Cooper's wish...

Cooper has been asking for a "Cooper and Mom" day for a few weeks. About 10 days ago, I talked to Travis and we decided to give him his wish. This past Sat, Cooper and I got up early, went out to breakfast (Krispy Kreme, I know, the PERFECT way to start any day), and then drove 3 hrs to Paducah, KY to spend the day and night with Erin (the coolest roommate and best friend a girl could ask for). We had so much fun!!!!!! Below are just a few shots of the weekend. We went to the park, to the riverfront, and played in Erin's yard. It was so much fun!

I love the imagination...

Cooper and Nelson love making "houses" for their stuffed animals. Daily, I will find random blankets all over the house with the animals on them. Thankfully, today they chose to leave the "houses" in their room.

Pancake goodness

Bath time is fun time!

I really hate Mondays, but I may have found a reason to love them!

Mondays are never good in the Ferris house, ask anyone who knows us. I start dreading Monday around 8PM Sunday night. Last night was slightly different, it took til 11:30PM to hate today.
Maddox started waking up at 11:30PM, he stayed awake until around 2AM, slept briefly, and began his Monday at 5AM. That's the time Cooper began his day to, thanks to his youngest brothers big lungs. Nelson was up before 6:30AM. He was crying before he ever stepped foot out of his room (never a good sign). Travis left for work, I got clothes out for the older 2 and decided to sit down with Maddox, give him a bottle and give him a morning nap so I could shower and get my day underway. Nope, no nap for the little man! He began screaming the second the 6oz were drained, screamed thru his applesauce (usually a highlight of his morning), and screamed louder if I put him down. With one hand I put on jeans and a t-shirt (I know, I am so talented! You all want to be like me). I decided there was no way I was staying home until 8:50AM (the time I leave to bring Cooper and Nelson to school), we were leaving sooner rather than later. Maybe the time in the car would make Maddox tired, and he would fall asleep. We ran to the ATM to deposit a check and to the gas station for some necessary, but expensive, gas. Maddox is still awake, finally playing with a toy and no longer screaming. (Travis claims country music is the worst sound in the world, I think he's wrong. Maddox screaming is the worst sound in the world.) There is still a little bit of time before I have to have the older 2 at school so I decide to venture into a scary place for stay-at-home-moms... McDonald's.
I pull into the parking lot and am behind 7 cars... I'm praying it won't take long to get to the order board. I pull up, the overly-chipper boy asked how he can my my Monday better... I contemplate offering him a 6 month old, but realize my mom would shoot me if she found out I gave him away to a stranger... I instead order a small coffee. You see, Mondays in St. Louis are known as Free Coffee Mondays in the McDonald's community. There are no strings attatched, you can go into any McDonald's or McDonald's drive-thu ALL DAY and get a free small coffee. Within minutes my Monday was perking up! ( pun intended) I had my coffee in hand, could see the boys' school from the parking lot, and Maddox wasn't just quiet in the backseat, HE WAS SLEEPING!!!
As I sit here telling you all about the wonder of free coffee, I'm not at all bothered by Maddox's screaming upstairs, you see, the coffee has soothed me. I may have to "play the system" today and visit another drive-thru on the way to picking the boys up from school. I may have to go as far as to have Travis visit one on his way home this afternoon to give me another jolt.
I hope your Monday is filled with yummy coffee, and quiet, I know mine will be filled with yummy coffee, the quiet part is looking rather doubtful.

The hunt for the baskets...

The Easter Bunny made maps for the older 2 boys to follow. They were very excited! Mommy and Daddy would have been more excited had we not had to help hunt with frost on the ground. (yes, the boys are in flip flops and ski jackets... The flip flops were an Easter gift and they had to wear them!)

Happy Easter!

The old man needs a hobby...

This guy put up a memorial to a squirrel that was killed earlier this week. I thought it was so funny I had to turn around to go home and get my camera.

Cooper and Maddox hanging out.

Spiderman

The boys think we are the coolest parents in the world. We took them to Walmart Saturday morning. Anyone who knows me knows I try to avoid that place at all costs, especially on Saturdays. However, we heard that Spidey was making an appereance there for a few hours. The boys were so excited to see him!!!! There were hugs, squeals, and jumping up and down. Nelson asked if we could take him home with us.

