We had a great New Year's Eve! I was still recovering from my surgery so we didn't go anywhere but the party came to us! My best friend, Jessi, from Harrisburg came up that day and stayed for the day and evening. She brought the girls party hats, tiaras, mardi gras beads, bracelets, hair acccessories, and lots of fun things to keep them busy. She brought Silas a bag, a sword, cool glasses, and other stuff that really impressed him. The kids played and Jessi and I sat in my bedroom and visited. Jason spent his evening visiting, taking care of the kids, and watching tv. It was very laid-back but still a lot of fun. It was so nice to get a long visit in with my friend that I don't get to see very often.
Later in January, I had my a check-up with my plastic surgeon, just to make sure everything was healing properly. We drove all the way over there (about a three hour drive to where his office is located, on the other side of St. Louis), I walked in and the receptionist gave me an odd look. I told her that I was there to see Dr. Curtis and she said, "But your appointment is next week." What?? How did this happen? I told her how far we had driven and asked if there was any way to see him anyway. She was very sorry but said that he was in a seven hour surgery. He had no associate there that could see me either. She wanted me to come back again the next week. I was about 95% sure that my appointment card read the date and time that I showed up but I had checked the card a day or two before we drove over there and then I pitched it when I cleaned out my purse. I was frustrated. Jason and I got back in the elevator to head to our car. There was this nice chatty lady in there with us. She listened to the conversation Jason and I were having and started laughing. She told us that she had done the exact same thing a few weeks prior. And she had driven in "all the way from the city!" Oh my goodness. I wanted to laugh in her face and be like "Oh my! That is so far!" Hahahaha! Jason then told her that we lived in Illinois and had driven almost three hours to this appointment. Some Missourians think Illinois is sooo far away! I think she felt really bad for us. But anyway, I decided to call Dr. Curtis' other office that is located in Mercy Hospital (where the kids were born). He has a really nice nurse there that had taken my drain tubes out a few weeks before. I called and asked her what I should do. She said to come to the other office and she would check me out and as long as everything looked good, I wouldn't need to come back to see Dr. Curtis for six months. Whew! She saved the day. Of course, everything looked great and it worked out fine. I was so glad I had thought to call her.
Two years ago, when Silas was in the hospital, Jason and I were doing a lot of eating out in St. Louis. It was either that or eat the hospital food. Three hospital meals in one day for three months is too much for me. A lot of days I would order Domino's Pizza and have it delivered. I could make two meals out of one pizza so it worked out well but the days that Jason was there with me, we would leave for an hour or two and go eat somewhere a little better. We asked our nurse one day where she liked to eat in the area and she told us about this place that was "a little pricey" but really good. It was called Annie Gunn's. We decided to try it. It was a little bit more than "a little pricey" so we had hamburgers and fries (which was really good). Anyway, Jason told me when I got sick with cancer that when I made it through and was back to my old self, that he was going to take me to Annie Gunn's to celebrate and we were going to have steak. It sounded good to me and so through all of my treatments, I looked forward to that. (I felt like I had to tell you all of that to tell you this next part.) So, the day that we saw Dr. Curtis' nurse instead of Dr. Curtis himself, we went to Annie Gunn's to celebrate! We had a cozy little table for two. And a big surprise to us, the steaks weren't as pricey as we remembered. They were still more expensive than say, LoneStar, but not by as much as thought. We both had Filet Mignon, with their signature mashed potatoes, asparagus, and butternut squash. It was delicious. Jason and I both thought it was one of the best steaks we ever had. I had such a good day. It was so nice to celebrate with Jason - just the two of us in a nice restaurant. If there has been any bright side to my being sick or to Silas being early, it is that Jason and I got a lot of time together in the car and in restaurants to talk and connect. It's not always easy to do that with the three chatty Mini Coopers around.
