The Duck Pond

10 May 2010

Today for family home evening we went a duck pond that I found one day when I was using the back roads to get to church. It wasn't the grassiest or best smelling place in the world, but there were a LOT of ducks and a cute little path that went all the way around the pond. Derek wanted to go back immediatly after we left. We finished up the evening at Double Daves Pizza Buffet.

Suzie's Ode to Double Dave's Buffalo Chicken Pizza
O pizza that I love. O pizza that I love. Your cheesey chickeney goodness draws me ever near. Oh how I long for your slightly spicy sauce that is ambrosia on way-too-thin-and-floppy crust. I long to never leave you - and yet...you are no good for me. At the buffet you call to me too many times. I must go, never to return. I love you buffalo chicken pizza and I will always remember the good times that we had. So long and farewell...forever *sniff*

Take These Broken Legs and Learn to Walk Again

8 May 2010

Happy Anniversary to Me (and Jared)! Oh and Happy Anniversary to Kevin and Karen (even though they never look at my blog **humph**). We didn't do anything awesome - just went to Home Depot and tried to find some fungicide for the downey mildew that is growing on my grape plant. BTW - they don't have anything for that.

In honor of Mother's Day - here is a video about how sometimes we just need our mom...or our mom's stuffed toy dog - whichever.

Japanese Tea Jardin

7 May 2010

When Grandma James came to visit we went back to the Tea Gardens. We've been here several times but the kids really wanted to show Grandma the fish. It wasn't as lush and green as I remembered it, but it was still really nice. They are doing a lot of construction so we didn't get to see the cool bridge or the front half of the tower. Maybe next time.

After the Tea Gardens we took a jaunt over to the zoo (which I now call the Sazoo because I saw it stenciled on a folding chair while we were there :) The zoo is in the same park as the gardens . We went to the aquarium and the gift shop. We also saw the cutest little baby monkey doing tricks on a rope. I was so excited about him I forgot to take a picture. But believe me, he was dang cute! So are these little monkeys!

Fathers and Sons Camp Out

6 May 2010

Jared took the boys to the Fathers and Sons campout last weekend but he didn't take any pictures. Stinky boys.

How To Look Innocent - But Not Really

5 May 2010

So the light bulb burned out on our oven a few weeks ago. Weird, cause it's brand new, but not a big deal - heh heh. So Jared gets in there and there's a globe-like cover over the bulb. The instruction manual says to turn it to the left. Jared turned it to the left but it wouldn't budge. He tried a rubber jar opener thing to get a better grip and it just started turning the whole fixutre - socket and everything. (It's because he's so strong and he changed the rotation of the Earth because he twisted it so hard.) So we decided that we didn't want to break it and called the appliance warranty guy to come fix it. Really?!? To change the light bulb?

When he got here he was all cocky and like 'I'll totally fix that in like 10 seconds, blah, blah, blah..' So he gets in there and it's really stuck - duh. He gets his rubber gloves and a knife thing and starts turning it and turning it. I mentioned the fact that we thought it was just spinning the whole fixture but he didn't listen. After several turns there was a big pop and a flash. The guy didn't seem to notice. So I told him to stop and open the back of the range. He did, reluctantly, and the wires going to the socket were all twisted up and one was disconnected and really burnt. He quickly unplugged the oven and said, "Oh, there's your problem. The socket is all shorted out. It's a good thing you called me." Then he proceeded to try to hook the burnt wires back up and test them to see if they were working. I asked if the wires would start a fire if I tried to use the stove and he said, "Um...yeah. They really would. We're going to have to replace this whole set up. The board, the socket, the wires and everything. I'm really glad you called me even though you thought it was just a burned out bulb."

Thought it was? That IS all it was. Nice.

He finally did get the cover off and replace the bulb. But it still doesn't work. He's supposed to come back today to fix everything else. He's my hero.

Ride? Ride?

4 May 2010

I was out in the garage organizing all my junk. I came in for just a second to use the bathroom. When I returned I realized that I'd left the door to the garage open and that Holly had escaped! I found her here. I wish I had taken a picture of the maze of yard tools, building supplies, and garbage that she had to navigate to get here but you'll just have to believe me that it was a real feat. She still can't walk but she's standing on her own more and she knows where her bellybutton is. Whenever she thinks she's in trouble she lifts her shirt up as high as she can and screams in joy (she knows that her belly makes me happy.) I love her so so so much!!!

Transformer House: Part Deux

29 April 2010

Earlier this week I built the kids another box house. This one was much improved with three separate areas in the main box and a separate apartment for Holly. Derek called the first one a"Transformer House" for some reason, so this is "Transformer House: Part 2." Holly loved it.

When It Rains In Texas, It Really Rains!

28 April 2010

I rained 7 inches one day a couple of weeks ago and I took these pictures of the flood. I think we get it worse than most of our neighbors because we live across the street from the drainage ditch and thus, right in the drainage path. Later in the day, the ditch filled up and started coming back into the street. Further down the road a river (with rapids and everything) popped up and washed out a major road in 4 places. Now I know why they have such big drainage ditches all over the place.

Sea World with Grandma Cooper

5 Apr 2010

While Grandma was here we took her to Sea World. I think it's the first time she's ever been. We had a really good time.

Derek cut in line to give Shamu a hug. He just ran up there so I hurried and snapped a picture.

This is Jared taking Tyler for his first roller coaster ride ever. He said it was 3/4 fun and 1/4 not fun.

This is Derek on his first roller coaster ride. It's called Shamu's Oasis. Derek loved it and Tyler says it's for babies.

Rub A Dub Dub

4 April 2010

Here's just a few things that have been going on at the Cooper house lately:

The kids finally took a bath.

Tyler turned 8 on March 21st. He wanted his cake to be strawberry with blue icing. Unfortunately Mom can't see inside his mind and though he was thankful, he said that his cake looked like a cake that would be for a baby shower. Oh man!

Tyler got great gifts for his birthday. He's well on his way to reaching his #1 goal of owning a $100 bill.

The pine wood derby was 2 days after Tyler's birthday. We didn't know ahead of time so we had to work quick. The result was that Tyler showed up with a really good looking car that you can make from a kit you get at the craft store. They come with add ons, paint and stickers. Those rich doctor's kids are always ruining all the fun for everyone else. (Tyler's is the one in the middle).

Tyler won 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th place. We'll never know which - cause everybody's a winner in Cub Scouts!

We went to Walmart and the boys were being naughty so they had to go to time out while we were in the checkout line.

Tyler repented of his naughty behavior and got baptized on Sat, April 3rd. Way to go Tyler! We love you!

During the baptism Derek and Grandma were cute.

After the baptism the whole family was cute.

Mom and Holly were happy that the whole family was cute.

We had an Easter Egg hunt with Joseph and Amanda and their kids and our neigbors (the Smiths) later that day. Tyler is doing his impression of a pirate and Derek is being a mime.

Holly....Holly....show me how the piggies eat. That's right! Oink oink.