Four Cozette

 

Our little Cozette turned four years old. She's only been four for about 24 hours, and she is already asking when she will be five. She wants to be big. She asked me earlier today when she will get to go to high school. I answered, "Cozette, you're only in preschool, not for a very long time!" She recently declared that she wanted to get "holes in her ears." I told her she could get her ears pierced when she's 12 years old. Cozette has been talking about her birthday for the past five weeks. Every day she's been telling me all of the presents she wants for her birthday.

Here are a few of her requests:

a cell phone
a robot

princess conditioner

rain boots

everything

an ipod

and a pet goat.

I want Cozette to know how much we love her. We like it that she is little, and we do not want her to grow up. We love her innocence. She recently said that she was going to marry her daddy, and when he told her he was already taken, she announced she would marry Everett.  Everett is her hero. Kayleigh is her idol. I've said this before, and I will say it again. We are better people for having her in our lives. Cozette is witty, she is clever, and she is funny. We never know what she will say.

I asked her how it felt to be four years old. Of course, she amazed me with her response,"Well, I feel a little bit older, but actually Mommy, I still feel small."

She is also wise, because I've never had a birthday where I've felt older.

Happy birthday, Cozette

 

I Don't Know Nothin'

It never dawned on me that I should educate myself on the game of football before I attended Everett's jamboree on Saturday. I sat there and had absolutely no idea of what was going on. I don't believe I have ever watched a football game in my life. In baseball, I can sit right at the fence and watch Everett up close. I can give him finger fives right before he goes up to bat. I understand everything about the sport. I even joked with Brad that I could be an umpire!

Football is very different. If you blink you might miss something. And I did miss a few plays, because I was asking people around me what was going on. I tried waving to Everett while he was on the field. I got so excited for a moment, because I thought he waved back. Nikki and Kayleigh started laughing and assured me that he had no idea I was waving at him. Everett did tell me later that he saw us sitting in the stands.

This week I need to go buy Football for Dummies.

This is Everett's favorite picture. Look to the left. 

His leg is sticking out. He made his first tackle.

 

The Dreaded Day

The dreaded day has arrived. High School. I drove Kayleigh to school her first day and sadly watched her enter those huge doors. I could sense her apprehension last week. We went to orientation together, and it was a pleasant surprise to learn that she has friends in every class. It was a relief when she came home from school and said, "I am going to love high school!" She is taking AP human geography, honors science, honors English, math, P.E., and theater.  

On Wednesday, she started seminary. Don't ask me how I will endure it for the next six years. Kayleigh has to get up at 5:00 am every morning. We leave the house at 6:00 am. Seminary starts promptly at 6:10. At 6:11, you're tardy--no exceptions. We've made it through our first two days.

Everett started the 7th grade. He did not want me to take his picture, because he thought he would miss the bus. Kayleigh said that Everett's picture look like a mug shot. He thinks it is very clever. I asked how his first day went, and he responded, "It was just a typical first day of school."  I finally asked all the right questions and learned that he really did have a great first day.

Do You Miss Myrtle?

The Simpson family.

While we were driving to Seagrove Beach, Florida, Cozette looked at Nikki and casually asked, "Nikki, do you miss Myrtle?" Cozette was worried that she wasn't going to like this beach as much as Myrtle Beach. Over the past year, she has asked me several times for coins, so she can throw them in the fountain. When I ask what she wished for, she always responds, "I want to go back to Myrtle."

The trip seemed extra long this year, because we drove at night. Everett decided to eat tomato basil Wheat Thins that smelled up the van. After a while, we discovered that he was purposely putting them in the air vent. I tried not to laugh.

Thanks to some friends of Nikki's, we stayed in a beautiful condominium that was literally on the beach. We were so close that we could walk back and forth with ease. It was a luxury to experience the beach this way.

Cozette the beach bunny.

Cozette asked her Daddy to bury her with sand. 

It surprised me that she did not mind getting sandy.

The waves were extraordinary our first day. I believe that it was due to tropical storm Don.

As the weekend progressed, the water became more and more calm.   

