The best redneck date night

My dear friend, Kallee, is better known as my partner in crime. The problem with Kallee and I is that between the two of us, we can talk ourselves into about anything. Case in point... I found a groupon not long ago for  a great deal to the car races. Ben and I have never been, neither had the Cooks, so what better way to spend a friday night than a little Smashburger and trip to the races (it was even a surprise for the hubs). Oh, little did we know:) So, we put on our best redneck garb and headed west... well, northwest:) We had a BLAST! We were way out in the desert at a mud racetrack, we were the only people not emotionally invested in the outcomes, we were probably the only ones without a tatoo, and most definitely the only ones not smoking or boozing. We stuck out like sore thumbs (and we loved it)! The cars were so loud it made your insides pound. The ground shook. We got mud on our faces:) It was the best! We chose our cars and cheered and cheered and laughed! Anyway, it was memorable for sure, and nothing like what we expected.

Zachary figures it out

Zachary has it all figured out. What?! You didn't get the memo? He knows everything. Just like his grandpa namesake (my dad). If it isn't his idea, it probably isn't right:) Here are some recent conversations to prove it...
As Ike comes running into the room whining, "Zachy sometimes I have good ideas too. You aren't the only one with the right idea."
Zach: "Nope. Just me. I have all the right ideas. I can't help it Ikie. I just do. I know all the right fhings."
Ike: "I know right things too, Zachy. You can't always be right or people won't want to play with you."
Z: "I just am always right though. I just am."
... and on and on it went...

Zach was pretending he was the daddy (even wearing daddy's shoes) and he was coming home to his kids (me)... "Kids, I'm home!!"
Me: "Yay! Daddy's home! Daddy, where were you?"
Z: "At school."
Me. "What do you do at school, Daddy?"
Z: "Work in people's moufs."
Me: "What do you do in their mouths?"
Z: "Work on teef and get my hands all bloody." (they ask Ben 2 questions every night: 1. Did you get to put trays in anyone's mouth today? 2. Did you get your hands bloody? Every. Day.

Me: "Why do your hands get all bloody?"
Z: "Because I take out deir teef."
Me: "Why on earth are you taking our their teeth?"
Z: "So I can put in gold ones!!"

That's pretty much it, son. Good one.

Reese snuck up to 7 months!

Sweet little Reese sneeks and creeps along at 7 months! Literally. This little girl is rolling all over and has learned to army crawl and spin and move any which way this month. She can get where she needs to go, as long as it is behind her... haven't quite figured out forward yet, but maybe that just means she'll be an excellent parallel parker?!
Little miss Reese has also learned to speak a little more gibberish and definitely knows her name and mama and dadda. I'm not quite sure what she calls her brothers, but she sure does get excited if they look her way or walk past her. They often can keep her attention for as long as they want and sing and dance for her daily. She loves them so much and often gives them very lovey, wet kisses!
Reese has finally taken a little more liking to baby food, though if her food is pureed, she still sticks her nose up at it! She likes a little chunk to it and especially loves black beans, avocados, and mangoes, apples, etc. She even like edamame... or most anything that is not pureed. She has also started liking a bottle a little more, which makes date night a little more possible (whew!)
Reese is sleeping like my babies normally do. Not enough:) She still wakes in the night, but is such a joy, you can't help but just bask in her warm, loving smiles. She eats and goes right back to sleep, which doesn't hurt either:)
Reese is my little partner in crime. She has a wardrobe bigger than daddy and mamma combined (ok, maybe daddy and the boys...) And her hair is long enough to do ponytails, pig tails and side ponies. I don't know much about girl hair, so are on a definite learning curve, but we accessorize more and more:)
Reese is also daddy's little girl. If she even hears his voice, no matter the time day or night, she will quit nursing and turn every which way to find him. She gives him the biggest, brightest smiles and then goes back to her job:) She's got him wrapped around her little finger. Good girl.
This little girl has us all completely smitten. I can't remember life without our little angel:) We just love her to pieces!

Isaac's ROAR-ing DINO-mite 6th Birthday

We had Dino Dinner: swamp dip (guac and chips), carnivore food: dino dogs (little smokies) and dino chicken nuggets, dinosaur bones (pretzel sticks in white chocolate), dinosaur eggs (green grapes) and swamp juice (lime sherbet and sprite)

herbivore delights

dinosaur cupcakes- funniest part: one friend proclaimed, "I don't like cupcakes!" So, all but 4 children ended up opting out of the cupcakes claiming "I don't like them either!" or my favorite, "Cupcake give me a belly ache!" Ben and I got a good laugh out of it, lucky for us, they were actually really good! AND Zach loved them... I let him eat 2.... Made my ego feel better!

