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

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.

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.

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

Gobble, Gobble - Week of Nov. 21st

When the week of Thanksgiving arrives, Cameron will experience two traditions- spending time on Lake Michigan with his grandparents, a few cousins, aunts and uncles as well as eating delicious food for what seems like an entire day.

On Thursday, the family ventured over to the Schulze cottage where Chris and Cam kept busy with Thomas the Train shown here with a birds-eye view.
The extended family feasted on 3 turkeys! Two were deep-fried along with the third, ever popular oven-baked.

Every side dish was present for the Thanksgiving dinner and it seems like each person just has to have that second helping on this holiday. Dessert was Cam's favorite- his Grandma's homemade apple pie and pumpkin pie were in the front row, with a delicious chocolate cream pie as a new entry this year. Since everyone was quite stuffed, a restful sleep was had by all.

Even though summer and Halloween have passed, Cameron still had one last ride in the Cam-mobile and even experienced a little off-roading!

This was the first Thanksgiving holiday spent with cousin Libby and we are so happy she was able to stay with our family for the entire weekend!

On a day dedicated to giving thanks, we know there is much to be thankful for....those of you reading this blog hold a very special place in our hearts. For Cam's grandparents, we are beyond thankful for all that you do and all that you are to your amazing grandson.

To our Cam: we love who you are, your infectious smile and laughter, your sweet nature and snugs. We are so proud of the boy that you are and all of the wonderful things yet to come!

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Parents Take Leave - Week of Nov. 14th

Cameron worked on staying healthy this week, fighting a cold and runny nose. He knew that Grandma & Grandpa were going to stay with him over the weekend, so he had big plans!
While Chris & Jane had their own playtime in Ann Arbor with 'Auntie' Amanda and Mark, Cam's grandparents took him to Robinette's where he had a tasty doughnut treat and looked around the gift shop. Unfortunately for Grandma, Cameron really likes doughnuts, so she only had one little bite, while her grandson happily ate the rest. Cam had a busy Sunday going to church with his grandparents and then out to brunch.
Sunday afternoon, when Chris and Jane arrived home, their big boy was ready to help clean up the leaves. Cam didn't seem to mind being surrounded by the mountain even as it became taller than he was!
Chris highly recommends raking leaves onto a tarp and Cam highly recommends riding on the tarp!
We cannot thank Grandma & Grandpa enough for staying with Cameron while his parents attended the winning U of M game in Ann Arbor.

What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies. ~Rudolph Giuliani

Elmo Live! - Week of Nov. 7th

Do you remember when you saw your first concert? Were you 10, 12, 15 years of age? Cameron attended his inaugural live production on Saturday- "Elmo Makes Music" at the Van Andel Arena!!
Grandma and Coco accompanied Chris, Jane and Cam downtown for the late morning show on Saturday.
No one was quite certain how Cam would react...would the atmosphere be too loud? Does a huge live Elmo make sense? All apprehension was put to rest when the family saw Cam's reaction seeing his favorite Sesame Street characters come to life on stage.
As one of Elmo's biggest fans, Cam stayed very engaged through the entire show, even though the red furry character with the funny voice wasn't in every scene.
The 90 minute show had a 15-minute intermission, during which the marketing folks were busy bringing out balloons and treats for sale. Chris captured a big Elmo balloon for Cam, which turned out to be almost as big as the boy himself.
After dining downtown for lunch, the family headed home with one extremely happy boy!

Sunday was another winner for Cameron. After attending church, his friend and neighbor, Emma came over to play. That evening, Chris, Jane and Cam had dinner with another buddy, Liam, and his parents- Matt and Betsy. The boys are pictured here showing off their personal pizzas that they helped create for their dinner. The boys had fun playing with Liam's fire truck and play workbench. It was an awesome evening with great friends!
To quote Elmo's official Philosophy: give love and you shall receive love
We couldn't agree more with the red furry monster !!

Happy Halloween! - Week of Oct. 31st

Even though Halloween landed on a school night, there were plenty of little kids and big kids to share in the fun! Cam Racing went through a few modifications including working headlights and more flame duct tape (because it just looks cool!).

Another addition to the spooky eve included a pumpkin water fountain, expertly designed by Cameron's Dad and neighbor Steve. The green water launched from the top pumpkin to the lower one and recirculated back and forth. Quite impressive! It was difficult to determine who enjoyed it more- the creators or the spectators... Please click on the attached link to see the fountain in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCRTEq2U0I4

Trick or treating festivities enticed Auntie Jo and Will to Cameron's house. Cam was so excited to have his buddy Will by his side to trek up and down the street. Cam's cousins Coco and Libby with their friends, Carter and Ryan completed Cameron's entourage! Chris and Jane wore hats with letters labeled "Cam's Pit Crew."

Will and Cam had "races" down the street and giggled and pointed at each other the entire time! Luckily for Cam, Will brought him candy from the houses where the race car wouldn't travel. He politely handed each Halloween treat over without even thinking of pocketing it himself.

After the treating, Will and Cam needed to sample their hard-earned candy. Jane tried to give Cameron some m&m's from the chocolate they passed out, but Cam only wanted to pick something from his very own Halloween bucket. Many thanks to Jo and Will and Coco, Libby, Carter, and Ryan for spending the evening with us!

Even though Halloween only lasted one night, the Cam Racing vehicle still had some extended use when Katherine took Cam out for a spin during the week!

Hope everyone had an awesome Halloween and check out another addition to Chris' hidden talents, the use of dry ice inside of a pumpkin...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynY7dMRkncI