Recent art projects:
1."Electricity going through a whole lot of wires"
2. An apple
3. His silhouette from preschool
4. A germ
5. A turkey
6. A train
7. A coracopia (This one really wowed me, because Jacob thought of making it himself, and asked for a picture of a cornacopia to copy. He drew the cornacopia free hand, and made all of the things to go inside all on his own, telling me not to peek. The only thing I helped with was overlapping the pieces in the arrangement. I was completely impressed!)

Jacob was writing "I love (with a heart) U" post-it notes for everyone. Jacob gave me my note, and pointed out that "It even has the demanding thing at the end...the oval thing with the dot under it that means it's demanding"(An exclamation mark). We talked about how that can mean you're excited about something too. Fellow got a note on the cupboard door where we keep his food, and fish even got one...writen on the sticky side, so when he stuck it to the fish nowl, the fish could read it from inside the bowl.

This morning, Jacob wanted to act out the Wizard of Oz. He wore a santa hat for a witches hat "because it comes to a point", and road a paintbrush for a broom. We played for quite a while, and then Jacob went into his room and started pretending to paint circles around the top of his football helmet. I thought he was done playing the Wizard of Oz, and had moved on to something new to pretend, so I said, "Oh, are you going to paint a helmet now?" Jacob gave me the meanest face he could make, and said in his witchiest voice, "NO, I'm making a spell, so the roses will make you sleep!" (I laughed out loud!)

Jacob made me a crown to wear out of paper and markers, and told me I was the queen. A few minutes later, he came in with a crown for himself, telling me he was the king. He came over and gave me a big hug as he said "Now we can live happily ever after!"

Upcoming Events:
Tuesday Dec.9 @ 6:30 pm: Preschool Christmas Program at our church
Wednesday Dec.17 @ 6:30 pm: Sunday School Christmas Program at our church

Jacob asked me to pretend I was sleeping on the couch, then he pretended he was Santa bringing me presents (see video).

Tonight we went to the Holidazzle Parade. Jacob really likes going downtown, and enjoyed the parade. We got to go inside the IDS building and see the huge waterfall inside, and on the way home, he was able to pick out which building was the IDS in the city sky line...the tallest building with the row of white lights across the top!

Nate had a head ache this morning. When Jacob found out, he imediately went and got the battery powered massager, and started rubbing it on Nate's head to make him feel better. Then he suggested Nate put it in a hat so it can vibrate on his head throughout the day. He said, "I'll go get one of my hats for you to use!" When Nate tried to explain that Jacob's kid-sized hat was too small for Nate's head, Jacob came back with a doctor's hair net from his dress up bin so it was big enough. He was so sweet and thoughtful!

Jacob has been adding some surprising things to his prayers the past few nights like, "Thank you for this moment of peace...please take care of everyone who is sad or doesn't know you...Thank you for my happiness". It has always been so neat to listen to his prayers at bedtime. Other little "Jacob things" that I love is when he gives thumbs up with a huge smile, his salute when you ask him to do something, and how he hums when he is busy working on something. There are way too many amazing things about Jacob to document them all!

Decorating for Christmas!
I love having the tree only decorated as high as he can reach! And I love that Jacob initiated putting the "Happy Birthday" banner on the tree for Jesus! He even asked for paper and markers, and made present ornaments to hang on the tree. His faith is always so fun to see!!

Jacob and I were rocking in the rocking chair together after stories, but before bed. He told me that he wants to work in the library when he grows up. I asked him what job he would like to do at the library, and he said he wanted to take books off of the cart, and put them on the shelves. "Oh that's a really important job, so when kids come to the library, they can find the books they want", I told him. Then Jacob added, "And Tommy, and Jason, and Kendall will work at the library with me. Then when the library closes, and all the people go home, we can jump on the conveyer belt and ride all the way to the end where the books go, because the conveyor belt will be for books and workers!"

Jacob and I needed to go grocery shopping. I asked Jacob to make a list of what HE thought we needed to get at the store. "Pickles, Beef Jerky, Crab, Peanuts, Black Olives"...All of his favorites!

