Happy Birthday Grama Nina!

Happy Birthday Grama Jeannene! We hope you get your dream car for your birthday.

Football Game @ Qwest Field

Today we took a trip into Seattle to watch Cole play a game at Qwest Field. As I like to call it, Man Land.

James and Cooper at the entrance.
Here's a picture of most of the field. They had 2 games going at the same time.
Cole had his own cheering section.
Cooper wanted to sit with Grama. Ok, he didn't sit the whole time. He wanted to go and play with his big cousin.
Cole is one of the smallest on the team, but he's so good. He was tackling kids that were bigger than him.
Finally, a close-up. We had fun supporting Coley.

Little Moments...

I cherish the little moments we have as a family and the love we have for each other, even the not so fun moments. If you're a mom you know those moments. "NO!" "I don't want to go to bed!" " I don't want to eat dinner!" The 30 minute freak out sessions at the doctor, etc. etc. Those moments where you find yourself at the end of your emotional rope. Then, out of nowhere the littlest smile or laugh that melts your heart and makes everything worth it. A mother's love is so intense, that sometimes it hurts. This week I'm trying to enjoy every moment I have with my kids. Here are a few my favorite moments from this summer and from this week.
1- Cooper attempting to cook Mac-n-Cheese by himself. He had all the dry ingredients in the fry pan, and was just about to pour the milk when I caught him. He looked up at me and said, " I'm Cooking!" I had to stop and laugh, wish I had a camera then.
2- I was in Montana, on the most beautiful lake in the world, talking to James on my cell, when he put Logan on the phone, " Hi, Mama!" I took an earlier flight home the next day.
3-Previously mentioned in my "Sunday Best" Post.
4- Every school morning, going into the boys' room, opening the blinds, and waiting quietly for them to wake up, at their own pace, with smiles and loves for mama.
5-Every night having family prayer, sometimes Cooper says the prayer, sometimes Logan. But everyone is there together.
Sometimes things happen in the lives of others that help us appreciate the lives that we have. I just want to appreciate what I have without having to be reminded.

Fall Craft

Quick easy craft. Collect fallen leaves, glue them to paper.

Mac's on Left / Cooper's on right

Sunday Best

This morning was the best morning I've had in a long long time. I woke up to Cooper wanting to snuggle. Which isn't an often occurance. He just wanted to be held. I called him my little baby and he say's "I'm not a baby". But to me he always will be. I'm so protective of him. I get so frustrated with other people when they say things about him or treat him differently or single him out as a problem. He's a little boy with alot of energy and so much love. I didn't want to get out of bed. I just wanted to hold him all day. Then Logan woke. James went to get him and brought him in bed with us. There we were. The Twiddy's. All my boys. Everyone was happy. The best way to start a Sunday. Here's my little men all dressed up and ready to head out the door. ON TIME!!!!

To end a good day we went to my mom and dads house for dinner. Cooper & Logan's Great-Grandparents were in town this weekend. Logan got to meet Grandpa Bob & Grama Missy for the first time. Here are a few pictures from our evening together. It never fails, we try and get a picture with all the kids, and one is missing, Camyrn was elsewhere.

Wet, Rainy, & Fishin'

As a random spur of the moment family together time, we decided to go fishing. We bundled up the boys, and headed to the Carbon River in Orting. When we got to the trail I asked James how far it was to the fishing hole. He told me " oh, just a block." You can barely see people in front of us on the trail, and they weren't there yet.... Does that look like a block to you??? Try a 1/2 mile. It was fine. We got some good exercise. James chasing Cooper, and me trying to hold an umbrella over Logan.
James in all his glory. Only a man could enjoy this. Cooper and Logan had fun throwing rocks.
Cooper really wanted to go fishing with his daddy. Next time, it won't be raining, and we'll go to a sandy beach. That is if James want's us to go next time.

FFTF (first field trip of the Fall)

We went to Les Gove Park for Cooper's first field trip with his school. The kids played, while the parents were able to get to know each other and meet all the teachers. We even took a picnic lunch. I think Mac's getting sick of all the pictures that I take. Whatcha think?

You are my sunshine...

