Dilemma of the Day

I went to STARBUCKS for lunch
(no surprise there)
and bought a bagel

What do you do when
you forget to ask for extra cream cheese
and therefore
you have 2 halves
with only enough cream cheese
to adequately spread
on 1 half

Do you:

A - split the cream cheese equally, and have 2 halves with an inadequate amount on each half?

OR

B - spread the entire amount on 1 half, and therefore eat at least one of them with the "right amount" of cream cheese (very enjoyable) - and then proceed to eat the other half plain, to get full?

This morning I read Psalms 30-32

Seems like King David and I might be in the same boat.

How can feelings be so contradictive about the same topic?

One minute we feel this:
30:1 I will exalt you, O LORD,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
30:2 O LORD my God, I called to you for help
and you healed me.
31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for you saw my affliction
and knew the anguish of my soul.
31:8 You have not handed me over to the enemy
but have set my feet in a spacious place.

Yet, the next minute we feel this:
31:15 My times are in your hands;
deliver me from my enemies
and from those who pursue me.
31:17 Let me not be put to shame, O LORD,
for I have cried out to you;
but let the wicked be put to shame
and lie silent in the grave.
31:18 Let their lying lips be silenced,
for with pride and contempt
they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

Does it mean we’re wishy-washy, and can’t decide how we feel?

Or in my case, does it mean that I’m trying to RUSH to the END when God says it’s not over?

Philippians 1:6 - being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Cause she's the baby ...

Eyliana is …

• The spittin’ image of her mother – sometimes her duties may not quite get finished on time (as she has spent valuable time making sure others are finishing their duties)
• An innocent soul – when someone (ANYONE) tells her something (ANYTHING) it becomes non-negotiable FACT. (Why would anyone tell her something that wasn’t true?)
• Musically gifted – a music buff, she spends all CAR-RIDES singing at the top of her lungs to JQ99, Praise and Worship music. (My favorite SOUND right now is Eyli singing to “Free to be me” by Francesca Battistelli)
• The ‘I don’t do anything naughty’ child – [for those of you that have multiple children, you know the one] if she gets crabby at all, it’s because it’s 9 pm, and she’s begging to go to bed. (She never even fights with the other two - maybe it’s because the other two are too busy fighting with each other?)
• The true COOK – She watches The Cooking Channel more than Nickelodeon, and spends all her free time baking with Grandma Robin. (This morning, on the way to school, I listened to her 15-minute explanation of “Ways to use Fondant” – apparently it’s like frosting?)

Happy St. Patty's Day

Another Surprise!

Wow! We have been very blessed by surprise visits lately!
Dan's mom came home for a visit from Florida this week!

The kids are so happy to have Grandma Nancy in town!!

Im too busy to even blog....

But, the greatest thing happened today!
We were at the school watching Eyliana perform on stage -



- and CLEAR OUT OF NO-WHERE comes my baby nephews!! They came for a visit with their mom, from Wisconsin! It was a WONDERFUL surprise!

My week needed that!!!

Thank you, Karrie!

Helium Fun

I miss my ....

... baby Nephews. They live in Wisconsin now !

I got to see them this weekend for their Birthday parties - they are ONE and TWO years old (with another sibling on the way)

Here are some pics -

What do we call 'FUN'??

You already know how weird we are - but, in case you haven't been paying attention - here is the typical ~ LIFE in a DAY of the COOKS!

You may remember my Centerpiece on the Dining Room Table ~


Today, the boys decided to do this with them ~

And then this ~

And then - check out the floor at the end of this clip ~

Here is my Centerpiece now ~

(It's OK - Now I can get a NEW one - and Dan will have to pay for it)

Teach the Children

You know you're old...

You know you're old when at some point in your lifetime you have told ALL THREE of your children - "Stop sending FORWARD EMAILS to your grandparents" !!!!

It's been a while since I posted one of these...

Although I don't always post them, we still have 'Dan'erism's of the week - EVERY WEEK.

Here is today's -

Dan: "Shut your never-living pie hole"

Katie

Katie will start her first season of highschool soccer this Spring. To get her ready for the BIG TIME, she's been playing indoor soccer. This session, Dan has been coaching the girls - and he would probably want you to know that they won their last game 15 to 3.

The entire time Katie is on the field, the other parents laugh at her.

Not because she is a bad player - she actually scored 5 goals in the last game.

You see, Katie is a "yelper", as I call her. EVERY single time the ball comes in her direction, she screams/squeals/yelps/hollars, etc, etc. - "Ooohh" - "Uuuuu" - "Yip" - "OhhhMyy" - "AAhhh" - "Ouch" .

I can't even put it into words.....

I can tell you this- At the last game, a mother that I did not know said this to me:

Her: "Are you Katie's mom?"

Me: "Yes, Hi"

Her: "Hi, your daughter is so funny! At the last game when they let her play goalie, I have never had that much fun at a soccer game in my life. And I have been to ALOT. I was laughing so hard by the time I left here!! She is just a crack-up! Does she always squeal like that?"

Me: "Well I guess I never thought about it, but ya, she has always been a very 'vocal' child........ (to put it lightly)

This is the "We are the PROFESSIONAL coaches" shot.

Tyler

My son...

Daddy / Daughter Dance

Dan and Eyli went to their first Daddy/Daughter Dance on Valentine's Day. They had a BLAST at the dance - here are a few pics!

Only in Michigan....

