Pinkalicious!

We have been reading the book "Pinkalicious" a lot at our house lately. It is a very cute book about a girl who eats too many cupcakes and turns pink. What better excuse did we need to make cupcakes, right?

Kamdyn and I started this but Cooper quickly wanted in on the action.

Cooper counted every baking cup.

Cooper figured out that licking the batter off the beaters was very yummy! If you've ever been around Cooper when he eats, you know he's a moaner. He enjoys his food and can be heard going, "ummmm... yummy, yummy!" anytime he eats something he really likes. It is hilarious!The result: Pinkalicious!!

Later that night, Cooper made his way to Kam's room while Mark was putting her to bed (reading "Pinkalicious," by the way) and somehow they decided they wanted to sleep together that night. We've never let them sleep together before because Kam's a good sleeper and Cooper's not and our motto has always been that at least one child has to sleep at night! But, they were so cute, so we gave in. Here is a little video I got of Kamdyn rambling on to Cooper before we left the room... this is typical Kamdyn, for those of you who have been around her a lot.

Surprisingly, they slept all night long! I heard them giggling this morning and went in to check on them, only to find them laying there reading, you guessed it, "Pinkalicious!"

Weekend in Rogers

We spent the weekend in Rogers with Mark's family. All three boys had basketball games so we thought it would be a great chance to see them play and visit. The weather was beautiful and we had a nice drive up on Friday afternoon. The kids are good riders as long as we turn the TV on... it's a treat for them because we don't keep it in the car all the time. We also love to listen to Cooper watch the movie, "Cars" because he gets so excited and anxious during the movie. It's hilarious and never gets old for us!For months before we last visited in November, I listened to Kamdyn talk about her Uncle Stephen throwing her into the "cage." I never knew what she was talking about until we were there at Thanksgiving and realized she was talking about Daisy's dog cage in the kitchen. Apparently, this threat uh, I mean teasing, was a regular dialog between her, Mark, and Stephen on the phone.

Before anyone calls DHS on me about this picture, let me just say that Cooper crawled in the cage on his own without any of us helping. He did this in November and it was the first place he went when we arrived Friday night. Makes me want one of these for my home!!! My camera was messed up so my pictures are not great, but I think you can get the idea.
Cade, Mark, and Daisy... I know Daisy was ready for Cooper to leave. I think she spent all weekend hiding from him. He absolutely LOVES dogs and has no fear of them, but can be a little rough (just like he is with the girls!).Cade and Kamdyn sitting at the top of the stairs. I love listening to Cade because he doesn't make any bones about the kids getting on his nerves or bothering his stuff!
Cahl, Cade, Mark, and Cooper shooting hoops before their game on Saturday....
Maybe I have a future star on my hands...
If you've seen Cooper in the gym at church, you know he loves to be right in the mix of things no matter how much bigger the kids are than him.
This is Quentin at his game. As you can tell, he is much taller than most of the kids on his team. The high school football coach stopped him after the game and told him to "keep growing." We're all hoping for at least one future UA star in the family.
Kamdyn sitting in Papaw Sonny's lap during Q's game. She entertained herself with her Leapster.Here are all the kids (minus Q) laying in Aunt Carla's bed watching Batman Saturday night. I teased her that being around my kids would squelch any urges she ever got to have another baby!!
Cooper watching Q play XBox... he followed the boys around all weekend long. Again, my camera was messed up so I didn't get very many good pictures like I wanted to...
Without me knowing it, Mark's brother replaced the milk in Cooper's sippy cup with Mtn. Dew for the ride home Sunday. Although Cooper went to sleep very easily that night, he was up at 4 a.m. having a party in my bed. Next time that happens, we're calling Uncle Stephen so he can join the party!!!

All in all, we had a great weekend! It was nice to get away and visit. Thanks, Carla, for putting up with us!!

I Fought the Law and the Law Won!!!

"Talent Search, this is Robyn."

"Robyn, this is JC. Did you get a speeding ticket?"

"Yeah, I did. I'm going down to the police station to pay it at lunch today."

"Well, I'm at the courthouse and they just called your name and issued a warrant for you because you weren't here. I'd come on down here and straighten this out if I were you."

This is the call that I got from the HSU Chief of Police yesterday morning. Ok, so it's no secret that I got a ticket a few weeks ago. I knew the ticket had to be paid by yesterday and I briefly wondered if it had to be paid before that 10:00 a.m. court time. I had no intentions of going to court... I was speeding so I just wanted to pay it and be done. Guess I should have read the fine print... no lectures, mom, on that. Lesson learned!!

So I run down to the courthouse and sit in court for about 45 minutes, which proved to be an interesting experience. I saw a student of mine, someone from church (who didn't see me!), and two friends of my parents. I was the very last person because I missed my name the first time. The judge was very nice and asked me if I was a student, which made my day. Then later I realized that he probably meant a non-traditional student and I shouldn't have been so flattered after all.

I told him that I meant to pay the ticket, he asked me if I wanted to do defensive driving (I said no to this!) and then he asked me if I could pay the ticket today. Apparently, they will make payment arrangements with you if you can't. Who knew?!

