Washington DC!

<p>What a week! Tony, Emma and I spent a week in Washington, DC with 16 of Tony's students and a colleague and her husband. It was a great week! </p>
<p>We flew in on Sunday and visited the monuments. Monday we went to Arlington Cemetery. Tuesday was Capitol Hill, Wednesday Emma and I went to the American Girl Store! Thursday was Ford Theatre and Smithsonians and National Zoo. Friday was the White House, Air and Space Museum and headed home! Enjoy the pictures!!!

Freedom!

I cut my hair! I have been growing it out for probably 2 years or so...mostly for my sister's wedding back in October. It was pretty long then, but I decided to grow it longer so that when I eventually cut it, I could donate it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. It it a program where they take donated hair and make wigs for cancer patients! There is a minimum of 8 inches needed to make a wig....and I donated (and freed myself from!) a whole 9 inches!!!

The Zoo!

Last Saturday, I took the kids to the Detroit Zoo with Emma's Brownie troop! I just LOVE that Zoo!!! We had a great time, and although it was 90 degrees out, there was a great breeze to help keep us comfortable! Bradlee LOVED the penguins...(and yes, Snookie and Papa, Stosh and Sophie were waiting for us!!!) while Emma really enjoyed just taking all the animals in...I have to say, though, I think she really enjoyed, of all things, the prairie dogs! They have a way for kids to be able to go under the prairie dog hill and then poke their heads up so they are eye-level with the animals!!! It was a fantastic day at the Zoo and we can't wait to go back this summer!!

Relay for Life!

What a weekend it was! Our whole family participated in the Relay for Life of Davison last weekend! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Relay for Life, it is a 24-hour event sponsored by the American Cancer Society to raise funds to fight cancer. I have participated in the Relay for Life for about 6 years now, and the last 4 of them I have been the Accounting/Registration Chairperson. It is an event that I am very passionate about and I am so proud that my kids want to be involved with it, too!

Emma and I are the team captains of our team, the Committee All-Stars. She LOVES this role and comes to all the meetings and even listens for "team captain" announcements so she knows what to do! She is always proud of her team captain t-shirt!!

This year, Bradlee wanted to be involved, too. So we asked him if he wanted to be our Mr. Relay. This is a half-hour competition at the Relay where a guy from each team can dress up to the specifications previously set by the committee. Then they walk around for about 30 minutes and try to collect the most amount of money. All of it goes to the team, and, ultimately the American Cancer Society. This year, our Relay theme was "Fairy tales", so the Mr. Relayers had to dress up like Fairy Godmothers. The requirements were that they had to have: a big poofy dress that went below the knee, a magic wand, a crown/tiara, a cape/wings, a purse to collect money in, and know 3 magic spells! That's a lot for a three year old! :) Bradlee was up for the task...he wore one of Emma's dress-up gowns and tiaras, carried one of her purses and magic wands and we taught him 3 magic spells: 1. "Walletus Openus"; 2. "Abracadabra (or as he says, 'Abratadabra'), I want money!"; and 3. (my personal favorite) "I am good, Cancer is bad. Put your money in my bag!"!! He was FABULOUS...AND.........he won!!!! That bugger won a total of $136 and beat all the other "Godmothers" by a landslide! :)

 

As I mentioned, the theme was "Fairy tales". We decorated our campsite to resemble the fairytale, "Peter Pan". This was perfect, because Bradlee LOVES Peter Pan and Emma loves Tinkerbell!! My dad made the ship (or part of the ship), Lynne has a friend who gave us the flag, we tied a Tinkerbell doll to the pole of the tent and had a sign that read, "Welcome to Neverland, where cancer never wins!" The ship had a "plank", which we put a blow up pool with a crocodile with a name tag that said, "Hello, my name is Cancer" on it. We won 2nd place for Best Decorated Campsite!!

