The Wild Arctic and Some Other Fun things along the Way...

The Wild Arctic ...

Jacob LOVED this ride ...
I kept him well nourished ... a churro, some cotton candy, a little fruit punch pop, a frozen lemonade. It was his Birthday for heaven's sakes!
Jacob began to run in the direction of the Octopus exhibit. He was so excited, but soon disappointed because they only have 1 octopus! Whatever Sea World!

At this point Sea World was just so much fun that Jacob had to roll down this hill!
"Lion Fish!" Jacob liked the looks of these sea creatures. They were pretty fascinating, that's for darn sure.
When we first saw these Jacob just stood there and asks "Now, what the heck are these?" They didn't offer any information about them. If you look real close, the orange things are some type of fish. They look like pieces of yarn.
At first Jacob was a little nervous to touch the star fish. I had him touch the rock that he was leaning on and told him that the shell felt the same way. He slowly put his fingers in to touch it and ta da ... loved it! I then showed him how to carefully pick one up and he did it nicely, but then threw it down when he was done. It hurt my heart. This was one of my favorite exhibits at the park.
I'm sorry, but if you see people in a tube, who are not wet "yet" and you can put a quarter in a machine to drench them ... who would honestly pass that up!?! Jacob was laughing so hard ... and so was I. Good job Son!

Back to Grandma and Grandpa's House ...

This is sweet little Isabel, Jacob's second cousin. They became instant friends. They had each other at "coloring."
Grandma Rayner was so sweet and had a yummy dinner ready for us when we came home. Thank you Grandma, it was delicious!
We sang to Jacob and then devoured this chocolate cake. Happy Birthday My Sweet Boy. You have no idea how much I love you!

Jacob at the Beach Part 1 ...

"Well I'll be darned, I think this here is the ocean!"
"IT'S GETTING MEEEEE!!"
The water was a little chilly, but obviously not that bad because Jacob kept running in to get his piggies wet!
Priceless ...

Jacob at the Beach Part 2 ...

Jacob does not sit at the beach. This is how he makes the best of it ...

He spins in the sand ...
He lays in it ...
He runs on it ...
He splashes in it ...
Ok, so maybe he does sit at the beach .. but it was just long enough for me to take this picture!
If you ask me, "forget the ball game ... take me out to the beach!"

Nice Pictures ...

I love my kids little sandy piggies!! But of course we had to find it in other places as well ...
Jacob's Photography ...

Jacob with Grandma and Grandpa Rayner. We were at the airport getting ready to fly home...
On Sunday we had family over at our house for pizza and brownie with ice-cream.
I hope each and every one of your wishes come true William Jacob ...To Infinity and Beyond ...

Congratulations Madi Ann ...

Madi set a goal for herself to get the 25 point award for the AR Reading Program for her school. She brought home two new books every day to read and then she tested on them at school the next day. As proud as I am for her, I am proud to say that I did not have to remind her once about reading and following through with her goal.
These are the awards that she received at school. Her teacher called me the night before to let me know that she would be getting these awards at the assembly the next morning. She was surprised to see her father and I there.
I love this picture of my sweet sweet Madi Girl. Her goal now is set for the 75 pointer. You Go Girl!!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

No one can pinch these 3 ...
We didn't catch the Leprechaun, but hopefully next year when we use syrup that will work. He left is little foot prints in the honey and even got some on the rug. Silly Leprechaun. Even though he his pretty tricky to catch he was nice enough to leave us a note wishing us a Happy St. Patrick's Day. Oh, and thanks for the chocolate gold coins too!
For breakfast we had fried eggs (yellow), green grapes, glazed donuts and green juice!

Let's Go Biking ...

As soon as the sun comes out and feels warm for us .... we grab our helmets and take off on our bikes. I once heard someone say that "kids just don't ride bikes anymore." That is clearly not the case for the Tolman kids. We love to ride our bikes!! In fact when the weather was nice a couple of weeks ago, Ty took the kids on forever long bike rides. They loved every second of it! I, on the other hand need to get over my bike crash incident and get back on the dang thing.


Miss Madi is so good at following bike safety rules. You Rock D!!
Jacob loves to ride fast and then make skid marks on the cement. He also loves to ride down hill and then make sharp turns with his back tire. It's a palm sweater for me. =/
We need to buy Owen a bigger bike this year. When Ty takes the kids on long rides, this is how Owie enjoys it. How could you blame the kid? The best part is when they get home after a 20 mile bike ride and Owen will say he is tired.
We can't wait for it to warm up so we can take our bikes out again!

OWEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The kids were in bed trying to go to sleep when I went in their bathroom to clean up a bit. The first thing I noticed was the sink filled with water. I tried to drain it ... but oh no, it was plugged! I asked the kids what was wrong with the sink and Owen says, "I put toilet paper in it." I asked him why and he quietly responded .... "because" ....

Well that explains it! Awesome answer Owen ...

My Sweet Sweet Boy is Turning .... 6!!!

This is one of my favorite pictures of my Jacob! He was 3 years old. He will be turning 6 years old tomorrow at 4:08. He will be celebrating his special day in Sea World!!

There are so many things I love out Jacob. He has the best sense of humor and is constantly making us laugh. He is finally ok with people laughing along with him. He loves to ride is bike and can so FAST!! These past couple of weekends he has been going on bike rides with dad and will ride for miles. In one weekend he rode 17 miles. He has the best of time. He loves to make skid marks on the cement and likes to ride fast and make sharp turns. This boy LOVES speed. He loves boats, Nascar, big trucks and especially dirt bikes and motorcycles. He pretty much loves anything with an engine. I love to see the excitement in his face when he hears an engine rev up!

I love Jacob's heart. He is so smart and happy all the time. He melts my heart when he laughs. I am so proud to be his mom. I love his hugs and kisses.

I love you my William Jacob Tolman .... to Infinity and Beyond ... times a billion!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!!

How Crazy is THis ...

Owie Bowie has BEE'S IN HIS THROAT!!

Oh my, what should I do!?!

This afternoon Owen asked if he and Woody could go outside to play. I told him no because he has a sore throat. He said "Ya, I have bee's in my throat." He opened his mouth and said "but they all came out."

Amazing!! Bee's came out of his mouth without stinging him... whew ... that's incredible!

I love you my Owie Bowie!

Jacob, Jacob, Jacob ...

So last night while finishing up dinner Jacob says, "I'm out" and starts to pull away from the table. I'm far from Leaver it to Beaver's mom ... but really? While I was telling Jacob what he should say when he is finished eating, Ty is over there giving him knuckles. Ty thought it was funny!

I do have to admit it was kind of funny ... I just don't want him to think it's ok. It's not polite. What if he was at someone else's home? Who would that reflect on? ME!!!! ...not knuckle giving dad!

Oh, Owen is crying. Madi says he has a splinter ... I'm out. Ha!

Simple Things that make us HaPpY ...

Jacob: He can swallow macaroni and cheese without chewing it .... eXciting!

Owen: The new Cinnamon Toast Crunch commercial! He has the best belly laugh.

Madi: The FIBER in Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal! She likes to the say the word.

Me: My self entertained children. We held Owen's play group at our house today and the kids were great ... but nuff said!

Ty: His newly organized closet that I cleaned out for him last night. He's thrilled about it ... just overjoyed!

Get a load of this ...

So this afternoon after taking a cough drop to Madi at school, I pulled in the drive way, got out of the car and as I was helping the boys get out I could hear air coming out of one of the tires. Rear tire on drivers side. I run in and call Ty and he tells me to immediately take it over to the Shop. I tossed the boys back in the car and drive, ever so carefully to the Firestone. I leave the car there and walk home. As soon as I arrive home I get a phone call from the guy telling me he found a SCREWDRIVER and a whole lot of other things in my tire. WHAT??? I call Ty and he hardly believes me and to be totally honest, I didn't believe me either when I was telling him this. Ty asks for the number, calls the dude then calls me back ...

Drum roll ....

TWO SCREWDRIVES AND A PIPE were found in my tire ... now that is AMAZING! Tell you what.

My World's Record ...

A few weeks ago while making pancakes for breakfast ... and without realizing this ... I was making history! What began as making a simple pancake, ended with me making the smallest pancakes ... EVER! Every time I'd make a cake for one of the kids, I would serve it to them smaller than the one I had served before. The kids would laugh and kept asking me if I could make an even smaller one ... and of course I so did. It was a Saturday (our lazy day) so we had all the time in the world. By the time the batter was gone, we had pancakes the size of teeny tiny little dots. The ducklings thought this was amazing! We offered them to the birds by tossing them out the backdoor. It was fun.

So today Cole came over to play and while the boys were eating lunch I over heard Jacob say (in his proud loud voice) "My mom broke the world's record and made the smallest pancakes in the WORLD!!!"

Had I known all this, I would have taken a picture first ... hello!