Christmas Fun

Saturday was a great day of Christmas festivities! Every year the real Santa Claus flies in on a helicopter to see the kids at Idle Hour. It is a lot of fun. We got there at 10:00 and didn't leave until 2:00! We watched him land, played football on the golf course, did arts and crafts, ate lunch, saw a puppet show and of course saw Santa!





The puppet show is always one of Cooper's favorite parts of the day. This year they asked for volunteers from the audience - guess who volunteered? Surprise, my little wall-flower, Cooper! Bebe Bear jumped over Cooper and 2 other kids on roller skates. It was quite a feat.







Cooper and his friend, Bebe Bear!



The last thing we did was sit on Santa's lap, tell him what we wanted for Christmas, and have our picture taken. At this point we had been at the club for almost 4 hours. Libby had had enough. She fell asleep sitting up in my arms in line. I got a little worried that she might get upset with Santa but she opened her eyes, smiled for the camera and went back to sleep! What a sweetie!

Nick the Elf

We have a boarder at our house for a few weeks. This is Nick, the Elf. He has come to watch over the kids and report back to Santa about their behavior, good or bad. He flies back to the North Pole every night and in the morning he finds a new place to sit. Cooper is really good at finding him in the morning. I'm not sure if Nick is really doing his job of encouraging good behavior but he sure is cute!

Speaking of behavior, remember that sweet little baby I was always bragging about? Well, she has disappeared! She has been replaced by a very needy, demanding child who is INTO EVERYTHING! Here she is trying to bring the tree down...



She's still pretty sweet when she sleeps though...

Poor Cooper has been under the weather this weekend. He had a touch of the stomach bug and is still not really over it. He missed the Christmas musical at church and today he missed school. I just talked to Mary and she said he is better but it's possible she is just saying that so he will go back to school and not be home all day tomorrow. Can't say I blame her!

A Happy Thanksgiving Indeed

Thanksgiving was great at the Baskette house. We had my whole family over for turkey and about 8,000 other things! All the food was good and everyone had a great time. Kirsten, Joe, Gage and Tyler all came. Gage and Tyler are so grown it's scary. Gage is 16! Insane. They are both really cute boys and Tyler was especially good with all the little ones. Cooper ran around talking about "his cousins" all weekend! Dallas, Megan and Lex came from Charleston also. Lex is really growing up. He is walking and talking (some) and so cute. Dallas got his ears pierced (at the fair - don't ask!) so that was a topic of conversation. And of course Mom, Ken, Jill and Jackson were all there too. Cooper and Jackson had a blast with so many people to play with (although Papa was still the favorite). Cooper sang the sweetest little Thanksgiving prayer for everyone before we ate. It seriously brought tears to my eyes. I told him that was my favorite part of the whole day. His favorite part was playing baseball with Kirsten.

Cooper and Jackson went home with CeeGee on Friday. This turned out to be not such a good idea since it rained all weekend. CeeGee said she felt like she had been couped up with caged animals for 2 days. Libby meanwhile was not her usual chipper self. She has a runny nose, really bad cough and an ear infection. She is quite pitiful. We saw Dr. Bush this morning though so she should be good as new by the weekend.

And now for the best part of the weekend (sorry mom).....

After 7 (yes, 7) years Georgia Tech FINALLY beat Georgia!!! Oh, and Tennessee won as well so Saturday was a great football day for us. GO JACKETS!!!

Funny Story

I always wonder if the whole "adoption" thing makes any sense to Cooper at all. Tuesday when we got home I jumped on facebook (of course) and didn't really pay attention to what was on tv. Apparently Mary had been watching the Discovery Channel. So this show comes on called "Freebirthing". I would highly recommend that you watch it if you happen to see a repeat. It's about all these hippy-type women who give birth at home - no midwives, doulas, etc. just their husband and maybe a toddler or two. Anyway, it was interesting. Cooper comes walking in and starts watching too. After a few minutes he looks over at me and says, "Mommy, I think you would cry if you had to get a baby out of your tummy. I think that's why you wanted to pick your babies."

