Friday, December 30, 2011

Best of Fall

I think I crashed Blogger three times trying to upload all these pictures.

Since I was a big fat slacker and didn't post much this fall I thought I'd just lump 'em all together here in a greatest hits post. Otherwise, I'd never get around to posting about everything I want to share.



Fall school pictures:

 I love the hand-on-hand action in this one. They are going to love it when they are older. The photographer was probably just trying to pin Will down.
Peek-a-boo! The cutest bug I've ever found behind the blinds!

 Getting silly for Halloween
 Darth Vader had some work to catch up on before trick-or-treating.

My sweet little penguin and darth vader before the trick-or-treating begins. Will loved Halloween this year--except for wearing a piece of costume on his head--but loved everything else. The candy, the kids, going door-to-door. We weren't sure he would last long with the walking, but he proved us wrong (as always) and lasted as long as Luke.

 I guess he could have been a pirate but the costume looks a little painful. Gotta be tough to be a pirate.
 Will & I feeling green.
Cute little indian all ready for a Thanksgiving feast!

Thanksgiving we continued our annual tradition of doing the Fort Worth Turkey Trot. The weather was beautiful and all the hats and jackets had been shed by the end. Will was much happier this year--he cried the entire 5k last year. We declared this year the last for Luke to participate in the stroller. Against his will he will be walking it on his own two feet next year. When you add the boys weight and the weight of the stroller it is nearly 100 lbs. This summer we walked to the park a lot and I started having low back pain from it. Training starts Jan 1 for Luke. He's not pleased.


A big grin before he found out he is walking it next year.

We headed over to Grammy & Pops for Thanksgiving lunch. My cousin Sarah took some sweet pictures of the boys while we were there.






A moment of sweet brother-ness. Sitting close watching Toy Story. I assure you it was only a moment.
Luke striking a rock star pose before heading out to school one morning. Must have been a good day!




Play ball!

I figure since it's time to sign-up for spring ball I could get around to posting about fall ball. . . Luke played t-ball for the first time this fall. He loved it and was really great about getting out there every practice and every game without a fuss. He was so excited to wear all the parts of the uniform and hit the ball. He really liked playing pitcher. The whole team was 4-6 years old but he was one of the youngest in the group. He only made the age cut-off by a few days. Just wanted to share some of my favorite pictures. I just think t-ball at this age is adorable. There is no pressure to win--or really even catch the ball. I am so tickled by what the kids choose to do out on the field other than play ball.


High-fiving the umpire while taking the pitcher's mound

And here's the pitch. . . (with the imaginary ball of course! I love it!)

Playing catcher's position. 


 Will loves going to t-ball too! Loves everything about it and gets so excited just talking about "ballgame!!!"

 Waiting in the dugout.
 Must have been an eventful game. Luke's in the front.


His coaches were wonderful people. They were so patient and kind with the kids and we couldn't have asked for a better pair.
 Running the bases. The most important part of the game to Luke. He felt successful if he got to run to a base in the game. (He's in the navy pants)
 Will sitting on the bench with the big boys during practice.

He is so excited to play again this spring.  It makes for a busy life around here but we are all enjoying it so far!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Here we go Lukee-loo!

An update on my Luke:

Age: 4 1/2 years
Also known as: Lukee-Luke, Lukee-loo, Lulu, Lu-bear

As reported by Luke:

What is your name?
Lucas ***** (he got it right, I'm just protecting his innocent identity)

How old are you?
4

What is your favorite color?
Pink
(Guess I'll have to start buying him some more pink things.)

What is your favorite food?
Mac & cheese, chicken noodle soup, cookies, cake, and crackers

What is your favorite game?
Hide-and-seek

 What is your favorite animal?
Bats

What is your favorite movie?
Dragon training. (also known as How to Train Your Dragon which I don't think he's actually watched more than 3 times. I didn't expect him to pick this one.)

What is your favorite show?
Curious George and Calliou

What is your favorite toy?
Playing cars with mommy and daddy.

