The holiday season is in full swing...the tree is up, the lights are outside and the cookies have been baked. We saw Santa at the mall (but no one wanted to stop and say hello) and bought gifts for the Angel Tree. We've even discussed how Santa knows you are asleep...magic, of course. Adam thought maybe he shined a flashlight through the window into your room. Zach's continued fascination with our singing/dancing/annoying snowman singing "Holly Jolly Christmas" just adds to the holiday spirit. And I heard Adam tell Zach "if you keep doing that you're going to get coal in your stocking!"

We've added a new favorite game to our list...monopoly. Not jr. monopoly, regular adult (for ages 8+ is says on the box) monopoly. Two nights last week we played for an hour and a half (that took some patience on my part). We all made it around the board twice. It is actually a great learning game (counting the dots on the dice, identifying letters and numbers on the deeds, and counting money). Scott and I were very surprised it held their attention that long. Adam even got sent to jail! What excitement! It was better than Candy Land, which I can only take in small doses.

Last weekend we went to a glass studio (what were we thinking???) and designed an ornament and then got to watch them make it. But the best part was there was a front end loader in the back where they were blowing the glass. We had to go check it out, which according to Adam and Zach, was much more thrilling than seeing a glass ornament being made.

Snowing Thanksgiving

Happy Snowy Thanksgiving! We woke up this morning to 2.5" of the white stuff. 

The boys were out about 8:30 am with Grampa building a snowman, having a snowball fight and making snow angels.

They came in for about an hour, but then saw the neighbors having fun outside, so it was back to the coats, snowpants, long underwear, socks, hats, gloves and warm pullovers.

Being the smart mom I am, I had thought this might happen, so I'd put all their wet stuff in the dryer.

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house. Scott's parents arrived on Thursday morning.

After we ate, some watched the football game, some went on a walk, some took a nap and some were busy surfing the net.

Friday we went to Y. The boys (big and little) burned off some pumpkin pie by climbing on the rocks, playing foosball and air hockey and enjoying a game of basketball.

Then it was off to the "Bee Movie." When we came out of the theater it had started snowing. Adam and Zach were so excited.

Tomorrow we'll "haul out the holly" (Sherry-I know you can't help but sing the rest of line of the song...) and decorate for Christmas.

Trick or Treat! This Hallween, Superman and Batman roamed the streets protecting citizens from evil...oh and collecting mounds of candy while doing it!

Halloween has been the main topic of conversation for the last week. The boys debated endlessly about who was better, Batman or Superman. Superman can fly, but Batman has the Batmobile. Superman can run faster than a locomotive and has x-ray vision, but Batman has cool gadgets on his belt and is techno-savvy. Clark Kent or Bruce Wayne? They are both leaders in the Justice League so it was decided they each have something to offer, and are cool in their own ways.

While we are on the subject...Why is it that EVERYTHING is a competition? I'm constantly hearing "I got dressed on before you", "I washed my hands first", "My picture looks better than yours," "I can write my name better than you," "I got in my seat before you." I'm waiting for them to break out singing "Anything you can do, I can do better; I can do anything better than you." I just googled that song and it's from the Broadway hit Annie Get Your Gun, for those of you who didn't know (Scott). I have a feeling it's only going to get worse.

So back on Halloween, Scott and I were able to attend the preschool parade. Afterwards the parents helped the kids make a couple of crafts. The boys came home with a bunch of candy, like we need any more sugar. Tonight we went trick or treating with our neighbors. In addition to Superman and Batman, we had two Ninja turtles, a sting ray and a shark. After going through our candy and picking out the "good" stuff, the boys enjoyed answering the door when we had trick or treaters. We had to remember who got to hold the bowl last time, to ensure everyone got an equal opportunity to hand out candy.

We are taking a break from sports until after Christmas, when Zach will take tumbling again, and Adam is going to try his hand at basketball.

I guess that's all the news.

The boys had their 4 & 5 year old checkups last week. Zach has grown 2 1/4" and gained 2 lbs--he's now 38 1/4" and 32 lbs 4 oz. He jumped from being in the 3-5% last year to 25% in both height and weight. He passed all the tests...even the hopping that he didn't want to do (and we all know he can!). The doctor made a comment about the boys' different personalities and how he can tell which one is more independent and stubborn...more of a "handful." Adam grew 3" and gained 4 lbs...he's 39 3/4" and 36 lbs 4 oz. He also jumped from 3% to 10% in height and a whopping 50% in weight (he was at 25%)!

We're almost done with the soccer season. Both the boys have had a great time...Zach really got into it and has scored at least one goal at each game. Adam continues to be assertive--I think he feels confident on the field and has scored several goals each game (one time he said he was going to make 55 goals...).

