WEEKEND FUN.....SORT OF......

Tonight Terry had his family's investment club meeting like they do the last Sunday of every month. We usually all go but occasionally Coop and I will stay home. Tonight I hadn't showered and still had a few things to finish up so I decided I would stay home. Terry and Raelynn were getting ready to go when little Coop walked out with his shoes. He was not going to be left home so Terry loaded both of them up and off they went a little before 6pm. You would think I would be ecstatic to have a few hours of peace and quiet to myself but no....I just want them home. It is now 8pm and I cannot seem to do all those things I need to do. Instead I look at the clock every 5 minutes, I have beds turned down and medicines ready. I really think I am a little crazy! Anyway, I am sure they will be home again, the chaos will resume, and I will be perfectly happy again! The weekend was a mixture of fun and not so fun times. Friday night the kids and I did some cleaning and just got ready for 2 full days together. Saturday morning we woke up and got ready for the KU Football game. We try to take the kids to one game a year and this was the one. We were headed up a little early for the tailgating fun and it was band day so we were pretty excited. This is how our morning started...just minutes before we left the house.

This is just minutes later after leaving the house......

So yes, just after leaving our house, Terry was talking to me and hit the curb. Now I will say that we, meaning all us, hit this curb often but never have we hit the curb, bounced and hit a drain colvert. At first, we thought he "only" ruined his wheel and tire. So after 30 to 45 minutes of changing a tire we all load back up into the truck and start to go again, but no.....something is really wrong. Terry gets out and takes a peak under the truck. Surprise, the A Bar (??) is snapped in two. So we call and have the truck towed. Finally we get to the game by the second quarter which really wasn't too bad considering all. Anyway, the game was fun and the kids enjoyed it at least for awhile. It is very hard to keep a 4 and 2 year old to sit still for more than a few minutes. My kids know no strangers either. Within minutes of being there Coop, as always, lead the way to meeting everyone around us. Of course Raelynn cannot let her brother have all the attention so she follows but instead of being a cute 2 year old who says "Hi" and smiles, Raelynn chatters non stop interigating anyone who would give her a second of their time. So needless to say I didn't really see all that much of the game but still had a great time.

Today we decorated for fall, Raelynn and Cooper played outside with Dad and we just wish we could have one more day of "spending the whole day together". The week ahead seems pretty normal and not too many extras which always is nice but we'll see how it ends up. It always seems like our less busy weeks turn out to be some of the busiest.

Well gotta go...........THEY ARE FINALLY HOME!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!

GOOD TIMES......

This week has been pretty good. After many talks with Moms of girls, I have found that Raelynn's crazy dislike of jeans is not uncommon and I also found out that I need to back off. As several Moms explained, there are several cute legging outfits out there and if she insists on shorts it might be ok to just let her wear shorts. If she gets cold, she will then choose to wear warmer clothes and they assured me no one look badly upon me if my daughter shows up to school on a brisk fall morning in shorts. All of their advice has helped and for the last 2 mornings we have been a dream. Tonight the fun continued. Raelynn made spaghetti. I did help her but I let her tell me what to do and for the most part she did it. It was so much fun. We talked and cooked and laughed. I really cannot think of a better way to spend an evening. She also is starting to clear the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher. I make sure we have a lot of fun while we are doing all these little chores and Coop always keeps us laughing too. I look forward to picking them up every night and just cannot believe how my relationship grows every day with each of them. I love being a Mom and especially being a Mom to them.

We took Coop in for a weight check yesterday and in 4 months he has only gained 1 lb 5oz. He is up to 20 lbs 13oz. It was definitely nothing to get excited about but I was just thankful he had not lost weight. Mary Beth and Karen work sooo hard every day to get him to drink more and more and he is doing great but he is just so active. Now we are not just fighting the cardiac issues in his weight gain but also him burning so many more calories a day. Anyway, we will keep working at it and just hope we can avoid any set backs like the flu.

