I know...I know...

I have definately been neglecting my blog...for a very long time. 

Cooper is back to school...a big 2nd grader now and he's loving it!  His teacher is amazing and I've never had Cooper come home and tell me so much about what he's learning.  We got his first report card this last Thursday and he had 4 A's and 1 B.  We are so proud of him.  I looked at his Terra Nova Test scores from the end of first grade and he scored in the 99th percentile in reading!  Wow!  Mr. Smarty Pants!  He's playing soccer right now and of course loving it.  He's got a heck of a foot on him and he's huge compared to all the other boys.  He's a Pattengill.  He's still into Star Wars but has recently fallen in love with Angry Birds...just like the rest of the world.  His Grandma made him the most awesome Angry Bird pillow and he sleeps with it every night.  Friday night we went and saw the movie "Dolphin Tale" and loved it!  What an awesome family movie.  If you haven't seen it...go see it.  Cooper now watches Winter (the dolphin) on the internet through a web cam.  He loves animals so much.

Willie is in his senior year of college now.  He's loving his classes this semester.  For one they're more geared towards his degree (engineering) and two...less homework, which is always a plus!  He's hoping to graduate in December of 2012.  Not too far away!  Less homework means more golfing time.  Currently he golfs about 2 times a week.  When does this become an obsession?  That's okay...gives me more time to be crafty:)  This semester he got a scholarship from the actual U of A engineering department.  I'm so proud of how hard working my hubby is!  I don't know what I would do without him.

As for me, I'm back to work.  I have an amazing class this year.  They are the SWEETEST kids you will ever meet.  Everyday I come to work and they make me smile:)  Every year is so different.  New challenges keep my job very interesting.  The education system and new responsibilities every year make me wonder if I will be able to do this for the rest of my life.  Probably not.  I commend all those teachers out there who have done this job for so many years and still come back each year ready to do it all over again.  I hope that will be me as the years go on but you never know what God has in store for you.  I've also been pretty crafty lately.  Recently I fell in love with a website called pinterest.com and I'm addicted.  So many ideas and fun stuff to make.  Crafting makes me happy.  I also went on a girls trip to Tulsa about a week ago.  We had a great time.  We went out Friday night, stayed in a hotel, and then shopped till we dropped Saturday.  We arrived at home just in time to see the Razorback football game.  I love my girls!

We are loving the fall weather and of course...Razorback football!  We haven't missed a game and love all the excitement each weekend.  The best part is having friends to share the fun memories with.  Every Saturday we have a soccer game and a Razorback game, fun, friends, and of course...food.  God has truly blessed us with an amazing circle of friends:)  Life doesn't get any better than this.

Turning 30

I turned 30 this year and had a wonderful birthday.  As most of you know, I share my birthday with my mom who turned 50 this year.  We spent a fun Saturday doing a photo shoot of our own and on Sunday we went out on Table Rock Lake on a boat.  We had a lot of fun!  I went cliff jumping for the first time and yes....I started to have an anxiety attack until I just jumped.  After the lake, we went to Cantina Loredo for a yummy birthday dinner.  It was an awesome birthday.  Here are some pictures from our photo shoot.

Congrats To My Hubby!!!

On Thursday, April 21st, Willie was initiated into Chi Epsilon, the National Civil Engineering Honor Society.  Since I know my husband will not brag about himself then I've decided to do it for him.  For those of you who are not familiar with Chi Epsilon it is the best of the best and by invitation only.  I've included the Chi Eplison Preamble so you can understand what the organization is all about.

Preamble

We, the students, faculty, and alumni of the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering at various colleges and universities, believing that a mark of distinction should be placed on the undergraduate who has upheld the honor of the department by high scholastic ability, and believing that a society with the broad principles of scholarship, character, practicality, and sociability would be an incentive to greater achievements in the civil engineering profession, do adopt this constitution as a guiding instrument for this organization.

Willie was recognized at an engineering banquet as an initiate for Chi Epsilon.

This is the board he had to have completed by initiation.  The shape of the board was already cut out but he had to do the rest.  The design was very specific and so were the materials.  The process was insane but I think he did a great job! 

Just Me...

Today I thought I would post without any pictures, just the events in our lives and thoughts in my mind.

