November- 2011

Birthday Month!!  On the 10th- Ben turns 6!!  SIX!!!  and also this month I turn 30 For Ben's birthday, he wanted everything "ZM Cougar"- We have been talking about painting his room- and he told he wants it to be Blue and Silver-  So- the first part of the month, we spent patching, sanding and priming his room- then it was time to pick out the colors... the blue was easy-  Navy blue is fairly common.... Silver... that was a hard one- how do you find paint that looks nice, but isn't chrome?!  It took a couple of tries but I think we found a great match!  The big surprise for Ben's birthday was his new quilt.  He knew all about the room...and all about turning it into a "ZM Cougar room"... but he didn't know that I had been busy working on a Blue and Silver quilt.  He was pretty excited when we gave it to him!!

The week of Ben's birthday, he was also "Star of the Week."  In Kindergarten, every child gets the chance to be the star for the entire week- they get to bring in family members, bring in a poster that talks about their favorite things, and bring home "Q-Bear!"  Q-Bear was with us for a weekend and we kept him pretty busy!

Birthday dinner (Pepperoni & Green Olive Casey's Pizza)

Home-made Pizza

Kickball

Ben's Kindergarten Class

I was so lucky- I got to visit Ben's class

We also took a trip to Mequon to visit with Gramma and Grampa...and Pete and Vanessa and Noah!!  It has been a while since we have seen Vanessa and Noah, so this was an exciting trip!  The boys picked up right where they left off last time- Ben, Tommy and Noah play so well together!  

Tommy & Noah

Uncle Pete with all of his Nephews

Ben & Noah 

Pete & his Lego Guys

Grampa Steve took the opportunity to show the boys how to "make sawdust."  Ben was very excited by this, as about 2 weeks earlier, he had told us that he thinks he wants to be a carpenter when he grows up!

Soon it was time to come home...and enter into Kris' birthday week!  The big 3-0 (Yikes!)  That morning I woke up and was getting ready for work... nothing unusual.... until I looked outside...

Gotta love your family :-)

November also brings thanksgiving... This year, I had decided that we were going to host thanksgiving-  Our old house was too small for a great gathering-but this house is PERFECT!!!!!  I think it turned out great too- our home was filled with both of our families (minus only Becky & Joe, and Vanessa & Noah).  The food was great and it was so much fun to host!!!

Games with Gigi!

Baseball!

Family time

Cousins...Patrick really didn't want his picture taken

Kids table!

Happy Thanksgiving!

After dinner relaxing

Pies!

A few years back, we started a tradition- the day after thanksgiving we go to Red Wing to do the Holiday Stroll.  It is a fun nighttime activity, and this year we got to share it with Steve, Anne and Gigi Ann!  

One of Santa's Reindeer!

Cousins <3