A Cute Cooper Comment

Cooper and I were chatting our way through Target. Here is a little part of our conversation:

Me: What would I do without you? I would be lost without my Cooper!

Cooper: Yeah.

Me: Would you be lost without Mama?

Cooper: No...I would come find you!

Oh how I love the sweet and literal mind of a two year old!

A blessed year ahead of us.

Happy New Year! It is so hard to believe that it is 2009. It is insane how fast 2008 flew by us. It was a wonderful year and we have so much to be grateful for. As I look ahead to 2009, I am excited because I know this year will be just as blessed.

We will start the year off with Colton turning 6 in January. It is very hard to believe that is possible. I am very proud of the little man he is.

Cooper will turn 3 in April. My baby is such a big boy. (He will let you know that!) He is so good and I know the threes will be just as much fun.

Then July 1st we will get a third gift from God. I can only imagine how crazy our house will be then. I know we will be busier than we ever imagined but there will be even more love around here. I can't wait!!

That same month we will celebrate 10 years of marital bliss. Wow- has that gone fast! It is safe to say we won't be taking a romantic getaway with a newborn but we will celebrate somehow. I am very lucky to have Cody with me to share this life and I would choose him all over again.

Those are the big things that stand out for the coming year. I sure hope we get lots of time with our families and friends and make tons of precious memories.

My resolutions for the year:(in no particular order)

• To get moving...I plan to get some exercise so I can have a healthy pregnancy and help my body bounce back after the baby arrives.
• To get organized...I have closets to clean, pictures to sort, scrapbooks to complete.
• To get more patience...I have been very hormonal and not so patient lately. My boys(including my hubby) deserve more from me.
• To get closer to God...I have been spending more time focusing on him this past year and I plan to continue to learn and grow in my faith.

Well, that is just a few important things for me to work on. If I list more I will be overwhelmed. So this is where I will start.

A Day at the Zoo

Colton has been talking about going to the zoo for a while now. We haven't been there since Cooper was a baby so it was time to go back. Cody was off work on Monday and the weather was nice so we decided to go. We had such a good day! Colton was most interested in seeing the elephants and Cooper wanted to see the monkeys. (Poor guy, really wanted to hold one.) Cody has a family friend that works there and we were lucky enough to get a behind the scenes tour. We even got to pet a Rhino. Very cool!

Deer lease fun

If you know me, you know the deer lease is not really a place I care to hang out. But trying to be a good wife and mother of boys, I took the boys to the deer lease on Saturday to spend the night. Cooper has been wanting to go hunting and has waited patiently for his turn. We got there just in time for the afternoon hunt. Although the boys were like two caged animals in the deer blind, I know Cody loved having us hunt with him. Just when we were about to "release the animals", Cody saw a trash buck he was wanting to shoot to get rid of. Cody knew this would be exciting for them. The boys got very quiet. We all plugged our ears and Cody shot. The buck was down and the boys couldn't wait to go see it. It is so funny how the are just innately not afraid or grossed out by this stuff. They ran right up to it and had to touch it. (I bit my tongue and just let them be "hunters".)

Here is a shot of the boys with the buck and one with their Daddy too.

It was a fun experience for them and I enjoyed myself too. The only bad part was that we woke up Sunday morning to rain. Oh well!

Our Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas! It started at 5:41 am with Colton by our bed. He noticed that Santa had come but since it was still dark we convinced him to lay down for a little while longer. After some dozing, Cooper was up at 7:oo am and said "Santa left me presents." Now we were up. The boys tore into their gifts and loved everything that Santa and Cody and I gave them. Then we sang Happy Bithday to Jesus during our pancake breakfast and it was off to Omi and Opi's house. The boys tore into their gifts and loved everything they were given. After that we came home for lunch and a nap. Later we went to Mammy and Papa's house for dinner and more presents. The boys tore into their gifts and they loved everything they were given there too. Some of their favorites gifts were: John Deere remote control tractor, the Batcave, a John Deere scooter, Bolt toys, a blower, and the Mickey Mouse race track. They got lots of wonderful things and so did Cody and I. We were blessed to get to be with both sides of our family on Christmas day and we had a great day! Now we just have to find room for all of these cool new toys. Here are a few snapshots of Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas!

I cannot believe that it is already Christmas Eve. My boys are going crazy with the excitement that Santa comes tonight. So we will go to church this evening and then come home and have a quiet dinner with a few family members. Then we will leave food for the reindeer and cookies and milk for Santa. Next, it is off to bed so visions of sugarplums can dance in Colton and Cooper's cute little heads. There is just nothing like the magic of this time of year! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Hope Santa is good to each and everyone of you. Happy Birthday Jesus!!

Building a House

Well, the boys and I made a gingerbread house the other night. Let me tell you, it is much harder than it looks. We did have fun and here is our end product.