Cowboy vest

Rebb found this vest that Boggy had saved from when Burk was little. He immediately fell in love with it and started calling it his cowboy vest. It is a little tight when buttoned, but Rebb doesn't care. He insisted on wearing it to daycare over this Thomas shirt. So funny. His teacher told me he would not take it off all day. He wouldn't let anyone touch it or unbutton it for him. I really wanted to find an old pic of Burk wearing it in 1980 to post with this one of Rebb but I figure I would post this now and if we find one of Burk later I will follow up. It was the perfect time for him to find it while in his "cowboy obsession". I love that this boy likes what he likes and it doesn't matter what everyone else is doing/wearing.

Happy Un-Birthday

Last weekend Porter went to a birthday party for his friend Jackson. Rebb was DEVASTATED. He wanted to go so bad. When he stopped crying he demanded we have " ah own pawdy, wis candles". So we made a cake and had a little party of our own. It was pretty fun. A small price to pay to mend a broken heart.

                        Rebb helped with the cake the whole way. Dumping in the ingredients,

                                                                     stirring the mix,

                                            frosting, or at least licking the knife after I iced it,

                                               adding some bling, in the form of sprinkles,

                                                   putting in the very important candles,

                                                 supervising the lighting of the candles,

                                        and the most important part, blowing out the candles.

 I guess the make do party worked. Look at this face. I enjoyed this party Rebb, it was my favorite private party ever.

Congratulations Porter

Burk and I were invited to the ACE assembly today at Porter's school. He received and award because he scored at Benchmark on the DIBELS reading test. I am not exactly sure what all that entails but I am so very proud. Porter is super intelligent and has always been an incredible reader. He works on it everyday and in first grade reads on about a third grade level. Burk and I are both avid readers and I am so thankful that Porter has found a love of reading. This boy is amazing and makes me PROUD everyday.

The questions they ask....................

On the way home from school the other day Porter said "Mom are we white, or African American?". At first I just thought it was such a funny question. As I talked about it with him more and more I became increasingly happy and proud that he has made it to almost 7 years old and didn't know the difference. I have always loved that young age, and the way little people just love all other little people. What a beautiful world it would be if we could all exist forever in this innocence, and see past peoples colors, sexes, beliefs, religions and political views. Thank you Porter for the reminder and the laugh.

Superbowl Party

Our annual superbowl eating extravaganza was a hit this year. There was a big bunch of us and SO MUCH FOOD!! We were at Papa Joes house and the boys got to enjoy the game in the newly finished basement on the BIG screen. I think there was some type of sporting event happening but mostly we were consumed with food. We had the usual mongo chow, meatballs, weenies, veggies (I ate one carrot, so I could say I had some healthy food)  little sandwiches, chips and queso, and superbowl candy. But we added some new things as well. Julie brought a new twist on mongo chow it is marshmellowy and as addicting as Jennies original that we always demand.

Tata and I wanted to try some pinterest recipes so she made Football shaped cake pops, and I made bacon wrapped chicken bites. Both turned out awesome. Dave and Bonnie brought egg rolls and cream cheese wontons. It was a really fun night. But when I left I swore I would never eat again. In true Kalli form I took the camera but forgot to take pics until the very end.

 When I went downstairs complaining that I had forgotten to take pics Sammy decided to be a good brother and act excited for a great action shot. :)

 We were so excited Toni came up to party with us. As always we couldn't get her out of the kitchen. She is always the cleaning crew.

 Aleksa was a good sport playing checkers with Porter. He sometimes likes to think he is the authority on checkers. And gets a little bossy. I wonder if he learned it from playing Tetris from his Mom?

                              Here are Michelle, Julie, and Hillface. Aren't the Jones' girls beautiful? We are so excited they are part of our family now.

Happy Birthday Pops!!!

