John and Brad do 100!

John and Brad headed out at 5:40 am this morning to get in 75 miles. They completed 100! Heavy training has started!

Summer has started!

Kids, kids everywhere! Today marked the beginning of a crazy summer I think. The Pohlmans are here, the Hutchisons are here, the Ziolas are here, Stephen, Barb and the girls are here, Mark, Robin and the three kids are here! What a wonderful, beautiful start! Let it be know that Josh and John Ziola got up on the ski trainer. Anna and Johnny got up on the trainer. Grace and Emma got up on the trainer. Lily and Tommy got up on the trainer. Amazing kids! And Grandpa Bruce was running the boat and inner tube hot and heavy all afternoon! Wild and Wooley!

Pohlmans Arrive!

Whew! We thought it would never happen! They are here, they are here! And but for a brief update on a crazy, crazy year away, it appears that the kids are picking up right where they left off.....except when Michael was here last he was lying in the grass and now he's chattering away...of course!

Saying Goodbye to the Soares Family

There are many, many blessings associated with living next door to a Firs home. However, with the leaving of a second wonderful family, we are well versed on saying goodbye to good friends. We didn't spend a lot of time socializing with each other formally, but our children spent nearly every day available together, playing, swimming, riding bikes and scooters, racing the go cart around the yard, soaking in hot buckets, dancing, building bamboo forts, creating lego whatnots, cuddling on the couch with a show or video game....the list is long. We tried to forget that time was marching on, to forget about goodbyes. Every time I would bring it up to Tommy, trying to soften the blow so to speak, he really didn't want to speak of it much. A few days before we were trying desperately to cling to every moment together with Tiago, Tommy everyday go-to guy. Driving home from work the day before they were to leave, I was actually fighting tears, although I wasn't really sure why. I couldn't figure out if I was more sad for the loss of a little boy running around the house, or sad for all that Tommy was going to miss with Tiago leaving. When Julia Allen left a year ago, it was difficult, but nothing like this. Getting older brings on a deepening understanding of permanency, of friendship. Tommy "gets" this more than he ever did back then. He was losing a great, great little buddy. A friend that understood him. They shared their second to last night with each other, as I couldn't stand to see it end. I asked Susan if she would let Tiago stay with us for the night. Tommy's first sleepover. It went well. Fabulous. Couldn't have been better. They stayed up late of course. I would have let them stay up all night just to allow them more minutes together. It wasn't enough, though. By morning, it was sweetness to peek in on them curled up so peaceful. Tommy asked as I made them chocolate chip cookie for breakfast, "Mom, will I see Tiago again today? Will he stay as long as possible?" In the afternoon, Susan stayed as long as she could, and the boys continued to race around the beach, swimming and lounging in the hot buckets as if nothing was about to change. When it was finally time, Tiago was hardly ready, and let his mom know it. He ran, he hid, he refused to leave the property. It was heartbreaking. Tommy watched it all, trying to encourage, but not really knowing how other than to follow my lead and tell Tiago we would always be friends, always love him. Tommy was tearful, but appeared resigned.
Walking back after watching the van drive away, he said, "Mom, when do my new cousins come?"

Thank goodness for the diversion of cousins coming to town.

Tommy and the Girls

The other night, after showing up for a soccer practice that had been canceled before I had a chance to read my email, we were playing on the school playground instead. There were three "older" girls hanging on the monkey bars as well. A quick glance over, and I could see them eyeing each other. Tommy stood up a little straighter, and I could tell he was trying to get their eye.
Oh, brother.

I kept a close watch, or as close as you can out of the corner of your eye. Enough to see the girls start preening, tittering to each other and pointing. Tommy glanced back over their way, and I heard one of the girls say, "You're cute."

WHAT? Are you kidding me? He's in kindergarten, I wanted to yell at the top of my voice!

Tommy was closer, and struck up what looked like back and forth conversation. Pretty soon they were running around together, jumping on the around, chasing each other in tag. Tommy came up to me, and I said, "What did those girls say to you?"
"They said I was cute."