... can you go ice-fishing and take a ride on the HARLEY on the same day in February.

Facebook Nonsense

If you don't have a facebook page, this probably won't make sense to you - but, it seemed like a fun thing to post - on facebook the "in thing" to do right now is post 25 random things about you...

I finally got my list done, and decided you all may like a good laugh.

1. I count steps – I live in a house with 2 sets of steps - I already know there are 7 in each set, yet I count them every time I go up or down.
2. My entire family snowboards – but, I am too afraid of riding up the chairlift to even try it (no comment from you, Adam).
3. If I won the lottery, the first thing I would buy are enough SMART WOOL socks so Dan and I could wear a BRAND NEW pair every day – forever.
4. If I won the lottery, the second thing I would buy is an ARTS PERFORMANCE SPACE for the school I work at - and it would be named whatever Carolyn thought it should be named.
5. Do I really have to think of 25 things?? I’m never going to make it ….
6. My dream job: Sing on stage as a background vocalist to Aaron Shust – and get paid for it.
7. I always put my socks on before my pants.
8. I LOVE using hyphens ------ I wish I could use them all the time!! (I’m not sure – but, I think I do).
9. It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to drink my STARBUCKS without a sleeve on my cup. In fact, I actually carry an extra sleeve around in my car just so I can have a spare, for emergencies.
10. I’m a sucker for hot-headed, tattooed, bad-boys that ride Harleys, and carry guns. I never would have guessed that woulda happened...
11. I’m in love with a man that would defend me till death – even if I were dead wrong.
12. I’m hoping there is at least one type of food in heaven - Grandma’s TACOS.
13. One thing I learned in 2008 – it’s amazing what can happen when you have a competent boss.
14. I was afraid of DOGS my entire life – in elementary school, I once stayed on top of the slide in the playground for 3 hours – because I saw a dog across the street (don’t ask me why the teacher never noticed I was gone).
15. Now, one of my VERY best friends is a DOG.
16. I make a living for my family as a “secretary” – yet, I can’t type at all - unless I look at the keyboard.
17. I’m not sure my NEW boss knows about #16 (Let’s keep it that way).
18. For real, who made up this stupid “you need 25 things”??? Probably someone that had nothing to do except think about all the “cool” things about them self.
19. I secretly hate the kinda people mentioned in #18.
20. I cannot finish the chips without the dip – or finish the dip without the chips. (which means I keep getting up to get more chips or dip to make the RATIO even – and therefore, eat too much).
21. There are only about 3 people in my group of “friends” that will actually read this entire list – most of them stopped reading before they got to #21 – therefore, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my REAL friend KIMI for reading the whole list – love ya, girl.
22. I would rather have 5 HAMPERS full of dirty laundry in my house, than 1 load of CLEAN laundry-unfolded-on my couch.
23. When I was 5 years old, I cut off part of my finger. They attempted to sew it back on, yet it turned black and fell off again. I am still missing part of my finger – but, NO ONE ever notices (yes, I’m totally serious).
24. Nobody TRULY understands my AMAZING ability to multi-task. I literally can have a conversation with you and sing to a song on the radio at the same time. I also can EAVES DROP on an entire conversation next to me, as I have a conversation with someone else.
25. The craziest thing I have ever done is let Dan convince me to go PARA-SAILING in Hawaii. I spent the entire time up in the air SWEARING at Dan – I have never used that language again, in my life.

Because Im really shy....

For those of you DEDICATED readers - so sorry! I need to start blogging more......

Conversation of the week
Characters: Dan and Kristie

Kristie: "I hope that Tyler doesn't get his heart broken by some snotty little girl - he's so nice to people! When he's in high school I may have to shoot someone"

Dan: "That won't happen, he'll be JUST LIKE ME - and he'll have 4 girls ask him out, and he'll say NO, and stay home"

Kristie: "Daniel - why did you stay home?"

Dan: "Because I was really shy around girls"

Kristie: "No, Daniel - why did you stay home?"

Dan: "Because I was really shy around girls - they scared me!"

Kristie: "No, Daniel - you stayed home because you are a homebody and would rather watch Discovery Channel on your couch, then 'go out' - YOU ARE NOT SHY AROUND 'GIRLS' "

Dan: "Yes, I was! I still am - Put me in a room with 5 women - by myself - and I CLAM UP and don't know what to say"

Kristie: laughing so hard there is no response

Dan: "WHAT? - I am SHY!"

Kristie: still continuous laughing

Dan: "I AM...."

Kristie: Still laughing.......(In fact haven't stopped laughing)

For those of you that don't know Dan, this will not be funny to you.
For those of you that have spent ANY TIME in a room with 5 women and DAN - you will still be laughing.

Sleepover

Katie is a highschooler now. I still can't believe how old I am. Last night, she had all of her "old friends" from middle school over for a sleepover.

It was so cool to see and hear them talking to each other (all at the same time) about high school adventures [like, 'my first day in a highschool LUNCHROOM']; between them, they all go to 5 different high schools!

How ironic, they all just got together and never skipped a beat....just like they saw each other last week..... That's the cool thing about technology - myspace, facebook, blogs, and texting - they talk to each other every day!!

Superbowl Fun!

We had a great time watching the superbowl with friends and family!

In the words of Jeff - "I've never been to a superbowl party where everyone leaves the room during the football game AND then runs into the room & gets quiet during the commercials"

(Yes, we carried our family room furniture up into the living room, so we could have 4 couches!!)

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.”