Blog Award!

Ok, this sounds much more important than it is, but I think it is fun nonetheless! My friend, Katy, from college who lives in Texas nominated me- so thanks, Katy! She has so many friends who blog, so it seems to be a fun award that is passed around her Texas friends! So here are the details-

"When you receive the prize, you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in their content or design. Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing that they were prized with 'Honest Weblog'. List [if you can and/or dare] at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!"

So, here goes the 10 honest fact part:

1. I do not like to cook. I wish I did, really. I am not that good at it, but I think that has more to do with the fact that I try really hard not to do it! There is a great tradition at our church of bringing dinner to couples who just had babies. I am the slacker that just calls the couple and asks them to point me to a restaurant they want takeout from- no one has really complained, though!

2. I really do not like the whole "New Year's Eve" celebration thing. I think it is over-rated and over-hyped. We are getting together with our community group tonight to celebrate with a progressive party through our neighborhood, and I know it will be fun, but curling up on the couch with my hubby seems fun, too!

3. I have been off for 2 weeks around Christmas, and I have realized one thing about myself- it is a good thing I work and have to be presentable everyday or I would stay in sweatpants! I have only gotten dressed when I have had to the past two weeks, and I loved every minute of it!

4. My family has spent Christmas day and night in our pajamas the last two years, and this tradition has become one of my favorites of Christmas! We move from my house to my moms and the jammies stay on! Even Eric, sister Natalie's boyfriend, has gotten in on the fun!

5. My two-year-old watches way too much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It is something I am working on, but it is occupying him while I blog!

6. My two-year-old is not a good eater, and I feel like I am not helping the situation. He has some food allergies and is very picky, so it is just easier to let him live on chicken nuggets, fruit, spaghetti, with a few dum-dums and oreos thrown in. This goes back to the post about not liking to cook- I need to work on it!

7. I am really bummed that Auburn is not going to a bowl game this year. Just doesn't quite feel like New Year's football without the Tigers to cheer on!

8. I still have my Christmas decorations up. I usually take them down on New Year's day while watching football. I am not looking forward to that process this year. I always hate it when the Christmas season is all over.

9. I believe in Seasonal Affective Disorder and have it myself. This is basically when you get the winter blues- usually related to no sunshine. We went through a 10 day span earlier this month with no sunshine, and it was no fun! I was in the car and just pulled into my least-favorite town to work in when the sun finally came out. I actually cried with joy to see the sun! After thanking the Lord, I called my husband and my work partner, Hanna, just to tell them that I had seen the light in McKenzie!

10. I am trying really hard to resist getting on facebook. I have so few friends around here and from college who blog because they are all on facebook and keep up with each other that way. I know that if I sign up, I will be on there all the time, so I am trying to refrain, but I would love to be able to stay in touch with more friends. We'll see...

Ok, I have two blogging friends to pass the award onto... Kathy and Holly! Congrats, girls!

Funzone!

We made a trip to Funzone with my friends, Abbie & Lindsey, and their little ones today. Funzone is basically a big room with multiple jumper-type things in it. Cooper did not really know what to think about the place at first, but once he warmed up, he had fun for a little while. He has started this phase where when he is tired of doing something, he tells me he wants to go home. Thankfully for me, today was one of those days where he wanted to go home after only an hour! I did not have my camera, so these pictures are from my blackberry (and the camera is not that good) but they show the motion he was constantly in, so I thought they were funny!

Christmas Fun!

Santa was so good to Cooper, and we all had a great Christmas week! The train was the hit of the presents, but Cooper- being the only child and grandchild on both sides- had many to choose from! "Oh, Boy!" and "I love it" were the phrases of Christmas! We were so blessed to get to spend so much great family time with loved ones over the course of the last few days! I am always a little sad to see Christmas end, but we have many toys and much organization ahead of us to stretch it out!

Cooper and Daddy Christmas morning playing with the train!

Cooper with his aunties and the Elmo Restaurant that they gave him!

Daddy's favorite gift- his fishing gear

All of the Edwards girls

Merry, Merry!

Just wanted to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Some Santa Pictures!

Christmas Festivities!