The Flint Symphonic Wind Ensemble also was able to perform at the Relay, right before the Survivor Ceremony (which ended up getting rained out!)...it was a great way to combine two of my passions, playing music and fighting cancer! I must say I was a bit emotional this year...for some reason a little more than usual. I just kept thinking about Mr. Lee, who was the director of the Flint Youth Wind Ensemble I was a part of for 7 years in middle and high school. He died from cancer when I was in college. If it weren't for him, I would probably not still be playing music today. I owe him a lot, so it was neat to play at an event that honors cancer SURVIVORS, and those we have lost to cancer.

When it was all said and done Sunday morning, we had a great Relay. Our goal was to raise $72,000 and our total as of Sunday morning was $72,136! Our goal was to have 150 survivors attend the event and we had exactly 150 survivors attend! We were also selected to be a CPS-3 site next year...more on that later! :) My team (I mean, Emma's and my team), raise over $2500, making us a Bronze Team!! It's not too late to help, though, so if you'd like to make a donation to our team, go to http://main.acsevents.org/goto/coggins and click on "Donate!"!!!!! We appreciate your help and support!!

Emma's a Brownie!

The bridging ceremony for Emma's Girl Scout troop was on Wednesday! This is the troop I am co-leader of...10 1st graders! I know why I am NOT a teacher! LOL Anyway, Emma bridged from a Daisy to a Brownie! Here she is with Gramma - who sewed all those patches on for her!!!!

My WINNER!

Last Saturday, Tony's mom, my mom, Emma and I participated in the Healing Hands 5k Walk to benefit the Genesee County Free Medical Clinic. Not only did Emma complete all 3.1 miles, she won 3rd place in her age division and received a medal! I am SO proud of her!!!

Family Time

What a great weekend we had - lots of family time, which was much needed!!

I took Friday off due to the kids not having school. They stayed at Tony's parents' house Thursday night so I could give my house some much-needed love and attention. Tony was supposed to have an in service, but due the great amounts of rain and storms that came through Thursday night, he was unable to get to the school, so he was home with me, too! We cleaned the house, ran errands and went and got the kids and brought them home.

Saturday morning, I took the kids to get their haircuts. Our stylist's name is Chrystal and we just LOVE her! She's the only one that has cut Bradlee's hair and he just lets her go - there's something to be said for someone who can cut a wiggly boy's hair and make it look so good!! Emma wanted hers chopped off a bit, too, so here they are, with their favorite stylist!!

We went to mass Saturday afternoon, then out for dinner with my parents and Karyn for Cinco de Mayo...dinner took a bit longer than anticipated (they were PACKED), but we had a great time! After dinner, Tony and I took the kids down to Hartland (just south of Fenton) for their Relay for Life. A friend of mine from grade school who I've reconnected with in the past few years was on a team there and we thought we might as well go visit! We made a few laps around the track to see the entertainment and different teams and then headed home.....but we made another stop! Some of Tony's students have created a Relay for Life team for the Davison Relay (the one we participate in)...it was Prom night, and as a fundraiser, the team decided to host an "anti-prom" at one of their homes! When we got there, they were SO excited to see not only "Mr. Coggins"....but "Mrs. Coggins, TOO!?!?!" LOL They raised about $150 just last night alone, and it was great to see kids miss their own prom and turn it into something so great! They totally embraced Emma and Bradlee and helped them make s'mores by the bonfire and enjoy music and singing, decorations and fun! Tony has some great students...and we have some great children! :) They finally got to bed about 11:30 last night...but the last thing BOTH of them said was how much fun they had that day!!

Today (Sunday), I finished up some stuff around the house while the kids played...here's a shot of them playing "vet and sick puppy"...Bradlee is the "sick puppy" (note the blue hospital cap) and Emma being the vet - I think she's getting a shot ready... :)

I had a concert with the Flint Symphonic Wind Ensemble this afternoon...it was our last of the season, aside from a performance at the Relay for Life of Davison we will have. It's such a nice feeling to know that my Tuesday evenings can be spent at home with my family! Although in two weeks, my mom and I start the training program for the Crim 5K/8K walk!