Cooper's Birthday Cake

Cooper wanted a bowling cake, so Paris and I worked really hard to make him one. I spent all day trying to buy supplies and figure out how to make this thing. Doing all the little piping of the stars takes FOREVER. Paris really liked helping and our lovely cake turned out looking like a lopsided bowling pin and a bowling ball like a porcupine.

Can you tell I've done all these posts in a row really late at night? I can barely make a coherent sentence.

Orlando

Paris is playin' it cool at Planet Hollywood.

LegoLand is so cool! They have big statues made all of Legos, including this sea monster! The boys also got to build their very own car and race it down the tracks.

A dinosaur was almost eating Will on our trip to Downtown Disney.


Paris looked adorable on the drive to Orlando, even with milk dripping down her face.

Poolside fun in Orlando

We spent this last week of spring break in Orlando. It was a relaxing week of swimming, mini golf, baseball spring training games and Universal studios. This is a couple of poses of big buff Willy at the pool

Easter Dress

I finally put Paris in her Easter dress. She also had on cute socks and a big bow. About two seconds into the car ride to church, her bow was ripped out and her socks were tossed aside. We love her anyway. Also, her Easter dress might fit her until she is 6 years old.

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Easter Eggs

We carried on the Easter Egg tradition this year. It has been so fun doing things like this with the kids lately because they are older enough to join in and really enjoy it. Cooper and Will were so excite

d about their Easter Eggs. Cooper even lined all his egg people up for a lengthy photo shoot after we were done decorating.

Sheer Bliss

I am heading off for a couple of hours of SHEER BLISS! Actually I am staying home. BUT, Paris is down for a hopefully 3 hour nap and Austin has Cooper and Will at their baseball practices and then a bat buying trip. (Never knew that buying a bat could take a couple of hours? It can, every kid on Cooper's team has their own bat and some of them spent $250 on them! I never knew 7-year-olds needed that nice of a bat. So it takes some time and scrutiny. Not that Cooper is getting one of those, but I think Austin is ready for a little bit of an investment.)

Anyway, back to me, so I am going to ignore the messy house and go out in the backyard, sit on a lawn chair and read (book of a thousand days, by Shannon Hale, should anyone care). And I might even take a nap after that! This is the greatest day ever!

A Nice Family Night

Tonight was such a fun time with the family. We went out to dinner together and all the kids were actually decently behaved. The boys helped with Paris. Cooper said, "mom should we get out the stroller?" Then he got it out for me and he and Austin were trying to figure out how to open it up. Cooper said, "How do we activate this thing anyway? " It was really cute. Will has been really snuggly with me lately. He kept giving me hugs and asking me if I would be his assistant coach for t-ball too (Austin is his asst. coach right now). I just felt loved. Paris even gave me an unsolicited kiss this morning. You know the kind, a big open-mouth slobbery one.

The View from our Back Window

This is the view from our back window. Our beautiful tulip tree is blooming, signaling the beginning of spring. Also, notice the peach tree growing on the bottom left. Cooper planted it two years ago from a peach pit. He is planning to share the peaches with all the neighbors this year. I think he is expecting quite a crop.

Austin and his baby Paris

Austin took some cute pictures of himself and Paris. I was very impressed. He loves his baby daughter so much. I have heard him say several times, "You just smile at me sweetie and I"ll give you whatever you want." I see we may have a delightful spoiled brat on our hands one day! I love the picture of her going in to give him a kiss on the cheek. She loves to kiss everyone

but me. I am just the old bag who gets no love.

Will and the sleeping spot

Will is so adorable when he falls asleep (for many reasons). He loves to snuggle up in the striped blanket and lay on the floor in front of our TV. He looks so angelic! Especially with the chocolate smeared across

his face.

Easter Dress is Finally Done!

I've finally finished Paris' Easter dress! It's great that she gets a fresh new dress and shoes and the rest of us will just be in the same old stuff. It's probably the beginning of our new life. Unfortunately she is going to hate it because it is really long on her and will impede her crawling. I've been enjoying sewing for her. The projects are so much smaller and quicker to finish and she doesn't have any pesky hips and big booty to tailor for.

Journaling?

I used to religiously write in my journal daily, but I haven't quite figured it out in the blogging world. It's easy to type all my feelings, but who really wants to hear them? Blogging is different because people are reading your thoughts so there is a bit of me that feels like I need to always have something funny or cute to read. And my life isn't always funny or cute. Today is one of those days.

