Kindergarten Registration

We took Cooper to register for kindergarten last Thursday night.  Where has the time gone?  It was also parent/teacher conference so we left Kam at home with Mimi and Pop while we went.  I think Cooper was excited to go, but I had to explain that we weren't actually starting kindergarten until August. 

Mark and Cooper right before we went in....I must tell you that we threatened Cooper with an inch of his life if he acted up there.  I didn't want him getting a reputation before school even started! 

He did pretty good while we filled out all the paperwork.  We were there for a while because I talked a lot (imagine that!) but Mrs.Judy took him to one of the kindergarten rooms to show him the gerbil or crab or whatever critter was in there while I finished the paperwork.  He thought that was pretty cool!

He was so good while we met with Kam's teacher and she even commented that he was so "calm." Hum.......is she talking about Cooper?  Mark told her it was because he threatened him before we came!

We saw Kam's friend, Dane, and his family after the conference.  They have two other boys that go to Fun Time with Cooper as well.  We ended up in the library with them debating their teacher requests....next thing I know I see boys running around the library and I assumed it was theirs (because there's more of them!) but then I saw Cooper run out from behind a book rack.  I just about died and, of course, Mark is nowhere to be found!  

He was out in the hall with Dane's dad, straightening out a little prank they pulled on the AR points wall.  They took Kam's name off the wall to try to fool us, but they didn't know that I had already taken a picture of it!  I'll have to write more about this AR competition between us and the Stephenson's later because it's pretty cute. 

I told Mark as we left that we almost had the school fooled with Cooper.... so close!  I'm fairly certain, at least in my mind, that a few teachers had their eye on him and he may have a label already!  We shall see!

We went to el Bismarcko for dinner afterwards and it was nice to spend that one-on-one time with Cooper and talk about kindergarten.  After that, we had to pick Kam up and give her a play-by-play of what her teacher said about her.  The girl wanted all the details! 

Valentine Parties 2012

Cooper loves Orange Crush so I knew when I found this idea for Strawberry Crush on Pinterest that he would love it!  It took me three different Wal-Mart's to find the Crush and I thought he would drive me crazy in the meantime.  

The tag says, "The best kind of Valentine's crush is the kind you drink!"

I always enjoy going to parties at Fun Time.  Cooper has a great class and they entertained us with lots of songs.

Cooper usually doesn't sing a lot when I come to watch him, but he actually did his part when it was his turn. 

Mrs. Kelly's class....we have been blessed with another great group of kids for Cooper to be with everyday.  I'm already getting sad thinking about not being at Fun Time next year. 

Passing out his Crushes....

Cooper and Jaden, our pastor's son.....these boys will start kindergarten together next year.  Sniff. Sniff.

Are these not the funniest facial expressions? 

Cooper had all these fabulous goodies on his plate and the only thing he touched was the Capri Sun and cheese puffs....I so wanted to grab that cupcake and eat it myself.   I resisted though because I thought I might get some looks!

My two Valentine's....

Mark bought Kamdyn a rose and asked her to be his Valentine and she was just giddy getting her first "real flowers."  She told us that she would be "accepting roses every year now!"

My Cooper-Bear..... I think he and I favor a lot in this picture and Mark totally disagrees with me!

Kam posing with some of her goodies...

Kam got it in her mind that we needed to have a Valentine party and she set this table herself....complete with tissue paper place mat, her rose, candles she found in the closet, etc.  The plastic plates totally make it!

We had a great evening and I don't even think there was any fussing or fighting, which is always good!

Kam made me this Valentine at school and it totally made my day.  If you look in the lower left corner it says, "best mom ever!"   I had to tease her when I noticed in the middle right section that she also included, "best dad ever!"  She still gave it to me though!!

Valentine Treats

We made Valentine treats last Monday night for Kam's party on Tuesday.  She had fun filling out all her Valentine's for her class.  Cooper had to do 45 and, believe it or not, he wrote his name himself on all of them!  I just forgot to take his picture.

We decided to make rice krispie treats in the shape of a heart even though Kamdyn doesn't even like them.  We used food coloring to make them pink.

This ended up being more of a project for Mark than me.  He was much better at this than I was!

I did have to take over at the wrapping and bow tying part though...

I thought they turned out cute and Mark and I were pretty proud of ourselves!

