Back to School

The boys started their first day of school on Tuesday. Not only was it their first day, it was at a totally new school. They did great. Greg and I both took them and they marched right in and said bye to the both of us happily - no tears or hesitation. It has been a long week for them, they aren't used to being at school every day, so by the end of the week they were tired and grumpy. I think they are going to like it just fine and their school director is very impressed by the both of them. We're spending this weekend staying close to home and not doing too much. They are taking a nap right now and have both been asleep for at least 2 hours - they need it.


They do such a great job humoring me for pictures - this is the 2nd annual first day of school picture, many more to come.

Walking into their new school.

First day of school last year. At that time, I rarely could get them together for a picture - they are alot more cooperative now.

I start teaching on Monday. I'll have one class of World Civilizations (World History minus Europe) and one class of Geography. Greg and I brought my teaching stuff up from the basement today. When I stopped teaching, I was on maternity leave and my mom and I spent as little time as possible tearing down my classroom and throwing everything into boxes. I'm glad I didn't throw anything out, but I also hadn't thought I would teach again. However, while I was going through the boxes today, I was getting more excited about getting back in the classroom and teaching. I love being a counselor, but I also really liked teaching - hopefully this will give me the best of both worlds and not turn out to be more than I can handle. I tend to thrive on pressure and stress, so I think I'll be fine - I'll let you know in a few weeks.

Active Weekend and New School

We have spent our Labor Day weekend doing fun family stuff with the boys. On Saturday, we took them to a nearby farm in Longmont where they could do all sort of neat outdoorsy things. They got to feed the goats, ride a pony, play in a treehouse, swing on tire swings, have a picnic with chickens swarming around us, and wade in a little pond. They had a really good time and it was a great activity because it was shaping up to be a whiny day.
Today we rode the train downtown and went to the Taste of Colorado. The boys are always up for a train ride and they even got to ride a bus. They had a great time and behaved themselves. I think I visited more porta-potties today with them than I have in my whole life combined - but they did great with that, as well. They even got to go through a giant inflatable obstacle course, which was their highlight of the day. They were so worn out they took a nice long nap when we got home. Tomorrow we're hoping to hit the pool for the last time this summer.


Picnic with chickens and roosters.

Ryan on a pony - he loved it and was willing to get right on, which surprised us.

Ryan was fascinated with this old tractor.

Luke feeding a goat, he told us, "he is so cute."

Luke on the treehouse bridge.

The boys in the wading pond. They both fell in and I was glad to have brought an extra change of clothes along with us.

I was hoping for a cute picture of the boys with the capitol in the background. But Luke let go of his balloon (he wouldn't let us tie it around his wrist) and Ryan wanted to watch it go up.

Ryan eating fried alligator - he liked it.

Ryan's first picture of a car.

This is what happens when the boys don't take a nap at their grandparents house. They fell asleep shortly after we left and we decided to leave the doors open and let them sleep when we got home - I think they stayed in there for about an hour.

I'll be working full time starting on Tuesday, so Greg and I spent part of Wednesday and Thursday last week visiting daycares/preschools. The one on Wednesday was ok and I think the boys would have been fine there, it was a daycare with a preschool during part of the day - but it really felt more like a daycare. We really liked their school last year and I was hoping to find something more like that (but with hours that will fit my schedule). On Thursday we went to a Montessori school. I knew a little about Montessori and its philosophy based on education classes in college, so I've been intrigued with that idea. We both really liked it. It is different - Montessori schools are really calm and student-directed. It also "teaches" more at the student's ability/interest level. Classes are multi-aged, which I think will be good for both boys. There is a lot of play, but it is play through work (doing fun tasks that the individual student is interested in). They'll start on Tuesday and I'm hoping that we will all really like it.

Below a video of Luke reading to Ryan. He isn't actually reading the book, he has it memorized. Both boys like Luke reading it to Ryan, rather than one of us reading it to him.

