Woodpile Time

Papa put his little helper on the woodpile.  It brought back memories of all the wonderful (just a wee bit of sarcasm)  hours I spent on the woodpile as a kid.  It did build lots of character and helped keep the house warm too.

 Telling secrets.

 He thought he was big stuff sitting in Papa's lap.

 I have to say he was pretty concerned about getting his hands dirty.  He only lasted a little while before he was running through the woods.

Trying out his new chainsaw.  He was very disappointed in the progress it made.

It was great watching Cooper run through the same woods I played in as a kid.  And I think Papa enjoyed it a little bit too. ;)

 

Wordless Wednesday - Hoping for Snow

 Does he look like Frosty to you?

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, check out 5 minutes for mom, Go Graham Go, Two of a Kind, Working on a Full house and Parenting by Dummies! 

Bike Riding

We took Cooper out for a spin on his new bike.  He did really well.

 ... until he got tired and thought it would be easier to carry the bike.

Christmas Morning

Cooper had a great Christmas.  You never know what they are going to really like at this age, but I have to say he loved his bike, the radio controlled police car, and the Nerf guns.  Surprising winners were also the snow globe and the light-up shoes.  He also was very happy to see that Santa put the star on top of the tree.





Sorry for the Mommy multi-tasking, but I was talking to my little sis who decided to give us a terrific early Christmas present.  Welcome to the world Brodie.  Cooper can't wait to meet you.

 

 

 

 

Being silly with AK and Uga.

 

And stopping for a little chocolate break.

I have to brag on my husband because I am going to finally get my wedding photos.  After procrastinating on making the final decision 10 years ago, we never ordered our wedding photos.  J tracked him down and we will soon have the negatives.  A friend has agreed to help us get them printed.  Small miracles do happen.

Hope your Christmas was as merry as ours.

Christmas Eve (cont)

We had a quiet Christmas Eve this year with just us, AK and her nephew.  My little sis is due with her first baby very soon so they and my parents stayed close to home this year.  J's parents were hosting Christmas for more family as others have also migrated further South from Connecticut. As crazy as this sounds, I missed having a houseful of people but was very content with the holiday being quiet.

We had crockpot lasagna and salad for dinner, and cookies for dessert while watching the Polar Express.  I have to say that we all agree that the version of Grammy reading the book is better than the movie.

Sorry for the length of the video.  Listen carefully for the bells.



Someone left lots of cookies for Santa.

I thought this look was so sweet ...

until I realized he was prepping for this move.  What a ham.

Hope your Christmas Eve was peaceful.

Advent Calendar

I wasn't as good this year taking pictures of Cooper with his Advent Calendar.  I will say the first day was a funny one.  The night before, he was a terror from the time I picked him up from daycare.  It was so bad, I sent him straight up to bed as soon as we got home.  I almost forgot to put out the calendar, which Grammy buys and wraps all the presents and leaves for me (Thank you Grammy).  It gets harder ever year to find things small enough to fit in the little squares, so I end up numbering some of the presents and he has to match them up from a basket.  For the first day, I made sure one fits in the square since I wasn't sure how much he remembered from the year before.

The next morning, he was very excited to hear that he could open up a present.  He tore into the little package, and found a rock.  He looked at me and AK and asked if it really was a rock.  We told him yes, and AK told him maybe coal was next if he kept up last night's act.  Unfortunately, he has no idea what coal is and being a four year-old boy, he was happy to get a rock.  Actually, it was geode.

Good thing he got those safety glasses with his birthday chainsaw.

The other thing he has been fascinated with this year is snowglobes.  Whenever we see one, he has asked if he could have one.  I suggested that he ask Santa.

He was very excited to find this Nativity one in his Advent Calendar.

I have seen several neat ideas from other bloggers where they put family activity ideas into their calendars.  Hopefully, next year with be uneventful enough for us to incorporate that into the calendar.

Santa Letter 2011

Santa always knows what you have been up to.

And for a review of last year, 2010.

Merry Christmas Eve, Love Cooper & Santa

 Take 1 with Santa at Bass Pro Shop.  Notice the great divide between the two of them.

 Take 2 was much better.  But nothing is as good as sitting with Poppa Santa.

2010,
2009

 2008  

and before I started blogging ...

Wordless Wednesday - Cow Lick

Cooper informed me that a cow snuck in his room and licked his head to give him this terrific do.  Does that ever happen to you?


For more Wordless Wednesday posts, check out 5 minutes for mom, Go Graham Go, Two of a Kind, Working on a Full house and Parenting by Dummies!

Tea with Santa

This weekend our pool hosted Tea with Santa.  Actually it was red punch and sugar cookies, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

There was a guy singing Christmas songs and a puppet show.

And cookies.

And Santa and his elves doing the Hokey Poky.  Don't ask!

And time to talk to Santa!

 And to give great big hugs.

And cheesing it up for the camera.

And seriously eyeing this Christmas tree sucker.

And making a craft.

All in an hour and a half.  Whew!  I'm exhausted, but glad Cooper had a great Santa experience.  He was asking where his sleigh was when we went to leave, but then he decided he probably drove.  His sleigh might be in the shop getting fixed.