Makes Me Laugh Monday

And now a break from our regullarly scheduled "catching up of the blog". (Which, by the way, there are an ungodly number of new posts for you to read/ look at now, if you are so inclined.) You know how I hate to record things out of order... but I think that this morning's "Cooper Stories" deserve to slide in here between Halloween and our trip to NYC. Seriously, it is just after 8:00am, and he has already made me laugh (hard) a couple of times.

First:

When Cooper woke up this morning, he came to me with his Bibleman action figure. For those of you that might not know, Bibleman is the Christian equivalent of Superman complete with movies of his adventures. Those movies are almost painful for me to watch because of their "cheesy factor", but I am happy for my kids to hear the things that Bibleman has to say, and the boys have both loved them at about the age of 4. So... back to this morning... Cooper was explaining to me all of Bibleman's costume pieces as he pointed them out. He said, "He has the helmet of salvation, and the shoes of peace, and the shield of righteousness, and the cape of flying." He was right (or close to right) about the first 3 things, but "the cape of flying"?!?! Hilarious to me!

Second:

Cooper said, "Do you want to play The Compliment Game? I guess that this is something that he has learned at school. It started like this:

him: I like your hair.
me: I like how you are funny.
him: I like your eyes.
me: I like your shorts.

Then, it took a turn... Here are some of his funniest "compliments":

to Jack: I like your whole body even your bones.
to me: I like your teeth... for eating, and I like your nose... for smelling and picking. (Umm, thanks, I guess...) I busted out laughing, and he seriously said, "You know... boogers?"
to both of us: I like lemonaid and Sprite and Coke. (Why, thank you for that sweet, heart-felt "compliment".)

I hope you have a good Monday full of laughs.

10 Posts And Counting

So, this week I have made it my mission to get somewhat "caught up" on my blog. I have skipped one huge post (or several small posts - we'll see) about my weekend in Washington with my sisters, and I fully intend to get back to that eventually. (I'll let you know when I do.) And at this point, I am not quite caught all the way up. I have a little trip that Corey & I took Allie on for her birthday to record and a few other things after that, but I am way closer to "caught up" than I was a week ago... and that feels good. For now, there are 10 new posts that you may (or may not) want to read/ look at. That should keep you busy for a while. ;) And can I just say, it is good to be back to bloggy land. I've missed you.

Trick or Treat '09

After Allie's party, we met up with all of "the cousins" and had our first-ever Trick-or-Treat-athon. I am pretty sure that we have never been together on Halloween before, and it was so fun to share the kids and costumes and candy this year!

~ the cutest Trick-or-Treaters ever ~

Princess Belle, Strawberry Shortcake, a pirate, Indiana Jones, a hippie, a pumpkin

Cowboys football player Jason Witten, a strawberry, a flower-fairy

~ my 3 -

Jason Witten, "IndyAndy Jones", & Allie the hippie

~ the oldest cousin & the youngest cousin, Allie & Jacob ~

The 2 baby girls are starting to become "friends".

~ Ainsley & Chloe ~

~ hugs ~

Claire & Skyler are good buddies.

~ Cooper in character ~

~ Sweet Ainsley ~

~ Skyler as Strawberry Shortcake (complete with pink hair) ~

~ the WHOLE crew ~

(This hardly ever happens!)

~ Gibbie & Poppie ~

They stayed at Emily's house to hand out candy while the parents walked around the neighborhood with the kids.

Let the candy-collecting begin!!!

~ Hippie Chicks ~

Allie & her friend Katie

~ Tick or Treat ~

~ Uncle Coby & Allie ~

~ taking a break from the hard work of Trick or Treating ~

~ Jack the football player ~

Jack & Asher played a serious game of football after the candy collecting.

Allie's 13th Birthday Party

Before Allie was even born, we heard a man speak at our church about the importance of rites of passage and ceremony and most importantly, the importance of blessing our children. In some other cultures and religions, there are certain birthdays and points in a child's life when they are celebrated in a significant way, and we think that is a great thing! For our family, we decided a long time ago that when our children turned 13, we would make it very special. Among other things, we would have a Blessing Ceremony where we invited people that are very close and influential in their lives to celebrate them and bless them as they journey from childhood to adulthood. On October 31st, after much preparation to make this a very special day, we celebrated Allie and gave her a Blessing Ceremony.

~ the party favors ~

I made these to give to our guests, and we asked that when they see them, that they would remember to pray for Allie.

~ Dad & the birthday girl ~

~ Mom & the birthday girl ~

~ Allie with her brothers ~

~ the centerpieces ~

Allie told me that she loved orange daises, so I had these centerpieces made with orange & purple flowers - her favorite colors.

~ Gibbie & Poppie with the birthday girl ~

~ Jack & Corey during lunch ~

~ Happy Birthday, dear Allie ~ ~ making a wish ~ ~ my sweet Allie ~ ~ Corey blessing Allie ~

A few nights before her ceremony, Corey & I took Allie out for a special dinner and asked her to prayerfully consider some specific things. At her ceremony, we asked her if she would commit to those things. When she did, we gave her a ring to wear to always remind her of those commitments. When I was looking for a ring, I just did not find anything that I loved. Then I dawned on me, I still had the ring that my dad had given me when I was 13, so I decided to give that ring to Allie.

