Freedom's Field Day

One of your friends and neighbors is a PTA vice president at Freedom Elementary.  This year for the field day, hardly any parents signed up to volunteer.  Its hard when you have little kids, but she came and told me I could bring Clayton, so I was able to come help and spend half the day with Cooper.  I thought it was funny because I saw about 6 other friends from our ward helping also.  I am glad she asked us to help!

We were in charge of taking Coopers class from activity to activity.  The first thing they did was play crab soccer.  There were way too many kids and the ball was too small. I loved playing crab soccer when I was young.  We would play in the gym with a ginormous ball with Coach Hayes and Coach Warhaw at South Knoll Elementary....oh the memories.

The kids also did three legged races.  They thought this was so much fun.  They wanted to do it over and over again, even though many of them ended up falling down and dragging each other across the field.  Next, the kids played frisbie golf.  This would be fun for adults, but I thought the kids were too small. In fact some of the kids got hit in the face with a hard frisbie and had black eyes before it was all over.

The kids also got to play with the parachute.  They would lift it up and down and then climb under it.  They also played a shark game with the parachute. This is another activity that brought back lots of memories for me.  I loved playing with the parachute!

One of Coopers favorite parts of the day was the "Bike Rodeo".  They had a police officer come and talk to the kids about bike safety and about the importance of wearing a helmet.  Then the kids got to ride their bikes through an obstacle course that had different streets signs set up through out it.  Most of the kids really enjoyed this activity, even though it was total chaos!

We ended the day with tug o war.  It was fun to watch the kids try to pull each other across the line.  The girls ended up beating the boys.  In fact, they beat them in every class throughout the day.  Its funny how girls are stonger and bigger than boys at that age!

First Ride of the Year

Last weekend we finally had a great day to go out and ride our ATV's. The weather was sunny and somewhat warm.  We decided to head up to Mantua.  Cooper has been having a hard time with allergies this year. Right before we left, I gave him some medicine.  It turned out that the medicine made him very tired.  Clayton was also tired and kept asking to go home...not his normal self!

When we got up there, the gates were locked, so we did some manuevering with the truck and trailer and then unloaded the wheelers and headed up the mountain.  We decided to take a new trail this time.  It rained pretty good the day before, so the trails were not dusty and there were puddles everywhere.  At first, we took them slow, but then we started going through them a little faster!

We got to a point in the trail where it took off up the mountain.  It seemed pretty steep so we decided to stop there and eat lunch.  The kids walked up the hill and we saw a pond where the elk and cows come down to wallow in the mud.  We also saw a lizard, which made the boys happy. It was so pretty up there.  Everything is so green!

On the way back to the truck, we stopped a little grove that has trees and shade.  There are usually cows in this area that come down to sit in the shade, but not on this day.  Because of all the rain the day before, there was a pond that was overflowing and causing some little streams to be formed. The boys and I raced flowers and twigs down the stream.

Clayton enjoys throwing rocks into water, so we collected lots of rocks.  Cooper decided to climb up the back side of a beaver dam.  He played on the logs, threw rocks in the river, and did a good job balancing on the tree limbs.  We stayed in this area for about a half hour and it was one of the high lights for the boys.

As we drove back, I let Cooper drive down the trail.  He is so much taller and stronger than last year.  I taught him about staying on the right side of the trail.  We talked about what speed to go and how to be safe.  He did a great job and he had so much fun!

Dodge Ball

 Last weekend, we went to Logan to compete in fundraiser event for the Special Olympics dogde ball team.  We played in a dodge ball tourney and Alpine sponsered the team.  I was a little nervous about it because the men can throw the balls so much harder than the women.  The highlight of the day, was that we got headbands and free t-shirts!! Yay!!

There were nine teams in the competition and three courts in the gym.  We played each team once before the little tourney started.  Each game consisted of 6 players from each team competing against each other.  I thought it was pretty fun.  There was only one time that I was left the only one on our team against two guys from the other team.  I was scared but it was fine.  They threw the ball the same time.  They hit me in my hands and we lost...oh well.  It was a quick tourney but everyone had fun.  Our team placed fourth. 

Chick-fil-A sponsored the tourney, so they had lots of fruit and lemonade and little gift cards they handed out.  The boys had a good time running around in the upper courts.  They also enjoyed the free drinks and snacks. 

After the games, Jocelynn met us in at the Tabernacle and we ate lunch and let the kids run around.  The weather was perfect and it was nice to sit and chat.  When I lived in Logan, we used to take the kids there to play all the time, so we decided to do it while we were up there.

Clayton really wanted to got out to Jocelynn's house, so we took a ride out with her for a couple of hours.  All the boys had a great time jumping on the tramp, rolling around on the floor together, and goofing around!

Field Trip

This past month, I was able to go with Cooper on his field trip. I was one of the parents in charge of a small group of 4 kids.  Cooper was so excited that I was there to be with him. It just made me realize I need to take the opportunities to do these things more often. 

Our first stop was in Layton, where we visited the Smith's Grocery Store Dairy.  I had no idea it was that big.  They receive over a million pounds of milk every day to keep products in stock.  We were able to see how they make cottage cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. 

I was amazed at the size of their production room.  It was 20 times the size of Caspers production room.  In fact, that day they were making popsicles, icecream sandwiches, 1/2 gallon ice cream tubs, and another type of popsicle.  I couldn't believe they were making all those types of ice cream at the same time.  At the end of the tour, they brought out some treats for the kids and adults. 

Our next and final stop was in Ogden at the Nature Center.  Its one of the oldest nature centers in Utah. The first thing we did was eat lunch.  Cooper had lots of cute friends come and sit by him.  Afterwards, they played games and ran around on the grass.

They took the kids into a class room where they taught them about pond life.  The instructor dressed Cooper up as a dragon fly.  He thought it was fun and he liked it when the class laughed at his outfit. He says he likes to make people laugh and so he really enjoyed this.  After this demonstration, they went out to the pond to collect little creatures.  Tayson and Cooper shared a net.  They would drag the net on top of the mossy pond and then search through the "junk" and pull out little organisms.  All of his classmates had a blast doing this activity. 

Next they took the kids on a little hike.  While we hiked, each group had a scavenger hunt list to check off.  The kids enjoyed looking for the different objects.  They saw different animal tracks, beaver dams, birds, and many other things. 

I had a great time spending the day with Cooper and some of his classmates.  It was nice to get to know some of his friends and I enjoyed visiting with Mrs. Engstrom and getting to know her a little better. 

Family Bonding

Two weeks ago, we spent the weekend with Steph and Pauls family.  On Friday night, we met for dinner at Kneaders.  Bryce and I shared the most wonderful turkey sandwich and cinnammon roll.  Afterwards, we played wallyball in Smithfield with everyone. 

On Saturday, Bryce helped his brother move into their new home.  We went to Addey's soccer game and then headed to Renegade Sports for her birthday party.  The kids had a blast.  They got to go miniature golfing, climb up some fake cocunut trees, play on the "soft play" and drive the go-carts.  They had a great time.  Later that night, Brittney decided to hop in the bath with Clayton and they had some fun cousin bonding in the tub.

We went to a movie with Paul and Steph.  We went and saw the Avengers.  It was pretty good.  I wouldn't say it was better than Iron Man or Captain America, but it was still entertaining.  Our family does do well with sci-fi stuff so we were a little disturbed when flying dinosaur looking things came out of the sky.  Paul and Bryce loved it.  I just enjoy going to the movies with Bryce, so that was nice.

 On Sunday, Bryce and Paul made a gourmet breakfast for everyone.  Afterwards, we let the kids play and then went to church.  After church, Jocie, Tawni, Johnny, and Ty came over for some dinner, volleyball, and basketball.  It was so much fun to spend the weekend in Cache Valley.  It really made me miss it this time.  I had a hard time leaving.  So thankful for family!

Kind Hearted Cooper

Cooper is one week away from finishing first grade.  He did a really good job in school this year.  He excelled mostly in reading and math.  He had a hard time the second semester staying focused and on task.  He would come home and say, "Still on green", which means he was good that day.  There was a week there where we had to do timeout in his room one day, on the couch one day and in the corner another day.  We even had to take his Happy Napper away for a whole week, but that seemed to work!

I love having conversations with Cooper because I never know what he is going come up with.  He is a deep thinker and we always have the greatest talks.  One day he asked me why he was such a good boy.  We preceded to talk about coming down to Earth with "special" spirits and also about parenting.  We talked about how its always best to make the right decisions because making the wrong decisions can make our lives hard.