We have continued a family tradition this year of going to the Enchanted Forrest in Memphis. It is a Christmas-themed event with great decorations and fun animals and trains for the little ones. My mom and grandmother took all of us girls when we were little, and this is the second year that Cooper has gone! He loved all of the decorations, but the train was his favorite- other than the escalator that is! He is such a little boy, and like the bus at Disney World, common moving objects are the things that get the most attention! He saw Santa Claus and rode the escalator with his Edie too many time to count! We had such a fun day finishing up shopping, visiting with family and friends, and celebrating Christmas. Thanks, Julie, for tagging along with the family madness! It was so great to see you!

Edie, Cooper, Nanie, me, and Granny

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday and what a fun day it has been! It began by sleeping in, breakfast with my sweet husband and son, and opening gifts!

My good friends, Tricia and Cecilia, both have December birthdays, and this year we all decided that we were throwing our own birthday party. Most of the time December birthdays get overlooked, but our "Cupcakes and Cocktails" themed party got our friends' attention! It was so much fun to celebrate with everyone on my actual birthday! My sisters and mom all came to the party, too, and we had dinner afterward with my family!

Sprinkles!

I don't think my child has had sprinkles in his two-year-old life. He sure made up for it tonight! He helped me make some Christmas goodies and ate his weight in sprinkles! And, yes, Cooper does have on the same jammies as last night- we had a snow (really ice) day and loved spending the day in our jammies!

saying of the day...

Cooper is at such a fun age! There are so many things that he says that I want to remember, so I thought I would blog about one of them. Tonight, Cooper and Dan were reading books together (Mickey Mouse themed- of course!) and after Cooper had named all of the colors in the book, Dan said, "You are a genious!" Cooper quickly replied, "No, Daddy, I'm Cooper Sikes!"

We did it!!

The St. Jude Half-Marathon was today and it was great!! Josie and I had so much fun and finished in a respectable time of around 2 hours and 15 minutes! We were so proud of ourselves- the only people prouder were our sweet husbands who were cheering us on the whole way! We made our trip to Memphis complete with a great dinner last night and celebratory lunch and champagne after the race! Here are a few pictures of the experience.

Finding our numbers to pick up our packets on Friday night- I was the dork who pulled out my camera!

The start of the race

Waiting to start running!

At the finish- in Autozone park!

Celebrating at Houstons!

Happy Birthday, Sis-sis (a day late)!

Yesterday was my sister's 29th birthday! Ashlie (otherwise known as Sis-sis) lives in Nashville, so we went to visit her last night and did not return until very late, hence the day late part of the post. Sis-sis, we love you and are so glad we were able to spend your birthday night in Nashville with you!

Christmas decoration boundaries!

Every two year old needs some rules! At least that is good in theory! If they follow the rules is another matter all together! Cooper has loved the decorations this year as we expected, so a few guidelines have been established in our house. I decided to put two ornaments that he liked that were not breakable at the bottom of the tree where he could get them down and play with them. We will see if he the system for the rest of the month, but so far, so good! The nativity set has proven to be a hit as well! It turned out to be as cute as it looked!

putting the puppy dog ornament that he loves back on the tree

the accomplishment of the night- getting this little boy to smile for the camera!

Shopping trip!

We decided to make a spontaneous shopping trip to Memphis Sunday afternoon after church and take the two-year old with us! Both grandmothers were trying to get us to leave him, but we decided to opt for the adventure! Cooper was mostly good, but it was all due to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the car. We got him to wear the headphones for part of the time since we were in Mickey overload, and I snapped this picture with my phone!

So Thankful!

We have had a great Thanksgiving so far, and we haven't even begun the eating yet! Dan, Natalie, Josie, & I ran in the 5K Turkey Trot and now we are relaxing at home watching the Macy's Parade before the family festivities begin! I have always thought of Thanksgiving as my favorite holiday, and this year is no different. I am thankful for all of my family and friends and that there are many women in my family who love to cook more than I do, so we will have yummy food today and leftovers for days to come! Happy Thanksgiving!

Too cold for girls!

Dan and his good friend, Josh, who teach Jr. High Boys Sunday School took a group of guys camping last weekend. After much debate about whether to go or not (the low was 18 degrees here), they all decided to forge ahead with the trip, and they had a great time!

Meaningful decoration idea

Even though this Christmas will be Cooper's third, it is definitely the first one he will understand so I am trying to get creative about ways to make it meaningful & Christ-centered. I am all about Santa and all that comes with the jolly man, but I wanted a nativity that was very kid-friendly for Cooper to play with. I found this one here and thought it was so cute and a great price! I will update when I get it in the mail. I hope it is the hit of our Christmas decorations!