The Sparkman Family

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve in Indiana

Dressed in their Christmas outfits, the kids dutifully posed by the tree before heading to church for the Christmas Eve service.

Stitched with love by Mommy- matching monogramed shirts

Then snuggled up in our Christmas pajamas (ok- monkey pajamas that we got as a Christmas gift) and ready for a quiet evening at home.

Baking sugar cookies

and snuggled up for a movie (ironically it was the Sound of Music but it was still a family favorite).

Then off to bed to await Christmas presents in the morning.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Its hard to believe how quickly the last 5 months have flown by.
It seems like our "Little Dude" has been with us so much longer.

Cooper has really plumped up over the last month... He now weighs 14lbs (double his birth weight). He loves to roll from his belly to his back and has the most adorable giggle.

We have upgraded from a milk only diet to oatmeal and green beans. He is quite the little eater. Soon we will be trying squash.

Its very hard to take Cooper's picture in the big chair beside the tv because Cooper is more interested in the TV (like his sisters) then looking at Mommy.

There's our happy boy.

Rough housing with Goober... He loves to play with his furry friend.

Love bites... boy's best friend.

Happy little man.

"Little Dude and the 2 Sparkles"- the next greatest band!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Our Little Fish

Lillian has completed her last swim lesson until the new year and Madison has completed her first season of swim team.
Both girls loved being in the water and are quite the little fish.

Lillian's goal was to become water safe. We wanted her to be able to jump off the side of the pool and get herself back to the wall.

Success!!!!!

Doing it again.
Here she jumps

And back to the wall.

She loved to practice kicks with the bar

Across and back

Another jump (always a reward for listening and following Miss Amy's instructions)

Time to float

What progress she has made... she can float on her own and for a long time :)
(if you can get her to relax and stay still)

I think her favorite part was using the kick board to practice floating and kicking on her back.
She would often tell her teacher, "No, I can do it"

Madison loved swim team and is looking forward to the winter season. The once a month meets worked well for our busy schedules and everyone was able to make it to at least one.

Before each race, the kids are lined up in lane order

Heading to their lanes

And they are off...

Madison has improved her time at each meet. She has taken off 15 seconds from her first Free Style stroke time since the beginning of the season.

We are so proud of our girls. Well done!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Christmas Traditions

It seems that our only true Christmas tradition is that each year we do something different :)

Regardless of the activity, we strive to fill the Christmas seasoning with Giving to Others.

Lillian "giving" the patrons of Chick Fil A a smile...

This year the girls joined Nana to ring the Salvation Army bell at a local grocery store.

The girls loved ringing their bells and singing Christmas carols for the shoppers.

We are very proud of our girls and their willingness to do for others.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Family Pictures

Our Family Pictures
We were so blessed to have our friend from church take our family pictures. Maggie did a great job and really captured the heart of our family.