2014 Is Almost Gone!

 I haven't blogged since Thanksgiving. That's how you know my life is either blissfully wonderful or dreadfully nuts. I only blog when we're in a happy medium somewhere in between.  Thing about it is- I've started realizing almost every situation can be blissfully wonderful if you look at it the right way... now granted it was hard to find "bliss" in a puking carsick chihuahua on the way back from Jesup for the Bennett Thanksgiving, but hey- that's asking a lot. Things like that will make for great stories when the girls bring their own families home for Thanksgiving. Mama, remember when you were driving back from Jesup because Daddy was holding Clara because she was car sick and then he started screaming at you to cross three lanes of traffic in 4 seconds because Clara was making the "puking noise"?   Our life is one nuthouse moment after another. No lie. I could think of a thousand stories my kids will tell at future family dinners. Here are a few that stand out:

1. Mama, remember when daddy drove you, us kids, AND Nanny and Poppy 38 hours in the sleet snow and ice on a ski trip only to be thrown out of the condo because of a "reservation error"? Remember when we decided Aunt Bonnie could no longer be in charge of planning family vacations?

2. Mama, remember when you were pregnant with Addie and we bought a new van and drove Gran and Papa all the way to Fort Campbell to see Uncle David and Aunt Jess for Thanksgiving and daddy crossed 5 lanes of traffic, jumped a curb and slammed on breaks in front of startled onlookers, then jumped out and yelled for EVERYBODY to get out of the car so he could figure out what heating vent was on that Papa KEPT incessantly complaining about for 3 hours?

3. Mama, remember the time it snowed in Vidette and daddy pulled us with a John Deere gator all over the farm in an igloo cooler?  Remember mama, you made us wear our riding helmets because you didn't want us to end up in the hospital or worse, on the news? 

This holiday didn't disappoint. We had our typical nuthouse moments, like when Addie announced to our entire row of Methodists during communion that SHE DID NOT LIKE WINE! What would a holiday be without somebody in this clan raising a few eyebrows?

Truthfully, it's been pretty blissful around here.  Ali Grace looked amazing at her Christmas Social.

And equally as beautiful at her dance company's performance of "Rudolph". We always celebrate with ice cream rather than flowers!

We didn't travel that much over Christmas break. We pretty much stuck around home and it was nice. We needed the break. 

We did venture across the road to the Big House for the Vidette community Christmas party. Girls had a ball with Colten.

Good times with good friends..

Per Lyles family tradition, Pete juiced oranges for the kids. Emma and Sarah were able to join us this year.

Christmas Eve brought "Cooper Stockings" unlike any other. Cooper stockings are always epic, and a true Cooper family tradition.

The whole week before Christmas was cloudy and rainy. Christmas Day and the days to follow were filled with sunshine and we took advantage of it!

Isn't this a gorgeous sunset?

This morning there was an equally stunning sunrise. I hardly EVER sleep past sunrise. In fact most mornings I'm up by 5:00 am. I guess all the holiday madness caught up with me last night and I only woke up when the sun came through our bedroom windows. Pete was still sleeping and if the girls were awake, they were still upstairs. The chihuahuas hadn't yapped yet either and after determining there was no way we could have a carbon monoxide leak, I laid back down in the bed and snuggled under the covers a little longer. There's nothing like morning sun coming through a bedroom window in a warm house to remind you of how grand this life is. Here's to a better attitude of gratitude in 2015. 

It IS what it IS...

1. Mark Richt- I need you to know that good looks can only take you so far. Yes Paul Johnson favors Jabba the Hut and you look like a fresh wave of pure hotness, but apparently that's not enough to win a football game. Get with it. My patience is wearing thin.

2. This was a tough loss. Partly because I hate Tech. I actually don't hate the team, They're not punks like Auburn, but ugh... who chews on a piece of shrubbery even if it is a "hedge". Freakin' idiots. Actually now that I think about it,  I do hate them and they are punks. Their mothers should be horse whipped for not being better mothers. As a side note, Privet ligustrum is mildly toxic to humans. I hope that idiot on the Tech facebook page spends his Sunday on the porcelain throne.

3. I did have a great time in Athens today. The weather was gorgeous and I did some mean tailgating with a great group of Joneses. Y'all are DGDs and I know a DGD when I see one!

4. A nice elderly man asked me when I sat down in the stadium if my husband was a Tech fan. I said excuse me sir, but no he is not and I take offense to the fact that you would think I would marry such and I'll have you know my daddy would have written me right out of the will if I'd brought home a tech fan. His response? "GO DAWGS!" Now granted, my husband might have spent the entire first quarter trying to figure out whether that leaf he found on campus was a shumard oak or a scarlet oak, but he ain't no damn wretched tech fan. 