Today was the first gloomy, cloudy day of September. The weather man said that we went 21 days without rain or clouds. I was saving this project just for today. It was bound to come sooner or later, and with 3 toddlers stuck in the house, I needed a pick me up. Nothing like artifical sunshine. My neighbor Kati was over and was able to get a few shots of me helping the kids. Seriously, as the one in charge of taking the pictures, it's hard to get any pictures of me on the blog. Not that I like it, Mr. Twiddy, was very adamant about getting me on here more.
All of the crafters.
Mac's sun!

Cooper wasn't all into taking pictures. He was done and that was that.We put the words to " You are my sunshine" on the back.
I long for days like this, but I also love the fall and the colors. I'm grateful that I live in a state where we get the fall colors, yet we still have the green evergreen trees.

Just like Daddy.

Every year that we go to the fair James puts on the most ridiculous hats he can find. Here's a couple of pictures of Logan in one of those hats he actually purchased, and James this year at the fair.

Western Washington State Fair.

Today we made our annual pilgramage to the Puyallup Fair. The weather was perfect, the crowds were minimal, and the kids were well behaved.
After driving around for only 15 minutes we found a parking spot 4 blocks from the fair. This morning the only thing that got Cooper out of bed was the prospect of seeing cows, horses, and pigs. So when we finally got to the fairgrounds he was really really excited.
This year we decided to do all the mommy/daddy stuff first, so that we could just maybe enjoy ourselves a little bit too. Cooper found the biggest pumpkin at the fair, weighing 1,094 pounds. "Look a big one!"

We ran into Grama Nina, Great-Grama Teresa and Aunty Ruth. Don't know who that guy is, but it's the only picture I had with Cooper looking at the camera. Cooper was really good and didn't run off. Unless he saw his Grama.

While waiting for our lunch, Cooper found Aunty Aimee. We ended up spending most of the afternoon with Karl, Aimee, and Tyler.

Cooper was a cutie. I had to take this picture. For some reason, he wouldn't eat. He wanted to look at the cows, RIGHT NOW!

Finally the time came to go to the Cows. LOGAN LOVED THE COWS. He would bend over with his hands on his knees and pucker his lips and say, loudly, "Mooooooooo!" Then wave, and say "Bye-Bye!" Proceeding to the next cow and repeating the same process all the way

through the barn.

Next it was onto the Pigs. Every year there are only 2 thing I Have to see. 1. Baby Pigs 2. Baby Chicks. That's all I ask. It's not much.

Most important stop of the day...

Hand washing station!

We made two stops, heres, one. I didn't take pictures at the other. We tried to go and see the Monkey show, but it was way crowded by the time we got there. Cooper couldn't even see from Aimee's shoulders.

Logan and Tyler could care less, they were just having fun being together.

We tried to see the dogs, but there were none. We tried to see the draft horses, but they were roped off because their event was starting. Sooo, we had to make deal with the rabbits and poultry barn.

I found this sign completely hilarious posted next to the turkey.
"I bite hard."

I think the highlight of our animal tour came when we went to the petting farm. The boys both loved it. I couldn't get a good picture of Cooper, he was moving around too fast.

I think Logan really liked the chance to be around smaller animals. This is his first time ever in an actual one on one with goats, rabbits, and sheep.
Our next point of interest was James' favorite.

The Outdoor recreation building.

Here's Cooper doing his bear rug impression.

James always likes anything to do with the outdoors. Recently he has taken up fishing, and today he wanted to take Cooper to the fish pond here at the fair. What kind of family outing would it be if I didn't get a picture of a tattoo on one of my children.

Cooper was so patient standing in line. James on the other hand was disappointed that he couldn't go up there with him. But capturing a big smile on Cooper's face while fishing was worth it. Cooper did catch a fish, but it got away. After that, he wasn't really into fishing anymore.

Our trip wouldn't be complete without a trip to the firestation.

My little fire men.

Finally it was time to head back to the car. It took us nearly a half of an hour to leave the fair. Cooper wanted a corn dog and water, and James wanted to check his raffle ticket again.

Even outside the fair we couldn't resist a goodie. After all it was hot, and a shaved ice tasted sooo good on our walk back to the car.

We had fun at the fair. James and I are thinking about heading back by ourselves. Just so we can relax and enjoy the fair as adults.