What I love about Cooper...

is that he is soooo DANG cute. Seriously. It is so much fun to watch him do life. I thought I would give a bit of an update on him. He is growing so quickly and you forget when you have 5 year olds that they soak up things like little sponges. The following are some fun little updates:

**He has about 4 teeth on top and 4 on bottom - he eats anything and everything
**He grabs my hand and leads me places
**He loves giving kisses - he even is learning to blow kisses
**He can say dada, uh-oh, again, and many other things we don't understand
**He loves to sit and read books
**He has been walking since 9 months and running since 12months
**He is loving the water already. When at the pool I think he thinks he can swim if I let go of him.
**He loves to slide and step up and down on steps.
**He really thinks he can play basketball with his dad outside
**His favorite past time is riding in the escalade with his sister driving him.
**He likes to bat at the ceiling fan chains. It is a routine as you leave his room.
**He is really good at opening and closing doors without hitting his fingers

Most of all he is just pure sweetness. He is such a content happy little one. Enjoy the pics from the summer so far.





Proof that Cooper will eat anything.









Summer fun swimming!

Ellie & Jackson Graduate Preschool

It's official. Jackson and Ellie have played house enough times and colored with every crayon in the mega-crayola pack to graduate pre-school! I kid - we actually had a parent-teacher conference a few months back and they went over how ready they were for kindergarten and I was pretty amazed at how much ahead of the game they will be starting off. The teachers have done an amazing job. The kids can spell and even read some short words. I recall starting first grade not knowing how to read a dad-gum thing.

We went to the graduation ceremony and I watched as parents in the crowd worked overtime to get the perfect angle for their filming of the entire shebang. Can we come up with some sort of society-approved solution for reserving seats at events like this? How do people get into these places so early to stick homemade "Reserved" signs on so many seats? I picture moms crawling thru the AC ducts and repelling down into the auditorium to reserve their seats hours before everyone else gets there.

But I digress... The graduation was adorable. The kids we dressed in all white cap and gowns. They sang songs and had speaking parts. One little girl made my loud cackle laugh erupt when she walked up to the microphone then blew into it like 4 times just to make sure it was on before speaking. "Check one, check. Sibalence. Can you hear me in the back people? Okay good. Today is a good day because the Lord made it."

Ellie and Jackson both nailed their speaking parts. Jackson even had a "Woohoo!" in there that was funny. They called them up one by one handed them their diplomas (probably all written in crayon), shook their hands then had them pose at center stage so the parents fighting for a spot in the middle of the auditorium could capture the Kodak moment. Then after it was all over they gave them gift bags including a really loud, annoying horn that said "Graduate" on the side. I was sure to lose theirs in another kids bag.

So our kids are all growds up. They'll no doubt have their own Facebook pages soon and start asking for cell phones so they text their bff's.

The Bash 2008

The Haught family has a tradition of every other year traveling to Destin Florida and enjoying life that exist on no time table. Each time we go we make it an adventure by picking a new home to stay in. Let me just say that the homes are always amazing and I could do life like that always! Our Haught party exists of Chad, myself and kiddos, His brother and family, his sister, His mom and dad, and then my mom and stepdad. It is amazing but every year we still continue to like each other :-).

This year was filled with fun. The weather was great, a bit windy, but enjoyable. Our days existed of, getting up, eating breakfast, putting our suits on, and heading down to the beach. mmmmm. Each year it gets better and better. This year all the kids LOVED the sand and water. They skimboarded, built sand castles, crab hunted at night, boogie boarded, and much much more. The beach is one big adventure for them.

Cooper was a whole new element that we added this year. We weren't sure what he would think but boy he loved the sand and was intrigued by the water. By the end of the week he would run towards the water and then come back but always having fun digging in the sand or watching the birds swoop down.

We ate some amazing meals! The great thing about our group is that we will shop at super walmart (spent right under $800 bucks) on groceries and then assign a night to each family. We have some amazing cooks so you can't get better than that.

The guys went deep sea fishing and had a blast. This was something Chad really was looking forward to and it met every expectation he had. He caught the biggest fish of the group - 14 pound grouper! Impressive! Check out the pics.

Chad, myself, his brother Jeff and wife Tanya played golf one day. Yes they took the women with them. We had so much fun. Check out the turtle on the course. Fun times. I have played again since then and am looking for some girls to play golf with!

These vacations are such an amazing time for our family. We desire to continue these trips for as long as we can do them. It is such a sweet time for us to spend as a family. We laugh, eat, relax together. We celebrate family! I want these memories to stick with our kids as they grow older.

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150 or Bust

Chad did it!!! Chad rode in the MS150 this weekend and finished strong. I am SOOO proud of him. He did an amazing job. The one thing he said he didn't want was wind...what did it do Saturday morning early..start blowing crazy wind. He stuck with it tho. Saturday he rode 86 miles then came home collapsed at 7pm and then got up Sunday morning and rode another 74. He said today there was some MAJOR hills on the day 2 route. What are those people thinking when they plan a 150mile course to put hills on the second day. Crazy huh! He has been training for this for the last 6 months when my coworker Jeff talked him into it. He has really enjoyed it and said it was the hardest thing he has ever done.