Last weekend we had a little birthday celebration for Pops. Nothing too big just some pizza, and I made a super yummy new dessert I found on pinterest. Oreo, banana split pie. Yummy! The boys had fun hanging out and like always we had a good visit with Booge's Fam. We love Pops so much and hope he had a good birthday.

                                                                    Pops and Jace

                                                  Porter and Diddy cheesing it up.

 Booge and Tayci. She is getting so big. She is such a fun baby. She smiles at everyone and is such a happy easy going girl.

                                 There is never a shortage of boys crawling around all over Pops.

Childrens Tree House Museum

Porter is off track so I took the day off work. Tata had the great idea to take the kids to the treehouse. It was so fun. We played for a good four hours. There is so much to do there you could hang out the whole day. Except chasing kids is so tiring. :) It was discount day so it was a great way to spend lots of time without breaking the bank. Plus it was a stupendous day for me as Hazel was MY girl all day.

They have a big chess set there. Porter has been really interested in chess lately. I think because he has been reading and watching Harry Potter with Burk.

Porter hung out in the oval office for a while and even stopped for a photo with the big guy.

                                                  All the kids loved the music making room.

Hazey drifted off after a while and went to find some coloring. She always loves to color. I think she is going to be a little doodle artist like her Momma.

Hazel and mostly Rebb really enjoyed playing by the castle stuff with the knights and horses and such.

They have a little Ogden Pioneer Days area, which of course Cowboy Rebb loved. The horse Porter is on really moves and bucks. I was pretty cool.

                                                                           

                                                                           

                                                                            
                 We went back to the fire engine a few different times. I think it was Hazey's fave.

Ice Cream and Cousins......

Saturday night we went to dinner at training table with JoeRob and Jennie and then Tata and Cody met us all at Subzero for some yummy ice cream. It was so fun to get out with them as we never hang with them enough. Rebb and Gabbie had such a great time. They played together all night and were so sweet with each other. It was very cute and a little surprising as they are each, shall we say, "sometimes challenging." After ice cream we came to our house and played some board games. Aleksa and Porter chose the game of things and then some UNO. It was a great night and I cant wait to do it again. Next time we will have to make Tata and Cody come to games too, but it was a little late at night for my Hazy Daze girl.

                                                       Aleksa, Porter, Rebb, Gabbie

 Here are Rebb and Gabbie, who just had to sit by each other. I really wish I had a pic of them together later that night or even a video. They were playing so cute. Gabbie was taking care of Rebb like she was the little Mommy and he was the baby. She even covered him up with her blankie. This is especially cute if you know either of them well. They give love on their own terms.

 Here are Porter and Aleksa. They are both getting so big. Later in the evening the played games with the adults. We played the game of things, which requires writing and reading and they both did great. I am super proud of both of them. They are pretty good kids.

And here is Tata and my sweet Haze. She was so funny traveling from person to person sharing a bite of each type of ice cream.

BrEaKiNg NeWs!!

While I was downstairs pinteresting, (my newest addiction) and Burk was in the basement gaming on the PC Rebb ran past me up the stairs. I didn't think much of it. I figured he was going to his room to play with his tools or something. Shortly after I hear him say Mom I pooped. I was horror stricken!! Oh man, in the pants again. NOPE! He was in the bathroom on the toilet. He had in fact pooped in the pot. One small poop for mankind, one HUGE poop for the Benton fam. HOORAY!! I am so proud of my two year old genius. He has been doing really well, except we had a setback after he fell into a toilet at a restaurant and has since been terrified of going without his little seat. I guess now he is determined to be a real cowboy. He has been heard quite often lately saying "Cowboys go potty in the toilet and hippies poop in their pants" Its pretty cute but we have to credit Papa Joe for the original saying. I guess potty training techniques used on big Jake work for Rebb too. :)

Cowboy Up!!!

