Cash Cab to the Cooper's, please

Hello blog readers! We've had a crazy kind of week around here. When I blogged last week I didn't feel well. I ended up getting sicker and after a trip to the Emergency Room early Wednesday morning I finally began to feel better. I have had a kidney infection and gallbladder issues. I go back to the doctor on Tuesday to find out more about that. But in the meantime I am feeling much much better! So that's good. It's hard to be sick when you've got two little ones. I thank God for my Mom and my wonderful husband who took care of the girls and everything else for a few days. What would I do without them? I don't even want to know.

So, needless to say, no skating for us this week. Carissa started pulling up to things this week. I think she surprised herself as much as she did me. She's a funny little thing. She talks to herself constantly while she is playing. I swear she is Maleah's twin - just four years later. I can not believe two kids can be so much alike.

I had a funny conversation with Maleah this week (well, many actually). She came and told me that she was pretending to be Mady from Texas (a friend of hers) and I was to be Maleah's mom (that's easy enough). She loves to pretend she is other people she knows. So here is how it went:

Her: "I'm Mady from Texas and I came all the way to Maleah's house in a cab."

Me: "Wow! That's a long way to go in a cab. I bet that was expensive!"

Her: "No, not really. It was the Cash Cab."

Me: "Oh. Did you have to answer a question to win a free ride?"

Her: "Oh yeah. They asked me "Where do hearts come from? And I said 'hmmm, Jesus I guess'. I was a big winner."

Me: "Good answer Mady."


Then last night for supper I fixed Shepherd's Pie. It's one of Jason's favorites. While we were eating it Jason asked Maleah "Do you think the shepherds used to eat Shepherd's Pie and that's how it got its name?" Maleah thought about it for a second and then she said "I don't know. Maybe. I'll have to ask God about that." I hope she tells me if she hears back from Him on that one. lol.


She cracks me up! She is always pretending to be somebody else. Maybe she'll be an actress one day. Who knows! She definitely keeps me laughing.

Eat, Sleep, Skate

Hey everybody! Sorry the blog is late but I just now got the computer back after its extended hospital stay. It was expected to be in there for 48 to 72 hours. But, it actually took 144 hours (or 6 days). The surgery was a success though and it is running great! Sort of wish I had insurance for that kind of hospital stay though...

So what's new with us this week? Same ol', same ol'. Eat, sleep, roller skate. That's us, baby. lol. I had the great idea to drive to Harrisburg on Friday night and go their somewhat new skating rink and to eat at one of our favorite restaurants there. Jason had to work but Mom and I and the girls headed south for some skating fun. We met our good friend Becky at Peking Palace and were very glad to get to visit with her. We were disappointed that the rest of the Staffords couldn't make it but it was short notice. The Chinese food was delicious too! So that part of the trip was totally worth the drive. But then we headed to the skate rink. What a disappointment! It was not near as nice as what we've gotten used to. It was small and there wasn't anything to do but skate! I know, I know. You're probably thinking "Isn't that what you went there for?" or "What did you expect??". Well, what I expected from this "Family Fun Center" (that is at least 30 years newer than the skating rink we've went to for the last several weeks) was a family oriented, full of activity, happenin' kind of place. What I found was a triple-wide trailer converted into a small skating-rink and packed full of cussing rowdy tweens who all happened to be really fast skaters. There were three parents in the room. One of the other ones was my mom. It was her idea to look around for a few minutes before we paid the 15+ dollars to get in. She is so smart! We didn't stay. We left with a very disappointed four year old. But luckily Fairfield was on the way home. Their skating rink was open until eleven that night. We got there about 8 o'clock so she still had lots of time to skate. It cost us $5 total for all of us to get in there and that included free mini glo-golf and free play area. They have a climbing/slide thing there that Maleah loves. So worth the five bucks! So, lesson learned: don't go looking for greener pastures; the pasture here is pretty nice.

So then we ate and slept some and went back to Fairfield again on Monday. They were having a daytime skate there because there was no school that day. So I rounded up my playgroup gals, whom I miss so much since school started, and planned a get-together at the skating rink. I also invited my friends Tina and Julie, who brought their kids, and Tina invited a friend who brought her kids. All together there were eight moms and seventeen kids in our group. We all had so much fun! I hope we can do it again next month on President's Day. Carissa loves to skate too! How does she do it? Well, she rides in her stroller and I push her on skates. And we go fast! It's actually a very good way to put her to sleep. Lucky for me, they're pretty laid-back at Skateland and didn't mind at all that I was out there with a stroller. How cool is that?

I wasn't kidding when I said "eat, sleep, skate". That's really about it for us this week. Anyone wanting a good workout should come with us next time! Just give me a call or email me at db.cooper1@verizon.net

Just another week...

Well, it was just another week here at the Cooper's. Not much really happened. Our computer is sick. I think it has a virus. It is going into the hospital tomorrow. Please keep your fingers crossed that the surgery is successful and that it gets to come home soon. If any techies out there reading this want to give me any free advice maybe the surgery could be avoided. Just a thought.

We went skating again this past weekend. It is so much fun! We had a blast. I had ordered Maleah a new pair of roller skates earlier in the week from the skating rink and they were in when we got there Friday night. I hadn't told her that I ordered them so she was surprised and very happy. They fit her perfectly and after about the first hour or so in them she started skating really good in them. At first she was just sort of walking in them - sort of a marching type of skate. She wasn't really rolling because they were a bit faster than her old skates. But after she got warmed up, she started skating skating. So she and I held hands and skated most of the night. When she took breaks to eat or play I skated by myself and really got my mojo back. I felt like I was 12 again! I wasn't quite as confident as I was back then but I was better than I was last week anyway. We had a super fun time and I can't wait to go back. Man, I wish there was a rink in our town. It is great exercise. I wish I could skate and push Carissa in the stroller while Maleah was at school. That would be a fun workout!

Carissa worked on her speed this week. I think she is preparing for the Baby Olympics. She can crawl fast! This week she has gotten out of my sight long enough to try to eat/possibly did eat cat food, play-doh, a chicken strip some other little girl carelessly dropped, and a few other things that I was unable to see but she zeroed right in on them. I am considering buying a baby gate to keep her out of the kitchen and all of the other rooms on that end of the house. I have been blocking the kitchen door with a chair and that limits her to the living room, hallway, and her bedroom. I keep the other bedroom doors down the hallway shut. Every time I have done this she sits by that chair and screams and throws the biggest fit because I won't let her into the kitchen. My sweet little "best baby in the world" suddenly has a little bit of a temper. Interesting. I wonder where she gets that from?

Jason's mom gave us a new recipe this week for something called "Arkansas Soup". She really liked it and thought we might as well. So I gave it a whirl tonight. It was good but I think I'd just as soon have chili or vegetable soup. They're my favorites. But anyway, here the recipe: 1 lb hamburger, 1 can chili beans, 1/2 can ro-tel, 1 can mixed vegetables, some onion, 1 can of minestrone soup, and tomato juice. Brown your hamburger and onion. Add in all of the other stuff and simmer. Very easy and pretty good.

Maleah got 6 inches of hair cut off this week. Her hair had gotten so long that I really couldn't do much with it and it just needed cut. After she got it cut it looks so much healthier and less stringy. She loves it too. She says she wished we would've gotten it cut even shorter. I'm not sure if I believe her or not.

Here's a picture of the girls in their coordinating outfits that our friend Jane from Georgia had sent them. They look so cute in them! Every time they wear them I always mean to get a picture of them to mail to Jane and I forget so this time I finally did it. Yay me! And thanks to Jane!