I Don't Want to Forget

I don't want to forget how Cannon loves his yellow wagon and pulls that thing around everywhere.  Today he helped me haul weeds in it.  He also pulled Colson all over the neighborhood!

I don't want to forget how good it feels to be outside on a cool, fall day.  We haven't had the chance to spend much time outside so it was great to get out, do some yard work and breath in the fresh air!

I don't want to forget how great it feels to sit on the couch and relax.  I rarely do that and was able to for the last few laps of the Daytona 500 this afternoon.

I don't want to forget how simple projects around the house make a huge difference.  I feel overwhelmed by all we want to accomplish to improve the house so remembering to take it one thing at a time is important.  Chris painted the door from the garage into the house, put the left over tiles we had down on the steps and some finished it with some trim.  It looks so good.

I don't want to forget how the boys love to play on our bed.  Tonight they were standing on one end, counting and then jumping...landing on their faces to the other side.  The laughter was so wonderful to hear and brings smiles to our faces!

I don't want to forget how Cannon absolutely loves bread sticks.  I had bought some to go with the Navy Bean Soup I made today and Cannon ate 3 1/2 breadsticks.  One with honey, one with jam and the 1/2 of one plain!

I don't want to forget how poor Colson's nose ran all day long and every time he looked at me, he would say, "Nose."  I'd give it a wipe and he'd continue to play.

I don't want to forget how Cannon is doing such a fabulous job with his reading.  He made a video tonight and watched himself a couple of times.  I love that HE loves to read!

I don't want to forget how much I appreciate Chris when he helps put the kids to bed.  I finally have some time to myself!  LOL!

Enjoying every moment!

A Mishmash of Photos From Today

Fun morning out with Heather and her boys.
Trip to Enumclaw.
A little play time.
A cold walk to get frozen yogurt.
Love, love, love frozen yogurt.  It's Cannon's favorite and mine!

Playtime outside...

Eating edamame...Colson and I ate half of the bag!

Cannon in his new Huskies hat.  You can't really see the hat however!  I love this kid so very much!

Enjoying every moment!

100 Day

Today Cannon and his classmates celebrated 100 Day!

Cannon came home with an AWESOME hat that he wore all evening.  He also made some great 100 Day glasses.  I also found a cool 100 Day coloring activity in his Friday Folder, too.

Each student in the EK class brought in 100 items which were all laid out around the room.  The students took a 'gallery walk' and then wrote about their favorite items.  Cannon's were 100 rocks and 100 jelly beans!

Cannon decided to make a book with pictures of 100 fingers.  He took many of the pictures himself.  Then I put each photo on a page and Cannon wrote the names and the numbers.  He worked hard on it and the end product turned out pretty good!

When I asked Cannon about the day, he talked and talked and talked.  He said Audrey's dad helped with the hats.  That Oliver and Devin brought in Lego creations for their 100 items and Annabelle brought in the rocks.  For snack they got a carrot and 2 cookies, which they made into the number 100 before eating.

These special days are what the kids remember.  Yes, they work hard at reading, writing and math in isolation.  But the memories from celebrations like 100 Day stick with them.  And yes, embedded in the celebration is learning which includes reading, writing and math. :)  Thank you to Mrs. Jewell for creating so many special moments for the Early Kindergarten kids!

Enjoying every moment!

Proud

Proud.  

That is a feeling Chris and I feel daily when it comes to Cannon and Colson.  

They do things almost by the moment that we oohh and aahhh over.  

Today, I was surprised when the door to my classroom opened mid-morning and Cannon walked in.  He has his reading with him and wanted to read to us.  So he put his paper up on the document camera and read aloud to the entire 4th grade class.  It was so darn cute!  The 4th graders all clapped for him and then gave him high fives his the way out.  I could see on Cannon's face just how proud he was.  Yes, he's comfortable in my room and he knows some of the kids.  But to be in front of the room reading aloud is a challenge for many, especially a 5 year old who is reading to 10 year olds!  However Cannon didn't blink an eye and did fabulous! 

