Can't Sleep

Have you ever woke in the middle of the night to an elbow in your back or a foot in your face to realize there is something in your bed and it's wet and stinky? :0 Maybe three juice boxes at Blaine's work Christmas party for the little one was a bad idea! :(  So here I lay wide awake (after taking an unresponsive Carter potty and changing his clothes and our sheets) waiting for Blaine's alarm clock to go off so the day can begin.  I already feel a mid-day nap coming on!!!  :)

Big Boy Carter!

Carter loves learning all about letters, numbers, shapes, colors, etc .We have a box with all of his school stuff in it and everyday he asks to do his "homeschool". It's pretty funny when peole ask me where does he go to pre-school at or is he in pre-school yet and Carter will pipe up and say "I don't go to  pre-school I go to home-school!" :) Last week he asked me to help him write his name. We have never worked on writing letters before since I figured he didn't have the fine motor skills to do that yet, but  he surprised me and was able to write his name after me showing him how a few times.  After a few days of practicing he was able to remember the order of the letters in his name and write it completly by himself!  He  is growing up way to fast! He is such a big boy!

Sorry the video is so grainy and hard to see. I haven't been able to figure out how to compress my video files so they are small enough to post on blogger without losing their quality.  If anyone is more computer savvy then me and knows how to compress them without losing the quality let me know.

Life is Good!

Life is Good!!
Reason #1- Blaine finally got a Saturday and Sunday off (He also has Christmas off)!
Reason #2- My camera finally came back from the shop(It's been there since September and oh, how I have missed it)!
Reason #3- It's Christmas time!!!!! :) Christmas decorations, Christmas parades, Christmas carols, Christmas cookies, Christmas lights and of course the celebration of the birth of our Saviour!
Reason #4- It's cold enough in Mobile to use the fireplace! I LOVE a blazing fire, even if it is only a gas log fire! LOL:)
Reason #5- Our family is truely blessed and I am very grateful for all our blessings!

The first pic I took on my camera when is came back from the shop!

I was so excited my hands were shaking because I was hoping  it was really fixed.

Waiting for the Christmas parade to begin.

On Saturday we went to a  Christmas parade on Dauphin Island.  The boys got lots of candy and beads!

Waving their flags that they passed out to the kids!

Carter waving at the southern belles! He said "They are so pretty, I like the blue best"!

Grabbing candy and beads as fast as they can!

You can't have a parade in Mobile without MoonPies! YUM!

LOOT!

After the parade we let the boys explore the pier off of Mobile bay and Fort Gaines.

I will neve stop loving this view!

Walking the boardwalk!

Captian Cooper!

                                                                Exploring Fort Gaines.

They didn't make it 10 minutes in the car before both were passed out! I think they had a fun day!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

The tree is lit, the stockings are hung, and the Christmas decorations are in place.  I LOVE Christmas time and so do the boys! They were bursting with excitement when Blaine pulled the big boxes down from the attic that were full of wonderful Christmas decorations.  The Christmas season has officially begun! :)

When we pulled out the trusty pre-lit tree (We've had it since Cooper's first Christmas) the  middle section of lights were out. After 2 hours of jiggling, changing  bulbs, checking fuses and frustration I gave up and just wrapped 2 seperate strands of lights around the burned out bulbs. Hey, whatever works right?! 

This year I let the boys hang most of the decoration by themselves, with a few adjustments made by mom after they went to bed. :) Carter liked to hang the ornaments low and all in the same spot.  He took the task of hanging the ornaments seriously and made sure each ornament was hung carefully.

 Cooper liked to hang the ornaments high, because he got to climb the ladder!

Cooper hanging his "Baby's First Christmas" ornament. Each year we let the boys pick out ornaments to signify what they were into that year.  It is a lot of fun  for them to find their ornaments and remember when and why they picked those ornaments. 

This is Carter's favorite ornament. He picked it when he was 18 months old and still LOVES trains. It is well worn. The smoke stack is missing from him carrying it around so much previous years  past. 

Cooper setting up the nativity.

 

 After all the decoratons were finished, Cooper sat down to read a book by the glow of the Christmas lights!

The next day I  surprised Cooper when he came home from school with a little Christmas tree and wood nativity (Thanks mom and dad  for helping  me make the nativity!) that  they could play with for their room!  They were so excited!