Gobble, gobble & giddy-up

We spent a family-filled Thanksgiving at Ian's folks' house on the farm. The kids (5 kids, 5 years old & under) played hard for pretty much 2+ days straight, making up for lost time since Amy & family live in MT. Us adults had fun too and Ian & I (and Bennett) even snuck in a little early morning Black Friday shopping (disappointing deals this year in my opinion).

the kiddos (minus Bennett)the cousins: Emmett (3), Gracie (5) & Jessie (1) Guess who took their first horsie ride!!!! Cal loves seeing Bob & talking about him but has never wanted to get close to him. Well times are a changing... After seeing Gracie ride him he couldn't wait to hop aboard.

and riding solo

And the fun doesn't stop there. Next up, tractor rides.

Lots of pics.

and lots of expressions...

B's been getting up on his knees & scooting forward when on his tummy. Crazy. I remind him everyday he's only 4 months and to slow down.
I was getting ready to go out one night and apparently Cal wanted to go too. He proudly came out of our bedroom to show Ian his fancy shoes & purse.

Winter wonderland!

We got our first real snow of the season and we got it good (we're at about 6 inches & it's still dumping)! I love the snow and really love being back in a town that when it snows {most} people embrace it and the city doesn't shut down because of a mere couple inches. And I love even more how much Cal loves the snow. It was like 16 degrees outside and he could have stayed out there for hours tonight helping Ian shovel and making snow angels.

Like mother, like son.

Ian would probably have a heart attack if he saw what goes on here every day. Cal does "makeup" with me in the morning, plays dress up in my closet, he plays shopping at Old Navy, etc. But we do play our fair share of trucks, tractors & cows, race cars, baseball, etc. so I think that makes up for it.Poor Ian loves red meat, but doesn't get much of it (I don't eat the stuff & I'm the cook of the house). He thought having kids, that was going to change and I was going to be the odd man out, but not so much. Looks like Cal is taken after his mama, and is sticking with chicken and green things. Any burger he gets now, he'll only eat the bun. 'At a boy.

Party time!

Logan stayed the night with us on Sunday and Cal was over the moon with excitement for his first real slumber party. The two played hard, we did dinner out at the DQ, had lots of icecream, colored, played games, read lots of books, watched Hannah Montana and then took Logan to school Monday morning. It was a blast. Not sure who's more excited for Lo to come back for another slumber party...us or Cal. She's such a huge help with the kiddos that it makes our lives a little easier having her around.

A glimpse at Halloween 2012

We were reading some Halloween books and to get in the spirit (post-Halloween) Cal raided the closet with our stash of future Halloween costumes and insisted on wearing Stitch. This guy is on the docket for Halloween 2012. A little big, but he thinks it's fabulous. Especially the extra arms/hands.

Think it's time to make this kid a dress up box...

Big Bro

We hit a little bit of a rough patch with Cal and his "Benny & the Jets," but things seem to be looking up... a lot. There was a little period where Cal was feeling a little lack of attention (I'm assuming) so he'd act out a bit looking for a reaction out of us. And for a while he had a hard time trying to find the balance of how to interact with B without being too rough. And then there is the sharing of Bennett's toys/books/etc, which is still a work in progress... But the last month-ish Cal's been great with B (knock on wood). Very attentive, compassionate and a good little helper, making this momma VERY happy. I love love love watching these two interact and seeing how happy Cal makes Bennett.

BTW - Benny & the jets is what Cal calls Bennett. That or BENT.

Mr. Chunk

Bennett had his 4 month check-up last week and its plain & simple... he's a beast. He's nearly 2 lbs heavier than Cal was at this age. Not sure where our kids get these gigantism genes, but my little chub sure is cute with his thunder thighs and dimpled bottom, and Ian and I have some very high athletic hopes for our kiddos in the future.

B's 4 month stats:

• 19 lbs (97%)
• 27 inches long (96%)
  

  food coma.

Trick-or-treat

Halloween = loads of fun this year. My sis has an annual Halloween get-together so after parading the kids around to mom & dad's & great-grandma's house to show them off, we went over there. Our 'fire chief' had a blast trick-or-treating and Bennett didn't seem to mind being tortured with his duck costume.

Fire Chief Cal getting ready for the night. Cal LOVED his costume this year, and we're getting our $ out of it cause he wears some piece of it almost every day.

Doing a little practice trick-or-treat run at Gram & Pop's. and B getting ready to get suited up and they're offthe gang.Alice (Logan) kept a watchful eye on Cal all night!