What We've Been Up To

    As the days go back and forth from fallish to hot, and we've been staying home more, I've been trying to come up with more fun things to do with the kids. Cooper is pretty good about playing by himself, but it's nice when I can offer more for him to do, especially when we do it together. I feel like I'm starting to get into a groove of coming up with activities, actually doing them, and enjoying the result. So, here's what we've been up to, in pictures:

 The 'Letter and Number Pit' I have all of the letters and numbers in this pool. 

Cooper goes 'diving' for whatever letter or number I call out. 

It's fun and educational!

Oh, and Ace likes it too.

 Puzzles in Cooper's room. Doing puzzles also helps learn about cleaning up one thing before starting another. (Stepping on puzzle pieces around the room may or may not have contributed to my making sure we clean up all puzzle pieces we aren't using)

Finger painting..looks fun but Cooper isn't that into it. 

He's rather do something where he can move around more. 

I'm not complaining..paint is messy!

"Did you call for the letter C for cute, Mama?" 

"Where's Cooper?" 

Aunt Rachel gave the boys this awesome TeePee and we love it!

Dalton is moving beyond gardening now. 

He's plowed up a portion of our horse pen to plant oats this winter

 and corn in the spring. 

Plowed dirt is so pretty, and feels good between your toes.

 Oobleck...took this idea from a website. It's cornstarch and water but makes a crazy feeling goop. Cooper played with it for a little while, but then wanted to get moving. 

 Ace played on the blanket...well tried to repeatedly get off of it...

while Cooper was gooping it up.

He kept trying to eat the cats' tails. 

Don't worry, he never got them in his mouth...at least while I was looking.

Wonder where he gets his interest in the cats?

Oh, that explains it!

Ace was really crawling today. He got off the blanket and 

couldn't inchworm as well, so he had to crawl. 

Now I know he can do it if he wants to! 

I made an obstacle course for Cooper, using his letter pads

 (not sure what they are called).

"On your mark, get set, GO!"

Down the path, up the slide....

 Down the slide to another path...

After that path, he had to push the lawnmower ...

Then run to the stroller...

Push the stroller through some chairs....

And finish with a zig-zag path. Whew. He did this several times and then we moved on. We were going to show Daddy when he came home for lunch but the wind and Wilbur messed up our paths.

I've been pinning activities daily so hopefully we'll be doing some more fun stuff soon! Until then...

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27

Nana's Weekend

   

     A couple of weekends ago we celebrated Nana's (Dalton's grandmother) birthday. It was a full weekend of celebrating with family, including 3 of her siblings from out of state. I feel bad when I look back at my blog because I don't put as many pictures of Dalton's family as my own. This is mostly because we seem them regularly so I never think to start taking a bunch of pictures because it's not a big  visit. I'm going to try and get better about that.
 

What a great picture of three great smiles!

    Anyway, so this celebration was a perfect time to take some pictures. I only took them Sunday at the birthday lunch but we got together Friday and Saturday too. Friday night we had BBQ at Aunt Ellen's house. Cooper really likes going to the Morris house because there is a neat treehouse and zipline. He rode it, along with his cousins, until it was time to come in. After dinner it was smore time by the fire pit. Cooper didn't quite get the concept of roasting the marshmallow. He would either hold it too high above the fire or drop it on the coals. With Dalton's help he was able to successfully roast one, and we all enjoyed a bite.

 Auntie M (or AA as Cooper is now calling her) with Ace

Cooper didn't let this little firetruck get out of his sight.

 If Graham was riding it Cooper was close behind. 

     Saturday we dropped the kids off at the Walker's house and went to the Country Club to have a really nice dinner with all of the grownups. After dinner everyone shared some "Nanaisms". It was neat to hear stories from the past and present. Nana is a wonderful person, and may be the most positive person I've ever met...something I'm trying to imitate. She always has a smile and a cookie waiting at her house for Cooper. I'm very grateful to have married into such a loving and close family.

    When I picked the boys up I was a little nervous. This was the first time I'd left them both for 3 hours with non-family. The Walkers have two boys too, so I knew Cooper would have fun. When I arrived Cooper was in his PJs watching Diego, and Ace was smiling from one of the parent's arms. They said it went well...though Ace went through all of his clothes and they'd had to change clothes too. The good news was that their boys spit up a lot when they were babies too so they were ok.

 A rare moment when Cooper was alone on the trampoline. 

 Ace and Emily

Cooper and Uncle Bud

    Sunday, after church, we headed to Mere Mere and Popsey's for lunch, cake and birthday presents. It was super fun, especially for Cooper, who loves playing with all of his cousins. It was a busy weekend, but very fun and a great celebration of a great Grandmother and Great-grandmother.

Nana had lots of help blowing out the candles.

"A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit." Proverbs 15:13

Our Newest Addition

     Our little family is growing...in the four-legged variety. It's calving season here in Caddo and sadly, they lost a mama cow in the process of having her first calf. So, there is an orphan calf here that needs taking care of. Dalton is usually in charge of this and this time he decided to just bring the calf up to the house instead of having to go to the barn to feed it 2 or 3 times a day.