We are looking forward to a fun weekend. We are headed to the KU Football game on Saturday and Raelynn is very excited. We will see how long we last but it should be fun. Hopefully we will get plenty of out door time because I am a little worried that the really cold weather is going to be here before we are ready!

COOPER GETS A SCOOTER....

So little brother wants and does everything that big sister has and does. It is amazing how much he mimics her and it is just getting more so every day. Although I thought Raelynn might get annoyed by this she is eating it up. They played together all weekend! Saturday I had the March of Dimes garage sale to help with and made my very first garage sale purchase, a scooter for Cooper. Every since Raelynn got a scooter for her birthday Cooper has tried to ride it but he just doesn't have the balance. Well I found one that has 2 wheels on the back so it stays up and Cooper loves it. Raelynn and Coop spent all afternoon Saturday in the garage playing and riding scooters. For some crazy reason the garage has become there new favorite place to be. I really have no idea why but literally they will play out there for hours!!! I have this great video of Coop on his scouter but after an hour of trying to open it last night, I give up. Anyway, he loves the scooter!

Today was the first day of Autumn. Raelynn and I were both a little sad. When I went running this morning it did feel like Autumn too. There was a light breeze and a chill in the air and it was sooooo dark. I find this time of year a little depressing and creepy. I just have to start counting the days until spring again. I also am dreading the mornings and dealing with Raelynn and getting dressed.
She does not like jeans and therefore has complete meltdowns in the mornings when it is chilly and I don't let her wear shorts. I talked with some of the other moms at preschool and come to find out they went through the same thing with their daughters who are now older. It made me feel better and they gave me some good advice. I am also implementing an allowance, sort of. We have had to make some budget cuts lately and we have in general discussed them with Raelynn from time to time but I want her to start understanding money and its value. I have never been one to believe in giving an allowance for household jobs because that is just participation in the family and I don't think that should be rewarded with money. So after a few short discussions with Valerie, my new co-worker who I love, I decided to weekly have a little chart that shows what we expect of her in the mornings and evenings. The list includes some household choirs but also behavioural things. If in general she receives a smiley face for each day, she will receive $4 at the end of the week. (I chose $4 b/c she is 4) Then I have provided her 3 places to put the money; spending, charity and savings. I will let her decide where to put the money and hope that overtime she will learn to give to all 3. Anyway, we will see how it goes. I have to get the charts and the places for the money all ready but will be ready to give it a try starting Monday. Boy I hope it works :) One of the things I am including on the chart is getting along with and helping Cooper. This will be an easy one for Raelynn. She is awesome with him. I hope that this will just confirm with her the importance of her brother and family in general.

So as I am trying to instill values and morals in Raelynn, I am simply trying to keep up with Cooper. This evening, while I was talking with Raelynn we notice Coop is gone. We go searching and we found him....in our closet.....emptying Terry's change jar! I went to grab the camera and when I returned I snapped a quick pictures. As soon as I did he looked up and said with a big dorky smile, "CHEEZ!". I don't think he ever thinks he does anything wrong. He is definitely our silly one!

IS IT REALLY MIDNIGHT ALREADY.........

I know I complain about this all the time but really how is there ever enough time. I had a meeting tonight for another Cooper's Cause Foundation venture and I just finished it up. It started at 8:15pm but with technology these days there is no quitting time! I think I have just opened up another great opportunity for the foundation but we will see what happens.....

So the kids are doing great and our seemingly quiet week has yet again turned out to be rather busy. Cooper is talking up a storm and mimicking everything he sees both good and bad. Last night as we were playing in the living room I had America's Got Talent on the TV. Susan Boyle had a performance and there in the middle of the living room stood Coop with microphone in hand mimicking not only her singing but her actions and tone and pitch of her voice. Terry is convinced the boy is going to be musically inclined. He definitely has a taking to anything musical. He and Raelynn spend hours dancing and singing around the house. Raelynn informed me today that she needed the Cheeta Girls new CD! Cooper also had his first nightmare last night and although sad it was also so cute. I had just put him back to bed around 2 a.m., about 2:15 a.m. there was this terrified voice yelling, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" Raelynn always yells for me when she needs something or is scared so it was so cute to hear Coop yell for Terry. Terry didn't find it so cute though. When I got up at 4:15 a.m. to head to the gym, Coop and Terry were laying together in the recliner in the living room. Apparently Coop was not having anything to do with going back to bed. Tonight Terry was exhausted and thank goodness Cooper has stayed asleep for the most part. He did wake a few minutes ago for a drink which I never really mind because it just gives me a little "pick me up" to see his cute face and give him one more kiss before morning.

