Sweet Weekend

Have I ever mentioned how much we love our friends? Seriously, they are the most amazing group of people. We love them dearly. They are so friendly, generous, inspiring and encouraging. And this past weekend we got to fill our time with them! How great is that?!?!

One of Caleb's little buddies was celebrating her fourth birthday and we were so excited for her Tangled party. Charlie is the most beautiful little Rapunzel! So precious. I absolutely love her Mommy, Mary, and we are trying to be brave as they prepare for their move next week. NEXT WEEK! Sob! Charlie was born four days before Caleb and has been an ever-present pal in his classes at Church. Her older brother, Ty, is also one of Caleb's favourite people, so this was a fantastically fun start to our weekend! Mary even let me in on the party planning and I HAD A BLAST!

painting with Rapunzel and Ty

the boys

showing off his royal headwear

sharing with Princess Tatum...so proud!

After the party we went home to put up our Christmas lights. You have no idea how much this excited our dude. He has always loved Christmas lights! You shoud hear his excitement every time he sees a house all lit up! This was also the warmest day we have had for doing this....Caleb is usually bundled up so much that he can hardly see or move and Brian is typically in sweats and a toque and gloves! What a difference!

my boys hard at work

my expert!

having a blast with the pile of leaves he raked up all by himself!

Thrilled! So Thrilled!

And to top it all off, my friend Chrystal and her husband Shane flew in on Sunday to spend a few days with us. Chrystal and I have been friends since GRADE ONE and she is the only friend that I really kept up with since our move to the States. I love her to pieces and this was such a fantastic treat! Caleb and I stayed with them for four days in 2009 when we flew up to Edmonton and then to Saskatoon. Caleb really connected with them, especially Shane, and I was super curious to see if that would still be the case. It absolutely was. He had so much fun with them and has spent the last two days lamenting the fact that they left. I feel you buddy. I feel you. We miss you Chrystal and Shane! COME BACK!!!!! Pleeeeeeeeeease! We love you!

Dear Sweet Chrystal and Shane

Shane made a cucumber sandwich and I was so excited to be surrounded by people who don't think I eat wierd food!

Caleb and his buddy Shane

I miss game nights! This was so much fun!

Caleb was already bummed that they were leaving...

Caleb totally took this picture completely by himself! EXCELLENT!

I need to dig up some old pictures of us....I can't imagine what life would be like without my ray of sunshine, aka Chrystal!!!!

I don't have any pictures, but Caleb and Brian also got to go to little Emily's first birthday party on Sunday afternoon. I can't believe that sweet Emily is already a year old. She is one of the sweetest little babies I know and I don't look forward to the day that she won't want to cuddle anymore...Happy Birthday Emily! We love you too!

The Dude and His Daddy

Behind again...big surprise! Dad is very insistent that someone with a blog must keep it up to date. I try....

Anywhoozle, the boys had an all dude holiday when I went out of town last weekend. I was gone for five days, which more than doubles the time I have spent away from Caleb and constitutes the longest Brian and I have been apart since we were married. NEVER AGAIN! I missed my dudes sooooo much! But it was a lot of fun to drive through new territory with Mom, taking her to Las Vegas to see my sister. And it was a really great dude opportunity for my boys and they apparently had a great time. They had lazy days, games, picnics with ducks and playdates at the park with best buds Trevor and Tatum. Caleb spent some quality time with his Pop too, which they both enjoyed, though Dad looked tired... Nonetheless, we were all thrilled to be reunited and have no plans for separation ANY time soon. I wholeheartedly disagree with the idea that time apart is good for us. We like to be together. Period!

Happy Halloween!

   What an exciting day! Happy Halloween everyone! Caleb got not one, but two playdates this morning. We started out watching two boys of a friend of mine and then while they were still here, Trevor came over too. It was a house full of little dudes and it was fantastic fun to watch them all play. They played with dinosaurs, trains and tools. Oh the testosterone!
  After a special Halloween lunch, Grammy came over and we went to Southwest Airlines for the annual Halloween party with Aunty Laurel (Daddy met us there). We have had so much going to these every year and Caleb couldn't wait to go watch the planes (the headquarters are right next to Love Field and the runways!). We did a walk-through skit in Aunty Laurel's department and whenever he saw her, he would say "hi Aunty Laurel!" She had to stay in character but it was so adorable and we saw her smile! This was Grammy's first time there, so we enjoyed introducing her to Southwest Airline's Halloween Madness!
  Then of course we had our trick-or-treating fun!  We have a tradition of eating green spaghetti with meatballs on Halloween and our dude loved adding the green colouring to the water (yes...we allow food colouring on Halloween...we just know what to expect!). The older he gets, the more he enjoys each holiday and that is the best part. We stayed in our neighbourhood to trick-or-treat this year (a first! Caleb's first Halloween we went to my parent's street and the past two years we have gone out with the Towers) and Caleb couldn't wait to go to Mr Matt's house next door! He is always dressed as a storm trooper! Fun stuff everyone! I hope you all had as great a night as we did! Love to you all!

