Thanksgiving in Florida

We went to West Palm Beach, Florida for Thanksgiving week. We were beach & pool bums whenever possible. We had a couple cooler and windy days and some rain a couple days, but overall we toughed it out and enjoyed the sun and water. Adrea & Tim were in Florida for a wedding the weekend before we arrived, so they hung out a couple days with us too. It was fun to have extra entertainment and cooking help.

 

Adrea & Wyatt in the pool

Jacob

Gavin and Wyatt twisting in the "dance competition" - no one dared compete with these cuties

Fred & the boys in the ocean on a windy day - double red flags. Jacob and Gavin loved "busting" waves with Fred. I am a bit more of a chicken about that big blue ocean.

Adrea & Tim with the boys

Our usual trip to the Marina on the intercostal to feed the fish, and try not to let the birds get the feeder fish. This year we saw one bird about eat another bird over a fish.

Wyatt was a brave swimmer with his water wings. Jumping in and paddling around all on his own.

Goofy boys in the elevator

Another pose

Jacob enjoyed a day with a boogie board. He made a friend at the beach and the boogied for hours.

We walked down the beach to the pier, where the ships come in and out of the intercostal.

On the balcony of our timeshare.

Jacob and me.

Old Frog

Another gem from Gavin. (Gavin is currently carrying around a stuffed frog named "Froge" (pronounced Froggy) wherever he goes.) His schoolwork reads "When Froggy grows up he's going to be an old frog". So much sweeter/cuter than the other side which shows that when Gavin grows up he's going to be an army man with a picture of him shooting at a bad guy.

The Sweaty Mint

Yesterday Gavin offered me a mint. I was eating something else, so I declined his offer. A bit later we were in the car and he says, "Mom, I had to eat your mint I was saving for you. I was holding onto it and it got sweaty, so I ate it. It was a little sour with a pinch of gross."

Another Gavin line I don't want to forget :)

October Review

Its been a busy October. Soccer, football, pumpkin picking, all the Halloween activities and more!

 

We tried a new pumpkin patch for our annual pumpkin picking outing with the Silvestains. Next year we'll have to try the $5/pumpkin field as the boys are getting bigger and stronger and picking the biggest pumpkins they can find. One pumpkin Jacob picked rung up at $12! We decided to skip that one. We got a pumpkin per kid at the patch and then hit the Edina Realty customer appreciation event to round out our pumpkin supply.

 

Jacob and Kyle

Avery, Gavin and Wyatt

 

After about 10 shots, this is about the best one with all the kiddos.

 

Gavin's soccer team had a tough season. They were the youngest team in the K-1 division, with their team being made up of all kindergarteners - all the rest of his team were from St Huberts in Chan. They had an awesome coach that kept things fun and the boys excited to play. 

Gavin kicking in the ball.

Silly Green Lightning boys with their trophies.

 

Jacob's flag football team had a good season. They won or tied all of their games, or that is how Jacob reported it anyway. Sometimes we were short on players, but that just meant more playing time and Jacob got to run in a couple touchdowns and made a touchdown throw too.

Jacob getting a hand-off.

Waiting to play defense.

 

One chilly Saturday morning, Gavin was invited to a birthday party a pumpkin patch. A 3 hour birthday party! Outdoors in October, brrrr. The kids had a great time decorating pumpkins, bouncing in the pumpkin bounce house, getting their faces painted and crazy hair done. But once it started raining, we ditched before Gavin's friend got a chance to open her present.

Gavin loving his crazy, colorful day.

 

While Jacob was at football another Saturday morning, I took Gavin, Wyatt and our friend Avery to a screening of Curious George's Boo Fest movie. The kids had a great time eating popcorn and candy at 10 am. The story of No-Noggin (the headless scarecrow that kicked peoples' hats off) spooked Gavin out for a while afterwards - who would have thought Curious George would be so scary?

Avery, Gavin and Wyatt with the Man in the Yellow Hat

 

Then there were all the Halloween festivities. Last Saturday night we went to the community center for Halloween Live which had games, crafts, haunted house, and cookie decorating. The boys all went as Minecraft characters (crafted by yours truly, Gavin decorated his own) - a very popular costume for elementary boys this year. On Sunday night we had Holyween at church. Gavin and I made Frankenstein pudding cups that won first prize in the Monster treat competition. Jacob and Gavin went as "Steve" the Minecraft guy again, but Wyatt went as Buzz Lightyear. Fred and I even got dressed up.