5. Damian Swann- I apologize for naming my two chihuahuas after you. It was a rash decision after the South Carolina game. That 99 yard run put you back in DGD status with me. We've renamed the pups now. 

6. Hutson Mason- what can I say, man? You're a DGD. I know some Georgia jerks are going to be calling in bashing you but they're knuckleheads and too drunk to remember we fumbled twice on the goal line. Take it in stride young man. 

7. Y'all Southerners know what happens when we see a snowflake fall? Mass chaos ensues. Hysteria begins. We suddenly turn stupid and start running around crazy as a bunch of peach orchard hogs. Why? Because we don't see snow that much and when we  do we don't know how to act. Same with Georgia Tech chewing the shrubbery and doing "turf angels" on the 50 yard line after a win. Why? Because they don't beat the Dawgs that much and when they do, they don't know how to act. I still blame it on poor raising, but I could be wrong. Doubtful though. 

8. I told my sister in law, Beth that I wouldn't put that Georgia Christmas tree up this year if we lost to Tech. I'm putting it up tomorrow afternoon. 

9..  I can't explain what happened today Dawg fans. I really can't. But I know I came home to a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner around a table surrounded by NINE degrees from the University of Georgia. I love the Dawgs. It is in my blood and there ain't a cure for it. I'm thankful for that. The Dawgs make me cuss, scream, holler, and gnash my teeth but isn't that a lot like a family?   Blessed is the girl who loves such a team no matter what. And THAT is all I have to say about that. Go Dawgs.  

This Week's Georgia Football Commentary (With pictures used completely without permission) ;)

1.  I am too old for night games. I just got home this morning from the game. I feel like I've been hit by a truck and I didn’t drink a drop. 

 2. I didn’t get hit by a truck, but on that fake punt, I did get hit in the shoulder by my “friend” to the left of me. That set off a slight domino effect that left a poor lady in the last seat sitting in the stairwell.

3.  I know Todd Gurley is a beast and a half. But Chubb is a workhorse. I PROMISE you I heard Larry Munson’s gravelly voice come from the sky after that run where Chubb bounced off the defender. It sounded something like “he’s driving and running with those big thighs”.  I’ll admit I was a little misty eyed when I looked to the heavens, conveniently located over Sanford Bridge and answered him with “My God, Larry, a Freshman!”

4.   On the first Auburn drive when Auburn seemed to be running at will, I had to invoke a little divine intervention. My LMS Peeps know that when the going gets tough at work, I just close my eyes and say “Fix it, Jesus.”  Y’all look at this picture and tell me Uga isn’t saying “fix it, Jesus”.  Not a doubt in my mind that Uga loves the Lord.

5. David Andrews is my kinda player. If I had to give the game ball to someone other than Chubb, it’d be to that hoss.  After a crucial touchdown, he went nuts on the field. It was much better seeing it on TV. I didn’t get the full effect live. If you didn’t see it, the vine link is  here After watching, refer back to #2. That’s precisely what Beth Haynes was doing to my left shoulder at that very moment.

6.   Did y’all watching it on TV think that Mark Richt just randomly changed his mind on that 4^th down? Maybe it was the booing from the student section you think? Nope. It was Beth coming over the rails and grabbing his headset. That’s how she ended up in the paddywagon.

Don’t fret. Mark let her go after the touchdown. (I’m kidding, Marcelle.) This is not for real.

7.   After this game, I’m even more puzzled as to what melted down at Florida. Florida is the F word in my house, so that’s why I can’t say anything else about it other than it was sweet to see the Ol’ Ball Coach beat the Gators in the Swamp yesterday.

8.  What may have been sweetest of all though, was seeing grass in Nick Marshall’s helmet. He is a punk. I’m not just saying that because he got kicked out of Georgia and landed at Auburn. I mean that’s not exactly rare these days is it? He is a little too big for his britches and it was quite nice to see him shut down and held to 41 yards rushing.

9.  On a more serious note, it’s been some time since I’ve been to a game in Athens. I was really shocked at the trash all over the place. I’d love to think that it was left by pissed off Auburn fans. But I’m sure it wasn’t. I have to wonder if you losers throwing your beer bottles and potato chip bags all over campus actually went to school there. If so, you were undeserving of such an experience and I hope Karma bites you in the butt somehow… by having your kids end up at Auburn or something. Beth and Tim said it looked the same way at Arkansas but that’s different. That is Arkansas. Their mascot is a pig for goodness sake.

 10.   It’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog. Even when you are pushing 40 and can barely stand upright the morning after riding home sleeping at a 90 degree angle in the backseat of a chevy truck. Thank goodness next week’s game is a 12 o’clock game or this ol’ Dawg might not make it.

