a little cooper sunshine

happy thanksgiving!

2011-11-21T08:13:00.000-08:00

one last card - a thanksgiving day card!! turn the die cut of the bird upside down and cut off the head above the beak and cut of the tail........ and you have a cooked turkey! use one of the owls feet to have a little bone with a crown sticking out of the bird wing/turkey leg.... dont forget to bake or brown the edges of the turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

another stamp club card

2011-11-21T08:10:00.001-08:00

here's a fun Christmas stamp - loving the 3-D tree!!

stamp club cards

2011-11-21T08:08:00.000-08:00

some fun little stocking cards -

LOVE this new die!!!

soccer champ

2010-11-14T07:27:00.000-08:00

samuel's soccer team won the state championships yesterday!!! WAHOO!!!

elephant aerobics

2010-11-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

the last thing we did was caught the elephant aerobics... they had the elephants walking around following each other and the one behind always caught the tail of the one in front of him with his trunk - it was soo cute!! the zoo keeper had one of the elephants do tricks - like kneel down and lift one leg and then lay down and then he even had the elephant sit up - we couldnt believe all the things these BIG guys could do!

all in all it was a super fun day at the zoo!!!

tiger training

2010-11-05T07:51:00.000-07:00

next we went to see the tiger training! we were about three feet away from this huge tiger named sasha and the zoo guy feed him and asked him to do different things - like roll over, open his mouth, walk to the rock and back.... it was pretty fun to see!

the crazy camel

2010-11-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

then we went to feed the giraffes... but the zoo keepers never came - so while we were waiting sam started pulling a stick along the fence and making noise...... he would walk clear down one side the walkway and then walk all the way back - soon a camel started following him and then sam started running and the camel started chasing him down the fence line - the camel was acting soo funny and he looked sooo crazy!!! i think it ended up being one of our favorite things of the day!!!

the sea lions

2010-11-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

then we went to see the sea lion show - it was great!!! the exhibit was incredible!!! there was an underground viewing area and a place for shows with a really nice amphitheather seating area for us to watch

a trip to the zoo

2010-11-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

the kids didnt have school tuesday - so we took off to the zoo!! we hadnt seen the new sea lion exhibit ....so we knew that was one thing we didnt want to miss!!! on our way there we went to see the orangatans...... all three of them were out and they were really playful!!! swinging and running all over the place... and while we were in there looking at them two zoo workers came out and let us pet a hedgehog or woodchog like daniel used to call them when he was little and a big snake......

happy halloween

2010-10-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

here are the kids ready for trick or treat tonight!!! brynn is a cupcake, arden and sam are cookies and milk, and daniel and mason are rootbeer and a hotdog.

Arden named MVP

2010-09-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

tonight we went to a banquet where arden was named MVP - most valuable peer in spencer county - i had to give a speech introducing her and then they brought her up on stage and unveiled her poster! there will be 100 of the posters posted all over town!

the cul de sac kids

2010-09-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

we have been so busy with everything since school started... arden's cheerleading and band, daniel's soccer and drumline, mason's football, and sam and brynn's soccer - whew! it's alot to do!!! and it keeps us hopin'!!! that's what really makes this pic special - the neighborhood kids were all so excited to see each other today....... they stood like this forever catching up on what was going on in each other's lives........

more of mason's football

2010-09-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

mason's really struggling this year in football........ he's in 6th grade but playing on the 7th grade team cause he's soo dang good ...... however - the 7th grade team wont play him cause he's low man on the totem pole and the 6th grade team wont play him because he's on the 7th grade team...... so the poor kid feels lost and like he doesnt have a spot at all......poor kid

book club refreshments

2010-09-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

daniel and mason are in a book club. each month they read a book and then get together and talk about it. the book this month was called flush and it was about a casino boat that was flushing their toliets straight into the ocean and polluting the water... since we were in charge of refreshments this month they decided they wanted to do something themed.... here is what they came up with - the drink was #1 and the snack #2..... it looked totally gross!!!