I think I picked the best 2, what do you think?

Cooper's Thanksgiving Program

Cooper had his Thanksgiving Program today and it was precious. The kindergartners were the pilgrims and the preschoolers were the Indians. Cooper had a starring role (of course). Mrs. Jones said she knew she could count on Cooper to do a good job (proud smile). He and 3 other kids said:

"We are the Indians, as you can plainly see.

Here are our tom toms and there is our tee-pee!"

Cooper's Indian name was "Flying Eagle". They sang lots of songs and a narrator told the story of the first Thanksgiving. So cute!

Two Big Birthday Celebrations!

Wow! We had a big weekend. We took a quick trip to Tennessee to surprise Nannie for her 60th birthday. EVERYONE was there - Andy, Tracey, Dallas, Rusty, Kristin, Sophie, Lucy, Conner, Emma, John Conner, Charlie, Dana, Carson & Caroline - and of course Nannie, Paw Paw, Mimi and Johnny - did I leave anyone out? It was so much fun. Everyone trickled in Friday night so Nannie just kept on being surprised.

Mimi's Crew...

Nannie's Crew...

Cooper and Emma spent the night with Nannie and Paw Paw and heard lots of "Paw Paw" stories about Miss Spivi that kept them in giggles. Saturday we all hung out and the kids played. Saturday night Mimi cooked a huge supper and we celebrated Nannie's birthday. Sunday we ate a huge breakfast and celebrated Sophie's 1st birthday. Then a few hours later we went back to Nanna's for a huge lunch - ugh, I'm still stuffed!

What a great weekend!!!

No Information

Libby has started babbling a little bit lately, mostly da-da-da-da. I've decided that it's time for her to start talking. Last week I was in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico - which I affectionately refer to as "Dirt-ville". I left on Sunday and came home on Friday. The whole time I was gone, do you think ANYONE in my family would talk to me? Um, no. Cooper would reluctantly get on the phone and say, "Mommy, can you come home now? Thanks. I love you. Bye." and every time I tried to talk to David, he was asleep. I guess the time change hit my house pretty hard. Then I get home and try to ask everyone how the week was - fine. fine. Libby is my only hope!!!

Saturday morning Cooper, Libby and I went to Waffle House (I think Daddy was over "parenting" at this point). I think Libby ate as much and me and Cooper (and Cooper eats a lot at WH). She ate some waffle, hash browns, pears and apple juice. All good southern girls love Waffle House.

After WH we went to the grand opening of our new playground. It is so nice. Cooper had a great time. Then we finished off the day with a haircut. That is normally a bad experience but even though we had to wait an hour(!) he was pretty good.

Speaking of Libby eating - looks like we have a little mouse in our pantry...

Bad Timing

Not the best year for these t-shirts but I couldn't resist...

Halloween Fun

This week was especially busy with all our Halloween activities! Thursday night we went to the Boo Bash at the country club. Cooper had a great time running around with all his friends. They had a costume contest, yummy "kid" food, and a haunted house.

Libby and Maggie hung out together in Mag's stroller while the big kids played...

Friday Cooper had a costume parade at school. The pre-school and kindergarten kids wore their costumes and paraded through the lower, middle and upper schools. I was surprised when Cooper chose to be the Flash for Halloween since he's not a mainstream hero these days. When we paraded through the school the upper school kids said, "cool, he's the flash" and the lower school kids said, "who's he?"

Friday afternoon we FINALLY made it to the pumpkin patch. I'm glad we waited because it was a beautiful and warm afternoon.

Friday night we trick-or-treated in our neighborhood. It was much less busy than last year but that worked to Cooper's benefit - he got LOTS of candy. Now if we can keep him from eating it all at once!

Fun in the Tub

How do you like my new hairstyle?!?!

Bad Blogger!

I keep falling down on my blogging duties, I know. Let's see, what has happened since October 13?

On Tuesday the 14th I had my first Parent-Teacher conference. I wasn't really prepared for what I heard - apparently Cooper is a REALLY good kid at school, who knew? Mrs. Jones said she wished she had 20 Cooper's in her class! He listens and follows directions (and here I thought those ears were just to make him look cute) and is doing great academically. I am very proud of him.

