Is that a snow cone umbrella in your toe???

Weird title huh? Well rewind a little while and it will all make sense. Sweet Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Jenna asked if they could take Reese for a little date to celebrate her starting Kindergarten. SO FUN! We have a new Bahama Bucks here (YUM!) and so after dinner they took her on a little date. She was SO excited, as she should be. I found myself wishing I was going for a little "starting Kinder treat". :) Anyway, they had a blast and came home with full tummy's, one VERY hyper Reese, and little wooden umbrellas that were in their snow cones. Fast forward a few minutes, and in our attempts to tire Reese out so she would go to bed, we had her running laps around the kitchen island. (Does that sound bad?) She thought it was fun. BUT, it wasn't enough. So Daddy turned on some music and we had a little dance party. Fast forward another few minutes, and, if you know me, will not be very surprised by this but picture this: Me standing in the living room, a little wooden umbrella on the floor, Justin coming over to dance with me, and in one very swift movement me kicking the umbrella and Justin very calmly saying "that umbrella is in my toe!" WHAT???? He walks (more like limps) to the bathroom and I found him on the toilet with his toe up... it was like something I picture some women in labor doing (go away, no help me, don't touch me, help, pull it out, don't touch it!) Anyway, the umbrella had indeed impaled him through the toe. Ouch and Gross! He pulled it out and I am pretty sure he gagged a few times while doing so. So, moral of this post... Bahama Bucks snow cones are delicious, but those umbrellas can be very dangerous if left in the hands of the Cooleys!! See evidence below!



Reese, Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Jenna Headed to BB's

Enjoying her sugar mountain

shortly after the stabbing :)

Homeschool - Day One

Things are so great here in the Cooley dream house... I'm a rockstar, I am homeschooling my Kindergartner, things are just dreamy. Let me walk you through our first day of homeschooling...
Everything starts out great. The girls get up and quickly eat breakfast (you wouldn't think that was a victory but for us, finishing any meal in under an hour is amazing), they brush their teeth, get their clothes on and happily head to the play  room so school can begin. After a rather frustrating Bible time, We start with Math and then work on a sequencing activity. Reese practices cutting, gluing, order of events, and even some critical thinking with a what happens next activity. I am feeling pretty excited, and we even have a paper to show Daddy when he gets home. I rock! That was about 30 minutes into our school day. Reese is now unable to continue working because her fingers hurt (I am now wanting to quote Happy Gilmore to her... "ya, well now your back's gonna hurt cause you just pulled landscaping duty!" - obviously I refrain) I feel she has earned a break so we have snack and I give her a chance to relax for a bit. Fast forward 20 minutes or so and somehow, she ends up in her bed screaming, I end up in the playroom crying and wondering what in the world I was thinking, feeling like a complete failure! WOW. Day one.. really? The good news is, we have been slapped with reality really early on! :) Anyway, long story longer we reconciled the situation, got started on a super fun art activity, went back into the playroom and rocked some reading and writing and finished on a great note. I was reminded WHY I am doing this, and how only God's Grace will be getting us through this year. AMEN!
Day 2 went a little better... we had a better idea of what to expect, we worked really quickly, and I am happy to report no tears were shed by either of us! And, she even learned a little something :) I'd say that makes for a rather successful day of learning!

Reese working hard on cutting

Peyton working hard too :)

Luke did shaving cream during art time

Painting for Art Day 1

ABC Mouse.com while Mommy makes lunch

Art Day 2- we have been working on the letter "f" this week

Luke perfected the "art of eating"



The finished product

I'm baaaaaack

well, seeing as my last post was from 2009... here is a BRIEF recap of the last 4 years. Let's see... (start the really fast theme music) Went back to work full time, teaching 2nd grade at a fabulous school about a mile from my house! Had our 2nd daughter, Peyton in July 2010. Taught some more... got pregnant again... Had Luke in June of 2012. Retired from teaching. Reese went to Pre-K 2 days/week. Both girls did dance. Mommy tried to figure out how in the world to have 3 kids 4 and under. Figured it out. Started my photography business. Reese turned 5. Luke turned One. Peyton turned 3. Decided to homeschool Reese. Signed Peyton up for preschool, Reese up for Soccer, and both girls up for gymnastics. And I think that brings us to now. (you can stop the music now)

Reese

Peyton

Luke

Running of the bulls!!!!

Last night we went to an event that the local library put on, celebrating the end of their summer reading program.  It was a "cow" theme, and therefore had cowboys on horses, cattle drives with longhorns from the stock yards, clowns, jugglers on stilts (a little creepy) and lots of other fun activities for the kids. The evening was coming to a close, and they were on their 3rd (that we had watched) cattle drive, where they set the longhorns free and "herd" them around the village.  The place was packed with wall to wall kids and families, and Reese was squatting down in the middle of one of the streets. We were all standing around visiting and watching the cattle drive, when all of the sudden I see a longhorn coming straight for us!!! Seeing as I had watched 2 previous drives, I knew this wasn't the appropriate path for the cow. No no, it had got away! AHHHH! I grabbed Reese and ran backwards, all the while eyeing this bull that was eyeing us! As I looked around, I noticed he wasn't alone in his attempt at freedom. His other cow buddies (I think there were 5) had broken free as well, and were all attempting their escape at this point. I am guessing that they had had one too many cattle drives and were now protesting. Anyway, everyone started running around trying to get out of the way of these horned cattle while the men on horseback tried to lasso them in! Am in in some sort of Animals gone wild video? What is happening? They got the situation under control, but no thanks to the cop who was clapping at the cow and trying to hold his horn! Hmmm, go back to the city! :) As we turned around to resume our evening, one of the vendors said, "I told them to bring the arthritic cattle but no one listened to me!" Maybe next year they will go with something smaller, like a bunny theme! 

Anyway, it was a fun night and thanks to Uncle Jonathan, we got lots of pictures of the blessed event! Enjoy.

Overwhelmed

I just wanted you all to know that I am alive, and have not fallen off the wagon! :) I am just too overwhelmed to even know where to begin posting. But, I will- just be patient. (As if you haven't been for the past 5 months!) There is lots to catch up on. I will say our little Reesey is so big, and we are having the time of our lives! Ok, December's recap will be here soon. (Although in my language soon may be another 5 months.) Just kidding.  :) Until then, I will leave you with this...

Reese- 15 months old- hammin it up in the bathtub

Coffee and Donuts

My sweet friend Emily was in town and she came to see Reese and I!  As if seeing her wasn't blessing enough, she brought Starbucks and Donuts!!! Good woman! We had such a good time. We went shopping and ate lunch and just enjoyed the day together. Thanks for coming to see us Emily! We miss you already!

Waiting for Emily to get there...

Showing off her toofies :)

This is a concerned look

Off to conquer more of the world, or at least the living room!

Yay! Emily is here!
And she brought Reese coffee too! (Just kidding) Although I'm sure Reese would have loved it! 

A Travelin We Will Go...

I love the Holidays!!! And I love love love decorating for Christmas! Everything looks better when it's decorated for Christmas! We are doing quite a bit of traveling over the next month, but our first trip was to Groves to spend Thanksgiving with Justin's family! We had so much fun. Lots of cooking, and eating, and relaxing!

Pops and Reese playing on the John Deer!

Diggin in the toy box!

A little detour...
oooh, a book!
What else can I find?

Ah, hah!  Just what I was looking for!

Grammy and Daddy loving on Reese

Out to dinner with the whole fam