Hmmmm....

The neighbors have a friend name Keri. She is quite the little tomboy from what I can tell. One night, late in the evening, Tommy comes running up. "Mom, I'm going to Keri's house!"

I stopped. "What? No you are not!" I called. He was trying to be all big about it, but his face crumbled, his lips curled into a grimace and the wailing commenced. "But I want to!" he wailed, over and over.
"Tommy, I have no idea who this Keri is. I don't know her parents. I don't even know where she lives."
"But I waaaaannnnnnt to," he continued to wail. "She's my friendddddd!!!"

The other day Keri was over again, and of course all the kids were playing together. Keri's dad came over to find her and take her home.
"Hi," I said, offering to shake his hand. (My son thinks you're daughter is pretty cool, and I'm not sure what to make of it...in my head of course.)

Tonight, the kids come running in. "I invited Keri over, Mom" he says, as 4 kids run through the house into his room.

I looked over at John and exchanged...what? A look? The look? Am I looking down the barrel of a gun right now and seeing the beginnings of something I wish I could slow down? He's in kindergarten...

Mother's Day 2010

Tommy woke me up this morning by crawling into bed and snuggling with me. Cooper pulled me out of bed yelling for daddy. Quickly calculating in my head that I'd been the one with more sleep, I crawled out of bed to get him and let John sleep.

At one point, Cooper said, "I need to tell daddy Happy Modders Day, Mama."
"No, Coop," I replied, shuffling to the coffee pot.
"Ahhh. But I need to," he cried, inching towards the bedroom.
"Coop. No, baby. It's Mother's Day and I'm your mother. You need to wish me the Happy Mother's Day."
"Ahhh..."he whined, crawling back up onto the couch all dejected.

Tommy came up, wrapped his arms around me and wished me a Happy Mother's Day.

While still at the coffee pot, Coop came back up to me. "Happy Modders Day, Mama."

Bless his heart. That is all I needed today. My two boys. My coffee. The sunshine out. Perfect.

While John was sleeping, I decided to go get breakfast out. I wanted a particular muffin from a coffee shop downtown. Cooper wanted sausage and Tommy wanted hashbrowns. I needed to try to get a gift for Grandma Lil before going home, too. We stopped at Avalino first. It was so peaceful downtown. When Tommy started to whine about not wanting to go in for the muffin, I asked him to enjoy the beautiful morning we had...and the fact that I would appreciate him not whining on Mother's Day when all I wanted was a muffin. Coop then decided he wanted a bagel. Then we hit up McDonald's for hashbrowns and sausage. When at the Garden Spot looking for Lil, I realized I didn't have my credit card on me. So much for a Mother's Day gift this morning. Once back at home, we spent the day enjoying the beautiful sunshine out on the beach. It was a great day together!

My gifts? Tommy brought home a plant with a seed in it that Teacher Kathy had them put together. Cooper got mad at Tommy two days ago and hucked the pot across the grass.

Tommy brought home a bag with a gift in it. While he was throwing a fit about a Lego, Cooper ripped open the present and showed me the gift. Tommy cried even harder.

See the pattern here?

I bought myself a new jacket on an outing to the concert the other night. I love my gifts, boys!

Concert Chaos-Needtobreathe

A concert used to be just that....a concert. These days, however, it is much more of a process, a series of events that must all align perfectly to actually turn out in our favor. We must now be resigned to the fact that we may click on the send button assuring the band our money, but we may never actually GET to the venue at all.

Seats must be purchased, a babysitter secured for the night, work schedules arranged, no illnesses need arise, presents bought to butter up the children for a smooth getaway and less tears, figure out a time to get to the venue to jump into just the perfect spot to watch the show, but not too early so that you're near collapse by the time the band you came to see actually shows up on the stage. If you add other people to that mix, it can lend to even more chaos. Or if you lose your mind momentarily, like I did at our last group show, you will actually get everyone down to Seattle, ready to party, then realize you invited people you didn't actually purchase tickets for. Nice.