The following weekend Cooper AND Libby took a trip to Tennessee. They had a blast! It was Libby's first trip away from home and she did great, of course. They helped out in the restaurant and went to a birthday party for Miss Becca. Cooper even came home with $5 in tips! If finances don't pick up around the Baskette house I may have to send him up there more often!

Last Wednesday we had Christmas pictures taken - can you believe it's already that time? The pictures turned out GREAT. I would post some but I don't want to ruin the surprise.

Thursday night Rusty, Kristin & Sophie came to spend the night on their way to North Georgia for a wedding. It was so fun to see little Sophie (and Rusty and Kristin). She is so precious! I wish I had taken her picture but we were too busy watching her run from David.

Friday Cooper went to CeeGee's and Libby went to a "Baby's First Halloween" party. Yes, it was as cute as you imagine. There were probably 10 babies from 4 weeks - 10 months. We had huge aspirations of taking some super-cute group shots but that was silly on our part.

Cooper had a great time at CeeGee's. Jack was there too and they went to a really cool festival with a corn maze (Cooper and CeeGee got lost and the corn police had to help them out), a "bumpy slide" and a "hay jump" - those are Cooper's descriptions. They also went on a hayride and carved jack-o-lanterns.

FINALLY, Sunday was the fall festival at church. They had a scary hallway with trick-or-treating, lots of games, jumpy things and a dunking booth - so fun! Of course "the little pig" was quite the hit!

Cooper's Super-Fun Weekend

Wow, Cooper really had a fun weekend! Friday night he was invited to go with Hamilton's family to dinner and the Stratford football game. He has been wanting to go all season and he had a blast! They ate at Chick-fil-a, saw the football players bust through "the big sign", played imaginary football, and chased "big girls" (I think that means "older" girls). He saw lots of friends and just couldn't stop talking about everything when he got home.

Saturday morning he had his last soccer game. I can't really say I'm sorry about that but we've had a great season. Never did get that white star but oh well... Saturday evening he went to Will's birthday party. What a great party! 9 boys (and all the Ware's) went to Lane Packing Company in Fort Valley. They went through the corn maze, had a hayride, ate supper and cake and just had a generally wild time. Lots of fun!

Sunday we (Mommy, Cooper and Libby) picked up Jill and Jack and headed to the fair. I'm not sure I can remember a more miserable fair trip but Cooper and Libby had a good time. First off, it rained! Off and on the whole time, it rained. Jackson had a break down when a mean carnie wouldn't let him ride the roller coaster because he was too little, Cooper had a break down when he pushed his corn dog too hard and it flew off the stick onto the ground, then Jackson smashed his fingers in the bathroom door! Good times! Libby was good but she did get a little sick of the stroller so I spent a lot of time carrying her and pushing an empty stroller. She did think it was really fun when it was raining - she laughed and laughed. Oh and just so you know, there is only one size cotton candy - JUMBO. It's really not a good idea to let your 5 year old eat a whole JUMBO bag of cotton candy. Hours later at home I said, "Cooper, please stop talking for just a second". His reply? "I'm sorry mommy, I just can't!"






Fun memories!!!

Singing and Crawling

As most great entertainers do, Cooper launched his career with a duet in church this weekend with Ben. Keep in mind that I am NOT launching a career as a videographer... (Ok, I'm having major technical difficulties. I'll have to work on this later.)

Libby is crawling (somewhat) but it's not very exciting video as she is not in too much of a hurry. I tried to take some pictures of the new teeth but all I could really get were Cheerios. She sure does look cute though, doesn't she?

Catch Up

Wow, I think this is the longest I have gone without updating the blog! What's been going on? Let's see...

