Tag Archives: Isaac

Joyful Day

Six years ago yesterday Kathleen and I checked into the hospital expecting to have a kid.  As the day went on, we waited for our boy to come.  Well, he was a stubborn kid.  I took this picture out the window as the sun was setting:

Well, it was early the next morning before Isaac got here.  I’m sure many of you know the instant love and joy that you feel when a new child is born.  This was the first time I felt it, and while I feel the same when each child is born, it’s always as if it’s the first time.

Here’s the boy and his mom:

What a great day.  It felt like we were finally a family. 

Karate

We joined a new gym this week and our membership came with some free classes.  Tonight we thought we’d try out the Karate.The age range was 4-13 so, as you can imagine, Isaac and Charlotte were possibly the smallest kids in there, but there were a few other small kids.  I don’t think they knew what was going on for much of the class.

I took this picture from outside the door, before I realized I could go in and sit in the back.IMG_0133They did kicks and then turned to all face a different way.  Charlotte didn’t seem to understand.  She was facing the wrong way the whole time. IMG_0134Maybe it was because they were afraid, but Isaac and Charlotte held hands for much of the first part.  It was really funny to see them trying to do kicks while holding hands.  They asked the students to pick a partner and their was no doubt who they’d pair up with. IMG_0136 They did this activity where Isaac held Charlotte’s feet and Charlotte walked with her hands.IMG_0137They also did leap frog.  I think I was the only one taking pictures so I didn’t take too many.  I wish I had gotten a few better shots.IMG_0142They lined up and got a chance to break a board.  Here’s Charlotte breaking one with her foot.  I didn’t get a picture of Isaac doing it.  I was mostly trying to stay out of the way. and sit in the back.IMG_0147I asked them afterwards if they liked the class and they said that they did.  On the way home Isaac asked me if I had any boards that I didn’t need.    He also announced that after three more classes he thought he could break a board as hard as a brick.

Raccoon Seals!

Isaac ran in suddenly from riding his bike and announced that “it looks like black bear  weather!”  He asked if he still needed to put his bike away since black bears might5.2.10 Sunday Morning (6) come.  When I told him he should, he wanted Charlotte to come with him to protect him.  After coming in, he remembered that he had left the garage open and asked if he should close it real quick so black bears don’t come in, then he asked Charlotte to come with him to keep him safe again. 

The next thing I know, he’s talking about “raccoon seals.”  Here are a few quotes I pulled out of a long avalanche of words that he said in relation to “raccoon seals”:

"a raccoon seal is a tiger that can go anywhere"
"raccoon seals can’t eat through windows but they can open doors that are not locked"
"these tigers are used to eating people up"
"it’s the weather for them right now"
"they’re all crowding up to the houses to try to get in"
"but they don’t want people to see that they’re there"
"do you know that they even have crazy striped wings that are colored orange and white"

*The picture has nothing to do with the story except that it is a recent picture of Isaac and I couldn’t exactly cut Ila out of the picture, so there she is.

Names and why they be what they be

We had an assignment on the Cochran family blog to write about what inspired the choices we made in naming our children so I thought I’d share what I wrote here as well.  What I thought would be a short post, turned into a rather long one.

Our first boy was going to be David Hyrum Cochran.  I still like that name, but after I got pregnant, Zach had changed his mind about the name and we had to start all over with ideas.  We used to discuss names in the car and I specifically remember that we were driving down I-15 when one of us came up with the idea to name our son Isaac.  IMG_9301I think it was my idea, but I think that Zach thinks it was his idea.  We thought the meaning was perfect since it seemed like we were finally getting the promised blessing of having a child after a long wait, just like Abraham and Sarah in the Bible.  The name means “he laughs” in reference to the joy that Abraham and Sarah felt when they found out they were pregnant.  Later when I read the scripture again, it seems like they were laughing because of how old Sarah was when she was pregnant, but for me it will always be about the joy.  We thought we’d call him Ike, but we never have.

