A Milestone for Cooper

Last night Mack came down to help out with the boys a little while as Todd is out of town at a conference. While we were visiting, we both looked over and Cooper stood up all by himself-not holding onto anything-not pulling up on anything-totally by himself. He stood up and stayed that way for a minute or so before he fell down on his knees. Of course we went wild and he absolutely loved it! Needless to say, he did this quite a few more times before we finally put him down in his bed for the night. This is such an exciting and monumental event for him with all that he has gone through! We know that it won't be long now before he is running around all over the house! I can honestly say that when the time comes and I hear the pitter patter of his little feet running around it will be the most joyous sound that my ears have heard since the day that each of my boys took their first breaths and cried for the first time! Here are some pictures of our big boy!!

I think I can do it!

This is harder than I thought!

Almost there!

Look at Me!

I did it!

Cooper is so proud of himself in this picture! He is clapping at Mack Daddy, who is clapping at his big accomplishment!

Mommy, did you see me stand?

This is Mommy's favorite picture of the night! Cooper is tucked in bed with his bottle and lovie bunny, ready for some sleep after a hard day's work!

Our Future David Beckham

My nephew Mason has played soccer for the past two seasons and has really gotten good at it! He plays goalie most of the time, but sometimes moves to other positions. We are so proud of the improvements he has made and can't help but wonder if soccer isn't his niche. He says that he doesn't know if he is going to play soccer or baseball this Fall, but I have a suspicion that he will play soccer again. Here are some pictures of him in action!

Mason waits for some action


Here he is blocking a possible goal


Mason makes another save


Mason blocked yet another attempt by the other team to score a goal. He didn't allow a single goal during this particular game!


Mason shows off his stuff while moving the ball down the field


Mason goes after the ball in this picture

Carter's Last Day of School

This past Friday was Carter's last day of school. His class had a special program for their parents and then we had lunch together. During their program, they sang some of their favorite songs from throughout the year. It was too cute watching them dance and sing! After we ate lunch, Ms. Donna told us that she had a DVD for us to watch. The DVD contained video footage of special events during the year that the children did. Carter's parapro, Ms. Trina, makes the videos each year for the students in her class. It was too sweet! It was really nice to be able to see some of the things that they did throughout the year that I would have otherwise missed. Once the video was finished, we were all presented a copy of our very own. It is probably the best gift I have ever been given by a teacher!

Carter and his class praying before they begin their program.


What would school be without the Macarena Months of the Year?


Tooty-Ta- Need I say more??


Carter and his parapro, Ms. Trina


Carter and his teacher, Ms. Donna. We sure are going to miss her next year!

Carter's Water Day

Last Wednesday Carter's class had Water Day at school. Of all the days to play in the water, this one was not optimal as it was unusually cold! In fact, most of the boys and girls decided very quickly that they would rather stay wrapped up in their cozy towels instead of playing in the water! Carter didn't seem to care, though. Everyone had a great time but the hit of the day was soaking Ms. Trina, Carter's class parapro, with water guns! She was such a great sport-I don't think that there was a dry thread on her body when it was all said and done! Here are some pictures from their fun day!

Carter stops to take a quick picture before Water Day begins!

Carter gets his Water Gun ready for action!

Ms. Trina tries to run away, but our sharp shooter is too fast for her!

Carter's first trip down the water slide...

That was fun!

Ms. Trina gets revenge on Carter for getting her so wet! No water guns for her, though. She pulls out the heavy arsenal-the water hose!

Now that I am soaking wet,, I can't help but think that maybe spraying Ms. Trina with water guns wasn't such a good idea after all...I think I'll try my hand at blowing bubbles instead.

The Four Amigos...Carter and his "Bestest Buddies"!
Taelon, Carter, Adam and Dakota sure gave Ms. Donna and Ms. Trina a run for their money this year! Look out Kindergarten-here we come!

Bye Bye Baby!

