4th of July - Family Style

 He so wants to be one of the big boys with their toys.  Can someone help me here?  Please?

 Setting up his own version of target practice.

 A boy can dream.

 Really dreaming now from too much fun.

 He recovered in time for some of Grammy's coconut cake that he helped her make.

 And it wouldn't be complete without some red, white, and blue marshmallows.

 Goofy kid.

We had a busy, low key 4th.  Nice way to spend the day.

Grammy has all the cool stuff

I'm not sure who has more fun with these projects, Grammy or Cooper.  This one kept them busy for a while, and I loved the speculation about what kind of dinosaur he was.

 Dino love!

He decided he was a plant eater due to his long neck.  He used his giant tail for balance.  And he definitely was not a meat eater because he didn't take a bite out of Cooper's fingers.

Craft Day

Hold on to your hat because we did a lot on Friday.  So much I needed a nap before lunch.

I missed pictures of the helicopter and paper airplane building and flying lessons (because we slept in, shhh don't tell anyone).

But I did get lots of fun pictures off Easter egg dying.

Grammy is one brave soul.

 Love the concentration here.

 And the multi-colored hands to show off the hard work.

The finished product.

We did take a little break for lunch.

Where Cooper proceeded to eat his weight in veggies and dip.  I'm not complaining.

And then back to craft time ... well Gak time it was.

 Grammy can even direct crafts and talk on the phone ... a great multi-tasker mom.

 Demonstrating the technique.

 "Mommy, this is great."

 Grammy had to get her hands in there too.

And then we spent the rest of the day removing gak from, well, everywhere.

The last project was to make jello bunny rabbits.  And then we had a long, long nap to recover from all this crafting.

Just when you think ...

Your child is going to drive you nuts, they say the sweetest thing. This morning Cooper decided to take his sweet time getting dressed, so pushing my patience.  We finally got going and he was unusually quiet.  When we were almost to school, he announced that he missed Grammy and Poppa.  He said the three of us needed to go visit them at their house when Daddy gets back (finally tomorrow - yay).  And AK needed to go too. He really can be so sweet when the mood strikes him. Jill

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.

Halloween ... finally

We have been a little busy around here lately, so better late than never.

As any parent knows, some days are better than others.  Today was one of those days.  Cooper decided tonight to not eat his dinner, be disrespectful to Poppa, and so on.  Unfortunate for Cooper, it was also Halloween.  By the time he had himself together, had apologized and so on, it was raining buckets which meant no Trick or Treating.  We did let him get dressed up in his costume and help pass out candy.  I don't think he knew what he missed until the next day at school when his friends were talking about it.  Hopefully, he will remember this and some day soon make the connection between cause and effect.  Some days being a parent stinks, but no one ever said it was easy.

And now for some pictures (and I hope Grammy and Poppa don't get mad, but these are too cute not to share).

Halloween Prep

 Jack 'o lantern crafts with Grammy.

To carving jack 'o lanterns with Dad.

Only in our house would pumpkin carving require power tools.

Daddy trying to be funny and mimic the ever running nose that Cooper inherited from me.  At least it comes honest.

The boys had lots of fun getting ready for the holiday.


 

Pumpkin Patch Adventures 2011

Cooper's class made their annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  J & I weren't able to go, so Grammy & Poppa braved the elements and a rambunctious, almost four year old.  They assured he was on his best behavior ... whew!

 Climbing on the hay bales while Grammy keeps an eye.

Spooky scenes were all around.

Looks like this witch took a wrong turn.

Looking for spooky characters on the hay ride.

"But Grammy, I want this one."

He wasn't too sure of this guy, but did end up braving a touch of his ear.

Hugs with Grammy after our picnic.

 He looks like he was having an awful time.  Right?

For more pumpkin patch adventures, check out 2010 and 2009.