In all of our names we discussed, there were several people we wanted to honor in our son’s name.  We considered using a grandfather’s name.  We also considered adding a name to honor President Hinckley, but at first we ruled out both Gordon and Hinckley.  Obviously we changed our minds and gave him the middle name Hinckley.  President Hinckley was the prophet during most of the important things that happened in our lives at that point and we felt impressed and inspired by him.

Charlotte’s name came from Zach.  I was initially opposed to the name because of a strong 4.26.10 playing outside (1) connection I had with that name and the story of Charlotte’s web.  We continued to discuss the name and the association softened enough that I started to really like the  name.  I liked that it was unique and still recognizable.

I think I came up with the middle name.  I remember thinking about family names and wanting to honor Charlotte’s grandmother by giving her the same middle name.  At that point I didn’t realize that Rose was also Charlotte’s great-grandmother’s first name.

Nicole’s name also came from Zach.  Zach left work early to go to her ultrasound and he said 5.8.10 Nicole Kate (1) that as he got into the car he thought to himself, “it’s going to be a girl and we’re going to name her Nicole.”  I was initially opposed to the name because I thought it was too common.  I loved how unique and familiar Charlotte’s name was and wanted something along the same lines as that, but eventually (while I was in labor and couldn’t think of a name I liked better that he’d accept) Zach convinced me that Nicole was not a common name for her generation.  I wasn’t initially thrilled with the choice, but the day Zach blessed her I changed my mind.  I remember him saying in the blessing how her name was in remembrance of Christ’s victory over death (Nicole is a french form of Victoria which means victory) and that brought tears to my eyes.

We chose her middle name Kate because it sounded good with Nicole and we wanted  something more interesting than the common middle names like Marie and Lynn (no offence to Heidi or anyone who named her).

I assume everyone knows by now who we named our Ila after.  I always liked her name, maybe it was partly because I loved my grandmother so much.  I felt close to her and yearned4.26.10 Ila (7) for more time with her throughout my life.  I actually tried to get Zach to agree to putting the name Ila in Nicole’s name, but we couldn’t come up with a first name that worked with Ila as a middle name and we weren’t fully convinced that we should use it as a first name.  We really struggled with finding a name for Ila.  Zach liked the name Mellissa, but I couldn’t be excited about that name.  We toyed around with several names and didn’t have a strong idea about what we  wanted to name her.  Jane was a name that I liked and was possibly at the top of my list for first names. 

Out here you have to set up an appointment with the hospital and register before going into labor.  The first step is to set up all of the billing information.  As I was giving my information to the lady she asked me about names and if we’d chosen a name yet.  I told her that we hadn’t and she continued to ask what names we had been thinking about.  I told her the list of names that we had discussed and somewhere in that discussion, I said that I had wanted to use the name Ila, but I couldn’t figure out a name to go with it.  Jane was also one of the names in that group and the lady suggested the name Ila Jane to me.  I instantly loved it and even told her so.  I wondered if Zach would agree to it, I was almost too  afraid to ask because I was so excited about the name.  I honestly could not wait to tell him the idea, but was very nervous that he’d reject it at the same time.  That night I presented the name to him.  I told him that me and the lady at registration had decided on a name for our baby and that I wanted him to think about the name while I showered and then I’d come back and he could tell me what he thought.  When I came back into our “wood room” after our shower, he instantly agreed to the name without further discussion.  I was so excited, but also afraid that he’d change his mind at the same time.  4.26.10 Ila (11)We agreed not to tell anyone about it before she was born.

Someone asked me what we were naming her just after she was born and as I said the name Ila, I instantly felt like maybe it wasn’t the right name, but after telling a few more people it started to sound right again and by the time I left the hospital I was feeling good about the name.  When my mom came she told me that we were at the hospital that they had taken my grandmother to after her stroke and that my grandmother’s room was even on the same floor.

As time has gone by, Ila’s name has increased in significance to me and I find myself more and more pleased with our choice.  I know that my kids will all know about my grandma and that as she grows,  Ila will want to know about the woman that she was named after.  The name is unique enough that she’ll probably be asked where it came from throughout her life.  I love that by using her name, my grandma will be remembered for generations more in a very personal way by Ila and by Ila’s children and maybe even by Ila’s grandchildren!

