The Cooper Family & Yuki

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel

2009-04-15T21:45:00.002-05:00

In exactly one week Ben should be home! I cannot wait. We are not telling the kids exactly when he is getting back. We thought it might be fun to just let Ben pick the kids up from school or just let him pull into the garage. I cannot wait to see their precious little faces light up when they see their daddy. I do not know how other moms do it when their husbands are gone. We are very thankful that this should be the last time Ben leaves for a little over 3 years. Keeping my fingers crossed!
The weather has been absolutely beautiful. We have been above 60 for the past few days. The snow is just about all melted. Thank God. Today I let the kids ride their bikes outside. Something they have been wanting to do all winter. We made our way right down the street to the park. What a nice park. They had a great time. While there I met up with a lady who I over heard talking about piano lessons. Well I have been looking for someone to teach the kids,. I hopefully not rudely asked her about it. I am hoping that she will agree yo take on Scottie and Sydney this summer! I am so excited. We have the piano, but we have no idea how to play it. I think I am more excited by this than the kids.. LOL Keep your fingers crossed that it all works out.
So with the beautiful 60 degree weather comes lots of questions from Sydney. I spent most of yesterday afternoon trying to explain to her that there is no way you can have a built in pool in the backyard. For the love of god we live in North Dakota! Yes Sydney I know it's warm outside, Yes Sydney I know when the weather is warm you love to swim. No Sydney I will not go get a job and put all you kids in day care so we will have more money to buy a big in ground pool, because really we would be loosing money paying for daycare.. SYDNEY, It's warm to us,but really it's cold.. IT'S ONLY 60 outside! That was just a bit of the conversations! That girl is going to rule the world one day! She just doesn't give up.. Oh Ben PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get us back to California so we can buy the girl a house with a pool in it! LOL

Not much

2009-03-25T22:09:00.002-05:00

Not a lot is going on around here. Just sitting and waiting for Ben to come home. Week three is almost done. Three more to go. I cannot wait and neither can the kids. Poor Matthew just doesn't get it. Everyday he tells me not to park my van in the middle of the garage because I need to make room for daddy truck. Everyday I explain that Daddy is not home today. Today as we were walking into the school to pick up Sydney Matthew says Momma, Where did Daddy move to? It just about broke my heart. Luckily Ben has one of those jobs that you normally don't go to far for to long. So hopefully we won't have to deal with this again for a while.
Ben found out yesterday that he got accepted into Utah State to obtain his Masters degree. I am so proud of him. He is very excited and happy. He will start classes in the fall. I think after this he might take a break from schooling for a bit unless another type of degree jumps out at him. LOL
Kids are all doing well. We have some kind of cold/flu thing going around. Poor Scottie has it now and decided to share it with me. Thanks baby love you too! Hopefully it passes quickly.
So today I discovered how very easy it is to get your driveway shoveled. All you have to do is find a neighbor who is shoveling out the snow by hand and offer them to use your blower and after they accept they do your drive too because you just saved them hours of back breaking work. LOL I was actually just being nice and wasn't worried about my drive since the wind blew most of the snow to my next door neighbors drive. But hey I appreciate the time you saved me too! Thought it was a little silly

Hope all is well on your end

How long can 6 weeks really drag on for?

2009-03-19T19:19:00.004-05:00

Ben left for TDY to Alabama on Syd's birthday (March 5) and I sware it already seems like he has been gone for a year. I have no idea how wives who's husbands leave for extended periods of time do it. I am already so exhausted and we are only in week 2! He should be home around April 23. I cannot wait!

The weather has been getting nicer here. It was so funny I took the kids to the commissary last week. ( I NEVER take all 4 shopping with me) But we survived and I am happy to say that they all behaved VERY well. NO one even threw themselves on the floor once! Granted their snacks I normally wouldn't buy added at least $50 to the tab. As we walk out of the store the kids are complaining that they are too hot and start stripping off their coats, hats and gloves. Yes I admit it did FEEL warm, but they were not happy with me when I quickly made them at least wear coats. For the love of god it was only 41 outside! WATCH OUT HEAT WAVE IN NORTH DAKOTA!

