Lakehouse

Last year and this year, Trent, Becca, and Trent's parents have been awesome and let the office and families come to their lakehouse for a weekend retreat of relaxation and bonding. Let me tell you, there is no place in the world like this. There are hardly any bugs, it is a gorgeous place, boating, yummy food, it is just perfect. Seriously, I can't wait until Tyson and I are rich (because we will be :) ) and have a lakehouse of our own. Of course, the yacht comes first. :) Tyson is pulling Josh, Ethnie and I around on this very comfy boat. Tyson also took me on the wave runner and almost broke my leg when he accidentally threw me off, but don't worry, I pulled him off with me. :)The view from our room. So much fun.

Action shot. Look at the arm on that stud muffin in the blue shirt. That is Josh in front of me, with the pyscho cowlicks. :)

Dallas and Amber were awesome and had enough energy to run around the boys. This is Dallas helping Caleb walk. Which by the way, he took a few steps by himself two days ago, hooray!

What a ham. I love my boys!

Breakfast of crepes on the deck outside, what could be better?

John made these fabulouso crepes, sorry the shot is so blurry, it is the only one I took.

So thank you soooooo much DeSpain family, that was wonderful and so much fun! My only regret is that I didn't go skinny dipping with Tyson, haha.

Mom and Dad Cooper Visit

Everytime anyone comes to visit, I never take enough pictures. So this time I think I did ok. :) Tyson's parents came to visit us for about a week and a half and it was a lot of fun. Josh of course had the time of his life and once they were gone, wished they were back. He asks to have for them pretty much everyday. I'm glad both he and Caleb love our families.

So Dad Cooper LOVES peanuts, I can't blame him once I tried them, it is hard to stop eating them. So he taught Josh how to shell them and throw away the shells and Josh got pretty good. They bought Josh a little Toy Story folding chair which Josh would sit next to Grandpa's chair outside and eat peanuts till the bag was gone. (I admit, I helped) :) They also took the boys and me to the zoo in Roanoke. That was a blast. I have never been to a zoo that I loved so much. It was quiet, not huge but not tiny either. It was just the right amount of walking, and it was beautiful and clean. Serious, the best zoo experience ever. This is Caleb's funky face. I had to put it on.

This is a big tiger statue that Josh and Caleb were both terrified of. This is the closest we could get Josh to go. I kept telling him his friend Tommy went up to it, but to no avail. :) I guess it looked too real.

There was even a little playground. This was the boys' favorite slide. Caleb would try to climb up it until he would fall. So funny.

Caleb loves to ride on people's shoulders, especially people who have lots of hair to grip like reigns. He doesn't ride on my shoulders for that reason, but Grandpa was nice and patient.

Josh is staring at the monkeys.

This was my favorite animal, the red panda, just the cutest, sleepiest thing. I want one as a pet, I think, if I had pounds of bamboo to feed it.

This picture just makes me laugh and laugh. It was from the little train ride around the zoo. Josh is fully giving a Tyson face. I just die laughing every time I see it.

Caleb loves his Grandma, when he sits still enough to be with her, the little squirmy creature.

This is how Josh has taken to walking, with his hands on his hips. Hilarious! What a little man.

Mom and Dad look great, but my boys do not cooperate. What's new?

Mom and Dad also got Josh (and Caleb, but mostly Josh) this little car. They actually didn't go to the store and buy it, but that is probably because I refuse to let them buy the boys very many toys, I feel like there is no room to store them and I hate picking them up. So I am the party pooper. I do love this little car though, Josh is entertained forever, he drives around the yard, filling up the "trunk" with all the acorns he can (there are acorns everywhere in our yard. If anyone has a good idea of something useful for them, please let me know). It is so nice to have him play outside forever. He is so nice to and loves to give Caleb rides in it.

Note Caleb's firm grip. :)

It is amazing how different my little boys are. Josh is so afraid of getting dirty, wet, hot. I think it might just be a phase because he didn't used to be that way. But Caleb, man, you cannot get him out of the water (or from being messy either). He LOVES the sprinkler, and he looks like Peter Pan here. :)

We set him under the water too, I don't know how he stood it, it was freezing water.

It was so much fun having Grandma and Grandpa Cooper come! Come again soon, and bring my parents with you! :) I know, I know, we need to come there, now that you are all in the same place. Huzza!

These Calamities

For the past few weeks my children, especially the eldest has been going through a very..."noxious" (Josh's way of saying obnoxious) stage. To say it has been difficult to stay patient is an understatement. I know I am really blessed because Josh really is a great kid all considering, but the tantrums and the constant chatter grate on my nerves like nothing else I have ever known.

