Christmas with the Coops

Just warning you now, there are a lot of photos. This is mostly for our families since we didn't get to be with them this year.



Twas the night before the night before the night before Christmas... :) We had Tommy, Jack, Emilie and Logan over for our annual Christmas cookie making.

Jack

Tommy and Josh, dying to eat the dough

Logan, Tyson and Josh cookie cutting.

Santa and his helper...haha

Okay, from here on the pictures are a little jumpled. They are all Christmas day, and I would like to ask you all to not pay too much attention to the early morning Cami. Tyson was taking pictures and loves to have me in them. He is the best ever, but I am making some pretty good sleepy looks. Just look at the kids, not me. Deal?

Above: Caleb sporting sweet hat from Aunt Katie and Uncle Josh. Below: Tyson and Josh chilling.

Haha, this is Josh and Caleb sitting on their huge present of a kitchen.

Tyson's fabulous light display, sorry for the blurriness. The lights were really pretty, I miss them.

Santa's doing. Pretty sweet, I must say.

We got Tyson a projector, one of his top three must haves in life. :) I just have the yacht to get and then he's good.

He is so perfectly adorable.

Tyson MADE me my present. It is this cute little snowman family out of clay. He did a really good job. I am laughing, because well, it is so life like. :)

Caleb totally wins best faces for the blog.

Soft blocks from Oma and Pops. So cool.

He got a banana in his stocking, his favorite.

duck whistle

I am so stoked we have one of these now.

The boys thought the projector was pretty cool.

Opening the big kitchen.

The traditional card wall. I love the painting, thanks Dad.

Tyson, Josh and Caleb all got matching shirts, so I had them wear them for our Christmas dinner with the Davis, Graves and DeSpain families. Poor Tyson got teased, but they looked like such cute woodsmen!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE COOPERS!

Random Photos from December

One of Tyson's favorite things to do to the boys, socks on their hands, pants on their head. Never gets old. :)

Josh is very proud of his helping make his snack: apples, peanut butter, topped with raisens.

It is freezing outside, but they didn't care, neither did I. I was pretty ready to get them out of the house. :)

Caleb and Josh enjoying Caleb's new ark from Oma.

Boys in a blanket.

Santa left a present...

The littlest elf

Josh fell asleep on Tyson's lap. So cute.

Josh's first day of Sunbeams. We couldn't find the matching tie, plus he wouldn't wear it if we did. But they are both studs.

We had Tommy and Jack over yesterday. This is what happens when four little boys build a fort. Apparantly they had to be sectioned off from each other, but right next to each other. Crazy kids. Tommy is showing off his Buzz Lightyear.

That's our random craziness.

A Chocolate Challenge

Happy New Year everyone!

So I have a sweet idea/opportunity for everyone reading this (anyone in the US that is). During the month of January Dove is selling a box of 24 super amazing chocolates (flavors like dark chocolate mousse, cheesecake, cinnamon roll, each covered in either dark, milk or white chocolate). The box will be sent directly to whomever you want during the week of Valentine's Day. I think it is a wonderful present to give someone, but it needs to be purchased before the end of January so that it can be processed and shipped in time. The box is $39.00 (which includes shipping). If you want to purchase it, just let me know.

Or, if you would rather not spend money, but want to save it, I have a bit of a fun challenge for you. If you can get 14+ orders of this box of chocolate (from friends, neighbors, relatives, etc.), then you can get an awesome pink fondue kit (shown above, worth $30), $80+ in free dove merchandise, and several half off items. All of this and you don't have to spend a thing. I think it is a really neat opportunity that Dove Chocolate Discoveries is doing, and a sweet way to get free chocolate that you can give to your special someone, or eat for yourself. :) Let me know if you want to participate and I will give you more info (camio18@hotmail.com). Thanks and enjoy this wonderful day!

Cold Crazy Cami

I'm not sure if it is the freezing weather outside or the fact that almost everyone I normally see is gone for the holidays, but life has gotten a little bit boring here, at least we are bored which results in crankiness and craziness.

