First Snow

Check-up

Luke and Kate recently had their 5 and 2 year check-up's (the Star Wars room made for 2 happy boys). No shots were necessary, so both were happy little campers. Luke and Kate are both growing and developing wonderfully. Dr. Gershon asked Luke to draw 3 shapes, draw a person and write his name . . . he did awesome. Way to go, Luke! Kate wasn't asked to do much, but she did awesome during her exam (to my surprise). She let the doctor examine her without any fuss or problems at all. Way to go, Kate! Below are their stats. 

 Height: 3 ft, 6.5 inches = 31st percentile

Weight: 40.5 pounds = 42nd percentile

Vision: 20/15

Blurry picture - I had to take it quickly since she was naked and bouncing all over the table. No fear of falling off (from her).

Height: 36.25 inches = 90th percentile (still crazy tall)

Weight: 30 pounds = 80th percentile

Head Circumference: 47.5 = 44th percentile

Kate

While the boys are at school I get to hang out with this little gal all by myself. She is an absolute riot. She is FULL of personality. Kate is laid back and is pretty easy to please. She's easy to take shopping or run errands with and she's great just hanging out at home. Last week we literally sat in her room for over an hour just reading books. Each time I tried to turn her attention to playing with her kitchen stuff or something else she would say, "no mommy, read books". Okay then. I am so happy to have this time with her.

Watching the garbage truck pick up our trash. 

She fell and cut her eyelid last week - it's still a little swollen and bruised.  

The girl loves TV (this is something I consciously have to make sure she doesn't get too much of). So while I catch up on some emails and write this post she is watching her favorite show - Caillou. 

Christmas Countdown

This year we have been trying to do an activity together as a family each day/night as part of our countdown to Christmas. During our activity we discuss the true meaning of Christmas . . . it is so sweet to hear the boys talk about Jesus and how we are able to celebrate his birth. They get it! Some of the things we have done include: family movie night, game night, painted wooden snowmen plaques, hide and seek in the dark {with flashlights}, made puppy chow, colored  pictures, cut out paper snow flakes, etc... 
We have lots more fun and very simple things planned for the rest of the month. The kids are really enjoying it and I love that it makes me slow down and take a minute to do something fun and important with my kids. 

Phone Dump - our life through the lens of my iPhone

Yard Clean-up

We had a family yard clean-up day a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of work, but that didn't stop the kids having some fun in the process. Our beautiful work was quickly ruined with some wild leaf pile jumping kids. The extra work was worth it to see the joy on their faces. 

A bath was MUCH needed after a long day outside. Our sweet babes all in one little tub. I love them.

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

The boys had their Thanksgiving feast at school the week of Thanksgiving. It was super cute. All the kids wear headdresses they made and the teachers dress up as Pilgrims and Indians. They  all eat together at a long table with the traditional fixins': turkey, mash potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn, green beans, applesauce, and my kids favorite, corn muffins. It was so sweet to watch. Happy Thanksgiving y'all. 

Halloween {a bit late}

I am a bit late on posting Halloween pictures, it snuck up on me and not it's flown by me. Good grief it's almost Thanksgiving and then Christmas! Wow. Moving on . . . this year the boys wanted to be superheroes. They actually spotted their costumes at Costco back in August, yes, August. So the costumes had been hanging in the closet patiently waiting to be worn for a couple of months. Luckily I thought to have the boys try them on the week before, as both costumes required some alterations. Whew. I decided to stick with the superhero theme and Kate had the choice between Supergirl and Spidergirl(nothing homemade this year - all Target had to offer (in a size 4 no less)!). Naturally, she gravitated toward the pink, so Spidergirl she was. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of her striking a pose. Her brothers on the other hand were more than willing. : )  

Justin had to work this year, so I loaded the kids up and went trick-or-treating with my SIL, BIL, their kids and Grandma and Grandpa. The kids had a great time and luckily the weather wasn't too cold. It was another successful Halloween. Until next time...

 Doesn't he make a great Captain America!?!

 The most adorable Spidergirl, Iron Man, and Captain America EVER.

The coolest Iron Man

Beating the chill . . .

It's getting cold, very cold. I despise winter. If it weren't for family, I would move to Florida in a heartbeat. Seriously. Ok, moving on. With the weather cooling off, we are home more (nasty colds will make that happen, too). I am finding that I need to be more creative with filling the time . . . I just can't stick them in front of the T.V. - too much energy to burn! So this is what our day looks like . . . today, anyway. 

 Coloring (I'm learning to shoot on manual - too much light, I know)

 Playing dress-up

 Puzzles

 Blurry dance parties

 train lovin'

 kitchen lovin'

 soccer in the hall

 picnic lunches 

 building towers

and celebrating the fact that we're still in our pj's and scavenger hunt victories. 

I think I may like this staying in the house for the day business. Well, for now. : )

1st Trip to the Dentist

The boys took their first trip to the dentist last week. They were both a bit nervous about it, but once we got there and they saw the awesome games in lobby, they relaxed a bit. I have recently become friends with a gal that is a pediatric dentist, so it was an easy choice in going to her. Luke went first and was a rockstar. He listened to the hygienist explain each of the instruments, laughed and was ready to get the ball rolling. Perfect patient. Evan (I always have to remind myself that he is 3, not 5) was a little different. He watched Luke and saw that everything was fine, but when it came to his turn, he was pretty worked up. (Proud parent moment . . . Luke was so sweet and consoling with Ev. He rubbed his leg and said things like, "it's okay buddy, it's no big deal, I'll hold you're hand - so sweet) Anyway, Ev worked it out and did awesome, too. After they got their teeth cleaned, had x-rays, and had one last look by our friend, Ginelle, they got ice cream. Yes, the dentist office serves ice cream after the appointment. Hey, what better way to get them to keep coming back! Overall - huge success. Hopefully the same will be said in six months!