THE GOOD NEWS FIRST.....

We had another successful golf tournament for CCF!  Every year I am amazed and the work everyone's put in to making this golf tournament such a success!  From the committee that organizes, to the sponsors and the players, everyone is so kind, dedicated and worthy of great praise.  There is no way I will EVER be able to express to everyone how much we appreciate their support!!!!  Once again the golf tournament was very successful.  Our final numbers are not in yet but am hopeful we cleared $10K again this year!!!

Registration, Cool Tent huh?

The kids' Lemonade Stand and Marshall, the representative from our Title Sponsor Hillcrest Wrecker!

Belinda and her beautiful lockets!!!

Coop headed to the putting green!

The kids get a ride on the wrecker!

Terry

Terry and Curtis on Coop's Hole

Pastor Bill and Rich who play on our team!  Rich's son was born with heart defects and is now 15!!!!

Terry and Kim Murphree, the night's Emcee!

The only bad thing as Friday came to a close was know there was a lot of "clean up" to do and that my Mom would be leaving Sunday with my kids.  It is that time of year that Raelynn and Coop go out to Western Kansas for a week and it is the longest week ever!!!  I am trying to keep busy but its just quiet and boring around here.  I actually am rested and almost everything is done.  I really am not sure what to do with myself.  There is no one asking for more milk or asking me where something is.  There is no laundry to do or mess to clean up.  There is no one that wants to snuggle or just needs a hug or kiss.  There is no one to cook for or needs a lunch made.  There is no one who needs to be reminded to take a shower or lay out their clothes for tomorrow.  There are no unexpected events to prepare for the next day or interruptions in my day to have glasses fixed or run to the doctor.  It is really, really, really boring and quiet.  Sure I could cook for Terry or even snuggle with him but let's be honest, it just isn't the same.  (I love you Terry but you are just not as cuddly as they are!)  Friday cannot come soon enough.  I am pretty sure the time will creep by on Friday and it will be the longest 6 hour drive to Western Kansas we have ever had but when I can hug them again, it will all be good again!  They, of course, are having a great time and I am happy they are, I just hope Terry and I can find something fun too! 

Last week Coop spent the days with Aunt Bonnie.  He had a wonderful time on the farm all day long.  His cousin Jaxson joined them one day and Raelynn, Emma and Sydney on another.  He loved his week with Aunt Bonnie.  One night when I asked him what they had done he said he played catch with Aunt Bonnie.  I said that sounded fun and then Coop said, "Aunt Bonnie's not very good at catch!"  I could not help but laugh!  I think he wore her out but he was super happy to have the chance to do it!

Well I guess that is all I have for tonight, there is not much to write about without the funny, cute ones around :(  Maybe tomorrow night we can put away all the golf stuff over a bottle of wine and another night could be a manicure and pedicure.  Maybe I will find a way to make it through the week afterall!

LOVIN' SUMMER......

This summer is, of course, going by way too fast!  We are having so much fun and I just wish summer could last forever.  The next few weeks the kids are all over the place and I know from now until school starts will fly by so I thought I better catch everyone up on what's been happening!

Terry has been busy at work, busy at home and busy with the golf tournament preparations.  Cooper's Cause Foundation's 6th Annual Golf Tournament is this Friday and so the last couple weeks have been busy with organizing and planning the final details.  This week will be absolutely nuts but is all worth it.  Every year we hear new testimony of how we are helping others and I cannot tell you what fuel it is to keep on going.  In February we brought on another board member and someone to help me out.  It has been fantastic.  I feel like we are more organized and achieving more of our goals.  So the focus this week will be on the Golf Tourney and the celebration will be on Friday!

Raelynn has been riding!  I have to say it seems like that is about all she does these days.  I am so proud of her and she has came sooooo far this year.  She is currently high point in one of her classes and has surpassed 100 points which is a pretty big deal.  The racing is coming along and even though she is not much of a dare devil, she is really getting more adventurous on the horse.  Her pony, Moon, is becoming a real partner little by little.  Probably the most fun for her and me is that she has met some great new people.  Thanks to Aunt Bonnie setting up a horse play date, Raelynn made friends with another girl her age in the circuit.  The cool part is that this little new friend also has a wonderfully fun family.  She has a little sister who is 4 who has taken a liking to Coop. :)  She is a little ball of fire and is so stinkin' cute.  She has this little tiny horse and she and Coop play for hours!  Her Mom is awesome as well.  We have had some good laughs watching our kids.  Anyway, it has sure made show and racing season a lot more fun for us all!  Last week Raelynn and Emma were doing Rescue Race and they fell off.  It was a little scary but the girls did great keeping their composure and there were no tears shed, not even by me!  It really made me realize how far Raelynn has came.  Below is a video of the rescue race.  Raelynn is the rider that is picked up!