Oh one more thing… shout out to my friend Stacy’s daughter, Raley, who just found out she got into UGA! Best wishes for an incredible 4 years!

A Goat or two or three or five, A Fair, and a Mobile Home

 Since I was Ali's age, we've been going to the Georgia National Fair in Perry. I LOVE a fair in the fall and this year's fair didn't disappoint. We took my parents' motorhome for the first time this year and it was AWESOME. We all get a kick out of Addie Belle referring to the motor home as the "mobile home". But, I guess if you're going to a goat show at the fair, a mobile home is as good as any! I so much enjoyed having a place to go and rest between classes and we grilled out both nights.  My daddy is a heck of a cook and the food and company was fabulous. If you didn't stop by "Camp Cooper" during the fair, you really missed out. You'd feel real stupid knowing you paid 12 bucks for a turkey leg when you could have eaten with Al Cooper for free. Pete was loading up the livestock trailer and wondered why in the world my daddy was carrying so much ice. I had to respond, "Ummmm honey that's not all ice. There's food in all 4 of those super sized coolers."  I'll be running every day next week to work all of it off but man was it all delicious.  Addie took a 4th and an 8th place. I was so proud of her!

Ali Grace didn't have her best show, but she looked beautiful, and that's very important at a goat show!

Colten enjoyed a little mutton bustin'...

The weather cooled down nicely and we had a great time. I can't believe my own children are showing livestock at the fair. I also have several former students who have children now showing livestock. If I wasn't so confident in my youthfulness, I'd feel downright old.

Ali Grace has had a lot of success with the 4H forestry team so far this year. They won first place at the regional competition. They compete again at the Georgia Carolina Fair at the end of the month. We always enjoy that competition because Ali competes against her daddy's FFA Forestry Team. Winner gets bragging rights for a whole year.

She also started Social II back in August. She and her partner, Christopher just looked fabulous at the first lesson! I looked back at last year's pictures and couldn't believe how much both of them had changed since they first began Social I a year ago.  Love that girl to pieces. Not that many middle school kids can Foxtrot!

A couple weeks ago I spent the weekend tent camping with the Teacher of the Gifted and my cousin, Leigh Anne. Leigh Anne and I have known OF each other forever I guess but we've never had a chance to really know each other. Our fathers are first cousins. Well, let me say this- we spent the weekend with the South Carolina Wildlife Federation and paddle boarded, cooked outdoors, canoed, and had a blast. Leigh Anne hiked the entire AT a few years ago and I thought she would have a better plan for getting the dank smell out of my tent than to spray glitter body spray inside it but nope. When I opened the tent box to get some supplies for the motor home this weekend, glitter poofed out everywhere. Good times!

Addie has been burning it up on the Edmund Burke Cross Country team this fall. I am so proud of her I could eat her up. I always tell her I don't care what place she finishes. I am so proud that she gets out there and practices and then competes. The fact that she finishes a mile and a half race over the river and through the woods is really something to be proud of. I am amazed at how well she and the other elementary team runners have done! In the most recent race at George L Smith, Addie's friend Sidney was running close to her in the race. Addie said she heard Sidney fall and looked back. It looked like a bad fall so she stopped and helped Sidney up. Addie and Sidney finished the race a second apart. They got ribbons for 9th and 10th place out of 25 or so elementary runners. I could not be more proud of Addie if she broke a world record. In this rotten world, if you can raise kindhearted children who care about their friends, you've really done something. Jacqueline Kennedy is credited with saying "If your children don't turn out well, nothing else really matters."  Indeed.

Though she be but little, she is FIERCE! -Shakespeare

Other than that, we've been enjoying football season, small town livin', and just life in general. Anyone as happy as I am about the cooler weather??

Sweet Souls

Sometimes I have a hard time making sense of things. This week when I heard the sad news that my friend Trish Mooneyham had succumbed to a brain tumor, I really wanted to punch a wall or throw dishes across the room. Who thinks it's fair that a 35 year old woman with 3 school aged children is gone from this earth so early? What makes sense about that? Not understanding it all makes it hurt all the more deeply and if I'm really honest,  knowing it's not my place to ask why makes me even madder. It really makes me want to scream.

