To Tag or Not To Tag

It has happened....the annoying teenage (or tweenage) taggers have made it back into our neighborhood. While this normally wouldn't bother me before having children, now I look at tagging on a whole new level. I think it's trashy, disrespectful and when left up can make a neighborhood look and feel unsafe. It's amazing how a little bit of spray paint can bring up all of these feelings.

So, this morning I was on a walk with the kids when we saw a lady on the main street of our neighborhood scrubbing her fence. Apparently last night a 13ish yr old boy tagged her fence and her neighbors fence. She was irate! Swearing that WHEN this "punk" gets caught, he will be going to jail for all of the damage he has done. Now, in my mind I thought....really, must we use our tax dollars to pay for yet ANOTHER punk kid to be in juvy just because his parents have no desire to know where he is or what he is doing? Instead let's find a better punishment.

I am seriously contemplating printing up this flier and putting it on everyone's door in our neighborhood.

To the Disrespectful Taggers and his Ignorant Parents:

It seems as though your child's artistic ability has been ignored and over looked. While you, the parent, are doing who knows what, your child has decided to take his "art" to the streets. This would not bother the general public as much if it was done in a tactful manner such as in an art studio, for charity, etc. Since it seems as though your child has no concern for the amount of money a new fence costs or the amount of time and labor it takes to repaint, scrub, or pressure wash a fence, I have come up with a sensible conclusion to this matter.

First and foremost, we the neighbors who live in this neighborhood will now be on the look out for YOUR child. WHEN (not if, but when) your child is caught we will of course make sure to have this issue documented. At that point, we will then take matters into our own hands. There will be no "juvy" time for your teen (or tween), instead you will be able to watch as we destroy YOUR fence, house, grass, or whatever else your child has managed to damage while on his "tagging episode." Then, both you and your teen will be supervised in cleaning not only the damage to your residence BUT also the damage to everyone's house, fence, etc that is from the hands of your child. If it wasn't your child who tagged a particular fence, that's okay, they can still clean it.

Let this be a lesson to those out there....if it's not your property then LEAVE IT ALONE!

What do you think? Too harsh? I mean it's got to be better than the slap on the hand the cops seem to do with the taggers these days.

Life is Good, God is Great.

Fun in the Sun

Fun in the Sun.....and water.....and SAND! Sand everywhere! That's right, we went down to the beach earlier this month and had a blast.

Cooper enjoyed playing in the sand and swimming in the "pool" area of the bay. He was not a fan of the waves and would NOT even put a toe where they would come up to. While we were swimming in the "pool" area of the bay, Cooper was jumping off the wall into my arms. At one point I was putting him back on the wall, and a crab swam up between me and the wall. Now, this was not one of those little crabs that scurries along the sand. No, no....this was a BIG crab! It was technically not "scary", although I had a reaction of shock which sent Cooper into hysterics! He had no desire to jump back into that area.

On top of this incident, he was the target of a seagull's poo....we tried to not make a big deal of it, but it was pretty darn funny. Soon after this, Randell found some baby shrimps and went to put them into the mote that they had built in the sand. Cooper, who had already been through an eventful day, was not too excited about seeing shrimp.

All in all though, Cooper enjoyed his time at the beach. Even Aubrey loved the sand, water, and sun. I hope you enjoy the pictures , check them out by clicking on the link to your right.

Life is Good, God is Great

It Has begun

A few weeks ago, C came home saying "whatever, whatever, whatever" to EVERYTHING! So, we had a talk about how we don't use that word really around the house because it is not a good word to use...I don't need him to already be saying "whatever" when I ask him to do something.

Fast forward to two days ago, I am talking on the phone and ended up saying "whatever." C was right there and looked up at me and said, "Mommy, we do not say whatever in this house. It is not nice," in a very serious tone. Oh man....it has begun.

A quick update for those who follow us....

*We still live a crazy life! :)
*We enjoy every bit of it!
*Cooper finished MDO for the year and now has the summer off to play and maybe sleep in....could it happen?
*Aubrey is working on her 6th tooth! Yes, it's been crazy, but we're getting through it.
*Aubrey just might be walking before her 1st birthday...she's pretty steady on her feet.
*I will begin working at MDO next year teaching the 2 year olds. I am very excited to get back into the MDO program...Aubrey will also be going to MDO and I am sure she will have a ton of fun.

Life is Good, God is Great!

Happy Birthday Cooper!

1 Year Ago Today….

We were celebrating your 2nd birthday, wow how time has flown! I find it hard to believe that my precious little boy is growing up so fast. You are such a “boy” these days. I can no longer think of you as a “little” baby. You have grown in so many ways. I smile everyday thinking of what a blessing you are.



