College Go Week

This week they are celebrating College Go Week at Cooper's school.  They have lots of fun themes for the week.  Tomorrow has something to do with not being late and it's pajama day.  Today is "You're future is so bright you gotta have shades".  Today also looks to be the coolest weather all week so of course it was.... Candy Stripe Pants time.

 

 

It's also book fair week.  I'm scheduled to work tomorrow and planed on purchasing stuff then, however Cooper's class goes today.  They sent home a flyer and he picked something out so I sent it back with the money.  I get a text from one of his Wee Ones teachers, who was working this afternoon, asking what should she do, Cooper doesn't want what I have marked down. Of course!!!  He picked it out and now he doesn't want it.  I told her to just let him buy what he wants, all he has is $10 so it won't go too far.

 

Cameron and I made a quick trip to Target this morning before coming home to play.  I think I've settled into a nice routine of calling all my CBS girls now.  He isn't napping much these days I try to block out at least 30-45 minutes each day while he watches a show for me to call a round of girls.  It's working out nicely now.

 

Cooper had some allergy problems this weekend and I forgot to give him medicine this morning.  I dropped him off, ran back home to get it, and had them call him to the office to come and get it.  While I was there the principal did the morning announcements.  They do the Pledge of Allegiance every morning, along with a moment of silence.   I love it.  I think in some cities, especially bigger cities, that may be pushing the envelope.  Thankful for our small community.

 

 



Back to Basics

I've been doing some reflecting and thanks to Tracey and our wonderful talk this past Friday, I've realized I've let others dictate what this blog should be.  I've gotten away from why I started in the first place.  Somehow I've gotten this need to perform and that is far from why I started this almost 6 years ago.  It's all about my adventures as a mom and journaling the little everyday things we do, and especially what they do.  I'm gonna do my best to get back to basics.  I don't have the time I used to but I'm gonna try and put forth a better effort.

 

This past Thursday we kept our youth minister's son for about an hour.  Him and his wife live in our neighborhood and they wanted to go to the Home Expo that was also held in our neighborhood.  My boys loved playing with Aiden.  He just turned a year old and they still call him Baby Aiden, even though he is walking and is going to be a big brother in the Spring.  I know I could totally rock three kids, but that doesn't mean I'm about to do that anytime soon.

 

Friday morning we met Tracey and Maggie to walk the trail and play and Perrin Park.   We had the best heart to heart which prompted me to get back on here.  Love this girl!

 

Maggie and Cameron had on the same shoes, except of course Maggie's were for girls.

 

 

I took this picture of Cameron and thought I may have had one of Cooper too.  Found it!

 

Saturday, Steve and I took the boys back to Perrin Park so they could walk the trail and I could run.  I ran the trail, turned around and met them a little over halfway back.  A great way to get some exercise in and some family fun time.  We also let the boys play some.   We also saw a deer, that's two for two on nature walks and deer.

 

Saturday afternoon Steve and I got the chance to go the Home Expo.  If you are every in the market for a new house, a home expo home is the way to go.  Everything is top of the line as far as counters, floors, cabinets, fixtures.  Plus they have added extras like built ins, finished basements with bar areas, some have media rooms.  We talked to a builder of one of the homes and had that same exact home been built not part of an expo, then it would be $25-30,000 more. 

 

I have full week ahead and it's College Go Week at JJ, which means the candy stripe pants are a must.  Have a great week, 5 days till fall break!

 

 



Spirt Week 2013

Charlestown has their football homecoming game tonight so it was only natural they had Spirit Week this week.  Do ya'll remember spirit week?  Cause back in glory days of the 90's it was simple; pajama day, hat day, mis-match day.  JJ kept it pretty simple, but my favorite pajama day wasn't one of them. 

 

Monday: Disney Day

Our theme for the year is JJ Kingdom so they had to incorporate Disney somehow.  Kids could wear Disney shirt or dress up as their favorite Disney character.  Cooper wore his Disney shirt and his Jedi robe.  Of course little brother did too.  Cameron wore his in both Goodwill and Kroger that morning.

