Spring Break 2014

 

A tradition of ours is to go camping as a family for Spring Break.  This year for youth conference they were doing a reenactment of the pioneers trekking across the plains to Utah.  The trek was planned during Spring Break.  Grant and Jonathan went on the trek activity.  I knew the kids would still want to go camping and knowing the difficulty of trying to set up our 10 man tent with just Anthony and I; so I found a state park that had cabins. 

We went to Possum Kingdom State Park and we had a really nice set up with a nice view.  I was glad that it wasn't crowded with people.  I liked that we had plenty of space and didn't feel like people were on top of us.  It was nice to sit out on the back porch in the mornings and evenings and read and talk as a family and enjoy the view and the peace and quiet.

I happened to get sun burn the day before; so being outside was a bit miserable for me.  Thank goodness the weather was nice and I was able to keep a light jacket on to protect my burn.  I was glad for the cabins for when it was too miserable outside for my sunburn; during those times we would play games and watch Don Knott's movies ( I know we were roughing it!) 

The kids were able to ride their bikes, play at the park, go down by (the really low level) lake and throw rocks in the water, play games, throw the Frisbee, and go hiking.  Anthony also completed one of his requirements for the cooking merit badge which was extra nice for me because I didn't have to cook.

Our kids love to go camping and I am glad that Grant and I have made it a tradition for our family to go camping at least twice a year.  It is nice to do things together and not be distracted by less important stuff.  I really enjoyed my time with just the kids and I, but we did miss the rest of our family.  We will have to go back to Possum Kingdom State Park and bring Grant and Jonathan and enjoy another Cooper family fun campout.

January and February Happenings

Not much happened in January.  Madeline had her g-button replaced at the beginning of the month.  Because she was put to sleep and the doctor was messing with her stomach she ended up getting gas trapped in her stomach with no way to get out.  She was in some pretty intense pain for a few days and Grant and I were grateful that we don't have many of those days.  There isn't much we can do but flush her tummy with pedialite and because she can't throw up we have a tube to drain her stomach through her g-button.  After that we hold her and sing to her and pray for Heavenly Father to take the pain away.  After a week she was able to eat again without any pain. 

We did celebrate Chinese New Year with our usual dinner of spaghetti.  We were able to use the chop sticks that Grant's Aunt and Uncle brought back from their mission to South Korea.  This is I thought it would be fun to put everyone's animal from the year that they were born up on the wall with their name written in Chinese.  As a family we then took turns guessing who was each animal.  Anthony manage to get them all right, lucky guessing!  For a treat we had fortune cookies from Panda Express. 

I didn't get any pictures but for Valentine's Day this year I continued the tradition of putting hearts on their bedroom door with traits that I love about them.  I do this starting Feb 1 and then on Feb 14 there is a special little treat waiting for them.  I got a kick out of the kids checking their doors to see what the latest note was.  I tried to put them up before I went to bed, but many days I didn't get them up until they were at school.  So when they got all excited to see that another heart was added.  A few hearts ended up on my bedroom door and that was a nice treat to a few love letters from the kids. 

For President's Day the first graders at Spencer's school dressed up either as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or Barack Obama.  Spencer chose George Washington (I thought Abraham Lincoln would be easier).  Spencer also had to select a quote and memorize it.  They turned the cafeteria into a press room where they had a podium with the Presidential symbol on it and the kids took turns saying their quote in the microphone. 

In the middle of February, Anthony attended a merit badge college where he was able to complete three merit badges (art, communications, and music).  This was all he needed to become a Star Scout.  He has set a goal to reach Life by the end of the year.  It is hard to believe that Anthony will be starting his eagle project here soon. 

I think that is about all!

December Happenings

I know it is March and in Texas we are enjoying nice Spring time weather and I am talking about our Christmas.  Someday I will be caught up.

Even though things were still crazy with adjusting to our new life, I knew it was important to have our tradition of counting down Christmas with daily activities.  Having a high school schedule to deal with sure made things hard and difficult, but somehow we managed and though things weren't as organized as I would have wanted we managed to countdown Christmas and I think the kids had fun.

I was able to take pictures of some of our countdown.  The kids really enjoy the daily activities that we do as we countdown till Christmas. 

 
1.  Attended Anthony's Winter Band Concert
2.  Watched Charlie Brown Christmas
3.  Made Gingerbread Houses
4.  Made and decorated Sugar Cookies (this was done with 7 kids and one parent...brave/crazy)
5.  Decorated the Christmas Tree
6.  Raked leaves
7.  Watched First Presidency Devotional
8.  Played Pay Day board game
9.  Went to an open German Market

We did a lot more, but these are all that I managed to get pictures of.  I really like how these activities bring us closer as a family and help us remember and keep the focus of what Christmas is all about.

Now that it is March I don't remember much about Christmas.  We were in the middle of a room build in our garage for my brother (he was tired of sleeping on the couch and living out of a closet).  I know the day was simple and relaxing which is nice when you have been busy on building a room.  My family came over later in the day for Christmas dinner, our traditional wreath making for my step dad's grave, and the exchanging of gifts.  It was nice to make a Christmas dinner and it was nice to sit around and spend time with family.

 

 

We pretty much spent the whole Christmas break working on my brothers' room.  We knew that we needed to get it done or it would be a struggle to get it done when everyone returned to work and school.  Things were a bit crazy and there were lots of late nights, but it gone done and it was nice to be able to have my brother settled in a space that he could call his own. 

 

Anthony got a BB gun for Christmas and it was fun to take it out in the backyard and shoot our gingerbread houses.  Grant made a little shooting range so the bullets had a safe place to land.  Anthony also got a battleship target practice game so we had some fun playing battleship BB gun style. 

 

Anthony was able to go on his first Temple trip to do Baptisms for the Dead, it was neat that Grand and I were able to join him. 

 

We also went on a little day trip and took the kids on a little day trip to the Texas Freshwater Fishery Center in Athens, Texas.  It was neat to learn the process of hatching the fish that they use to keep the Texas Rivers stocked with fish.  They had a small little outdoor and indoor museum, a tram tour of the fishery, and we were able to watch a diver feed the fish in an aquarium that they had.  They also provide all the supplies you need to fish in their stocked ponds.  However, once again we came out empty handed.  I don't know if the kids really enjoyed fishing, they probably would have if they actually caught some.  We sure tried, but I guess the fish were all full.  Even though they say the ponds are well stocked we managed to avoid catching any fish, there were people around us that were having lots of luck.  It was nice to get out and to do something besides room construction, and it was also nice to enjoy some good ole' outdoor fun. 

 

And to round out the month of December we celebrated the new year quietly at home.  I bought some hats and noise makers and we watch the local ball drop and cheered Happy New Year ate some brownies and sparkly apple juice, and then the kids went to bed.  Grant was able to say Happy New Year before his cold set in.  He went off to bed and that left me waiting for Jonathan to come home from the youth dance.  I watched a lot of decorating and cooking shows and was so happy when he walked through the door. 

 

Now that is our December report in the month of March, better late then never.

 



November Happenings

Right after Halloween we have Anthony's Birthday.  This year Anthony turned 12 which is a big year.  Anthony was super excited to be receiving the priesthood and to be able to pass the sacrament.  For me it was hard to believe that I had a 12 year old.  It is another one of the many milestones that I was going to be able to experience as a mother.  Anthony is an awesome kid and in my eyes he is perfect just like his dad.  Anthony's birthday is simple, camping with daddy.  My only job is to reserve the campsite.  Anthony enjoys these father and son campouts where they stay up late playing risk and eating lots of junk food.  In the mornings they go canoeing and hiking usually after they play another round of risk.  This year I wanted to do something more, something for the whole family.  On his birthday I did the usual tradition of eating lunch with Anthony at school and that evening we went to Golden Corral (Anthony's choice).  After dinner my family came over for birthday song and treat.  Anthony loves cookie dough and I found this cookie dough ice cream pie recipe on Pintrest and knew that would be perfect for Anthony.  Everything turned out well and Anthony was spoiled with presents that reflected him and his personality. 

The week after Grant's family came from Utah, Wisconsin, and Texas (Burleson) to witness Anthony receiving the Aaronic Priesthood.  We were able to have a couple of family get togethers and to be able to spend time with Grant's family.  It was nice to having several family members gathered in the circle in love and support of Anthony.  I always enjoy hearing Grant give blessings to our children and to hear what Heavenly Father has in store for them.  While others closes their eyes during the blessing, I admit I kept my eyes opened and watched.  What I saw was amazing.  I saw righteous priesthood holders gathered around my son, a son who strives to follow our Savior and to be a light and example to those around him.  For those few minutes I was reminded of what I am fighting for, and the blessings of diligently striving to do the little things in the gospel.  I was able to see how the little things really do add up and they really do matter.  I was able to see that the mundane things of motherhood really do add up and they are really important.  It is these milestones in my children's lives that make everything I do worth it!

My family was present, but had to leave before church was over.

Of course when you think of November you think of Thanksgiving.  This year we had a simple Thanksgiving at home with out little family.  Later on in the day my sister and her family came over for pies and a good ole' sugar rush.  Even though it was going to be our little family, I still wanted to have a big feast, with Turkey and all.  I compiled a menu with the help of Pintrest as well as traditional recipes.  The day was simple and we all worked together as a family to put together our feast.  The kids kept the dishwasher going so that there were plenty of dishes to help cook the various dishes, and there were plenty of hands to put everything together.  It was one of those moments where everyone worked together to get the job done.  I need to remember those moments to get through the times when working together doesn't go as planned.

We also spent the Thanksgiving week building Jonathan's closet and getting the rest of the spaced ready for building the room during Christmas Break.  We did stop to enjoy the beautiful weather and take a day trip to Fort Richardson State Park.  The Fort was used during the Civil War and they have some of the original buildings as well as some that have been reconstructed to look like the originals.  Anthony is a huge history buff and loves to go on these kind of excursions.  Some of the building were opened for you to go and look through.  They set them up to look like what they would have during the Civil War times.  On weekends they don't have anyone on staff to give tours so they are self guided tours which are what we like.  It was fun to go and look and pretend that we were there living on the fort during the Civil War.  There were also lots of nice trails to go and explore.  The kids enjoyed running around and Grant and I enjoyed being able to enjoy the outdoors as well as nice weather.   

October Happenings

The month of October is birthday month for our family and then who can forget Halloween.  Since it is February and October seems like a lifetime ago, I am grateful for pictures to help remind me what happened.  Someday life will slow down a bit and I won't feel like I am playing catch up.

Grant's Birthday:

Grant turned 42 in October, so now he likes to say that he is now the answer to everything (that is in reference to some book that I don't remember the title of ).  I would have to agree that so some he is the answer to everything despite his age.  Every year we go camping as a family for Grant's birthday, but things didn't work out this year.  This left me stumped as to what to do.  I knew Grant would be happy with a cake and we sing Happy Birthday, but I wanted to do more.  I decided on a marshmallow war.  I gathered different sizes of marshmallows and different colors too.  Filled a Ziploc bag for everyone, including Grant.  While Grant was at work, the kids and I turned the house into a battlefield and scoped out our hiding places.  I taped a warning note on the door and included his bag of ammo.  A few minutes before Grant was to get home from work we all went to our hiding places and waiting for our "suspect" to arrive so our battle could commence.  I have done this before with nerf guns, but thought marshmallows would be fun too.  The battle was fun and everyone enjoyed "pelting" each other with marshmallows, but I learned a few things.  They get stepped on and carried on shoes from room to room which means they get in the carpet and that turns into me having to get the stickiness out of the carpet.  I also had lots of sticky spots on our wood floors and those sticky spots seemed to grow as people carried them around by way of shoes and feet.  I also was finding marshmallows in all sorts of places around the house for weeks.  Luckily over time they harden so we weren't plagued by stickiness.  The kids had fun and so did Grant, but I think if we do the marshmallow battle again we will keep it outside.  After our battle we had presents and cake or in our case cream cheese brownies.  One of the presents that Grant received was the game Clue, so we ended the night with a round of clue. 

Halloween:

To be honest Halloween is not my favorite holiday, I am perfectly content to do nothing and just treat it as a normal day.  However, the kids still enjoy dressing up.  I am secretly hoping that Anthony will soon out grow this desire so then I am only left with two kids to dress up.  I let the kids pick what they want and their costumes usually reflect their current interests.  It is my job to make the costume come to life with the help of Goodwill and a little crafting.  Anthony chose a Civil War solider as this reflects his love of anything and everything to do with the Civil War.  Spencer chose to be a ten tiger from the Jackie Chen movie Around the World in 80 days.  Spencer loves right now all things ninja.  Madeline who loves monkeys chose to be a sock monkey (that one was a hard one to put together).  This year my sister and mom joined us for part of the festivities.  This year we did our ward's trunk or treat get together and afterwards joined our friends' going around their very candy giving neighborhood.  After our bags our stuffed we go to another ward member's house for a s'mores.  The kids come home pile all their candy together and sort through the ones they want to keep and the ones that will go towards our ginger bread house at Christmas time.  After a week or so the kids start to forget about the Halloween candy and the candy just magically disappears.