Salamanders and gnats are icky

It is true. ----> (Kelly is actually holding a salamander)

I spent last weekend with Kel, and my niece Jesee. They were happily playing outside, and I was keeping cool inside by the air conditioning.

Typical me.

I was watching them out the window the whole time...you really need to do that with silly little girls. When I was there Jesee got a HUGE bloody nose, and Kelly scraped her elbow.

That was all in the first fifteen minutes that I was there.

Ugh.

Then the little sweeties went on a salamander hunt.


I do not know about you, but those things creep me out. They are all slimy, and their eyes poke out of their little heads a wee bit.

Blick!

Jesee loves to hunt for them. Kelly just recently showed an interest in them. Normally she would scream at a mere bug, but lately she has been sowing some real guts.

I really had to take a picture of her holding the salamander, because I wasn't' really sure if tomorrow she would go back to the old Kelly and run away shrieking. Photographic evidence was needed.

The girls kept trying to bring it inside. I was firm with them...NO salamanders allowed in the house. They seemed to be willing to listen to me and I only had to tell them a few times to keep it out.

When I left I noticed that it was not in the bowl on the porch where they had left it. Sneaky little sneakers took it inside without me knowing. Kelly told me that they hid it in Jesee's room.

It was lost in the house...

My sister said that if you smell something icky in her house...in Jesee's room, then that is where the salamander ended up.

Oh well I guess....

Really icky side note.

I did Kelly hair like this <--------- that day when they were outside all day. (that is not the icky part) See all of the parts in the hair???




Well, out where Cynthia and Rhett live there is a crud-load of gnats. Some people call them no-see-ums, either way they still suck.

I didn't know that they were in season...and I REALLY didn't know that they were in love with Kelly blood.

They bit her and bit her soooooo much! I tried to take a picture to document the feast that was Kelly, but the camera failed to capture it correctly.

The mistake was made when I said to someone that she had been "eaten alive". Kelly overheard it and did not take it lightly.

There was some pretty powerful arm flailing and head scratching, followed by a pretty strict warning to me to never tell her that she was being "eaten alive" again.

I agreed.

Now- after all of that nastiness, you could use a mind cleanser. How about a picture of my newest sweetie-pie niece Taylor???

Pictures of angel babies always make my brain feel better. I hope it has the same effect on you.

She is just sooo cute huh. :)

Kel's first Zion trip :)

This last Saturday, we decided it was high time to take Kelly to see Zion National Park.

She is six years old, and STILL had not been there.

This year we are trying to take her to see as many parks as we can fit into our busy driving-back-and-forth-from-Cedar- schedule.

Ugh. :(






We got the idea from Emily. She was going to be hiking in Zion that day with the Thebeau clan...maybe we could meet up and hike with them too???

Well, that was the plan anyway.

We took off for Zion at 10:30. I was told to be ready at 10:00...but anyone that knows me, knows that I am ALWAYS late. I am pretty sure that when people plan things, they tell me a half an hour earlier so I will be on time.



I am ok with that.

D.J. and I haven't been to Zion since around 2000. That was before they added the shuttles. They are an interesting addition.

I think that I would enjoy the ride on the shuttle a wee bit more if I wasn't so claustrophobic. I took it all in stride though, and did not stress in the least.

It is pretty hard to stress out in Zion.



Deejer pointed out interesting spots along the way, and informed me about the different hikes. They all sound fun.

NOT Angel's landing though. That one is absolutely not for me. I got the willies just from looking at it in the shuttle. ON THE GROUND.

I could see teeny tiny little people on the edge, at the top, and I could not bring myself to even picture myself up there.

All right, enough of me going on and on about what a world class weeenie I am.

We decided to just go with the river walk.

• It is short....1 mile to the end...1 mile back.
• Mostly flat.
• full of flowies, and nature.
• Right along the Virgin river...really important as you can see here --------------------------->

We had lunch by the river bank. It was incredibly nice. Kelly got to cool her aching toes and we all got to enjoy the sound of the river running past us.


After watching Kelly walk for 2 miles, I realized that she needs to move up a size or two in the shoe department. I would buy some for her now, except it is only a couple of weeks until school is out. Then it is full on flip flop time.

I adore flip flop time.

No socks to fold...no worries about sweaty feet. Kelly really does not like having hot feet. Who does really???







On the more pleasant list of things that Kelly DOES enjoy....

ZION NATIONAL PARK!!!
(tttaaah daaahhh)









We DID meet up with Em, Doug Mia and all of the kick booty Thebeau family. Not an easy task. There was about a million and a half more people to weed through to find them.

We round a bend in the trail and there they all were. Kelly thought that it was pretty magical. There was lots of hugs and screams of delight.





They were all just going down the river walk, and we were done for the day...so we parted ways and made plans to meet up later that night. (the shish-ka-bobs were amazing)

Back on the shuttle. Kelly really liked being able to ride around without a seat belt.