Birthday and Snow Day 2012

The weekend was way too short!  Sometimes I feel like I wish my life away wishing for the weekend to arrive again.  It was my birthday weekend and Mark asked me all week long what I wanted to do to celebrate.  Honestly, I just wanted to stay home.  He says that's my old age kicking in and he may be right on that! 

I took Kamdyn to a birthday party Saturday morning and was able to do my grocery shopping while she was there.  Joy!  Then she and Mom and I went to Hot Springs to do a little shopping before meeting my Dad, Mark, and Cooper for dinner at Olive Garden.  I have absolutely no pictures to show for any of it, but we had a great time!

We went to church on Sunday and kept Brian's kids after church while Brian spent the afternoon in the ER with a kidney stone. The kids all had fun and were great!  Mark made me a strawberry birthday cake and all the kids sang to me.  We went to church later that afternoon to watch "Courageous," which is an awesome movie about raising kids and fatherhood, in particular.  Loved it!  After church the kids took me to Cracker Barrell so I could have breakfast at night (my favorite!)  That night I told the kids the best birthday present would be a snow day on Monday.

God answered my prayer on that!  I was thrilled to get just enough snow to cancel school and for the kids to play in.  Mark had to go to work and Kam felt sorry for him all day long.

We had to go out early before the snow melted but the kids were able to sled for a while.  Campbell and Brax came over and I think all the kids got their snow fix satisfied.  Mimi had bought them all new snow boots (after last year's huge snow she swore we would be prepared for this year) so they were able to at least wear them once.   Snow bibs are on the list for next year!

Jamie took these pics of Cooper for a Valentine project we worked on later that day.  Notice the bad hair and hat head?  He got yet another bad haircut this weekend!  When will I ever learn?  

The Three Amigos

I love AWANA!  I love watching kids learn scripture and have fun together at church.  But, let me tell you, some nights when we leave I am ready to pull my hair out!  Case in point:  last week these three little guys decided to check out the baptistery before AWANA began.

I decided to keep that between me and Cooper (and Kamdyn) and we talked about it on the way home.  I think I threatened him within an inch of his life because Kam chimed in that he was also on the piano (a baby grand, mind you!) and trying to get on the "preacher stand."

Our secret didn't stay a secret very long because right after the kids were in bed Mark asked me if there was something I needed to tell him.  He had gotten a text from the preacher that the "three amigos," (aka his son, my nephew, and Cooper) were in the baptistery and we might want to address it, mainly for safety reasons.  I'm pretty sure that Cooper won't be doing it again anytime soon.....I joked that I hoped we hadn't scarred him for life about baptism with all the talk about staying out of the baptistery!   I'm pretty sure this is just the beginning of what these little guys are going to get into!

Birthday Parties, Diet, and Football

We went to a birthday party at the jump place for Braxton and Bricen on Friday night.  They both turned 4 and I didn't take one picture while I was there.  I don't carry my camera around with me anymore, so any pics I do get are usually with my phone and not great quality. 

Mark started the First Fitness diet last week and I've been so proud of him!  He lost nine pounds the first week.  It's a very strict diet with no carbs and it would absolutely kill this carboholic!    After the party, he decided that he wanted to go to Outback to get meat "other than chicken" and some of their great steamed vegetables.   I could tell he was greatly tempted when they brought the bread out, but this is what he looked like when they brought the cheese fries to our table!

Before you think I'm awful (and I know that I am!), the kids wanted to order some and he said it wouldn't bother him!  I texted this picture of him to Leah, who has been his cheerleader and mentor on this diet, to tell her I was talking Mark off the ledge over the bread and fries.  She sent me a message back that said, "step away from the carbs and nobody gets hurt!"

Her next text said, "Kevin says you are the devil!  Get thee behind me Satan!"  I've been called that before so he's probably right on with that!

Saturday afternoon, I took the kids to Bo's bowling party and they had a lot of fun.  They had never bowled anywhere other than the kids lane so they loved getting to bowl at the big alley.  Cooper did pretty good but, according to him, "Abby smoked him!"

Sunday night during the Super Bowl, Kam got out the football to play "stone hands, sticky fingers" with Mark, which is some random game he made up when the kids were toddlers. It is amazing to me the things they remember.  We have joked that Kamdyn was going to be our football player in the family and she says that Uncle Brian will be so proud of her!

