Graduation!

Thursday evening Ben graduated from preschool! It was a bittersweet time. It's hard to believe that he is about to start kindergarten. He started at St. Xavier preschool when he was just three years old. Almost three years later he is more than ready to move on. When he started he was a shy little boy ready to learn and explore. Now he knows all of his letters and numbers, days of the week, months of the year, continents and so much more. Most importantly, he has great self confidence and is so outgoing.

Pictured below are the graduating students. Only about 1/4 of them are from Ben's class. The others are morning students and students from the other class. Ben is in the upper left corner.


Mrs. Whitaker was Ben's teacher for all three years at St. Xavier. Next year will be her first year teaching without Benny in her class! We are really going to miss her. We wish that Sophie and Addie would have the opportunity to be in her class.



Graduation consisted of a musical program sung by the students. The kids sung about 15 songs with the help of Mrs. Whitaker and Mrs. Rubash at the piano. Our friends Jennifer, Christian and Taylor came and brought Benny balloons. He was so excited to see them in the audience. We sure will miss our time and friends at St. Xavier. We will miss playing outside everyday after school, and I will miss all of the fun projects that Benny brought home.

I tried to film some of the musical program. Enjoy these sweet preschoolers singing about God and their parents.

A Day at the Dairy Farm

Last Wednesday Benny's preschool class enjoyed a trip to a working dairy farm. It was a very fun, and very stinky day! Parents and siblings were invited too, and we had a great turnout. Nick was unable to join us, but I brought along Sophie and Addie. I think that Sophie may have had a better time than her big brother. The first thing she said to me when I woke her up on Wednesday, was "Cows, cows!". I told her that first we had to go to church group and play (she goes into the childcare there). Her response was "No play, cows!". By the time lunchtime rolled around, we were leaving church and heading to the dairy farm which is less than two miles from our house. I never knew we were so close to the farm, and now understand why it is so stinky here when we get a north wind!


We were taken on a tour of the farm when we first arrived. We saw the bottling room, the sterilizing room, and the the milking room (above). The boys especially were fascinated with the milking room.

After we saw the inner workings of the farm, we got to see the best part. The cows! The kids were able to get really close to these black and white girls, but the cows were pretty shy and would pull back.

After we saw the adult female cows, our tour guide took us to an open barn where they kept all of the baby cows. This was the highlight of the day! The kids loved looking at all of the baby cows. There must have been about 50, and two of them had just been born the day before. Ben and Sophie ran from pen to pen exploring. Sophie must have said "Oh, baby cow!" about 100 times on Wednesday and talked about the baby cows for the rest of the week.

"Oh, baby cows!"

I'll have to say that our day at the dairy farm was a hit! When we were finished with our tour the staff gave the kids cookies and samples of milk-white, strawberry and chocolate. I think Ben had three glasses of white milk while Sophie enjoyed some chocolate. I'll leave some videos of Sophie to sum up our fun and stinky day!

Playing Catch Up

We've had a quite few weeks around here and not much to blog about. After Easter our home showings really seemed to drop off which was both a relief and a worry. I've been relieved because Nick is gone TDY (temporary duty for you non-military folks) for the third time in three weeks. As I mentioned before showing the house is stressful since you get hours notice to get everything clean and get out of there with the circus in tow. But, this past week, things picked up again and we had three showings. For the third time we were on some one's very short list, but again, they picked the other house. We were really bummed, and are starting to get nervous that we won't sell before we move.

Nick is working crazy hours and they still haven't found a replacement for him. The General jokes about keeping Nick around, but luckily he's already signed Nick's leave form and our packers are scheduled for the second week of June. We're hoping that anytime now they will find a replacement so we can get ready to get out of here! Nick usually works from 6am to 8pm, and has worked three of the past four weekends. It's not much fun because frequently he doesn't even see Sophie, and will only see Ben for an hour before he goes to bed. Thankfully, this craziness should be coming to a close. Last weekend however, we did get to enjoy a perk of the job. The USO brought the Lt. Dan Band to Fort Riley for a concert. The Lt. Dan Band is headed by Gary Sinise who is a huge supporter of the Army and the USO. He also happens to be a personal friend of "the General". Nick had to escort the General to the show, and I was invited to come along! It was great fun because we all rode together in the General's Army van and got VIP treatment. Now Nick had to work, but Addie and I tagged behind. First we went to a VIP party, and then we got to go into the Green room and meet the band! I was thrilled because, I am a big Gary Sinise fan. Unfortunately, I didn't get to shake his hand, but Nick stood right with him and the General for quite some time. Nick said he was very down to earth and humble. The Lt. Dan Band put on a great show. Gary doesn't sing at all, but plays the bass. The band is a cover band, and they covered everything! It was a long and loud concert and Miss Adeline slept through the entire thing! (Our other two children were with a wonderful new babysitter. Why is it that we find a great babysitter now that we are leaving?) It was fun to have a night out, even if it involved some work for Nick.