We celebrated Zach's 4th birthday on Sept. 26. At our house on your birthday, you get to choose what you want for dinner. Zach chose chicken, cheese and chips, and chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream (just like mom)!

Both are doing well in preschool and enjoy going. Zach says he has five "best" friends and Adam has three friends. They always are excited to see if they have a "job" that day. I guess the most sought after jobs at preschool are holding the flag during the pledge of allegiance (which they say in English and Spanish) or being the line leader because then the next day at preschool, you get to bring snacks and show and tell!

We've had a very busy month! They boys took their first plane ride...actually, it was Zach's first ride...Adam has been on three flights but it was all before his first birthday. So this was Adam's first plane ride he can remember. It started out a little rocky with a 3 hour delay in KC. Zach slept on the airport floor for most of it (thanks to dramamine!) and Adam walked around with Grammy and Grandpa. We finally boarded the plane and the boys did great. We didn't get seats all together, so Grammy and Zach sat in the very front row; Sue and Adam sat about 3 rows from the very back of the plane; and Scott and Grandpa got the exclusive seats in the very last row, next to the restrooms! I don't think Adam or Zach ever stopped talking. We looked out the window, colored and played memory. We also got treats: Sprite, pretzels and warm chocolate chip cookies!

We stayed with Lisa and Jason in DC. We rode the subway (metro), took a boat ride on the Potomac, went swimming and played miniature golf. It was a quick 3 day trip. Hopefully next time we can stay longer!

The boys started preschool and both enjoy it very much. Adam says he has 3 friends at school and Zach says he has too many to count. They have a longer day on Monday's and get to eat lunch there. It's pretty exciting because they get a juice box and fruit snacks in their lunch!

Fall soccer also started. They are both on the same team and Scott is the coach. There are seven others, one little girl and all the rest boys. We had our first game last week.

Other big news: Adam turned FIVE on Aug. 29! Zach will be FOUR in about 2 weeks. How come time seems to go so slow when you're a kid, and then it speeds up once you hit about 30!

Has it already been a month? I guess we have been busy with swimming, miniature golf, swimming, miniature golf, swimming, miniature golf, swimming, miniature golf, swimming, miniature golf...you get the idea!

Since Adam and Zach have been taking private swimming lessons, they have turned into little fish! This picture was taken at swimming lessons. At the beginning of the summer, Adam would wear his life jacket and still not swim around, only stay on the steps at the pool. Now, he says he does not need his life jacket, goes underwater and retrieves dive sticks and does the crawl stroke (as well as a 4 year old can). Zach still likes to wear his life jacket because then he can jump off the side and "make a big splash!" He does take it off sometimes and swims underwater. We were at the outdoor Y pools today and they both were swimming without their life jackets.

It's interesting to see their personalities--Adam knows his limits and doesn't like to take chances...even if I know he can do it. He got mad because I kept moving backwards while he was swimming to me...I knew he could swim farther than he was, but he didn't like it. We had a big trauma today because his goggles broke ("I can only swim WITH my goggles!"), but lo and behold, somehow he was STILL able to swim without them ("MOM! I'm swimming with NO goggles!") We are going tomorrow to get some more though...

And Zach--well, most of you know little Zach. The child of No Fear. Will try anything if I would let him. LOVES to jump in and see if he can touch the bottom of the pool. Will stay underwater for a long time and then pop up and say "Hi Mommy!" Loves to be thrown into the pool by an adult because you go farther and deeper. Not only swims in the pool, but runs, hops, jumps, punches, falls down and has every body part moving at all times. And is laughing the whole time.

Scott has introduced the boys to miniature golf. And I'm not just talking about a couple of times...like every week, sometimes twice a week. My limit is once a month. I think I'm due for another round soon. They LOVE it. It's great entertainment because it's cheap, is exciting (Scott has made four hole-in-ones and both Adam and Zach have made one), and sometimes quite daring (how are we going to get the golf ball out of the water?). There's also cool scenery...like little bridges and waterfalls. Zach likes to play ahead, practicing his swing and even moving the ball if it didn't quite go where it was supposed to. Adam plays by the rules...tells you who turn it is and keeps track of everything.

I know I already posted a "rainy day" picture last month, but it's been raining for about a week here! We got some hand-me-down rain boots and now Adam and Zach thinks it's neat to where them outside, even though both pairs of boots are about 2 sizes too big.

We've been stuck inside so we've passed the time playing CandyLand, Memory and Hungry, Hungry Hippos, "cars on the road," trains, "soccer-bowling" (a sport that is sure to catch on nationally) as well as painting, coloring and play dough. There has also been an incident of someone writing on the wall. The culprit wrote "Zach" in Zach's bedroom, but he's insisted he is innocent. The same day, the ceiling fan mysteriously got broken, although it's hard to hide the fact that the boys were throwing their stuffed animals up there while it was on.

