There has been so many fun things going on lately. I will start with Cooper's Cause Foundation news. This year we donated a tree to the Festival of Trees. This is an event put on by The Shelter in Lawrence. People or organizations donate Christmas Trees, Wreathes and any version of the two and then they are auctioned off. We decided to donate one from the Foundation. On the committee was Mary Beth, our daycare provider. Our tree was titled "Hearts for a Cause". The idea was to decorate it entirely with hearts. The majority of the decorations were hand made by the daycare kids and they were truly amazing. Mary Beth and Karen did an amazing job of having all the kids help with this project including even the littlest ones. So on the Sunday of Cooper's Birthday, the tree was set up and then it is open for the public viewing all last week. Tuesday night was the auction and my friend Kelly and I attended. The trees were amazing and we had a great time. The family that purchased our tree was actually the parents of one of the daycare kids. They were so determined and excited to get the tree it made me feel so happy but what they did next was simply wonderful. They had the tree delivered to Mary Beth's! So the kids that worked so hard to make the ornaments got their tree back. It was delivered to Mary Beth on Friday and they, along with the kids, loved it! I was so touched by their generosity and thoughtfulness. The story just gets better. There was a group of police officers that delivered the tree. Many of them we knew and one of them knew Terry very well. But the special part was that one of the officers had been the Mom of a little girl that was born the same time Cooper was. Her daughter was born prematurely and was in the NICU with us. Their daughter's lung had collapsed but she was ok and they had left CMH before we had. The Dad and Terry had really connected while we were there. So for her to be one of those that delivered the tree and for her to see Coop again was awesome! Needless to say, once again, we were so touched by every one's generosity and loving gestures. I love the things that seem to come out of something that seemed so small and simple when we were doing it.
While on the topic of the foundation......we are currently taking applications for funding through the 15th. This is what we work so hard for and I would love to have many people apply for funding so PLEASE let everyone you know that we are here to help. You never know who you may tell that knows someone that could use our assistance. WE WANT TO HELP!
On Wednesday Coop had his 3 year old checkup. He is doing wonderful! He is up to 28lbs and is 3ft tall. Dr. Kelley said he looks great and was so happy with his eating. We are still trying to potty train but everyone keeps telling me not to worry that he will get it. (I just hope it is before his NEXT birthday!) We are weaning him off of his last 2 medications, prevacid and aspirin. By the end of the year, if all goes well, not one single medicine!!! That is saying a lot since we started out with 13!
We also visited our wonderful Dr. Kelley and, as my kids called her, Mrs. Claus today at their home. They had a wonderful children's Christmas Party and there was no detail left unturned. They had Christmas Cookie decorating, many crafts and even gifts. The kids were in awe and had so much fun. Their home was beautifully decorated with decorations everywhere and numerous Christmas Trees. It is hard for me to even explain how much the two of them seem to enjoy children. Dr. Kelley has always been an amazing pediatrician and the couple of times we have visited them at their home, he and his wife are equally as amazing even when not in the professional atmosphere. As I have said many times, we have been blessed with the people that have entered our lives since we have had our children and they definitely top the list.
Dr. Kelley and Mrs. Claus :)
Besides all of the festive fun we are having, we are also having fun with some new vocabulary from Cooper and new history education from Raelynn. Coop's new sayings is, "Not just yet!" It is so cute the way he says it and how he points at us when he does. For example, we got home Friday night and the kids know that as soon as we walk in they remove their shoes and take them to the closet. So like the good children they usually are, they removed their shoes and headed to their rooms. I said, "I am going to turn on the tree." Coop turns as he is running to his room, waves his finger at me and says, "Not just yet Mommy, I be right back and I turn it on." Sometimes I will ask him if he needs to go potty and he replies, "not just yet." I don't know why I find it so cute but I guess you just have to hear him say it. The other night as we were all in the kitchen Terry dropped something down the garbage disposal. Out of frustration he says, "Crap!" Both Raelynn and Coop in unison say, "We don't say Crap!" Then they proceed to tell him, "you can say Oh Man or O Fooey but you can't say Oh Crap. It was hilarious. Terry apologizes and corrects himself. Last night at dinner Raelynn informs us that a long time ago people use to buy other people and women couldn't vote. She said it with such unbelievability in her voice. She went on to explain things further and I was amazed at her accuracy and understanding. She said they had learned it in school. I just cannot believe how quickly they learn and what they retain from what they are taught. Raelynn is very loving and caring and seems to be put on this earth to help others. I love this characteristic of hers and listening to her explain things that seem so horrific and from such a different life reminds me of her innocents and makes me wish she and I could hold onto that forever. You always hope you are raising your kids to think of others and lead moral lives. I often say I will never know how we are doing as parents for another 10 years or so but on Friday I had a glimpse that we may be doing things right. We had ran a few errands after work and then headed to the Orange Leaf for some frozen yogurt. They were having their grand opening and it was $.99 for a cup of as much yogurt as you could hold and as many toppings as you could stack on. It was awesome but that really has nothing to do with my story. Anyway, the Orange Leaf is located in this little strip of restaurants/stores. It was packed due to the grand opening. We pulled in beside this pickup that had just pulled in as well. The gentlemen waited to get out of truck until we had parked and then exited the pick up. I got Raelynn out of the car on my side of the backseat and then walked around to get Coop. As I walked around the car there lay money, a lot of money. I quickly picked it up as the wind was beginning to blow it and knew right away it had to belong to the gentlemen that had just gotten out of the truck because unfortunately I don't have that amount of money :) We quickly got Coop out and I told the kids we had to hurry and find the guy. We were off on a mission and Raelynn was intent on helping me as she is far more observant than I and thought she would recognize him. Now we didn't find just a couple of bucks we found a huge wad of money (no I didn't count it but I didn't have too to know :) ). So we went to the Sprint Store, then to the Orange Leaf and finally to Smash Burger where we were pretty sure we saw the right guy standing in line. With my two kids in hand we butted our way up the long line while people glared. I tapped the gentleman on the shoulder as he talked with his wife. I asked him if he drove a white truck that we just parked beside and then I held out the money and told him I was pretty sure this was his and told him what happened. I couldn't tell if he looked at us completely relieved and terrified. He finally laughed and said it was his poker money and couldn't believe it had fallen out. He thanked us over and over again as did his wife. We acknowledged his thanks but let him know we would have hoped someone would have done the same for us if the roles was reversed. His wife made the comment, "I can't believe you came and found us." As we left Raelynn says to me, "why did that lady say she couldn't believe we came to find her?" I said, "she was just thankful we returned their money." Raelynn responds in a completely confused voice, "why, it wasn't our money to keep". I smiled, gave her a little hug and said, "that's exactly right." Nothing more was said until we told Terry about it but inside I was beaming; not because I had done a good thing but because my daughter didn't even recognize that what we had done was a good and honest thing but rather just what one would do. Thank you to the man who dropped the money, you just gave me a little reassurance for the way we are raising our children and any parent can use a little reassurance once in awhile!
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