Saturday, December 31, 2011

Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot. . .

2011, what a year you have been!

We started off 2011 with a wintry snow storm. Simultaneously, the lamp on our t.v. died and we had to wait out the storm in the office. We also got some good playtime in the ice, I mean snow, but it wasn't the right consistency for a snowman :( We had some good indoor fun at Champion Kids with Harrison and M.K. Then the sun came out and we got to play outside some.

In February, Beckham rocked out the balance beam at his move-a-thon. We watched with tears in our eyes as the Steelers lost the Super Bowl. More snow graced us with its presence and melted before we got a chance to play. Beckham spread the love at his first Valentine's Day party (where he showed me the itty-bitty potty he uses at school).

In March, Brooksy turned one and showed us his mad walking skills. We showered Gretchen and Baby Maximus with fun baby gifts. Sofia turned 6 and we got to play with all the new puppies. Beckham had his first "no tears" barber shop cut. And we said good-bye to Beckham's diapers!

In April, Great Grandma Helen stayed with us for a week over spring break. Scott and his siblings sat on the glass at a Penguins/Thrashers game. Beckham had his first ever ice cream cone. Scott became another decade older. The boys did some modeling for our neighbor Chrissy (and took some beautiful pics that substituted for Brooks' one years). Scott began training on roller blades and ice skates for his ambitious goal of joining an amateur hockey league. Another Easter came and went with some nice goodies for the boys.

In May, Beckham spent an awesome day jumping on a variety of bounce houses at his "Spring Fling". The boys discovered the free cookies at the Publix bakery. I celebrated calling myself "mommy" for the fourth year in a row! Beckham said goodbye to his classmates and started a summer of fun. We showered Tara and Baby Abigail with some precious pink things! Scottie and I made a date of ice skating, dinner, and a movie. The sun got hot and the baby pool and sprinklers came out- yay! We made homemade popsicles. We went to the pool with Harrison and M.K. We celebrated Aunt Amanda's birthday. We went swimming with the cousins.

In June, we took in the Laser Spectacular with Grandma, Pap-pap, and Uncle Brando. Beckham said goodbye to his car seat and hello to a booster seat- big boy! Beckham and Daddy caught a fish "this big"! I won "Bad Mommy of the Year" award when Brooks fell out of the car while it was moving in a parking lot (on the way to Champion Kids where he proceeded to have a blast). The Parker clan came to Kennesaw for Father's Day/Pap-pap's birthday and went ice skating in celebration. We took Beckham to his first ever theater experience to see Cars 2 in 3-D. We discovered outdoor finger painting.

In July, we celebrated July 4th at Ben and Lisa's (where Beckham got "kissed" by Pony). Grandma and Pap-pap got a pool in their backyard. We went to Pittsburgh where the highlights were riding roller coasters at Kennywood and visiting the beach on Lake Erie. Scott followed through with his hockey-playing goal and started accruing gear. We finally met Baby Abigail. We got the inside and outside of our abode painted (LOVE)! Nana moved in with Aunt Kathie. Our t.v. finally died and was replaced with one hanging above the mantel.

In August, we celebrated Uncle Sean's birthday. We went swimming with the cousins. We had Ben and Lisa over for dinner. Brooksy got his first barber-shop cut (accompanied by a lot of tears). We filled the baby pool with bubbles. We discovered that the office chair is an exciting form of entertainment. Grammy babysat so we could see Harry Potter (and gave the boys a really cool bubble gun). We celebrated Great Grandma Helen's birthday. Beckham went back to school and Brooks didn't know what to do with me all to himself. The Cook kids got together at Grammy's for a nice family dinner. Scott "made the cuts"- he tried out for hockey and made The Icemen.

In September, we got to meet Anne's sweet baby boy, Riley. We celebrated my 31st birthday. The doctor told me Brooks was obese and cross-eyed (haha!). The boys and I got to see Daddy play hockey. . . and score a goal! My car battery died while I was at work- awesome! We celebrated Annelies and Ollie's birthdays.

In October, we showered Katie and Baby Wesley with gifts. Mom and I had a flop of a garage sale. Shanna, Mom, and I went to the Gold Rush Festival. We made a trip to the pumpkin patch. "Poop" became the most popular word in our house. We celebrated the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Andy Brewer. We took an army guy and Hairy Dawg trick-or-treating.

In November, Daddy went hunting and got him a deer. Beckham turned 4! We had a pirate party for the birthday boy. . . bounce house and all. We celebrated Juan David's birthday, Uncle Brandon's 13th, and Uncle Ben's 36th. We spent a day with the cousins that come few and far between these days. We spent a rainy day at Champion Kids. Daddy took Beckham to get iceskates and hit the ice. Brooks learned how to climb out of his crib. Brooks switched from a crib to a jail cell (his mattress was set on the floor of the crib). Beckham had a checkup and got tons of shots :( My car stereo became possessed by a poltergeist (and got replaced).