An unexpected consequence of naming her after my beloved grandmother is that I become emotional about hearing her name said in frustration and I have this increased desire for everyone to love her.   There is a connection to her name in that desire that I can’t entirely explain because I know she’s a different person, but it almost feels like when people love Ila, they also love my grandmother.

Isaac’s Field Day

On Tuesday was Isaac’s Field day.  I was a little nervous about taking my three girls by myself, but since I knew I was likely to see some other mothers whom I had met that might be able to help in a pinch, I decided to give it a shot.  I love that Nicole’s sign is upside-down in this pic and she looks bored.5.11.10 Field Day (4)I knew Isaac wanted us to be there.  He even suggested that we make signs that said “go Isaac with two exclamation points.”  As you can see, we followed his suggestion.  Charlotte was a great sign holder and held up her sign every time Isaac ran or she thought he might run.5.11.10 Field Day (7) Isaac is always very concerned about doing what’s right and not getting into trouble.  He was afraid to even hug his mom without his teacher’s permission, at lest at first he was.  I’m glad that he’s consciences, but I worry that he doesn’t stand up for himself and get what he needs.  Here he is lined up for his first race.5.11.10 Field Day (10) I wasn’t able to get a picture of it, but while most kids were focused on the finish line and running as fast as they could, Isaac was searching the sidelines as he ran and ended up being the slowest kid in every race.  Here he is getting ready for the sack race5.11.10 Field Day (14) The ‘Pony Express’ race was a relay race with 4 other teams competing.  Isaac’s team came in last place, but they had ribbons for all 4 teams so Isaac ran to me after the race with his white ribbon and announced that he his team won!5.11.10 Field Day (22) Apparently an employee of Tennessee State Bank has a kid at Mount Olive, so these guys pulled up and started cooking hotdogs.  They gave everyone who came up the hill to the truck free hotdogs, chips, and water.  The guy who grilled the meat also helped me to my car when he saw me hobbling up the hill with my overloaded stroller in one hand, Nicole in the other, and Charlotte trailing behind me.5.11.10 Field Day (29) The girls didn’t really eat the hotdogs, but they thought the water was great!5.11.10 Field Day (31) It got really hot out and the Kindergarten tarp was right in the sun, so towards the end of the morning, we broke out the umbrella we had brought to provide a little shade.  Charlotte joined the kids under our umbrella.5.11.10 Field Day (37)And finally, here’s a picture of Isaac’s class with their teacher, Mr. Burton.  I didn’t notice the arm in my pic till I got home, oh well.5.11.10 Field Day (26) At the end of the day, I was glad I got to go and observe and cheer Isaac on, but next year I might call a babysitter!

Happy Mother’s Day, Grandmas!

Here is a little puppet show that the kids put together to honor their Grandmas on mother’s day.  They were going to do a different puppet show for each Grandma, but too many other siblings with needs cut the second attempt short.  This puppet show was made with both grandmas in mind.

The Zoo

This post is a little late, but I had several nights where I hardly got any sleep thanks to a baby who will remain nameless so I got behind on my blogging and thought Nicole’s birthday posts could jump the line a little.  One of those bad nights was the night before the field trip to the Zoo when said unnamed baby didn’t sleep for a half an hour straight the entire night.

Zach took the morning off of work and stayed home with the three younger girls while I took Isaac to school.  I dropped Isaac off and then met him in his classroom.  Each kid 5.3.10 Isaac's Kindergarten Zoo Trip (67)was sent to put on a green shirt then work on worksheets in the classroom.  It was interesting to see Isaac in his class.  He needed to sharpen his pencil, but was very shy and hesitant to ask.  After showing me the problem, I told him that I thought it was ok to go sharpen it.  He still got up hesitantly and kept looking at his teacher as if afraid to be yelled at.  So I addressed his teacher and asked if he could sharpen them.  After an ok, Isaac seemed less nervous.  The other thing that was interesting was to see how excited he was to have me there seeing what his school was like.  He kept looking back at me to see if I was paying attention to things like the morning announcement video.

