Sunday, October 18, 2009

Rainboat Ragatta




Anthony participated in his first Rainboat Ragatta and had a lot of fun.  He won two races and lost two races.  His pack did the races during their campout.  He had a lot of fun and came home tired just how we like it!



On a Sunday Afternoon








Wiggle Groove

Spencer is dancing to the Wiggles.



Families Can Be Together Forever






Sunday, October 11, 2009

We have sure been Busy

I can't believe a whole month has gone by since my last post.  Once school started things got crazy around here.  We have entered flu and cold season, and so far it has not been very nice to us. Madeline was admitted to the hospital the first of September due to an asthma attack gone wrong, luckily she only spent a few days in the hospital and made a nice recovery at home. I thought after that hospitalization we would be able to put illnesses behind us and begin to enjoy the cooler weather, WRONG!  Anthony after not having an asthma attack for two years decided 2009 was a good year to get one, and after that Madeline decided it was her turn, and then after Madeline getting over her second asthma attack Anthony decided it was a good time to get the flu.  Through this ping pong match of illnesses, Madeline's mysterious fever kept returning.  These fevers get really high and there are no obvious symptoms and after one dose of Motrin they go away and she is good to go.  We have been seeing an Infectious Disease doctor who thinks it might be fever of unknown origin, which is treatable with steriods until Madeline out grows it.  We have now been sick free and fever free in our house for own week and hopefully it will continue to stay that way and I can get caught up on some things around the house, like this blog.

The kids have made it through their first six weeks of school with flying colors.  Despite all of Madeline's absences she has managed to keep up with her school work and what is being taught in the classroom.  She is enjoying the fact that she can read and is picking up on it really well. It is fun to see her eyes light up and she realizes that she can read a book by herself.  She loves to say words or name objects and tell us what letter it starts out with.  Anthony is enjoying second grade and has topped out of the tests that the test on second grade students with, so his teacher is having set different and higher goals for Anthony.  He is becoming a sponge and absorbing all kinds of information and asking all kinds of questions (specifically math questions) and I have never been more grateful that their dad knows math a lot better than I do.  

When I am not nursing sick kids I have been plugging away at my sewing machine with halloween costumes and a huge goal of making all of our Christmas presents.  The material is bought, the patterns are ready and now I just need everyone to stay healthy so I can do my magic (or try at least).  Through all this we have been doing a major remodel of our living room.  We took down the decorative beams on our ceiling, and have re sheetrock the entire living room and now we are ready to texture the walls and paint the living room and entry way; we have hopes of finishing it all before Thanksgiving.

As a family we have been having fun celebrating wacky holidays, playing games together, enjoying the cooler weather, and dreaming of being able to camp here soon.  It has sure been busy in the Cooper household, but it has been fun!





Construction


As part of our living room makeover, we had to take down some old sheet rock in order to put up some new sheet rock.  With Madeline away at two doctor appointments the boys went to town at tearing out the wall.  After a few hours of demolition, the old wall was down and a new wall was up, and the best part was that Madeline wasn't around to breath all that dust and get an asthma attack.  I love how things come together!



Camping Out


It has been raining here for what seems like a month, so because of all the rain our camping trip was canceled.  Anthony really wanted to use his tent that he bought with his money so instead of camping at a campground in a swamp, we opted for setting up his tent in the living room.  The kids enjoyed playing in the tent and Mommy and Daddy enjoyed sleeping in the comfort of their bed.  


National Cream Filled Doughnut Day!



Another delicious holiday that we could not pass by without celebrating.  The doughnuts were sure a hit after we figure out the right temperature.  The right temperature, a little chocolate pudding as the filling and you have a successful family treat!

National Make Your Bed Day!


For National Make your Bed Day we decorating pillowcases with fabric markers and white pillow cases.  The kids had fun making their own pillowcases and they thought it was really neat to sleep on their own creations.



National Chocolate Milkshake Day!





We couldn't miss National Chocolate Milkshake day!  Needless to say it was a big hit in our home.




National Banana Split Day

How could we miss National Banana Split day in our household.  Needless to say this was a big hit with our kids!




President Monson's birthday


In keeping with our tradition this year, we celebrated President Monson's birthday.  We had cake, stories from his life, as well as an interactive timeline.  This tradition of celebrating the prophets birthdays has been fun for our family as we study the lives of our latter day prophets; my testimony of prophets has sure increased!




National Trail Mix Day


Yep we celebrated national trail mix day in August.  The kids had fun assembling their own trail mix from their ingredients of choice.  It was a fun FHE treat!





What you sow is what you reap


Anthony harvested three watermelons this summer, nothing sure beats home grown watermelons.  Anthony was pretty excited to be able to eat his watermelon.  Unfortunately some animal beat us to Madeline's cantaloupe.