A few days ago, we were outside playing in the front yard.  I was across the street talking to the neighbors when all of a sudden, I see Cooper walking home.  He was crying and our neighbor girl was right behind him.  I heard him kept saying to her, "its ok, its ok".  Next thing I know, this little girls mom is letting her have it.  After everything settled down, I found out that she kicked Cooper in the leg pretty hard and it gave him a deadleg.  The little girl came over in tears and apologized.  She was grounded for two days.  During dinner that night, Cooper said, "I don't think Zoe was trying to hurt me. We were playing a game and she kicked me a little too hard, but she didn't mean to." Anyway, Cooper decided to go up to her house and tell her mom the story so that she wouldn't be in trouble.  I was so proud of him and Lori thought he was quite the man for coming to tell her.

Best Friends: Jordi, Tayson, Braden, Jaxson, and Reese

Favorite Toys: Happy Napper, Nerf Ax

Current Book He is Reading:  Judie B. Jones Series

Favorite TV Shows:  Wild Kratts, Wild About Animals, DragonFly TV

Food:  Corndogs, Drumsticks, Any kind of meat, Tacos

Cooper also talks about his adoption quite often.  He is always making comments about being adopted.  He also talks about his birth mom, Jenn, every now and then.  He loves her and thinks she's great! Above is a picture of Teresa (birth grandma), Jenn, Cooper, Bryce and Brent (Jenn's husband).  We went to Boondocks with them before Christmas and for Coopers birthday!

 I am so proud of the little man that Cooper is becoming.  He is so polite and courteous and people love him. I am thankful for his big, tender heart.  He is about as good as they come!

Bubba

As Clayton has gotten older, he and Cooper have really enjoyed playing with each other. Clayton just adores his brother or "bubba" as he calls him.  He loves to imitate him, hug him, bother him and tease him. Cooper has also become a big helper to Clayton.

Almost every Sunday this last month, we take the kids to the park.  Its a nice family acitvity and it breaks that day up.  Cooper really wanted to wear his cowboy hat, so Clayton needed one too.  Luckily I had my pink one in the closet.  

The other day in the car, I overheard Cooper tell one of his friends, "Clatyon is adorable except when he is annoying me."  Cooper is really patient with his little pesky brothery.  Two days ago, during dinner, Clayton kept messing with Coopers food.  I turned around to see that Clayton had taken Coopers plate and dumped it upside down on the ground.  Then he started to laugh....until mom "kindly" reminded him that that wasnt' OK!



Crazy Clayton

Clayton is a little over two and a half now and he has so much spunk and personality.  He also talks all the time.  He talked a lot sooner than Cooper did.  Bryce and I laugh at some of the words he uses.  It's just amazing how they pick up words from everyone around them.  Cooper has taught him to say, "Excuse me, mom", when he wants to talk to me.  He also uses the phrase "last night" quite often.  Cooper didn't know what the past tense was for a long time.  Its just interesting how they develop so differently.  These are some of Claytons favorite phrases right now:  "me can't like that", "me need something" (food), "me been good".

Clayton has not had croup since February and Bryce and I consider that a real blessing from above.  Last year, he had it 7 times in 12 months and then he had it in January and February of this year.  In fact, in December, I talked to his doctor about going to a specialist.  The doctor told us to wait a couple of more months to see if he would grow out of it....and so far he has had good health. Thank you Heavenly Father!

Some of Clayton's most favorite things to do right now are: 1. He absolutely loves and is addicted to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It is the only show he will watch right now.  He will go around the house singing "hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog"! He wants to watch it first thing in the morning when he wakes up!

2. Clayton loves to stand on his head.  When he watches TV, he is always on his head.  He also loves to do little flips from the arm of the couch onto the cushions.  I can always tell when he has been standing on his head, because his hair is always a mess afterwards.

3. He loves playing with friends.  Cooper didn't really start requsting to play with friends till he was 5 years old.  He enjoys playing with the neighborhood kids like Zane Allen and Tyler Clark.  He also loves to play with Jaxson Casebolt and Landon.  They all have a good time together although Clayton is very protective of his things. He always tells his friends, "that is mine."

 I have really been blessed to be able to stay at home with my children why Bryce works hard to provide for our family.  It is such a blessing to watch the boys develop and grow and to be a part of that in their lives.  They are precious little guys and I am so thankful I am their mother!