Hurricane Harvey

While Houston was getting trashes, tornadoed, and trampled with floods, 

we were huddled inside for 2 1/2 days of non-stop rain.  Thankfully, we didn't flood or get completely trapped in our neighborhoods, but our yard is still a swamp!  

The first day of school was postponed, the rain cleared up a bit, and we HAD TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!!

Trampoline--no sprinkler needed! 

King of the sandhill.

Some of the worst of the damage down our street:

There was a beautiful double rainbow, showing God's promise.  

We made it through with lots of movies, screen time, and games.  And, then on to the first day of school!!!

Taco Time

Evan wanted me to take a picture of him and Daddy, eating their burritos.  

Ryan couldn't be left out.  It's rare these days to have a Saturday with Dad, so we were loving it!  

38

Happy birthday to me!  For a few weeks, I was telling people it was my last year in my 30's until someone reminded me I was ONLY 38!  YAY!
It was a wonderful day.
The boys spoiled me and were very kind.
Stephen and I went out to dinner and a movie.  At the end of our meal, our waiter brought the check.  It was empty.  Someone had taken care of it AND placed a movie gift card in there, too.  What a fun surprise!!!  It was a beautiful day.

Meet the Teacher

For one year only, all three Cooper boys will be at Greens Prairie Elementary.  

We were able to go by and meet our teachers on the Monday before school started. 

Kyle's Homeroom:

Melodi Henry

Kyle's Switch Teacher:

Amanda Simmons

(Kyle had her last year!)

Ryan's Homeroom:

Kristy Sullivan

(WE LOVE THESE 2nd GRADE TEACHERS---Kyle had them!)

Ryan and Evan made themselves comfy.

Evan's Teacher:

Elizabeth Simpson--I love that he said hello with a hug!

It's going to be a great year!

Solar Eclipse

I don't have any fancy equipment/cameras for documenting the eclipse, but it was fun to see the shadows and feel the MAJOR difference in temperature for a few minutes.  

Here's 4 minutes before the most coverage we had in our area: 

Right on time, cloud cover.

It was fun to see this phenomenon, which we mostly followed like on NASA's website, but we experienced it a bit in our own backyard!

Camp Kesem

We had the opportunity to send Kyle and Ryan (Kylo Cooper and Super Rhino) to Camp Kesem, an overnight camp for kids whose parent(s) have cancer.  It's completely run by donations, which is an amazing perk!  It will be so great when all three boys are old enough to go next year.  

A view after dropping them off.

All through the week, we got updates online, so there are just a mix of a bunch of fun the boys had at camp.  From ziplines, to lake fun--the BLOB was the favorite--to singing, to messy olympics, BB guns, archery, tomahawks, talent show, and bonding and sharing over experiences, the boys had THE BEST WEEK!  

Ryan won messy Twister!!!

Blue Zebras:

Purple Cheetahs:

When we picked them up, there were GLOWING remarks about both boys.  EVERYONE LOVED Super Rhino, especially when he wore his Chewbacca hoodie PJs for the talent show!  Kyle's counselors could not have asked for a more mature, honest, trustworthy, neat camper.  (He said the boys were WAY better than the girls, which doesn't often happen!)

Ryan won the Sweetest Friend Award.  (no surprise, here!)

Meanwhile, this one missed his brothers, especially at night, but enjoyed hanging out with Mom and Dad as an only child for the week!  

I'm so glad they got to go to camp!  They loved it and can't wait to go next year.  (Ryan even came to us late at night when they returned home, teary-eyed and sad, wishing he could go back to camp!)  What an amazing opportunity!