The best part about winter is...

"Wen I go sledding with my Mom. My Mom thow snowball in my fase. Me an my bruther sled down the hill. I make snowangl in the snow."

Thanks, Charlie. Now your teacher thinks I'm a complete meany. Although, I'm pretty sure I did nail you in the face the last time it snowed. In my defense, you're short. And my aim is bad.

Next time, use your writing assignments to pick on someone your own size. And quit telling your teacher I fling things at your head. They might lock me up.

If a look could kill...

I've decided Sam has extra muscles in his face because he makes some of the most expressive looks I have ever seen come from anyone. But especially when he is playing the Wii.

This is hard core stuff. Don't get in his way while he is gaming. Those looks will kill. The funny part is, he does this even when he's not playing and it's his turn to just watch. He stands there jerking and jumping around making horrible faces like he is actually playing himself. And excuse the laughing in the background. You'll see why soon enough...

31 Reasons We Love Daddy!

Somebody is turning 31 today, so in his honor...31 reasons we love Daddy. As told by Charlie and Sam. With a little (ok, maybe a lot) help from Mommy.

1. He works really hard. (That was the first thing Charlie said!)
2. When I asked Sam, all I got was uncontrollable laughter and "I love Daddy!"
3. On occasion he surprises Mommy with a caramel frappicino. With extra caramel. She really likes those!
4. He tells super cool jokes. Like "pull my finger". Mommy loves when he does that...[insert sarcasm]
5. He plays with us.
6. He washes Mommy's car. (Thank you!!!!)
7. He lets up stay up late to watch The Flintstones.
8. He tickles us.
9. He's really funny. Or tries to be.
10. Almost as funny as Mommy.
11. He takes us to school. Mommy is really fond of that since that means she doesn't have to leave the house at 6:45. AM.
12. He gets us food.
13. He cooks supper for us. (I asked if sometimes I helped with that and was told no. We'll see who gets any food next week...)
14. He shares his food with me. (I'm seeing a theme here....)
15. He usually lets us get away with more than Mommy does! (That was from Mommy.)
16. We throw stuff at each other. That's fun, too! (Now I know why there are multiple dents in the wall...)
17. He lets Mommy take a Sunday afternoon nap.
18. He carries me on his feet. Puts me high on his feet! (I think we are referring to the airplane game...)
19. He watches HGTV with Mommy. She really likes that.
20. I asked Sam again, trying to get something out of him..."I just got something. What do I say, Mommy?" Huh? I'm confused.
21. When we fall asleep with monkey sunglasses on after a hard day of basketball and playing on the bouncies at a birthday party, he helps me get ready for bed.
22. He's super good looking. And kinda cute, too. (Or so Mommy says!)
23. He goes to church with me.
24. He takes super good care of two little boys when Mommy needs to do stuff like go to the grocery store. Or just have 4 and a half seconds of alone time.
25. He fixes our broken toys when Mommy doesn't know how to.
26. He loves Jesus.
27. He loves two little boys more than life itself.
28. He loves Mommy, too.
29. We play with my monkey and he hides it from me. That's really funny!
30. He calls to check and see how Mommy is doing during the day. You know, in case we are driving her crazy or something.
31. He is the best, the greatest, the most wonderific daddy ever!!! And Mommy likes him a lot, too!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!! We love you bunches!!!!

Welcome to Nothingville Baptist Church!

I know I've told y'all multiple times about our church being located in two trailers that have to be set up in the local middle school each Sunday and Wednesday.

We've had church with no water. With no electricity. With no workers. With frozen diaper wipes. With no curriculum. With stolen trailers. Well, actually without the stolen trailers. Pretty much we have the most awesome people in the world and we can have church with or without any parameters you dare place on us.

Sunday provided us with a totally new problem. Both of our trailers with everything from diaper pails to drum sets are locked behind what we like to consider a very secure location. Well, Sunday it was just a little too secure. As in, the motorized gate was frozen shut. And the owner of said secure gate was enjoying himself far, far away on the beaches of Hawaii. Nice. A lot of help you are.

So, we did church with nothing.

