Catching Up

As usual....I haven't updated this site in forever.  It is so hard to keep both sites going.  I keep saying that I am just going to use one or the other, but both have features that I like.  I just need to do better about actually getting on here and writing.


However, I don't think that many people actually read this site so....


The video up there is my baby girl's first dance recital.  Of course, I think that she is pretty stinking adorable.  She did so good...especially  since she is by far the youngest one in her class.  I was definitely a proud mama.


Bennett had a musical theater production, but it is a little over 6 minutes long so I won't put you through watching that.  I just made all of the family do that!  :)  He loves that class, but gets a little silly when we are allowed to watch.


We had a terrific Christmas.  All of us got very spoiled.  The kids were very excited about their presents.  Bennett was totally into the WHOLE Christmas thing this year.  


He did have a solo in his school show.  He did a great job.  His teachers do the MOST amazing job when it comes to putting on a show.  It was terrific!


We had our appointment with Dr. Thomas yesterday.  You can read the whole update at www.caringbridge.org/visit/gracecooper but basically we are scheduled to have surgery on June 28.  Ugh.  It is never easy to hand your kiddo over....even when you know that it is the best thing for her.


Grace had her customary holiday sickness over Christmas.  It never fails.  We missed bringing the Christmas meal up to the hospital because she woke up with fever...again.  Ugh.  We went to see the doc.  They tested for strep and flu...both were negative....so it was a viral thing...surprise, surprise.  She is just now getting to where she is feeling better.


I am looking forward to seeing what the new year has in store for us!!


Love,
Jennifer

Florida Vacation

I am late getting this posted, but we were able to go Florida to stay with Misty for a week at the end of July. Neither one of the kids had ever seen the ocean and Bennett instantly fell in love with it.

Look at how crazy her hair got in the humidity. Aunt Misty kept calling her "Curly Girly"

Bennett loved covering himself in sand!!

Bennett was a swimming machine. He swam like this every single time we were in the water...which was every single day!

Bennett, Grace, and my niece Sloan building sand castles.

I had to include this picture of my niece, Landry. Look at those thighs!! Aren't they yummy??

One of the favorite past times was building sand castles.

This was the first time that Landry had been to the beach when she was big enough to get down and play......she spent all of her time eating sand.

There is NO telling what he was doing here.

I don't know why....but I LOVE this picture. There is just something about it that gets me.

Look at this skinny minny!! This is a 6-12 month bathing suit...and she will be 3 in 3 weeks.

I have no idea why this is the only picture of Sloan that I have that actually shows her face.

My little water-loving fish.

Bennett really loved looking for shells. On our last day there, we took him and my niece, Abbie, to a place called Shell Island. (The little girls got to stay with a babysitter.) We had to take a shuttle out there and then it docks and you have to walk about 10 minutes through the hot sand to the other side of the island. But, the reward is amazing. The shells were beautiful and we brought back 18 sand dollars.....those are the ones that survived. We broke our fair share too. We applied and reapplied sunscreen, but snorkeling for almost 4 hours left the back of my legs SUPER red. I could barely walk for the next couple of days. It was bad.

The highlight for the trip for Bennett was going on the pirate ship! He had a blast. It was a "real" pirate ship with pirates onboard. The kids got to sword fight, water gun fight, and look for treasure...which they then heave-hoed up out of the ocean. It was well worth every penny for my pirate loving boy.

Can't you just see the excitement in his eyes??

The captain said that dolphins love Bob Marley.....

This is how Gracie spent the majority of the ride....until I just held her hands down by her side and made her get used to the noise. (Mommy is so mean!)

Pirate Princess....

Loving the water gun fight

Bennett thought this sign was hysterical!

Picking out pirate treasure from the bottom of the ocean

Pirate Bennett and Bones

And....this is where Bennett got a little too close to the pirate sword....

Okay....maybe not....Bennett wanted a brush to brush his hair while he was in the bath tub. I told him no since we were trying to hurry. So, he decided to brush his hair with Mommy's razor. (yes, we have had a talk about NOT touching Mommy's things....)

Not the best video but my boy looks so cute here! He is in the green shirt and khaki shorts with the bandana on his head.