The kids got on the bus and I rode with some other chaperones to the zoo.  At the zoo, the kids lined up and waited to go in.  They ended up waiting for almost an hour for the teacher to pay for the tickets, they were very bored, but behaved well during their long wait.

5.3.10 Isaac's Kindergarten Zoo Trip (1) I was responsible for Isaac and Faith (she’s the girl next to Isaac in the pic).  Isaac wanted to be with one of his best friends (Storm or Emma) so we combined our group with Emma’s group which had Emma’s mom as the chaperone and Mya as the other girl in the group.  Both of Mya’s parents met us at the zoo so we ended up with a group of 4 kids and 4 parents.  Emma is the one with glasses and Mya is wearing pink boots.5.3.10 Isaac's Kindergarten Zoo Trip (48)

The zoo map was a big hit.  As you might imagine, considering the fact that Isaac loves to study maps a night when he’s trying to fall asleep.5.3.10 Isaac's Kindergarten Zoo Trip (15) One of the first animals we saw were the camels.  Isaac was a little nervous when one of the camels put his head over the fence right next to him.  We soon learned why the camel was so friendly—he was interested in Faith’s apple.5.3.10 Isaac's Kindergarten Zoo Trip (26) They also got to pet a ferret.5.3.10 Isaac's Kindergarten Zoo Trip (21) Since we had lost an hour waiting out front, I started off with a fairly quick pace.  Isaac took up the charge and was eager to move on often after only glancing at an animal.  He did, however, slow down to study the ostriches, despite the fact that the rest of the group was ready to move on.5.3.10 Isaac's Kindergarten Zoo Trip (52) The last thing we did was to gather at a playground in the park.   That seemed like his favorite part.  He was reluctant to leave and kept talking about bringing his sisters back to play at the park.

All the Planets and the Solar System

This is a book that Isaac wanted to write.  After seeing the story that Charlotte wrote (posted previously), Isaac really wanted to make a book.  He became really impatient.  I told him I couldn’t help him until after Nicole was taking a nap and Ila was settled.  He had a hard time waiting, but eventually calmed down by preparing for his story with a stack of books and a cartoon.

He insisted that he wanted to write a non-fiction book and it’s partly that.  I’m fairly sure he made up some of the facts, but he didn’t know enough about some of the planets so we had to read parts of some books he had checked out from the library.  He picked out the facts to include and on several of them the facts came directly from his brain—I bet you could guess which facts are his.4.30.10 All Planets and the Solar SystemHe insisted that I give myself credit for writing the words, but thought I should write Kathleen as my name.  Later he said that it has all those things for him since he did most of the work.

This post is a long one so click on the link to read on if you want.  The first few pages are probably my favorite because they come mostly from ideas within his brain.  I opted for making a thorough accounting . Now, you can check them out here  to know how I have carried out accounting for the sake of family history/journaling.

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Fun Night

I took Isaac and Charlotte to fun night at Isaac’s school.  We bought ten tickets for $5.00.  They spent their first two tickets on a bag of cotton candy, which they split.4.23.10 Fun Night (2)They spent the rest of their tickets on the inflatable games.  The first thing they choose was the obstacle course that ended in a slide.4.23.10 Fun Night (6)Their final choice was the bungee run, which I’m sure was not designed for kids their size.  The point was to run as fast as you can and place a bean bag as far as you could on the Velcro next to the run and in theory the bungee cord would pull you back to land on your bottom.  I don’t think either kid had enough force to have the cord pull them backwards, but it was their choice and they didn’t want to be diverted from it!4.23.10 Fun Night (11) When we got to the car, only a half an hour had passed and not wanting to waste the opportunity to hang out with my older kids, we headed over to the Hardees (Carl’s Jr. in the West) for a treat.  Hardees happens to be the closest fast food place to my house.4.23.10 Fun Night (17) After splitting a chocolate shake, we headed home.

