Cooper is 6!

Happy Birthday Cooper!

Super Cooper!

It doesn't seem that long ago that the Lord blessed us with this wonderful gift on July 31, 2006. He entered the world very fast and 10 days early. Of course, I remember it quite vividly as I gave birth to a "toddler". Cooper was a big 10 pound baby! He has always been our little butterball! Cooper is our big, joyful, little dimpled boy! I am honored to be his mother. He is full of energy, attitude and always keeps me on my toes. Those dimples get me every time. He is a very thoughtful, loving, and sweet little boy and I will take one of his bear hugs any day. God has put forth this wonderful child for me to nurture, educate, and love and along comes with that is the faithful journey as a parent. He loves to test my patience a little more than the others. He could not be a more perfect middle child. He loves to learn new things from his little brother and he looks up to Braedyn and he loves to teach his little brother new things and lends Jordan a helping hand. They all learn from each other and some days they need their space but the love they have for each other melts my heart. The other day we were getting ready for bed and Charlie came out and they were all cuddling with each other on the couch. They all take care of each other and watch out for each other like brothers should.  I am proud of the little boy he has grown up to be and look forward to watching him grow and learn. I know God has wonderful things in store for you! I enjoy watching you use your talents that you have realized thus far and watch in wondrous awe when  you discover the new ones!

perfect big boy

He has grown up into a big boy so fast!
He loves:

• his family
• his friends
• school
• to play hockey and baseball,
• he would say he loves his Legos and his pillow pet! (since giving up bobby the bear)

What we love about Cooper:

his energy, he's Mr. tough guy but sensitive, his sweetness, he is fearless, his determination,the love and caring he has for everyone and everything, the light that shimmers in his big blue eyes, and his big dimples, his athleticism, his creativity, and he has a way of just making us laugh.
We are blessed to have you in our family and we all love you with all our heart and soul. You are a special kid!
We will celebrate you today and everyday!

put me in coach

Tough Guy!

I posted a few older pictures I found that were cute....

Future QB

I LOVEYOU LIL MAN!!!

Tidy Tip 4

I did not get a picture of this yesterday (I wish I did) but it was a pinterest inspired trick! Cooper had a couple of friends over to celebrate his birthday. He turns 6 on Tuesday. We were planning on cake/cupcakes/ice cream. This not only was a timesaver trick but also less messy since in 100 degrees the ice cream is melting by the time I get to serving everyone.
Before people arrived I took out my muffin tin and filled each muffin cup with one scoop of ice cream and put it back in the freezer for when it was time to serve cake and ice cream. It worked great! The kids didn't have to wait for me to try and scoop into an ice cream bucket and all I did was take it out and scooped it out with a spoon to whoever wanted some and then it just went back in the freezer for later....
I will get some pics up later from his party...We had a great time.

Ortho Appt

I went to get my foot looked at today because it was not getting any better and it was painful to walk on it. I have had aches and pains from running before that I just deal with but this felt different. They did x-rays to rule out any type of fracture. Those were good. They said it is either tendonitis of the tendon, (I think it was the peroneus brevis) or I tore it a slight bit or a lot and it runs along the bottom right side of my foot on my right foot and up the side of my ankle (which would explain the shooting pains I would get along my calf muscle. They gave me an immolizer boot to wear for three weeks and an ankle support when I don't wear the boot and a check up in three weeks. It is suppose to heal with no weight bearing and if it is a big tear that will still show up on MRI, so if it's not better by three weeks, I will have to have an MRI. 

Actually, this boot helps. No pain when I walk and I have a little more patience when I don't have to have an annoying pain in my foot...

So hopefully wearing this it will heal.
Having it on today in 100 degree weather, I have a feeling it will smell real nice after a couple weeks!

parent sessions

Third grade and they get their own laptop in the classroom! I love this school...Forward thinking! Very cool stuff they are doing!
They will have a great year and excited to see how they both will continue to grow and learn!

Injured

Off to the Ortho Dr. in the morning...I have had this pain in my foot that came on all of a sudden on Tuesday afternoon. I am hoping it isn't anything to serious but I have never had this kind of pain and then not for it to really not get better worries me a little bit.  I guess I should be lucky, all the running I do and never have had any major injuries that has sidelined me.  A few aches and pains but that is to expected when you are doing long runs. I wouldn't normally go in, but I need my foot not to hurt...
We'll see what the Doc says tomorrow!
I told Jordan he was going to my friend's house tomorrow so I can go to the Dr. and he said, "But I want to go with you, I will be worried bout you." He really does go everywhere with me...

