a little known fact.. about me

okay so its a fact.. i am defiently known for putting my foot in my mouth, talking too much and often too loud and saying stuff before i really think about it.. thats me for sure. Growing up i was always one those girls in school who got in trouble for talking too much.. surprising right, not (me and kwynne often together) and my family still to this day bug me about how loud i talk and laugh..sorry its a "Hansen" thing, its not my fault.

 So a while back, my friend Karen and I were discussing how we both do this same thing and we recalled many times between the two of us, (Karen's -Are you pregnant?? story is a pretty good one too, haha)...but nothing stands out more than the "New Moon" movie night with all the ladies.. well those of you that were there..you know how verbal i was, I mean who is this girl, does she get out of the house much??
especially when it was like "silence of the lambs" in the theatre and i was talking about how sweet Jacob's abs were.. oh man seriously Rachelle, your married get a life.. i was such an idiot. Don't worry i dont offend my husband usually, sorry babe, well he's kinda used to it by now, he knows i am pretty innocent and don't always mean what i say.
 Back to "New Moon", I remember Jeremy coming home from school the next day saying "Hey Jacob has some sweet abs eh?" Literally I almost died of embarrassment.. like seriously i must have really embarrassed myself if my friends husbands were talking about it?? I mean come on Rachelle, get some control. I think my problem is i really don't fully think about what i am going to say, i just blurt it out, and then step back and play it in my head after, hours later.. and realize okay you sounded like such a moron.

I cannot even recall all the parties, baby showers and games nights (oh those are the worst), where i have come home after and been like why did i say that?? Or why did i have to talk so much about that-Holy way too much information??  Did i like totally offend someone?

Seriously i'm i the only one that does that??

People always say how funny or hilarious i am, but really i think its more them just laughing at me for the weird things i say that they might want to say but dont! And people that don't know me very well, might think i'm a little strange at times, but know that its just Rachelle.
I defiently know how to have a good time and having a good time always means socializing a lot, and that usually gets me putting my foot in my mouth.. so there you have it.

a little known fact about me. (like you didnt already all know that, right?) 

Hopefully you all know that i always mean well- REALLY mean well and sometimes i get having a little too much fun and then my mouth takes over and i'm in trouble.. or so i realize..later.

I was again reminded of this incident the other night -by yes, putting my foot in my mouth..and i'll just leave it at that :)

why i miss Nursery

I meant to upload this video FOREVER ago.. and while i was trying to organize some videos last night i stumbled upon it. This was from back in November just before he turned 3 and already Elias looks alot younger.
Elias loved Nursery and these were his few favorite songs that he learned. (thanks krystyn)
I love how he talks about Sister Kratz too, she is a senior in our ward and was one of Elias' Nursery leaders, i guess he was reminded of her when he was singing these primary songs.. so so cute!

so just a few little reasons why i miss nursery: much younger, more innocent and even his voice sounds sweeter.. love you little buddy.


Elias singing Primary songs from Rachelle Cooper on Vimeo.

night time rituals

Baths, storytime.. its the usual routine. My kids love baths, its defiently a nightly occurence around here before bed. And of course i couldn't help but take some pictures of Nixon standing by the tub with his cute little bum.. like seriously the cutest naked little boy ever!

The boys love being in the tub together and Elias is constantly picking on Nixon, poor little guy.. always getting soaked to death by his big brother. And Nixon just takes it, he's going to be one tough cookie since having Elias for a big brother. Also Nixon won't sit still, always standing up and trying to move about, especially in the tub, at least a few times he's almost slipped right out of the tub, good thing i was right there, about gave me a heart attack.

And furthermore Elias can't go to bed without his much needed story time, I've really been trying to have Jeremy read stories to Elias most nights when he can. He doesn't get to spend much time with the boys and Elias loves it when Daddy can read to him, especially if its Curious George.

nothing special, just a typical night for us.

Oh Frosty the Snowman..

I was reminded of this video i wanted to share from Christmas, its of Elias singing "Frosty the Snowman" at the Cooper Family "mini" talent show on Christmas Eve.  I was pleasantly surprised that Elias knew mostly the whole song, while we were at Coopers he started singing this and so Grandma Cooper asked if he would sing it at the party.. i had to help him a little throughout cuz he was a little shy with everyone watching but man is he so cute, i love his pronunciation of some of the words and his shy little smirk through out the song. This is by far his most favorite home video and asks to watch it all the time.