what it really was was lemonaide and melted chocolate served on toliet paper..... the boys wanted different shades of #2 - so we had to melt milk chocolate and dark chocolate and then we even tried chocolate with carmel....... then they decided there needed to be chunks....... so we had to do chocolate with almonds!!!!! it was totally disgusting!!!!

more water park

2010-09-02T18:10:00.000-07:00

water slide

2010-09-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

we discovered this new pool with a water slide and spent the day there this weekend - the kids got free passes from the library reading program this summer!

daniel playing ball with his cast

2010-09-02T18:03:00.000-07:00

daniel is also number 3 on his soccer team - he is playing really good with his cast on........ at first if effected his balance but he's gotten used to it and is playing great!!!

brynn starts soccer

2010-09-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

brynn is playing soccer this year... she's number 3 - she is more concerned about how good she looks rather than how good she plays... in fact the picture where she is looking at the camera and smiling - she was actually running down the field with the ball... and then she saw me with the camera .... she immediately stopped and posed for the camera and then started running again........crazy girl!!

school dance

2010-09-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

daniel and mason went to the first middle school dance of the year. Mason said "no mom - before you even ask - i didnt dance with a girl"

are you ready for some football?

2010-09-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

mason started football season and is really liking playing for his middle school team. His number is 60 - but he's #1 in my book!!

silly string

2010-06-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

as part of their fun day together mas and sam had a silly string fight - it was over almost before it started but they sure did have fun!!!

swimming

2010-06-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

mason and sam had a huge fun day yesterday...... brynn and daniel are up in ohio staying with my mom and arden just left for washington dc for the national competition of national history day, so mas and sam were on their own!! they spent alot of the day in the pool swimming....... here are some pics

brynn and her make-up

2010-06-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

brynn got some new 'hair-make' at the store today........ she hasnt stopped putting it on since!!! here she is putting eyeshadow on her toes!!!!!!!!

the biggest chickens EVER

2010-06-14T08:12:00.001-07:00

we have needed some chickens for a while for the garden but couldnt find any...... so we went grocery shopping the other day and as we went into the store both arden and i saw these chickens at the same time - we looked at each other and said - we have got to get these!!! it is the biggest chicken i have ever seen!!!!!!!!!

we mulched the garden

2010-06-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

buddy is sick

2010-05-29T12:02:00.001-07:00

buddy has been throwing up for the past two days and last night his eyes swelled shut. we took him to the vet this morning and they arent sure what is wrong with him- they ruled out several dangerous things like parvo and parasites in his stinky....... and finally gave him three shots, one benedryl and then one to settle his stomach and one to get rid of the runs and then he has two prescriptions that he will start taking tonight to help him get better.......

new blooms

2010-05-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

while gramma and mom were here there were some plants that were just getting ready to bloom but hadnt yet........ first the hydrangeas........ they still arent in full bloom but they are getting there - the coolest thing about them is the ones in front are blue, and in brynn's garden there are two hydrangeas right beside each other, one is purple and one is pink! and then the lemon fluffs bloomed - gramma really wanted to see what these looked like

new flowers

2010-05-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

also when gramma and mom were down here i got them some plants for helping me out - so they could take them home and put them in their gardens........ well i fell in love with what they got so i had to get some for myself...... first gramma got some gerber daisies - so we got some and put them in by the fountain, next i got them each pepper plants and last i got mom some verbena - so we put the peppers and verbena in close to the rock under the smaller bush tree - the one that had posion ivy on it....... and last i picked up another flower called a blanket flower that i really fell in love with - we stuck that one over by the rose bush that mom trimmed up.

secret garden

2010-05-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

while gramma and mom were down here they worked really really hard at getting the secret garden into shape!!! since they've left we've done a little here and there to keep the momentum going........ arden and daniel finished up the brick walkway, dan put the window box up on the gate and planted flowers in it, he also put flowers in the window boxes on the wall. and mason planted some delphiniums close to the fence for me - kind of at the end of the square stepping stones.

