Somethin's missing!

.... and he pulled this one himself!! How cute is that little grin!?!

Happy Birthday, COBY!!

How on earth is my Coby 7 years old today?? Time flies! Coby brings such a special life to our family. He is my firecracker! He is the ham that keeps us laughing and the love that keeps us hugging. I sure love my Coby! I can hardly remember what life was like with out him!

Since his Birthday fell on a Sunday, we took him to get doughnuts for breakfast before church. Then he chose Diary Queen for lunch, and we headed home for some rest time for Bry. His party was at 3:oo at the bowling alley, and needless to say, he and his friends and family had a BLAST! We headed straight from there to our home group for church, so it was a busy, busy day, but lots of fun!

Love you, Sweet Cobe! Happy Birthday!!

Spoiled??

I have had Bryson home with Coby for a few days while he was sick... We took a trip to get Coby a slush from Sonic to make his throat feel better and I got one for Bryson, too. I guess it made Coby feel a little less "special" since Bry got one, too... so here was our conversation on the way home....
Coby: "I wish I was the littlest one in our family...."
Me: "You do? Why?"
Coby: "Because then I would always get to have everything I wanted, even when it isn't fair!"
**Seriously, did my 6 year old just call me out on spoiling my baby?? :o)

Look at him... how could we NOT spoil this child??!! :o)

Strep throat and another tooth

Sweet Coby has been home from school with STREP... yukk... it has been kinda nice spending some quality time with one of my "middle" kiddos... they so rarely get time with mom by themselves!! He also lost his first top tooth, and he has the cutest little grin! I love it... now if only that tooth fairy would get her (or his) act together and remember to come visit him. He is on my bed right now watching a movie and composing a letter to the tooth fairy to remind her (or him) to come get this tooth that has been sitting under his pillow for 2 nights now.... oops!

He looks chubbier in this pic than he really is.... I was at a funny angle to get the "hole" in the smile! Love my Cobe!!

Coby

Every Sunday before Bible class, my dad comes to get one of the grandkids for "breakfast with PawPaw" and yesterday it was Coby's turn. It happened to fall on Oct 5, his "half-birthday." he was so excited. Here was one of their conversations that my dad shared with me:

Coby: PawPaw, it is my lucky day... you know why?

PawPaw: Why?

Coby: Cause I get to have breakfast with you AND it's my half birthday. That's why it's lucky!

PawPaw: (Dad said he tried to explain the difference between lucky and blessed, and that luck was just when something "happens" and blessings were from God, etc... Coby just kinda nodded looked at him funny Than dad patted him on the leg)

Coby: PawPaw you know how much I love you? I love you all the way around the world 10 times, taking little baby steps.

**Precious**

My little boy scouts

This is one of the big boys newest activities and they LOVE it!! How cute are they all in uniform?

2nd day of school!!

Coby barfed in the bathroom as soon as they got there. So he is back home with me.

So much for perfect attendence! :o)

I think he just got a little carsick after eating lots of pancakes with too much sugar. My fingers are crossed that we do NOT all take turns with a stomach bug the first week of school... yukk!!

Lookin' Good

Coby's eye is looking great! He feels good now and we have found it to be quite a challenge to keep him still and "inactive" per doctor's orders for a few more days! We go back to the doctor tomorrow for a post-op check up and to retest his vision. It could take up to 6 weeks for him to see the full effect of the surgery, but I am hoping and praying that he is at least able to see some of the 3-D images! It really scares me to think about him being 26 years old someday and behind the wheel of a car with out depth perception!

Here is a picture of him on day 5 after surgery:

And totally un-surgery-related... here is a sweet picture of the boys reading their bible story with daddy at bedtime. It is so cute how much they get "into" the stories at bedtime! Even Mr Bear got in on the fun... Mr Bear is from Coby's kindergarten class, and he came and surprised us this weekend! Micah brought him home on Friday and you would have thought Coby had won the lottery he was so excited! It was nice for him to have a friend as he "lounged around" this weekend!

Update on Coby

Just a quick update on my Coby... the surgery went great... he didnot want to leave mom and dad to go down the dreaded hallway... actually it took 3 adults to peel him off of me, kicking and screaming... leaving momma in tears.... but other than that, he did great! We will not see full results of the surgery for a few weeks as the brain responds and teaches the eyes to work together to produce a 3-D image. For now his vision is blurred and sometimes even double vision as his eyes learn to work together!

We are now just working on keeping him still and occupied theu the long weekend! :o) We have taken a picture each day to post on here "so Gigi can see how brave he is" as Coby puts it...

Post-surgery: Day 1 (Thursday) Ouch!

Day 2 (Friday) You can see the bruising on both sides here

Thanks to everyone who prayed for us! And a special thanks to our care group families for his "goody bag" of stuff to keep him occupied! He las played all the games, worked the puzzle and the lego set, and colored away in the giant coloring book! He loves it all!!