This Needtobreathe concert turned out to be no different. Only days before the show, I realized our second line babysitting defense would not be in town. Molly B. was ready to go, but I'd intended to spent the night down in Seattle to avoid the late night drive home. With Bruce and Lil leaving town, they would not be around to relieve Molly at bedtime and listen for the boys until we arrived home the next morning. We also realized that Tommy had a soccer game scheduled for bright and early 9 am that next day. Lovely. No Seattle hotel. My favorite time to be out at Northwest Fields with 3-4 hours of sleep. With this one development I was ready to forgo the show in favor of sleep. I am so old.

Rhonda was scheduled to go with Jason. She was ill all week, missed all week of work, all with some unknown but contagious illness that was still to be determined. Jason couldn't get out of work, but Rhonda wouldn't know that until late Friday afternoon. She wasn't allowed in my car due to said unknown illness, so she was left to try to find someone else to come down with.

Jenny and Lance were lined up to go this time, as they were the ones left out of the tickets the last time around. I was bound and determined to make this work for them this time around. Unfortunately, their babysitters suddenly had other plans, as Jenny's sister in law went into early labor. How dare she. With the uncertainty of impending delivery, Jenny's babysitting plan went out the window, or down to Seattle, really. Plan B was to leave Lance at home, but he wouldn't be able to relieve Jenny to leave for Seattle at the time John and I were heading down, so she was scrambling to find a ride down to Seattle. She would not allow Rhonda in her car due to above illness, so the game was on to secure transportation.

On the way down, John and Brad had pretty much decided they weren't down with waiting for one opening act, much less TWO. They figured standing that long was just too much to ask and we should eat a leisurely dinner and show up late. I had a moment when I almost laughed. Almost...really if this were a cartoon, smoke would have been coming out of my ears with this new development. This coming from two Ironmen, planning and training for another Ironman competition...hmmmm.

Turned out to be a lovely afternoon lounging in the hot sun at Alderwood, leisurely checking out all the stores we don't get much chance to see when with the boys, and taking our time. Taking our time. What a concept these days. It was late afternoon by the time I felt that intense sense of urgency slip away, and I found myself relaxing a bit. I feel that I must always operate in an anxious state, as even at home I am anticipating getting ready for work and juggling multiple schedules and such. Work schedules, nanny schedules, court schedules....it took time to come down from that.

We joined Brad and Erica for a fun dinner together while Rhonda and Paige drove for Seattle and Jenny caught a ride with David Halgren as well. Rhonda met up with us just as we got into line, but Jenny missed the two fun opening acts. However, she did get to see the main show, though, and for that I was thankful. And despite my prediction that we would be in the very back of the room for the show, John managed to find a spot directly up at the stage, to the side, for a perfect view the whole night! Fabulous!

And even better? John didn't get into any near-fights this time around. Pretty good for a pretty chaotic event!

Cooper's 3rd (10th) Birthday!-Dophin-Penguin Party

For weeks now we have been talking about this party. First Coop came up with the idea for a Dolphin Party. We still do not know where this came from. Then it turned into a Dolphin-Penguin Party. We just scratched our heads and waited to see if he'd change his mind. Not Handy Manny. Not a Hot Rod party. Not tractors or monster trucks. Dolphin-Penguin Party it had to be. After Tommy's huge success with the grandparent's gift of a go cart, we decided to get Coop his own ride-on toy. John went out and purchased a Green Gator four-wheel drive tractor. Unfortunately, after hours putting it together and then trying it out, even Tommy had to agree that Cooper would only be frustrated by its inability to get traction on any surface. What a big disappointment, as we were all super excited about surprising Cooper with his own gator. We just had to hope that the gifts we had bought as side gifts would be enough for him at this age.
By afternoon, the Hutchisons and Lawrences were here, Uncle Stephen and Aunt Barb were here, and the party started. John had decorated the dining room with blow up dolphins, dolphins swimming in vases and snuggly dolphins as party favors. Although Rhonda and I had piped icing on green trees for the party cake, John ended up decorating the cake with penguins, blue icing for the ocean and a cute little igloo. Our poor little trees didn't find a home! It didn't matter, though, as I was thrilled with how John's decorations turned out and happy that we decided not to buy an expensive cake.
The rest of the afternoon was spent out in the yard watching the kids swim, play on the beach, play with the new water toys that Coop received as presents, and then an afternoon of bbq, once Jason arrived with yummy food, and campfire smores. What a wonderful way to spend a birthday!
Happy Birthday, Coop! We know you want to be 10 today, but we love the little 3 year old you are! What a wonderful, sweet, beautiful little boy you are to us. We love you so very much.