unidentified bulb plant

2010-05-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

last year mason did a bulb plant experiment for science fair - where he planted two bulbs - one he put in the sun and watered the other he stuck in the closet and then he watched their progress......... after the experiment was over i threw the bulbs in the garden....... well guess what - one of them came up!!!!!! and i actually think it was the one he put in the closet!!! the bloom opened up today

for the first time!!! it is absolutely beautiful!!!!!!

end of the year awards

2010-05-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

the cooper kids cleaned up at each of their awards banquets!! Daniel received an award for all A honor roll, best band student of the year, governor's cup and an award for being featured in the school newsletter this year.. Sam received first place math student in his class, outstanding reading ability, best athelethe in his class, always doing his personal best, best 2nd grade art student in the school, and reading over 100 books during the school year. Brynn got a dipolma for completing kindergarten and got the award for most creative writer in her class. and finally Mason had a graduation ceremony and received his elementary school dipolma, and award for outstanding performance in reading, 1st place in the young authors book award, an award for reading over 100 books during the school year, excellence in creative writing, excellence in social studies, and the best 5th grade student in music!

it was a pretty fun week getting to go to all these award ceremonies!!!

guess who lost her first tooth!!???

2010-04-29T19:07:00.001-07:00

little miss brynn!!!! she lost her very first tooth!!! and the new tooth is even behind it coming in already!!

the limo ride

2010-04-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

arden and a bunch of her close friends all took a limo to dinner together.... it was a hummer... here's a pic of the inside plus all of them posing before they left

little miss brynn

2010-04-18T07:36:00.000-07:00

of course brynn had to get into it....... she needed her hair done and she went with me to take pics at the limo and later to see the gym decorated up and even later to spy on all the kids as they walked into the prom - she and i decided which dresses we liked best........

here's arden with her best friend ryan and then two pics of brynn who was very upset that she didnt get to go to prom!

arden's dress

2010-04-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

arden went to prom with tyler - he brought her flowers and as they left he helped her in the car and shut her door for her......... they looked great together

entrance to the gym

2010-04-18T07:28:00.000-07:00

to get into the gym you had to go through a castle with drawbridge and amoured guards...

prom decorations

2010-04-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

arden was on the prom committee this year - so she had to help decorate for the prom...... the theme was a fairytale - and they had fairytale decorations aladin, mulan,cinderella and beauty and the beast

aprons and ideas

2010-04-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

we hosted aprons and ideas at our house tonight. and we learned how to make candy bouquets!! they turned out sooo good!!! here are some pics, plus a pic of one of the snacks we had....

arden finished her jacket!!

2010-03-31T20:49:00.000-07:00

it is 11:45 at night and arden shayn just finished the Easter jacket she has been working on!!!!!!!! wahoo!!! way to go arden!!! you look great sweetheart!!

completed quilt tops!!

2010-03-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

here are two quilt tops that i just finished!!!

more hail pics

2010-03-12T15:36:00.000-08:00

the hail was still on the ground when the kids got home from school!! they loved it!!! here are pics of what it looked like five hours after it hit........ cant believe it's still on the ground!!

huge hail storm!!!

2010-03-12T09:31:00.000-08:00

we just got hit by a huge crazy hail storm!!!

charm totes

2010-03-10T08:07:00.000-08:00

here are two totes i just made....... i made them as gifts

2010-03-10T07:33:00.000-08:00

i took a machine quilting class last night and learn a few things......... here is my practice piece and the butterfly quilt is something i made for class to be my first machine quilting project........

only brynn

2010-03-02T11:47:00.001-08:00

i found brynn like this in the middle of the night..... only brynn would get all decked out to go to sleep...

more purses

2010-03-02T11:46:00.000-08:00

here is a tote i just finished today and a purse i finished last week

stamp club projects

2010-02-18T10:09:00.001-08:00

here are the projects for this months stamp club

completed purses

2010-02-18T10:02:00.000-08:00

here are pics of the completed purses

what i've been working on this week...

