100th Day

For 100 day celebration, Madeline needed to bring a poster with 100 things glued on. After playing around with hearts for a while we came up with butterflies. So 100 hearts equal 50 butterflies. It is so fitting for Madeline and apparently quite popular at school. If anyone knows Madeline, they know that Madeline loves butterflies from her butterfly decorated room to a dresser drawer full of butterfly clothes. Madeline is our little butterfly who grows more beautiful every day.

Groundhog Day!

We are continuing with our tradition of celebrating the holidays this year, and we thought we would start with Groundhog day. First I made Groundhog cupcakes, while the kids ate their cupcakes I read a book about shadows and then we all painted our self portraits from inspiration found here.

International Pancake Day!

Feb. 16 was International Pancake Day and what better way to celebrate than to enjoy some homemade crepes. We added pie filling and whipped cream and all together you have a great dinner. I found my recipe here.

Snow Day!

Who knew that in Texas we would get 12 inches of snow in one day! We sure enjoyed the snow and the best part was that it started to melt away the next day.

Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year

Valentine's Day this year fell on Chinese New Year, so this year we combined the two for a fun celebration. I made heart confetti and tiger confetti and sprinkled them on the table. We whipped out the nice china and had spaghetti (in honor of Valentine's Day) and we used chop sticks (in honor of Chinese New Year) for our utencils. I made fortune cookies out of felt (in honor of Chinese New Year) and instead of writing good fortunes I wrote Valentine message on what qualities I love about them. It was sure a nice evening.

Talent Show

Our church had a talent show for the kids and Madeline and her dad sang "What a Wonderful World" and Madeline did the signing too. Madeline and her Dad sing "What a Wonderful World" every night before bed, it is there special thing they do together.

For Anthony's talent he played a solo on the Piano.

And the Gold Medal Goes To......?

Anthony was apart of his school's Battle of the Books team. To qualify for the team, Anthony read and study 15 books and then took a 30 question test (2 questions per book). From the try outs only 6 kids were selected for each team. The teams consisted of Primary which is 1st grade - 3rd grade and intermediate which is 4th & 5th grade. After try outs the teams practiced twice a week for a couple of months and then on competition day they gathered with the rest of the elementary schools and answered questions based on the 15 books, and Anthony's team came in first place.

Anthony was pretty excited and a report that I received from Daddy was that Anthony would jump up and down with excitement for every question his team answered correctly. After the competition the kids were treated to Pizza. Anthony is excited to try out for the team again next year, through this experience he was able to learn how hard work can pay off and when we set our mind to something and work hard great things come to pass. Way to go Anthony, we are proud of you!

Anthony's Baptism

Our Newest Member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! From a Mother's perspective it was a real treat to see my husband baptize our son. When Anthony was asked how he felt about his baptism his response was "I felt bumped up" I believe that is his interpretation for feeling really excited. Congratulations Anthony!

After Anthony's baptism family gather at our house for dinner which consisted of homemade Spaghetti, salad, and homemade rolls; and desert (brownies and ice cream of course) and for entertainment we had the biggest nerf gun battle.

They Really Do Love Each Other!

National Pie Day!!

Make a Smilebox collage

Gummy Candy

Just shortly after the kids returned to school from Christmas break, the kids were given the day off for what was a so called "snow day." To be honest there was no snow on the road nor was their any ice, I think they were just freaked out because it only got into the teens that day. Well I needed something to do with the kids so Grant embraced the cold temperatures and went to the craft store to get some candy molds and also to get Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I found a recipe here to make your own gummy candy (similar to gummy bears) which the kids had more fun making the candy then eating it, and while we snacked on our yummy candy we watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The kids enjoyed the movie and I enjoyed the fact that everyone got along and did not get into each others' space. It was a great day!

Staring the Cooper Sibs

The other night Spencer and Madeline gave us an impromptu concert.

Pinewood Derby

In this picture Anthony's car is in the purple lane. He made a Luke Land Speeder from Star Wars.
Anthony is with his friend from his den meeting after their Championship race with the other Champions from all the dens.
Right after Anthony won first place amongst the Wolves in his den. For being his first Pinewood Derby he did a good job, as you can tell he was pretty excited. The pin that is on his shirt were handed out to all those that placed first, second, and third, and then everyone received a patch to add to their collection.

Milestone

Anthony is gearing up for his baptism on Feb 6. As part of the baptismal service the Stake Primary Presidency asks each family to write a letter about their child, here is ours:

Anthony’s greatest gift is his smile, in his smile you find happiness and pure joy. Anthony is a wonderful child who loves everything about star wars, mind-boggling games, science, and numbers. Anthony finds joy in music from singing songs in the car to playing the piano, his goal is to become a good piano player. Anthony has a great love for the gospel, His Savior Jesus Christ, and The Book of Mormon. Anthony set a goal to read The Book of Mormon cover to cover by himself before he was baptized, and he did!

Anthony has an uncanny ability to love all those whom he comes in contact with, and his love is unconditional. He is a great example of standing for what is right, and being a good example to his friends. Anthony has many strengths, one of which is his ability to obey with no questions asked; he just does what is asked of him with no complaints.

Anthony is a pillar of strength to his family. His strength can be found in his service that he gives; from singing to his sister in her hospital room, to playing with his little brother, to the notes of love and appreciation he writes to his mother and father. Anthony is one who loves to serve and truly understands when you serve others you are serving our Heavenly Father.

As his parents we are eternally grateful to our Heavenly Father who blessed us with this wonderful Child of God.

We are excited for his upcoming baptism all that is left is for me to make his baptismal towel and make he baptism day book.

Winter Wonderland

The kids wanted to go out and experience some of this winter wonderland, but living here in Texas we really don't keep a good stock of winter outer ware, but with our imagination we were able to keep the kids warm and protected. We used socks and grocery bags to create the perfect glove, two pairs of pants for each child and two jackets with their hoods for each child rounded out the rest of our winter outer ware. Madeline was able to stay outside for a couple of minutes before her cough got to the better of her and had to come in for a treatment. Spencer refused to move or do anything with the snow and so he stood in the middle of the backyard cold and miserable so he didn't last long. Anthony and Daddy enjoyed a good snowball fight and I came out to throw a few snow balls, only to discover that I am a really bad shot.

Something strange happened on Christmas Eve, it actually snowed and a pretty good snow storm at that. We actually had a decent amount of snow to play with and unlike some snow storms I have been in this one had a stop button and was done by evening. It was sure pretty to look at and the nice thing was by Christmas afternoon it was melted, that is how I like snow storms.

Christmas Day

Christmas this year for us was nice and relaxing and quiet. After presents were opened the day was spent playing and putting together everyones loot. It was nice to have a day with no doctor appointments, no places to hurry off too, and no deadlines to make.

We thought Spencer would get into the unwrapping of presents, but not this year. He saw the one thing he loves Wiggles that Santa brought and Christmas was complete; nothing else mattered to Spencer, in fact whenever we tried to interest him in another gift he would get upset for us taking him away from his new wiggle toy.

Madeline loved all her new art kits and has put them to use. She received an light brite which was the first thing she needed to try out, but Santa's gift was the highlight a large wooden car to go with her dollhouse.

Anthony found lots of new and exciting toys for him to enjoy. He received his own Darth Vadar Robotic Arm that he was able to build himself, Knug Fu Panda, and Mindmaster game; but again Santa came through with shinning colors and got him an automatic 20 bullet nerf gun ( I don't think Santa thought that one through very well).

I got a food processor and a cartridge for my cricut cutter and Grant got a book about the comparison of historical writings, including the Book of Mormon, about the origin of Native Americans. The kids each made a book for him with their dad and themselves as the main character doing an activity that they like to do with their dad; and he also got a calendar with pics of the kids to use at work.

The kids loved all of their toys and enjoyed waking up Christmas morning and seeing the Magic of Christmas, and I did something this year that I haven't done before I actually wrapped all the presents this year instead of just sticking them under the tree unwrapped.

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve, I had my family over for gift exchange and to make Gingerbread houses. The snow held off long enough for us to enjoy some family fun and then my family left quick as a flash so they could make it home in safety. Everyone enjoyed the gifts that were given, and the Gingerbread houses were enjoyed by all especially the children. Spencer didn't really get into the art of making a gingerbread house, but the decorations he was all about them.

Christmas Sing -A-Long

For our last advent we sang Christmas songs as a family. I found some music online of the kids' favorite Christmas songs that were easy enough for me to play and as a family we gathered around the piano and belted out some Christmas Cheer. The kids really enjoyed it! They are still singing Christmas songs together, it is fun to hear.

Day 20 of Advent

Day 20 fell on a Sunday and since we don't get home from church until 5:30 we usually have to do something simple and this night we decided to read a Christmas story before family scripture time. Somehow the Grinch came and took my many Christmas books that I have, but I was able to find one, not the one I wanted but the kids enjoyed it and that is all that matters.

Day 19 of Advent

For day 19, I invited my family to come and participate in making a wreath for my step father's grave. It was our Christmas present for him. The wreath was filled with things that remind us of him. The kids had little wood things to paint and the adults did the clipping of flowers and festive berries and of course the hot gluing; my little niece even slobber over a few star ornaments as a way of leaving her touch to the wreath. Afterwards I treated them to a homemade lunch. On Christmas Eve we will deliver the wreath to his grave and wish him a Merry Christmas.