I Want to Be Big!

I had a very interesting conversation with Andy this morning.  I was in the bathroom getting ready for church (which was FABULOUS!) and he was sitting on the toilet doing his deed.

Andy:  I can't wait to get big.
Me:  Why?
Andy:  I want to be married.
Me:  Really?
Andy:  My Honey (what he calls is future wife, isn't that so cute??), her name will be....Abby or Grace.  (FYI:  the 2 girls at daycare)  My kids will be, uh....Joey and Andy!
I just keep listening, as he truly has a the whole thing planned out.  The next comment was the best, as it was a great idea that had just occurred to him!

Andy:  Mom, I can marry you!  Then daddy can marry lots of girls!
He thought this was brilliant!

Mommy, will you marry me?

I then explained to him that that is not how things work.  He can't marry me, because I am married to his dad.  We made a vow in front of God that we would love each other forever, and be married forever.  We can't marry anyone else.  I highly doubt he understands this, but I thought the proposal was cute!!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Megan!

This past weekend, the boys and I headed down to Iowa to celebrate my sister, Megan's, birthday!  Megan lives in Houston and drove up for her birthday.  We had a great celebration with ham balls (super yummy!) and cheesy potatoes!  Seriously, the best meal ever!

Of course, there was cake!  Andy was so excited for the cake and couldn't wait to eat it!  Before we cut into the cake, we got this great picture with Aunt Megan.  Joey cracks me up!  The faces we have captured on camera, are just crazy.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Megan!

Joey had the privilege to stay at grandma's this week.  He is attending the golf camp that I went to as a kid.  So far, it sounds like he is having a great time!  My mom sent me a Joeyism that I need to share:

"Pops, I didn't even notice you wear glasses."
"Yep, I do."
"I think it's because they blend in with your face."
"Hmmm, that's probably because they are black."
"And your face isn't even black!"
Pops chuckles.

Then she sent another:

"We (Joey and grandma) just finished reading and I asked him if he could remember page 78 for tomorrow.  He said he could remember a tornado warning from when he was three.  So I guess that since he can remember that, he will be able to remember page 78 for tomorrow.  lol" 

I miss you, Jojo!!!

Bitter Sweet Day

Field Day.  This is a day that all Aspen students look forward to all year.  Our students work so extremely hard all year, and today is the day they get to be kids...all day!  All 350 students gathered at a park today, were split into 10 teams (wearing super cool shirts designed by my good friend!!), and went through 8 different stations.  It was a blast!  And, on top of it, the weather was AWESOME!!!  We could not have asked for a better day...blue skies, 80's, slight breeze...beautiful!

Field Day is great, because it also reminds us that it is the end of the school year!  I am so excited to be home for the summer with my kids (even though I am sure I will go nutty some days!), and just relax.  But will I really relax?  Probably not!  There is always too much to do...housework, PC, scrapping, planning for next year, more housework.  BUT Field Day also reminds me that I only have one day left with my kinders.  I get so attached to my students, and their ways, that I miss them.  I know there is a whole new class coming in next year, but I still miss my kids.  I have to share one story:

My kids scrapbook every year.  I give them about 15 photos from throughout the year, lay a ton of paper and stickers out, and they go to town!  While one little boy was working, I overheard him say to a little girl, "This one must have been from back in the day.  I think I was five."  It took everything for me not to laugh out loud.  Keep in mind, he is six!  That is what I will miss....

....but, I have Joey and Andy to keep me going throughout the summer! :)

The favorite station of the day...Crazy Hair and Face Painting!

Joey and I on Field Day!

Guess what Joey is doing tonight???  Having a sleepover with our friends who have triplet girls!!  I know, call me crazy, but he wanted to go water skiing with them tonight after supper, and they offered.  He is one lucky boy getting to have a sleepover on a school night! :)  Happy end of 2nd grade!!  I am proud of you, JoJo!

Give Cooper a Hand!

Over the weekend, Cooper learned to do "So Big" by himself!  It is so cute, as his little arms are so short, he barely can get them above his head.  And he is very interested in his cute little hands, as when they are up in the air, he truly examines it.  Too cute!

Last night while waiting for Joey to get done with lacrosse, Andy and I were trying to get Cooper to play So Big.  Every time I would say, So Big, he would start clapping and just laughing!  I had never seen him clap before.  I was so glad I had my camera, as I got some photos of him going crazy!

Clapping!

Super excited!

Look at me!

Andy wanted a picture of him clapping too!

