Ben's First Gymnastics Class

Zach has been taking gymnastics for a year or so and really likes it; but Ben had never taken any classes until this last Monday. We were able to find two classes at the same time that they could take this session and decided Ben was ready to give it a try. He loved it! He has a harder time staying focused than Zach did but that doesn't surprise me. I took a few pictures, but it was hard to get a clear shot through the glass without reflection.

Bicycles

Ian has been wanting to get himself a bicycle so he and Zach took off shopping the other day and came back with a bike for Ian and a seat for Ben to ride in. They have been riding everyday since.

Art Easels

I have been wanting to get an easel for the boys. They have been asking to paint, and I mean the really messy stuff like finger painting. So I was thinking that an easel outside where everything can be washed down would be good. Well a friend told me yesterday that when she was at Target she found a $40 easel on clearance for $9.98! So I headed straight there and got two of them, I just couldn't pass up that kind of deal. They even collapse and have their own storage bags. The boys love them. They haven't got to use them outside yet, but I did pull out the "No Mess" markers that only work on the "special" paper.

Josiah's Room

Well Josiah's room is pretty much finished. We still need to hang the shelve above the baby bed, find an area rug that I like and I have some things to hang above the picture board but otherwise it is done. I went with a cowboy theme but wanted it to not be too babyish. I wanted it to be something that I could just switch the baby bed out for a twin bed and not have to change to much else. Here are a few pictures. I think that the armour that I crackle painted turned out pretty well.

Grandma & Papa Cooper's Visit

Ian's parents where able to come up and visit for the last couple of days. It was beautiful outside when they arrived on Thursday so we spent the remainder of that day outside. Grandma & Papa gave the boys a horse swing which they love taking turns swing on.

Friday we went to the Lawn & Garden Show in the morning and out to dinner that evening, in honor of my upcoming birthday.

Saturday we went to Exploration Place and out for lunch before Grandma & Papa had to head back home. The boys had a great time with their grandparents and are already talking about what we are going to do when they visit again.

Getting Ready for Josiah

For the past couple of weeks, my husband's days off have been spent getting the room ready for me to setup for Josiah. He has stripped wallpaper (two layers), patched holes, sanded walls and painted.

Meanwhile, I have been painting an armour that we had and going through all the baby stuff, getting it ready to go in the room. I use to have a living room, but for now it has turned into the staging ground for all things baby.

Hopefully you will be seeing finished photos of the room soon!

A Warm February Day

Yesterday, it was absolutely beautiful outside. My boys pretty much spent the entire day outside. Zach decided to plant a garden of scrape lumber in the sandbox.

Ben was "helping" Ian clean out the shed and found the little plastic pool. He decided he wanted to go swimming and was upset that it wasn't warm enough. So he pretended to swim. Zach on the other hand found the sled and wanted snow.

But most of the day was just spent having fun outside.

I Knew It Would Happen Someday

Well it finally happened. We were out shopping Tuesday and Ben turned his for a minute and I thought I saw a bald spot. I wasn't sure I really saw it but on closer examination I found two small spots where his brother had decided to cut his hair. They are in the back and the side and least aren't in the front. Somehow those safety scissors that I can't get to barely cut paper are able to cut hair very well. These pictures don't look soo bad since we had his hair trimmed shorter.

Seeing Eye Dog

A week or so ago Zach had some head congestion & and a sore throat. Nothing serious but it was keeping him from going to sleep that night. Ben was already asleep and Ian was watching tv so I let Zach lay in bed with me hoping it would help him go to sleep. He decided that this was a great time to have a rather lengthy conversation with me about anything and everything that came into his head. Here is one of those random thoughts.

Zach: "Mom, you know those dogs that you see on tv that sick people have?"
Me: "You mean the dogs that help people who can't see or are in a wheelchair?"
Zach:"Yeah, I need one of those."
Me: "Why, do you need one...because you are sick?"
Zach: "I saw one on tv that had something on it so that it could carry things to the sick people. Instead of getting cats (we just got two cats) we should have gotten a dog. That way it could bring me things in bed since I am sick. You know like soup...books...drinks. It wouldn't even spill them coming up that stairs!"
Me: (trying not to laugh) "I don't think that they give dogs like that to people that just have colds. They are really for people that can't see at all or can't walk."
Zach: "Yeah.......(long pause) I still think having a dog like that would be nice." sigh

We then moved on to about 4 other not related thoughts like that one. He finally went to sleep after about an hour.

Crazy Hair Night

Last wednesday was crazy hair night at AWANA's. Here are some pictures of the boys. (Puggles doesn't do crazy hair night but there was no way that Ben wasn't going to have his hair done if Zach's was done.)