"Gaaa-gooo"

There was a "gaaa-gooo" (back-hoe) parked on the next street over from us, but only the top portion of the cab was visible from our house (because of the fences in the way). Cooper was determined to look at the gaaa-gooo anyway, so of course he found a way.

Lazy day

The other day I turned on a movie for Mason, who said he didn't feel well. (I think he was just really tired) He wanted to lay on the couch and Cooper thought laying on the couch sounded good too, only he wanted to lay ON Mason. Needless to say, Mason didn't think that was such a great idea. I was finally able to convince Cooper that laying at the opposite end of the couch was a better idea.

Peek-a-boo

Cooper can now say "peek-a-boo". Which makes playing the game that much cuter. The best part about him playing peek-a-boo this particular time was that he had just finished eating spaghetti, so he was getting it all over his face.

Then Mason had to join in...

Seriously?

We woke up today to find snow on the ground. I am not just talking a scuff of snow. We easily had 4-6 inches. Some places of Spokane didn't get any snow while others got maybe 2 inches. Nope not us!
OK Mother Nature, don't you think you have dumped more than enough snow on poor Spokane for one season? Cant' we just have Spring already? Oh and one more thing, Mother Nature, today is April 13th NOT January 13th. Turn your calendar a couple months forward and bring on the sun shine! Thanks!

Easter

Easter morning Mason and Cooper woke up to find presents in their Easter buckets and lots of eggs filled with candy hidden around the house. Mason, the thinker that he is, asked Jeff how the Easter Bunny got in our house. Jeff told him that he had let the Bunny in late last night. Then Mason wanted to know how the Easter Bunny go to our house. To this Jeff said that the Bunny drove his car.

The Easter Bunny left Mason some new cars and some solid chocolate bunnies.

And the Easter Bunny left Cooper a Mr. Potato Head Bunny and also some solid chocolate bunnies.

Mason, on the hunt for more eggs.

Cooper found one way up high.

The boys with all the eggs they found.

We spent the rest of our morning at home getting ready for and going to church. After church we went to Jeff's parents house. They had Easter buckets for the boys stuffed with beach towels, toys and candy. Then it was off to my parents for Easter dinner. We had a great Easter and hope you all did too!

Easter Egg Fun

This morning there was an Easter egg hunt at a park close to our house. I invited Mason and Cooper's cousins to come with us. (Well, at least the ones who are at the appropriate age to join in the hunt.) As we were driving there, it started to rain pretty hard. We got there just a couple minutes after it was to begin and it didn't look like they had begun yet. As we started walking to where the hunt was, some people were already walking back to their cars and told us it was all over. Bummer. So we decided to head back to my house and have an Easter egg hunt there and color some eggs.Unleashing the wild ones!
Hunting for the eggs.Cooper getting an egg.
Mason with his loot.
Zachary
All the cousins from oldest to youngest. Connor, Mason, Zachary, Katelyn, Ethan, Cooper. The only one missing was Benjamin who sat in the highchair during the hunt because he is only 13 months old.
Getting ready to color eggs!
Michelle and Ethan
Connor checking on the progress of his egg.
Look at those BLUE eyes!
So pretty!

Call the Authorities!

For all you who think Mason is just so cute, think again! No, he really is a great kid. But every once in a while something will tick him off and on comes a fit. This morning he was mad that I asked him to eat his cereal at the table, he wanted to eat in the living room. I know I am a horrible, abusive mom. Call the authorities and take me away!

The only reason I get video of his fits is so I can show him how he looks when he throws a fit. One time after videoing a fit of his, I gave him some time to cool down and then I showed him the video. He told me he never wanted to look like that again!

Who got into the cookie dough?

Cooper!

Boys' "dress up"

Conference

This weekend was General Conference. I love to listen to the Prophet, General Authorities, and other selected individuals speak. I always come away from conference wanting to improve something about myself in order to grow and become a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend.

Last night during the Priesthood session, Jessica, a friend in our ward invited me and three other women (and all our kids) over to her house for dinner while our five husbands went to the Priesthood session.

Then today we invited those same four other couples over to our house to watch both sessions of conference, and I made some really yummy pizzas (if I do say so myself) for lunch. (And yes, I did make the crusts too.) One of the couples (Nick and Jessica) was not able to make it due a prior commitment. After conference us girls went on a walk and left the men home with to watch the five little boys, yup all boys, no girls, talk about testosterone overload! We walked over to Nick and Jessica's house and chatted with Jessica for a good little while and then mozzied on back to my house.

I didn't watch as much of conference as I would have hoped to, due to all of us talking and taking care of the kiddos. Thankfully we taped it, so I will be able to watch each session over the next week or so. Even though the conference watching was minimal, I was able to gain and straighten some really great relationships with the other four women. All five of us couples have moved into our ward in the last seven months with us and Kevin and Corrine being in the ward since September 2008 and Jarom and Crystal just being in the ward about a month now.

At first when Jeff and I moved into our ward I had a really hard time adjusting and making friends. Then to top it all off I was "stuck", as I call it, in Primary. At that point making new friends felt really hopeless because with being in Primary I am not able to go to any of the adult classes. Somehow Jeff picked up on all this, maybe it was all my complaining, I don't know, just saying, but anyways he has done a really good job of introducing himself to young couples, inviting them over for dinner, and putting little bugs in my ear that we should plan something fun and invite people over. I am very grateful of Jeff for helping me find new friends and I am also grateful for my new friendships, all these women are wonderful women whom I see being friends with for many years to come.

Words

Over the past couple of weeks, Cooper has picked up some new words. Some of those words, shall I dare say, are less than "cute" after he says them a few times. For example:

Mine- yup he has finally learned that annoying word, and he sure knows right when to use it. Everything is mine, even if it really isn't. He especially loves to say it when Mason has a toy he wants or when he has something he is not suppose to have and Jeff or I take that something away. He has also learned how to whine while saying mine. Good job Cooper for learning that word, could you please stop using it now?

Hey- or shall I say heeeyyy. This one is actually really cute. He uses this one when we don't do what Cooper wants us to do. Today Jeff took the baby gate off the stairs. Cooper then thought he could play with the gate and so Jeff put the gate in the closet. As soon as Jeff shut the closet door Cooper said, "heeeyyy". Everyone got a good laugh out of that. Sometimes when he says "hey" he puts a southern drawl twist to it.

Duck (and other animal names)- the other day Mason was watching The Wonder Pets. One of the wonder pets is a duck. Cooper pointed at the TV and said, "duck". It is amazing to me at how fast he picks up on things.

Cookie (aka oookie)- I know shock huh? The little man was bound to learn this one, as I (most) always have home-made cookies in the house. Now that Cooper has learned this one, he will take Jeff or me by the hand, take us to the kitchen while saying the whole way there, "oookie, oookie, oookie"

Shoes- and he has been really into putting on other people's shoes. He actually does pretty good at keeping his balance while walking around all the big shoes he finds.

I am sure there are more, but right now I can't think of any, so if I do think of more I'll add them to the list.

So- I was on the phone with my brother-in-law and I said, "So whatever you want to do is fine". Cooper was standing near me and said, "soooooo".