Batman

It was finally cold enough for Ben to wear his batman jacket. And that has resulted in lots of lots of photo sessions outside - per Ben's request.

More Mae

This next picture is the reason I can't have the dishwasher open for even a minute if Mae is around. And I definitely can't turn my back on it when it is!!

Thanksgiving

The day before Thanksgiving Ben's PreK class had a parade and football game (their class against the other PreK class). They had been practicing for the football game for a month and singing their cheer ("We are the gold team, the mighty might gold team...") over and over and over for that whole month! I have zero idea who won the game but it was cute to watch. Ben spent most of the game not paying any attention and happily running randomly around the field.

Ben October & November

At the end of October Bens school had a harvest festival with a pretend farm where they milked a pretend cow, collected fruit, etc. They also had a petting zoo and hay ride.
This next shot is Ben with his end of season soccer trophy.
Mae was wanting to go in the weagon, Benjamin was wanting to go on his bike.....so that resulted in Sam tying the wagon to the bike and Ben pulling her around the block.
The below picture is why we don't do parks very frequently. At least not until Mae stops eating everything!
We did a playdate at a park with Ben's friend Pierce and Mae had a wonderful time following the boys around (and eating woodchips).

Halloween

Ben was home sick the day of Halloween. However, even with a fever he still seems to have energy so he & I made a paper mache monster to display.
By night time his fever had broken so he & Mae went out trick or treating. Here in AZ since it's so gorgeous out everyone tends to just camp on the driveway to hand out the candy so I was planning to do that with Mae. Mae did not like that plan at all and just wanted to take off and follow all the children walking around. So she went trick or treating with Sam & Ben (and some of our neighbors) instead :)

Ben's Glasses

Benjamin has been randomly going cross eyed for the past few months. We didn't think too much of it, assuming he was doing it on purpose. Then in late September his left eye crossed and stayed that way for a week. Earlier in the year we'd taken him to the optometrist and were told his eye sight was fine. When it crossed for the week, we went again and were told he was slightly farsighted, but not enough to cause his eyes to cross and we needed to take him to a specialist. After a month of worry and lots of prayer, we got our appointment with the ophthalmologist and were told that while it's rare for such a weak prescription to cause his eyes to cross, it was the reason for Ben (accommodative esotropia). So Benjamin now has 2 pairs of glasses and we have only had 1 eye crossing incident for the past month of him wearing them. He also never fights wearing them as he is so happy to not see double any more and he proudly tells the kids that ask that he wears them so that he doesn't go cross eyed :)

You can see his crossed eyes in this picture where he is demonstrating his 'spinner'. These spinners are inventions the boys make at his pre-k class and he talks about them ALL the time. They build them, spin them, and crash into the others.
This next pair are his sports glasses. He picked them out himself.

Mae - October & November

The following are just random photos of Mae for October and November.

Mae - 1 Year

I am so very glad Mae is 1 and I can be DONE taking monthly photos. I've decided this was not my best idea :) Trying to get her to sit still in the chair for photos just became more and more impossible as she got older. So these were my best attempts for her 1 year:
I also had to post a 1 month old photo to show how much she's grown & changed:
At her 1 year checkup Mae weighed in at 18lbs (5th percentile) and was 30" tall (75%). Her low weight constantly surprises us as she eats as well and as much as her brother did at that age. In fact if we don't have her breakfast ready fast enough she will scream at us until we start shoveling it into her mouth. She has 4 molars in, 4 top front teeth, 2 bottom front teeth and is working on a 3rd. She has progressed from walking to running - especially if she thinks she has something she shouldn't have and you are coming to get it. Or if she sees the dog lying down. She just loves to run over and climb up onto Maully's back as though she is a horse. Our poor old dog just lies there and sighs. Her other favorite activities are going through the house and dumping/making a mess of anything she can find (and she's fast at it!!! We have had to child proof cupboards we never had to for Ben) and chewing anything in sight. She doesn't swallow the items, but if she can fit it in her mouth (dirt, rocks, crayons, pens, batteries, bens toys, toilet paper, carpet pad from under our rug, etc) she will and just walk around chewing on it. We have given up removing a lot of the items and have just decided to accept it.

Mae's 1 Year Birthday Party

So I figured I had better catch up with blog posts before Christmas comes and I get even more behind!! For Mae's 1 year birthday we just celebrated as a family. Benjamin chose the cake (ice cream of course!), helped make it and decorate it, he helped decorate the house (table) and wrap her gifts. He was VERY excited for her!! Which was a good thing since she didn't care too much about the gifts - just wanted to eat them and the wrapping :) She did love the cake Ben made!

Splash Pad

So I have finally caught up in the blog and this post the activities really DID occur in October. Our weather has still been hitting triple digits so Sunday evening we took the kids to a local splash pad. It was the 1st time for Mae and she just loved it!
The following 3 pictures are of Ben just being Ben :) It is so fun to watch that boy sometimes living happily in his own world!

Preschool Year 2

Since there is no JK in the states, Benjamin is going to pre-k for 1 more year. We are sending him to the same school (Bethany Learning Center) and he just loves it! They had a "Welcome to my world" 1 Friday morning where the parents could come in and stay in the classroom so I left Mae with the neighbors and went to school with my boy. I had a wonderful time seeing him play with his friends he talks about all the time, and following the teachers rules and instructions so well!