...Please Don't Take My Sunshine Away...

You know how they say that the mom is the heart and soul of a household?  Well, in our case, I think it's actually the mini-mom.  Jenalyn is the sunshine in our family!  Whenever I wake up grumpy (which happens more than I'd care to admit) she swoops in and tries to cheer everyone up.  She often says to me, "Do we need to start this day over, mom?"

• She's a peacemaker.
• She loves to help with chores.
• She chats with Grandpa on the back deck.
• She sometimes tags along with daddy to work, to keep him company.
• She keeps Corbin out of trouble in the morning before we wake up.
• She urges Corbin to play outside with her when he has been sitting too long in front of the t.v.
• She keeps an eye on Tienna for us whenever we ask her to.
• She pushes Tienna on the swings when we go to the park.

I'm telling you, she's everybody's sunshine!  Well, I {willingly} sent our sunshine away for a week vacation!  *what was I thinking*

Here's what I was thinking: after all she does for everyone else, she deserved a week away with the greatest great-aunts on earth, who are sure to spoil-the-heck out of her!  I'm so glad she had this opportunity.

So, she went to Colorado with Dale & Nancy.  She also got to spend time with Dori and Marlene, and she was able to meet the rest of Grandma Jan's side of the family.  Jenalyn had such a special bond with Grandma Jan, I know she was smiling down from heaven while Jenalyn created special memories with her family.  I hope it also made Jenalyn feel closer to her Grandma.

Here are some pictures they sent us throughout the week.

With Aunt Dori on the 4-wheeler.

With her Great-Great-Aunt Irene.

Her second-cousin Cole had a birthday while she was there.  He turned 10.

 She also got to hold chickens for the first time.  Almost every time I talked to her she told me about a new animal she got to pet/hold/play with.  That is heaven for this little girl!  She loves animals.

 She got to visit her great-grandparents' old house.  They lived in this house since Grandma Jan was about 8?  I think?

Here she is with Great Uncle Jim.

I'm not sure where she got this cute dress, but here she is with Marlene and Dori.

With Great-Uncle Bill and Dale.

She got to visit her Great Grandparents' grave site.  This is the reverse side of the headstone and she's pointing to her Grandma Jan's name.

Our sunshine comes home tomorrow.  I can't wait to squeeze her guts out!

This kid is the bomb-diggity.

I was hosing off the driveway this afternoon, while Corbin was using a medicine dropper to melt his fruit-in-ice-project-thingy.  One thing lead to another and before I knew it, we were in a full-blown water fight!

He never once complained about it being unfair that I had a hose and all he had was a medicine dropper.  He's the best!

Potty Talk

Corbin really dislikes going to the bathroom.  It's "boring".  So one night I sat just outside the door and we chatted, told jokes and laughed.  Excellent opportunity for bonding, right?  Well, it was!  We had so much fun!  I had to snap a picture so I'd never forget.

He's such a cool kid.

(On a side-note, when Jenalyn found this picture on my phone, she cracked up!  And she has shown it to everyone who will look.  I just think it's adorable!)

Done Nursing

That's it.  We are officially finished nursing.  Makes me so sad...she's my last one!  I'll never nurse another baby as long as I live.  I certainly had to document it.


Tienna nursed longer than the other two.  We made it to 21 months.  Mostly because I wasn't ready to close that chapter.  Neither was she.  In fact, she still asks for it, a week later.

What Made You Smile?

This morning Corbin seemed a little off.  So I took him aside and asked if he was feeling ok, or if something happened that he wanted to talk about.  He was really somber and it was so unlike him.

I had crouched down so we were eye-to-eye while talking.  All of a sudden he broke out into his amazing, heart-melting smile...totally out of the blue...I was caught off guard and so I asked what made him smile.  He said, "Sometimes your face just makes me smile."

Awe.  His face makes me smile too.

This Girl Can Ride

(I hate hearing myself in these videos.  I should just keep my mouth shut.  Feel free to watch the video with no sound. ;)

BIG news!  Jenalyn can (finally) ride a bike with NO training wheels!  I'm so happy for my girl!  She doesn't have a bike (we live on a hill and there's really no place to ride), so her only experience has been on friends' bikes.  She's never tried without training wheels...until TODAY!  She hopped on and started pedaling :)  She did great!  I'm so proud of my girl!

