2.22.2009

K's Cafe



This is Karsyn's favorite place to play right now. She cooks for everyone in our family & she expects our full cooperation in eating her little wooden food! If for some reason, Daddy, Mommy, and "S" are unavailable to stop in at K's little Cafe... she brings the food to us... which translates... little wooden food and dishes all over my house! It's still tons of fun to see her role-play and know that she is going to be such a good mommy some day.

2.07.2009

Ready... Set... BLOG!

All NEW in February! Yes, that's right, EVERY post in February is new. I think there are 12 or 13 new posts! They don't even all fit on the first page... if you're a true Cosper Crew blog stalker, you'll have to look thru the February '09 archives to see them all!

Okay... so I haven't blogged in forever. I could name a ton of reasons why not, but you're not hear to read about that are you? You want to see pics of the kids. So, my goal this afternoon is to do a 6 months at a glance (or maybe only 2-3 months at a glance - we'll see how far I get). Hopefully I can stay motivated to catch up & then it won't feel like such a heavy load to blog a little more regularly in the future.

While I'm here... let me say thanks to SHARK for creating such a great product. I love my steam mop! You might say that mopping isn't my favorite thing to do, but I don't mind it so much now (which is a good thing considering how much tile we have in our new house). So, if you don't have a steam mop, or you're considering buying one... I say GO FOR IT! And while you're at it... splurg on the upgraded model that has 5 ft. of extra cord and comes with the extra little pad things. Okay... now I'm off to upload some pics.

MIA

Seth's front TWO teeth are now Missing In Action! These two teeth are notable because he actually put them under his pillow. You see, Seth is in the habit of swallowing his teeth, in which case, a note must be written to the tooth fairy explaining the eating habits of a growing little boy... anyway, we are proud to announce that the tooth fairy finally picked up some real teeth from Seth.

Our big boy is so excited about reading... even if it's K's favorite book, Pinkalicious. Every day after school he shows off a new AR level (currently at 4.7) & he is almost finished with his first Narnia book, The Magician's Nephew. I am so proud that he LOVES to read!

The Great Pretender

Karsyn has so much fun playing! The other night, I walked into the living room, and K had her babies set up like this in front of the TV...


Karsyn kicks back in a "baby doll" stroller watching Enchanted...


K styling some of Auntie Sarah's Converse...


All dressed up and ready to go...

Holly Jolly 2008

Wishing everyone a belated Merry Christmas!

This would be an example of a less than merry Xmas picture... but more realistically, a true shot of life with K!

Christmas morning...

Even Seth was excited for K & her new kitchen...

One of my favorite pics of the year... the kids dragging stockings from the tree to the living room. We have a long standing tradition in my family to put our stockings in "ladies stockings" or panty hose like they did back in the Depression, when decorative Christmas stockings were too expensive. As kids, stockings were our favorite part of Xmas morning... you wouldn't believe how long and full they can get!

Thanksmas 2008



Playing in the leaves at Thanksmas is an annual anticipated event! All kids growing up in the Blakeney family play in the leaves at some point in their lives & our kids are no exception. I don't know if Seth had more fun playing himself, or watching K throw leaves all over herself.
And of course Santa was in attendance again. Karsyn made it thru picture with fewer tears, so we're making progress.
K & Mommy...

Cosper Crew's Thanksmas family picture...

Peek-a-Boo

Kids love to play in the funniest places. The little door of our TV console is one of K's favorite places to sit and play with her babies. This day it turned into a game however...


Trunk-r-Treat 2008

This year's Renaissance themed "trunk" / float topped them all. Mom sewed for hours on costumes & a backdrop was thrown together, creating our thrown room. Tunes from A Knights Tale rocked out & again it was a success... jaws dropped and people were amazed! We had a blast and I was assured once again that all the hard work going into it was worth it.
The Church of Christ in Bertram hosted over 1800 in attendance (remember that we are talking about a church with about 180 members). This year's Trunk-r-Treat event had over 20 "trunks" to get treats at, 2 bounce houses, 2 climbing walls, a train, carnival games, popcorn, hot dogs, and so much more. It was better organized & more hyped up than ever. I know of some people that drove almost 2 hours just to see how a church this size can pull off such a big event. I can honestly say that the people at the Bertram CofC have huge hearts & are some of the most friendly people I have ever met (if only we lived closer - sigh). They also do a huge community fish fry later in the year. The Cosper Crew involvement is simply family related, but we look forward to this time of community outreach every year!
Cosper Crew...