Jason and I at Annie Gunn's
So, also on that day I got a new car. The day just kept getting better. We had been looking at getting a bigger vehicle before I got sick. We were looking at used Suburbans or Yukon XLs and it just seemed that every one of them that I found in our price range, was either the wrong color or had something I didn't like about it. I told Jason that I felt like it just wasn't the time for us to buy a car and we were going to have to just be crowded. I thought, at the time, that all signs pointed toward staying car payment-free. And then I got sick. And then I was like, "A-ha God! I got it. This is why I couldn't find a car to buy." The Acadia that we had was a good car but after Silas was born, it got pretty crowded in there. Three car seats, three children, two adults, and a stroller or a load of groceries and that thing was overflowing. We had no space. We dealt with it though. Well anyway, after I got better, the idea of trading cars came up again. We don't ever want to be in a position where we have two car payments at the same time and Jason is going to need a new truck in a few years. There is no doubt about that. So, we felt like if we were going to get a bigger vehicle for me to drive, it was either do it now or wait a whole lot longer. I decided to do a little search online and see if there were any used vehicles like what I wanted in our price range. Surprisingly, there were a few that weren't too far from what we wanted to spend. We drove almost two hours to Charleston one cold and windy Saturday to look at a used one, only to get there, spend hours at a dealership with three cranky kids, and have salesmen unwilling to negotiate the price. We left without a car but stopped at Mattoon and bought two new fish and two new snails. So the day wasn't a total waste. This should be a short story but I am making it a very long story, aren't I? Okay, well anyway, we saw online where there was a dealership near St. Louis that was offering brand new Yukons, just like I wanted, for less money than the used ones we had been looking at. How could this be? Well, we decided to drop by there just to check out the deal. It was a huge dealership. They sold two used silver Acadias while we were sitting there. And the best part was that the deal was truly a deal. I never would have thought it but we bought a brand new 2014 Yukon XL for less than the used ones I had been looking at. And not just for a little less money, but a lot less money. We were happy happy happy and Jason drove us home in a new white suv. So, yes, I had a very good day on January 29th, 2014.
Okay, so what else has been going on with us? Well, earlier in January we were mailed some very awesome hats from my amazingly talented friend Heather in North Carolina (Jessi's baby sister - who was actually a baby with adorable little piggy-tails the first time I met her). Heather is now grown up with babies of her own and can crochet like nobody's business. She made us each a hat and we LOVE them! They are warm but they are also super cute. We get compliments on them all the time. The kids never complain about wearing their hats. In fact, they are upset if they can't find them!
We love our hats!!!
Maleah has been cross-stitching. It is her new favorite craft. I used to cross-stitch years ago but it got to be too hard on my eyes. And then I learned to quilt and the cross-stitch went the wayside. I asked a very talented lady here in town, Royce Etchason, to give Maleah a lesson on embroidery a few weeks ago and Maleah loved it. She has been cross-stitching up a storm since then. She stitched her whole name in lavender (her favorite color). I was so proud of her! She did a great job! Now, she has started on a much harder and very cute owl project for 4-H. We went to Hobby Lobby and bought everything she needed. She is very excited about it. I took her picture with her finished name project and suddenly two other people wanted their picture taken too. :)
Maleah and her cross-stitch
Carissa decided to pose - take note of the dressy dress
and roller skates...
Silas wanted his picture too. Funny pic though
because the hand magnet had fallen off of the
fridge and it looks like there is a zombie
trying to escape out from under our fridge. Hahaha!
Carissa hasn't been up to much. She likes to reminisce about her "best day ever!" What was the best day ever in this little girl's life, you ask? Well, back in December she got to spend the day with me. Just me and her. I took her to the pediatric dentist in Evansville. (She had refused to open her mouth for Dr. Wilson here in town. She needed a check-up.) She did great for the dentist in Evansville, had no cavities, and then she and I went to the mall. While walking by Build-A-Bear, she paused in complete wonder and asked if she could go in there. It suddenly dawned on me that I had never taken this kid to Build-A-Bear! Her sister had been there many times before Carissa was born and it just seemed to me like I had spent plenty of money there over the years without realizing that Carissa had never even stepped foot inside before. Carissa has also been going through a huge Hello Kitty phase. I wasn't planning on building a bear that day but after I saw the look on her face I probably would have bought her two of them if she had asked. We went in and she found a pink hello kitty to build. See why this is the best day ever for a four-year old? She filled it with stuffing, put a heart in it, and dressed it in pink. It is the most adorable girly-est, Hello Kitty that you ever saw! She loves it so much and sleeps with it every night. It was worth every cent because it made her feel so happy and special. After that she got to ride the carousel in the mall, I made a return at Macy's, and we headed home. She loved that day so much. She can't wait to do it again. I love spending the day with each of my children by themselves. We have so much fun when it's just one on one with me.