Raelynn and Moon

We have to take a little time off from riding to swim!

Practicing with friends!

Raelynn and her friend Emma practicing Rescue Race

Raelynn with Charm

Raelynn at her riding clinic!  She did great!

Cooper is a little bummed because T-Ball is over and nothing else has began yet.  He is constantly on the go and I am just thankful that he has been able to play and have fun at the horse shows or I think he would have exploded by now.  He continues to amaze me.  He is absolutely hilarious and a constant comedian.  He is also maturing a little bit and becoming more aware of his limitations.  I asked him this week if he was ready for soccer to start again and he very quietly said he did not want to play anymore.  I was so surprised I stopped what I was doing and asked him why.  He said, "I get so tired and it takes me so long to cool off.  I can't cool down and I'm too tired after I play."  The thing is that Terry and I have seen this for some time but he never seemed to.  Now it seems he is starting to recognize that there are sports he can do that do not take him all day to recover from, T-Ball being one of them.  He did seem sad about this and I asked him if it made him sad not to play and he said only if he couldn't do other things.  I promised him I would make sure he got to do other things and asked him what he wanted to do.  Apparently he had already thought about that because he instantly said, "I want to swim again and take Karate and play basketball.  Then it will be summer again and I can play baseball again!"  I had to chuckle just like I did on Thursday night when he literally did a happy dance when Terry took him golfing.  Needless to say, as long as the boy is busy he is happy!

This craziness is after a horse show!  Yep, we get this dirty and I even allow it!  I guess I have came a long way too!

Coop and his new school supplies!

No one is listening to my No Four Wheeler rule!

Coop and his friend Sydney.  Raelynn teased him that it was his girlfriend and he said, "No she's not!"  He then turned to me wish a puzzled look and said, "Is she?"  Too cute!

Coop and Sydney on George 

Pure trouble again!

Coop golfing, sort of :)

Coop's new hang out, hahaha!

I am busy as usual but so happy.  It is hard to feel anything but excitement daily when you have two amazing kids that bring something new to the table on a daily basis.  Last week a friend that I don't get to see much, simply text me, "Just texting to say Hi!"  She text me in the middle of rushing to pick up kids and rushing to riding lessons and it made me smile and take a deep breath.  It is those little things that make me realize I am the luckiest person in the world.  I have wonderful friends and even though I don't get to spend much time with them they are each so special to me in so many ways.  I count my blessings every day!  I also have found an old friend on Facebook, or I guess she found me, but I haven't kept in touch with her after a falling out we had and it makes me sad.  She has a beautiful family and every picture I see I wish I had been a better friend to her.  It was a lesson I learned a long time ago and I have never forgotten.  I cherish every friendship I have now and try so hard to be a truly good friend.  I wish I had never learned the hard way but glad, at least I learned, that friendship and family are precious and should be treated with respect, honesty and loyalty always!!!!  To my beautiful friend, I hope you have everything you dreamed of and more!!!

FUN 4TH, FUN FRIDAY, SILLY SATURDAY..........

We had a great 4th of July at Aunt Steph's!  We celebrated with family and friends so it doesn't get better than that.  Unfortunately we did have one injury, or I guess one injured multiple times :)  Raelynn, of course, had a little incident with a run a way firework and another with a wild punk!  Other than that, it was so much fun!

Friday Terry and I had to work but friends and family made sure the kids fun continued.  Raelynn had a  horse play date that Aunt Bonnie set up with another family that's in our circuit who has a girl Raelynn's age.  I thought it was a great idea but I had no idea how much fun she was going to have.  The other Mom was sweet enough to send me pics and text throughout the day letting me know how well they were hitting it off.  When Raelynn got home Friday night she literally talked about her day for an hour straight!  She stopped long enough shower and then started right back up.  I had to finally ask her to save the rest for the next day so she would go to sleep.  It was awesome to hear her excitement and see her smiles.

