Like, totally the best!

Finally!  It looks like I am able to load pictures again...

Valentine's Day brought a brief moment of brotherly love that has become less frequent at our house over the years.  It made me nostalgic....

Jack Huggy Face

Harry Huggy Face

The first notice

Sweet smooches

While missing Daddy who was working

Jack would launch himself at Harry when they were about two

Harry was not a fan at first

At some point Harry decided he didn't mind it too much

Harry Huggy Face, circa 2006

Precious moments, because they became more rare....circa 2010

Hug Song by Zia Mohajerjasbi

The ghouls all came from their humble abodes

The boys' school had their annual Halloween party tonite - somehow the one week always does us in, but we got close on Harry's costume and finished Jack's...with a few minutes to spare!

this is about 1/3 of the cars that were decorated with tricks and treats.

Harry decided he wanted to go as a shopping mall this year, and at the last minute we thought of the mall cop additions. He was bummed that we didn't finish the top floor fountain, but it will happen....

At some point, he decided to have fun

I got a lot of shots from the back, so it's good they were finished - Dean made Jack that cool guitar from an axe, and Harry will finish off his parking deck with a ramp up his right sleeve. Luckily, they have about 4 more opportunities to don their duds.

They look like giants in this picture!

Happy Boo To You!

Bobby "Boris" Picket's Monster Mash

Love TrainS

Happy Valentine's Day

to you and the ones you love

The O'Jays

Just another night

Dean is home and all is right with our world tonite.
The boys enjoying their 'working dinner'. It seems like they come home with a whole new vocabulary of working types of phrases from school like this and 'finish-up folder' and a whole lotta others I can't remember at the moment. One of Harry's favorite is 'working ___' - he will seem to do just about anything if I phrase it just right ;-)

You may remember these Valentine's mailboxes that the boys made a few years ago. Jack came up with a brilliant, sweet idea this year. He and Harry put special notes and pictures in the mailboxes for us, and we do the same for them. You always know there's a little bit of love in the box when the flag is up....
......looks like a little sweet for our sweeties!

I try to keep things picked up, but I can't complain too much when the 'mess' is stacks of books they are enjoying. It's been a mix of fiction and non-fiction lately, and they are really enjoying their reading club at school. It's the first time they have been in a real learning environment together - we'll see how it goes. My hopes go out to their teachers that it goes well!

Jack has had a real struggle this week with being too talkative and interrupting. If have no idea where he gets that :blush:, let alone the fact that he gets a double dose! It's been quite a while since he's had a 'yellow day' which means his teacher had to warn him about his behavior....he's had TWO this week, so he wrote his teacher this email:

Let's hope the self-control kicks back in soon! He's awfully sweet, so I have faith
Cat Stevens

Santa, please, will you help me

We are in full-on Christmas mode, and I found two of the biggest little helpers today

Jack was ready to demonstrate their new aprons....Dean will be happy to see the remote control pocket...sort of mans up the apron, right??

Jack's all over the helping right now - cards will be arriving with various Jack-isms...writing, stamping, address labeling. Please know that he spent as much time choosing the exact-right label as I did writing ;-)

Harry also pitched in, but mostly just modeled his gappy smile and sang carols to us as we worked .... he noticed the second top tooth is loose, so guess what he's been humming all day. He thinks it's great that he won't have to change the lyrics if he loses both teeth before Christmas.

He was the first to notice the snow this morning and immediately said "We must stop SCHOOL from coming...but how?" They've both memorized the Grinch and apply him whenever possible.

This last picture reminded me of one of when they first started using the computer way back when

Toni Braxton's Santa Please

Welcome Christmas, come this way!

Well, it's finally December and guess who's excited!?
I found the Santa hats, and they had at it

They both won their class spelling bees this week, so a little Grinchly trophies seemed in order. They will compete against each other and the entire school 12/16....that should be fun!

They were a little bit happy :-)

Jack doing his best Grinch impersonation...

....and our gappy-toothed Harry with his very own Max!

The (original) Grinch Movie

When you wish on a load of hay

Our neighborhood has a hayride every year, some number of trailers filled with kiddies - they cover the entire neighborhood, stopping at either the entry to a cul-de-sac (there is a bit of a competition for best party) and specific houses that really get into the spirit of things. It's a blast, but I learned this year that when they first started it, there was only one trailer of kids and the second trailer carried the parents....it's good exercise now, but I'm thinking the party ride might have been fun too ;-) Dean had to leave for a business trip, so Aunt Jackie came along and lent a hand with the corraling of kiddies

They do approach things differently

Leaving the wonderful Mrs. R's house, always the first stop

Harry ended up with as much straw in his bucket as in his costume

Jack and Joe mid-transform

Mass exodus at one of the houses

Jack and Aunt Jackie en route

Harry is forever showing us the way, still our Human Garmin

The Harvey Girls' Hayride

Someone's In The Kitchen With MOMMY - Halloween edition

Jack has been my go-to kitchen helper lately, and he did a great job helping make these Halloween tortilla chips (we followed the recipe but added oil before popping in the oven and found that salting them before cooking made them even yummier!
Apparently, watched chips DO brown ;-)

Harry was invited to a shindig down the road, and he wished everyone a Happy Halloween with the chips

and thought a pile of leaves at the end of a big slide was a great idea! Thanx for including us in the spookfest, Kirsten and crew :-)

It was a busy day, because our cul-de-sac decided to party the nite before the hayride - great call, Dana and Colette - we had a wonderful time despite the fact that none of the pix came out well.

The boys have had an on-going love fest with Mrs. Shaeon, who spoils them rotten. This was their 2010 haul, but the hugs were their favorite part!

Thanx to everyone who helped us have a great Halloween! Next year, the party's on at our house :-)

Nat King Cole's Someone's In The Kitchen With Dinah

And sat on the elephant’s trunk

The boys' school does a Trunk-or-Treat event every year, and Harry's teachers have been nice enough to pose with him every year....

The lovely Mrs. W won the teacher costume contest this year

and last year's teacher brought her sweet baby boy to pose with our sweet Harry this year....

and last, when B was still baking.

My three favorite treats!

Jack and Harry both loved the table Erin's family made, complete with all sorts of fun and spooky experiments

The boys and I enjoyed the Hay Ride around the track

Laurie Berkner's Animal Fair