    We were pretty excited to have a little calf here. Cooper was a little afraid at first but now likes him. And I love baby anything so it's fun for me too.

     Dalton was calling him Fifty, since that is his tag number, but Cooper and I renamed him Wilbur yesterday. I think it's going to stick. Cooper can say it, so that's a plus.

    Cooper was afraid of calves at first...he was ok until they made noise, but now that he has Wilbur he's liking the little guy. He pets him and puts his arm around him and likes for Wilbur to chase him around. Unfortunately Wilbur has a tendency to run up on your heels, so hopefully there won't be a crash between the two.

 "Come on Wilbur!" 

Daddy Dalton 

    Wilbur eats a couple of bottles a day, and he takes them best from Dalton. I've tried but Wilbur doesn't like me as much.

The cats like having Wilbur around too. They get the leftovers.

    Dalton decided that Wilbur will be a good practice dummy for Cooper to learn roping. Poor Wilbur...he puts up with Cooper throwing the rope at him or putting it around his neck. Dalton even got Wilbur to follow Cooper so he could rope his back feet. Don't worry though, he never let the rope get tight enough to be uncomfortable.

    Each morning Dalton goes out and feeds Wilbur. Then at lunch we usually bring him up to the yard and feed him. Then he hangs out in the yard (in hopes that he will try some grass) until the evening. We're pretty special...not everyone has a calf hanging out in the bushes.

He followed me up the back steps for a bottle!

    It will be a sad day when we have to say goodbye to Wilbur and send him back to the pasture, but for now we're enjoying our pet, and Cooper's getting some up close and personal experience with a calf.

Cooper likes to shut and latch the gate by himself. 

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7

This cutie is ready for fall too!

Snapshots of Fun

  

   Is it fall yet? It has been feeling really nice around here the last week and we've been trying to take advantage of it. I'm fighting the urge to get pumpkins and scarecrows out on display! Dalton says it's too early, but seeing that the high Friday is supposed to be in the 70s I may just have to go ahead and decorate for fall. 

     We've been staying home more these last couple of weeks too. I expected to be going crazy with boredom, especially since Dalton has been farming, which means he doesn't get home until late almost every night (last week it was 8:30 before he got home one night). Anyway, it's been such a blessing to be at home with the kids and there really hasn't been any real boredom. Staying home has forced me to come up with activities to do with Cooper and Ace, so that I don't give in to the temptation to leave the TV on all day (not just for Cooper, but for myself as well). 

     Cooper's gotten good at doing several puzzles that we have, we've read books in his cool Teepee (I'll post a pic of that later), played games and had lots of tickle time. I've also been on floor level playing with Ace and watching him do the Downward Dog yoga move over and over. He's on the verge of crawling but still has a little ways to go. He's so strong! 

Hanging out in the pack n play outside

     I've heard that saying that necessity is the mother of all invention, and I think that is true. In my case, necessity is the mother of all productivity! I wanted to make homemade bread yesterday, which I did. Woo hoo. While I was doing that I needed something for Cooper to do. I keep seeing stuff about sensory tubs and decided that I should probably do something like that for Cooper. So I opened a big bag of rice, poured it into a large baking pan, put it on a mat on the floor with Cooper's dump truck and a couple of measuring cups and let him at it. He loves it and has already played this morning. Of course there are pieces of rice all over the floor ("Keep it in the pan" hasn't quite clicked yet), but it's a small price to pay for an occupied child. 

The rice needs to stay where?

     I'm also trying to up my educational activities too, so we've started a letter and number of the day. I show him the letter, we talk about the sound and think of several words that start with that letter. Then I write the words and draw pictures...if Cooper somehow thinks a cat is a monkey or something it's because of my not-so-awesome drawings. Cooper enjoys the learning and erasing the pictures I draw. 

     Last weekend Cooper rode the horse by himself for the first time. When I say rode the horse, I mean he followed us while we walked only a few feet in front of him. He did really well. He knows how to turn (though he's not powerful enough sometimes) and most importantly he can pull back and say "Whoa!" when he wants to stop. I got to go for a ride that day too and it was so nice! I miss riding and hope to do more of it. 

 Turn him to the right.

 Try not to pull back while you turn

Come to me..kick (like the horse could feel those little feet)

Again, I must avoid white! It makes me look pasty and chubby (chubbier)

     This week we're hosting playdate again. So fun! I've got several activities/centers planned so hopefully they all have a good time. I didn't realize how much I've missed teaching things to kids and this is allowing me to do that with my own kids...even better. I'll try to post about the playdate (if the other moms don't mind). 

     

     Funny to share with you...Dalton and I were talking about kids the other day and how I want to have a couple more and then adopt. Dalton gave me this weird look and said, "But I just read your blog. I thought you felt overwhelmed?" I laughed and told him that I'll always be a little overwhelmed but that's a good thing. It means that I'm at the end of my abilities so God can take over and guide. Also, it means that I'm not being lazy and only taking on what's comfortable. He said "Hmmm" and moved on. I think he was disappointed. 

"Happy Trails Pard'ner"

"How can I repay the Lord for all His acts of kindness to me? I will celebrate my deliverance and call on the name of the Lord." Psalm 116:12-13