Peeing Contests

Now, I know this probably will go on for their entire male life but I had to laugh when I walked out of the poolhouse yesterday and two older boys had gotten home from school and Jordan was waking up from his nap and came outside. My friend and her son had taken off who we carpool with and there they all were standing in their own little areas all going pee and commenting on how high and how far it was going....Sometimes they like to see if they can arch it over the brick wall...
I imagine a mother of girls would not find this amusing~ but for me it's just normal!
And again so thankful to not have neighbors to witness or judge me, except for the cows in the pasture!

Missing His Brothers!

Jordan has been so naughty lately.....he's adjusting to the boys being back at school and gone all day.  I thought maybe it was because he wasn't getting enough sleep becaue he is waking up with them and then fights a nap, so I just give up trying somedays. But I put it together when on the way home I overheard Jordan say to Cooper out of the blue, "I missed you today when I was swimming." Then he went on to say, " Everyday I miss you when you are at school, Cooper and Braedyn." So Sweet! Then it dawned on me that maybe this is why he has not been acting like himself. I realize now I shouldn't be so harsh on him with his behavior.
So I wasn't the only one feeling it's been a little quiet around here...He's missing his best buddies!
I think he is ready to go back to school too. September will be here soon.

Repurposed...

 This is a picture frame my mother made me from an old barn window...for back she just used some heavy duty colored poster board and gorilla glue after she pasted the pictures onto the board. Put on a hanger and also crackled painted the frame.... I am going to start working on another one with the boys recent pics. I love the ones with the panes...you can put one in each...they have a lot of these window sashes at Sid's surplus in Carborro I noticed.... I need to get some more...In my favorite coffee shop in Hillsborough, The Depot, She uses them for her menus! Great idea...hangs them from the ceiling...

This is an old antique spice rack...One day when I was cleaning and accidentally knocked off half of the really pretty antique spice jars, which were ceramic, I put this away in storage thinking I would never use it again. But it has little circles specifically for the little spice containers and looking at it I thought that it was the same size as shot glasses. I have a collection of shot glasses of places we visit and people bring back for me when they go on trips...So I thought what a neat idea to display them on the rack... And no it isn't in the kitchen, it is in the "Man Cave"!

Baseball Room

Braedyn's room is a baseball room with a lot of Minnesota Twins and UNC paraphenalia. It is painted Red with a not of Navy accents. Here were a couple ideas for cheap decorating...The headboard as you can see in the picture to the right is made up of baseball bats...(that we bought at Room To Go Kids in Raleigh) but Charlie is kind of a pack rat and saves everything but that worked out great for this little picture project! Took some of the neat ticket stubs he had saved and important ones and made a collage with them...there is even a World Series ticket in there! Also below framed the Joe Mauer Sports Illustrated...Braedyn's Favorite Player!

Found this cool thing at a craft fair in MN! A cool place to display your baseball cards! Braedyn has a baseball collection and ALOT of MN Twins, he would get a new set each year. So he took the position players and displayed them on this baseball diamond!

Forts on a Hot Day!

This is what they do on 100 degree days when they have a break from the pool and the sun for a little while...

This is just one of many forts we have going in the bonus room right now... They will play for hours in their forts. I just leave them up because they have turned them into little rooms with toys and books...so instead of sending them to their rooms for quiet time they can just go to their forts!

Tidy Tip 3

When using tupperware for your leftovers and you have something like spaghetti or a similar sauce spray Pam inside the bowl first. It will save you from trying to wash the red film off later!

We Need a Change

Tim Lucas (my co-writer) and I wrote and recorded this song together.  I love how it turned out and still one of my favorites. I don't know how to download the music but here are the lyrics...I had come up with the idea for this song after the shooting of Gabriel Giffords. I thought it was also reminiscent of the incident that just happened!
Some of you have this song on our 10 track cd....

We Need a Change

Written by: Tim Lucas and Allison Jacobson

I turned on the news today

A teen was shot in the alleyway

People locking themselves away

Afraid of who’s got a gun today

We’re sending our troops overseas

When we got shelters full

We got mouths to feed

Why can’t our eyes see?

What it is that this world needs?

 

But I keep hoping

That the world will change

And maybe it might someday

Will money grow on trees?

No beggin on our knees

Everyone will have the right to say

In God we trust and that will be enough

To get us through another day

To get us through another day

Mothers won’t have to grieve

When their sons leave

To go fight and die for us to be free

And we don’t have to cry

Don’t have to say goodbye

And we can climb a mountain to get high

But I keep hoping

That the world will change

And maybe it might someday

Will money grow on trees?