Sometimes I don't realize how little I converse with other people. It is probably because I write so much, or because I have little dialogue's going on in my head that I don't realize how in need I am of actually interacting with other people. There is only so much talking with a 3 year old and a 1 year old one woman can handle. But I feel like I could be a lot more patient if I just tried. So I have lost my temper way too many times over the past few weeks of the cold stretch. I miss the sunshine. I love this weather, but I just miss the sun.

Josh has been very patient with me though. He gets cranky and whiny, but all considering, he is pretty good. He and Caleb are both very creative. The cupboards in our kitchen are caves, storage facilities for everything that shouldn't be there (like my no longer missing sock and cell phone), perfect for peek-a-boo and all sorts of other games that I don't even understand. Josh has taken to grabbing three Ziploc bags or three trash bags (always three, I don't know why) and putting toys or shoes or other items in them and carrying them around. I would love to dive into that brain of his and see what his imagination is leading him to do, but it is fascinating to watch.

Caleb was actually the one that started the climbing in the cupboards craze. I found his two little feet dangling off the bottom shelf the other day, and that is all I could see. It was hilarious, and ever since then, they are the coolest thing. I hate that I can't ever find my pots and pans now and you want a can of food? Well, good luck finding the right one, some of them have been delabeled, so that should be fun. Mystery meal in a can. :)

I often feel bad when I look back on my day and I see so many times when I should have just stayed calm. The boys are just as bored as I am. And they are so cute. I love watching them grow up, there is nothing like it in the world. There are moments when I wish I could go somewhere, anywhere, away from these boys and work, actually feel productive. But then, if I had missed Josh's "cave spelunking" or Caleb's puppy dog impressions, I would have missed too much.

I am so excited for Christmas! I can't wait to see their little faces as they open all their presents (and man, they have quite a few piling up in the back room. It looks like Santa's workshop back there). I think I am way more excited than they are. :)

Merry Christmas from the crazy Cami!

Thanksgiving...the turkey is getting fat

Sorry this post is a little out of date and late, but here are the pictures anyways. We always make homemade butter and the kids LOVE it. That is Dad's job while I do other things, like gut the turkey, so gross but so cool at the same time.

We also made oreo turkeys and that was so fun. Caleb simply can't get enough of the gumdrops. He was mad when we ran out. :)

I love Josh, the ham or turkey, those are really the names I call him. :)

Cabin Fever

From looking at all these pictures, I realize we have been inside all the time lately, that is probably because it is FREEZING outside. So my kids probably do have cabin fever, no wonder Josh has been a little over the top cranky lately. Anyways, as you can tell from the pictures, this is just random stuff that happens here.

Kenni and I took Josh to see "Tangled." It was awesome! Kenni got Josh his own chocolate milk and he was in heaven! He loved the movie, but I think he was even more excited about the milk. Hehe.

Zuri and Caleb, in a box.

Josh fast asleep after church.

This is Caleb in the end of Josh's bed. He does this all by himself. So funny.

Blue's Clues Birthday Bash

Dear Joshua,

I know your birthday was last week, but I am just now getting around to posting about it. Sorry munchkin. So, you LOVE Blue's Clues. I am okay with that because Blue is pretty cute and you learn stuff. You talk a lot about your thinking chair and finding clues and talking about the weather and going on nature walks. So I wanted to make a cake that looked like Blue. I kind of threw a party together, but all your friends and their parents are awesome and we had a full house. Tommy, Jack, Ethnie, Leo, Eleanore, and Zuri all came (and of course their parents), and Uncle Chanson, Aunt Cassie, and Adopted Aunt Tori. Not to mention Grandparents on the phone and such. Everyone loves you my little three year old. I sure do. Thanks for being my little buddy and keeping me company for the past 3 years and 9 months. :) You are crazy and dramatic and talk ALL the time until other people are around and then you will only make animal noises. Needless to say, you are crazy. But with your genetics, you didn't have much hope at being normal, sorry about that. :) I love you kiddo, I love you more than I can begin to explain. Happy 3rd Birthday!

Love,

Mama