beginning of the year, Jacob is no longer enchanted and says he prefers "parent pickup." He says it's too cold and too loud on the bus.

*Jacob practices writing all the time. Sometimes he just copies the front of the cereal box for practice.

*Jacob wants to learn cursive so he can "read everything."

*Jake no longer wants to take baths. He takes showers because he's a big kid.

*Jake wakes up at 6:30 or 7 every morning, sometimes earlier on school days.

*We're okay with him waking up this early because he has also learned to open a granola bar wrapper. He gets up, makes himself breakfast, and plays on the computer. He opens a granola bar for Ella, too, so they just quietly play until they get thirsty. THEN they wake us, but that's usually not until 8:30 or so.

*Jake has a routine for getting ready every morning: breakfast, computer, clothes, teeth, hair, coat. He will sit in his coat for a full hour, waiting to go, just because that's what he's supposed to put on after he combs his hair.

*Jacob's best friend is Xavier and they play Spiderman together.

*We no longer ask Jake how his day at school was because he'll answer, "It was good. It's always good. Why do you keep asking me that?"

*Jacob wears his hat everywhere we go. He says it looks cool.

*Jacob's favorite food is pot pie. This is problematic since it's not very healthy, so we save it for special occasions. That's right... frozen, microwavable pot pie is saved for special occasions.

*Jacob wants 10 marshmallows in his hot chocolate. No more, no less.

*Jacob has made his own calendar and marks off the days every day.

*Jake like playing with play-dough and uses it to make pictures on his placemat.

*Sometimes, Jake is too cool for hugs.

Ella Portabella

2011-01-12T07:25:00.001-08:00

*Ella prefers to be called Olivia.

*Ella's three describers of appearance are: cool, cute, and beautiful. If she asks how she looks (which she will) and you answer incorrectly, you will be promptly yelled at. I DON'T LOOK CUTE I LOOK BEAUTIFUL!

*Ella says her favorite thing to do is draw, but she rarely lets us see what she's drawing.

*Ella enjoys dress up and role play and generally ends up being the princess. Jake doesn't want to play princess so he'll suggest playing robots or ninjas or zombies... Ella will agree, but wants to be the princess robot, princess ninja, or princess zombie. That works for Jake.

*Ella can remember any song or any dialogue she's ever heard and quotes them from memory. If anyone can tell us where "No one touches the tail" comes from, we'd be much obliged.

*Ella still has an obsession with Alice in Wonderland.

*Ella is incredible at telling jokes. She even changes songs she's heard on the radio to make the lyrics funny. The other day she changed the chorus of Animal by the Neon Trees into a song about how we should get her some juice. "Oh, oh... I want some juuuuice. Oh, oh... what are you waiting fooooor? I want some juice right now!"

*Ella is still, shall we say, "passionate" about things and often cries and screams if she doesn't get her way, but things are getting much better. She's much more playful and she and Jacob fight a lot less. We can tell that she works on calming herself down, even if she's really upset.

*Ella's big girl booster seat came in the mail this week. She picked out the one with the pink butterflies.

*Ella is a beautiful dancer. This fall when she's enrolled in Pre-K she'll get to go to "ballerina school." She's been looking forward to this for two years.

*Ella likes to make up songs and she loves to sing.

*Ella's favorite nail polish color is light pink with glitter.

*Ella does NOT like marshmallows in her hot chocolate.

*Ella's favorite food is "meat."

*Ella told her babysitter, "You can't be my babysitter anymore because I'm not a baby. We have to be just friends."

*Ella has long skinny fingers like her mother.

*Ella still only wears dresses, but will consent to tights or leggings because they "look stylish."

*Ella's bedtime is 7:30 but she's rarely asleep before 10.

*Ella is disappointed that brushing her hair doesn't make it longer.

*Ella tries to spell all the time... "CUH-AH-TUH. Cat!"

*Ella wrote her name the other day and I exclaimed, "Oh! Ella! You wrote your name!" She replied, "That doesn't say Ella it says Olivia! E-L-L-A Olivia!"

*Ella is VERY ticklish!

*Ella loves her shoes so much that the often sleeps in them.

*Ella is afraid of heights, but still wants to hang from the chin-up bar. She whimpers the whole time, but asks to do it again and again.

