Thursday, December 21, 2006

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays from Cotterman Chaos!!!

2006 has been a busy year once again. I know it sounds corny, but I really don't know where the time has gone. It seems like only yesterday that we were chasing baseballs and today we are baking Christmas cookies. The kids are finally healthy. Noah and Emma had a bout with pneumonia this past week, but all seems to be well now. Today is the kids' last day before break. They sure were fired up.

Paige has grown in to such a lovely young lady. She is flourishing in the sixth grade. Her grades are the best ever and she seems to really be enjoying herself. This first year with braces has really helped her self confidence. She even had a speaking part in the Christmas play at church, I couldn't believe it.

Noah is, well Noah. Loud, crazy, and just plain fun. First grade has been a breeze for him. I keep waiting for the time when it will be harder for him, but it hasn't happened yet.He is beside himself waithing for January 8th when his Buckeyes play for the National Title. He is bargaining with me to let him stay up late to watch the game.

Emma is a very busy two-year old. She wants to do everything herself. It can sometimes take forever for her to get dressed in the mornings, but I guess it is worth it. I just wish she would show this much initiative with potty training.

I hope that this finds you happy and healthy. I wish you the best for 2007. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Cotterman Chaos - Fall 2006

Well, another busy fall has just seemed to fly by. Hard to believe that we are already 1/3 of the way through the school year. The kids are doing very well in school this year. Paige is a member of the Safety Patrol and is having a great time being the "senior" at the elementary school. She says it is really great being able to boss the younger kids around and get away with it. She is getting great grades this year. She is being tutored three days a week which I think has been a big help to her. She has always struggled with reading and comprehension and it just seems to be coming together for her this year. She has be come the social butterfly and is involved in a lot of things at school. Basketball season has begun, and we are into another year of dance. Hard to believe that she has been dancing for 9 years. Her goal is to dance for 10 years and then concentrate on sports. I think that is wonderful. Some exciting news from Becky's School of Dance. Paige's dance team has been selected to go to New York City in late June to take classes on Broadway!!! She will spend a day with the Rockettes as well. We are so excited. Mom and Dad are planning a rock, paper, scissors competetion to decide who gets to chaperone.

Meet our Aunt Gin. She turned 70 this past September. We celebrated by having a party for her at her church in Dunkirk. She has cerebral palsy yet lives alone. She does have a few good friends that help her out, but is pretty much independent. She is a great role model for our kids. She is alway laughing and enjoys a good joke. The kids just love her to death. We like to tease her about being a "Hardin County Hillbilly" and she just takes it in stride.
Emma is having a good time. She is becoming quite the diva. She loves sunglasses and anything girly. She calls sunglasses her "eyes" and wears them all of the time. She is learning to count and knows most of her colors. She has no interest in potty training at this time, much to my dismay. My goal was to have her trained before Xmas, but I'm not sure that is going to happen.
Paige had a great season in Cross Country. She bettered her own times in each race. We had to have a talk with her a the beginning of the season as she would wait for her friends to that they could finish together. We explained to her that cross country is not a team sport and that it was all about her. At her competition at Lake she helped a 5 year old that was crying through the whole race. We can't fault her for being kind. It is wonderful to watch, but we're not sure this kind of sport is for her.
Noah just loves football. We again got to go see the BGSU falcons play at home this year. He just eats it up. I think it is in his blood. He tells me he loves the smell of a football field. (Mom can't wait to smell those practice socks, NOT) He had great season as waterboy, but he gets upset that he can't play yet. He is doing very well in school. Brings home perfect papers in every subject all the time. He says he is bored. I am so grateful that is doesn't have to struggle that way Paige has. I do expect that it will get a little harder for him as the year progresses. He will start basketball soon. He has decided that he does not want to wrestle this year. He is also having a great time having his dad as his Cub Scout Leader. Posted by Picasa

Friday, September 15, 2006

Summer 2006

Paige's softball team who finished 3rd in their division.

This summer past summer has had to be the busiest yet. Chasing diamonds, (baseball, softball) swimming, and work. It is enough to make a girl go gray. Oh, wait a minute, I AM gray. These are just a few pics from our busy summer. So much for trying to keep up once a week. I'm lucky to get to it once a month. Things aren't going to get much easier. Paige is running cross country. Noah and CJ are running around the football field and Emma is just running. CJ and I will be celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary tomorrow. How time flies when you are having fun. I really don't know what I would do without him. He keeps me sane. I forever am grateful to God for giving me this gift of a husband.

Frieda and Paige having a sleep over.

The kids are back in school. Noah seems to like first grade. Hates the new year review. Says it "Boring!" I'm sure it will get harder for him as the year goes on. Paige is strugling a bit with reading and writing. These are always her tough subjects. She is doing great in Math though. Wish I were better in Math. We are going to get a tutor to help with the language arts though. I think it will help her a great deal.

