Flag Football

Jacob played flag football last year and he wanted to play again. He talked Peter into playing this year, too. So now we not only have Jacob's games twice a week and practice once a week, but now Peter has games twice a week and practice once a week. To top it off, Garr is Jacob's coach! Wow, what a great dad! Garr doesn't even watch football! But he played in high school, and more importantly, he wanted to be there for Jacob. So it's fun and crazy. Garr and I can't both be at all the games and practices, but between the two of us, the boys will never be alone. There is a girl on Jacob's team this year and when Alison found out about that, she decided she want's to play flag football next year! She also likes to wear Jacob's jersey from last year to the games.

No, no, no, no, no

What a smart little boy that Mikey is! He learned how to say "no". But he doesn't say it like most toddlers. he does not shout, "NO!", rather, he calmly says, "No, no, no,no, no". It's so cute, how can I be upset when he says it? However, when I am forcefully (picking him up and moving him) making him do something he doesn't want to do. He won't calmly say, "No, no, no,no, no", he just screams.

Chores and pets

Well, it's Saturday and we are doing chores. We tend to get distracted with chores around here. Jake and Pete like to listen to music on their iPods and Alison has a stereo in her room that she uses to play her favorite CD. Mike is walking around chattering and I am trying to keep focused on what I am doing while redirecting the kids every few minutes. Speaking of Mike chattering, he is starting to pick up more words here and there, but fortunately hasn't quite picked up on the word "no" yet. I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Alison's family chore today was to clean the bathroom - a first for her. I showed her how to clean everything and she was really good about it. In fact, she cleaned the mirror to perfection! She also has been keeping her room clean for about a week because she wants a hamster. She has been begging for a puppy for months. At first I just kept telling her, "No pets. No dogs, no cats, no fish, no pets!" She did her share of crying and I think Garr finally softened up and said that maybe when the yard is fenced in we can get a puppy. Everyday for the past several weeks she has been asking when she is getting her puppy and it's about to drive me bonkers! Finally, Garr and I decided to let her have a hamster because a hamster is better than a puppy! Maybe it will satisfy her need to a pet. Although I am not sure what to do about her need for a sister! Every time there is a baby sale advertised in the paper, I ask Garr if we can go get a baby girl. To which he responds with a smile.

Guess it's time for me to get back to my chores so I can set an example to the kids!

Reading

We love to read! I (Jennie) just read The City of Ember to Jacob and Peter. We read it over the course of about 3 weeks. I like to read to the kids before bed. Alison wasn't interested in the book so I usually just sent her to bed. Tonight she wanted to stay up because the boys were up. She joined us and read her own book while I read to the boys. We read about 4 chapters and finished the book. It totally left us hanging and now I have to wait until I can get the next one at the Library!
Jacob finished reading the first Fablehaven book before Garr. Then I started reading it, then Garr finished it before me! We are going to buy the other books in the series because we'll all take turns reading them. Now I just need to get Peter to read it!
I will probably talk about reading a lot. It is something that our family really enjoys doing. In fact, Mike is interested in reading, too! He grabs books and wants me to sit on the couch and read to him. We look at a few pages, then he hops down, gets another book and climbs back up to look some more. He's not even 2 years old yet, but I am thinking I will have to teach him to read as soon as possible or he will have me tied down reading to him all day! None of our other kids have been so interested in books at such an early age.
Sorry I am going on and on, but I am such a freak about books!

Garr and Jennie

This blog is just about Garr and Jennie Ovard and our four beautiful children. It is for family and friends who want to see pictures of us and read about what is going on in our lives. We hope you enjoy coming here and seeing how we grow and change and we hope you will share your families with us, too. Happy blogging!