So even with our heat wave we still have tons of snow. This weekend I took the kids out to the front yard and they went sledding! It was great I was able to clean out my car and watch the kids.

Pretend

2009-01-27T22:39:00.007-06:00

This past weekend we just had to get out of the house and go some place that we could pretend that we were actually some place nice and warm for our own sanity. We packed everyone up and drove to town with the winds whipping the temp was down to -35. We went to the mall and took the kids to the indoor warm water park. They had such a great time. It was nice to watch them splashing and playing. I stayed out with Xander partially because I had a blonde moment and left half of my swim suit in California. And besides that I do not need to be in a swim suit in public. I should be using the Wii fit everyday..

It was so nice and steamy in there, my camera started to fog up! Matt loved the froggie slide..

Xander Boo waiting so patiently to get out of that stroller!

A few days ago Xander was playing in my pots and pans. I stepped out of the kitchen for a moment and suddenly he was screaming. I thought for sure that he had caught his little fingers in the cabinet door. As I raced into the kitchen I found him stuck inside of a pot! I nearly fell over laughing. I quickly grabbed the camera.

I love his little expression. UGH Mom are you going to get me out of here or just keep snapping away and laughing! The kids came running in and thought it was hysterical too!

Okay I am off to bed. Hope all is well on your end!

No More Snow PLEASE!

2009-01-14T18:27:00.007-06:00

We have been getting lots of calls from family the past few days asking about the cold and snow. I can tell you it is FREEZING! I took the kids to school today at negative 28 with a wind chill of negative 50! The snow has ceased for today. Ben and I watch our grill in the back yard to tell us how much snow we have gotten. Here are a few pictures. I took one after 1 hour of snow and took one the next morning.

The snow on the patio is at least waist deep. I am done with snow! The weather report is calling for no more snow this week. Oh how I hope. But somehow I think they are lying. LOL

Here are a few pictures that I have snapped of the kids this week. Xander is now pulling himself up to everything. He will be 9 months on the 18th.

My baby is getting so big!

Bushia and Papa sent this to Scottie for Christmas, We stayed up till 1am to finish this

I see a lot of myself as a young girl in Sydney in this picture.

And last but certainly not least my Mattie. So full of life!

10 years ago today

2009-01-08T09:14:00.006-06:00

10 years ago today I married my best friend. Happy Anniversary Ben! We have had our ups and downs, but always seem to pull through stronger then we were before. I can honestly say that I do not know where or what I would be if I hadn't found Ben. He is a wonderful husband and terrific father. I thank god everyday for him! He is determined to suceed and has created a wonderful life for our family. Thank you Ben!

The forecast is calling for 5 -10 more inches of snow today. Ben went out today. If we get that much snow I am certain that he will not be home tomorrow. The snow is getting to us all! The other night Sydney and I were watching T.V and we saw a pool in the yard. She said kinda angrily MOM why can't we live some place without snow and lots of sun so we can have a pool too. I told her that if she wanted a pool we had to go back to California. He response Well then what in the heck are we doing here? Good question Sydney. I really do like the area and people, but winter here SUCKS! I am very much waiting for Spring to get here. I have heard that the summers here are awesome. Highs in the 80's. I want to be able to walk to the mail box at the curb without taking 5 minutes to bundle up first!! Lets hope that they are wrong and we get minimal snow today.

Have a great day!

Back to Normal

2009-01-05T13:41:00.003-06:00

So today everyone went back to school and Ben went back to work today. I really enjoyed this break with the kids and Ben. I truly dreaded today. We had so much fun together. I loved every minute of it! So how long until Easter break?

