My Wife

Well you all know by now that I am more of a talker than a typer.....So hang with me for a moment. my awesome wife is on the Cook page talking up all of our kids and even me at times.What I want to brag about is HER, ( Kristie Lynn Cook ) THE LOVE OF MY LIFE........ She of course will some way manage to get this little BLOG off because its about her, and how good she is. Allot of you know both Kristie and I but I'm not entirely sure HOW WELL you know us. Kristie has put up with me for 15 plus years, can you believe that? If you all need proof that there is a God this may be a way to convince your non believing friends.:)This little blog of mine is more of a brag......There are times in every relationship where things start to just become," THE NORM "... To many fish to be caught, soccer games, rehearsals, piano practice, snowboard club(2 nights a week),after school tutoring, board meetings, strategic planning meetings,HOMEWORK, goodness the HOMEWORK,classroom projects,house cleaning,laundry,feeding the DUD MAN. You know what I'm getting at,anyway my wife at the end of a long hard week still manages to have more in her to give. My attempt was to say everything she does but to keep it simple.....The only word that even comes close is AMAZING...... She is truly what I feel are the hands and feet of Christ. Thank you my love for everything you do....I Love you and respect you for all that you are.

My nightstand

Nope, Im not kidding.
This is a totally UN-STAGED picture of my nightstand.

For this time of year, I give up the Swiss Cake Rolls......

The Coolest School Ever

How many times have I mentioned the COOL place my kids go to school? Just so happens, I work there, too. This past week, we just got our new website up and running. Check it out, if you want to find out more about the cool place we spend most of our time!
Don't miss the monthly web gallery, as you may recognize a certain 4th grader!

"The Man Rules"

I get like 100 "forwards" per day from random people. I usually hit "delete" and move on with my day. This one caught my attention, it's worth reading for a good laugh. ;)


"The Man Rules"
At last, a guy has taken the time to write this all down
Please note.. these are all numbered "1 " ON PURPOSE!


1.Men are NOT mind readers.



1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it
down.

We need it up, you need it down.

You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.



1. Sunday sports It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides.

Let it be.



1. Crying is blackmail.



1. Ask for what you want.

Let us be clear on this one:

Subtle hints do not work!

Strong hints do not work!

Obvious hints do not work!

Just say it!



1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.



1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's
what we do.

Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.



1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.

In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.



1. If you think you're fat, you probably are.

Don't ask us.



1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways
makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one



1. You can either ask us to do something Or tell us how you want it
done.

Not both.

If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.



1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during
commercials..



1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.



1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings.

Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We
have no idea what mauve is.



1. If it itches, it will be scratched.

We do that.



1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We will act like
nothing's
wrong.

We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.



1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer
you don't want to hear.



1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is
fine...Really



1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to
discuss such topics as football or cheryl cole



1. You have enough clothes.



1. You have too many shoes.



1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

Job 8 [NLT]

20 “But look, God will not reject a person of integrity,
nor will he lend a hand to the wicked.
21 He will once again fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the home of the wicked will be destroyed.”

I don't get it.....

We spent a WONDERFUL weekend SNOWBOARDING, again. (Let me be honest - some of us SNOWBOARDED, and SOME of us sat in the cabin near the fire place - drinking hot cocoa and playing on the computer - I won't name any names.)

I was going to post some great pics that I took this weekend.....
Instead, I happened to notice that Katie posted all of these pictures - that she took - on her "myspace" page.

I figured - YOU ALWAYS get my perspective - why not give you THEIR perspective for once.

I know I'm really OLD and NOT COOL - but, I just don't get this - why do they have to stick out their tongue in EVERY picture?

Snowboarding 101

For those of you that needed the visual - here is the video clip of Eyli's first "exit off of the ski lift" -



Hopefully someday she'll want to try it again......

Someday.

I would......

I would be ordering a SCRIBS pizza tonight - because it sounds sooooo yummy !

But, I have 2 reasons Im probably not going to order one -

1 - I FINALLY got the bottom braces put on - OUCH! (I can't chew anyway - although, I could just lick the grease off the top)

and
2 - I am one of those people that sit in my warm house and feel extreme sympathy for the "pizza delivery boys" that have to drive in this BLIZZARD! (No sense in being the one that "makes" him come out on these dangerous roads)

SO, maybe I'll just have a few Swiss Cake Rolls???

