Christmas crafts

I had lots & lots of crafting to do for Christmas so I had to put Cooper to work. He painted birdhouses for Grandpa & Papa, & frame mats for both Grandma's & Daddy (and we framed a picture of Dexter & Cooper of course).




I made cloth doll diapers for my friend Joslyn's daughter (so she'd stop stealing her sister's disposable diapers),


a towel wrap for my dad,


a laptop case for John's sister's laptop,


a t-shirt for Pat (our future brother-in-law), who loves his van,


and a family tree wall hanging for my mom.


And since I know you've been holding your breath to see what this was (or you've completely forgotten about it), I made a card table felt playhouse for Cooper. There's felt mail for the mailbox & the fruit, vegetables, & birds are all attached with velcro so they can be moved around. (It's a really impressive idea that I completely stole from here.)

Christmas

We had a crazy-busy Christmas (does anyone have a relaxing Christmas? I don't think so). Christmas Eve started with a quick stop at Uncle Michael's house for the extended family, then we were off to see Granny Smith & Papa Fred & John's family.

Dexter got to chill with Auntie Anna. (Anna didn't even know what was coming! But more on that in another post...)

Cooper loved his new guitar from Auntie Anna & "Uncle" Pat. (It just made everyone else in the room feel old because the toy guitar plays instrumental versions of Wild Thing by the Troggs, Message in a Bottle by the Police, Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen, Love Shack by the B52's and All Star by Smashmouth.)

Christmas morning was spent at home. Even though we left out cookies & egg nog for Santa & talked about him all day Christmas Eve, Cooper still wasn't expecting him. He slept 'til 8:30 & didn't really get what was going on at first.

Cooper was very excited about his stocking.

And judging by this picture, Cooper would have been happy if Santa stopped at just the stocking. (But what fun is that?)

Dexter, as you can see, was equally thrilled with his stocking loot.

Hmm.. I bet you're wonder what this is...

Dexter is intrigued too... but you'll have to wait for another post.

Cooper and his Thomas train, the one thing he asked for from Santa.

Dexter was tuckered out from all the excitement.

Then it was on to Grandma & Grandpa's house.

Things were mostly a little crazy. Not surprising considering there were 5 kids 3 years & under and (only) 6 adults. Why do we still feel outnumbered? (Gift opening was particularly crazy, which is why I don't really have any pictures of that.)

But there were a few calm, relaxing moments.

Dexter & Lynzee checking each other out.

Since Adam couldn't be with us for Christmas, we tried to get a good picture of all 5 kids together.

We quickly decided it didn't have to be "good", they just all had to be in it, even if they all look like deer in headlights. (I swear, no children were drugged in the taking of this picture.)

This is seconds later.

Dexter, once again, tuckered out. (He was actual awake when John sat him up, but sitting on Daddy was just too relaxing & he fell asleep.)

Getting ready for Christmas

Before Christmas we:

took about a million pictures trying to get a perfect, or passable, Christmas card picture,

took some naps,

went on a "Santa train",

saw Santa,

decorated the tree,


looked at Christmas decorations,

made cookies (with lots of sprinkles),

and practiced looking cute in a Santa hat.

Crafty Christmas

I decided to make some Christmas gifts this year and I have been excited to post about my projects, but figured I should wait until after Christmas. (I may even have a project or two to post about later since they have not been gifted yet...)

I gave a bunch of mixes in jars, including this s'mores mix (sorry, the picture's kinda blurry). It looked really cute in the jar, but seemed a little suspect so I made a few batches. It was so good! I'll definitely be making that again. The mixes weren't as easy or cheap (for some reason I always think, 'if I make it, it will be FREE!' but it's really not - duh) as I thought they be, but I love how they came out. Totally worth it.


I made superhero cape for Zak, with much help from my mom - thanks Mom! I'm dying to make one for Cooper, but I think he's probably still a little young. I love how this turned out, & it's reversible!



Zak wearing his new cape (oops, it's a little too long)...


and Caycee trying it on too...


She's probably still a little young, but I couldn't resist - I made a tutu skirt for Caycee. Here it is on an unnamed model:


I found a feather boa, angel wings (they came with a halo headband!), and a magic wand for a whole dress up set. Here it is all packaged up:


Caycee even tried it on (not that we gave her much of a choice)...

Christmas day at Justin & Dayna's

"Papa" helping Caycee open her gifts

Cooper (hesitantly) testing out his new 4-wheeler

"Nana" with Caycee, who's all dressed up in her new tutu skirt, feather boa, & wings (Oops! Looks like the wings are upside down!)

Zak trying on his new superhero cape

John helping Cooper open his Little People airplane.