It's not as bad as it sounds really. And funny to watch people's faces as you tell them they can't have their customary Sunday morning coffee. Or that we are using folded up towels as a makeshift diaper changing table.

Go HERE to see a couple of pictures and to get Nicole's take on the whole thing.

We made it work and I was thankful all over again that we serve next to such flexible people!

------------------------

And while you are over there, check THIS out. Russian Baby Gymnastics. You have to see the video for yourself, but I'm just assuming they haven't heard of shaken baby syndrome! Or they have and call it Russian Baby Gymnastics.

Much Ado About Nothing

Ok, ok. I didn't mean to anger two and a half of the three readers that I have.

I know I haven't posted in several days. Or weeks. We are still here. Just maybe a little frozen. I have to live life in order to have something to write about. So, I was busy doing that. And thawing out. And honestly we just haven't been all that interesting here lately.

But newsflash: I have funny kids.

We had tater tots with our lunch on Sunday. I know we've had those before, but Charlie had a most difficult time remembering what they are called. [Insert accent.] "May I have some more tick-tocks, please? Ok, no. Some more totorinos? Potato tops? Chicken nuggets? No? I don't know what you call them." I prefer tick-tocks actually. That's our new name for tator tots. Way more fun than tator tots. He does that on occasion. Just make up words for things he doesn't know. And why not. He's on his third language, so we'll give him some wiggle room.

Sam just wanted to paint with his toothbrush the other day. And was very insistent about it until I gave him an actual paintbrush. Seems we just had our brushes confused. I know the paint is washable and non-toxic, but something makes me think the dentist wouldn't approve of that method of whitening.

We've also had buzzy legs around here lately. Never had buzzy legs? Me either. And unless Charlie's legs have been hitting the non-existent liquor cabinet in our house, I'm gonna guess that his legs were just asleep from him crouching in weird positions while he worked on his Lego creations.

The boys also recently discovered Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs. And they love them. But this was after a heated discussion in front of the Kroger checkout lady with Charlie in which he informed me in no uncertain terms that eggs don't have chocolate and peanut butter in them. So there was no way what he was holding in his hand was an egg. Ok, Charlie. You are right. I'm wrong. Again.

So, we'll go back to our ho-hum routine, try to get through at least one week without a snow day (at this point we're gonna be in school until late July) and I promise to post more even if I have to make up stuff. Deal?

No pressure. Right, Julio?

Good Housekeeping

I am full aware that I am raising boys, which can be much different that raising girls. I've always said I wanted boys. Girls just seem like too much drama. Yes. I know I'm a girl. But I was never much for the drama that the other girls seem to get into. And God in all His humor, gave me at least one little boy who does have a dramatic flair.

And the other little boy. Well, he is well on his way to being a much coveted husband for someone. Nothing wrong with starting them early on the basic chores, huh? Hey, he asked to help! And believe me, it didn't last long.



Sam's got the floors covered. And Charlie is the best dishwasher unloader ever. He can catch any speck of food the dishwasher may miss. And will tell me all about. He's really almost too good. Annoyingly good.

My New Year's Resolution: to have the boy's cleaning the whole house independently in the next 6 months. You think I'm kidding...

Does this thing come with instructions??

We...er, Santa...brought the boys some rather cheap, but fairly functional, sleds at Christmas. The boys begged to go play all day today. I managed to put them off until the afternoon, but eventually had to face the brutal wind and sideways snow so we could test out our new high-tech plastic cruisers. Now, we don't have the best hill for sledding, but when you are from Ethiopia ANY hill with snow on it will do! And our front yard is actually a much larger hill, but sledding down a big hill followed by being squashed by a passing car is really no fun for anyone.

It's our own personal "Danger Zone". (I was feeling "Top Gunny" this evening. For whatever that's worth. Plus it made the boys seem like they were going way faster than they actually were.)

Enjoy.........

Merry Ganna!