Swamp Juice and Cupcake table

Dino Eggs

Ben and his dental buddy (BFF:) Clayton. These two lucky boys asked the most unfortunate question, "What can we do to help?" Which is why they spent the next 30 minutes stuffing glow in the dark bracelets into easter eggs (turned dinosaur eggs) for our glow in the dark dino egg hunt! It was a HUGE HIT!! And was only accomplished because of these two highly educated men and loving husbands:)

Three of our friends partying up!

What good is an outdoor party without a water feature?

We had a killer dinosaur dig with 80 dinos ready to unearth with paint brushes and "tools" for the paleontologists

Isaac received a soccer goal from Mom and Dad and boy has it been put to good use already!

More party animals

Entrance to the Parrr-tae

Dino Dig

More Paleontologists

Birthday boy with his two trustiest helpers:)

By the end of the party it was dark, which meant strands of Christmas lights all above the yard. What a brilliant treat! I LOVE Arizona "fall!"

Totally awesome, amazing friends and the coolest presents:)

Happy Happy Birthday Boy!

Our big boy Isaac is thrilled to be 6! A couple of his besties have already turned six (a few weeks ago) and it has been killing him to not be the same age! He claims six just feels so much older:)

Isaac loves kindergarten and his teacher. He is constantly wanting more and doing more, so we supplement a lot from home and investigate a lot. Obviously, his newest obsession is dinosaurs. He knows at least 50 dinosaurs and knows what time periods they lived in.

Some of his other favorite things are pretending. He could pretend anything from "baby and daddy" with his best buddy, Zachary to "School" with his school friends (Isaac is always the male teacher Mr. Fish from his elementary school). The boys often (as in every second of the day) are borrowing my kitchen tools, random things from under the sink, recycling, etc. to play. I think for Christmas they would seriously love their own kitchen tools and free reign on the recycling bin!

Isaac thought long and hard about his birthday party. He chose the menu and he helped every step of the way. He is really "in" to food and details.
Along with his party, much thought went into his guest list. At school, it is a HUGE deal to be invited/disinvited from someone's birthday party. We limited our list to friends we had had for more than a couple weeks from school, our back yard (and ambition) just weren't quite that big. We limited ourselves to 12! His insisted-on guest was Grandma Christmas (my mom, who had to take a rain-check, but joined us via facetime).

Isaac loves to play soccer, but is not really into the competition. He is a great defensive player but is timid about taking the ball down to score. He works really hard though, and is determined to overcome his fear. He loves soccer practice, but gets nervous for the games. He is a great little player, very coordinated and super fast, so I think he has many more years of sports in front of him. I love the skills he has learned and watching him overcome his individual obstacles. He knows now he can do hard things.

Isaac is a good worker. He is the first to help pitch in and clean up, loves helping in the kitchen and loves even more outdoor work with dad (except when it's hot, but I don't think dad likes it much then either!) This weekend was Mormon Helping Hands weekend where we volunteered all over the community doing different things. Isaac collected shoes for a shoe drive to raise money for a little girl with cancer and helped pick up trash at his school's nature area. He is really proud to go to school and tell his teacher tomorrow:)

Isaac is the best big brother ever! I always wanted an older brother and Isaac is exactly the one I wanted! He is so loving to his siblings. He treats Reese like a princess all the time and is constantly singing to her, dancing with her/for her, making her laugh with weird/annoying noises, feeding her (mommy approved), and getting diapers/toys/binkies, etc. Zachary is his best friend/bunk mate/partner in crime/ re-peater. It is rare to find them apart outside of school time. He even accompanies his brother to the bathroom! Truly, they are the perfect fit for each other and perfect partners in crime!

Ike really has a firm grasp on who he is. He knows he is a son of God. He knows more about the gospel of Jesus Christ than I'm sure I did at his age. He really impresses me with his faith and understanding. When he lost his shoe a few weeks ago, he was really distraught and didn't want to wear a different pair to school. I told him he'd have to because we needed to leave, to which he replied, "Mommy, I just want to say a prayer, Heavenly Father will help." His faith was perfect. He thought of a solution I hadn't. AND it worked. I love him and I know he really does have a Father in Heaven who knows and loves him too.

Isaac really is a complete joy to us. He is a loud joy, but such an amazing little person. I feel so grateful to be his mother.

Our best efforts...

Charlie Chaplin and Flapper

 We have a dear, sweet friend who requested some of our halloween flashbacks, so here are some of our favorites! Arizona Halloween is so amazingly different than Wyoming! It is warm and incredibly festive, as it is finally not a gillion degrees (or a gillion degrees below zero)! Stay tuned for this year's halloween treat...