Over the past year you have become a big brother, you have grown to have full out conversations, and you show your independence all the time.

Soon after your 2nd birthday you showed your independence by becoming potty trained AND sleeping in a big boy bed. You made the transition like a Rock Star! I was a little sad that you gave up your diapers and your crib within the same week, but boy am I glad we did. Potty training you was so easy that I find it hard to give advice….thank you for making my job easier! After one good fall out of your Big Boy Bed, you grew to love it and sleep on every inch of the bed, every night!

In August, you became a Big Brother! What an amazing title that brings. You are a great Big Brother to Aubrey. At first you were a bit hesitant of this little baby who seemed so delicate at the hospital. But when you and Daddy came to pick Aubrey and Mommy up from the hospital, you were so excited and ready to help. I love how you love Aubrey. I love that you pray for her every night and enjoy making her laugh during the day. Even though there are times that you think she is out to destroy your toys, you still love her! I pray that you will always have that love for your younger sister. She has an amazing brother to look up to!

You enjoy learning! You can count to 20 and spell your name. You know your shapes, colors, sounds, and alphabet. You sing “Jesus Loves Me” and “You Are My Sunshine” with me, not to mention many more songs. You are a fast runner and love to hop and ride on anything that goes! Working with Daddy out in the garage or in the yard makes you smile. You are learning so much from Daddy.

At school you enjoy playing with your friends and making your teachers laugh. You just might be my “jokester”! While I would love to say that you are sad to go to school every Tuesday and Thursday, that is not the case. You have a lot of fun and learn about God every day at school. What a wonderful blessing to be learning and playing in a great environment.

I am still amazed that we have not had a trip to the ER. You remain fearless and ready to conquer the day! You jump off the couch and bounce right back up. You even ride an ATV now….I’m SURE we’ll be in the ER soon!

I smile when you run into my room saying “Good Morning Mommy.” I was amazed at our first anatomy lessons of the differences between girls and boys; you are full of questions. I find myself tearing up at night when I give you a BIG HUG, kiss, and say “go to sleep like a green triangle.” You are my baby. I love you so much. I want to bottle up everything you do so that I can remember it next year when you are one year older.

This next year will bring even more joy. We will play, learn, and laugh together just as always. As you grow into the “little kid” that you are going to be, I will continue praying that you have a “happy heart” and enjoy your time with friends and family.




So here’s to you, Cooper James Smith. Happy 3rd Birthday (May 12, 2010)!

Endless Blessings

Three years ago on the Friday of Mother's Day Weekend, Randell and I arrived at the hospital because my water had broken. I could not think of a better way to spend my first Mother's Day than to be holding my little baby boy.

About a year and a half ago, we were confronted with some frightening news concerning Cooper's health. The possibilities of the worst case scenario were all that we could think about. Over the last year and a half we have had the privilege of seeing a wonderful Hematologist who loves Cooper and now Aubrey. He is a wonderful man who has understood my parenting style and works with it.

I find it fitting that today we went to visit Dr. Patel today after 4 months of not seeing him. Cooper has continued to show improvements with his blood count, so thus allowing us to spread out our visits. I feel that it is good to put at this point a small story concerning the power of prayer.

Numerous people have been praying for Cooper over the last year and a half, some we do not even know. About 6 months ago at our church there was a service dedicated solely to prayer and healing. Randell and I realized that throughout this past year we had not had a healing prayer done by one of our pastors. So, we took Cooper up to a wonderful man who did not know us from anything. All that I told him was that Cooper has been diagnosed with Congenital Nuetropenia. When this man began to pray, it seemed almost as if this man had been living in our living room and knew everything about us. We knew at that point that God was using this man to speak to us and to reassure us that everything would be alright.

So, today while we were sitting at the doctor's office waiting for the blood count to come back, I remembered this prayer. Dr. Patel walked in with the results and said that everything looks great. Cooper has now been released from the Hematologist care and his Nuetropenia is gone! We will of course follow up with CBC's twice a year, although that will be done by his regular pedi.

What a wonderful reminder for me to be thankful for the children that God has blessed me with. He has and will continue to watched over them and keep them safe and healthy in his hands.

3 years ago today I went into labor with my Cooper and today I can rest knowing that he has been healed! Praise the Lord!

Life is Good and God is GREAT!

Writer's Block

Writer's Block...but I wanted to show off the new layout!

It's supposed to rain all week...I'm excited! Now what to do with my days?

Aubrey has 3 teeth....1 more already on the way! AHHHH

Cooper will be 3 in a month and a half...WHAT?

I'm running 4 miles at a time these days...WOW!

Randell is building a rock wall between us and our neighbors! YIPPEE!!! :)

That's all for now...hopefully I won't have writer's block tomorrow!