clark continuum

me and littles 2

2011-10-20T16:14:00.002-04:00

Just had to take a moment for a few new snaps with my 4month old.

another year down

2011-10-05T20:23:00.004-04:00

Another year in my thirties? WHAT? Yeah it felt kind of weird turning another year older but the birthdays are always great.

I requested another White Chocolate Cheesecake from the husband (like last year). Soooo good.

I had a birthday dinner and dessert at the in-laws but we had also previously had a much needed date night for sushi.

My little love loving the party.

And the snooze-man, just how Grandma Pip likes to hold them, asleep ;)

And Steve busted out some sweet decor skills on my big day as well. Birthdays will never get old.

north georgia state fair

2011-09-24T16:01:00.004-04:00

The highlight of our fair experience this year was the bmx stunt show. Cooper thought it was the coolest thing ever!

He watched and cheered with the crowd as they did their stunts, there were some pretty sick tricks.

Oh man, do we have a bmx-er on our hands here soon?

And the other love of the afternoon - SKEE ball!

the big three

2011-09-22T15:46:00.000-04:00

The little one at three months now. And he is one big boy already.

mine, I mean his car collection

2011-09-21T15:35:00.000-04:00

Cooper has a serious thing for cars and motorcycles and I love to pull them all out once in awhile and arrange them by color. We counted up the stats for Hot Wheels - 69, Cars movie cars - 16, diecast cars - 7, and motorcycles - 14. I loved how they looked all lined up so I snapped a few pics. I don't think this will ever get old.

party playdate

2011-09-20T15:10:00.004-04:00

We had small playdate party for Cooper a few days later and had his two good friends over... T (mom Brittany) and Hadley (mom Dana)

A little bit of a ball theme for the day.

I wanted it to be pretty chill and just let them play, so one of Cooper's favorites is jumping on the bed.

Then we went outside to play with the parachute and balls but they ended up just wanting to throw the balls around.

Then we had lunch - ball shaped food - meatballs, round noodles, grapes, peas and edamame.

A bag full of balls to take home.

And then the cupcakes! mmmmm

All the kids enjoying their eats.

Playing with Hadley's gift to Cooper at the end. They had a great time together. Kids are so fun to watch play. Happy Birthday Coops!

two-per

2011-09-18T16:53:00.001-04:00

Invites to our family party this year. Yes the little Coops is TWO!

Cooper and some presents from mom and dad and the grandparents. He thought birthdays were turning into something pretty cool.

After much debate we ended up getting Cooper his first bike. I was closed to getting a trike but he has some love for bikes these days and his eyes lit up at the store on the bike so that's what we came home with.

Setting up for the party later.

Party loot

Streamers and homemade circle streamers hung down from our loft.

I sewed paper circles together - 8 colors, 4 circles per sheet, and 8 sheets per color handcut. You do the math.

That afternoon we took the bike out for the first test ride.

Steve a little jealous of the bike

And what is a birthday or any day without a game of chase. This game never gets old (for Cooper at least)

Me and my birthday boy.

Hanging out with brother.

Later for the party, singing and blowing out candles.

The inside of the cake cut, SURPRISE everybody!

Yummy cake mom!

Eating with the cousins.

Opening presents later.

An attempted family pic, what a fun day for a two year old.

colored cake

2011-09-17T16:45:00.001-04:00

For Cooper's Birthday this year I didn't get too themey and decided to just focus on colors instead. With that, I wanted to make a tie-dyed cake like I'd seen all over the web recently. It started with some white cake mix that I separated into 4 different bowls.and colored.

Then I poured into cake pans glops at a time.

After all the mix was glopped in (left), I shook the pan a little to get it to smooth out (right)

I did the same with cupcakes for a later party as well.

Two of the three layers ready to bake.

Cake baked.

Cupcakes all baked.

Starting the stacking, made my own vanilla frosting.

The finished cake. I used candy melts to make the circles on top. Can't wait to eat this tomorrow, hope the kids like it!

the power of tools

2011-09-10T16:00:00.002-04:00

We hit up the Lowe's Build and Grow workshops twice this month to build a police car and firetruck and were pretty cool projects for being FREE. Cooper loves messing around with tools when they are lying around the house and we thought we'd try to let him put his hammering skills to good use. It was our first time going to these and we are now big fans, a fun quick Saturday activity.

allatoona lake

2011-09-03T00:27:00.002-04:00

Our labor day was spent relaxing at this southern beach, lakeside.

We loved the end of summer sun and Cooper loved the sand.

Ryder just hung out and slept.

And these boys splashed in the water quite awhile. Love us some days as family.

my three boys

2011-08-30T00:20:00.000-04:00

These guys were all hanging out throwing a ball one evening and I had to snap a few pics of my partially clothed clan.

evening in acworth

2011-08-27T00:17:00.001-04:00

For a nice late summer evening we drove to lake acworth to throw rocks and walk around and even stopped for a family pic. Simple outings like these are my fave.

flying solo

2011-08-22T23:41:00.003-04:00

It was sad to see our trip out west end but we had to get back to regular life again. I dreaded the initial flight out but since that went smoothly I was relaxed for our flight home, just me and the kids. And just like before they slept half the time and were nice and quiet the rest. I guess we'll do this again sometime ;)

lakesters

2011-08-20T00:06:00.004-04:00

We spent Saturday at the lake and Cooper loved it just like the year before, although it took a little warming up.

He thought the tube was pretty cool and started screaming with Kenedee during the ride.

Awake and asleep.

Flagboy and Surfgirl

Love my dad's face in this.

That evening we had some fun on the tramp and this kid loves to jump. He thought it was even funnier when I did goofy jumps.

Then I had to pull out a back flip, just to make sure I could still do it ;)

And all the sisters got into the fun and we all took pics of our toe-touches. The days of cheer will live on!

wed-ing

2011-08-19T23:37:00.000-04:00

A family friend got married while we were in town and this was us at the morning brunch.

These amazing paper flowers were on every table, loved the oversized look.

The babes on the floor.

That afternoon the kids ran around in the backyard and had a quick ride on grandpa's motorcycle - whoa.