Huge step in our house!

This is huge in our house! Nelson has been Superman for 2 years. In the last month, he has made a shift. He is now Batman. He wears his beloved blanket from Grandma Goodman as a cape and has also stolen Cooper's good black dress shoes, those are his boots. His friend, Tommy, just gave him a Batman sweatshirt, that rounds out the costume. Nelson doesn't care that it's 75 degrees out, he still thinks the sweatshirt, blanket, and jeans are appropriate.

Only one of mine..

I had the plessure and privilage of going to the social security office first thing Monday morning. Most of you know how much I love (this is sarcasm) going out alone with the three boys. The accountant called and said without Maddox's SS# he couldn't continue filing our taxes. After an hour on the phone with the hospital and vital records in Jefferson City we were able to trace Maddox's SS# all the way to the SS office.
I loaded up the boys and headed out. When I got there, I had to wait behind 10 other people. You are aware that government offices move very quickly and want to get you in and out (again, extreme sarcasm). I'm sitting on the floor with the boys becasue there are no chairs available. Thankfully I thought ahead and made sure the older 2 boys brought along 2 toys each. Don't worry, they were small, no large trucks, no noisy things, just little things to entertain themselves with. Maddox started fussing so I started tending to him. All of a sudden I hear the security gaurd say, "hey buddy, wanna kleenex?" Then I hear Nelson, "no I'm good, I pick my boogers with my finger."
I can feel my face getting flush... "Nelson, get your finger out of your nose! That's gross, and it's really bad manners."
"Mom, look, I got a big one!" Now I'm on my feet to rertrieve the offered kleenex. I get back to him to get the booger, and he says, "I don't need that, I just ate it!" All of this is said in a normal/loud voice for the entire office to hear!!!! Now I really want to leave, but I can't, there are still 5 people ahead of me....
I swear, I'm never leaving the house alone with them again!!!! At least not without boxes of kleenex, purel hand sanitizer, and a quick lesson in whispering.

St Patrick's Day celebration!

Dinner fun!

This is why Daddies should always be supervised! That's a pickle spear sticking out of Maddox's mouth! My 3 studs!

Coop climbed in my lap and wanted a picture of us. He's such a little cuddle bug lately, I'm loving it.

Cooper *thinks* he looks good!

New haircuts!

I don't know if you can see it, but Nelson has a faux-hawk. He wanted "cool dude" hair. I had the boys there alone, each on the opposite side of the salon. I got Nelson settled and walked over to check on Cooper, by the time I got back to Nelson his head was shaved up the sides. He had told the lady to make him look like David Beckham. Good news, I think it's adorable, better news, hair grows fast, best news, he's getting a buzz cut in 2 months.

Funny, funny stuff!!!

The boys have been involved in the same preschool for 3 yrs now. They have been involved with one family for that long as well. The mom rocks my socks!!! She's always telling the boys how cool they are and telling Maddox was a perfect baby he is. (What mom wouldn't love her?!?!) She has a blog that absolutely cracks me up! I don't have to keep going to www.people.com , www.imnotobsessed.com or other smut sites, she manages to find things that will entertain me for hours! Afterall, there's always laundry and cooking and cleaning. That can wait... The stuff she comes up with can't.
I need to add, my husband is one LUCKY man!!!
Here's the latest find from her site... (There are 2 because I'm Carmen when nursing and Angelina when I'm not.)

Your Celebrity Boob Twin:

Carmen Electra

Who's" Your Celebrity Boob Twin?

Your Celebrity Boob Twin:

Angelina Jolie

Who's" Your Celebrity Boob Twin?

Jamaica Mon.

The boys

Jamaica fun!

What we saw every morning when we got up. It was perfect!!! I loved every minute of the trip, until we got to the airport and had a delayed flight. Those were 3 hrs I could have been at the beach!

All good things must come to an end.

Ready to go out to our birthday dinner. The headband says "over the hill", the bra says "we've fallen and we can't get up"/ and the beads say "30, Why grow up?".

My birthday present from my husband.

Sheila sunbathing. She wore SPF45 and still fried.

Guarding our luggage in the JA airport.