Halloween Spoiler

Hey peeps!  It's Friday!!!  Hope you had a great week.  Things here have been pretty calm and uneventful.  Which I like :-)

Ben has decided that he wants to be a bat for Halloween this year.  He has actually known this for months and has been completely unwavering in his decision.  So, after scouring some stores online, I finally found one I thought might work.....

I know.....the cuteness.

I was kind of nervous ordering a costume online because it seems like so many costumes out there are thin and poorly made.  Since it is usually cold on Halloween night, I didn't want him to end up with some paper-thin costume.  I was so pleased with one.  It is thick and plush and seems much more expensive than it actually was (it was only $25).  I consider this a major costume win!!  Oh, and here is a fun little twist.... Ben wants me to dress up like a spider.  And I'm actually considering it.  Can you imagine?  Ha!!  I have no idea if adult spider costumes even exist, but I need to start looking now if it's going to happen.  Don't worry, I will post pictures if this indeed becomes a reality.  Lord, help me.

Ben is very eager to go trick-or-treating and even more eager for his upcoming birthday and Christmas.  We have already started making a list of things he wants and Ben asks to see it (and have us read to him) almost daily.  We've been trying to explain to him that he won't be getting everything on the list, but I'm not sure that is really computing with him right now :-)

Ok, I have one more cute Ben story.  We have several kids in our neighborhood, but not many around Ben's age.  Our closest neighbors have kids that range anywhere from grade school, all the way up to high school.  Ben is very intrigued by the "big kids" and sometimes will just sit on the sidewalk in front of our house and watch them play.  It makes me a little sad for him, but he's just too little to play with them right now.  He has friends his own age that we have play-dates with and he plays with the kids at preschool, so he gets plenty of time to play with others, but my heart still breaks a little when I see him longing to play with the kids in the neighborhood.

Well, the other evening we were outside playing and several girls were playing a couple of houses down from us in our cul-de-sac.  They noticed Ben watching them and said "Hi, Ben!" very enthusiastically.  He looked at me, gave an enormous grin and then yelled to the girls "I'm coming!!!".  Then he walked over to their house (I followed, of course) and they played with him for about 30 minutes (until it was bath-time for Ben).  It was so sweet.  And I know it meant THE WORLD to Ben.  He was in "big kid" heaven.

I think I mentioned last time that I was starting some private sessions a couple of days a week at a pilates studio near our house.  I've been about 5 or 6 times now and ... I. LOVE. IT!!!!!!  It is so stinkin hard, which makes it kind of addicting.  It is completely different from any kind of pilates classes I have taken in the past.  Probably because this is an actual dedicated studio where the instructors know their stuff.  The other classes I have done were at whatever gym I was attending at the time (and no equipment was involved).  Don't get me wrong, the mat classes at the gym can be really challenging as well (depending on the instructor), but this is on a whole other level.  The equipment we use is kind of intimidating at first, but once you get used to it, it's actually really fun.  It requires a ridiculous amount of concentration because if you aren't using "proper form" the instructor is right there to call you out on it.  Very different from running :-)  Every time I leave there, my muscles feel like jello.  I would totally recommend it to anyone who is looking for a low-impact exercise that is still very challenging.

Aaaand, that's all I can think of right now.  Have a great weekend!

Brooke