Later at the garden reception, Cooper was trying out the cotton candy via Kate.

We enjoyed the goodies and hanging out.

welcome barlows

2011-08-18T15:22:00.007-04:00

To finish off our stay in the falls, my sister Kandis came to visit for the last weekend and we sure had fun hanging out...and so did the kids.

Leftover SnapPops were giggles of fun.

Cute Lou

the Four girls

Sandboxing

Ladybugging

And our little twinsie cousins, Pierce and Ryder wearing the same outfit (two months apart in age though ;)

Grandpa and Grandma with their grandbabies

We headed to dinner and we packed ourselves in the Denali - Kate and me in the front, Pierce Ryder and Cooper in the middle and Kenedee Kandis and Lincoln in the back. Good times

Then we went to feed the ducks at the river.

Cooper liked eating the bread as well as throwing it.

The babies chillin out in the stroller.

Grandpa and the two new boys.

We had a smores party that night and Cooper loved the fire.

And I loved the smores!

the lake that was rig-bee

2011-08-17T19:30:00.000-04:00

Now this is a day at the beach in Idaho....Rigby Lake.

Cooper LOVED throwing rocks into the water.

Ryder enjoyed a seaside nap under the umbrella.

And we all floated around in the cold water with Cooper and enjoyed a picnic lunch. Rigby Lake never gets old, right ladies?

That evening Cooper went cruisin for a ride in his car, man summers here are the best.

Coops with Grandma and Grandpa

Hanging out on the porch, love it

zoopix

2011-08-16T23:59:00.005-04:00

The Idaho Falls zoo is the perfect size and I love coming to visit it, this year with two boys instead of one!

BIG turtles

Besties checking out the flamingos

Ry guy just chillin as usual

The archaeologists tent, checking everything out

Zebras, one of my faves

When are the lions really ever out like this!! He gave us the money shot of his face. And this bad boy had a serious stare down. He secretly was ready to go after Kate, he followed her all around the perimeter of the cage.

the lion drinking fountain, always a highlight

And some safari trucks for souvenirs, can never have enough trucks right?!?

milk masters

2011-08-15T20:00:00.000-04:00

Steve headed home to work while I stayed and enjoyed the IF sites for another week. And a stay in "the Falls" is not complete without a trip to Reeds Dairy.

Yep, serious udders

Observing the calf Cooper-style (his favorite stance lately)

Petting horses with grandma, kinda cool kinda scary

mammoth wings

2011-08-13T23:47:00.001-04:00

Cooper was have some relaxing time in the morning before another big day ahead.

Mammoth Geyser was our first stop of the day and it was pretty mammoth.

The water flow wasn't that great but the colors were still cool.

Ryder having a snooze on grandma.

Pitstop in the small town for some snacks and a herd of elk just happened to be chillin there too.

Coops enjoyed his powdered donut.

Gorgeous views on the way to the next stop.

We ate a quick lunch out of the car before we hiked to some falls.

Ryder just hanging in the car while we ate.

Come to find out the hike down to these falls were closed so we just viewed them from the overlook. Steve was glad about that, haha.

Playing with the toys and getting ice cream before the drive back to the IF.

A new bear from grandma kept him company.

We ate on some wings when we got back for the evening and we were all glad to be out of the car.

Crown for you, crown for me

Thanks for the trip mom and dad, we had a blast.

heavy water

2011-08-12T19:29:00.000-04:00

We were off to two hikes by late afternoon and since we were seeing waterfalls, I strapped Cooper in tight to his pack. Waterfalls and kids running around freak me out.

And we were RIGHT by the water, Cooper couldn't even look away.

Now that is some heavy water flow

Love this, we were practically on top of the water

The view looking outward, the Grand canyon of Yellowstone I believe

the familia de clark

Coming back, now that was a great hike.

Next hike further down the canyon, me and a tree

Steep canyon walls

This lovely lady of the rocks

And finally we made it to the view

We look back to see the falls we just came from.

familia once more

All of us, and it's getting darker by the minute.

After some cheeseburgers at a diner we headed back to West Yellowstone to sleep and traffic was held up pretty slow for a few miles thanks to these brown beauties clogging the lanes.

buffalos and boiling mud

2011-08-12T16:29:00.004-04:00

Freely roaming buffalo everywhere. We enjoyed the drive from site to site and saw A LOT of buffalo this day.

Just off the road.

One decided to cross to the other side of the road, Cooper liked that

A fave, the mud pots

The dragons cauldron and more boiling water just coming out of the ground, so wild.

faithfully old

2011-08-12T13:21:00.001-04:00

The next day we headed out of Jackson and onto Yellowstone for a few days. Coop posed with Grandpa in front of the Teton landscape.

Amazing mountains

We stopped by Jackson Lake Lodge to see the views and it was a beauty.

There was an animal guy there with a hawk, falcon, and owl for people to check out, very cool.

Finally made it to Old Faithful that afternoon and we enjoyed some ice cream while we were waiting for the big show.

Hanging out outside on the boardwalks.

SHOWTIME! It was a pretty big one today, very cool indeed.

Mother nature draws quite the crowd.

Many faces of Cooper, eating some candy.

The water pools piping hot

Pretty amaze-ing stuff

the cowboy way

2011-08-11T18:00:00.011-04:00

That evening we headed to the BarT5 Covered Wagon Cookout.

The wagon ride was awesome, would highly recommend this for something fun to do.

It was a dinner and show and this was the entertainment while we ate.

Mmmm we were enjoying it

A super-posed romance shot, haha

The ride back with the Indians paying a visit to Cooper

Thanks for the evening Dad, we had a great time.

Grandma grabbing the quick headshot with Cooper (funny they were in the opposite sex bodies, good one)

the digs and downtown

2011-08-11T14:03:00.001-04:00

We stayed at the Snake River Lodge and Spa right at the foot of the resort which was awesome although the rooms were tiny.

Showing Cooper the bears.

We then headed downtown to shop around and find souvies

Almost the real thing right?

