Cooke Chaos: August 2008

8/30/08

Sibling Love...

So, its Saturday morning and I am the only one up besides the puppy, actually, she is the one who woke me up! : ) Darn puppies!! Anyway, school is starting in just mere days and I can't help but be emotional. My babies are growing up! I'm not sad, at least I don't think, but just plain old emotional...so when I get emotional, I find my self look at old pictures. And one reoccurring picture that I found over and over...and not just because I tell them to pose...was Kaden and Kara truly showing their "sibling love".
Kaden is starting kindergarten on Wednesday and already has the boy mentality that girls are "gross"! So, from time to time you'll see Kara chasing Kaden around trying to give him kisses and he is NOT havin' it! Its pretty funny!
And fight...oh boy do they fight...over everything!! From who sits in the middle, to who stirs the brownies...who gets to use the red crayon first, to who is the oldest! Its funny actually..Kara told me the other day she wished she was 4 (which she is) and that Kaden was one so she could be the boss, then she proceeded to tell me that ONE day, she WOULD be older, that she would pass him! I tried to explain, but...she insisited it was possible!
But still through all the tatling and yelling, and slaming of doors..which my daughter has recently started (sigh) they have a GREAT friendship and love for eachother!
The other day the kids were in the garage and Kara came running in the house exclaiming "my brother got hurt, momma my brother needs you" So I went out side and Kara was standing over him being a little "mother" telling him "awww, Kaden, you'll be ok" in her sweet little voice. It was so cute.

So here are a few pictures of my babies and the close relationship I hope they keep forever:

The most recent..just taken on Wednesday

This is Kara's "I love you sooo much face" ... which she usually says as she hugs you

She caught him!

My little water babies, I love this one

Just precious!

They play together

They are silly together

They even get bored together

Okay, so every now and then Kaden has to chase after Kara too

THERE..that's better!

There are a TON more pictures I could post, but I will end for now.
Kaden and Kara, my wish is that you will always have a strong bond and loving friendship with one another, take care of eachother, and maintain your sibling LOVE!!!

8/23/08

Summer!!!

Remember summers as a kid?? So carefree, not a care in the world, filled with lazy days, and lots of sunshine. Where days are filled with an agenda, but a fun one..like riding your bike for HOURS, going on fun adventures in the woods with your friends ( i use to have a friend named Michael and we had marsh land behind our houses in our neighborhood and we would go out there for hours pretending we were on a safari..or that we were on a treasure hunt and bad guys were chasing us), and LOTS and LOTS of swimming!!! Remember the country time lemonade commercials? Those to me are the appitomy of summer...walking barefoot in a big open field, swinging on a tire swing
My childhood is filled with so many great memories of summer. A lot of those have to do with the annual family reunions we use to have! They were SO fun! Some years we would all stay at a hotel, one year we went to a resort..that was pretty fun, but the two places with the most memories were the beach house in Galveston TX, and when we stayed at a ranch outside of San Antonio...both places we did a couple years in a row. At the beach the house was AWESOME! It had a few levels if I remember correctly, with two levels of decks. We spent so much time at the beach playing in the sand.. I remember one year my aunt made the totally AMAZING mermaid sand sculpture..even to this day I remember exactly what it looked like. My cousins and I use to try and see who could catch the most crawdads...my cousin Jarrett ALWAYS won! At the ranch we would ride horses and swim and tube in the river. We had all these contests for the adults and the kids..like a potato peeling contest, or donut on string contest where you have to eat it before it falls!! So fun! There was a main gathering area where the kitchen was and then cabins for each of our families...I remember one night all the kid cousins got our sleeping bags and all slept on the porch and told ghost stories and scared ourselves to death!!!
Ahhhhhh.....good times!!!
I hope Kaden and Kara will be able to look back in 20 years with the same fondness of summers as I have been able to do, with their own memories and stories.... I can't wait to hear the tales!!!

Here are a couple pictures of our summer this year...

So pretty!!

My handsome little man

Watermelon anyone???

My daughter WILL be the class clown..I'm predicting it NOW!!

Family fun at Greenfield Village on the train

Gettin' tickled!!

Doing "cartwheels" down the hill in our backyard

8/22/08

Lemonade Anyone???

So it all started when we got new patio furniture... we had this giant box waiting to be thrown out on garbage day, when the 11 year old next door saw it and protested that I could not "throw that beautiful box away!" That's when the idea for a clubhouse emerged... The next day I got out all my craft paints and brushes and the kids and Taylor started creating their master piece! Before you knew it we had 6 kids over helping with what was now the "neighborhood club house" and had the dual purpose of a "selling stand" The kids were SO cute working so diligently on their project. I cut out the windows and we even made curtains.They decided that they would sell pictures, as in pictures that they would draw, which all the kids came over and worked on. They would sell cards, like greeting cards, which the big kids did. Crafts were also on the list of goods, but we didn't get to finish those up, and last but not least...snacks (whatever I feel like making basically) and LEMONADE! We made double fudge chocolate chip brownies and fresh raspberry peach lemonade...yummy!!
We set up shop on the corner coming into our neighborhood and all the kids helped! It was too cute!! They did pretty well..about 8 dollars and change. They ended up lowering their prices a little and even offering package deals.... quite the little entrepreneurs I tell ya! They want to make it a weekly sale and put up flyers and everything....
oh lord...what did I get myself into???

Here are the pictures ....

All the kids gathered at our house

The Clubhouse side

Setting up shop

Every good shop owner has to "test" their product!!

