First Parent/Teacher Conference

Our first parent/teacher conference went well! I have to admit that I didn't take it very seriously, and sort of felt bad when I realized none of the other parents brought their kids with them to the parent/teacher conference. Anyway, we took the boys and they played while we chatted about how well they're doing, mostly. In fact, it's almost funny that at their very first conference, not a single concern was raised about Ben or Jack, but the only issue that came up was that I apparently am not sending enough food in their lunches!! So they're fine, it's me that's the issue. Figures. Who knew they ate so well at school? They don't eat that much for lunch at home, and I thought I was sending plenty, but evidently they are the first ones finished every day. I feel horrible! So needless to say I will be sending more food for lunch. I talked with another parent afterwards and apparently it's not just me, so I don't feel quite as bad...still...!

Otherwise, we discussed how much they love their teachers and love going to school, running in class giggling every day. When we drive past the church they "ooh" and point - they really love it! Evidently they act like brothers and wrestle some at school, and like to play chase. They are very verbal and enjoy playing and climbing. We feel so blessed with their teachers and are glad that Ben & Jack enjoy school so much. :)

Here are their school pics that we didn't buy. :( I really wanted one of them together, but they weren't cooperating that day! And below that, a couple of pictures of them with their wonderful, can't-say-enough-good-things-about-them-teachers, Mrs. Mary & Mrs. Myranda.

Dallas Zoo

This weekend was Connor & Cooper's birthday and we had planned on going to Lumberton for their birthday party. Unfortunately Ryan called us Friday to let us know that Connor was sick, which was nice that they alerted us before we made the drive so we didn't expose the boys to his virus. We were so, so sad to miss it.

Since that left us at home on Saturday with gorgeous fall weather in Dallas, we decided to take a morning trip to the zoo. We have really enjoyed our Dallas Zoo membership. We rarely make it past the children's play area, because the boys can't really handle more than an hour or two of zoo fun at a time and the zoo is huge! They do like looking at the animals, though, and have always enjoyed our visits. This time we let the boys ride ponies and discovered the bird area! Ben was a little scared at first of the pony, but after watching fearless Jack ride around, he was ready for his turn. They sweetly told the pony "bye-bye" when their turn was over.

 

The aviary was really neat - the Cockatiels fly at you when you enter, which was a little scary if you're not expecting it. I got some really neat pictures of Jack discovering the bird that landed on Jonathan, who was extremely relieved not to get bird poop on his back. The boys really wanted to feed the birds by holding out little popsicle sticks with birdseed on it, but the birds would land on your hand and they didn't like that, so we did a lot of looking.

The children's area at the zoo is just amazing. We also checked out the naked mole rat house and it was smelly. I am not really interested in watching naked rats writhe around in little rat burrows, but it had a tunnel for kids to crawl through and unfortunately I can see lots of visits to the naked mole rat house in our future. :)

What a fun day we had, and a good distraction from the fun we were missing with cousins Cooper & Connor. We are hoping to plan a make-up visit soon. :)

Halloween Fun

For the boys' second Halloween, they went dressed as the Shipley brothers (UT football players, both #8). Jonathan suggested it as a joke, and I said - okay. It was cheap, and until they are into playing make-believe/dress-up with old costumes, I think it's kind of a waste of money to get two costumes before they actually want to wear them. Next year I think we'll go all out. So be warned, J.

We had a few days of Halloween Fun this year. First, we went to a "trunk or treat" party at the church where the boys go for MDO. I think we probably could have checked to see if our church had an event, but at this point they better know the kids in their class than any kids in Sunday School, so we decided to go here.

It took maybe two trunks for Ben & Jack to get the idea of "trick or treat." They held their bags out and waited patiently for candy, saying something resembling "trick or treat" to the people handing out the goods. Not really, it wasn't even close, but they were talking so I think it counts. Anyway, that is until some nice elderly gentleman held out the bowl, and then Jack discovered he could regulate the amount of candy he put in his basket. I WISH I had taken comparison pictures of their bags after trick-or-treating, because while Ben would dutifully pick out one piece of candy (almost always one he recognized, like a Kit Kat bar that he had been given earlier in the week at home), Jack would just reach in and take a whole handful. I get such a kick out of how different their personalities are. But they did use their manners and said "thank you" to each person before running quickly ahead to the next car. They had so much fun!

Next, we went trick-or-treating at Daddy's office. The boys loved running around, getting candy, meeting people, and looking down 56 floors through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Seeing Daddy at work in the middle of the day was pretty nice, too. :) They had a piece of chocolate on the way down and Ben puts it away fast, but Jack savors it and gets it all over himself.

 

And last, halloween night, we went trick-or-treating on our street. Ben and Jack absolutely loved going up to doors and knocking. They often wanted to go inside, but did well with putting candy in their bags. When we got home they wanted to eat it all. When I didn't open a Kit-Kat right away, Ben put one after another in my lap. They were limited to one each, though. They had fun opening the door to trick-or-treaters, too!

What big little boys we have. They came right in and plopped down with their halloween bags and started looking through their goodies. Below, see Ben showing off a Kit Kat, and Jack didn't make it any farther than a couple of feet inside the door.

Walking the dogs

The boys love walking Buddy & Littlebit. They especially like walking Bit since they can maintain some semblance of control over her as compared to Buddy. I love holding their little hands and letting them walk the dogs down the street. They take it very seriously and will "talk" to the dogs to encourage them to keep moving as we are walking - it's so cute!

They also love playing with Bit & Buddy.

On our way to Frisco

We took Christmas pics in Frisco again this year, and I took the boys' shirts off so they didn't get wrinkled or chewed on on the drive up. I had to snap some pics since they looked so cute without any shirts on!

Afterwards we went to Babe's Chicken House for dinner, which was surprisingly busy for a Monday night! The boys danced around to the hokey pokey while we waited, then during dinner the waitresses invited them to dance with them to the hokey pokey! So funny. They ate well, too :)

Friends & Family

We had a day of friends and family when Jackson & Charlie came over with Amanda & Shayne for a visit, then later had friends over for dinner. Luke & Sami came over, as well as Lindsay & Cody & little Pearl.

The boys looooove Jackson & Charlie. They like watching them giggle & play, and following them around. Then they all wrestled with J in their room, which they thought was extra fun. You can tell Jackson is a big brother - he is so sweet with Ben & Jack. Charlie was having too much fun to stop and take a picture. The boys appreciated their halloween goodie bags from their cousins, too!

This was the boys' first time to meet Pearl, but they have seen her picture on facebook and one night refused to finish eating dinner unless I continued showing them her picture. They all had fun playing together and the boys made Pearl feel right at home by getting down and crawling with her. I thought that was cute :) It was a fun visit for the adults too, and we need to plan get-togethers more often. Below you can see Lindsay in the attack zone, Jonathan walking with Pearl & one of the boys, and dinner time!

Eyes, Ears, Nose, & Mouth

Somewhere along the way, Ben & Jack learned the parts of their face. I asked them to show me their eyes yesterday and they squinted, instead of pointing somewhere near their eyes, which I thought was adorable :)

 Ears

Nose

Mouth & Tongue

In the process, I got some great smiles :)