N names

Today was our second day sans children and it was a very relaxing day. We spent $700 to fix the Explorer but that was the only place we went today. We cleaned the house (super exciting!) and I sat on the couch and watched movies and finished up changes to my courses for next semester.

One useful thing Erik and I did was think of names for our baby. Our two girls have middle names that begin with N. Here is a list of names Erik thinks we should use as a middle name:

• Nektulos (the name of a forest in EQ2)
• Nektropos (castle in EQ2)
• Null ()
• Nobody (Erik thinks it would be awesome to introduce yourself as nobody)
• Necronomicon (book in stupid "Army of Darkness" movie)

Since none of these names sound normal, Erik thinks "normal" should be the middle name of our baby.

I'll keep you posted on our name possibilities.

Today I took a Pilates class at Lifetime fitness. It was exciting that I actually exercised and that I'm feeling better from this morning sickness. Saturday Erik and I even played squash - I only scored 4 points so obviously I'm a little rusty.

I also picked up the book "If God is Good" by Randy Alcorn. It is awesome with many stories that make me cry. He writes in the book that the reason most athiests do not choose to follow God is not because of science but rather because of pain and suffering. Many of them ask the question - "how can a good God allow evil and suffering in the world?" He brings up many good points explaining that an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving God could have reasons to allow suffering. Kind of like working out makes us stronger (well that was one example - he had a lot better ones).

66 points on Quiddler!

Sarah is so jokey

Sarah is over the hill. On Sunday we had a whirlwind day in Canton. We went to Amanda's graduation - congratulations Amanda! She graduated with a degree in Business from Walsh University. It was such a cute University - too bad it doesn't have a math and computer science degree program.

Then we celebrated Christmas with my family. The girls got several presents which they loved opening including mermaid barbies, clothes, a singing skirt, and guitars among other things. Sarah also received birthday gifts since we celebrated her 2nd birthday!

She's such a spitfire at 2, I can't imagine what she'll be like when she is older. Sarah wanted a pink cake and Erik decided that Jesus wanted a chocolate cake, so we'll be making a chocolate birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve.

On Saturday we had a few inches of snow, so we all went outside and built this beautiful snowman. After building the snowman, I was pelted with a snowball.

Then it was on.

Erik and I threw snowballs at each other, hid around playground equipment, and used children as shields (well I guess we didn't do that last part). It was so much fun when we got inside Jenna drew a picture of us playing outside with Mommy and Daddy holding snowballs. Too bad I couldn't call up my best friend Craig to help me throw some snowballs at Erik.

In other news:

1. I finished Black Sun Rising by C.S.Friedman. Wow was it good! It was so good I immediately started on the second book in the trilogy much to Erik's dismay. This is not one of those books I read leisurely, this is a series I can't put down.
2. I also finished Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon and I don't think I'll be reading any more of her work right now. It's too much for me and the writing is not as rich as authors like Friedman.


3. The girls are staying with my parents for a few days (translate = sleeping in) so Erik and I went out to dinner to J.Alexanders (YUM!) and went to see Avatar in 3D. It was AWESOME! The story, special effects, and character development were excellent in Avatar. It was good even though you were rooting against the humans.


4. I have to post this absolutely adorable video of Erik dancing with the girls. Apparently he does this a lot when I'm gone at night teaching. He puts some music on and they all dance. The girls love it!
5. I got 80 points in Quiddler but was dismayed to find that Quiddler online does not accept the word "jokey". This word is a scrabble word I played years ago that Erik, Tim and Jen did not believe was a word. However, I found it in the dictionary and learned that it is a valid word. I'm sad to learn that Quiddler online does not recognize the validity of "jokey".
   
   
   

Football players and Smorgasbords

It's been an interesting week at the Cooper household.

On Saturday, Jenna, Sarah and I went to a birthday party for Jesus at New Hope Church (Jenna's preschool). It was a huge event and we were put in a room with 3 year olds. Sarah was one of the youngest kids there. The room leader, Beth also had a daughter who was 21 months and a son who is 4 so we talked about our kids. She said her husband would be coming shortly with their daughter.