Also tonight Cannon put together a 25 piece puzzle by himself.  He is a perfectionist and puzzles have been more challenging because it takes trial and error.  Cannon wants to do things right the first time.  (Just like me!)  But tonight he was focused and patient and determined.  He worked hard and kept at it and used the cover to help him. So cool!

The most important lesson about Cannon's accomplishments is that he was proud of himself.  We don't want Cannon to do things for us...we want him to do things because he wants to.  We want him to have a mindset of growth and continuous learning throughout life. We want him to always be proud of himself and how hard he works!

(However WE ARE very proud!)

Enjoying every moment!

The Weekend Lens

We are currently still on our short, 4-day Mid-Winter break.  It's only four days but it sure is nice to have those extra days.  It makes for nice, easy, relaxing days knowing that you don't have to be in a rush to get things accomplished before the work week starts up again.

Friday was beautiful and we were busy most of the day.  We ran errands, spent an hour up at school and then the boys had pictures taken up in Buckley.  They both did a fabulous job and I am looking forward to seeing the results!

In the afternoon, Cannon had Brayden over for a couple of hours and they spent the entire time outside.  The sun was just to wonderful NOT to be outside.  Colson didn't want to nap, either!  I didn't blame him.  So we all hung out and soaked up the Vitamin D.

I had lined up a babysitter for the night so Chris and I could go out to dinner but he wasn't feeling to well. So Colson stayed home with him and I took Cannon up to Mrs. Huff's house.  He told me on the ride up that he wasn't going to want to leave when I came to pick him up!  He knew he was going to have a good time!  I spent a couple of hours grocery shopping and wandering the isles at Target.  And Cannon was right.  He didn't want to leave!  His favorite part of the night was flashlight hide-and-seek!

Saturday Cannon and I spent the morning together. We went to play on the toys at the mall and then he was patient with me as I tried to find a few things at Old Navy.  He talked me into a pair of shoes for him!  When did I become such a sucker!?  He had popcorn at Target and we finished off our morning with a trip to the library.  I always have a lot of fun with Cannon!

Colson spent some quality time with Chris at the Swap Meet! (lol!)  Colson was perfect on their outing. The only thing Chris bought was a $20 helmet for Colson.  Colson was so excited and he kept saying, "Happy!"

We also made some marshmallow pops:  yogurt covered marshmallows with sprinkles...and then freeze them. Cannon was my partner in the kitchen and he actually did most of the work.  I put the yogurt on but he did everything else.

Sunday, I spent the morning with Colson. We went to church and Colson went to the 2-year-old class for the first time.  He did great and was sitting at the table eating Goldfish when I came back to get him.  On the way home, we stopped at Winco for a few things and Colson picked out a donut.  He ate half of it before we made it home!  The chocolate was all over his face!

The boys spent some more time outside Sunday but it was cold.  They bundled up and played with the wagon. Colson did get a fat lip when he ran in front of Cannon while he was swinging.  His poor lip was very swollen.  

Cannon watched the movie Annie.  He had seen most of it before, but actually sat and watched the whole thing tonight.  He really enjoyed that and talked about how that was the best part about his day.

I'm forgetting a bunch of things that happened in between all of this!  Lots of playing.  Baths.  Reading.  Bike riding.  3-Wheeler riding.  Chores.  Cooking.  Cleaning.  Laundry.  Staying up too late.  School Work.

Enjoying every moment.

Brothers

The bond that brothers have...even right from the start.  My hope is that this brotherly bond continues throughout their lives and becomes stronger as they get older.   I hope they will always protect each other, be each other's best friend, be there for one another, laugh together, cry together and most importantly love each other.

Cannon helping Colson change out of his jammies.

These two can often be found together.  Cannon is sometimes frustrated to have 'a shadow' but he is also extremely protective of Colson.  

Cannon is helping Colson put his shoes on before we leave for the day.

Love these two boys!
Enjoying every moment.

Valentine's Day

A surprise Valentine gift at the breakfast table for the boys = treats for after breakfast.