Rebb is obsessed with cowboys.
A little while before Christmas he started talking all about cowboys and how he was gonna ask Santa for a little baby pig. When I asked him where it would live he said in his room and he would feed it ice cream cones. He is really into all the cowboy clothes and accessories. Last time we saw Uncle Pat he was wearing boots and a plaid shirt so immediately Rebb knew he was good people. He started saying he needed to wear a cowboy shirt like Uncle Pat and a cowboy belt like Sammy Sosa. (Sammy doesn't wear a cowboy belt, just a belt) I guess Sam is probably the only family member we have skinny enough to tuck in his shirt so you can actually see he wears a belt.
 As you probably guessed Rebb did not get a live pig for Christmas but Boggy and Papa Joe did find him a piggy bank that oinks and squeals when you put change in him. Along with this perfect cowboy shirt complete with cowboy pockets. Santa brought cowboy boots and a belt with a horse on the buckle.
Each time he wears this ensemble he says he is ready to go ride a horse with "Aunt". My Aunt Nancy lives in the little town of Amalga UT. She has horses, and chickens, dogs, and puppies. All the regular small town, with land stuff. Twice she has let Rebb come out there and she gives him a basket to gather eggs from the chicken coop and say hello to the horses. He wont forget it, they are like the two best days of his life. He is constantly talking about when he went to the "farm" and how soon can he go back?
So if your looking for Heaven, fear not Rebb has found it. Go see my Aunt Nancy, but take a basket and a shovel. There are eggs to be gathered and horse poop to be shoveled.
Thanks Nance, love ya. :)

Basketball

 Porter just started Basketball and his first game was Thursday. It was a bit of a cluster and pretty funny to watch. They give the kids arm bands and then have them guard the kid on the other team with the same color arm band. They don't keep score and don't really call anything they are just trying to more or less teach them about dribbling and passing. The basics.

 Porter took a shot from about half court, we had to remind him he wasn't Jimmer. He is learning though and had so much fun. He really loves all sports and making friends with teammates. He has pretty good hand-eye coordination and has been coming home from school and practicing dribbling in the garage. As soon as he gets the idea of dribbling with his fingers and can control it better I think he will have basketball in the bag.

This is porter and his good friend Jackson. I wish I could have posted some pics from while they were actually in the game but my battery died in my camera so they all turned out to be dark and fuzzy. But there will be more games and more posts to follow.

Sledding

                              At the first sign of snow the boys were super excited about sledding.

 Rebb finally got to use a blow up sled for more than a TV chair. He loved it so much. We had to shovel snow across the sidewalk and someone had to catch him at the bottom of the hill so he wouldn't shoot into the road.

                  Even Papa and Boggy had to take turns. Boggy got a little more than she bargained for.

Porter got a little plastic snowboard last year and he jumped on it and went all the way down on the first run this year. He had such great balance I could not believe it. He was loving it so much he was kind of practicing stopping and turning a little. He will need lots of practice but may have found yet another sport he will love. I guess he will have to depend on Uncles Cody and Brady for tips and help as neither Burk or I have ever skied/snowboarded. But i was so proud of him and am always happy when he finds joy in physical activities.

SNOW DAY!!

As much as I dread winter I find it so beautiful when I wake up in the morning and the world is still calm and I can see where the snow has piled on tree branches. The boys are ecstatic. They want to go to Boggys to sled.  (I am sure there will be a post to follow) Rebb got a blow up sled at the Benton family party and he drags it everywhere. To the kitchen to sit in while he eats a snack, and to the family room to watch T.V. in. So it will be fun to show him what its really for.

New Years 2012

The Benton's spent New Years as usual. Stuffing our faces, playing games and measuring each others body parts. Bogga Bwenna came down and spent the holiday with us. It was fun to have her join in on all the fun. We were excited to have Sammy back for the holidays this year and were very happy to have Hill with us as an official Benton this year. All except for Burk who has now been dethroned as "Benton with the smallest ears". Hillface has got him, measuring in at 2". Although, truth be told, if we could figure head to ear ratio he would have her by a mile. In the words of Rebb "happy 2 year 12".