Phone Friday 5/25

I wanted to try & catch up on this all weekend, but it didn't happen.  Even with a three day weekend, we didn't have a lot of down time!

Last Friday we went to our first Astros game of the season.

Saturday we attended a Super Hero birthday party.

We started Sunday in super hero recovery mode.

Sunday was a whirlwind - we had two birthday parties & a "meet the neighbors" pool party sandwiched between them.  Cooper sported his party favor Risky Business shades.

Libby spent the weekend with us.  Cooper begged her all weekend to sit with him on his couch and she refused.  As soon as he left for school Monday I found her like this.

Thursday we spent some time playing with the water table & driving the fire truck.

Rodeo Fun Day

Last month my sister's stable held a Family Fun Day.  They had a few things for the kids to participate in & some horses to ride.  Cooper gets to ride almost any time he wants, so he wasn't quite blown away by the opportunity.

He did get to test out his new roping skills.

We're still working on that.

They had Mutton Busting, Stick Horse Races and a Boot Scramble for the kids & even gave away little trophies to the winners.   During the Mutton Busting, Cooper, my mom & my sister vanished.  I was shocked to find him sitting still & having his face painted.

Finally it was time for the Stick Horse Race.  Cooper suddenly became a little shy, so Lin helped him out.

We wrapped up the day getting our first trophy.

Zoobilee

Every year, the Houston Zoo hosts the annual Zoobilee.  It is a members only event where the kids get a snack pack, prizes for stopping at the designated zoo stops for stamps & a preview of the limited-time Dinosaur exhibit.

We decided to go Friday evening.  We enjoyed the trip because we happened to run into Abby & Reagan and Eileen (plus their parents).  However, I'm pretty sure we won't be making the trek back next year for Zoobilee.  First, parking was a nightmare.  Second, it was crowded.  Seriously.  Third, the line for the Dinosaur exhibit was crazy long and we skipped that entirely.  Waiting in lines is something two year olds don't do well.

That said, it wasn't all bad.  Since every other zoo member was in line for the Dino exhibit, we felt like we had free rein over the primates.  Cooper is a big fan of the monkeys, so he was pleased.  We slowly made our way through the monkeys & headed to the African Forest to check out the chimps.

Our kids seem to know the lay of the land - the little huts before the chimps, the drums & this three piece painted drum that you line up to make people.  By that time, the zoo was closing so we headed back toward the cars.

Phone Friday 5/18

Last Saturday I wasted my morning had a garage sale.  For.The.Birds.  Cooper & Jason made a do nut run for breakfast.  Cooper picked out a big one with sprinkles.

To pass the time, I let him splash in some puddles.

Sunday we headed to the Zoo for Mother's Day.  I wanted to spend the morning there, have lunch & head home for an afternoon on the patio.  We treated Cooper to a ride on the train before heading back.

Cooper drank water from his own Red Solo Cup.

We finally started packing some boxes.

Cooper's favorite thing at school is to paint.  Every day we asked what he did at school and every day he tells us "I paint."  So I finally pulled out part of his Easter gift last night and let him go to town.

Jason had ended up working late one night at the last minute.  Cooper & I came home to have dinner & a bath before we drove in to pick up Jason.  On the way in, he spotted his popscicles in the freezer.  He flipped out and I informed him that he couldn't have anything until he calmed down.  I closed the garage and came inside leaving him to throw his fit.  Suddenly I heard a crash, scream & a crash.  I was pretty sure he pulled the bikes down on top of him so I ran out there quickly...to find him on the ground behind the treadmill.  I helped him up, did a once over & asked what happened.  He replied "The Run hurt me!"  After I realized he was ok, I turned around to hide my giggles.

Last night, though, wasn't as fun.  He & I were playing and suddenly Cooper jumped up on top of me went to stand up on the sofa...then fell backward.  He had a scary look of pure panic on his face and then screamed.  He hit his head on the coffee table and bit his lip - thankfully the head did not bleed.  He had a pretty good bump, but was never loopy or lethargic.  This morning I caught him trying to jump on my bed...only to remind him about what happened last night!  Boys, right?  Or just toddlers?

