My Little Coop

This little guy may be stubborn and hard headed and strong willed.......but he is probably also one of the most sensitive kids I know.  He can be sweet and thoughtful and cuddly and hilarious.  What would I do without my little monkey in the world?

This has been a hard week for him.  I think it is a combination of things- summer ending (so our relaxing schedule is out the door), nerves from starting a new year, being tired from getting up early and long days, starting a school year without Jason (I know that we have all secretly felt it.  It just still feels so wrong that he isn't here), etc.....  On Tuesday night, Shawn was tucking the boys in for bed and we were saying a family prayer and afterwards he reminded them that he wouldn't see them until Friday night because he had a business trip the next day.  I got Cooper situated in his own bed and out of nowhere the tears started.  Huge crocodile tears were streaming down his cheeks as he tried to get out questions like "what if Shawn's plane crashes and he dies?" or "Is Shawn going to die and never come back like dad?"

Oh, this just breaks my heart that this precious boy has to carry the weight of these questions on his shoulders.  The frustrating part is that I can comfort him and pray for the right words to speak to him but in the end......this is his reality.  His daddy did die and is never coming back so it's perfectly normal that he would worry about this.  I know I do.

What makes this situation tricky is that I can no longer look my boys in the face and tell them that nothing will happen. I can't promise them that Shawn or I will always be okay.  I can try to guide their hearts into a "no worry" zone but that's even hard for adults to do sometimes.  It's often difficult to fully explain peace and asking for God's will to a child.

The next morning on the way to school Cooper says "if you and Shawn die, what happens to us?"  I went through the plan (that I pray never takes place) and reminded him that he has so many family members that will love on him forever.

Making chocolate chip muffins after school.  Such a good helper!

On Wednesday after school, he had a huge crying meltdown until almost bedtime.  Constant tears, lots of difficult questions, many "I miss dad" comments.  It about did me in.  I held back the tears for a while and then I just couldn't anymore.  I was just as big of a mess that night too.

I jumped on Facebook and asked for specific prayers for this little guy.  And within a minute I had so many comments containing sweet words and prayers for my guy.  It was the only thing I could think to do (and I know that prayer is HUGE in situations like this) and before bedtime he finally calmed down.

The next day, he seemed back to his old self.  Which made this mama so happy to see.  I know that his sadness and questions and meltdown are all normal and expected........it's just that he rarely has them so when he does they are pretty ugly.

I feel so honored to have amazing friends in real life and even on here.....people that don't really know us but have followed our story and continue to pray for us. Thank you.

First Day

First day of school 2013:

 Hudson: 5th grade (in intermediate school)

Cooper: 2nd grade

 Cooper wanted to make his "Will" face (the facial expression that his little buddy from last year used to always make)

 Love my handsome boys!

 These boys were definitely a little nervous this morning.  At one point, Cooper took his shoe off and started complaining about how his pinky toe really hurt and said "I don't think I can go to school today."  Oh, I remember how that first day feels!

 Crazy kid......insisted on a silly face picture.

The plan today was to take Hudson to school first because his new school starts 15 minutes before Cooper's. As I am pulling into the parking lot:

Hudson:  "hey mom, you can just drop me off here."

Me:  "huh?  You don't want me to walk you in and help you get settled?

Hudson:  "nah, I can find it."

And just like that.....he got out of the car and walked into school by himself.

I knew this day would eventually come but I did NOT see it happening today....in just 5th grade.

Cooper with Mrs. L

Hope everyone has a great school year!!

The Lasts of Summer....

One last time of jumping before school starts.

On the way home from the bounce house on Thursday, Cooper and I were talking about getting to meet his teacher that night and seeing his friends. 

Cooper: mom, I want to wear something fancy tonight. 

Me: (dreaming of a crisp collared/polo type shirt and khaki shorts.)

As soon as we get home he runs to his room and starts digging through drawers as if he knows exactly what he's looking for. 

Me: come here sweetie, your nice clothes are hanging up in the closet.

He then proceeds to pull out his Plants vs Zombies SLEEVELESS t-shirt that my mom bought him at Walmart this summer and tells me all about how his buddy Will is going to love it.

Me: (taking deep breaths and picking my battles.) 

And yes, he really did wear it.  (sigh)

With my monkey

On Friday we hit the water park one last time too...

Wrapped up the day with a treat of Dippin' Dots

On Friday, Hudson had his meet the teacher.  He is starting Intermediate School so he will be at a new campus this year......and he has a locker.  Here he is practicing his combination.

All summer long......I have prayed for the boys teachers but also for friends they have and will make this year.  Cooper is my social butterfly.  He is friends with everyone.  Hudson is friendly with everyone too but he doesn't have a group of friends that he is tight with.  He is not a sports kid so he doesn't have that bond with most of the boys.  Last year, he met his friend Mason in his class and they are good buds.  I think Mason is in a similar situation- everyone likes him but he doesn't have just a ton of friends.  He's a sweet kid and Hudson was thrilled when he found out that Mason is in his homeroom class again this year.  That means they switch classes together and will have lunch/recess and all that together too.