~ me & Allie ~

We also had a necklace made for Allie by a local jewelry designer. It has two "tags" or charms. The first one has her name inscribed on it. The second one has the word "Blessed" on one side and the date of her Blessing Ceremony on the other side. It also includes her birthstone.

The next gift that she received was something that I had been working on for many weeks. I asked people that are close to Allie or have been a big part of her life to write her letters of blessing, encouragement, advise, etc. Then, I made all of those letters... along with many, many photos from the last 13 years into a scrapbook. I hope that it will be something that she will look back on for years to come and realize how loved and supported that she is.

Cooper was excited to help during the ceremony by giving Allie her scrapbook.

Jack said a prayer for Allie at the end of her ceremony.

~ our family ~

~ Aunt Adrielle & Allie ~

~ Beau, Sassy, & Allie ~

~ Emmie, Allan, & Allie ~

~ Gibbie, Poppie, & Allie ~

~ our party guests ~

Jack's Last Football Game (the beginning of a crazy big-ol'-family-day)

Saturday, October 31st was one of the busiest and most special days that our family has had in a long time. Most importantly, it was our girl's 13th birthday. She began celebrating her big day by having a friend over to spend the night the night before. The morning of our kids' birthdays, we always celebrate them in some way... cooking them a big breakfast, giving them gifts, going out for a special meal, etc. I guess when a kid turns 13, sleeping until the very last minute that they can becomes more important than those kinds of things, so on the morning of the 31st Allie and her friend slept until it was time to walk out the door to go to Jack's last flag-football game of the season. So, we postponed the "birthday fun" until after the football game. The second thing that made October 31st special is that most of my family came for the day, and it was the first time that any of them had seen Jack play football this season. Considering the fall that my dad had with his heart... it was really special to me that he got to see his grandson play ball this year! The special day continued (and really got going strong) after the game when we did a few special things for Allie's birthday then all of my family got together for Trick or Treating. Those posts to follow soon, but first things first... Jack's Last Football Game:

~ Jack, in the huddle ~

~ most of Jack & Corey's team, the Sharks ~

~ the littlest cheerleader ~

Little Ainsley watched the cheerleaders closely, and at the perfect moment she walked over and "borrowed" some pom-poms. She knew just what to do with them. So cute!

~ Cool Guy, Asher ~

(check out that faux-hawk)

~ AshMan ~

~ Claire Bear ~

Other members of the "Cheering Section" were: Poppie, Gibbie, Uncle Beau, Sassy, Uncle Allan, Emmie, Baby Jacob, Allie, Katie, Cooper, & Mommy.

13 Photos Of My 13 Year Old

Since I have been on a blog-break, something very important has happened. My baby girl turned 13! (In fact, all the celebrating from that is part of why I have been on a blog-break.) At some point between that day 13 years ago when my life changed for the better and now I blinked... and now my little black headed, dark skinned, teeny-tiny baby girl is a beautiful, thoughtful, creative, responsible teenager. I have had several people ask me what it is like to have a teenager... to be the mom of a teenager. Is it any different than the day before when I was a mom to a 12 year old? Well obviously, nothing changed on the morning of October 31st when I awoke and my daughter was 13 instead of 12, but something substantial has been taking place during the last year or so. Allie has been changing and growing and maturing, and so has our relationship. We are not "there" yet - we both still have a lot of growing to do, but to answer those questions... yes, it is different to have a teenager... or at least to have my teenager. In many ways it is easier than when she was an infant that woke at night or a toddler that was as strong-willed as any child that I have ever seen, but in some ways it is immensely harder. I feel like, more than ever, that I can't mess this up. If I do, it is the course of her life that is at stake... not just that her schedule gets out of whack. There is more emotion - on her part and mine - than I think we have ever had. Sometimes that is good, sometimes that is challenging. For the most part - and I know that we are just getting started - it is the best time that I have had in her life. It is wonderful to get glimpses of the woman that she is growing into. It is amazing to share a conversation where she shares her thoughts. It is an honor to be the mother of the one and only 13 year old Allie Jill, and I look forward to seeing what 14, and 15, and 16... and 20, and 40 hold for my baby girl.

Every day I think that Allie is beautiful, and on this day - shortly before her birthday - I took some pictures of her when she came home from school to mark this point in time. Here, in honor of her 13th birthday, are the 13 photos from that shoot that I liked the most.

Happy Birthday, Allie Cat!

I'll love you forever.

I'll like you for always.

As long as I'm living,

my baby you'll be.

Pumpkin Patch '09

This year's October was the rainiest one that I can ever remember. I think it rained all but about 3 days during the month. So, that made our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch a little hard to pull off. Finally, the week of Halloween, the rain let up enough for us to give the Patch a try. The kids all put on rain boots, and we headed out to the Pumpkin Patch to play with friends, ride a hay ride, climb through a hay maze, jump in the inflatables, and to eat snow cones. ( I know, that last one was a bit random, but there are snow cones there, and they have become something that the kids try to talk me into each year. :) ) Unfortunately, Allie was not feeling very photogenic.

~ Jack on the hay ride ~

(Oh, I love this boy!)

~ muddy Pumpkin Patch ~

~ Cooper, hay riding ~

~ taking it all in ~

~ climbing in the hay maze ~

~ hay maze ~

~ Farmer Cooper ~

~ one of my favorite photos ever of Cooper ~

See? Muddy!