Happy Christmas!

We had a fabulous Christmas--hope yours was the same!
"That's a lot of persons!"

Decorating cookies with mommy

Sleigh ride!

Hooray! Books...now onto the good stuff:)

New balls from Uncle Jeff

Showing the basketball to the giant llama puppet...

Loving the llama puppet...

Taking a break for some George...

Trying on the new tool belt...

Opening the talking toolbox from grandma and grandpa...

"Choo choo!"

Wearing some stylin' new Llama, llama, red pajamas that grandma made!

Cowpoke Round-Up and Santa!

Benjamin's book from Santa--A new Elephant and Piggie title!
Do you want a bite?

Watching a puppet show with Daddy

Playing with the shape sorter

Having some juice

Riding a pony

WANTED...

Reading with my girls, Shari and Shayla...

And posing in the hat...

Happy 2nd Birthday Benjamin!!!!

The morning started out right with a mylar balloon and a new phrase--"This is an awesome balloon." Said over, and over, and over, while playing punchball with the balloon. Presents clearly could have stopped with the $.99 balloon from Wal-Mart

Delicious pancakes and bacon, courtesy of daddy.

A new firefighter's hat!

Opening a present from grandpa and grandma while grandpa is here and grandma is watching on our futuristic "video phone."

It's a giant Mr. Potato head container with many Mr. Potato Heads inside! This gift is a huge hit and generates many minutes of play before wandering off. But it's okay--he went back to it approximately 6 times today which means it is quite possibly now his favorite toy in the whole world.

After a nap and a short break it's time to consume cake! We eat it in just 5 minutes, ignoring mommy's delightful stress in trying to create a perfect fishbowl cake. Sadly, perfection once again eludes mommy, but the frosting is delicious!

One of many hats today, this one is from Uncle Jamie and says John Deere on the back (which is really the front.)

New puzzles are fun but challenging because learning is fun! (For a couple of minutes at a time, and only if in the perfect mood.)

Now it is time again to try bowling! Benjamin surprises us all by hardly needing the bumpers (I'm lying but he does break 100 anyway.) Also, everyone gets at least one strike! I think...maybe I should recheck Uncle Jamie's score...

Wacek males in their natural habitat...

"All fall down!" Benjamin's basic grasp of bowling is really quite precocious.

Later a few more presents before bed. More dress up hats from daddy and mommy...

and a super cute cowboy hat and pony from Mikey...

Just in time for cow-poke round up at the library this month!

Happy Halloween!

We started off a bit rough and couldn't convince Benjamin to wear the elephant head of his costume. Until we happened upon this compromise--continue to wear the red hat with the elephant head on top! Everybody wins!
Yes, Benjamin is happy, and he does know it!

Holding hands while trick-or-treating is important.

Who says elephants can't jump?

Finally, the coolness of light sticks cannot be over-emphasized.

A couple of fun videos...

Benjamin preempts my reading on almost every page of Elephant and Piggie's My Friend is Sad!



And here he is playing in the leaves...



Notice the bunny ears in both videos. Benjamin is on a hat kick and apparently Bunny Ears count:)

A Visit to Mumsen's Farm

Going on a hayride...without the hay.

Visiting the llamas!

Feeding the goats

Riding the Tractor

Holding the bunny