Just another day

Every day that Cooper comes home off the bus I ask him "How was your day? What happened at school?" and the like. Most days the answer is "Fine." sometime I get a bit more, such as "We worked on greater than and less than in math." Last Tuesday I got the same "Fine." answer to my "How was school today?" question.

Later on I noticed one of those plastic bracelets that have the words printed in them lying on the floor. You know, the "Live Strong", "Courage" ones. I hadn't seen it before, it was a maroon marbled color. I asked Cooper where it came from and he said "Oh, I got that when I got my award yesterday." "You got an award? Yesterday? Remember how I asked you when you get home what happened at school? That's a good time to tell me that you received an award at school."

Cooper received the Fairness Award for "Being a Person of Character" from his teacher. On the back of the certificate his teacher wrote "Always kind and friendly to others. He shares and takes turns. He is honest." Later on that evening when he called his dad to tell him about his award Cooper said "My teacher wrote that I'm honest, and that's what I'm proudest about."

I cannot express how proud I am of this boy. He is such a young man of character who truly desires to do what is right. I am so blessed to have him in my life, to be his mother, to learn from his great example and bask in his love for all those around him. I love you Cooper and I thank God every day that you are in my life.

Upcoming posts

I have a couple posts that I'm working on that I will be posting shortly but in the mean time I want to share with you my SIL Mimi's post about our family's trip down to see her family.
Please click here to see all the fun we had over Valentine weekend.

Inspirational and motivating videos

I came across these videos recently. These issues have been pressing on my mind recently.

Lydia's antics

The other day Lydia picked up a guitar pick that she found. "Whassat?"
Papa: "That is a pick"
Lydia proceeds to put it up to her nose and says "pick" while nodding her head.



While at the dinner table I ask Lydia "What's their name?" pointing to everyone in turn.
"Cupper, Cayen, Papa."
Cooper pipes up "No, his name is George."
Lydia "Monkey!"
Cooper then starts to choke on his food because he's laughing so hard. He couldn't stop laughing and ended up throwing up. At least nothing came out his nose...


Papa to Lydia: "Are you a Silly Goose or a Pumpkin Head?"
Lydia: "Ina Puckin Head" while nodding her head.



Lydia's new phrase is "Commeer" while running up to you to give you a hug



Cooper and I are playing Wii bowling:

Cooper asks "Can I play the Wii?" I answer, "Yes you may." Catelyn asks "Can I play too?" "Sure." Lydia says "Wii too!"

The Survivors Club widget

It turns out I'm a Connector. I thought for sure answering the questions that I was going to be a Believer.
Take the Quiz in my side bar and see what type of survivor you are.

Patriotic perfomance

Two weeks ago, Cooper's class, along with the other K/1 classes put on a patriotic performance for their parents. Mostly it was patriotic songs but there were also parts for the kids to recite, some dressed up as George Washington, some as the statue of Liberty, some as a box of Cracker Jacks. Cooper's part was to open the show. Here he is.


He took a moment to gain his composure which I was very proud of him for.
Here is the last song that they performed. By the end the kids were really belting out "God Bless America".

Afterward, Cooper's teacher commented on how well she thought everyone did and that the teachers wanted to do this performance because they didn't know how much longer these patriotic songs would be allowed in school. I thought it was wonderful that there are still teachers out there that care so much about our country and God's role in it.

Photo Tag

I've been photo-tagged. The rules are...

1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on the computer

2. Select the 4th picture in the folder

3. Explain the picture

4. Tag 4 people to do the same

5. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc)

So this is from Christmas day, or the day after. Mom (Grammy) and Dad (Papa) in the background in their kitchen, my SIL Sarah smiling for the camera with her cute belly and my brother Jared fixing himself some leftovers.

I tag:

Kim McEvoy

Lydia Ellis

Rebecca Anderson

Jyl Holiday

If you've already done it let me know.

Walk to the park

Saturday was a glorious day here in the Sacramento area. We all spent some time outside during the day and then towards dusk Cooper convinced me to take a walk down to the park at the far end of our subdivision.

Here some pictures from our adventure.

Note here how high Cooper's pants are hiked. He kind of got a bit stuck. I warned him first though...

Catelyn didn't want her picture taken...

Sweet baby

Come What May, & Love It!

The lesson last week in Relief Society was "Come What May, And Love It" by Elder Wirthlin. It was Fast Sunday and I had already been up to bear my testimony in Sacrament meeting. When I walked into Relief Society I saw the title of the lesson and thought "Oh boy, I hope I am able to make it through this one without breaking down." I was asked to give the prayer and opted to give the opening one in case I was just a blubbering mess by the end. It was a very personal lesson for me since I have just recently been through a very tough trial and been able to stay close to the Lord and learn and grow because of it.

