What We've Been Up To

We've had an awfully busy week and a half. Here's some of the things we've done:

We started our first day of school:


We had a cinnamon roll the size of our head for breakfast:


We took bubble baths:


We rocked pink cowgirl boots:


We did headstands on chairs:


We made and ate Valentine's day cake:




We watched Matthew:


And the crowning moment:

WE HAD KATIE CALL VISIT!!!

She took us out to dinner and it was......an experience!! I don't normally take the kids to a nice, sit-down restaurant because it gets a little crazy. It was no different with Katie along, but it was fun! Some of the comments made were:

Amelia: "She brings the food to our table? Oh wow!"

Cooper was inquiring about the time and temperature of the oven and our waitress said she didn't cook the pizza, but it would be warm. Cooper said, "You warm up the pizza for me?! You are SO NICE!"

Cooper had a tummyache, so I rushed him to the bathroom to see if we could fix it. We came back and Katie asked "Do you feel better?"

Cooper: "Yes, I burped a few times and--" I caught him and slapped my hand over his mouth before he could say, " and foofeded really loud!"

Some snow had fallen while we were in the restuarant, and Katie used her sleeve to scrape it off the windows. When she got back in Cooper said, "Katie, you were awesome out there!"

In the restaurant:




The next morning Katie helped Amelia look pretty for school:


We loved having Katie here and were sad to see her go! As Cooper said, "I seem to kind of like her."

Mama, I wish...

Cooper was playing a video game on the computer while I was talking to my sister on the phone. He asked me for help and I told him I didn't know how to play the video game. He asked to speak to Katie so I handed the phone over. I heard Katie ask him how he was and he said,

"I wish my mama was a gamer. Can you get Andy up here? He's a gamer."


Number 213 on my list of things to improve on as a mother: become a gamer.

Weekend Report

Friday mom, dad and Courtney came up so mom could be Amelia's guest reader at school. Nana did a great job and Amelia was bursting with pride.

Due to my school-fried brain and lack of sleep, we didn't do a lot on Saturday. We had a lazy Saturday morning and ran a few errands in Idaho Falls. After lunch we got a call from Andy and could hear Lynnli crying in the background. She obviously needed her favorite aunt and cousins, so we drove to Blackfoot to hang out with her. Oh, it was nice to see the rest of our family, too.

Cooper was "plugged in" during our drive to Idaho Falls this weekend. He's listening to his MP3 player while typing on his laptop.


Lunch at Arctic Circle with the rest of southeastern Idaho.


Amelia getting some love from Lynnli.


Amelia and Dandy. Dandy really wore my kids out....thanks!!


Lynnli bundled up.


Andy "Tebowing". Unfortunately, his prayers weren't enough to stop Denver from being slaughtered that night.

Please forgive me!

So, I noticed I was coming up on a week since blogging, so I opened my picture file to find a few pictures to post.

None. Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Empty.

How could this have happened?! How could an entire week go past without any pictures being taken? I quickly reviewed my week in my mind....ah. There it is! SCHOOL! Who knew (and neglected to inform me) school would take up so much time? Every night after the children were in bed I did hours of homework. Most of the time I looked like this:

Just slightly overwhelmed, and dog-tired.


When I finished reading the syllabus' for each class I looked like this:


However, I have one week down and I only have twelve more to go! I decided my motto for my school experience will be: "Strive for an A, settle for a C." Optimistic, yes?

So why am I asking your forgiveness? Well, my blog--which I know inspires and entertains at least ten people--may suffer just a teeny tiny bit. Just until I get school fit into the routine of my life.

I will leave you some pictures of the kids and I at the park today. It was cold, but we went outside for about 45 minutes to play with their remote controlled stuff:

Cooper was thrilled his car drove in the snow and he could cross the tracks!


Amelia and her puppy.

2012 so far...

We are three days into the new year and things are already rockin'. We've had gymnastics, haircuts, Amelia starting school again, Cooper had his dentist appointment(no cavities!) and I learned online classes may be more difficult than traditional. Still, it has to beat sitting in a classroom full of kids that weren't ready to leave their mommies, right? We still have ballet, Cooper's preschool and a bunch more this month!

Here are some pictures of our already busy January:

Amelia has already made 2,578 hot pads with her loom.


Haircuts! Amelia's hair has been losing it's curl (so, so sad) so we tried another cut....it was Amelia's idea to go so short!


Playing in the park. Yes, Amelia is wearing headphones. Both children now have MP3 players and frequently sing at the top of their lungs.




See? Singing with much feeling as well as volume!


Cooper likes to cut stuff with his new scissors he got in his stocking.

Christmas 2011

What a Christmas! The kids had a great time the entire month and Christmas Day just capped it. I'm thankful for all my friends and family who helped with gifts and babysitting the kids, and I'm extremely grateful for the kind people in Rexburg who do little (and big) things to help me remember the true meaning of Christmas.

I'm also extremely grateful Christmas is over! Onto to 2012...it's gonna be a doozy!

Christmas Eve:








Lynnli is so much fun! The kids would give her a kiss, then she'd grab on with both hands and give them back an open-mouthed kiss---which was more of an attack than kiss.








Kids drinking the special hot cocoa that would help them sleep:


Christmas morning:






Cooper feeding Amelia's doll.






I'll get more pictures from Courtney and post those, too!

Busy, busy days.

The last few weeks have been nuts. December seems to begin and then move in fast-forward until Christmas! We've visted Santa, attended parties, had lunch with friends and stopped in at many Christmas-oriented festivities. Speaking of those, I think my Christmas cards will end up being Happy Groundhog Day cards unless you want an electronic one......if so, leave me your email in the comments and I'll shoot you one.

All in all, I think I'm just about ready for the new year! Then I remember all three of us will be in school come January, and I'm okay with it coming a bit slower. Merry Christmas!

Cooper pondering what's in the wrapped gifts under the tree. (This is truly how he poses).


Decorating sugar cookies. I'm thinking of enrolling Amelia in a few baking/decorating classes this summer.


The cookies. They are supposed to be melted snowmen. We made a few for Amelia's teachers and our babysitters and the kids wanted to try them. I'd already colored the frosting, but they didn't mind.