Boys will be boys

October is busy and we haven't been up to a whole lot these days. We mostly go to school, our afternoon activities and just playing with friends. Our life is pretty ordinary and we have been going on less and less adventures.

Here is a moment I was glad to capture. I was going to play Candyland with Erik, but instead he decided to play with his brother and teach him. They didn't make it very far, but it was cute to watch and see them try to figure out this board game together.

One thing I still get to do with the boys is take them to mommy & me class. Elliot goes while Erik is in preschool and Elliot goes to a babysitter provided by the school while I take Erik. Its really nice for me to be in a classroom setting appropriate for their age group with each of the kids.

This week I was the assisting parent for Elliot's class and when that happens I try to bring my camera around and capture all the moments of the day. Its funny the last couple of times we have gone to school Elliot is really developing a routine. Out of both my kids, Elliot thrives on routine best and develops his own constantly.

When he's inside his first activity is always to head towards the legos and make a train out of the legos. Its his special activity and if anyone tries to play along or interfere he gets very angry.

Next he heads over the rest of the toys and looks for all the trains and starts putting them together. Did I mention how train obsessed he is? More so than Erik was at this age.

Then at some point he will head over to the puzzles and do a few. This whole time I am repeatedly asking him to do the artwork or paint and 50% of the time he says yes, but not on this day.

Outside he is not into a routine yet, although he is in love with the teeter-totter and is constantly looking for a companion to join him. These were my favorite shots of the day because Elliot and his new favorite friend Dayton were having so much fun. They actually kept falling down from the top of it on purpose, boys!

There is the sand yard, but he doesn't seem to spend as much time there as his brother did.

Lastly there are bikes and he one of a few who can actually ride a bike in the class. He is one of the oldest kids. This was adorable because he was riding Mickey around all morning and both of them were having the best time.

On Tuesday I took a couple images from Erik's class. After all our years at BPEC the 4's are finally allowed to wear their costumes to school. When we got there a few kids didn't have them on and Erik started getting self conscious and asked to take his off. I persuaded him to keep it on and then more showed up with costumes until he finally started having fun with it. He put on the mask during circle time and kept it on the entire time. Several mom's were amazed at his patience wearing that thing. Honestly so I am.

This is what we do for half our week, the other half is just randomness or hanging out at home. Yet it keeps me too busy to take pictures or blog these days. I really need to work on it.

Moments of peace

A moment of peace is a moment I wish for everyday. It basically is a moment where my kids play together nicely, with very little fighting and by themselves. Sometimes these moments are just a few minutes in the day and sometimes it lasts for hours. Its what we hope for as parents honestly. For one we want the peace, but also we want our kids to get along and play nicely together. Its not like my kids are not going to fight, I am a realist, but I want them to generally get along.

These days Erik has a wild imagination. He likes to take us on his ride, meaning his mom and dad, since Elliot "can't talk like him yet." There have been moments in there lately where he is finally figuring out ways to engage his brother in a healthy way that doesn't involve me getting mad. Its all part of his new and improved Erik attitude.

I first saw it happening when we were home all day Monday sick. We had been stuck home all weekend, Erik was having a bad asthma attack so when they went for the linens in the closet, why not. It was easy enough to clean up after their mess. It was insanely adorable though because they were pretending like it was bunk bed.

Its funny though because the more time my kids spend apart the better they get along. Erik didn't go to school until Wednesday, but for some reason on this Friday after each having the morning spent with friends, Erik in school and Elliot in gymnastics they came home and were just so happy together.

It started at the lunch table. They were each taking turns eating their lunch and making silly sounds and face while playing each saying "your turn." Then once their lunch was over it quickly turned into a game of animals which I didn't get a picture of, but was adorable.

Have I mentioned that Erik is obsessed with me taking pictures? My camera was upstairs in the office, he spies this chair in the living and tell me to go get my camera to take pictures. So I did and this is what I got. Love my boys, especially when I can get them together.

 

 

Then Erik got the brilliant idea of playing cave on the couch. What better idea than to pile on the pillow and  blankets and pretend its a secret cave. I was late putting them down for their naps because they were enjoying themselves so much this afternoon.

The best part is as I type this blog they are still playing this game and singing Halloween songs together. Although they keep handing me a car and asking me to play so I better go before the resort to turning off my computer.

Beans, Stickers, Playdates and more

I have just been so busy this fall I am not taking the time to blog or take pictures of my kids regularly. Honestly pictures of preschool pickup, drop off are not that interesting, but maybe some pictures of our new gymnastics class or some mommy & me class might do the trick. For right now, this is just a purge of all the pictures I took last week.

When I was dropping Erik off at preschool last week Elliot kept gravitating to the beans and one of the mom's mentioned to her two year how they did that project at home. I thought I would give it a try and see how it goes.

As most of our projects, it only lasted about 10 minutes before Erik started trying to feed Elliot beans. When I ran into the house quickly to grab something, I think some beans started getting put into the trunk of a bike. To me that is always a sign to end the project. So here are a few of the pictures from that day.

 

 

 

We also went to Target last week and I caved and bought some Halloween supplies in September. I can't help it my boys LOVE, LOVE Halloween. Its not just about the candy and dressing up for these boys, they have been talking for months about monsters, ghosts, and skeletons. As a matter of fact Erik only wanted to use stickers of skulls that day. We have been reading Halloween books all year since Erik specifically searches them out in the library, so we will be celebrating all month long since the boys love this holiday.

 

Last week, my friend Alicia swore that Sunday was her last day in California and we had to get together this week or else we wouldn't see her before she left for good. So we threw together an emergency afternoon playdate with all the kids. With all the babies and such I have seriously lost track of how many kids are at my house at one time, I'll just say a lot and more than 10! It was a fun day with very little fighting surprisingly enough. I brought out the bean project again though just to keep the kids from fighting. Of course Elliot did spazz out at one point and started flinging beans everywhere.

I thought of William when I dared to bring out the beans with all those kids. I knew he would like it.

Right before Elliot spazzed and they did play nicely together without it getting everywhere.

Erik and his beloved friend Audrey who was leaving us.

Ella saw me taking pictures and wanted to get in and then Elliot followed her lead. This is what I got...

It started raining and the kids were using the foam mats as umbrellas. It was seriously adorable. Every kid was doing it, but I was having focusing issues on that picture.