Fall Fun

I seriously think I say this every single year, but this year it seems to be more true than ever. The fall has flown by.  It feels like yesterday we were starting the new school year, Jacob in first grade and Jonah in the Get Set room.  Now here we are, just a few short days away from Thanksgiving!

The boys are growing like crazy both physically and in their sweet personalities.  Jacob is truly "all boy" and loves pretending and being silly.  He's still the more serious of the two.  He's doing great in school and loves first grade.  He particularly likes playing and talking with his friends (which sometimes gets him in trouble, like his momma!).  I still love having him at school with me and checking in with him at times throughout the day.  I love knowing that everyone is watching out for him and I have seen that school family come into play when he has gotten hurt on the playground and I had no less than four people tell me and offer watch my class while I checked on him.  Seriously the best blessing to being a teacher at his school!  Jonah is 2 1/2 now and is such a sweet and funny little boy!  He's got the GREATEST laugh ever and loves to make people smile!  While we've experienced more of the "terrible twos" with Jonah and he's certainly more strong willed than his big brother, we also see such a joyful spirit in him.  They love each other hard and fight hard!

Even though school and work has been keeping us particularly busy this fall, we've worked hard to add in plenty of fun!  We love the cooler weather the fall brings and seasonal activities that give us memories we know we'll remember forever!

Every year since Jacob was born, we've visited The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm in Celina.  We decided to go on a Friday after school this year and it was the best decision we've made!  The weather was on the warm side, but the farm wasn't over crowded (and we didn't have to wake up early on a Saturday!).  Jonah is the perfect age for all of these activities, he's getting really "into" them and is just the cutest! Jacob is now old enough to remember years past and anticipate the fun!

Next up was the annual Fall Festival at church.  It's held on the Wednesday night before Halloween which can be tricky with work and we were all pretty exhausted, but again, it's something we've attended since Jacob was born.  The boys loved putting on their costumes and playing the fun games that were set up!  Jacob wanted to be a pirate (I think his costume is actually a "buccaneer"- same thing, right?) so I bought the cutest parrot costume for Jonah.  WELL, he was having NONE of it!  Luckily, we had Jacob's triceratops costume from when he was almost three and Jonah was in love!

This sweet little girl was in the girl version of the buccaneer costume, so of course we had to snap a picture!

The night before Halloween we decided to finally carve our large pumpkin.  This year, Jacob drew the face on the pumpkin with a Sharpie and then daddy cut.  It was the cutest pumpkin face I've ever seen!

We absolutely loved having Halloween on a Friday this year!  Jacob and I headed off to school while Jonah stayed home with daddy.  Then, after school Mim and Poppa came over for a quick dinner before we headed out to trick or treat.  The boys had so much fun!!!  Jonah loved going and "visiting" the neighbors and really got into say "Trick or treat!", sometimes so much that he forgot to actually get the candy!

The Friday after Halloween, our school had a Superhero theme dance party.  Our theme this year is Superheroes, so we've had fun buying new tshirts and wearing capes!  We all got dressed in our Superhero gear and headed up to school for an evening of dancing and snacks!  It was such a fun night-Jacob had fun seeing all of his friends, I love seeing my students outside of school hours and Jonah loved charming everyone!!

I love Jonah's "cheese!" smile!!!

He really does look up to his big brother!

Dancing with his first grade friends!

Thriller!

The fall season may have been stressful, chaotic and exhausting but it's so important to enjoy the little things.  These boys are going to be all grown up before I know it and these days of simple fun will be gone.  It's easy to get caught up in the day to day stuff, but I have learned now more than ever the importance of putting that all aside and having some fun!!

First Grade!!!

After an amazing summer, we were all actually really excited to get back in the swing of things and start school.  Jacob loves school but he was definitely a little nervous about first grade.  Thursday before school started, Nathan brought the boys up to school for meet the teacher and when I talked with Jacob afterwards he said (about his teacher), "I knew I had seen her in the halls before!!".  At that point, he was feeling a little better but was still anxious to see what friends he would have in class.

Monday morning came bright and early and I got to work at 7 o'clock.  Nathan finished getting the boys ready (it was Jonah's first day in his new classroom, too!) and brought them up to school. Luckily, they came to my classroom before heading down the hall to first grade so I was able to give him one last boost of confidence.

The week was busy and exhausting for all of us, but Jacob had a great time!  He loooooves his teacher and I know it's going to be such a great challenge for him!  I say it time and time again, but I am so blessed to work at his school.  I love seeing him at assemblies and randomly in the hallway.  I also love knowing his teacher and being able to touch base with her to see how he's doing!

The fall season is one of our favorites, with lots of fun things to do!  Now we just need the temperature to drop!!!

The Sunday before school started, we met the Cooleys at the club for a special back to school brunch.  These boys love handing out and playing outside when we're done!

Sitting at his desk (he was so excited to have his own desk instead of a table like in Kindergarten) and ready to learn!  Too bad you can't see his cute green shorts and gray Converse!!

With his awesome teacher, Mrs. Fanning.  This year, our school theme is Superheroes, so all the teachers wore Superhero tshirts the first day of school.

Are you a cry baby?

Summer Fun

Summer is coming to a close and as always, it flew by far too quickly!  This has probably been one of our best summers to date.  We didn't plan any big vacations, but enjoyed plenty of time around town! 

We spent a LOT of time at the pool...

Ate yummy breakfasts together...

Played games and dress up...

Enjoyed our backyard...

Had Jacob's first sleepover...

Spent the morning at Hawaiian Falls...

And went to the circus!!!

It truly was a fabulous summer!  I am sad to see it end, but also really excited about the new school year and fun fall activities that will be coming up soon!!