New Purse

Most people will look at the title of this blog and think "Big Deal". But the truth is for me to have a new purse is a HUGE deal. I haven't carried or owned a purse for probably 12 years! In college it was just one more thing to lug around to class so I stopped using one and kept everything in my backpack. I got used to not having one and have used a little ugly green wallet that my mom gave me 12 years ago because it fits in my back pocket. I almost always have pants with pockets so as long as I have a place for my wallet, keys and chapstick I don't need anything else.

I still don't NEED a purse, but I was visiting family a few weeks ago and my sister Heather had just gotten a new Vera Bradley purse and I fell in love with it. I thought it would make a nice small diaper bag. Heather did a blog post about her new purse so I won't go into too many details.

Long story short, I splurged and bought a purse to use as a diaper bag and it arrived yesterday. I love it and will carry it around more than I would a normal diaper bag just because I love it. My splurge was only a splurge for me since most people would splurge buying a purse at full price...mine was 50% off

In town Grandparents

Our "in-town grandparents" moved to Springfield, MO today. We got to be good friends with them at the last house we lived it. Grandpa Whitey is so kind and generous he would give just about anyone the shirt off his back. He brought us a loaf of bread he made when we moved in and would frequently bring over treats he had made. We have raked leaves with him, picked pecans and played on his swing set. His wife, Marie is not as active as Whitey, but is always so kind and patient with Kimball. I know no one really knows this couple, but I have talked about them before to a couple of people so I thought I would post a few pictures.

Here are a few good-bye pictures of Grandpa Whitey and Grandma Marie with the kids.
Whitey with Kimball and Rebecah


Whitey and Marie with Kimball and Rebecah

Father's Day Celebration

We had a nice Father's Day. I made a Joseph favorite for breafast...breakfast burritos. We usually have them for dinner because they are a little heavier than I usually like at breakfast, but for Father's Day I can make an exception. For dinner, I think Joseph took pity on me and wanted the easiest dinner possible: English muffin pizzas, baby carrots, and fruit. I tried to make it a little special and made an oreo pie that I invented. I was a little disappointed that he didn't want a more elaborate meal, but I made him what he requested.

We gave Joseph two new Polo shirts. He has been wanting a "razorback red" polo for a few years so I got him a maroon shirt and then Kimball picked out a bright green one. Kimball has a thing for green right now so his choice wasn't surprising. The green actually looks really good on Joseph with his dark hair.

Joseph and Kimball together. Kimball is pointing to the size sticker on Joseph's new shirt.

Miracle Solution!

I was very dismayed, almost in a panic, earlier this week when I opened my dryer to pull out my load of white laundry only to find my white laundry was now white with purple stripes from crayon covering every piece of laundry. Somehow a crayon had made its way into the laundry. We think it was a crayon from church that was in Kimball's dress shirt pocket.

I did what any smart daughter does and called my mom. Mom to the rescue. She found a recipe online for getting crayon out of clothes. It worked really well I was so relieved to have an "easy" fix with only a small cost to buy a few extra laundry ingredients. I hope to never have crayon in the dryer again, but I'm holding on to this recipe "just in case". I did have to spend an hour or so scrubbing my dryer, but all is well.

For those Mom's who may need a miracle crayon solution someday here it is:

2 max amounts (line 3) of concentrated Tide
1 cup Oxiclean
1/2 cup 20 mule team Borax
1 cup Shout liquid
1 cup white vinegar
I went with hot water since my load was all whites. (the message that came with the recipe said the person had success with warm water as well.) Let this agitate for a minute, then add clothes, agitate for another minute to work through, and soak for about an hour and run on a regular, long cycle with extra rinse.

Trip to St. Louis

Last week was a busy and tiring one, but good at the same time. Joseph spent the first half of the week floating the Buffalo River with the Scouts. He had a blast and is already planning the next high adventure he wants to do with the Scouts.

His week was cut short because we went to St. Louis for his sister, Katie’s wedding.(Thank you Katie for saving the kids and me from an entire week without Joseph.) It was good to be with family on both sides. We were just together a year ago as a Coffey family, but in that time 5 people have been added to the family…4 babies and then Katie’s husband, Chris. The number of grandchildren almost doubled going from 5to 9.

With a full house at the Coffey house we decided to stay with my mom so I could see some of my family and so they could meet Rebecah too.

I saw my sister, Kristin and her family who I hadn’t seen for 5 years and I had only met her oldest son who was 1 the last time I saw him. It was fun having Kimball play with some boy cousins on both sides of the family.

My mom set up a tour of one of the local fire houses and it was a big hit with all of the boys. Kimball and his cousins proudly wore their hats the rest of the visit and at least Kimball has continued to wear his hat since returning home.

Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Our family the morning of the wedding.


The happy couple.


Here is a picture that Nathan, Joseph's brother, took of the 9 grandchildren. The age range is 6 years to 1 week.


The Coffey boy cousins playing in the sprinkler. (If Valerie and Melissa can be so relaxed and let their sons get all wet in normal clothes I guess I can let go and let Kimball too.)


The “in-town” sisters and my mom.

Rebecah and Aaron...two weeks apart.


Seeing the fire truck.


Sitting on the truck’s bumper.


Rebecah with her new doll which she loves! She loves to chew on the doll’s hair and shake it so she can hear the bell inside it.


