Butterflies

We had been watching our butterfly-to-be buddies very closely last week looking for any indication that they were ready to emerge.  On Friday morning, each chrysalis had gone from bright green to clear and we could see the detail of the monarch wings, so we knew they were ready. 

 

Sometime during breakfast, Ben shouted that we had a butterfly!  Our first friend appeared quickly and quietly and totally surprised us.

While we were checking out the first one, suddenly the second chrysalis popped open right before our eyes.  He was out in just over a minute, so no wonder we missed the first one.

We all watched as the second butterfly emerged and I've got to tell you, it totally made my day!  So amazing that these guys were caterpillars just a few weeks ago.

We were so caught up in the excitement and beauty that the kids totally missed the bus, but it was worth every minute.  I'm so glad the kids were home to see it happen.  (and how much do I love this picture?  Ben's big, gaping smile still warms my heart but it's quickly disappearing)

Our new friends spent the rest of the day drying their wings and crawling around the cage.  The kids thoughtfully left several fresh flowers in there in case the butterflies were hungry.

That afternoon we took our lovely friends outside and said goodbye to them as they fluttered away.  We saw two monarchs in the yard over the weekend, so maybe it was them coming back to say hello!

Latest Pictures

Alex came home thrilled last Friday because it was his turn to bring home the class mascot, Tex.  He hung out with his stuffed buddy for the weekend, slept with him, then wrote about his visit in Tex's journal.  This boy still loves all things kindergarten!

We took advantage of a gorgeous, warm October Saturday and headed to Galveston on the spur of the moment.   A tropical storm out in the gulf kicked up some waves for Matt to surf and as always, the boys only needed some sand and water to stay entertained all day.

They drove some cars in the sand for hours.

We also dug our big hole/castle/pool and played out in the waves.  We enjoyed a nice dinner of fresh seafood and then headed home!  I love that a 90 degree day in Houston's "fall" can be spent with toes in the sand.

I loved the wardrobe choices on this particular day.  But if they get dressed first thing in the morning, I'm not going to argue!

 

We went outside to enjoy a spectacular sunset one evening.

The tooth fairy has visited again!  Ben's bubba tooth met with Matt's pliers and Ben now has the most adorable smile.  It's impossible not to smile back at him right now.

 

We met some friends at the local high school stadium for some Friday night lights.  They boys said they had a great time, but oddly, they didn't face the field that often. They love all the activities at a high school football game but don't seem to care much about the actual football yet.

 

We picked up a few new friends last time we visited Grammy and Grumpy's house.  These two caterpillars will be turning into monarch butterflies soon.

On their second day here, they both took to the top of the container and began making tiny webs to hang from.

Soon, they were both hanging in place and I kept watching and watching, hoping to see them make their cocoons.

 In less than an hour, each of them had already morphed into its cocoon!  Now we just hang out and await the arrival of our lovely friends in about 10 days.  This has been a really fun process to watch!

Bubba

Ben finally lost a top tooth!  I use the word "lost" loosely because this one had to be pulled again.  It had been loose for months and began to push forward enough for me to see his permanent tooth once again coming in behind, but not enough to force the baby tooth out.  Matt did some quick work with his pliers and Ben was a tough boy again, and we got another visit from the tooth fairy.

 

What's really making me laugh is how quickly the other (very loose) tooth moved over into the empty space so now Ben has a big, snaggle-toothed grin.  I've been calling him Bubba for days.  It's even better because he just learned how to whistle so he walks around the house with a song coming from all those holes in his mouth.

Alex is turning into a budding writer, although no one is quite sure yet what he's saying.  It made perfect sense when he wrote the story but even he can't remember what was written.  No matter what, we're all proud of his efforts.  He printed this page himself off starfall.com (along with several dozen others), colored it, and created the story all on his own.

School Fun

It seems like I've barely taken any pictures this month, but our routine has mostly been school, homework, play, repeat.  And watch football on the weekends.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  It's actually nice to be well into the routine and watching everyone learn and thrive at school.

The kids got surprise visitors at lunch last week and they were so excited!  It's a shock to me to watch Alex walk in as a student and leave with his class, after two years of him being my little sidekick when we visited Ben at lunch.  He asks me every day to come eat with him.  If I say no (which I usually do), now he asks if Grammy and Grumpy can come instead.

It's handy that second grade lunch follows kindergarten, so we hung out and waited for our next little guy.  Now when Ben walks in, it's a shock to see how tall he's grown!  Especially after seeing hundreds of 5-year olds.

At home, Alex doesn't have official homework but the kid can't get enough of some of his school activities.  His current favorite is "write around the room", where you walk around with a clipboard and write down any words you see.  He combines it with his sight word flash cards by sticking them all over the house, then writing them down.

His "job" isn't finished until he's taped his work up in his closet.  These sheets are growing daily!  Alex also loves to get on iStation and starfall on my computer and has even passed up video games for these reading websites.  Is this my child?  I LOVE seeing him so excited to learn!

