Big man on campus...

Monday was a BIG day for the Hall Family! I can hardly believe it finally came but Warren has officially entered the world of Kindergarten! He has told me for months he was excited but nervous too. Mostly, worried about the lunchroom and "so many kids together and where I am supposed to eat."

He has adjusted really well and had a great first week. I'm not gonna lie. I know I have worried too much about this day and overall it was wasn't so bad. I kept having these "have I taught him enough" mommy moments in the past months. I know, I know...its not like we are sending him off to college or something but it was hard to enter this phase of life. I mean, I'm officially a member of the PTA for goodness sakes!

My anticipation grew as the summer came to a close & was looking forward to back to school night when we would get to find out who his teacher was and meet her. BTSN came and I did feel a little better afterward. His teacher seems awesome, his LDS friend George got the same teacher as him, the classroom was good and most of the other kids that will be in his class (and their parents) seemed pretty normal. ;) Warren apparently made a great first impression on one little girl. (At BTSN) We had just walked into the door of the classroom and paused as Warren started looking at a shelf of books just inside. As I scanned the room, I immediately noticed a little girl staring at him with a huge smile & hypnotic stare from across the room.  Unbeknownst to Warren, it was like a love at first sight scene from a movie. She slowly approaches him and says "Hi, my names Mara, what's your name?" Warren blushes, "Warren." Then she says (smiling even sweeter) "Wanna come over and see the crab?" Warren now looking DOWN & blushing, "ok". Then, she reaches down, takes his hand and walks him over to the crab and begins to tell him all about it. :) Weston and I just looked at each other and laughed. See!! Just one of the many on my list of things I SO didn't want to have to start to worry about! AND.... guess who he has eaten lunch with nearly every day this week? lol 

 Anyways, the tears came and went a few times for me the first day. I miss having home with me like crazy but we are getting used to the new schedule. Ben is in heaven with free reign to the house & toys. :) 

Here he is bouncing down the sidewalk with his spiffy new school clothes, shark lunch bag & backpack. What a handsome lad I'd say. :) 

Just outside his classroom. Still happy. :) 

Now this series is where it all unfolds. We walked him over to his desk smiles still intact, found his assigned seat (mom starting to well up but staying strong), sat him down, gave him a quick kiss and goodbye, then I paused at the door at took these pics...

1. Smile has digressed to the tuff guy "I can do this" shagrin...        

                                         

                                                    

                                      2. Smile fades. Starting to look a little worried....

3. Smile fully disappears and the tears start to come... (mom chokes up, blows kisses, turns the corner and the tears...oh...they came...) 

I went home and cleaned my woes away. My friend stopped in with some flowers and stayed and chatted with me for a while. It meant a lot to me and sure brightened my day. Thanks Melanie. :D 

Time to go home! My heart jumped when I saw him sitting there. He made it through the day and didn't get kidnapped!! lol  Here he is lined up for pickup outside the school. He was so cute sitting there waiting next to his new friend George and see that little girl sitting in front of him, staring at him with the pink shirt? That's Mara. Notice his blank-less stare in the opposite direction? lol :) 

He jabbered the entire way home. Loved every minute. They walked around the school, found the bathroom, did a fire drill, ate lunch with Mara and played with George at recess. I laughed when he got home the first thing he did was drop on the floor and rip his shoes off, then proceeded to tell me more. 

Giddy-up! Here we go! 

Two times around the sun...

Ben-ju-mun!

(noun): A completely adorable little boy. Happy, handsome, energetic, affectionate & fun. 

(syn): Thumper, Sparky. 

The Sunday before last we celebrated Benjamin's 2nd Birthday! We are so grateful to have him in our family! He is such a happy little man and brings joy with him where-ere he goes. He bounces around the house with a permeating grin that gets him just about anything he desires. The nicknames I come up with for my boys seem to evolve over the years. Sparky & Thumper are the most current for Ben. :) 

It was fun to have Dustin & Natalie here for his birthday. It was Sunday so we had a pretty low key day. Went to church, came home, ate dinner, opened presents and ate some yummy homemade birthday cake. 

Ben opening his presents. Thanks for the cool book Henry! 

A cool bowling set from brother. As you can see Warren was very kind to demonstrate. ;) We had a few visitors stop by which is always nice, especially on birthdays! Uncle Steve dropped in to wish Ben a Happy Birthday before he was off to evening church meetings. Then, later Robert, Kristin & Emily came along with Kevin & Angie visiting from Utah. :) It was fun to see everyone.

Ben loved his new big boy trike from mom & dad! 

He is growing so fast. Where does the time go?

We love you Ben!

Here is a little video of us singing happy birthday and opening presents. :) Rexy was a hit. Ben does the cutest growl & if you listen closely you can here him do it to Rexy. Sorry the picture isn't so great. I am not sure what happened. I am guessing a setting got changed on my camera without me realizing it. Enjoy! 

Battleship & the beach...

Battleship, TX

While Dustin & Natalie were here we wanted to take them to see the U.S.S Texas docked in Battleship, TX. Weston had been before but it was my first time seeing it. The U.S.S Texas served in both WWI & WWII. Despite the fact that it was ridiculously hot that day, it was really cool to see and was stocked with many large guns. :) 

 The boys trying out one of those large battle guns. 

 Warren & Dad scoping out their target. Weston's crank turned the entire base of the gun 360 degrees to set the direction and Warren's crank lifted the barrel up & down to set the angle of the shot. Ben takes cover. 

Sitting on top of the bullets that go in the guns. Each one weighed 105 lbs.  

 Here is one of the plaque's that describes some of the missions the U.S.S Texas completed in WWII. It carried approx. 5000 marines. 

In the officers dining room there is a display of all the "ladies" as Warren calls them. To learn about the ladies click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYzVm_3EBkw

Across from the battleship there is the San Jacinto monument. This monument was placed in remembrance of one of the biggest military upsets in US history. The US defeated Mexico in the Mexican-American War. After the defeat the United States would gain not only Texas but also New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, California, Utah and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming. It is also the highest monument column in the world and stands 570 feet tall. :) 

*****

 I started a new project in our kitchen which has been really time consuming (pics to come). This kept us from swimming like we usually do so we pulled out the slip and slide for a little fun in the sun one day while mom worked. :)  Subsequently, we now have a very large mud strip in our grass there but it sure was a great day. :) 

The boys played nearly all afternoon.

*****

Everyday is a good day for the beach! 

 Final goodies purchased and all packed up headed for Galveston!

Dustin & Natalie checking out the warm Galveston water. :) Weston & Ben search for seashells in the distance. 

 Building sandcastles and decorating them with seashells & feathers.

Flying Kites. Warren flying the dragon & Ben flying Buzz & Woody. 

Finn was such a sweet boy all day despite the heat. Watch out ladies, he learned how to smile! 

 We even discovered this baby eal on the beach. Dustin saw it pop right out of the sand and then it died. Not sure what happened to it but it captured our attention for a while. 

Who wants to Boogie? Warren had a blast as usual. 

It was Ben's first time and he LOVED it! He laughed & laughed. Check out the video below: 

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