Soccer Mudfest

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Tommy's 6th Birthday Weekend!

This birthday weekend was full of legos, fun with cousins Emma and Grace, a BBQ and beach party with friends, and Sunday filled with....Grandpa and Grandma's gift of a go-cart! John's present of a BMX bike was almost lost in the excitement of multiple sets of legos! John and I find the memories of Tommy's birth and baby-hood are strong this year. For some reason, 6 is just hard to wrap my mind around. No longer even a little boy. A genuine BOY. He told us multiple times that this was the best, most awesome, so cool...you get the idea. Tonight we culminated the big weekend with a small dinner at Red Robin, just the four of us. He wanted the Red Robin crew to sing, then shyly barely held up the sundae they presented to him. Cooper clapped and clapped right along, a huge grin on his face for his brother.
How thankful for this little boy we are. What an amazing piece of our life he is. How special, how life changing he was to us six years ago. What better parents he forces us to be. The enormous amount of love that I have for him came on so unexpectedly six years ago and has exploded since. He is our pride and joy.

Our little Cooper. What an amazing little guy he is. He's big into legos and tractors right now, loves to dance and wants to be right in the thick of things. He's starting to come around on the cuddling, and I am sure thankful that he is starting to snuggle more. The boys fight over flushing the toilet and who has the most space around mom. He full on fights a bath, and out and out screams if he must wash his hair. He loves puffs, Pirate Booty, chocolate and green popsicles. He'll tolerate pancakes but prefers sausage, and only one type of sausage unless it's grandma's, and then she can somehow get him to eat cereal and oatmeal up there. Not a chance downstairs, though. He'll also eat clam chowder, but grandma told him it was chicken. He'll eat pieces of chicken and Dairy Queen, sometimes chicken at home, and more often than not he'll eat a nugget or two at home. "no salad on it" he'll say if he spies anything with lettuce and tomato on it, and only lately will he try to eat some of John's Subway or Quizno sandwiches, "no salad". Mr. Picky, and he'd much rather refuse to even try it than give it a shot. He enjoys Red Robin as well. He still sleeps in the laundry room, as he hasn't quite decided to sleep with Tommy in the big room. We're getting there on sleeping through the night, but most nights he's still up at least once to ask for something. Mornings he's quick to ask to "go wake Grandma?" and we try to hold him off until at least 8 to at least allow them some time in the morning.

Date Night With Thomas

It's nights like this when I am transported back to the days when Tommy was an only child. Days when it was just him and I together, where my focus was entirely on him, and not split in many different directions as it seems now. With Coop tucked away in his crib, and John asleep on the bed, I looked at Tommy and asked him what we should do with the rest of the night. He suggested Red Robin. The night was young, so we hit the town! We played video games in the game room, shared crayons and colored, laughed together and shared a milkshake. At one point, Tommy said to me, "Mom, this is the most wonderful night EVER." Tears brimmed in my eyes, knowing this was a priceless moment with my little boy. Moments that are so rare, so precious to me. When I went on further to ask, "What makes it so wonderful Tommy? He said, "It's just me and you, Mom. No Daddy to boss us around, no Cooper to mess it all up." We were able to just be together, and enjoyed the ease at our conversation, the laughter we shared coloring and playing menu games. We held hands walking out, and he snuggled to my side as we walked, then tried to get me wet stomping in a giant puddle by the car, laughing all the while. We then did something we hadn't done since he was little. We went to Barnes and Noble. Tommy couldn't believe all the books, letting me know he didn't remember our last adventure there. This time, though, he was old enough to browse through the books, quite impressed with all the different ones he found, then showing me what he would like to get. We even took time to sit down and share a book together. We did not have this time when he was little and we tried it the first time, nor would Cooper have allowed this time had he been along. It was such a fun time together. I got a chuckle when we headed for the check out line and Tommy asked if we were checking out his selections. I again reminded him that this was a buying store, not a library. He laughed his little laugh, grabbed my hand and started complaining about the long line in front of us. Some things don't change, but this time together was an amazing treat for us both. Simple, but a treasure none the less.

