A few faces of Joshua

Joshua has many funny faces. They are hard to catch on camera. His expressions are so sweet and funny. Here are two faces that I was able to catch on camera.

Last week Joshua had a bad virus. He was a pretty sad boy for several days. Karis didn't mind it though. She was able to watch more TV than normal, and had several popsicles a day. He is completely back to normal, and we are very thankful. Karis is still asking for popsicles!

A few photos

Today, the children and I stayed inside all morning - in our PJ's! It was wonderful. With all of this warm weather we have been having, we have been outside usually right after breakfast, and staying out until lunch time. Then, back out after lunch and rest time only to come in for a bath and dinner. Today, I decided we were going to have a slow and quiet morning inside. It seemed to be enjoyable for the children too. We sat in the playroom and played all morning. It was as if the toys were all new to the children because we have been playing outside so much!

These are a few photos of the children in the playroom. Joshua smiling at Karis.
Karis posing for the camera.

Joshua playing a musical instrument

Karis - posing again! She loves to take pictures and see them. She has been playing with our old digital camera. It is mostly broken, but since she doesn't know how to zoom, it works for her. She spent a lot of the morning taking pictures. We looked at them later in the day and I laughed at what she took pictures of. Anything downstairs that was three feet and under she took a picture of it. What was even more funny to me, was that while we were looking at them together, she gave a running commentary... "The red wall... The brown wall... A crayon... A toy... Another crayon...More crayons..." I love that little girl.

Joshua, I discovered today, is a chatter box. Just like his sister. I have been trying to take away his pacifier except during naps, and the little guy chatters all the time! It is funny to hear recognizable words mixed in with words that aren't recognizable. The best today from him was, "Joshua, time to go night night (for a nap)" And his reply was a very clear, "Nooo, jabber, jabber. No!"

Outdoor Play

The children are loving the warm weather that has arrived! First thing in the morning, Joshua runs to the door to the backyard and says, "side" which means outside! He does this before having breakfast or even a diaper change. The boy loves to be outdoors!

Karis loves it too. She is very interested in gardening and would love it if we could plant flowers every day - without her brother there to mess them up! Money and property prohibit us from doing this daily, but I anticipate that we will have many fun times this summer doing some gardening projects.

Joshua on the trampoline

Karis and Joshua love to swing while they hold hands. They laugh the whole time - especially when they get going at slightly different paces. Since Karis weighs more than him, they naturally go at different speeds after a short time. Joshua, especially thinks this is funny.

Karis on the trampoline

Joshua usually ends up laying down while Karis bounces him around. He gets to laughing so hard that he gets the hiccups!

30th Birthday Celebration!

Last weekend we celebrated Craig and Stuart's 30th Birthdays. Jenny and I planned a suprise getaway to the mountains. What a fun weekend! Jenny and I planned for weeks to suprise the guys and bless them with a weekend like none other.

We suprised the birthday boys by having a few of their buddies pick them up at their offices mid-day on Friday. They had an afternoon of bacheloor activities including go-carts, cigars, wings and lots and lots of laughter. Craig said that he couldn't remember a time when he laughed so much.

The guys were led blindfolded into our cabin and we had a wonderful evening with them. What a hoot!! Jenny and I made up new lyrics to "Rocky Top" about our husbands. I'm not sure which was more fun, planning all of that, or acting it out for them.

The next morning we trecked down the mountain (in our mini-vans!) to enjoy a pancake breakfast. Later that day another suprise came - Tyson and Niki and their children came up and spent the next night with us. Again, more laughter!

God richly blessed the weekend. Craig laid in bed after the weekend and sighed, "I had so much fun!" That was an answer to prayer and I was so glad for my husband! I am so grateful to be married to the most loving, kind, godly, wise, forgiving, funny, faithful man I know.

Karis and Madie shared one King sized bed! They loved it and talked late into the night. What do two little three year old girls giggle about anyway?

The Cooper Cousins on the fireplace hearth

Joshua and Philip

Girls hanging out!

The Castro Family

Meet the Castro Family! These dear friends of our drove 8+ hours to Knoxville to stay with us.

I am having trouble thinking of words that would describe our week together. Here are a few:
Hillarious, Joyful, Tremendously tiring, full of learning, refreshing... did I mention hillarious?

We loved having Dave and Heather here. We tried to convince them to move here from Gaithersburg, MD. Unsuccessful. Dave and Heather are incredibly godly. They are one of the most delightful couples to spend a week with. There was a distinct lack of complaining - even when their 8 month old daughter was up many times one night. Heather is a wonderfully patient and gentle mother to their three year old McKenna. Dave is supremely leading their family. We can't wait to do it again!

The children had a blast too. Karis and McKenna (though they didn't fully grasp Phillippians 2:14 "Do everything without arguing and complaining") played very well together. Here are a few photos of the children. I will post more soon.

Selah Grace
Karis and McKenna in the tub
Joshua on the slide

Let it Snow!!!

We had enough snow to play in a few days ago. My northern family and friends are laughing at us now... enough snow to play in here was about 1/2 an inch (if that) of snow that was gone by 11 AM, but we still bundled up and played for a half an hour. Karis loved it, and I thought Joshua did until the snow ball in his hand melted. It took me a while to figure out what he was so upset about, but once I realized he had held his snow ball for 15 minuted until it melted, then I understood his cry - Pain! His little hands were very red and cold!

I love those big brown eyes!!

Maybe we will get enough snow next time to make a snow man- at least a miniature one!

Take my picture!

Karis had discovered how much fun it is to have her picture taken. If she does anything she thinks is worthy of note, she asks to have her picture taken so she can see it. This block tower was worthy of note and hence worthy of a photo. The reason is that Joshua is to block towers as an earthquake is to a 200 year old building on the San Andreas Fault. This particular tower she made and it actually stood for a few moments.

Under the weather

This was a first for Joshua - falling asleep on the couch. Last week Joshua battled an ear infection/cold, and he was pretty miserable for a few days. One day in particular, he didn't nap. For an 18 month old, this is tragic! My goal the rest of the afternoon became keep Joshua awake until 7PM. I knew that unless I did, he would be up very late! At 6:30 I couldn't find Joshua and almost missed him curled up on the couch. This sweet little pile was precious to see! He is thankfully feeling much better.

Girls Outing

Recently I was able to take Karis and two of her girlfriends on a girlie outing. It was a fun morning and a treat for me. Jenny watched the two boys (Philip and Joshua) while I took Karis, Madie and Reagan to Barnes and Noble. The girls read stories, played with the train table, drank hot chocolate and then put on a puppet show on the little stage they have in the children's area. Karis talked about this activity for days, and according to Reagan's mom - she had so much fun that she slept until 5 PM during her nap!

Too Tired to Color

Joshua was coloring the other morning and decided that it is hard work for a little guy to color and decided to try it laying down. I was thinking he might actually fall alseep, but he never did.

Biltmore

Two weeks ago Craig and I had a wonderful Saturday with a few friends of ours. Jonathan and Melanie Oldacre were kind enough to invite us to join them for a Saturday away. Fun would be an understatement! We laughed so hard all day long with the Plewniaks, Hancocks, and Oldacres. It was a beautiful day and the Vanderbilts were hospitable as usual.

I have a lot of photos to post as we haven't been able to post for the past two weeks... More to come.

Rock City

A few days after Christmas, all three Cooper brothers and their families met in Chattanooga for some welcome holiday celebrations. We spent the evening at Rock City which was a highlight for the children! The beautiful rock formations were lit with beautiful lighting and there were lots of Christmas lights which our children happen to love. We ended the evening with a wild meal at IHOP... I think we have a new tradition!



L-R:Niki, Tyson, Laura, Craig (Joshus is on his back - you can't see him, but he is there!), Jenny and Stuart. Front: Jordan, McCade, Karis, Madie and Philip

This was such a fun night. Craig and I drove back talking about how thankful we are for our family and how much we love them! The next morning Karis begged us to call our Cousins and have them all over to play at our house!

Christmas at the Cooper Home

Chistmas at the Cooper's 2006...

Karis on Christmas morning
Craig reading the story of Jesus' birth from Luke 2 before celebrating His birth with giving each other presents

Joshua and Philip playing together after Christmas dinner. They actually threw a ball together for the first time tonight... or should I say at each other?

Jenny made a birthday cake for the girls to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. This was a big hit with the girls and they both got in trouble for sticking their fingers into the cake before dessert! I wish we had a picture of the cake with little girl finger swipes taken out of it!

Joshua in his big boy hat that our friend Breanne gave him.

We had a wonderful holiday and so treasured the time that we had together as a family. This Christmas we were blessed to make sweet memories with the children that we will always cherish. We are very thankful for these times and marvel at the grace of God poured out on us that we would be so blessed with times like today.

Thank you all for praying for Larry (Craig's dad). We received word tonight that he had hopefully his last surgery tonight and the doctor closed his stomach tonight. We are all praying for a full recovery and a sweet homecoming in the future.

Merry Christmas from the Coopers

Care Group Christmas Party

Last night we had our annual CG Christmas Party. What a fun group of people! We enjoyed spending time together and a cookie decorating contest. W e drew names out of a hat and decorated a cookie to look like the name drawn. It was hillarious to see another person's cookie rendition of yourself! We are very blessed to have such a wonderful Care Group

Tradition

We enjoy traditions in the Cooper household. Enjoy is putting it mildly. We are thrilled to have traditions to share as a family in hopes that we are building lasting memories with our children.

One of our favorite traditions is picking our our Christmas Tree with the Sanders! I think this is the 4th year that we have done this together. Each year we pick out our trees and then enjoy a meal together to celebrate the coming Christmas holiday. This year was no different. Here are a few photos of the evening...

Karis and Griffin enjoyed shouting into the tree wrapping machine which they thought was a giant megaphone!

The Sanders Family

Our family

Is it too soon to arrange a marriage? Just kidding!