Leonard Santa

We were super excited to hear that "Santa Claus was coming to town" again and this time to Leonard.  We just saw Santa in Columbia on Friday and now he was going to be in Leonard on Tuesday!! Tuesday was a big day for us...both TJ and Andi had their last day of school for the year and their Christmas parties and getting to see Santa again made the day even more exciting!

This was our 2nd time to visit with Santa in the last couple of days so TJ knew just what to do and told him that he really wanted a remote control Finn McMissile car!

Cooper was not a fan of Santa but when he saw that there was candy he obliged and visited for a minimal amount of time.

Brody was too funny!  He did sit on Santa's lap but just stared at him with his big blue eyes like he was trying to figure it all out!

Again, trying to figure out who this man was!

  He wasn't the only one who had their doubts...Last night Cooper told Travis that the Santa in Leonard was "fake"  Of course then he told him that TJ had told him that and then TJ told on Andi.  So our little miss Andi is too smart for her own good and has started asking questions...To be honest the "Leonard Santa" did look a tad different than the "Bass Pro Santa"  Andi said she thought he was fake because his "belly wasn't really that big" 

Andi and Santa (or one of his helpers) we really haven't decided yet!  We had better get better at answering questions!

Bass Pro Santa

Every year we make a trip to Columbia to visit Santa at Bass Pro.  This year, because Andi is in school, the trip was a little more difficult to schedule but we made it happen last Friday.  It was a late night getting all of the shopping, eating and visit with Santa in but the kids were troopers (Travis too) even though we didnt make it home until midnight!

Before we could even get up there Cooper took off running for Santa and gave him a hug.  Then he stepped back, looked at him and came running back to me!

The big kids had a good visit with Santa and were sure to tell him their list and to ask him to bring something for Brody and Lexi too.

We did get a good group photo (courtesy of Bass Pro) because I had to hold Coop and Travis was holding Brody too!

Of course there are other exciting things to do besides seeing Santa like playing all the games! 

There were obviously not enough guns for everyone so Cooper was resourceful and grabbed one off the shelf behind him to try to shoot the targets. :)

And then things got a little serious and Travis had to take over the game to show them how it was "really" done.  lol

Decorating Grandma Mari's tree

Every year we try to get together to help mom decorate her Christmas tree.  It always is a lot of fun and the tree seems to go up easier and get decorated faster every year!  Maybe that's because we have so many helpers now...Andi, TJ, Coop, Kale, Lane, Brody and Stephanie! :)

Brody and Lane taking care of the ladder! :)
I think that they (among the other little boys!) might be into everything this year!

Cooper starting to decorate...

He seemed to always want to be lifted up to put his ornaments on!

Andi, Cooper and Kale with Gina decorating.

Me & my Brody B!

Our little tinsel queen!

Kyle blowing tinsel behind mom's back!  Caught ya!!

Brody B

My baby Brody is starting to grow into a big kid too!  We "caught" him like this the night of TJ's birthday party.  Travis walked into the room and found him just standing by the toy box.  We had never even seen him try to stand up and didn't really think he even thought about it! Uh, oh we might have a "sneaky" one! :)

HaHa!
Look what Brody can do! Who knew??

What a cutie!
It doesn't really look like he needs a haircut but...

It was getting a little long in the back...

and was usually a little crazy/wild during the day on the sides!

So we visited our favorite hair stylist, Nyla and she hooked us up!

Here he is sporting a fresh trim.

What a little cutie. :)  I can't believe that in a few short weeks my baby will be 1!!

NS Elementary Christmas Concert



Andi all dressed up for her concert.  Of course she had to take one with her "famous" pose!

Watching the big kids.




They did a great job singing.







And were quite entertaining!
Unless you were Cooper and he just couldn't sit still! Whats new?!

CCD Christmas Program

Now that Andi is a "big Kindergartener" she got to participate in her first CCD Christmas Program.  They sang 3 songs including First Noel, Joy to the World and We Wish You a Merry Christmas and the older kids read the readings. 

She knew her songs and by the time the program came TJ and Cooper knew them too.  She did a great job singing up front! (While I tried to keep Cooper from singing really loudly along with them!)

Excited and ready to sing!

Here is a cute picture of Somer, Andi and Camryn singing the First Noel.

And Hea-vn and Hea-vn Nature Sing!  She really gets into the chorus. :)
You could tell the kids felt lots more comfortable singing Joy to the World!

My little Thomas James is growing up...

TJ, Thomas James Belt as he will announce his name to anyone who asks, turned the big 4 on Saturday the 3rd.  We celebrated as a family by heading to Pizza Hut (one of his favorites) after mass Saturday night.  After that we headed to purchase a "big kid booster" which he has been dying to get ever since Andi got hers.

Sunday morning we headed to TJ's Preschool Christmas Program.  He did a great job singing!!  After the program we headed home for a quick lunch and to get ready for the big Spiderman party!



Mommy and her big guy!



Happy Birthday to TJ!!
He helped with the cake too. :)



Blowing out the candles...




and still blowing!




He couldn't wait to grab the Spiderman candle to lick off!




Cheese! He knew he could start opening presents as soon as he smiled for a picture...he ran into the living room and posed like this until I snapped the shot.




"Hmm, I think I will start with....this one!"





Lots of presents!





TJ made sure to have me help him read ever card.





He received some awesome gifts including some of his favorites like...
CARS 2!!



  


And some spiderman socks?
He was a little confused!





Then he realized it wasn't Spiderman socks it was Spiderman underwear!!



He also got some coveted "fast clothes" and camo boots so that he can go hunting with dad but really you can find him like this almost any day or night!! :)