Easter 2016

Our Easter Bunny came on Saturday morning as he always does. Amelia and Cooper woke up at 6am, so while they were finding eggs I was lying face down on the carpet trying to find the energy to lift my head. They began opening their eggs, and I hear Cooper say, "Ohh!! A dollar! Hell-oooo, George Washington!" Then a heard a kissing sound. I asked him if he'd kissed the dollar bill and he said, "Of course!" Well, duh.

For the rest of the weekend we went to Blackfoot to spend Easter and hang out with our ENTIRE family. We haven't had that since our reunion last June! Katie and David were visiting, so we all got together for an Easter egg hunt with the cousins, a family dinner and pictures. It was so much fun to see everyone, talk, and plan the upcoming wedding(?), new babies, new jobs and moves! Here are some pictures:

Cooper going through his eggs.

Amelia was in heaven with all the cousins to play with!

Cooper paused long enough to let me take a picture.

My almost-12-year-old. 

Next up: BIRTHDAYS and all the chaos, happiness, and remembering they bring!

St. Patrick's Day and Other Activities

We have had a busy few weeks! First off, Cooper came home with a note to make a leprechaun trap for  St. Patrick's Day. Here's how it turned out:

The leprechaun climbs up the pipe cleaner, then stands on the paper. What he won't know is that the paper has slits in it, so he will plummet to the bottom, therefore trapped. Cooper was excited to go to school on March 18 to see if it worked. Alas, the leprechaun got away. Maybe next year.

Friday night Amelia had a "stay late" party. They are the new rage--instead of a sleepover (which I would've nixed anyway) they stay until 10pm. So Cooper and I had a night out at Pizza Pie Cafe:

Saturday we ran errands and got ready for the week.  At the grocery store Cooper used "The Force" to open the doors for anyone who needed to go in. He got a real kick out of it.

One of our errands involved a pricey shoe-shopping expedition. Cooper wears a 4 1/2 now, and Amelia is at a 3 1/2. After we found Cooper new shoes, the saleslady informed Amelia that a size 3 1/2 in girls is the same as a 6 in women. She quickly ran to the adult aisle and tried on these babies:

She plead her case to purchase them, including all the things she could do being three inches taller. In the end however, she lost to the fact that I was buying, therefore my word was the law. She did end up with respectable one inch heels that were a much more sensible wedge. I don't need her growing up any faster than she already is!

Amelia also graduated from primary this weekend-it's a week early, but we won't be in town next week, so the presidency graduated her today. They gave her a cute gift and sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She adored all the attention and well-wishes. I can't believe she'll be moving into Young Women!

That's it! One more full week of school plus a couple days and we have spring break! Hooray!

Read-A-Thon and a Few Other Things

This weekend we stayed home and caught up on a week's worth of chores, errands, and HOMEWORK. At parent teacher conferences, Cooper's teacher informed me that while he is reading at a 5th grade level, and can read over 170 words per minute, his AR goal was in the toilet. He needed to have 40 points at the end of the trimester and he had 10. Now, I like AR for the most point but I don't like that it's not an accurate reflection of a student's reading ability.

However, Cooper wanted to go to the AR party so we began working to bring his numbers up. This weekend we were within 12 points, so we had an afternoon of reading. Well, they did. I wrote lesson plans.

Luckily, he read 13 books in one day and made his goal; we can all rest easy this week!

Here is his victory moment:

In other news, last weekend Amelia had a birthday party for a friend, so Cooper and I had the rare opportunity to go to lunch together:

He was absolutely perfect and extremely polite. He knew exactly what he wanted to order and told the waitress his order, punctuated with "please" and "thank you". He was also thrilled to have an adult-sized Sprite, which he completely consumed. The rest of the day he was running to the bathroom.

Also, I finally caught Amelia during ballet class when she was doing her dance on pointe. Here is a video. You won't see her much the first bit--she's in a black short-sleeved leotard with a dark purple skirt in the front by the mirror. But if you listen you can hear her shoes. When the girls start the circle she comes by. You can tell it's her because she's on her toes. :-)

Valentine's Day Mania

First, for some reason my kiddos were really excited for the Superbowl this year. Amelia wanted to have a full-out party. I told her we'd have a party if she could answer correctly four questions:

Me: How many quarters in a game?
A: Two?
Me: How many points is a touchdown worth?
A: Four?
Me: What is the guy called that catches the ball?
A: Quarterback.
Me: Which teams are playing?!
A: Broncos and the other guys.

Since her knowledge didn't warrant the time or effort of a party, I pulled it up on the computer for them to watch, and they got comfortable. It was just fine, and they both learned a lot about the game of football!

For Valentine's day, Cooper's entire third grade had an etiquette party. They learned dances, how to escort girls, and basic manners. The picture below is one the school posted.

If you'll notice, 27 students listening are intently to a lesson on etiquette. Then there's mine! :-) Love. That. Kid!

We all made out like Christmas morning in our respective classrooms. Unfortunately, Cooper ate his loot before we could see it:

But hey, he drank an entire bottle of water, so I'm sure that helped dilute the effects of all that sugar!

They stay happy and sugared up until bedtime. I came home with a sackful also! I didn't think the students would think of me, but I was inundated with cards, candy and notes!

Eight more weeks of student teaching then graduation. Oh, and hopefully a job. :-)

New Talent!

Cooper has been taking cartooning classes, and yesterday we saw the progress he's made:

This is about six months ago:

And this is now:

He even taught his sister how to draw:

Valentine Day post soon! Like, tomorrow.

There Goes January!

Wow. It's amazing how busy you can be without really doing anything out of the ordinary! January has sped on by and we haven't done much beyond school, lessons, and various dentist and orthodontist appointments! We have received A LOT of snow this month, so Amelia and Cooper have had fun playing on the huge snow hill on our lawn:

Last week we visited the fire station for Cooper's scouts. Although he was a little disappointed they didn't allow him to slide down the pole, he still had a good time and asked alooooooot of questions! Amelia opted to stay home and "relax". She's nearing the age she wants more alone time!

Inside the ambulance:

Of course, I wouldn't mind snuggling up in bed if I had just gotten a new comforter:

She felt this was more age-appropriate that her pink pastel butterfly one!

That's it! We're starting another week of school--and on Saturday we're going to the new Super Walmart. I'm not excited about getting sucked into the black hole of shopping centers, but the old Walmart has packed everything up, and my list is getting longer and longer of things we need!

Christmas and New Year's 2015!

Wow. WOW. A week can certainly speed by. Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day happened all so quickly. Here are a few of the highlights:

Christmas Eve:
We had a huge family party with games, food, and lots of laughter and fun.

Amelia and Cooper at our family party.

We must have been good this year, because Santa visited out house!

Santa came!

Christmas morning (not until 6am--which was nice!) we opened gifts, ate breakfast, then drove down to Blackfoot to spend time with our family for a few days.

They were very happy with the gifts they got each other!

After a long debate between Mom and Santa, Amelia finally received her beloved Kindle Fire.

We spent the week between the holidays hanging out with family that visited, going to movies, bowling and lots of "pajama days."

New Year's Eve we celebrated at 9 o'clock our time, which was midnight in San Juan. I explained to my sweet, already tired children that San Juan was a US territory, so therefore counted. In the first few minutes of our new year, it became apparent 9 o'clock was just late enough:

New Years Day we worked on resolutions and relaxed. School starts up on Monday for everyone and although it'll be an adjustment we are all happy to be going back! Happy 2016!