Silas is doing great. He recently started some speech therapy. He wasn't saying much and I had him evaluated. They said that he would benefit from some therapy. The therapist said that he had three strikes against him as to why he wasn't talking. 1. That he was born at 25 weeks. 2. That he is a boy. And 3. That he is the younger brother of two sisters who talk for him. Therapy is going well. He has started trying to say more and doing a little bit of sign language for the things that he cannot say. He is growing like a weed too. He weighs only seven pounds less than Carissa and his shoe size is only two sizes from Carissa's shoes. He loves to wear her Crocs around the house. Silas weighs 32 pounds, Carissa weighs 39 pounds, and Maleah weighs 65 pounds. I won't tell you what I weigh (although I have lost some). Maleah is counting down until she no longer has to sit in a booster seat. She needs to weigh at least 80 pounds. Personally, I think she may be in high school before that happens. We shall see I suppose.
Why does he love to crawl onto the table??
While Maleah's hobby is stitching and watching Sabrina The Teenage Witch and other old comedies on her Kindle, Carissa's hobby is roller-skating all over the house and playing dress-up. At the same time. Therefore, we have, on a daily basis: a roller-skating cheerleader, a roller-skating princess, a roller-skating batgirl, a roller-skating pirate girl, a roller-skating dog, a roller-skating cat, and a rolling-skating girl in a variety of dressy velvet dresses. Velvet is her new-found, self-proclaimed "favorite fabric ever!" Thanks to Grandma Debby and our friends Deb and Vivian Duquaine, we have lots of dress-up clothes. So far today she has had on five different dresses and it is noon. The smallest size she wears is a 2T. It's a little short on her but otherwise fits her fine. The girl is built like a stick. Silas' hobbies include following the roller-skating girl around and riding his little four-wheeler all over the house. He also likes jumping on his sisters' beds. And eating. He loves to eat. Especially chocolate. Yesterday, he had been quietly playing with a toy phone and a magna-doodle in the corner of the living room by the couch. I was on the (real) phone so he thought I wasn't paying attention to him so he got up, went into the kitchen, drug a chair over to the counter, climbed up, opened a box of Russel Stover chocolates that I had gotten for my birthday, found a plate, put eight pieces of chocolate on his plate, climbed down, went back to his corner, and quietly started playing again while eating the chocolate. I had to take a picture. And no I did not let him eat all of those - just a few. Chocolate just makes us all a little happier. He can't help it. He comes from a long line of chocolate lovers on both sides of the family.
Silas and his eight piece of chocolate - See how he has a piece in each hand?
Carissa in her size 2T playdress. No skates at the moment.
I recently had a birthday (February 10th). I had a great day! I was not complaining about being older, I was just happy to be alive! Thank God for that! I turned 35 years old. Maleah was disappointed that I didn't turn 36, because if I had then we would all be an age that is a multiple of two. She loves that her age and her Dad's age are both a multiple of 8 right now. And also, that Carissa is half of Maleah's age right now and Silas is half of Carissa's age right now. See how well the homeschooling is going? Speaking of homeschooling, Carissa is learning to read and spell and is doing fantastic with her phonics. She is also doing amazingly well with her math and can do a lot of simple addition and subtraction quickly in her head, which is not in our curriculum until next year. But she just is naturally good at it. Maleah is doing great too. Half of her curriculum is 3rd grade (what she is supposed to be) and half is 4th grade. She is a great student. She will tell you that she is terrible at math but she is actually very good at math. It just isn't as easy for her as the rest. She has to actually think about it but she aces every test I give her. I am super proud of both of them. We haven't taken any snow days this year and I think we will finish our school year weeks ahead of the public schools. I would rather have "Sun Days" instead of "Snow Days" anyday!
