What they say

Isabelle: Mom

Mom: What

Isabelle: Mom I just heard a new "v" word, Vegas, Vyzs but I don't know what it means

Mom: That's not how you spell it, laughing.

Happy 1st Birthday Cooper

Today my baby is no longer a baby or infant. He is officially a toddler. Never mind that he has been walking for a month, and getting into everything he can get his hands on, all which would make him seem like a toddler already. We celebrated his birthday on Saturday with friends and family. I figured the grandparents would want to be able to share in our joy of his wonderful boy, so we got together a little early.


He was very excited to have all the attention and spend time with some of his favorite people. Great Grandma Libby, Oma and Grandpa Don all came up from San Antonio. While Grandpa Bernie and Grandma Susie came in from Sulphur Springs, plus we had wonderful friends who live close by, Angie and Gene and their two kids came to play. Along with my college roommate, Paige and her son, and you can not forget Auntie Penny. It was a perfect amount of kids and guest for the little guy.

Everyone enjoyed themselves and welcomed Cooper into the world of being one. He was too cute with his cake; he really just wanted to eat the frosting and only really got into the cake when we cut it open for him. He did not really focus on any one present but checked them all briefly out and moved on to the next one.

I cannot really say what his goals will be for the next phase of his life, but you can be sure it will be walking and then running (since he already tries that). And in the summer swimming and enjoying life outside since what kid does not want to play outside. I think there will be facial features, colors and shapes on the menu as well.

So here is a very Happy Birthday to Cooper Finn! You are such a joy to have in our lives.

Teamwork Baby

My kids make me laugh everyday, multiple times a day. I was folding laundry today and I look out the window to check on the kids and they are pushing each other up into the tree to try to get a bucket. Or who knows what but it was so funny to see them “helping” each other in this way that I just had to take a picture. They are very creative and have wonderful imaginations; I hope they keep that up all their lives.

Window

In the continuing adventures of an almost one year old, today I thought I would open the windows. I was working on the lap top because something mysteriously happened to the mouse on the big computer. And after I was done I decided to check things out at the big computer. I forgot to move the stool under the table so Cooper would not climb on it. Well the next thing I hear is a big crash, bang. I run into the living room and don’t see Cooper but I can hear him crying, it is kind of muffled, I figure he’s between the couch and the wall. Well no, Bear informs me that he fell out the window. Yup that’s right he climbed up on the stool, onto the table and thought he would check things out by going out the screen. I’m sure it was a pretty scary two foot fall for a little guy. Fortunately he is just fine two little scrapes on his head but nothing else wrong. I’m sure it won’t be the last time this kid falls down. After I picked him up and made sure he was fine a gave a little chuckle, it's kind of funny. And this is the reason why I don't open the windows up stairs unless I'm there with them, and sometimes not even then.

Skate Away

Isabelle has started her extra social circuit of birthday parties for friends from school at last. She is the oldest in her class and now all of her classmates are starting to have their birthday celebrations. One of the first parties she has gone to was an ice skating party. She could hardly wait! We got there and the first thing out of her mouth was, Mom when are we going to skate. Never mind that other party stuff, I want to have fun and skate. Unfortunately we did have to do that other party stuff first before hitting the ice. She was so excited about skating that she did not even have any cake. I know a kid who does not eat cake at a party. I had to eat her piece. (I even thought about an extra one, but passed).

Once she as on the rink she stayed pretty close to the wall but did venture out some. It was pretty fun to watch and be close. Last time I had to stay on the side lines and just watch. I think she did pretty well; I wanted to get a picture of her and Milee (the birthday girl) together but never quite got the chance on the ice. Oh well I’m sure there will be other parties.

Except for being a little shy and not wanting to show off her Vikings jersey she had a great time. I was sad she did not show off her jersey since the Vikings really put it to the “Cowgirls.” Oh well maybe next year Romo.