Raelynn is her normal hilarious self. Since I pick her up every day after school and run a few errands before we head to Mary Beth's for daycare, we get some good time just the two of us together. The girl is really pretty funny! We have great conversations about school and what we are going to do after I get off work and whatever else might come up. I was really dreading giving up my lunch hour every day to shuttle her to and from school and daycare but it has turned out to be really great. It has meant for some late night errand runs that don't get done during the day but it is all worth it. Raelynn has had a few struggles this week though. All the sudden socks are too tight. We have had 2 meltdowns because she did not want to wear her socks because they were too tight, but they really aren't. So this morning I got a pair of socks that really were too tight. One pair was Coop's and one pair she had just out grown. I put them on her foot and explained that when a sock fit like those she could complain about them being too small, but if the heel went where the heel is suppose to go and the toes line up like they are suppose too, there could be no complaining. She giggled and understood my point so we will see how things go in the morning :) Besides that, she Daddy and Cooper went to the park on Sunday. When they returned Raelynn looked a little different.......

I guess another little girl twisted the swing beside Raelynn and then spun it and it popped up and hit her in the eye. Then while Terry was tending to her, Cooper fell out of his swing. I think park time was a little rough on Dad.
One last picture to sum up my kids......


Well I guess I better shut things down for the evening. Tomorrow we have a birthday party in the evening and then I am helping with a garage sale to raise money for the March of Dimes bright and early Saturday morning. I committed to bringing 4 loaves of banana bread for the bake sale we are having there too. Therefore, after the birthday party there will have to be some baking done. After the garage sale we are all headed to CMH to visit a family that is there with their little girl who also suffers from heart defects. Hopefully Sunday after church we will find some time for rest, that is what Sundays are for, I think!

COOPER'S CAUSE 2ND ANNUAL 5K, ANOTHER SUCCESS...

Saturday's 5K was another huge success. The morning was beautiful and we had a great crowd. I am always touched by a couple things that happen at every event we have and Saturday was no different. A little boy who goes to Raelynn and Cooper's new daycare came with a baseball cap full of money from his piggy bank to donate to Cooper and his foundation! I, unfortunately was not there to see him but as I was told the story there was not a dry eye around. What a sweet boy. I love how the foundation has brought families together and even the littlest members contribute. There also was a little girl who is a granddaughter of friend's of ours. She walked up to me, hugged me and said, "I am glad Cooper has a family like yours." I teared up right then. What an incredibly inspiring thing to say. I am always thankful that we have Cooper but to say that Cooper is lucky to have us was the biggest pat on the back I think I had ever received. Later that day, she stopped by our house with a bouquet of flowers she had put together herself and gifts for both Raelynn and Cooper. How do you thank a young girl for being so thoughtful? I can only imagine how proud her mother must be for raising such a sweet girl. I know she made me proud.

Sometimes I get all wrapped up in how much this foundation means to Terry and I and I forget how much it means to those involved as well. As Tatum, who heads the committee on the 5K, stood up to talk Saturday morning, tears rose to her eyes. It was then that I was reminded that we are such a small part in all of this. It is all those who help and the families that are in need and the families that come out to support the foundation and the little kids that do so much to give that make this something special. I am just so proud to be a part of it! This year we raised just under $5,000. What a great job everyone did! The results from the run are posted at runLawrence.org.
Raelynn and Coop cross the finish line!

What a great crowd!

Warming Up!


