Post-bath fun

It took me forever to get a good shot of Cooper crawling around as a little frog, but it was worth the wait!

Then he was over it... but still cute!

After his bath, Tyson was asking me for "sticky hair", which confused me a little bit... then he showed me.
After his previous bath, I told him I was making his hair "stick up"... now he loves to have "sticky hair". :)

Riley is getting to be such a big girl, she loves to pick out her own clothes and jammies and got a kick out of putting on Daddy's flip-flops the other night after her bath. She wanted to get in on the picture action too, so she "posed" for me. I love this girl!

Spiderweb

Riley called us over to show us this drawing last week:

A great big spiderweb and a spider sitting right in the middle

I love the imagination of children!

Clipping Cooper's Wings

Cooper has been sporting some pretty fantastic "wings" the past couple of months, with his long, wispy hair. With Tyson, we waited to cut his hair for the first time until he was almost 18 months old- silly sentimental stuff. When I look back at his photos, I find myself wishing we'd cut it a little sooner. So, we decided to be a little more on top of it with Cooper.

Our handsome little guy and his wings!

He did so well through the whole thing.

I think he aged at least a month or two with his new do'! :)

Tyson got his hair cut, too!

All set to sell! (Thanks mom!)

It has been a hectic week, but we're hoping all of our hard work and scrubbing will be all worth it this weekend- our Realtor is holding an Open House on Saturday and Sunday. I honestly don't think there is an inch of this house that hasn't been cleaned in the past week and Rick has the yard looking absolutely amazing!! We found out tonight that the sellers of our dream house have accepted our offer, contingent on the sale of our house, which was fantastic news! Step one, check!

My wonderfully talented mom made a quick trip to Portland yesterday to help get the house "staged" for the Open Houses and I still can't believe how well everything turned out... although, she always makes our house looks it's absolute best! Thanks mom for all of your hard work, for your knack for decorating, and for making the trip over to help out. If the house sells this weekend, you get all the credit! :)

Doesn't this house just scream, "Buy me!"

The fresh lilies my mom bought for the kitchen make it feel so homey!

The family room

The boys' room has had bare walls since Tyson has moved to a big boy bed earlier this summer and the room was rearranged. Just a few simple additions to the walls made all the difference!


Riley's walls have also been bare since we painted them purple, many moons ago. We've been waiting for my mom to help with the decorating and I have to say, it was worth the wait. The room turned out very cute!!! Riley loves it, which is most important. :)


And finally, the living room/play room. You would never guess by looking at it that there are 3-6 very active kids that play in this room on a regular basis. All the extra (not kid-proof) decorations are waiting patiently in the wings, ready to be pulled out and "staged" at a moments notice.

I will also try and get some great photos of the yard Rick has worked so hard on and post them soon.

So, once again, here's hoping for great luck this weekend with the Open House!

Mr. Get-out-of-bed

That's was the title of the email Rick sent me containing this picture of Tyson...

Rick found Tyson asleep on the bottom step around 11pm last Friday.
I love it...

Show and Tell

Riley gets to bring something for preschool Show and Tell each Tuesday morning. She made the perfect choice for her very first show and tell last week, her Build-a-Bear bunny, Princess, that she got for her 3rd birthday. This week, she chose a Cinderella book she earned out of her treasure chest. I should be interesting, as the weeks go by, to see what creative things she comes up with to bring...

Doesn't she look nice and cozy in the princess backpack?
We even put the bows in her "hair" for the special occasion!

Predators of the Serengeti

The Oregon Zoo finally opened it's newest exhibit, after a long remodel, and it was well worth the wait! It's called the Predators of the Serengeti. The kids loved the new animals: lions (1 male and 2 female, I think), cheetahs and African "painted" dogs. We also got a great view of some of the other animals in our visit- it's always hit and miss whether or not the animals will be out to see...

"Mommy, please take a picture of the monkey!"
Alright...

One of the zebras getting a good scratch from the tree...

Hippo keepin' cool in the water...

One of the new lions (or is it lioness?)... the male lion was being lazy somewhere in the shade, as it was quite hot out... typical :)

They're hard to see, but the "painted" dogs are walking along the back of the photo... I saw on the news that they travel in packs and these three always walk in the same order, with the alpha male in front- something I totally learned about by reading the Twilight Saga.

The cheetah got right up next to the glass in front of Tyson, as did the lion... he loved it!

And the other cheetah...

A little dress-up

And the cool new statues...

Now if they'd just finish construction on the new monkey stuff, we'll have a kick-butt zoo again! I think the kids would go to the zoo every single day if we let them- with the same enthusiasm every time. I love it!

As if I didn't have enough on my plate...

... we have decided to put our house on the market!! AAAHHHHH!!!!

I am officially stressed out and overly tired. The house selling thing has sent me over the edge. The proof being the total freak-out I had today while trying to put the kids down for a nap. Not so I could nap, mind you, but so I would have a least one hour of uninterrupted time to finish the homework I hadn't completed yet- and it's due tonight. No pressure. At one point, all 4 of us were crying... at the same time... yep, me, Riley, Tyson, and Cooper. Crying. Fun times.

