Talking Back

Yesterday at lunch, Cooper was standing up in his chair (as usual) and I was "politely" telling him to sit down before he falls. Cooper responded by saying "No!"
Jackson looked over to him and said, ...

"Cooper, don't say 'no' to mommy. That's called 'talking back' and it's not polite. It makes mommy and daddy sad. You shouldn't talk back. Only talk forward."

I love these kids. I need to make more of an effort to write down all of the things they say. I'd like to think I will remember their words forever, but seeing as I can't remember what happened a week ago, I don't think that's the case.

Plano Balloon Festival

On Friday we headed down to Plano (just about 20 minutes away) for the hot air balloon festival. We met up with some friends - the Koonces and the Morris'. After parking and unloading our stuff, we began to get worried about the dark clouds to the south of us.

Guess we were right to be worried, because it started to rain, and they announced we should all move to out to our cars, and come back in 45 minutes. So, we loaded the wagon and the stroller back up, and wheeled the boys back to the van. Instead of eating a picnic dinner, we ate dinner in the van and watched Thomas the Train on the dvd players. (The boys were more than happy). After the rain and lightning subsided, we made our way back to the hill to set up our blankets and chairs.

The boys got balloons, which they loved.
I finally popped them tonight after they went to bed, because they were dragging them around the house today, screaming every time the string got caught on a piece of furniture. I'm over them, so now they are in the trash can.


It should be interesting breaking the news about the balloons
to Cooper in the morning.


Nathan.
I love this picture - Too cute!


Davis


The boys had a blast running around and wrestling with each other.


I think if we had left after just eating sandwiches in the car and playing with these balloons, the boys would have been happy.
It doesn't take much to impress them.

Sweet Emma was a trooper. When we first arrived, she knelt down in an ant pile and had ALOT of bites all over her legs.
It looked pretty awful.


Charlie gets an A+
He was such a trooper through the whole festival.


(Little) Nathan


Austin


Nick is so sweet with Cooper.


Relaxing



The Morris'
Nathan, Greg, Emma, Jessica, Nick, and Rosie



The Koonces
Aaron, Austin, Nathan, Heather, and Davis



And us.
Don't the boys look eager to smile for the camera?


There were lots of yummy choices for food.
I tried really hard to be good.
Getting tired of the baby weight.
Miss my jeans.
Too bad this morning I ate 2 giant pieces of cake for breakfast.


After the sunset, we got to see the glow.
Unfortunately, they cancelled the parachuters and the launch due to the weather. But that didn't stop us from enjoying our time.


Glow sticks make for an interesting picture.



Colin took the boys up for a close look at the balloons.






I think this is beginning to look like a ReMax commercial.

What a fun night - even with a little rain and change of schedule.

Last Week

A few pictures from last week ...

Gas Station Attendants (the cutest I've ever seen).

Exploring the maze

Along for the ride

First Day of School

Tuesday was Jackson's first day of school.

Started the morning off with breakfast - Chocolate chip waffles for a special day.

Jackson was all smiles and so excited.

We got to school and had to take some more pictures : )
My mom is in town (woo-hoo!)
so I was able to bring Jackson by himself while she watched Coop and Charlie.


I asked him to give me a big smile.


He was so happy to see his best buddy Nathan.


I'm wondering what type of shenanigans these two are going to get into this year!


After we walked into the classroom, he wasn't looking so excited anymore.
Really quiet, and I knew he was on the verge of crying.
I don't think he was worried about me leaving - he's always fine with that,
but I think it was not knowing what to expect.

After I left I came home, and couldn't get anything done. I was sort of a mess.
Worried that the teacher might not be able to understand him.
What if he got picked on or bullied?
I know, I know. It's silly.
So, noon got here pretty quickly, and we all went to pick him up. He saw me through the window, and gave me a big smile, but when he came out the door, he asked me,
"Mommy - are you taking me home, now?"
And I told him, "Yes - we're going to go home and have lunch and. .."
Then he started crying and said,
"But I don't want to go home! I want to stay at school!"
(I think that's a good sign, right?)


The kids have an option to stay until 2:15.
The thing is, I'm not willing to give up naptime. I LOVE naptime.
(And he really needs a nap, too).
I don't want to have to wake Cooper up to go pick Jackson up.
So, my sweet, sweet friend Adrienne (You know, the one with the three adorable little girls), has offered to bring him home on Thursdays. So, on Tuesday he will just go from 9:15-12:15, and Thursdays he will stay until 2:15, and she will bring him home, and Cooper can sleep away!
It's soooooo wonderful!

