A Small Voice

A few days ago, Pete and I had just put the boys to bed and the house was quiet. We were quietly chatting in the living room when we heard the little voice of Nathan singing "Jesus Loves Me" to himself in his bed. It was so adorable. And then last night we set up our Christmas tree. Pete and I put the tree together (it's a fake one) and put the lights on, and then we all put the ornaments on. The boys loved it. As we finished with the ornaments and took a step back to admire our family's handiwork, Nathan sang softly to himself, "Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas treeeeeee, leeeeeeeeaves so unchaaaaaangiiiiing." What a sweetheart.

My Artist

Zack has always been creative, and as he's getting older he is starting to draw what's in his mind. And it is amazing to see what he comes up with. This is the first thing he ever drew for me: a happy snail. Adorable!Zack is also very into writing. He loves making cards for people, drawing them rainbows and hearts on the front with their names inside. At thanksgiving while the other kids were playing, Zack was at the dining room table making cards for everyone there. He writes his name first and then writes the name of the recipient. He knows how to spell Zack, Nathan, Mommy, Daddy, and Heinbuch without asking how to spell it so he makes a LOT of things for us.

We love to watch a show called Mr. Maker that's on twice a week, and Mr. Maker has greatly inspired Zack to draw funny animals, monsters, and people. He decided to make some spiky monsters for us, and they are so great.

2 Knights in the Night

Well, this year we took the boys out trick-or-treating for the first time. For the first few minutes, they didn't really understand that they would get candy from complete strangers if they said "Trick or Treat!!" at their door. Then, once they started getting their candy it was all gung-ho after that! We took them out for about half an hour, and look how much they got! Wow! They wanted to dress up all day instead of just after supper, so at city hall and the grocery store, they were my little bodyguards. Well, except for the sword fights in the produce aisle!

Bowling for Birthdays!

We went bowling for my birthday last weekend, and it was Zack and Nathan's first time at the alley. They did NOT want to leave! Nathan couldn't stop jumping, he was so excited! We went 5 pin bowling so they could lift the balls, and they had tiny little adorable bowling shoes. Way too cute!

Favorite Songs

As they listen to more and more music, the boys' eyes are opened to even more songs that they like. Just like most kids, the current favorites are always requested to be on repeat as much as possible, especially in the car. Zack and Nathan's current favorite songs include:
-Bicycle Race and We Will Rock You by Queen
-Bulls on Parade by Rage Against the Machine
-Bleed it Out by Linkin Park

Zack loves listening to our Queen's greatest hits album, and it's adorable hearing him sing "Ooooooh, you make me liiiive" from You're my Best Friend.

The boys go to "Wee Grow" during my Wednesday morning bible study at Beulah, which is a sort of preschool combined with sunday school. They came home the other day singing "Deep and Wide" which is from waaaaay back, and it was so cute! Ask them to sing it for you - Nathan does the actions so great!

Full of surprises

Zack is so full of surprises. What a smart kid.

Last week he said to me, "Mommy, I'm going to draw you a volume."
"A what??"
"A VOL-ume!"
"Okay Zack. Draw me a volume."
Not knowing what he was going to draw, he came back from the table with a picture of a sound wave. Wow.

Zack has been really good with copying rhythms and staying on the beat with music, and yesterday we really knew how well he knew it. Pete got this mini guitar amp that the boys love, and it plays the "Smoke on the Water" guitar riff by Deep Purple. He asked Pete if he would sing along with the music and Pete told Zack that you can't sing along if there aren't any words. Without missing a beat, Zack pressed the button on the amp and sang perfectly with the beat of the music,
"Sing the song,
Sing sing the song!
Sing the song
Sing singgg!"
Pointing to Pete on every beat with an "I TOLD you it would work" look on his face, he looked at us when he was done singing and all we could do was laugh and hug him.

Fall

These fall days have been wonderful. Nice and warm sun, cool breeze, perfect for walks. The boys are loving the color change of the trees and the falling leaves. Nathan prefers the "pokey trees" as he called them during a conversation in the car. Zack likes the leafy trees. We went for a walk through the participark with grandma last week, and I couldn't resist taking pictures.
After three attempts to send him, this fall is finally Pete's time to go back to school. What a relief that we are at last able to send him! He's got his school supplies, his backpack, and his bus pass. He'll be on his way on October 14th - a week from tomorrow - for 8 weeks at NAIT. Then he'll be back at work again. Yay Pete!

When I Turn Five...

The boys are both very insistent that turning five will be the start of very exciting lives. Whenever the boys are told they're too small for something, they say that they'll do it when they turn 5.

Zack has said that he will do the following when he turns 5:
- Go to school
- Read (he won't read right now, he wants to wait til then)
- Race a motorcycle
- Drive the car/truck/any vehicle he sees

Nathan says that when he turns 5 he will:
- Be Optimus Prime
- Pour his own cereal/milk
- Go to school
- Race a motorcycle
- Play baseball, hockey, other sports

Whenever the boys see something cool, they tell me that they will do it when they turn five. Boy will Nathan be sad when he's only 4 and Zack gets to be 5! It sounds like all kinds of doors open up when you're that old!