Life goes on...

So life goes on, even if I don't get around to blogging about it. Since our lives our absolutely fascinating over here at the Hooper house, I'll give ya'll a little update....lol (I really am trying to keep this up for a journal for our family, but yikes, I'm always behind.)
Beware--LONG POST...and I can't ever get the pictures to come up in the right order, so this will be a bit random. :)

For Ryan's graduation/anniversary gift, I sent him on an almost free trip to Guatemala. He's always wanted to go, he had the airline miles saved up, and his cousin was going too, so off he went. I'd have LOVED to see Tikal, but NOT LOVED the R.O.U.S.'s and other wildlife just running about NOT safely behind bars (like a zoo) (I'm deathly afraid of pretty much any animal if its loose) also I would have NOT LOVED the yucky hotel they stayed in. So this was a great "mancation" for Ryan. We missed him, but are super happy that he had a great time and got to check something of his bucket list.
Isaac is doing great. He is such a handsome young man, and keeps his mom and dad on track. We noticed that when he was reading his nose was less than an inch away from the page, so off to the eye doctor we went. Another Hooper in glasses. I think the Hooper family alone paid for the eye doc's vacation this year. (grumble, grumble) For anyone keeping track, that's 3 out of 4 so far...I'm just waiting for little Seth, I'm sure its coming)I was venting to Ryan the other night about the fact that our boys eyes are MUCH TO BEAUTIFUL to be hidden behind glasses. He (always the wiser one) pointed out that we'll keep them in glasses 'til after their missions and then get them fixed or get contacts, and THEN we'll let the little ladies see their pretty eyes. I like it! hee hee hee :)
p.s. Even glasses can't hide these beautiful baby blues...
-Also, I only referenced the glasses hiding the BOYS' eyes because Olivia doesn't have to wear hears all the time, but hers are gorgeous too. :)


Grantman got his cast off this week. The first thing he asked for after it was off was if he could run around and get all sweaty and dirty. I said you betcha!!! (Yes, the mean mom that I am, I made him stay relatively clean so his cast wouldn't get too stinky--glad I did too) Here he is jumping out of the swing at the parkSeth has been so much fun lately. He talks ALL THE TIME. He hears everything and touches his ears and says "what dat sound mama?" ."..is it a train?" He also notices airplanes and LOVES them too. Some of my favorites of his are..."uh-oh, mama my pants" (when his pants fall down--which is often) Popporn (popcorn) "pease pease cannies my hands" (what can I say, he loves candy) "crap crap" (quack quack ...hee hee) Last week he climbed out of his crib three times, so now we moved him into the big boy room and he sleeps on the crib mattress stacked on a bunch of food storage cans. It took a couple days, but now he loves his big boy bed. Only potty training left to go. (not ready yet though)

For my birthday/anniversary we took the kids to the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson. We had a great time. Seth did not disappoint with his reactions to seeing all those animals. Good times

Olivia has been very busy, but she's happy. Her arm is better. It has been frustrating for her to have to catch up a bit in gymnastics now, but I know she'll be stronger than ever in no time. School has been a bit crazy for her lately. She has been doing extra stuff for her regular class (because her teacher is making books for all the kids) besides her ALP stuff, so she hasn't had a lot of free time. Thankfully they are almost done and she'll have more time for stuff she wants to do. The other day I was sitting around looking at FB, and I look over and Olivia is reading a dictionary "for fun"...that's when you know your kid is getting smarter than you for sure! The next day I checked out a bunch of classics from the library to read...can't let her get ahead of me just yet!

My kiddos can't resist a candid photo... While we were at the zoo the kids were talking/debating on what the smartest animal was. Next came whitch was the dumbest animal. (Ryan and I were just laughing to ourselves listening to them) Then Olivia asks Ryan what the dumbest animal is. Before Ryan could say anything, Isaac chimed in that FRANKENSTEIN was the dumbest....DUH!
Gotta love it :)

We loved this zoo for the ages of our kiddos. It was cheap, totally paved, and small enough that the kids didn't complain about being tired. The animals are very close too. And most important for our kiddos, they have two polar bears--a favorite animal at our house. :)

As for me, its been busy, but its busy doing what I love, so I can't complain. Time is going by way too fast to not enjoy this sweet family of mine. For Valentines day Ryan really went overboard with flowers, a new dishwasher and a new garbage disposal. Well, I told him the dishwasher and disposal could count as Valentines...our house seems to be falling apart! I love my new dishwasher though!!! Thankfully we were only out of a working dishwasher (besides the one named Misti that lives here) for a couple weeks. If only I could get a bathroom washer...put the soap in, close the door, come back in a few hours and sparkling clean--I know, in my dreams.