"The Mitten"

When Brett turned one he received one of the best Christmas gifts ever from his Grandma Bingham. She had gotten him a very special book called "The Mitten" by Jan Brett. It was extra special not only because that was one of my very favorite books growing up, but also because the book was only a small part of the gift. The story is about a little boy who loses one of his white mittens in the snow. It is soon discovered by many of the animals in the area (an owl, fox, badger, rabbit, bear, mouse, etc) who decide it is just the right place to keep warm. Karen came up with the best idea to make this wonderful story even better - she hand made an oversize mitten along with the animals to go inside! At one years old, I was definitely more impressed than Brett and I couldn't wait for him to really get into the fun of it all. Last year, at two, he showed a little interest but he still wasn't quite old enough to really get into it - but this year, this year is different - he LOVES it and wants to read it all the time :-) We've read it so many times that he actually has the order of the animals memorized that go inside! Here are a few pictures of him immersed in his new favorite story :-) Thank you for the thoughtful gift, grandma Bingham! This is something we will have forever!!

Here Brett is reading the book by himself. I think we had read it together atleast 3 times at this point and I was ready for a break!

Surrounded by the animals, ready to read the story again :-)

Stuffing the fox into the mitten while I read to him.

One of his favorite parts, emptying the animals out when the story is finished.

Trick or Treat!

Now that Brett is a year older, trick or treating was even MORE fun than last year...he has a sweet tooth like his mommy, and was so excited to fill up his pumpkin with candy! I had a hard time trying to figure out a costume for him this year though...he first told me that he wanted to be a kangaroo for Halloween, so I searched and searched for a cute, affordable one, with no luck. They were either ugly or way too expensive. As I continued my search for a new idea I realized very quickly that it's very difficult to find a nice little boy costume that isn't a super hero, muscle man, or some other violent creature - and I'm just not ready to go there yet! Soon enough, I won't have any say at all, so this year, while he still listens to his mommy, I was going to find a CUTE one (but I had no idea what that would be!). Then my mom called one day with the best idea....she had seen an adorable owl hat and offered to buy it and then make the rest of the costume. What a wonderful idea, mom!! I bought a brown sweatsuit and she bought some felt; I then cut out the feathers and wings and my mom did the harder work of gluing and sewing it together. We were both a little worried that he might not wear it because we could never get him to try it on for us, but once the day for candy came, he was all for it :-) My mom did an AMAZING job and Brett was seriously the cutest owl I have ever seen :-)

Getting ready to head out..I mean really, can he get any cuter?!

Grandma and Grandpa Mo came for a visit so Grandma came trick or treating with us!!

Our attempt at a family picture :-) As you can tell, Brett is already munching on candy from our house!

Brett was so good at saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" after he got his candy.

Brett and his friend Abby who was dressed up as a pirate. SO cute!!

Brett and Abby holding hands :-)

The Dorritos were a nice break from sugar!

We stopped at the funeral home for some free donuts, cider, and games. I love our small town!

Hand and hand, on our way home.

Once we got home Brett insisted on opening up each piece of candy just to get a taste and see what was inside. Needless to say, we ended up with a whole plate full of half eaten candy!