It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I am really great at taking pictures, but that's kind of where it ends sometimes. I had planned to write this post at the beginning of December, but now it's almost the end of January. Oh well...better late than never!

Anyway, Brendan was such a great little helper as I decorated for Christmas. He was really excited to help and loved pulling out all of the decorations.

Every year on Thanksgiving weekend we drive to the Christmas tree lot and pick out our tree. Here's our tree getting prepped for the ride home.
Brendan with his lovely "cheese" face.
And daddy getting the tree loaded up on top of the car.And here is Brendan the next evening helping me hang ornaments.
The next weekend we started a new family tradition. Justin has become quite the boat guy and wanted us to go to the Parade of Lights. Boat owners can enter their boat in the parade and decorate with lights and such. Boy do they go all out! I was impressed. Who knows, maybe we'll enter next year ;-)
We docked out on the lake to watch the parade so Justin let Brendan be his skipper and help him "drive the boat". Brendan started calling Justin "Captain Daddy". Too funny!
The weather was perfect, the boats were beautiful and it was so much fun watching them go by while listening to Christmas music. I decided for next year we need to pack a little hot chocolate and invite some friends.
A few weekends later we went to our playgroup's annual Christmas party. The boys have fun playing together and we usually plan a craft or two. This year I brought the sugar cone Christmas tree activity my first graders do every year. The boys loved it!



Even though I am always ready to bid farewell to Christmas and all of it's festivities, I'm kind of missing it already. I guess I only have 11 more months to go before we do it all over again!

A Star is Born

Brendan has his first school performance a few weeks ago. This was a BIG deal for both him and me. He was so excited for his "sing along" and I was excited to see my little boy perform. Here he is waiting in the audience for his class to take their turn.

His teachers asked each child to wear their red uniform shirt, blue shorts, and Christmas knee socks. Have you ever tried finding little boy Christmas knee socks? Yeah, that's right...they don't exist. These are women's socks (shhhh, don't tell Brendan or he might be mortified when he gets older ;-)
He was totally that kid waving at me saying "Hi Mom!" in between songs. I couldn't have been beaming anymore than I was! I LOVED it! They sang three songs and since Brendan had just started this new school he has only been practicing the songs for two weeks before the big performance. He did his best to sing along though during Zip a Dee Do Dah and the two other songs which I can't remember now. Don't worry though, I bought the DVD of his 3 minutes of fame so I can remember this moment forever!
All that spotlight really goes to your head ;-)
Posing with the baby Jesus, who apparently is way more approachable than Santa. When given the choice of who to talk to Brendan gladly chose baby Jesus. Good choice son.
I hear they have a Spring sing along too so I can't wait to see my baby perform again!!!

The Polar Express

Ever since I had heard of the Polar Express train in Williams, AZ I dreamed of taking Brendan. I waited and waited until I thought he was old enough to get the magic and excitement and would remember going. This was our year!

I bought the train tickets back in October because they sell out quickly. We were set to go! And after a stressful car repair therefore causing a late departure to Arizona, getting stuck in traffic, realizing that we were heading into a different time zone therefore missing our train, frantically calling the train station to see if we could get on the 8:00 p.m. train rather than the 6:30 p.m. train we weren't going to make, WE MADE IT!!! And here we are...

Cold and starving!!!
But we made it on the train and boy was it fun! We had some great cookies,
got our tickets punched,
listened to the story of the Polar Express,
and saw Santa!
Brendan was and still is terrified of Santa. He freaked out a little when I tried to turn around to see Santa as he got on our train car. Apparently making eye contact with Santa ranks right up there with sitting on his lap! You just don't do it, at least according to Brendan. He did, however, accept a bell from Santa but there was no talking to him or taking a picture. No way, no how.
So that was our trip...a long drive, a bit stressful, but all for a fun short magical train ride for one awesome little boy. It was worth it ;-)

Pumpkin Painting Party

Yesterday was one of those really fun days you wish you could do over and over again. We had a pumpkin painting party at our house! It was so much fun! This party was my first time hosting a real party that wasn't for a birthday. I had so much fun collecting all things pumpkin related to decorate with and making some really yummy food. Here's Brendan with his finished pumpkin.