The taxidermy was fab

to the top of the tetons

2011-08-11T12:05:00.013-04:00

Jackson Hole here we come. We headed straight to the tram to take in the views from the top.

All aboard!

Love this of Coop

Where the tram ends up on top, a sweet shack that serves up hot waffles (pretty cool in the winter for a ski break).

The vacation crew, tetons in the background

Climbing to the tip top of the overlook

And this is the extreme wind experience

Heading inside for a little break from the windy cold air

The valley view

Love at the top ;)

This is pure happiness

Headed back down, loved all the yellow wheel

Mom and her two girls and my two boys

Once we were down we hung out on the grounds for a bit to let Cooper play

He had a great time with grandpa running and chasing

Very cool visit indeed

Some peepers in the bathroom, hehe

bikes & bbqs

2011-08-10T09:19:00.005-04:00

Our relaxing day in the Falls started with a morning look at grandpa's motorcycle in the garage. He wanted Kate to sit down and enjoy the view with him.

Then Kate, Steve, and me took a sweet bike ride out on the country roads. It was the perfect summer exercise.

We chilled out later eating fresh garden peas. Kate picked us a whole bag to enjoy - sorry we ate them all Kandis!

Cooper enjoyed the sandbox with Kate.

That evening we enjoyed a BBQ at the Valentines with them and the Frandsens in town. These are the parentals and their offspring.

And these are our offspring :)

anxiety much

2011-08-09T14:07:00.002-04:00

We headed west to spend time with my family for a few weeks and I couldn't have been more anxious about flying with these two boys. It had been 8 months since we'd flown last. I thought Ryder would do fine but didn't know if Cooper would sit in his seat for 4 hours and not run the aisles.

Alas, the flight was a cake walk and they even slept half the time - both on me of course.

the mind at work

2011-08-01T23:53:00.001-04:00

I have been documenting objects found around our house the past few weeks and love what I am seeing. They have been placed by a little mind named Cooper. enjoy!

Two Maters thirsty

Death to the dinosaurs by freefall down the car elevator

Shoe stack attack

Filled multiple days in a row with Hot Wheels

Coaster anyone?

Just some beef and asparagus taking a ride

same age?

2011-07-31T23:49:00.002-04:00

No, but just about the same size. Ryder's cousin Pip was born just over 2 months before him and he is catching up to her fast.

pillow head

2011-07-24T23:48:00.001-04:00

another creative sleep

foot and socc

2011-07-17T23:40:00.002-04:00

A great summer Sunday evening at the park started with a football and soccer ball and this kid sure had fun.

He was learning how to kick and took to it quite fast.

"No pictures Mom, I'm napping"

This kid did not stop running all night, he turns into a sweat machine with the humidity here. A quick water break and back for more kicking, nice legs Steve.

Cooper loves him some days outside

you may know him as...

2011-07-16T23:25:00.000-04:00

the Biebs, just hanging at Perimeter Mall

22 and 1

2011-07-14T16:08:00.001-04:00

my 22monthold and my 1monthold

this was my first attempt at capturing some pics of the two together and Cooper didn't quite get the 'holding him upright' thing hence Ryder falling to the side. Cooper apparently didn't think it was a big deal.

Some other faves below

napster boy

2011-07-14T13:48:00.002-04:00

this kid ends up in some funny arrangements when he sleeps and this has been one of my favorites and I quickly snapped some pics to remember. Napping while hugging all his animals, that is love.

mcmillan afternoon

2011-07-13T15:39:00.003-04:00

Our friends the McMillans from Ohio came to see us for the afternoon and Cooper loved hanging with Payton. He thinks he can hang with the big boys.

Sharing fruit snacks, what is it with those things, they love them!

Me and my boys later

my good sleeper

who doesn't love the golf store

2011-07-09T15:31:00.003-04:00

Steve thought Ryder needed his first golf initiation at the PGA store at 3 weeks old, but we all had a good times.

Cooper love the putting green

And of course who doesn't love golf carts

parades, bbq, and rain

2011-07-04T09:39:00.002-04:00

What's the fourth of July without a parade?

We watched the Marietta Parade at the square and sweated through some serious heat.

A few breaks in the shade kept things a little cool.

Snack of choice today, snow cones!

A little water splashing never hurts either. We headed for some bbq at Dave Poe's after that with some glorious AC.

Sad to say our fireworks were rained out. I was bummed because I thought Cooper would really dig them. Instead we watched the NYC Macy's firework show on NBC which made up for it.

Image via idiart images

three two

2011-07-02T15:17:00.001-04:00

An ice cream bombe was requested for this year's birthday 'cake'

My Steve turned 32 with me not too far behind him in a couple months.

We celebrated with a date night at Outback and to see Transformers 3 while the Cooper played at the grandparents. We had a family Sunday dinner at the Clarks to finish celebrating the birthday weekend.

Happy Days Mr Steve.

dancing fiend

2011-06-29T15:43:00.001-04:00

We have a dance man on our hands. We hit up the Ultimate PlayDate at East Cobb Park to enjoy some summer music..

As soon as this boy hears music he is bouncing. Jay Memory puts on these weekly acoustic concerts and Cooper was teh first on the stage, almost his own personal serenade.

He palled around with a new friend Hannah who played catch and danced with him.

Could you think of anything funner? ha

quiet moments

2011-06-26T15:05:00.001-04:00

I love watching Cooper play with his cars. He is very observant and watches them carefully wherever he pushes them. He often will play by Ryder even though he is sleeping. I love what I see with these two each day. I captured a few sweet moments one morning.

epic failure

2011-06-25T14:58:00.003-04:00

We have been super excited for CARS 2 to come out all month and planned the time to go the first Saturday it was out. Steve and me may have been the most excited. Cooper loves the first CARS movie and so we played it up and got popcorn and candy and were all set for a sweet show. Needless to say our excitement ended about 5 minutes into the movie. Cooper was not impressed and was ready to go play. Steve and I took turns for about the next hour letting Cooper run in the hallways and playing with his toy cars until we finally just bounced. bummer, won't be trying this again for another year with this kid.