So luckily, when I first became a stay-at-home mom, I made a habit of reading my scriptures first thing in the morning. It has been one of the many saving graces of my day, not to mention my children's well being. Anyways, so this morning I pull out my scriptures and try to focus on the words. I am determined to at least get through Isaiah by the end of the year as I have been trying to read the Old Testament for the first time in my life. As Joshua is already jumping up and down and then suddenly collapsing into a fit of tears (as is his regular thing to do when he is tired), and Caleb is growling as he crawls around the room trying to play with Josh but trying to avoid being hit during the tantrum, I take a deep breath and read the first verse of Psalms 57,

"Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of they wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast." I burst out laughing as I liken the scriptures to myself. I feel like I am David crying out to the Lord for patience and mercy as I can barely handle these "calamities" at my feet. :)

I know my trials are very few and small, but at times they seem to be like giant herds of growling lions and stinging bees, not just two little boys who just love to growl and poke and pull at me until I can't stand it. The Lord loves me so much and I am so thankful for the scriptures and for these calamities of mine.

Josh's (littlest) Biggest Fan

All of his little life, Caleb has completely adored Josh. He thinks that Josh is the coolest big brother ever and everything he does is funny, even if that means pain for him. So this morning Caleb woke up before Josh, something that rarely happens. I took Caleb out and played with him for a little bit until I heard Josh growling (that is how he announces himself, anytime during the day). So I open the door a crack and Caleb starts bouncing up and down he is so excited. Once Caleb sees Josh's face he gets this huge grin, points his little finger at Josh and says "Jos." Talk about adorable. And if you ask Josh who his best friend is he will say either "dirty jobs with Mike Rowe" (I know, a two year old, so funny) or "brother Caleb." I love these crazy boys of mine.

A Random Selection as we are a Random Family

Caleb's funny face.

My favorite people.

Tyson went to a training in Lexington, KY this last week. I was kind of jealous of his digs, they looked pretty sweet from the pictures. But I had it pretty sweet here with Bunky, Chris and Zurbert for the week. It ended up working out perfectly, but next year, I am going to sneak along with Tyson, no matter what. :) Aren't these horses all over Lexington crazy?

I think this is the view from where he stayed, but I'm not quite sure. It looks like such a pretty place and he had a great time. He brought us back chocolates in the shape of horses (apparently this place is like horse capital of the world). Josh LOVED taking bites out of a horse, he thought it was the coolest thing.

I was trying to paint the fence, and Josh got a little close so I waved my hand at him to get away because I didn't want his clothes to get paint on them, I ended up painting a large streak in his hair. It came out though, luckily. :)

So here are some random pictures, tra la. Life at the Cooper's. Seriously, I'm sad I don't have any pictures with Caleb and Zuri together, they were hilarious!

Random Family Moments

Caleb loves this thing. It is a wooden screw from Josh's tool set, and Caleb takes it everywhere in his mouth, it is so funny. It looks like a big ol' cigar. Josh showing off the stickers he collected and displayed on his arm, sorry, I couldn't get him to hold still.

Shopping is like a Marathon

I have never been much of a shopper. I think if I had a ton of money, I might enjoy it more, but most of the time it seems more of a chore. However, since I have become a stay-at-home mom, it is a break in the routine and so I get excited to get out, just for groceries. The hard part is the two kids and the massive amounts of food we buy, no matter how much I try to limit it to the bare essentials.

So today, I realized grocery shopping is like running a marathon for me. I have never ran a marathon, nor will I ever, but I have heard lots of stories about them. So, I start out and I am excited, I have lots of energy. I put Josh in the cart and Caleb straped to my front in his little Jeep carrier. Everyone thinks they are so cute and are always talking to them and tickling Caleb's toes. It is lots of fun, but after two aisles, I am already working muscles from bending over to get cottage cheese, milk, and diapers with an extra 20 lbs. weight attached to my front. But I look at the shopping list and so little has been checked off, so we keep going. I try to keep a smile on my face while Josh starts saying "go home now" or "buy this too Mama." It goes on like this and I try not to look frazzled and I try to be polite and happy to everyone else in the store.

By the time I get to the bread I think, "I'm just going to stop and go home now." But then I remember all the fruit and veggies that I need to get. So at that point I feel like I have hit the wall and I have to shove myself onward to finish the shopping, to get it done so I don't have to come back for another two weeks. And as I pick out the apples and try to find lettuce that isn't already brown, I keep thinking "3 more things..." "okay, one more thing."

Then when my brain thinks, "just the last stretch now," I realize I still have to pick a line, then load all the mountain of supplies out of cart and onto the table to be scanned and placed in bags, and then from there I have to load them back into the cart trying to not crush bread and tomotoes, not to mention the eggs which I have no idea where they are. And the whole while Caleb is getting completely seasick from me moving from side to side putting things in and out of the cart. Not to mention, I have to strategically place the cart so Josh can't reach any of the side candy which I am secretely hoping he will so I can eat it.

Then when our bank account is significantly decreased, I must push the merry crew and baggage to the van, load that up and buckle the kids in and wait 10 minutes so the lovely lady that has happened to park directly behind me can chat away with her friend while Josh says repeatedly "go get Daddy!" So I try to breath in deeply on the 15 minute drive home, focus on the road and at last pull into our little driveway. That is when I notice it is very quiet.

Suddenly, I don't really care how hard grocery shopping is. Crossing the finish line was all worth it.