We had a hectic afternoon. Paris is getting 50 teeth at once - she is almost one and has only had 2 teeth for months. We took a trip to the library to get some books and movies. Paris was pulling herself up on one of the kid-size chairs and the chair tipped over on her, and it went downhill from there. Basically she cried loudly the whole time we were at the library. By the time we got home, I was feeling in need of relaxation. I decided that we would put in a movie and eat popcorn and brownies for dinner. Cooper told me we needed to have something healthy. The brownies were great until I had eaten almost half the pan myself. I then decided to leave the kids with Austin and go to the YMCA to undo a little of the damage. Running three miles on a stomach full of brownies is NOT GREAT. After mile two, I felt like dying. The last mile was rough. I have never felt so much like puking at the gym in my life.

When I got home Will was so sweet to me, saying Mom we ate pizza and saved you a piece. He tried to give it to me, but I just couldn't even look at it. He then brought me my watch I had taken off and said, Mom don't forget your watch, you should take it to the gym. His little kind gestures just made me think how grateful I am for the kids. No matter how crabby I have been to them, when I get home they excitedly say, "Mom! You're home!" You can't beat the enthusiasm of kids and how they make you feel loved. You can't put a price on Paris' sweet little smiles and snorts or Cooper asking where the tunnel is that babies come out of. You can't put a price on Will telling you that the medical office at the YMCA is where mommies go to have babies (don't worry if you go into labor at the Y).

All Ready for T-Ball

Austin took Will to get a new bat and batting gloves and he is ALL READY for T-ball!

Our Kids are Great Examples

Today I think Cooper got in a bit of a fistfight with our 5-year-old neighbor. I walked out toward the middle of it and the neighbor was smacking Cooper and then Cooper retaliated by pinching his arm really hard (it looked like). Keep in mind, all the kids were pretending to do boxing, so it wasn't like Cooper and the neighbor really stood out. But, I called Cooper over and asked him what he was doing. And he said, "Isaac was pushing Will down so I pushed him down." Now this may not be the Christlike example that we would like to show our neighbors, but for me it was great news because he STUCK UP FOR HIS BROTHER! It was like a miracle. Most of the time he is less than kind to his little brother, but it warmed my heart to know that he would at least stick up for his brother with other people.

The Worst Day in a While

Today I had a series of unfortunate events. Starting with a 4:58 a.m. wake up and ending right now with Will crying and screaming at me to let him play the monster truck game on the computer again. Today at Hancock Fabrics, Will unrolled a whole spool of light blue ribbon in our cart. As I was trying to wind it back up, Paris puked all over it. Including the cardboard roll, so I was pretty much buying the whole thing. I felt humiliated when I had to tell the lady at the cutting table what happened and she said, "do you know how much was on it? I don't really want to touch it." By the way, these ladies at Hancock are so mean to me and others I know. Though I am one of their most loyal customers (only for lack of another good fabric store close by.) Then later I was working on an Easter dress for Paris and I couldn't get it right, so I kept ripping it apart to redo it and finally I just chucked the whole thing in the trash. Maybe I'll start a new one tomorrow, maybe I'll just buy one at nordstrom. Will is still screaming in my face. Better go put him to bed. Sometimes I love my kids and want to play with them all day, but TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY! (Tricia, you know what I mean - as I am plagiarizing you.)

The Raffle

Cooper is playing Mara baseball this year and they asked all the players to sell 20 raffle tickets to raise money for the organization. Cooper got these tickets just last night and really took the raffle to heart. He came home after school today, got out an old yogurt container with a hole cut in the top and hopped on his bike. In the pouring rain. I was a little distracted when he left and thought he was just going to the neighbor's nearby and my mom's house. Almost two hours later I was getting a little worried and started driving the neighborhood. Finally I found him, with only three tickets left! We came home and he immediately knocked on our neighbors' doors and sold the rest of his tickets. It probably didn't hurt his chances that it was pouring rain and this little innocent boy is going around selling tickets.

I was very impressed by his hard work and determination. Only later I realized that this might not have been the smartest move when Austin asked me why I would let a 6-year-old roam the neighborhood with a container full of cash. I'm not sure.

A Tale of Oreos and Happiness

Once upon a time, young Paris decided to try an Oreo. Yes, these are quite lovely, she decided. Maybe I can make the taste last longer by licking it off my fingers.

Hmmm, Paris thought she might try another.

This second oreo was quite as wonderful as the first. Paris thought she may be able to use it as a clarifying face mask as well.

Oh yes! I do think this is the celestial kingdom, Paris declared in the throes of sugar ecstasy.

Will's Astronaut costume

Will and I worked very hard to create this astronaut costume. Later we covered the helmet in tinfoil also and it was cool until Will ripped the whole thing apart.

Paris

I thought Paris looked adorable today so I tried to get some pictures of her helping "unload" the dishwasher. She never looked at me until the end and I couldn't change her red eyes in camedia so she just looks like a vampire who is trying to show off her cleavage.