MORE FUN TIMES......

Before we get to the fun weekend we had a follow up eye doctor appointment for Cooper. Unfortunately his eyes are not doing as well as we had hoped and he has to get another prescription. It is just his left eye that is week but we are going to get the new lenses and if they do not help then we will definitely be patching him. Coop did make a little friend why we were there though. There was this little girl sitting on the floor watching TV. Coop walked right up to her, sat down as close as he could get and then started rubbing her back. He is going to be such a player! Molly from Tiny K was there with us and she, Raelynn and I just laughed.

This weekend we finally made it to the wading pool. I had no idea how great this place was. We will definitely visit again. Raelynn had a blast and even little Cooper had fun. I was excited because we were able to mark off 2 parks in reaching our goal of visiting all the parks in Lawrence.





Saturday night Terry and I had a wedding to go to so our friend, Stephanie watched the kids. They had a blast! She is awesome with them and I think enjoyed it too. We got home about 9:30pm and unlike most parents I was thrilled the kids were still awake. Cooper was being difficult and just would lay down without crying and Raelynn was in bed but still awake. I was so excited to see them. I went into Raelynn's room to tell her good night and she yelled "Mommy" and we hugged and giggled like little friends who hadn't seen each other forever. She said she was so happy to see me. I love that girl. I asked if she had fun and she definitely did but it was nice that she was still happy to see us. Terry took Cooper and of course he went right to bed. I told Steph Coop would hardly go to bed for me. He likes his Daddy routine at night.

Sunday after church we attended a memorial dedication for a friend of ours that passed away a year ago. The dedicated a memorial bench to him and announced the forming of a foundation. It was all very touching and we were so happy to be there. He was a deputy that was hit by a car while riding his bicycle one morning. He was the nicest guy and always seemed to just want to make things right for everyone. It was such a sad accident but his family is making good out of it. I always think that is so important.

Tomorrow night my Mom, Karli, Cassidy and Chandler are coming to spend the night. Cassidy has a camp to go to near Bonner Springs and so they are all bringing her up. The timing is perfect because Wednesday is Raelynn's birthday. We are keeping their visit a surprise. They are leaving Wednesday morning so we are going to get up and have a little surprise celebration for Raelynn. She will be so excited!!! I love the kids' birthdays, they make me remember how excited I used to get. I hope she has a good one. Then Saturday, the 4th, we are having her party. As Raelynn says, she has her birthday and her party day!

BACKING UP A LITTLE......

Things are a little hectic in the Keefer household right now or at least for me. Every time one of the kids birthdays rolls around I become crazy. I love having parties for them but I always want everything to be perfect and not cost a fortune. So I have been running around like a mad person. In addition there are a few other demanding things going on right now that I will talk about later and of course the day to day demands of life. Anyway, my head is once again whirling and I just wonder how people with 4 and more kids ever survive :)! Anyway to back up a little.....last Saturday Raelynn had another horse show. She placed 3rd and 4th this time and again looked fabulous doing it. Aunt Bonnie and Raelynn's classes were too close this time so Aunt Steph stepped up and helped Raelynn with the lead line. Steph did great and I love how she has just became part of "family". I had worried a little that it would be like having a guest at our house all summer but it hasn't been like that at all. So here is a picture of Raelynn and Aunt Steph from Saturdays show. Steph was not a big fan of the outfits, hahaha!

Then Sunday of course was Father's Day. We had a brunch at Kent and Kylie's. The brunch was fabulous. Watching the kids play was also fabulous! After that we were headed home for naps! I don't know what goes on in Terry's mind about the kids and being a Father but he has to be proud of both. The kids adore their Dad and he beams at the mere mention of their names. It was a great day as is every weekend! I love my days with the kids and Terry and Raelynn and I count down the days for the next weekend.

