TERRY'S BIRTHDAY WEEKEND....

Terry's birthday was Friday. It is always so hard to figure out what to get him. There is nothing he wants except things that are too expensive for us to buy and that is why he doesn't have them. He has been looking at buying a GPS system for his truck for months. A few weeks ago I decided to get that for him for his birthday and Christmas together. The problem was I knew he knew exactly what he wanted but I didn't. So I called Kathy at the store and asked her if she thought we could fool Terry into going to Best Buy for a "carpet measurement" but instead I would be there and surprise him. He could then pick out what he wanted. Well it worked like a charm. He was definitely surprised and I think he was really happy and excited. I was so happy because I love to do nice things for him it is just that he never really wants for anything. Anyway that was my gift to him. Earlier in the week I had taken Raelynn and Cooper shopping for their gift to him. Raelynn decided he needed a new stocking hat to keep him warm this winter. she picked out a really nice KU one. She was so excited to give it to him but did such a good job of keeping it a secret.


After their gift Raelynn wanted to make Daddy Birthday Brownies. Everyone helped including Terry. Well actually Raelynn and I made the brownies and everyone helped clean up.


Today was a big day too. We went to Kansas City and had our family picture and Cooper's 1 Year pictures taken. I was so happy to finally be able to do this. I did not want to take pictures until Cooper was free from all tubes. Pictures went really well and the kids were great. They are both so darn cute! Cooper did a fabulous job and did not get fussy at all until the very end and we had already gotten several pictures. We go back on Wednesday to pick them and I know it is going to be hard but I am so excited. After that we headed to Nebraska Furniture Mart to check out washers and dryers. My washing machine was on its last leg. There was only 1 cycle that worked, Permanent Press, and often it would not spin the clothes. We have known for quite awhile that we needed to get a new one but they are just so expensive. Then on Friday, the dryer stopped drying. I would run it and run it and clothes were still wet. I could not take it any more. So I am now the proud owner of a new washer and dryer and they are amazing. It is unbelievable the things they do now. We did buy a front load but by no means bought the top of the line. I am very happy with them though and since doing laundry seems to be what I do in every second of my spare time these days, it is nice to have a set that actually do what they are designed for :).

Oh yeah, and how can I forget, Raelynn and Cooper are starting their own band using my bowls, pots and pans. We are so thrilled that their practicing has become a nightly event. Unfortunately, they are not improving very rapidly, hahaha!

RAELYNN'S NEW DO.....

I have not yet decided if I like it, but Raelynn has a new do. She loves it. It was just getting to the point that we were putting in up in some fashion every day. If not, by the end of the day it would just be tangled and stringy. It should be much easier for us both to take care of and hopefully it will thinken up a bit and then look better as it grows out.

ELMO LIVE.....

Last night Raelynn and I went with some friends to Elmo Live in Topeka. We had so much fun. Raelynn does not watch Sesame Street all that often but she does know who Elmo is even though she calls him Nemo! We road to Topeka with Kelly and Kaden and Kaden is a HUGE Elmo fan. The fact that Raelynn calls Elmo Nemo really made Kaden irritated. He continually corrected her which made us laugh, including Raelynn. I think this is why she continued to call him Nemo. Anyway, the evening was so much fun.
We went with three friends and thier little ones and it was so cute to watch all the kids. Raelynn also had her first experience with cotton candy. I wish I could have caught her face on camera when she first tried it. Her expression was priceless. None of the other kids were too eager to try it after they saw her reaction, but after a few more bites she was hooked.

OUR FIRST FOUNDATION MEETING....

Last night was our first Cooper's Cause Foundation Meeting. I cannot even tell you how excited I am. First of all, I do not think we could have selected a better board of directors. They all seem to have fundraising experience and no one was hesitant to offer suggestions. We are all ready to make this foundation something big and make big impacts on families' lives. We have already established committee heads for 3 of the fundraisers for next year and hope they will begin working right away. There are also some additional fundraisers I found out about today I am really excited about but cannot say just yet as the final "ok" has not been given. I would never wish to go through what we have nor would I ever wish this upon Cooper, but given the situation, I could not be prouder to be where we are now. We were given such a challenge and have been so fortunate to make something so good out of it. I don't think we could honor Cooper any better than to be doing what we are now. I hope he grows with the foundation and has the passion and respect we do for everyone involved.

