I Warned You!

There are a million pictures... Ok I exaggerate a little....

"Look mom, I can use a knife, you just saw saw saw saw."

He even taught his brother. One plate of french fries at a mexican restaurant never took so long to eat....

"A Bumpkin! I paint, see?!"
So much glue... so so much glue.... and markers.... their hands were beautiful. Lucas also enjoyed the candy box they had out. They were supposed to take one... He did... And then he spent the night taking candy up to every adult he could find to try to con them into opening it for him. I finally gave in to piece #2 for the mercy of all those there....

Wednesday was a behavior assembly where the staff did a rap.... I was very cool.... heh. I didn't bring any rapping clothes, so luckily I could fit into one of my kid's sweatshirts and another kid's hat. I love teaching. Friday night - Trick or Treat Street at my school. My boys were all decked out and ready.

Ethan loved telling people that he had a "trash can helmet" I think Lucas was frightened by himself, but got over it once there was candy involved.
Ethan was an old pro - knew just what to do. Captain Sprague to the rescue!

Lucas wanted to be right in the middle of it all night - as long as I was close by.

The dance was crazy, loud, chaotic... Ethan learned the cha-cha slide and can cha-cha real smooth now.... Lucas just wanted to be all the way at the front, but in my arms. That boy is getting really big to hold that long!

Saturday - Book Fair at Barnes & Noble, where Ethan met the famous Madeline! He'd never heard her stories before, but was completely entranced by the way my principal read it and interacted with them. He also heard two stories by the husband of a woman I teach with - who is a children's author! That was really neat for Ethan to see - how making up your own stories can lead to writing books!

Then it was Uma's birthday party. Lucas sat on Nana's lap for about an hour - wouldn't let go! He kept reading the Brown Bear book over and over.

Brian and Ethan decorated the caterpillar cake -creepy!

Uma opened her presents and then we moved to the serious business of carving pumpkins.. Neither boy minded getting messy this year- fun!

The boys went outside and trick or treated for Nana - loved the treats!

And it's only just Halloween now~!

Naps for all. That's an order.

I have great pictures....

The pictures just happen to be all on my camera where I cannot do anything with them. I can't find the cord. And until I get more caffeine coursing through my brain, I'm out of places to look.
This week was insanity. Pure insanity.
Pumpkin decorating on Tuesday. At which Lucas learned to say "Punkin". None of my students showed up, but the boys enjoyed it regardless. Wednesday night was Ethan's last swim lesson for a while. He did great. Wednesday through Friday were conferences at my school (thus the silence from the blog). They were all really great - just tiring, as conferences always are.
Last night was fun - our school held Trick or Treat street and then a Halloween Dance. Both boys loved getting to trick or treat at the classrooms and then the hit of the dance was the Cha-Cha slide. Ethan has perfected his cha-cha.
Just wait until you see the costumes. Which I realize you can't.
Just wanted to justify my silence - it's been a crazy week! Hopefully I'll find that cord today... Lots to do!

Cheetos and Rootbeer

It was such a crazy, busy week... I figured the boys and I should do something fun Friday night. Every day we drive past another corn maze with big signs advertising their world famous kettle corn and fun maze. It was blustery and grey out, but we went for it. What's better than dinner at a corn maze? Except their food tent had apparently blown down and they weren't making any food. All they had was chips and soda.
The boys were thrilled. They both got their own can and Lucas was just thrilled. Once I gave it to him (after dumping/drinking about half), it would not come out of his little hands for anything.
We didn't make it to all the checkpoints this time - only bothered Ethan - but we did get sufficiently lost for a good hour and loved wandering around inspecting the corn stalks.

Saturday we ran around all morning - important things to do! We squeezed some fun in there too - the touch tanks at the Science Center, pizza slices (where Ethan announced to the store "Hey this is like a date!", and various other things. We came back to nap and the boys crashed hard. And so did I. Oops.

Last night our friends came over (my parents are staying in Seattle for the weekend) and I had too much fun to remember to take any pictures. The kids ran around playing with every single toy they had, and we played games and laughed a lot.

A perfect Saturday evening! I was asleep by 9.

Last week of Swim Lessons. Dance lessons are over. And yet this week may be the craziest yet. A pumpkin painting party, conferences, life in general. Am I ready? No. But I will be. I hope.

pumpkins!

Sunday Afternoon + Corn Maze+ Friends

The two big kids led the way.

Lucas was ready to call for help if we got lost.

We checked off ALL 6 checkpoints.

Some tears over taking turns, and at one point we lost our friends!

We stopped to pose for pictures.

Searched for our friends.

Got a little nervous.

Reconciled over chips.

Shared so well on the bikes.

Took pictures with the pumpkins.

Tried to get everyone looking the same way...

Slung some pumpkins!
Really really far! = Had a blast!

Tonight... Pumpkins + Paint + Qtips

Such careful boys.
Works of Art!

I heart fall!

No title coming to mind...

