Christmas Fun

Just before Christmas we went downtown for some holiday fun.  We attracted many stares and comments about our train of kids.  We saw the Macy window displays, tree and Christkindle market at Daley plaza, watched some ice skaters, saw "the bean" at nighttime, and ate some pizza at Subway.  

Lydia and I had fun putting curlers in her hair to get ready for Santa.

The kids opened their present from Grandma Cook on Christmas Eve, new pj's!  (Lydia has a piece of fudge in her mouth, hence the large cheek).  We didn't get a picture with all three because over the next day each new pj set had either pee, blood, or throw up on them-I'm sure that was T.M.I.

Some of David's stash from Christmas

Nathan is wondering where the snow is.

David turned 5 a couple days after Christmas

Captain America party

Complete with shields and soldier training. 

Kisses

 

 

We go through a bunch of these every morning before Scott leaves for work.  I love watching the kids try to eek as many out of Scott as they can even if he may miss his train.

Being Thankful

Tonight I'm having one of those days where I will do anything to avoid doing the dishes.  For some reason it makes me feel like I never accomplish anything because the dishes are never "done".  While trying to get up the motivation to clean the kitchen I remembered this poem my Grandma Betty had above her sink.  Someday I'll put it in a nice frame or something crafty but right now just having it printed out and taped to my kitchen cupboard did the trick.  I thought that some of you might like this if you have ongoing battles with the dishes also.

Thank God for dirty dishes;

They have a tale to tell.

While others may go hungry,

We're eating very well

With home, health, and happiness,

I shouldn't want to fuss;

By the stack of evidence,

God's been very good to us.

Thank you Grandma for teaching me to appreciate work, especially housework that seems so unimportant sometimes.

Cakes

First, a cute picture of Nathan and Grandpa Cook who came to visit last week.

I haven't made as many cakes this year, but after a busy summer and getting settled into our new place I am hoping to change that.   This is a cake I made this summer for a birthday, I only had an hour to do it and this picture was taken with my phone.

Lydia's birthday cake

Red Velvet Cupcakes for a bridal shower

Chocolate Peanut Butter cake for a friends birthday

 My little helper

 I accidentally found a way to make this pattern on the cake.

 A birthday cake for a little friend. 

 Lastly, my cute little boys

Halloween Close Up

Here are additional shots of our Halloween costumes with pictures of the real thing for comparison for those that couldn't recognize what we were.  We begin, of course, with David and Lydia who wanted to be Optimus Prime from the Transformers and Rapunzel from Tangled.  Lydia had long hair but didn't want to wear it for any of the photos, I hung it over her shoulder in the last post.

 Following on the theme of Tangled, Nathan naturally wanted to be the sauve and debonair true love of Rapunzel, Eugene Fitzherbert (a.k.a. Flynn Rider).

 I think Nathan's "smolder" could take on the real Flynn Rider's any day.

No Rapunzel themed Halloween get up would be complete without the tower, graciously performed by Scott.  Here you can see Rapunzel's hair and Flynn Rider scaling the tower wall. 

 And finally, as with all Disney cartoons, there must be an evil villain.  Sue Ann played the part of the of the Mother Gothel exceptionally well!

Happy Halloween

Nathan

Nathan is becoming more mobile and even cuter.  

 How can I ever say "no" to a face like this...

He is 8 1/2 months old now and about 17.5 lbs.  Here he is in action Grandmas and Grandpas, you'd better come visit soon!

Fall Adventures

1.  General Conference Bingo (thanks Aunt Carol!) David actually sat through a whole session thanks to this game.

2.  We had a weekend of good weather and decided to go camping.  Well,  camping is a relative term.  If you define it as sleeping in a tent and building a fire, then yes, we went camping.  If it includes solitude in the mountains, then no, basically we were sleeping in a backyard.  But hey, when you only go one hour away from Chicago you are still going to be surrounded by people.

  However, the kids only knew that we were "camping" and they loved it.  

 This was mine and Nathans separate tent.  The kids are getting a little to big for all of us to fit in one tent.  So, I took advantage of it and brought along the pack n' play.  We were right next to an electrical outlet (needed to pump up the air mattress) and a public bathroom, "ruffing it" isn't something they do here.

 It was fun but probably our last time at this spot.

 We did enjoy BEAUTIFUL scenery the next day at Indiana Dunes State Park.  We saw beautiful leaves and went for a hike after stopping at the nature center.

 We went from wooded trails to a beach just around the corner.  It was a perfect day for both.

3. Our next adventure was a field trip with David's preschool to a pumpkin farm.  It was his first ride on a school bus and that was pretty much the best part.

 4. We brought home this pumpkin and decorated him the next day.

 We're excited for Halloween, this year is the most effort we've ever put in to our costumes.  Check back in a couple of weeks.....