Gifts

Chad surprised me with a new duvee comforter, duvee cover, and 2 new pillow shams for my birthday gift this year. The duvee comforter is almost 10 years old and all the feathers are stuck on my side. LOL. I put it on today and I think it looks bright and cheerful. Thanks honey!

Scissors!!

8-31-09

Campbell found Cooper's scissors today and the outcome was NOT good! I was unaware that Cooper's bedroom door was unlocked and of course Curious Campbell went inside. Cooper has a pair of school scissors in one of her desk drawers and it didn't take long for Campbell to find them. I knew something was wrong when she was really quiet and I asked her what she was doing. She told me "you don't have to yell at me." That was the dead giveaway. Now if you look closely there are 2 piles of hair. Very clearly a color difference in each. The smaller pile (THANK GOD) is Campbell's own hair. The larger pile is the hair of Cooper's American Girl Doll. Now both aren't TOO noticeable to the unknowing eye, but if Cooper ever finds out she will come unglued! Geez!! And to top things off, we have family pictures in 2 days!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

8-29-09

On Saturday night Chad and I went to Topeka with our friends Michelle and Brad to celebrate our birthdays. Michelle's birthday is 3 days before mine, so we always enjoy a night out together. Brad was kind enough to drive us over there and back. We ate at a Japanese Steakhouse, so that Chad could enjoy some Sushi. We enjoyed dessert (in the picture above) at a place across the street and came back to Manhattan for another quick stop. It was a fun time with lots of laughs. The bonus was the girls were well behaved for the babysitter. A great time was had by all.

Look - No Training Wheels

8-27-09

Cooper has been very successful this week, by learning to ride her bike without the training wheels. It took about 2 days and of course lots of tears and frustration, but she did it and hasn't stopped since. She loves the independence and freedom she has now and can't decide sometimes between her scooter or her bike. It's great fun!



Campbell is trying to keep up with big sister.


Cooper learning to make turns.


Cooper happy she finally got the hang of it!

Nap

Evidence that Campbell can really fall asleep anywhere at anytime. Of course it's when I least want or need her to take a nap, that she quickly falls right to sleep and will sleep for hours!
8-26-09

Success

Success

The secret of success in life, is to be ready for opportunity when it comes.

"Success is to be measured
Not so much by the position that one has reached in life
As by the obstacles
Which he has overcome while trying to succeed."
Booker T. Washington

I am feeling success all around me lately. My personal success is that of finishing day 5 of working out at the gym with my trainer. Being blessed with high metabolism isn't a guarantee of living healthy. It was time to make some changes. Time to do something for myself. So each hour I complete, each day I finish, and each time I beg Chad to rub my sore muscles. LOL! Is just one step closer to finding the real me.

Believe me, Heath, my trainer, knows how uncoordinated, wimpy, and how disproportional I am, but still he encourages me to keep trying and keep working harder each session.

Out for a Walk

August 21, 2009

Cooper arrived home on Friday afternoon with a BIG smile on her face. She was chosen as the first student to bring home the class stuffed animal, Amanda Panda. The weather was sunny and beautiful, so we decided to go for a walk. Of course, we had to get both baby strollers and Campbell brought her baby along as well. It was so cute to watch those two walk along the sidewalk pushing their "babies." We didn't make it too far before Cooper was done pushing the stroller, which left me carrying it home. And it wouldn't be an adventure if Campbell didn't get injured on the way, which of course she did by falling down and scraping up her elbow. It was a great time.


Starting our walk.


Cooper and Panda, Campbell and baby.


Cooper and Amanda Panda.


Campbell and baby. What a cute smile!

Posts

Seven new posts, just for you to read. Up to date now.

And just for my sister, who tells me " You are killing me with not updating your blog for weeks...I look forward to seeing all the new and fun things you keep up with...LOL" I promise to make this blog a priority once again. So look for a post at least every other day!

Gotta keep my readers happy!

First Grade

August 18th, 2009

This afternoon was the Open House at Cooper's school. Finally, we were able to find out which First Grade class she would be in. She was thrilled with the results. She loves her teacher, she loves her desk, and she is happy that she has some friends in her class. It was great.


Cooper in front of her desk.


Campbell, Cooper, and Mrs. M. It's going to be a great year!


August, 19th, 2009

Cooper on the first day of school.


Smile. What a pretty girl.


Campbell and Cooper before school.


Cooper at school this morning with her friends. Have a great day sweetie!

I can't believe she is in First Grade already. Where does the time go?

A New Tradition

August 16th, 2009

When it's a birthday weekend, my dad & stepmom will come down and spend the weekend. We'll have the party, then spend the rest of the time, hanging out as a family, having dinner, or if it's a holiday, we celebrate. Well now that Ryland's summer birthday has entered the calendar, we have begun a new tradition. A family golf outing!!

