Ice/Snow Storm of Jan. 2009

Wow! What a storm that was! We've been out of school for 2 days from it, and I'm pretty sure that we won't have school tomorrow either. A lot of people lost power, so I'm SO thankful that we didn't! It started with about and inch or so of ice and sleet and was followed by about and inch or two of snow. It's SOOO cold out there, though, so it will probably be awhile until the boys and I can go play in the snow. Plus, Cooper has a nasty cough and isn't feeling up to it now anyway. It's supposed to warm up to the 40s this weekend, so maybe we'll be able to play in it then.

Cooper starts preschool

Well, the big day finally arrived. On Jan. 13th, Cooper started going to preschool 2 days a week at Appleseed Christian Academy in Branson. He was VERY excited, and I was excited too--until it came time to drop him off! It was a lot harder on me than I had ever imagined! He was fine, but I was the one who didn't want to let her little boy go. I worried about him all day, and rushed to get him as soon as I was out of school. His teacher said that he had a fantastic day and was very well behaved. (thank goodness!) He was SO excited about his day and told me that he learned letters and numbers, watched a movie, had popcorn, learned about Jesus, and drank water (I know--very random!) :) He only goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but he's still loving it! The director, Robin, is AWESOME, and his teacher, Misti, seems really nice. One day he told me that he got in trouble for spitting, and I asked him why he was spitting (because I've never seen him do that before). He said, "Well, Noah was doing it!" I then proceeded to give him a big lecture about how he shouldn't do that--even if someone else is, how he should listen to his teachers if they tell him to stop, and how it's just gross and spreads germs. I wasn't really mad, but I just wanted him to understand that he shouldn't do that any more. After I had been rambling on for awhile, he sighed loudly, and said, "I don't want to talk about this anymore, Mama!" :)

Family Christmases

We had 5 WONDERFUL Christmases this year at our house; at Jim's parents' house in Ava, MO; at my Uncle Larry's house in Great Bend,KS; at Zach & Laura's house in Elk Falls, KS; and at my Grandma & Grandpa Kaufman's house, also in Elk Falls. Cooper got to the point where he thought every day was Christmas and that he should get presents every single day! We had SO much fun with family--eating, playing board games, card games, and very weird games--like invisible football (a very crazy, funny game)! :)
The Christmas dinners and snacks were SO good that I think I gained about 10 lbs. over Christmas break, but it's ok because we got a Wii and a Wii Fit for Christmas, so I've been exercising and tracking my progress every day. So far, I've lost about 2.5 lbs. since last Sat.!
Each Christmas was wonderful! At my Uncle Larry's house, Cooper got to go on a Kawasaki dirt bike ride with my Uncle Larry, and we got to see my cousins Jeremy & Kevin from California who we haven't seen in years! We also got to meet Jeremy's new wife Carrie! She's a sweetie! In Elk Falls, we were able to have Christmas at Zach & Laura's new house, which was a lot of fun. They had their house and their GINORMOUS tree decorated SO beautifully! Laura also went all out with the Christmas goodies!It was a fun, busy, and relaxing 2 weeks, and I was sad to see it all end, but those bills have to get paid somehow, so it can't be ALL fun and games--but wouldn't that be nice?! :) Happy New Year, everyone!