Jenna and Sarah and I were sitting in the sanctuary when her husband came in and sat down next to me. He was very tall and friendly. I talked to him quite a bit. We chatted, I sniffed Sarah's bottom, we joked about terrible twos, we ate pizza together, we did crafts at the same table, Sarah fell on him.....then I looked at his daughter's name tag. I knew that Craig Krenzel went to that church but didn't think I would be so blind as to be sitting next to him all day and not know it was him (especially since I was sniffing Sarah's diaper). I went home and searched online.

Yup. It was him.

I loved his wife! I talked to her quite a bit and she seemed like someone who could be my friend, except that she's Craig Krenzel's wife so I don't know why she'd be my friend.

Anyway, that was an interesting day. Craig Krenzel = important football player.

On Sunday our church had the Christmas smorgasbord and children's program. Jenna sang in the program and was very excited to participate. Sarah kept trying to go up there too but kids had to be at least 4. Since the smorgasbord was a buffet I planned on making a Christmas tree cake. I baked a cake in a 9x13 pan and planned to cut it out in the pretty shape of a tree. That was the plan at least. I tried flipping the cake over and then it fell apart in a million pieces. So I ate 999,999 of those pieces.

Then I got sick.

So I made chocolate peanut butter bars - a super easy recipe that I can make quickly and can lick the bowl without feeling bad since there are no raw eggs. Not that I needed to lick the bowl since I ate so much cake earlier.

Jenna woke up with a pink eye and discharge from her eye along with a runny nose (no fever). We called the doctor and now we have drops to put in her eye. I don't like when anyone puts drops in my eyes and she is just like me. She fights me when I try and put the drops in her eye. Too bad she had to miss the Christmas party at school this week.

Today Sarah decided she wanted to use the potty (this is Sarah's personality by the way). So I couldn't keep a diaper on her. She kept taking it off and would walk around with her little naked butt all over the house. She did pee on the potty today which was a very exciting step. We will see if this lasts or is just a whim.

I snapped a picture of monkey Sarah on top of the play car. Jenna asked how Sarah got up there. It's her monkey genes :).

73 points on quiddler today.

Gingerbread Nummie

It's been a long time since I've updated my blog. This is partially due to the fact that I've laid on the couch every day with morning sickness and partially due to the fact that due to my lack of enthusiasm for moving, not much is going on.

Today the girls and I decorated our annual gingerbread house. The girls both ate more of the candies than they actually decorated with but I think everyone had a good time. Sarah liked the tiny gumballs and kept saying "balls nummie" translation "these gumballs are so yummy!"

Sarah's language has exploded. She has been saying full sentences for awhile and knows 9 colors and has started to count. She talks all the time...ALL THE TIME. Jenna talks all the time...ALL THE TIME. Mommy is exhausted by all the talking. The other day, I set a timer for 5 minutes. No one was allowed to talk for that 5 minutes. It didn't last.

Peace and quiet...where art thou?

Not in a home with 2 and 4 1/2 year old girls.

In other news:

1. Our small group made dinner for the Ronald McDonald House. I've posted a picture of me and my friend Jen making quesadillas. We served the families that stay at the house and really enjoyed this service opportunity. We do like to serve at Faith Mission too but this was different since it was families rather than just men.
2. I am reading two books with virtually the same names. Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman. Both are fantasy yet very different stories. However the names are close so that is exciting to me.
3. Our church is starting a Dave Ramsey course for 13 weeks called Financial Peace University. Erik is thinking of going. I'm thinking of not going. I don't think much about finances - that's Erik's job. He doesn't think about showering and laundry - apparently that's my job.
4. I refuse to wear maternity clothes in the first trimester even though I'm ballooning up with this pregnancy. All my clothes are tight and I look like I'm about 20 weeks pregnant. I'm not sure how I'll survive through this pregnancy.
5. 86 points on Quiddler!