Halloween

We had an eventful Halloween this year with a Halloween party and traditional Halloween trick-or-treating. Since William was two, I thought that he would love Halloween, so I purchased him this golfer costume:

No, that is not William in the costume, it is a model because William refused to put the costume on. I purchased the costume a few weeks before Halloween, so Matthew and Peter kept trying to get him to wear it around the house because it was so cute. We could never convince William that wearing the costume was a good idea.

A couple of days before Halloween, we were at Wal-Mart and they had this costume on clearance:

William was so excited about this costume because he LOVES Thomas the Train. He was even trying to open the package in the shopping cart! We thought that we finally had found a costume that William would wear. Again, he would not put on the costume. He simply enjoyed looking at the costume instead of wearing it.

The weekend before Halloween, we attended a family Halloween party at the McGourty's house. Everyone was dressed up except for William. He refused to wear either of the costumes I had purchased for him. Peter went as Dracula, Matthew went as a hillbilly, Joseph went as a skeleton, I was Little Red Riding Hood, and Toby was The Big Bad Wolf! We had a lot of fun visiting with friends and playing games.

By the time Halloween day arrived, Matthew and Peter did not want to dress up. It was a long day because we had school and then Peter had basketball practice until 5:15. Due to the fact that it was a school night and we got a late start, we only went to a handful of houses. Again, William would not wear his costume, so I called my mom and asked her to pick up some Halloween shirts for all four boys on her way home. The boys all looked very handsome in their shirts! Maybe next year William will be a little more interested in Halloween and we will be more festive. Trick-or-treat!

Weaning Time!

Fall is such a busy time at the McBride household. One of the major events that takes place in the Fall is weaning the calves from their mothers. This is a multi-step process that involves a lot of time and help. A few weeks ago, Matthew, Peter, Joseph, William and I had the day off while Toby was bringing a group of cows home to wean. As a result, we were recruited to help! Matthew and Peter did an amazing job helping to gather the cows and bring them to the feedlot while Willim, Joseph, and I blocked roads for the crew. It was so fun for William to watch the cows as they came into the feedlot.

Overall, it was a very busy and productive day. With all of the help, Toby was able to wean around process around 300 calves that day! I am sure missed our help when he weaned the other two groups!

Mama and Joe waiting for the cows.

Watching the Cloud of Dust

Here they come!

Moo!

Toby

Matthew

Travis

Peter and Fidel

The Crew

This is one tired, dusty boy!

Peter

Fidel

Matthew

Matthew

Joseph Stephen - Five Months Old

 

 Joseph,

During the past month, you have developed many new skills! It seems as if you are learning something new every single day. I cannot believe how quickly you are growing! First, the basics - you are wearing six to nine month clothes and weigh approximately 18 pounds. You are still a very good eater and consume between six and eight ounces of formula. However, you are still waking up once or twice during the night. After eating though, you go right back to sleep. In addition, you are still taking a couple of short naps and typically one longer nap during the day.

Everything you can reach goes into your mouth! Even though we cannot see any little teeth yet, I do not believe that it will be long before your pearly whites break through. We really have to be aware of what is in your reach and even out of your reach because if you can grab it, it will end up in your mouth. The fact that you are becoming so mobile has made this even more important. When laying on the floor, you are getting very proficient at traveling by rolling over multiple times to get to your desired location. Sometimes, you even roll over so many times that you end up on the wood floor, and this makes you very mad! You are also able to travel very well in your walker. You have become very skilled at navigating your walker around the house and following everyone! It is very cute, because your little legs and arms get moving and propel you to your desired location!



Teething

You seem to have a couple of favorite toys. Your Moose is always within reach and keeps you entertained for quite some time. You enjoy shaking him, biting his ears, and pulling on his legs and arms. You also sometimes can be found playing with your pacifier. You usually only use the pacifier when you are tired. It seems to help you relax and sleep when you get tired and cranky. However, when you are not tired and the pacifier is within reach, you enjoy playing with it by taking it out of your mouth, examining it, moving it from hand to hand, and placing it back into your mouth. You repeat this process regularly!