Phone Friday 5/11

Last Friday was a little crazy.  And the the weekend rolled around and before I knew it, Monday was here.  By that point, I aborted mission and decided this Friday will be a double post.

Cooper only sees me get dressed in the morning - blow drying my hair, make up, flatiron, the works.  So to him, that's normal.  He also loves to open my make up compacts, dump out the little brushes and close them.  Thankfully I rarely use the applicators that come with the make up, but still.  Last Sunday Jason was out for a run & Cooper was really quiet.  I knew where he was, but I never expected to walk in & find this.

He told me "I need look cute, mama."

Last week he was feeling a bit off and Thursday morning I walked into the living room to find him crying and telling me his ear hurt.  I quickly made an afternoon appointment for the pediatrician and took him to school.  They called a few hours later saying he was very cranky, but no fever.  Instead of risking it, I picked him up & met Aunt Sassy at Target while I went to see clients.

Friday morning he spent some time looking very studious.

Friday was pizza night.  Cooper is a fan & loves Little Caesar's $5 Hot & Ready.  He's easy to please.

MS 150 Weekend

Jason did the MS 150 this year with Scott & the other Jason.  The rest of us loaded up & went to my mom's house.  4 adults and 5 kids.  Once we arrived, we took the kids for a ride on the golf cart, they played in the dirt, colored & ran around like crazy.  I'm pretty sure that the highlight of the day was when my sister arrived and saddled Sandy for a quick ride.

After they all had their turn, the kids finished out the day running around, playing and fighting with each other.  But with 4 kids between the ages of 2 and 5, what do you expect?  :-)  We finally rounded them up for an early dinner & bath.  Then we tossed them into the game room with a movie and tried to relax in the living room.  They all finally crashed and the moms (plus Rachel, who is either awesome or crazy...or both...for going) had a little quiet time.

Sunday morning we packed up & headed to Austin to the finish line.  We had about half an hour to kill before we saw the dads coming around the corner.

Finally we spotted them!

The plan was to grab a late lunch before heading back to Houston, but for the second year in a row I had some work travel plans pop up.  I left that night for Dallas, so we loaded back and headed home quickly.

Phone Friday 5/4

This one is a day late.  It was bound to happen.

Last Saturday we went to a Family Fun Day at Lin's barn.  I was shocked to see that he'd sat still long enough to get his face painted.

Cooper won his first trophy!

Sunday we spent the afternoon doing our usual - margaritas & pool time.  Cooper isn't much on swimming and more about jumping in & out of the pool.

It seems Cooper plays golf like his dad...

I worked late Thursday, so the boys made a quick trip to the park before I got home.

 
We were all very happy to see Friday!

A different kind of Easter Bunny

After seeing Cooper's reaction to Santa at daycare, I decided that I wouldn't waste my money visiting the Easter Bunny at the mall.  I had no desire to stand in line for half an hour & then try to put a cranky toddler on the lap of an oversized bunny sporting a purple vest & bow tie.  And then pay $30 for a photo.  Instead, we saw a deal earlier this year for photos with real bunnies.  Sign me up.

A few weeks ago, we drove over to the studio for a few quick photos with the bunny.  Cooper was so excited on the drive over and promptly freaked out when we walked in.  No tears, but he did not want to be in the photo alone.  After some begging and bribing we managed a few pics.  These are some of my favorites.

Being Texan

With everything on our calendars, we just barely managed to squeeze in the Texas tradition of Bluebonnet photos.  We decided to stop on our way back from Easter for a few quick photos.  After making a little detour, we finally found a great spot.  Thankfully Cooper was in the mood to (mostly) cooperate and cheesed it up a bit.

He was even content to take a photo with me...even if he was totally preoccupied by his candy bribe.