Last weekend CeeGee and Papa came over on Friday night and went to Cooper's soccer game on Saturday morning. Funny story - after each game they give out star stickers for best offense, best defense, etc. They also give a white star for the "most Christ-like" (obviously, this is a church league). Anyway, they always talk about how this is the best star to get, etc, etc. so Cooper is DYING to get that white star. So during the game last week he steals the ball from the other team and takes it the length of the field, shoots for the goal and scores! He runs back up the field and I hear him say, "hey coach, did you see that? That's just like Jesus would do!" Seriously, what am I going to do with him?

After the game he went home with CeeGee and Papa. I think they squeezed about 4 days of activity into less than 24 hours - including Papa getting pulled over for making an illegal left turn, which Cooper could NOT WAIT to tell me about!

Libby keeps growing like a weed. She finally has a tooth poking through her sore little gums and it is driving her crazy!

This past weekend Nannie and Paw Paw came to visit. We all had a great time. Cooper and Paw Paw played soccer in the front yard, played go fish, and went to the fair (with Daddy and Libby too). Poor Paw Paw may sleep the rest of the week! 10 minutes before they left Cooper was STILL riding around and his shoulders! Nannie and Libby just cuddled and played so it was a win-win for everyone.

Yesterday Cooper dug out some super-hero kit he probably got 3 Christmas's ago and we had some fun. We also played about 1,000 games of go fish - thanks Paw Paw!

Awwwww...

Cooper brought home a book today they made at school. Everyone in his class had a page. They wrote their name, drew a picture and had their photo glued on the page. It also had a sentence for them to finish "I Love _____________". Most everyone said, "I love to watch TV", "I love to play outside", etc. Cooper's said "I Love my little sister". Brings tears to my eyes :)

Soccer Begins

Cooper had his first soccer game on Saturday. He scored a goal and according to him, his team won. I'm not really sure since it is complete madness on the field and they don't officially keep score - "everybody wins" in Upward Soccer. Cooper and his buddy, Max...

I'm sure none of you doubted my previous post about Cooper being so much taller than his teammates, but just in case...

Friday night we went to some friends house. This was supposed to be "happy hour" but turned into "happy night". Libby and Maggie played and watched the big kids play.

"The big kids"

Other things that happened this week... Monday was open house at school. We all pile in the car, get to the school and see everyone going in WITHOUT their kids. Now that is about the stupidest thing I've ever heard - open house with no kids? So David and the kids went home and I saw Cooper's room all by myself. I will not succumb to peer pressure next year; I will take Cooper with me. It really wasn't any fun looking at artwork, touring the room and seeing his place at the table without his commentary. Wednesday was picture day. Hopefully those will turn out good. Saturday afternoon after soccer Cooper and I went and played putt putt. Boy, that was fun at 99 degrees with 100% humidity...

Libby is SOOO close to crawling. She tries a little but if you try to encourage her she just stops and smiles. Sweet little Libby. Oh, and this is how she feels about Cooper being in her face/space all the time.

Short Week

It was a short week but a busy one too. Tuesday Cooper finally got a soccer practice in (the previous 2 have been cancelled for various reasons). He is the tallest by a HEAD. No kidding, the other kids come up to his shoulders. Oh well, maybe he will be the star - he does like to be the best, ya know. Wednesday we had church and choir. Thursday we did nothing! Nice. Friday we went to Matt's for Happy Hour. It was great fun. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of the 7 (yes, you read that right SEVEN) crazy boys running around. There was a point when I seriously thought the ceiling was going to fall in. Libby was loving it. And Campbell Ann stopped by too. I think she was a little overwhelmed since she comes from an "all-girl" household (well, except Rader). Yesterday Cooper got to go back to Matt's to play for a while and we ran some errands. Nothing exciting. Today Cooper named off all the things he and his Daddy are doing today - playing Tiger Woods golf on the wii, playing hide and seek, and "tussling". Sounds like a fun day! We do have to run across the street and take a little gift to poor Abby Rose who broke her leg Thursday night. She's 2 1/2 and in a full leg cast for 6-8 weeks - major bummer.

Libby has a fun new "shake her head" trick that I hope to get video of soon. She is also up on all fours and rocking. She can't quite move yet but it won't be long. I'm not sure I'm ready for this...