Loving Some Larry's

The fam wanted to go to the new "Larry's Pizza" in Malvern on Friday night.... I've only been to Larry's once before and I really wasn't crazy about it, but it was really good this time. Cooper absolutely loved it!

He ran to Mimi when we got there and jumped in her arms for a big hug.

He ate 6 pieces of pizza! Normally, he eats only the cheese, but he ate everything this time.
Braxton really enjoyed his food too, as you can see.
More cheese, please! We're probably one of those families that restaurant people hate to see coming on buffet night. We definitely get our money's worth!
BTW...if you are ever at Larry's, I highly recommend the baked potato pizza. Delicious!

Should I Be Surprised?

Here's the report I got from school this week:

On Monday, Cooper threw rocks at Kamdyn on the playground.

On Tuesday, he cried because Kamdyn wouldn't play with him on the playground.

On Wednesday, he hit Kamdyn on the playground.

Now based on the pictures below, should I be surprised that they are doing this at school now?

Heck, I think I should be grateful they are not wrestling on the floor, which usually leads to choking, and pulling each other's hair out and a whole lot of screaming!!!!

Daddy's Princess

I made this frame for Mark's desk and I think it turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself! Kamdyn had a huge grin on her face when she saw it sitting on the bar. I think she likes looking at pictures of herself!

I also made one for Mom with a bow and feathers that I can't find my picture of to post...

Cooper's Birthday Part at the Water Park

We had Cooper's birthday party on Sunday at the water park. I have to be honest. We scheduled his party a week after his birthday and by the time it rolled around, I wished we hadn't. We had cake and presents at home on his birthday and the other party seemed anti-climatic. But, the kids had fun and so did Cooper so it was all worth it.

Here is the birthday boy thinking about going down the frog slide. I think someone finally pushed him down it. He normally goes up the steps, looks down, and then comes back down the steps.
Braxton, on the other hand, has no fear of the water and will jump or slide anywhere!
This is Cooper's face he makes when he's trying to blow. Needless to say, he had to have some help getting those three candles blown out. His Lightning McQueen cupcake cake turned out so cute.
Cooper loves him some cake!!!
Opening presents... he had LOTS of help!
No matter where we go, at some point Kamdyn is going to get out of sorts and end up laying on the concrete next to the pool or lake. She's done that every time we've been out this year.
Are all these men trying to look cool?
Kamdyn and Kamryn.... or Kam and Kami as we sometimes call them.
Boo Boo... so prec!!!!
Thank you to all our friends and family who came to celebrate and enjoy with us. Cooper had a blast and he's still so excited about all his new stuff, as is Kamdyn. I've broken up several fights over new toys. We love you all!

When I Grow Up

Last week I saw Cooper grab Kam's neck (which is nothing new) while she was laying in the floor, then lean over and tell her to "open wide." I think Kam thought she was in for another choking, but he was imitating the dentist. He watched Kam get her teeth cleaned last week.
A few weeks ago, Kam told me that she wanted to be a doctor when she grows up. Then she just randomly said one day that she wanted to be a "haircutter." After last week's dentist visit, now she says she wants to be a dentist. I'm good with that!
So now dentist is their new favorite thing to play. They use their Handy Manny tools and a random chip clip as their instruments. It actually makes me nervous when they work on me... they are not gentle!

Only in the Country

Warning!! Risque picture of cute boy below...

It was an exciting day at our house. Cooper went #2 in the potty on his own!! If you've ever potty-trained, then you know what a big deal this is. Enough said.

So rather than go into too many details about why Cooper is only wearing underwear outside tonight, let's just say that he didn't quite make it to the potty this time. He got a good hose down though, which I think he enjoyed.

Then he proceeds to "mow" and chase Trapper, the neighbor's dog, around the house with the lawnmower in his underwear! Such a boy... and seriously, only in the country will you ever see a scene like this!

Did I Say That?

"Hello, Mark? Cooper needs a spanking. Could you give him one?"

This is what I heard Kam saying this morning while pretending to talk on her "cellaphone." I think she's heard me say something to that effect lately. Oops!

Then while I was checking my email, I heard her say that she was going to send me a message and I looked over and she was pretending to text. I'm not a big "texter" so it surprised me she knew what this was.

What Was I Thinking????

The kids and I stayed home today and anyone who knows me, knows that I start going stir crazy about lunch time. Usually when I'm off Mark accuses me of running the kids ragged so I've tried hard to just stay at home and relax...

So I got the bright idea that we could make homemade playdough, except we didn't have all the ingredients. No problem... we went to Mimi's and raided her cabinets. I doubt she'll be missing cornstarch and baking soda anytime soon but, by the way, Mom... we borrowed some things from you. Hope you don't mind.

This project started out good. There was enough to do for each kid to take a turn doing something, which is very important for a 2 and 4 year old.

This is where the project went south... I decided that the playdough had to be different colors so I got out the food coloring (another thing we borrowed, Mom).... Did you know that food coloring stains your hands? Try getting a 2--oops-- 3 and 4 year old to not want to "put some color" on the dough.
Kam was pretty good with this. She kept saying she was making "buttercream roses." I have no idea where she got that. We used cups to cut out shapes because I don't own any cookie cutters... and I couldn't find Mom's when I raided her kitchen. I did look. Who needs cookie cutters in the age of slice and bake cookies?
I think I lost my cool towards the end of this project and yelled louder than I should have. I can admit that. Cooper began throwing the playdough and he quickly went to his room for a nap.