 

 Tuesday: Thrift Store/Retro Day.

I was clueless for this.  I picked up his shirt form the Goodwill.  It says "Spring Mill Bible Camp".   H also wore seersucker shorts and 2 different socks. 

 Wednesday: Duck Dynasty/camouflage day.

We didn't get he list of days until the Friday before, had I had time to plan I may have come up with something a little more Duck Dynasty-ish.  My kids wear some camo but not a lot, I found this at Goodwill when I picked up his thrift store shirt.  Not bad for under $4. 

 Thursday: Neon Color Day

If I tell Cooper to go pick out something to wear and this shirt happens to be clean, 9 times out of 10 he will grab it.  It's not exactly neon and with both the shirt and shorts it is pretty bright.  Don't ask what he is doing, by Wednesday he was getting fed up with the morning pictures.

 Friday: Wear your favorite Pirate gear

This is pretty much his standard Friday uniform.  JJ Pirate shirt and blue shorts.  Which by the way he had on inside out.  I told him at least 3 times to fix them, we get to school and as he is getting out of the car I notice they are still on inside out.  Oh well, there are worse things in life.

 

It's been a fun week, and guess what... 1 more week till fall break!  Can you believe the school year is almost one quarter of the way through.  Crazy!!!

Two year well visit

Cameron had his two year well visit last Friday.  This was the same day that Scott offered to take Cooper to school since he was off work, this meant I didn't have to be anywhere until 10:00.  That was nice!

 

He was cute and playful in the waiting room.  We were and out in an hour.

 This kid has shot up this past year.  He is 37.25 inches compared to 33.25 last year.  That is 4 inches!!!  Cooper's 3 year well visit had him at 34.75 inches.  I checked my blog of Cooper's 3 year well visit and made the comment "I'm pretty sure Cameron is going to catch up with Cooper one of these days".  No kidding. 

 

He weighs 29lbs, compared to 27lbs last year.  So not much of a weight gain.  Last year he was above average BMI, now he is below average.  Cooper was 28 3/4 lbs at 3 years.  So weight is pretty much the same, Cameron is just a tall little booger. 

 

Everything else we talked about checked out great.  He was so good during when they pricked his finger.  He sat so still and just looked at the nurse watching her.  He did pretty good with his flu shot too, he didn't know it was coming.  He let out a small cry when it went it then it was over and he didn't cry.  As we were leaving he told me, "I not come back here tomorrow".  Poor kid!

With the exception of his strep last month he hasn't been to the doctor since his 2 year check up.  When Cooper was three he could pick out our doctor when she was on Wave3 News each week.  Of course Cameron was an infant and between well visits and ear infections we were in there just about over other week.

 

I've say it all the time and I'll say it again, I am so thankful for healthy babies!

Happy Anniversary!

Steve & I celebrated our 9th anniversary yesterday.  Man we look like babies.   

 Steve surprised me by taking the day off and arranging for his parents to watch Cameron so we could spend the day together.  Well he actually told me the week before, he needed to make sure I would clear my day since we knows we usually have a full week.  At this point I could care less what we would do, I was just pumped to have a free day.

Our first stop was dropping Cooper off at school. 

Then it was off to Kohl's.  I had two $10 coupons and a 30% off.  I wanted to look at scarves, shoes, and purses.  I should have known purses wouldn't pan out, have I really become that snobbish with purses?  I hope not.  Now that I don't have to carry my whole house with me when I go anywhere I'm on the lookout for a cross body purse, but no such luck.  No luck on shoes either.  But I did find a scarf, so score one for me.  It's my anniversary!

 

Steve thought he would be cute and post these next two pictures on social media.   Ha Ha, funny guy!

 Do you think this would be a good look for me?