When we left on Sunday, the water was so still, that it almost looked like a lake.

We could see this wedding from our back porch.

 It was the first wedding I have ever witnessed on a beach.

Our family picture.

On Friday evening, we went to a carnival at Panama City Beach. 

Brad took the kids on a banana boat ride the next day.

A miracle happened at the beach--my long lost curls returned!

Nikki and Kayleigh performing a magical trick with their glasses.

This picture was taken in honor of Quincy.

We loved the quaint homes along the beach in Seaside.

Cozette said at the end of the trip that she didn't miss Myrtle so much.

In the Month of July...

We spent a few days with two of our favorite people. 

We will always remember that Shirley kept getting in the way of a worker.

"S-cuze me!"

We went to the World of Coca Cola. 

Everyone agreed that the girl mascot must be Kayleigh's long lost sister,

since they both have amazingly long eyelashes.
And I need to mention that Cozette loves her Aunt Barbara
She even ignored Brad while Barbara was here!

We celebrated little Freddy's first birthday.

Obviously, he did not like the smash cake.

Isaac who is a.k.a. little Freddy, and a.k.a. the baby of the world, 

and now he is a.k.a. "the little stud muffin."

I took three little cows to cow appreciation day at Chic-fil-a.

Cozette participated in a puppet show at our local Barnes and Noble. 

The theme was animals on Old MacDonald's farm.

Cozette was a dolphin.

Coztte got her first big girl haircut.

She was sad that it was not shorter!

Other notable events:

Kayleigh went to girl's camp. This was her third year. She is becoming an old pro at it. I like it that I can talk to her at night. She comes home with the funniest stories.

Everett went to Boy Scout camp for the first time. They went to Camp Rainy Mountain. I did not know that we would not be able to talk with him for an entire week! Oh, this was very hard for me. Cozette asked about him every day. Even Kayleigh mentioned several times that she missed her "big head." Every night I would ask Brad, "Don't you miss him so much?"  Brad liked to tease me by responding, "Not at all." I guess more than anything, it made me realize the reality of him leaving for his mission one day, and not being able to see him for two years.

We sure were happy when he came home.

The Great Grands

My Granny Dot

Kayleigh and Everett had a grand time going to Charleston with Mommom and Papa. Everyone agreed that the highlight of the trip was going to see Granny Dot and Aunt Lizzy Belle. Granny Dot is my grandmother. Aunt Lizzy Belle is Granny's eldest sister. She was 21 years old when my Granny was born. Our family takes pride in the fact that Aunt Lizzy Belle is 104 years old!

Aunt Lizzy Belle was wearing a new dress and pretty pink lipstick.

Kayleigh said that she has the cutest little laugh.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip:

I assured my parents that I was not offended since I did not get invited on this little excursion to Charleston.

Good-bye June

Where did the month of June go? I always hope these lazy days won't go by too fast, and they always seem to slip away. We have been very busy doing absolutely nothing.  I believe that's how it should be in the summertime. Everyday we wake up, and we plan our day around having fun. This month we celebrated Father's Day and Brad's birthday. Kayleigh and Everett enjoyed a trip to Charleston, SC with my parents, and Kayleigh went to Especially for Youth for the first time. This was a life changing experience for her, and we have enjoyed hearing how wonderful it was for her.

Cozette said something very sweet recently. We were leaving to go over to my parents to have dinner with them. Brad asked me a question, and I answered, "I don't know, love." Cozette was sitting on the kitchen floor by Everett, and she reached out to hold his arm, so she could lean and whisper into his ear,  "Everett, Mommy calls Daddy love, because they love each other!"

And she also said something very funny. She asked me if she could have a yogurt. I told her to go get one, so she opened the refrigerator and stood there for a few seconds. "Um, Mommy, there are no vanilla yogurts!" I told her how sorry I was that I forgot to buy her new favorite flavor. So, she looked at me, put her little hands on her hips, and said very seriously, "Mommy, I am so embarrassed that you did not buy me any vanilla yogurts!"  I tried not to laugh. All I managed to say was that I was so very sorry that I had embarrassed her!

I love it when children misuse their words.