Working from home... what fun!!!

I had no intention of writing today, but my daughter made me do it. After working from home the last two days, I've been able to witness firsthand what Bubba deals with on a daily basis. Sure it's been stressful, tough, irritating and demanding, but it's also been fun and entertaining!!! I like it so much... I think I want to quit my job and stay home. I mean, just think of all the blogging opportunities. For example, watch this video of my sweet Ashlyn throwing a temper tantrum.



I love technology. That video was taken on my BlackBerry Curve from Sprint. Did you know Sprint is home of the Simply Everything Plan? Now get unlimited voice, data, text, e-mail, Web-surfing, Sprint TV(SM), Sprint Music, GPS Navigation, Direct Connect and Group Connect for just $99.99 a month. Sorry, shameless promotion. Anyways, I showed Ashlyn the video, and I think she felt bad. She told me she didn't like it. She was probably embarrassed. Hey, if athletes are using video technology to improve their game, why not use it to improve your child's or even your spouse's behavior? I think it's a great idea. It allows me as a parent to analyze my child's performance and provide tips on what they could do better next time. And, what kid would want a video like that on YouTube? It could work really well with those of you who have teenagers.

Well, I need to go. It's time to get ready to leave for Utah. Ashlyn, was that you? Smells like Cooper. Ashlyn, strike a match next time!

The Mini Show Episode 1

Don't get too excited, this will be a short entry. Bubba is in Utah this week, so I've had the kids all to myself the past couple of days.... fun, fun!!! Today was suppose to be "Take Your Child To Work Day." However, Sprint decided to cancel it because of complaints from the school district not wanting to take kids out of school. Please... it's elementary school. My kids already know how to pee, use scissors and eat glue. Anyways, I still brought Max and Lexi to work. I'm such a Rebel, aren't I? Not really. For those of you who do not know, I work for Sprint and create training videos. Yes, it's real work!!! I dare any of you to stand in front of a camera for 3 hours with sweltering lights and 3 guys listening and critiquing every word you say. It's tough. Sorry, I needed to get that off my bird chest. Alright, back to Lexi and Max. Long story short, they wanted to make a video, so we did. Lexi decided to do a talk show. She did a pretty good job, but I have to admit she has a big ego and is very difficult to work with. If you don't believe me, take a look at the highlights of the first episode of... "The Mini Show." Alexis, was that you? Smells like Cooper!

Goooooaal... it's a Miracle!!!

Okay, get off my back everyone, I'm blogging. Man, I take a little sabbatical and you all go crazy and start treating me like Ricky Williams. Maybe I needed to get some substances out of my system before I returned to blogging. Unless you know who Ricky Williams is, you probably wouldn't get that. Well, I guess I just insulted the one person we have left reading our blog. Sorry mom. Call me later and I'll explain. I 'm making it a goal to do better with our blog and post at least once a week. I'm not making any promises, but I'll try. I'd rather do a video blog, but that takes a lot of time. I'm much better at being in front of the camera than writing. My brother Jeremy is a fantastic writer and just started a blog, The Cooper Five. You should check it out. He writes a lot, so you could probably read half of it, take a nap and then finish the rest later. His blog is like a Major League Baseball game. Ask him to post his accounting essay....zzzzzzzzzzzz. Just playing Jer-Bear.

A lot has happened since my last post. I don't have time to write about all of them, but here's a couple...

Spunky little Ashlyn has become our first child to eat soap. For the past month or so, Ashlyn has been saying things to her parents like: stupid, jerk, I hate you, idiot... you get the picture. She's also been doing her best Roberto Alomar impersonation by spitting on her parents and siblings. This child has no fear. I was punished a lot as a kid so I take it pretty easy on my children and usually let Becky perform the beatings. However, when Ashlyn spit in my face for the first time, I was pretty upset. After four years of parenting Ashlyn, I've come to realize you have to be very careful with her. She's smart. She's crafty. She's fearless. Not a lot fazes her and she enjoys playing mind games with us. She's a lot like.... well, a honey badger. Did you know that the honey badger is the "most fearless animal in the world' according to the 2002 edition of the Guinness Book of Records? They do not fear anything! They plunder bee hives, kill snakes, etc. Doesn't this sound like Ashlyn? She has an amazing mind, so coming up with a good punishment was difficult. After wiping the spit off my face, I calmly grabbed some soap from her bathroom and rubbed it over her lips. It took a little while, but then you could see Ashlyn's face sour up. Of course she went crazy and begged for water. It was sort of sad. I now feel bad, and I'm looking for other forms of punishment. If you have any ideas, please post them.