But as everyone is getting back to their normal so are my kids. Scottie woke this morning and pulled a booklet from his back pack and said "Oh Mom I forgot this had to be done over break" Yeah good timing Scott. I sware sometimes I think he would forget his head someplace if it wasn't connected! BUT He would never ever forget where is video games are.LOL So we rushed and got a few pages done, then I figured he messed up he needs to face Mrs Johnson today and take some responsibility for his forgetfulness. Sydney was back to screaming because some article of clothing wasn't on just right. Oh and because I haven't folded the whites just yet and the world is coming to an end if he has only 2 pairs of socks in her drawer. (I guess she realized that I went through it and trashed all the ones that she refuses to wear for some reason or another!) Matt Matt was Matt this morning. He wakes up every morning with his eyes barely cracked looking for hugs and kisses. He was very excited to get to school today to see Smokey the bunny. Xander and I went off to town to go to the DMV. It was -20 I really did not want to go, but up here they will not send your new plates to you. So we drove down, were in the DMV for less then 2 minutes and drove back home. Usually I would make it a shopping day, but it was just way to cold.

I have been bugging Ben for weeks now, Actually since we first moved here to go out and get a snow blower. He always refused. A few days ago he was out there in -37 shoveling and got only half the driveway done in 45 minutes. He quickly ran back in and said YOU WIN! So here are some pictures of Ben and his new toy. That thing hauls! I tried it out and I thought it was going to take off without me! Now we are just trying to figure out the setting so the snow doesn't blow back in your face. Ben was able to do our drive and 2 neighbors in 30 minutes! Good investment I say.

Hope you all have a wonder day!

Merry Late Christmas!

2008-12-29T10:29:00.007-06:00

Life has been crazy the past few weeks. Everything seems to be quieting down. Ben went back to work today. I am hoping that they will send them home due to the snow fall last night. As the sun is shinning my hopes are fading. He will probably go out and be home tomorrow. The good thing is that he only today and a back up day on Saturday. Which the very rarely call the backups out. So he will have another 6 days off.

Christmas was great. The kids had so much fun. Ben got sick with the flu on Christmas Eve which left me to build the kids toys. Luckily I had built Syd's doll house a few days before and only had Matt's train table and Scottie's Air Hockey Table left. Not a small chore. I was up until well after 1 am. I awoke at 4am because I heard little footsteps going down the stairs. Now I am all for getting up as early as you can, but not with a sick Ben and an exhausted me. I shouted "Get back into bed!" Around the corner came a tiny little Hi Mommy I think Santa came already. Sydney was the little footsteps. I told her that it was way to early to get up and if Santa hadn't come and she wasn't in bed he might pass our house. She agreed and went back to bed only to return every 15 minutes until I agreed to let her wake the boys at 6:45. It was cute because Santa did not leave the kids gifts near the tree. He was smart and put them in the toy room, next to the tree room. Poor Scottie ran down to the tree and with a disappointed look chocking back tears said "I guess Santa skipped us this year." My heart broke but at the same time I wanted to laugh. Sydney quickly spotted the gifts and yelled for the others. His sadness was quickly changed to screams of excitement. The best complement came from Ben who after

all was unwrapped looked at me and said Well done! Anyone who knows us knows that I Love love love having carnival Christmases. Ben not so much and every year I go way over board and Ben gets really upset. This year I put a lot of thought into what they got and down sized by about half. And they were even more happy then past Christmases when they each had 20 + gifts each from Santa. Yeah I did good this year. Everyone was happy! Can I tell you that I am thinking about next Christmas. My mom and dad will be here to celebrate with us!

Sorry for the over load of pics. We had a good day relaxing and enjoying each others company!

Other stuff... We have had so much snow. I don't care if I ever see snow again! This month we have gotten 28 inches the all time record for the amount of snowfall in one month is 31. Yeah we got a few inches last night and more is on its way tonight. I promised mom that I would stop being a chicken and get out there and take some pictures. I seriously do not go outside. I park in the garage and go in and out of the house from the garage. Snow is not fun to me. Its very scary. It makes it hard to drive and I just don't like it. I seriously do not know where we are going to keep shoveling the snow to. The mound just beside our driveway is about 5 foot tall.. And it only the beginning of winter! Hope you all have a very Happy New Year! Take Care and God bless in 2009!