On my way out, a certain police officer from our hometown (who was sitting in for the chief) that I barely know, stopped me and told me that I should have had my parents call him to help... Honestly, I was not trying to get out of the ticket. I told him thanks, but I was speeding and just wanted to pay it. But I have filed that information away for future reference!

All in all, it was an exciting morning!!! I owe JC big time for giving me a call... otherwise Kam would have been right and that officer would have taken me to jail!

Kamdyn's first dentist visit

Kamdyn had her first trip to the dentist last week. She cried hysterically when I told her the day before about going. The dental hygenist is her Aunt JJ and she's visited her there before so I thought she would be ok with this...I was wrong! We had several conversations that night about how Dr. Byrd was just going to look at her teeth and it wouldn't hurt and how this was not like going to see Dr. Whorton. In her defense, she got 5 shots a few months ago when we went to the dr. so she is a little gun shy understandably.

Surprisingly though, she woke up the next morning and told me she was not scared to go. When I picked her up at school, her teacher told me that Kamdyn had told her she was going to the dentist so her teeth wouldn't fall out. OK, so I might have said that once when she was having a meltdown about going. Not a good thing to say, I know, and I forget she has the memory of an elephant.

We couldn't get her to sit in the chair so JJ cleaned her teeth while she stood. She finally got in the chair in JJ's lap for Dr. Byrd to look at her teeth. She told him too that her teeth wouldn't fall out now because she was there. I swear I only said that one time and I really didn't think she heard me say it!

Dr. Byrd said her teeth looked great so we left and headed to Wal-Mart for an Icee treat.... just what every kid needs after just having their teeth cleaned!

Valentine's Sleepover....

We had a sleepover Friday night at our house. Aunt Donna , Kylie, and Kamryn all stayed the night with us. We have been promising Kamdyn and Kamryn for a while now they could spend the night with each other. Kenzie's birthday party was Saturday so it worked out great. They played all night long.

The girls wanted to color so, of course, Cooper had to color too...I had to laugh... the girls kept shutting Cooper out of the room and he would just stand at the door and knock and beg for them to let him in. I heard Kamdyn telling him one time, "Cooper, just go away. Go away!" I told Mark that this was probably the first of many times she would tell him to get out while she played with friends. Here he is trying to push his way in the door.
Kamdyn got very attached to Kylie and wanted to do anything that she did that night.
I caught the girls checking themselves out in the mirror Saturday morning before we left for the party.Here I am trying to go through the tunnel and maze with Cooper at the party. I had to take some Tylenol after I left because my knees hurt so bad. I'm too old for that!
Cooper wanted to play skee ball with anyone he could. Derek was a good sport and let him play... Mom took the kids home after the party so Mark and I could go out to dinner for V-day and my birthday. We originally planned to all go after Carter's party but I got the times confused and we missed his party. :( We went furniture shopping and to Macaroni Grill and had a great time!

Birthday Cake

I heart them!! I really, really do!!!

And I heart Mark too!! Not only has he started unloading the dishwasher for me (my most dreaded chore!), yesterday was my birthday and he insisted that he and the kids make a birthday cake for me. He started this tradition last year when he came home with a red velvet cake mix proclaiming that he was going to make my favorite cake for my birthday. I think I've only had red velvet cake once so I had to set him straight on that one. My favorite cake is strawberry, so at least he was in the same color family. Most wives would have said thank you and let that go--not me! Anyway, the kids had to wait up late on him to come home from work Wednesday night to make my cake (see pictures below)....

But I'm so glad they did! Here is the result.... It was soooo yummy!!!I needed a little help blowing out the candles (since there are so many now!)...Mom, Dad, Bubby, JJ, and Braxton came over and we had TaMolly's for dinner... it was a great night!

Weekend in Review

We had a busy weekend... Bricen's party was Saturday and the weather was wonderful! The kids really enjoyed playing outside together, as you can see from some of the pictures below.

Saturday night we went to a dinner banquet at church where we watched the movie "Fireproof." I've seen the movie before but I took away something totally different from it this second time around. There is an audio clip at the very beginning of the movie of Katherine (the main female character) talking to her mom as a child and asking if she could marry someone just like her daddy one day. This just grabbed my heart because all I could think of was who Kamdyn would marry one day and how I hoped that she would marry someone who would treat her right.

Kam's talked a lot about getting married lately. She's always getting ready for "the wedding" she says when she plays dress up. When she first started talking about it, she wanted to marry Cooper and her friend Olivia at school so we had to explain that girls marry boys (but not their family!)...

Ironically, this weekend she started asking Mark and I if she could marry a prince one day when she gets bigger. I guess this is why that scene just touched me so much because I so want her to marry someone like that one day. Then a few days later she told Mark she wanted to marry Ashton, a boy in her class. Last night she told him she wanted to get married when she was 15! Mark quickly told her she wasn't getting married until she was at least 30!!!

Towards the end of the movie Saturday night, I also thought of Cooper and how I am raising him to be someone's husband someday. Many times I can't think past these toddler and preschool years with them... but one day they will fall in love and choose life partners and I can only pray they each find someone to love them with all their hearts!