2010-02-12T12:37:00.000-08:00

here are five purses i have been working on this week - they are taking F O R E V E R!!!

another snow day

2010-02-09T12:09:00.000-08:00

we got hit with maybe 5 inches of snow today and wow are the kids excited!!! dan and daniel build this really cool fort and stayed outside for over four hours!!

arden's quilt block

2010-02-06T19:22:00.000-08:00

arden worked on a quilt block today too - she finished her block of the month....... she worked soo hard to make sure her corners were exactly right and the points matched perfectly!! and it paid off cause it looks great!!!!!!!!!

cupcake quilt blocks

2010-02-06T19:20:00.000-08:00

i have been sewing all day long!!! man am i tired of sewing!!! but i finished a purse and made three more cupcake quilt squares!! wahoo!!!

rose bowl!!

2010-02-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

having fun watching the buckeyes win the rose bowl!!

more snow day pics

2010-02-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

snow day pics

2010-02-06T11:44:00.000-08:00

national honors society

2010-02-06T11:40:00.000-08:00

arden getting inducted into national honors society

rainy day

2010-02-06T11:38:00.000-08:00

little miss brynn coming home from school on a rainy day last week

arden takes second place at cheer competition

2010-02-06T11:32:00.001-08:00

another sewing project

2010-02-06T11:27:00.000-08:00

arden and i just finished a couple of purses!!! we are both thrilled with how they turned out!!!!

one more stamp club pic

2010-01-19T07:43:00.000-08:00

Jan stamp club

2010-01-19T07:40:00.000-08:00

here are the projects from this month's stamp club - SU! came out with new clear mount stamps and a new style punch!! everyone loved them!!

a new hobby!!

2010-01-19T07:38:00.001-08:00

arden has gotten me into sewing and quilting..... and it's so fun that im hooked already!!! here are the first two projects

more september stamp club

2009-09-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

here is the last card - a windshield wiper card

september stamp club

2009-09-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

we worked on halloween projects this month... we made two different boxes to put halloween candy in - a matchbox and a criss cross box... then we made two cards - one is here - with a treat pocket in the front... and the other card is called a windshield wiper card that i will post here in a minute.

august stamp club projects

2009-09-26T20:03:00.001-07:00

we had a purse theme for stamp club this month - all the projects had to do with purses... here are two of the three projects... i will load a picture of the last one soon...

healthy snack

2009-09-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

sam had to take a healthy snack into class this week to share.... so we whipped these pencils up... the pencils are cheese with bologna for the erasers... bugels for the the point and a half of a raisin for the lead - they turned out soo good!!

the nina

2009-09-26T19:48:00.000-07:00

mason's class took a field trip to see the nina... a life size replica of the actual ship christopher columbus discovered the new world in... i got to go along and snapped a few pics - it was really a great trip!

good sister/bad sister

2009-09-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

for stamp club this month the twins came dressed up for halloween!!! jennifer was the good sister and julie was the bad sister... they had wigs on and julie had a 'cigarette' hanging out of her mouth...

their wigs were just the best!!! oh they just looked soo good!!! it was hilarious!!!!!!

2009-09-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

here are some of the most recent football and cheerleading pictures of the kiddos....... they're having a ton of fun!!! and so am i!!

two more brunch invites

2009-09-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

morning after brunch invite ideas

2009-09-02T10:38:00.001-07:00

wedding program idea

2009-09-02T10:34:00.001-07:00

my sister is getting married in october..... im working on an idea that could possibly be her program

teach gifts

2009-07-31T09:32:00.000-07:00

the first day of school is coming up quick........ so i whipped up some teacher gifts to get the year started off right....... they were fun to make!

lovin the apple theme

zoo pages

2009-07-31T09:31:00.000-07:00

more 12x12 one sheet wonders

2009-07-31T09:27:00.000-07:00

12x12 one sheet wonders

2009-07-31T09:24:00.001-07:00

i made up this template for 5 12x12 pages.... i absolutely love it!!! and have made several things using it now!!! LOVING IT!!!

allison takes brynn to the movies!!