 

After Kohl's we still had an hour to kill before an 11:00 appointment.  This he kept a secret until the day of.  We decided to take a stroll around Meijer.  Steve tweeted something going to Meijer on our anniversary, maybe the next stop would be the K-Mart food court.  He did not use a hashtag and I kid you not he got this tweet back;

 

 I mean really?  Does Meijer really pay someone to search social media for Meijer keywords?

Because I was in a good mood and perhaps a little giddy without kids, I picked this up.  And it's currently processing in my hair as I type.

 

It was finally time for the surprise.  He warned me not to get too excited because it wasn't that big.   He knows me well and couldn't have picked a better place.

He arranged for use to take the tour and watch how they make some of their candy.   It just so happened we got to do the tour with a group of senior citizens on a tour bus from Illinois.  They kept asking us, "how long have you been married, we celebrate 60 years next month".

 

Have you ever noticed the marks outside Schimpff's door, you can see them in left hand side of the above picture.  It's flood markers, both from the late 1800's.  I've always wondered about the 1937 flood though.   You see those red marks outside the window?  That is where the water rose to in 37.  Two stories high, 5 blocks from the river.  She said the river flooded out 27 miles!

 

 We got to watch how they make their cinnamon candy.  They import their cinnamon oil from China and it costs $50 for about what appeared to be 12 oz.  They fold the cinnamon in by hand, it's why some pieces aren't hot and some are.  Each one is different.  They also pump the cinnamon smell outside, they call it cheap advertising.  Disney World also does this on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom.

 

 

After some candy and a fountain drink it was time for lunch.   Again, Steve knows the key to my heart is food.  We had lunch at Kansai before a quick trip to Target.

 

 

Steve had a dentist appointment and I had to get Cooper and take both boys to swim lessons so we quickly called it a day.  It was a much needed day together.  Life tends to get rushed, especially with kids.   We had about 6 hours to ourselves to do as we pleased.   He made me laugh more times than I can count.  I think everyone needs to take a vacation day and spend it with our spouse.  Be silly together and do random things.  It's fun.  Couldn't have planned a better day.

Happy Anniversary, Steve!!!

Parent Teacher Conference

 We had Cooper's first parent teacher conference last week.  From this end it seems like he has been doing good.  He enjoys school, comes home happy, and hasn't gotten his color card moved at all this year.  Yet that didn't stop me from being a little nervous at what his teacher may say.

 

This was on the bulletin board outside her classroom.  They have a Disney World theme this year.  I love it!

 

 She had all good things to say about our little man.  No behavior problems and all test scores are coming in great.  I'm not worried about his math skills, he get those from me :), but I have been a little worried about language and especially handwriting.  From her perspective he is doing great.  At the beginning of the year he knew 13 of the 45 sight words, she said he knows close to all of them now.  He must work harder for them than he does me.  He's also doing great at the independent writing they do each week.  So far I've seen "My mom is niss" and "I lik my dad".

 

Our little playful guy is also quite the funny guy at school too.  She mentioned he is a funny kid and does some cute and funny things.  If he gets too loud she said it only takes one verbal warning and he quiets down. 

 

Two funny stories that he told me about so I asked Ms. Harbin to clarify.  One day in the lunchroom him and his buddy Luke must have gotten too loud while telling their gym teacher Happy Birthday.  The paraprofessional casually mentioned they needed to quiet down cause she didn't want to have to move their color card or cause them to "walk the plank" at recess.  Walking the plank means they miss a part or all of recess depending on how many times their color card is moved.  Well they were terrified and even went and told on themselves to Ms. Harbin.  She eventually had to get Ms. Amy, the paraprofessional, in the rom to see what happened.  It was a misunderstanding and they weren't in trouble at all.  Hilarious!  At least they are honest.

 

Second story, I gave him a baggie of box tops to take in last week.  They get a Pirate Pride buck each time they bring some in.  He mentioned in the car while I was dropping him off that he was going to share with Luke since Luke shared with him one day.  I thought that was sweet, forgetting the fact they were cheating the system a bit by both getting a pride buck.  Well I guess they each tried to only give 1 box top.  Ms. Harbin caught on to that quick and didn't give a buck to either one.  She did find Cooper's baggie and give him his, she thought it was clever of them and no one has ever tried to do that before. 

