Benhart Family Weekend

This past weekend was the 2nd annual Benhart Christmas at the Lake. It was so much fun, all in all we had a total of 22 people staying at the house, it was chaos. We also had 3 cooking/baking competitions. There were 7 soup entries (Aunt Jo won that one) 2 muffin entries (I took that one) and 9 cookie entries (Jeaneen won that one). There was also a Christmas celebration and a birthday celebration for 5 people, whew! Noah had a great time playing with his 5 older cousins, and did his best to keep up with everyone. We rode home yesterday and he was out like a light. Can't wait till next year!

SANTA!

Last week Noah got to sit on Santa's lap. We weren't sure how it would go, he's seen Santa a couple times, but has never attempted the lap. But he did very well, he was hesitant at first, but then once Santa gave him a high five, it was all good. So, it's a much improved picture from last year (if you recall the female Santa at Petsmart). He's been saying, "SANTA" all week in a very growl-like voice. Who knows why, but once he sees the power of Santa, I'm sure he'll be his new buddy.

Preventing Cabin Fever

Our latest task in the Rodriguez has been keeping a near 2 year old busy and entertained during the cold weather. Let's just say it's gonna be a LONG winter! Recently we've been helping mommy clean while not wearing pants (not sure why that happened). We've also been building a lot of forts lately to drive our trucks into. And of course, visits from our BFF Fred are high on the list. The boys are getting so big now, they even ate lunch at a table all by themselves! This weekend we're heading up to the lake for the big Benhart/Hewes family christmas weekend. 20 plus people all staying at my folks place, should be fun!

Red Toes and Froze Nose

Our Mantra for this weekend was to entertain Noah to distract him from his overall crankiness. He hasn't been napping/sleeping well lately, so the result is usually a cranky toddler (not fun!) So I painted his toenails this weekend (much to Mike's dismay). And we took a trip to the LaGrange Holiday walk on Saturday night. Noah seemed to like seeing Santa's arrival on a fire truck. The petting zoo area was a bit mobbed, but Grandpa braved it with Noah and he got to feed some very pushy llamas, cows, and goats. This morning Noah got all packed up to go outside and play. This was part of the "wear out before nap" strategy that seemed to mostly work. He likes his mittens, but he doesn't enjoy how they inhibit his ability to play ball. Now we're officially in winter!

Noah's 2nd Thanksgiving: Hooteriffic

Noah has been busy this holiday weekend. He's been rocking the bears wear (much to daddy's chagrin) and has a new found appreciation for hats lately. On Wednesday, since mom and dad both had to work, Noah went with Grandma and Grandpa to this cool monkey bizness place in Western Springs to meet up with Morgan (fla 7.1) and Fred (fla 7.2). They had a blast running around and climbing all over. On Thursday we celebrated 2 thanksgivings, first with mommy's family out in Yorkville, then with daddy's family in Chicago Ridge. On Friday, the highlight of the weekend, Noah had his first trip to Hooters with the guys. He was scheduled to go shopping with mommy and grandma, but got convinced to go to Hooters with his 2 year old cousin CJ. NICE! PS, grandpa actually took the hooters pictures and bought him the hooters shirt!

Random activities of late...

So things have been busy for Mr. Noah over the last couple weeks. We went for a quick trip with Fred to the zoo. The boys LOVE watching the seals underwater. The mommies liked watching the Polar Bears. The Rodriguez family had their first attempt at holiday cookie baking. It was a rousing success by Noah's Messy Standards, but the actual cookies didn't turn out so great. Then yesterday Noah "helped" Daddy with the raking. Helping mostly refers to Noah destroying all leaf piles and running around with the rake yelling "MINE!" (his new favorite word). Hope everyone has safe travels over the Thanksgiving week!

Dance Party with Aunt Val!

Aunt Val came over last weekend and we had a spontaneous dance party. If you listen to the lyrics, when they say "put your hands up", Noah actually follows the direction. Please note, Noah was allowed to pick out his own clothes that day. This is a new strategy I use to cut down on whining and protesting. Hence, the striped shirt and oversized, unmatching sweats. Reminds me of a few outfits I put together in my youth...

Car Washing with Daddy

This past weekend we had some great weather around here, so Mike took the opportunity to wash his car (he has yet to run in thru a car wash since he bought it awhile back). Noah, of course, was quite the helper for Dad. He scrubbed the front of the car and even got the parts that Mike had already washed, so the car got a thorough cleaning. He was soaked by the end of the experience!

Halloween 09

Noah certainly enjoyed Halloween quite a bit more this time around. On Friday we went to my preschool in the morning to see the little parade the kids did around the building. In the afternoon we went to my mom's school to see the kids. He wore his costume (a dinosaur) to both places and did a great job waving at the kids and showing them his dinosaur roar. On Saturday we carved his pumpkin and had visits from Uncle Josh and Tia Tia, as well as Cliff. He got to go trick-or-treating to about 4-5 neighbors and enjoyed knocking on the door more than anything else. Noah really got into the candy this year and got to eat a bunch by using his charms on all the adults around. We finished the night with a sugar-fueled rock band performance and staying up late due to the time change. It was a blast!