Prayers for Coby

We just had our last drop of clear liquid for the morning, and we are heading to the hospital for surgery on my sweet Coby's eyes. Please pray for a spirit of peace for him. He has been praying for this day for weeks. And pray that God give me that same spirit... to help me remember that even as I watch with brave, but bleary eyes as they take my baby away and go thru those double doors... even though I cant go with him and hold him or rub his back, God is right there by his side... and he is in control....
We will be in touch....
~Summer

Coby's Kindergarten Campout

Last weekend we went to Coby's Kindergarten Campout up on the school grounds. It was so much for himt o get to go and be the center of attention for an evening. He was so excited that he got to help put up the tent since Micah was not there. We roasted hot dogs, ate way too many s'mores, and had donuts and chocolate milk for breakfast the next morning... what more could a kid ask for?? :o)

He told me that his favorite part was the s'mores!

Coby and his teacher, Mrs. Allen

I am so bummed that this pic came out blurry... but here we are...

Backtrack....

I realized that I never published a post that I had started for Coby's birthday. I kept it in the correct order bc I have OCD, but I didnt want you to miss it, so click here to read about my Coby.

This one's for Uncle Jo-do

I have some pictures and stories to tell about family retreat this weekend, but that is going to take too much time and energy right now... and I am pooped! It was a great weekend... a few minor injuries, but great overall... So more on that to come, but for now, I started this post a while back and never did finish it...

People are always telling me how much Coby reminds then of Jordan (my youngest brother), so I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of them side by side... and I discovered that Bryson really favors him, too... take a look...

Jordan as a little guy

Coby - 18 months old




Bryson - 15 months old

Jordan

Coby

We really wanted some glasses like this, but they were out of stock! :o) I just really posted this one of Jordan bc is was too cute not to! He was 2 years old here!

unique

Every evening before bed time, I have the boys lay out their clothes for school the next morning. They wear school uniforms, so the choice is pretty easy, but it is just nice to have it all right there in a little pile rather than having to dig thru closets and drawers when they are half-asleep at 6:30AM getting dressed.....

Below is Micah's pile. He likes to stack it neatly on the coffee table so it doesnt get sat or stepped on. His shoes are always laid left-right, his clothes neatly folded, and his belt rolled.... a boy after his mommy's own little OCD heart...

And now for Coby's pile.... :o) And just FYI, he will snuggle up and waller around on this couch all over these clothes for a good 10 minutes in the morning before he even attempts to put anything on. But I am so proud of him that he now gets every piece to the uniform here to the "pile!" He even thought up his own idea of keeping up with his glasses by putting them inside his shoe! Sweet boy!! And you cant see it, but there is a little bit of dried toothpaste on his belt from last monday when they had to wear belts for chapel...

This just made me laugh as I walked thru the living room last night, so I decided to take a picture... I love that my boys are all 4 so different in so many ways. It helps them to be more flexible and it is interesting that they have so many diverse friends I think because they are able to embrace eachother's differences... Yes, it is the cause for lots of squabbles, too!! But I wouldnt have it any other way!!

Another one bites the dust....

I am standing today... and I was actually standing yesterday, too, but just barely... but unfortunately this awful thing has gotten a hold of Sweet Coby and poor Clint. He has a deadline at work tomorrow morning at 9:00, so he is trying to stumble thru some paperwork to meet it, but he feels pretty bad. He was such a trooper trying to take care of the boys and get them everywhere they needed to be when ever I was sick, and I think he has run himslef ragged. Coby has been home today with a pretty good fever and he told me this morning that his heart hurts. Poor baby. I totally understand the feeling. This awful cough makes your chest hurt so bad!! Say a little prayer that Coby bounces back quickly and that he is the last victim of the awful bug!! Now I am off to have a(nother) hay-day with my Clorox wipes!!

It finally happened!!

Coby lost his first tooth!! He has been waiting and wiggling for some time now and MiMi did the honors right after school... he came running around the corner soooooo excited. The Mimi fairy gave him his dollar and the tooth fairy better make her way in there to check under his pillow pretty soon! :o) Yeah, Coby!

Here he is w/ Mimi... I am sure glad she likes to pull teeth (and she is really good at it... and the boys are so calm with her) because it makes me squimish!

Coby showing off his "hole" and his tooth necklace that he got from his principal, Mrs. Weed

funny boys...

ok, I know, 2 post in one day... whoa! But I had to type this quick story before I forgot. We were leaving HEB the other day and I had all 4 boys with me all piled into the cart. We got to the crosswalk and had to wait for a car to go by. There was a woman standing there (she was actually right in the door way, so I am sure she heard us) having a good smoke. Here was the conversation:
Coby: "Oh, no, Mommy, is that lady smoking a cigarette?"
Me (quietly, but matter of fact) : "Yes, Coby, she is."
Cason, "Why is she doing that?"
Me (feeling her staring at us, as she was thinking, "who is she to judge me? She looks like the old woman who lived in a shoe...") : "Some people just make that choice to do things like that"
Coby (loudly, because Coby does nothing quietly): "Well, I hope she knows she is gonna DIE!"

