Oklahoma Traditions

Getting Ready for the Holidays

Loving our cozy jammies. Or as we call them around here "jams". Especially since most of them have monkeys!
The kids were very interested in all the Christmas decorations and helping put them out.
And getting out the nativity scene which had "two!" sheep... And arranging it just right.
Meghan's ornament.. one of many.

All Meghan's new princess ornaments from Disney world wanted to be together on the same branch. Some ornament reorganization was required with these wonderful helpers, but we tired to let them do what they wanted.
Cooper's favorite Christmas decorations by far were the ones in the front yard. Every morning we asked about baby Jesus and every evening we had to make sure he got "blown up" (the blow up Nativity scene). Our neighbors had Santa - Cooper had to wave at him every night and "hug" - arm open and reaching toward the neighbor's house.
Cooper was very concerned about Santa and Jesus once the holidays were over. Two good little helpers with taking down the ornaments and decorations. Very excited about all the decorations in general. Cooper liked to point and count all the Santas. We had decorations on the front door and window that the kids liked to rearrange. Very fun for everyone - and so fun to get it back to normal around here!

A Blossoming Star

"Red and green are Christmas colors, Christmas colors, Christmas colors,
Red and green are Christmas colors, Pretty Christmas colors" - sung to Mary Had a Little Lamb.
We heard this sung for about a month and to anyone and everyone who would listen. Meghan did have a big performance coming up at school.
What Christmas play would be complete without a bunny to help decorate the Christmas tree with a special star? They practiced at school for at least a month to have the final performance the week before Christmas break.
Nanny and Daddy were in charge of supporting the little one. "My Nanny is here!" was yelled by Meghan when she saw her special visitors. All the little kids were introduced including Cooper 0 which is good since his daddy didn't even see him up there until this. We were worried about some stage fright when performing in front of all the grown ups, but according to Greg, they all did wonderfully.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving this year would not involve travel. We decided this needed to be pared down as usually more time is spent in the car than enjoying the holidays. Thanksgiving this year involved a long weekend at Nanny and Pa's house in north Houston. And yes, Houston was not cold.

Only in Houston is it nice enough to play outside and ride scooters with cousins,


And preparation for shopping deals with Pa. The big kids (aka those with children of their own) headed out late Thanksgiving night and came back empty handed - all but Greg who remains for some reason the luckiest person ever to get his new Playstation - remember I said BIG KIDS.
Yes, we did actually eat turkey and all that... but no pictures for some reason. The turkey carver and stuffing maker this year (moi) did do an exceptional job :) ... Definite group effort on everyone's part.
And the children were mostly in charge of eating the chocolate cake.


Daddy and Coop cuddling - lots of football watching...
And learning that Nanny has a new phone obsession!

A little tired from all the ruckus?
And the tradition continues... Only a few weeks until we start the craziness of the rest of the holiday season.

Mas Tricks?

Halloween was on a Monday this year so we rushed over to our small group house after work with costumes in tow. A rushed supper with rushed dressing... with Cooper wanting to be out of his costume right after putting it on. Note: don't buy costumes that aren't easily worn or you will 1) end up carrying accessories or 2) end up carrying the child.
After the first house where Cooper realized the point of the costume, he was ready for "mas" after each doorbell ringing. After each house, Coop walked down the sidewalk and asked his daddy for "mas" to head to the next house. We moms headed out with the kids while the dads stayed at the house with the little babies and handed out candy. Except for Greg who went along on kid duty - good thing since he carried Cooper quite a bit.
Meghan, the shy child, right, was witnessed several times "Hi, I'm Meghan and this is my brother Cooper" - cute kid. Safe? Possibly not but very outgoing of you. She was "Jinglebell" - afterall, there is a song for jingle bell and not Tinker Bell. Memma sent us a new princess costume just in time for Halloween - which isn't that big a deal when you dress up on a daily basis already.
We ran into other small groups in the neighborhood, lost several children at times, decided we needed glow in the dark identifiers next year, and nominated the men to take the children - although we know that won't work as they would lose kids and not realize they were missing! One house from church had gone all out, left the front door unlocked, and set out quite a spread of different Halloween treats. We should have stayed there all night - at least there wouldn't have been the mosquito problem!
Cooper still walks up and pets his dinosaur costume - but we haven't put it on again yet. Big enough for dress up fun later on though.
Sadly, minimal candy was consumed in this process. Mean Mommy took it away and hid it in the closet!