When you were a couple of months old, you developed eczema. At first, we are able to keep the skin problem somewhat under control. During the past month though, it has become very irritating for you. In fact, it has become so irritating that you have begun scratching yourself. The scratching is the worst when you are asleep. You will go to sleep without any marks and wake up looking like a cat has scratched your scalp, forehead, and cheeks. It is pitiful! To try to relieve your discomfort, we have started using a laundry detergent that is free of any dyes or perfumes, only bathe you when absolutely necessary, and have stopped using any soap when we bathe you. In addition, I have been keeping your finger nails clipped very short to try to minimize the severity of the cuts. On occasion, we will also place a stocking cap on your head and socks on your hands so you cannot scratch as easily; this has not been a popular treatment option with you though. It makes you very made when you have to wear socks on your hands! We have also experimented with various ointments and creams suggested by doctors, friends, and the Internet to try to give you some relief. So far, we have not had much luck, but will continue searching until we can make you more comfortable!

We love you very much!

Mommy and Daddy




Brotherly Love

 

 

 

Famous Fifth Grade Volcano Project

Each year, the fifth grade classes embark on a very exciting volcano unit. They learn about the different types of volcanos, the structure of a volcano, how a volcano erupts, and more. The unit is concluded with each student creating a volcano. The students can use any combination of materials to create the volcano. The only requirement is the volcano must erupt! Matthew and Jace Justus decided to partner up for the project. They had a blast experimenting, designing, and building the volcano.

Experimenting with different "explosion" recipes.

This recipe works!

Making the salt dough.

Molding the volcano around the bottle.

Looks great boys!

Filling in the cracks with animals and spray foam.

Spray paint!

More spray paint!

Almost finished!

Right before the explosion.

Success!

Joseph Stephen - Four Months Old

Dear Joseph,

It is truly amazing how much you changed during this last month. You are growing so quickly! You currently weigh 17 1/2 pounds and are wearing six month clothes. It seems as if we can see you grow right before our eyes.

During the past month, you have tried and tried to roll over from your back to your front. You will turn your head, flip your legs around, and get onto your side only to have your darn arm in the way. It is so frustrating for you because you just cannot figure out how to move that arm. So, instead of rolling over, you move around in a circle. When laying on the floor, you wiggle and squirm so much that you eventually end up off the blanket and typically facing the opposite direction! It is probably best that you have not learned how to roll over though because you still hate being on your stomach. You can lay on the floor for 30 minutes and be so happy on your back, but you typically don't last 5 minutes on your stomach. As strong and active as you are though, I know it won't be long before you are rolling all over!


This is what I do when I am on my stomach too long!

You have recently started sitting in the walker for short periods of time and absolutely love it! You can even maneuver the walker enough to move around a little. You seem to like the walker so much because you can see everyone and be involved in the action. It is somewhat nerve wracking though when William decides that you need to go for a ride in the walker! We watch him very carefully. You are also getting strong enough to sit up; however, you are a little top heavy so eventually you start to topple over!

You continue to be the happiest baby! You always wake up with a smile and very rarely cry. You have even started laughing out loud recently; it is so adorable! We have also noticed that you are very ticklish, especially around your neck and armpits. Each time we change your clothes you crack up laughing. In addition to laughing, you are jabbering all of the time. Even though you are the youngest, you make it a point to be heard. Your jabbering is very loud, but we all enjoy listening to you!

All of this growing and activity has made you very tired. You continue to sleep through the night and take very good naps during the day. It also appears that you might be teething. Everything goes into your mouth. Your little hands work so diligently to grasp objects and get them to your mouth so you can gum them. I would not be surprised at all to find that you have teeth breaking through soon.

We love you so much!

Mommy and Daddy

 

 

Whoa! I am not very stable when I am sitting up yet!