Isaac’s First Letter

Isaac really wanted to make something with this heart sticker, so we decided that he could write a letter to his grandma.  This is his first handwritten letter to grandma:4.23.10 Isaac's first letter to grandma4.23.10 Isaac's first letter to grandma (1)

He insists on making periods and dotting the letter i with an enormous circle. 

Isaac’s Load of Cargo

Isaac loves to ride his bicycle, but he will only ride a turn or two (if that) before he starts trying to experiment or attach things.  He has tried to attach various yard tools in a variety of different ways.  One day he was riding along with a rake.  As the rake dragged along the driveway, it made a scraping noise.  Isaac excitedly announced that the rake was “amplifying” the sound of his bicycle as he rode!   He attaches the wagon just about everyday and usually spends some time giving rides to all his little sisters.4.21.10 playing outside (12)He keeps trying to add a stepladder between the bicycle and the wagon but his mother won’t let him.  The other day he piled the wagon up with whatever he could find and was beaming delightedly as he pulled his cargo around the driveway.  A few days ago he asked if Ila could be his cargo!

Invention

Luckily I had my camera with me when Isaac rode his bike around the corner like this:

IMG_8064

He has devised a way to sweep as he rides.   Now if only his Lego building resulted in a clean bathroom, I’d be set.

Hug

I realized awhile ago that Isaac thinks the defining characteristic of a hug is to have your cheeks touch.  So you can hug without using your arms.  I’ve noticed that sometimes when he has been asked to give someone a hug, he just lean towards them with his face.  He brought home this picture that he drew at school of a hug and I loved it so much that I scanned it into my computer and posted it here on my blog.image0-1 I love that the stick figures have no arms, but they are face to face and I love the smiles on their faces.  The smiles seem to portray feelings of being happy and secure.  I like to think that Isaac feels happy, secure, and confident in his parent’s love.

Isaac, The Builder

His favorite thing to do is build or create.  He has three sizes of Legos and many other kinds of building sets.  Recently he has been interested in ‘building’ is art projects.  He doesn’t care much for coloring or other traditional art project staples, he is much more interested in creating something out of the paper or other materials. 

When he goes outside to play, it doesn’t take long before I find him trying to “build” with outdoor toys and yard tools.    Below you can see him beginning one of his creative sessions.  He used the rake to attach and then pull his bike/step ladder creation.

3.18.10 Playing outside (30)He will build with anything and has at times annoyed his parents with things like furniture creations.  His favorite books at the library are “mechanical books” and he enjoys studying maps and pictures that show the inside of electronics.   His building toys include:   

  1. Quatro Legos
  2. Duplo Legos
  3. “Big Boy” Legos
  4. Klikko
  5. BYGGA construction set
  6. Rokenbok set
  7. Train tracks
  8. Lincoln Logs
  9. Airblox
  10. Alphabet blocks
  11. Hot Wheels Tracks

He has also enjoyed using Bristle Blocks which we borrowed from PERC when we lived in Utah and we’ve already purchased a Georello Tollbox  for his next birthday.

Popcorn and a Movie

This was my solution for allowing the kids to have popcorn while watching a movie without making a huge mess.  They are sitting on a towel and Nicole was asleep, so it actually worked out quite well.3.9.10 popcorn and a movie (1)The movie they have been choosing lately is “The Sword and the Stone” because they’ve been listening to the audio book while they fall asleep each night.  I’ve put the movie on several times, but Isaac would rather be creating than watching, so he has yet to see the entire movie.

It was nice out

So I went out with the kids to play, even though I had cleaning to do inside.

Nicole enjoyed laying on her tummy in the dirt with her arms reached out as if to make upside-down dirt angels, she also tasted the dirt.3.9.10 playing outside (1)

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The family dynamics as they are now

Since moving to Tennessee and adding one more child, I’ve noticed some changes in IMG_6899how the kids relate to each other.

Isaac and Charlotte still get along very well and play together all the time.  It seems like they’ve been conspiring more and getting into more trouble since the move, but maybe I just think that because I am much busier and have less family support out here.

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