after school jam session

here's what the boys did after school recently. probably would have looked a bit more realistic if they weren't
smiling so huge! they had fun.

yep, they took the pictures of each other & i discovered them on the camera later.

nebby friend

the last 2 weeks cooper's gotten quite effiecient at handling the nebulizer by himself. i help him get it going (add the meds) and then he watches tv or plays the power ranger game. i check on him a few times but a couple of times i've gotten side tracked & he turned it off himself. "the smoke was gone mom, so i turned it off." good boy. i'm sure he'll be a doctor someday with all his experience.

babykyla

look at my friend holly's little sweetie. i love these pictures. i want to cuddle that sweet little girl!

rare breed

ok, if you are a goose hunter, you may appreciate this. last week brad invited me to the goose pit (can you believe it?) & what do you know? he said i was his "lucky charm." he got three geese.

one he had to chase. it was hilarious as i stood at the top of the hill. he asked me to go pick one up & i looked at him & said, "do you know who you're talking to?"

i did not pick up a goose in case you are wondering.

anyway, the one he had to chase ended up being the rare one. it has unique white striping across the breast. brad was excited about it. enough that he has it "preserved" in a trash bag in the freezer until the taxidermist can mount it.

oh joy. i get to enjoy the goose in the freezer for a year & then on the wall.

phase 1

phase 1 of our several step (we're not completely sure how many steps) remodel. after moving back to imperial we purchased a home that needs a bit of work. we're enjoying our location & our lower house taxes! but we really need to open the house up to use the space better.

so, last week, as i was battling strep throat, i heard brad pounding/tearing/sawing the wall between the kitchen & dining room. here's the work in progress with his little helper (cooper). the other kids were at youth & awana so they didn't get in on the demo.
wall before...

what some lucky previous owner endured

daddy's helper

wall out! aah. breathing room.

hiding out

this morning's event:

gather 7, 5 & 3 yr old in the kitchen to "hide" from women ringing the doorbell.

then try to explain why i didn't want to answer the door.

1. i am still in pj's & not ready to face the world.
2. i do not want to deal with them or the literature they want to give me.

lessons to be learned?

1. yes, it's ok to not answer your door even if you are home. just like screening your telephone calls. peering out the window is just like using caller i.d. right?

2. sometimes people try to talk you into things that aren't right. they can take true information out of context & twist it into meaning what they want.

duck, duck, goose

actually it was just one duck. the duck wasn't lucky, but hunter sure was! here's hunter's first bird "kill." and self-portraits of him & his game.

34 & 2 days

Yep, that's me. 34 & 2 days old. Isn't it funny how your birthdays change as you get older? My kids kept asking me if they could come to my birthday party. I said, yeah, we'll have our own little party.

Brad was gone, but it was still a nice day. Sonja brought lunch for Cooper & I (he was home sick). She also sent me flowers. Flowers 2 times in one month, I could get used to that!

Cooper & I went to the store to get birthday dessert. I couldn't figure out what I wanted for supper that night, so we just had brownies, cheesecake & ice cream bars.

Brad brought me home boots, too. I'd been wanting some to wear with jeans this winter. They're super cute.

I'm thankful for all of you that made my day special-Pete & Paulette, Mom & Dad, my kids, Brad & Melissa. It was fun getting greetings on facebook too!

smell

should i be worried if my 3 year old says, "ummm. i love that smell of fire!" after i light a candle?

if you're happy & you know it

clap your hands for the morning bus service the school is going to provide starting monday!

i am so excited i won't even have to leave the house in the mornings until i am officially ready to exit. no more running frantically out the door in my pj's & coat to rush the kids to school. no more fighting or pestering on the way there.

of course this also means getting them ready 15 minutes earlier than normal.

can we do it? yes we can!

this also means we'll have to pray at home rather than in the car.

can we do it? yes we can!

will i miss our "pep talk" & prayer time on the way to the school? possibly. but i'm still clapping for now.

boxing princess

seriously if you want a good chuckle, come listen to kam & chlo do boxing on the wii. they were totally dancing around & cheering for each other "hit him in the face! hit him in the face! you almost got him!"

wasn't it just 5 minutes before that they were pretending they were princesses?

New Year's Eve Ugly Sweater Party

we had a great time at our ugly sweater new year's eve party. thanks for being great sports with the sweaters. it'll be fun to hunt all year long for the ugliest sweater for next time. congratulations to our "winners" (by people's choice) aaron & sonja!

yesterdays chat

sitting in the living room i could hear chloe & cooper talking.

cooper: chloe you wanna hear me burp?
chloe: yeah.
cooper: ok, i gotta get a drink.
(several mini-burps & 1 larger burp later)
cooper: i did a lot of them.

no response from chloe. i'm not sure she knew what to say.

13

13 magical years.
happy anniversary honey.
and thanks (many, many, thanks) for the flowers.

Bond Christmas 08

Ba Ba Names

Guy (his favorite), Bug, Twinkle Twinkle, Colby, Lizard, Bear and now my all time favorite, the Oven Ba Ba.

Cooper names all of his blankets according to what is on them or who gave it to him & now even after where he finds them...

The Oven Ba Ba.

As we were leaving my parent's house last weekend we'd already loaded the day's Ba Ba. Cooper was standing near the oven & asked for his Ba Ba. I said it was already in the car & he noticed the towel on the oven & touched it. You could see the little wheels turning in his mind.

My mom let him take her towel because he thought it felt nice & soft like a Ba Ba should. So, now we have the Oven Ba Ba.