Thanksgiving weekend

On Thursday morning, we headed to Fresno for a long weekend. We spent Thanksgiving dinner with Cary's side of the family. The whole family was there which hasn't happened in over two years. Needless to say, Ben and Jack had a lot of fun with all the cousins. Though most of them are a lot older than the boys, they still spent plenty of time playing together. 

It started with some football outside. I couldn't believe how patient everyone was with Ben while they were playing. They made sure that Ben got plenty of turns catching and throwing the ball.

Drew's grandmother was out there the whole time

After dinner, there was plenty of chasing each other around. The girls kept trying to pick up Ben and Jack, kind of funny to watch. We aren't used to having older kids to play with.

Ben with Maddie and Donovan

Maddie and Jack. Maddie was the flower girl in our wedding and I can't believe how much she has grown up in the past few years.

Ben and Dominique 

Ben and Maddie

All of the cousins 

On Friday, we spent the evening at Papa and Noni's house. We got to meet baby Eli for the first time (Drew's cousin Diane's little guy who is 6 months old).

Ben and Jack absolutely loved Eli

Jack looks like he is getting ready to cause trouble here

He couldn't get enough of him

Brentwood holiday parade

The weekend before Thanksgiving, our little town had their annual holiday parade. You may remember this post from two years ago. Anyways, Drew was gone the weekend of the parade this year so it was just the boys and I. Luckily, they did great and we all had fun.

Waiting for the parade to start

It looks like they are in deep thought

I wouldn't say the parade was a very good one but it entertained Ben and Jack and that is what is important.

Brothers

I don't think there is any question on how much these two love each other

Pajama story time

This evening, Ben's school had pajama story time for the whole family. They had 3 classrooms open with teacher's reading stories. Once a story started, you couldn't leave or enter the room until it was over and then you could switch rooms. 

Of course it was a good opportunity for the boys to wear their turkey pajamas. We must have gotten about 20 comments from people on how cute the boys are.

I love Jack's expressions in the next 3 pictures

They had cookies and hot chocolate

Happy

that's how these two faces make me feel

Minus 1 kid

It's a four day weekend for Drew (a rare occurrence)!

This morning, we all went to drop Ben off at school. We stopped at Starbucks after we dropped him off and it was all a very odd feeling. For the first time, we didn't have Ben with us. Drew and I never have time with just Jack. As much as we missed Ben, it was a lot of fun hanging out with Jack. He was loving the attention he was getting from mom and dad and was able to relax without having to compete with Ben for our time. I forgot how easy it was just having one child. So much easier! We were reminded of it this afternoon when the four of us went out and Drew and I each had to "take" one child to watch. As difficult as it may be at times though, it is 100% worth it. Life would not be complete without either Ben or Jack.

Here are a few pictures we took with Drew's phone

Happy Birthday to "The Little Men"

Today our blog is 3 years old. For 3 years, you (my few followers) have gotten a glimpse into our life. You've watched our family grow. Seen the bond form between Ben and Jack. You've probably thought we were crazy and in way over our heads more than a few times. I've enjoyed documenting pieces of our life knowing that it allows our family who aren't close by to be a part of it.  So thanks for sticking with us for the past 3 years and here's to many more.

There is also something else to celebrate today. Today is a day where we honor our veterans and the sacrifices they have made for us. While I appreciate all members of our military past and present, I can't help but be extra proud and grateful of my very own husband. He is someone who has given his all to the military while still being a tremendous father and husband. I have never met someone who is so good at everything he does. The military sure is lucky to have him, and so are we :)

A hard lesson to learn

Like most young children, Ben and Jack have a hard time with sharing. Ben is at the age where he knows that sharing is the right thing but chooses not to do it. Jack is still learning what it means to share and take turns. He doesn't understand that it's not always his turn. It seems like whenever one of them has something, the other always wants it. Ben has learned that if Jack has something that he wants, he can trick Jack into giving it to him by giving him another toy to play with as he sneaks the toy he wants out of Jack's hand. There are many fights over toys, there are many times where I am taking things away because they can't share it and of course, there are many tears over not getting what they wanted.

Here are some pictures I took this morning where you can witness a normal confrontation between Ben and Jack when they both want the same thing.

You can tell that Ben is already claiming the toy

Jack starts to eye it

He goes in for it while Ben yells at him

It ends in tears when Jack realizes he's not getting the toy

We have a lot of work to do when it comes to sharing