Where There's a Will....

...there's a Cooper.

The weather midweek was gorgeous! We actually got to eat out on the deck again. After supper, Coop disappeared and this is where I found him, trying to get a Popsicle for dessert. I wish I had a picture of how I found him. He actually had is right foot hoisted up into the fridge handle. He remembered that when he asked for a Popsicle at 10am that morning I had told him no, but he could have one after supper.

The Popscicles were on the top shelf, but he managed to get one for himself and one for Layla. Now, if I could just get him to get his own breakfast at 6am every morning instead of standing next to our bed, tapping my arms and saying, "Mom, eggs?"

Her List of Firsts

When we took our trip to Chicago and NY with Layla, we kept a running list of firsts. The first time at the AG store, first time in a sky scraper, first time on a train, etc. When we got to NY and the Paneks house, her list kept growing. She tubed at full speed for the first time and rode a jet ski. She kept yelling to go faster on both. Again, she may look just like her daddy, but she is all me!

Cinco

At 7:44 this morning, Layla Faye Handsaker turned 5 years old and at 12:10 I dropped her off for her first day of Kinder Prep. She jumped out of the car, called, "see ya mom," over her shoulder and was gone. Oh my, how things have changed in 5 years!

On the way to school Layla said, "Mom, I just keep thinking, wait a minute, I'm not 4anymore, I'm 5!"

I just don't know what else to say about that. We love you Layla Faye.

A Country Wedding

We rounded out our trip to Chicago by flying to Upstate New York for a little country wedding. Dave lived in Upstate before I met him and he made a lifelong friendship with the Panek family. Lucky for me, I get to be their friend too since I married Dave! They have a beautiful farm and recently bought a lake house that is quite unique. It's a large house in the middle of timber on the shore of Lake Alice. It was built by a couple who didn't have kids of their own, but made it a place all kids and adults would love to be. There are sweet touches everywhere on this property. My favorite outdoor spot was a clearing with a table with a candle chandelier hanging over it from the trees. This is the same area that cable TV reached so you can wheel the TV outside and watch movies under the stars.

The Paneks oldest son, Alan, married his beautiful bride, Guin, at the lake house while we were their. The Paneks daughter Katie, grows her own flowers and is a florist. She's a very talented 25 year old!

Here are some pictures from the beautiful day....

American Girl Place

Yes, we have succumb to the crazy world of American Girl. It started early in this house and quite by accident. Before we had kids, Dave and I started receiving the catalog because of a gift purchased for a niece. By 2 years old, Layla loved getting her "baby magazine" in the mail. When she was 3 we visited friends whose daughters had everything imaginable out of the "magazine" and I remember her turning to me and saying, "Mommy, you can get stuff out of my baby magazine!" She was in awe of the realization that it wasn't just a magazine, but a catalog! And so the craze began!

To celebrate Layla's 5th birthday, Dave and I planned a big girl trip to Chicago. We stayed with my Aunt Mary in Wheaton and took the commuter train into Chicago and a water taxi to Michigan Ave., both firsts for Layla. She loved the bigness of Chicago and the AG store! With chore money she'd been saving for 6 months and birthday money, she had made a list of what she wanted and could afford. She was all business when we got inside! We shopped, looked at every item, ate lunch in the restaurant and left with a bag a loot. She was thrilled to no end!

What made the day special for me was how thankful and appreciative she was. At lunch, they leave a little box of conversation questions to keep you busy while you wait for your food. I picked the question, "Have you ever been really lucky and when?" Layla replied, "No, but I've been really blessed and it's today!"

While in Chicago we also took Layla to the top of the Hancock building and she was amazed at the swimming pools on top of other tall buildings. It was fun to give her a day of firsts! And tomorrow we will add to that list....it will be the first day she's 5 years old.