The birthday girls. It was Kristin’s birthday the day we were there so she and Heather had a joint birthday party. Heather’s birthday is this coming Saturday.

Rebecah 5.0

Rebecah is 5 months old today. To the best of my knowledge, she weighs about 14 1/2 pounds. She is really starting to fill out and get chubby cheeks and thighs.

Rebecah is such a sweet baby. This past month she has really become vocal and likes to make happy sounds. She sucks on her lower lip to keep herself content. She likes to pull up her dress or shirt to either look at it or suck on it. She started sleeping through the night a little over a week ago and that is wonderful. Kimball didn't start sleeping through the night without feedings until he was almost 9 months old!

Here are a few pictures of her.

Holding up her dress so she can look at it.

This one is for you, Daphne, your little hambone.

I'm not sure why the last picture isn't horizontal...it is in the picture file.

How Does He Do It?

Kimball never ceases to amaze me. He is very clued in to things that are important to him. He can recognize cars like you wouldn’t believe. A few weeks ago he started pointing out all of the Toyota Corollas and saying “That looks like Grandma and Grandpa’s car”. They have a Corolla. What really amazed me was that even more recently he said “That looks like my “Jonathan” car”. (Jonathan, Joseph’s brother, gave Kimball a toy Mustang when they visited in February. It’s about an inch and a half long. The only reason I knew it was a mustang was from the box.) Kimball saw a real Mustang car and was able to make the connection between his toy car and the real thing.

Jonathan car not pictured.



Here is another “how does he do it” moment:

Recently he wanted to listen to the song “Happy Wanderer” from one of his children’s songs CDs. He has 8 of these CDs and I had NO clue which CD it was on and we were driving in the car. I asked him what color of CD it was on and he said “orange”. I had no clue but if the orange CD would fit the bill, fine by me. I put the CD in and we went about our errands. We were almost home and we had gone through 17 of the 25 songs and we still hadn’t heard “Happy Wanderer”. I thought maybe he really didn’t know what CD it was on and just said the orange one as a guess. I decided to skip through the rest of the CD just to see. Sure enough, song 24 of the 25 was “Happy Wanderer”. I don’t know how he knew, but he did. I only know the beginning song on each CD, but Kimball apparently knows every song and which CD it belongs to.

Kimball loves this song and he’ll be singing the chorus in the store or in the middle of the night. He has done the middle of the night serenade a couple of times now. Thankfully, Rebecah and Joseph don’t mind. I’m the only one who hears it.

Here are the words to the song.
Happy Wanderer

I love to go a-wandering
Along the mountain track
I love to go a-wandering,
My knapsack on my back
Valdaree, valdarah, valdaree,
Valdarah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Valdaree, valdarah,
My knapsack on my back.

I love to wander by the stream,
It dances in the sun
So joyously, it calls to me;
“Come join my happy song.”
Valdaree, valdarah, valdaree,
Valdarah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Valdaree, valdarah,
My knapsack on my back.


I wave my hats to all I meet,
And they wave back to me
And blackbirds call so loud and
Sweet from every wooded tree
Valdaree, valdarah, valdaree,
Valdarah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Valdaree, valdarah,
My knapsack on my back.

Oh, may I go a-wandering until
The day I die
Oh, may I always laugh and sing
Beneath God’s clear blue sky.
Valdaree, valdarah, valdaree,
Valdarah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Valdaree, valdarah,
My knapsack on my back.

Happy Anniversary!

At the St. Louis Zoo May 2009

Today is my Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary, so this post is a tribute to them. We had a family reunion 10 years ago when we celebrated their 50th anniversary. It was a lot of fun and the past decade has really flown.

My grandparents are awesome and a lot of fun. Grandma is always trying to include me in the crossword puzzles she and my mom do even though I'm not good at them at all. My grandpa is so patient with us. Growing up he would play tennis with us and always started us out by hitting the tennis ball against the fence.

My grandparents are in excellent health for their age. The last time Joseph saw them (2 years ago) he said most people their age are not so youthful or active, and Joseph sees quite a few elderly people in his line of work. My grandparents aren't elderly though, they are just upper middle age!

I could go on and on about my grandparents, but you either know them and know how great they are or you don't know them and might get jealous!

I hope my grandparents make it another 10 years together...longevity does run in the family.


May 2009


April 2008 (Kimball sure changed a lot in a year!)

HURRAY for Good Samaritans!

Last weekend we went to Memphis to attend the temple and we stayed overnight in a hotel. I was feeling a little rushed when it came time to check-out and I accidentally left one of Kimball’s special blankets in our room. We didn’t discover the mistake until we were home and it was almost bedtime. I felt sick and Kimball cried when he learned his “dump truck” blanket wasn’t at our house.

A couple at church has family in Memphis and they happily went to the hotel and picked it up for us on Monday. They then proceeded to ship it to us in a very speedy fashion.

The blanket arrived yesterday and I took Kimball to check the mail with me. When we opened the mailbox and saw the package Kimball happily said “It’s my blanket!”

I was even more appreciative when I realized this family lived 30 minutes from the hotel. It is nice to know there are good people in the world who understand the attachments children have to objects and go above and beyond to help out strangers.

The package was even addressed to him!