Roman had his first day of preschool today!!! He was beyond excited and could not wait to get into his classroom. He be bopped in, washed his hands, and got right to work playing. When I picked him up, he didn’t want to leave and kept trying to get back into his classroom. Amazing…go Roman!!!
Here’s a recap of some things the boys and I did over the winter break to keep busy: painting, making bracelets and necklaces from pipe cleaners and beads, making sticker scenes, playing with water beads, making and decorating salt dough ornaments, drawing with sidewalk chalk, and hanging out in the triangle woods.
My sweet little boys are so excited about Christmas…here they are the night before and the morning of…so precious. Merry Christmas!!!
I was SO excited to get to spend some special one-on-one time with Xander this morning at preschool helping him decorate his gingerbread house. He’s such a creative, exploratory little guy…it was fun to watch him work on his masterpiece.
MeMe and PaPa stopped by to spread some holiday cheer with stockings for the boys…
The boys loved Breakfast with Santa! It’s really so well done with tickets to see Santa and crafts and games to keep little hands and feet busy while they’re waiting. Among the favorites were the Christmas card making, the gift tag stamping, and the glittery pipe cleaner ornament beading. It was great fun to help the boys out with their Christmas crafts, eat a yummy (second) breakfast, say hello to friends, and see Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Once we got back home from our Thanksgiving trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s in Virginia and got settled back in, we busted out the Christmas decorations. Here are a few of the crew helping out with the lights…
Tom discovered the AWESOMEST playground yesterday when he was out driving, and we took the boys today. They had a total blast!!!
Xander and I enjoyed some one on one time this afternoon while Daddy took Jonas and Roman to gymnastics. We both thought it was the perfect opportunity to take the snow out of the freezer that he’d been saving from earlier this week to paint it. He was so focused working on his beautiful masterpiece, took a long warm bath afterwards to soak off all of the paint splatters, and was delighted to see how his snow painting melted and all of the colors swirled together.
Xander, Roman, and I went downtown to the Frist this morning to check out ArtQuest, an interactive exhibit for kids. The admission was free with canned goods donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank. They had a blast (and amazingly enough it was not super crowded which was a big plus)! They loved painting with watercolors, doing touch screen art, building with magnetic blocks, drawing on windows with dry erase markers, sketching on an easel, making crayon rubbings, and printmaking.
We had our first snow this morning…what a delight! The boys couldn’t wait to get out there with their spoons and eat some…haha.
I was so excited to get to go with Xander on his preschool field trip to Daniel’s Cabin. He and one of his best friends, Shea, rode with me. Aside from the fact that it was FREEZING and Xander was cold, hungry, tired, and whiny…it was an interesting outing. The kids got to play and experiment with all sorts of old-fashioned toys, hear about life on the frontier, spin wool between their fingers, and make the best smelling little “bed bug bags” with dried lavender, rosemary, and roses. Here’s a sweet picture of Xander and Shea in front of a beautiful fall tree outside of the cabin.
The boys had a day off from school today, so we went downtown to the Nashville Public Library to check out their favorite story time with Professor, Mary Mary, J.J. the Lamb, Cedric the Dragon, and the Spanish Fox. Afterwards, they worked on a turkey pinecone craft and made wishes in the courtyard fountain.
Xander was SO excited to bring Bentley Bear home from preschool for a visit over the weekend! Here are a few pictures of Bentley’s adventures with Xander…
Xander is: loving gymnastics and swim lessons; going on his very first field trip…to Lucky Ladd…one of his favorite places; enjoying playing my childhood piano (that we’re honored to keep at our house for Maw right now); making up his own songs; and getting into fall with all of its festivities (pumpkin farm, pumpkin carving, Halloween parades, trick or treating, etc.).
Here’s a very insightful statement he made to me the other day:
“You’re already at your work.”
We were SO excited this year to get to celebrate Halloween with my brother, Kerry, who moved back this year after many years in Taiwan!!! It was CRAZY cold and blustery, so it wasn’t quite the party in the streets in our neighborhood that it usually is. But we still had fun dressing up and watching the boys trick or treat around the block, and enjoyed giving out a few pieces of candy and eating a bowl of warm chili on the porch after we got the boys snug in their beds. Here’s to having fun on Halloween with family!
We joined several families from our moms’ group at a church down the road for a Family Pumpkin Carving Party tonight. The food was delicious, and I’m totally going to be hitting some people up for some out-of-this-world cornbread and cobbler recipes. The boys had a blast playing on the playground with friends and were very interested in helping Daddy with the pumpkin design and carving.
Xander, Roman, and I went to a Halloween Party at the park this morning with our moms’ group. The boys were not long for their costumes as it felt more like summer today than fall. But they loved sampling all of the different kinds of snacks, drawing with sidewalk chalk, building with Mega Blocks, making arts and crafts with Halloween stickers, checking out the Halloween games, and playing on the playground with friends. How rich we are in community here…it’s a blessing that I am thankful for every day.
We took the boys to Walden Pumpkin Farm this afternoon, and they had so much fun that they didn’t want to leave. It’s hard to believe that this has been a fall tradition for us since Jonas was almost one and now he’s in kindergarten. Jonas’ favorite part was walking through the spooky house, Xander’s favorite part was picking out a pumpkin, and Roman’s favorite part was riding the train.
We have had a SUPER laid back Fall Break. Some of us have been a little bit under the weather, and it’s been raining pretty much every day. The boys have fought a lot which kind of surprised me (although I don’t know why)…I thought they might have missed each other…but alas. Here’s a picture that pretty much encapsulates our long weekend…rain, pajamas, and a lot of free play.