Pirate Family with one on the way...

The Wizard of Oz

Kanye West and Taylor Swift right after the big VMA controversy

Kanye spouting his mouth again

Taylor was pretty sad...

Little Girl is 5 Months... a little late...

  

Little Reese is 5 months old this week. Her little life feels like it is just flying by so fast. She is such a joy to us all. These sweet little faces are pretty regular for her. She is happy and alert all of the time. She loves her big brothers and absolutely anything they are doing. In fact, today Zachary had shared his dinosaurs with her, so she was playing dinos. What girl wouldn't love that?! She will be well versed in those dinos before you know it! Just a few little updates...

Reese is talking/babbling all the time. She can also blow raspberries and thinks it is HILARIOUS. She makes herself laugh (and the rest of us too)!

She likes standing on her feet (as she always has) and I have a feeling she can't wait for the day she can get up and run around with those crazy brothers:)

Reese has decided sleeping through the night was overrated (gonna have to convince her otherwise...) and is now waking at least once a night, much to her mother's dismay. * However- I must say that if I do have to get up in the night, I love to be up with Reese. She is smiling and talking and eating (maybe she has the gift of late night gab like grandma?)

Reese's hair is longer and crazier than ever! She is getting pony tails every once in awhile too. Mommy's gonna have to up her game in the hair department soon!

Reese is wearing 6 month clothing. She is a big girl, 16lbs, 25 inches.

Most of all, Reese is loved and already loves us all too.

Kindergarten... the day our lives changed FOREVE

 Ike is now a big boy Kindergarten-er! He started school August 8th, so yah, I'm only a month behind in posting this! Ike has been looking forward to this for a long time. He had a list of things to do all summer long to ready him for kindergarten and with each passing day, the excitement increased... for him. not me! He has made lots of comments like, "Now that I'm in kindergarten, kids at church might ask me, 'Hey, where do you go to school.' and I can answer them, 'I go to kindergarten at Apache! Oh yah baaaayyy beeee!" (followed by a victory dance). I need to get that on film... I'll work on it!
     Ike goes to school from 7:55-10:45 every morning. I think that is why I was "ok" with it. Of course I was super sad, but by the time I had time to think about being sad, it was time to go get him! 
     A month into school, he is loving it. He has made lots of new friends (some good, some maybe not the greatest influence:). We are lucky that many of our friends from church are in the same class, so some of these kids he went to preschool with or has played with for years. I think that helped ease his (and my) anxiety! His teacher is Mrs. Airo and she seems great. She reminds Isaac of grandma, except not quite so lovey, but a good teacher. He is bringing home readers every night (3 at a time!) and I am working with him in the afternoon to keep his little mind occupied. He is so interested in so many things, I want to ride this wave!
    

 As you can see, as of the first day of school (and now), Isaac is aspiring to be a Paleontologist. He LOVES dinosaurs! He and Zachary (and their daddy) can name at least 50 dinosaurs and tell you about them. When we go to the library, we go straight for the non-fiction dinosaur books and movies (boys' choice) and we have had the opportunity to visit several dinosaur museum/dig sites in the past few weeks. It has been fun and I know one thing, dinosaurs and paleontology have come a long way since I was in grade school. Gone are the days of brontosaurus and pterodactyl. There are so many more species! Anyway, they are totally appreciated in our family. ESPECIALLY by this little boy.

Gone are the days of waking whenever and running whenever (not that that happened very often...) Goodbye trips in the middle of the school year to visit family. Adios to whims chasing across the valley for a "field trip"... Hello schedule. Bright and early. It has actually been really good for our family. It has brought some discipline to my schedule, so I don't feel the temptation to crawl back in bed after running in the morning. I think we are being so much more productive! OR at least a little...


I feel grateful for the time I'm able to be home with these three. I LOVE it!! It is not always easy, and it's not always fun, but it is always entertaining and I know that the work going on here is the best work I can be doing right now.

We walk exactly 1 block to school every morning and back to pick up! What a treat!

Zachary is not quite sure what to think of his brother being in school. The first day he was gone, I asked, "Zachary, what should we do while Ikie is gone?" To which he replied, "How 'bout we just watch the 'lympics?" We've become a little more creative, but that brother time is pretty hard to beat!

8 years

http://mommasbeenthinkin.blogspot.com/... just some thoughts

Reese-ie Roo Is 4 months old!

I know I am so far behind with posts, but I so want to remember this sweet little girl (maybe she's giving all this sweetness now because she has some crazy times planned out for her teen years?:) No, not possible, she's just too sweet.

