Pictures We Will Not Be Framing

Ben's school has spring pictures and I sent him to school a bit underdressed that day. Turns out it didn't matter because he had the most painful grimace/smile anyway.

And Alex, well, some days it's a hard knock life.

Hmmm....

There has been a lot of fighting between Ben and Alex lately, mostly instigated by Ben. We had a conversation about it the other night.

Me: Ben, you're the oldest so you have the responsibility of teaching Alex how to be a good brother.
Ben: That's too hard
Me: It is hard, but God chose you to be a big brother because you would be great at it.
Ben: Well, God sure made a mistake then!
Me: God never makes mistakes. He knows exactly what He's doing.
Ben: Well, He still got this wrong.

Hard to argue with a five-year old that has the world figured out already.

Hey Batter, Batter...

Ben had his first t-ball practice over the weekend and it was adorable! A bunch of cute 5-year olds running, throwing and hitting balls (and also watching clouds and digging in clover). There were several dads on hand to help coach and Ben was lucky to have his Daddy help teach him the game.

Learning the proper stance...

...but still waving to mom!

A little batting practice


But naturally, this is how Ben finished out his first practice. Digging around in the grass, completely clueless to the action around him. This should be a fun season!

The boys got a bribe, er, I mean reward for being well-behaved for a new babysitter on Saturday night and couldn't wait to dig into a bag of powdered donuts on Sunday morning.

I'll have to use this technique more often! They'll do anything for powdered sugar.
And you may notice in the picture there is an anatomy book on the counter. Ben has had lots of questions about what's inside his body and couldn't find a good book at his school library, so I got this at the county library. I've had tons of fun explaining all the different body systems to the boys and answering their questions. I was lucky enough to skip over the reproductive pages (not very graphic, thank goodness, but I'd still like to put those questions off for another decade or so) several times but they finally noticed a big picture with a baby in the womb. When the "how does the baby get out?" question finally surfaced, I was fortunate to be able to honestly tell them that the doctor cut them both out of my tummy. Hopefully that will be the end of that subject for a while :)

Rodeo Time

We have all been so excited about late February, because in Houston that means one thing - Rodeo!! Since we didn't know how the kids would like it, we opted first to take them to our local rodeo at a nearby high school which was actually pretty great and a fraction of the price. We walked past some of the animals first and Alex and our friend and neighbor Alexandra stopped for a picture.

Ben was not quite so impressed at first.

Once the action began everyone was pretty enthralled. I still get teary every time I hear the national anthem and Matt and I were both so happy and proud to be enjoying a tradition in the great state of Texas. We really love introducing the kids to things we loved growing up here.

This little rodeo had everything - bronc riding, bull riding, roping, steer wrestling, and lots of mutton busting. We are already looking at getting Ben in on some of that action next year!

The kids' favorite part? The stick horses they took home. They were intended for a kiddy race out in the arena but they didn't get there in time but couldn't have cared less. They're still crazy about these things.
Finally at 9:30, even though the big bull riding was in full swing these little guys had had enough. It was a wonderful night and we can't wait to do it again next year. We'll still go have some fun at the Houston livestock show and catch the carnival there during spring break.

A couple of other cute pictures...

And I love this! It says "I love you this much" from Ben. Is anything sweeter than something handwritten from a 5-year old?

Keeping Warm

After a warm and spring-like January, the winter weather seems to have caught up with us in February. It's still been mild for winter so I can't complain but I'm ready for shorts weather already! We've been spending a lot of time around the fireplace this week.

I thought this was adorable - Ben wanted to take advantage of the photo op as well.

We made hot chocolate and played a few rounds of go fish this cold, cloudy afternoon. Ben and Matt went outside for about five minutes but came right back in when a few pieces of sleet came down.

Despite the chill in the air, there was no stopping a topless dinner (Mama politely excluded from the toplessness, of course). Alex was trying to show me how full his tummy was to make his case to leave the table.

Here's Mr. Rib's best try at making his gut stick out. Impressive try, but still not an ounce of fat there!

But, as is usually the case in Houston, the high is forecast to be 75 again in just a few days so we won't be cold for long!

100th Day of Kindergarten

The century mark of kindergarten is apparently a really big deal. Kids make shirts with 100 things on them and count out snacks with 100 pieces. Ben was really excited about the day but then disappointed to find out there was a day 101 and 102 and so on... He made a shirt with 100 sticky letters on it but refused to put any of them into words except "stinky feet". Yes, that's my boy.

And never one to pass up a photo op, Alex wanted his picture taken in his new boots. We're also gearing up for our first Go-Texan day in a few weeks. Gotta turn these boys into Texans!

At school, Ben did all kinds of fun activities with his class including making special hats. His sweet teacher emailed the class picture of all the kids with their crazy shirts and hats.

Ben came home with this worksheet (click to enlarge). I had no idea he was so keen to go to the dollar store but we made a trip shortly after this. He came home with a new pen, glue, and a tiny fan but thought he'd won a million dollars. I see many trips there in our future.

Life has been pretty quiet at home lately, which has been nice. It feels like a break between the holidays and before spring and outdoor activities start up again, so I'm really enjoying the peaceful days. It also means I've barely taken any pictures but here are a few worth sharing. Nothing says fun like scary zombie teeth!

Matt brought back some little bagpipes from Scotland and the kids were excited to try them. It really does take a lot of work to blow into the mouthpiece but Alex was up for the task!

Reptile Party

One of Ben's classmates had a birthday party over the weekend and since Matt is out of town I had to take Alex as well. It was a good thing because Ben was busy playing the entire time with his friends and politely declined (several times) any interaction with the snakes and lizards. Alex, on the other hand, spent most of his time playing with each of the snakes.

Didn't take long before he wanted this big guy all to himself.

He was so gentle with this little one.

"Mom, I like this pretty orange one!"

All smiles...

...and a few tickles!

And check out these two little girls. They each wore a snake belt through most of the party!


The group shot of all the reptile-loving kids. The rest of the group (including Ben) was all in the playhouse ignoring the snakes and lizards. I enjoyed the snakes, didn't touch any lizards, and left happy that none of them escaped!