 

Alex is also starting to write phonetically and I'm back in the deciphering phase.  I got a good laugh out of this worksheet when I finally figured out what he'd written.  (click to enlarge)  Tllig = tattling  Wepdog = reporting (when you say it in Alex's voice, it makes perfect sense)

And Alex had to talk me through these drawings so I wrote the translation next to them to remember what he wrote.  What he didn't tell me was who was tattling about his brother standing on him...but I have a very good guess.

I've been doing some projects of my own while the kids are at school.  My sweet neighbor taught me how to sew pajama pants and Ben was thrilled to pick out is own fabric and get some custom pants.  It was a lot of fun so I definitely want to do more.  Next time I'll remember to add a few more inches to Mr. Long Legs here.  These will be capris by spring.  I've also been painting a bedroom a week, which is fun to me and really satisfying.

We've enjoyed watching football on the weekend and it's another exciting season to be Aggies!  (and fun to be a blue parakeet in this house, apparently)

School Days

So far our school year is off to a great start.  The kids are enjoying their classes, making friends, and already survived the first virus to pass through the house (fortunately on Labor day so we didn't miss any school!).

Alex has adjusted to kindergarten very easily.  The first day he said, "My teacher isn't as good as we thought.  She didn't have much fun stuff for us to do today."  The second day he said, "We did paperwork!!  It's getting better!"  And the third day as he was getting on the bus after school, Alex turned and yelled to his teacher, "It's going to be a great year!"  Now every day he comes home excited to tell me what he's learned and happy to read me the books he colored or show me his new sight words.  I love seeing how happy he is to be at school and how much he's loving to learn.  I hope it continues!  His only complaints so far - recess is too crowded (with something like 225 kids, I'm sure it is!) and dismissal is too long.

Ben has been really happy in his class as well.  He has some buddies from previous years to talk about minecraft and has found a few new cute girls that make him blush.  His reading has suddenly improved a lot and he's much more excited to do it.  I've also seen a lot of improvement (or effort) in his handwriting so we're off to a great start in second grade.  Let's hope we stay on that track!

At home, the kids have been playing and enjoying free time after school.  Alex has complained that school really interferes with his minecraft time, so we had to discuss our priorities a bit.  We're still in the thick of summer but they've enjoyed racing their remote controlled Jeeps in the evenings when it cools down a little.

 

We were all excited to kick off the college football season last weekend with our friends the Hesters and loved how they rigged up an outdoor TV so we could swim and cheer on the Aggies at the same time.

Ben decided he was ready to go snorkeling and he loved going around the neighborhood pool

Back to School!

It's that time of year again...time for the kids (who have been up around 6:30am all summer) to be dead tired at 7am again and suddenly wanting to be with mom all day again.  Must be the first day of school!

 

My big, big kindergartner.  I'm still in shock that this house is past the preschool years.

My tall second grader!

Alex finally got his big bus ride after waiting not-so-patiently for two years.  He was thrilled.

Love that sweet face in the first seat.

I met the bus at school and walked the boys to their classrooms.  The school is massive again this year because so many new families have moved in to the surrounding neighborhoods, so the traffic was terrible and the bus was very late.  Ben's class had already started to I didn't embarrass him with a picture in front of everyone.  He has several friends in his class this year and a wonderful young teacher. I think it's going to be a great class for him.

Alex's class was still bustling with parents and kids unpacking.  I got him all settled in his seat and he started taking some deep gulping breaths.  I knew the tears were next as the reality of "big" school set in, so I gave hugs and kisses and dashed out of there.  My tears would not have been far behind!  It's been harder than I expected to let go of my baby but I really like his teacher as well and I think she'll be great for him.

We were blessed with some much needed rain in the afternoon, but unfortunately the downpour was right as the kids got off the bus.  But I got two soggy, tired, and happy boys home in the afternoon.

Creations

I do love watching the boys get creative and design their own buildings with legos or magnetic blocks.  In this particular case, I don't think Blue and Mario share my sentiments.  The kids have been making all kinds of cages, castles, and planes for the poor birds.

 

 This one had a walkway and a playroom.  Lucky birds.

 

 Two sad little faces!  At least they're patient enough to hang out until they get their freedom.

They even go places in their smaller space stations and rockets.

Two dollars worth of plastic tablecloths turned into an afternoon of fun with capes and stages.

Our favorite activity turned out to be a Shrinky Dinks kit that had been waiting on a shelf for a rainy day.  Since we haven't had many rainy days here, an afternoon with no plans turned out to be the magic day and boy did these kids have fun!  We colored...

...we baked and watched excitedly as our creations shrank...

...then we assembled monsters and the playscape the the kids played until bedtime.  And most of the next morning.  Where do I sign up for more of these kits??

We met up with Jack and McKayla, two sweet kids from Ben's first grade class who will also be in the same second grade class!  I'm so happy for Ben that he'll know some nice friends on the first day of school.  I think there are 11-12 classes for each grade already so that means tons of kids in the school again.  Don't know anyone in Alex's class yet but he's never exactly had trouble meeting people so that's nothing to worry about.