Reese is...
 the sweetest baby in the whole world. She is happy all the time. She is happy just to see us moving around her. She is perfectly happy lying on the floor, sitting in her bumbo, bouncy chair, swing, or any other random place she gets stuffed.

patient. Waaayy more patient than mommy! She will give us a little yelp when she wakes or when she's bored or hungry and then just proceeds as her happy go lucky self until we get around to it (within reason)!

a happy morning person. She talks to her little bear mobile and is happy making friends with all her toys. But, mostly, she has these two little boys to keep her company (and they are pretty amazing at their job)! She is constantly sung to, tickled, and entertained beyond belief. Lucky, lucky girl!

talking gibberish with the best of them! She can say several consonant sounds including gah, dah, buh, nah, maahh, and any combination of these.

taking a bottle! Whew! That was a close one! I really had given up when she cried for over an hour while Ben tried to give her a bottle (while I was sick). She fell asleep rather than take the bottle! This happened on a couple of occasions (for not as long)... Finally, I gave it a last ditch effort. I bought her the most expensive bottle I could find at target (12 bucks!) and yep, you guessed it, she loves it! I guess she is a little high maintenance! She takes a bottle once a week when mommy goes to mutual and she's doing just fine with it.

using a binkie! Also a small miracle! She doesn't love them like the boys did, but she will take her mam at night or in the car (usually just to fall asleep, and NEVER to ward off hunger)... not that I can blame her! We are so so so thankful for this little miracle:)

standing on her legs longer and longer and so active it makes me tired! She is always kicking those little legs and doing "crunches" trying to see what is going on. She still rolls over sometimes, but isn't as interested in rolling. She can scoot herself forward and back and all around from kicking so hard!

not sleeping as much as a 4 month old should! Two naps a day, but not super long. She's much like little Ikie was. Happy all the time and just not sleepy.

singing! When there is music, her voice can't be stopped! It is hilarious and so precious!

hanging on to her hair... ALL of it! I gave her her first pony tail the other day, but the boys promptly vetoed that idea. We'll have to try again later:) I will say girl hair is already more challenging! I am trying so hard not to forget all the little accessorizing, but I'm not very good at it yet.

sleeping through the night about half the time! Oh, she has such a happy momma!! She is going on 7 days of sleeping from 11pm-6am. I'll take it:)

a reader! She just finished her first summer reading program. She loves to have Ikie read to her (and Zach too!) Fortunately for her, she is reading really amazing books from the non-fiction section about carnivorous dinosaurs mostly. I'm hoping the images aren't too disturbing for her baby mind. I guess that's the joy of having 2 older brothers!

a world traveler! On our trip Reesie traveled like a pro! She was a champion for sure. We are so lucky our kids are such great travelers and she just fit right in:) She has now been to AZ, NM, TX, OK, KS, MO, NE, IA, SD, WY, CO, UT and next month ID and CA... if you lost count that'll be 14 states by 5 months old. Whew!

the sunshine of our days. I don't think any little girl in the history of little girls has ever been so loved! Reese is just the most precious little gift. Her smile lights all of our faces. The little boys are so enamored with her (and daddy is certainly wrapped around her little finger)! I am often left wondering how on earth I got so lucky to be mommy of these 3 sweet, amazing little ones. I certainly don't deserve them, but I am trying to ENJOY every minute I can with them. These ARE the days:)

