Cooper: 1 year old

What better way to start of the birthday festivities then to celebrate with his Beary Special Friend Goober!

 Taking turns pinning each other- the wrestling has begun

 Trying to escape

 Everyone on the floor for a time out :)

Off to Nana's for the party

Scrappy Quilts

Since learning to sew I have been hoping to find projects that allow me to give back to others.
Seeking to find opportunities to use the gifts and talents that I have been blessed with to bless others.

I recently was included in an AMAZING mission to help sew quilts for a school in the mountains of Tennessee.
I set the goal of sewing 3 quilts and a personal deadline of July 4th for completion (the quilts had to be completed and mailed by the 5th of September).

3 quilts in honor of our 3 children- who have never had to worry about having a warm blanket to sleep with.

 Each quilt included pieces of the kids baby clothes or other special items. It was a simple way to include a part of them in each quilt.

 Cooper's quilt includes fabric from his nursery (and from another special little one ;)

 Here are each of the kids with their honorary quilts- after the pictures we boxed up the quilts, having each kid pray over their quilt and the child that would receive it.

It was a blessing to sew these quilts and to pray for the children receiving them. It was also a wonderful opportunity to work with my children to bless others. 

Madison and Lillian were the master minds behind the block designs, selecting (and vetoing) the fabric strip combinations. They were great at helping to lay the 35 squares out for quilting.

My favorite part was sitting with the completed quilts and reminiscing with each of the kids of the special memories sewn into the quilts.

But my absolute favorite part was spending time with the kids, experiencing the power of prayer and the blessings that come from giving to others. 

Thanks Sewing Hands for inviting me to share in this mission. It was an AMAZING experience. 

Cooper Crawls

Cooper is a boy of discoveries.

I just love his facial expressions.

Check out our little man...

 "Oh No, they see where I am going"

"Straight to Mama's room to look for his Daddy

Puzzle play with Mama

Cooper loves his Bible puzzle book and especially enjoys the fact that it has multiple purposes (you can make a puzzles AND use the puzzle pieces as a chew toy)

 Giving Mama a taste....

Oh the joy of playing together.

Bath Tub Discoveries

Just like his older sisters, Cooper loves to take baths in the BIG bath tub.

He is fascinated by the running water.

 "Hey Daddy, this is fun!"

 "What do you want"

 "Soaking it all in"

He is one happy boy, and clean too.

Zoo afternoon

With temperatures expected to be in the 100F's by Thursday, it seemed only appropriate to take advantage of the breezy sunny 80F weather of today and head to the zoo.

Miss Kandi and Nana invited the girls to join in their afternoon adventure.

Miss Kandi had not been to the zoo in several years and the girls were happy little tour guides- they even had a map :)

 Lillian racing the cheetah- guess who won?

 A ride on the merry go round

 Stopping for an ice cream break

 A visit with the Polar Bear

 Then Merry go round again

 Finally a visit at the new bird exhibit

 Looks like Madi made a friend

Before getting drenched in the splash zone at the Dolphin show and then returning home for dinner.

Thanks Nana and Miss Kandi for all the fun.

Garage Sale swap

Best trade ever...

Glass table in exchange for a play set for Cooper.

Win Win

Cooper enjoys the slide and Lillian has been playing in the swing :)

Outdoor fun for all :)

New Hampshire Adventures

The girls just returned from a 10 day adventure with Nana and Pa visiting Aunt Beth and Uncle Sean in New Hampshire. (4 days of driving- 2 there and 2 home)They had a blast!

Lillian's one and only nap of the vacation...

 Racing down Aunt Beth's hill- can you tell they had been locked up in the car driving for 2 days

 Mama's rock stars :)

 

 SATURDAY
While Lillian stayed home for a Papa Day- Madison joined Aunt Beth, Uncle Sean and Nana in Boston for a day of historic sight seeing.

 Boston Bound

 Check out this boat

 Madison is still talking about the street performers

 Cheering them on

 Uncle Sean even got to help

 Walking along the Freedom Trail (part of the 8000 steps they walked that day)

 SUNDAY
It was a lazy day around the house for Madi, Uncle Sean and Papa while Lillian enjoyed a special lunch with Nana and Aunt Beth. They walked to the country store and enjoyed a bit of shopping.

Later that afternoon the entire family went candle pin bowling

 The balls were just the right size for Lillian

 Keeping score

That evening they enjoyed walking the trail

 Lillian's walking stick

 Helping to walk Loki

 Best Aunt and Uncle in New Hampshire :)

 Playing on the caboose

 Look out, here comes the Sparkles

 More rock climbing

 Looking out for the next adventure

 MONDAY
A day for shopping and chilling out at the house.
Breaking in Aunt Beth's new wagon.

 TUESDAY
A day at the beach.
Taking Papa down to the water to check things out

 "It's cold, get me out of here"

 "Your right Aunt Beth, it is cold"

 Bring along Papa

 Come on Aunt Beth, its not too bad

 Snuggling close to Uncle Sean

 Digging  Madi's sand castle

 Racing to build too

 Lillian's sand creation

 A little help from an engineer

 A relaxation break...

 Looking for shells, I mean decorations

 Back to playing (I think this is my favorite picture :)

 Wave jumping

 Madison's creation- WOW

 Lillian putting the finishing touches on her castle

 Princess Lillian- each bound

 Thanks Nana and Papa for a great vacation

 Smashing their castles so the next people could enjoy building

 Back home and ready for bed- just relaxing together

 WEDNESDAY
Breakfast in the living room before getting on the road and driving toward home

 "Yup- she said it"
I love the look on her face.

 THURSDAY
Another highlight of the trip was visiting a Toy museum in New York. (Half way to home)

 Driving Miss Lilli

 The best passengers ever

 Off to the drawing station

 This part was too cool.
Real shopping.
First you had to fill your cart

 Then it was time to check out. You even got a printed receipt

Saying Hi to the Count for Mama on the way back to Sesame Street

 What a catch

 Dragon Madi

 How many of the Bernstein Bear books have you read?

 The Bear Family + 2 Sparkles

 Off to clean teeth

 Before saying HI to Superman for Daddy

 Then a stop at the Slinky station

 And a quick game of checkers

 Then finally a racing game with Papa

 and a quick look at the Star Wars figurines

 Leaving the museum
Good-bye New York- its time to go home

 Tucked into sleep at Papa's apartment- just one more sleep until home

The girls had an amazing time on their vacation and have been talking non-stop of their adventures. So glad they had the opportunity to visit and even more glad to have them home.