Raelynn and Cooper also had a great time at the race and with Granny (Raelynn's new name for my Mom), Aunt Karli, Chandler, Aunt Steph and Cody. It was a house full and so much fun. When they left today Raelynn cried and cried, "I want my Grandma!" It was sad but also sweet that she misses her.

This week is sure to be somewhat relaxing after the last few. I hope to get caught up on final paperwork from the 5K and on to finalizing the application for funds. I love my family and I love what we are doing, what more could a person want!!!

MEDIA TIME........

Well it is that time of year again to get the word out about Cooper and the foundation set up in his name. We had an interview on KSNT last week and our local news this week. We have been fortunate enough to also have interviews on KLWN and the Lazer. We cannot thank the media enough for getting the word out about Cooper's Cause Foundation. They have all been so supportive. Channel 6 did an amazing job and you can view it at the link below:

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/6news_lawrence/

You may have to copy and past this into your browser but it should take you right to the video.

Once again, we cannot thank all of you enough for the wonderful support!!!

A HAPPY LABOR DAY.....

We had a great long weekend. Friday night we went to the Lawrence High football game. Terry actually had a Friday night he wasn't reffing so we all headed to the game. The kids loved it! The new stadium is wonderful too. They still have some work to finish but it is going to be great. Saturday was our day to get everything done so we could enjoy Sunday and Monday. Saturday night we headed to a BBQ Party at our cousins house. It was fun to gather with the family and watch Cooper and his little cousin Sky play.

Sunday was Donovan's birthday. The kids again had a blast. Donovan has this great swing set in his back yard and Cooper fell in love with it.



Today we just spent the day hanging out and then visited our friend Jill and her daughter Taylor who were back visiting for the weekend. It was a great relaxing day. As I put the kids to bed tonight I could not help but wish every day was a holiday. Every day I spend with them I want to spend the next with them even more. They both make me laugh so much and watching Raelynn and Coop play together was absolutely perfect. Raelynn continues to amaze me with her maturity, most of the time, and Cooper stuns us with how smart he is. If it weren't for his lack of words I would swear he was older than he is.

This upcoming week is sure to be a little crazy with the Cooper's Cause 5K on Saturday. Last week Terry and I did a couple interviews, one for KSNT and one for our local news stations. Both turned out pretty well. We just saw the one on our local news and they did a great job tying it into the one that aired this time last year. My family will come in on Friday which I am really looking forward to. The last couple weeks have been the first time I have ever really wished they were closer. Not that I don't always, but recently I have just felt how easier everything would be if they were here. However, I know they are happy where they are and we are happy here so I will just be happy with their visits. Raelynn is so excited to see them as well. I told her today they were coming and she was ecstatic. Cooper was sitting there too and he said, Ga Ma coming? Raelynn and I just started laughing and Raelynn says, "He just said Grandma!" So we will pray for good weather and a good turn out for the 5K. This will be our last major fund raiser for this year and then we will focus on the family or families we will be helping after the first of the year. I cannot believe how far the foundation has come. We are so fortunate!

LIFE GOES ON.....

God presents us challenges daily and I have always thought one should make the most of each challenge he offers. I live by the sayings "Obstacles are opportunities in disguise". Without saying any more than this, both have been put to the test over the past week. However, I do believe we have once again grown as a family, became better parents, learned things we did not know before and love one another more than ever. With every breath I take, no matter how difficult it may be, I will continue to believe in a good world and do all I can to make it better. I will pray for those who do not.



Raelynn started soccer today and loved it. She has wanted to play soccer as long as I can remember and now her preschool has a little class they offer. She was so excited coming out of practice! I guess I better start reading up on soccer, I may have to actual understand the rules if Raelynn sticks with it. We did not have soccer when I was a kid and I know very little about it. I would hate for Raelynn to know more about it than I do.

Cooper had another eye appointment today and his check up was great! His eyes had improved over our last visit and therefore we once again made it out without having to patch his right eye to make his weak left eye work. I was very happy as I had been sure after our last visit that is where we were headed!