Robson St., Vancouver Olympics

Valentines Day 2010

Short and Sweet...the boys could care less about Valentine's Day. We have all been pretty sick for a while now, so we weren't really in the mood to party. Tommy didn't even get to attend his party at Kindergarten, as he was running a fever for the 4th day in a row. Cooper enjoyed his party, and the little cards he received, but he didn't even attempt to draw on his own cards, leaving me not only do fill out Tommy's but his as well! On Valentine's, I surprised the boys with their bags and their treats/cards from Andrea and Nana, and they were thrilled....with the chocolate. I don't event think the cards were glanced at! Because we were sick, it didn't seem like any real big deal for John and I to go out, but we braced ourselves for some dinner, got Bruce and Lil to listen for the boys as they slept, and had some Red Robin. While there, we are always reminded that this is where John bought me a soda for the first time, and love was blossoming so many years ago. It never fails to start up a conversation about how it all started and where we've come to since. I am thankful that even though it took effort to drag our sick selves out of the house, it was nice just to get out and away, even for a bit. Tommy was still up and waiting for us when we returned....and we loved it!

Mid-Winter Swim

Riding through Whatcom Falls Park

Whistler Tubing

So, sometimes my husband just goes along with some wild hair I get, so when I said last night that I thought we should head up to Whistler, just for the day, just to try out the tubing park, somehow he agreed to agree with me. We packed up our gear and headed up...for the day. We've always talked about just going for the day, but we've never actually committed to it. After checking out the pre-Olympics prices, it just didn't make sense to pay those prices for this type of adventure. With a stop at the Lynden McDonalds for breakfast drive thru style, and another stop to buy gloves for me in Squamish, we made it up in three hours. Not bad at all. Easy, beautiful drive and the kids were great!

A couple things to remember about this adventure...

1. Do not always believe what Whistler advertises. We had to hike up a snow field and dodge flying skis and snowboards just to get to the area that is used for tubing. Imagine hiking through a snow field lugging Cooper in all his snow gear all the way up. Tommy wasn't much better, but at least could haul his own body up. I was huffing and puffing, sweating in all my clothes, too, just getting up the mountain.

2. The "tot area" that is described does not really exist, aside from one lane they have for kids. However, it's a full on sledding lane and parents are not allowed to ride with the little one in their tube. Cooper could barely sit in his kiddie tube, much less be expected to fly down the mountain in it by himself. So, Cooper would not be joining in on this little adventure after all. It was decided that John and I would take turns pulling him around the bottom in his tube instead. Fabulous...hmmmmm....

3. The magic carpet does not go all the way up to the top as indicated. You have to take your tube, hike up midway, scan your pass, THEN get on the magic carpet.

4. The magic carpet moves at the speed of the slug on my patio.


At about the hour mark, Tommy flopped down on his tube and announced he was done. Cooper was asleep on his tube, bundled up against the 23 degree chill. When asked if he wanted to go up again, he said, "No, it takes too long to go up. I'm cold." And that was it. We still had an hour left on our passes, but he was done. So, we woke Cooper up and started back down the mountain again. Feeling like we at least needed to make the effort, we hauled the boys through the village, John carrying Cooper and Tommy being pulled along by his coat sleeve. Thank God the Brewhouse has a train, but even that didn't quiet the whining, the fighting and the arguing from the boys. Exhausted, we blew out of town.