Today was a wonderful day.  Cooper had his first soccer practice for the season and it was refreshing.  Watching him work so hard and do his best makes me a very proud mom.  Willie and I enjoyed sitting in the fresh air watching our boy have so much fun.  These times come few and far between with Willie's college schedule.  Coach came up with some new games for the boys.  Our favorite game was when the boys were told to dribble their ball and try to kick the other teammates with their ball.  As our children got kicked in the back, side, and stomach the parents smiled and laughed.  No tears believe it or not!  The boys were having too much fun to realize coach was trying to get them to be less afraid of the ball:)

For those of you who don't know...Willie and I are officially growing old together.  Last week we went to have eye exams.  Neither of us hace had an eye exam since we were children and figured it was about time.  Willie has been struggling with consistent headaches and I have had trouble reading from a distance.  We had our eye exams and went ahead and did the eye dilation as well.  The dilation didn't bother me much but Willie was nearly blind.  Fortunately, we both have great eyes but need a small prescription to help our vision.  I am nearsighted and Willie is farsighted.  I guess we balance each other out.  (Story of our lives.)  Willie picked out some very handsome Ray Ban's and I opted for some fun Oakley's.  This was a very different experience for the both of us.  I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else:)

We officially planned Cooper's 7th birthday party today.  Last year we had so much fun at Fastlanes that Coop wanted to do the same.  We went in and he picked out his colors, pizza, and drinks.  Our boy is growing up so fast and I don't want to miss any of it.  I was offered a position on a district committee at work this week.  As it stands, I serve on several committees already, in addition to tutoring three days a week.  Needless to say, I barely have time to breath.  Since Cooper has decided to play soccer and baseball this spring, I had to turn the position down.  It was so hard.  One of the things I've struggled with is finding that balance between being a wife, a mom, and a teacher.  I love my family so much and I put my all into my career because of my passion for children.  I was flattered by the offer and it was difficult to turn down.  I know I made a good decision and I hope this is a step in the right direction for me to find that balance I need in my life.

Running- Oh, how I miss you.  Last year I began running.  I enjoyed it so much.  It was my thirty minutes where I didn't have to be a wife, mom, or teacher.  I could just be me, but it became difficult in the heat so I had to stop.  I'm ready to start again...yet another obstacle stands in my way...tutoring.  Staying at school later than usual has really taken its tole on me.  Tutoring stops in two weeks so I'm planning on replacing that time with running.  I'm so excited.



  

Snow Days...Snow Days...Snow Days!!!!

We've officially had 9 snow days and tomorrow will make 10.  They're calling for more this week as well.  While others like to complain on Facebook about how they want to go back to work or they're bored, we're living it up.  We love snow!  It doesn't bother us that we have to go a few days longer at the end of the year.  This is quality time we get to enjoy together.  We stocked up on food the weekend before the "snowpocalypse" hit.  We ended up getting about 9 inches and then another 5 inches a few days later.  Cooper and I were both sick (he had an ear infection and I had a sinus infection) so we didn't get to enjoy the snow until the weekend.  Our days inside were spent watching a lot of Netflix downloaded through our Wii system.  I conveniently signed up for a free month so we were prepared with an endless amount of movies.  Cooper played a lot of video games, Willie did a lot of homework, and I played a lot of Sodoku (I'm slightly addicted).  

 Cooper and Daddy began building an igloo using 2 small toy tubs from Coop's room.  That was going to take too long so Daddy came up with a much quicker idea.  "Coop- you hold this board while I scoop and press snow up against it."  What can I say?  It worked!

 Snowball Fight!

 An American Fort

 Chester is confined to the bed of the truck.  He still to this day will not stick around so we can't let him loose.  He was not happy about the fact that Wesson could do whatever he wanted and he could not.  Wesson is great and always comes running when you call.  Chester is a stubborn old man.

 Cooper, Daddy, and Wesson tearing up the woods!

 A little sledding.

  And of course, a snow angel...made by a real angel.  Not!

Our New Nephew

We finally got to meet our new nephew, Harrison.  This is Willie's younger brother, Frank and his girlfriend's child.  He was born on January 3rd, 2011.  He is so precious and sweet.  Cooper loved every minute of it.  He wants a baby brother or sister so bad. 

 Proud Uncle Willie holding Harrison.

 Cousins

 Aunt Paulette and Harrison

 Cooper and Harrison playing.

Cooper helped Harrison open his Christmas presents. 

New Year's Eve

We spent New Year's Eve at the Lake with family and friends.  We had lots of fun as usual.  We brought our friends Taos and Candis along for the ride.  Unfortunately, Jake and Jaylene could not make it:(  We ate all night (as usual) and played some fun games.  Our game of choice was Loaded Questions.  If you've never played this game, it is so fun.  This game can reveal a lot about the people around you, or not, depending on who takes the game seriously.  It's kind of funny to watch the serious people squirm because they're the only ones at the table taking it seriously and everyone else is putting crazy, off the wall answers.  This night was a great start to a new year!  Another year with my family, my friends, my Cooper, and my Willie! 

 See Taos...Candis can cook!

 Papa and Mama

 Mama and Cooper: by the looks of his eyes, I think he's had way too much to eat!

 Papa and Cooper: and yet his eyes are still the same!

Eric flashing his gang signs...

 Me and my boy!

 Candis, Taos, and Cooper anxiously awaiting the countdown!

Our first picture for the year 2011!