 

I left the conference with a happy heart.  There was a time, especially way back when he was far behind on speech, that I was really scared for him to go to school.  He was so shy and so backwards when it came to interacting with other kids his age.   I never wanted him to be the life of the party, I just prayed that he would have at least one special friend and not feel alone.  Not only does he have a great friend in Luke, he also has no trouble meeting other kids.  He even told me on Friday that he met a new friend from another class at the playground.  I couldn't be a happier momma.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Cameron!

This past Friday we celebrated Cameron's birthday.  Three years old!  Seems unreal.  In some ways he still seems like my little baby boy. 

 

We had a Monsters University theme. 

 We had a small gathering of family and Eric and the kids.  When it came time to open gifts I become the most popular person in the room. 

 He got lots of fun new toys, puzzles, and crafts.

 And of course anything Monsters related he went ga ga over.

 

 Mamaw and Papaw got him a Star Wars laser blaster.  This is a popular gift, with both boys.  Cameron seemed to pass up all the baby toys pretty quickly.  I guess that is what happens when you have an older brother.  A lot of his gifts are probably more age appropriate for Cooper's age, and Cooper has been great about not getting jealous that they are Cameron's.  Of course Cameron has been great about sharing too.

 Our Candyland game has totally bit the dust, the board is in like 3 pieces, so Scott him another one and Chutes and Ladders.  I kicked butt in both games tonight. 

 Oh Cameron Scott, what a wild three years it has been.  You fill our days with so much laughter and your smile can light up a room.  When you look at me with those big hazel eyes I want to give you the world, and you know it and use it to your advantage.  As stubborn as you are, you give the most hugs and kisses, totally unprompted.   As you like to tell me, "I just love you too much".

 Happy Birthday my sweet precious boy!

Weekend in iPhone Pictures

Cooper finally got his Jonathan Jennings Pirate shirt last week so of course he had to wear it on Friday.  It says, "Once a JJ Pirate, always a Pirate".   Since I myself used to be a JJ Pirate, I got one too.  Mine is black and hot pink.  He was excited to wear it, some of his friends already had theirs so I guess he felt cool.

 

 After Jazzercise on Friday they had a party for one of our instructors, it was her last day.  Cameron cashed in one some donuts.

Somehow we ended up with a babysitter all night for both boys.  Cooper with Scott and Cameron with my in-laws.  Steve & I headed out to dinner with Eric and Tracey and dessert at Orange Leaf.  We went a little sample crazy.  A hint- stick with the white chocolate strawberry.  Delicious!

 

Scott sent me this Friday night.  They went from playing Star Wars to trying on a Michael Myers mask.  I immediately hid all my knives. 

We spent most of Saturday lounging at home until we went up to my mom's for dinner and swimming.  She cooked for us and my inlaws.  Cooper was a little fish that night.  He took off his floaties and swam all over the place.  Ms. Lori would be proud. 

 

As we were leaving church on Sunday my mom texted me asking if we wanted to meet her at Texas Roadhouse.  Nevermind that is where we went on Friday, I wasn't going to pass up a free meal.  Plus the boys love it. 

Steve had to work on Monday, I gave Cooper a couple of options on what we could do and he chose Monster's University.  I'm a little disappointed in myself that we hadn't seen it earlier.  Monsters, Inc is probably my favorite Pixar movie.  It was Cameron's first time in a movie theatre and he did great.  He asked once or twice when we were leaving but other than that was fine.  It was also during nap time, I was feeling brave.  Super cute movie, I can't wait till it comes out on DVD so we can have a movie night.

 

Such a great holiday weekend.  4 1/2 weeks till Fall Break!  Don't act as if you aren't counting with me.