NO INTERNET! WHAT A TRAGEDY!......

I have been without Internet for 4 days now and I cannot tell you how out of touch I feel and there has been so much going on! I am falling further behind every day. Hopefully it will be up and running soon.

This weekend was full of fun. Saturday morning we started the morning bright and early with a pancake feed and then off to run errands. We got home just in time for Raelynn to change into her cowboy boots and Wranglers and head to her first riding lesson. She loved it. She rode for about 30 minutes and Bonnie taught her what she would be expected to do at the competitions. She taught the horse to go by saying "Walk Charm" which cracked me up because the horse did. She learned to stop the horse and back her up. The funniest part was watching her turn the horse. When she wasn't turning Raelynn would just point and say "This way Charm". Bonnie would remind her that Charm could not see her and she had to use the reins. While she was riding Coop and I watched. We were in these stables so there was plenty for Coop to get into. However, there was this friendly cat that constantly approached Coop when I put him down. Cooper was terrified. Finally he touched the cat and to my surprise the cat put his front paws on my leg eager for the petting to continue. Unfortunately, that cat was not declawed and when he pawed at my leg for us to continue petting he clawed my leg. It startled me and I jumped up and scared Cooper. I am pretty sure it will be sometime before Coop pets another cat. The tractor he got to play on though made up for the traumatic cat experience. I have great video and pics I will post later when I am able to. After riding lessons we headed to our friend's house where Terry was installing some carpet. Raelynn had a great time playing with her friend Donovan and I got to enjoy a relaxing visit with Tatum and Eric. After our long day we headed home for bathes and bed.

Cooper has been a maniac lately. He runs around the house like crazy jumping on pillows and diving and rolling around on the floor. I have no idea how his glasses are going to make it. He is doing so much right now. He follows our directions like picking up his toys and even got a towel out and tried to clean up his own spilt milk. He is awesome! He is still working on his words and Raelynn is a huge help. Most people say the older sibling talks for the younger but not in our case. If Coop is wanting something and just grunting Raelynn will say in the sweetest voice, "use your words Buddy, do you want some milk?" We have been working very hard to teach them to play together. Of course Coop is the bothersome little brother and Raelynn gets a little annoyed. This morning they were putting puzzles together and Raelynn was getting frustrated because Cooper kept messing up her puzzle. After she hollered at me to get Coop out of there, from another room I reminded her to include Cooper, get him his own puzzle out. Next I here, "that's ok Mom, he's family, we have to learn to get along, here Buddy put this piece here". Really those moments are indescribable!

We had Cooper's re test for his hearing last night and once again he did not pass. So now we once again call Dr. Kelley and he will run some test of his own. I know Cooper can hear so I am not overly worried but do wish we could get this resolved.

Raelynn is her same crazy self, only getting funnier. I have had to start checking pockets before throwing things in the laundry these days. A few days ago I washed 24 dandelions, yes 24, and 2 pine cones. What is shocking to me is how little her pockets are to stuff that much stuff in them. When I brought to her attention that we were not to put dandelions in our pockets she looked at me with these loving eyes and said, "but I picked them for you Mommy", before I could even react she started to laugh! Her imaginary friends have also been a big source of comedy lately. One day were were talking about her good imaginary friend, Kendra. At the beginning of her story Kendra was 10 and then before I knew it she was saying she was 6. When I asked her about Kendra's age going backwards she just simply says, "that's how imaginary friends grow", as if I should have known. There has also been a lot of talk in our house about marriage and babies. Our neighbor is pregnant and it just seems to have started a whole whirlwind of questions. When Raelynn is exploring a topic, her imaginary friends often become the subjects. So last night on the way home she tells me that Kaka, the bad imaginary friend, has a baby in her tummy. I ask if Kaka is old enough to have a baby in her tummy because last I knew she was 3. Raelynn explained that she was big now and she was married. I asked who she was married to and Raelynn immediately responds, "Larry the Cable Guy." I thought I was going to wreck the car. I have no idea when or where she has ever heard of Larry the Cable Guy but it was hysterical. We have also had discussions about how the baby got in Kaka's tummy. Now I have read and read and read and everything says you should just tell them the truth and use the proper words and so on but come on she is 3! So I start by telling her that there are eggs in the mommy's tummy and the daddy's fertilize them and a baby grows. She concluded recently that this made sense because Daddy fertilizes the grass and it grows so this all seems logical to her. Thank goodness! I can honestly say I have never faced a greater challenge then my daily experiences with my kids but I have also never experienced anything more rewarding. I hope I never forget a minute of it!

So that's what we have been up to. I could go on and on but I will save the rest for later :)