Personal Review of what we did see of the movie: THUMBS DOWN. (a) Didn't like all the guns and violence and motive to kill the cars and (b) didn't like how they chose Mater to be an undercover spy because he came across as 'stupid'. We will continue to watch CARS 1 because of the better messaging of the movie.

zoo are we

2011-06-22T14:53:00.004-04:00

We took my parents on their first Atlanta zoo visit before they headed home the following day.

Giraffes might possibly be one of my favorites.

New capture of this gorg bird.

The boys rollin in the double.

Cooper loved hanging with Grandpa most of the time.

This cute lady liked the pandas.

Another great time at the zoo.

R love

2011-06-21T14:26:00.005-04:00

a glimpse of just how sweet this boy is

One of my favorites

love you sweet boy

blessed boy

2011-06-20T14:20:00.003-04:00

Since my parents were out for the visit we took the opportunity to give Ryder a baby blessing at home with him being just one week old. Steve's family all joined us and Steve gave Ryder a great blessing.

Sweet boy, this is his demeanor almost all the time.

This boy is so popular, everyone jumped in for pics again. It was a great evening to celebrate the birth of this new love.

for the fathers

2011-06-19T13:38:00.001-04:00

This may look like an impromptu cheer for Father's Day but it was just a cool kid playing with balloons after church...on Father's Day ;)

Happy Father's Day to my husband who has been a great father to our little Cooper, who's his #1 sidekick right now. Cooper thinks the world of his Dad.

And almost immediately clothes were off and they were out in the sandbox, Grandpa didn't even have time to change yet.

Lucky me I had my own father here for Father's Day too, a real treat. We made a nice dinner and did gifts and spent a great Sunday together, love you dad.

And of course everyone had to get pics with the two little boys that run this house now.

perfect entertainment

2011-06-16T16:09:00.004-04:00

My parents came to visit just in time to entertain Cooper while we adjusted to having another plus one. And Cooper sure had fun, especially with his new CARS tent!

We made daily ventures to go eat out, starting the first day they got here 3 days after Ryder was born.

It was almost a daily activity to play in the sand with Grandpa.

Grandma loved being able to sit outside too.

We got this motorcycle for a hospital present for Cooper which immediately was way cooler than the baby brother.

Fun times watching CARs movie sharing 'his' chair with grandpa.

Silly grandma hiding in boxes and scaring Cooper.

A quick hour at the pool was all Cooper could handle that week.

And of course "chase" at the tennis courts topped off all the activities. Thanks for playing Grandma and Grandpa!

hey guys, it's me...ryder

2011-06-15T23:20:00.001-04:00

This is pretty much me all day. Sleeping, eating, sleeping, looking around, and sleeping.

2011-06-14T23:03:00.004-04:00

Getting in one last snooze at the hospital.

Just waiting on the pediatrician to come and check us out so we can leave!

Ready to cruise home.

Hanging out back at home, Cooper was excited to have us back.

Me and three boys, kinda crazy ;)

I pulled out the bassinet for Ryder to sleep in and Cooper thought it was a great new toy to try out. He found out he was a little small for it.

11 days early

2011-06-13T22:57:00.002-04:00

Ryder made a grand entrance into the world 11 days early.

It was an exciting full day of contractions for me on the 12th but he wanted his birthday on June 13 just after midnight.

Later that morning Cooper came with his Clark grandparents to see us. You can see on his face he wasn't too sure what to make of this new baby brother.

Our first family pic.

This boy was cracking me up for the pictures making faces at Grandpa Clark. We were pretty excited to have Cooper come hang with us a few hours.

pool pals

2011-05-28T22:41:00.000-04:00

We spent our last morning at the pool of course and my two boys (soon to be three) played the time away.

Being tossed in the air is one of Cooper's favorite games lately.

They had some arching fountains and they ran and ran through them back and forth.

Cooper thought this was GREAT fun!

Seeing my reflection in his glasses, what a great little trip to kick off the last month of pregnancy.

beach vs pool

2011-05-27T22:11:00.006-04:00

We cruised to the beach for the morning again and although I love the beach, Cooper still voted the pool.

He played for a bit in the sand...

And observed the waves...

And was ready to head back to the car. Booo, so we went back for lunch and naps.

We went and hung out at Pier Park later for dinner and some shopping around. Cooper was being a goof while eating some pizza. Dad and Cooper are besties.

Cooper could have played with this car display for hours. He would grab them off their shelving and line them up on the other shelf. He cannot get enough cars these days.

That evening we enjoyed the pool some more and Cooper had a blast with playing catch with Dad.

His expressions are the best these days.

Hanging with his favorite buddy

Swimming with mom was almost as fun as with his Dad, licorice topped off the night though.

one last road trip

2011-05-26T21:42:00.004-04:00

We took off to Panama City Beach for Memorial Day Weekend for one last road trip before #2 makes his debut.

Cooper was feeling like quite the big kid exploring the pier and watching the fishermen.

Steve was showing him all the cool things.

One fisherman caught a King Mackerel, pretty exciting to watch.

Our family of three for a few more weeks.

We planned to hang at the beach after the pier but Cooper did not like the big waves in the Gulf (compared to the mild ones in Daytona a few months ago) so we only stayed for about an hour.

After naps we had fun in the sweet pool and Cooper LOVED that, especially driving his motorcycle in the water. Motorcycles love the pool too, don't they?

ridiculous? or ridiculously good!

2011-05-19T21:28:00.000-04:00

Steve said thumbs down, too much sweetness for him. But I say thumbs up! I had to make these after I saw Bobby Flay with his mad skills on one of his shows - Nutella and Banana Sandwiches. If you like sweet breakfasts or snacks give this babies a try.

passione italiana

2011-05-18T14:06:00.004-04:00

What's better than FREE! It was free admission day at the Museum of Design Atlanta and their current exhibit was Passione Italiana - the Design of the Motorcycle. Perfect morning outing for the motorcycle-loving boys in our house.

It was all about the "design passion and technological advancement behind the most desired motorcycles in the world. This exhibition presents eleven masterpieces of Italian motorcycle design spanning the last five decades including motorcycles by MV Agusta, Ducati, Bimota and Moto – Morini."

