Leaves

Waymond went out the other day to clean up a bit. Isayas is alway more than eager to help out. They worked hard!

Ermias wasn't super eager to help! But he watched from the porch. After the camera was put away Ermias put his shoes on and helped out.

Christmas Lions

My mom and I braved Joann Fabric on Black Friday to get supplies to make these lion pillows for the boys. It was my first fleece tie project. It was one of the projects in the September Family Fun magazine, but we made a few modifications.

I think the boys are going to love them!

Decorating

Isayas keeps asking us about our Christmas tree and when we were putting up. So, this morning we got it all out. I think they had the most fun unwrapping all the ornaments (Isayas kept calling them surprises).

I think Ermias put all his ornaments in one general spot on the tree, so we had to move a few of his around. But Isayas totally picked up that he needed to scatter them around. They really did well!

They both loved the Rudoph nose when we pulled it out!

Isayas and his wrapping paper tube light saber and Rudolph nose!

About 3/4 the way through decorating the tree, Ermias announced that he was "all done" and got a lego magazine to read!

Swimming

The boys got to experience indoor swimming at the hotel my Mom & brother stayed at while they were here for Thanksgiving. They had an amazing time, but then when Waymond showed up with his swimming gear on the fun went up even more! Isayas asked if we could get a pool inside our house!

I think the boys were sad that Grandma Jani & Uncle Ryan weren't sleeping at our house, but then when they got to swim twice at their hotel it made up for it! Honestly it's tempting to stay at a hotel in Tulsa when we visit so the boys can work out some energy swimming their little legs off!!

Can you see the look of pure delight on Isayas' face?

bumps

The boys were playing the other day and crashed heads! It was a horrible, horrible sound. Isayas got a HUGE goose egg on his forehead. Ice was on everyone's head!

Thankfully by the next morning everyone's head was back to normal size! :o)

Homework

Isayas' drawing skills are impressive. He had to draw six fish for math homework. Here are his fish:

Turkeys

We used up some of our candy corn from Halloween and made turkey cookies! The boys' turkeys are bit Picasso-ish, but they had a great time doing it! And, they were tasty.

Operation Christmas Child

If you aren't familiar with Operation Christmas Child check it out here.

The boys got to pack one box each for a boy some where in the world. I picked up most of the items for the boxes, but the boys got to pick out some candy and a toy for their box. The picking out of the toy took a REALLY long time! They wanted to pick out the best toy ever and kept changing their minds. I was a bit surprised, but after we brought the toys home (mainly cars) they totally understood that they weren't for them.

On Saturday morning we spread it all out on the table and the boys got to pick what went in to their box and try to fit it all in!

Each box is asked to have a $7 donation to help with shipping. If you donate that online you can track your box to see where it goes. The boys are hoping theirs go to Africa, but Isayas also thought South America would be good to!

A tip for next year...capitalize on the sales during back to school and pick up extra school supplies for your christmas box. I got several boxes of pencils, colored pencils, erasers, crayons for our box for pennies.

light-saber action

The boys were outside playing with their light-sabers the other day. They really get into it!

Practice

Ermias is getting really good at writing his name. He even knows most of the letters in his name, too, so he's getting better at spelling it for people.

He is happy to practice writing his name when he gets to write it on the dry erase board! Maybe he's going to be a teacher someday.

Early Christmas

Grandma Connie bought the boys some rain boots for Christmas (THANK YOU). Since it's rainy now, we let the boys open them early (really early) and get some good wear out of them while they still fit!

And the boys were DELIGHTED! They have wanted to wear their boots everyday and all the time ~ rain or shine.

Love

I'll tell you what love is...eating a partially eaten, left-over corn muffin that your four year old son brought home from preschool in his coat pocket ~ just for you! And, doing it with a smile on your face.

A very thoughtful son I have. He saved part of his muffin from school just for me! I did pull a piece of fuze off, but ate the whole thing!

Cupcakes!

One of our Halloween treats...we went to one of the grocery stores in town and decorated cupcakes with some friends. I think the favorite part was the eating them part!

Planes, trains & automobiles

We are neck deep in boys' toys! Planes, trains, automobiles, bikes, you name it. Half the time the boys have their bike helmets on in the house because (I'm guessing) at any minute they might want go back outside to hop on the bikes!

Terrific Kid

Our terrific kid! Isayas got an award at school at the end of last month, the terrific kid award! We all got to go to the assembly and cheer.

We think he's pretty terrific too!!

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday marked the boys' sixth month anniversary of being home! We landed at the SeaTac airport in the afternoon of May 1st! I tried to explain it to the boys yesterday, but they didn't understand.

They've each grown at least two inches and Isayas is growing out of his clothes and is well into the next size. They've each got a little bit more meat on their bones and they needed it!

On the plane ride home:

And, today. Both boys on their way to school:

Trick or Treat

The boys had their first experience trick or treating last night. We opted to have them go to businesses instead of houses (we've recently been talking about strangers and thought going to houses could be counter productive).

On the way, Ermias pulled his tooth! He just handed it to me and said "here Mom" and when I looked back at him he was smiling with blood on his chin! He kept asking me if all of the tooth was out. And, indeed it was all out!

Shockingly he's been a bit embarrassed to show people. Usually he likes attention!