Elias singing Frosty the Snowman from Rachelle Cooper on Vimeo.

sweet things..

Elias is now a Sunbeam and in Primary. I couldn't have been more nervous about him having to go to Primary and having to sit still for soo long.. as anyone knows Elias is a very active little boy but he is actually doing really well. The first Sunday was a little hard, but he did excellent today, i got to peak in and see him sitting nicely in between all the girls singing songs. It was so so cute, i was a proud momma!

my boys just chilling

side note: 

as loud and active as Elias is, he really is such a sweetheart and says some of the kindest things.. daily he tells me out of the blue "momma, you are beautiful" and is quite a protector of Nixon these days.
Over the Holidays, one night my parents watched the kids for us and so they put Elias in their bed and Nixon was in our room in the playpen.. Later my Dad went to go check on the kids and couldn't find Elias anywhere.. finally he looks in our room where Nixon was sleeping and Elias had gone into our bed.. My Dad said " How come your in here?" and Elias sweetly said " Papa, Nixon needed me".
aww.. that right little buddy, he does.  just wanted to write that down for memory sake.

Christmas and a whole New Year has begun..

It was really nice to get away for close to 3 weeks, lots of family, lots of fun times and lots of moving to and from.. but all worth it, mostly. Christmas is always kind of chaotic for us, so much to do and lots of family that live close together. Mine and Jer's parents live 40 minutes apart and we must have went back and forth at least 4 times not including my parents cabin as well.. depsite all the packing up and hauling, it was really nice to always be somewhere different, change of space and Elias was sure NEVER bored, always having different cousins and toys to play with.
Overall it was good times, my whole family was able to make it home for Christmas.. that was especially nice for me.. hanging out with my sister and brother's family that we don't see much. Jer's family was all around too, they all live so close together and it was especially fun on Christmas Eve.. we played games and the kids did the nativity.. Elias loved being a wise men.We also got to go to Montana to the cabin, man it is so beautiful in the winter, all the trees, mountains and snow.. awesome! The kids had some pretty fun times, sledding, quading and skating. Elias tried out his new skates for the first time (wish i had a pic), Jer said he looked pretty cute. I can't wait for him to start skating next week.. i know he will love it!
Here are some pics from the Cabin and Christmas morning.. (i wish i could figure out how to get the quality better with these mosiac collage)

As for Holidays its always especially nice to come Home after being gone so long, and just get back to a routine.. i love having routines, i like being spontaceous but i love having a schedule more. The kids are sleeping so much better now, and me for that matter. And well its nice to be home.
So glad we went.. and yikes only 3.5 more months until Jeremy is done school for good.. isn't that crazy. I mean seriously its making me nervous, really nervous so much to do and still unsure of our plans for the future..

And as for the New year.. I've never been much of a New Years Resolutions person, but decided i am really going to try to accomplish some of these goals, i know there's lots.

Health: get exercising, at least 2 times per week..i know kinda lame, but its something.
and get taking those vitamins everyday
Spiritual: Doing prayers and scriptures together every night (trying to improve from last year, so far so good)
Attend the temple MORE.. that should be a bit easier once we move back to Alberta.
Read most of the Ensign every month,  (inspired from my mother-in-law who has read the Ensign cover to cover for 17 years, impressive..i know!!!)
Family: Date night once a month with Jer (hopefully). Special outing with Elias and Daddy once a month. Less TV and more uninterrupted and creative playtime with Elias and Nixon.
Personal: Get photos and videos organized, Be consistent in writing in my online journal, Learn to sew, Read more books, and finally get my Blog photo book done.

I figure if i write them down like this, just maybe i might accomplish some of them.

Also for the New Year, i am using this similar family routine.. twicked to my own liking of course.. I love all the ideas of activities and i just love having everything written down, like the simple things- getting actually dressed in the morning, tidying up the kids rooms before bed and so on...
seriously i have ours printed out and I refer to it all the time.. I have deleted some things and added tons and for some reason it has made life so much nicer..
life just seems simpler. and better.