Toilet Paper the great debate

I was watching TV at some point very recently, as I have been known to do on occasion, and this ad comes up for toilet paper. Now I do not usually pay too much attention to ads, why give the advertisers the satisfaction, after all they are pretty much a waste of time. Cottonelle is currently running an ad that is encouraging people to go out and vote for which way their rolls go. Now I prefer them to go over, easy of use and everything. While I do not think Ben puts any thought into it and just places the roll. So I can always tell when he has put one on because it will be facing the wrong way. It amazes me that something so simple could intrigue that many people to go out and vote. Or that it would be worthy enough to produce a commercial for in the first place. Oh well, I guess I'm blogging about it too, so what does that say. Which way do your rolls go and are you going to vote?

The Gander and Hwy 360

Happy New Year, I hope everyone had a fun, safe and relaxing New Years Eve. We had a great time with a few close couples and their kids. Now on to my interesting story:

One time as a kid, when we were living in California our family was driving along the road and we saw a Red Tailed Hawk attempting to fly but unable to get in the air. So being the caring, compassionate people that my parents are we stopped and rescued the hawk. It turned out that the hawk had a broken wing in three places, which explains why it was unable to fly. Once he was in the car, we took him to an animal hospital that fixed him and then they released him back into the wild. Let me just tell you, seeing that magnificent wild bird up close and personal was amazing. It is not like the zoo at all, I would like to say that we were just a couple of feet away from my Dad while he was holding him in the back seat of the car. So cool!
Anyway, on my way home this morning from picking up our produce Co-Op I spotted a Gander wandering along the road, with a definite limp. Now not as amazing as a Red Tailed Hawk but still a wounded animal in need of help, I rushed home and got Ben and the kids. Since the bird was on the side of a very busy street where it could one get hit by a car or eaten by a coyote, I figured moving it to a park with a pond would be a very nice thing to do. As Ben and I are trying to coral the bird to wrap up in the blanket we brought along, he actually flies away. I told Ben I wanted to go check on it and make sure it was ok so we turned around and found him on a not so busy street in someone’s yard. Fortunately they did not have fence and we moved right in. It was actually helpful since, we used some of their bushes and fence line to coral him and wrap him up. It took a couple of tries and Ben was finally able to grab his neck and then pick him up in the blanket to carry in the car. I’m just gratefully that the people were either asleep, saw what we were doing and did not say anything, or just did not notice us being on their property. After all we do live in Texas, where everyone has a gun, (except us).


Once we had Gandlof (to use one of my childhood gooses names) wrapped up we got in the car and made our way to the park with a pond. He did pretty well on the ride and only moved around his head a little bit, we kept him covered so that he would not freak out and try to snap at Ben or “fly” around the car. We got to the park and the other geese immediately see us and come across the pond to see if we have any food, they only made it half way once they noticed we were releasing another gander. He seemed to be accepted into the flock without too much trouble, no other goose pecked at him so hopefully he will enjoy his new home. We decided that his foot would be fine and would not need medical attention; I hope we are right, since he swam pretty well. I’m sure being off of his foot and in the water helped a lot.

Merry Christmas and Walking

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and received everything they wanted from Santa or family members. I know our kids sure did. Everyone had a great time. We spent the holiday in San Antonio at my parents house, where we helped put up a playhouse for the kids, visited Fredricksburg, and had lots of great family time. The best thing that happened for us on Christmas was watching Cooper discover a new skill, walking. That’s right; he turns eleven months old and decides that is a good time as any to start walking. Now he does not do it all the time but he will walk towards you. He can still crawl faster than walking. I’m sure though in another couple of weeks he will be walking faster than crawling. Since he is a little monkey, I’m pretty sure this kid will be running sooner rather than later. From our house to yours, we hope you had a very Merry Christmas.

(ok my video camera and I are having some difficulty comunicating so I am instead going to show you what it is like taking pictures with three small children and no adults. Please refer to our Christmas Card if you would like to seem them acting properly.)

5 years, Really?