This game always turns into a tickle match, as you can see, and I just love to watch them laugh and squeal like that.  I know that anyone who knows Cooper will not be surprised that the game ended when he wrestled Kam to the floor and pulled her hair a few times.  Oh, I don't know if kindergarten is ready for that boy!!!

It was a great weekend and I am already counting the days until the next one!

Party in Heaven

The most significant thing that happened in our lives during my blog break was that Kamdyn was saved on October 18th, just one day and one month shy of her 7th birthday.   

She began asking questions about baptism the week before and we explained that being baptized didn't save someone.  We explained salvation to her and let her know that God would let her know when it was time for her to be saved.  We also encouraged her to ask as many questions as she needed to and to talk to our pastor if she had more questions that maybe we hadn't answered.    This went on for 3-4 days.  

One day after we got home, she told me that she had told Braden her "secret" that she was going to be saved.  We talked about it and she told me flat out, "I'm ready" so we went to her room to get her Bible and read scriptures.  This is where things really didn't go like I had pictured.....I'm overbearing, I know, but wanted to make sure she understood because of her age.  She got really impatient with me and probably a little mad.  The girl was ready to be saved!  Long story made short she prayed this short, but powerful prayer:  'Dear Lord, forgive me of my sins.  I'm ready to be saved."   By the way, Mark had come home by this time and was able to be with us!

"In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  Luke 15:10

I told her that when someone gets saved that angels rejoice in heaven and she said, "I bet they are having a party now!"  Mom and Dad came over that night and she told Mom.  Later that night, we discussed it more.  She jumped up and down and said "I'm saved!"  She wanted to call Brian, who immediately came over and told her how proud he was of her.  He said the same thing about a party in Heaven and she laughed and said "yeah, I bet Jesus is having a party now." 
 
I'm so proud of her.  I told her this was the most important decision she would ever make.  She's always been spiritually sensitive and mature so this was no surprise to me at all.  She also told us that she wants to be a missionary to Asia so she can tell everyone about Jesus who doesn't believe in Him.  I just know that God has special plans for this girl of mine....

One month later (the day after her 7th birthday), she was baptized.  Because of Mom's surgery,work schedules, and a business trip, we had a hard time finding a Sunday where everyone could be there.  The girl got tired of waiting and finally told us that she was ready to do it regardless of who couldn't be there.  We couldn't argue with that! 

We had encouraged Kam to talk to our pastor, Bro. Ralph, about her decision and he drilled her pretty hard to make sure she understood.   

He told the church that he had spent time talking with Kamdyn and about how he asked her why she would want to be saved.  Her response was that Jesus had died for her and the least she could do was be saved. 

We were thrilled that Uncle Glen, Courtney, Parker, Kennedy, and Kamryn were able to be there along with my family.  Watching Kamdyn was a powerful reminder of the free gift that God gives us and the child-like faith it requires.   Admitting and knowing you're a sinner, believing that Jesus died for you and your sins, and asking him to forgive you is all it takes!   Thank you Lord for dying on the cross so that my baby girl can live eternally with you one day!!!

"that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;"  Romans 10:9

Back By Popular Demand

OK.....that might be stretching it a little bit, but at the request of several friends and family members, I've decided to dive back into the blog.  I knew that it was time when Mark came home from work a few weeks ago telling me that he was reading the blog from 2009. I know, must have been a slow day at work.....His comment that he would "always remember that" about whatever he was reading (see, I've already forgotten!) made me realize that I had to begin documenting the kids lives again.  I've already missed so much in the last 4-5 months.

This little hippy chick gave me plenty of material to blog about in the beginning.  Over time, her comments that were once witty and funny became a little sassier.  I'm not as anxious to share those with everyone!  Nonetheless, it's life and maybe I'll want to remember those little tantrums one day!  Maybe.

This little guy has one more semester of preschool left before he starts kindergarten.  I'm having a very hard time with that one!  I don't want to forget one moment of preschool nor do I want to forget his quirky facial expressions and voice. Although he's not as quick-witted as Kamdyn, he is every bit as funny!  

While I was trying to think of something witty to say on this first post back (so to speak), these song lyrics came to my mind: 

"These are the moments. I thank God that I'm alive.  These are the moments I'll remember all my life.  I've got all I've waited for and I could not ask for more."

I couldn't have said it better.