"CHEEEEEESE!!!"

Emma is handling the kid's being in school pretty well. I have become her #1 play toy though which causes me some trouble when it comes to cleaning etc. She wants me to be at her beck and call all day long.

How cute is this?!?

I will try to get some more pics from our summer posted soon, look for football pics as well. I hope everyone is healthy and happy. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Welcome to the Cotterman Chaos Blog. I am hopeful that this will help our family and friends keep up with all that goes on here at 300 North Main Street. It is my hope to update this once weekly. Let me know what kind of information you want to see here and I will try to comply. I am pretty new to this so hopefully I will be able to get this thing up and running. I would like to post some pictures each week as well.

Just a quick update on everyone who is involved in Cotterman Chaos:

CJ: also known as the head honcho. Works like madman on everything without asking much in return, except maybe a Yankee win. Spends a lot of his time at Equity Group making hamburgers for McDonald's, keeping his wife in business. Recently named to the coaching staff of the North Baltimore Midget Football Team. Continues to run into burning buildings with the North Baltimore Fire Department, and drives the ambulance for the North Baltimore EMS, again keeping his wife in business.

Tracy: Chief cook and bottle washer. Runs around like a chicken with her head cut off most days trying to get everyone where they are supposed to be on time. Would love to spend her days out in the garden or scrapbooking some of the 4000+ photos she has taken with her digital camera. Spends most of her time at Wood County Hospital in the ER trying to save a few lives, whether they like it or not.

Lindsay: Working hard to get everything she wants out of life. Works full time at Wood County Hospital in the Registration Department, (giving her mother too much work.)and goes to school at Owens. Chases after Garrett frequently.

Paige: The resident snoop. Likes to spend her time checking up on all of the gossip from around town and the family. Will be starting 6th grade in the fall. Hardest job right now: keeping her braces clean. Finishing up softball season getting ready for volleyball season.

Noah: Easily the busiest kid I know. Is constantly into one thing or another. He is our resident shark expert and sports guru. Loves his Yankees and Penn State football. Spends most of his time playing one sport or another. Loves the Playstation and Star Wars. Is finishing up baseball season while playing on two tournament teams. Will begin work with the Midget football team as the water boy.

Emma: God's little gift. Spends most of her time trying to keep up with the "big kids". Loves to sing and dance. Thinking about potty training, but not quite ready. Will surely miss the kids when they go back to school in the fall. Favorite pastime today watching Blue's Clues and Sesame Street.

Garrett: Just doing all he can to not let Emma have all the fun. Doing a pretty good job of it too. We just need to get him to understand that only food goes in his mouth, and that Emma isn't really food.

Smokey: Our favorite feline. Spends most of his time in basement keeping away from...

Freida: Our newest member. Came to us by way of the Humane Society. Spends most of her days chewing things she shouldn't and chasing the cat.

This week we are trying to swim out from our flooded basement. Third time in three years. We didn't lose any important items this time. Just some laundry to do. We have learned our lesson and keep everything up, but the water still got into our furnace and water heater, baths at the neighbors you know. We received about 7.5" of rain in just a couple of days, so I guess it was to be expected. Smokey finally made it up from the basement, we were beginning to get a little concerned about him, but all is well. Planning on getting it dried out then building HIGH shelves to keep everything on. I guess it will always be a learning process. We are lucky though, some people in our area lost their houses because their basement walls caved in. Work has been very stressful this week. Lots of really sick people in Wood County this summer. Usually we get a bit of a break in the summer, but so far this year,we have been unable to get even lunches.

CJ was asked to help coach the midget football team. He has been wanting to do this for as long as I can remember. He is already coming up with drills and plays for the boys. Noah is going to help by being the team waterboy. Another busy sports season is just around the corner.

Paige had a stressful week. She was helping CJ clean the pool when she stepped into the skimmer and cut her foot pretty badly. A quick trip (after dodging funnel clouds) to the ER proved that she wasn't broken, but she did require some stitches. She talked the MD into "super-glueing" her lacerations so that she could play in her tournament this coming week. She had to sit out a couple of the last reqular season games, but should be ready for tournaments. Volleyball camp is this week. It's tough being the social butterfly.

Noah has been asked to play on two different tournament teams this July in baseball. We will be running between Maumee and Van Buren for most of the week after July 4th. He is spending a lot of his time in the pool. He didn't attend Safety Village this year as he felt he "knew it all", but instead helped his dad with the fire prevention program

Emma is just loving to be outside. It has become quite the chore to get her to take her nap in the afternoon. She has grown summer knees. You know, the ones without much skin from all the running she is doing.