As you can tell, we had a terrific time. We are very thankful that Uncle Jimmy let us crash his house for a week.

In other news, we sold our house and we are moving next weekend. We are just going to a small rent house for a year and then we will build again. I go back to work on Monday and I am not looking forward to dropping the kids off at school. They have been with me all summer and Gracie is not going to be happy when I leave without her to go to work.

Can you believe that my baby is going to be 3 in 3 weeks?? Where has the time gone??

Vacation Wrap-Up

We had so much fun on our first family road trip!! We left about 4:00 on Wednesday afternoon and made it all the way to Tucumcari, NM. We taught Bennett how to pull his arm to get a truck to honk his horn at him along the way and he thought that was great.

Thursday morning, we hit the road early. Our goal was to make it to the Petrified National Forest and Painted Desert for a picnic lunch.

Bennett is very into Spider-Man right now so be prepared to see this pose quite frequently!

The kids did so great in the car. I was so proud of them. AND....my little Gracie made it all the way to Vegas and kept her pull-up completely dry!!! That is pretty impressive. Bennett was super-duper excited about crossing over the Hoover Dam...mainly because that is where Megatron is hidden.

We finally pulled into Vegas where we were super excited to reunite with our friends, the Rollers. We had pizza and called it a night.

We slept in a little Friday morning and then headed to the best Disney outlet ever! I was able to snag Gracie a SUPER cute Minnie Mouse bathing suit for $5.99. Then, it was off to Circus Circus. We had so much fun....and we got to be a part of Isaac riding his first ever ride!!

Yes, Eli looks super excited because his lion was broken. Bennett was very excited because he was riding the "dragon horse." Isaac was doing his happy dance because he LOVED it. We rode tons of rides and had a great time!!!

Friday afternoon, we went back to Kathy's house and swam....after we stopped and I had my first In-N-Out Burger. It was yummy!! Daddy was a great sport and swam with all the kids because I was super tired and I was visiting with Kathy. Then, Chris was a good sport and kept all the kids while all of the adults went on date night to The Cheesecake Factory. We were going to go to the movies or to the strip, but honestly....we were all too tired to do anything so we went home and went to bed!

Saturday morning started at the Strip again. We drove by the Fabulous Las Vegas sign. (I have never seen it!) We went to the lion habitat inside MGM studios. They had just fed the lions so they were very active. Then, we walked down past all the "characters" (and they were some scary ones...) to M&M World. We got to the 2nd floor and everyone was filling up their bags of candy when I looked at Craig. He was holding Gracie out at arms length and Kathy was trying not to laugh. Why? Because my darling little angel daughter was peeing all over the floor of M&M World! The employees were SO SO SO nice. I can't say enough nice things about them. We headed back to Kathy's house for more swimming. My kids are little fish so they were in hog heaven to be in the pool so much. The Roller's had to go to Eli's baptism so we hung at their house since we didn't take any nice clothes with us. We had dinner and then decided to take Bennett to see the strip at night. Wow....talk about some good people watching for me!! I was loving it!! We started at the fountains at the Bellagio. Then, we made our way down to the Mirage to see the Volcano erupt. Bennett loved it at first....but that quickly turned to sheer terror. He literally thought that the volcano was going to erupt all over us and freaked out!

Bennett and Eli before the volcano freak out!

Then, we walked back through the Forum shops at Cesar's Palace. We had promised the kids ice cream. We saw a little gelato stand. We went up and each ordered one. Our bill was FORTY DOLLARS!!!! FOR ICE CREAM!!!! $7.95 a piece for a small gelato? Hello?? Are you freaking kidding me?? I thought Craig was going to stroke out. (and those of you who know Craig know exactly was I am talking about!) Bennett and Eli didn't want to finish theirs and Craig looked at them like they were crazy. He looked at me and said, "Don't they realize that stuff is golden?" Bennett was so tired....this is what happened on the way home.

Sunday morning brought....you guessed it.....more swimming. Seriously, I think my kids are going to grow gills. They love to be in the water. We went to have mexican food for lunch at Chevy's - yummy. And, then Kathy and I enjoyed watching Gracie shop in her craft room. It was pretty hysterical. And, after being in Vegas for a couple of days...this is what my daughter turned into.....

