Party Barn

So, since we've moved to our big shop, we've hosted a couple of Cooper's birthdays, Nana's surprise luau birthday last January, and this January, we turned the shop into the Princess Party Barn complete with princess bouncy house with slide!

My sweet little niece Chloe actually turned 5 on December 29th, but my sister decided to do a party after the holidays (wise choice). She is adorable and I think she enjoyed her princess party!

Happy 5th Birthday, Chloe!!

Happy Easter

Our Easter celebrations began on Thursday. Cooper had his KDO Easter party, which consisted of a million eggs scattered in the gym floor and a bunch of 1 and 2 year olds putting them in baskets as fast as possible... except for Cooper, who found the first car, picked up the four around it and hopped in to take a drive.




We went to Holy Thursday service at church that evening. On Friday, it was time to visit Mamaw & Papaw, and Papaw insisted that Cooper stay the night, so of course, he did. Who wouldn't say no to a quiet evening?!? So, Dennis and I went to Good Friday service and took a scenic drive out to Sequoyah State Park, which we seldom do these days with a toddler in tow. Saturday, Sasha and I decided to take the kids to Bass Pro for their egg hunt, which we pretty much did, but the kids enjoyed being carted around the store and the Easter bunny pictures are cute. Grandma and Grandpa Rains came over Saturday evening and we had dinner and of course, the highlight of the evening, letting Cooper entertain us! It rained yesterday all day, so no outside stuff. We went to Dennis's brother's house to have family dinner and Cooper loves to play with his cousins, because they are all so "big" to him, especially the teenage boys, they are really tall! I didn't even think to take any pictures there, had my camera, but i guess I was too busy catching up with everyone. Cooper's trucks from the Easter bunny were a big hit, it was all i could do to get him in bed without them last night! What a wonderful celebration of our risen Savior!

Retreating

I had such a great time last weekend! I went to a ladies retreat with our church and had so much fun! It was at Camp Egan in Tahlequah and it was beautiful there. I wish I had remembered my camera, though. Saturday morning, I was up and about with the sun and I made a trip up the really steep trail to the top of this cliff that overlooks part of the Illinois River and all the hills in that area, it was cold up there, but really nice and quiet. I just sat up there for a little while (only about 10 minutes, before I got too cold) and enjoyed watching the hawks circle, then I headed back down. Mind you, I am not a dare devil, but I tend to do things that I should really not do alone, but I made it back down the steep, brush cluttered hill just fine and it helped me to remember what our theme,"Unplug from the World" really meant. I had so much fun learning and studying Scripture, and getting to know some of the women better. I even learned how to use a knitting loom and am in the process of making a scarf. Chloe informed me today that she wants a purple and pink one, so I now have a second project when I'm finished with this one. I am so thankful to Mamaw and Papaw, who let Cooper sleep over the weekend with them, so we all three had a little break from the usual. I will definitely go again, it was just awesome!

My Little Elf

He looks suprised to see Santa!


Cooper & Chloe- it was hard getting them both cooperating at the same time!



Cooper's 1st "school picture" from Kid's Day Out in November



Cooper's Birthday pictures taken in September


We went to see Santa at Bass Pro on Thanksgiving day. I wasn't able to get the pic up because of my scanner, but thanks to Morgan (thank you!), I can share this and a few more recent pictures. Enjoy!

At the Pumpkin Patch

Cooper and I made a trip to "Pumpkin Town" today with Nancy (Nana), Marie (Aunt Re-re), Chloe (Cooper's cousin) and Linda (Grandma Rains). The kids got to go on a little hay ride and ride the ponies and play in the pumpkins. Cooper wasn't all that thrilled with the pumpkin part, but he loved the rest of it. It was a little cool, but we didn't stay long and we all had a nice warm lunch afterwards. We got four little pumpkins that I drew faces on to be Dennis, Cooper, Harry Dog, and me. I painted bigger ones that represented the four of us last year, but don't have the room for them right now, so went with the small ones using a Sharpie to draw faces. They still turned out cute and I have a good spot for them. Enjoy the pics, I may add some later of the hay ride, Marie and I both took pictures, so we have different ones. Enjoy!