Breakfast with Santa

Cooper's dreams came true when we met Santa for breakfast the weekend before Christmas. We were lucky to catch him as he stopped through The Woodlands!

I love the sweet look on Cooper's face as he spoke with the big guy. o admiring!  

When Santa asked him what he'd like for Christmas, Cooper said without hesitation, "A remote control helicopter. Oh, and my two front teeth." 

Ahh - precious!!

They had a lovely little conversation and Cooper got to spend a few minutes in the sleigh. He was star-struck for sure!

A REAL candy cane from the North Pole! 

What a fun mommy - son date! We sipped hot chocolate and hummed Christmas tunes as we ate breakfast. We'll definitely make this an annual tradition!

Backyard Adventure

Winter break is here and there's nowhere I'd rather be than home. 2 weeks off means more baking and organizing and art projects for me and more adventures in the backyard for Cooper and his neighbor buddies. I love looking through my kitchen window to see kids atop the playhouse (two spying over the fence with paper towel rolls and one with a harmonica) There are some things I probably shouldn't let Cooper do but... I take pictures instead. Ha!

Here are the adventurers!

Candyland

Board games are a new found love around here. It was like one day Cooper suddenly realized the magic of Candyland and poof - he is a game-playing fool! His closet floor is now littered with trouble pegs and more dice than I knew yahtzee contained. I keep a deck of cards in the car for those "long waits" in the pharmacy drive-thru. We're loving it!

I snapped a few photos as Cooper and his neighbor buddies parked themselves in the entryway for a round of Candyland and Go Fish. I love walking in on kids organizing their own games - it makes them seem so grown up! I loved overhearing their conversations as they played:

Oooh - you got a double purple. It's your lucky day. REALLY!

Hmmm... all we have is "mans" here, but Hannah, you can still play and we'll pretend your man has hair.

We have to be fair or the game is over. Cheating is no fun.

It's so neat to watch Cooper's growing interest and ability with "big kid" things like board games. Now I FINALLY have someone who will play games with me! I can't wait until he's old enough for Chicken Foot or Nertz. For now, I'll settle for playing Go Fish with HEB grocery store cards on repeat!

Happy Family Birthday #3!

On October 20th, Cooper and I celebrated our 3rd year as a FOREVER FAMILY!

3 years ago on this day, I stood before a judge and promised to love, protect, and cherish my precious little red head. I'll never forget how I felt in that small moment - relief, gratitude, and pure joy! No more maybe or someday... FOREVER! Every year we remember our adoption day with a celebration and retell the story of God's faithfulness and beautiful design in creating our family. It's undeniable that He made Cooper and I for each other - and our family is evidence of God's masterful plan and His unwavering love for us! Through the ups and downs (and sometimes more downs...) God's faithfulness to me is absolutely astounding. I'm overwhelmed by the special gift I have in my Cooper.

(And isn't he growing up to be so handsome?)

Story Book Parade!

Our elementary school celebrates reading every year with a fun-filled week of events - contests, guest author visits, and my favorite, the Story Book Parade. EVERYONE in the school dresses as a book character and parades through the hallways to the applause of hundreds of clapping parents. It's a big deal! The teachers on each grade level choose a "theme" for their costumes (last year we were the characters from Hey Diddle Diddle - I was the moon!) This year, we were all Miss Frizzle from The Magic School Bus!

I had the most fun making my costume. Just painted wooden shapes and velcro on a goodwill dress. Cooper insisted I wear the wig while I painted and prepared the costume - he loved that we both had red hair! Too funny!

Coop dressed up as Clifford the Big Red Dog - wasn't he cute?! He was very nervous about wearing the costume (he's always been this way!) but I was so proud when he even agreed to put on the hood for a few pictures.

Adorable! (And don't you just LOVE the little girl dressed as Princess Kate sitting next to him?! Only in the Woodlands would People magazine count as a "book"!)

Coop with a few of his buddies from my class.

And his hysterical teacher, Miss Fields... you could hear the squeals of laughter from the kids when they saw her hair! (And trust me, we laughed pretty hard trying to get it to stay on, too!)

Here's my class of characters!

And (almost) all the Frizzles! Miss Fields conveniently scooted out of this one...

It was a successful parade and such fun!

And in an unrelated story, Cooper's Lolli came to talk to kindergarten about being a nurse for Community Helper week (happened to be the same day as Story Book Parade!) Can't you see the pride on his face?

Pumpkin Head

This kid looks GREAT at a pumpkin patch. It must be his hair and skin coloring (my friend Ashley would say if he's a season, he'd be a "fall") My camera can't get enough photos of him with those pumpkins!

Not sure how he plans to carve this teensy pumpkin, but it sure is cute. Maybe we'll paint it or glitter it or something. Speaking of projects, just wait until you see the purple TCU pumpkin we've got in store for our front porch!

Love this pumpkin head!!

Sick Day

Coop was under the weather so we both took a day off from school to rest and recover.

We spent the day playing cards, folding laundry, and coloring with markers. I realized how much I love just being at home. No list, no schedule. It was glorious! (well, minus the puke...)

Cooper worked for an hour on "hard work" - handwriting and workbooks. I enjoyed sitting beside him and marveling at how smart he's become. He wrote and illustrated a story about a horse and said, 'I can spell it myself, Mom." It's times like these that I think I would enjoy homeschooling (even part time) if that opportunity ever arose.

We got a little stir crazy after lunch and Cooper decided to bust out the balloons. The balloon pumpkins were all Cooper's idea. I just offered the green ribbon for a stem. (The original plan was the fill the bathtub with balloons!)

He may have just inspired a project for my students at school!

We're thankful for a day of rest together. Cooper should be up and at 'em soon!

Picture Day

Hair brushed and gelled.

Little collared shirt ironed.

"Fancy" sperry shoes on.

Worth a picture to document!

TCU Football Game

What originally was a quick trip for a doctor's appointment turned into a fun family weekend in Fort Worth. My parents and Hudson joined us for a walk around campus, snacks at Dutch's on University, and the football game against Portland State.

For all my fellow frogs, check out the view from the new student center! The campus is absolutely beautiful, down to the smallest details. But I hardly recognized the place! (Now I know how my dad felt when he kept telling me that Worth Hills used to be a golf course. I rolled my eyes and thought, He's so old...)

We spent a considerable amount of time throwing pocket change into the fountains on campus - I'm considering it a contribution to the scholarship fund.

The boys liked Frog Alley with the games and bouncy houses. I loved seeing their friendship grow as they get older. Cooper just adores Hudson!

My dad was in heaven watching TCU football with his two grandsons. (And eating purple italian ice made it even better!!)

TCU football family weekend will definitely be a tradition we'll repeat!

A kid and a box

And a water hose, of course!

I came outside to find all of Cooper's summer clothes dumped in a pile in the garage (thus the empty clear bucket!) and my little guy taking a bath in the front yard. Oh my.

It wasn't long before he requested his sharks and whales from the bathtub. This does look like a perfect tank for Shamu. Big splashes - just like at SeaWorld!

Then it started "raining". You should have seen the look of joy as he ran for the umbrella. Umbrellas may be one of his most favorite inventions ever.

All that fun saved me from having to water my lawn! Win/win!