2009-07-31T09:13:00.001-07:00

little miss brynn got the most incredible b-day present from her babysitter allison!!! allison realized that brynn... youngest of five rarely gets to do stuff by herself....so she took brynn to the movie of her choice, just the two of them!!! they went to see ice age and brynn got popcorn and everything!!! she was soo incredibly excited!!! it was soo fun to see her face!!!

more stamp club cards

2009-06-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

stamp club

2009-06-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

here are the cards from stamp club this month....

2009-05-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

arden loves her dress!!! and she looked absolutely great in it!!! i cant believe she is going to prom!!! where did my baby go!!??

more prom

2009-05-09T19:15:00.001-07:00

arden shayn went to prom tonight!!!! she went with brandon - a guy she was dating for a while - but now they're just friends.......

arden made her dates boutiner herself.

prom!!!!!!!

2009-05-09T19:11:00.000-07:00

we got to peak in the gym tonight before prom started to see the decorations.... man did they do it up nice!!! venice, london, paris and NYC!!!

dan's new tattoo

2009-05-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

dan and i went out on a date last night and got tattoos!!! i just got mine redone and dan got a four leaf clover in the same place as mine......

huge down pour

2009-05-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

we had a gigantic rain storm and the creek swelled sooo much that the water started running over the top of the driveway!!! it was nuts!

shelli number 8

2009-05-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

dan found this little turtle floating in the pool - brynn asked if she could keep it...... so now we have a little pet turtle.

a new garden!!

2009-05-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

we just added a new garden to our yard....... there were some eye sores - a septic tank cover, the electrical pole for the septic tank pump and another thing coming out of the ground for the tank..... all which were in the same general area of the yard -but spread out so they just looked horrible....... so dan added on to the top of the exisiting post and made a hanging garden post.... and they we worked one of the other things into a wall that goes around the garden and put a flower pot on top of it so you dont see it at all....... and last we put creek rocks around the septic tank cover and made it look kinda like a wishing well - we think it looks fantastic!!! i cant wait to see what it looks like in a couple weeks when the flowers take off!!!!!

garden

2009-05-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

we've been working hard in our yard lately - here are some pics of our garden......

daniel in drumline and with his new GIRLFRIEND!!!

2009-05-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

daniel has a girlfriend!!!!!!!! he asked arden for some advice on how to ask her 'out' and i guess she gave him good advice cause the girl said YES!!!!! so now they are going out!!!! i was wondering how her parents would take the news...... and their response blew me away!!! they gave me info on the summer camps that leah will be attending this summer and said here are forms for daniel to fill out if he would like to go to them too!!!! whoa!!!!! im wondering what they will share with me next time we get to talk ........ the colors leah would like to have at her wedding??? OMGosh!!!!!!!! this is waaaaaaaaayyyyy more serious than i ever thought it would be!!!! but im just glad that daniel is confident enough to have a girlfriend!!! that is huge!!!!!!

so anyways - on to the important stuff - the drumline performed at daniel's band concert last night and daniel was incredible!!!!!!!! wish everyone could have been there to see it!!!!

and then there is the pic of daniel with his girlfriend leah - who by the way plays the flute!!!

this month's stamp club projects

2009-05-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

here is what we did for stamp club this month.... there was another card - but the pic didnt turn out... it was actually my favorite card so i might have to try and get another shot of it.....

some people made the scrapbook page and some made the card on the project that matches..... and then i showed them how they could make the smaller sized page into a bigger layout.....

yet more scrapbook pages

2009-05-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

here are a couple i made yesterday........ one of them i made a matching card with my scraps.....