Soldier's who just returned from Iraq had the priority up front seating. Luckily we sat back from the speakers since we had Addie with us. The noise still didn't bother her though.

The next day was Mother's Day. It was great to celebrate being a mother to my three beautiful children! Ben and Sophie brought flowers into the bedroom while I was getting ready for church. They each had their own bouquet for me and were so proud! Some of the flowers are still living and Sophie keeps telling me "Mommy's flowers". Nick tried to teach her to say Happy Mother's Day, but all he got was "Happy Mommy". It still melted my heart. After church we had a big dinner with our friends Jennifer and Christian. Our priest, Father Al even joined us. He has spent lots of time lately with Nick and Christian. They meet with him weekly for a drink at his house while the kids are at CCD. Funny to be friends with a priest!

I'm still working on getting that 'perfect shot' for Adeline's baby announcement. She is turning two months old this week, so I probably should get around to that before the move. I did take these photos of her this morning. She was so alert and smiley that I couldn't resist having a little photo session.

We have a big week this week. It is the last week of school for Ben. On Wednesday we a taking a field trip to a working Dairy farm. That should be interesting with 15 preschoolers. On Thursday night we have Benny's preschool graduation, which he is very excited about. Friday Nick's parents will be joining us and meeting Addie for the first time. We will also have Addie baptised on Sunday. So, I promise lots more blogs soon!

Sleeping Beauty and Sweet Smiles and Kisses

Our Baby Adeline is a Sleeping Beauty. We joke that it's her self defense mechanism against the chaos of our household. She has some wakeful time in the morning and in the evening, but during the hustle and bustle of the day, she is usually fast asleep. It doesn't help that I have to drive Benny to and from preschool each afternoon. Buckling her into her car seat is the fastest way to ensure that she falls sound asleep. She even sleeps through trips to the grocery store when I put her into the Baby Bjorn carrier. (How else does one make it through the store when you have two little ones? I have to have room in the cart for babies AND groceries!)




She still likes to sleep curled up in a little ball. She doesn't mind being swaddled, but she does prefer to be loose with her arms up in the air. If you look closely you will notice that her legs are pulled up out of the sleeper. When she wakes, she will start crying her absolute loudest because she can't straighten her legs out. It makes her really mad! At nighttime we put her into a gown to avoid this problem.


In the past week or two she really has begun to smile. Now I am certain that she is happy to see us and that her smiles aren't because of gas!

I tried to catch a few of her sweet smiles yesterday. (It's just so hard to get the camera to snap at the right time!)

After taking a few pictures of our smiling girl, I decided to try and catch the smiles of all three kids. This was not an easy task, and after taking about 10 photos, I still didn't get the perfect shot.

Sophie loves for Nick and I to read to her in the chair in her room. I had propped Adeline up in the chair to try and get a cute picture of her, and Sophie decided to join her. Before long, she was hoping in and out of the chair 'reading' Adeline her favorite books.

After reading time was complete, we made some time for kisses.

Don't worry-I'm always just an arms reach away from these two when they are together. My worst fear is that Sophie will treat our real baby the same way she treats her baby dolls. (Which is gentle for the most part, but the babies are frequently dropped or thrown on the floor when she is done with them.)

Cute as a button

Not much has been happening here at the Cook Household. Nick has a new boss, so he is once again the Aide de Camp (General's Aide). He was not supposed to be in this position since we have orders to move, however, Fort Riley has failed to hire an aide to replace Nick yet. So, Nick is working really long hours and we don't see him much. He has spent the last several days in Washington D.C. with the General. We miss him terribly, but the upside is that he was able to scout out some neighborhoods to narrow our house search. He's coming home tonight, and the kids are really excited to have their Daddy back.

The house showings have seemed to slow down now that spring break time is over. I'm relieved that I don't have to keep loading the kids and dog into the car and finding someplace to entertain everyone for an hour. But, I'm starting to get a little nervous that we haven't sold it yet. It's only been six weeks, but we need to leave here by the first week of June. Our real estate agent is really optimistic though, so we are keeping our hopes up for now.

Adeline is growing like a weed. She sleeps and eats lots and is generally a very content baby. During an awake period the other day she was making the sweetest faces. She and I were snuggling on the couch, so I decided to grab my camera and take some photos of her. I'm finding it really hard to take many photos these days. Something is always going on here at home. But here are a few new ones.... Enjoy!

We still can't decide what color her eyes are. Benny's were blue from the start, and Sophie's were dark brown from day one. Adeline's seem to change by the day or the light. Just when we are convinced that they are a lighter shade of brown, there will be a day when they look really blue. I guess time will tell.

Benny has been an especially good helper lately. He often holds Adeline for me in the morning. This gives me a chance to do some dishes or feed Sophie her breakfast without having to put Addie in her bed or baby bouncer. She loves the attention, and Ben is so cute with her.

