We Heart Santa and Cooper

I have never enjoyed the Christmas season more than I have this year. My two oldest are really getting into the spirit and it is contagious. One of their favorite games to play is "Santa". They take turns wearing the Santa hat and asking each other, Gavin, and me, what we would like Santa to bring us. Once the wish is spoken, "Santa" turns his back, moves his arms around quickly, and then returns with the wished for item--invisible in two sweet little hands extended for the recipient to take. Melts. My. Heart.

I have to say that watching Liam do it is the sweetest thing ever. I can't be sure if he really "gets" the Santa Clause thing, or if he is just watching Owen and doing what Owen does. Either way, his sweet smile and bright eyes exuding from underneath the Santa hat are adoreable.

The other day, Owen was Santa and it was my turn to make a wish. I wished that my sweet almost-four-year-old would be a baby again. "Santa" turned around, started working on my wish, and then returned to pronounce that it couldn't happen. Owen stated that he was big and couldn't make himself little again. I pouted. My sweet Santa snuggled up in my lap and said that even if he wasn't a baby, he was still quite small. Ah...the silver lining. I got a little teary as I held him.

In the pic of Owen, below, in the Santa hat, Liam keeps pointing to it and saying "That's you, Mom." Hum. I guess Owen does look a bit like me with that expression.

GG sent the boys a sweet bear named, Cooper, earlier this year. Liam has loved Cooper since he arrived; but, this month he has really, really, really become attached to Cooper. Cooper sleeps with him, comes down the stairs in the morning with him, comes in the car with us, and last week, Cooper even joined Liam and I are our lunch date.

Cooper is a special bear that responds to certain phrases by talking back. He came with books and when a specific phrase is read, he says something witty, cute, or just appropriate. It's fun to read those books with Liam and Cooper. The sweetest thing, though, is that when you say "Cooper, I love you." Cooper responds with a warm "I love you, too." The only snag is that Cooper doesn't usually pick up on the phrase unless spoken just right -- as in, my 3 year ol and 2 year old don't pronounce the words well enough for Cooper to get it. Driving in the car the other day, I heard Liam whispering "Cooper, I wuv you" and for the first time ever, Cooper picked up on the phrase spoken by my 2 year old and responded "I love you, too". Liam was so excited! He talked to me! He talked to me! Oh my. Momma shed a few more happy tears.

These two "bigger" boys are really making it feel Christmassy around here.

Holiday Fun

Since my last blog post, the boys have been keeping us very busy with holiday activities! They both participated in their preschool's annual Christmas Program. Owen's class wore Santa hats and sang a couple of songs. Liam's class rang bells and sang Jingle Bells. Owen walked into his room confidently. Liam was a tad shy; but, no tears were shed!

Owen entered the sanctuary with his hands in his pockets looking quite smug. He maintained that pose the entire performance. I don't think he sang a single word; but, he looked uber confident.

Liam lost a shoe on the way it -- not a good start for the little guy. He got on stage okay and was looking around. He spotted me and then burst into tears and cried for the rest of Jingle Bells. Boy, that song sure is long when you have a sad little guy on stage.

Somewhere in the mix, we remembered to take Gavin's one-year scale photo! So cute!!

Owen is having fun playing with the wigs I had bought for the "photo booth" at Gavin's party. Hilarious.

Owen has always been quite the jumper....

Now, Liam is, too. Liam is really enjoying being able to better keep up with his big bro.

I snapped the very first photo of all three boys STANDING. Love it. Love that they smiled, too. I'm a lucky mom!

The boys each had their Christmas parties at school. Liam's teachers made the cutest EVER t-shirts for them to wear. Each kiddo's hands and footprint became Rudolph with ornaments for all of the kids and the teachers. Such a great shirt!

Owen wanted to go to Liam's party with him. Liam wanted him there. So, I got Owen out of class so that he could join in. I cherish all of the moments when they are so sweet to one another. They help me get through the rough moments a little easier ;-)

The boys after the party. Look who had too much sugar. LOL

Serious sugar-high....

Hope your holidays have been as fun-filled as ours so far!

One Year Old in a Flash!

We celebrated Gavin's first birthday with a "one year old in a flash" party. Given my love of this baby and my love of taking pictures of him and his big brothers, I thought the theme was perfect! We had turquoise and lime and silver everything. Had a fun Polaroid and a scattering of disposable cameras for the bigger kiddos. And decorated with photos from Gavin's first year. It was fun!

With the four families that joined us, plus ours, we had 14 kids at the party! Is that crazy, or what??

Gavin's big brothers and their friends handled opening the gifts for the little guy.

Gavin was fine with that!

