Cooper's 5th Birthday

Cooper's 5th birthday couldn't come soon enough for him.  We spread the celebration out over a week or so.  I think my kids think all birthdays last a week, and not just one day--ha!
Uncle Jim and Aunt Denise came for a visit, bearing gifts.  They spoil our kids rotten.  I mean, rotten.  Coop was so excited to open presents.

What is this?

Oh....I see!

A hockey stick to play street hockey with the neighbor kids!!!

Woohoo!!!

And a practice game too!

So proud and excited.

This kid thinks he's going to be a hockey player, and play for the Boston Bruins.  Sorry to break it to ya, kid.  We live in North Carolina...

A few days later we opened packages that had arrived in the mail.

Ninja turtle pjs, action figures, and games!

And walkie-talkies from Gramme!!!!

So proud to try out the rub-on tattoos.

A zombie nerf gun!!!  (His excitement and expressions were killing me.  What a kid.)

Gotta figure out this one...

Who scored for his 5th birthday? This kid!

Cooper's birthday party was a few days later.  Being Ninja Turtle-themed, we made foam nun-chucks as party favors.

Instead of cake, I opted for some easy-peasy cupcakes.

It was quite the crazy crowd!  As they arrived, each guest got to select a headband and wristbands to dress up as a ninja for the party.  We had some fun ninja turtle games.  Coop had a great time celebrating with his friends.

Hunter Family Farm (Pumpkin Patch)

Before Halloween we had a chance to visit a local pumpkin patch with Aunt Denise and Lindsay (who was visiting from NYC).  I had to tease her as we got out of the car, that her choice of footwear (black flats) was not farm friendly.  City dwellers! ;)

The boys loved the tractor, as always.  That an understatement.  The tractor is about all they wanted to see/do.  They could have cared less about picking out a pumpkin, the wagon ride, or the animals.  In fact, every time I suggested a different activity than playing on the tractor, lots of crying and fits were involved, especially from the smallest one.

Cooper was good about helping Hudson through the child-size hay bale maze.

The wagon ride was dusty, but fun.

Hudson couldn't care less about the lesson on milking cows, so I took him on over to the barn, where he ran around and around, so excited to see all the animals.

His favorite was by far the bunny, which he was mad he couldn't touch.

Cooper loved feeding the goats and sheep.

It was a beautiful afternoon to enjoy the autumn air with Aunt Denise and Lindsay!

Halloween 2014

With a long hiatus from blogging, I have decided I'd better catch up before I'm an entire year behind (yikes!).  "Back to your regularly scheduled programs..."

HALLOWEEN 2014

A few weeks before Halloween, Cooper was sure to remind me that we needed to get the house decorated.  We have quite a few decorations, thanks to Aunt Denise, but we'll spare you from having to "tour" all of them, and just share a picture of the boys' favorite--the glowing plug-in jack-o-lantern.

Pinterest was to thank for this clever idea.  We had fun turning our front door into Frankenstein.

Our church held a trunk-or-treat party a few days before Halloween, and we invited our old neighbors/ friends Tammy and Braden Blanton, to join us in the festivities.  Cooper (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Leonardo), and Braden (Power Ranger), had fun posing in front of the photo booth.  I was on the committee hosting the event, so Tammy was good to keep the kids occupied while I helped organize things.

Don't mess with these guys!

 The costume parade is always a hit. 

 

 Nate had been gone all day to a field trial for the dog, but was able to join us just before the trunk-or-treat, making our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle group complete!  Nate (Michaelangelo), Cooper (Leonardo), Hudson (Rafael), and Chrystal (Donatello).  Neither of the boys is wearing their masks, but I love this picture.  It's by far one of my favorite from 2014.  Cooper's face cracks me up!

 No family photo session would be complete without a few "fart" noises from Coop Scoop.

 Heroes in a half shell--turtle power!

(Except poor Rafael, who just wants to go home and go to bed.)

 Cooper's preschool class took a trip to a local pumpkin patch.  Cooper is in the middle with the gray shirt/red jacket around his waist.

 Carving pumpkins is always interesting in our house.  Every year Coop gets really excited about it, but then is totally grossed out by the cold, slimy innards of the pumpkin, and this year was no exception.  Hudson was too tired and went to bed.  Nate is not usually interested any further than helping Coop execute his (Cooper's) own carefully planned out design.  

 It seems I am actually the one who most enjoys carving pumpkins.  This year I chose a pre-printed pattern that was easy to follow.  Maybe one year I'll have the energy/patience to carve an elaborate pumpkin like I've always wanted to.  But I think they turned out pretty cute.

 Hudson sported his Halloween pjs quite a bit during the month of October.

 Halloween night finally arrived, and Cooper and Braden were READY to scour the neighborhood in search of candy.

 Hudson wasn't sure what the excitement was all about, but knew that we kept talking about candy, so he was happy.

 Tammy and Nate took the big boys trick-or-treating through our neighborhood.  This was our first Halloween in our new house, so we weren't sure what to expect.

 Hudson and I hung back at home, ready to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters.

 We waited and waited, but only a few came by.  Apparently not many like to venture down to the end of the neighborhood to our little street.  So we had LOTS of leftover candy!

 The trick-or treaters had a lot of fun.

 

 

 

It was a fun Halloween season.