2nd Annual Bates Christmas Cookie Contest

For those of you who know the Bates family well, you know that we are a competitive group. We like competitions of all sorts, whether it's watching sports or Iron Chef on tv. We like a challenge and we like to win even more! So it's only natural that we would invent a competition for the holidays. We chose cookie decorating (which none of us know anything about or claim to have any skill in!) and this year marks our second annual competition. The kids, Cooper and my nephew, Hudson, went first and had such fun. (We saved the intense competition for later!)

Cooper is a natural baker - he LOVES the flouring and beating the dough!
Pop works with the boys to cut out their cookies freehand using a knife. My dad has done this since my brothers and I were kids. He can make whatever shape we would like to give to Santa!

Hudson is also one happy decorator! He is growing up so mcuh and it was fun to spend time with him! Hudson is 4 1/2 and he is as smart as a whip. He wears a digital watch everywhere and he made sure to keep us all on track. When he woke up at 5am, he asked, "what time are we doing the contest?" You should have seen the look on his face when we told him we were starting at 10:00... But I'll tell you what - we started those cookies at 10 on the nose! : )

In the end, Cooper won in the "Under 3" category and Hudson swept the "3-5" category. Turns out that eating the cookies is just as fun as the decorating!

After the little guys had their contest, Colin, Dayna (Colin's girlfriend) and I got to work on our cookie creations. As usual, the Honorable Dan Bates presided as the judge. As you can see from the photo below, the competition was intense.

We worked steadily for what seemed like hours and each of us had unique concepts and designs. I chose to create a snowglobe, Colin did a heart (a cheesy tribute to Dayna...) and Dayna did an ornament and a Santa. Check out the tweezers in my left hand... I told you were were serious about this! (Workmanship counted for a large portion of the scoring!)

I must say that Dayna's Santa was the most ambitious project of them all and she pulled it off really well!

The judging...

The waiting...

The winner... Colin's heart.

I must admit I was most disappointed, but I will still compete next year. I think we may have scared Dayna, but hopefully she will play again next Christmas as well. We had fun - it's a Bates Family tradition!

A Boy's Best Friend... Boone!

We welcomed a new member into our family yesterday, a Golden Retriever puppy named Boone! He has quickly stolen our hearts and become a best friend for Cooper.

Our dear friends, the Langemeiers, surprised their kids with a puppy from this same litter for Christmas. Carrie called me to see if I was ready for a puppy and even though I really hadn't planned on a dog right now, God opened my heart to the idea as I prayed about it. We went up to Tyler on Friday night and fell in love with the Langemeier's new little puppy, Darby. Saturday morning, we visited the breeder and got to choose between a male and a female dog. It was a hard decision because both of them were beautiful and had great personalities, I ultimately felt like Boone was the one!
Boone is sweet tempered and mild mannered. He has such a gentle way about him and I think that's exactly what Cooper needs in a best friend! After we brought him home, he literally trotted behind me everywhere I went and layed down at my feet. Check out this sprawled position! Talk about relaxed!

You can't beat this face!

We are looking forward to many adventures of Boone and Cooper! I am sure they will be posted soon!

Decorating For Christmas

I have really enjoyed decorating our new home for Christmas. Our house is cozy and warm and looks fantastic with Christmas lights.

This year I caved and bought an artificial tree, but I am loving that it doesn't really shed very much and it's symmetrical (unlike last year's real, but very lopsided tree!) Cooper's new job is to turn off the outdoor lights as well as the tree lights when we leave in the morning. He is quite excellent at this task and rarely forgets. He even unplugged my parents' tree when we left after eating dinner over there one night! Ha!
I can't take any credit for the way our house looks on the outside - it's all my dad. He is my hero! He is my handyman and my landscaper all in one. He hung these lights one Saturday when Cooper and I were running errands. Don't they look spectacular? I am proud to pull into our driveway every night and look at those fun decorations. And Cooper will never forget that Pop hung them for us... every time we come home he says, "Pretty lights... Pop made them!"

Merry Christmas!

Look Mommy...

"I'm in the sink!" When I hear Cooper utter those famous words, "Look, Mommy!", I am always nervous to find out what Cooper has to show me. This time, Cooper had climbed into the sink in the bathroom via his big boy stepstool (meant for washing hands!) and was proudly turning off and on the lights.

"Aren't I funny?!" He absolutely fell in love watching himself in the mirror and kept making strange expressions and then laughing at himself. Notice that his "bubba" (blanket) and "pappy" (pacifier) are partners in crime... Cooper won't take even one step without both of his faithful comfort items in his hand (or mouth!)
Hopefully this "exploration" phase won't get any more dangerous than sitting in the sink and flickering the lights. : )