Gavin and Cole were looking at a toy with Emma. Guess Cole wanted a more comfortable perch--he sat in Gavin's lap. Hahaha!

A rare photo of me with one of my little guys.

Cake time! Always the favorite for me and my little family ;-) We love cake.

Gavin kept trying to touch the candle flame, so had to hold the cupcake while we sang. That made him a teensy bit mad.

Once he had the cake, he was oh so happy.

Emma K was so sweet. She stood by Gavin for a lot of the time he had his little cake. She plays with Gavin at her house a lot. Sweet little friend to him. Emma D had fun taking Polariods!

Gavin's crazy brothers taking a break from his toys to enjoy his cake.

Did I mention that this guy loved his cake. I do think it was the high point of the party for him.

Yum!

Hmmmm.

Cake is gone. Guess I'll eat big brother's cookie.

All three playing with the Dino that GG got Gavin. This was a HIT!

Happy first birthday to my baby, Gavin. I absolutely cannot believe he is one year old.

Happy 1st Birthday, Gavin Walter

This sweet, sweet boy is 1 today! About to celebrate with him. Pictures to come!!

Thanksgiving Weekend!

The boys have been off from preschool and swim this week and Gerard stayed home starting on Wednesday. So, we've had lots of much needed family time. It's been lovely! The boys have been off from preschool and swim this week and Gerard stayed home starting on Wednesday. So, we've had lots of much needed family time. It's been lovely!

The boys have been chomping at the bit to get our Christmas Thomas the Tank Engine out for the front yard. I kept saying, "after Thanksgiving" and "wait until Thanksgiving is over." Well, whaddeya know....those boys (well, Owen) remembered. So, on November 25th (the day just after Thanksgiving, of course) we pulled out our Christmas decorations and finished the outside AND inside. The little elves worked all day long. Gerard and I were impressed by their stamina and attention span.

I wish I had it in me to leave the tree EXACTLY as they decorated it. But, I don't. I had to move the curlies around so that they are a little more even. And, spread the ornaments a bit so that more of the tree had some. But, I really did enjoy doing this with the little fellas and I left as much of it like they had done it as I could. The glass ornaments really, really needed to be up high and out of Gavin's reach, eh?

I did get the boys' approval of the moves I made and in the end, we were all happy with our 2011 Christmas Tree! My favorite is the top--I have an angel that Owen made when he was in the Rainbow Room at preschool (he was 22 months old) and one that Liam made last year (he was 16 months old). So sweet. I can't wait to add more angels to the top of our tree!

Last year, I bought an Elf on the Shelf. After reading the book, I decided the tradition wasn't really for me. Didn't want my little ones thinking Santa had a spy and creating a false reason for them to be good. The boys should just WANT to be good. Well, poo on that theory. I think the Elf on the Shelf was created for 4 year olds. Oy. I couldn't wait to find that little bugger this year and get this tradition started! Our elf joined us last night--not a moment too soon. And, this morning, he was found, we read the book, and he was named by Owen....I am in love with this little fella who we call, "Star". He enticed Owen to make better choices at a few critical times today ;-)

Happy holidays!!!

Feels like Autumn

We have spent the last few weekends with Pa and Grammie camping on our property at Lake Fork. The days have spent watching the boys have a BLAST, clearing the land to figure out where to build the cabin, and enjoying the fall weather. Even though it's been warm, it feels like Autumn out there! So nice. This view of our gravel road from the RV is spectacular.

Last weekend, Owen spied a Cowboys and Indian play set at Brookshires. Boy, did that set get a lot of use this weekend.

Even Daddy Q got in on the cowboys/indian action.

The neighbors came by and gave us some pointers on how to use the tractor to clear the thick brush by water's edge and Pa has mastered the technique. Liam feels like he has, too.

Tried to get a picture of the three boys at sunset--didn't work out well for me ;-)

You can hear coyotes howling at night. Pa sent the boys out on their gator with their guns on a coyote hunt. Oh my goodness.

Gavin reminds me of Elmer Fudd in this picture -- "where is dat pesky wittle wabbit?"

A gorgeous tree changing colors for the fall...

Littlest fella is not longer happy just getting carted around...he wants to be. in. the. dirt.

One of the coolest trees on this property is a massive cedar (I think). Pa cut out some of the branches in the bottom of it to create a fort for the boys. The LOVE it in there....

Owen cut out a bigger space to make room for his friends for when they come to visit. Aww.

This is the hint of the view we will have from our cabin. That little sliver of sunlight in the distance is where the water is. Hooray!! I was sitting by the Tree Fort admiring the "future view" as Gerard called it. Later, Owen came to sit next to me and said, "Mom, I LOVE your future view."

And, we love it at the property. Especially in autumn!