MY SENTIMENTAL CHILDREN......

I am raising the most sentimental children every.  This is kind of ironic because I am not very sentimental at all.  Night after night we deal with Raelynn misplacing something and going into complete crying hysterics until she finds it.  The item is always found so I find this to be most annoying.  Well tonight was no different.  We get home and everything is going along just fine and then out of the blue Raelynn remembers that she had this little tiny notebook that she carried in from the car and left on the dryer and forgot to go back and get.  She started crying immediately and wanted me to drop everything and find it just like always.  Partly because I found little importance in a tiny notebook and partly because I was just tired of dealing with her overreaction to misplaced items, I simply ignored her.  I asked her to get herself together and then she could talk to me about it.  When she finally calmed down and we were talking about it, I asked her why she got so upset.  She explains to me that this little notebook came from a Stationary Box that Aunt Karli bought for her at the Book Fair and that it was a special time with Aunt Karli and that is why it was so special.  And if that wasn't enough, she goes on to say, "Mom I get so upset because every time I loose something that I got from someone special I loose a little piece of my heart too!"  Remember she is only 6!  I am all about expressing your self but if she can come up with analogies like this when she is 6 can you imagine what she will come up with at 16????!!!  So I finished up with her and by the time I left her room she was smiling and all cuddled in bed.  I then went to Coop's room to snuggle and tell him goodnight.  I lie down beside him and he says in a sad voice, "Daddy wouldn't let me tell him I loved him."
"He wouldn't", I said, "Why not?"  Coop responds, " because he wanted me to just go to sleep."  I assured him that Daddy loved him too and just wanted to make sure he got a good nights sleep.  Coop puts his hand on my cheek and says, "You please tell Daddy I always love him."  How sweet is that!!!  He truly melts my heart.  I gave him a kiss and told him Daddy always loves him too and that so do I.  He squeezed my neck and said, "You always love me Mommy, you never forget."  Oh how I hope he remembers that forever.  After I told Terry we heard Coop getting up and it didn't take Terry long to go back in and make sure Coop knew he loved him too.  I think it is a good thing Terry and I aren't super soft hearted because with these two we would be a sappy mess always!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY......

Yesterday was the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.  We have a float in the parade each year for Cooper's Cause Foundation.  It is always so much fun and the kids love it.  However, it is a very long day and we were all exhausted last night but definitely another successful year!  Coop, Raelynn, members of families we have funded and friends road in the back of the float while the adults ran behind and handed out candy.  It was an amazingly beautiful day.  The kids were chanting "Coopers Cause" in the back and Raelynn and some of her friends had made signs to hold.  It is really so great to see how involved the kids are getting.

Today we spent all afternoon outside working on the yard.  I cannot ever remember cleaning out flower beds and mowing in the middle of March!  I went to try to get some flowers to plant and they still don't even have everything in.  This weather is crazy!!!  It felt great to be outside though.  Today was also very exciting as Raelynn FINALLY learned to ride her bike without training wheels.  She loves to roller skate and ride her scooter but has never shown much interest in bike riding.  This weekend she asked Terry to take off her training wheels.  She said she knew she could do it now.  We have tried this a few times in the past always with no success and training wheels go back on.  This time was different.  She took off riding and rode up and down the sidewalk several times.  It was so nice to watch her and she was so proud of herself. I was just relieved that she finally got it :)

Last week Coop and I had eye doctor appointments and the news was fantastic for Coop!  When he is wearing his glasses, he uses both eyes perfectly.  He has wonderful depth perception and is having no issues.  I am so relieved as I know how limiting our eye condition can be.  So besides the fact that we have went through 2 pairs of glasses in the last week, he is doing great!  As soon as our new replacements come in we are going to start looking at a more durable and flexible pair for every day use and keep his nice trendy glasses for special occasions.  He is so good with his glasses, always taking them off when he is wrestling or being rough or even just rolling around.  But those darn balls; soccer balls, basketballs, baseballs.....they just have a way of finding Coop's face!