*If Ella's cup is not refilled fast enough, she will walk to the fridge, pull out the juice or milk, and bring it to you and put it in your lap. "Now can I have some juice?"

*Over Christmas break, Kris and I awoke to find Ella sprawled out on the couch, watching tv, and gnawing on a 2 pound ham.

*Ella said to Kris, "Let me give you a kiss." Kris leaned down and presented his cheek. Ella quickly stuck out her tongue, said "BLEH!" and licked his cheek.

*Last night, Kris leaned down and said, "See you in the morning." Ella quickly punched him in the arm and said, "See you in the punching!" She's so like her mother... lol

What Everyone Wants to Know... AKA How's Kris Doing on his Dissertation?

2011-01-10T05:23:00.000-08:00

Good news (for those who haven't already heard)!

From Thursday, January 27th to Sunday, Jaunary 31st, Kris will be in California to finally defend his dissertation. The actual meeting is Friday at 11am, so think good thoughts around that time.

As there is no graduation ceremony at the end of the winter quarter, Kris will graduate, but not walk. We're going to use our spring break (March 26th through April 3rd) to take a family vacation to California to visit friends and celebrate (what we expect will be) Dr. Rhodes's matriculation. This will be the year we finally go to Disneyland!

Merry Christmas!

2011-01-06T07:13:00.001-08:00

Christmas started for us around 6:30am. Jacob woke up and came to our room to wake us and was promptly pulled into bed and told to go back to sleep. He didn't of course, but he politely laid in bed with us for 30 minutes before reminding us that it was not only morning but that it was Christmas morning and therefore, time to get up. We begrudgingly consented and told him to go wake Ella while Kris and I dressed. An excited Ella (in red pajamas and a crown) immediately began yelling, "Yay! It's Christmas!!!"

We all went to the living room where the stockings were down and the Christmas music was playing. We sat the kids at their table and they started opening gifts. I can honestly say that the kids were excited about every single gift they opened. Both wanted pull everything out of packages and try things on right that second, but in the interest of actually getting everything opened, we had the kids wait. I made cinnamon rolls but had to make a second breakfast for Jake because after he'd had his two he was still hungry! Ella tried on every single thing she received: first the tutu, then the Ariel ballerina costume, then her new nightgown and robe. Jacob wore his pullover as soon as he opened it and wore it for the rest of the day. Kris got a new Kindle so as soon as he opened it, he ran off to charge it. Michelle gave me some sock monkey slipper socks so as soon as I opened my box, I was sliding my feet into those.

For lunch we had ham, sweet potato fries, and dinner rolls. Jake and Ella kept calling the rolls "bread muffins" and would happily have just eaten that and nothing else. Once lunch was over, Ella, Jessica, and Kris all took naps while Jacob played on the computer. Jake said he didn't need to take a nap because he's "not a baby." The rest of the day was spent cleaning (Kris took the trash out four times!) and playing. A good time was had by all.

According to Grandma's Santa Stick (a Santa themed measuring stick) Jacob has grown 2 1/8 inches since last Christmas and Ella has grown 3 3/4.

Christmas Pics 2010

2011-01-03T05:46:00.000-08:00

Oh! Christmas Tree!

2010-12-17T09:01:00.001-08:00

Our Christmas Tree acquisition was put off by one day due to snow, but we went out into the freezing cold to walk around Lowe's and choose from 100 trees that all looked the same. It was amazingly cold so I took the kids back into the store while Kris randomly picked a tree and paid for it. Then came the hard part...

Lowe's will carry the tree to your car, but they won't tie it on. Neither Kris nor I had gloves on and as as I mentioned before, it was ridiculously cold, so we tried to tie the tree to the top of our little Kia as fast as we could. We only live 10 minutes away so it didn't have to be super tight, but we still were concerned with losing the tree and having it run over by the car behind us.

We drove really slowly but the tree started sliding to the side. We stopped and grabbed some of the tree netting and closed it into the door so that it was still kinda sideways, but no longer sliding.

We got the tree inside, cut the netting off, and started to decorate. With each ornament she put on, Ella asked, "Now can I open my presents?" Both kids enjoyed seeing their ornaments and both had to compare their baby foot ornament to their current foot size.