I first met Trish when she lived in Wrens and I was the chair of our Relay for Life. Trish was the youth chair. Children naturally gravitated to her and it was a perfect fit for her. Trish devoted a lot of time to the youth ministry at Wrens Baptist. After her health began to be more and more serious, she moved to Waynesboro and I lost touch with her. Luckily she came back into my life when her son Ethan played on Addie's Upward Basketball Team. During this time I really got to know Trish better. We spent many hours on those hard wooden gym bleachers complaining about our numb backsides and talking about things mamas talk about. Never once did Trish mention her cancer, her dim prognosis, or anything of the sort. She knew I knew how grave her condition was, but cancer was not the most important thing in her life. She was so proud of her children but never spoke of them like they were prodigies or geniuses. Rather, she was more proud of their character and their kindness. Addie was the only girl on the basketball team and Ethan was always kind to her and included her. He got that quality from Trish I'm sure. Trish often talked about the love she had for God and how happy she was about her children growing in their own faith. She admired her husband Joel's work ethic.We'd sometimes complain about our husbands leaving dirty socks around the house and just about general things husbands do to irritate their wives. We had a few chuckles over that. However, I remember her telling me once that Joel was the glue that held them all together. I can't think of a better way to describe a good husband. We talked about politics and our insecurities as wives and mothers. Through all of our conversations, Trish never uttered one single word indicating she felt sorry for herself. Although, I'm sure she had private moments where she struggled to understand it all, just like her family and friends are right now, she never showed that to me once. Cancer wasn't nearly as important to her as fully living her life was. I'm glad I knew Trish Mooneyham. I'm a better person for it.  So I know Trish wouldn't want me to be angry, throw dishes or punch walls.  She'd want us to live our lives as she did. With God and our families in the forefront and our troubles and baggage in the secondary. I'm going to do better about that. Farewell, sweet lady. I'll see you on the other side.

Because our family is weird and all...

Evidence of our weirdness... we wake up to an occasional goat on our front porch peering in the window.

I have always loved words. My family loves words. Writing them, speaking them, even inventing them... remind me to tell you all about the first time I heard my daddy use the word "RI- DAMN- DICULOUS"... yes when my daddy uses an expletive that's one thing, but when he inserts a 'cuss word" right in the middle of a perfectly good English word, you better scatter like scalded dogs. While we were at the beach in sunny Florida this week Ali Grace looked at me and said "Mama I know we have better summers than everyone else, because our family is like weird and all."  Well truer words have never been spoken. Especially at such a young age! I was a quiet kid and didn't really participate in all the story telling that went on whenever my family would get together either at large gatherings or just a few of us frying fish in the backyard. I probably couldn't have gotten a word in if I'd wanted to! It wasn't until I went to college and met people from other parts of the country, and from vastly different backgrounds than my own, that I realized not every family sits around telling stories and reliving moments of epic hilarity. Not every family is even blessed with "epic hilarity" on such a regular basis.  I assumed everyone sat around telling stories like "y'all remember when mama hooked the water hose onto the back of the station wagon and pulled the pump out of the pumphouse and dragged it all the way to Otis Skelton's store?"   Well let me tell you- not everyone was blessed with such an upbringing.

So when Ali exclaimed what a fabulous summer it had been- not because of the beach trip or the week at the lake or the summer camps- but because she really enjoyed our family's "weirdness", my heart leaped. Both Ali and Addie have a way with words. I can see it early. They have a wit about them that will carry on our weirdness. I'm happy about that. I'm happy that they both seem true to themselves and that truth comes with a clever wit that's being expertly honed by listening to the rest of the nuts in our family tell tales.

We did have a fabulous week at Clark Hill Lake....

And a great 4th of July...

We loved our few days at Jekyll Island...

And an amazing week in Florida with my Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Carlos...

Addie had a great week at Camp Hope with her friend, Lillie. It was hard to let her go since she'd been gone the week before to VBS at Red Hill with Gran.

Ali helped Poppy on the farm. This was her first experience driving the truck in the field. 

These kids are lucky ducks. I just hope they realize it. 

So here you go.... top 5 ways to tell if you're blessed with a family who's "like weird and all"...(other than the occasional goat peering in the window)

5.  Your grandmother has at least 3 stories about her wig that will make you wet your pants. One involves a wig being hung up in a sweetgum tree while she's riding a horse underneath a branch...One involves roping a horse with a bra..

4. You've ever had a random goat not only peer in the window but walk right in the front door...

3. Everyone in the family knows how PaPaw lost his right eye and can retell the story in such a way that makes you laugh about someone losing their eye.

2.  Your children don't require a stuffed animal or a special blanket in order to sleep at night but they do crawl up in your bed and beg you to tell "an uncle Ernie story"...

1. You're perfectly happy with your family's weirdness and even if you don't fit in anywhere else in your life, you know you've got a place right here. You'd rather fit in here anyway. The "crowd" is highly overrated. 

Here's the "weirdness" photo of the day.. Addie gathered eggs using a walking stick and wearing her easter dress.

It's a helluva life...