Cleaning...

We asked the boys to clean up the basement tonight and this was Ben's idea of cleaning... He did eventually get all the tools picked up, but he laid under the tool bench for a while "fixing" it.  He used to fit under there a lot better...

 

Saturday morning memo...

Although it has been a whole month since school started, we are all still getting used to it!  The boys are exhausted by the end of the week!  On Friday night, as I was reading our bedtime book (early, because the boys were struggling to stay awake) Ben completely passed out in his bed.  Conner was nearly asleep in the bean bag.  So we ended story time and these big boys were asleep by 7:30pm.  The problem is that Ben and Conner still haven't gotten the memo about Saturday mornings... I have tried telling them that Saturdays are for sleeping in and relaxing.  Ya, apparently they don't agree.  Ben has been pretty good though, he will come into my room and quietly lay beside me and rest.  Conner, however, still gets up as early as possible.  This morning, Conner managed to get one of his stuffed animal's clothing items tied around his wrists so that he couldn't move his hands.  He came running into my room saying he was stuck.  When I saw his bound wrists, I jumped out of bed and managed to get his hands free so blood could start flowing to his fingers again.  So... Conner has learned a new way to get me out of bed on Saturday morning...

School Pictures!

Ben and Conner look pretty handsome in their kindergarten pictures, if I do say so myself...

 

Party Weekend!

We were lucky enough to have some friends, the Abels, spend the weekend with us and we had a great time!  We all stayed up way too late, so hopefully we can catch up on our sleep this week!  We still tend to party as if we don't have to get up at 5:30 am to take care of our kiddos! On Saturday, we decided to take all the kids to the Children's Museum in Iowa City, so the boys were pretty happy about that!  A fun weekend with great friends!  It was a fun way to spend the last couple days of Nick's vacation!

 

   

 

 

Nick has to go back to work tomorrow and we are all feeling a bit sad about that! The week went by so fast.  I know we will be missing him in the morning!   

Happy Birthday Daddy!

This weekend we decided to go to Bettendorf to stay with Nana and Gramps!  We got to see my sister's family, too, so that is always a good time!  We all got to enjoy a little tailgating on Saturday for the Iowa/Iowa State game.  The boys enjoyed playing outside and, as always, they raided the "winter wear" at Nana's house and dressed up with scarves and hats just for fun!

 

After a great Saturday, we celebrated Nick's birthday on Sunday morning with the fam!

When we got home today, it was time for a few presents so the boys helped Daddy!

 

 Happy Birthday to the best husband and father we could ever ask for!

First Game!

Conner and Ben just felt a little silly before heading off to school this morning!

 

Tonight the boys had their first flag football game!  It was very entertaining to watch all the little guys getting into their positions and running around chasing each other!  Ben was really pumped up and we could hear him yelling from the sideline, "Come on, let's go Colts!"  Conner and Ben did great and were pretty excited after the game.  They kept doing their own little huddles and cheers when we got home!

Saturday...

Marion had its Swamp Fox Festival this weekend so we definitely wanted to take advantage of some of the activities!  With Nick at work on Saturday, I was going to wait for the evening activities.  At the last minute, I changed my mind and decided to try to take the boys uptown and look at some of the craft booths and maybe even catch a little of the parade.  As we were driving, it started raining... (It didn't rain for very long, just enough to get everything wet!) So, we headed home and walked down to the park by our house instead. 

 

After the boys ate a little dinner, the four of us headed out to Lowe Park to see what was going on there.  We listened to a little music, the boys played some games, and they got their very own balloon animals.  Ben chose a lion and Conner chose a tiger.  When we got home, the boys played a little outside and then chose to go inside to cool off for a while! 

 

We told the boys they could stay up to watch the fireworks tonight, which we can see from our front yard.  (It helps to have an empty lot across the street!)  But, we weren't sure they would make it, since they were really getting tired.  Ben laid down on the floor for a while before we went back outside!  Dad got out some sparklers so that woke Ben and Conner up a little bit!  We also attempted to make our bubbles glow in the dark, but, sadly, that did not work!  Ben had fun blowing bubbles in the dark anyway!

Eventually, we all sat and waited for the fireworks to start!  It sprinkled on us a little bit and that made Conner move into the garage for a while!  The fireworks were great and I think the boys really enjoyed the night!  When we put them in bed around 9:00, they fell right to sleep!

Slumber Party?

For some reason, the boys were convinced that they would be having a slumber party in the hallway tonight!  They were pretty excited that they had thought of it!  Luckily, we were able to convince them that their beds would be much more comfortable!

Huge Bump...

We watched the kids play some football again tonight.  We were a little far away, but I wanted to get a few pictures anyway.  Ben and Conner did really good tonight!  It is so cute to watch them...

 

Before dinner, the boys were riding their bikes and they had a little accident.  Ben tried to pass Conner on the sidewalk and both of them went down.  Ben was unscathed, but poor Conner...  HUGE bump on his forehead, fat lip, scratched arm...  Ugh.  Wasn't even sure if Conner would play football tonight after that, but he did great.  Just in time for picture day on Monday.  And, trust me, based on the size of that bruise, it will still be there!

Football!

Flag Football started tonight so the boys were pretty excited!  Despite Conner's random cartwheels and Ben's growling, practice went really well! 

 

"Alone!"

This morning, it was back to school and Conner wanted his picture taken.  I got the camera and he said, "Mom, I want you to take my picture alone!"  Okay.  So, we took separate pictures today!

 

 

Corn...

Sweet corn was on the menu for tonight and Nick decided that the boys could be his helpers.  Conner and Ben loved it!  It was pretty funny to watch them all trying to clean the corn and get it ready for the grill!

 

Please?

Daddy got to go to the Hawkeye game yesterday, so the boys insisted on playing some football with Dad this morning, since they were not happy about missing the game on Saturday!

 

We decided to go out for dinner tonight and as we were driving home, Nick and I were discussing what we wanted to do with the rest of our evening.  We thought maybe we would stop at one of the parks on our way home.  The funny part was that as we got closer to the park, Ben asked if we could stop at the park and play.  Nick and I just smiled and Ben started whispering as we got closer, "please turn, please turn, we're getting closer, please..."  He was elated when we pulled into the parking lot!  The guys had a great time playing.  Conner was all about the sand tonight and before we knew it, he had taken his shoes off, and was trying to bury himself!