I messaged Hudson's precious teacher from last year to let her know.  She let me know that she put a request in for these sweet boys to be together because she was aware of his.  She wanted them to have a friend since there are so many changes this year.  I wanted to cry!  I felt so touched that she would go to the trouble to make sure these sweet boys were together.  Praying that they have an awesome year!!

On Sunday, we took the boys for one last play day of the summer (I feel like I've been saying this for the past 2 weeks!) at Main Event.  Lots of fun playing games.

No first day of school pictures here.  We start tomorrow so today is our LAST day of summer.

Allergies and Stuff

This week we have spent some time getting our final school items.  We bought backpacks and lunch kits and shoes and all the other necessities. The boys wanted to pop in PetCo after one of our trips.....and they spent the entire time begging for a hamster.  Or a guinea pig.  Or a ferret.  Oh my.....they were laying it on thick.

I did peek into one cage and saw this little guy taking a nap on his back and something inside of me softened a little bit.  But then I read the big sign that said "likes to sleep during the day and active at night" and that hardened me right back up!

On Tuesday, Hudson had his first orthodontist appointment.  The plan right now is to meet back in November and give him time to hopefully lose his last 4 baby teeth.  His mouth is very crowded and more than likely he will have 4 teeth pulled to make room and get braces probably next spring/summer.

Cooper and I had fun watching Hudson's mouth get stretched in order to take pictures.  Blackmail material one day??

So I mentioned that this little guy has been up at night with coughing fits and really struggling with allergies.  Oh my......it has almost done me in from the lack of sleep.  I noticed that ever since he got back from camp he has had issues.  I guess something about being outside and sleeping in old/non air conditioned bunk houses really messed with him.

He started coughing a lot at night and that caused me to do breathing treatments on him.  He was waking up EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT ......and he still wasn't sleeping great after that.  I remembered that a friend of mine took her son to get Acupressure treatments for his allergies (he was on prescription medicine) and she mentioned that after a few treatments he was able to get off all meds.  I decided to give this doctor a call and see if he could help.  

This doctor actually performed N.A.E.T on Cooper.  It's a holistic approach to eliminating his allergies (and not just putting a band aid on the issue by taking medicine)  By performing a simple muscle testing technique, he was able to identify exactly what Cooper is allergic to and one by one we are eliminating those by performing the acupressure tapping.  The doctor marked 8 spots for me to tap every 2 hours for 25 hours after his appointment.  We went to his office last Friday and worked on the MOLD problem.  I noticed a huge difference within an hour or so.  We went back yesterday and he tested him again......this time MOLD did not bother him.  So, we fixed that.  Next on the list was TREES.  I've been tapping every 2 hours since our appointment yesterday and he's doing good.  I haven't done a breathing treatment since we started last Friday and the last few nights he has slept much better.  I plan to take him a couple more times to knock out all the allergies that are high on the list that give him trouble.  The good thing about this procedure is that it cures it for good.  And, there are zero medicines to take and no needles involved.  

If you or anyone you know suffers from allergies, I would highly recommend this treatment.

So, we are slowly making our way back to normal sleeping patterns and enjoying our last few days of freedom before school starts.  Can't believe it's almost over!!

Granbury Fun

My mom and step dad have a place near Lake Granbury.......it's a little gated community for retired "active" adults that enjoy the RV lifestyle.  It's a place to park your RV and many of them also have little houses right next to them.  My parents only have their RV there and just use it as a little getaway.  Their RV is really nice......it sleeps around 11 people so thankfully when we go there we are not all right on top of each other.  It has a really nice deck outside with loungers and a fire pit.

My boys LOVE going there.  I almost think they might live there if given the chance.  They have a really nice pool and playground and it gives us a chance to hang out together and have fun.

Working puzzles with Grammy.

We practically live at the pool.

Cooper was very intense while playing a game of Pac Man.  Look at his curled toes.  Too funny!

One night we went to dinner with my cousins that also live out there.  I enjoyed this margarita because last week was brutal for Cooper and me.  He's been up coughing every single night since last Sunday (horrible allergies.....had to do breathing treatments and all) and I feel like I have a newborn in the house.  I don't operate well on 3 hours of sleep!

Not sure that we can ever eat Mexican food/tortillas without Cooper making his tortilla faces.

Unfortunately while we were there, Cooper continued to get up each night coughing and I made a run for coffee....I got the big 20 oz size.......which I never get.  I just need a coffee IV at this point.

While we were swimming, this little bug bit Cooper twice on the back and neck.  Can you see him inside the bottle?  We kept him and watched him for a while.