Isabelle is 5 at last. She has been asking when that is going to happen since about her fourth birthday. Two days before she turned five she accomplished one of her life long goals, learning how to whistle. I know to be so young. She has a blast being four and is ready to tackle the world at five. Here is her list of things she would like to accomplish in her fifth year:

1. Learn to ride my bike without training wheels (Mom's falling down on the job)
2. Read better on my own (chapter books here I come)
3. Go to Kindergarten
4. Take pictures everywhere (she must take after mom)
5. Help my brothers learn to do stuff

I’m sure that there is no doubt that she will accomplish all of these goals and much more. Her level of determination is great and she pretty much gets done whatever she sets her mind to. So to another great year of firsts here is to Isabelle, Happy Fifth Birthday.

Backyard Play

For Christmas from Oma and Grandpa Libby, the kids received a wonderful playset for while in San Antonio. It is pretty cool, everyone helped to build it, even the kids. The weather previous to the holiday week was not so good so Grandpa had to take some time while the kids were here to put it together. And let me tell you they could hardly wait to get on and play. We even went so far as to go out of order to put the slide in so the kids could go down while we were building the remaining parts. Now the playset is up and running, or swinging if you like. There is a rock wall, rope ladder, swings and a slide. I think I even heard that Grandpa is going to do some additions, like monkey bars. I know the kids will love the playset and use it every time they come down for a visit. At least right now it helps to distract them from the fact that the pool is not swimmable right now, it’s too cold. Even though they both said they did not think it was too cold. I know children of all ages will enjoy the playset, all the way from the youngest to the oldest.

Breakfast with Santa

We are on our Christmas Break/Vacation and have started the week off with a bang. That’s right we went to Breakfast with Santa. Although it was not so much with Santa as with other people but we got a chance to see Santa.

So this Christmas Tree Farm called Devine Acres just outside of San Antonio puts on a great time for families to bring out there kids and have breakfast and visit with Santa. But it is so much more. Really it is a great way to draw people out to the tree farm to check things out and possibly drum up business for choose and cut trees.

They had a hayride, playground, “petting zoo,” mazes and so much more. Do not forget about Santa of course after all he was why we came. And I will say that all three kids did great with Santa, no one cried. Even Cooper got in the mix of things, before sliding of Santa’s lap to the Oma.

The kids could have stayed, played and explored the tree farm for hours, but it was cold and we had other cool projects to work on. I think they had a lot of fun and Isabelle is already asking to go back. Who knows maybe next year.

Isabelle's Friend Party

Isabelle requested for her 5th birthday that she have a party at a local bounce house place, called Pump It Up. Since I’m such a wonderful, agreeable mother, I said yes. After of course much hemming and hawing about various aspects of parties for small children. Either way, she had so much fun, with her friends from school and various places that it was all worth it. Plus all of the kids got a chance to burn off some great energy while at the same time celebrating a friend’s birthday.


Isabelle and all of her friends had so much fun. They kept playing and running around, and bouncing that you hardly knew they were even there. One of the great things about having a party at Pump It Up is that it is pretty well organized and if there is another party going on you hardly even know that they are there. Plus the help you cut the cake and serve your guest so that you can enjoy yourself and take pictures or visit with your guests.

I’m sure that we will have and go to other parties at Pump It Up, since the kids have so much fun. Or we’ll just have to drop in to get out some extra energy. Now for a few particulars, Isabelle requested a Rainbow cake and that I can say turned out great. Ben made it and it was just a regular cake with a rainbow made out of sprinkles. She loved it and it was exactly what she wanted. And you would think that I had pictures of it but, yea no, I forgot. I was not on my game. She also had Ranch Flavored Chex mix, thanks Joni for the great Ranch mix, and of course Ben for making it. Ben gets the Dad of the Day prize since he helped out so much for Isabelle’s party. (I was a little under the weather.)


I think that overall Isabelle had a great time celebrating her birthday early, with her friends. I wonder what next year will hold.

Christmas Program

The kids both had special Christmas programs at school this year. And of course they could not happen on the same day. Oh well, I guess that is bound to happen. Isabelle did great she has so much fun performing and showing off. Plus she has been practicing her songs for a long while and did just wonderful.

Bear was great too. He sang all the songs, at least I could see his mouth moving and did the signs as well. He was too cute. I think he had so much fun and hopefully was not disappointed by not having cookies and punch with the parents afterwards like Isabelle.

