Weekend in Heber

Mark took the kids to Heber Springs this weekend to see his dad so I had the weekend to myself! I hesitated for a while when he offered, but finally decided that I could get a lot of things done with everyone gone.

I sent the camera with Mark to take pictures but; of course, he didn't take any. I had visions of posting pictures of the kids with Papaw Sonny and Nannie along with the weekend activities.... not to happen this time. The kids told me they had fun and Mark shared a few stories...

Apparently, Cooper and Kam were sword fighting with some old race track they found in the toy box... I'm not quite sure of the details but I do know that Cooper whacked Papaw Sonny in the head with it... that's pretty typical for Cooper but I don't think Papaw Sonny was too amused.

I guess later they found a bouncy ball that was the dogs and Cooper nailed Kamdyn between the eyes with it ... and we had just been talking about whether Cooper would have any athletic ability or not!

They had a great visit with Nannie, who always has Starbursts waiting for them. I think Mark said Kam ate about 20 and then I found 2 large ziplock bags full of them when they came home. I'm sure Kam will be asking for them soon.

Kam talked to me on the phone on Saturday night crying, "but Mommy, I need you." I was trying to explain that I would see her the next day when she handed the phone to Mark and said, "here" and ran off. Mark laughed and assured me she was over it... I think she was just trying to make me feel good.... which is exactly what Cooper did when he got on the phone and said, "hi, Mommy" (pronounced Ma-hi) in his cute little voice. My heart melted...

I did have to go meet Mark in Greenbrier to deliver Kam's breathing machine. She woke up with an asthma flare-up that we couldn't take any chances with. It did give me the chance to stop and shop in Conway before coming back to meet Mom and JJ for some more late afternoon shopping. Who says I can't make lemonade out of lemons?

Although I missed the kids (and Mark too!), it was a fabulous weekend to relax and do whatever I wanted without feeling guilty about it! Poor Cooper was pooped when he got home and crawled up in my lap and went to sleep instantly!

Easter Buckets

I made these Easter buckets and filled them with treats for Kam's class at school. I thought they turned out pretty cute! They were definitely more work than I thought they would be. I worked feverishly Thursday night during the tornado scare... I told Mark that if a tornado did come for him to grab the kids because I was grabbing my buckets!
Now when I first started this one, Mark told me it looked like I was painting chicken turds on it...can I say that on here?! Anyway, I hope you can tell they are footballs now!
My plan was to do a princess for the girls, but my princess didn't look like a princess... so what 4-year old doesn't like Hello Kitty?

Easter 2009

We had a wonderful Easter weekend full of family activities. Saturday was Avery's 2nd birthday party. The kids hunted eggs there, which turned out to be a very good thing since Sunday was so cold and rainy.

About 9:45 that night, we decided to quickly dye some Easter eggs.
The kids choir at church sang two songs that were so awesome! It brings tears to my eyes to watch Kamdyn up there singing sometimes. Here she is before the boys moved in front of her and blocked my view. This is also probably the only full length shot I got of her all day long.
After church at Mimi's... she really looked grown up to me this day!
The men in my life...
We always take pictures on Easter after church but it just wasn't meant to be this day. Someone was always pouting or crying... and what is up with that stray comb over on my forehead????Here are the "greats" at Mamaw's after church... Madison, Gavin, Braxton, Kylie, and Kamryn were missing. It is impossible to get a picture where everyone is looking the same direction.
This is Papaw and his Easter hat, which won first place at the Senior Center. The bunny sings and hops with the press of a button and there is an Easter basket on the back that you can't see.
We had a surprise visit from the Easter Bunny, who came loaded with treat buckets for all the kids.Mimi and the Easter Bunny....
Cooper was unsure about the Easter Bunny at first. He actually hid behind the table and did his scared face at first, but he finally decided the bunny was harmless (and she had treats that he had to claim!). Kamdyn, on the other hand, stayed in the living room the entire time the bunny was there.
I am so thankful for what Easter really means... we had a wonderful day celebrating the Risen Savior!

All better... finally!

Cooper's had the stupid fever virus again... this is probably the 3rd time he's had it since Christmas. But this time he was really sick with a high fever. I've never seen him lay around so much... but he's turned a corner today and I think we've finally beat it!

