Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Preschool Photos & Artwork: 2yr Class, 1st Semester

The boys finished their first semester of preschool right before Christmas break. They're really enjoying school, even though they still don't like the "separation" part in the mornings at drop off! I was so happy when Mrs. Kenton shared these pictures of the boys with me because I've always wondered what the boys love to do in class!

I was told they really like the kitchen set, so much so that the teachers have had to take it out of class a few times when they need the boys to focus on something else!


Oh oh, it looks like they've tricked Mrs. Kenton and Mrs. Davis into letting them keep their pacis! I'm not looking forward to breaking them of the pacis this summer, which is when I plan to do it... and potty training too!


I was also told that the boys do much better when they don't sit next to each other during lunch... I believe that because I sometimes have to push their dining chairs away from each other at home! 


So cute!! The boy on the left is one of the classmates they play with the most... must be the Asian connection. :)



From the back, it looks like the boys were conspiring to do something, but from the front it looks like Ben is consoling his brother...


Awwww, I think he was consoling his brother...


I send the boys to school in the same style, but different color shoes, so the teachers can tell them apart. But, one day, this bad momma sent them off in shoes that were exactly the same, thinking maybe the teachers can already tell them apart. What was I thinking? Even most of their aunts, uncles, and cousins still can't tell them apart! So, Mrs. Kenton and Mrs. Davis teased me by putting these name tags on the boys' foreheads. So funny!


But, I guess Ben wasn't so amused! :)


I heard that Bryce does not like to sit during lunch time and that the teachers finally just took his chair away because he prefers to eat standing up. Oh, my little trouble maker!


I got a great tip from a "professional organizer" about what to do with all the boys' cute artwork that get sent home regularly. She told us to take a picture of each piece of artwork, create one photo book at the end of each school year displaying that year's artwork, keep the favorites in one large manilla envelope for each school year, and then throwing away the rest. So, one day, we can hand down the stack of manilla envelopes and photo books to our boys. Such a great idea!

So, this is exactly what I'm doing, with the exception of the photo book part. Instead, I'm just going to do a blog post at the end of each semester displaying all their artwork from that semester. Here are the boys' first semester artwork from their 2-year class...

This was the very first item that came home in their backpacks! So simple, but it nearly made this proud and sappy momma cry!


A is for apple... (Didn't get one from Ben of the one on the left. I guess he wasn't in the mood to color that day.) I love the apple people on the right!


Apple paintings and animal stamps...


The letter B...


More pretty paintings...


The number 1...


Cow puppets...


The letter D...


Learning circles...


The next few are from Thanksgiving...




Learning about Noah's Ark...


The number 3 and letter G...


This made me giggle!


This made me tear up!


Got them to model these for me!


Hand print turkeys...


More artwork from the holidays...


History of the candy cane...

 The letter I...


Ben was home sick that day...


More modeling pics!


This one made me outright cry! (Be sure to read the words on the red piece of paper. ) Daddy hung these up on the Christmas tree...


We display some of their artwork on the wall in their playroom. Can't wait to see what second semester brings!



Monday, January 9, 2012

1 Weekend... 3 Birthday Parties!

This past weekend, the boys attended 3 fun birthday parties...2 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday! The first party was at the Gymboree gym in Plano to celebrate their friend Atley's second birthday. Once again, I apologize for the blurry pictures. They were all taken with an iPhone!


Their buddy Sam was also at Atley's party...


Here is the adorable birthday boy being helped by his beautiful mommy, who is due to deliver Atley's baby brother just two weeks away!


Cute Benjamin just chillin'...


I was excited to get the three amigos in one picture, even though none of them were looking and I only got Sam's back. But, that's okay!


Here's daddy watching Bryce walk across the bridge, and Sam's mommy standing next to Atley's mommy on the right...


Time to eat! The boys were so excited when they saw the Thomas the Train theme!


We had to leave Atley's party early so we wouldn't be too late to cousin Claire's birthday dinner, which actually started the same time as Atley's party. Luckily, we got there before cake time! Here is my beautiful niece who has grown up way too fast...


Claire's momma was sad that the penguin cupcakes she made didn't turn out the way they were supposed to. She said the blue gooey stuff on top of the chocolate icing was supposed to be "ice" for the penguins to stand on. Oh well, they were still cute anyway!


And, it certainly didn't stop the boys from eating them!


Bryce and the birthday girl...


Of course, the boys wanted to help Claire open her presents, and she was sweet to let them...


The boys had a great day and were exhausted by the time we got home that night, which was way after their usual bedtime!


The next day, we got to enjoy another fun afternoon at the Gymboree in Allen for their pal Winston's third birthday party! I have known Winston's dad since the 6th grade!


Benjamin, the maracas hoarder! When I showed him this picture earlier today, he said, "I got too many." :)


Here's the birthday boy climbing the big "pole" and jumping into the "barrel" with the help of his mom and dad...


Bryce's turn...


Our little fireman...


Looks like the boys are in jail...


I think playing with the musical instruments was their favorite part...


Parachute time! There's Winston's proud daddy on the right taking pictures of his birthday boy...


The boys definitely enjoyed the bubbles, too...


Winston stopped popping bubbles for a few seconds to look closely at Bryce's face... not sure why, but it was sure cute to watch!


Cake time! Of course, the boys were too occupied with their juice boxes to watch Winston blow out his candles. :)