A T-Rex Named Sue

Last weekend we went to St. Louis to see my grandmother. Eric had a meeting/conference with people from his cluster headaches national group so my sisters and I took the kids to the St. Louis Science Center. We spent the whole day there basically and it happened to be the opening of "A T-Rex Named Sue." On loan from the Chicago Museum of Natural History - Sue is the largest, most complete T-rex ever found. Right now, Ryan is obsessed by dinosaurs and he was thrilled to get to see the exhibit. There was a movie about paleontology and "find your own fossil." They made dinosaur hats and everyone got to make their own stuffed dinosaur at Build-A-Dino (Build-A-Bear's shop inside the museum - man that can get expensive FAST).

We were all worn out by the end of the day but it was a lot of fun. Eric got a nice break and got to meet a lot of nice people. I had a nice visit with my family.

Soon after we got back, Alex came down with a 103 degree fever. He was subsequently diagnosed with a double ear infection AND strep. A day or two after, Ryan ran fever and finally Katie. Everyone got antibiotics and today they are all mostly better.

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!!! We had planned to celebrate at the annual Lunar New Year party in Springfield today but strep has us all celebrating at home with red cupcakes instead. Here's to a fabulous and healthy Year of the Ox.

S P I R I T W E E K (THURSDAY UPDATE)

It is spirit week at the kids school and every day is a new way to show their school spirit. Days 1 and 2 were "crazy hair day" and "mix and match day". It was fun to see all the kids and teachers show their school spirit through their dress/hair. It really was a lot of fun and I think a good way to make returning to school even more exciting for the kids. It is something special for the kids to see their teachers, staff, and administrators all getting into it. I hope to see even more spirit the rest of the week, but for now, here's pics of our kids showing spirit.

CRAZY HAIR DAY!!!!!

MIX N MATCH DAY

SLIPPER DAY

TWINS DAY

Well, Wednesday was the sorta lame slipper day where Ryan brought his Thomas slippers that were way too small for him. Thursday was twin day, so the boys went as twins. Yeah, daddy aint creative, but they did look cute. One entire class dressed alike with elephants, very very cool.

Happy New Year!!!

Wishing everyone a joyful, healthy and very blessed 2009!!

The Cohen family has big plans for this year. We want to get healthy, get organized and SIMPLIFY. I love the feeling of a new chance, a new start - change. No matter what 2009 brings, we follow the one who created us with His Purpose in our heads, His love in our hearts, and gratefulness on our lips. How wonderful to know that we can have peace and comfort even in the hard times when we live for Him!!

Our three angel babies are getting bigger and we are filled with wonder at them everyday. (Sometimes we wonder how we'll keep our sanity while trying to raise them to adulthood...) We had a great Christmas and Hanukkah. Aiya was here for a wonderful visit and we spent lots of time with family. We did simplify this year in the area of gift giving and it was BRILLIANT. A much less stressful season this year in that way. The kids loved having Aiya here. She has a great relationship with them and even though we don't see her as much as we would like, when she is here it is REALLY special time.

So - here is a Cohen family Resolution for 2009 - live with FAITH every day that God will accomplish His Will through us this year - to make the changes we need for His purposes to be fulfilled.

Happy New Year!


(Eric, baby, you CAN do ANYTHING you put your heart and mind into. Here's to you this year - I BELIEVE in you. I have FAITH in you. You are still my soul mate - ten years into this crazy adventure. I love you.)

Christmas Time

What does Christmas mean to me?

1. The birth of Jesus. My savior and my Lord. In his birth he laid the foundation for his death and resurrection. In all honesty, Christmas is all about The Gift. Ryan and his classmates sing a song about "The Greatest gift of All" and that is what the holiday is all about to me. I remember a Christmas I spent at Rosie's Place. Simply the best Christmas ever. Sometime you get a chance to talk to me, ask me about it. The story is too important for me to butcher in words.

2. Family. I spend a lot of time thinking about family throughout the year but this time of year Lori and I usually get to spend the most time with family of any time. My mom usually comes to visit and we get both Thanksgiving and Christmas family get-together. I realize every December how little time I get to spend with my brother, my parents and extended family but I try to be thankful for technological advances which allow me to be a bigger part of their lives from so far away.

3. Fun. Let's face it, there are too many stresses in life and pressures. When we get a chance to have some fun, try and take it and enjoy it. We got to go to Silver dollar city with the kids and it was a brisk but wonderful time. I was proud to see my kids get up on stage with Frosty, decorate some cookies, and shoot some guns :D Nothing better than knowing your little girl can shoot a small target form a distance. Maybe I will survive when she starts dating at 35.

4. Friends. I must admit that I dont take a lot of time with my friends. Some of it is family time and some of it is just my lack of energy when I get done with the kids. Either way, this year I feel closer to more good friends than I have in a while. From old friends far away to more recent friends far away to friends here in Bolivar, it seems there are more good friends in my life this year. I honestly am so blessed to have them all.

5. Community. I live in a wonderful town (who have an excellent 911 responce time in case you were worried about it). We are members of a good church with good programming for our entire family.

While Christmas is about the Greatest Gift of All and I am very greateful for that gift, I would be remiss not to mention the 2nd Greatest gift of All. This gift makes each of the above better and helps define why they are all important to me. This gift is all about what ties Christmas, Family, Fun, Friends, and Community together. I am of course talking about a 52" HDTv on sale now at many stores.





Lori and kids decorating cookies. I would have got a picture of the final artistry but they didn't last long enough

The kids wrapped up and ready to go back out and have some fun.



Noone cries and everyone is happy. Chances are they all asked for a 52" HDTv.





How awesome is it to watch life size events as a family? This parade was fun and I can't wait for the next one, which I hope we can enjoy on something other than such a small low definition television.