Cooper and Steve had a great time walking around checking them all out. Cooper wore a motocycle shirt for the special occastion ;)

Quick snap of me

Cooper playing with his car while dad was reading up on the exhibit

The Ducati's were my favorite.

Timeframe of popular fashion, industrial, and automotive design. Cooper thought he'd get a closer look and loved spotting the motorcycle pics. Thanks FREE museum day.

less than 6

2011-05-13T08:28:00.000-04:00

i am his

2011-05-08T08:00:00.003-04:00

...mom. Playing this role for him and our next little boy on the way makes me the lucky one. (just a little impromptu shoot with my boy) Happy Mothers Day.

our new home

2011-05-06T15:25:00.004-04:00

Could you even imagine? haha. We visited the Atlanta History Center today with Dana and Hadley and had a fab morning exploring the gardens.

This is the Swan House, built in 1928 for the Edward H. Inman family, heirs to a cotton brokerage fortune.. The mansion provides a glimpse into the lifestyle of this Atlanta family during the 1920s and 1930s. Pretty gorg right?

Cooper and Hads playing in the fountains - the water outranked the house in their eyes.

View from the other side.

Playing on the stairs and playing with rocks, great entertainment.

Little love.

Playing chase = best game ever.

Cool place to check out if you haven't been, we give it a thumbs up.

our easter morn

2011-04-24T23:00:00.003-04:00

Easter Sunday was great with out little family of 3.5

Cooper enjoyed his basket and the initial go to item was goldfish.

But after church he went for a piece of chocolate and intently worked to get the wrapper open. Love this boy.

And now he's a professional hunter. By his third hunt for the week at Grandma Pip's, Cooper had this thing down (although he didn't need anymore candy). Finding eggs was quite a treat. And he had the holiday figured out, I think half his calorie intake for the day was sugar - which will be closely monitored better tomorrow ;)

hunting with a sucker

2011-04-23T22:54:00.004-04:00

We did a small hunt with Cooper by our house but he thought he'd switch things up this round by hunting with a sucker in his mouth. Totally makes any activity better right? :)

A bit of candy and some new Hot Wheels. This kid doesn't go anywhere without one in his hand these days.

chocolate dutch baby

2011-04-22T22:42:00.004-04:00

I was getting a little bored with breakfast lately and tried out the Chocolate Dutch baby from Martha's Everyday Food mag and it did not disappoint. Who doesn't like a little dessert-like breakfast once in awhile.

Chocolate Dutch Baby
Serves 6

3/4 cup whole milk
3 large eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose four
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 TBs butter
3 TBs powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 425°.

In a blender, combine milk, eggs, flour, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla, and granulated sugar.

Blend until foamy, 1 minute.

In a large cast-iron skillet (or non-stick skillet) melt butter over medium heat.

Pour batter into skillet and immediately transfer to oven.

Bake until puffed and set, 20 minutes.

Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately.

hunting with friends

2011-04-20T22:35:00.002-04:00

Cooper had his first hunt with friends from church. I carried the bucket the whole time but he figured out what to do and gathered quite a few eggs. The real prize came after he found out what was inside...jellybeans.

zoo round 2

2011-04-18T22:24:00.003-04:00

What's better than your own annual pass? A friend with one too! We met up with Hadley girl for some more zoo fun.

zoo-per

2011-04-11T22:07:00.001-04:00

Dad had the great idea of going to the zoo AND getting an annual pass. Somebody loves his boy.

Checking out the elephants, definitely a favorite.

Lion friends

He gave the giraffe a kiss after this pic.

Popcorn snack break

Steve's favorite - naked mole rats - weird eh?

Coopers favorite, running around the 'mole rat' playset

Watching the Panda eat lunch, how sweet is this. I think it's my favorite thing at the zoo right now.

there's a girl in my room

2011-03-24T21:32:00.004-04:00

Cast of characters today - Cooper and Hadley. Playdate commenced and I grabbed my camera just to mess around with it and many smiles were had by me watching these two.

Cooper still in 'learning to share mode' kept his eye on her playing with "his" stuff for a quite a bit. It cracked me up.

And the careful watch continues. Hadley just kept playing and finding new things.

He finally got comfortable and the fun ensued.

They chatted and chased...

...shared some drinks

...gave me some smiles

...shared a kiss, oh my

...Hadley returning the moves (love Coopers face in these)

what a great afternoon this turned out to be, she'll be back I'm sure

bubbles, seagulls, and high sixties

2011-03-12T15:00:00.004-05:00

The real draw for me and Coops to join the bike week trip was for the beach. Although it wasn't as hot as I was hoping for, we still enjoyed a few hours of rays even if it was only high 60s.

After a few minutes of sandtoys Cooper was headed for the water.

We got to hang with cousin Benson and the Olsons. Benson was being buried while he also enjoyed eating handfuls of sand (unfortunately not caught on camera). Kurt was a brave soul and jumped fully into the ocean while also dragging Paige in halfway - crazy brother.

Paige and Benson enjoying some licorice.

Cooper liked chasing the seagulls until he noticed the bubbles in the ocean. The bubble fascination is alive and well in this boy.

He would run out with the waves and let them chase him back in. Classic childhood game, very fun to watch.

He didn't mind the temp and played around with the wet sand for a bit as well.

Licorice and the beach, good combo.

Steve met back up with us at the end of the day to see the fun he was missing at the beach. Cooper was his little sidekick right away.

Me holding the three boys, not a glamorous pic but I was holding Benson and Cooper wanted up too and the baby inside was already included in the deal so we snapped a photo.

The Olsons took off to Orlando and we hit up dinner on the river at Aunt Catfish's. Cooper loved the toys in the waiting area and pier before we were sat.