These pictures were taken at the end of the party once all our pumpkins had dried.
I think all of the moms, including me, were surprised at how into the painting the kids were. I can't wait to do this activity again next year and as the kids get older. It's so fun watching them be creative and I know that only gets better the older they get.
I think we ended up having 10 kids over and they painted their pumpkins out on the driveway. The weather could not have been any better too. It was the perfect day!

Here are some shots from Brendan in action painting his pumpkin. He cracks me up with all the concentration he puts into things. He is very serious.
I think Brendan put the most paint on his pumpkin. I thought his pumpkin looked great! He was one of the last kids to finish up because he wanted his pumpkin completely painted.

Then we had some lunch! Yumm-O!!! (that's Brendan's new phrase ;-)
I hadn't planned for us to read a pumpkin story, but Brendan carried his book Scaredy Cat Splat downstairs before the party started. It was laying on the table and one of the moms volunteered to read it to the kids. Yes, the party was all teachers so how fitting to have a little story time. Brendan was very riled up though, so he didn't listen so well. This pose only lasted for 30 seconds before he started rolling all over the floor!
Then we played "Hot Pumpkin". Just like hot potato only with a pumpkin!
The kids colored some pumpkin magnets. I found these at Hobby Lobby and I think they are adorable!!
I tried to get Brendan to pose with his pumpkin guy, but this is the best we could do. He did say blue was his favorite color so that's why he colored his pumpkin blue. Just this morning Brendan told me his favorite color was red. I am so proud that he is finally getting his colors figured out! Red and blue have been the hardest for him and I think he's got it down now.
Two of Brendan's friends and their moms stayed a lot longer after everyone else left. The boys put on their costumes and played and played and played. It was really funny watching Spiderman, Batman, and Buzz Lightyear run in the backyard and play in the driveway. Brendan was taking good care of one of our friends baby. He was talking to him and rocking him. He will be a great big brother someday.

October is Here!

Today was really fun...and hot! I am so excited that October is here. I LOVE everything fall from pumpkins to halloween to yummy food! And being a teacher, routines are finally beginning to fall into place and all that training starts to pay off. Welcome October! I've waited a long time for you!

Brendan and I headed out bright and early for the Gilcrease Orchard. This was the first weekend they were open and it was going to be really busy. This is the only orchard in town (I know, you're surprised we have any) and it's always been a pretty disappointing experience in the past. We've taken Brendan the first two years after he was born and it's always been dry, dusty, and pretty much pumpkin-less. Kind of like how an orchard in the desert would be, right? But this year was so much better!

The neat part about going to the orchard is having to actually pull the pumpkin off the vine. Although if we do this again, I think I may have to bring some gloves. Those vines were sticky and sharp!
Brendan looked around for a long time before making a decision. He has a hard time making decisions. Hmmm, sounds like someone I know ;-)


We met our friends there. Brendan and Hayes were checking out a worm from the corn stalks.
Running through the mini hay maze was fun!
Brendan finally let me take some pictures of him with his pumpkin, but he kept kissing it over and over again. Sometimes that boy has a lot of love in him ;-)
It was very hot today, that's why Brendan's cheeks are so red. It's still over 100 degrees here daily, but the end is in sight!
The orchard has lots of other things besides pumpkins. They had sweet potatoes, okra, corn, eggplant, watermelon, pears, and apples. So we went apple picking. Brendan said that was his favorite part. I thought it was pretty fun too.

When we got home we made applesauce. I had just done this with my first graders at school and it was so good! Brendan had fun stirring and helping me peel the apples. And it was yummy!
Brendan liked his applesauce so much he wouldn't even share with me! He said "Mommy you can get yours own". Thanks a lot kid ;-)