Snow Days

2010-12-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

How Ella plays in the snow:

1.) Walk around a little

2.) Find snow

3.) Eat it

How Jacob plays in the snow:

1.) Walk around a little

2.) Find snow

3.) Throw it

How Jessica plays in the snow:

1.) Wait... didn't I do that last year? I think I'm done.

How Kris plays in the snow:

1.) I warm up the car every morning. I think that's enough...

Merry Christmas Everybody!

2010-12-16T18:24:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

Before and After

2010-12-10T05:13:00.001-08:00

Ella said that she cut her hair because it gets in her face when she swings on her tummy. She wanted her hair cut as short as Jacob's, but I would have died, so we compromised with shoulder length. I will tell you, it hurt my heart to see her chop off all her hair, but... it is HER hair. My little opinionated girl is growing up : )

Chicago!

2010-12-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

*Road trip!

*Greektown

*Chicago-style pizza

*Michelle's first train ride

*I think we're lost...

*German Kristkindle Market

*27 degrees

*I think we're lost...

*Dinner in Greektown

*SAGANAKI! OPA!

*I think we're lost...

*John Hancock Building Signature Room

*Matching Christmas Ornaments

*Super drunk old guy from The Netherlands who "LOVES...AMERICAN...GIRLS"

*I think we're lost...

*Sneak into bed in our hostel dorm

*Listen to annoyingly loud music from the nightclub downstairs until around 2:30 am

*Listen to annoying dogs barking around 6:30 am

*Breakfast at Starbucks

*I think I lost my train pass...

*Millenium Park

*I'm On A Bean!

*Art Institute

*Terrible cupcake (I'm eating it anyway)

*My doppelganger!

*Back to the car

*I think we're lost... yay GPS!

*What do you mean, toll road?

Nancy Cunard by Man Ray

(First pic is me when I discovered that the cupcake was terrible)

(Second is when I decided that I'm eating it anyway)

A Quick Glance...

2010-12-03T08:33:00.000-08:00

And this is what Tomo's been up to lately...

A Million Things Ago...

2010-12-03T07:21:00.000-08:00

*We picked apples with Bethany, Layla, and Jaden.
*The kids got a new cousin when Baby William was born to Klif and Jordan.
*We went to Bethany's for Halloween pizza and cupcakes and Trick or Treating. Jacob was the Target Dog, Ella was Alice. Again. It was cold, but the kids made out like bandits. Jake got tired of walking and he and Kris headed in a little early.
*We had lice and pink eye all in one week.
*Ella cut her own hair so had to get a shoulder length bob with bangs.
*Michelle came for Thanksgiving then she and I took a roadtrip to Chicago.

This week's drama is that Ella's black shoes had become so stinky that we wouldn't allow her to wear them. This caused multiple fights because, after all, Alice has black shoes therefore Ella should have black shoes. Problem was solved when Kris took Ella to get new shoes last night. She picked out some black, glittery Mary Janes.

I'll work on getting some pictures up soon...

So Three Weeks Ago...

2010-11-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

We went to the Tuttle Orchards to pick apples and pumpkins. The weather was great so the kids played for hours afterward. I picked up some Dutch Apple Crumble mix and the kids helped me put it all together for that evening's dessert.

So, a month ago...

2010-11-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

We went to a Renaissance Fair. It was cold and windy but the kids had a good time. Jacob fought the giant three times and rode a horse. Ella fell asleep on the way there, so she mostly just sat in her stroller and played with her crown. I was so cold that even though I had not planned on buying anything, I ended up purchasing a knit hat to cover my ears.

Jacob the Bold Defeats the Giant

2010-11-04T08:32:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

Jacob's a Reader/Writer Extrordinaire!

2010-11-04T07:20:00.001-07:00

Jacob's class has been studying books: authors, illustrators, signatures, title pages, covers... They did a special focus on Eric Carle and talked about how his books are different from other books. In class they make their own books every day so this is just a sample of what he comes home with.

Jacob has just amazed us with the amount he has learned this year in kindergarden! He can write like a champ, read so many things... I'm thinking that I'm going to set him up with an email account so that people can send him letters and he can write back. He loves to help write the grocery list and has posted handmade signs all over the house. I need to take a pic of some of them... one is a list of all the things he's going to be for Halloween for the next 23 years! We bought Jake a composition book with a robot on the cover and every night he writes in his journal before bed. Most of what he does is drawings, but sometimes he makes lists of all the words he can spell or all of his friends at school. Like his Daddy, he sometimes draws chess boards and makes up new ways to play the game.