The house is pretty much sell-ready, just needed some deep cleaning and minor TLC. Something Rick and I worked on last night and I finished up this morning. So, here's the skinny: Rick and I found a house we LOVE in the Happy Valley area, which is only about 7-10 minutes away from our current house, near our church, on a quiet cul-de-sac street, and it has everything we've been looking for in a house in the past couple of years off and on. We went to look at it yesterday afternoon and put an offer in last night, which is contingent on our house selling. The sellers have until tomorrow (Tuesday the 22nd) at noon to accept or decline our offer. It looks sort of promising though, the seller and her realtor requested to come and see our house today, to decide if we have a super-fast sellable house and whether or not we have a fair price on it. Hence all the crazy deep cleaning we were doing. They came by today at 11:30am, and I hope they were WOWed by our house and see promise in it selling quickly. The seller's realtor also works in an office here in Gresham, so I hope she'll be able to push our house to many of her clients and fellow realtors!

So, now we are just waiting. But, anyone who has ever sold a house knows, you have to keep the house clean and ready to show at a moments (or hours) notice- not an easy feat with 3 little ones constantly working against you! Hopefully we won't have to do it for too long! :)

The one downfall to yesterday's craziness and ultimate decision to sell/buy... I missed what should have been my last "long run" for my marathon training, 18 miles. Instead, we were viewing the house, at the realtors office and running errands from noon until 8pm and then mad-cleaning from 8 to midnight. Not only did I miss an important run, I feel a little exhaustion induced sickness/tiredness coming on. UGH! The very LAST thing I need in the remaining 2 weeks before the marathon is deal with a sickness.

After my class tonight from 6-10pm, I will be able to rest a little easier and focus on the house, running, and staying healthy, instead of worrying too much about homework- at least until next Monday's class. Have I mentioned before how much I hate homework? Bane of my existence. Please be praying that the most amazingly, perfect family or people will find our house to be exactly what they were looking for and then some. I love this house and will miss it dearly, whenever we end up moving, so I hope the next owners will appreciate and respect it as much as we have!

If you are curious, the listing for the house we are hoping to purchase can be found here.

Another Marathon Training Update

The nerves are really setting in... Less than 3 weeks to go until the big day and I think about it constantly. I survived my 16 mile run this past Sunday, but it wasn't easy. And all I kept thinking was, the real thing is 10 miles longer than this?!? This Sunday is my longest run until the marathon, 18 miles, and I have a better hydration/eating plan in place, hoping it will help a little. Help me not feel like quitting or dying... :) I have to say, out there pounding the pavement all by myself can mess with my head. I actually spent the last 4 miles on Sunday convincing myself that if I didn't finish the full 16 miles, nobody would ever know! What a quitter, right? I resisted though... promise.

I talked to my mom today, she and my stepdad are going to come the weekend of the marathon to help cheer me on at the finish line with Rick! It will be great to have them all there. I'm still hoping to add a few more upbeat songs to my iPod playlist... maybe some cheesy stuff from the 80's and 90's. Any suggestions? :)

Prayer

We will never forget the events that unfolded 8 years ago today, on 09-11-01. My heart still goes out to the victims, families, survivors, rescue workers, and all others involved in that fateful day. Last year I wrote a post about where I was on September 11, 2001, here. Check it out if you have time. I hope we are all able to hug our loved ones, appreciate the life a little more, and say an extra prayer today in remembrance of 9/11.

Another prayer request I have is for a long-time friend of Rick's, Lisa, and her family. You can read all about her precious baby boy James, who was born last week prematurely and is fighting everyday against the odds. I hope you can take the time to read their story at www.lisacookers.blogspot.com and be praying for James to gain strength and grow every single day. I have witnessed and heard about too many miracles to underestimate the power of prayer! Thanks!

Riley's First Day of Preschool!

Reading her new favorite story before bedtime last night: The Bernstein Bears Go to School

All ready to go!

Sporting her new backpack, standing outside the building.

Princesses, she picked it out all by herself!

Such a big girl... where does the time go?

She made sure to give hugs and kisses to Tyson and Cooper before we left... Tyson was sad and saying, "I miss Riley!" quite a bit in the 2 1/2 hours she was away!

She had a wonderful first day... painted a picture, colored, played with cars, went outside and played on the slide, had a snack (raisins, crackers, and juice), and made some new friends! There are only 6 kids in her class, 3 boys and 3 girls, including Riley. I love how excited she is to learn and go to school... lets just hope it lasts for 15+ more years! :)

Little Drummer Boy

Cooper is 10 months old today!

If our kids ever start band, a la The Jonas Brothers, Cooper would definitely be the drummer!!

And in case you were wondering, Riley would probably sing lead vocals and Tyson would play the guitar!