Back to the topic of my birthday... My Mom brought me a cake over at lunch and I blew out 35 candles on it. The kids thought that was great! It took almost every single birthday candle I had in the house to do it. And then my friend Vera brought over a coconut cream pie for me (my favorite!). It was so good! And then my Aunt Patty brought me a gift and a box of chocolates. Prior to that, Silas' therapist had been over in the morning, and knowing it was my birthday, brought me a delicious cake called Sinful Cake and a sweet card. I think I might gain back the weight I lost. It was all so good. That evening after Jason got home from work, we got all ready to go out for supper and Maleah decided she didn't want to go. Fine. Her loss. And then Carissa decided she also wanted to stay with Maleah at Grandma Debby and Grandpa David's house. Jason and I decided to just go ahead and leave Silas there as well and we went out to eat, by ourselves, for my birthday at TGI Friday's. It was delicious and then we went to Walmart, by ourselves, and bought groceries. We must be getting old because it was really fun and we had a good time. Overall, it was a great birthday!! Oh, and then yesterday, I received my birthday gift from my friend Jessi. It was a delivery of chocolate-covered strawberries, chocolate-covered apples, and chocolate-covered bananas from Edible Arrangements. It was positively delicious. Seriously, one of the best things I have ever eaten. The strawberries were the size of my palm. Sadly, they are all gone today except for two bananas. Maleah and I ate the whole box.
Me and the fireball that is my cake
My cake with 35 candles!
My chocolate-covered, mouth-watering fruit from Jessi
Two days before my birthday we went to St. Louis to see Mamma Mia at the Fox Theatre. We had a fun time. It was just me, Mom, and Maleah. We all three love the movie Mamma Mia. Maleah can sing every song from the movie. We were all so excited to see the play but sadly the play didn't live up to our expectations. They had more bad words in it than were necessary and had definitely sexed it up. Why do they have to do that? But we still had fun (the play was good but not great) and we went shopping: Hobby Lobby, Macy's, Dillard's, and Victoria's Secret. That, my friends, makes for a great day. I was happy to leave with bras that fit. The new girls aren't exactly the same as the old girls, if you know what I mean. New bras were needed.
Maleah and Grandma Debby at Mamma Mia
Ready to see the show
I also got a really cool candle from my Aunt Angie for my birthday. It is from diamondcandles.com. Have you ever heard of that? There is a diamond ring hidden in every candle. Your candle can be worth $10, $100, $1000, or $5000. My ring was very pretty but I think it was only worth $10. It was a lot of fun though to find it. I would recommend that website if you're looking for a cool gift for someone. I took a picture of my ring but for whatever reason I can't get it to upload from my phone. Hmmm.
Last Sunday Maleah had a 4-H meeting. After the meeting, her leader's husband asked us all if we wanted to go on a sleigh ride behind his horses. Of course we did! Maleah felt a bit like Laura Ingalls Wilder, I think. I felt a bit like a frozen brick. But that's okay! We had fun. And how often do you get to go on a sleigh ride? It was the first time in my 35 years, that's for sure.
Maleah with her 4-H friends
My view on the sleigh ride: One horse is named Bob, the
other is Bill. Guess which is which?
I have a few random January/February photos to add on:
Carissa holding baby Andrew Kitley, who stopped by for a visit.
Carissa headed outside
My twins! They love each other so much (when they're not arguing)!
Another fancy dress and honestly, she was probably wearing roller skates too.
Best cupcakes in the world. And I made them.
Thank you very much. (I had a little help from a tiny blonde
with an attitude though.)
And that's all folks. That is the latest update on the Coopers! I would love to get back in the habit of updating more often so the blog isn't quite as long. I will try. I really will. :)
