Well, November went by faster than I thought it would (or wanted it to). It's crazy that we are already in the month of December, a couple weeks away from Christmas, not far from 2017 - wow!
We had a great November! Of course it was filled with lots of activities, but we are pretty use to that :) We enjoyed:
- Crazy warm November days!!!
- Meeting new pups at the local dog park
- Last minute hikes
- Thanksgiving
- Great dentist appointments
Shorts in November!
There were 6 other pups at the dog park, Brutus hung out here and watched them play. He did get a good run in once or twice and then realized he was just too big to keep up.
Francis was a celebrity reader at Kynzley's school! The kids thought it was pretty fun to try on his fireman gear :)
The Red, White and The Blue
Veterans Day 2017
The boys and I enjoyed one of the last warms day enjoying a good long walk on the trails
Doggy sleep over
Carley and Brutus
I always love a good theme ;)
I did a little extra decorating on my apple pies!
Brutus turned 6 months on November 30. He's growing like a beast, but still thinks he's small - definitely thinks he's small! He loves to sit on your lap, lean on you and if you are not paying attention he taps you with his paw (with his size it's not really a tap more like a shove!). Just like our children he likes to stick to a routine. He's not a morning pup, loves to sleep in and be lazy. At night he knows when the kiddos go to bed its his time and he gets FULL attention and he takes FULL advantage of it! He gets the whole basement to himself with us with no toys in the way or little ones taking away our focus. He wants to snuggle, play fetch, pull on his rope and be a giant goof.
He has so many similarities to Cody, but yet so many differences. I think most of the differences, though, come from the training that we've put into Brutus than we did with Cody. Don't get me wrong, Cody was GREAT!!! He was well behaved and such a love! But, he was our first baby and oh so spoiled!!! If he didn't want to do something he didn't have to. We never worked hard on lot boundries because we moved often and then had a fenced yard. Cody liked to visit the neighbors and neighborhood whenever he had the opportunity to be free of the fence. When out for walks, Cody had complete control of the leash, the only one he didn't pull with was Kynzley. When we got Brutus, we knew he was going to be bigger and now with little ones in the home we knew we had to crack down on rules right away. He does great!!! He's such a good dog! He knows his lot boundries and knows he cannot cross them without the "okay" command. Our neighbors are great too and know that they shouldn't call Brutus over or acknowledge him until he is given his command. He does well on his leash and knows that he has to leave slack while walking. He occasionally does a couple miles leash-less depending on location. Brutus does great with other dogs. He doesn't know how big he is so usually he is the submissive one! He's a great fit to our family! Oh yes, he is the BIGGEST mama's boy ever!!!!!
Enjoying a new pillow while I wash his pillow cover
This is our neighbor pup Olaf. He comes over to visit often, Brutus loves it! Olaf chases Brutus around and crawls all over him.
While Olaf took over Brutus's pillow and toys, Brutus sat next to me and looked in confusion
6 mos old and weighed in at 87lb
First snow fall!
Like I said before, November went by so fast and we are on to December! Our December is just as packed as November was. Kynzley has been rehearsing hard for the Nutcracker that she will performing in this coming weekend and because of lots of rehearsal time we did our Christmas tree cutting a weekend early. It was great weather and we found the perfect tree.
Kynzley 6, Benton 2
Christmas Tree 2017
Some fun randoms from the beginning of December so far:
Benton and his best buddy (great grandpa!)
Elfy made his return!
Day 1
Since we got our tree early this year, Elfy was able to deliver our ornaments right away! Kynzley got a Nutcracker with a cupcake on his head - perfect for her! She is a cupcake in the play this year!!
Benton got Thomas the Train and could not have been more excited! Brutus also got his :)
Day 2
Elfy made this kiddos into superheroes. Kynzley loved it, Benton was very upset that Elfy colored on mommy's pictures.
Day 3
Rapunzel was not happy with Elfy - for reasons we will leave up to your imagination :)
Day 4
A fun game of Cooties with his friends
Day 5
They were so excited to see the first snowfall of the year!
Packed and ready for a full day of Nutcracker rehearsal
On my birthday we were able to fit in a quick lunch and visit to see Santa before Kynzley had a full evening of rehearsal. Both were excited to see Santa and let him know exactly what they wanted.
Mr. GQ
He picked out his own too small pj's for the night
"I so strong and have big muscles!" Benton 2.5 years old
After a super busy day, we ended my birthday comfy and all together!! Nothing better than getting older with your family along for the ride!
Some of the girls in their "dressing room". It's amazing how well they do for 6 hours while waiting for their parts in the show.
I had the opportunity to help during rehearsals this weekend and got to see all the hard work these kids (and adults) have been putting it! It will for sure be a beautiful show!
The Holicky's
