Hello 2nd Grade and Pre-K!!

School officially started last week. Caroline is starting her 2nd grade year. She lucked out and got a great teacher! She actually won Teacher of the Year at her school last year. Caroline is really loving her new class so far!

Although Cooper just turned 5, we decided to hold Cooper back one more year. After a lot of thought, we figured he had a lot more to lose if we sent him this year. This year, he is going to the More @ 4 Pre-K at Caroline's school. This way he will be totally prepared for kindergarten. So far, so good. He really likes it and has made a lot of friends. (But then agan, who are we kidding? Cooper hasn't met a stranger yet!!)

It's hard to believe that my baby is already 5 years old!

Our Florida Vacay

We headed down to Cape San Blas, Florida in mid-July. If you don't know where Cape San Blas is, why not just ask where Tim-buck-tu is? It is actually on the panhandle west of Destin and Panama City. This is our 2nd trip here with the Wissing family. Mary (Wissing) and I went to high school together and have been friends ever since. She has a HUGE family (count them - 16 other brother and sisters!) and somehow we have been welcomed with open arms. Seriously, what is one more family member, right? Our kids have a great time with all of the other "cousins". Caroline actually calls the other sisters her aunts. They are truely an amazing family!

Caroline got buried in the sand one day. She absolutely LOVED the attention!

(Far left: Anthony (Mary's son) Far right, Megan ("Aunt Jenny's daughter)

This is their entire relationship in two pictures. **LOVE**

The other side of their relationship

All of the kids in our condo!

Who knew Caroline and Cooper would have been such a great baby sister/brother? They absolutely LOVED the babies! They couldn't get enough of Chloe, Amy (Mary's sister) and Javier's daughter.

I love my baby boy!

We even had a resident alligater/crocodile in the local swamp where we stay. This croc/gator has gotten so domesticated that he would hang out in the shade and would wait for residents to throw food out. Scott actually got so close that he fed him grilled cheese, crabs, and fish guts! He was fat & happy by the time we left!

Happy 4th of July!

Yes, I am aware that it is almost September. (Remember, I am taking baby steps getting caught up!)

Our neighborhood had it's annual Fourth of July parade. The kids decorated and entered their bikes into the parade. Although they did not win, they had a ball decorating and parading their bikes around. We actually just took off their decorations the other day!

I had the grand idea of attaching cans on strings behind their bikes like you do for newlywed's cars. However, the strings kept getting caught in the spokes.

We had a firetruck escort the parade from the playground to the pool. Cooper liked touring the firetruck! Like the hat? He decorated it for the parade. It was supposed to be an American Eagle, but it looked more like a flamboyant flamingo!

That night, our neighbors had a 4th of July party. There were tons of kids there. The adults had alot of fun, too! Cooper LOVED Scott swinging him around and around.

Guess who wanted in on the action? Caroline weighed a wee bit more than Cooper, so it was very hard to keep her up in the air. Scott barely kept her up in the air! 

We got a new, FAST!! camera! Here are some pictures from Cooper's fun on the diving board. Cooper thought that he was doing a back flip. Below is his rendition of a back flip: 

 Cooper finally gave up and said that doing a back flip hurt his back and neck.

So, he resorted to his normal jump! 

I know that I am skipping around here - bear with me! (This new blog layout is driving me nutty when trying to resituate pictures in certain orders!)

At the party, Cooper headed straight to their sandbox. He LOVES their sandbox! Good thing I had him dressed all cute and all! 

 Notice what he is burying in the sand? Yep, he found a train. 

That weekend, we also went to the lake. Davis had fun eating the watermelon! 

Coop and Grand-Bob playing in the water!

Happy 5th Birthday Cooper!!

On Wednesday, August 17th, 2005, our baby boy was born. I believe I officially ran out of clothes that fit me on that last day. Talk about HUGE! No, not just me! Cooper turned out to be whopping 10 lbs. 2 oz! Thank GOD for c-sections! 

Caroline's First Peek at her little brother. It has been Love/Hate ever since!

This was taken a few days after we came home with Cooper. I think she still kind of liked him here! :)

My 1 Year Birthday Party!

My 2rd Birthday! Gram and Grand-Bob came to visit just before his actual birthday. I believe this is the moment his love/obsession with Thomas the Train started...

We celebrated again at the beach! I just love this picture of him. He would jump in the air as high as he could then fall on his bottom. Over and over and over again!

Happy 3rd Birthday to ME!

Happy 4th Birthday to Me! We celebrated at our neighborhood pool.

This year Scott insists that Cooper had a REAL birthday party with his own friends (not Caroline's), actual invitations and a real birthday cake. He has just been so easy going with his birthday that we usually just celebrate it with family and friends. This Sunday, Cooper is having his party at the Gateway YWCA complete with an indoor pool and water park. He is VERY excited! I will post more pics after his party!

On your mark, get set, GO!!

This summer marked Caroline's 1st year of swim team. I was really hesitant that Caroline would back out at the last minute, but she ended up really enjoying it. They had swim practice Monday through Thursday starting mid-May through mid-July. It definitely was a commitment, but we had a ball! By the end of the season, Caroline really improved.

There is a reason that her nickname is "Grandma". She is not in a hurry to do anything. She definitely walks to the beat of her own drum. You CAN'T rush that girl. However, on her last swim meet I bribed her with endless amounts of ice cream if she beat her last time. She started out with a bang! We had never seen her move that fast!

She is still working on her dive. :)

She was so proud of herself!

The swim meets were a little hectic for the parents. You have to turn their card in at the end of her lane first. Then, I stood with her at the start of the race to make sure that she went on the right heat. While she was swimming, I was cheering her on while walking to the end of her lane. As you can see, sometimes I had a "helper" complete with Cheez-its and a Kool-aid moustache. :)

Needless to say, we are so proud of Caroline. She has really stepped out of her box and trying new things!

Summer o' 2010

Has anyone else noticed that this summer has FLOWN by? This has been one busy summer!

I know, I know, I haven't been great at updating my blog so far this year. Between work and the kids, I have just been so busy. Just thinking of updating the blog stressed me out. (Having one more thing on my to-do list could put me over the edge.)  Sooo, I have decided to start out slow and update you on our past summer day-by-day.

We spent alot of weekends at the lake with Brooke, Michael and the boys. Brooke & Michael bought a beautiful lot complete with a nice dock and ski boat. Now all they need to do is build a house! The kids have a great time up there and it's always nice to see all of the cousins play together. Below are some of the highlights from the summer at the lake!

Brooke, Caroline and I enjoying a nice evening boat ride

Cooper and Brady. Thumbs up to be best buddies!

All five cousins taking a break for a picture!

Cooper is just too cute in this picture. I couldn't resist!

Good childhood memories in the making

Phil & Annette (Michael's brother and sister-in-law) came up from FL to visit!

Michael's youngest brother, Ryan, came from CA to visit! Cooper loved the sailboat ride!

So, tomorrow I will try my best to highlight Caroline's 1st season on the swim team. Night, night!