Yummy fish, hush puppies, and cinnamon rolls made it a great end to the day.

east coast kids

2011-03-12T13:00:00.002-05:00

Kurt and Paige happened to be on their way to spring break in Orlando and made a stop at the beach in Daytona since we were going to be down there at the same time. We enjoyed lunch at Subway before the bikers took off for more fun. It was nice being able to meetup with my new east coast sibling even if it was just for a few hours.

bmw, steve, and ewan

2011-03-12T12:00:00.001-05:00

Coops and me strolled the shoreline playing with rocks while waiting for the guys to get back from their BMW demo rides.

Apparently that is one of the big draws to bike week, being able to test drive the new models. Steve was really looking forward to driving some new BMW's (since that is what his bike is).

The bike Steve wanted to drive wasn't available until hours later so he went for his second choice, the BMW R1150GS Adventure ridden by Ewan McGregor on their world bike trip back in 2005. They made a documentary of the trip called Long Way Round which we saw about a year ago and loved.

Long Way Round documents the adventures of film stars Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman on their 20,000 mile motor bike trip around the world. Departing from London on 14th April 2004 the pair travelled through Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, Alaska, Canada arriving in the USA just over 3 months later. Seriously give it a rent if you like motorcycles, travel, or Ewan ;)

night riders

2011-03-11T22:00:00.002-05:00

The cool thing to do at night is drive main street. All the bikers chill here for the evening and hit up the shops, bars, and bands with the best part being the people watching.

Steve loved showing me around and having his lady out on the town, haha.

I still cannot believe how many people show up for this 10-day event. MotorCyclers everywhere!

bikes, bikes, and more bikes

2011-03-11T12:00:00.004-05:00

Coops and I met up with the guys on bikes (Steve and his dad) for a manly-filled afternoon at the Daytona International Speedway. All the big bike vendors were there with their new lines. Love my free bandana from the t-shirt shop?

Seriously everywhere you looked there were bikes parked for miles, all these people here to check out the latest and greatest.

This little boy was in motorcycle heaven. He liked looking at the bikes more than sitting on them (phew for now ;) The bikes came in all colors and sizes.

An F-650 truck? whoa, who would drive this thing?

Cooper feeling pretty awesome hanging with his pal grandpa.

Pitstop for lunch and Steve could not pass up the turkey leg.

I mean, are we starting something at too young of an age here? I guess I can put the blame on my mom who bought him his first toy motorcycle when he was about 13 mo. He really liked checking out the parts of the bikes.

I had to hop on one for the photo-op, totally me right? The Honda tents were deluxe.

And my favorite snaps of the day, these two playing on the grass together. Cooper was all about the guys this weekend and wanted to be everywhere they were.

Cooper thought this was one great vacae hanging out with his dad.

just his size

2011-03-10T16:14:00.000-05:00

We made the road trip down to Daytona and Cooper was a champion in the car. I thought he was going to have a meltdown by the time we had dinner around 9pm but this kid got his second wind. We found this awesome mini bike at the pizza joint we ate at. Feeling super cool right?

daytona newbies

2011-03-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

With a few years of bike weeks under their belt, Steve's Dad thought he'd extend the invite to Cooper and me too this year. Steve and his dad have typically ridden their bikes all the way to Daytona but this year they are trailoring them down so we'll hitch a ride in the truck too. They are pretty excited to show us around. And Cooper LOVES motorcycles so it should be quite the adventure. We'll see how this previous man-trip turns family-trip this year.Daytona Bike Week here we ALL come!

a sushi first

2011-03-07T23:01:00.000-05:00

Sushi thumbs up? or sushi thumbs down?

Kate wanted to venture out and try sushi on this trip so I tried to hook her up with some safe rolls - california, shrimp tempura, eel and crab. The sequence of faces unveiled after trying 4 pieces, which ended there. We give sushi thumbs up in this house but Kate voted a thumbs down for now. Seaweed is not on her list of favorites. haha. It was a fun experience though, go Kate!

hawks vs knicks

2011-03-06T22:46:00.004-05:00

We rounded out the weekend with a basketball game - Hawks vs Knicks.

Cooper thought eating popcorn was the best part.

Our $40 a piece view from the upper deck, BB tickets not so cheap these days apparently. I mean really? We were expecting about half that price but no dice. We were already there and just had to go for it.

Cooper and Steve enjoying the game.

flip this

2011-03-05T22:26:00.000-05:00

We spent the next few days shopping and grabbing some eats, one of them being Flip Burger Boutique on Howell Mill.

photo credit

This Top Chef competitor, Richard Blais, is the chef of the restaurant.

photo credit

We'd heard great things and decided Kate's visit would be the perfect outing to try it. The interior was super cool and modern and the place was packed out. Cooper was semi-not cooperating once the food came so I had to borrow all these pics from online.

photo credit

The burgers were seriously to DIE for, excellent. Probably the best burger I've ever had.
My pick - butcher’s cut
caramelized onion, bleu cheese, red wine jam, frisée, pickled shallots
Steve's pick - rBQ
pulled brisket, flip slaw, rBQ sauce, smoked mayo
Kate's pick - bacon + cheese
benton’s bacon, american cheese, pickled onion, lettuce, marinated tomato, sweet pickles, ketchup, flipsauce

photo credit
The onion rings were the bomb, the perfect amount of thin-cut onion with a nice and crispy thin batter exterior. AND the big rage as well are the shakes - Krispy Creme Donut Shake (Steve's choice), Nutella and Burnt Marshmellow (my choice) and classic Turtle (Kate's choice). Indeed a great night a food. Go there.

aquaness

2011-03-03T22:08:00.002-05:00

We had a special visitor arrive from out West for a fun-filled five days - best friend Aunt Kate! And we started out the trip to the GA Aquarium.

Needless to say Cooper was all about ALL the fish.

Looking on with Dad.

Jellyfishes swimming, one of my favorite sea creatures.

Cooper (like his mom) loved touching the sea anemones.

One of my favorite things about this boy, his never-ending expressions. I also bought him this shark from our last visit almost a year ago and let him bring it in. He carried it around the almost the whole time.

Kate and Steve looking on.

I mean isn't this just a great face?

KateO found a lovely friend while cruising the underwater tube.

Kate and me with the fishies. We had a nice grouper make the shot.

Kate in front of the big tank wall.

You could really just sit here all day.