Steve, little Creeper, and another Steve.

A whole group of Minecrafters at Holyween.

Frankenstein and his bride. 

 

We got our pumpkins carved the night before Halloween. I went Pinterest style on mine and did the design with a drill.

 

Heading out to trick or treat - Buzz Lightyear, Astronaut, and Fox (as in What Does the Fox Say?)

 

It was so fun to watch the boys trick or treat. Especially Wyatt with his little legs trying to keep up with his big brothers. I bet Wyatt ran a mile last night on our extended loop we did. Fred feels he was deprived of the true trick-or-treating experience as a kid (since he lived in the country), so he enjoys the experience as much as the boys - we even had to pre-walk the route last week to see if we could get the whole route in a decent time.

Here are the boys examining their loot. Wow!

School Photos

Good photos from school pictures this year. Such handsome boys. 

 

Gavin - Kindergarten - Teacher: Mrs. Johnson

Jacob - 3rd Grade - Ms. Trapp

 

Both boys are enjoying school. I can't get a straight story about what happens in school from Gavin, but he's good about showing me all his work when he gets home. Jacob continues to struggle with organization. He's smart - in advanced math and high reading, but sometimes getting homework home and back to school is a challenge for him. I have gotten 2 calls from the school nurse about Gavin's bumps and bruises (and a black eye) on the playground. Jacob's in 3rd grade and I've never had a call from the nurse.

Wyatt (the baby) Turns 3!

Wyatt turned 3 on September 29th. He's a silly, energetic, stubborn, and imaginative. He LOVES his brothers, who he refers to as "my guys", and his current obsession is Team Umizoomi. We had a family birthday party to celebrate our baby turning 3, complete with Hotwheels cake. Of course his parents and brothers were there with him, but they failed to make any pictures.

 

Grandpa and Grandma Middendorf

The Rosenbergers (Joe was in SD)

Grandma and Grandpa Jeske

Tim and Adrea

Godfather Joel working on "3" with Wyatt

"Happy Birthday Dear Wyatt"

Presents! (Oh, there's a brother)

The Farmers (Joel, Julie, Gentry, Jesse and Jordan)

Last Lake Days & Twins Outings

 

 We got such a cute picture of the Jeske grandkids in the boat last year and we tried again another cute pic at the lake, but waited until the last day and the boat was already out of the water. They are cute in or out of the boat.

Gavin, Jacob, Isaac, Maddie, and Wyatt

 

Wyatt didn't want to do this one. Sigh.

 

Tim - prince of the deck.

 

Isaac - big catch off the dock.

 

Fred got suite tickets from his work for the Twin's game on Jacob's birthday in May and promised all summer to get Gavin to a game too. Finally in September, we got some tickets from someone on Craigslist and Fred took Gavin to a Sunday afternoon game. A week later he got tickets from work again for a Wednesday night game (it was too late (7:10) to take the boys), so I got to go.  

 

Jacob with Kirby

 

Gavin

Me

Back to School (and Work)

It's been an exciting and busy week here. Jacob started 3rd grade on Tuesday. He's such a social kid that he loves school. Wyatt spent a couple hours at his new "school" (childcare at Preschool Place) on Wednesday while I took Gavin to his kindergarten evaluation. Then today Gavin went off to his first day of kindergarten (all-day), Wyatt went to his school for the full day, and I started a new job at ExacTec. Gavin was excited for kindergarten and very comforted to have his big brother on the bus with him. It was so sweet when they came off the bus, Jacob waited for him to get off, then took his hand and helped him across the street.



Jacob's 1st day of 3rd grade.

Gavin's 1st day of Kindergarten 

Ready for school.

My first day too!

Off to the bus.

Wyatt with his full-size backpack, its about as big as him.

Wyatt and me.

 

I was afraid Wyatt wasn't going to be game to go anywhere without his brothers, but Gavin and I dropped him off yesterday and he joined right in washing his hands and headed to snack without looking back. Today, he trotted right in too and was happy when I returned. I hope this continues, it sure made it easier for me.

 

I got a job as an office manager here in Chaska - about 1.5 miles from my house. With the hours of 8:45 to 2:45, its perfect. Get the boys off, drop off Wyatt, work a few hours with ADULTS and then be home in time to catch the boys off the bus. Today my parents brought me lunch, so that was a nice treat. They were also here incase my kids needed anything, which was very comforting and fortunately they weren't needed.