Ben's November

Ben had a very busy November. He went to a parade, celebrated another Thanksgiving at his Aunts house and of course had many four year old boy adventures.

Some highlights of Ben's month include:

• I was upstairs with Alexis cleaning her room when I heard scurrying going on downstairs. I came down thinking Ben was up to no good (typically this is the case with most four year olds when you hear them scurrying) but instead he yelled, "SURPRISE!!!!" He had cleaned the entire family room. He certainly surprised me!
• Our deck has become the look out point for wolves and pirates. Ben has to look out there periodically to make sure there aren't anywhere near his house.
  
• We read Peter Pan on an almost nightly basis. If he's good and goes to bed early then he gets to read his favorite story. Otherwise we read a shorter story. Typically he will go to bed on time so he can read his favorite book!
• Ben went ice skating for the second time at Reston Town Center. He did really well! He skated around a bit off the boards and only did a few snow angels when he would fall down. For some reason he thinks snow angels on the ice are funny. He is certainly on his way to learning how to skate!
• Every now and then we will do fun snacks when we get home. I decided one afternoon to do a nice Fall snack, so I made ants on a log and hollowed out an apple and poured apple cider into it. He LOVED drinking out of an apple!

• Ben will occasionally mix up super heroes and pretend to be them. One day while he was playing he told me he was Super Man, Spider Man, Peter Pan and Wolverine. What a mix! His typical everyday wear now is his cape and a sword.
  

• Ben will pick a flower for me whenever he sees one. His little face brightens up with a huge grin that just warms my heart. Keep it up Ben! Girls never get tired of receiving flowers!

• On Turkey Day Ben's Nagypapa and Nagymama called us to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving. We would see them later in the day but Nagypapa wanted to talk to Ben. In typical Nagypapa fashion he greeted Ben with a "Gobble Gobble." Ben cracked up and all Nagypapa would say in different tones was , "Gobble Gobble". Ben LOVED it and got a huge rise out of it until he told Nagypapa he better stop or he'll tell Nagymama. Ha!
• Ben is quite serious about being a super hero. He had to check every room with a flashlight and sword to make sure his family was safe. He's our little protector!
  

• Ben went to his first liturgy at the new church. I was a bit worried about his reaction to going to the new building because his routine is always the same at church. However a four year old will always surprise you. He sat down at the pew, looked around and said, "This is AMAZING". He then looked up at the dome that has the icon of Christ and said, "this is beautiful! Hi Jesus!" and waved his little hand.

• Ben loves singing. His new favorite songs are Tomorrow and Edelweiss. He sings his little words so sweetly! I love hearing him sing. I love his gusto!