Another favorite, leafy sea dragons.

One of Cooper's favorite things, STARS.

Petting the manta rays.

Playing with the penguins.

Cooper loved having his best friend Aunt Kate play for a few days.

love boys

2011-02-14T15:57:00.002-05:00

We had our Vday date Saturday so Valentines day was a family love day. I brought Cooper home a dozen red balloons which he loved attached to a small bag of tiny toys.

Cooper loved showing dad his balloons.

Hanging out for lunch with Cooper wearing his Vday shirt from Grandma Kris. My two cute boys.

Cooper loves all things that 'go' especially motorcycles, which one of his surprises was a new RED motorcycle, number 4 in his collection.

Smiles for mom equal love all day long.

2011-02-13T15:52:00.002-05:00

I had to post about this awesome 'thank you' bouquet that was given to me (made by my friend MaryAnn from church) for service as the Primary Secretary/Counselor for the past 3+ years. MaryAnn has some awesome craft skills if you ask me.

Paper flowers, straws, pipe cleaner, tape, and individual pieces of candy or suckers is all you need.

All the pieces laid out. The sucker just fits into the straw after the flower is attached.

And the candy is taped to the flowers with pipe cleaner used to insert it into the straw. Cool right? Can be used for any time of year, thanks MaryAnn!

sugar fave

2011-02-12T17:55:00.002-05:00

I love me some sugar cookies and whipped out a batch for vday... all you cookie lovers bake below:

RECIPE FOR EXCELLENT DOUGH:

In a large bowl combine
1 3/4 c. sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs
Mix and cream together

In a small bowl add
2 TBSP warm water
1 TBSP vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
Stir until soda is dissolved, then add to sugar mixture.

Then add
5 1/2 cups Flour (may need to add more until the dough is not sticky and firm enough to roll out)
1 heaping tsp. Baking Powder

Mix, Roll out, Cut Shapes, and Bake at 350º for 8-10 minutes.
Makes about 3 dozen

FROSTING:
Start with 1/2 stick butter. Add a tsp or 2 of vanilla. dump in one regular package of powdered sugar. Add a dash of milk and start stirring. Add milk little by little until the right consistency. Color as needed.

one new

2011-02-04T15:59:00.002-05:00

Two pictures, two boys, one old, one new.
One was born in September, the other will come this June.

snowpan

2011-02-02T15:02:00.002-05:00

Image via ohdeedoh
Don't you want someone to make this for you for breakfast? mmm pancakes.

enjoying 5 inches

2011-01-10T10:32:00.004-05:00

We were pretty excited about the amount of snow the night before so I went out on my deck the next morning and took a measurement.

And we got 5 INCHES!

Cooper had to come with me and survey the scene. He looked hilarious.

Even icicles were hanging around.

We took Cooper out later for a walk and he enjoyed himself, although it was a little icy.

Even this cold face is still smiling.

This snow stuff is pretty cool mom.

We enjoyed the snow while it stayed soft. We ended up getting some freezing rain later that day which turned the whole top layer everywhere into an ice sheet. That made for some sweet roads for a few days.

winter storm warning rang true

2011-01-09T00:13:00.000-05:00

We were forecasted for this big winter storm today and although I was skeptical of how big, we actually got dumped on.

By late Sunday night we had this nice blanket of snow and awesome 'snow silence' that hangs in the air.

Snow, it's good to see you here again.

congrats, we sat through a whole meal

2011-01-08T00:01:00.002-05:00

See this face? Don't be deceived by it's cuteness...

Anytime we've gone out recently this kid would not sit still or hardly eat. It was really bugging us because eating out is something we enjoy weekly. BUT today this kid surprised us and ate like a champ and stayed at the table the whole meal. Congratulations to us, we have won this time.

Thank you Cooper, you have restored our faith in your eating out abilities.

a croupy christmas

2010-12-25T23:46:00.001-05:00

Christmas morning was a sad morning for Mr Cooper. He woke up with the continued fever from the previous day plus a crazy cough sounding a lot like croup. Poor boy, he miserably sat and tried to seem excited for us ;)

He made out with some fun loot although at the time we felt like we had failed because he didn't really play with anything except for one toy...

...which was the farm set from Grandma and Grandpa. That was the biggest hit of the morning.

Later we headed to Steve's parents and the snow headed in. I was excited. Apparently Atlanta has not had a white Christmas for 128 years. How lucky were we! (Plus they ended up canceling church the next day because of the storm, thumbs up snow day)

Cooper seemed to fare a bit worse as the day went on but willingly sat through another round of presents, he loved his new shape sorter.

So by the evening Cooper's breathing did not sound good or normal so we headed to the ER on the way home. It was confirmed croup and they gave him a steroid liquid that was like magic. After a 5 hour evening at the hospital we were back home at 1am to end the day. I say magic liquid because I think it worked wonders quickly, he slept great and woke up better with a looser cough the next day. Phew. Could have been a rough few days waiting til monday to go to the pediatrician. Memorable Christmas 2010.

apps for your pleasure

2010-12-24T23:23:00.003-05:00

I made these twice for two parties this December - wanted to try some new appetizers and these were great and different and delicious. You should add them to your stash, you won't be disappointed.

Pancetta Crisps With Goat Cheese and Pear on the left and Greek Salad Skewers on the right.

our eve party

2010-12-24T22:43:00.004-05:00

Ready for the party at Grandma Great's house with all the Clarks, the Thomsons, and the missionaries.

We celebrated with appetizers and carols.

Playing with presents during the singing.

The whole room full of people.

Me and my Coops (running a slight fever, uh oh).

Opening new jammies with dad.

+6

2010-12-22T17:47:00.003-05:00

This man has been mine for the past 6 years and we are loving every minute together (mostly) haha. I can't believe how much younger we already look only 6 years ago.

We celebrated our anniversary getting Thai food and going to the Nutcracker.

Steve was a good man for taking me. I had been wanting to go ever since we moved here and this year he pulled through.

photo credit

have you sat lately?