January 7th is the day that Christmas is celebrated in Ethiopia. So, in celebration, yesterday we went to our local Ethiopian restaurant, The Queen of Sheba. Plus, I'm a slacker mom and haven't quite gotten around to learning to cook Ethiopian food. That's as far as the celebration went, mainly because I hadn't given it much thought until Friday since all my energy was being put into actually surviving some sort of crazy funkiness that involved running a fever for a week. (Yeah. Probably the same thing Kenny had here.)


Get all that chicken, Sam. This was after he took his injera and wiped all the goodness off the chicken!


Grace & Emma looking on, shocked at the show the boys are putting on. Notice they are satisfied with their simple (and clean) rice & chicken dishes. Although, they did feel a little left out, so they opted to eat theirs with their hands, too.


Is it good, Charlie?


You notice he has it almost ear to ear...

I really should take a video, because taking the boys to eat Ethiopian food is really quite entertaining. For one, most of their food is not the easiest to eat if you are actually trying to stay clean. Mainly because they don't use utensils, but injera (flatbread) to pick up the food. Now let's be honest. Sam can't eat anything without making a HUGE mess, so you know allowing him to eat solely with his hands is only going to make that huge mess worse. And second, the boys eat like we haven't fed them in weeks when we go in there! I can only imagine why. Think about your favorite comfort food that your Granny only makes once a year...doro wat is the boy's comfort food! Clearly. So they gobble it up so fast you barely even know it was even on their plates. Gone. Plate cleaned. Spotless.

I'm gradually learning. This time I put extra napkins on the side of my body facing Sam because he sloshes around so much when he's eating. I came away fairly clean this go round. I laugh as the other patrons excuse themselves and they simply wipe the table. Little do they know when we leave, a complete linen change will be in line. White tablecloths meet their match with Sam. And next time, we will pray before the food gets there. You can't actually set an order of doro wat in front of the boys and expect them to not dive right in. It was like watching a crack addict going through withdrawals as they had to wait for all to be served and for us to pray before being allowed to chow down. And yes. I just compared my children to crack addicts. Sue me.

Remember next year...January 7th. Find your local Ethiopian restaurant and go try it out!!

Just a common criminal

A few weeks ago I was invited to a New Year's Party on January 7th at 9:00 am. Downtown at the Hall of Justice. In Courtroom 101. With many other common criminals.

Okay. So, it wasn't a party. And I was only invited because I felt the need to drive 48 mph through a 25 mph School Zone. While zooming past a cop, who I saw, by the way. Which apparently gets you an automatic invitation to that courtroom party in 101. In my defense, I didn't realize I was in this so called School Zone and the normal speed limit is 45 mph. Three miles difference. You can see why I was a little surprised about my party invitation. Surprised would really be an understatement. Ticked off would be a better description. And after almost 15 years of driving, this was my first ticket. Ever. Promise.

I could never be a criminal. Not even a little bit of one. I was almost in tears just being at the courthouse. Of course, this was probably a combination of me not having a clue what was going on, running a fever and feeling a little like dirt, and being surrounded by people who either hadn't bathed or had bathed with Bath & Body Works newest scent, Ashtray Surprise. Slight sensory overload. I was there with people who had traffic tickets, drug charges, hadn't paid their child support, had multiple warrants out for their arrests, DUI's and one guy who had apparently done some very bad things to a whole lot of people that he was having to pay thousands of dollars of restitution to. Nobody was being nice to anyone and just forget about even using manners. Let's just say I was a little out of my element.

So when it was my turn to stand before the judge and she asked me how I was pleading, I threw my hands in the air and exclaimed, "How did my life get to this point?? HOW?? I'm guilty. Guilty." And collapsed into a puddle on the courtroom floor.

Okay, so that's not really what happen. I met with a little man over to the side of the courtroom who explained to me if I would plead guilty, I would only be responsible for court costs and the judge would recommend driving school since this was my first offense. And it wouldn't affect my insurance rates. So, after smiling politely at the judge, I not-so-confidently gave my guilty plea. I mean, no one wants to stand up in a room full of people and admit you are guilty. Even though I really was. After making certain they were done with me, I hightailed it out of there faster than an ex-con who had violated his parole.

And if you see me out on the road now, I'll be the Granny driving the Explorer five under the speed limit. Having to go to court was more of a deterent for me than the actual punishment. Maybe. I havn't been to driving school yet, so I'll let you know.