Chad did this in honor of Tina, my sweet sweet friend at work. I have been blessed to have a friendship with Tina over the past 5 years. She is one of the most amazing people I know. You love her within 5 seconds of meeting her. She is full of life and her joy is contagious. Tina was diagnosed with MS about 9 years ago and has carried a spirit of strength that amazes me daily.
To know Tina is to love her!

Chad's Words:
I was telling everyone in our small group to pray for no wind but it did still end up being crazy windy on Saturday most of the day but I told God at one point - some little kids kite party needed that wind. Then I gave Him the stink eye. When we stopped at lunch Saturday all the guys that did the ride the year or two before kept saying they've never been that worn out on the first day due to the wind. When I got to the last rest stop with 14 miles to go it took everything I had to make it. I got home and layed in the bathtub for 45 min then went to bed at 7:30.

The next day was fantastic for the first 30 miles with NO wind. We made it to lunch in record time. After lunch the wind picked up a little and there were 4 hills that nearly killed me but getting to the tops of those hills were the best feelings in the world.

Here are some fun pics...




Day 1-Before the race










Ellie & Jackson with Tina









5 miles out from the finish line









Chad crossing the finish line - he is in the blue long sleeve pullover

Ellie Dances

Ellie had her first dance recital this past weekend. Well..actually 4 of them this weekend. She did so good. We enrolled her in a new dance studio this past fall and she almost quit. She stuck with it and really has enjoyed it. Ellie is quite shy but once she hits the stage you would never know it (sounds like her dad). She took ballet and tap. Next year we are going to add Jazz. I think that might be her nitch since she enjoys making up her own dances. She is quite the performer. The girls that she took dance with are Anna and Annalisa. Annalisa is 7 and Anna is 6 so there is a bit of an age difference but even with that she kept up pretty well. We are so proud of her. I even teared up watching her Friday night do her ballet. So big!!!! At her last performance we took her tulips and she was so excited. She kept saying 'thank you mommy for my flowers'. My mom and I were staring at her today and were discussing how much she is changing and how beautiful she is becoming.

Cooper is One

Cooper turned one yesterday so we had an official party for him. It was actually his second party for this birthday - when Kiley ran the marathon we had family in town so we figured we might as well have a party then too. So I'm sure we've confused him into thinking every birthday will be a month-long celebration of him. Kind of like the first time I took Jackson to a Rangers game and he got a foul ball. Now when we go back to games he'll say, "When am I going to get a baseball hit to me this game?" I think I've been to 100 Ranger games and have never gotten a foul ball.

The events of the day started with the cake. When we gave Cooper his slice then put the candle in it and lit it, Cooper put it out between his thumb and forefinger. How tough is that? No big deal though. When he finishes smokes his cigarettes he puts those out on his forearm. He did look at Kiley after that like, "That wasn't a very good idea was it?" then he got that look on his face that I get after I take a big bite of pizza and realize it's still piping hot.

He managed to fight thru the pain until we got the Curious George pinata up. That was a big hit. PUN! So when did they start making pinatas out of unbreakable material? Seriously. I'm importing all of my future pinatas straight from Mexico City.

After all the little ones took swats at it with a foam bat I broke out a wooden bat and let some of the bigger kids beat the crap out of it until a tiny crack formed in the back of it and candy started slowly leaking out of it.

Cooper had a great time and enjoyed having some of his friends over. The Escalade power wheel was a big player. Here's the Post kids (Zoe and Emma) experiencing the raw automotive power we have over in the United States. Their parents, Jason and Mandy are missionaries over in Ireland. They came all the way over just for Cooper's birthday party. We have such commited friends.

I asked Cooper what his favorite thing about turning one was and he said, "Da da." Awe. But he was pointing at the remnants of his Curious George pinata so I think he was insulting me.

Of Marathons and Softball

Kiley ran a marathon! For real. She did it in 4 hours and 52 minutes. I rode with her on my bike for the last 11 miles and I was so impressed and proud of her. From my perspective she made it look easy. There were times when she was worn down but her concentration on her task and how she pushed thru when she got really tired amazed me. Way to go Kiley.

I love the attached picture. The last 50 yards is the part where they have fences on both sides and everyone is cheering you on. Jackson and Ellie and their cousins - Cade and Kennedy ran with her the that last part so you can see them behind her.

Thanks to everyone that came out and met her at different checkpoints. That meant the world to her and kept her going. She said after mile 15 things started getting hard but it seemed like there was someone along the path every few miles after that.

What else is going on? I'm on a softball team that stinks. We've played 4 games and have yet to win. In fact on the way to my fourth game I got pulled over for speeding and when the cop asked me if I was on my way to a softball game (i was right by the field and had on a uniform) and I told him yes so he asked how my team was doing so I told him, "Not only are we 0 and 3. We've been 10 run rulled every game." to which he responded, "I'm gonna let you off with a warning." Funny.

The last game we were up 10-7 in the 5th inning and the game went 7 innings. We lost 12-24.

The kids are good. Cooper is saying "uh oh" and Ellie has a dance recital coming up. Her pictures for dance are tonight and they want us to roll her hair and put make up and lipstick on her. Jackson scored his first soccer goal of the year this weekend. He was so excited that he started to pull her shirt off. He also had his first baseball game this weekend. I'm pitching to the kids and hit one of them with a pitch. He was crowding the plate though so I just threw him a little chin music. No biggie.