Kam, or my "good helper" as she likes to be called, helped me clean up the mess. And what a mess it was. All that work and I think they played for about 10 minutes with the dough once we finished it. I did bag it and put it in the refrigerator to play with later, but it's a safe bet we will never attempt this project again!!!

First Day of School and Fish Tales

Yesterday was the kids first day back to Mae's, only to be off again today and home with me. I am off and I hate the thought of them going to school when I'm at home. But tomorrow we are back to the regular grind...

This picture is blurry, but it is the only one I got with both kids eyes open. In case you're wondering, I still don't have a new camera. This is my office camera and it's not the greatest! Hint! Hint, Mark!!!
After school we went to the "Spooky," which is a hideout that belongs to some people from church who hosted a party to celebrate our "Fish Tales" program at church this summer. The kids had a blast!

This is Grady with his big catfish... I thought he caught it, but actually his mom, Mary, caught it. You go, Mary!!

Fishing with Cooper is always interesting. He's mainly interested in throwing the line out and then reeling it in... he doesn't care if there's a fish on there or not. Actually, I think he prefers there not to be a fish. He's not too keen on the fish yet. At Timberlodge, he actually held his hand up like a girl and ran when they took the fish off the hook.
So I knew this was bound to happen again... I was talking to DK and we saw Kam do this but it was too late to stop it. And everyone laughed because I took a picture before I got the hook out of Mark's side. I don't think he was in too much pain. Let me just say it's interesting to have that many people, particulary kids, fishing at one time. A few lines got hung up, to say the least.

After hooking Mark, Kam was more interested in the dog....
After fishing, we moved up to the water games. This is Cooper fishing in the kiddie pool with Sophie-- before he took his clothes off and stripped naked in front of everyone. Apparently, he knows it's not a good idea to get your shorts and Pull-Up wet.
Cooper in a pool full of cute girls... isn't that every guy's dream???Kam laying out....
Taking time out to eat with Mackenzie....
Enjoying a cupcake while we listen to the devotional...We start AWANA's next week and Cooper will actually get to go this year. My baby is growing up!

The Wonder Place

Yesterday, the kids and I decided on a whim to go to "The Wonder Place" in Little Rock to play. I was impressed with the place! The kids played for 3 hours and I had to make them leave.

Cooper especially loved the water table. I did catch Kam taking a drink out of a bucket later in the day, which so grosses me out. She will drink anything.... but she won't eat a thing!

Kamdyn shopping in the River Market... she had to go back for a pinecone (pineapple).
Cooking in the cafe... they probably spent the most time in this area. I think they are making me a sandwich here.
Chef Cooper made me a birthday cake....
This picture just cracks me up because I think his hat looks like Aunt Jemimah....
Checking out some x-rays at the Vet Village....
Kam taking care of Lizzie the kitty in the Vet Village...
Cooper the cow in the theatre....
There was also a tree house with slides and an air tube that Cooper spent lots of time playing on. We had a fabulous time and will definitely go back. This place encourages imaginative and creative play and I loved watching my kids play like this. I don't think they always get enough of this kind of play. A great time was had by all!

Birthday Recap

We spent the day Friday at Magic Springs for Cooper's birthday. JJ and Braxton went with us and the kids had a great time. They were exhausted by the time we left... we decided to pick up pizza and have with the cake that we made for Cooper before we left that morning.

He loves cake now and was very excited to blow out his candles. His actual party is next Sunday at the water park. He'll have a Lightning McQueen cake then...

He got a remote control Lightning McQueen racetrack that he is in love with! He woke up the next morning asking to race first thing.
Here is Brian trying to control the kids while Mark finishes putting the track together, which was not easy to do with 3 toddlers stepping on it all the time. Cooper was a little tired and impatient. Mark and I give it 3 days before the track is completely torn up.
There are two controls so the kids can race each other. Kamdyn is actually pretty good at it and they really get into it. Here she is telling Coop, "if you're not first, you're last!"

All in all, it was a fun day! The next day we went with Mom to LR to see Mal at Children's. I can't even begin to explain how Cooper acted.... if it's any indication of how 3 is going to be, then I'm in for a long year! I think I even saw Mom spank Coop once which is a very rare thing. I'm hoping that he was still tired and worn out from the day before. Needless to say, my nerves were completely shot by the time we got home! Days like that make me ready to go back to work soon!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Cooper!

My sweet boy is 3 today!

Happy Birthday, Cooper Bear! I love you to the moon and back!!!

I'm a Big Boy Now!

Well, sort of...

We've been working with Cooper on his potty training for a while now. He has been much harder to train than Kamdyn was. It only took about two weeks of potty training "boot camp" to train her. I'm off this week so I've tried to work more with Cooper. He's doing great except he hates underwear. Yesterday morning, I got out the Lightning McQueen underwear and this is what he did with them...
I think he went most of the day without any on (which, by the way, is really the best way to potty train!). I finally bribed him with a Fruit Rollup yesterday afternoon and he put them on.

This morning, he was more receptive to the underwear and even put them on himself...
By the way, Kamdyn is Cooper's biggest cheerleader when it comes to the potty. She always follows him to the bathroom and encourages him. I just about died when I heard her say, "let it rip, Coop!" And he did!

While Cooper napped yesterday, Kamdyn tended to her sick Barbie. I think Tina is her name. I kept watching her put this light wand up to her and then it occurred to me that she was probably doing that after watching JJ's ultrasound yesterday. Aaaahhh....
Tina still didn't feel good so Kam had to blow her with a bubble wand...
Yep, she doesn't have a shirt on again. It seems to be the first thing to come off of her when she starts playing. I hope that's not a sign!!! :)