I’m so proud of both my kids, and I am happy that they are getting along so well in school. They were both a joy to watch perform.

Santa's Little Helper

While the big kids were at school today Cooper and I put up some of the Christmas decorations. Here is his version of being helpful. I mean really this kid can get around. I feel pretty confident that he will be walking soon, he is starting to stand longer and longer and is really thinking about moving those little feet unaided. Oh well, it is too cute to pass up.

Snow??

Ok so for about maybe an hour it was snowing in Texas. One minute it was raining then next I looked out and there is snow falling. Crazy! This Texas weather is just strange. I wonder if the rest of my cherry tomatoes will turn red.

Pioneer Woman in Dallas

What a long night! I left yesterday to see Ree, the Pioneer Woman, at a local bookstore in Dallas, around 4pm. Now mind you it was raining, cold and the start of rush hour so it took me a little longer than normal to cross the thirty (30) miles from home to the store. I arrived at about 5pm and found out what was going on. While I was purchasing my books, I also received a pink wrist band; there were three other colors in front of me. Each color had at least 100 people in the group. Never mind the number of books each person had. So to start out there were at least 300 people with at least one book per person in line ahead of me. Ah it was going to be a long night.

I decided to stock up my reserves and go have dinner just down the sidewalk at Fish City Grill. I got in there right before the dinner rush so I did not have any problem with having to wait. Now that I was fed and ready to go with my books I went back to the bookstore to wait for them to call my wrist band. At 6pm they began to line up the first group and then the second two groups. Right at about 6:45pm they called for Pink to line up. I was a little bummed because I would not get a chance to see Ree come out and answer any questions. But I guess it’s the price you pay to be close to the front of the pink line.



Shortly after 7pm she made her appearance and had her girls with her. As I understand it she was asked if she will be publishing Black Heels to Tractor Wheels at any point and the answer is yes, with much more content, ie after the wedding. Then it was also announced that today’s fans would be receiving official Book Tour 09’ t-shirts. Yes! That is why you come to have your book signed.



At about 8:25pm ish, I do not remember well, our line began to move, at first just a little then it picked up speed as people were moving through at a faster pace. The Boarders employees started to come around and help prepare our books for signing, by giving us sticky tabs with any personalization we wanted on the books. As well as placing our tabs on the right page to ensure the fastest delivery of a signature.



By 10:50pm we were coming down the home stretch. We could see the table and could feel the excitement in the air as we got closer. I was getting so excited I almost forgot what I was going to say. But I remembered and she was wonderful and very sweet. She even asked me a question, which I thought was great considering how many people she had talked to today and how many she still had left. I told her she is amazing for all that she does, with the family, website and ranch, plus so much more. Then we chatted about closets and cars being messy and how you just have to let some things go. I even got a picture with her courtesy of one of the Borders employee that was great. Oh yea do not forget about the free book tour t-shirt.



I left the book store around 11:15pm and arrived home just before Midnight. I could hardly believe it. Had I known what they were going to do with the wrist bands I would have come over earlier in the day to get my book and band. Why didn’t anyone answer the phone when I called on Monday? Oh well you live and learn. At least it was not with hundreds of crazy teenage fans.

It was interesting to hear people talk about their lives and what they were going to say to Ree. Everyone wanted a chance to be mentioned on her site, so let’s go for sensationalism. I can’t say much I thought about brining my baby, he is too cute after all, but figured it would be a late night and I would be crazed by the end. Now I have my book and it is signed plus it was kind of fun, even though I hate to wait in line.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving has come and gone once again, and I just wanted to post a few words and pictures (hopefully) of what I am thankful for. The kids both did Thankful projects at school which will of course be kept and put in their scrapbooks but my list is going right here.


I am of course thankful for my wonderful family without whom my days would have little purpose.


Each of my kids brings a new element of joy and happiness to my day.


Ben of course is my champion, friend and wonderful husband, he is such a great person and the best support system a girl could as for.


And of course our parents are just fabulous, their help in ideas, life and examples we could not find better parents to have.

I am also thankful for the opportunity to explore that which I love