CEF Mailbox Club

This spring Ava started to participate in the CEF Mailbox Club, and she loves it. It's a Bible lesson that arrives in the mailbox. We read the story together, Ava answers the review questions and practices the Bible memory verse, and then we mail the answer sheet back. Once they receive her answer sheet, they "grade" it and mail it back with the new lesson. She loves everything about the process; running in circles with excitement when it arrives, snuggling up to read it together, making a song out of the memory verse, circling her answers, and placing the stamp on the return portion of the lesson. They have lessons for every age kiddo! It's free, and you can sign up online at www.cefonline.com as part of the discipleship ministry of Child Evangelism Fellowship. Here's baby girl doing her lesson.

And here is the random cuteness of this post:
Notice the ginormous red welt in the center of Ava's forehead. Poor thing. We run about a boo-boo per day around here. At least it doesn't seem to be bothering her too much.
No caption needed.
Lastly, this is O-boy's bff.
(This update continues to be a part of our April...but I'm about to pick up the pace!)

still in April...

So perhaps I need to pick up the pace of my mission to retroactively update the blog. At this rate, I will never catch up. But in the meantime, here are some promising pictures from the last week of April that Spring was indeed in progress! In general, spring is my least favorite season up here because it is still too cold to really enjoy being outside for long. Plus nothing starts growing until June, so it feels like winter just drags on and on but without the beautiful snow to cheer things up. But on this fine day in April, things were looking very cheery!

typical day at the Coopers

O Boy just adores his dad.
It's pretty sweet to watch them together.
He also adores food.
This is O-man getting ready to go out and play. Sunhat? check. sunscreen? check. portable snack? check.
This is baby girl getting ready to go out and play. She also brings a portable snack. And dresses like she's from another decade.

Spring

As April progressed, some of the days were warm enough to go outside without coats. So exciting!!

They love little Lucy!
Lucy, however, doesn't seem to be returning the vibe.
Maybe because o-boy keeps using her comb without asking first.
On another random note, Owen got these little glasses from one of Ava's party favor bags. He has a love-hate relationship with them. He loves them on, but can't get them on by himself without jabbing himself in the eye. It's complicated.
Peek-a-boo!
I love this little guy.

Also in April...Steve built a little privacy fence around our patio! It turned out great and we eat dinner out there most nights. It's so nice to eat outside. The kids are much more mellow, too, when we eat outside. At any rate, Coop had some great little helpers as he dug out the holes for the fence posts and mixed the concrete.


It seems there is nothing that Steve can't do. If there's a project he's never done before, the kid just reads a book about it and makes it happen. Amazing.
So here's a somewhat finished project. We (and by "we" I mean "Steve") also added some landscaping and then the ginormous hedge on the other side came in to finish out the privacy "fence." I'll have to put up a more recent photo, bc this one is looking a bit bare. But one can admire the fine craftsmanship here.
So the kids also helped by lifting morale with their super cuteness. I just love this stage. The rest of the pics are from our best efforts to "help" in the yard. Good times!

April continues...

It's so fun to watch how much they love each other. Cute! Owen is now old enough that they can also get into it, but let's just focus on this picture for now.
We made it to a Cards game for a date night when they were in town. Can I just mention that Wisconsinites really know how to tailgate? Seriously--like nothing I've ever seen. Mile upon mile of cookouts and adult beverages. St. Louis really isn't set up for anything like that. Here everyone's in a single, ginormous parking lot to allow for much revelry. It was impressive.
And finally...how fun are these air jordans? Our neighbors have a love of all things Nike and loaned these to Owen. He feels pretty foxy wearing them.

Easter Afternoon with Friends

Our friends invited us over for an Easter Brunch, and then graciously moved the time to mid-afternoon so the babies could get their naps. We had a great time! The food was amazing and the kids enjoyed hunting for easter eggs on all their land.
Ben built this swing himself. for real. isn't that amazing?
Owen loved it.
Ava got into the egg-hunting process this year.
She for sure got into the candy this year. Eating candy is a recent development for her--and one that should be done cautiously. The outcome can be pitiful.
O-boy like toddling behind Ava as she hunted.
Then he got distracted by this huge swing.
He sang as he rocked, "Swing, swing! Swing, swing!"
Coop got baby girl a driver. That's right. She's pretty excited about it. I think a Title IX scholarship would be delightful, so I give my full support.
O-boy had to get in on the action.
Both were enamored by the gigantic stump during our walk. All in all it was a great day as we celebrated our Risen Savior, Jesus Christ! We have experienced many blessings in this life, but none as great as the gift of eternal, abundant life through Him.
I'll end with Ava's memory verse, which says "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts" Col. 3:15a