I continue to say how ornery Cooper is but I have yet another story to confirm this fact. Last night Raelynn and Cooper were in the bath. I had stepped out of the bathroom to get a towel and Steph and I were standing by the bathroom door talking. Raelynn had been saying, "Mom, Mommy, Mom, Mom, Mom" and I was just getting annoyed and told her to wait until I was finished talking to Steph. Steph and I finished and Steph headed downstairs and I stepped back into the bathroom to get Cooper out. All the sudden Steph yells about the same time I stepped into the bathroom and stepped into water. Steph is yelling that there was water running into the basement and I was yelling that the bathroom is flooding. We are running back and forth between the bathroom and the basement like crazy people passing each other along the way. We are half laughing and half freaking out. We are grabbing towels for the bathroom and buckets for the basement. I grab the phone to call Terry, my "go to" in any crisis. I am talking to him on the phone and finally realize Raelynn is starting to cry and is trying to tell us something. She had been yelling at us but Steph and I had been so crazy and loud ourselves we had not noticed. She finally has our attention and as she is saying, "I have been trying to tell you! Cooper is doing it, nothing is leaking!" As she is talking we turn to see her standing by her brother in the bathtub pointing at him as he is pouring this large cup of bath water right out onto the floor of the bathroom. I guess he had been doing this repetitively and that is why Raelynn had been trying to interrupt Steph and I's conversation which caused the floor to be covered in water and the water to leak to the basement from a small area where the caulking of the bathtub was starting to pull away. Of course Cooper never stops, he continues to pour the water and just snicker at us. Poor Raelynn had been trying to make him stop and when he didn't she had tried to get my attention. Once we realized everything that had happened we all started to laugh which did not help in trying to tell Cooper he could not pour water out of the bath. Raelynn informed me "if I would have just listened to her none of this would have happened!" It was all quite comical after the fact. You can see the orneriness ooze from him!

DANCE PARTY AND YOGA TRAINING.....

After a very long Monday that started way too early and progressively got worse from a not to good start, we decided to end the evening with a little Dance Party!



Then Raelynn decided we needed to do some Yoga. The girl loves yoga and learned some in Summer Camp and then my Mom bought us the Wii Fit and now Raelynn is a Yoga expert! That girl kills me!!!!

Needless to say, our evening together was fun as usual, if only everything could be as fun and simple as our Dance Parties!!! I have a million pictures about our weekend and Father's Day celebration but I will have to save that for tomorrow....I am very tired and off to kiss Raelynn and Cooper one last time for tonight and whisper to them how much I love them. I always wonder if they hear me in their sweet dream land but even with my soft kiss and quiet whisper neither of them ever awake. It is the best way to end my days.

A LITTLE SET BACK FOR COOP AND HIS EYES....

Wednesday night Cooper had an eye doctor appointment. I was very excited and hopefully that everything was going well but instead he has taken a little step back. He is very dominant in his right eye which leaves his left eye less used and therefore will turn in to a lazy eye. This is all stuff that is genetically passed from me and I so wish Coop hadn't got it. It looks like we are going to have to start patching his good eye to make his bad eye do more work. I was so sad when she told me this. We are going back in a few weeks and she will check him again and dilate his eyes to make sure his prescription hasn't changed. He is growing so fast that I guess his eyes can change rapidly too. I am so sad for him but I guess if we can do things now that will help him later in life I am happy to do it.

I had a friend's Pampered Chef party to go to tonight so Terry rushed home after playing golf in the Bill Self Tournament and I headed out. It was was in Tonganoxie so I didn't get home until a little after 9pm. To my delight both kids had bathes and were crawling into bed. When I came in they both rushed over with so many hugs and love. There is nothing better. I finished putting them to bed and snuggled with Raelynn for awhile. I love doing things with my friends but I so love coming home. Terry was still all smiles from his day of golf too. He loves this tournament and always has a great time. He usually plays on Coach's team with three other of his good friends and they always have a great time.

This morning Raelynn, Cooper, Steph and I began working on a little surprise for Daddy and I just have to share a few of the photos that were snapped while working on the surprise.....

COOPER IS ALL BOY.....

Happy Monday to us!

And to think this morning I was upset with him because he scribbled marker all over his lenses. At least that could be fixed with a little windex! After Lisa called to tell me Coop bent his glasses I headed home to get his spare pair. Then tonight after work we headed down to Wink, again! The owner, Mike, is wonderful. He and his entire staff are nothing but kind and try to assure me that this happens all the time. His frames could not be fixed but because Coop has special transition lenses in these glasses to help his eyes with the sun, Mike took time to take apart both glasses and use the parts to make one good pair with the transition lenses. Then he'll send off to have the spare pair fixed. We are so lucky to have found Wink! He really has taken very good care of Cooper and today he saved Cooper from having to start earning his keep!

Sunday was the Ironman 70.3 Kansas. We had a group volunteer for Cooper's Cause and we helped with an aid station. We had a great time! I knew it would be interesting to see but I did not expect it to be so much fun!!! The athletes were amazing! My friend Kelly was on a team with Raelynn and Cooper's swim instructor and another friend of theirs, Crystal. Kelly ran, Claudine swam and Crystal biked. They took 2nd which was fantastic! Anyway, other than having to give up a day with the kids, it was wonderful and I can't wait to do it again!