These Calamities

For the past few weeks my children, especially the eldest has been going through a very..."noxious" (Josh's way of saying obnoxious) stage. To say it has been difficult to stay patient is an understatement. I know I am really blessed because Josh really is a great kid all considering, but the tantrums and the constant chatter grate on my nerves like nothing else I have ever known.

So luckily, when I first became a stay-at-home mom, I made a habit of reading my scriptures first thing in the morning. It has been one of the many saving graces of my day, not to mention my children's well being. Anyways, so this morning I pull out my scriptures and try to focus on the words. I am determined to at least get through Isaiah by the end of the year as I have been trying to read the Old Testament for the first time in my life. As Joshua is already jumping up and down and then suddenly collapsing into a fit of tears (as is his regular thing to do when he is tired), and Caleb is growling as he crawls around the room trying to play with Josh but trying to avoid being hit during the tantrum, I take a deep breath and read the first verse of Psalms 57,

"Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of they wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast." I burst out laughing as I liken the scriptures to myself. I feel like I am David crying out to the Lord for patience and mercy as I can barely handle these "calamities" at my feet. :)

I know my trials are very few and small, but at times they seem to be like giant herds of growling lions and stinging bees, not just two little boys who just love to growl and poke and pull at me until I can't stand it. The Lord loves me so much and I am so thankful for the scriptures and for these calamities of mine.

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed...

This morning I woke up to "Dang it! Dang it dang it!" My two year old in the other room is slamming his fist on his bed and using one of the most common explitives my husband uses. hehe, wow the things they pick up. He must have been mad he woke up. :)

Don't Get Too Close

Josh and Caleb's Grandma and Grandpa are here and Grandma loves to cuddle. So she turns on a movie for Josh and starts to get close to him. However, he turns and points his finger at her and says "no 'nugglin!" Opinionated little fellow. :)

Josh's (littlest) Biggest Fan

All of his little life, Caleb has completely adored Josh. He thinks that Josh is the coolest big brother ever and everything he does is funny, even if that means pain for him. So this morning Caleb woke up before Josh, something that rarely happens. I took Caleb out and played with him for a little bit until I heard Josh growling (that is how he announces himself, anytime during the day). So I open the door a crack and Caleb starts bouncing up and down he is so excited. Once Caleb sees Josh's face he gets this huge grin, points his little finger at Josh and says "Jos." Talk about adorable. And if you ask Josh who his best friend is he will say either "dirty jobs with Mike Rowe" (I know, a two year old, so funny) or "brother Caleb." I love these crazy boys of mine.

A Random Selection as we are a Random Family

Caleb's funny face.

My favorite people.

Tyson went to a training in Lexington, KY this last week. I was kind of jealous of his digs, they looked pretty sweet from the pictures. But I had it pretty sweet here with Bunky, Chris and Zurbert for the week. It ended up working out perfectly, but next year, I am going to sneak along with Tyson, no matter what. :) Aren't these horses all over Lexington crazy?

I think this is the view from where he stayed, but I'm not quite sure. It looks like such a pretty place and he had a great time. He brought us back chocolates in the shape of horses (apparently this place is like horse capital of the world). Josh LOVED taking bites out of a horse, he thought it was the coolest thing.

I was trying to paint the fence, and Josh got a little close so I waved my hand at him to get away because I didn't want his clothes to get paint on them, I ended up painting a large streak in his hair. It came out though, luckily. :)

So here are some random pictures, tra la. Life at the Cooper's. Seriously, I'm sad I don't have any pictures with Caleb and Zuri together, they were hilarious!

Random Family Moments

Caleb loves this thing. It is a wooden screw from Josh's tool set, and Caleb takes it everywhere in his mouth, it is so funny. It looks like a big ol' cigar. Josh showing off the stickers he collected and displayed on his arm, sorry, I couldn't get him to hold still.

Shopping is like a Marathon

I have never been much of a shopper. I think if I had a ton of money, I might enjoy it more, but most of the time it seems more of a chore. However, since I have become a stay-at-home mom, it is a break in the routine and so I get excited to get out, just for groceries. The hard part is the two kids and the massive amounts of food we buy, no matter how much I try to limit it to the bare essentials.

So today, I realized grocery shopping is like running a marathon for me. I have never ran a marathon, nor will I ever, but I have heard lots of stories about them. So, I start out and I am excited, I have lots of energy. I put Josh in the cart and Caleb straped to my front in his little Jeep carrier. Everyone thinks they are so cute and are always talking to them and tickling Caleb's toes. It is lots of fun, but after two aisles, I am already working muscles from bending over to get cottage cheese, milk, and diapers with an extra 20 lbs. weight attached to my front. But I look at the shopping list and so little has been checked off, so we keep going. I try to keep a smile on my face while Josh starts saying "go home now" or "buy this too Mama." It goes on like this and I try not to look frazzled and I try to be polite and happy to everyone else in the store.

By the time I get to the bread I think, "I'm just going to stop and go home now." But then I remember all the fruit and veggies that I need to get. So at that point I feel like I have hit the wall and I have to shove myself onward to finish the shopping, to get it done so I don't have to come back for another two weeks. And as I pick out the apples and try to find lettuce that isn't already brown, I keep thinking "3 more things..." "okay, one more thing."

Then when my brain thinks, "just the last stretch now," I realize I still have to pick a line, then load all the mountain of supplies out of cart and onto the table to be scanned and placed in bags, and then from there I have to load them back into the cart trying to not crush bread and tomotoes, not to mention the eggs which I have no idea where they are. And the whole while Caleb is getting completely seasick from me moving from side to side putting things in and out of the cart. Not to mention, I have to strategically place the cart so Josh can't reach any of the side candy which I am secretely hoping he will so I can eat it.

Then when our bank account is significantly decreased, I must push the merry crew and baggage to the van, load that up and buckle the kids in and wait 10 minutes so the lovely lady that has happened to park directly behind me can chat away with her friend while Josh says repeatedly "go get Daddy!" So I try to breath in deeply on the 15 minute drive home, focus on the road and at last pull into our little driveway. That is when I notice it is very quiet.

Suddenly, I don't really care how hard grocery shopping is. Crossing the finish line was all worth it.