Life in the BIG APPLE

I have been writing this post in my head for the past couple of months, and I just keep adding and adding to it... So, here it goes.
Anyone who has known me very long has heard the phrase, "well, that's life in the big apple!" In all reality, I have never even been to the big apple, but when I was in college, my friend and I (mostly my friend) coined the phrase to explain sort of a "it is what it is, life's tough" sort of mentality. Fast forward a few years... I say this all the time to my kids when things don't go their way. Both boys use it with frequency amongst their peers. My friend who teaches Zachary's class on Sunday told me that he used it when his friend was upset about having to clean up the toys. Zach responded, "Well Coleman, that's life in the big apple!" I have to admit, I'm a little proud:)
NOW let's talk about why I named this post "life in the big apple." After Reese was born, I have become increasingly aware that life is amazing. I love our life. Reese is an absolute joy and has brought so much to our little family. So, in the back of my mind, I was constantly thinking, ok, something is going to happen...
So, not long after that, our landlords decided to move back into the home we were renting. Meaning that we needed to move. When I heard the news, I really actually just laughed knowing that SOMETHING was going to happen, and just happy I knew what it was finally:) So, we started hunting for places to live. That's life in the big apple.
Then, we found a place. A great place actually. BUT, because of the timing of Ben's breaks, we decided to move sooner than later, like 3 weeks to pack and move and have a new baby and have Ben go through finals, etc, etc... Again, life in the big apple.
Well, down to the last week before we move, you know, the week of Ben's finals, Ike's last week of preschool (complete with a graduation put on by the mommies), Reese is 2 months old, trying to get everyone in for well child visits before our break, etc... Anyway, back to that week, our life is packed up in boxes and all of a sudden it hits us. The big one. The stomach flu to end all stomach flu. The worst of the worst. As in stuck lying down for 48 hours with nothing, no water, no cracker, no jello, no ice cube staying down. Oh my oh my oh my. Bad news. Zach had it first, then me, then Isaac. It killed to sit upright long enough to even nurse Reese. I truly thought we were going to die. (and parts of me really wanted to just to end the misery!) To put into context, I lost 7 lbs in 4 days. Wowzers. It was bad. Poor Ike was so sick that he just lay on the floor for 24 hours with a quilt and a bucket at his side. He didn't want to move and we had to keep forcing tylenol and water down him. Oh so bad. I can't even explain to the full extent:) Again, life in the big apple!
     *sidebar: I feel so very fortunate I was able to nurse Reese because she utterly refused to take a bottle. I was scared to death and shed many tears and offered many many prayers that she would not get sick and she didn't. What a tender mercy. Ben did not get sick either. He was our saving grace. The sickness just happened to hit right as he was taking finals and therefore, had a few days off of school and a weekend the whole time we were sick (minus one day). If we had to be that sick, we were so very blessed to have it be at a time when he could nurse us back to health and pack up our house.
Our move went smoothly after the whole great and terrible sickness. We had more help *over 20 manly men friends* move our stuff in record time. Our new house was in great shape after a few little tidying items and our old house was in pretty good shape too. Ben (and a couple amazing friends) and I (and Reese) spiffied it up in a day! At the time, it seemed like the craziest week ever. We were tired, sore, barely recovered, and dirty, and totally feeling overwhelmed and underpaid, but we did it. We did it together. AND we were happy.
Exactly three days later, we took off on a long trip across country to see the land, check out some prospects, visit family and forget our troubles (boxes). Again, say it with me, that's life in the big apple! Nothing happens easily, and if it did, I would probably be too worried that something bad was going to be around the corner to really enjoy it anyway:) Our trip was amazing, but that's another story.
I just wanted to document that crazy few weeks. I can't believe we did it. It seemed like such a whirlwind of bad luck, mishaps, complications, and funny quirks. I hate to say it, but we loved it (aside from the sickness...) I love this family. I feel so fortunate everyday to go through crazy "Big Apple" life with them. Ben is the best friend I could imagine (who else would stick that out?) BUT, I'm sorta hoping we can have a little more even-keeled-ness for awhile... :)

P.S. Thank you, dear friend, for introducing me to that phrase all those years ago... Oh, how I thought I knew what "life in the big apple" was then, and oh how that has changed now! I repeat this saying in my mind *at least* once a day and always think back on our college days, road trips, *tragic* love woes, heroes made, mountains climbed, dreams dreamed and think of you:) Thanks for that!

Reese laughs

"Rolling Along" at 2 months

Reese-ie Roo, as she has affectionately been nicknamed, is TWO months old! How did that happen? I can confidently say we have enjoyed every little minute with this precious little girl. She is just a gem and the apple of all our eyes. I have never been able to enjoy a newborn the way we have enjoyed Reese and I think its safe to say I'm not alone in that sentiment. The boys are totally smitten with her and love to talk at/with her and say things in a high pitched voice like "My name is Reese and I was born in the hospital a few days ago and I cried." or "My name is Reeses Pieces and I am a princess and I live in a castle." They're constantly making up stories about her. Truly, these are days I will treasure forever!

A little about Reese... As of her appt 5/4/12 she was 12.0lbs and 23in... 75th percentile for both, which means she is solid but proportional:) also means that strtching out her feedings at night is working out just fine for her! While we were at the Dr. he put her on her belly and was explaining that by 4-6 months she will probably roll over. AND just like that, on command, she rolled over. twice. show off:) That was her first roll since she was 9 days old. Dr. S said it was legit and we can write it down as the real deal:) I have a feeling we have another busy body like Isaac on our hands AND if she's anything like him, our days without a 3rd walker in the house are limited! (he walked everywhere at 9 months old)!

Reese is also a total chatterbox (runs in the family...) She started smiling right at 6 weeks and everyday ties us all a little tighter around that little finger. We are feeling so blessed, even with tough things going on in our lives and some significant stress (maybe next post??) we still feel the hand of the Lord through our friends, family and these sweet little hooligans everyday. What more is there?