November 2014

I am realizing that November passes very quickly around here, between finishing teaching the Fall preschool Spanish classes, Landon's birthday, Thanksgiving, and the start of holiday decorating and shopping.  The month is gone in a flash!  I'm having to learn to really work ahead which is not always easy for me, being the detail-oriented, not so much the plan-out-the-big-picture type. :)

So if you read my October post you know that Landon no longer has his two front teeth.  Our intention was to make it a fun thing for him and have the tooth fairy come, which we eventually did, though not until a few weeks after they were removed.  He was confused at first why this fairy was going to take his teeth, and initially didn't understand that she would leave something cool in return as we tried to explain to him at bedtime.  We ended up skipping the 'teeth under the pillow' part and just slipping the money in while he was asleep.  The next morning he quickly figured things out as he found these dollars under his pillow, and was quite excited about it.

Our boys come up with more things to build out of these things (not even sure what you call them!)... Here is one example - a phone to call his daddy on.

Making playdough with mommy.  Color choice was Landon's own, during a week when red was his favorite color.

Landon thought this mirror at the Science Museum was pretty hilarious as it stretched him out in funny ways.

Caleb's new favorite thing to wear:  His SWAT outfit.  This day they were arresting Papa for something.

We start 'em young here at the Butcher Shoppe!  This is Landon's first 'order' - you can see the faint lines and marks on the paper.  All on his own, he started asking me different things that I wanted on my sandwich... "Cheese? ok. Lettuce? ok. Mustard?... "  and after each question he would carefully make a little line on the order tag, just like he sees me do when I write down their food orders. By the time he is old enough to work, he will be a pro!

Landon (our chocolate lover) just discovered hot chocolate, and he LOVES it.  You can tell he is thoroughly enjoying it!

This is a new thing that Landon was interested in the Tanagrams at the Science Museum...

Landon got to be Star of the Week at Preschool this month for his birthday.  I was upstairs getting ready for my Spanish class and his teacher called me down to see them sing happy birthday to him.  I'm so glad I was able to watch - he was so excited and loved the attention!

I unexpected stayed at the preschool to sub this day because it was a Pre-K Day (kindergarten prep activities) and they were two teachers short.  It was fun to get to watch the kids practice their writing, some with much more attention span for it than others.  They were learning the letter 'o', and had specific instructions they had to follow about how and where to color or not color things (practice following instructions), and after they finish they always practice writing their names.

Vinewood Preschool's Thanksgiving Feast, that the kids help prepare themselves - 40 three-year-olds sitting still at the same time!

Papa Jack and Nana Dee came to watch the Feast festivities. 

Caleb's friend, Teya.  These two sure seem to have a crush on each other, and its cute to see their faces light up when we see each other somewhere.  Notice the hand on the shoulder?  That was all her!

Caleb's Thanksgiving Feast was the next day.  He discovered he really likes Pumpkin Pie!

 

...Meanwhile Landon and Claire snuck over to the bowl of black olives and finished ALL of them!

I wish I could have gotten one with everyone's faces clear and visible, but these boys were so excited and having a great time hugging each other and jumping up and down together.  Caleb, Cameron, Roman, and Landon.

Figuring out some grow frogs that Nana Dee brought the boys.  Turns out they aren't immediate like the grow capsule ones, but the instructions say 'requires 3 days to one week for full growth'!  A long time to wait for four and three year olds!

Our crazy eater... We had finished all of the dinner I made, but Landon was hungry still so he happily ate the extra pasta sauce, out of the pan.

First attempts at doing color-by-number pictures from our neighbor, Marion.  From time to time she brings little crafts, books, or learning tools from working with the students at Vinewood Elementary School.  I was a little surprised but the boys did pretty well with the color-by-number after I explained how to do it.

Playing in our leaf pile and Landon grabbed Caleb, gave him a big hug, and pulled him backwards into the leaves.

Thanksgiving weekend was nice and relaxing, and we got to spend plenty of time with Joey, Lindsey, and baby Jack!  Caleb absolutely loved loving on him, holding him, feeding him, and walking him. When I told Caleb on Saturday night that they had to go back to their own house the next day, he was very sad, and said that his favorite part of them being here was getting to help Jack walk around.

Though he was more interested in playing that playing with Jackson, on Friday night, Landon told us he also wanted a turn to hold him.  A little difficult and wiggly for both, but he did it.

This picture cracks me up.  Seems like it needs a clever caption or speech bubble...  :)

Cousins right before our Thanksgiving meal.  This is Landon's new silly smile... Not sure if its actually new, or just seems different since his front teeth have been gone.

We ended our weekend with the annual trip to Lowes (we've yet to make it somewhere cool and special like Apple Hill) to choose our Christmas tree.  It was pouring when we wanted to go, so we just made the best of it with rain coats and a big golf umbrella, and had fun looking at Christmas decorations inside the store while daddy paid for our tree.

Like when we bought our tv this Fall, the tree just barely fit in the back of our car!

The first candy canes of the season!  Caleb, who in previous years described them as 'too spicy', now likes them very much.  Thanks Tess for bringing them to share!