Kiddo Halloween Party

I had been wanting to start a toddler playgroup and one of my friends, Betsy, wanted to have a Halloween party so we combined them together and had a cute mini-party for our kiddos and their friends.  It was fun to see all the kids in their costumes while they ran around together.  We had a few little games, cookie decorating, a craft and the highlight- bounce houses!  

This year Brooks is a Baylor Football Player and Caleb was dressed like a football.  

Enjoying his snacks.

Brooks and his buddies, Coulter and Cougar- and Caleb. 

Brooks has a good grip on the football. :-) 

Most of the kiddos- pretty difficult to get!  Little Zeke was sitting perfect right on the side of the group smiling but I accidentally didn't get him in the pic, he is adorable.

Some of  the decorations and food- Pinterest is such a help! 

Brooks crawling through the "spider web", decorating his pumpkin, eating his cookie and playing his own version of knock the cans over.   I think he had fun.

He didn't want to go in the bounce houses at first, but then came and asked to jump.  He went in for about two minutes and that was it.  He found a basketball and ran around with that instead.

Caleb had fun too- we had a little ball pit for babies so we didn't have to hold them the whole time. 

 It wouldn't have been the best idea to set them down with 15 toddlers running around.

It was really fun to plan and I think the kids had fun too!  Next month Betsy is planning a Thanksgiving playdate- we are looking forward to it!

Pumpkin Patch with my Pumpkins

While we were in Dallas celebrating my nephew's 5th birthday, we went to the pumpkin patch.  I had gone last year with my sister, sister-in-law and mom- it was really cute and wanted to take Brooks again this year since I thought he'd appreciate it more.  I knew they had a tractor ride and he is in love with tractors so I was excited to take him.  I was right- he loved it, we all had a great time.  I was glad Mark was able to come and see how excited Brooks was.  

They had an area to feed goats- who were all apparently starving.

The hayride!  Yea!!  He wouldn't take his eyes off the tractor the whole ride.

Brooks rode the big tractor for a little bit- highlight of the pumpkin patch!  How old are you? "One!"

Brooks picked out a pumpkin for Caleb, then one for himself.  It was cute because he seemed to actually be carefully choosing each one he wanted.  Then he carried them over and put them in the stroller, he was really proud of himself. "Heavy pumpkins!"

Lots to choose from!

Sometimes he likes to get his picture taken, and even asks to "take picture".

Brooks and the Big Orange Pumpkin!

Our first time "Glamping"!

Mark had been wanting to go camping for a long time and I thought that sounded slightly horrible given the fact we have two boys under two.  However, he said we could go in his parents RV and slowly that sounded like something I'd be on board with.  I was telling my sister about how we were going to go camping, and she said, "Thats not camping, its glamping." I had no idea what she was talking about so she enlightened me to the new term- glamorous camping.  It was fitting for what we did- and I find the term hilarious. The weekends just kept on coming and going and we knew we'd have to commit if we were going to make it happen so we decided on a weekend and we determined to go.  It ended up being SO fun and we for sure are going to make it a more regular trip for our family.  We had a great time getting away, just the four of us and spending sometime together.  It wasn't the "campfire and s'more" camping that I normally like, but it was perfect for our family right now.  We went to Ruidoso for three days and enjoyed seeing the leaves changing, a little hiking and shopping in the cute town.  

The first day Mark and Brooks came across a couple deer, Brooks wasn't shy at all!  They were very calm deer and hung around while we watched them.  

 The boys and a Baylor Bear.

 Me and my boys- such sweet cuties!

Standard Saturday morning- cinnamon rolls and cartoons.

 Does sitting in a camping chair make it closer to actual camping? 

 Snuggly brothers in their football jams.

The second day we went driving around and looked at the changing leaves- so pretty!

We took a hike in the National Park.  Sadly the place we were going to go hiking burnt down this summer and we were told it won't reopen for 5-10 years!

It was really fun, the trail was smooth enough that we took a stroller and the boys took turns riding in it.  Brooks found a stick early in the hike (the "hardly over a mile hike") which he loved dragging along and hitting pine cones with like a golf club.  Then he would run as fast as he could and "race" either Mark or myself.  He came close to beating me.  Here he is "driving" on the bench and running with Mark- his face was hilarious while they were running- he was just screaming and laughing so hard!

 Little Man Caleb had a good time too!  He is so easy! 

 Here I am with my boys- they are so much fun!

After we went back for naps then headed to the race cars so Brooks could really "drive".

"Butch drive race car!" (Brooks calls himself Butch- and speaks in 3rd person. It's funny.)

 "More drive race car." So I got to go with him- he was all business while driving.  It got the seal of approval from Brooks- a thumbs up!

Caleb was watching all the action- he got a little ride in the motorized car :-)  I love that I only need to take one quick picture of him and he smiles perfectly in it.  I have to take 3134 of Brooks just to try to get one of him smiling.  

And we finished it off with a quick ride in a boat.  Brooks liked squirting the water and they would try to reach me, luckily they were too far away ;-)  

It was a beautiful weekend and we had such a good time getting away as a family.  The boys were great and everything went so smoothly!  We loved seeing the trees change and getting out in nature, even if it was only semi-camping. 

We didn't make it to the Texas State Fair, but...

We did make it to the South Eastern New Mexico State Fair!  Whoo-hoo!  It was actually super fun, not nearly as much fried food but all the rides this little 1 year old could handle!  I went with the boys and a couple of my friends and their boys.  They all had a great time and loved "driving" all the rides.  

Holden and Brooks flying the airplane.

Brooks is excited about driving the "big truck".

This ride went SO fast, had I seen it before I may not have had him ride it by himself - but he liked it.

Cougar and Lawton on their 4-wheelers.  Poor Holden had cut his head earlier that day and it split open again so they had to go back to the hospital.  Lawton stayed with us and was such a great help with the younger boys.

Brooks and Lawton driving the bulldozer.

 Such a sweet smile!

This is a typical picture from Brooks- Thumbs up, cheesy grin and eyes closed. :-)

Lawton is adorable- he makes the best facial expressions in pictures!

Caleb was such a trooper!  He was awake until 10:30 just staring at all the blinking lights around him.  Total stimulation overload! 

Two of Mama's favorite things, Caleb and Sonic- I was excited to get a picture with Caleb and the Sonic cup like I did with Brooks when he was 4 months old.  They both seem thrilled!

 Brooks and I at a baseball game in Arizona, March 2011.

My Baby is Getting Big!

I can't believe Caleb is already 6 months old!  It feels so crazy because it seems like Brooks was just 6 months old such a short time ago.  He is so sweet and smiles all the time.  He is very content, happy and does a good job being flexible with his feeding and sleeping schedule based on what we are doing each particular day.  He loves his jumper and watching Brooks. At his 6 month appointment he was 28" long and weighed a little over 19 pounds.  I love this little chunkers to pieces!   Here are a few pics from the past month of the little guy.  

He is always sticking his tongue out and blowing raspberries- cute!

 He started eating cereal and is beginning to actually get the whole swallowing thing down- during those first few meals the cereal just spilled out all over the bib.

 I think this pic is proof Caleb likes to eat. 

 I think he liked it! 

Such kissable cheeks! 

He sits well by himself; however, I am still cautious about leaving him with Brooks running around- he likes watching Brooks so much that he'll strain his head to look at him and tip himself over!

 Before and after bath time- he likes kicking and splashing in the tub.

Here he is after he was rolling over a little.  I never got that "first roll" picture, but this works- he was proud of himself and we were proud too!