Freedom!!!




Here is one of the only pictures where Kell Bell is NOT striking pose. That is a trick though....I asked her to look out the window.....so it is technically a pose.

Like her hair? It has lots of cute twisties. I get my ideas from this blog. The story of a princess and her hair.

This lady is a kids hair goddess.


The BAD part about this hair style is that I forgot to put sunscreen where Kelly had parts..and she now has lots of sun burns on her scalp.

Owie!!


Lastly...today was my REAL last treat day of kindergarten history. I thought that it was last month, but I was incorrect.

We made SNAILS!!!!

They are...

• rolled up tortillia's with peanut butter and jelly for the shell
  
• a cheeto for the bady
• chives with a knot on the end for the eye stalks.
  

I was going to make them with lunchmeat, cheese, and mayo...then have a pickle for the body...but I ran out of $$$.

Bummer.

The kiddo's liked them though. :)




The front yard here at the Casa is blooming.

The back yard is plated and ready for a HUGE garden this summer.

We are looking forward to a great summer. :)

Flat Hannah

We have had an interesting visitor here at the Casa.

She is ...

• flat
• multi-colored
• quiet
• cute
• full of adventure

Her name is Flat Hannah. She was sent here to Casa de Coop by a little girl in California.

Why did she send her?

Well, her school is doing a project based on the book named "Flat Stanley". They made their own "Stanley" and sent them off to different parts of the country.

Our little friend Hannah knows Nicole, and she suggested that Flat Hannah be sent to our house. Cole knows that we will do our best to show Flat Hannah a good time.

Show her a good time is what we did!

MarciaMickMom ended up taking her on a ten day tour of Utah's most wonderful National Parks. Here she is...on the bus.....






....Reading up on Checker board mesa in Zion...










...Becoming a Junior Ranger in Bryce...











....Riding a boat on Lake Powell with a guide named Danny...









...Gasping at Rainbow Bridge....










...About to take a hike to see Delicate Arch in Arches National Park...











...checking out the deer at Capital Reef....











...enjoying the incredible view at Landscape Arch....










...Chilling with a Navajo Hoop dancer...












...Catching some sun beside a hogan...











...and lastly trying to figure out the petrogylphs.







We will miss you Flat Hannah. Hope that you had a wonderful time!

Mando-Pando!

What were YOU doing on 04-24-84???

I was probably goofing around in second grade. Possibly making my self dizzy trying to learn to play tether-ball.

Why do I ask about this specific date in history?

Well because of two reasons.

1. It is the day that Amanda was born :)
2. It is one of the coolest dates for a birthday.

D.J. only remembers Amanda's birthday out of all of his sisters.

Sounds mean doesn't it?

Really, it isn't. His memory of her birthday is all about the...

4
24
84

:)



Amanda is a great sister. Whenever she is around here at the casa, everyone is in a super good mood. Probably because she is so fun to be around and funny.

She can quote all of the best movies. Like, Princess Bride, Sandlot and Ferris Bueller's day off. Honestly, I could listen to a good movie quote battle all day.

One of Amanda's most interesting qualities has got to be... that her interest in things is contagious.

I don't mean that she is contagious in an ichy-scratchy way...I mean that when she gets into something...EVERYONE of us wants to be in on it.

With books, she will be reading something..and before I know it, everyone has read that book. Then, I find myself into that book as well. She can even get you to read an entire series.

The best part is sitting around with Amanda and talking about the books...the plot, the characters, the writing. She has interesting things to say about books. I look forward to her opinion.

Another thing I noticed. Amanda will be really into watching tennis, then when I am not looking..DJ is hanging out, watching tennis. I seriously have not ever seen him watching tennis in the 10 years I have been with him.

Everyone will be into tennis...who's playing who, what is this players record. Conversations, that I swear were not happening before Amanda was talking about tennis.

Then, people don't just watch it. Not in this family. They go out and play it. (and be naturally good at it too)


Amanda is a very supportive sister. Even with Sadie being a tiny tot, and all of the other places that she has to be...Amanda can always be found at lots of Savy's volleyball games, basketball games and even an X-Press concert or two.

It is a real show of love...those bleachers are NOT comfy at all!


Mostly though, Amanda is a terrific Mommy. Sadie and Taylor are so loved. Amanda is gentle and sweet to her little baby girls. You can see how much she loves, and genuinely likes spending time with all of the little kiddo's. Mia loves her, no doubt because she is so great with her.

It takes a special kind of person to keep up with 4 children under 4 years old and not go crazy, or even loose your cool. Amanda can do it. I admire that about her.

There are lots of things that I love about Amanda. I could go on and on.
She would even forgive me for posting this late!

Thanks for being a super awesome aunt, sister-in-law, friend and someone that I can always depend on!

Happy Birthday Amanda!