This week was a sort of enigma. I know it happened, but I can't seem to remember much from it. Ethan spent lots of time working on his reading and is doing awesome. I've never worked with a kid on reading from th bottom up and it is so exciting! He loves it, though he gets tired and wiggly after a bit.
Lucas has 3 molars coming in and is a bit of a mess. I did take him in to get checked and his ears are great. So, it's just the teeth. He's been a bit moody, but very talkative. He is finally willing to try saying different words and is picking them up quickly. His favorite new activity is torturing his older brother.

I love it when he tells Ethan to "Sush!" Then they get in the shushing wars and it always ends badly. But at the beginning it's funny. Last night the boys were full on wrestling each other. Also funny. And suprisingly never went to the crying stage.

Yesterday we worked all morning at my school and then just relaxed all afternoon/evening. Which creates a problem for today. It's so frustrating. If I ever take time to relax, the next day is a bit crazy because I'm behind on my work. But if I don't take time to relax, I just get more and more neurotic. Someday I'll find the balance, right? I mean, it has to come eventually, right? When the boys are 18?

The Weekend

The weekend went by too fast with not that much to show for it. And of course I didn't bring my camera with me at all, so all I have are two fuzzy pictures from my phone. What this weekend did have a lot of was bad eating. I think I ate my weight in pizza over the few days. Friday pizza, Sunday pizza.... crazy pizza. But, the Toad House was really fun - they boys got to top their own and then watch it get cooked. Big mess? Yep. Obnoxious cheering? Of course. We had fun.

Lucas ate half his toppings in progress.

We also ran to the Children's Museum, found a new cookie shop - My Kids' Cookies, and did various other things that I can't seem to find in my brain. It seems to be hiding things these days.

And now Ethan's got an enormous case of bedhead and lucas is brushing his teeth and eating a granola bar all at the same time. Best be going...

Longest, Shortest Week Ever

This week simultaneously dragged and flew by. Ethan lost one sandal and has been going to swimming lessons this way. The first time we all laughed and found it cute. Now I think it's a permanent fixture. Oh well. There are worse things!
Lucas has picked up so many words this week. They finally seem to be coming. He's been pretty chipper too. Driving his brother crazy, but I think that's just payback for the last 2 years. The car is now twice as loud during our commute, but I'll take it. The increased language also means that he is easier to calm down when he's upset.
Ethan had a rough week in class - got in a bit of trouble - but also wrote his first apology note - "Im sorE". He is just a little sponge right now - both for the good and the bad!
I brought home some reading materials for him last night and he went nuts. We worked for about an hour and he was loving it. The program combines sight words with pictures so they can read little stories all by themselves. He really liked it. There are also games and different activities. It's fun to be on this side of reading. I don't know that I'd have the patience to work with a whole class, but getting to spend the time with Ethan is great.
I know funny things happened this week - like a looooong discussion about Santa and how good his memory is, the full-on explanation of our jail system, and various other topics, but I seriously cannot remember it all. This week sucked out my memory! This weekend we'll gain it back - I hope!

Dead Weight

Fun Sunday... Started with a picnic on the ferry, where Lucas learned how to drive his brother nuts by touching him with food-covered hands. "THE PEANUT BUTTER TOUCH!!!"
A (long) walk to Daddy's work - peeking in the windows to see his workstation.

Ethan was so ready for the game. He even had a mitt signed by the famous "Kevin Air McLean." A legend that guy was~

We walked forever, and his poor little legs were feeling it, so every now and then he'd just squat down for a little bit. And then keep right on going. My little trooper.

We were way up high. I could barely see. The boys loved it though. Especially Lucas whose "Cheese" this time came out frightening. I tried several times to get a good picture of him, but he was too excited about the kettle corn. He also loved cheering along with the crowd. He may have very well been the most enthusiastic fan there.

The boys were great. Ethan was so tired he came up to me halfway through the game and said, "I'm really tired. Can I go to sleep now?" And he did. Slept on my for about an hour. Slept right on down the millions of stairs and out the stadium. So sweet to get to snuggle him. So painful on my arms. That boy is heavy when he's asleep.

They were great all the way home. An awesome day.

The Purse

Some exciting things this week - Lucas started saying his color words. He's so intentional with his pronunciation, gets his face all contorted. Love it.

I passed certification for WA state - yippee! No more tests.
We paid off Brian's last student loan. 1 more for me. Dave Ramsey is one inspiring guy.
We had a blast last night at our friends' house at a taco/dominoes party. The kids (there were many) were hilarious- one slight catastrophe after another. Lots of laughing.
Lucas insisted on bringing his "bag". He wants to take it everywhere. He also wants to take his cabbage patch doll who is currently missing his clothes, but we have to draw the line somewhere.

I see the convenience. However...

Ethan was the oldest - loved playing with all of Nadia's toys - especially the bean bags.

Though Brian took over the bean bag game- maybe Santa needs to bring him one? Today we head to Seattle for a Mariner's game - really fun for the boys and I'll have fun watching them. For now, I have a few quick things to do for school before we take off.