Prince & Princess...


Little Lady in Waiting... Really, could she be any cuter?

More T-r-T: Renaissance Crew

The Blakeney Bunch all decked out in Renaissance attire:

The Noblemen:

The Ladies:


King & Queen:


The "original" two (my little bro & I): Duke J & Lady Lola


The Babies (my how they have grown): Scottish Highlander & Fairy...


The drama queen Fairy:



Lord & Lady of the court:

BFF at the Zoo

Drew and I love raising our kids in a small town. We never expected it to be so great for Seth right away! Transitioning to a new school was tough at first, but soon Seth found a great friend... his new "BFF" and they love playing together. They have so much in common & it's fun to watch them talk and plan (esp. about their "secret club"). At the first grade zoo field trip, they were inseparable...



Things we get excited about...

We went to a small town Pioneer Day parade in October & Seth made quite the haul of candy and other treats. He loved all the firetrucks, cheerleaders, motorcycle tricks and of course collecting more candy than he did at Halloween. You might say that Karsyn was a little less excited. She didn't seem to understand why people would pelt small sugary treats at her and honk their horns and scream... and the sirens just sent her over the edge. So, her parade experience was not spent frantically chasing candy, yelling WOOT!, but instead sitting curled up in a ball in my lap watching from a distance. Seth and his loot:


Again... K was also not as excited as we would have liked about going to daycare. You would think we were dropping her off at a torture chamber the way she would scream and cling on to me in the morning. The tantrum started at the house when we put her jacket on and loaded her in the car. She would cry, "No, mommy!" all the way there & the teacher literally pried her off of me when I dropped her off. This lasted for two whole months... and finally the screaming turned into a quite whisper as we got out of the car, "Bye 'S.' No, hi-ho mommy." (S is Seth; hi-ho is work/school - you know "Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's off to work we go!") She still cried when I left her at this point and each day of work was so hard to get through. As a teacher, I know that kids do great as soon as the parents leave, so I just kept reminding myself of that. Currently, K gets out of the car and says bye to S and gives me kiss on the cheek. She walks in with her juice cup on her own and seems to have a great day - YEAH! This is a picture of her first day at daycare:

Primping


Prior to going to daycare, K was blessed with her great-Granny! I was so glad for K to have the opportunity to stay with PJ & Granny while I was at work like Seth did when he was little. After work one day, I found the girls primping in the bathroom... too cute! Notice Karsyn's gray dress socks... they're Papa Joe's - LOL!

Jack


Meet the newest member of our family... JACK! He is the precious chocolate lab that Seth got for his 7th birthday. While we were waiting for him, the Denton's (family we bought him from) updated us with pictures and told us funny stories from his tiny puppy days. Seth and I read Marly & Me, hoping it would prepare us for our new bundle of love... all the while hoping that Jack wouldn't be anything like Marley. To date... Jack eats anything he can get his mouth around, including plants, tree limbs, toys accidentally left in the yard (bubbles), rope, and numerous other things. He has grown astronomically... again leading to massive amounts of dog food, which he consumes in 60 seconds flat! He digs all over the yard (thanks to some great teaching from "Grace," my aunt's dog) and I won't even begin to describe the size of poo as Jack gets larger (YUCK!). Jack can be quite naughty, but I can already tell he is completely devoted to us! He loves to go for walks - Drew does the walking most of the time, and although he claims to hate the dog, secretly he loves him too!

The picture of Karsyn (below) are when Jack was still a manageable size for her. They both thought they were in charge and tried to play "boss." Jack is currently larger than K, and at their current growth rates, it could be years before she ever catches up to him.



Little Cowgirl



While cleaning out Seth's cowboy stuff (in preparation for his new "Knight" bedroom), Karsyn played dress up. Yes, she is wearing her purple PJ's as well.