With a heavy heart, I took Cooper to have his curls cut on Tuesday, May 13th. Mrs. Mildred Palmer (aka Mimi, just not our Mimi) graciously cut his hair for us. Mimi is a very special lady to us. Mimi is Amy Miller's grandmother. Amy is married to Al, who has been like a brother to Brooke and I, so as you can see, we have known her a long time. More importantly, though, Mimi has been one of Cooper's teachers this year. She absolutely loves being with the babies in her class and they love her as well. In fact, the other teacher in there, Ms. Sherri, jokes that the children give her a complex because they don't want her-they all fight over Mimi! Mimi used to cut hair years ago so I asked her if she would do the honors of cutting his curls for the first time. I knew that she would do a great job and have patience with him. I also hoped that he would feel more comfortable with her since he knew her so well and that he might sit still long enough for her to cut it. While Cooper has technically had his hair cut before, it was just a trim of the front of his hair, not his sweet curls. I hated to do it, but lately his sweet curls had turned into a shaggy mess. People were calling him a girl and had Todd said that enough was enough! Aunt Lenetta, aka Honey, went with us to help out as well so that Mommy could make pictures of the monumental event. Mimi did a fabulous job and, with the help of a sucker and several Ritz crackers, my baby was transformed into a little boy. He looks so grown up now! Thank you so much Mimi for being a part of such a big day for us! Here are some pictures of his hair cut!

Cooper waits for Mimi to start cutting his hair

This sucker sure is good!

One last picture of his curls!

Mimi gets ready to cut his hair

Mimi cuts his first curl-no turning back now!


All Done! Our baby is now a little boy! If you look closely you will see some remnants of Ritz cracker on his face! I think he ate a whole stick of crackers before everything was said and done!

Mother's Day 2008

Mother's Day is always very special at our house and this year was no exception. My three boys are the greatest gifts that I have ever been given and it is because of them that I get the privilege of being called Mommy. The morning started off with us getting ready for church. Todd helped get the boys ready while I got myself ready then we were out the door. We had to be at church a little early because the preschoolers had a "Muffins with Mom" breakfast. Although my boys and I didn't want muffins, we went to the breakfast and had a wonderful time drinking juice and visiting with other Mommies and their precious preschoolers. After church we loaded up in the car and headed to Mimi's house to give out presents. Then, we all went to Seven Gables (one of my favorite restaurants) for a Mother's Day lunch. Seven Gables usually isn't open on Sundays but will open for special occasions such as this. On these special days, they have a limited menu available. I was especially excited to see his fabulous clam chowder soup on the menu! It was delicious as always. After lunch we said good-bye to Mimi and Didi as they were heading back to North Carolina. We went home and I tried to take a nap-no such luck-my boys were just a little to rowdy that day! That afternoon we spent time with each other-the perfect ending to a perfect day! If you are fortunate enough to still have your mother with you, I hope that you took the opportunity to tell her just how much you love her and how thankful you are for her-I did! I also hope that all of you who are mothers had a wonderful day as well!

Mommy and her three precious boys!


Mommy and her sweet baby boy!


Carter shows Mommy just how much he loves her-believe me, from the tight grip he has on my neck, it is a lot!

Jackson gives Mommy a big hug!

We Belong In The Circus!

In May of each year, the Shriners (yes, these are the men that wear the funny hats and collect money at intersections, in front of stores, etc.) host a Shrine Circus to raise money to keep their Temple open and running. My dad (the boys' Didi) is a Shriner and really holds close to his heart the basis for which the Shrine was started in the first place. The Shrine is a not-for-profit fraternity of sorts that raises money for Shrine Hospitals. Shriners Hospitals for Children is a one-of-a-kind international health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs. Children up to the age of 18 with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate are eligible for admission and receive all care in a family-centered environment at no charge regardless of financial need.
Going to the Shrine Circus has become a tradition for my boys. They love the rides, food, and circus animals that they have there. This year Todd was not able to go with us, so Carter, Jackson and I loaded up and headed to Jim R. Miller Park in Marietta for a fun-filled evening! The boys had a great time while we were there! Here are some pictures of our wonderful evening!

Oh, one more thing...you will notice that there is "someone" very special in some of the pictures. This is Corduroy, the class mascot in Carter's class. He got to go home with each of the boys and girls in the class several times this year. On this particular night, it was Carter's turn to have Corduroy! Because we had to write about their adventures, Corduroy had to come along with us! He was a very sweet bear and listened very well!

Carter, Jackson and Corduroy getting ready to go into the circus!

Carter plays the duck game and picks a winner!

Jackson had a hard time choosing which duck he wanted. He finally settled on one and won big!

Jackson waits patiently to ride the Shriner train!

Carter and Corduroy are ready to ride!

Carter strikes a pose on his motorcycle while Jackson is too focused to smile...he was just ready to ride!