Sophie does ok with Adeline. I have to really watch her because she is constantly poking at Addie. She tries to give Addie her baby doll bottles. Sometimes she covers with blankets or gives her a rattle. Her intentions are good, but it still makes me nervous. Lately she is fascinated with Addie's mouth, especially when Addie has a pacifier. Sophie is constantly pulling it out and then exclaims "Uh oh, Baby's mouth, Baby's crying". More often than not, Sophie is playing with her baby dolls and mimics what I do. The other day I walked into the family room and found her holding her baby on the Boppy pillow. It was so sweet.

More sweet moments to come!

Easter

Our Easter Festivities started off with egg dying on Good Friday. At first Ben only wanted to use three of the colors, but finally decided to use most of them. I was really impressed when he wanted to dye some eggs red. His reasoning? He said the red dye represented the blood of Jesus. I guess he has been paying attention at church! We started the egg coloring after Sophie was in bed. I feel a bit bad about it, but we were all exhausted from two house showings (aka cleanings), and I just didn't want to deal with any more messes than I had too. She'll have here chance next year.

Our eggs turned out great, although of course we couldn't get Ben to try one.

The next morning was the St. Xavier egg hunt. Grandma and Big Pa were able to join us and see the kids hunting for eggs before they headed home to Michigan. Since our church hosted the event at a local park, there were a lot of familiar faces and kids from Ben's school. Of course Ben's best friend Nicky was there, and as usual they never left each others sides. Ben managed to pick up lots of eggs and treats and even won a kite in the raffle following the hunt. He can't wait for a warm and windy day to fly it!

It didn't take Sophie long to master the art of picking up eggs. Nick helped her a little at first, but then she got the hang of it. It was so cute watching the under three crowd searching for eggs. There was more than enough to go around, and the parents had to help the kids pick up the last bits of candy.

After the egg hunt, Sophie enjoyed a Tootsie Pop. She was very pleased with her stash of candy.

On Easter Sunday Sophie arose first which is unusual, so we decided to wake Ben so the two could hunt for eggs together. The Easter Bunny delivered lots of chocolate treats as well as a few small toys and books. We tried to keep the focus more on Jesus and less on the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny even brought chocolate crosses instead of chocolate bunnies! Ben is absolutely infatuated with the two eggs of silly putty he received. Sophie just loves her new marker set and wants to color all of the time.

After our fun egg hunting, we cleaned up for church. The kids both wore their new Easter clothes which they also wore to have their pictures taken a few weeks ago. (Those photos will go out with the birth announcements.... sometime!). Ben helped pick out their matching duds on a trip to Topeka earlier in the spring. He insisted that we buy him the tie that matched his dress shirt. It is the first time he has ever had a tie, and to our complete surprise, he actually wore it and didn't complain one bit!



Later in the afternoon, we joined our friends Jennifer and Christian, and their daughter Taylor for a great dinner at their house. We dined on smoked brisket and lots of other yummy things, and the kids had a great time playing together.

I hope you all had a blessed Easter!

Sophie's 'Happy' Day

Finding the time to blog has been a bit difficult lately. I thought I would have more time to catch up over the last week, because my parents were visiting, but somehow I managed to do less. Hopefully, over the next few days I can play catch up and get everything up to date.

Sophie turned the big 2 on March 31! On her actual birthday, we celebrated with a nice dinner, a few presents, and of course some chocolate cupcakes! I had taken both Sophie and Adeline to Walmart, our first real venture out, the day prior. I let Sophie pick out the cake mix, frosting, and cupcake papers. Much to her brother's delight, she picked chocolate cake and frosting. She very much enjoyed her cupcake, but didn't get nearly as messy as I had anticipated. I guess she is growing up!

She opened her presents that had arrived in the mail from both sets of Grandparents, as well as a new Vera Bradley purse from Mommy and Daddy that matches Adeline's diaper bag. She was thrilled with her new clothes, and the purse that promptly became her baby's diaper bag. It's so funny to watch her play. She's filled the purse with a play bottle, rattle and plastic spoon. Bitty Baby also received a birthday outfit which Sophie wanted her to wear right away.

We had to save her big present for the small party we were planning for Sunday. Sunday was also the day we were having our first open house, and we didn't want too many playthings out for everyone to see. Saturday my parents arrived to help for a week, and to meet baby Adeline. Sunday evening Sophie was able to open the remainder of her gifts. She received the sweetest little play cottage. It's made of fabric that covers a metal frame. There are two halves that push together to make a house. Inside, it came with a stove and some kitchen accessories. We have a few more things to go with it, but are waiting until after the upcoming move to put them together. The house has curtains and a door with a mail slot and is really just too cute! She and Benny have had a blast playing 'house' together. Benny pretends that he is the husband, and Sophie is the wife. It's really sweet.

After presents we had a treat. Ice cream cake! We sang Happy Birthday again and Sophie was thrilled. Nick tried to teach her to say Happy Birthday, but all she'll say is 'Happy'. Now, every time she sees a cake she exclaims 'happy'!

And really, she is the happiest little girl. I can't quite believe that she's two years old now!