Thanksgiving

This past Thursday marked our third Thanksgiving with the boys... which also means our third viewing of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade! I'll start this blog post with our annual "watching the parade while sitting in a hamper" photo... as you can see, they had to sit in separate hampers this year!

And, here they were the previous two years... this tradition started when the boys were 4 months old on their first Thanksgiving and couldn't sit up on their own yet. So, out came the hamper to give them back support and front row seats to the Thanksgiving Parade!

It was definitely a lot trickier to get the boys to sit in the hamper this year. Here are pictures to show you just how difficult it was! When we first took the hamper out, they simply ignored it. Instead, Bryce got the urge to hug his brother and refused to let go...

Then Bryce discovered the hamper would make a good resting spot when tilted on its side...

Then, they saw Sponge Bob!

They eventually came back, yanked the blanket out and took turns playing in the hamper...

Bryce still preferred laying in it sideways...

Then it was Ben's turn... can you tell he's the more "proper" child?

There goes Bryce again...

Bryce wanted to drink in the hamper...

Ben's turn again...

A song in the parade caught their attention...

We finally gave up on trying to get them to sit in the basket together and tried a new tactic... two baskets! Ben was content, but Bryce was upset because he wanted the basket that Ben was sitting in...

And, as usual, sweet Ben gave in to his brother... and that's how we finally got this year's "hamper" picture!

Well, actually, it took a little bribing with some fruit snacks, too...

Finally, two boys sitting nicely in their hampers and watching the parade... now I was determined to get them to smile and look at the camera!

This is what I got (from Ben) when I asked them to show me their "happy face." But, Bryce was too busy eating...

Bryce finally looked at the camera while Benjamin generously gave me another one of his happy faces. :)

At this point, I was worn out but couldn't resist snatching these silly pics of Bryce running around in my slippers...

Later that evening, we had dinner at Uncle Eric and Aunt Alisha's new house. While playing, they discovered the perfect hiding place...

And, here's a picture that Aunt Beth took of all the "Texas" cousins...

Family Photos by Terri Glanger

Here are some family photos taken by my special dear friend, Terri, who I call my "almost twin" because we are only two days apart in age and have so much in common. Terri is a super talented commercial photographer who mentored me when I was starting my own photography business. We "traded" our services... I took her engagement photos and, in exchange, she took our family photos! :) The boys were 2 years old in these pics...

This one became our Christmas card!

First Time To Trick or Treat!

The boys had a great time trick or treating for the first time this year! The evening started off a little shaky, however... as you can see in this first picture, Bryce did not want to wear his dragon costume! We actually bought these costumes last Halloween, but they were too big for the boys. I saved them for this year but made the mistake of not doing a test run before Halloween day. Sure enough, it ended up a little too tight on Ben. Bryce was okay with it for about 2 minutes until he slipped and fell while running around the room and then wanted nothing to do with it. Before we undressed Bryce, I couldn't resist to take a couple of pictures... he was so mad at me!

Luckily, we had a second set of costumes, courtesy of our wonderful Aunt Pat and Aunt Sue in New York. We were planning on saving these adorable sock monkey costumes for next year because they were a size bigger than what the boys normally wear, but it ended up fitting perfectly with just a couple of folds around the ankles... and, the boys loved them, even though their momma didn't know how to put the hat on correctly at first!

Front and back view... :)

Bryce ran to a mirror to check himself out...

Definitely the two cutest monkeys I've ever seen! :)

Claire and Will arrived to go trick or treating with us...

Silly cousins...

Everything about this picture just makes me laugh...

Uncle Peter joined in...

Here are the four cousins last year on Halloween...

The Tweedies...

The Bergs...

Our first candy stop was to Mrs. Karen's house... the boys and I practiced saying "Trick or Treat" earlier that day!

There's sweet Mrs. Karen ready with a big pot of candy...

The boys were beyond excited when they figured out that the candy was there for them to take!

Ben figured out quickly that if he stood on someone's porch long enough, he would get more candy... either because the person thought he was so cute or because they forgot he had gotten one already! This smart little boy ended up coming home with more candy than his brother because of his little trick...

They got this whole trick or treating business down quickly! By the second house, daddy didn't even have to walk them to the door...

The boys are usually skittish about going up to people they don't know, but apparently, not if the strangers are holding a big bowl of candy...

Now those are happy faces!

Mommy (wearing her bright orange pants that only comes out of the closet once a year) and her two little monkeys making their way down the street...

Quick stop for a picture... looks like Bryce is anxiously eyeing his next candy stop!

Wait for me!

I love this picture...

"Hmmm, what do I have in there?"

They both stopped infront of someone's house to check out their loot...

When we got home, we told the boys they could each pick out one piece of candy. They both picked out a red Twizzler. Here's Bryce trying desperately to get the Twizzler out of the wrapper...

This was the first time they ate a Twizzler, so they took their first few bites slowly...

Bryce was already picking out his next treat...

Dad brought out big plastic bowls to dump all the candy into...

The boys decided they didn't like Twizzlers, so we let them trade it in for something else. Bryce picked a roll of Smarties and Ben picked a lollipop.

Bryce's reaction when daddy took away his big bowl of candy to store away for the night...

Yum... much better than that red waxy thing!

Bryce felt the same way about his Smarties...

Ben still enjoying his lollipop...

Bryce traded some of his Smarties for a few licks of Ben's lollipop...

Ben was relieved to get his lollipop back...

Sugaring up the boys right before bed...

Ben feeding his brother Smarties...

After all the Smarties and lollipop were eaten, the boys shared a cup of water to hopefully dilute some of that sugar in their system!

We finally got them in the bathtub, and I guess all that walking made Ben want to lay back and soak in the warm water... he even asked me to cover him with a towel. :)

It was a great Halloween night! I wonder what they'll dress up as next year?!

Oh, just one last pic... this was taken a few days before Halloween. The boys were having fun coloring pumpkins in the backyard.