We've had to laugh... when Cooper is sick he talks and moans in his sleep. When he had this virus 6 weeks ago, we heard him moaning the Backyardigans "Surf's Up" song in his sleep, "ho, Daddy, ho, Daddy..." Mark and I were rolling... and then two nights ago we heard him moaning his colors in his sleep, along with a bunch of stuff we couldn't understand. So glad he's on the mend.....now if I can just keep Kamdyn from getting it!

We're going for haircuts this afternoon, so I'm sure I'll have something to post about that. Kam cries at the mere mention of it and we've already tried to bribe her (for incentive, Mom says!).

Creekin' at the Park

So I'm still a little behind on posting some of our outings and Kamdyn won't let me forget. Here are a few pics from the park. We met Mark there one day at lunch so the kids could play. We have all this equipment at home but somehow it's more fun at other places.
Kamdyn loves to slide...
Cooper, on the other hand, is still a little unsure and needed some coaxing (or a shove down!) from Mark.
Cooper would rather climb up the slide than come down it.
I posted this picture so you could see the ravine with the creek in it. There were older kids with their shoes off in the water and I could tell Kamdyn wanted in without her even saying so... when I told her no because it was too cold to get in the water she said, "but, Mommy, I just want to go creekin'!"
Pouting because she couldn't go "creekin"
Mark, Cooper, and Braxton playing with the neighbor's dog, Trapper. My kids would love to have a dog but I haven't given in to that yet... Thankfully, we have dogs in the neighborhood to play with.
Pouting again....My kids love books! On Friday I had a note from Kam's teacher bragging on her "reading" skills.... she and Cooper will sit forever looking at books. Kam loves the "look and find" books, or what she likes to call the "licorice" books....
And, finally... I've been meaning to post this picture of Kam's nails for Aunt Carla to see as they were a gift from her. Kam had to show everyone at church a few weeks ago. She loved them... but I found them everywhere--in her hair, on the floor, you name it. I even saw one pop off as she stuck her finger in her nose as I was buckling her in her car seat! They do look pretty though!

Little Mama

I heard Cooper crying about 12:30 last night followed by Kamdyn shouting back at him that it was ok. This has always been an issue for us because their rooms are side by side. When one wakes up crying, the other one usually follows. I laid in bed and just waited for them to both come running to our bed. When that didn't happen, I got up to go get Cooper because he was still crying. I found Kamdyn laying in bed with Cooper and comforting him saying, "it's ok Cooper, there's no reason to be scared, I'm right here." She was making the ssshh noise, patting him, and had actually turned on the night light for him. I fully expected for them to want me when they saw me, but Kamdyn had it all under control and I just left them together in his bed.... it was so sweet and definitely a new side of her we are seeing!

More Zoo and Carnival Pictures

Don't want to bore everyone with more zoo pictures, but Kamdyn asked me last night if I would put more carnival and Play Time Pizza pictures on the blog. She's enjoying seeing them and keeps reminding me so this is for her...

I love this picture....father and son....
Kamdyn told us before we got to the zoo that she couldn't wait to see the snakes, which really surprised me. I thought she would be afraid of them like me but Mark reminded me that she had looked at a game and fish magazine that featured snakes at Papaw Sonny's one weekend...so we had to stay in the reptile house forever looking at every snake there was. Papaw Sonny would be proud!
I heard Kam say to this goat, "Hey there, my name's Kamdyn. What's yours?" I thought it was so cute!
Cooper could not wait to ride the train...
More rides from the carnival... Cooper didn't like the way he leaned back on this one but Kam loved it.

These were the fastest cars I've ever seen at a carnival! They loved it!!
My camera battery was nearly dead by the time we got to Play Time Pizza but I managed to get this shot of Cooper going to sleep in his food. He was exhausted! I can't tell you how many Sundays we've watched him do this and it's still funny to us. We've even seen him pick up food and continue to eat while he was passed out!
An action shot of his head going down. Not to worry.... I caught it before it hit the spaghetti! The lady at the table next to us was cracking up. I think she thought I was awful trying to get a picture of my baby's head landing in spaghetti and pizza.