Jacob has outgrown the Sesame Street games so he mostly plays Plants Vs. Zombies or he'll play League of Legends with Kris. It's so cute to see the two of them fighting bad guys together. If anyone happens to be shopping in the computer game area, the kid needs some first or second grade level reading and math games.

Jacob Reads a Book He Wrote

2010-11-04T07:19:00.001-07:00

Jacob Reads a Book He Wrote
Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

As Much As My Arms Tire...

2010-11-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

I still love to hold this girl.

Admittedly, I love holding her MORE when she's happy and LESS when I'm trying to go to the bathroom...

Taken early October

Before I Get to Last Weekend...

2010-10-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

Let me blow off some steam about what happened yesterday...

Yesterday, Ella got dropped off at my work at 1:00 because her sitter had to go somewhere. No big deal. My friend, Amy, offered us both candy, but I was feeling full, so I declined. Took Ella to Starbucks where she had an apple juice and I had an iced coffee. By the time we got home, my stomach has gone from feeling full to feeling uncomfortable. Thinking that the waist on my slacks could be contributing to my discomfort, I took off my work clothes and put on my robe. By the time Jacob gets home at 4:15, I’m feeling like I might throw up. I grab a trashcan and put it beside me in the living room. After an hour or so, I also start to feel dizzy and I think that maybe sitting is squishing my stomach so I should go lie down. I tell Jacob to get me if he needs anything and I go to bed. Didn’t mean to sleep, but of course, that’s what happened.

At 8, Jacob had put himself to bed in the floor of my room. He said, “Mommy? Are we not having dinner today?” So still feeling very sick, I got up to make the kids something to eat. When I walked into the living room, I saw Ella pantless playing the computer, bag of cereal in her hands, and about half a bag of cereal all over the floor. I’m still feeling nauseated and dizzy so the idea of getting on my hands and knees to clean is overwhelming. I tell Ella to help me pick it up, to which she says, “I can’t, I’m playing computer.” I tell her again and she begins picking the cereal off the floor and putting it back into the bag. I tell her to stop, but she keeps doing it so I erupt and scream in her face so loud that it makes my throat sore. That, of course, makes her cry, so I carry her to her room.

I go back to the kitchen, heat up a pot pie, and use the broom to clean the cereal. Jacob helps hold the dustpan so I don’t have to bend over. When the food is done, I call Ella for dinner, and I sit down to the computer while the kids eat. When they finish, I tell them to get ready for bed and they leave. I go to check on them and make sure Ella’s wearing her pull up and see that Jacob’s in the floor in my room and Ella’s in the bed. I walk over to put her pull up on and notice that she’s peed all the way down the side of the bed and into the floor. I am infuriated, but sick and exhausted, so I just have her go into the bathroom so I can wipe her off.

That’s when I notice the cereal in the bathtub.

At this point, I just put her into her pull up, send her off to bed crying, and then go to bed, myself. I still feel sick today and there is still cereal in the bathtub, but tonight Kris will be home and I can go to bed early!

We Have a Link!

2010-09-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

To the right is Miss Ashton's Kindergarden Class. There are pictures of what Jake's class is working on and newsletters with classroom current events. (Also, now I know what Jacob's multiple girlfriends look like!)

Jacob: Mommy and Daddy, I love you both very very much.

Us: Awww! Jacob, that's so sweet we love you too!

Jacob: But...

(We look at each other)

I also love it when Sarah puts her hands on my hair like this...
(He tilts his chin up and runs his fingers through his hair.)

It was hard to recuperate after that statement...!

Why Jacob Wasn't Eating Lunch...

2010-09-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Jacob was coming home with an almost full lunchbox. We were worried that he didn't like his food, so we kept trying different things in hopes that he would eat. Turns out, he wasn't eating lunch because he was eating two breakfasts- one at home and one at school.

