Happy Halloween

Waymond carved pumpkins with the boys. He had the boys practice drawing faces on paper and then they picked their favorite for their little pumpkins...Waymond did all the knife work!

Waymond got creative on his and used vampire teeth (something he saw on facebook from a friend).

I'll get some pictures of the boys in their costumes tonight. Waymond will be taking them out. Sadly it's been raining all day, so I think he'll be hitting an inside establishment. 

Waiting on the bus

 The boys' school has started a new program this year and every other Wednesday they have a late start. The bus picks them up at 10am instead of 8am.

This last week the boys occupied their time...

Ermias read a magazine, pretended to be a mailman, played with his cars, and then we did a craft.

Isayas played Bingo by himself while I had some breakfast and then we did a craft.

We try to do some kind of crafty art thing on late start days.

This is usually what our dinning room table looks like when the boys get on the bus!

Baby clothes

I've been washing and sorting baby clothes that friends have been handing down to us. We have quite a little shoe collection going. Ermias was browsing through and came across a pair of silver Puma's that he thought were amazing.

He had to try them on!

Isayas commented the other day that the baby has more clothes than he does. I told him that because she is a girl, it might always be that way and that she will be borrowing things from him too. He has no idea what lies ahead!

A preview

We got a digital copy of the boys' school photos yesterday. Waymond added the gaudy picture frames himself.

We were out of town on picture day and some friends were staying with the boys. Before we left Waymond helped both boys pick out clothes for their pictures. Isayas has his on, not sure what happened with Ermias!

Ermias had been working hard on his smile and boy can you tell. I told Waymond he looks like someone is stabbing him and saying "smile!"

I might need to volunteer on picture day next year, just to help kids with their collars and smiles!

The best part of these photos is someday pulling them out when they are adults! Kindergarden and 1st grade pictures aren't supposed to fantastic, right?

Painting race cars

Waymond made race cars with the boys this last weekend. Both boys had a great time, but they are so so different.

Waymond said that Isayas was so meticulous about painting carefully and getting every square inch; however Ermias just got the paint on however possible. He had paint all over the paper under the car, and on himself.

Ermias also used every sticker that came with his car, cramming them on anywhere they would fit on the car.

While Isayas was selective on which stickers to add to his.

25 weeks

I had Ermias take this picture last night! Waymond thought I really looked pregnant in the sweater.

Our little baby is quite a mover! She's been moving my belly around when I'm sitting still. A lot of force for someone so small! Maybe we'll have an acrobat in the family!

Hats

We just got these from a friend who knits! How cute are these? I can't wait to get them on our baby's head!!

She made them a big bigger than newborn size so the baby won't grow out of them too soon, but I have a feeling we'll try to get them on her from the beginning!

So good to know people who are talented!! This picture does not do these hats justice; they are ridiculously cute.

She also knitted the boys new hats. Waymond put Ermias' on him this weekend and he said, "oh, this hat makes my head nice and warm daddy!" I think it's going to be another long winter for them here in the NW. They are already missing the sun and we've had a pretty good fall so far!

The beginning

So here are the beginnings of our nursery. We aren't exactly the kind of people that need everything new and all matchy, just coordinated.

We also decided to not paint the room, it's a light teal (its the boys' old room). We figured we could decorate with feminine items. Neither of us were too fond of overly pink and frilly, so I think this will work.

So, Waymond found this poster online that we are going to decorate around. Blues and yellows mainly. I was surprised at how little Babies R Us had in yellow for crib things (sheets, blankets, etc.)

We are excited! The boys stroll into the room every now and again to check it out.

Oh, and we've picked a name...Lillian Genet. Lillian is Leigh's Grandma's name and Genet is an Ethiopian name meaning promise. We will probably go with Lillie for short.

Classic feminine name with a similar decorated room...perfect!

The boys like the name. However they are still making suggestions. Ermias told me this morning, "maybe we could call the baby Lynn." Not sure where that came from...the most normal name he has suggested at this point.

Ermias' homework

Ermias loves to draw as much as his brother. I think his teacher LOVES to get his  homework back because he covers every square inch and colors every picture possible!

Here is a picture of K for kitten with a few flowers thrown in.

Ermias is really enjoying Kindergarden. I think he finally feels like a bigger kid since he is in school all day (and rides the bus). He tells me often, "mom, I'm getting bigger."

He loves that he's doing what he saw his brother do last year. He comes home and tells his brother what they do in class (he has Isayas' old teacher). Plus they now have two computers in his class they get to use (Isayas couldn't believe it)!

Spanish class

As of this year the boys' school has started a Spanish class for all the kids. They go like a regular "specials" class, i.e. PE, Music. Both boys have LOVED it. They are always counting and saying random words in Spanish.

Waymond was helping the boys with their homework while I was finishing dinner. I kept hearing Ermias singing in Spanish, so I thought I would catch at least a bit of it. Apparently it's working for him. I think he could learn anything if it is in a song.

This summer their sunday school class was learning the books of the Bible. Those Old Testament books have really hard names for 5 and 7 year olds. We made up our own tune and it really helped Ermias.

23 weeks

I'm pretty sure I'm 23 weeks along now. I feel like every time I see the midwife it changes. Plus my brain isn't what it was 23 weeks ago, so things don't always stick. Waymond tells me my long term memory is fine, it's just that the short term memory isn't what it was.

I'm borrowing one of Waymond's shirts that he never wears. It's a win/win for both of us. He just can't stand V-necks and I need a size Large right now! Plus it's been a bit chilly the last few days and layering and maternity clothes just don't go together! Thankfully a friend is letting me borrow some of her maternity clothes and she had a couple of long sleeved shirts.

Plus Waymond has been sharing some of his hoodies with me and my rain coat still zips up!

Ermias' musical talent

This is such a typical Ermias moment. He spends most of his day singing and then random things come out. Some time I need to record one of the many songs he makes up for the baby! Classic. I'm sure he'll love it when he is an adult.

FroYo

Ermias and I went for some FroYo the other day while Waymond and Isayas went to a birthday party.

I let Ermias serve himself and pick out three toppings. I think he could have filled his cup up with chocolate chips and oreo cookie pieces alone!

I think I ate 1/4 of what he did!!

Ants

Ermias has been bringing home pictures of ants. I think they are on trees.

More drawings

Here are a few more drawings Isayas has brought home lately.
This one is of him in his classroom.

A lovely picture of the family on a bike ride.

A personal favorite of the world.

Garage sales

I've been looking for some girl toys for our PreK-K class at church. So, since Ermias is in the class I had him go with me to some garage sales on Saturday. After going to two he said, "Mom can we stop for some coffee." I just laughed and pulled into the nearest Starbucks (I also needed to use their WiFi so it was a win-win situation all around).

While we were standing in the line (that was to the door) Ermias struck up a conversation with the kid behind him with a Star Wars shirt on. Ermias had his Avengers shirt on so they talked about their favorite Star Wars guys and Avengers guys. This kid can (and will) talk to anyone! We are working on stranger danger.

Once we got closer to the front of the line Ermias started eyeing the pastry case. He said, "Mom, could we get a little something with our coffee?" (I'm not kidding) He tried to talk me into a piece of cake (at 9:45am), then a muffin with icing, lemon pound cake with icing. I suggested a donut that he could eat half of and he agreed. He shared the other half with Waymond when we got home.

And, we came home with some great books and pink legos! Plus some school uniform shirts for Ermias.

He's getting pretty good at spotting garage sales, but he thinks that a house with a realtor sign is having a garage sale. I tried to explain that they are selling the actual house. He said, "so the house is the garage sale?" Kind of.