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?!

Okay, okay, okay.

I know it's been awhile, but I have truly, completely, utterly, and all-consumingly (is that a word?) been BUSY. Remember when I thought last semester was busy? I spoke too soon. I truly believe from here until the bloody, bitter end each semester will be harder, busier, and crazier then the last. Due to my insane school schedule, my kids have suffered a bit from "doing nothing" on the weekends. I don't have many pictures, because we haven't DONE anything. Good news, however. We have birthdays, recitals, end-of-the-year programs, and gymnastics Olympics coming up, and well as the end of the semester, so pictures and videos will soon be flooding your screen. For now, be happy with these:

No, don't rush off to your eye doctor, your eyes are fine. Amelia. Cut. Her. Hair. She's been trying to grow it out since, well, birth. I scheduled a trim, and she decided that she wanted to go shorter. 6 and 1/2 inches shorter. She really likes it, and I do too. It suits her sassy, fun, energetic personality.

As for Cooper-news? Ummm......uh........geez......OH! He is about two sessions away from doing a running vault front sommersault. Whew. Almost had some mommy-guilt there for a bit.

Stay tuned, I promise more postings will come!

Parties and Valentines

Last weekend Amelia had an 80's style party. I had a surreal moment as I was doing her hair---just like I did mine so many years ago. Although I don't see how my 80-s-style-hairdo-skills will ever get me a Nobel Prize, I have to admit I was proud that I still had it:

While Amelia was partying, Cooper and I spent some quality time together discussing his hopes, dreams, and desires. Foremost was a hot fudge sundae:

Even though Valentine's Day isn't until tomorrow, the kids had their parties today because tomoorrow is a teacher inservice day.  After we were done filling out valentine's last night, Amelia brought me this one:

She told me, "Jon didn't think his handwriting was very good, so he told me to write this for you."

                                              Best. Daughter. Ever.

Sledding and McTeacher Night

January was pretty calm for us. We went sledding again, and I've decided its much more cold watching kids sled than sledding yourself. So, with that knowledge, the next time we go sledding.......I'll sit in the car. :-)

It was a little sunny.

Amelia was a madwoman. She went over jumps, forged new trails, and kept everyone in line.


We also had Amelia and Cooper's "McTeacher Night" last week. It is a night that the teachers from their school work at McDonalds, and a percentage of the proceeds for the hours they are there are given to the school. It is fun, it is exciting, it is C.H.A.O.T.I.C. So I only have one picture:

This is the picture Cooper colored and was hanging in the store. Notice the signs? They were everywhere......instead of "Caution: Wet floor", they should have said, "Caution: Sanity May Be Lost".

A close up of his picture.


In unrelated news, this is what happens when you leave Conagher with us for more than ten minutes:

Despite his expression, he did enjoy it, especially when Amelia and Cooper started pulling him around!



That is it for now. I promise to try and post more, but it all depends on if we spend our weekends doing something fun, or trying to figure out how to play the recorder and how many phonemes are in a word. Sigh. At least I don't have math this semester! Happy February!