Merry Christmas!

With a five year old in the house, this Christmas was extra exciting this year. Sammy was pretty excited herself, but this was more a reflection of her brothers excitement than any idea what Christmas is really all about. We spent Christmas Eve making and decorating cookies for Santa (we may have sampled a few too!). After waiting all month, the kids were finally allowed to open their first gift of Christmas...their Christmas PJ's.

Andy was up bright and early Christmas morning claiming he had heard the prancing of reindeer on the roof overnight so he was sure Santa had come. It didn't take the two of them long to open everything and start playing. Apparently the kids were good this year because Santa brought Andy two Star Wars Star Fighters and Sammy a Magnadoodle. We are not sure where we are going to put all of the new additions to our toy room, we were truely spoiled (and blessed) again this year.

Christmas Eve making cookies, all dressed up for church and opening Christmas PJ's:


Christmas Day opening and playing with our gifts:

Andy's 5th Birthday

Today is Andy's 5th birthday! He started the day early this morning with a chocolate sprinkle birthday donut and his first birthday gift...a Bumblebee Transformer!



After his normal Tuesday morning music class, we surprised the little guy with a redecorated room. Star Wars themed, of course. He was pretty excited to sleep on his new sheets under the glow-in-the-dark stars that now cover his ceiling (something I will probably regret someday).



The highlight of the day for Andy was definitely his Star Wars party tonight. Andy and 9 of his friends became Jedi Knights and battled themselves (and us) to the point of exhaustion with their dollar store foam light sabers. Every birthday party is a learning experience for me. This year I learned that planned activities with 5 year olds take half the time expected. It was a crazy 2 hours with lots of improvising for some short attention spans! Thankfully, Andy's dad was willing to wage battle with the little Jedi's and killed a lot of time.



The Clone Wars cake...


Our little Jedi Knights and Sammy


Eating cake...


Andy opening gifts...

Breakfast with Santa

Today was the annual Breakfast with Santa at our church. The morning included pancakes, Santa, crafts and storytime with Mrs. Claus. Andy had a great time... catching his pancakes on his plate, asking Santa for a Star Wars space ship, and making Christmas ornaments. Sammy was so excited to "see" Santa that she could barely wait in line. But all that changed once she was actually sitting on his lap, even with big brother trying to calm her down. Maybe next year!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Last weekend the Cooper Christmas tree came out of the box. Needless to say, we had two very excited kids in the house. We will once again spend the month trying to keep the ornaments on the tree and the super glue handy. Sammy loves to have the lights turned on and Andy is all too happy to oblige her.

Thanksgiving

This weekend we had a special visit from Grandpa and Grandma Kolder and the Columbia Kolders. The kids had a great time playing together, though the four of them sure can make a lot of noise!

Happy Halloween!

It has been a busy week in the Cooper household. Apparently, Halloween is actually a week long holiday, not just one day! With all of the Halloween parties, the kids spent most of the week in their costumes eating candy.
This evening, we attended the annual neighborhood party followed by Trick or Treating with friends. The kids had a great time!

Music Class:


Preschool Class:


Carving Pumpkins:


Silly Face!


Andy and the pumpkins:


Our Little Lion and Captain Rex:

Trick or Treating at Grandma and Grandpa's:

Eating candy post Trick or Treating:

Kansas City Zoo

Today, M&I Bank treated their employees (plus immediate family members) to free zoo passes. We took advantage and spent this beautiful fall day at the zoo. This was our first oppurtunity to checkout the new polar bear exhibit. We were very impressed! Definitely the highlight of the day for Sammy and me. It also happened to be Star Wars day at the zoo. So, the highlight for the boys was having their picture taken with Darth Vader and Boba Fett.

Polar Bear exhibit:

Kangaroos:

Train ride:

Carousel Ride:

Darth Vader and Boba Fett:

The Pumpkin Patch

Saturday turned out to be a perfect day for the Pumpkin Patch. We made our annual trip to Louisburg to pick out our pumpkins at the Powell Pumpkin Patch and to eat apple donuts at the Louisburg Cider Mill.


Hayrack Ride:

Picking out pumpkins:

Donuts at the Cider Mill:

Tailgaiting

On Saturday, we spent the day at Arrowhead watching K-State play Iowa State. We started the day early tailgating with Grandma and Grandpa.

Mmmmm...chocolate sprinkle donuts

A little pre-game football

The Great Midwest Balloon Fest

Last weekend, we took the kids to The Great Midwest Balloon Fest. We watched about 15 balloons launch. After the sun set, 15 more participated in the Balloon Glow. This was the first time for this event, but I think the 50,000 spectators who showed up Friday night made the event a success.

The Launch:

The Balloon Glow:

Sammy's First Day of PDO

Sammy attended her first day of PDO today. She was pretty excited until she realized she wasn't staying in the same room as Andy. She still had a great day and didn't cry when Daddy dropped her off.

Around the House

Over the weekend, I painted Sammy's fingernails for the first time...purple of course. She typically won't hold still to have her nails trimmed, but she had no problem for the polish. She squealed in delight once she realized what I was doing. She immediately ran to show Daddy and Andy. Now, every time she notices her fingers she gets excited!

Since I was busy at the hospital on Friday night, the kids had a picnic in the family room and watched The Little Mermaid. After seeing Andy wear his Halloween costume all week, Sammy decided it was her turn.