Changes are Coming

The boys are now home with us. They had a great week with Nana and Grandad and seeing their cousins in Lubbock, TX - but they are glad to be home. I was able to take them to the Bounce House yesterday and it was the first time I've been able to sit and read a book while they played. However, these things are about to change. I'm most likely going to start working full time in the next couple of weeks. The school has had an unexpected increased enrollment (5 teachers were cut at the end of last school year), so classes are going to be added to prevent having classes of 35. I will be teaching part time (2 classes) and counseling the rest of the time. It is not ideal, but I need to work full time, and this is my opportunity to do so. This has all come up very quickly, so I've been scrambling to find a new preschool for the boys. Greg and I will visit a couple in the next few days. I have enjoyed being able to stay home some of the time with the boys the last year and a half, but I'm ready to work full time again, and they will only benefit from a 5 day a week preschool. The good thing is that I don't work late -so I'll only be at school from 7 to 3, which still gives me time to spend with the boys.

Ryan is going to be Harry Potter for Halloween and Luke is going to be Harry's best friend Ron. I've been planning these costumes since before they were born. Mom made their robes while she was here and I made their scarves. I found glasses for Ryan (which are too big-I need to work on that) so now all I need is a Gryfinndor patch and tie and a dress shirt to go with their gray corduroy pants and black shoes. And of course, I still need to find the perfect wands and red hair dye for Luke. Ryan was so excited to try on his glasses. I introduced the first movie to them this summer, so they know who the characters and they're pretty excited about it (they like to say Harry Totter and Ron with a W).



Lastly, 2 videos: The first is of the boys marching with the flutes that we got them in Santa Fe. The second is a clip of the video I took of Greg and I talking to Ryan on Skype. Luke never stops talking when he is home, but Ryan took over talking to us on Skype. It was nice to be able to have conversations with him - it was like his own little forum to communicate.

Potty Trained and Lonely Week

The boys have been delivered safely to Texas for the week. Greg, the boys, my mom and I met my dad in Logan, New Mexico on Sunday to transfer Nana and kids. Greg and I then went to Santa Fe where we stayed the night and enjoyed the town and the drive home yesterday. Now we're home, and I miss them. I worked today, but I'll be home most of tomorrow - so it will really kick in then. However, the quiet is nice, at least for a little while. Greg and I went to dinner tonight and to look at new big boy beds. We're likely going to give their cribs to our friends who are having twin boys, so Ryan and Luke will be so excited to get real beds. We haven't gotten them yet, it will probably be another month or so, but we took advantage of them not being here to go and look.

When we got home tonight we were able to talk to the boys on the computer. They told us what they had for dinner and they sang us a couple of songs. I showed them the shirts I got them today and Ryan said, "Ooh, thank you Mama." Ryan asked for me to be in Lubbock, TX with him, but we told him he would be home in 4 days. Then they started fighting over the chair they were sitting in and Ryan got his feelings hurt and spent the rest of the conversation crying and saying, "Mama."

As the title suggests, I would call the boys potty trained. They stayed completely dry all the way to Lubbock on Sunday and have been since. Nana and Grandad even took them to the mall tonight in underwear. It took a while, but they both have finally gotten it! We are both so proud of them and have been dreaming of this day for long time.

The last soccer game was on Saturday. I think the boys really enjoyed the whole experience. They had a great time playing with other kids and being a part of something. They didn't develop any great soccer skills, but they seemed to love their first team experience.

The all important after game snack - everybody's favorite activity.

Ryan's action shot.

The parent tunnel after the game - this was Luke's favorite thing. He would ask me before the games, "Mama, you make me a tunnel?"

Lastly, the boys getting ready to head to Lubbock in Nana's car. They were strapped in and watching a video and were so done with us telling them goodbye.

Week with Nana

The boys have been hanging out with Nana for the last week while Greg and I have had to work. We will take them and Nana back to Texas on Sunday to spend the week in Lubbock - the boys are so excited to go to Lubbock, TX they can hardly stand it. I've already had a minor panic attack about them leaving, but it is too late now, it would break their hearts if they couldn't go.

Potty training has been going great. Luke has not had an accident in several days and has spent most days in underwear or a pull-up. Ryan has done a good job, too. He has had a few accidents, but it is more due to him not wanting to go when I ask him to (he has control issues). Overall, we may actually have them in underwear by the time their school starts. Fortunately, with Nana already here a week and working with them on this, their week in Lubbock should continue with the same progress.