Christmas via Pictures

Christmas pictures as follows. You know the drill: hang out, eat, open presents, eat again, hang out some more and do it all over again at the next Christmas gathering.

So, enjoy.


My favorite thing about Tristan's new scooter: I was rocking him to sleep the night he got this (his mommy was sick) and we had to drive his scooter up and park it by his bed. He sat up in my lap, looked over and said, "Goodnight 'cooter. I love you." And laid down and went to sleep!




Notice the far right corner. Charlie is beside himself because he was reading the letter that Santa had left saying his presents would be coming on Sunday night! How in the world did Santa know we were in Alabama??


Don't hate because you don't have any footie pajamas. Or pajamas with socks, as Charlie calls them. And Tristan is giving me an ear full because I am very obviously on HIS tricycle! Which he loved almost as much as his 'cooter!


Being silly with Kenny's family. Sam would have no part of it. Although, if we would have asked him to smile, it would have been all silly.



Hope you enjoyed our Christmas via pictures. We had fun and miss you all!!

Goodbye, 2010. Hello, 2011...

Does it make us old that it's New Year's Eve, not even 10 PM and I'm settled on the couch in my PJ's with no intentions of going anywhere? In my defense, Kenny is sick. I have my theories, but I'm thinking it might be the dreaded F-word. He is quarantined. And I'm armed with my trusty Lysol.

The boys and I did venture out with some friends to see Southern Lights, but to our disappointment, they had already closed all the indoor attractions. We went to grab a bite to eat and of course, visit the little boy's room. Here lately, Sam has to test every toilet between our destination and home. And when I say test, I mean poop. Charlie announced to everyone, "Good grief, Sam, you stink!" The funny part is he's never said that phrase before. Add to that his little accent and his shear disbelief that the smell was really that bad. All that being said, it was time to wrap up our New Year's Eve excitement before things got out of hand.

So, 2010 wasn't quite the year I imagined it would be when it started almost a year ago. But who guaranteed that things always go as planned?

God handed us many blessing and many trials during the year, but I'm learning that if I can see God's hand in every situation and allow Him to guide me through each one, no matter how painful, that I can get through even the most difficult circumstances.

January allowed the boys to play in their first snow. They weren't huge fans of the fluffy mess, but it's definitely growing on us. Daddy turned 30 and we surprised him with a new grill for his birthday!


February just provided more snow. And it's such a short month, who really remembers what happened anyway...


March we celebrated the boys first birthdays in America. They turned 7 and 3 and decided that birthdays were so fun, they didn't mind if they came every month. I did have to veto that plan as it wasn't quite in the budget. I also had my tonsils taken out and had to depend on Kenny, Mom and friends to function for the better part of 3 weeks. It was the worst surgery ever (just like they say it is for adults), but it did cure the need for my once-a-month round of antibiotics.


April brought out the competitive side of Charlie. As we tried to teach him the story of Jesus' resurrection, he fought to find the most eggs at the Easter egg hunt. Not worrying about taking out anyone in his path. We've come a long way on our manners since then. We also went on our first family vacation with the Jolly's to Tennessee. Charlie's love for roller coasters grew. And I decided that it's more fun to play in creek than to go to Dolllywood. And cheaper. Remember, I'm frugal. Not cheap.


May is the month I would like to erase. We got a phone call in the early hours of May 8th that Katie had been in a car accident. That day I lost a best friend. A sister........And God has had to teach me over and over again that His timing is best. And while 22 years wasn't long enough for me to have her, He was ready to bring her home.


June brought the boys first trip to the beach and their first wedding when we joined Kenny's family for the marriage of his sister. Thumbs up on the beach for Charlie! Sam just prefers to play in the sand and leave the water to the fish. We also had VBS at our church which is always a fun and exhausting week.


July was spent just enjoying summer and heading to the pool. It was really too hot to even be outside unless you were in the water, but this is the time of year Charlie decided he needed to practice his soccer skills, so almost every afternoon found us outside in the sweltering heat chasing soccer balls. It makes me sweat a little just thinking about it.


