Amelia Hits Double Digits!

My little darlin' has officially left childhood! She turned 10 years old today, and is beginning her "tween" years. She is just a complete sweetheart and always wants to help and be in the thick of things. She has such a happy and optimistic personality. She's a talented dancer, loving daughter, patient sister, and we are so happy to have her in our family! Happy birthday, Amelia! We love you!

Out and About!

We finally got out and about over the weekend! Can you believe it?! Neither could Amelia and Cooper, they were pretty wound up about it. We've been having nice weather (47-52 degrees) so they spent some time outside, just chillin' (I was inside trying to bring our home up to minimum health standards):

On Saturday the weather was really nice, so we headed to the park with the rest of Rexburg. Cooper made it across the big monkey bars by himself for the first time. He was pretty proud of himself:

And the BEST part of the day was when we went to see "Frozen". It took forever to come to the cheap theater, and Amelia was sure she was the absolute last person in Rexburg to see it. I told her she wasn't--I hadn't seen it either. Or Cooper. So there. We went to the first showing, and thanks to free passes from our friends, the kids got popcorn and drinks.

I would like to add that we are going BACK next Saturday to watch "Frozen Sing Along" because Amelia and Cooper love the songs so much. I would also like to thank the writers of "Frozen" for teaching my children the word "fractals"; I've been lucky to hear it ALL. WEEK. LONG.

 Another exciting event that happened over the weekend was Cooper lost ANOTHER tooth, one of his front ones. The Tooth Fairy is going broke paying out on all the teeth this kid is losing!

He looks like he's been in a fight, and has the cutest little lisp now. He'll be explaining something to me, and I'll start giggling because he sounds so  cute. Oh, excuse me, awesome. (I was edited by Cooper as he read this over my shoulder--when kids learn to read is does have some down sides! :-)  )

Speaking of school, Amelia and Cooper's second trimester closed last week, and both did very well. Cooper got 2 free kid buffets from Pizza Pie Cafe for no absences, so guess where we ate to finish off this epic day?

In me news: three more weeks of school! It's getting a little insane. Cooper ended up being really sick last night, so we've spent the day home. I tried to tell him to wait to be sick until the semester ended, but he just wouldn't listen. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top 'o the morning to ya! St. Patrick's Day was full of lots of green fun! It started out with green milk with breakfast, cleaning up the living room from a mischievous leprechaun, and racing to get dressed in green clothes so the pinching would stop. Off to school they went to have Itsy-Bitsy Teeny-Weeny Greeny parties, fun Irish activities, and lots and lots of green everywhere. Me? I went to class and dreamed of being somewhere else all day!

Dinner time was traditional Irish food for me, with lovely Celtic music playing the the background. Some day, I will celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Ireland!                            
                              

Finally!

We finally did something this last weekend! First off, Cooper lost his 4th tooth. All four on the bottom have come out, but his two front teeth are holding strong. He was born without enamel on them, so he had to get fillings when he was 18 months old. At least I'm getting my money's worth, right? He lost them Sunday morning when he and Amelia were playing while I was making breakfast. I heard Amelia say, "Uh-oh, I'll find it!" Then she told me Cooper's tooth had popped out when she accidentally punched his mouth. She redeemed herself by finding his tooth for him. Cooper was calmly rinsing out his mouth in the bathroom, so I went back to the pancakes.  Anyway, here's the proud kid:

We also made a quick trip to Blackfoot this weekend. My mom taught me how to conduct, and Amelia and Cooper played with Lynnli in the sunshine. Five more weeks is all I have left.....if I make it. Who knew Elementary Music Methods would be such a killer class?

Cooper photo-bombing Amelia and Lynnli's shot.

So they waited until he was far, far away.

Mischievous little guy, isn't he?

Now we're back to the grindstone. I went back to school yesterday to have my professors pile more assignments on top of the final projects, papers, and tests I already have. Sigh. This will all be worth it someday, right? RIGHT?!