Here is a video of Elder Wirthlin when he gave the talk that the lesson is based on. It touched my heart and I want to bear my testimony that all the things he says are true.


We determine our happiness. Sometimes trials come our way that we have no control over. What we do have control over is how we respond to those trials. Do we turn to the Lord for strength and support? If we seek for the eternal as he states, we will have the opportunity to stretch our understanding, build our character and increase our compassion. I bear testimony of the truthfulness of these things. In the name of my Lord, Savior, Redeemer and friend, even Jesus Christ, Amen.

More things about me

Perhaps this will appear as a "wall of text" to most people but I found that the last "25 random things about me" post was rather therapeutic to me. I found myself thinking of more random things I wish I had added so I have decided to fill out a brand new one.
Here we go:

1. I cut Catelyn's hair myself. This past one was the hardest for me and I am leaning towards her getting it professionally done next time.
2. I really don't like to be ignored. I would much rather be rejected than have people not respond.
3. I follow a lot of blogs of people I know (and some I don't) but rarely comment. I just went and counted all of the ones on my reader account and it's over 75!
4. I once had a friend in college dub me "Senora Muchas Smoochas"
5. I am very proud of my children and tell them so often
6. I applied to 5 colleges and got scholarships to all but the one I chose to go to. BYU
7. My older kids are playing the Wii in the other room and I'm on the computer. I really need to kick this bad habit.
8. At least the baby is in bed and I can hear Cooper and Catelyn giggling uncontrollably. No one is screaming yet.
9. I'm ready for a night out.
10. I just ate a gluten free wafer cookie and the aftertaste is like I ate perfume...
11. I love earrings. I could possibly have close to 100 pairs.
12. I like buckles on my shoes.
13. I wish I didn't have to tweeze my eyebrows. It's a constant chore.
14. I had fun in high school. I think it's pretty safe to say I was friends with just about everyone.
15. I am a VERY bad organizer and planner. Luckily I'm living with my mom again. She created my handicap, she can be my crutch.
16. I'm going to take a break now and put the kids to bed.
17. I believe these are the last days and I'm living my life accordingly.
18. I don't like to by tickled but all 3 of my kids are like their dad and LOVE to be lightly tickled. Lydia calls it "aGuh" She pulls her thumb out of her mouth and says "aGuh, aGuh!"
19. I really like cheesecake.
20. I foresee some serious and troubled times ahead for our country. Seriously troubled.
21. I miss kissing. Lately I've been getting my fix by watching the Bachelor o.O
22. I used to be a gamer. I played WoW every day.
23. It seems that I have an addiction problem. First it was Myspace, then World of Warcraft, now Facebook.
24. I don't like fruit in my chocolate. Separate they are great.
25. I started going to therapy 9 months ago when my world imploded, and it helped me get to the other side of this trial. One last session is all I have left.

Pictures with a story

So Lydia had already taken her bath and was all dressed for bed. It was Catelyn's turn next and she's old enough now that I don't have to stay in there with her the whole time. I guess I wasn't paying attention because I hear Lydia crying in the bathroom and yelling "Help Momma!" I run in to find this:This is the first time we have experienced the fully clothed bathtub experience. I really don't think that Lydia meant to get in the water. Catelyn said that Lydia had been leaning over the edge, putting her hands in the water when, whoopsy daisy, she fell all the way in. I said "Oh man." and ran to get the camera, even though Lydia was not happy to be in the tub.

Next up, Cooper discovered that one of the coffee tables in the house had hidden storage underneath. He laid pillows in it and he and Catelyn had a ball.

Here, Catelyn is modeling her handmade fashion dress. Good thing she wasn't using ductape because it eventually was used as necklace and blindfold...

Here's Lydia in the tent that Catelyn and our neighbor Tyler made in the family room. I love the pic because you can see Lydia's hair curling a bit. Yes, that's right, her hair is getting long enough to curl!

Here is a video from that same tent.. The girls were still sick at this point so you can hear Catelyn sniffling along with her very loud voice.

Flight of the Conchords

I don't know how many of you know who Flight of the Conchords are, or how many share my same sense of humor but I just had to share:

I just bought two tickets to their live tour coming in May!!!

It was sort of a "do something nice for myself since my Birthday last year sucked" purchase. I'm hoping by the time May 25th rolls around I'll have someone I would like to take with me since I bought two tickets. I'm pretty excited to be doing something special for me.

Here's a song from their TV show on HBO. Warning, there are one or two curse words so don't play it till the kids are out of the room. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FArZxLj6DLk