The Jolliff Family

This morning, Sam had his first day of preschool for the year! He is going back to Bethel again this year and we are thrilled. We really like Bethel because of their philosophy that kid's learn through play and providing the children with many opportunities to explore their surroundings. This morning I fixed Sam some homemade cinnamon rolls. Sam loves cinnamon rolls and I figured I would try them from scratch. I must admit I was pretty proud of my work and they turned out really tasty! The hardest part was being patient for the dough to rise, other than that it was easy! Sam packed his backpack last night and was all ready to go this morning! Showing you his backpack:) He is such a big boy and we know he is going to have a blast this year and learn so much! He looks so sweet, I could just eat him up:) We love you Sam!

I have some good news and some bad news during nap time. Let's start with the good news. The good news is... The bad news is... I sure hope that big boy rests up because he will need the energy to clean up when he wakes up from his nap:) Happy Wednesday

I love how the older the boys get the more they are playing with eachother. Andrew just adores his big brother, and Sam feels the same way about Andrew. This picture was this morning when they were playing together. Sam said to me "stay out, only me and Andrew in my room!" So I took the picture from the door:)

Sam's friend Micah turned 3 this weekend and we where so glad we could go to their new home and celebrate with him and his family! Amanda, Andrew, Sam and myself headed down to the Jablonski Jungle for the big party! Sam talked about the party all last week and just couldn't wait until we got there. One cute story, on Saturday morning he told me he was going to run up and give Micah a big squeeze!! Now he thinks we are going back this weekend for a party too! Susan and Adam did a great job hosting a Tiger party for Micah. This picture is so cute of Andrew and Caleb. They are growing to be good friends as well:) Adam made this great pinata!! Hard to bust too, especially when you throw the bat instead of hitting it. The kids loved hitting in and Sam enjoyed some of the candy today! The two buddies together again! Being with the Jablonski's on Saturday makes me miss them all the more. They are such great friends and the boys play so nicely together. The gals are g...

We have lots of messy faces around this house:) Last night, we had lasagna and Andrew really enjoyed it. He made a mess- not only on his face but on the floor!! These pretty flowers awaited me last night when I arrived home from work. Sam picked him and put them in a vase for me. They are so beautiful and even more so since Sam did it!! Tonight, the McDonald's by our house was selling ice cream cones for $.49. I don't know how much they regularly are, but it sounded like a deal. Sam shared so nicely with Andrew and we had more messy faces!! Sam cheesin' it up with his messy face! I could just smooch these messy faces all day (and night) long!!:) Have a great weekend.

Well, the Jolliff's have done it, we have disconnected our home phone line and our cable on our television. Let me admit, I was one of those people who thought I would never disconnect our home phone line. Why would I want everyone to be able to reach me when I wasn't home? We actually figured that only about 3 or 4 people use on our home phone anyway and we rarely call out on it. Most people from church call Hap's cell and family or friends we mainly talk to on the cell phone. We where paying for services that we rarely used. After disconnecting our phone, I also called and disconnected our cable. Honostly, we don't watch that much TV around here. Sam will watch some PBS shows during the day. I watch two shows, but I can watch them online at hulu.com and not miss a thing if I want to. I figured we would try it and see how we do. It will be hard during football or basketball season, so we might have to camp out at Best Buy!! Anyway, we figured we will be savin...

Today was Hap's first day of school and he didn't even cry!!:) He will be heading to class on Tuesday's this year and will be in for a full day of study. I am so proud of Hap. He works so hard at work and school then comes home to be a fully engaged daddy and husband! Here is a picture of Hap on his first day of classes, he was just thrilled for me to take his picture this morning haha!! My class starts next week and Sam has a meet and greet for preschool next week as well. He starts going two days a week the following week and he is really excited. He keeps saying "when is school starting up?" Hopefully Sam will be just as excited his final year of medical school?!?:)

We had a great weekend. This was the last weekend before Upward Soccer starts and Hap returns to school. So, we just enjoyed being together as a family and getting some things accomplished that we needed to. On Saturday, while the boys played outside I finished 12 burp rags for a lady at work who is having twins. I just love how they turned out and they are so fun and easy to make. I also took a little extra time, though not much, and crafted this cute little clutch. It is perfect to put your ID, some money and keys in. I used it tonight to head to the gym!! I will be making more:) On Sunday, something came up for the Westrum's during church so we brought their three kids home with us for the afternoon. We had such a fun time with them, they are great kids. Andrew struggled with this ball for the longest time outside. He is really cruising around well and likes to throw the ball. Sam of course had a blast with the Westrum kids! Joshua and Sam played in the sprinkler. Nate and Carly...

Sam sure is! Today was his first day of mini-football. I signed him up at the gym we go to and it is a six week, 1 hour, football class. Today they worked on throwing the football the proper way, as well as some kicking. It is just Sam, two other kids and Coach Al!! He had a blast and spent some of his birthday money today on a football:) I'll take more pictures as the weeks progress I'm sure of it!!

Today the boys and I met Heidi and her kids to play in the park. It was smoking hot, even in the morning, so we only stayed about an hour or so. The kids had a blast and I didn't take a single picture. After playing in the park, we went to McDonald's for lunch. This golf cart was parked across from my car and it cracked me up, so I had to take a picture. Nothing like strapping your kid in a car seat in the back of your golf cart to go eat at McDonald's haha!! Happy Tuesday All!

It is sew crazy around here. I have turned our bedroom into my make-shift sewing room. Well, not the whole thing, just one corner. Hap bought me a sewing machine a few years back and I really enjoy sewing. So, since the birthday party is finished and my lines are memorized for the play at church, I decided I wanted to start up some sewing again. I have a bunch of friends having babies, so currently I am working on some bibs and burp clothes. I might even attempt a nursing cover but we'll see. Also, I have a new pattern for cute handbags, so I picked up some fabric for those as well! Here is a set of my burp clothes all ready to go! I love how they turned out and they are really easy to make:) Next on my agenda will be finishing up the burp rags, working on some bags and making the boys Halloween costumes. Just call me Martha Stewart (or not!!):)

This week we had Sam and Andrew's cousins, Hunter and Beau, stay a few days with us. After the birthday party, They stayed from Saturday evening to Tuesday evening. They where great boys and we had plenty of fun with them here. The cousin time was spent playing in the back yard... Killing snakes... Eating popcorn out of a dump truck while watching a movie... Racing cheetas at the zoo... Going down the slip and slide... And playing inside when it's raining outside... We had a fun time:)

We celebrated Sam turning 3 and Andrew turning 1 with a construction themed party on Saturday. It turned out to be such a fun day, that we all enjoyed. Amanda was my "official" photographer of the party so that I could serve as hostess and free us up from taking the pictures. Between her pictures and my pictures I have around 375 pictures from Saturday, which I am so thankful for!! This is obviously just a couple of the shots. You would get bored looking through them all I'm sure :) I had so much fun planning the party. I painted this sign to go over the fireplace, along with a Fun Ahead sign for the front door and a Blasting Zone sign for the bathroom door:) In the cones, there are pictures from Andrew's first year of life and the end cone is Sam's last three birthday's. My friend, Lisa, made a Bob the Builder cake for everyone to enjoy along with a hammer cake for Andrew's smash cake. He ate every last bite too!! Thankfully, Saturday turned out t...