“When I get a brain freeze, I do math problems in my head, and it helps to unfreeze my brain.”

She’s not really 6, but whenever anyone asks, that’s what she tells them.

She’s also not going to be a vampire, scary or otherwise, for Halloween.

But she sure is cute.

I signed Adam up for a painting class this afternoon.

It was a hippo, so it was perfect for Adam.

I really love how he changed up the colors of the birds and stars. I am so proud of my little artist!

I thought I’d share some pictures from the last few days.

Maggie was pouting after we took her “kids” to the bus on Monday. She wasn’t happy that she didn’t get to go too.

After school on Monday, I snapped a picture of them all wearing the Thomas the Train shirts Mabel got for them.

Bedtime has been a little rough this week. Getting into a back-to-school routine isn’t easy. Luke has been really good about sleeping in his bed though (as opposed to the guest room where he and Maggie used to crash).

Just another bus stop picture of my handsome boys.

And one of just Luke from yesterday. He insisted that he needed to wear his glasses to school yesterday (they’re just reading glasses from the dollar store with no lenses).

Maggie and I met some friends at the playground yesterday. She brought two of her babies (both named George, just like all her other dolls).

We turned the weird area in the top of the guest room closet into a reading nook for the boys. We put up a reading poster, added some blankets, a pillow, and an alarm clock. It’s the perfect spot for them to snuggle up and read (or in Luke’s case, look at pictures and pretend).

Today, Maggie and I are headed to story time. Then tonight, the boys both have soccer (though there’s a good chance they’ll be rained out).

So that’s what we’ve been up to here.

One of Adam’s birthday gifts was a Stomp Rocket. The  weather was perfect today and Adam (and Luke and Maggie) had a blast (pun intended) playing with it.

We took another trip with Thomas the Train today. This time we were able to bring Mabel with us too.

This was our third year doing this, and it’s been a lot of fun each time.

2015

2014

Thursday was Luke’s first day.

I asked Adam to try to sit with Luke on the bus. Luke overheard and said, “I don’t want to sit with Adam. Adam’s already my friend. I want to make a new friend.”

I got to go into the classroom for half an hour that morning. Luke and I did a scavenger hunt together and then he got to get out some play-doh and sit with the other kids (he made a carrot store).

He really likes his teacher (and so do Dave and I). When it was time for me to leave, he barely had time to stop and give me a hug.

Luke’s very first year of school is off to an awesome start!

He woke up Friday morning all set to go again.  Unfortunately for him, his second day isn’t until Monday. I don’t doubt that he’ll be ready.

The day before Adam started school, we went in so the boys could drop off their school supplies and meet their teachers. Luke has the same kindergarten teacher Adam had and we really like her.  Adam’s teacher is new to us, but seems fantastic too.

Adam’s first day was Wednesday. He had a great day and was so excited to sit with his best friend on the bus and catch up with his friends in class.

I think he’s going to have a great year!

We took a trip to the zoo today to see the new baby giraffe and to show Mabel the hippos. The little giraffe is three weeks old and very cute.

The kids fed the giraffes during our last visit and asked to do it again today.

After we left the giraffes we went over to see the hippos.

We were able to met up with the zookeeper that Adam wrote to when the hippo exhibit opened. She sent him a nice reply and mentioned we should try to find her during our next visit. She was super nice and spent some time with us pointing out different animals to the kids and telling them their names and fun facts about them.

It was a really fun way to spend the first part of our day. The kids wore their hippo shirts that they made for Adam’s birthday zoo trip last month. They tie dyed the shirts themselves and then I made stencils for them to use to paint on the hippos.

Adam was excited to be allowed to finally climb up on the big rhino statue, and wanted to be sure I shared a picture here.

The boys finished up their swim lessons last week.

After two weeks of lessons, Adam can now float (on his front and on his back), do the backstroke, and almost do the front crawl (he has the stroke down, but has to stand up when he needs to take a breath).

Luke can go underwater without holding his nose, jump in without help, float with some assistance, and blow bubbles like a champ. They both have so much more confidence and were promoted to the next level of lessons for next summer.