Pictures from the last week:


The boys spent a few hours at work with me last week. They were so good and played on my computer and with their monster magnets while I worked. It is good to know that they can do that for a couple of hours if I have to do this again in the future.

Our neighbor's sprinkler system broke a few days ago and it created a little river in our backyard for a couple of hours. The boys had the best time running and falling in the water - it was like their own slip and slide.


Papa joined us for the boys' soccer game last week - they liked seeing him there. It wasn't their best game - the other team was actually pretty good (I think all of them must have been almost 5), so the boys and their teammates didn't really get into it.

Ryan and Luke's first soccer team.

I turned in the boys' preschool registration stuff this morning and had to include recent pictures. Mom took these yesterday of them. The other ones are their pictures from last year.



Lastly, a video of the boys singing God Bless America tonight while we were reading books.

Concert, Fireworks and Back to Work

We went to the Littleton Family Night concert on Friday. It was a really good concert with great fireworks at the end. Jonny, Jenny and Thomas joined us and we had a picnic and enjoyed the atmosphere.

Other things going on - I went back to work last week, so that has made things a little more hectic. The boys spent last Wed.-Fri. with their grandparents. I worked half the day today and Greg took off to watch them. My mom gets here tomorrow and will stay for the next week in a half, then the boys will go back with her to Lubbock for a week. Their school doesn't start until after Labor Day, so that takes care of most of August - we'll just have to come up with something the first week in September.

Progress has been made on potty training. We started a new reward/sticker chart system that has really been working. They now spend most of the day in underwear while we're home and they're doing a good job at telling us when they need to go. So maybe they will be ready by the time their school starts. The reward system consists of them earning 5 stars a day for going potty and then they get to go to Target that night to pick out something from the dollar section. Three days in row=ice cream (we went to Cold Stone on Sunday - Luke wanted strawberry ice cream and chocolate syrup and Ryan selected cotton candy ice cream with M&Ms) and 7 days (which will be tomorrow) will another trip to Target to pick out a car. The dollar selections have been funny. The first night, Ryan picked out a toy clock and Luke picked out a small step stool and he called it his table for Ernie (which he also sleeps with). Last night Luke picked out alphabet stickers and a floor mat and Ryan picked out a bottle opener and Palmolive dish soap. Crazy stuff, but it is their choice.

Both boys scored a goal in their last soccer game. Luke helped to assist the other team on scoring another goal on his own team, but then he scored a real one completely on his own. Ryan scored a goal, as well, but it was with a great assist by the one girl on their team who is by far the best player. They were both really proud of themselves.


The boys built houses with their Lego blocks last week.

Luke is more interested in snack and goofing around than playing soccer - but he has fun.

Lastly, a video of Ryan dancing at the concert.

Family Weekend

We've had a good weekend hanging out together and doing stuff with the boys. On Saturday we took the boys on a hike after their soccer game was canceled (due to the rain the night before although it was gorgeous Saturday morning). They had fun running through the tall grass and throwing more rocks into the river, yet again. Today we took the boys to the pool. And at the request of Luke we ate dinner in the backyard both nights.

Luke informed me and Greg today that when he grows up he is going to be a Mama. And then he said that Ryan can be a Daddy. Greg told him to follow his dreams but that he may have to make a trip to Trinidad to make that one happen.

I head back to work this week, so my summer vacation has almost come to an end. I'm actually looking forward to getting back to work and with other adults. It is also easier for me to now to go back after the summer because I work part time, so I get 2 days off during the week. Unfortunately, I don't think potty training is going to be successfully completed before school starts. I asked Luke the other day if he is ready to wear big boy underwear, and he said "no, not yet." I read recently that you are supposed to ask if they want to go to the potty and if they say no, then fine - but at this rate they're going to be 10. However, I also need to keep in mind that they are not going to be asked on their college application or their first job interview at what age they are potty trained. They get it, but they aren't interested all of the time. I think they're pretty advanced in other areas, so this is a pretty small one in the big scheme of things. But, we would like to stop buying diapers.

Below are pictures from the weekend.





A friend of mine from school gave the boys this tractor that had belonged to her kids. It is a great old metal one and the boys had fun today trying to ride it.


Lastly, a video of the boys singing the Alphabet Song into their microphones.