Some of you have heard this, but it's still funny (at least I think so). Adam asked me "how long ago were you 4 years old, like me? Was it 50 years ago?" I told him it wasn't quite that long ago, and he asked "was it the olden days? Were there Indians?" I said it was a long time ago and we have things now that we didn't have then, like computers. He asked "if you didn't have computers, how did you send e-mails?" I said that you either called someone of the phone, went over to their house, or wrote them a letter. He wanted to know what "wrote them a letter" meant. And then when I told him, he furrowed his brow like he didn't quite understand.

Adam also asked where Papa (my dad) works. And I told him he works on TV, and Adam said "I thought he worked at Starbucks. He's there all time." And for those of you who know my dad, this is true...some days there are multiple coffee runs to Starbucks.

We moved Zach to a "big boy" bed (twin) because my sister needed her toddler bed back. He's been sleeping on the floor for months (don't ask) and when he got under the covers he said, "My feet aren't sticking out!" (because when he slept on the floor, his feet stuck out from under the small blanket he wanted to be covered up with!). Maybe now he'll like his new bed so much, that he will actually sleep in it (or better yet, stay in it when it's bedtime).

Hopefully next time I can post some "sunny" pictures!

This techno-savvy generation of preschoolers amaze me. Last night Adam asked if he could show Zach how to play play computer games. I was wary about it, but said yes anyway. So we start up the internet and Adam directs me to the correct site. "Go to that button and then to click on THAT one," he said as I pulled down our saved bookmarks. The he said that he could do it now...so he and Zach sat in the chair together and found the list of games, clicked the mouse on the right one and started playing. He even knew how to go to the side scroll bars, hold the button the mouse and scroll down to see more! So, I left the room, and heard them playing in there for a while. Then I heard them talking about playing a different game, and I thought they would call me back in to set it up. Nope. They had gone back to the list of games, found the one they wanted and got it started. How do they learn this stuff?

We spent the weekend in KC, had a cookout and took in a very uneventful and short Royals baseball game. When we got home Sunday, the first thing Adam wanted to do was hit some balls in the backyard. Zach's plans were to get completely sandy and dirty in the sandbox.

We started swimming lessons last week. They are the only two in the class. By the end of the first class they were both going all the way under water! Scott and I watched from the sidelines.

I'm still trying to figure out the spacing on this thing...

It was raining the other day so I let the boys go out and play in it. They thought it was neat to walk out with the umbrella. That lasted about 2 minutes...then they just wanted to get wet.

For Mother's Day I got 3 books: Chicken Soup for the Mother of Son's Soul, Clifford's Manners and Thomas the Train Trouble at the Docks (or something like that). Zach made me a flower magnet with his picture in the middle and Adam made me a butterfly placemat. Adam also made me a card at preschool with a fill-in-the-blanks thing...one of the sentences was "My mom is prettiest..." and Adam said "when she goes to work." So I asked him why he said that and he said because I wear nice clothes. So I guess T-shirt and jeans doesn't cut it with him.

They also had their preschool programs and sang songs and had an ice cream social. One of the papers they brought home was sheet filled out at the beginning of the year and then at the end. Zach grew 2 inches and gained no weight (he's 38" and 30 lbs). Adam grew 2 inches and gained 3 pounds (39.5" and 36 lbs).

One of the projects the preschool has them do is build something out of blocks and then say what it is. Adam said "a bank and recycle center, and you can even put juice in it." Zach said "it's a building."

Zach's teacher asked him if his Grandpa (my dad) was on TV. He said "No...is yours?"

OK-so I'm still trying to figure this thing out...I can't quite get the pictures to do what I want them to do, but I guess this will have to do for now!

A few funny things that have happened lately:

We went to each lunch with Scott at Wendy's last Friday. There was a man in line who had a long beard and was bald. Zach, in his LOUD 3-year old voice says, "that man has a lot of hair coming out of his chin. But he doesn't have any on his head!" Luckily the man laughed.

Adam celebrated his summer birthday at preschool today. He picked out spiderman plates and cups and we made chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting and sprinkles. Normally the students get to wear a birthday crown, but Adam didn't want to wear it. Which is funny, because it reminded me of when I was in preschool--I didn't want the class to sing "Happy Birthday" to me or to wear or do anything that would call extra attention to me.

When the teacher asked him what he was thankful for today he said "cookies and juice!" I took Zach out of his class so he could eat with Adam. I think he thought he was pretty neat!