August included a second trip to the beach with my family and Charlie started school. He loves school, but won't tell you that. He's really too cool for his own good sometimes. And he has the highest English grade in his class. How ticked would you be if the kid that was on his THIRD language had a higher English grade than you? Yes, I know it's 1st grade, but just let me brag a bit. We also celebrate the boy's 1 year Gotcha Day on August 24th. Join me in being completely blown away that they've been home over a year...


September let Sam start preschool a few days a week. He doesn't have an A in English, but we're working on it. He can count to 30 and recognizes the numbers up to 15. He can spell his name. And he does it faster than I've ever heard anyone else spell Sam. That's just how we roll. Really fast.


October took us on our first family mission trip to Lynch, Kentucky. Introducing the boys to "helping people" (Charlie's words) and missions at such an early age is something we've always wanted to do. The boys had a blast on the trip and really did pitch in and help. And by the way, white paint is terribly difficult to remove from hair. No matter how short that hair is. And Kenny and I decided we still liked each other and are going strong on our 7th year of marriage.


November. November? Did I sleep through November? Between the craziness of October and December, I'm not even sure November happened. Except for Thanksgiving. We did do that. We spent the boy's second Thanksgiving with friends in Southern Indiana. Canaan, to be exact. And he's a pastor. Does anyone else think that's funny? I digress.


December was a blur. I feel like a majority of the month was spent in Alabama with little brother getting married and multiple Christmas celebrations. I'll be honest. Christmas and all that entails without Katie around really stunk. I won't go into details for my own personal sanity, but it was just plain hard... But the boy's had a blast! I'm a little worried since we got started so late on this Santa deal, that I'm gonna have to break it to Charlie when he hits middle school that it's just not as he really thinks. He just got really wrapped up in the whole Santa thing this year and I hate that he missed so many early years of believing a jolly fat man breaks into his house and leaves him presents exactly like what he asked for. Shouldn't we all just believe that's how it happens?


So, there ya go. A quick 2010 Cook Family review. If you've made it this far, I'm assuming you didn't have New Year's Eve plans either. Join me basking in all our coolness.

May God bless you as you enter 2011! Happy New Year!!

Ethiopian Knees

My big little brother got married the weekend before Christmas.


To his precious Heather. They started dating shortly after she was potty trained. Ok, ok...last joke about the age difference. I promise. Maybe.


It was a great ceremony and the boys first wedding experience. They were junior groomsmen and cousin Tristan was the ring bearer. Kenny performed the beginning of the ceremony so Heather's dad/pastor could walk her down the aisle.

They did great for their first wedding experience. Until Sam decided to show the congregation the better part of his legs by pulling up his pants to mid-thigh while on stage. And during the serious part of the vows, might I add. The only thing that would have made that whole showing even better would have been the white socks he had on before the wedding. They forgot to put in black socks with his tux, so Mommy had to run to Dollar General and buy black ankle socks at the last minute. Yes, ankle socks and Ethiopian knees. What more could you ask for at an Alabama wedding?

Enjoy a few more pictures and remember us for your next wedding extravaganza. We don't charge extra to show a little leg.

Our favorite pose. He wanted me to do like him. Can we say ham?

Charlie with his namesake...Charles Nuredin and great-grandfather, Charles Thomas. They also share a birthday!

Can we please do something more fun than this? We promise to obey.

This is how you entertain three rambuncious boys who need to stay perfectly clean. It worked. We all entered the church spotless. Can't say the same for after the reception.

Gotta grab a family picture while they are all dressed and in smiling-mode.

Happy Wedding, Cliff & Heather!! And sorry Sam's knees made an apperance while Heather was saying her vows. It won't happen again.

A Tardy Santa

Santa just came yesterday at our house. Yes. We are special. He comes when we tell him to come. Which was two days after everyone else. We are just trying to help him spread out his work load. Charlie fretted that Santa wouldn't be able to get into the house since we were in Alabama on Christmas Day, but Santa's smart and he left the boys a note that he would bring their presents on Sunday night. But only if they were good. And obeyed Mommy & Daddy. Fortunately for us, it worked!