Kristen wanted to take Jacob to a play of The Wizard of Oz. She called to make sure it was okay, and find out what time she could pick him up. Jacob was talking to her on the phone, and asked me when Kristen could come get him. I said, "How about if she picks you up after nap?". Jacob got back on the phone and told Kristen, "After nap would be just perfect!"

Tonight we watched the Wizard of Oz movie so Jacob would know the story line for the play. We have been putting it off because of his fear of tornados, but after the movie, Jacob said the tornado was his favorite part. During the movie when Dorothy, the scarecrow, and the tinman sees the wicked witch on the roof in the woods, and she threatened to use the tin man for a bee hive, Jacob said, "If I were one of them, I would make a bee hive out of the witch!"

Last night at dinner, we had fresh pineapple. As we were setting the table, Jacob went and got some chapstick, and explained that pineapple stings his lips, so he needed chapstick. I figured it wouldn't hurt, and if it helped him eat something healthy, why not. He ate all of his pineapple. This morning, I was making his lunch for school, and Jacob said he wanted pineapple, so I put some chapstick in his lunch too. I can just picture Jacob pulling out his chapstick at lunch, in order to eat his pineapple at preschool.

During dinner tonight, we asked Jacob a question, and he suddenly looked all surprised and animated as he said, "Ahh, it's a mystery!...Quick, call a detective!" (I was so caught off guard, I laughed out loud!)

This morning, Nate gave Jacob some money to put into his offering envelope for church. Jacob said, "I want to give even more to Jesus", and he grabbed a big handfull of change from the coffee can to add to his offering envelope. It is so great to see such big faith from such a little guy!

Jacob LOVES the singing stuffed animals at the store! (see video)

Today I took the day off from work, and Jacob and I went to a special program for kids at Orchastra Hall in Minneapolis. There are two 45 minute sessions during the program. In the sound factory, Jacob got to actually try playing the violin, snare drum, and chello. (see videos). In the second session, Jacob got to sit right on stage, and meet 8 or 9 of the players from the MN Orchastra, and introduce their instruments. Then all of the instruments played together as a narrator told a story set to the music. Jacob was like a statue the whole time, and it was such a neat opportunity to see them playing up close. He had a great time in both sessions! Photographs were only allowed in the sound factory, not on stage, but don't forget to check out the videos from the sound factory.

Nate and Jacob and I were playing the board game Sequence tonight. Jacob knows the hearts, diamonds, and clubs, but he always referes to the spades as "spears". It is so cute to hear him say "the 8 of spears", "the jack of spears", etc.

Today Jacob and I talked about Vetren's Day, and that it is a day to remember and thank the solders that keep us safe. We made cup cakes with red, white, and blus sprinkles to celebrate today. Jacob really likes cooking projects.

The three of us were talking about the election during dinner, and I asked Jacob what rules he would make for the people to follow if he were President of the United States. Here is his list:
No killing
No breaking things
No flying airplanes into buildings or houses
Trust God
No killing down trees...you can pick up a tree that already fell down, like from a storm or something
Believe in your mom and dad
Go to church every day
No hurting people
Be with everyone
Have lots of smoked cheese
Feed fish

Jacob and I made carmel apples, and we had them for dessert tonight.

At the place where Nate and I voted, they had a kids voting area set up. Jacob came with us to our voting booths, and watched us vote, and then we took him to the kids area so he could vote too. The kids ballots have each person's picture listed next to their name. Jacob got a ballot, and when I pointed to the presidential nominee's pictures, he was able to tell me who both people were. He took his pencil to his voting booth, and filled in a circle just like the adults do. He was the youngest person in our city to vote this year, beating a 5 year old who voted earlier tonight!

Politics were never really discussed in my family when I was growing up, and how my parents voted was always kind of a taboo subject. Tonight we had dinner at Dad and Alyce's. Jacob was seated at one end of the table, and my Dad was seated at the other. In the middle of dinner, Jacob politely waited for a break in the conversation, and then clear out of the blue announced confidently, "Grandma, and Grandpa Tom...You should vote for John McCain because he'll make rules to keep babies safe who aren't born yet!" I think everyone at the table was just as shocked as I was to hear this come out of the mouth of a 4 year old, but we all had a good conversation because of it, even Jacob!

After chewing some gum he got from Kristen in his trick or treat bucket:
"All of that flavor was good in my saliva!"