Back in the Saddle...Kinda

We returned from our Chicago and NY trip Monday and it was so good to be back home and with Cooper! The day before we left, we were struck by lightening. Living where we do, we have actually had lightening strike close enough to smell and to fry up phones and electronics in our house. Never, however, have we seen a strike and fire 10 feet from our window. Dave and I can't remember ever being that scared! So, when we returned home, the week quickly turned into one of repairing and replacing! The wireless Internet is still not up, so there won't be any pictures of our vacation until I'm able to post them from my PC, where I downloaded all of them. I'm excited to share them!

As for the family, we are back in the swing of things and preparing for Layla's 5th birthday and first day of school, both of which are Tuesday. Dave and I are working through our huge to-do list to open the pumpkin patch in 4 weeks. Oh my! 4 WEEKS! I have great peace that it will all come together, although I'm sure we will look back at this time and wonder how God got all of this work done through just 2 people. But, He's faithful and we're excited!

Sweet Ava Jo

Layla said to me one day, "Mom, isn't it so great that we sometimes we're so happy that we have to pee?"

"Yes, honey, it is." I replied, smiling.

"Is that why I have to cross my legs when I wear a dress? In case I get real happy?"

Yup, made me laugh so hard I had to pee! Guess I was real happy! I asked her what she was thinking about that made her say that and she said, "Holding Ava."

One month ago today, my oldest brother and his wife had his first child, Ava Jo. Oh, she's so sweet and squishy! Dave and I snuck up to the hospital to meet her when she was born, but the kids didn't get to go because of our crazy schedule.

Saturday night, they finally met her! Both kids got to hold her. She was a big hit!

Up, Up, and Away....

When I was 9 months pregnant with Layla, Dave and I were desperate to stay busy! As a result, we attended our first National Balloon Classic in Indianola (20 minutes from our house). It was wonderful! I remember thinking I wanted to bring that baby back the next year, when he or she was in the outside world and could enjoy it. What I didn't know at that time was I would wait another 20 days for that baby to be born and it would take us 5 years to get back for our second visit!

Last night we finally made it back! I can't say enough about this event. It is wonderful! Adults are just $3/each and kids are free. You get to sit in the field and watch balloons take off and land. As you can see from the pictures, everyone is close and right in the action. After the balloons were done for the night, a band played and the kids ran free in the field. PERFECT!

The classic runs 9 days and balloons take flight every night at 6:30. There are some evenings when they do Nite-Glow. We saw that our first year and it is amazing to see them firing up in the dark. Tonight is the last night. Flights start at 6:30, they have Night-Glow, a band and fireworks. There are plenty of food and beverage vendors and kids games and inflatables.

Cooper woke up talking about it this morning, so it made an impression. If you live in the area or are planning to visit, this is worth arranging your schedule around!

An Only Child

Layla did brave the trip to Grandma's house without incident and is having a great time....so I've heard through the grapevine. It is VERY strange having just one child at home. When our family went from 1 child to 2, I remember saying to Dave that a 2nd child is way more than double the work! It is wonderful, but there's no preparing for it. And, I think the first year of having 2 was easier than the 2nd year. Now, there is so much activity and noise in our house!

Of course, I've forgotten all of this until now, when I'm down to one again. PIECE OF CAKE! Cooper loves to "write", "make lists", and "draw" tractors. This morning, he sat quietly at the counter for 30 minutes working on this drawing of a tractor. Too cute! Although I really miss Layla, it is nice to give Cooper all of my mom attention and not feel so divided.

Cinda-Lu

Stacey, Micki, Lucinda and I met in college. Because of age differences and transfers, we were only together for 8 months. But those 8 months bonded us for life. We are 4 very different women, with 4 different lives, living in 3 different states. But, we love and respect each other and LAUGH our heads off when we're together. Seventeen-ish years later we are still soul sisters and see each other at least once a year.

This weekend Sweet Cinda-Lu came to Iowa to stay with us and we had a great time! All kids love Cinda and mine are no different. She plays, she teases, she lets them do anything! One of Layla's highlights was painting Lucinda's nails. And Lucinda wore it all weekend, even wore it home.

We love you Cinda, thanks for coming! Stacey and Eric, we love you and were so thankful we got to see you. Thanks for taking time away from your Iowa family for us!