How do we feel about this adventure? Good experience, glad we tried it out. Would we recommend it to our friends? No, not really. Would we jump to do it again? No, probably not, unless we were already up there for something else. Am I glad we did it? Yeah, it was good to try it out, and fun to just take off and do something. Mixed results, but at least we tried.

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2009

This year brought many, many blessings for our family. It's amazing how quickly times flies with a little guy added to the mix, but with his huge curls, big smile and ever increasing vocabulary, Cooper has definitely made this year one truly to keep us on our toes. As far as trips go, we hit the Southern Caribbean in the spring, planted squarely in the mix with Tommy's 5th birthday and Cooper's 2nd birthday. What an amazing journey it was, too, as we visited the unfamiliar islands of Caracao and Aruba, the less than stellar coasts of Costa Rica and Panama, and made our way into and through the Panama Canal. Once back on land, I quickly scrambled to get ready for our big guy's 40th birthday party, and managed to pull of what ended up being mostly a surprise to him. Down in Everett his family and some friends joined us for a surprise gathering for him, and I followed that up by a romantic...uh, change that...family trip to Whistler as a surprise as well. John just couldn't stand to be away from the boys on such an exciting trip, so with Rhonda in tow, we headed up together. Whistler continues to be a favorite getaway of ours, and we enjoyed watching Tommy try out the big boy jumps and the skate park with his bike. In June, we headed out for our annual pilgrimage to Silverwood, then stayed close to home for the summer. However, John's summer was just ramping up.

Ironman 2009

Huge. Monumental. Amazing.

Our trip to Vineman Ironman 2009 was supported by our friends and family, and I was able to travel down with John on his most amazing athletic journey. Brad had fought through numerous injuries throughout training to race hard and successful, too. It was an incredibly proud moment for me, not only to watch my husband cross the finish line looking completely at ease and extremely happy, but competing in this race. I still remember our early days together when I would go out on runs and John would tell me, " I don't really like to run." Now, he's doing this.

Our final trip of the year saw us in California, celebrating all things Disney. It was an amazing trip for us as a family and a time where John and I had the pleasure of watching our beautiful sons experience the "magic" of Disney. We were so very thankful that we made the decision to take this trip while Tommy still believes and Cooper loves on all characters, no matter their name!

Tommy completed roughly three years at Catch The Son, and although great strides were made these years, he still brought laughter, and a tad bit of embarrassment, when he crawled under his chair during his graduation ceremony. Long live the photo John took of this moment. Tommy spent his summer jumping off the dock and the life guard chair without a life jacket, and quickly made friends with the lifeguards. They spend a lot of time hanging out with him, playing with him on the beach and on the trampoline and chasing him and the friends around the lawns. Although he tried, he still does not put much effort into water skiing, but bring on the tube and he's all daredevil. Flying across the lake, "surfing" the tube and begging to go faster. That's what it was about on the water. He started kindergarten this fall, and although still a bit anxious and tearful in the mornings, he's learning to trust his new teacher and enjoys his days at Geneva. We're seeing the beginnings of his writing and reading emerge, and it's exciting to watch that continue to grow. Legos, legos and more legos. That is his true love. He loves his friends Isaac and Tiago, and finished his first season of Lakeside Soccer. John started and retired after his first season as assistant soccer coach. Tommy is a great brother to Cooper, and has to put up with a lot of Cooper. Cooper will take his toys, break his Legos, throw tantrums, etc. Although Tommy seems to enjoy those moments when Cooper is howling about something, he's also quick to give in and relinquish whatever it is that Coop is carrying on about. As we enter this time of year, we're seeing more and more moments of enthusiastic play between the two, and it's not only encouraging but endearing to see. They'll dance together, races through the house together squealing with delight, wrestle and tackle, play and do tricks off of the bed onto the floor mattress, and sometimes even sit together and play legos. Tommy started guitar lessons, but after a month of it, I pulled the plug on them. Although he likes to play his guitar and jam, he does not want to practice what he does not understand, and just isn't quite ready to take on the complicated tasks involved in each lesson. I didn't want to tarnish his love of his guitar in fighting the lessons piece, so although I was a bit disappointed we couldn't go each week, it was a good decision. He still continues with his hip-hop classes at Dancing For Joy, and our newest nanny is even a hip hop dancer herself, so that is a fun addition for us as well. Tommy is quite the homebody. He has been asked on numerous playdates with friends, but he does not want to go, preferring to have the nanny of the day come pick him up and take him home to play. He also has to be first at whatever he does, and competes with Coop for everything now. This does not sit well with Coop, and usually results in more howling throughout the day.

