211/365 – Ten years already?

It is so hard to believe, but Noah turned TEN years old today!  Ten years ago, I saw that adorable face for the first time.  I had no idea how fast time would fly.  I had no idea how incredibly smart, silly, handsome, loving, and fun he would be.  I had no idea that the love I felt for him that day, as overwhelming as it was, was only the tip of the iceberg.  TEN YEARS!

As is our usual family birthday plan, we let Noah pick the spot for his birthday dinner and he picked Chili’s.  We had a great dinner and then went to Best Buy and bought the only gift that he asked for…Guitar Hero Metallica. 

We love you, Noah!

204/365 – End of Summer Party

 

Today the homeschool groups in our area were having an End of Summer party at the jump party shop.  They had the inflatables inside to jump on and then later they set up the water slide outside.  We were there for over 3 hours and it was a really fun day. 

185/365 – Independence Day

    

Our fourth didn’t go completely as planned, but turned out to be a great day.  That afternoon we had a cookout and Cooper and Noah helped me make a fireworks cake.  After an afternoon swim, we packed up the leftover hot dogs and cake and headed to the fireworks.  It was a beautiful evening…not too hot.   We set up the chairs and the dome umbrella and had our picnic dinner then the boys headed out into the field to play while Dwight and I talked and listened to the band.  Finally it was time to break out the glow sticks and watch the fireworks.  Happy Birthday, America!

172/365 – Happy Father’s Day!

 

We are very blessed to have Dwight and all of our wonderful grandfathers in our family.  We love you all!

164/365 – Cook Family Gathering

 

Today we met with Dwight’s dad, uncles, and some newly-introduced distant cousins for lunch in Covington.  They had been corresponding by email having found that they are distantly related through their great-grandfather (I believe), and they were going to meet with some other relatives at a church near a cemetery where their ancestors are buried.   Dwight’s Aunts Jean and Juanita arrived shortly after this photo was taken.  Unfortunately, Jean fell at the restaurant and had to go to the emergency room to be checked, so not everything went exactly as planned.  We went to the ER to stay with Jean so that the others could make it to the church for a short visit with the others who were waiting.  Thankfully she had only received minor injuries and was able to go home that evening. 

144/365 – Memorial Day Weekend with the Morrisons

Tonight we spent the evening at our friends’ house and had a lot of fun.  The boys really enjoyed jumping on the trampoline. 

141/365 – Last Day of School

 

Cooper’s class all dressed in red-white-and-blue and had to make their own patriotic hats for a parade through the school.  Afterwards, they had games and activities in and outside of the gym, followed by a end-of-year party in the classroom. Goodbye Pre-K!  Next year…Kindergarten!

130/365 – Mother’s Day

Today is the day that I get to celebrate one of the absolute best things in my life, being a mother to my boys.  These are the cards that they made me this year.  Cooper’s has two sides, so you can see the reverse lettering on the front from the other side. :) Noah is really into the big thick lettering these days, so I am sure that he enjoyed making his.  There aren’t any cards in any store that could come close to the joy these cards bring.

110/365 - Happy Birthday, Cooper!!!

Today is Cooper’s actual birthday, after a weekend of celebrating. Five years old already…so hard to believe.   We had a great day together.  We made cupcakes and goody bags to take to his class tomorrow, so the celebrating can continue for one more day!  We love you so much, Cooper!!

107-365 – Cooper’s Birthday Dinner

Today started with Cooper’s first visit to the fire station for a tour and refresher course on fire safety, but that was only the beginning of the day’s fun.  Cooper’s 5th birthday is next Monday so we decided to have a  small family celebration with the Morrisons tonight.  Cooper picked Red Lobster for his birthday dinner (that’s my boy!), since he loves shrimp, but mostly because he loves seeing all of the lobsters in the tank.  After a delicious dinner, everyone came back to our house for cake and games.  Joshua and Dylan gave Cooper a video game for his new DSi, which Cooper and Noah both got earlier this month for their birthday present  from us this year. 

Just look at that face…that’s a happy guy!

102/365 – Family Easter Photo

 

We had a great Easter.  After the kids went through their Easter baskets and had an egg hunt around the front yard, we posed for our second family photo of 2009.  

101/365 – Easter Preparations

Tonight the boys and I dyed eggs  and decorated some of them with Star Wars gear.  We also made homemade salt dough  to make Easter cut-outs that we baked to use to make magnets.  The colors turned out really cool…actually a kind of tie-dyed look.   

98/365 – Spending the Morning With Cooper

Today was Cooper’s school Easter egg hunt at a local park.  The weather is crazy again, so as we were getting ready I saw that it was 29 degrees!  Fortunately, by the time we got to the park and it was time to get out of the car it was inching closer to 40 degrees…still not the most “Eastery” weather, but much more bearable. 

We had a great time looking for Cooper’s eggs.  He was number 13 and he had to run all over the field looking for eggs that had his number on them.  It took about 30 minutes for everyone to find all of their eggs and about 30 seconds to start tearing into them to get the candy.   When the hunt was over we were able to go  home for the day, so Cooper had a little mid-week vacation from class. 

94/365 – Putt-Putt

Spring Break, Day 8

Today we spent the afternoon playing miniature golf.  We played 36 holes and everyone got at least one hole-in-one (Noah got 3!).  It was the first time that  Cooper had ever played, so he had a great time and it was fun seeing him get so excited when he would do well. 

93/365 – Let’s Go Fly a Kite

Spring Break, Day 7

Today was the first day that the weather seemed right for flying the kites.  We drove to the park and the wind was blowing like crazy.  Dwight had to construct the new kites that we had picked up last summer and he didn’t realize that the first kite was missing a couple of pieces so it took forever.  Finally he started working on the other kite and that’s when he figured out that the first kite wasn’t complete. 

The boys played at the playground and ran around in the field while he worked on the kites and finally they were ready.  They were really pretty and it was fun, but unfortunately the wind was starting to die down some and about 30 or 45 minutes later, we had to call it a day as the wind was all but gone. 

Even though it was a short time, it was great being out enjoying the windy weather.  Maybe we’ll do better next time. 

92/365 – Happy Birthday to Dad

Spring Break, Day 6

Today was Dad’s 40th birthday.  We had a seafood “feast” of fried catfish, sautéed shrimp, boiled Jonah crab claws , and garlic cheese grits.  It was capped off with his requested cake, lemon bundt with lemon glaze.     It was a quiet family evening, and having the week off has made the whole week a celebration.   

We love you, Dwight!  There is no one I would rather have beside me as we start this next decade. :)

91/365 – Movie Day

Spring Break, Day 5

Today we went to the movies to see Monsters Vs. Aliens.  It was a 3D movie, so we got to wear the cool 3D glasses.  Cooper just looks so hilariously cute with those huge glasses on…kind of like Mr. Magoo, I think.

90/365 – Baby Birds

Spring Break, Day 4

The baby birds are starting to hatch.  As of today there are two babies and two eggs left.   We are really enjoying watching them, but we have to be really careful coming in and out of the front door.  The mama bird is more concerned about us now that they are hatching and we don’t want her to get hurt trying to avoid us or to think that we want to hurt the babies.

89/365 – Fun at the Park

Spring Break, Day 3

Today we took the boys to check out a new park.  It was really cool!  There was a huge tri-level tower with really long slides, rock walls for climbing, balancing disks, spinners and, of course, the swings.  We spent about an hour and a half there and then went for ice cream afterwards. 

76/365 – My Handsome Leprechauns

Today is St. Patrick’s Day and the boys looked so handsome in their green shirts.  We went to Bruster’s after dinner tonight and had green ice cream to celebrate.  Erin Go Bragh!