Today was election day! I wish I would have taken Raelynn with me to vote. I think it would have been a good experience for her but unfortunately our schedules did not allow for it. Raelynn enjoys watching the news in short spurts these days. She is quite the weather woman. This morning I told her I had to go early to vote. She of course wanted to know what vote was. I explained by saying we choose who we want to run the world. I don't know why I said world, I was trying to find words she would understand. As soon as I said it she says to me, I thought God ran the world. I smiled as I am trying desperately to leave not only to go vote but to get away from these difficult questions from a 3 year old. I told her that I misspoke and we vote to see who is in charge of our country. Then she wanted to know what "our country" was. I said it is where we live, she says I thought we lived in Lawrence. Needless to say I was getting no where. Then the guy on the news says something about election day and to get out and vote for our next president and Raelynn turns to me as though I had been completely wrong about everything I was telling her and says, Mom you're voting for the next president, Obama or McCain, you should watch the news. What!!!???? It was that simple. I didn't have to explain who or what a president was, just simply tell her that I was voting for a president! I would have been out the door 15 minutes earlier had I just known! It was cute though and just reminded me she knows more than I think. Raelynn also got her first homework assignment today. She was to practice squares, rectangles, diamonds and cutting out circles. Before bed we got a story book that has these shapes and each time she saw one I asked her to draw it on a piece of paper I had given her. Well, I now know why she was sent home with the assignment. It is quite apparent that my daughter has inherited my inability to comprehend geometry. I am sure her father is very disappointed :). After 20 minutes of drawing squares and rectangles we decided we would save diamonds for another night. I wonder if her teacher would find humor if I taught my daughter diamonds came in rings, necklaces and earrings and their shape was irrelevant but rather the color, clarity and size were of the utmost importance? Not sure I should go there yet, but it is much more interesting than trying to explain to her why her squares and rectangles look the same and they shouldn't and why it is of any importance to know how to draw them anyway :) (No worries, I really do not project that to my daughter, I keep it for complaining to Terry later.)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN....

We had a great time at Halloween. Every year Terry is in charge of carving pumpkins. I do not have an artistic bone in my body nor do I in any way enjoy doing anything crafty and carving pumpkins definitely falls into that category for me. However, I truly love watching them and taking the pictures. Anyone that knows Terry knows he is a perfectionist and watching him try to make perfection out of carving pumpkins with a 3 year old is very entertaining.


They had a great time and gave Terry a reason to get out some of his tools, oh yes, in this house pumpkin carving is done with power tools!




Raelynn had a Halloween Party at preschool too on Friday. I went to work feeling horrible because they had the first 45 minutes the parents could stay and the kids had a little parade. I felt like I could not take off work so Terry stayed. I know it all meant the same to Raelynn having Daddy there but I felt horrible. I sent the camera with Terry and asked him to please take no less than 10 pictures so I could see how it went. Like the perfectly wonderful husband he is, he showed up at work with the camera and 20 some pictures for me to look at as soon as he left preschool. I was so happy to see them. I guess Raelynn was a little shy at the beginning which carried right on into Halloween night. She said everyone dressed up scared her. Silly girl! Anyway, we got home from work Friday night and got the kids dressed up and out we went. We still just visit a handful of people we know around town and then usually walk one area. The kids had fun and we got to see all our friends and their adorable kids.


This morning we got to watch Kaden for a few hours. It was so much fun. He and Raelynn played and played and played. Kaden tried to play/wrestle with Cooper but Cooper was just not quite ready for that yet! It was all so cute and fun and made my job really easy. It is amazing how much easier it is to watch other kids once you have your own. They completely entertained one another and I even tried to play with them but Raelynn told me it was just play for her and Kaden. I guess Mom is already not so cool!!!