No beggin on our knees

Everyone will have the right to say

In God we trust and that will be enough

To get us through another day

To get us through another day

 

I woke up from a dream today

There was children playin in the alleyway

People opening up their homes to say

 My God what a beautiful day

No war overseas

No starving mouths to feed

Thank god that my eyes see

What a wonderful world

God made for me

What's wrong with the world these days...

As a parent, I have so many worries for my children...now another one added to the list! A shooter at a movie theater! What is wrong with people! Obviously something was really mentally wrong with this person and he needed help. Did anyone not see the signs....no one is blame but the person who committed this vicious attack, but you can't help but wonder could it have been prevented!
This is just so sad! My heart breaks for those families who have lost a loved one to this tragedy! One family lost a son who turned 27 the day they found out he was one of the deceased. I was reading about it on my computer while doing some work and Braedyn came in and read the title and of course started to ask questions about what happend. I had not had the TV on all day because I didn't know how I would explain it to the children and even if they would understand. Cooper and Jordan were sleeping, so Braedyn was with me in the office doing some homework. The sad part of it all, I had explained what happend and he was able to comprehend what I was talking about and could relate it to something they practice at school. Back when I was in school our drills included; fire drills and tornado drills. Now you can add lockdown drill to the school drills.
I happend to be at school one day when we had a "lockdown" drill. There I was,hiding with 20 kindergarteners in a corner of a classroom behind a corner of a wall with 1/2 of the class while the other 1/2 was hiding behind another partition. They were trying their hardest to be quiet and sit still for 20 minutes which seemed like forever to them! As I was sitting with these sweet innocent little children, a thought crossed my mind. What if this was real? What if someone came in here with guns blazing, a crazy person. This is scary stuff! We have to now practice lockdown drills in schools, in case an intruder comes into the school with a gun. We stayed in that corner until the custodian let the policeman in because the teachers lock all the doors to their classrooms. Then he tells us how we did. We passed!  Braedyn actually had a real lockdown when he was in kindergarten. There had been a bank robbery in Hillsborough at a bank not far from the school he was attending and the suspect was still on the run. They locked down the schools in the city for the safety of the children. When I drop off the kids at school, I make sure they give me a hug and kiss (well at least a hug now) and say I love you because of incidents like this and being aware things like this can happen, I want them to know I love them with all heart because what if something happens during the day and I am not there to protect them. I hate that I even have to have that thought in the back of mind, but this world can be a terrible place.
We never know when our time will come and we breathe our last breath and it may be the last time we see the people we love the most with all our heart. It can happen in a blink of an eye. I am sadly well aware of this fact, as I have lost many people throughout my short adult life.  Life is too short to stay angry or bitter. Life is too short not to love with all your heart especially to those close to us. We are on borrowed time from the Lord and we should take every opportunity to live life to the fullest. The life he has given us here on earth. Do not cheat him out of everything he has blessed you with. I remember watching a program about sports (yes of all things, and I think it was about Tim Tebow) it was said,"on your tombstone is the year you are born and the year you die. In between those years is a dash, I want that dash to mean something."
Sadness and Sorrow will come. Accidents can happen and your health can change, but then there are things that happen that no one can explain. We look for answers but there are none. You feel like there is nothing that can make it right and nothing that can explain such sorrow! Knowing God is with us can give us hope and peace.
" Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God;trust also in me." John 14:1 NIV
We pray for healing, we pray for understanding, and we pray that everyone comes together at this time of sorrow to help those that need a friend, a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen to the stories of their loved one, or just give them a hug.  We hug our children a little tighter tonight as we tuck them in to bed and we give a loved one a call to let them know we are thinking about them. 
We are a little bit more patient with our children today and use kind words, because we were reminded how quickly life can change.
"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." John 16:33 NLT

With much Love,
Allie~

Grace

Thank you Grandma Nelson for passing this down to me. I always liked it and remembered it hanging in your house!  A house that all were welcome.
It is a reminder to be thankful for what we have!  This was taken back in 1918 at the time of war when people didn't have much of anything but yet showing this man had so much to be grateful for.
A thought crossed my mind today as I drove back home and I came to the stoplight by walmart where the homeless people beg for money. What if that was me, what if tomorrow my life was turned upside down. I wondered do they have kids at home wondering if they will eat dinner tonight. It is easy to judge those people and drive by or pretend you are on a phone call but for a minute stop to think if that was you. I often carry small packages of food with me to hand to them. I feel that is easier to explain to my children and shows them an act of kindness they can relate to because I usually have one of them in my car with me and sometimes it might be their snack we give away. The lord has blessed me and I am grateful but if all the "stuff" was taken away from me we would be okay. I was organizing my house today and wondered where did all this stuff come from! Sometimes all this stuff can make life more cluttered than we need...
This picture is in our kitchen by our table! When I look at it I think of you guys often.