Sick Kids

2008-11-25T21:43:00.002-06:00

It has been a rough two days. Yesterday Sydney and Xander woke up with colds. Syd ended up staying home from school which broke her heart. She actually got herself dressed and ready for school and wanted me to take her at 1:30. UUGGHH sorry Syd you cannot go. By the end of the day Matthew started getting the cold. The to top it off Scottie started coming down with the flu. Of all places at the commissary. It was a rough night with Xander. Sydney woke up chipper and ready to get back to school. Scottie stayed home. We had to make a trip to the DMV to try once again to get the plates for my van since the temp expired. While there Matthew started to fall asleep in a chair. Now anyone who knows my kid knows that's not Matthew like. As this older gentleman is complementing the kids I look at Matt and see a HUGE yellow blob leaking out his eye. Just great. SO we know now what Veronica has planned tomorrow. Get Matt to the DR. By tonight I am pretty sure he has pink eye besides the cold. My poor Matt-Matt. TO top of our wonderful day Ben came home telling me that they want him to go and observe how things work in the missile silos tomorrow. SO now he will leave in the morning and come back sometime Thanksgiving afternoon. Just what I wanted. I would love to try to get the turkey and all the fixings ready while taking care of 3 sick kids. At least he will know what to expect next Saturday.
Matthew is obsessed with us getting him a cat. On the way to DMV this morning Xander is screaming. Not crying just a happy scream. This has Matt hot. He says "Xander you are FIRED!!! Stop screaming!" I said "Matthew he is a baby and that's what babies do." His reply to me was "Well I don't want a baby anymore, I would rather have a cat." He sat and pouted teh rest of the ride there. I just about died laughing! I am working on Ben, but I doubt the end result will be a cat. Sorry Matthew. Hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy time with your loved ones....

The Christmas Rush

2008-11-23T09:53:00.003-06:00

Well here we are again with Christmas fast approaching. As Sydney would say "Momma Christmas is not around the block, It's right down the street." Every year I get this anxiety and buy buy buy, Then we end up with way to many gifts for the kids. Ben gets mad, I get frustrated and that's Christmas. But the kids love the big WOW Christmas morning. This year I am really trying hard to focus on what they really want and need and bring the true meaning of Christmas back into our home. Yesterday we went to the mall. Ben took the kids around and I finished up Christmas shopping at Target. I felt so relieved that's its done. But then I get home and find myself searching the Internet for the deals. Why why why am I so weak at Christmas. I know the kids need nothing, Good Lord we have taken 6 truck loads of stuff to be donated and I still have boxes of toys and a full toy room. Christmas is my favorite time of year, but I think I set myself up for failure. Do you know how many toys they got last year that were NEVER played with? It was ridliciuos. I don't really know why I am writing this, but it feels good and helps me to stay FOCUSED! I do not want any of this years toys ending up at the Airmans Attic. Thats my goal. But teh Amazon deals should start next week. Incase you don't remember from last year. They discount tons of toys. Liek $35 My Little Pony toys down to $8 and free shipping when you spend $25. SO incase I don't post much next week, It's because I am trying to stay away from the computer. I would get so much done around here if I didn't have the internet.

The kids are doing well. Ben and I have decided that in Jan we are going to put the kids in different activities. Scottie, Sydney and Matt will join Karate, Sydney Ballet too, Scottie wants guitar lessons, and I think I will find a MOPS play group for Matt and Xander. With Bens weird hours I am going to try to keep the kids as busy as possible. I don't think the kids are going to do well once Ben starts his 40 hour alerts. I think I might not do well. I guess we will have to make the most out of Bens days off.

Today not to much is going on. Ben took the 3 oldest to church, I stayed behind with Xander. He was up a lot last night and very cranky this morning. Sydney is going to her friends Birthday Party after CCD. She is so excited. I am so excited for her. They have made lots of friends at school, but haven't really seen anyone in the neighborhood. (Everyone hides indoors in teh winter)The school they go to is on the other side of the base. We had originally accepted a house over there and we then given the bigger house that we are in now. I had already put the kids in school at Dakota Elementary. Now the house is in North Star zone. They didn't want to change schools again, I don't blame them. Its not that big of a deal, the school is only 1.3 miles away. The only problem I see is that they don't know the kids on this side of the base. Next year they will go to school at North Star. It will be so nice that the bus will pick them up at my doorstep. I always feel bad dropping them off when its like 8 degrees with a wind chill of negative something. Okay I have rambled on enough. I must get the gift wrapped and start chores. Have a great day! I leave you with Ben and the kids favorite past time. Watching TV..