Playboy bunny? All of this outfit is courtesy of Kathy's craft room.

Craig and I tossed around leaving on Sunday evening but we ultimately decided to stay and I am so happy that we did. All of the boys went and bought fireworks and we had a great little show out in the cul-de-sac. Bennett had a blast!!

And this is what Grace thought about the fireworks. She quickly went inside the house where she stayed by herself.

And what did Isaac think?

We left bright and early on Monday morning and headed for the Grand Canyon. I was so so so very excited about this because I have never been there!! Craig had originally thought that we wouldn't have enough time to go there, but it worked out!

No children were harmed in the filming of this video....although Bennett did almost give Craig a heart attack from sitting on the edge of that rock.

We had a nice picnic lunch in the Grand Canyon and made it all the way to Albuquerque to spend the night.

Tuesday was spent all day driving. We stopped for lunch at Cheddars in Amarillo. About 3 pm, I got hit with the stomach bug. No fun at all when you are on a road trip. We made it home about 7:15 and this is what we saw.

Two kids READY to get out of their car seats!!

Bennett woke up with the stomach bug on Wednesday. He woke me up at 6:30 by throwing up all over me. He then spent the morning with it coming out both ends. Grace spent Thursday morning in such a state of lethargy that I was on my way to the ER via orders from Dr. Thomas when she just all of a sudden snapped out of it. But, she finished out her night by....throwing up all over me. Nice. Welcome home.

But, the best part of our trip? Seeing these two beautiful, heart friends loving Yo Gabba Gabba together.

Guess where I am going??

One more week!! That's it!! Guess where I am going next Wednesday???

I am so excited! Daddy, the kids, and I are taking a road trip to visit the fabulous Rollers. Eli and Bennett can talk each others ears off and give us mama's a break!

We have made a list of the FREE things to do while we are there. I am actually looking forward to the drive. (I think that I might be crazy...) I love looking at "stuff" and this is a great opportunity.

Gracie goes to the cardiologist on Thursday so I have the creeping feeling in my gut. I know that she is doing fine and dandy, but the flutters still find a way to sneak in.

We have enjoyed our summer so far. The kids have done great about sleeping in which has been a pleasant change. Of course, they are staying up later too.

Pics from Vegas to follow.......

Cutie Kids Doing Tricks

Wanna see Gracie swim?? She just finished up this session of swim lessons and is becoming a little fish!! We love our warm belly suit....it really helps with keeping her warmer.

Bennett graduated from kindergarten last week. He is in private school and started a year early. We decided that he is going to repeat kindergarten again to help with his confidence. His teachers said that he is ready to go to first grade, but he doesn't volunteer much in class, etc. Since he is young and would just now be going to kindergarten in a public school, we decided to have him repeat. He is very excited that he is going to be the "star" of his class next year. He received an Outstanding Musician Award. He was chosen to sing a solo part in his graduation ceremony. I am so proud of him!!

Last Friday, Bennett and Gracie both had their dance "recital" at their school. My aunt comes in and teaches dance class to the kids. Here are a couple of clips of my little dancers.

We have been really busy here lately!! I am so ready for school to be out...and I don't get out until NEXT Thursday....urrghhh....

Catching Up

I keep saying that I am going to do better about updating this site....yep.....doing a great job with that.

Ugh.

Here is some serious cuteness for you to behold.

Gracie singing Jesus Loves Me....

Bennett's school had a Valentine Cotillion about a month ago. I LOVE his school so much. His teacher taught all of the boys how to act like a gentleman and how to dance. Here are some of my favorite moves from my little man. (Please don't feel obligated to watch each video in its entirety. But, at least click on each video to check out his moves.)

Slow dancing....(notice the spinning of the girl)

One more.....this one cracks me up because he can't decide if he wants to slow dance or fast dance.....

Bennett's version of the robot.....

I know that I keep saying that I am going to do better at updating this site. I promise that I am going to give it a good effort!!

Gracie's Singing Debut