{Loooooong November Update!}

I have so much to update on the little things that happened in November!  I love the big holiday posts, but it is the every day things that I know I am going to want to look back and remember.  So here goes!

 

1.  In early November, the boys' school has a Thanksgiving Celebration. They do this because they know how busy the Christmas season is and they don't want this to be one more thing parents need to cram in, so we celebrate together, turkey and even Christmas in early November. 

 

Luke was great -- eager to be there, happy and singing along with all his classmates! 

 

 

Ben was sad, crying and absolutely miserable.  It was so so sad!  Since he doesn't go to school on Fridays, we had to drop him off about 10 minutes before the program.  So that just set him off on the wrong foot.  And then he spotted us in the crowd about 2 minutes in, so there was no hope for his recovery.  He literally pouted or cried the whole time.  Poor poor guy!  I was so happy to get him in my arms when it was over.

 

 

This was the whole group.  You can see Ben on the first row, two kids from the right.  About a minute after this picture, Ben lost it and ended up in his teacher's lap for the next 10 minutes.  And you can see Luke's head popping up over the little wall all the way to the right. 

 

 

2.  Luke is now officially wearing underwear at night!  He has been potty trained at night for months now, but I just never pulled the plug and stopped using pull-ups.  I just was afraid that if he had an off night and he had an accident, it would be better to have one on.  Well, I ended up getting the flu and strep (AGAIN!) and since I was on my death bed, the boys spent the night at my parents.  My mom got Luke dressed for bed after his bath and just put on underwear without thinking.  Well, when he got home, he would have nothing to do with the pull-up!  It has been about a month now, and still no accidents!

 

 

3.  Meet Cheetah.  Cheetah is a toy that Ben picked out at the dollar bin at Target.  And he goes everywhere with us now.  EVERYWHERE. 

 

 

 

4.  And this is Ben with straight(er) hair.  Just had to post because he looks so different without his curls!  Oh and say hello to the mosquito bite that took almost 3 weeks to go away. 

 

 

5.  Birthday parties are so fun!  And pajama birthday parties are even better!  Ben's little friend Benson turned two and all the kids played in their pj's a few Saturdays ago.  The kids love each other so much!  I still can't believe how big they all are getting. 

 

Ben turns two in less than two weeks and we are in full birthday planning mode.  Oh wait, no we haven't even started, but we have a date and Santa.  What else do we need?  ALOT!

 

 

These boys are such good buddies.  I took about 20 pictures and I didn't get one with all four of them looking at the camera.  It must have been really good cake. 

 

 

Clearly it was by the look on Luke's face.  Yummmm.

 

 

6.  These brothers are wrestling all the time now.  Literally probably 50% of my day is watching, listening and/or breaking up the wrestling.  And it is typically Ben who is the instigator.  It is constant.  And it always ends in tears usually.  Ben just can't stay away from him.  He wants to be in contact with Luke all the time, but then Luke wrestles back and well...Ben usually gets pinned underneath him.  But they are sure cute!

 

 

 

 

7.  The train is still one of Luke and Ben's favorite activities.  We met some of our friends there a couple of weeks ago.  We just happened to dress each of our boys matching -- which is something we typically don't do.  But it made for a great picture!

 

 

8.  Since Chat is in school on Monday and Thursday nights, I typically choose one of those nights to bring the boys to Chick Fil A.  They love it and I don't have to worry about a meal for that time which is great!  If you turn in your "toy" you get with the kid's meal, you get a free ice cream cone.  The boys love to "cheers" each other's cones!

 

 

9.  Ben loves to have his hands and body traced.  My mom started tracing his hand when he was coloring at her house one time and now it is all he wants to do.  He won't color anymore!  He just asks you over and over to trace his hand. 

 

One day I wanted to run in the neighborhood, so I asked my sister and brother-in-law to watch the boys for 30 minutes since Chat was working.  I came back to this...

 

 

He loved it!  And I just try not to think of the morbidity of this picture!

 

 

10.  Luke's favorite thing in school is show-and-tell.  He freaks out if we don't have something to bring -- which was a bit tricky on some of the letters (like Q and I).  One morning the letter was O and I couldn't think of anything else to him to bring that week (we had already taken two other O things).  So I got the boys ready super fast and we headed to the grocery store to buy an orange.  And while we were there, we had to have a little time to eat a donut since I didn't make them breakfast that morning since we dashed out the door.  Luke at his and Ben just ate all the sprinkles and icing.  Argh!  Of course, Cheetah came too...

 

 

11.  I don't remember why I took this, but it was right before I headed out for a girl's night out birthday dinner celebration.  But there is that darn mosquito bite and a Go Go pouch.  Ben literally eats 6 to 8 of those a day.  I have no idea what we would do without them!

 

 

12.  We went to a birthday party for one of our friend's recently that was at a park.  Ben got himself a snack and parked it on the steps.  He looked so cute there, sitting with his legs crossed.  I just had to take a picture!

 

13.  Bath time is pretty fun for the boys!  They can play in there for a good 30 minutes most nights.  Unless Ben is feeling a bit crazy and then he splashes, hits and pokes Luke enough to make it hard.  But most nights are fun as you can see....

 

 

One day, they will be mortified that I made them kiss in the bath and then...gasp...take a picture of it.  Of course, I love it...

 

Ben had gotten into my bathroom drawer and found himself a headband.  This boy loves to accessorize!  And I believe that is chocolate on his face.  But maybe it is dirt.

 

 

 14.  Ben has taken quite an interest in helping me cook.  And an interest in eating of course as well!  Both boys love to stir and pour things into bowls as I am cooking.  It takes me a lot longer to make things, but at least they are entertained.   



Busted!

15.  Well it is December 1st and things are going to get pretty busy around here!  I am excited for all the fun things Christmas brings and I am going to try to remember not to stress and enjoy the holidays.  Lots more updates to come!