Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas! - Week of Dec. 19th

With the holiday week here, Cameron's list of things to do certainly piled up...
First on the list was a trip to the mall to see Santa. Shirley Temple once said: "I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph." Well, that definitely didn't happen to Cam, but he was more than happy to sit on Santa's lap, especially when he had his buddy, Emma, to smile at!

Christmas came a little early when Cam's nanny, Katherine, showed up one morning with gifts for the entire family! Cam had lots of fun opening his new Elmo books and movie. Jane and Chris were so surprised by the beautiful picture frame Katherine gave them filled with awesome pics of their son. The frame was promptly hung up in Cam's room where he can see it every day.

The holiday week continued with a visit from Grandma, Steffanie and Craig filled with a tasty lunch at Bagger Dave's and some last-minute wrapping. Friday evening included dinner at the Flegel's new home in Caledonia with a surprise Christmas gift for Cam- a new remote controlled car!

On Christmas Eve, the family attended church service at 4pm with their good friends and neighbors, the Raisch's. The remainder of the evening was spent with special neighbors we are so thankful to call close friends as well.

Christmas Day was full of surprises for Cam- a new sled that was fun to sit on in the living room...until we have snow! A pop-up playtent, books, clothes, cd's, movies, and a small train set.
Jane surprised Chris & Cam with matching shirts that say "Weatherford's Garage" since the two of them have taken to completing many projects together.

This year we feel so blessed to have old and new friends, cousins, and relatives in our daily lives. Even though not all of our family members can be together for Christmas, we hold them all close in our hearts.
"Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas." ~ Peg Bracken

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Family Christmas Card - Week of Dec. 12th

Just one week away from Christmas and the Weatherford household has been filled with festive activities...
Grandma brought her famous holiday cut-out cookies, all ready to decorate. Since Cameron recently had a bit of experience with this at his social outings, he was excited to tackle the task.
Here is his five-step process for cookie decorating.
Step 1. Be certain that two types of frosting are available. Preference is vanilla and chocolate.
Step 2. Do not attempt to put all decorative sprinkles on the cookie itself. This is what a large work area is for.
Step 3. If some of the frosting happens to make it to your mouth instead of the cookie, that's ok. Grandmas don't mind this at all.
Step 4. Be sure to thoroughly taste-test your cookie. Note that this may require multiple bites.
Step 5. Share your cookie creations with everyone you love!!

After completing his 5-step process, Cam, Chris and Jane headed over for a playdate with Liam and his mom and dad. The boys tried to convince their parents that the single passenger car was, in fact, available as a two-seater!
What a fun evening for everyone...

Just a week before Christmas and Cameron's delinquent parents finally finished creating their 2011 holiday card.
Check your mailbox soon!!

5x7 Folded Card
View the entire collection of cards.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Christmas Parties for Cam - Week of Dec. 5th

As the holidays draw near, the calendar begins to seem a bit crowded with events. This week was one of the busiest yet for Cam!

Two holiday parties happened to land on the same day- First stop was Winterfest at Cam's school where Coco joined in the fun. There were different areas set up for arts and crafts, face painting, dance movement, and Cameron's favorite, cookie decorating.
A wooden frame was ready for embellishment in the arts and crafts room. The 4x6 was reserved for the picture that Cam would be in with Santa.
Frosting the Christmas cookies proved challenging in the sense that not much of the frosting made it on the cookies!!
After a few snapshots with Santa, the family was off to Mary Free Bed for the second holiday event.

At MFB, Cam saw life size characters in costume- a reindeer, penguin, lion, etc. He received a toy from Santa all wrapped up and did great on Santa's lap. Best of all for Cameron, MFB also had a cookie decorating room! Once again, the frosting had a tough time making it to the cookie because Cam decided it was much too delicious to keep from tasting immediately.
On Friday, Cameron had some playtime with cousin, Steffanie and was very happy to see her.

Cam's buddy Will and Auntie Jo came over to celebrate Christmas on Saturday. After playtime with cars, present exchange and some delicious dinner, the boys and the moms headed out to drive the kids through the Fifth Third Ballpark Nite Lights exhibit. It was debatable who enjoyed the light display most! Such a fun evening, making us so thankful to be able to spend time with Jo & Will.

The holidays also bring out the best in our other family member, Stella the cat. "Hiding" under the tree is one of her favorite activities. She has no idea how I snapped this picture since she believes she's completely camouflaged underneath it.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Lights! Camera! - Week of Nov. 28th

At the Weatherford household, decorating for the holidays is a family activity. Each member has a task...Chris is in charge of setting up the tree and Jane & Cameron have the privilege of placing the ornaments on every branch. As an added bonus this year, cousin Libby was an expert ornament-er as well!

Then, the heavy duty work of placing the outdoor lights is tackled by Cam's Dad. This year, the display can actually be seen at the beginning of the street and is easily the brightest home on the block!

We celebrated Grandma's birthday this week (shhh, we're not allowed to say how old she is, but she looks amazing!) and Cam was excited to show her his favorite items on the tree.
The weekend brought Cam's buddies and neighborhood friends over to play some video games. Cameron had to be right in the middle of action, and certainly never minds being surrounded by the girls.

Christmas gift suggestions: to your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect. ~Oren Arnold