Hugs

I have a bit of updating to do, but until I have a little more time to post, here are a few pics of the boys giving each other hugs. I loooove this! Of course, 90% of Ben&Jack hugs turn into tackles, but at least it starts out sweet and they have fun doing it :)

 

President's Day!

J & I have started trying to take better advantage of our time together. Sometimes it feels like we get such little time together as a family, so we want to make the most of it! Occasionally J will take a long lunch with us or take off work early, and it always feels like "stolen time." This year he was with us for President's Day, and we went to the zoo together and then he came with us to their Scribbles & Dribbles class. The first pic below is us on the Monorail - the boys LOVED it! "Choo choo!" Unfortunately, this may have been our first and last time to ride it because the very next week we heard about the monorail breaking down and people were stuck on it for over an hour - crazy! No thank you - at least not with toddlers. So glad it worked when we were there!

Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's Day celebration began yesterday, when the boys helped me make cookies.

Start to finish, they helped mix, cut-out, and decorate.

Jack wanted to taste the icing as he decorated :)

This whole process took so long that daddy was home for the last part!

And then they ate it! Well, they ate a bite.

My cute boys in their V-day PJ's: 

The next morning, discovering their V-day presents from mom&dad, Honey&Papa, and Great-Grandparents Solomon: 

They were pumped about their new Dino shirts and took them to Daddy to show off.

Elmo V-day card!

Their school Valentine's and on their way into school dressed in their sweet Valentine's shirts :) 

Update:
The boys came home with "hahrt" stickers on their hands and were excited to go through their Valentine's bags. Mostly because of the M&Ms in there - goodness, they were on a sugar high that night! They also opened a gift from Aunt Andi and promptly sat down to read it. :)

Little boys

I both love and don't love these pics. I love them because J&B are so stinking cute! But I don't love them because they look like little boys in these pictures and I can't believe how big they're getting. Sometimes I wish I could say "Freeze!" (in Ben's adorable little voice, which sounds more like "phreeze!" to time ;)

 

Also, random, "we love giraffe."

Ft. Worth

We visited Sami & Luke in Ft. Worth and got to see their new place and walk around downtown before going out to eat at Joe T. Garcia's, which is evidently a big deal. The line was spectacularly long at 5:00, but the boys were awesome while we waited, and it was yummy & fun to dine outdoors - and so pretty!

Sami & Luke painted their fireplace with chalkboard paint to give the boys something to do, and not only were J & I impressed, but as you can see, so were Ben & Jack. :) It was so sweet of them to go out of their way to make the boys comfortable, and so something they would do! What great friends. 

You can also see the boys smelling the flowers - so cute! They first tried to smell the flowers on the rug when we suggested they smell the flowers; I think it's b/c we always "smell" the flowers in one of their picture books, so that's what they're used to. Evidently mama needs more fresh flowers! Pics below courtesy of Luke & Sami, except that first iPhone pic, which was J: