The Cooper Family has been super busy - as usual. March was our big "birthday" month. Maleah turned 8 on the 22nd and Carissa turned 4 on the 26th. Maleah chose to go to American Girl with her friends this year, rather than have a party. I shared pictures of that last time. But this time I have pictures of her actual birthday and Carissa's Rapunzel Party at the Depot Train Room. It was super fun! We had the party on the Sunday before her birthday and it snowed that day! It also snowed on Carissa's 2nd birthday (so, note to self, it's not that unusual to get a big wet snow at the end of March). It was a really yucky and slick day out but we still had family and friends show up to help celebrate. We actually had a thundersnow that day. Kinda cool.
Carissa with her Rapunzel cake.
Carissa opening presents. These blocks were from
Grandma Sherrel and Grandpa Clarence. (Note, the purple shoes,
they go with everything, apparently.)
The birthday girl standing in front of the miniature
train display at the Depot.
There is a camera on the front of the miniature train and it records
as it goes along the track and then the images are displayed on
this big-screen tv. If you stand in the right spot, you can get
on tv too. So here is Maleah, Carissa and Jack Thatcher, who
was setting it up for us and showing us how it worked.
The girls loved it!
Rapunzel waiting on the train to come by.
The girls also got to open up presents at home on their actual birthdays. Maleah got an ipod. She was thrilled! She then gave her Kindle Fire to Carissa because she said she didn't need it anymore. She decided to do that all on her own. I was very proud of her for being so generous. She really does love her sister. Carissa got a variety of stuff - an Etch a Sketch, blocks, princesses, etc. Both girls got a Glo Aquarium. It comes with a black light and we bought Glo Fish to put in it. They glow and the girls love them! Maleah got two orange ones and named them Katie and Lila. Carissa got an orange one she named Goldilocks, a pink one she named Pinky Winky Doo, and a green one named John Deere Shotgun Shells. That name must be sung, not said. After several weeks they are all still alive and doing well. Woo-hoo!
Maleah's ipod has a camera. We went to the Club for her birthday supper and she was busy taking pictures while we were there.
Here is Grandpa David
Grandma Debby
Daddy and Maleah getting ready to go to dinner.
She also got a rose and a balloon at school that day.
She was having a really great day!
Maleah took this of her sister and I think it is adorable!
I took this one for her.
The birthday girl with her aquarium.
Carissa on her party day, opening her Rapunzel hair
and dress to wear to the party later.
Carissa opening her aquarium and Maleah reading the cards to her.
Carissa picked TGI Friday's for her birthday supper. She based that
decision solely on the fact that they have good ice cream.
Maleah likes their ice cream too.
Silas liked it too. But that kid eats everything and anything.
Easter was fun though! And I had everything ready that needed to be. The kids all got new swimsuits in their Easter baskets (from the Easter Bunny and in their baskets from Grandma Debby and Grandpa David) so they are all set and ready for summer. We went to church on Easter morning and the girls looked beautiful. Silas looked handsome too. The girls wore matching purple floral dresses with little purple cardigans over them because it was chilly. Carissa refused to wear her white church shoes so instead she wore purple Saucony tennis shoes with hers. It truly wasn't worth the fight to make her change shoes. We had Easter dinner at Uncle Timmy and Aunt RaeAnn's house. The kids loved the Easter Egg Hunt. They girls both left with between $30 and $40, winning lottery tickets, and Dairy Queen dollars. You can't beat that! Silas hunted eggs this year too. He loved holding the eggs - they were the perfect size for his little hands.
Maleah, preparing for the big hunt
Silas will walk while holding on to someone's fingers
but he won't let go. He has taken only a few steps on
his own but will not do it very often. Him and Grandpa
did a lot of walking like this at Easter.
Carissa and Cadence eating some dessert.
Hunting eggs on his hands and knees.
Carissa did this the day before Easter. She took marker and painted
her nose to look like a bunny. She also took pink marker
and drew on whiskers, although they are harder to see. Why did
she do this? Because she wanted to look like the Easter Bunny!
Of course she was unsupervised and I was a little freaked out
but I had to take a picture. It took a lot of scrubbing to get
that off before church on Sunday morning. We managed and I
doubt anyone noticed that there was a tinge of black still left
on her nose. They were probably looking at her shoes.
Bryan and Jamie's baby, Kendyll, and Silas last year.
Jamie, Kendyll, Silas, and Me this year at Easter.
It's amazing the difference a year can make!
Here is a picture from last August at Uncle Timmy's house, compared to a picture from this Easter:
A couple of weeks ago, my uncle Ted and his soon-to-be wife Michelle rode their horses by our house. Carissa fed the horses grass and Silas is the very first Mini Cooper to sit on a horse. Go Silas! He wasn't freaked out at all until I walked off to get the camera.
And here is our little eater after he had spaghetti for supper.
This boy will eat and eat. He will sit at the table longer
than anyone else and still be eating. It cracks me up!
Just one of the many ways in which my little boy
is so different than my girls.
A few weeks ago we traveled down to Eddyville, Illinois, which is just south of Harrisburg for a birthday party for my friend Heather's little boy Mason. Heather is my friend Jessi's little sister and she and her family live in North Carolina. It was so fun to see them all and finally have Silas and Mason meet! However, I had forgotten my camera and got no pictures of the whole day. Boo! Maleah got to play with Ali, Mason's big sister. It was so nice to see my "other family." And I got to eat Peking Palace on the way home! I was a happy girl.
In more recent news, our poor little Carissa has been sick. :( Last week she started running a fever and was vomiting. It seemed to be short-lived and the next day, she was fine, just didn't have any appetite. Then the next day, she vomited again after getting grossed out from watching a goat being milked at a petting zoo. I truly thought it was just the goat that made her sick because she got a little green watching it. We jumped in the car, headed home, and she puked at home (thankfully, not at the petting zoo!). After she puked, she was fine again. We played all afternoon with our friend Vivian and had a great time. The next day, she woke up fine again and we planned an afternoon of kite-flying at Grandma and Grandpa's. I bought a couple of big new kites and kite string and off we went. Grandma was also fixing us a big lunch. We walked in the door at Grandma's and Carissa headed to the bathroom and puked. Off and on throughout this whole past week she told me that her stomach hurt and would point at her belly button. It suddenly dawned on me that this child might have appendicitis. Her on again, off again symptoms, the stomach pain, fever, etc all looked like it could be appendicitis. I spoke to a few nurses and Jason and I came to the conclusion that we should have her checked. She laid around at Grandma's, very lethargic. We ended up at the ER that evening. It took FOREVER! We didn't get home until midnight. They decided that it wasn't her appendix but told us to keep an eye on her and if she isn't better in two days to take her to the doctor. They decided that it was just a virus that she couldn't quite shake. They agreed that we were right to bring her in because her symptoms were a bit weird and did point to possible appendicitis. I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. Today, she puked again and is lethargic on the couch. I am trying to keep her hydrated but it's not easy.
She was very brave in the ER and told me in a very small and tiny voice, "I am very brave because I am a doctor too." It was quite possibly her very cutest moment ever. She also told the lab techs the same thing. "I am very brave because I am a doctor too." They were surprised but just played along. She was so meek and so quiet when she said it. I think she really believed that she was a doctor then. Hopefully she starts feeling better soon! I don't like my little doctor being sick.
And that pretty much brings us up to date. Now we are just enjoying the nice spring weather and waiting for summer. Come on summer! We are ready!