Speaking of nannies, one of the most challenging aspects to our schedule has been the constant scheduling of nannies. It's challenging in both the weekly schedule to not only cover our work schedules, but to accommodate their school schedules within that as well. It's figuring out who is going to pick up who when, and which parent has flexibility on any given day. Throw in illness to the mix, or a change in school schedule, or a change in our work schedule, and it can get messy. Molly left us this fall to attend college, and Jamie just left now after getting a full time job down in Everett. For the first time I had to advertise up at Western, but after receiving only one hit on that, interviewing and having it not work out, we actually got an opportunity from my friend Kris. Jamie Two has come to us now, and we're looking forward to her beginning with us in the new year. It's very hard for us to not know how we're going to cover our schedules, but Lil has offered to help with the holes created lately, and as a last resort, we know we have her for backup. It will be interesting to see what the new year brings, that's for sure. I am always delighted, though, to come home with the kids engaged in one activity or another. One evening I came home and my entire bedroom had been transformed into one big fort. I'm not kidding. Georgia went to town. One night it was the entire living room. Usually there is arts and craft all about, or baking projects they've done together. Trips to the fire station and the school playground, or outside to play soccer and football. It's a fun party when we're gone, and I have little worry about their adventures when we have to be away.

Cooper...where should I begin? He is such a beautiful little soul. He's quick to love, quicker to howl, a firecracker and teddy bear all at once. It's amazing how quickly his sentences have come, and such a delight to hear all that is going on in his head. Just recently, he's taken to saying, "Mommy, I love you," and "I want to love on my mommy" when he wants to be held and cuddle, and really has attached himself to being a "baby" when it suits him. "I baby" he'll say. "I'm just a little guy". He loves to dance and listen to music, jump and throw himself around playing "wee" in our bedroom. He wants to be included in everything, which includes big guy talk, including poop, "hate" and "oh my gosh". This spring when we traveled to the Caribbean, he was barely talking. The change to now is amazing and how quickly it comes. He absolutely loved Disneyland and all that he saw. He loved seeing the characters and bolted quickly to give them big hugs and love all over them. Cooper started preschool, and it has been tough on me. His start was slow, and he would cry and cling, not want to go and create a fuss. At the same time, he was battling sickness after sickness, which didn't help with his transition to school. I wanted to throw in the towel more than once, but now John generally takes him to school and deals with it, as he has a much stronger determination to see it through. Now when Coop goes to class, he's less likely to throw a fit, and Teacher April says any problem he has is quick and mostly for show. He's doing well now, and learning new songs and his alphabet. Cooper loves to sing his alphabet and songs that he hears on Dora, Olivia and Phineau and Ferb. It's so cute to hear him singing as he wanders about. Unlike Tommy, Cooper seems to enjoy the company of animals. He has not forgotten Papa Darrell's farm, and loves to cuddle on dogs and cats alike. He rode on the horses down at Warm Beach without hesitation. Tommy, on the other hand, does not like dogs, or many animals in general. However, he is now pestering us for a pet, preferably a cat that he can cuddle, so that is our latest quest...to dodge the "pet" discussion. Can we remain a pet free household until they are both on their own? Not sure about that.

I wish this could be more comprehensive. I'm sure I will look back years from now, regretting the time I didn't devote to being more thorough in my documentation of the kids' lives. However, life is so very hectic, and I'm thankful that John continues to log photos whenever he can. Maybe my New Year's resolution will be to get better at blogging!