I received the following email from Kris:

So it looks like Jake has indeed been using his milk money for breakfast. To be clear, he had no idea he was doing anything wrong--he was just going where people told him to go. He's also been paying for his milks, but didn't think he was paying anything for them because he's the only kid in his class that just gets milk, so has been allowed to go to the front of the line and the lunch workers rang him up behind the scenes. So I figure we'll tell Jake not to get breakfast at school--but maybe we can give him a little breakfasty food in his lunchbox so he can still socialize etc. Then in a week we'll check to see that he's not buying breakfast anymore. And if he is, they said they can put a stop on his account that will let him get milk at lunch but nothing at breakfast.

We now feed him breakfast at home and send him with a granola bar so that he can eat breakfast again with his friends. Such a little Hobbit...

What Do You Want to be for Halloween?

2010-09-28T05:20:00.000-07:00

Jacob:
The Target Dog (yes, from the store Target)

Ella:
Witch Princess Mermaid Fly Alice Bat Daphne Superman... so far

I'm thinking we'll go with princess, but we'll see!

Not Quite Sure...

2010-09-28T05:12:00.001-07:00

Not quite sure where this goes, but this was said by Ella maybe a month ago...

Upon seeing a rolypoly in the bathroom:
(cooing) Oooh a roly polyyyyy! He's so cuuuuute!
(somber) His family is dead in my room.

At school, Jacob's class writes a sentence every day telling what they did. Sometimes it's "We went outside" or "We played in the studio." Yesterday's was "I read a book." Kris and I were gushing over how excited we were that Jacob had read a book when he told us that everyone else had to write "Jacob read a book" because not only had he read the book, he read it aloud to the class. We are so proud!

Indy's Irish Fest

2010-09-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday, we went to the Irish Festival. Jacob performed at noon with his school and did great! The kids had Half of July and all of August off, so I was amazed at how well they did with only 2 lessons since starting back. After the performance, we played and ate and listened to music.

Sunday, Jessica was signed up to volunteer in the Wee Folks area and took Jacob to help. Jake played until Jessica's shift was over and it started to rain. We ate lunch in the rain and pretended it was Ireland.

Jacob and Bella

Backstage

Showing off the uniform

Hi Mom!

The Junior and Beninner Dancers

The Two Hand Jig

2010-09-20T09:14:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

Here's Jacob at the Indy Irish Fest. He's improved so much!

Learning Some Vocabulary!

2010-09-16T06:48:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, Jacob bounded off the bus and said:

"Those boys told me to tell Daddy that I'm part butthead."

I stopped walking. "You're part what???"

"I'm part butthead!"

"Um, Jacob, that's not a very nice word. Who said you were a butthead?"

"Those buttheads over there! (points to two Jake-aged boys walking away) That's butthead #1 and butthead #2. I'm butthead #3. That's the silliest butthead."

"Well Jake, it's not okay to use that word. If you say it at school you'll get in trouble."

"I know. I'm just going to say it on the bus."

Just Overheard

2010-09-10T16:20:00.000-07:00

Ella: I'm gonna do a ballerina dance!
Jake: I'm gonna do a ballerina dance too.
Ella: You can't do a ballerina dance! You have to be four!
Jake: I've already been four...
Ella: *sighs* Jacob, your're five. You're not four. You can't do the dance because you don't know how.

(Ella was told that she can't take ballet lessons until she's four, so that's the magic ballerina number. Usually if you tell her she has to be four, she screams, "YOU CAN BE THREE TOO!" Which is true, but just too dang bad. Next year...)

Ella's Comedy Hour

2010-09-05T09:08:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

Feast of Lanterns

2010-09-02T06:35:00.001-07:00

Saturday we went with Jennifer and Ray to the Feast of Lanterns. The kids got balloons (Jacob chose a bee and Ella chose a flower), played in several bounce houses, and ate hot dogs and snow cones. We listened to music and enjoyed the lighting of the lanterns at 8. Compared to last year, there was a lot more to do, but unfortunately, the music was pretty terrible. Funnel cake helps...

Back to School!

2010-08-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

The kids received a care package from Gram and Aunt Paula with backpacks and jackets. The backpacks had a whistle at the bottom so that's what they were most excited about. Now the kids are ready to go and I am officially caught up on blogging!

Thank You Gram and Aunt Paula!!!!!

2010-08-27T07:27:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

First Day of School!

2010-08-26T10:35:00.000-07:00

Ella heads to Miss Debbie's house in her first day of school dress...

Jacob gets to work in Ms. Ashton's class...

Colts - Game 1

2010-08-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 15th, Jacob and Jessica went to a Colts preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers. Kris and Ella dropped them off and headed to Ella's first ever movie, Despicable Me. The stadium was amazing and we had a great view, even from the nosebleed section. Jacob got a foam finger and we picked up some pink Colts socks for Ella. We headed to our seats for the start of the game. And this is where the confusion began...

Halfway through the first quarter, Jacob asks, "When does the game start?" "That's the game down there, " I said. "Oh." He thought for a minute. "Well, when you said we were going to see the Colts, I thought you meant we were going to that house where there was that party and that there would be cupcakes." Apparently, Jacob thought that going to see the Colts meant going to a Super Bowl party like we did last year. He was a little disappointed, but we went in search of food and picked up a pretzel.

Second quarter, Jacob got sleepy. Or at least that's what he kept saying over and over. He'd say, "I miss my home." "Well, baby, we've only been gone an hour. Do you want me to call Daddy and have him pick us up?" "No, I don't want to miss the show." So we sat it out.

Third quarter, Jacob got wiggly so we made a circle around the stadium.

Fourth quarter, everyone started leaving so we moved up a couple of rows to watch the game from the front of the terrace. The Colts lost. Jacob remarked, "They lost? But I thought they would win..." But he wasn't too bummed about it. We left the stadium and walked around a bit downtown before Kris picked us up.

It was really fun explaining things like the coin toss, the end zone, the kicker, the quarterback, special teams... Jacob came away from the whole thing thinking, "When they're all on the field like that, they look like minions!"

Open House

2010-08-26T09:26:00.000-07:00

Thursday, August 12th, the Mary Castle ELC had an open house so that kindergardeners could see their new room and meet their new teacher. This year Jacob has Ms. Ashton and is in a class of 25. His room has tons to do and he was very happy to see his new cubby. Later, we got to ride on a bus around the parking lot.

Lots of Pool Time...

2010-08-25T10:31:00.001-07:00

Ella the Mermaid

2010-08-25T10:26:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

And from even further back...

2010-08-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

Bridget, Mark, Kate and Luke Bullio came for a short visit back in June. We hung out at the Children's Museum and shut the place down. It had been a year since we'd seen each other, so it was really nice to sit and talk, even if it was just for a couple of hours. A few more pics on their blog here.

A Circular Argument

2010-08-25T09:47:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

Jacob's Horrible Haircut

2010-08-25T09:27:00.001-07:00

Jacob came home from Great Clips with a not-so-great haircut. I think of Jake's standard style as being the easiest thing in the world to do, so I was shocked to see how crooked his bangs were and that he had weird cutlines all along the top. Won't be going there again!

After my attempt to fix it...

Good thing it will grow out!

We Made Cookies!

2010-08-25T09:19:00.001-07:00

Connor Prairie

2010-08-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

We went to Connor Prairie, the homestead of one of the original settlers in Indianapolis. They had an entire village of log cabins and old homes to show what life was like in the 1800s.

We Made Brownies!

2010-08-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

Rocking out

2010-08-24T09:12:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

Karaoke!

2010-08-24T09:11:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes

The Children's Museum

2010-08-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

Again, in no order whatsoever...!

Chicago Day 2

2010-08-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

Day 2's Adventure was a trip to the Field Museum. That place is huge! We certainly didn't get to see everything, but it was Jacob's mission to see everything on the brochure... We saw Sue the T-Rex, the mummies, and some tiny jade Aztec carving. The kids were absolutely thrilled that there was an "Old McDonald's" (actually just regular McDonald's) at the museum. We walked around until it felt like our legs would fall off, then walked back to the train, back to our car, and headed home.

And in no particular order...

Chicago Day 1

2010-08-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

Drove 3 hours to Chicago, arrived around lunch time. Stayed at a hostel in Greektown so enjoyed Greek food for lunch. Headed to the train and went downtown to The Art Institute of Chicago. Walked through a virtual Art 101 textbook until we were exhausted. Walked to Millenium Park, took pictures of The Cloud Gate (aka the bean), and played in the fountain. Took the train back to the hostel, changed the kids' clothes, and headed to Giordano's for some amazing Chicago-style pizza.

Pictures are in absolutely no order at all...

Racing a Cheetah

2010-08-23T09:29:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by jessica_c_rhodes