Santa Claus 2012

Once again this year our neighborhood hosted a morning with Santa at the golf clubhouse.  It is set up so nice, no lines, no yucky mall crowd and Santa is awesome!  See last's year visit here.  

 They had a buffet brunch where the kids ate muffins, donuts, and pastries.  Then we went to the cookie decorating table.  Cooper asked for red and blue icing like the Jayhawks.  He makes me happy!

 Hi Doodles!

 Laney sharing her cookie with you.  She didn't get any icing :).

 There is a friend of a friend that lives way too close to me and makes the cutest personalized clothes.  This dress is just what I was looking for and she even had coordinating leggings!  You can look her up on Facebook if you are curious, The Embroidery Boutique.

Cooper decorated an ornament with a J and sports ball stickers.

   Classic.  Cooper had the exact same reaction at that age, see here.  I totally didn't expect this reaction from her, I thought she was going to think, no big deal.  Don't let Cooper fool you.  He was not wanting to get up on Santa's lap, I forced him :).

Telling Santa all about that skateboard and motorcycle he wants.

I almost forgot to mention that I should be up for Wife of the Year because this is where my husband was when I tackled Santa with the kids.  He went with a good friend (and huge OU fan) to the OU-TCU game and saw an outstanding football game!

Cartoon Buddies?

I really do my best to keep the TV off all day, but come dinner time, it's my go to.  Adam is rarely home before 6ish, so the cartoons are a must.  The minute I mention that we can watch toons, Coop is giving me his choice for the day.  Laney sits in her chair and claps her hands, so excited! 

About 5 minutes later, this is what happens...

 She is done and starts harassing her brother.  

 She crawls all over him,

 tries to share his seat,

and his eyes never come off the screen.

She also knows how to turn the power off on the cable box and thinks its hilarious.  When she's not harassing her brother, she is destroying my kitchen.  No joke, it looks like a tornado went thru the kitchen.  Phew, 15 months is a wild age!

Christmas Wishes

 Cooper loves a good Christmas catalog about as much as his mom.  He loves to flip through one while eating breakfast and tell me all about each page. 

One night after dinner we decided to make his list.  The skateboard and motorcycle haven't strayed from the top.  Cooper loves the cartoon, Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  Apparently Jake rides a skateboard.  Nice.  Can you imagine this 3 year old on a skateboard? Yikes.  Not sure about that one.  Adult cup and pen???  Yeah, pretty sure he was just listing things he saw at the table, that's when we stopped.  As for Doodles?  Well, we think she would like some more play food and some type of play animals.  She just adores any animal we see or read about in books.

Elf on the Shelf

Yep, Nineey is back.  See his history with our family here.  The first day he visited us Cooper was having a tough morning with his behavior.  Of course I kept reminding him about Nineey.  Before noon, he wanted to know when Nineey was going away, he didn't want him here.  Clearly he was piecing together the idea of Nineey.  Nice Cooper.

Nineey has been pretty routine when he visits, nothing too fun yet.  He must be tired from all that talking he has to do to Santa Claus ;).

 This isn't sacreligious, is it?

He loves me, he really does!

 Not going to lie, this little 3 year old tests my patience everyday and gives me a run for my money, but moments like this totally make up for all of that.   

Randomly at dinner last night, he leaned over hugged me and said, "Mommy, you are the sweetest Mommy ever."  And, he didn't even ask for anything afterwards :).  Then he wouldn't let go and I didn't either.

Love this quote I recently ran across on Facebook from this lady.  It fits this moment perfectly.

No matter how tough your journey is, there is no turning back as a parent. YOU are your child's morning, noon, and night. Rise each day and await the unexpected. Anticipate that you will experience moments of overwhelming frustration, anger, and indecision, yet they will be tempered with glimpses of wonder, joy, and a love that can only come from the hug of a child. Embrace all of it because without those valleys, the peaks would not be as spectacular.

Cooper Golfing

Just last year as we were driving by the golf course (in our neighborhood :(), I said to Adam, "I am so glad you aren't a golfer."  Why?  Because I like him home with us on Saturdays and Sundays.  Not too much to ask, right?  

Well, fast forward a year later and golf is his new obsession.  boo.  I know, so selfish of me.  But really,  we don't have family here-so come Saturdays and Sundays I am ready for some day relief with the kids and he's all I got.  However, he is a very patient golfer and has taken Coop to ride along for a couple rounds.  While in Kansas, Cooper got to hit the course for the day with Dad and Grandpa, lucky boy.

 He had a blast, he told me so and so did Dad and Grandpa.  That night going to bed he told Adam, "Dad, I had so much fun golfing with you and Grandpa today."  Man, he can really melt your heart sometimes.

Along with trips to the golf course has been trips to the golf store.  Here's Cooper taking a few swings.  We recently added golf clubs to his Christmas wish list.

Laney and Mom's BFFs

It isn't easy to try to coordinate a day/time between the 3 of us, but we do our best to see each other at least once whenever we are in Kansas.  We had everyone over the morning after Thanksgiving.  Here are the numbers, 8 girls and 1 Cooper.  He will appreciate these odds someday :).  

 These 2 talk about one another when not together, but takes them a while to warm up to each other everytime!

 When did we become Moms?  How did this happen?  I swear 1999 was just yesterday, right?

Yeah, so at this point we are definitely getting together for us big girls to catch up, these 3 aren't too fond of each other yet :).

Whew, the bounce house really got some action that morning!  So, so fun and just a tad bit nerve wracking :).