Cooper and Andy

Going Solo

I FINALLY am getting some alone time today.  My husband has been gone for 4 weeks and he is back for the weekend.  Yes, I have been a single mom for four weeks.  Let me just say this, I do not know how all the single moms do it.  I give tremendous kudos to all of you!  I know that God has given us the gifts to "just get it done," but it is hard.  Thank goodness for a great support team, my mother-in-law, who came and stayed with Andy when he had a fever, so I could go to work.  My friends, who watched the boys when I had my 3 Pampered Chefs show while Steve was gone.  My co-workers for being understanding when I don't have something done or need to leave to care for one of my children.  I couldn't do any of it without you!  Thank you!!

But, today, is a busy day!  I need to go to school and work.  Yup, it is a Saturday, and I will be there for the majority of the day and tomorrow.  You see, we have Field Day on Wednesday.  It is my baby, and I am in charge of 350 kids having the best day all year long!  I love it.  I love helping to provide this awesome day for the kids, especially after they have worked so hard all year long!  I have 100 (awesome!) parents volunteering their time, and a wonderful staff who carries out all the stations.  It is a great day, but takes a lot of prepping...so that is what I am doing today.  Plus, I have to make my end of the year gifts for my kids! Oh yeah, and those things called REPORT CARDS.   Busy, busy, busy!!

My husband, Steve, with his mini-me.  Ready to tackle the day!

My 3 Boys

Joey 8 yrs, Andy 4 yrs, Cooper 8 months

I wanted to get a picture on of all 3 boys.  I think they look like brothers, but they each definitely have their own unique look.  Joey looks just like me.  Put pigtails on him, and he could have been my twin at that age.  Andy, we are not sure who he looks like.  He actually resembles my Aunt Mary's (my dad's sister) son, Kyle, a lot.  Which is odd.  Then Cooper is a spitting image of my husband, big ears and all!!

Meet Cooper

Cooper Baby.  The name just puts a smile on my face!  Cooper Malek Lujan was born on July 18, 2011.  Steve and I knew we wanted a 3rd child, but were actually planning on just having the baby now....but Jeremiah 29:11....God had a different plan for us!  Cooper came a year sooner than we had thought...remember, I am fertile myrtle....and I ended up with a July baby.  With being a kindergarten teacher, I never really wanted to make the decision on whether or not I would send my child to school at age 5 or 6, now I have to make that decision.  For those of you who care, as of now, Cooper will be 6 when he goes!  I can post about that decision later.

I will admit, I had some major anxiety on naming Cooper.  Joey and Andy just flows so nicely together.  Joseph and Andrew are strong Christian names.  I needed the perfect name, but what would it be.  I came upon a website, where I was able to put in that I wanted the name to end in y and have 2 syllables.  Perfect!  Not so perfect.  Over 1000 names came up and I didn't care for any of them.  My stomach was turning.  My baby wasn't going to have a name!

I was doodling baby names everywhere.  Nothing I came up with sounded good with Joey and Andy.  I even gave my kindergartners an assignment to think of 3 boys names for me!  They came up with some good ones.  And, I believe, it was Kaylin who brought me Cooper.  I had thought of this name prior to reading it on her sheet, and liked it.  I through it out there for Steve, my husband, to think about.  He liked it.  We were getting somewhere now.  BUT, we also liked CJ.  Just CJ, not short for anything.  I knew I wanted to use Malek, my maiden name, for the middle name.  With all boys, I couldn't use Molly or Faye on them, so that left my maiden name....plus I think it is cool!

There was a problem.  Everything I heard the name Cooper, I thought pooper.  Ugh.  If I think it, you know mean, bully type kids will think it.  I don't want him to be called Cooper the Pooper Scooper!!!  I just didn't know if I could go with that name.

Cooper was born.  He was unnamed for over an hour, which isn't a long time...but people were waiting to hear his name!  We were going back and forth between Cooper and CJ.  What were we going to do?  Finally, we just made the decision, and Cooper Malek it was!  I will admit, it took awhile to get used to calling him Cooper.  Grandma even called one day and asked how Carter was.  "Mom, do you mean Cooper?"  I told her that I forgot his name a couple of times too...I am hoping that is a common thing with new babies!!  Now Cooper is Cooper.  I couldn't imagine him being anyone else!  It is cute though, Andy likes to call him Coops.  And it just sounds so cute when he says it!!  I call him Coop a lot.

Cooper, who looks just like his daddy, at 10 months old

Not a lot to report on Cooper, except he is the easiest baby ever!!  He sleeps from 7:30 pm to 7:00 am.  He never cries.  He is happy all the time.  He just goes with the flow.  It will be interesting to see how that changes in time, but right now and I enjoying my little Cooper Baby!!!

Cooper is my only baby who has the BLUE eyes I prayed for!!