Naughty Kids

Have you ever seen such misbehaved children?  Attacking a defenseless elderly man?  It looks like the small one is the ring-leader.

I blame the parents.

(this video is over a month old...but it had to be posted.)

Toot-nack

We are loving Tienna's baby talk.  Yesterday we had soup for lunch and the kids were getting a kick out of her saying "nummy poop."

I got a video of her talking about her fruit snacks...er, toot-nack.

I LOVE the 4th of July!

It has become a tradition for me to take pictures of my kiddos on this blanket every 4th.  We've done it 3 years in a row now.  I think this year's pics are my favorite.

 

I could not narrow down the pictures from our 4th of July.  There were too many good ones!  Too many memories I don't want to forget.

We started our 4th by crashing our old Ward's breakfast.  It was so nice to see all of our friends.  The food was good too ;)

 

Corbin Loves Lilly SO MUCH!

Forever Besties

 

I'm not sure what's going on here, but I think they're about to attack.  I snapped the picture and ran!

Kung-Fu Cuties

After the breakfast we went to the mall to see the movie Brave.  I love going to the movies with my little families.  It's one of my favorite family activities.  We hit up the fro-yo cafe afterwards. *yum*

Later we had a BBQ at our house with Aunt Nancy, Aunt Dale and Cassie.  They spoiled the kids, of course, they brought yummy treats and fun fireworks.  I know I've said it before, but I love Jason's family so much.  We always have a good time together!

For fireworks that night, we met up with some good friends.  We set off street fireworks while we waited for the big show.  It was perfect.  Chill. Low-key. Relaxing.  But very memorable.  (Thanks to my good friend, Kristin Moss, for the following pictures.)

He looks like a wizard, doesn't he?

Poor Tienna hated the fireworks.  She kept saying, "Done!"  "Bye-bye home!"  Between the movie and the fireworks, I'm pretty sure it was the most terrifying day of her life.

My happy family.  The fireworks made weird shadows on our faces.  But we had so much fun!

A Sweet Re-Telling

We had grandpa's friend join us for dinner last night and we were sharing stories about bee stings.  We mentioned that when Corbin was about 4-years old he got stung THREE times within a month! 

We had a rosemary bush in our backyard and when it flowered it attracted tons of bees and Corbin would NOT leave them alone.

When I got done telling his story, he piped in and said, in the sweetest, most innocent voice: "I just wanted some honey." *LOL*  He went on to admit that he use to try to sneak honey from the cupboard before dinner, when that didn't work he decided to go after the bees.

It was too cute.  And not something I want to ever forget.  I love my sweet boy.

Remember When

"Mom, remember when we use to have the rocking chair and you would hold me on your lap and sing to me until I got sleepy?"

Melt my heart!  It meant so much to me that he remembered that.  It almost made me cry!  It made me want to drag the ol' rocking chair out of the garage and set it up in his room.  I miss those days!  I hope my sweet Corbin never outgrows snuggling with is mama!

YAY Sunshine!

"God answered my prayers!".   That's what Jenalyn said as we were leaving church this afternoon.  

When we went for church this morning it was cold and rainy.  But as we left the church, 3 hours later, it was sunny and beautiful.  It feels like we have been waiting so long for the sun!

Once a Princess, Always a Princess

Today Jenalyn said the sweetest words I've heard in a long time: "Mom, can we buy me a new tiara?". 

I was so sad when she out-grew princesses.  It's hard for me, watching her grow up.  But all it took was an invitation to her 4-year old cousin's "Royal" birthday party, and she immediately started planning what she would wear.  She's so excited!  Honestly, so am I!

Money Can't Buy Happiness

But it can buy perfume.  And this bottle of perfume sure puts a smile on my face!  Jason's dad bought us both some perfume/cologne.  It's nothing I ever would have bought for myself, and I felt super weird about how much it cost, but WOW I love the smell of it.  And the bottle is so pretty.

Every time I put it on I feel like a million bucks!

Memorial Day 2012

Jenalyn made an interesting comment the other day while we were watching a show on TV.  She noted that all the Memorial Day commercials showed people having fun, partying, playing at the beach, etc.  She said, "Isn't Memorial Day about remembering the people who died?  Shouldn't they all be sad?"

Interesting that she picked up on that.  I love my girl.

At any rate, we did have some fun today.