The boys enjoyed their delayed Christmas morning and I can honestly say that some of the most excitement came from the batteries in Sam's stocking and the scotch tape in Charlie's. I don't know why we bother buying real toys...

The highly coveted Bumblebee Transformer. I have no clue when it comes to this stuff. All I know is he was extremely happy!!


And THE train. Just to clarify. We have at least a million and a half trains. This is THE train. Move over Thomas, there's a new engine in town!



Thanks Santa...even if you did have to rearrange your schedule for us. I know two little boys who were really happy!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, make it a special day! Merry Christmas!!

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:4-14

The outtakes

Christmas card photos.

Every kid's worst nightmare. They just don't know it.

Until they are wrangled into clothes they would rather not be in and forced to smile while Daddy makes silly faces and Mommy bribes with candy. I'm not saying that's what happened at our house. Or maybe it did.

Sam was first. Are we really doing this? I'm bored already.


Really. Where did he go??


I would really rather play in the leaves. Does this make a good shot, Mom?



Did you really just put me in a tree? You know I don't like heights. Even though I just begged to climb the tree. This is my nervous smile...Get me down, please. Now.


We really tried hard to smile, Mommy. But it's hard to have a pleasant look on my face for more than 3.4 seconds. So, good luck.



And of course, some favorites...


From our silly house to yours, Merry Christmas.

And good luck with those family Christmas pictures.

The Card

If you were lucky enough to make the cut, this fantastically beautiful card landed in your mailbox earlier this week. Those that didn't receive, don't take it personally. I didn't get your address from Stalker, Inc. in time to include you on the list. Or more simply explained: I just ran out of cards. Sorry. The love is still real. You can continue your stalking activities.

So, Merry Christmas e-style! Enjoy.

Splendid Tree Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly.com for elegant Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Outtakes to follow. Believe me. These beautiful faces came only after much prompting.

Marching on...

Happy Birthday, Katie.

We all went to your favorite place to eat tonight in your honor. And Kenny ate a mushroom for you. I'd say that's payback for the time mom made your birthday dinner sans mushrooms just because Kenny doesn't like them.

It would have been way more fun if you had been here. Still a little ticked about you leaving me. But I guess me crying about it isn't really gonna make a difference.

And I'm accepting birthday gifts on your behalf. But no one has given me anything.

Bummer.

EDITED BY AUTHOR: Your favorite brother-in-law and my favorite husband just walked in with my favorite caramel Frappuccino. Said he had gotten a text saying that "someone" was accepting presents for you today. I have NO idea who might have sent that...

Eye-beards

"I have a beard on my eye!"

Nope, that's called your eyelashes.

"But I have a mustache on top of my eye?"

And those are your eyebrows. Some ladies would kill to have eye-beards like you, Charlie.

Oh, my. We are gonna have one confused boy on our hands when he starts shaving...

Driving me crazy.

Here's the scenario: All four of us in the car, on the way home from our annual Christmas-time visit to Waffle House. The boys are hopped up on sugar from too much syrup and Charlie has just began to sing "Do You Know The Muffin Man?" for the twelfth time. And at a pitch so high and off tune, that it is literally painful to listen to. I, personally, have had enough of Mr. Muffin Man.

"Charlie!"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"It's time to stop singing, please."
"Why?"
"Because. It's very annoying."
"What's annoying?"
"It means you're driving me nuts! Crazy!!"
"Mommy? You not driving. Daddy is driving."

Long pause as Kenny silently laughs his head off at me. I try to explain, without laughing, what that expression means. Without much luck, might I add. And Kenny still laughing.

Charlie's response a few minutes down the road: "I think you driving me crazy!"

Of course I am. And this is all from the kid who asked for a helmet this morning since it was snowing outside. What he really wanted was a just a hat.

You tell me who should be the crazy one?

Elf What??

Just to officially kick off the Christmas season, here's Charlie & Sam and our buddies Grace & Emma doing a little Christmas Ho-Down!

Let me tell you, the boys have laughed and laughed at these and had a great time making it! So, go here and ElfYourself!