2010-12-15T10:48:00.003-05:00

I had to add this pic in from the falls because we had group visit to see Santa and somehow I was the lucky one to be invited to sit on his lap for the pic. Kind of awkward for being my age and sitting on some strange males lap but made for a funny pic.

grandpa the greatest

2010-12-10T16:18:00.004-05:00

Well this cool guy decided he was bored of this world and wanted to see his wife and friends on the other side. The day after we got back from Utah we got the call that my 94 yr old Grandpa Earl had passed away. He is one of the best men I know and I am so proud he was my grandpa.

My whole family was able to make it out for the funeral just a few days later thanks to the help of my generous parents. The whole event, although sad because we'll miss our grandpa, was for the most part a happy one.

My aunt had a bunch of balloons brought to the cemetery to be released into the sky. This was a fun moment for everyone as we watched them disappear.

My whole Olson Family

The fun didn't stop after the funeral because my Aunt Janalyn thought it'd be fun to wrap up a bunch of trinkets and decor from my grandparents house and let all us grandkids and great grandkids open and inherit some 'awesome' treasures white elephant style.

As you can see we got some winners, they didn't all make it home with us though ;)

All of my cousins and our awesome prizes! Thanks Janalyn for these sweet memories. A fun way to celebrate my grandpa and his life. We had a great time being together for the weekend. We'll miss you grandpa!

an 's' of a time

2010-12-03T21:26:00.000-05:00

Kandis, the kids, and me spent the week after Thanksgiving up in the Falls and the kids no doubt had a great time.

We spent lunches at a few play areas and Cooper thought he was such a big kid.

SLIDES were a big hit.

SNACKS were had daily at grandmas, they never stop.

SWORD fights ensued between those who'd pursue.

SUCKERS can always be found in more mouths than one.

SLEDDING made the list of course although Cooper gave this a thumbs down.

SNOWMEN were built by Kandis herself.

SMILES were found on mouths all around.

STACKING blocks turned into cities and rows.

Thanks grandma and grandpa for the week full of fun.

the last time

2010-11-28T21:14:00.001-05:00

We were able to share some memorable visits over the break with my grandpa Earl. He had been sick about a month with pneumonia and wasn't making too much progress in recovering. My dad had an inkling this would be how he would leave this world.

He enjoyed watching his great grandkids play and run around at the care center which brought smiles to his face. We knew this would be possibly the last time we would see him. It was a sad goodbye but we knew he'd be taken care of.

lights in the night

2010-11-27T21:00:00.001-05:00

We made it to one of my favorite places over Thanksgiving, Temple Square to see the lights!

It was fun watching Cooper look at all the lights, he LOVES lights of all kinds.

They had a huge cutout model of the temple in one of the smaller visitor centers which was really neat to see.

Mr. Benson all bundled up.

the discovery

2010-11-27T20:13:00.003-05:00

Hey guys, I'm walking!

And he won't stop. We can't keep this boy still anymore. He decided to make walking his 'official' mode of transportation on Thanksgiving. It finally clicked for him that it's faster than scooting and crawling.

popcorn lover

2010-11-25T16:28:00.001-05:00

I didn't take any pics on Thanksgiving for some reason but my mom came through with a few of my cute family. We had a fab dinner with all my cousins.

We went to the movies later and saw Tangled. Cooper only made it through the first hour but in that hour he enjoyed some serious popcorn, that he gets from his dad. Cooper sat and ate out of his own cup and was grabbin popcorn out of Lincolns' cup too. Probably the best part of going to the movies right?

planes & turkeys

2010-11-24T16:19:00.003-05:00

We headed west for Thanksgiving for family and snow and Cooper couldn't wait to get on the airplane (not really). He did love checking them out through the glass.

We finally made it and had a fun night hanging out with our Olson cousins. Our family had flights coming in all day.

That evening us siblings went to visit my sick grandpa while the in-laws helped my aunt with some cute desserts for Thanksgiving. I couldn't believe she was able to get Steve and Adam to do these. They were getting crafty on us.

They're store bought cupcakes. She then softened 3-4 caramels, rolled them out, cut out a small area for the inside of the turkey. That circular part was laid over the frosting. Then the extra caramel from the cut out was formed around pretzel sticks to form the legs. Then a lip of green frosting was added around the rim and small pieces of angel food cake were stuffed in the opening to look like stuffing. Pretty cool if you ask me and the kids loved them.

almost a walker

2010-11-10T15:20:00.004-05:00

Out for a fall afternoon walk and an attempt for some family pics, Cooper worked on his walking skills although it's more of a game than a mode of transportation at this point. A few more weeks and we might have a full walker on our hands.

The only semi-okay family pic, Steve didn't want to cooperate today and didn't feel good about any of the photos. Another attempt will have to be made.

Cooper was sure having fun hanging out.

white peanuts

2010-11-06T15:14:00.002-04:00

An early Christmas package from Grandma came in the mail. With the toys hidden the peanuts were the excitement for the day.

halloweekend

2010-10-31T10:16:00.004-04:00

My little homemade dragon, thanks Martha Stewart!

We spent our Halloween weekend at three places. First stop was Saturday afternoon at the Avenues for Trick or Treating. Cooper had no idea what was happening, he just liked looking at all these crazy kids dressed up.

Next stop was the Trunk-or-Treat in which we pulled out a full Medieval Trio. Yes, Steve wanted to dress up and did his costume himself.

Enjoying the view with dad while eating a sucker. He had three that day.

Our friends the Schlossers aka Barney, Betty, and Bam Bam. (We were glad other families got into the costumes as well)

Sunday night we had a family party and these are the cousins dressed up as Jessie, Woody, and Buzz.

And this is Cooper again, side view and frontal view. I had fun making his costume and it made it even better cause he was still scooting.

me and my owl

2010-10-17T23:00:00.005-04:00

The 6th annual carve-off, and the entries are:
Owl - kellie

Cinderella's carriage - the kelley's

Swallowed Eyeball - Brian & Sara

Rasta Man - the Clark parentals

And the winner is...

Me & my Owl! Keeping the trophy in the fam for the third year in a row
(after Steve's double wins the past two years). Go us!