Here are a few pics from the party Saturday... I tried to get all the kids but I couldn't find any pics of Kenzie. Sorry! I'll get you this coming weekend at your party!

Bricen, the birthday boy!
Braden on the 4-wheeler
Kenzie, Kamryn, Madison, and Kamdyn (and Avery in the background) - By the way, it was Madison's 14th birthday on this day. I can't believe she is that old!!! We love you, Madison!
Cooper attacking Canon because he got the ball. I probably owe Brooke an apology after posting this picture!
Ring around the rosey on the trampoline.
Cooper
Even the adults had a little fun...

Saving for a Sunny Day

My Aunt Sharron called me from Mobile, Alabama yesterday and totally made my day! She's been living there since fall so we don't get to see her very often. We miss you, by the way! She's been reading my blog and keeping up with us through it. I'm very jealous because she is so near the ocean and just got back from a trip to the beach (and outlet mall!) in Gulf Shores, which reminded me of something that Kam said last week.

When we were driving home last week, Kam asked me out of the blue if I remembered us going to the beach with Bubby, JJ, Braxton, Mimi, and Pop. We talked about how fun it was and I told her that I didn't know if we were going back this year or not. Of course, she wanted to know why and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to give her a lesson on the economy and how we can't always get eveything we want so I replied, "we might not have enough money to go this year."

Her reply... "but, Mommy, I have an idea! I have some money in my piggy bank... so we can go to the beach! OK?" It's a done deal then...

So one morning this week she finds some change on the table and runs to tell me she needs to put it in her piggy bank for the beach. I had totally forgotten that conversation, but apparently she hasn't!

This week we've been listening to a CD of Sunday School songs on the way to school. Kam loves it and keeps asking me to play the "Father Neighborhood" (Abraham) song.... Cooper's even learned the motions that go with it. I snapped this picture of him moving his arms frantically to it: This morning started out so well... I got up on time, no major fits or tantrums from the kids (or Mark), everyone cooperated. I was even able to get this picture of the kids together (which rarely happens!) as we were getting into the car. Normally, someone's pulling hair or sticking their finger in their nose. They are cute though, aren't they?
We're driving down Walnut Street jamming to our Sunday School songs when I see the police officer in front of the school turn on his lights. I assumed he got a call and had to go but he followed me instead. I'm sure I was speeding but, honestly, I don't think I was doing the 15 miles over that he says I was doing...

So I told Kam that Mommy was speeding and that's why the officer had stopped us. While he was running my license Kam says, "Mommy, I'm sorry you were going fast." Not as sorry as I am, I thought to myself, but I assured her that it was my fault. Then she says, "he's not going to throw you in jail, is he?" I have no idea where she learned that, but I hope she didn't go to school this morning talking about Mommy, the police officer, and jail.

The officer was so gracious in that he reduced my ticket so I don't get the "reckless" driving charge and my insurance company won't "frown on it," he says. Honestly! Appreciate ya, officer!

Super Bowl Shake

My kids love to dance... they ask Mark to crank up the iTunes on the computer every night when they get out of the bathtub. They dance and sing to two songs: "Real Gone" by Sheryl Crow (from the movie Cars) and "Upside Down" from the Curious George movie. I have taken numerous pictures of them dancing but have never posted because 1) the kids are usually naked because they are right out of the bath, and 2) my bed is always unmade and I don' t want the world to see.

I took this picture of them while they were rocking to Bruce Springsteen during the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday. It was definitely a throwback to the old days for Mark, who says he could really "cut a rug" during the day. I'm trying hard to imagine that! Kamdyn likes to be "spinned" constantly and Cooper's best moves are the chicken dance!

Maybe I have a future dance star in the making... Kamdyn asked me yesterday if I knew what happened in March. When I replied no, she said "Dancing with the Stars comes back on!" DWTS is our favorite show and we can't wait for a new season so we can really dance!

Cooper has been playing a lot with Kamdyn's Barbie laptop this week. Sharing is not something we have mastered yet so, you guessed it, a brawl broke out -- hair pulling and all! So I took the laptop and put it on top of the armoire. I found Cooper trying to outsmart me about half an hour later as evidenced by the picture below:

Naturally, Kamdyn wanted to make sure I knew what he was doing by telling me, "Mommy, Cooper's got that sweep thing trying to get the laptop down." Obviously, she hasn't seen a broom used enough to actually know what they are called!

Braxton turns 1!

This weekend we went to Braxton's first birthday party... round 2 of birthday season if you are keeping track. All of the cousins were there and we had a great time visiting. We will do it again next weekend for Bricen's birthday!

The birthday boy!

Anxiously awaiting their cake....
Cooper really enjoyed his cake
Kenzie, Kylie, and Avery outside on the swings
This is how we play...
Kamryn and Kamdyn - I'm not sure I want to even think about the trouble they will get into one day...
Cooper likes Braxton's new toys better than his own
Bricen turns 1 tomorrow!
Braxton had plenty of "help" opening his presents

The Efird kids decided to eat their cake in the garage... no house is big enough for all of us!