Stop and Watch the Caterpillar

So grateful for Oliver, who sometimes demands I stop being busy so I can watch a caterpillar crawl along the grass.

Bragging kinds of Things

Not only is my teenager as tall as me now, but he seems to have morphed like five years in the last two:

 And speaking of Ethan, cross country is in full swing now.  I love watching him run.  And it's really cool how fast he's gotten.  He's now the third fastest boy in his school!

 Madeline is continuing to impress me.  She is kind to everyone, stops bullying at school!, notices who needs a friend in the lunchroom, and is an all-around fun person to talk to.

 I LOVE youth temple trips!  Can't wait until January when Madeline can join us!!!

 Cooper and his friends.  He organized his own friend birthday party/playdate and they had a blast.  He came up with the date and time, the activities and food ideas.  He had invited two of them before I even knew it was happening.  I had to laugh.  This kid gets things done!

 More cross country.  I think it's awesome how good Ethan is at pacing himself.  Lots of people are ahead of him at the beginning but he is consistent and eventually starts passing all of them.  It's really fun to watch.

 Oliver surprised me (with a little help from Madeline) and made a fabulous art gallery:

 And take a look at this awesome sweatshirt.  It was designed by none other than Ethan!  He submitted his design and after the team vote, his design won!  I think it's really awesome.  And it's super fun to see all these kids coming out of Ethan's school wearing the logo Ethan created.

Fun

Family fun biking day

 Making slime at the library

Home Improvements!

I guess I caught the up-cycle bug for the time being.  This old coffee table was sitting in my basement hardly being used, when I got the idea to sand and refinish it.

 A white washed top and blue legs!

 I also rearranged all the furniture on our main floor and I'm loving it!

 Then I bought new purple bar stools.  They match my KitchenAid.  LOVE!!!

 And then, since I was feeling like I was on a roll, I decided to refinish my kitchen table as well!

Sanding this beauty was a lot more work than the little coffee table.

 The table took a LONG time.  Slow long process and lots of steps and days, but it's finally done and I'm so so excited and happy with the transformation!!!  I white washed the top and painted the legs gray.

We got new chairs to complete the updated look.

Hooray!  I'm loving my house lately.  I feel like it has new life and it makes me happy.

Cooper's Birthday

Cooper's birthday was a busy fun day.  It started with cinnamon rolls, of course!  Cooper's favorite!

 So exciting!

 Yay!  A creeper from Mimi and Bapa.  Just what he wanted!

 He came home from school to find this gigantic present.  What in the world?!?

 A new BMX bike!

 Then it was off to ninja class.  Cooper was super thrilled to have ninja class on his birthday.  The best hour of the day!  Though, he said it seemed way too short.

 After ninja class, we came home for cake and more presents.  He was really excited this year to have a smash cake.  I put a little cake inside a white chocolate shell and he got to use a hammer to smash through.  Nothing better than that!

 Cinnamon Roll Cake

Oh my, I love you darling!

I'm so grateful Cooper is in my life.  Happy Birthday Buddy!

Happy Birthday Cooper!!!

My Cooper is 7 today!  I can hardly believe it!  He makes my life so exciting and fun.  So happy and interesting.

 It would be boring without him!

 Cooper is strong and active, smart and thoughtful, funny and clever.  He is loud and crazy.  He also likes to have quiet alone time.  He likes being obedient.  He likes pushing the boundaries a little too.

He has charisma and everyone enjoys being around him!  Oh how I love my Cooper!  I feel privileged to be his mother.  He keeps me on my toes.  He keeps me happy.

Happy Birthday!

Pears, Peaches, Puffy Feet and Things

Pears from our tree

 YUM!

 Also YUM.  A Pear Clafoutis is a recommended treat in my opinion!

 Then, I got bitten by a mystery bug.  It really hurt and then my whole ankle and foot began to puff right out.  I was SO swollen.  It hurt super bad.  Super weird and creepy and totally inconvenient!

 I had peaches to do!  So I hobbled around and did them anyway...

 and a pie!  Because I like pie.

 My foot was only swollen for a couple days.  The pain lasted longer and then it began to itch.  I don't know what bit me, but it was mean.  I'm good now.  :)

Oliver said goodbye to his car seat!  I don't know who is happier, him or me!!!  NO MORE CAR SEATS!  Woohoo!

 And speaking of happy, Cooper started his ninja class!  He absolutely loves it.  I think he feels most happy there and told me after class that he wishes he owned that place!  So glad I found this for him.

At the eye doctor.  Eyes are healthy and good.  They stayed the same.  I'm so glad they didn't get worse!  Looks like the dilating drops are already working: