Fire in the Nativity!

The nativity caught on "fire" today and the shepards moved all the animals, Mary and Joseph, and the Wise Men to the barn while the fire truck put out the fire.  The police car was there to make sure the fire was out before Baby Jesus was born.

And apparently there wasn't room in the barn for this king, so he stayed in the gingerbread house until the fire was out.

Coop played in this creative scenario for a good half hour, at least, all while dressed like an astronaut, mind you.  Since Christmas Day, Coop has looked like this.  Only taking off his suit at night so I can wash it.  Then, before his eyes are even fully open in the morning, he's back in his astronaut suit.  He is still a fireman, he'll remind you, though.

 And this, ladies and gentlemen, are only a few of the gabazillion reasons why I love this amazing and creative little boy.

Colorful Forest

Coop and I had so much fun playing at this "Colorful Forest" a few days before Christmas!

Christmas Afternoon/Evening 2012

After our wonderful morning at home, with just Team Lamb, Gammi, Poppi, Annie, and Allan joined us late morning for more fun.

A new kite from Gammi to Coop and Poppi. 

 

This was Austin for the latter part of the morning.  A blueberry muffin in each hand, either sitting in Gammi's lap or walking around the house, leaving a little crumb path behind him.  I lost count with how many muffins he ate, but it was a lot.  A LOT.  I think he thought Annie made them just for him, and he was going to enjoy every last one of them.

One of the biggest hits of the day was the amazing astronaut space suit from Gammi, Poppi, Annie and Allan.  I love that they know Coop so well and knew from the minute they saw this gear that he would love it.  And they were so right!  For the first two weeks after Christmas, he would only take off this suit for school days (but put it back on as soon as we were home) and at night for me to wash it.  Other than that, he was an astronaut, but still a fireman, too, he'd remind me.  (And now, a month after Christmas, when I'm actually getting this post together), he still wears it at every other day, at a minimum.  He changes clothes so often these days and likes to dress for whatever little scenario is "playing" in his head.

Counting down to blast off!  3...2...1...BLAST OFF!

A cap and space boots to finish off the gear!

 After eating his weight in muffins, Austin planted himself on the floor, wearing Coop's new astronaut hat (this kid loves hats!) and playing with Allan's new camping coffee pot.  Super fun and intriguing to a 14-month-old.

Coop got cozy next to Poppi to read several of his new books.

 To top off our already fabulous Christmas day, it started snowing!!  The boys and I sat by the front windows for awhile, watching the snow fall.  Unfortunately, we couldn't go outside at that moment and play because we had to get ready to head to the Lambs for dinner.  Gammi, Poppi, Annie and Allan headed home and we packed up and headed out.  There was so much snow coming down!

When we got out to the Lambs, Coop was so anxious to play in the snow.  Still wearing his paper-thin astronaut suit, Coop and Philip headed outside while Austin and I watched through the windows.  They were having such a great time, throwing snowballs and running, running, running.

 After a delicious dinner and a few more gifts, we headed back home before the weather got too bad.  The boys were so exhausted from such a fun day and they both fell asleep in the car.  I got to carry my sweet 40 pound four-year-old to bed, and it was the perfect ending to a fun Christmas. 

All day on Christmas, I kept trying to get a family picture taken, and we just couldn't get it done.  So, here is one of the four of us on Christmas!  Yes, maybe I did have to cut it out of the big family picture, but it's just the way it works sometimes.  Merry Merry!

A few random Christmas pictures...  Coop got to spend an afternoon at Gammi and Poppi's helping them decorate for Christmas.  The first picture is Gammi showing Coop an ornament that I made when I was probably about his age.  (It's an angel with a picture of little me on it.)  And the second picture is Coop doing an art project with Annie.  He painted a canvas for me and said it was, "a monster in a cave with an alligator eating fish with water."  Love that.  I was so surprised when I unwrapped it Christmas morning.

Christmas Morning 2012

Cooper woke us up around 7:30 on Christmas morning.  Based on his excitement from the night before, I was expecting him to come into our room, bouncing off the walls and ready to race to the living room to see if Santa had come.  But, it was almost like he had forgotten what might be awaiting him.  He climbed into bed with us and started to get cozy, waiting for us to fully wake up so someone could go to the playroom with him (his normal routine).  I remember Philip and I looking at each other, waiting for a light bulb to go off with Coop.  Finally, after 15 minutes or so, Philip asked if Coop wanted to go see if Santa came.  Coop's face lit up!  Light bulb--SANTA!!  He jumped up and down and we quickly, yet quietly, tip-toed passed sleeping Austin's room and into the living room.  Coop was so excited to see that Santa came!!

He walked around the room, calmly looking at everything and taking it all in.  Loved watching that.  He wasn't crazy or running around or screaming with excitement.  Just calm and absorbing, with several gasps and tons of smiles.

Coop was so excited to see that Santa ate our gingerbread pirate cookies.  And he laughed at the mess of cookie crumbles Santa left behind.

 Helping Daddy open his stocking.

Austin woke up about 30 minutes later, and Coop was such a sweet big brother, showing Austin the fun things Santa brought for him, too.

 

So excited about a new shovel!

 Austin was so into helping people unwrap gifts.  I don't remember Cooper being that interested in tearing the paper at this age, but Austin was all over it!

The way this present is wrapped makes me happy.

 Since his birthday, Coop has been asking for a firetruck with very specific details: a long ladder; a place for a driver in the back; and a front part that swivels.  In a lot of his fireman books, this type of truck is called a 'hook and ladder' truck.  I searched and searched and searched and searched for months to find a toy truck like this.  I even enlisted Fireman Paul to help with the search.  He informed me that this type of truck is also called a 'tiller' truck, and on the same night, he and I both found this truck online!  It's not necessarily advertised as a kids toy, and some people actually collect cars and trucks made by this company, Hess.  But after more research and even posting a few questions on the company's Facebook page, I decided that this was the perfect truck for Coop.  It was from the company's Christmas collection from the year 2000, so I had to search a little to find a way to purchase it.  But...we found it, bought it, wrapped it up, and Coop LOVES it.  I do would all that work all over again because of how happy it made him to open that gift.

 Austin loved his new slide from Santa!

Drake even got a stocking full of goodies!

We had such a fun morning.  Just the four of us, in our own house.  Fire in the fireplace, Christmas music playing, warm coffee for Mama, a yummy breakfast, and enjoying watching the boys play--pretty perfect, if you ask me.  (It did cross my mind several times how this time next year, we'll have a little six-month-old rolling around in the wrapping paper!)