Basket O' Fun

Who needs a bunch of expensive toys when you have a basket to play in? This basket sits by the back door with towels in it for when Murphy comes inside and he's wet. Owen's newest thing is to empty out all the towels and play in the basket. And I wonder why I'm not in the mood to put up Christmas decorations!!! :) This child plays with anything that isn't an actual toy. If the things he currently plays with are any indication of what he'd like for Christmas this year, I guess you might see on his list some coasters, a bunch of swim diapers, picture frames, and absolutely anything that he can place on his or my head and put out his hands and say, "Ta da!"

New Link

Well, I finally got to my best friend, Michelle, and she started a blog of her own. You can find her blog in the "Links" section if you'd like to see what's up with the Calvert Crew. Welcome aboard, Michelle!

Another Fun-Filled Thanksgiving

Cody's Mom, Dad, and Stepmom Linda came to visit again this year for Thanksgiving. We started the tradition of Thanksgiving at our house the first year we were married. I make the entire meal, bird and all, which I love doing. I was a little worried that nausea might keep me from doing it all myself this year, but I was able to make it through without any trouble. It seems to get easier and easier each year, although I am still exhausted by the time we finish eating! Then we just lay around watching TV and napping and eating leftovers for the rest of the weekend. No crazy day-after shopping, just nice relaxing family time. We love it! I never thought I would say this, but I don't miss the Black Friday shopping one bit!!! We didn't take a whole lot of pictures as I was just too worn out to do so, but here are a few that I did get of Owen and his grandparents.

Owen made Grandpa read this book about a hundred times this weekend. He loved it! And good 'ol Grandpa never complained. And for those of you wondering, no, Owen wasn't scared of Grandpa at all!!! They thought he might be but he went right to Grandpa as soon as he walked in the door and just said, "Hi!" It was too cute.

We discovered this weekend that Owen has a fondness for pie. He would just go around to whoever had some and share theirs. Whey they ran out, he'd move on to the next person. He especially loved sharing Grandma's pie with her. Here he is scraping her bowl clean.

I think this was after he was licking the spoon clean.

Not sure what he's doing here, but aren't they cute together?! :)

So, another Thanksgiving is over and now we are gearing up for Christmas. I've still got to put up the tree and decorations, although I've decided on just doing a few decs this year since I'm sure my little mischief maker will be getting into them. Then we have to get the picture with Santa and shop and get the cards sent out and on and on and on and on....It never ends but it's so much fun, isn't it?! Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving!

Owen's Big Announcement

Owen has been dying to share something with you all so without further ado, here it is:

Happy Birthday, Uncle Ryan...

from one Bears fan to another!!

I'm cheering the Bears on so you can have a win for your birthday!

Hope you have a great day! I love you soooo much! Go Bears!

The Old Bo Dog

I'm sorry to say that the Glodo family experienced a great loss while Owen and I were home visiting last month. On October 19th, my parents had to make the difficult decision to put our wonderful dog, Bo, to sleep. Bo was 14 years old and his health was really starting deteriorate this past year. He had bad hips, a tumor on one of his eyes that bled a lot, and a problem with his ears. He had a hard time getting around and had also lost his hearing. On the day that it happened, he was laying down on the living room floor and stayed there for 3 hours--not even getting up to relieve himself. Mom called the vet at about 8pm that night and he said he would meet them at his office. Dad had to carry Bo to the car. I, unfortunately, was out shopping with my cousin and was not able to be there but I was at least glad that I was in town. I think having Owen and Maddy there really helped my parents grieve a little easier and I was glad that I got to see Bo one last time.

Bo was really the 5th member of our family. My brother brought him home when he was just a pup when I was 15 years old. He said he was going to be a hunting dog. I think Bo went hunting maybe one time, and spent the rest of his time laying on the couch watching TV with my dad. Dad very quickly became Bo's favorite person in the family. Wherever he was, you'd find Bo right next to him. He was the quirkiest dog I've ever met and we all swear he understood every word we said. He was also the calmest dog I've ever met. Right up until the end, Owen would climb all over him and he never minded one bit. When we were on vacation this past summer, Owen started saying, "Bo!" Now, every dog he sees is, "Bo!"--even our own dog! It is the cutest thing and I rarely correct him because it makes me feel like a part of Bo is still with us that way.

I was going through some photos this week and came across some of Bo, which is why I decided to do this post in the first place. So here are some pictures of our dear old friend whom we greatly miss. Christmas won't be the same this year without seeing him dig his nose into a gift bag full of bones and tennis balls.

Here he is on GiGi's couch at Christmas. It is only because she loved Bo so much that GiGi would allow him to sit on her couch!

This is one of my favorite pictures of us. It's a little hazy because Cody was dry walling and sanding and got it all over the picture. But I still had to put it on here! Bo always loved to lay on a pillow.

Here are the two best buddies doing what they did best--relaxing on the couch.

Auntie Gaye emailed me this poem that Beth wrote about Bo when she was in high school. I think it pretty much sums up exactly what kind of dog he was and how much our entire family loved him.

“BO”

There is a dog that I know,
He is a black lab whose name is Bo.
He likes to play catch, sleep and eat,
Bo is a dog you would love to meet.
He loves to take walks, run and play,
A ride in the car makes his day.
He is as precious as a baby in our eyes,
When he is left alone, he mopes and cries.

His owners treat him like a child of their own,
He chews on a tennis ball instead of a bone.
When they go for a ride, he sits in the front,
He's very spoiled, he gets whatever he wants.

If you are a stranger who walks through the door,
He barks real loud, and runs across the floor.
If you are a face he is familiar with,
He doesn't move at all, not even a twitch.

He is a bodyguard, when his family is gone,
He sits at the window from dusk until dawn.
You can tell he cares by the look in his eye,
Bo is a great dog, and now you know why.

Cade Matthew Brooks

Well, the bags are finally unpacked, although I still feel like I'm trying to get on top of all that laundry. After 2 weeks of being away, I have spent the last 2 weeks trying to catch up on things around the house. Thus, leaving me less time for blogging. But I thought I better get some pictures up of the newest addition to our family before he turns one!! Cade Matthew was born on October 25th at 1:52pm. He didn't wait for his Auntie Sarah to get back from Puerto Rico, but with a face as cute as his I couldn't hold it against him! Owen and I got up first thing in the morning on the 26th and headed over to see them all at the hospital.

My first official picture with my new "nephew."





Owen got a little jealous when Mommy was holding Cade. He had to get on my lap and sit with us! He was so cute though. He said, "Baby!" a lot and it was really the first time he connected a word with its actual meaning. It was the sweetest thing.

Here he is giving Cade lots of loves.

He was so excited to see his Auntie Beth and he kept trying to get up into bed with her!

He finally got up there with her and gave her lots of hugs and kisses.

Here's little Cade when he got home from the hospital. I think he looks like his Mama.

Here he is sleeping away in his Daddy's arms.

To see Cade's adorable hospital picture go here.

I'm told everyone is doing well, aside from the fact that Cade sometimes doesn't want to go to sleep at night! Ah, I remember those days! We are all so happy that he is finally here and looking forward to seeing him again at Christmas. For more updated pictures, check out the Brooks Family blog in the links section.