Preschool and more...

"Pre-school" started last week and so far the boys really seem to enjoy it. They don't quite have long enough attention spans for some of the activities (such as circle time where they're supposed to sit quietly on the floor during a story or something) but neither do any of the other kids. Over the past week at home, I've been practicing having them sit still and raise their hand to answer a question. They're already doing much better so I don't think it will take them long to get used to the "school" format.

They love getting to spend a few hours with their friends each week, doing fun "games" as they call some of the activities and they really LOVE showing their Daddy the crafts they made when he comes home from work that night! Here are all the kids (and moms) during their first pre-school lesson last week.

Cullen refused to have his picture taken so I only have a "first day of school photo" of Jackson. Don't mind the black eye, it wasn't his first and I'm sure it won't be his last.

Jack really liked the signs from circle time

I must have jinxed the weather with my last post because it rained nearly every single day in September. The first week Sari was here, we actually had record-setting rainfall over 5 days. And as I write this there's thunder booming and torrential rain coming down. Who says it rains more in the Northwest? After living her for 4 years, I seriously have my doubts... Anyways, we filled up our time with indoor activities. Here's a photo of the boys' first time painting with brushes, and they loved it! Cullen got so into it, he wore a hole in his paper!

On one of the few dry days, we drove to the city and got some Good Stuff burgers and fries for dinner and then to the park next to the airport to watch the planes land until it got dark. This is probably one of our favorite things to do and it's free, so we go often.

I got a Groupon voucher to the Playseum in DC so Sari and I took the boys one morning and they played inside for 3 1/2 hours. The cowboy and tractor room was probably their favorite.

As you can see, they wanted to buy pretty much everything at the "farmer's market."

Rockin' out

The two cutest little pizza delivery boys I've ever seen

Showing off their backpacks before pre-school yesterday. They insisted that I take pictures from all angles, but I'll spare you the 20 photos of their backpacks from behind.

Grandma builds great train tracks!

Sari left this morning and we miss her already! She was such a blessing to have around for a few weeks, she took such good care of us all and served us so joyfully. For 3 1/2 weeks, she cooked, cleaned, organized, did the laundry, and drove us everywhere we needed to go. We are so thankful for all of her help, we never could have made it without her! Thank you Sari! We all love you and really appreciate you coming out! Thanks to Grandpa Gary for letting her come out for so long and holding down the fort by himself too!

And now I'll leave you with a funny quote from each of the boys while eating a piece of cake for dessert tonight:

Me: "Jackson, are you excited? Are you going to eat a lot of cake?"

Jack: "YEAH! Mine have a big piece of cake.... Cullen eat a little piece."

Cullen was finished with his piece and scraping the frosting off his plate so I picked the the towel to wipe him off. He turned to me, frowned, waved his arm at me and said angrily "Go away Mommy! I eating cake!"