Father Hood of the Baby in the Fam.....

Let me say trying to convince your youngest to go on the lift and then landing on her is not cool. As Ty says,that's 200 lbs. of fat man on her...... Well I tell ya she is a trooper for giving it a try, and she surely faced her fears head on. The greatest thing about the whole adventure was getting to the top of the hill and her and I praying together for a safe trip down the hill. The moments like this I share with my children are some of the best........Daddy is proud of you Eyli.......

We're Proud of You, Eyliana!

On Saturday, the whole Cook Fam went to Cannonsburg to SNOWBOARD for the day. We brought along some friends - Carina, Katie's BFF from Middle School AND Ronny, Katie's new high-school friend. We had alot of FUN family time together and enjoyed catching up with our buddy Carina!!




The most favorite part of the day was when WE ALL convinced Eyliana to go on the SKI LIFT for the first time EVER!! She may never do it again, as she had QUITE AN EXPERIENCE (According to her dad), but at least she is proud of herself that she finally made it UP THAT HILL!! (which, for the record, is more than we can say for her mother)

Daddy giving her some pointers...
(Telling her she was brave and mom was still a chicken)



After Daddy told her to calm down and breathe...
(as she was beginning to hyperventilate and scream "no" OVER AND OVER)



Success...
(She couldn't change her mind because there were too many people behind her in line)




Afterward, a little PEP-Talk from Daddy...
(Explaining that she may want to stick with READING and COOKING as her main hobbies.)





She's watched the video now 4 times...
(Either she can't believe she actually did it, or she wants to do it again?? - Dad says - not for another 5 years or so. Mom says - that's a little extreme.)

Congratulations, Tyler

Congrats to Tyler! He tried out for the Spring Musical last week and was given a LEAD role in the school's version of Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. He was the most nervous about the "singing" part - but, after he sang for his audition one of the teachers said "where have you been hiding?".

Tyler is so much like his father - ACTING will come as 2nd nature - and GIVE HIM A STAGE - we'll be moving to HOLLYWOOD by summer.

Congrats, Tyler! We are proud of you and can't wait till your performance in April!!

Faith Harbor

Our new church, Faith Harbor Ministries is off to a great beginning! Everyone in our small group has been working very hard to encourage each other through ALL the work that goes along with STARTING a new church. Bobby (one of our hardest workers :)) recently got our website up and running, here is the link if you want to check it out - Faith Harbor

We meet at Western Michigan Christian High School at 10:30 on Sunday Morning, JOIN US if you are looking for a safe place to WORSHIP.

VERY SMART Fab Four

PS: This is what a group of VERY SMART people look like.

My brothers tease me, because at every HOLIDAY I make them take a "SIBLING" picture. We have approx. one million pictures of the four of us, for every HOLIDAY of every YEAR. The boys throw a fit every time, and normally it takes 4 or 5 shots to get them to even smile. This one turned out alright - and Andy even looks like he belongs with the rest of us (instead of being the milk-man's kid).

We successfully moved Andy and his entire family to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin yesterday. They will live in a condo, approx. 40 miles from the NAVY base. This way, Karrie and the boys will be able to see him every night, while he is finishing SCHOOL. Hopefully, we will get to visit quite often, as it's only a 4 hour drive.

Dear Uncle Dan -

Because I am getting older now, I am SO OVER AUNT KRISTIE. Thank you for playing BIG BOY games with me on the XBOX. I didn't really matter to me that I was pushing the buttons on an OLD SIMON game (with no batteries) to play.
I had a GREAT TIME!


I love that we can ALWAYS win against the other boys,
even if I am sitting right on your neck while we play.

I like when we celebrate with high fives, knuckle bumps and hugs.....



Too bad, I didn't last till MIDNIGHT.
10:30 seemed like a great time to CRASH to me.

Happy New Year, Uncle Dan.

'We DID IT' Love, Dominic

Happy New Year 2009!

Dan and I rang in the NEW YEAR with all of the grandkids on my side of the fam. Being the oldest sister, I'm getting too old to 'go out on the town' - so, I offered to take the kids, while my siblings went out for New Years. We had a GREAT time playing XBOX, eating steak, playing cards, and acting silly - enjoy the pictures and HAPPY NEW YEAR!