He also started his P.A.L.S. class on Wednesday (at a different school). He will be going from 8:45-10:45 every Monday and Wednesday. I basically sit in the carpool line, drop him off, come home, nurse Charlie, change some diapers, give Cooper a snack, and then sit in the carpool line again. It's a bit of a hassle, but I think it will be completely worth it. He will be getting two hours of speech therapy - and I think he's going to do great.
His first day there was fine - still a little nervous, but mostly excited.

I can't believe my baby is 3 1/2 years old. I wish I could freeze time. He is so grown up!
I'm so, so, so thankful that I have been able to stay at home with my boys. And, I am glad we waited until now to put Jackson in Mother's Day Out.
Even now - it's 2-3 hours a day, so we still have plenty of time together.

Three Months Old

Catch up

Here's my attempt to "catch up" with all the blogging I haven't been doing in the last weeks...

Cooper is ALL ABOUT the shoes. His shoes. My shoes. Clean Shoes. Dirty Shoes.
He's not picky - he is just in love.



He's also pretty fascinated with stickers. Loves to stick them on himself. Often his shirt, but other times he puts them on his face or in this case, all over his legs.


The other day the boys were eating breakfast, and I had cut some slices of apple up for them. Cooper was looking at one of the slices, obviously thinking hard about it. He looked at me, then picked up the slice, held it to his ear and said, "hello!" So adorable. In his mind the slice looked just like a telephone.


Believe it or not, our sweet, sweet boys sometimes don't act sweet. I know, it's hard to believe. But, recently, I feel like I have repeating myself ALOT. I am sick of hearing myself give the same instruction 10 times. I know they must be really sick of it too. I try to always reward the boys with praise when they listen well, but lately it didn't seem to make any difference. Just to get them into their carseats meant telling them to "GET IN YOUR SEAT!" about 5 times. Pretty annoying. So, I was brainstorming what I could do ... A while ago, my friend, Adrienne, shared with me how she uses a reward chart for her girls. So, the other night, I got out my glue gun and got made some charts. I used some little cardboard Cars that I bought - and just cut up some magnets from our fridge. So far, so good. Jackson can't stop thinking about it. He's in love! They get to pick out a race car everytime they do something great - listening, sharing, cleaning up. And sometimes they lose one if they aren't behaving. Just a little reminder of the chart seems to help alot. The first time Jackson got five race cars, I gave him a tootsie roll. He was in heaven.


Today, Charlie was in a "special" mood. As Jackson would say, he was having a "rough day." Anyway, our sweet, gassy baby took a nap with Colin on the couch, so I put the older boys upstairs in our bed and turned on Bob the Builder. They watched a little tv while I vacuumed and cleaned the baseboards upstairs. They looked so adorable all tucked under the comforter.


As I was cleaning Cooper's room, I decided to look for Grover. You see, we have a little Sesame Street house with little characters. However, Grover has been missing for a month or two. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't find him. I had looked everywhere. I had lifted up his nightstand at least 5-6 times to check underneath. No Grover.
Well, today I pulled the nightstand out from the wall so I could clean the baseboard behind it. And this is what I found -


I couldn't stop laughing. I was perplexed. Had to get the camera.


He's just hanging there. Hiding from me! Turns out that he was stuck to the wall. I guess he had fallen back there, and then when I had lifted the nightstand and placed it back, I squished him into the wall. I just can't stop laughing about him just hanging there. I almost hated to take him down. Anyway, now he is happily reunited with all of his Sesame Street family. Cooper was so happy and couldn't stop saying "go-ber" a million times while he played.

As I was taking this picture I realized that Cookie Monster is missing now. Bummer!

Later today I went outside with Jackson to try and learn to ride his tricycle. I know what you're thinking. He's 3 1/2 and I haven't taught him to ride it yet. He got it for his birthday (or Christmas - can't remember) last year. Anyway, I think this was our second attempt to learn. I know, terrible. If I would just takehim out once in a while, he's catch on really fast. At the end of my pregnancy I didn't feel like it. And then once I had Charlie I was too crazy. And it's been so hot. There, I got out all of my excuses. Anyway, he did great. He can pedal really well. He can steer really well. Just not both at the same time : )


I don't have any pictures to post of Charlie - but tomorrow he will turn 3 months old! So, I'm sure I'll do a little photo shoot of him.
I'll have lots to post next week, because Jackson starts both of his schools! Today I told him, "Jackson - only 3 more days until you start school." And he got super-excited and said, "3 more days?!?!" And then after a few seconds ... "I'm going to miss you, mommy."