So as my excitement usually lies in my kids, this past week the excitement was definitely with my work.  We are making some BIG changes and I find them all super exciting.  This past week we hired a new employee as my former co-worker moved back to Missouri.  She is doing great.  She had an insurance background so training has been much simpler than usual.  It is always exciting to start someone new but in addition to that we are moving our office in May.  I am so excited about this change for so many reasons.  We are moving to a better area of town and much closer to where I live and where the kids go to school and daycare which will make things much easier.  But more than that I am just excited to have a fresh start. I had set new professional goals for this year that are a little "out of the box" for me but what I think I needed to do to improve my position at work.  Anyway, this move seems to just fall right in to place to help me reach those goals and for our office to grow.  I can't wait to see what else this year holds for me professionally and for our entire office.  In addition to all that excitement, on Friday I got the greatest "bonus" ever!  I am now the proud owner of the New IPad!!!!  I have come to love my Mac technology more than I ever knew possible.  My iPhone and Mac Book have cut my time spent working on the foundation in half because they are so efficient and mobile.  I have been wanting an IPad since they came out to give me just a little more mobility and easy access while I am waiting on the kids or over my lunch hour etc.  Anyway on Friday Tom had told me he was waiting on an important package and to call him when it arrived but wouldn't tell me what was in it.  When our FedEx guy delivered it I told him I had to know what was inside.  He said that was easy it was the New iPad and that he had delivered tons of them in the past day.  I was so jealous of Tom for getting one.  I text him to let him know it had arrived and I did so in a manner that he knew I was jealous :).  He called after my text and proceeded to tell me it was for me!!!  I didn't know what to say!!!!! I sometimes feel like I am the luckiest person alive and maybe just a little spoiled too!!!  I wanted to rip right into the box and start setting it up but I maturely waited until I got home but my poor children were completely neglected the entire evening (I am only joking I made dinner and the works before ripping into it)  It is all set up and I am loving it already.  Tom and Jan have been amazing to me since the day I started there.  They were wonderful as we fought through Coop's surgeries never once making me feel like my job was in jeopardy as I sat with Coop at the hospital.  They give me time to do "Mom" things like help at a school parties and serve on our school's Site Council.  They make the balancing act of being a full time employee and a good Mom actually successful.  In turn I try to never take advantage of that and work hard for them.  I am so lucky to have found them 14 years ago and for them to have accepted me!!!  Oh how things have changed since then!!!  Thank you Tom and Jan sooooo much!  I love you both!!!

BAMBI II--A REAL TEAR JERKER.........

Raelynn is at a sleep over tonight which of course makes me a little emotional anyway, but then Coop decided we should watch a movie together and chose Bambi II.  Raelynn never allows any Bambi movies to be watched so I thought this would be perfect!  Well, now I know why Raelynn never wants to watch it! I had to get up twice for kleenexes and I held Coop's hand through the whole thing.  I think I told him I loved him a million times throughout the movie.  It was ridiculous!!!  What a great movie though :)  It was a wonderful evening with Coop.  It is amazing how easy and how quiet the house is with only one munchkin.

Early last week I ran across a fact that made me really open my eyes and realize even more how precious our time with the kids really is.  The article read, "There are only 940 Saturdays between a child's birth and her leaving for college.  If your child is 5 years old, 260 of those Saturdays are already gone."  Now I don't know about anyone else but this was jaw dropping to me.  As a working Mom, I cherish Saturdays and Sundays.  Lately, however, with the kids getting older and being able to occupy themselves, I had started taking less time to set aside errands, housework, paperwork, laundry, etc. to just take a walk or play outside.  Well let me tell you this article was just what I needed.  Last weekend we spent time playing baseball with Coop and roller blading with Raelynn. 960 Saturdays is just not enough!!!  I wish we worked on the weekends and played during the week, this would give us 4,800 days together between their birth and them leaving for college and even that doesn't seem like enough!!!  How will I ever be ready!!!

This weekend is full of birthday fun.  This morning Coop and Raelynn both celebrated their friend Kaden's birthday.  They had a great time and Coop showed off his Bball skills but he was among some of the greats!

Coop also told me today he wished there was a Yes Day.  I questioned him as to what a "Yes Day" was.  He says, "It would be like when we wake up we would tell you, can we have pizza for breakfast and you would say Yes!"  He went on and gave me a few more examples.  Then I confirmed that it would be awesome and when I asked he and Raelynn to act calm and sit down they would say yes and do it.  Coop responded, "Yea that wouldn't make Yes Day so fun!"  I guess I thought if he could dream so could I! :)

As I sit here updating this blog, I am constantly looking at my phone.  Could you imagine if my daughter no longer needed to call to tell me goodnight from her sleep over?  Just another sign that she is growing up and I am not!  I know she is having a great time and luckily I can see the house from our back window where she is, not that I am stocking them or anything, hahaha! So I guess, 10am tomorrow when I pick her up will be here soon enough...........tick, tick, tick...........