We picked up Jenalyn's "favorite friend" (from her school class) and we went to Skate World

That was kind of a bust.  Quinne fell too many times and wasn't enjoying herself, and Corbin only used his skates to be tall enough to watch the "demo mode" on the arcade games.  Jenalyn was the only one who really liked skating (that's MY girl!)  So we didn't stay long.  We went to the mall and let the kids play at the little playground there.

Afterwards, we took Quinne home and then Grandpa John treated us all to dinner.  Towards the end of dinner Corbin and Tienna started to get antsy so I took them outside to play in the fountain.  They had so much fun!  And Corbin got "soakin' wet!" (I have a video, but it won't upload *pout*)

On our way home from dinner we stopped by the cemetery to remember our beloved Grandma Jan.  We miss her so much.  Oh how she would love seeing these kids grow.  I wish they had at least been old enough to form more memories with her before she left this earth.  Every single day we feel her physical absence in our lives, though we know she watches over us.  Can't wait to be with her again.

THIS is what Memorial Day is all about, right?

Dancing Queen

Tienna LOVES music.  When she hears it, she can't stop herself from gettin' down!

The other day we were in the grocery store parking lot and a car drove by with loud music and she started to boogy on the spot.

I know my opinion might be slightly skewed, but I think she's a pretty awesome dancer.

Grandpa Moves In

Grandpa John moved in with us at the first of May.  It's been...interesting.  I think it has been very good for Jason and his dad's relationship.  And I love to see the kids interacting with him and listening to his stories.  I hope they will make good, lasting memories with him.

For me, it has been like having another kid.  Only I can't discipline him LOL.  I can't put him in time-out or make him take "just three more bites!" before he can leave the table. But it's one more person to feed, clean up after, taxi around, and another schedule to manage.

As for positives for me, this new situation has made me more appreciative of my sweet mother-in-law.  I feel closer to Jan than I ever have.  I miss her so much! I think of her often and I can feel her giving me strength.  I often feel like what I'm doing is a favor to her.

J-Bug's New Shades

Grandpa bought Jenalyn a new pair of sunglasses.  She loves them.  Grandpa loves them.  I do not.  I can't see her pretty face anymore!

Easter Outtakes

Here are a couple more pictures from Easter that just HAD to be blogged:

Up until yesterday, my kids had no idea Silly String existed. Sad, right?

I asked Jenalyn to smile so I could take her picture. She gave me the most beautiful smile...and just as I clicked, she switched to this face! HAHA! Jokes, on YOU, sis! I'm posting this for the whole world to see :) I love my sugar bug!

Did someone say SUGAR?

I love this face! I love this dress. Just love everything about this picture!

Tienna has a proximity alert for Corbin. Whenever he comes near her, she SCREAMS! Well, usually. This apparently was a happy exception.

I saved the best for last! I told Tienna she couldn't have anymore candy. She has the greatest pouty face.

Easter 2012

Highlights from our awesome Easter weekend

• Grandma's Easter party on Saturday: lots of family, an Easter egg hunt, delicious food, and Jenalyn and I got to shoot a real bow! (Corbin was sick, so just me and the girls went this year. AND, I didn't have my camera, only my phone for pictures. *hohum*).

(Jenalyn thought this was the coolest!)

• Tienna's new shoes.

(I know, they're just shoes, but they make me smile!)

• Coloring Easter eggs.
  
• Planting jelly beans and seeing lolly-pops in their place the next morning! (amazing, right?)
• Bright-colored Easter Baskets.

• Silly String. It was fun for about a minute (which was about as long as it took for the kids to empty their entire cans!) ... then we had the joy of cleaning it all up. *LOL*
  

• New Easter outfits.

(This is the dress I made for Jenalyn for Easter when she was 18 months old. I was so happy that it fit Tienna this year!)

• MORE family time. Dale, Nancy, Miles, Will & Grandpa John came to our house for Easter dinner.
• I made the entire Easter dinner. This was the first big holiday meal that I have ever made by myself! I was really proud. I love cooking for people! Ham, twice-baked potatoes, green beans with bacon, tossed green salad, rolls, and deviled eggs. Oh, and jell-o salad that was forgotten and never made it out of the fridge *ugh*. Aunt Dale brought some delicious cake to celebrate Grandpa John's birthday, a week late ;)