   (as might be expected...there are a lot of pictures...you're welcome!)

Caleb's Special Lunch. A ghost PB&J, apples and bat-cheese! He loved it!

The bat-cheese. It was hard to see in the previous picture.

I love it when my little dude looks even smaller!

We took a little plane ride! Caleb was our pilot.

Waving to the airplane. He also shouted "hello" and was miffed that they didn't respond.

Oh the joy. Oh the excitement!

When Caleb was done with this, he went to get his booty out of the bowl. They had fun little games and he was happy to pick one out. But then as he was walking away he asked, very indignantly, "hey. where's the candy?" Ah. Gratitude.

Brian got this jewel of a photo! Love it!

Our dessert. Grammy came to the rescue with a run to the grocery store when I wasn't able to go. They are nutter butters with marshmallow cream and mini chocolate chip eyes.

Green spaghetti! Wahoo!!!!!

Chowing down on his ghost treat!

I LOVE THIS PICTURE! This is a happy dude!

Practicing his trick-or-treat skills and learning the rules!

Caleb and his Lightning McQueen pumpkin.

Trick-or-Treat Mr. Matt!

Only one boys! Only one!

Satisfied with his day.

Nite-Nite!

Waco Weekend

Happy Birthday Grandmom!

We drove out to Waco Saturday afternoon to help Brian's Mom celebrate her birthday. Caleb had a blast playing with his cousins and it was so cute to watch him and Madison walk around all weekend with their heads together.

Our little dude loves his cousins very watch and did not want to leave on Sunday. He pouted in the car for the few minutes it took before he crashed into sleepland.

 In just a few weeks they will be here and can play together celebrating his birthday!

Festivals and Pumpkins! Fall is Fun!

   Fall is our favourite time of year! Adventure lies around every corner and we never lack for anything to do this time of year! Last night was our Church's Fall Festival. We didn't actually think that we would go this year, but Caleb's friends told him all about it and he got so excited...so off we went! AND NO REGRETS! Caleb couldn't get enough of the bounce houses, bounce slides, bounce obstacle course...the carnival games with candy prizes...and this year he really got excited when he saw a costume that he recognized! He pointed out every single Buzz Lightyear and Spiderman!

   Funny story...Caleb has been adamant for months that he wanted to be a Fire Chief. Then he must have heard me tell my parents about a Spiderman costume I saw on clearance at the Disney Store and am considering buying to add to his dress-up chest....well as we were getting ready to put on his costume for the Fall Festival, he all of a sudden insisted that he be Spiderman! He changed his mind in the ninth hour! Fortunately it lasted only a few minutes and then he was right back into Fire Chief mode!

   My friend Heather told me that her favourite part of Fall Festival is seeing all of our peeps. I have to agree with you Heather. I got almost giddy anytime we saw a friend and their adorable child/ren! They were all having so much fun! The costumes were all so fantastic and fun and what a wonderful evening! Great job Stonebriar! We will be back next year, without a doubt!

There were multiple trips down this slide!

Caleb actually went into the Fire Truck and even seemed to enjoy it! Wahoo!

High Fives all around! Everyone kept asking Caleb if he drove the Fire Truck to the church! He would say "no" very seriously. So cute!

Showing off his skills. If only the Rangers had done the same...

Caleb found so many friends, inlcuding McKenna (Ariel) and Landry!

Checking out the awesome sunset that our camera just could not capture...Caleb had just discovered the awesome spring-y-ness of his suspenders and was quite enthralled!

This is Caleb's treat bag. I made it for his first Halloween because I wanted him to have something special that he could use every year. Each year I just iron-on a picture of him in his new costume. I figure it will be a really neat memento-scrapbooky-treasure when he gets older....

And then we have the pumpkin!

Every year we carve at least one pumpkin, and this year was no exception. Usually we do one with a pattern and then free-hand another, but this year it is just one pumpkin. Caleb got to pick a Lightening McQueen pattern and I think it turned out great! We can't wait to light it up on Halloween! This is all so much fun!

Ah. The first cut!

Thrilled. Unaware of the time it would take...

Always our little helper. So eager!

On his own now...Caleb had better things to do...

....like play in the mud and gather flowers for Mommy!

TA DA!!!!

Great Job Boys!