Caleb's First Pet

Well it's finally happened. The McKinstrys got their first pet.

Caleb has been interested in getting one for a while, and each time we made a visit to the pet store, he always wanted to check out the Beta fish. Very specific about which color fish he wanted, Caleb would beam as he talked about his hope to get one. He'd look at the variety of tanks, planning in anticipation of the day that Mommy and Daddy finally would cave and let him take one home. 

My sister - the animal lover - wanted to get Caleb a fish for his birthday or Christmas a while back, but at that point, I just felt like it was too much for me to keep up with and he was a bit young. This year though, I mentioned to her that if she wanted to, I thought it would be okay for him to finally have his pet. 

Knowing that he had a special fish already picked out in his mind, Courtney and I plotted for Caleb to have a special day with her to go to the pet store and choose exactly what he wanted. Not only had Caleb been wanting a fish, he'd also been requesting a day out with Aunt Courtney, so this whole adventure was over-the-top exciting for him. Though he didn't know where she was taking him, all morning until she arrived he kept looking out the front windows expectantly.

When she finally arrived, there were Christmas gifts for all three of the kids (always fair - that Aunt Courtney :)). Little did Caleb know though that the present he was unwrapping was just a piece of the special treat that awaited him that day.

At my mom's house, Courtney had found the old fish tank that used to be ours when we were kids. He was so excited! 

Dresses for Hadley's new doll...What a sweet smile.

From getting to ride in Aunt Courtney's truck for the first time to the excitement of going off to the pet store to get his long awaited fish just the two of them, Caleb could hardly stand the excitement. He didn't even bother to put on proper winter footwear and a coat before he was out the door. And, of course, he came home smiling just as big as when he left, if not bigger!

Hey what's that on your face? Courtney, did you give that boy some chocolate? At least wipe off the evidence!

While at the store, Courtney let Caleb pick out more than just his Beta. Rainbow colored rocks, a couple plastic plants, spring water, a bit of fish food - and they were all set. They went to work as soon as they got back setting it all up so that "Blue Peacock" - as Caleb named him - had a nice new home.

What a smile!

There he is folks. (My favorite part about this photo is the joy in Caleb's face.)

Good choice, Buddy. Mommy had a fish named "Blue Boy" when I was little.

The excitement wasn't limited to Caleb. Hadley and especially Reid were thrilled to have a pet too. I could barely keep them off the counter and had to find a very safe place for our little guy's tank after they had a while to check him out first. Since then they've discovered they can pull a dining room chair into the kitchen and up to the counter to watch this interesting creature as he swims, which has been a bit stressful for me - especially the time I caught Reid with his arm in the tank, saying "I touch fish."

The next morning Caleb woke up saying, "Mommy, I woke up so early this morning because now I have a pet." Little did he know that he hadn't woken up any earlier than normal, but his enthusiasm made me smile. Down the steps he went to admire his fish. 

At one point even he told me he thought maybe he should make a little Christmas present for "Blue Peacock" and went to work drawing a picture on a C-shaped posted note, which he ended up taping to the side of the tank. 

While he was excited at first about feeding his friend, as were all the kids, he definitely needs reminders frequently from Mommy and Daddy now. Sometimes it is tempting to just feed the little fella myself, but I don't want to start that habit. It is his pet, and over time, I think it will be a good lesson in responsibility. 

All in all though, the excitement about this Beta is still high. Thanks, Aunt Courtney, and how appropriate that you, my animal loving sister, would be the one to buy your nephew - a fellow animal lover - his first pet.

Thanksgiving 2015 - At Home and At School

Thanksgiving is a pretty laid back holiday around here. I don't do a lot of decorating since it doesn't seem worth if I have to fuss at the kids for messing with everything. And, as far as prepping a big dinner goes, I don't really have that on my plate either. My mom and Granny do most of the cooking, so I typically only have a dish or two to prepare. This year though, the dynamic was a little different since now Mommy is filling the teacher role too and felt the need to do a little extra with the holiday to teach the kids - Caleb, in particular - about the significance and history of this holiday. 

I have to admit, I maybe should have started my prepping earlier, but when I saw some of the fun activities my friends' kids were doing at school with holiday parties, crafts, etc., it reminded me to get on the ball. I got on Pinterest to glean a few ideas and hopefully find some pre-made materials. Plus, I searched online to see what I could find at our local library, and though the pickins' were slim at that point, I found quite a few books that were perfect for diving into the history of our country and how Thanksgiving became an official holiday. 

While The Bernstein Bears Thanksgiving Blessings and Thanksgiving with the Teppletons were both good picks to give the kids glimpses of our modern traditions and to start talking about the holiday, the books that focused on the historical elements were my favorites. In particular, the book Pardon That Turkey actually even taught ME quite a few things I didn't know, such Sarah Hale's long quest to get Thankgiving declared as a national holiday. Though so often we read about the influence of the pilgrims and Native Americans, Hale is the woman who petitioned president after president after president to adopt this yearly celebration until finally President Lincoln agreed she had a pretty good idea after all.  

In addition to doing a bit of reading, we watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving too, which was another fun way to introduce the history in a memorable way. 

Thanksgiving even made its way into our reading lesson one day thanks to some fun sight word coloring sheets - a Pinterest discovery. 

I was impressed to see how well he colored this bird when he put in his best effort. 

When Thanksgiving finally arrived, the kids had a pretty good idea of what it was all about. That said, while learning about the history and traditions was interesting, we all looked forward to the actual holiday when we could celebrate day with a day off from school to rest, enjoy family time with lots of cousins, and eat some great food. Here's our little mini picture taking session before heading out to Granny's:

Caleb picked out his own clothes. He loves collared shirts. 

They were so proud of their pumpkins.

I love how Hadley is looking at her daddy in this one.

After a big dinner, we began to embrace another holiday. With turkey still digesting, out came the Christmas tree!

Even with the tree up though, the next day, when everyone else was taking off for Black Friday, Mommy got in a couple more Thanksgiving themed learning activities.

There were so many ideas online that many of them we didn't get to do and several I saved for next year. One cute one that was age appropriate for the kids  was decorating a dinner plate with their favorite thanksgiving foods. They all loved this idea and came up with some unique spreads. 

Caleb broke out the big art set for this one!

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake, macaroni, popcorn, pizza...Hey! Wait a second! I don't think we had all that.

Reid doesn't mind if the food on his plate gets a little mixed together.

One of my favorite products was Caleb's response to the writing prompt he was given to create a Thanksgiving recipe:

Lettuce Rolls: 1. Take a tortilla.
2. Put lettuce in it.
3. Then you boil it.
4. After that you fry it.
5. Make it burnt.

His inventive spelling gives me a smile every time.
(Somewhat concerned he thinks you have to burn dinner though...What does that say about my cooking?)

Then it was over. We rounded out the last weekend in November with some outdoor play, enjoying the leaves and gorgeous fall weather before December arrived.

Their obstacle course