What is your brother's name?
Will

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Race car driver

What is your Halloween costume this year?
Darth Vader

How high can you count?
60

What is Santa Claus bringing you this year?
Well, I have to go tell him.
What are you going to ask for?
The big car at Costco or a Cat in the Hat toy

Who is your best friend?
Ryan and Reagan

Where do you want to go today?
The park

Where do you want to go on vacation?
The beach

What is your favorite book?
Merry Christmas, Curious George

What is your favorite restaurant?
Fuzzy's tacos because they have sprite. Well, I think any restaurant with Sprite is my favorite.

What  is your favorite letter?
A

How old do you have to be to drive?
65

What is your favorite thing to do at school?
Play centers
(I HAVE to tell the back story on this one.  It's one of my favorite pieces of Luke's art this year.  It was lined up on the wall at school amongst all his classmates works. I saw lots of smiles and flowers and hearts.  I had to ask--"Luke, were you feeling sad today?" Luke--(sounding VERY distressed)"No, Mommy. I just drew it wrong and I couldn't have another paper." So we came home and Luke was practicing faces over and over. He kept drawing these frowns but he was drawing them above the eyeballs--as if he were drawing the entire face upside down. I asked "why is his mouth above his eyes? My mouth is not above my eyes. Your mouth is not above your eyes. Draw the mouth down here (pointing to the anatomically correct positioning)"  Wham-o, he can now draw a smile. And he did-over and over, on about a hundred sheets of paper. What a victory for Luke!) 

What is your favorite center?
Home center and block center

What are Mommies for?
Being with Daddies, staying with you when Daddy is away.

What are Daddy's for?
Being the husband. Staying with you when Mommy is away.


Saturday, September 24, 2011

Wibber Jibber

A picture happy expose on my littlest one. . .

Age: 21 months
Name: Will
Also know as: Willy, Wibby, Wibbers, Willy Joe

Animal he most resembles: Monkey--for all his climbing abilities! And he's goofy as all get out.
 He talks a lot! He says so many things--and we usually know what he is trying to tell us.  Hard to believe that less than 6 months ago he was in speech therapy! Guess it paid off!
Loves to smile, loves to laugh, loves to watch himself on the iPhone. . .
Likes to make you laugh. . .he has a great sense of humor!

Loves to see what he can get away with when you're not looking.


Can't wait to be just like his big brother

(trying out brother's shoes)

He loves animals--especially doggies.


 He loves music and loves to dance!

Isn't scared of anything. I wish sometimes he was.
 

Has the best little crooked-toothed grin.


He loves going to school! Is so happy to go every morning and runs into class happy.  He cries when it is time to get in the car to go home.  But I don't really know if its because he wants to stay or if it is because he hates getting in the car.  I think--well am hoping--that when we get to flip his carseat forward in December this getting in the car business will ease up.  It is a fight to get him in 90% of the time.  Ugh, I hate it! But we are following the rules and keeping him back facing until he is 2. It will be the best birthday present for us both! 

Loves to take a walk to go feed our neighborhood ducks. He will take you by the hand to the door and say "walk. . . duck. . ." in a way you just can't resist.  When you get there and give him some duck food, he just holds on to it and watches in fascination as the ducks and geese swarm around us. 


Snuggles his blankies tight at night. . .

I don't know what possessed me to go take this picture while he was sleeping, though. He's not really one you want to accidentally wake up. You may be in for a long night.



 Loves, loves, loves to play outside. He is dying to get control over this car. He can go backwards but not forwards and that makes him so mad. 

He is a drooler! 


He is an artistic genius.  Loves to color, paint, write, and any medium will do.  He tries to color in the lines. He can name a lot of his colors--his favorite right now is purple.  He loves using markers! He likes to draw circles. He knows all his basic shapes. He knows all his letters and will identify them when he accidentally scribbles one out--we see a lot of "D, P, O, M, S, Z, Q, W."  We have nearly broken him of coloring the walls.

But I guess not the blinds.  He loves to hide behind them with a crayon and scribble his little heart out.  I recently discovered this slat. Looks to me like he is writing his name. What do you think? If he's capable of this at 21 months, he must be a genius!


He is so sneaky! He will be sitting sweetly coloring and if you look away for one minute, he will have wandered quietly away with a secret crayon--which he will hide from you when you check on him! He either puts it behind his back or throws it across the room hoping you didn't notice!