November

Even though the school days run together sometimes, little gems like this make their work memorable.  Alex was asked to draw a picture of him pushing something...

We enjoyed a lovely afternoon at the school carnival and the kids had a great time smashing confetti eggs on one another.

Alex finished up his flag football season and his team ended up in third place overall.  

We spent Thanksgiving with the Frenches and Shepherds in Dallas and loved every minute with the cousins!  Carter was pretty serious about throwing crabapples into the creek.

The boys played all kinds of games and invented a few new ones of their own.

We enjoyed time outdoors until the rain set in and then it was all football and movies.

I had to laugh that all four boys were squeezed onto one couch to watch a show together when the other two were completely empty.

Melt my heart...both boys wanted to read books to Carter before he went to bed!

We made a valiant effort at a decent picture of all the boys, but this was the closest I got on my camera...

Back home, the kids were dying to get the Christmas tree decorated and I sure wasn't going to say no to their help!  Notice Alex pointing to his branch with all of his ornaments.  It's the only one touching the floor.

We wrapped up a great month with an awesome Muse concert in Houston.  Alex loves the band and was beyond excited to see the show.  Their drones were pretty cool!

Look at the thrill on this face!  It (almost) made the late school night worth it!

Happy Halloween!

 I love that the kids' school does a book character parade before Halloween.  We've read the first three Harry Potter books together, so guess what both boys wanted to be this year?  Meet Harry #1...

 

 ...and Harry #2.

I celebrated with each of them during their classroom parties.  Ben was a man of steel during the freeze dance when the other kids were trying to get him to laugh.

All the crazy boys and their mummified classmate.  Ben is the kid hiding in the back doing bunny ears.  We have entered the "stop taking pictures" phase.

After a very loud and enthusiastic game of balloon volleyball, I was ready to say goodbye and head over to Alex's classroom!

Ahh, it was so nice and quiet while the second graders made play doh monsters.

Alex's finished product

Then their class cranked up as well for a little dance party.  This man brought his moves!

Yes, that is a nice kick as he took his dance moves all around the room!

And a little more screaming and balloon volleyball, then the party was over and we headed home to get ready for trick or treating over the weekend!

Just like last weekend, some nasty weather threatened our fun, but the skies cleared and we had beautiful weather to hang out with our friends.  How I love these little faces from around our street!

Harry and Harry had a wonderful time trick or treating and enjoying a street party with a little Halloween scavenger hunt while I ate their candy :)

Ben's Trophy

We got the opportunity to spend a weekend at a lovely ranch in South Texas with the goal of turning Ben into a true deer hunter.  Things didn't look too promising with the rain from Hurricane Patricia working its way into Texas, but early on Sunday morning, Ben brought down his first deer with a beautiful shot.  Look at the excitement on our little hunter's face after he tracked it and found it on the ground.

 


 What a beauty!

 

 Ben was so proud to show it off to everyone at the ranch and we were so proud of him for a great shot and putting food on our table.

 

 The weather didn't put a damper on our fun, and we were still able to do a little fishing and spot all kinds of wildlife - lots of deer, turkey, quail, wild hogs, roadrunners, rabbits, and even a bobcat.  Alex and I sat in a stand together to watch the animals a few times and he was fascinated by the green jays.  (not my picture, but the birds were beautiful like this)

Of course, sometimes the animals get a little boring, so we had to look elsewhere for entertainment!

The boys made a few other catches to make our weekend complete!

October Fun

Alex got back on the football field grabbing flags with other 7-year olds.  He was extra excited to find out that Matt would be coaching his team this year.

 

 The games are so much fun to watch.  Some of the plays are really impressive and some are downright comical.

This guy caught a great pass during his first game and then he ran toward the wrong endzone!  I laughed until I cried :)

I loved watching this backyard practice with both boys.  Not sure why Ben felt that he'd be better without a shirt, but whatever works...

 Now that they're back in school, suddenly I have two bookworms and I love it!!  It's challenging keeping them stocked in books but I'm thankful for places to borrow or swap books nearby.

 

Ben already got to take a field trip to the district's outdoor learning center and I was happy to get to help out.  It was a really impressive classroom and I loved looking around at everything before the kids showed up.

After viewing all the stations, the kids got to listen to the director and meet the pet corn snake.

 

I can't remember ever watching Ben touch a snake before, but he liked this one and asked for a pet snake afterward.  Uh, no.

After a movie one afternoon, the kids and I checked out the new Gallery Furniture and I couldn't believe how much fun we had (without even looking at furniture!).  The monkey exhibit was very entertaining.

The main atrium has some gorgeous parrots, a cockatoo, and a toucan.

And who wouldn't love enormous chairs?

I think their favorite part was the giant mattress-trampoline.  Or the free Blue Bell.  Thanks for a good time, Mattress Mack!

Ben has gotten really good at his ripstick and lots of other kids are getting them as well.  Alex, always marching to the beat of his own drum, decided that he wants to learn to use his rollerblades.  He's doing great in the grass :)

 Sweet boys!  So impossible to get a good picture of them both.

Back to School

All too soon, school started for these guys again.  Hello, 2nd and 4th grades!  We were too rushed getting them settled in class to get any pictures at school since it was our first time meeting all the teachers.  They both have two teachers this year and I think they're all wonderful.

 

 We went to celebrate a successful first week with a little Baskin Robbins.  Think they enjoyed it?

But thank goodness a few days later, we found gold (lids) at HEB...Blue Bell returned!  We survived the drought all summer and went shopping before school to make sure we got our limit of Blue Bell.

Success!!

Days like this call for an ice cream breakfast.  There were no complaints about going to school on this day!

Dog Days of Summer

Casey loves summer, though some parts are better than other for her.  Swimming?  Only to be done when forced...

 

 Getting a nap in the warm sun?  Yes, please!

She finally learned how to sit back on her haunches.  Most of the time, it's adorable!

But sometimes it gets really annoying.

She even found a youtube channel that was pretty darn interesting!