Zoo Day

We're willing it to be spring around here.  We've had some beautiful days off and on and I keep finding myself longing for pool days and long summer nights outside.  We're ready!  Come on spring! Last Saturday, we went to Zoo Atlanta to enjoy some time outside.  

This is how Lainey spent a good bit of her day.  You see, Cooper likes to sing and talk and talk and sing 😊

He is always doing one of those things.  Always.  This day he was stuck on Feliz Navidad.  Over and over and over.  Lainey and her introverted self was SO done with Feliz Navidad.  The whole thing was just comical to me.  I kept trying to think of ways to distract Coop or keep them separated.  I always tell Lainey that "you get to be you and he gets to be him."   I try and find ways to give her breaks from his constant energy but she'd had enough of his singing so she just plugged her ears 😊

By the end of the day, I had that song stuck in my own head.  Thanks Coop.

I'm so thankful for these precious family days.  There is nothing I'd rather do than be with these 3 people making memories together.

Valentine's ❤️

Lainey and Cooper are really creative kids.  They both enjoy anything that includes drawing, painting, step by step books for drawing characters or animals, coloring, or painting pottery.  They just really love it all.  They both used their creativity for their Valentine boxes and I thought they turned out so cute.  This was Lainey's first year working the hot glue gun!

The day after Valentines Day my mom flew in to stay with our kids while I spent a few days with my grown up Valentine.

Jamie attended a discipleship pastor's conference that just happened to be located in my happy place.

I did a whole lotta this...

And this.

I don't know what it is about walking on the beach.  It's just good for my soul.  And my fit bit numbers were amazing for the week 😜

Jamie joined me on my walk the last day after his conference was over.  It's so good to get away and be refreshed.  

Counting down the days

Since we returned from our Christmas trip to Missouri, Lainey has been crossing off the days on her calendar in anticipation of February 6th and the daddy/daughter dance at our church. This is SUCH a big deal for her.  She loves every minute of it.  

We have a new music minister at our church and his wife and I have become fast friends.  We love them and their family so much.  They have a daughter Lainey's age so we took them shopping together to pick out dresses.  

Love these two girls.  They are just so much fun.  

They tried on all different styles of dresses for fun and decided these should be called the chicken dresses 😊 We laughed so hard while they danced around like chickens.  

We found the perfect dress for this little beauty.  She would not let her daddy see it or know anything about it before the night of the dance. (I'm telling ya, this is a big deal!) 

 Goodness, she's so grown up.  I really enjoy every minute of this though. It's so fun to hear her thoughts on things and watch her grow and mature.  

Lainey has discovered Pinterest on my phone and mostly looks at American Girl doll things.  She decided to search fancy hair styles and loved one similar to this.  I was a little nervous but thanks to my double pack of Bobby pins, we pulled it off!  Her hair is insanely thick so it literally took a million Bobby pins 😊

I had my own date night with this cutie.  We saw Kung Foo Panda 3.  Coop's been showing me his best ninja warrior moves every since.  What a fun night!

Life lately

2016 is off to a great start!  We loved Upward basketball this year and just finished our season.  This was Coop's first year and it was comical.  He had a few moments of brilliance while playing but he mostly just hopped around the court having fun with his friends 😊 He did score the prettiest layup in last game.  Made his daddy proud.

Lainey had a great season this year.  She really enjoys the sport and wants to continue playing as she gets older.  Things got more complicated this year as they learned new plays, different types of defense and basically just went a level up from what they did last season and Lainey did awesome!  Jamie coached both of their teams.  He has such a good balance in his relationship with Lainey.  He can yell something to her as her coach and she runs to do it.  It's only helped their daddy/daughter bond.  I love watching it.

Cooper was hanging out with Jamie at his office before church on a Wednesday night while I was at ballet with Lainey.  Our children's pastor walked by and saw this and snapped a picture for me when neither of them knew it.  Such a sweet moment.  Gosh, he's a good daddy.

One of Lainey's friends hosted a valentine tea party with their favorite doll. Lainey and Samantha coordinated their outfits and had a great time.  

My handsome Target date during Mommy/Coop time on Tuesdays

Lainey started a crochet/knitting class that meets once a month.  She's focused on learning to crochet as the knitting is a little more complicated.  She's such a crafty girl.  I'm trying to find ways to keep up with her creativity.  I got a sewing machine for Christmas a few years ago and she's begging me to get it out and teach her how to use it.  I guess I better learn how to use it myself!!!