Final preparations

Cooper and I met Brandon and Erika at the tuxedo shop this week so Coop could get fitted for the wedding, which is just two short weeks away. I must say, he's gonna look sharp! He's not even complaining about the pink tie. I was getting choked up just looking at him standing next to Brandon. Something tells me I better stock up on Kleenex.

Equally as important as the tux fitting, I got to spend 3 uninterrupted hours with just Cooper. With as crazy as life is, spending that much time with any one kid alone is rather rare. Yet, I realized that night how important it is. We shopped for a while and went to dinner just the two of us. He must have told me no less than a dozen times how nice it was to have some alone time. Sheez, I'm getting teary just thinking about it. I wonder how much longer before the teenage years take over his emotions and spending time alone with mom will be a chore rather than a treat. Sniff, sniff. I know every parent thinks they have great kids, and Cooper is far from perfect, but this is one pretty special young man. He holds a conversation with adults as if he were an adult and yet he's still just a kid who craves fun and excitement.

I can't help but think that God has a special plan for this kid. No parent would ever wish health problems on their kid, but I am so grateful for who he is.

Must be time for Halloween

Next to Christmas, Halloween is a favorite around this house. Kaiya typically starts planning her costume around July, and this year is no exception. The fact that my 7-year-old can get online and search for costumes is not good. Each day, the costume she wants gets a little more extravagant and a little more expensive.

Then, she decided that Willie needed to dress up this year, so she started experimenting. She thinks he should go as a baby this year. Poor dog couldn't even walk when she got through with him.

All decked out

Helping on our old deck back then . . .
Loved power tools then . . .
Helping his dad now
Still loves power tools (sorry about the butt shot, hun)!There's nothing like a good home improvement project to get Cooper motivated to help out. We decided to expand our deck, that was approximately the size of a cracker box, to accomodate at least our patio furniture. That way, dinner clean-up is a snap. Everything that drops on the floor is swept off into the grass. Thank goodness for awesome neighbors (thanks Brady and Joe!) who really know what they're doing and helped Doug get started. With any luck, we'll be eating dinner out there by next week! We've got a nice view of the mountains from our deck and good shade even in the summer.

Looking back at these photos of Cooper has been a real trip down memory lane. The kid's interests really haven't changed in a lot of ways, but man, where does the time go?

Soccer season . . . ho hum

Ah, the fall soccer season has arrived. Doug and I are trying really hard to be good sports. We go to all of the games (this includes my dad, too), cheer on Kaiya, bring the snack on our designated day and encourage her to try her best. That said, soccer is boring. I am one of the biggest sports fans around, but come on, people! There is no action and the games routinely end in a tie. As my brother would say, that is simply communistic.

I will say that soccer is great exercise and I'm proud of Kaiya for being a good team player (of all my kids, she struggles the most with selfishness). She is quite aggressive on the field and has no trouble getting right in the middle of the action. This is the first time they have had goalies and they now play on a 100 yard field, so she was a bit tired after yesterday's first game.

Someday, she may have to choose either gymnastics or soccer, but for now I love that she is enjoying both. You might catch me reading a book on the sideline, but I'm glad she is having fun. :)