New Pictures

2008-11-19T20:22:00.004-06:00

Not to much going on in the Cooper house today. It was cloudy and and a cool 27 degrees today. Not to bad. We had some snow flurries. Boy were the kids praying for a dump of snow and for school to be closed tomorrow. Not going to happen. Sorry guys! I am sure they will get their fair share of snow days in this year.

So we started a new thing with the kids. Every night the must say 2 nice things about each sibling. So today was the second day of this. They seem to like it a lot. I am just trying to get them to not say stuff like I like your shirt and pants. No I want stuff about the other person.We will try again tomorrow.

I thought I would share some recent picture of the kids. Sydney adores the camera. She took this picture by herself. My Mattie... He love to get his picture taken, but only with a silly face. Scottie bear carved his first pumpkin this past Halloween. What a saving grace he was. SO I scooped 7 pumpkins, but only had to carve out 3 as Scottie was very eager to lend a hand to his Momma. My Big boy Xander turned 7 months old yesterday. Where has the time gone? Well I am off the kids need tucks in and good night kisses and I need to finish folding clothes.. Good Night

Minot

2008-11-18T21:00:00.003-06:00

So here we are in Minot North Dakota. How did two native Southern Californiainas end up here in the freezing cold? Thank You to the powers to be of the Air Force. The people here are extremely friendly sometimes alittle scarry friendly. Its a nice change, Older folks actually enjoy watching children in the stores. Evertime we go somewhere at least one old couple will come up and tell us how much they have enjoyed the children. I am happy that this place is so family oriented. But the cold and snow stink! Today while talking to my mom and getting Matthew and Xander in the car at Traget, I look over just in time to see Mattie throwing a big piece of ice. As I am shouting NOOOOOOOOOO, Mom says so whats he throwing a rock? No Momma he's throwing ice in a crowded parking lot. My Mom says oh yeah I forgot you have snow and ice on the ground. Gees Mom thanks for reminding me that you guys are still in the 90's.. I miss home. I guess the saying is true, You can take the girl out of Cali, but you can never take the Cali out of the girl.. I really do like it here, I guess I should say I LOVE MY HOUSE.. I don't ever want to leave this house. Its the nicest and biggest house we have ever lived in. If you look closely my name is even on the name plate. In case you can't see it "LT AND MRS COOPER" Thought that was pretty funny all other bases we have been to just have the military member on the plate. Its the small things I tell ya.

The kids are absolutly loving it here. They love school. Mattie loves preschool. Well I am not to sure he loves the preschool or the bunny that wonders the class. That is all he talks about. Scottie loves 4th grade. He is learning a lot. We had parent teacher conferences last week. I got hios report card for the whole 11 days he was there to be graded on and the lowest % he got was an 83. I am so proud of him. See we don't do grades because the grading system here is much different then I am used to. Here an 83% is a C, Well where I come from thats a strong B. So I decided that as long as everything is above a 85% then I am good. Sydney didn't get graded because her teacher felt she wasn't there long enough to be graded, But assures me that she is doing great. My lil Xander. Today he turned 7 months old. Where has the time gone? He is trying real hard to crawl. I expect that to happen in teh next few weeks. Ben is doing good learning his new job. I still stop and think my husband is going to be launching Nukes. Blows my mind. He pulls his first alert in a few weeks. SO starts the 40 hour shifts. Hope thsi works out okay. Till next time...

Roni

Hello

2008-11-17T20:46:00.001-06:00

We are back on blogger! We (I) will be updating as soon as possible! This picture was taken a month before we left California.. HI ANNIE