In December, the boys told Santa what they wished for. I made lots of Christmas crafts. Our downstairs furnace went on the fritz. We finally took care of the invasion of the ants. Kate was an awesome friend and took family pics for us. Beckham sang a song in his Christmas performance. We celebrated the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. And we couldn't go a whole year without someone getting sick- Brooks gave us the pleasure of nursing our first ever ear infection :(We don't know just what you have in store for us, 2012, but may it be BLESSED!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Brooks Parker Laying Down the 1's and 2's

Brooks got this awesome recording studio from Grandma and Grandpap. They've been having fun laying down some tracks.
Check-1-2

Over the River and Thru the Woods

OSO's first road trip. We headed to Snellville for some more Christmas fun on Christmas morning.
Beckham was very excited to see what else Santa brought him ;)
After exchanging lots of presents, Aunt Amanda helped the boys grow some safari animals. Woohoo!
Then we feasted on prime rib and opened our Christmas party poppers. Everyone donned their Christmas crowns and read their jokes.
And made beautiful faces for the camera :)

Ho, ho, ho! Meh-meh-mas!


So sad that I didn't have the video camera on in time to catch Beckham's very excited "SANTA CAME!"
But I got some good shots of the boys enjoying their new gifts. . .
Special Agent OSO has not left Brooks' side since he opened him. He takes him to bed, he takes him in the car, and he would take him in the bath if he could.
(I love that the stocking is still nearly as big as them.)
If they would only play this nice (and quiet) ALL the time :)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Jams

Our family tradition is to open Christmas jams and an ornament on Christmas Eve. Its a crying shame this pic turned out blurry, because the moment didn't last long. This is what happened immediately after. . .

Beckham was still smiling, though, and oh so proud to show off Booker and his new pajamas.
Brooks adopted Beckham's panda bear who also got some cool pajamas for Christmas. Now, time for bed so Santa can come!

Christmas Eve at Grammy's

The Cook kids gathered at Grammy's house on Christmas Eve to exchange presents and eat some yummy appetizer-type foods. The kids had fun getting an early start on Christmas. We gave the Boot kids Braves Kids Club memberships again this year because they loved them so much last year.
And keeping with the theme, Aunt Shanna got the boys baseballs and gloves. They were super excited.
Brooks got an awesome bowling set from Uncle Ben and Lisa. Buttons!
And these were this year's Christmas craft from the boys for Grammy and Grandma. Silhouette ornaments!
Uncle Ben rocked his new winter coat :)
Grammy got Lisa the perfect gift, a cat mug!
And we can't have a nice time with family without at least one kiddo getting hurt :(

Come On, Ride That Train

Last year, we made a gingerbread train from a kit on Christmas Eve. This year, it is all Beckham has talked about. So, we rolled our own dough and made a train from scratch. Christmas Eve morning, we woke up and made the icing so we could put our train together and decorate it. SO MUCH FUN!
The boys had a blast putting peppermints, candy canes, jujubis, mini m&m's, spiced gumdrops, and marshmallows on their awesome train.

I also had fun :) And I got to dole out the icing for them to stick things on.
The proud and very excited train decorators. . .
And the final results! (The rear car says "parker".)


And you can't make gingerbread without eating your very own gingerbread man!
YUM!

"Cookie Baking Day" 2011

My sister and I get together every year for "cookie baking day" just before Christmas. Two years ago, we played it easy with ready-bake cookies. And we missed last year because they were out of town. But this year, we slacked off even more by making Rice Krispies Treat ornaments. We started by prepping the decorations and catching marshmallows in our mouths.
Then we got onto the rice krispies. Beckham lent a helping hand with the stirring.
And Annelies and Ollie sat by looking cute :)
Then came the rolling of the ornaments and some mild decorating.

(We discovered we needed to spray our hands with PAM before handling the Rice Krispies- haha!)
Shanna had to show off her beautiful work.
And par for the course, Beckham had to eat his :)



After some glorious time spent in the kitchen, the munchkins snuggled up on the sofa and played Mario on the DS. This was Beckham's first time playing a video game (surprise, surprise) and he didn't want to put it down. I guess we know what his next big gift will be!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Some Videos for Your Viewing Pleasure


Beckham sings non-stop these days, and most of the time, this is his song of choice.

Brooks loves reading his books lately. His most recent faves are the "pun-tin book" and the "snowman book". His favorite game is to point to the pictures and name things.

Scott discovered this doozy while reading the "snowman book". Apparently Brooks likes foxes and he likes to point to them and say "fox"!

Preschool Palooza


After the mix-up on Wednesday, we made it to the program on Thursday and watched our son sing 1 of the 6 songs he was supposed to. Unfortunately, our camera man thought he was recording when he wasn't, and vice versa :) But we did get some footage of him taking his place on "stage".
Of course, he had to show off his awesome sweatshirt he made with his handprints!
He even got to sit on Santa's lap in the "North Pole". Weak, but they love it :)
Brooks took some time out from playing with the toys to let the ladies hit on him. . .
And Beckham forfeited his cupcake to concentrate very hard on his craft.
When we got home, Beckham let us open our present he made for us. He was so excited and so proud! Isn't it precious!?!