Poor guy with his bites.

Swimming with Grammy.

So for 2 days while we were swimming, we saw something black at the bottom of the pool.  We couldn't figure out what it was.  It looked like a big piece of poop.  Yuck!  So my mom offered Hudson $5 if he would get it so that we could see what it was.  He managed to get enough courage to pick it up with his toes and bring it to the surface.  It was a big piece of rubber....I think it might have been the back heel of a swim shoe.  We got such a kick out of watching him squirm and squeal while trying to get it out!

The boys had a good time......unfortunately, I don't feel that I did.  I was so sleep deprived and irritable.  I hate when I feel that way.  This girl needs her sleep!

I came home to flowers from sweet boy.....who got to enjoy a nice/quiet house this weekend.  I do know that he enjoyed it but he kept texting me that he missed us.  He was ready for us to come home.

So this is our final week of summer!  We plan to have fun and also get some needed things for school before it starts.  Have a great week!

Friday Favorites: Fall Wish List

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:9

The winner of the Lil Peep Boutique bib/burp cloth set is Susan H.
(Susan, please email me for information on claiming your prize)

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It's a sad reality that I won't be seeing cooler temps any time soon but I sure can dream of the day when it's crisp outside and pumpkin spice lattes are a regular on my weekly Starbucks run.

I can't help but dream of some things I'd love to have for the upcoming fall season.  Keep in mind that these are "wish list" items......most are ridiculously expensive and will more than likely remain a wish.......but a girl has to dream, right?

1.  Coach Nicola Loafer

So let me first say:  YES, this shoe is expensive.  I was in the Coach store back in the spring and tried on a loafer similar to this one and OH. MY. WORD.....it was seriously the most comfortable shoe I've ever tried on.  It felt like you were walking on clouds. I couldn't really justify the price tag for a coral colored shoe that I knew would not work with 90% of the things hanging in my closet but this color....I can sort of justify.  It's a good neutral that WOULD work with quite a few things in my closet.  Plus, I get an occasional 25% off coupon from them and that makes it a little less painful, right?

2.  Michael Kors Tortoise Watch

I mentioned a while back that my gold boyfriend watch was one of my favorite jewelry pieces.  And it still is!  I would love to add a fun tortoise version because I tend to wear a lot of brown in the fall.  I may keep my eyes open for a knock-off version of this.

3.  Longchamp Shoulder Bag

It's kind of hard to pick a color but I'm digging this pretty navy.

4.  Faux Leather Pants/Leggings

The fun/adventurous side of me says YES, YES, YES!  But the realistic side of me says "who are you kidding?  You are a yoga pant kind of girl."  I would love to find the nerve to take the plunge though!

5.  OPI Oxblood Nail Polish

Bastille My Heart is a great shade for the fall. It's the new black.

6.  Hunter Rain Boot

I professed my love for these wellies several months back and they are still on my list to get one day.  I am nervous to purchase them online.....without trying them on.  I need to make a point to figure out what size I need.  And then the hardest part- what color to get?  So many fun choices!!

Do you have anything fun on your fall wish list?

Happy Friday!

Robots and Such

This week, the boys have been going to the much anticipated "Robot Camp."  They get to program and build different robots and they have LOVED it so far!

This picture makes me laugh!  About 2 seconds before I took it, he was ALL smiles.  But then he realized that half the room of kids were watching him while I was taking his picture and he got kinda shy.  He's like his mama- he doesn't like all eyes on him.

I was actually trying to get a picture of Hudson in his long sleeve/long pant pajamas.  Did I mention that we live in Texas and it's roughly 800 degrees here?  Crazy kid!  But then Rudy decided to photo bomb the picture and it actually turned out cute of them both!!

Hudson and Megan- Megan's mom was Cooper's precious kindergarten teacher.  Her daughter is also going into 5th grade this year and will be at the same school as Hudson.  I plan to pick them both up and then take her to her mom while I pick Cooper up from his school.  She insisted that we meet today so that we could make a plan and figure out where she and Hudson would meet and where I could pick them up.  Gotta love girls that want a plan!

I still can't believe that Hudson is starting intermediate school!

While the boys are at camp this week I promised sweet boy that I would tackle some projects on my to-do list.  Cleaning out my closet was one of them......and one that I did not too long ago but somehow managed to allow it to get crazy again.  I have nearly twisted an ankle in there several times over the last month or so! So today, I took everything out, tried lots of stuff on, decided to give lots of stuff away and make room so that I can actually see what I have.

I decided to put it all on my bed so that I was forced to finish today.  If I kept it in the closet then I had the ability to only do a partial job and I was determined to sort through everything.  So, this is the huge mess that I made and plan to organize and put back before bed time tonight.  Jealous?

Don't forget to enter the Lil Peep Boutique giveaway.  Click here and leave a comment.  Winner will be announced on Friday!