Everyone, I would like you to meet George.

Who is George you ask? Well, maybe you should ask what is George?!?!?! George is the peace lily that Ben and I recieved from Mom and Mark. I know it seems funny to give my plant a name but George and I have been through a lot together. It has been a rocky road for both of us, especially at the beginning when he first arrived. He started out very happy. He looked so proud and then one day I saw that he was drooping over with sadness. So immediately I checked his water situation and then moved him to a warmer place in the house. Two hours later he was back to his usual self. I was quite proud of myself for figuring out what was wrong until a few days later when he was sasd again. He did not want to tell me what was wrong so I kept moving him to different places. Let me tell you, his emotions must have been haywire. His leaves kept going up and down. Finally Mom came to visit and informed me the George wanted to move to a bigger place. I guess he was feeling quite cramped in his litte surroundings. So, Ben and I got him a 12 inch pot with a under bowl watering system ( nothing but the best for our George)! I am glad to say that George is quite happy in his new home, so happy that he has not drooped for a whole week! He is now permanately stationed in the kitchen on the table. Is was touch and go for awhile there but he pulled through!

Well....it's official....

I'm finally a complete Minnesotinite...or whatever it is called. I finally got my MN license and MN license plates..along with the plates came a new car for me! Yay for no more broken struts!! And yay for having heat now (which is GREATLY needed these days) and yay for having cruise control!! And YAY for having keyless entry!! Just an all around YAY!!! Although I am very excited about my car, I am still very stressed about it! And worried that it's a bit of a family car, but who knows, maybe by the time I get it paid off I'll have a husband and a lil' chillun..haha..I know..I crack you all up don't I???? Love you lots and miss you all TONS and can't wait to come home next!!

Kendall :)

Alvin, Simon, Theodore...doo, doo...!

Yesterday Karen, Kori, Aunt Gail, Mom, Aunt Stacy, and myself (Kelly) went shopping in Champaign together for fall clothes. We were at Old Navy when I got a call on my cell phone from Aunt Stacy to come to a certain part of the store so she, Mom, and Aunt Gail could show us girls something. This is how we found them! Sorry for the poor picture quality...it was with my cell phone!

Odds and Ends

Here is Ben squashing grapes for grape juice...I opted to mow instead!!!

Sorry there are two pictures of Leah...I could not get one to delete!!!

And below was a rare event...Leah and Fred slept at the same time outside of the house for almost 3 hours!!!! That may have been one of the best moments in my life!! No barking or whining!!

Okay, here are the pictures of the dining room/kitchen area. I now notice that I did not take any pictures of the kitchen side!!!! It must have been not so clean or something! But the colors are from Kelly's house and I know that is not very original of me but Ben and I find it hard to agree on paint colors so this seemed to be a good route to take.!!!! Don't you just love my little pumpkin sitting on the table!!! I just love fall!!!!

It's the Wii's fault!

Well, I feel so very important to have someone, Kelly, wondering where my postings are. Thankyou for that!! Yes, Ben and I did paint the kitchen and dining room and I think that it turned out quite nice. I did plan on posting the pictures last week, however, with the start of school and the classes I am taking I was completely overwhelmed! So, I decided to do it over the weekend. Now remember that it takes a good chunk of time for me to post pictures because I have no computer skills. Well as you can tell the weekend came and went and this is why. Ben and I purchased a Wii about a month ago and this weekend we bought the game Excite Truck and we are addicted. I really mean it, we sat in front of that T.V. all weekend and all of this week. We are bound and determined to beat the race tracks. I feel like we are teenagers again!! And let me tell you, I yell some pretty nasty things at the T.V. when something does not go my way! So as you can tell my time is spent cleaning the house, doing schoolwork, and playing the Wii. So for all of you who are coming over for Thanks-Christmas, be ready because there will be Wii playing going on!!! I will try to post those pictures tomorrow and maybe some pictures of Ben playing the Wii. He plays it more than I do!

Two Turtle Doves

I'd like to share some pictures of the guests who've been residing at our mother's throughout the summer. Seems they're enjoying their stay at the "Cooper Bed and Breakfast For Birds" so much that they just can't leave. A pair of doves have made their home at mom's in her hanging basket on her front porch. They must find the plant comfortable and a wonderful home to rear offspring as they are on their third set of eggs. The previous eggs have hatched, grown, flew the coop, and left an "empty nest" for their parents. But it doesn't take long for nature to run it's course again and the female lays more eggs soon after.
I have to say, I am amazed every time I'm at Mom's at how calm these birds are. It's a little freaky walking by this plant each time you enter or exit the house and you look up to see two little eyes staring at you. Though, it seems they'd be extremely protective and try to scare people away, they don't. Never have they attacked anybody! It always runs through my head as I walk by them, though, that one of these times, one is just going to get a little irked and fly up at me!

Kori! Kori! Kori!

OK, imagine "Kori! Kori! Kori!" said in a chanting voice from a large group of people reminiscent of "Toga! Toga! Toga!" Two weekends ago Kori said she took pictures of her newly painted kitchen and hallway and that she was going to post them on the blog that day. I've been checking the blog twice a day since to see her kitchen (As you know, I LOVE house stuff...AND she's using the colors I used in my kitchen, Biltmore Buff; so, I'm even more excited to see the finished product.

So, Kori, post your pictures!!!

Love you!
Kelly

ps - my next chanting taunt via blog will be for Heidi to start a blog....so, Heidi, prepare!!