The kids had a TON of fun! ......Remember when you use to have enough imagination to see the potential of a patio furniture box!!!!!

8/21/08

Our Neighborhood

We REALLY lucked out when we found our house, and not just because of the house itself...but because of the neighborhood and our wonderful neighbors!!!
Our Subdivision is one that I always DREAMED of when I was a kid!
There are about 70 houses, our roads are privately owned and there is only one way in and out....so, every night (and day too!) everyone comes outside, all the kids are playing, riding their bikes, scooters, power wheels...and whatever other contraption you can think of. They are playing with sidewalk chalk... which becomes "street" chalk, playing in their pools, or slip'n slides. All the parents sit out and talk. It is just GREAT!

The first Saturday in August our sub had its annual block party. It was set up in the back of the neighborhood and we blocked off the street. We have 3 roads in the sub and each one was responsible for bringing either appetizers, salads, or desserts, then our association paid for the hamburgers, hot dogs, etc.
We rented a bounce house for the kids, there were games for the kids AND adults...Joe participated in "hillbilly golf" sooo FUNNY! But actually a pretty cool game!
Everyone brought their chairs and coolers! We even had a bonfire when it got dark! It was SUCH a great time and hopefully great memories for the kids this year and in the years to come

The neighborhood kids getting ready to play a relay game
Kara's in her little bikini : )

More kids and games

The kids relaxing on the blanket

Some Slip'n slide fun
Go Kara!!!

Me and little miss Kara

Joe playing hillbilly golf with our neighbor Kevin

Kaden riding around
Don't ask me what that look is all about

Another event we had was a water balloon fight that took place in our back yard. These pictures are the before,...I should have taken the after, but I was too busy consoling hurt children... too many "big" kids on one team. But it WAS a lot of fun!

The big kids
Braden (my brother visiting from TX), Cassidy and Brandon
Look at that stance...are they ready or what??

The little kids

Kara and Owen

The other half of the little kids
Kaden and Dillon

We are really enjoying our house and our neighborhood! I hope that we will be happy here for a long time to come!! Thanks everyone for making us feel so welcome!

8/20/08

Our NEW House

We moved a couple months back to Clarkston Michigan... a few have seen the house but MOST have not! Soooo, I thought I would post a few pictures so you could see the casa....

My favorite..the Kitchen
It has beautiful ceramic tile, stainless steel appliances, cherry cabinets, and not to mention..it's HUGE!! We didn't have to do much, just a couple of touches here and there..like the Kiss the Cook sign over the stove!!

Our Dining room...
I fell in love with this table the moment I saw it! I told Joe all I wanted was a table that we could fit everyone around when family would visit...and we got it!!! : )

The great room....
Of which only half is done, the other side will be the gameroom/bar, where we will put a pool table ...ran out of money: (
In this room we have vaulted ceilings, cherry hardwood floors, a great fire place, and a huge picture window.

Our Basement...the kids domain!
we have all their toys and dress-up, the train table, tv, video games...
otherwise known as a child's paradise!
Its hard to see everything in the picture and the lighting is not that great..but you get the idea
When we moved in the base brick part of the wall was orange and the top white. So we did a TON of work getting the brown and blue color scheme

My paradise is ALSO in the basement...its my office/Scrapbooking area!
The kids and I even made the bulletin board

The Kids bathroom
It sooo nice we have three bathrooms now...but wouldn't ya know it of course the kids are like...why don't we have 4? We have 4 people in our house, what if we all need to go at the same time?... Kids...always wanting more!!
Anyway, for those of you who know me know I am obsessed with Pottery barn. So I found this cute line called Spring meadow. So we got the embroidered towels, the shower curtain, the bath mats,I even found an artist on ebay that handmade the name signs, and if you look close you can see the wall decals we added with flowers and butterflies,caterpillars and snails. so CUTE, love it!

Kaden's room
He wanted an all sports bedroom...So again, went to pottery barn and found this adorable basketball quilt..can't see from the pic, but there are basketballs embordered in a lighter shade of blue. Then I found the rugby stripe duvet and went from there. He has soccer pennants above his bed and varsity name lettering above the window, both from the land of Nod. Also the artist from ebay made a canvas of a football jersey with his name and the number 5 for his age.. it really turned out so nice.. he loves it!
And by the way.. I am a BIG fan of craigslist as well and HIGHLY reccommend it to those on a budget or those who just like finding a great deal... I got ALL of Kaden's furniture, his bed (we haven't attached his headboard yet),nightstand, a dresser, and 2 bookshelves....for 100 bucks..not bad right!! This is how I justify my pottery barn habit

Kara's Room
I LOVE this room!! Again I started with the quilt which is dark pink on one side and light pink on the other, the found the duvet which is called "surfside" which gave me the idea for the theme..Aloha, hula girl! She has a grass skirt bed skirt, a blow up palm tree, lantern light string on her headboard, and flower lei's on her dresser. Three walls are pink and the accent is green...and let me tell you, it took a LONG time for me to convince her to do the green wall...because after all "it's not PINK!!

8/19/08

FIRST BLOG

So I admit it, ...I'm a slight blog-aholic....you may question that statement as this is MY first entry... Well I discovered this site awhile back and saw how cute it was, discovered of few friends from my past, then I just became intrigued... its amazing to be able to look so closely into someone else's life. You feel like you are a part of it, to see their families, the daily happenings, situations that may be similar to your own.. that make you almost feel normal..its great. So I had all these great intentions of keeping up with my own blog, and well... fell a little short. BUT, I'm ready now.... so let the journey begin.....