A formal Valentine Celebration at school.  The 4th graders planned a nice, sit down 'meal' and practiced good table manners.  They all dressed in nice clothes for the celebration and we sure did make a lot of memories!  I'm still smiling about it!

Flowers delivered to school by Chris...a surprise visit!  And he got to see Cannon in his class, too!

A family movie night.  Cannon and Chris were the only ones who watched the whole entire movie.

Take out for dinner.  No cooking!

A bag full of Valentine's to open from his EK friends.  Cannon loved them all!

Chocolate and candy for pre-dinner AND for dessert.  So not good for you but it tasted so good!

Enjoying every moment!

Special Delivery # 2

Another large package arrived in the mail today!  Colson saw it and immediately said, "emeees" for M & M's because he was remembering what they received in the last package from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson!

Cannon and Colson huddled close together on the floor of the bonus room trying to rip open the envelope.  After a bit of help from me, they managed to get it open and dump out the contents.  "Ohhh!  Ohhhhhhh!" was all I heard....And they were grabbing for the candy treasures that were inside!

Thank you to Auntie Kanga for putting together such a fun package of goodies.  Thank you for thinking of us and for taking the time to send us a treat!  It means so much!  The boys do remember these kinds of things!

Happy Valentine's Day Eve!

Enjoying every moment.

Bathroom Upgrade

Hooray!

I hauled Chris (and the boys) to home depot Saturday morning and we picked out some things for a couple of home improvement jobs.  Two out of the three were accomplished!

The first one was easy.  Chris laid the cheap tile under the kitchen sink and it looks so much better!  The floor under there had some water spots and stains and I hated the 'cover' I had under there.  So I cleaned everything out and it took him about 10 minutes from start to finish.  I know. I'm excited by the simple things!

The second project took both weekend days and turned out, as always, to be more difficult than initially expected.  We picked out a new counter top, sink, faucet and back splash for the kids bathroom upstairs.  Getting off the old tiles made the work more difficult and created another step....sheet rocking the part where the old tiles were since taking them off destroyed the old sheet rock.  Also the back splash that came with the new counter tops wasn't as tall as the old back splash, so on trip number three to Home Depot, Chris picked out a new back splash.  He finished everything up this afternoon and it looks fabulous!

The third project never got started and will be ongoing...painting the interior doors black.  We'll start with one and see how it looks.

Thank you Chris for all of your hard work!  I know all of MY ideas include ALL of the work done by you!  You're the best!

Enjoying every moment!

Some Thoughts From Saturday

The silverware kept Colson busy and out of trouble for long enough for me to clean up the kitchen after dinner.  Thank goodness!

I look forward to looking through Cannon's Friday Folder each week.  I love to see the work that comes home and am always so proud of his learning and hard work!

Colson and I....he really was okay with me taking pictures, but it looks like he is not happy about it!

Today I finished Cannon's Valentine's.  He sat down last night and wrote his name on all of them.  I put the hearts on today.

 Cannon spent some time at Claire's last night and she taught him how to sew.  He sewed on some old fabric she had and...of course....loved all of the knobs and especially the pedal!

Colson had some "emmeees" as he calls them.  (M & M's)

A picked up room can go from clean to a disaster in the blink of an eye.  Colson's trains....

Today we started some home improvement projects.  A couple simple ones were finished but Chris still has to work on the backsplash in the upstairs bathroom.  I love the new countertop, sink and faucet!

Enjoying every moment.

Special Delivery

The boys got a package in the mail today from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson!
A special delivery for Valentine's Day!

Cannon got to cut open the big envelope and when they dumped it out....

They each got their own cards and along with the cards was a big bag of Valentine M & M's!
Colson was so excited about the M & M's.  He kept saying, "Ohhhhh!"

Cannon cut open the bag of M & M's and poured a handful for Colson and one for him.
Colson lined up all of his and was 'counting' them.  He gets the numbers but not usually in order!

Such exciting times!
Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Anderson!

Enjoying every moment.