Here is some history about this neat print if you have it yourself.
http://www.gracebyenstrom.com/history.html

here's the other picture we have on the other wall that came from Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's farm too...

Demons and Dreams

Demons and Dreams

Allison Jacobson

I’ve had my hard times

Had my life on the line

I’ve hit rock bottom from time to time

Fighting those demons

Deep down inside

Playing games on my heart

And tricks on my mind

I’ve been down to Georgia

To dance with the devil

warned of the soul he would steal

I locked it up and sealed the deal

Demons and dreams

Knockin at my door

Always keep you

Coming back for more

Demons and dreams

Which ones do we need

Both will have ya beggin

Down on your knees

Don’t know what you got

Until it’s gone

Find yourself living

Some country song

Trying to live up to expectations

Can lead to desperation

If there was a button

In this thing called life

I think I’d hit it

A few dozen times

Demons and dreams

Knockin at my door

Always keep you

Coming back for more and more

That dream seemed so out of reach

After thousands lessons preached

Turned my soul inside out

Found out what life’s supposed to be about

A different day a different dawn

dreams are here and

Demons be gone!

Jordan's Trip to the Dentist

Jordan has been to the dentist before but never in a "real" dentist big boy chair. She would just lay him on our laps and look at him. Today he got to be in the big boy chair. He did great and was such a big boy! He even sat still for the x-rays. No cavities and maybe we will have one child that we won't end up having to spend a fortune on his mouth...His teeth were just fine.
Cooper has pretty much stopped sucking his thumb and Braedyn's cross bite is better now because of the expander he had in for awhile during first grade. We are hoping that his cross bite doesn't come back.

I'm ready for you Dr.

Wow, this is why I have the shades on, you were right, it's bright!

Just Relax...

A fun week of baseball!

The boys wrapped up camp on a HOT Thursday afternoon on the 28th at Boshamer Stadium-home to the Tarheels! Thank goodness it was the last day as we will be reaching triple digits in the days to come! I can't even believe the record heat that is coming our way!
The last day of camp included a fun filled day of water activities! They had a big tarp down for a slip and slide, some water balloon fun, and snow cones. A lot of the kids had blue mouths.
I had a few pictures I was able to sneak...Braedyn didn't think it was "cool" to take pictures when he was getting his hat signed by some of the players. They could get some autographs and pictures when camp wrapped up.
They said they had a lot of fun and they learned some new things that they have of course been practicing already with each other.
It ended with pool and pizza and a friend over that attended camp with them.
They should sleep good tonight!
That was the highlight of their summer!
Here a few pics:

getting ready in morning to leave

heading back to dugout

Sliding Day! What fun! Was perfect for the last day when it was reaching high 90s!

Head Coach for Tarheels signing Braedyn's hat, Coach Fox

First day of School Pictures

July 16, 2012
First day of Third and First Grade at Hillsborough Elementary! They had a wonderful first day and they both said it was an awesome day! 

Cooper: You stand right here okay
Jordan: No I don't want to.

Jake hopped in and posed for picture too!

ready for third grade

Ready for First Grade

Cooper's Buddy!

Braedyn gets a locker in Third Grade!

Today is last day of summer break!

Back to school in the morning! It will come early!
Can't believe it flew by! The last day was spent in the pool! I think they grew gills this summer!
Hopefully some pic to come from first days of school! If I am that organized and on time in the morning!
Look at this old picture I found from first day of school. I think I was going into second grade and Dom into Kindergarten!

Favorites 2

A little more!
some oldies but goodies!

Axel Rose and Micheal Jackson!

Batter Up!

Cheeseballs Anyone??

Love!

Fun at Emerald Pointe in Greensboro! Huge water park!

Wolfpack Football game!!

Charlie's company has big wolfpack fans, went to support!

Braedyn's first Vikings Football game...go figure it would be in North Carolina! It was Vikes vs Panthers in Charlotte!

Lets play ball Grandpa

Running back and daddy helping coach!

Flag Football 5 years old

SUPER COOPER!

Rink Rat!

Cooper's tough guy look!

Oops - I got some gum stuck in my hair!

WHERE'S MY PRESENT~All I got was this empty box! LOL!

We love Krispy Kreme!

Me, Dom, and Sam

Family pic from Sam's wedding Jan 2011

at the pumpkin patch

playing some hockey with Stormy from Carolina Hurricanes!