Halloween 2010

We had a great time trick-or-treating this year. I thought Shane would just go to a few houses, but he was having so much fun walking up to each door, taking the piece of candy, and then dropping it in his bag. Then he would walk back down the driveway and follow his brothers to the next house. He even willing wore the hood of his costume even though it was 80 degrees outside.

Cooper was "Bumblebee" a transformer

Shane was a giraffe.

Ian was "Optimus Prime" a transformer

 

Belt Test

Last weekend the boys took their belt tests for tae kwon do. Ian was testing for his green belt and Cooper for his orange. One of the parts of the ceremony is to break a board. Here is a video of the boys breaking their boards.




Both boys passed their tests.


Ian didn't want his picture taken

Goodbye

We have a morning ritual here that has become my favorite part of the day. I never thought I would look forward to anything in the morning, but watching Shane wave goodbye to the bus puts a smile on my face no matter how tired I am. Then when the bus drives off, Shane walks back inside. Once, Chris tried to stay and talk to our neighbors and Shane walked back and started pushing him towards the house. Here is the video of Shane this morning and hopefully it puts a smile on your face too.

Loose Tooth

Last night Cooper complained that his teeth hurt. I didn't think much of it, but when he continued to complain this morning I decided to investigate. Turns out he has his first loose tooth! He is very, very excited!

Translation: "I loose a tooth. It wiggles a little"

Ian

Ian is now 9 years old and will be in 3rd grade next year. His favorite part of the school day is recess and gym. His favorite academic subject is math and I am often blown away by how quickly he picks up new, difficult subjects. He loves to play and watch sports. His favorite is football, but instead of being a Miami Dolphin fan like his dad, he is a Minnesota Viking fan. It was Atlanta Falcons, but somewhere during the 2009 season he switched. Ian plays flag football, baseball, and tae kwon do.


He is also involved in cub scouts. This year, Ian and Chris got to spend the night on the Lexington. They both had a terrific time looking at all of the planes and seeing the ship.



Ian continues to be enthusiastic about the things he loves. He loves to listen to music and thanks to Band Hero has moved beyond Dog Train. He loves that he can go on my iphone and download songs. I am not sure he really appreciates the joy I had as a child of carrying a walkman around with a case of tapes. Ian can be very helpful now with Shane by watching him and keeping him out of trouble.

Socks

Two weeks ago, Ian took a pair of Chris's socks and decided he needed them to sleep. Soon after Cooper thought it was only fair if he had some of his dad's socks to sleep with. So now before bed each night we have to search around the boys beds for their beloved socks.
It has been a week since I first wrote this post and I am happy to report that the obsession with the socks seems to have worn off although they still do sleep with them at night.

Nine years two months twenty-four days

This is how long it has taken for me to hear the words "I hate you" from one of my children. These words were uttered in anger and frustration. I signed Ian and Cooper up for two weeks of a swim summer camp. Week 1 went fine, but today was day 1 of week 2 and Ian did not want to go. Camps here are usually only one week long so if you sign up for two sessions you probably will have different people in your camp the second week. This was too much for Ian to handle and according to Ian camp "cut into all of his fun time". Little does he know that if he doesn't go to camp tomorrow he will be running errands with Shane and me. I just need to show him that camp is the fun option.