Coop was invited to spend the day with his friend from preschool who had moved away.  They played and went to the pool and also had a great day!  He is so macho and cute around his friends.

Today we started with Coop's last T-Ball game of the season.  Coop LOVED T-Ball and was super sad that it was over.  He is already asking what is next :)  I know I am a little biased but he is so cute!  Today I was taking his picture and he said, "Stop Mom!"  He had the most adorable smile on his face and I told him I would stop when he stops being so cute.  He said, "MooooooM!"  I love that I already embarrass him because it is going to get soooo much worse!!!

After T-Ball we went to Despicable Me 2.  The kids loved it and I loved spending 2 hours listening to them giggle.  I love my kids and the days I get to spend with them!!!

OH NOT THIS MORNING!!!

This morning was one of those, "Oh no, not this morning!" mornings.  You know the kind, you are running late, rushing everyone, pushing multi tasking to the limits and then, that thing happens that has to halt everything and you have to deal with it.  Well this morning we are rushing out the door, Raelynn was headed out to get in the car and I paused inside to grab a few things and tell Coop and Terry goodbye.  I walked out the door and there at the end of our driveway stood Raelynn just staring.  Across the street in the undeveloped area full of trees was a bulldozer cutting down trees.  You could just see the very top of it but you could hear it.  I knew right away we had problems.  I walked up behind Raelynn and she turned around with tears streaming down her face, "Why are they taking the trees down, we will never see the deer again, I don't want them to do that!"  There are so many wonderful things about having a loving and sentimental daughter but there are also some really tough ones.  We have been talking about this for a few weeks because we could tell by the flags and markings that they were getting ready to do something across the street but I guess our forewarning didn't really help.  I knelt down and hugged her and then we went back inside to see if Terry knew what they were planning to do.  It was really so sad.  These types of heartaches I can't just fix and she knows that so I just hugged her and reminded her of how lucky we have been to have the opportunity to see the deer in the past.  I told her we would get to see new things now and that the deer would find us again, maybe out at Aunt Bonnie's or Aunt Steph's.  I think it helped a little but it sure put our rushed morning into perspective.

What a fantastically insane weekend we had.  Beautiful Raelynn turned 8!  It is hard to believe that 8 years have already flown by but they have been amazing!  I cannot even begin to explain what I have learned, felt, understood and wondered in 8 years.  With every piece of my being I know that being a mother to Raelynn and Cooper is what I was put on this Earth to do but it was Raelynn who captured my heart first and taught me to love.  She is a wonderful daughter and sister and I cannot wait to see what the next year holds.  Saturday we had her birthday party and that was about as hectic as I can handle.  I have no idea what I would have done without Mom and and the rest of the family to help.  We got up bright and early and headed to a horse show Saturday morning.  It was the Youth Show so I had to work in the concessions.  Cassidy and Chandler helped Bonnie and Raelynn with their preparations and such.  We left the horse show early to make it to Coop's game at 11:30am.  We were late but still got to see him.  Then it was home to eat a bite and change for Raelynn's Pool Party.  Sherri, Cassidy and Chandler were a huge help here while Mom and Steph stayed back with Terry to get everything ready for the family party after the pool party.  It was all a great success and Raelynn loved it all so that is all that matters, but with a house full of company and 6 little girls for a sleep over, I think I about lost my mind!!!By 4pm Sunday I have my house clean and quiet and back to normal.  I was exhausted! Thank you so much to all our family and friends for making it a fantastic 8th Birthday for Raelynn.

Monday was Raelynn's actual birthday so it started out with homemade blueberry pancakes and a little gift from her brother.  I surprised her for lunch and gave her another little gift, tickets to Despicable Me 2.  I think she loved having me their for lunch so that was fun.  Then we brought treats for her friends and staff at BGC.  When I picked her up she had another surprise at home and then over to Topeka for dinner at Huhot and a little shopping at Justice !  It was another long day but as I tucked her in she thanked me for making her birthdays the best and I knew I had again succeeded.  I love making their birthdays specials!!!

 After Monday, this is how we all felt!!!