2009-05-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

here are some more scrapbook pages - all four of these are based on the same sketch.

sorry for the bad pics.......

some scrapbook pages

2009-05-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

here are some recent pages that i have made...... lovin the ohio state pages!!!!!

2009-04-03T17:30:00.000-07:00

holly alley

staycation - day 5

2009-04-03T17:08:00.000-07:00

yew dell gardens

today was arden's dream vacation day - she wanted to go to england and visit a castle. so we found the closest nearby neighborhood castel and took off to check it out. turns out the castle is surrounded by a huge garden and we toured the grounds and checked it all out. the place is just gorgeous!! and arden loved the castle. and we discovered a secret garden and a row of trees called holly alley - it was a pretty fun day!! we ended up at macalisters deli for soup in a bread bowl.

now we're all sitting on the couch watching wall i - great flick - you should definately watch it if you haven't.

staycation - day 4

2009-04-03T16:39:00.000-07:00

today was pajama day. when we all picked what our dream vacation would be one of the kids said staying at home in their pjs all day long and just hanging out... so that is what we did today - we stayed in our pjs and just hung out. we played cards and goofed around on the Wii and all took bubblebaths... it was a very fun and relaxing day!

2009-04-01T20:28:00.000-07:00

staycation - day 3

2009-04-01T19:45:00.000-07:00

natural arch state park

we thought that nothing would be able to top the day 1 high ropes course.....but today sure did!!!! we went to national arch state park and it was just spectacular!!!

we started off with a 3/4 mile trail that went straight up a cliff... we climbed and climbed and climbed and climbed some more!!! and when we finally got to the top we were walking across the top of the natural arch, which we hadnt gotten a look at yet so we really didnt realize how incredible it was...until we got around to lookout point and got a good look at the arch - we just couldnt believe that we had walked right across the top of that!!!! then we continued on to lovers leap which was another 3/4 mile hike to a cliff top spectacular view of the lodge and pool and lake where you could stay at the park...

then we wanted to head down something called devils gulch but it was just way way too dangerous - i still cant even believe that anybody could make it down devils gulch without getting killed... we didnt want to attempt it - so we headed back the same way we came and went back to the arch where we found some steps down to the bottom of the arch... AND we found something we had been looking for the whole day - fat man's squeeze! - we werent sure what it was - but when we came up to it - we knew right away that we had found it!! it was this fissure type thing in the rock - like an opening between two rock walls... and it was only about 14 " - 18" wide ... i figured it would just be this short part of the trail and it would open back up - but it went on and on and on and then turned into steps that started down and it still hadnt widened out - it was nuts!! and then finally we came out on the other side and we were right under the arch! oh my gosh were we excited!!! it was soo neat!!! we sat down for a 'foot rest' as brynn called it and just hung out under the arch for a while... before we headed down another 3/4 mile trail back to where we started....

then we headed to the lodge for dinner - a buffet of great food and even better dessert!!! we couldnt believe it when we added it all up to a 3 mile trip that brynn and sam had made the whole hike without a single complaint!!! the kids had enjoyed the entire day - looking around at the trees and the water and the blue skies and joking around with each other - it was just perfect!!! and we all agreed that THIS was the best day of staycation!!!

staycation - day 2

2009-03-31T17:03:00.001-07:00

day 2

we went to the Louisville Science Center and checked it out... three floors of interactive displays... build this bridge, do the weather report, check out how you can recycle things... and then we went to an IMAX movie about the wild ocean - it was pretty good!! now we're sitting in front of the tv watching a family movie and eating pizza...... a pretty good staycation day!!

2009-03-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

staycation - more day 1

2009-03-30T20:42:00.001-07:00

the zoo has a new high ropes course that we checked out today - it was incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i mean it was sooo much fun - i couldnt even believe it!!! the kids were all soo brave - it was unbelievable how they just went all over this course - the top part was three stories high and some parts all's you had to walk on was a tiny little rope!! and the kids just walked

across it like it was nothing!!! even brynn was all over the place........ although she did get scared at times she still was soo brave!!