Our Foray into Potty Training

Cooper went in the potty!!! Yeah! I know it's only once, but MAYBE we are on the right track.

I can definitely tell that the school year is winding down because our household is CRAZY! I'll blame our schedules for the fact that I haven't posted in a month. Well maybe in a few more weeks, I'll be able to catch up.

Abby has three more softball games left. However, they are all scheduled for 7:15. That usually means we won't get home until 9:00. Both Abby and Cooper are dead on their feet after 8:00. This will definitely free up our evenings some. But, this is the time of year when we (Tim, especially) have a banquet or some "program" every other night of the week.

I'm trying to decide on a science fair project for Abby - if anyone has any ideas, please pass them on. I'm about ready to just forget the whole thing.

One bright spot during this hectic time of year is that I'm going to "teach" scrapbooking during an enrichment period at school starting Monday. My plan is to have each student create a paperbag book to take with them at the end of the week. I suppose my biggest concern is that it's a mixed group of girls and pretty rough boys - not sure how the boys are going to respond, but we're going to make the best of it. If it doesn't work this week, I'll try something else the next.

At least I know the end is in sight - 16 more "school" days.

A Long Holiday

Let me start with - "It's been almost a month since I've posted" and so much happened. Abby started softball season and is playing well. She got a GREAT hit and later scored at last night's game. She entered an essay in the Academic Rodeo at the fair for the second year in a row. She won 1st place. She also entered the spelling bee (which isn't really a bee) and the math bee (which again is just a test). She tied for second in spelling, but got beat out in a tie breaker - still got a trophy for 3rd. AND she won 1st in the math bee. She came home with $100 in savings bonds and three trophies. That was on a Sunday. On Tuesday, she and Cooper modeled in the fashion show. Grammy made a Abby a nightshirt out of pink John Deere material and Cooper a pair of pjs with bucking horses on them. Both were hams.

Cooper has really turned into a terrible two! I thought it couldn't get any worse. One minute he's so sweet and then... We're working on it. We take him to the eye doctor on Monday and he's going to do a full work-up (whatever that means). This time he is going to let him "read" the vision chart and see what he can see. He knows all of the pictures on the chart and even the letters on that chart. Once we do that, we'll dialate and wait. Usually we dialate on the way so we don't have to sit, but since he wants to try the charts this time...

Tim has been really busy at school. I guess that's just the way it is.

I'm taking Abby with a friend and her mom to see the Hannah Montana movie today, so I'll try to post pictures from the last month this evening or tomorrow or maybe Sunday after egg hunts.

If you're bored and just browsing around the internet - our family pictures are posted at www.barefootcreation.com. You click on my name. You don't have to login to see them. The kids pictures from the fair are posted at www.katylampsonphotography.com. You click on WCFA at the bottom of the Main Site. It will ask you to enter an email address (you can enter a fake one - I enter nobody@yahoo.com) and then go to Academic Rodeo and Style Show. For members of my family - Grammy is in the Style Show pictures.

Spring Break is OVER

I can't believe it's been a month and a half since I last posted. We've been extremely busy -- guess that's why I chose the bees for the background.

Abby's softball practice has started and her first game is next Saturday. I've been tutoring kids for the TAKS test after school two days a week and helping with CCAM (Children's Creative Arts Ministry) on Sunday nights at church. This "session" for the girls is scrapbooking. Between school, practice, and church, some days I don't know what day it is.

Cooper has become a very obstinate little boy. Still no potty - which means I'm still paying for diapers.

I spent this week (our spring break) redecorating Abby's room. There is NO pink in the room. We got everything at Ikea and she loves it. Tim ended up spending all week working for dad at the funeral home. So much for a relaxing spring break.

I just thought spring was here...

Yesterday was beautiful and we spent most of the day outside at the farm. Today is nice, but just not the same. It is, however, the Lord's day, so it's beautiful in its own right.

We signed Abby up for spring ball yesterday. Tim's going to be an assistant coach so we already know who her coach will be and she won't have to go through the draft before finding out. I was talking with a friend this morning about going camping, but it already looks like our spring is filling up. I hate to plan too much until I get a softball schedule and get in the swing of things.

Cooper is rocking along. Some days the terrible two year old rares his ugly head, but other days he's my sweet little boy.

Mother and Dad put their house on the market this week. It's kind of funny seeing pictures of it for sale on the internet. Mother said it was kind of sad seeing a for sale sign in the yard. This is where I spent the majority of my childhood/teen years, so I guess there is some sentimental attachment there.

Other than that, our life is full with just being together.

New Pictures

I decided to post a few pictures from the last few weeks. The first one is of Tim and I. We NEVER have pictures taken together, but here one is. The second is of Cooper enjoying a day at the playground down where the old Manor House was. And the third is of Abby and the new haircut she got today. She went and in and told Dana exactly what she wanted. This is it.

The End is Near

Only a few more hours until our return to school. I've been dreading this day for the last two weeks, but God used a trip to Walmart to change my attitude. We all (I mean all four of us) went to Walmart this afternoon and seemed to run into a parent of or a former student on every aisle. AND they were all parents of or students with whom Tim or I one had had difficulties or "run-ins" with at some point or another. They were all extremely gracious and seemed genuinely glad to see us. It reminded me why I do what I do and why I choose to work with the students that I do. I'm ready to return and see all of my students tomorrow. Some I have truly missed.

Abby and Cooper both have their clothes laid out - Abby is not so much ready to go back. Cooper, on the other hand, seems to be thrilled. He's moving up tomorrow to the two-year old class and it's all he can talk about. I hope the "thrill" continues tomorrow morning when I have to leave him in a different "house" without his "Kisti" and "KK".

Pray for us as we embark on a new year and all God has planned for us.