Piggy tails

Allison's hair is finally long enough to do pigtails!  I thought she was soooo cute!  Then she had macaroni and cheese for dinner and decided it should be in her pigtails.

Think I need a bath??

Thomas the Train

We took Ben to Boone, IA over the weekend to see the Thomas the Train. We were in the car for over 8 hours to take him there and back in one day. Pretty awesome parents we are huh?! :) We rode on Thomas, watched some Thomas, played with Thomas trains, walked on train tracks, anything and everything to do with trains. He loved it but we were all exhausted when we got back home.

Thomas pulling his coaches

Sad to see Thomas backing out of the station :(

Beautiful day for a train ride!

Another huge train that was there

He rode on a mini train too!

One of his favorite parts was just running on the tracks

Ben and Sir Topham Hatt, master of the railways (or something like that)

Update on Preschool

No new pictures to post but I thought I would give a quick update on how preschool is going :)  There were only tears on the first day.  Day 2 of preschool (last Friday) he said he didn't want to go to preschool but when I dropped him off one of his teachers was the one to get him out of our car so he recognized her right away and it seemed to reassure him.  Since then he is excited to go to preschool. 

He has already brought artwork home (came home with paint on his hands one day).  He comes home singing new songs he learns in class....one about a slippery fish, octopus, whale, tuna fish, and a great white shark?!  He knows his teachers are Miss Lynn and Miss Debbie and that Addison (a neighbor girl) is in his class.  The teacher asked me if Ben and Addison knew each other last Friday when she was putting Ben in the car, so apparently it's noticeable that they are friends :) 

The teacher sent out her first weekly e-mail last Friday with how the class did and things they are working on.  She also sends along some requests for things to send to school with Ben.  They wanted a family picture for a board they are working on.  Ben and I gathered acorns yesterday on a walk for the acorn week they are going to have in October.  The teacher also gave us our first assignment today which is due next week.  We have to trace Ben's hand and then write in his character qualities.  All of this might seem like no big deal for those of you that have kids in school or daycare already but this is so much fun for us (or at least me)!  I love this new stage, and not because I get to drop him off for 2 1/2 hours on MWF but because he is learning so much already and seems to love it! 

They already like shoes :)

The girls have been busy just crusin' around.  Walking all over, back and forth, usually carrying something in one or both of their hands.  They like to walk over into the mudroom and pick up (sometimes chew on all our shoes).  I usually find my shoes in the kitchen or in the living room.  Guess I better start putting them away in the closet.

Allison seems to have a favorite object of the day or a few days.  Last week it was Ben's Thomas lunch box, she carried it around with her all day long :)

First Day of Preschool

We had orientation on Monday morning so Ben and Chris and I could meet his teachers, see his room, etc.  Today was the first official day of class.  We had been talking about it for awhile and he was excited to go but kept saying "mommy come too" so I was a little worried about the separation.  Our preschool has a car line drop off so I don't need to get the girls out of the car and bring him into school.  It's going to be great, especially in the winter when everyone is bundled up.  We waited in the car line and we talked about him getting out with the teacher, and his friend Addison (next door neighbor) just happens to be in his class and right behind us in line so he seemed excited and okay.  When the teacher opened the door and it was time to get out, he started crying so she picked him up and carried him into school :(  It made me sad and I was worried but I knew as soon as he got into school he was going to have fun....and he did!  I was so excited to pick him up!  He saw our car and I could hear him say "mommy" and he and the teacher walked up to the car, Ben got in and off we went!  From what he told me they had goldfish for snack, played cars, played on the playground, and he went potty.  I will get an e-mail from his teacher Miss Lynn each week with what they are doing in class.  I am so proud of my little guy, he is growing up so fast!

Ben is in the "yellow classroom" so he has a yellow bag, our car sign is yellow, and I just happened to dress him in a yellow shirt today.....totally a coincidence!

It's so slick they gave me a yellow sign to put in the car window so they know who I am picking up on MWF!