** Well, I guess I can safely report that drug awareness week was successful as far as Coby is concerned!

Just a bunch of random pictures

First, a disclaimer: I have pics of Micah playing on his basketball team, but they wouldnt download from the camera memory for some reason, so I will post some pics of him later... for now, these should keep the grandmas happy!

Bryson and Cason on their first day of Preschool.
How sweet are they?


Cason is ready for anything!

Check out the tongue!

Coby has actually turned out to be quite a soccer player!

And he loved playing "goalie" He is pretty aggressive!

Bry's new hang out spot. He is just tall enough to stand on the stool thing and reach up to the tank. We catch him with his hand swishing around in the top sometimes... he has yet to catch anything! :o) Doesnt he look like he is up to no good!

Our little fish... he makes this face at his new "friends" all the time! Silly boy!

4 important reasons why I have been a bad blogger lately!!!

This is how we all feel after a long day of school! This is how I found him when I came to get him for dinner. He had been sent to his room for time our for talking ugly. I guess he was tired!

'Twas the night before Kindergarten

Tomorrow's the big day... the first day of school. Micah will be in first grade and Coby will be in kindergarten.... we went to "meet the teacher" today although we knew them both from church already... but they reconnected with old friends and delivered school supplies... we picniced at the park in honor of the last day of summertime... The excitement was unbelievable, especially since I can still hear them giggling intheir beds!! Coby's prayers tonite went something like this:
"Dear God, Thank you for this beautiful day and thank you for the summertime and the swimming pool. Thank you for mommy, daddy, micah, coby, cason, bryson, and mrs. allen. Thank you for kindergarten and help me stay on green. Thank you for my trains and my soccer team and for my food and my bed. Help me to stay on green in kindergarten and for mrs. allen to be nice to me. Help me not to lose my glasses or get them dirty. And help our fish not to die anymore [we lost 2 over the weekend...] and help me stay on green and make good choices. Help the hungry man on the road to find a job so he can work and have money to buy some food and a house. Help Sam [his friend from preschool] not to cry tomorrow at school and help mommy not to cry too [he saw me all teary in the hallway last year when we dropped off micah]. Make me not be tired at kindergarten and make micah say hi to me at lunch time. And God, please just help me stay on green. In Jesus name, Amen"
I was tearing up and laughing all at the same time... do you think we have hammered it into him enough that we expect him to stay on green??? I thought it was so sweet to have the glimpse into his little innocent mind to hear his thoughts! Sweet boy!
I posted this last year, but it is so sweet I will post it again for Coby.... good luck to all you other moms who are bringing kids for their first day tomorrow.... and to those who start on monday as well!

'Twas the night before kindergarten, and as they prepared,
kids were excited and a little bit scared.
They tossed and they turned about in their beds,
while visions of school supplies danced in their heads.
Erasers and crayons and pencils galore
were stuffed in their backpacks and set by the door.
Outfits were hung in the closets with care,
knowing that kindergarten soon would be there.
In the morning it came--school starts today!
Would the teacher be nice? Would they still get to play?
Faces were washed, and teeth were brushed white;
kids posed for pictures with eyes sparkling bright.
Parents packed snacks, and kids hopped in cars
as if they were boarding a spaceship to Mars.
Some kids brought blankets or their favorite stuffed bear,
in hopes they could nap like they did last year.

Their parents exclaimed, "You're big kids--wow!
Let us hold your bears and blankies for now."
The parents were worried their children would cry
if they left them at school with just a good-bye.
So they told their darlings, "If you want, we can stay
and make sure that everythingwill be A-okay."
The teacher then greeted each one with a smile,
and invited the students to stay for a while.
The room was all filled with toys, books, and maps,
but where are the beds for midmorning naps?
They colored and painted and played Simon Says,
then tumbled and skipped and stood on their heads.
They sang silly songs from beginning to end.
Within just a minute, each kid had a friend.
The children were happy. They loved Miss Sunrise!
It was she who was in for a giant surprise.
When what to her wondering eyes should appear
but sad moms and dad who were holding back tears!
Their noses--so sniffly! Their eyes--red and wet!
This was the saddest good-bye Miss Sunrise had seen yet!
She gathered the grown-ups on the magical rug,
then sent them away after one final hug.
The children all waved from the door of the school,
"Don't cry, Mom and Dad; kindergarten is cool!"
-- by Natasha Wing

Do you see what I see??

Coby has a new look!!! How cute is he?? He will also be wearing a patch over his right eye for about an hour a day to help the left one gain some strength. Apparently the left one decided it was having to work to hard and it realized that the right one had it all figured out, so it was letting the right eye do all the work. We are hoping the patch and vision therapy works so we can avoid surgery! In the meantime, check out his new specs!

And of coarse, since we are talking about Coby, the post would not be complete without a silly pose!

In other news... I have 3 extra kids today and tomorrow (and overnight) while my brother and sis in law go celebrate their anniversary.... so say a prayer for patience and sanity for me as I try to be the "fun aunt" with 7 kids under the age of 6! :o)