Our Big Adventure

Wednesday was my last day of work at the Holiday Inn so I told the boys I would be taking them on an adventure that day. Little did they know that I had booked a suite at the hotel that night. (When I was first hired there they gave me a complimentary coupon to stay at the hotel "to experience what the guests experience", so originally I had planned to give it to someone as their wedding present but since the date of the wedding wasn't for sure and I was quitting due to problems it was causing to my back I had to use it before I was not longer employed there.)
I asked the kids if they had to leave the house in minutes and had to pack only one change of clothes what they would take and to go get it so I could see. Dallas kept asking me why and if I was going to burn the house down or something...silly ol' Dallas...well I told them we were leaving and didn't know when we were going to get back but to grab their bookbags and swimming trunks...then the motors really started turning...are we going to wild waves? the great wolf lodge (I wish;) and I just kept eluding the questions...we stopped at Wal Mart to pick up some supplies i.e. popcorn, candy, soda...then we decided we better get something for dinner since it was approaching 7 p.m. After we had everything I said we needed to stop by the hotel so I could get my last pay check and when I had a parking permit for the hotel they were really excited.
I could get any room at the hotel so I picked out a suite with 2 queen beds, and the pull out couch. Daddy arrived after his class in Tacoma and then we went swimming and in the hot tub. Even got fresh cookies on the way up to our room.
The boys had lots of fun and after breakfast in the morning we came back home in time for the boys to catch the bus.
Just a little fun adventure to show the family where I was everyday for the past 2 1/2 months. *Special thanks to all my friends and family members who helped watched the boys so that I could work for a while and figure out what our next step was*

Dallas is 10!

We celebrated Dallas' 10th birthday by driving to Salem for the weekend. Mike had a two night gig with Idol Eyez so we took the whole family and went to visit my family. Mom and Derek made Dallas a super cute cake with a skate park on it. We enjoyed spending time with them and making fun memories. We took Dallas on Saturday to pick out his birthday present from us. It was a skateboard with a green underbelly-Dallas really likes it and even named it Dagger. We went to a couple fun parks where Derek had fun taking pictures of us with his new camera and Dallas enjoyed trying out his skateboard. Grandpa Cooper even made us laugh by almost biffing it while walking...he was looking backward and I think he hit the curb with his foot (of course his hands were in his pockets) but luckily he was able to outrun himself from falling-you really had to be there but it's something we'll look back on and laugh at for a while.

Bride to Be

Tonight I threw a bridal shower for my sister, Desi, who in two weeks will be getting married. I stayed up late last night making homemade truffles, and frosting cupcakes...trying to make her bridal shower special. I think everyone had a good time. Desi's friends brought finger foods so there was lots to eat! We played a few games, a couple memorization games and then a who knows the bride game. It was fun to see everyone trying to concentrate and get the answers. Well I'm beat...hope you enjoy some pictures from the party.

1st Day of Kindergarten

(Waiting for the bus to come)


Elijah had his 1st official day of Kindergarten today. We waited and waited for the bus to come but after about 25 minutes decided to drive him to school. We are still working out the kinks with the bus system but he did ride home on the same bus with his brothers and even sat by Cody so he was glad about that. We asked him how he enjoyed Kindergarten and he said it was fun. He colored a picture and got to play on the playground. He didn't have any treats though.

Back to Routines

Today was a busy day for us. Dallas (4th grade) and Cody (2nd grade) both started school and Elijah had his kindergarten orientation this afternoon. *Elijah's official first day is on Friday and he gets to ride the bus*




All reports so far have been positive. The two older boys were especially excited because Fat Jackson wasn't driving their bus today and they had a nice lady driver.
Mike took Elijah to his orientation today with Brandon as I was at work but looks like it was a fun time!

My Boys

This post is dedicated to my friend, Desiree, who made me promise I would take a picture of this and send it to her.

( I had been dusting a dresser and this picture had been laying on it so I picked it up and just set it against the glass of this frame since I didn't have a picture in the current frame. Well my friend Des was in town visiting and while I was giving the tour of my house she saw what I had done with the picture and started laughing hysterically. Up to that point I hadn't even given a second thought as to what the frame said. Now I see why it was so funny.)