Wrapping Presents

I usually love to wrap presents, but the last several years I have learned that I can be a little too particular especially when it comes to letting Cameron help wrap. So, this year I let him enjoy wrapping a gift all by himself and he actually did pretty well. He picked out an old toy (one of his old toy phones) for Laura Cate and it was such a thoughtful gift. It is big and makes lots of sounds (yay! :)) He knows his sister well! He enjoyed wrapping it for her (in the picture below) but he also insisted in wrapping his own gift to give himself...another little phone that he used to play with and we put away in the toy bin for a while. He was so excited to see the phone again and that he and his sister were both getting phones for Christmas :) I tried to explain that gifts are to give people, but he was more interested in wrapping and having another gift under the tree, so he got more practice at wrapping this year!

Here it is!!

Christmas Festivities!

Oh, the joy of being a kid! I had so much fun with Cameron this Christmas making goodies and crafts, singing, and getting ready for Jesus' birthday. Cameron enjoyed making gingerbread men (pictures on the left), sugar cookies, and "trying" the other yummy desserts! Laura Cate watched all of the action usually from her Hop n Pop chair that a friend lent to us. She loved being with us and watching either in the kitchen or by the kitchen table. Just wait Laura Cate, next year will be even better :) We discovered that she LOVES music and got really excited when we had music on or at night when we would all sing together; she played right along with a tambourine and maracas.



















The more sprinkles the better!
Laura Cate loves to watch her brother.

Laura Cate's Wheels at 6 months

We mentioned Cameron getting a bicycle, but we also were pretty excited when Laura Cate had her first ride in a stroller, at six months old. Sometimes she likes it, sometimes she doesn't, but having her brother around always makes it more fun and it helps mommy out too.







Here they are in their PJs before bed! Laura Cate's pajames say, "Warning: may cause sleepless nights" That was so true her first 6 months, but she is such a good sleeper and napper now. The Lord has been so gracious to us.

Fun Times

The local culture here does not celebrate Halloween and most of the people do not even know what it means. We as a family don't really talk about it, but we try to make it a fun time for the kids to dress up and celebrate Fall. This year was different than the last several years because we are around a ton of American kids. So, we gathered after Cameron's birthday party (which was actually on October 31 because Cooper's birthday is November 6th, so we had a combined party in between the two birthdays) in a one cul-de-sac of our complex and had some games and treats for the kids. It was fun for all of us and even Laura Cate got to dress up in a friends costume as "Tigger"...the cutest Tigger ever! The kids had to sing or dance to get candy, but some people were very generous and Cameron is still working on eating all of his candy.



The next day we got to celebrate Alan's birthday. We just loved being together, going to our International Fellowship and our friends took us out to lunch at a wonderful hotel restaurant. I love this picture are Cameron is enjoying Alan's cool new umbrella while we are enjoying chocolate-chip pankcakes (Alan's favorite). Cameron kept wanting to open Alan's presents or let it be his turn to open a present...it can be so hard to wait!

Party Time

October and November are always busy times for us as we are blessed to celebrate Cameron and Alan's birthday (Cameron October 23 and Alan November 1st) and we always squeeze a little "Fall Festival" on October 31! Cameron and his friend Cooper got to celebrate their birthdays together (the more Hero/super hero power the better, right! Cameron of course was an Engineer (" a super hero engineer" as he said.) I can't believe we have a four year old. The time has flown by and each year gets better and better. Cameron LOVES being four...which he thinks entitles him to lots of big boy things now, such as four cookies, four pieces of cake, and playing for 4 minutes...sometimes it works for him, sometimes it works against him :( !
Here are some pictures of our favorite engineer on his birthday! We have been so blessed the past four years to have Cameron as our son!






This is Cameron's buddy, Cooper. They go to school together and have so much fun!







Probably his most exciting and usuable gift was his first bicycle! We had so much fun picking it out and waiting to give it to him. Now he is outside on his wheels at least once a day cruising around our apartment complex and seeing how fast he can go...don't worry, we make him wear a helmet. Riding a bike is another reason why he loves being four!Next post will be for Alan!