Yes, that is Xandie under the scarf. We all really enjoyed our time together.

(Editor's Footnote: The subliminal advertising for a 52" HDTV was put on by a staff member as a joke. Please understand that it does not represent the author or any of the family that publish this blog. If you are given an HDTV that you wish to donate to a family who promise to watch every episodeof 24 on it, feel free. Otherwise be informed that that was all in good fun.)

(Author's Note: The editor was covering for me. I was hoping to get a wealthy reader of our blog to donate an HDTv. I do not wish anyone to get me one for Christmas. The 2 greatest gifts should have been listed as Jesus and Lori Jean. The TV was meant as humor! ;)

Have a wonderful holiday season. No matter what you believe in or what you take from this season, I wish you and your family the very best. Enjoy what you have, ingore what you don't, and be thankful for what's to come.

WARNING: BRAGGING PARENT AHEAD

OK, I warned you.

We are always proud of our kids for their gifts, talents, and accomplishments. Today was no different for me. Alex went to school today and looked so big sitting at the table waiting patiently to get started with his first task. It finally hit me that he is such a great student in his class. We heard his teacher tell us how hard he works and that he spends free time with his friend Kate doing math, but sometimes it is easy to fixate on his home persona and forget the kind of student he is. I am so proud of him. The other day he subtracted 12 minutes from 5:08PM and come up with 4:56. Scary, I know. If you need to see a little of Alex the student, try and spot his intense bell ringing face here... http://www.bolivarmonews.com/articles/2008/12/02/news/doc492c7736a136b592866567.txt

Katie and I always get a little special time going from PCCS to BUM Kids where Katie gets to ask me 100 times "BUM Kids daddy?" or "Going to BUM kids daddy?" or of course "Katie BUM Kids?" Then she gets to grab my leg and play shy (while giggling the entire time). Finally, I offer to stay and play here while she goes and cleans the house and she says "Nooooooo daddy" and runs off to play. Then when I go pick her up, she always yells "DADDY!!" and runs up to hug me. The feeling is soooo awesome. She loves to snuggle with me and really grabs my neck and squeezes.

Ryan, on the other hand has always been the one who shows his gifts and talents as much as possible. He loves to perform and I found out how much he loves it today. His music teacher asked if he could go and sing at a christmas party with some of the other kids at PCCS for Bank of Bolivar's christmas party. He seemed a bit overwhelmed at first but there were times I could hear his little voice singing over all the other voices. I stood there videotaping the group singing but I was filled with such joy seeing him having fun and doing something he does very well. Each gesture and word were sung from his heart with such pure joy that I probably looked goofy with a huge smile on my face. When he was done, we went back to the van where I told him how proud I was of them for doing such a good job. Ryan said to me, "Daddy, why can't I be as good at P.E. as I am at singing?"

It was then I realized exactly how much he was like his mother. I remember the first time I heard Lori sing (it was on tape though) and how her voice was so amazing. She was shy back then and hearing her sing was just the most beautiful music I had ever heard and now I hear that same joy and beauty in Ryan's voice.

Anyway, enough rambling..... I tried to take pictures but they came out dark, so here is the best I got. Have a wonderful holiday season! :D

Just Random Stuff

I think I might just be going insane. I am spending time daily being more thankful every day for the blessings in my life. Mostly, I am focused on my family. I realize that one of the side effects of the depression that seems to infect so many people is the inability to truly count our blessings on a daily basis and put them in their proper perspective. It seems easier to focus on what we aren't and what we wish we were than what we have and what blesses our lives daily.

My kids are tough for me to really appreciate because they are my full time job. They consume my patience and my fears. I worry about everything to do with them and feel sometimes feel like being with them is a chore. But in the silliest and sweetest of moments, I truly get a chance to see the blessings my kids are to me and the wonder and joy they bring to my life. From Alex's joy of the change in time to Katies demand for her Teddy bear Blankee to the lengthy history of the continents of the earth from Ryan; I am a truly blessed man to have the time to spend with them as they go on with their day to day lives. Sometimes I know I take it for granted.

It is easy for me to appreciate my friends, our town, and our church, but it is tough sometimes to tell them what I feel about them. Either way, I doubt Ill be writing them mushy cards but suffice it to say I am very blessed with the people God has brought into my life.

My family (both the one I have and the one I've always had) are a blessing I sometimes take very much for granted. How many people can offer their kids 3 generations of advise from many different perspectives on any given day? My kids have 4 great grandparents, 4 grandparents (plus), an uncle, and 3 aunts (who pronounce aunt 2 different ways). while I wish we were able to spend more time with each and every one of them, we are just flat out blessed to have them.

Finally, Lori is often overlooked as the source of my strength and the receptor of the garbage I spew when I am stressed. I am proud to know her, let alone get the chance to share my entire life with her. Today I was telling a customer how I think people shouldn't congratulate Lori for our anniversaries because I am the one who should celebrate another year of her putting up with me. I guess in any good relationship a person will feel like they give more than they take and in the best relationships, both partners feel that way. I know I say I love you a lot to her but I dont think I show her often enough.

Anyhow, don't ask me why I posted today, I just felt like it. I have 2 thoughts for today:

Always count your blessings
Peace isn't the absense of conflict, its the ability to deal with it.

Have a wonderful day/night.

Race for Parkinson's

I ran my first 5K on Saturday. I have never run in the cold like that before, but it went well. It was a race to raise money for the Parkinson's Disease foundation. I was running for my grandfather, Farrel Dablemont, and for a friend and extended family member, Harold Wolrich. I felt a bit odd at first and nervous but everyone was very nice and encouraging. It was my best time so far, but far from where I'd like to be. I'm thinking someday maybe Ryan and I can run a marathon together.