And finally, after two-and-a-half years of playing soccer, Mad Max scored his first goal. It was beautiful. It was spectacular. It was amazing. It was... a miracle. I wanted to cry. I could have walked off the field at the moment and never coached another game and been totally satisfied as a parent. Thank you Max! There's a dispute whether or not he actually scored two. I know he got one for sure, but I thought another kid got the second one. Either way, I'm proud of him. He's come a long way since that first year. For two, long, difficult seasons I would come to Max's soccer games expecting to see two things.... one, his attempts to catch imaginary butterflies, and two, his spiky, gelled hair. Max might not be the most aggressive player on the field but he's definitely the prettiest. All the other kids come to the games with snot running down their nose and bed head, but not Max. Oh no, he's got to come to our soccer games looking like Brad Pitt in glasses. However, that's what I love about Max. He lives in his own little material world. I have to admit though he's starting to catch a little of my competitive spirit especially in baseball. I'll write about that in my next blog. Thanks for reading. It's good to be back. Max, was that you? Smells like Cooper.

They did it!!!

I know, by now this is old news! What an unbelievable game! Finally, after 20 years! Kansas beat Memphis in overtime to win the championship! We were so lucky to have so many family members and friends over to celebrate.

This is nothing compared with the win, but somehow I managed to win in our bracket tournament. You can see Jeff awarding me with my trophy and autographed ball (Janet Clark, yours is on the way....a year late, Jeff''s fault). The trophy says "2008 Marchania Bracketologist". After picking 10 years of picking Kansas to win, it finally paid off! Wahoo!

I remember back in 1988 when Kansas won their last National Championship. I was only 10 but, I remember them winning and the celebration going on in the room. It reminded me a lot of last night. Lexi came down for the last few minutes. Of course we were all going crazy when Chalmers hit his big 3. After the big win we were just as loud. Lexi was looking at everyone and laughing. Yes, we did let Lexi and Max stay up. I let them sleep in this morning, of course. Lexi was only an hour late to school. There could not have been a sweeter cause. I am still giddy when I think about the Jayhawks big win!















Anyways, this morning Lexi wanted to wear Kansas attire. The only thing I have in her size is a white shirt with pink Kansas lettering. She was like, "But, I want to wear something that has Jayhawk colors". Again, this took me back 20 years ago when I wanted to wear something that had the Jayhawks on it. The only thing I could find was a pair of white boxer shorts with small Jayhawks all over them. I think they were my brothers. I can't believe my mom let me walk out the door wearing mens boxers ( I think it was the style??). These days I would probably be suspended. It is hilarious when I think about it. Needless to say, I went out and got some championship shirts today. I will absorb this win as long as I can! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Rock Chalk!

I don't know if I've ever been as nervous for a game as I was Saturday night for the Final Four. KU was up against North Carolina. I, along with most Jayhawk fans was ready to show North Carolina we are a better team, and we can win big without Roy Williams. The game was full of mixed emotions. I get butterflies even thinking about it again. Fortunately, we tarred North Carolina. Now can I ask, will you Roy haters please let it go? I know, I know, I felt the same sweet satisfaction that my fellow Jayhawkers did. It was awesome!!

We have one more game to go! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!!!!!!

You have to check this
KU Rap out.

Becky (I have to specify since Jeff is normally the sports nut)

Live Rich

We were so lucky to get to be a part of the LIVE RICH fundraiser http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/richlloyd on Friday night. Rich is a close friend of ours who developed a GbM. He is an amazing person and has an amazing family and we want to do all we can to help them fight this thing!

I made a KU cake for the bake sale. With the Jayhawks playing in the Final Four the next night, I was hoping to bring in as much money as possible with that. The fundraiser went great!

Lexi's Baptism Weekend

Alexis got baptized on March 29, 2008. She has anxiously awaited the big day. We were thrilled that Grandma and Grandma Cooper flew in for it!


























































We knew we were in for a whirlwind 24hrs. We enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Cooper on Friday night. On Saturday morning Alexis was baptized with one of her best friends, Kennedy Kingston. It was so neat to see Lexi baptized by Jeff. Everything was perfect. Lexi and Kennedy sang a sweet musical number after they were baptized. For the closing song we had our kids and the Kingston kids sing "I am a Child of God". It was so tender. We had so many family and friends come for love and support and that meant so much to us!

Following the baptism, we rushed on over the Max's soccer game. He has gotten so much more aggressive this year. He came so close to his first goal!

After the soccer game we wanted to grab a bite to eat to celebrate Lexi's baptism. Grandma loves her BBQ when she comes into town. That's fine with us since we love it too! We took her to Zarda's BBQ. She loves burnt ends and we knew they have great ones (why does this sentence sound so funny?). We had a few minutes to spare before heading to the airport to drop off Grandma and Grandpa, so we took the kids on a double carousel that was at a nearby mall. We all had a great time!
We were then off to the airport. Unfortunately, it's a long drive for the kids. It had been a long day! They all conked out before we even got to the airport. We were grateful that Jeff's parents were able to share Alexis's special day with us.

The next day after church we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Rowe's house to celebrate Lexi's baptism with them. Grandma Rowe made her this very special cake.

It was a wonderful weekend and we are so grateful that Lexi made the decision to be baptized. She is growing up so fast! Wish you all could have been here!