Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 was a whirlwind of food, fun, and family! We had such a great time in Abilene!

Cooper started off the weekend with a trip to CrossCut with the guys to see the horses. He was excited to take the horses some cookies for their Christmas treat, but I hear the cookies never made it past Cooper's hands. ;)

Next up, baking some Christmas cookies with Grandmommy. Grandmommy's kitchen may never be the same, but Cooper sure loved it!

When Meghan and Kate arrived the cookie decorating began. I'm not sure if more candy ended up on the cookies or in their mouths, but it was fun anyway!

On Christmas Eve, we woke up to SNOW! There was not enough to stick or play in, but it sure did feel like Christmas!

We spent Christmas Eve morning at Grandmommy and PaPa's and celebrated with the Foster clan. As always, there was a ton of yummy food and fun playing with the cousins!

Cooper enjoying the appetizer/dessert table!

Kate and Cooper

Getting ready for Santa before heading to MiMi and Grandad's! In Cooper's letter this year, he asked for a train, a tiger in a jungle, and a real cowboy rope. (Santa was very happy to see that the "tummy with a baby in it" he had been asking for didn't make the final list!)

Putting out some reindeer food!

Next, it was off to MiMi and Grandad's for some more Christmas fun! MiMi decided to let Cooper and Madie make their own pizzas for dinner since tamales aren't usually a toddler favorite. They had so much fun getting them ready to cook!

Anxiously awaiting the finished product with Case.

Next, it was time for presents!

Checking out his new Rock and Roll Elmo!

Cooper in his engineer outfit and new train whistle. He wore it the entire evening!

The next morning we were back to Grandmommy and PaPa's to see what Santa brought and open more presents!

Cooper got his very own train table! Nothing like a sucker first thing in the morning! :)

Showing off his new horse set!

On Christmas night, we celebrated once more with the Martins.

Meghan, Kate, and Cooper checking out his cool new light up fish tank. Thanks Terri and Arlis!

We are so blessed with two wonderful families. Thanks everyone for a great Christmas!

It's a GIRL!!! and Christmas Crafts

This week we went to the doctor for my 20 week checkup. We were so excited to find out that our sweet little baby is growing perfectly, and that she is a little GIRL! We would have been so happy either way, and honestly did not have a gender preference. But, we are so excited to meet our sweet Hadley (middle name still unknown!) Cooper has said from the very beginning it was a girl baby, and he was right! I am so looking forward to all the girly things we will do together, and yes, the shopping has already begun. The world of pink, bows, and tutus is so much fun!


On another note, the past couple of weeks have been full of Christmas craft fun around here! Here are pics from some of our projects.



Making Snow Playdoh! (just white playdoh with glitter, but so much fun!)

He loved making reindeer out of the playdoh. We had to be sure to make all of them especially Rudolph.

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments!

Every kid needs an old fashioned countdown chain. Cooper loved cutting off a link each day and counting how many more days until Jesus' birthday.

This poor tree lost some of its ornaments before I could get a picture.

Cooper made this at church. The teachers had all the kids pictures lined up in the hall when we went to pick him up. We cracked up laughing because they all looked pretty much the same. However, Cooper's was the only one with a picture of a pan, spoon, skillet, and chef at the top. HA! Maybe he thought baby Jesus was hungry. :)

Gingerbread House fun!

Our finished masterpieces!

The best part...

I just love experiencing Christmas with Cooper. It is like everything is brand new again!

Cousin Christmas Weekend!

This weekend we met Cassie, Mike, and Madie in Grapevine for our 2nd Annual Cousin Christmas weekend! This year we began our fun with a night at Great Wolf Lodge. We had been there once before, but the kids are older now and enjoyed it so much more!
We stayed in the Kids Camp room. Cooper had his very own bunkbeds and built in tent area. He thought it was so cool!

Our little waterbug loved the toddler waterpark. It was so nice because there was hardly anyone there on a Thursday.

He loved this "banana boat!"

Cooper and Madie ready for storytime in their jammies!

It snowed during storytime!

They even had a visit from Rowdy the Reindeer.

Cooper and Madie played in the arcade while we waited for a yummy "On the Border" dinner from Mike.

We were so thrilled to see this ice cream truck. There used to be one just like it at the mall, but it has been replaced by a fire truck. Cooper loves playing ice cream man.

After we left Great Wolf, we headed to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch. Cooper loved watching all the animals!

Next, we headed to Bass Pro Shop to see Santa! We were very unsure how it would go. After all, we didn't even get a picture last year. I'm happy to say it was a huge success. Cooper sat right in his lap and even said "Cheese!" (Santa pic to come in another post!)

While we were there we got to ride the reindeer carousel over and over again. He was so proud of his candycane from Santa.

Cooper and Madie at the arts and crafts table.

Writing a letter to Santa!

Checking out the fish

Finally, we headed to Cassie and Mike's to spend the night. Cooper loved being at Madie's house and exploring all her toys. She was so good at sharing. We had such a fun weekend! Thanks for being great hosts McQuittys! Can't wait to see next year's adventures with 2 more little ones. Yikes!

Christmas at the Creek and Christmas Parade

We had such a busy, fun weekend full of Christmas activities! First, we went to an event called "Christmas at the Creek!" We were able to go on a hayride, make a rudloph craft, see Christmas lights, a live nativity, and they even had a snow mountain for the kids to play in!

Free cookies and hot chocolate! Yay!

Cooper was very concerned about baby Jesus laying in the hay in the live nativity.

Throwing snowballs with Daddy. There were lots of excited kiddos. You could definitely tell we don't see that cold, white stuff here very often!

There was even a fire to warm your hands after playing in the snow.

On Sunday, we went to the BCS Christmas Parade. We had a great view, and enjoyed the parade so much! We got rained out right at the very end, but luckily we got to see the Aggie Band and some horses which were Cooper's two only requests. :)

A Night in Bethlehem

Last night, we attended an event at our church called, "A Night in Bethlehem." This was a night only for the families of preschoolers so it was right up Cooper's alley. Part of the church was transformed into the city of Bethlehem complete with townspeople in costume and live animals. What a fun way for kids to learn about the true meaning of Christmas!
Cooper trying to chase down the goats, rabbit, and dog.

Creating things out of playdoh in the pottery area.

Making bread at the bakery. This was by far his favorite part! They also had samples of cooked bread for the kids to taste.

Making a nativity scene door hanger with stickers!

Coloring an ornament of Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus.

What a fun and unique experience!