So Sunday we ALL (yes 10 of us)went out to the Herington Country Club golf course, to play a few holes. The weather was overcast and it would have been perfect, if there had just been a little breeze. Bailey and Cooper play golf, so they knew what to do. Kelly and Marie play more golf than I do, so they did well and pushed me into hitting a few also. Campbell enjoyed picking up everyone's golf balls and Ryland enjoyed the golf cart ride. We were out there for about 2 hours and made it through 5 holes. Not too bad. Maybe in a few years, we can actually keep score.


Kelly and Ryland enjoying the golf cart.


Cooper, Campbell, and Chad getting ready to hit.


Grandma Re-Re, Bailey, and Papa Mike cruising to the next hole.


Here I am, look close, I am golfing!


Ryland and Kelly. He was smiling and laughing. It was so cute!

Ryland's First Birthday Party

August 15th, 2009

We celebrated my nephew, Ryland Tate's, first birthday today. I can't believe he is already one. Here he is one year ago.



And here he is now.



I can't believe how blond his hair is and that he is walking!! Way to go Ry-Ry.

My sister had a house full of people there to help celebrate all the great memories and laugh at the new ones being made. Cooper and Campbell always enjoy times like these, where they can spend time with cousins and grandparents. It's nice to see them all having fun. We ate dinner, watched Ryland open his gifts, and then ate cake & ice cream. Ryland loved his cake and made sure to make a big mess just for his mommy.


Campbell loves to swing and Papa Mike enjoyed giving her a push or two.


Bailey and Cooper playing outside before the party.


Campbell was so tired, she fell asleep on Papa Mike right before the guests arrived.


Papa Mike holding Campbell. A quick power nap or just a nice snuggle??


Cooper and I. She was being so silly.


Bailey, Pat, Kelly, and Ryland


Campbell, Me, and Cooper (again being silly).

Shots

August 14, 2009

Today I took Campbell to the doctor for a simple checkup for her preschool paperwork. To my surprise she needed 2 shots! Not fun for mom, since I'm usually the one that leaves the room as daddy holds her down while the nurse administers the shots. She was crying a lot during the whole visit, as it began by her not wanting to take off her dress. She finally came around and showed the doctor her true colors.

The doctor today also heard a heart murmur on Campbell. He is thinking it is probably similar to Cooper's "stills heart murmur." But considering our history and such, he'd rather have more information to work with. He is scheduled an echo for her soon. We'll keep everyone posted.

Otherwise, he said she is a happy, healthy, and pretty little girl. She weighed 33lbs and was 36.75" tall. And he even said that all my worries about her "eating" everything is just a stage and hopefully will go away soon.


Can you see her 2 band-aids?? Poor little girl.

Tea Party

August 14, 2009

The girls enjoyed their day today by having a tea party on the back porch. Campbell loves to play in the water and Cooper loves to play restaurant. So with the babysitter today, they took orders, cooked food, and made tea. (Of course all pretend.) Although Campbell's soaking wet shirt, showed just how much water they used. They are both great waitresses. It was a fun day.


Campbell is preparing the tables for her customers.


Cooper is preparing the soup, tea, or whatever else you would like.


My favorite of Campbell. Today she just didn't want her picture taken, but I got it anyway.

Tooth Fairy visit...again??

August 13, 2009

Cooper called us at work today to tell us she pulled out her tooth! It had been very loose and she had been working on wiggling it out for a few days. So to her excitement, the tooth fairy came to pay a visit once again. That's 3 times in 4 months!!


Cooper lost her bottom left tooth. That's tooth #5 for her.

Girl Scout Camp

August 1st & 2nd, 2009

Cooper and I talked Michelle and Teagan in to attending the Mother/Daughter overnight camp at Prairie Schooner Girl Scout Camp in Kansas City. When we heard August was the only date available, we thought it wouldn't be much fun in the heat of the summer, but the weather surprised us. That wasn't the only surprise we had on this adventure.

We had to leave Manhattan at 6:30am to arrive by 9:00am check in. Chad, Campbell, and I had visited the camp in April to check things out, so we kind of knew where we were going. The weather was cloudy and a little rain, but that was better than 100 degree heat! We arrived in time and found our Permatent. Both girls asked "is this really our tent" and "are we sleeping in here?" It was quite a sight to see the look on their faces. This permatent has 3 canvas walls that you can roll up or put down, but they don't close down all the way, there is always about 2" of gap, just to get air, or to let creatures run through your tent at night. The fourth wall is solid, but has some slots in it for air. There are 4 metal cots in the tent, each with a 2" thick mattress on it. We unpacked our essentials and toured the camp.


Cooper in front of our Permatent! Looks inviting - right??


Cooper and Teagan laying down on their cots in the afternoon breeze.


Michelle and I showing the girls how excited we were to be camping with them.

There are little camps inside the whole big camp. Our camp unit was called Flint. They put the youngest girls here. It is supposed to be close to everything, but I think it was still pretty far away from everything. The camp has a big main building, where we ate meals and did crafts, also the place with a "real" bathroom. There were tents all around, a trading post (to buy your patch, water bottle, and t-shirt at), a nice swimming pool with showers, a chapel, and of course the camp fire with leveled logs to sit on. The latrines and showers in our unit were supposed to be the cleanest in the camp, but let me tell you, it was a SCARY and SMELLY sight! The girls were NO WAY using that latrine. And after a long night, Sunday morning Michelle and I wised up and used the showers at the swimming pool.