We all love you to iddy biddy bits!

Ali-bo-Bali

Oh Happy day!!!

Today, 20 years ago....Ali Mace Cooper was born!!

Happy Birthday to yoooooooou. Welcome to the un-teenager club. We do not have meetings, or a club t-shirt..but we do have

• aches
• pains
• lack of energy
• annoyance of younger people
• the ability to talk about gas without giggling
  
• and greater interest in PBS
  

It's a BLAST!!!




As you can tell here, Ali can have a good time where ever she is. Like this picture of her here at the left. I am pretty sure she is inches away from Savy's stinky toes...does she look bothered?

No.

That is because she is positive.



Here she is at Christmas.

Looks like she just got coal in her stocking doesn't it???

Well, you would be surprised to know that she just found out that she would only be able to help the needy for two hours on Christmas day...not the five that she had been planing on.

See how the whole story changes things???


(All kidding aside)

Kelly LOVES Ali.

When Ali talks to her, she gets down to her level. She listens to her, and has normal everyday conversations with her. No baby talk...never a missed chat.

She makes time to spend with her. It matters so much.


I have a ton of pictures of Als on this computer. All of them are border-line magazine quality.

So why did I choose some of the more silly pics? Not the more flattering photos?

I did that because Ali is FUN, and silly and full of crazy faces.....those are my favorite.

She might do this to me ----------->

That is alright with me.

Ali has this ability to make even the most boring things entertaining.

Like watching a kid's cartoon, or sweeping the floor.

Here she is dyeing Easter eggs last year...she made it hilarious!

Everyone that reads this already knows all of this about Ali.


They know that she is constantly humming a little tune. Smiling at
a little kid. Chatting with an elderly friend.

It is all normal everyday stuff to them.

Those of you that do not know her, are sitting at their computer surprised at my story of Ali. Mouths dropped open...in total shock that such a nice person exists now a days.


Well, she does.

She is my husbands second youngest sister.

Today is her Birthday.


Love ya Als! Happiest of birthdays to you.

Treat day

Today was my second-to-last-treat-day-in-kindergarten-history.

If you know me, then you know that I am seriously heart broken.
I live for kindergarten snack days. I get to search the internet for the coolest ideas..then make them for my 6 year old friends.

I found this gem on the familyfun website that I LOVE to tiny bits.

It is....

• a green apple cut into fourths
• green grapes cut in half
• then secured with a toothpick...scary I know. I told them to look out for them
• cut a slice for the mouth
• dip in lemon juice to keep from browning
• I made the eyes out of melted white and brown chocolate
• then I added a tongue with pull and peel twizzlers
• and finally I made a fly for the end of the tongue out of chocolate.

Kelly loves green apples..so I thought it would make her happy.


I could not decide between the frog and the mouse... so I did both.

I have time on my hands without my DJ to keep me company now.

These in the picture are just strawberries and almonds.

This is what I did....

• strawberry cut in half
• dipped in white chocolate
• crown sprinkles for eyes
• a red hot for a mouth
• a junior mint cut in half for the ears
• and a pull and peel twizzler for the tail

I wrapped them all up and sent them off to the kiddos.

This picture was taken by Mrs. Reese, Kell's Teachers aid....man she is cool. She took this with her cell phone.


You can't tell that they are edible, but they are.


I am looking forward to the kindergarten circus at the end of the year...and working at the school next year! (shhhhh) I am not 100 on that yet.

Oh yeah..I made like 25 of each of these....wouldn't it be funny if I only made one?

Hola!

Everything SPRING is in full bloom here at Casa de Coop.

Check out the idea my Mom gave me for a cute center piece. It is sweetie pie plants in egg shells.

Love it. Had to make it.

My favorite plant ha got to be that tiny little pink one....it is such a munchkin.


Spring is so much fun when you have crazy projects to dive into....I seriously just finished scrap booking 250 pictures for Mama Coop. Now I can't even look at paper without cringing.

Here is Kelly meeting her new cousin Taylor. She seemed sort of nervous. Poor Kell bell.

Then there is D.J. He was meeting her for the first time then too.

He was definitely nervous. I think that babies scare him...he likes to be able to talk to them.

Whatever...I love new babies...Taylor is soooooo sweet.



I also have a great time with kids that are older.

Here is Kell with Shelby and Sadie. Doesn't Sadie look like she is far away? She did not want anything to do with me taking her picture...but I got it!


Deeejer made the mistake of taking a nap around Kelly and I. Normally we will just do something else, but we were feeling silly. We got all of Kelly's littlest pet shop toys and stacked them on him while he snoozed.

It was more difficult than we thought it would be for sure. Everytime he would move we would loose a kitty or a monkey off of the bed.

We laughed so hard, then we snapped this picture. It was worth the effort.

What does D.J. think of our masterpiece?

I am pretty sure that this picture says it all.

Love ya Deej!