The Dizzy Strawberry...mommy had to ride this with them (I was SO not happy as I do not love spinning around fast!)

Carter and Jackson get ready to ride the Chinese Dragon roller coaster!

Here we go! Carter and Jackson loved the roller coaster! If you look closely, you can see that Jackson has his hands raised!

Carter wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel so Mommy rode it with him! He loved it!

Relay For Life 2008

Relay For Life has been a very important event in my life for over 10 years now. I got involved in this all night walk to raise money for the American Cancer Society in college. My sorority always had a team at the walk in Carrollton. Back then my reason "To Relay" was to simply raise money to help with cancer research. Now my reasons are a lot more personal. So many people in my family have been personally affected by cancer and have fought valiant battles with this ugly "C" word. Relay For Life is a way for our family to raise awareness and to give money to this cause so that our boys will hopefully never know how horrible this disease is. This year Relay
was a little different. Miles For Michala is the team that we usually walk with. This year, Michala and her mommy and sisters were in Iowa with their new baby, Abe. He was born with club feet and is currently undergoing treatment from Dr. Ponseti himself to correct them. There was certainly a void this year and we missed them very much. Everything went well but things just weren't the same without them!

We also helped out with our church's team, which was a lot of work but was lots of fun as well! This year each team had to incorporate a movie theme into their campsites. Miles For Michala chose Sleepless in Covington (a take off from Sleepless In Seattle). We always do a coffee shop so this movie was the perfect choice as there were coffee scenes in it. Our church chose Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. We had a chocolate fountain and had marshmallows and fruit for people to dip in the chocolate. We also sold baked goods and large boxes of movie candy. In all, the Relay event in Covington raised almost $300,000.00 (at last check)! Here are some pictures of our great night!

With the help of Daddy's shoulders, Cooper takes his first lap at Relay this year. Mack Daddy walks closely beside them in his Survivor shirt. We are very proud of him!

What a crew!

One of the fun events at our Relay is the "Bouncing Baby Buggy Contest". Each team can have a baby representative that will go around to the different campsites to collect money. The baby with the most money at the end of the contest, wins. Our church's representatives won this year! Here is a picture of our little cuties! The Oompa Loompas (Will and Walker Myhand) and Violet (Emma Tucker Myhand) are actually brothers and sister. There is only 12 months between Emma Tucker and the twins! I so admire their mother!! In this picture, Walker is catching a cat nap while Emma Tucker tries to eat all of the candy off of her shirt! Will just wants the contest to begin!


Here are some of the luminaries that we bought for Relay. These are our "Reasons To Relay":

This one was bought in memory of Todd's grandfather, Bill Beeler by all of his great-grandchildren

This one was purchased by our family for my "niece" Michala.

Our boys got this luminary for their Mack Daddy!

This luminary was purchased in loving memory of Todd's mother, Judy Zittrouer. My boys call her their Grammy, and, although she is in heaven, her memory will live on in my boys forever!

This luminary is in loving memory of George Robert Zittrouer, Mack's father. He passed away a month or so after Todd and I were married. I am so honored that I had the opportunity to know this wonderful man.

This luminary is for my grandmother, Virginia Caines, who passed away two years ago from brain cancer. She was an extraordinary woman and I only wish that Cooper could have met her!

This luminary was given by my boys in loving memory of their Aunt Diane. In the picture on the luminary, Aunt Diane is holding Jackson. I wish that Cooper could have met her as well!

We got this luminary in memory of my aunt, Bonnie Hattaway. Her granddaughter, Addie, called her Granby, so that is what is on this bag. She passed away a week before her daughter, Holly gave birth to twin girls, Molly Margaret and Bonnie Kay.
Another luminary for our "Aunt Bon-Bon". This time it's from all of mine and Brooke's boys.

Cooper gives a big smile for the camera!

Tonya Coe, Sharon Corbett and I stop for a quick picture before resuming our roles in the candy factory! I am very proud to say that Sharon is a 4 year survivor of Breast Cancer!
Each year at dark there is a luminary ceremony. During this time, the lights are turned off as the luminaries that align the track are lit. This is a picture of the luminaries that were lit in the stands. If you look closely, you will see that the bags spell out the word HOPE-something that we all have!


2-4-6-8-Who Do We Appreciate? Randy, Randy, yea Randy! Thanks Randy for dressing up as a cheerleader for the Mr. Relay pageant! Although he didn't actually go through with the pageant, he was still a wonderful sport!