We played games, sang songs, did all kinds of crafts, ate meals family style, did challenges, and of course roasted marshmallows to make s'mores at the campfire. By 10pm it was pitch dark and it was time for sleep. How can a place with no hustle or bustle be so relaxing, but make you feel so tired??? Our first discovery of the adventure were all the daddy long leg spiders around. I killed 8 in our tent before we went to sleep and found one in my backpack. Ugh-gross!! As I finally calmed myself down and fell asleep about 10:15, I was quickly woke up an hour later by a strange growling sound. I was scared. Luckily as I called for Michelle she was awake too. She took the flash light and searched around the tent. There wasn't anything to be seen. But, unbeknownst to me, earlier in the day Michelle had found a mint in her bag and threw it out the back wall. So here we were in the middle of the night and there was some kind of animal out back snacking on a mint. Michelle could smell the mint. I was freakin' out. I didn't know what to do and I couldn't calm down to fall back asleep. I thought I might have to go sleep in my car. And now I needed to go to the restroom, but knew I couldn't go by myself and I couldn't go with Michelle and leave the girls alone. Finally, after a long time, I fell back to sleep.

We had packed per their suggested list and found ourselves sweating under our clothes and sleeping bags and blankets. But I was protecting myself from spiders and mosquitos! Sunday morning we woke up at 7:30 am and breakfast was at 8:00am. After breakfast the girls attended the church service, while Michelle and I cleaned up and packed up. That morning they had a Spa session you could attend and do an oatmeal facial. Both Cooper and Michelle did that. Check out time was 11:00 am. We left with great memories and lots of laughs. It was a really good time and I am glad I could share that with Cooper.

We went right to P.F. Chang's for lunch and then on to the Legends for a little shopping. We arrived home about 5:30 pm. Campbell and Chad were glad to see us and hear all about our adventure.



Cooper ready for sleep.


Teagan ready for sleep.


Cooper with her oatmeal facial.

August

August! Really? Today is a sad day in our family, but when I woke up I saw the cutest thing ever. Chad & the girls curled up downstairs in the big chair. I had to take a photo.


Campbell just peeking through to see mommy.

Then tonight Chad cooked dinner and the girls wanted to help. Menu=shrimp pasta. Yum! They washed up and got their aprons on. Too cute!

Again, Campbell thinks she needs to pose sideways to say "cheese."

Today is the day Colgin was called up to Heaven. We miss him every day, but especially today.

Love you "little man."

Lohman Family Reunion

July 25th, 2009

Our last trip this summer was back to Illinois for the Lohman Family reunion. It was a quick trip, but always good to go back and visit both of Chad's grandmas. They love seeing the girls and really appreciate our visits. Recently Gma Lohman had moved to a smaller house, so we all came to visit and see the new place and have a Lohman Family Reunion. The last one was in 2001, so it was long overdue.

The weather was perfect and we enjoyed good food, played games, watched the kids run around, and visited with cousins, aunts, & uncles. It was a nice visit and both girls did really well. Gma & Gpa Lohman had 3 kids (Tom & 2 sisters). Those kids each had 2 boys, so gma & gpa only ever had grandsons, no granddaughters! So Gma Lohman just loves the little girls.


Chad's maternal grandma, Gma Niemann. She makes all our pretty quilts. Both girls received a quilt on this visit. Cooper is so excited for it to be her new bedspread on her "big" bed, come November. Gma Niemann is 87 years young.


Campbell enjoying the bubbles at Gma Lohman's house.


Cooper actually smiling for the camera at Gma Lohman's house.


Chad's paternal grandma, Gma Lohman with the grandkids. Cooper, Campbell, & M. Gma Lohman is 83 years young.


Chad's parents (Tom & Jane), us, Gma Lohman, Chad's brother, Jeremy & his girl friend, Beth.

Fair & Rodeo

Thursday, July 23, 2009

The Riley County fair is always a hit, or at least we thought it would be. But needless to say, after purchasing 2 wristbands for the girls, Cooper wouldn't ride the "kiddy" rides and Campbell only rode the Carousel. So much for having fun! We didn't let that spoil our night. We had a great time with friends, running in to people we know, and we went to the rodeo.

Cooper had been to the rodeo before and knew what to expect. Campbell didn't know why those cowboys were riding those horses like that and putting that rope around the cows neck. It was quite funny to hear all her questions. She really liked watching all the action. It was a good night and especially since the weather wasn't too hot.


Campbell, Chad, and Cooper on the carousel.


Cooper on the motorcycles.


Cooper riding the ponies.


Campbell riding the ponies.


Chad, Cooper, & Campbell at the rodeo. Yee-haw!!!