March of Dimes March for Babies

Cooper has been raising money all week for the March of Dimes March for Babies. I have to admit some of his motivation was for winning the prize for the person who raised the most money (in Austin's group at work). The prize is a Wii! It's Cooper's big chance. So he sent out emails and went door to door all week and raised nearly $500. Well, he actually did end up winning the Wii - he is so excited! But I want to talk about the March.

First of all, Cooper had a baseball game yesterday at the same time as the March for Babies was happening, so I assumed that he would just turn in his money and forget the 5 mile walk. But he said to me, "Mom, I am going to do the March. What is more important - marching for babies to have safe deliveries or just playing baseball for fun?" I was impressed with this maturity. So we decided to do the March as a family, even though secretly Austin was disappointed that Cooper would miss a game.

We even completed the whole walk. You could stop after 2.5 miles or complete the entire 5. We did the entire 5. It was such a great experience. There were hundreds of people walking together for a great cause. I loved the energy of that large of a group together. Maybe we will make this our first annual March for Babies and do the same thing next year! Thank you to all the people who donated and helped Cooper's dreams come true!

One of the Sweetest Things Cooper has Ever Done

A much-needed lift from Cooper.

Little Caesars

I am also blogging to bear my testimony about Little Caesars Hot n Ready pizzas (some of you might have seen Michelle's blog). Today was a looong day with the kids. Austin was at the Masters in Augusta, GA so it was me against the kids. So tonight was definitely a no-cooking night. I rolled up to the takeout window (this is the greatest thing about it, you don't even have to get out!) and asked for one large cheese pizza. Two seconds later I had a pizza in my car and had only paid $5.34. It really was the highlight of my day today and we will be visiting again soon.

Will

Will was an absolute gem today during conference. Austin and I honestly couldn't recognize him. He was quietly playing with blocks on the floor or coloring and we just enoyed some wonderful time listening to the prophets. Here are some pictures my dad took of his creations.

The greatest workout in the world

I have been a member of one gym or another for the last four years and have been an avid exerciser for the last 15 years and I have now found the most fun workout ever! It is Zumba which "fuses hypnotic musical rhythms and tantalizing moves to create a dynamic workout system designed to be FUN and EASY TO DO." It is also supposed to be a party! And it totally is! From the first few seconds of the warmup I felt free and young again. I got chills and just couldn't stop smiling. I love to dance! I miss the clubs and dances from college and high school and don't get a chance to do this much anymore. By the way, I'm not saying that I am good at dancing, just that I love to hear the music and do the moves. That is the great thing about this class - there are teenagers to grandmas in that class and everyone is having so much fun. You don't even worry about how you look because you are just trying so hard to follow along and so is everyone else. Everyone in there is sweating to death and has a huge smile on their faces.

Pee-Wee Cup

Cooper is playing in a serious baseball league where at the ripe old age of seven, he is required to wear a cup. So Austin took him to the sports store to pick out a cup. Luckily he found the pee-wee Pro cup which advertises "the world's smallest cup." Poor Cooper. Nuf' said.

OK -- THIS IS AUSTIN -- I must clarify some misinformation. Someone has got to protect Cooper's manhood. The image she grabbed is not his actual purchased equipment. His actual equipment, which I purchased, because some boy according to Cooper was "squeezing my weiner during practice saying he was doing a cup check " was for boys 7 / 8 years of age. He just turned 7 a week ago. I noticed the image Shanda got off the internet said ages 4 / 5. Come on Mom -- a little respect please.

Paris got her ears pierced!

Yesterday Paris and I went on a girl shopping trip to Southpark with our friend Brandi. We had lunch at the Cheescake Factory, went to Anthropologie and decided a great finish to the day would be getting Paris' ears pierced! I think she looks so adorable, though it is hard to see in these pictures.

Austin and Paris

Wii

Cooper's biggest goal in life right now is how to get a Wii. He has been "checking on Craig's list for a cheap Wii" - he thought he saw one for $3.15 and got really excited until he realized that it was $315. He has also thought that he could probably go to Toys R Us and buy a $600 gift card with his $10 in cash and then buy a Wii. Also just begging me daily to write him a check is one of his other ways he thinks to finagle a Wii.

I think the Wii looks AWESOME and fun for the whole family, but unfortunately it will probably never happen.

Thanks to a weirdo on Austin's floor his freshman year at BYU.

This guy was a "national video game champion" of some sort and would go around flexing his thumb muscles for all to see. It basically soured Austin on any sort of video games. So for now Cooper is stuck playing Webkinz and all the Candystand.com and other free games online he can find.

Happy Birthday to Cooper (and Aunt Shawnie)

Cooper is finally the big 7! His birthday celebrations seemed to last all week. Birthday dinner at Planet Hollywood in Orlando, getting to choose the day's activities (Universal Studios). Presents on his birthday and "be nice to me because it's my birthday" and other such comments on the drive home. Then a family birthday party the day after his birthday. Now we will be into spending his birthday money and gift cards that came rolling in from family far away.

Happy Birthday Cooper! You are getting to be one big guy!

The Biggest Loser

So tonight Austin was out of town and I let the boys stay up a little later with me and have a movie night. Actually they were being hideous to each other - hitting, punching, chasing each other around, etc. And I had tried putting them in bed 3 times but finally they just came out anyway (I was too tired to put up a fight anymore - a classic example of bad and inconsistent parenting) and started watching the show, The Biggest Loser with me. I love this show. It's amazing to me that these people can lose over 100 pounds in four months. (I am having trouble losing 10-20 pounds in a year). I love it when they have the weigh-in and show the before picture. These people have done some hard work to get to where they are. And they are toned because they work out so hard in addition to eating healthy. Anyway, the show is almost over so there are only six contestants left and the before pictures are such a contrast to where they are now. I kept commmenting on how great this is that these people have lost so much weight and changed their lives. And Cooper kept telling me, "why don't you go on that show too mom?"

This made me feel really great because he was basically telling me that I look the same as the people who were over 300 pounds and have lost over 100 pounds. I started getting really annoyed with him. Thanks Cooper, I don't feel insecure enough about my weight as it is. Leave it to the kids to help you feel your best. On the other hand, maybe I have been talking too much about weight, getting fat and calories when the kids are around. The other day Will said that he shouldn't eat something because it had 45 calories and he also said that his cousin Emmy would probably get fat if she ate all her chicken nuggets (she is tiny and underweight - nothing could made her fat.)