End of the Year Soccer Party

It is the end of the soccer season for Cooper. His team, the Panthers, tried really hard this year and they definitely learned a lot.....but we never did win a game : ( Cooper really enjoyed being part of a team and we are looking forward to many more team sports in the future!

Upward did a great job of teaching the kids about being part of a team and trying their best. They also learned to encourage each other. Upward had an end of the season party Friday night at our church. They introduced each team and coaches, had a magic show, and at the end each child was given a new soccer ball. It was a fun night! Our friends Sydney and Zack went to cheer for Cooper too!


Cooper and his girlfriend Sydney


Cooper and Emily


Cooper and his two favorite girls!!

End of the Year Party for Emily

Emily's class had a end of the year party at Jump Zone. It was a great way to celebrate an awesome school year. The kids had a blast and I enjoyed visiting with the other mom's.



Emily + Eva = Best Friends!!


Having Fun!



The whole group! Thank goodness for Mrs. Beth....I could never take care of 9 three year olds everyday!


One of the mom's had a cookie cake made--yum yum!


Our end of the year gift for Mrs. Beth. It turned out really cute! Each kid's thumbprint is in the middle of the flowers.

Last Day of School

It is so hard to believe that summer is here and the kids are done with school. Emily's last day was Monday and Cooper's on Tuesday. I took pictures on the first day of school and the last day....my babies are growing-up!!

First Day of PreK 3 for Emily


Last Day for Emily


First Day of PreK 4 for Cooper


Last Day for Cooper



A couple of cute out-takes from our photo shoot. Cooper kept posing like he was a model--too funny!!


Emily was dressed as Dora that morning


I think I've got the cutest 3 year old and 5 year old in town!!

Lucy is 9 months old!!

Wow!! Where has the time gone? Lucy turned 9 months old last Wednesday. She has quit doing her "scoot" crawl and she is now officially crawling. And she is officially into EVERYTHING!! The only time I have to get anything done is while she is napping. If she is awake, I have to have all of my attention on her. Today she climbed the stairs all by herself (Richard was right behind her, just in case she fell). I guess it is time to get the gates out!!

We went to the doctor for her 9 month check-up and she is doing great. She weighed 18 pounds and 8 ounces. The doctor also suggested trying to switch off of the special formula Lucy is on right now and trying a regular milk based formula. We will probably try that next week. Hopefully her little tummy will adjust with no trouble.

Not only is Lucy crawling but she has also been cruising all over the house for the last month. Here recently she has started letting go of the table and walking to the sofa. Yesterday she took about 5-6 steps all by herself!! I feel like she is going to be walking within the next month--Cooper and Emily did not even start to crawl until they were 10 months old. Here are a couple of fun pictures:

Walking with Daddy


She likes to stop and rest while she is crawling


Lucy has not been wanting to eat much baby food. She had to get in the bath tub after this meal.


She has 3 teeth and is working on the 4th one. Her smile is so cute!


She is not happy in this picture but you can see her 3 cute teeth

Here is my mischievous girl cruising along the fireplace.....

headed for the brown decorative barrels that are a "no touch"....


this is one of her favorite things to do right now...


but seriously....who could be upset with this sweet face!!!


Happy 9 months Lucy!!!

Missing him.....

3 years ago today my Dad passed away. Oh how I miss him. The kids are so sweet to ask about PawPaw and Cooper really does have some good memories of the two of them. I will never forget how much my Dad loved being a Grandpa! Once Cooper came into the world, it was as if my Dad's life was a little brighter. He loved Cooper so much and it showed!! He loved Emily too, but there was definitely an extra special place in his heart for Cooper. I wish he was here to see Lucy--he wouldn't believe how spunky she is!

The wonderful thing I have learned through all of this is that you have nothing without the HOPE and LOVE of Jesus. I know that my Dad is up in heaven smiling down on me. I KNOW he is in a better place. So if I get sad that my Dad is no longer here, I just have to remember that I will see him again. He is in a perfect place where we all long to be.

I have realized that I did not take many pictures of my Dad, so I do not have many to chose from when I make this yearly post. I do have lots of video of Dad and the kids. It's fun to watch those! Here are a couple of pictures. The last one is very blurry but I love that picture!!

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a pretty good Mother's Day yesterday. We got up, went to early church, and then had lunch at Trio's--yum, yum! Richard had to leave town yesterday afternoon so the day was not as relaxing as I had hoped it would be, but it was still a good day with the kids. We forgot to take any pictures yesterday, so here are some from the last week.

this is how most of my pictures turn out these days:


sweet sisters:


I think this outfit is SO super cute:


Cooper's class had a Mother's Day Luncheon on Friday. He greeted me with a rose and then escorted me to my seat. He then served me lunch and dessert!! I enjoyed him taking care of me and it was fun to spend some special time with him. The kids sang a couple of songs and then they had a video to show all the fun they have been having in Prek4. I had a great time!


He made this tile that says "I love Mom"


Cooper and one of his best friends, Brady:



This is the only way I can keep Lucy out of trouble while I am in the shower. She thinks it is so fun to hang-out in the bath tub.


Cooper's soccer team had pictures taken on Saturday. Here is one of his poses:


Cooper chasing the ball:


Little Miss Glamorous at the soccer game--it was SO cold!!


Lucy loves to swing. She stayed in it the whole time Richard mowed the backyard.

Change of Plans

I'm sure that you remember my post from several months ago....the one about Richard getting a job promotion and that we are moving to Utah. Well, after the weather warmed-up I started having second thoughts about the snowy weather. Since we do have the choice of where we want to move to, we have decided to have a change of plans.

We are trading these snow covered mountains....



For these beautiful desert mountains and palm tress!!!



We are moving to Phoenix!!! Actually a suburb of Phoenix called Gilbert. We just got back on Monday from a long weekend out there and we LOVED it!! It was so pretty and everyone was so nice. I am much more excited about this move now, in fact we have already made an offer on a house out there! We still have not sold our house here in Little Rock, so we are praying that everything will work out!

Emily went with us on this trip and she was so well behaved that whole time. (A big THANK YOU to my mom for staying with Cooper and Lucy!!) Emily got to ride on an airplane for the first time. I did not take many pictures while we were gone. Here is one on the plane:


swimming with daddy:


We ate a lot of good food while we were there too! We are looking forward to moving to our new town!