Our Weekend

Okay, this was actually last weekend.  We went to our 2nd restaurant on 4th street.  This place was Ethiopian.  I know you are thinking, that Ethiopians don't eat food, but it is AMAZING!  They brought out this HUGE platter with a pancake like piece of bread topped with 6 different things to try.  You tear off the pancake and scoop the toppings up with your hand.  The food was divine and the experience is one that I will always remember!  Much yummier than the Turkish place!
Here is my mom of the year moment.  I sliced up our apples and alternated the colors.  I told the kids to come see what weird apples they had picked.  They thought I was Wonder MOM!  

Matt and I went on a date during our primary party yesterday.  We went to the tailgate party for the IU vs. Michigan game.  The MBA students had a Philip Morris sponsored BBQ (or Barbie Toot as my new buddy Zach calls them).  And no, they didn't pass out cases of free smokerettes (as Cooper called them).  The tail gate party was GINORMOUS!!!  I bet almost all of Bloomington was there.  It is $15 to park in the designated blocks of tail gate parking!  I love people watching and this was the perfect place to do it!
Matt joined the International Business Student Association (IBS), not to be confused with Irritable Bowel Syndrome!  We went to a free dinner at a Chinese restaurant last week and this week we went to the Moon Festival.  There was an amazing dinner (for free :)) with lots of games for the kids to play.  I loved all the booths from the Asian countries, especially TAIWAN!   For those of you who don't know, I served a mission for my church there.  It made me really miss Taiwan.  I have met several students from Taiwan and it has been so fun!  I was even interviewed for the Student Newspaper, we will see if they liked what I had to say!

We went to the Mathers Museum of World Cultures.  They had free masks and puppets the kids could make.  I love watching my budding artists at work.  And yes, this too was FREE!!

To top it all off, I went to the annual Relief Society session of General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I love knowing that I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father!  He loves me and is aware of me and my little family here in Bloomington!  I loved the part about letting Relief Society be my mom.  That really hit close to home, because it is so true!  My mom passed away almost 10 years ago.  The most amazing women have taken care of me.  I miss my Utah women something fierce and am so thankful for the Bloomington women who are blessing my life now.  

Bowling, Rain and Attack of the killer Ketchup!

Cooper loves his "bowling shoes".  He keeps asking to go bowling so he can wear them.  Unfortunately they wouldn't let him wear them.  Fortunately, the real bowling shoes looked exactly like dads!
When it rains here, it pours!  It was amazing how warm the rain was on our bare feet.  As the grass was inundated with water, all of these crickets started hopping for there lives!  
Rubes was shaking up the ketchup to put on her hot dog, when KABOOM, it exploded!  Good times!  The funny thing about this picture is I made her sit there, covered in ketchup, as I ran to get the camera!

How 'bout dem apples?

We drove about 30 miles south of Bloomington to Bedford, Indiana to Applacres!  

It was awesome!  

We picked our favorite apples right off the tree.  We bought 2 pecks of apples, which I think is 1/2 bushel.  We have apples coming out of our ears!  

They also sold fresh cherry apple cider 

which is YUMMY!!

LIons & Tigers & Bears OH MY....

Saturday we went to the Exotic Feline Rescue Center.  Lets just say it was like Jurasic Park but with really big cats!  They were all in cages, but most of them were chain link.  If you got too close the animals would pounce and ROAR!  Ruby got to close to a cage and this 600 lb tiger pounced towards her!!!!  I almost peed my pants!!  It was an unforgettable experience.  So glad we went, so glad we made it out alive!  And yes, we really are as close to the felines as it looks!

Nashville!!

There is the cutest little town about 16 miles from here called Nashville. It is charming little town very similar to Jackson Hole. The drive there is beautiful, I can't wait to drive it in the fall. Our favorite stop was this darling little candy shop. Cooper was in HEAVEN! The owner let Coop sit up on the shelf in front of all the candy. We found a little restaurant that was covered with IU paraphernalia. It was a shrine to a previous coach, Bobby Knight. Cooper and I are having so much fun spending time just one on one. Unfortunately Ruby is pretty jealous.
Cooper has decided that it is easier to help me do laundry if he is in the dryer! The other day Cooper told me he needed some soup for dinner. I didn't have a lot of time so I grabbed a can of soup. He grabbed my cook book and said, "No Mom, I want REAL soup". I sure love this little man! He goes to preschool 3 mornings a week so I have 9 hour to myself. I have been working out at the YMCA! My arms are getting tired from doing the actions to the song everytime I talk about it.
Ruby is growing up so fast. It is really weird to have her gone all day. She got to skip a level in swimming lessons and that made her pretty excited. I am so proud of how well she has adjusted to our big changes. I love having a little twin!

We got his with the tail end of Ike. It was only 58 mph here. I can't imagine how scary it would have been in Texas with winds over 110mph. We are happy we still have all of our windows! Cooper was terrified. He hid under a blanket while we snuggled for 2 hours. So much for cheap gas, we are up to $4.15! Dang it!

We had our first tornado sirens go off. Nothing big happened but it gave us a chance to go into our tornado room and practice.

Saturday we went to a bike auction. Wow that was an experience! They had a real auctioneer that was amazing. It took me about an hour to stop talking like I had a banjo crammed down my throat!

Matt is working so hard with school. I am so proud of him. He is getting sick because he has pushed himself so hard.

We are having the time of our lives. There is so much to see and do here. We are so thankful for all the great people here and for their open arms. I know we are supposed to be here.

Why we love BLOOMINGTON

• Cheap gas
• double coupons
• trees, trees, trees
• great weather
• great family
• animals everywhere
• Brewsters
• Chocolate Moose
• Aldis
• YMCA
• Lower Cascades Park
• Bryan Park Pool
• Farmers Market
• Monroe County Library
• 4th street restraunts
• great people
• Wonderlab
• "Name the roadkill game" (lots of live animals, makes lots of squished ones too!)
• Clear Creek Trail
• Kelley Kids
• MBA Partners Club
• University Ward
• Rogers School (PE, Music, Art Specialists and a full time school nurse!)
• 
  

Preschool & Wonderlab!!

After much anticipation, Cooper started at Sherwood Oaks Christian Preschool. I was very impressed. His teachers are darling. We are going to have to get used to the "pledge to the Bible" and the "Pledge to Christianity".
We have been hearing about the WONDERLAB for months. Tonight we got to go for FREE with Matt's school. We had so much fun. I love the looks on my kids faces as they discover something new. PRICELESS!!
Rubes loved this full body impression maker ( you know the small one made of nails that makes an imprint of your hand).
This was a 2 story climbing sculpture. All the other grown ups were chickens:)