Chase and Drew update

We're about to start our 3 week Christmas break, so a quick update before I do the holiday update.  :)  The boys are busy, having fun, and just amaze me.  Chase did ask the other day when we were going back to America - he really misses the orange juice I used to buy.  HA!!  He is very excited to get to spend his entire summer there.  He is always the fun-loving, easy going friend at school - and really needs his own social calendar.  Soccer (football) just ended for this session and we get a little break from that.
At the last 'practice', kids and their parents played against each other for part of it.  Brett took one for the team, and ran around trying to do headers and stuff.  They were all good sports.  This round of after school activities include soccer and hip-hop for him.  Well rounded?  Or as his teacher likes to say - Multicultural.......

Chase dressed as a girl in a recent skit his class group did 

Learning to make a Lebanese dish at Thanksgiving the International Way

By his Culture Poster

Notice Chase puts himself as having Mixed Culture.  HILARIOUS!!  95% of the kids in his class have parents from two or more nationalities so they are all 'mixed' in that way.  He just wants to be in the club - so we're going with it.  Don't really have the heart to tell him both his parents are just plain 'ole American.  

Such a good big brother

He plays his heart out the entire time

There are no words

Brett in the orange and Chase right by him

Love them

Now Drew - sweet, adorable, FUNNY Drew......he is so much fun to be around these days.  We have a fairly large playgroup we attend every other week or so and other days he spends a lot of time playing with 1 or 2 friends.  Truly, he's very happy to be at home - but does get very excited to get in the car and go somewhere.  And did I mention he IDOLIZES his brother?  It is just the cutest thing you've ever seen!!  He also takes swimming lessons - we have been a bit sporadic with it, but will pick that up more consistently after the New Year.

We took a little trip to THE local pet store with his bestie Asha.  Lots of colorful birds, weird monkeys, chickens/roosters, hamsters, dove, fish, turtles, a few dogs, and bunnies.  Interesting is a good word to describe it.

If you are a proofreader, it's best not to read this sign.  :)

It's an outdoor pet shop - get the jist?  

Creepy

These two make quite a pair 

As we were leaving, this man showed up with his PET SNAKE.  Just coming to buy some mice to feed it.  Drew hasn't stopped talking about the snake. It was a successful outing!!  :)

This parrot TALKED to them - now that was a highlight!!

Just yesterday, he let me take him all the way under the water

SUPER HIGH - is part of the reward.......

Just for fun I want to show you this - currently we take swimming lessons at my friend Manuela's house - they have TWO of these ginormous turtles for pets - just hanging out at their leisure in the yard.......

At the end of the day, this is how they sleep - we started here with each of them in their own bed, but my oldest son is such a snuggle bug and needs so much affection, he actually ASKED to sleep with his little brother.  So, they squeeze in amongst their 300 stuffed animals and all is well.  Precious boys!