All In One Hour...

He looks harmless, doesn't he?While mommy and daddy weren't looking this afternoon, this little guy was busy:

• smearing poop on the bathroom walls;
• finger painting with peanut butter on the COUCH;
  
• scribbling on the dining room table with blue marker; and
  
• drawing a big blue line with the same marker down the back of his sister's Carebear.

*sigh*

He's a busy busy boy. But we love him!

Our Trip to Zarahemla

Jason was in charge of FHE this week and he hit the ball out of the park! He started by reading Mosiah 4:14-15. It talks about not allowing your kids to argue, but instead teaching them to love and serve one another.

Then he took us all on a trip - lined up the kitchen chairs, which acted as our time-machine-airplane - back in time to Zarahemla to MEET King Benjamin! WOW! As soon as our plane landed, Jason excused himself to "find a bathroom" and out walked King Benjamin! He talked to the kids about what it means to love and serve one another. They played a little game together. Then King Benjamin shook our hands, thanked us for visiting him, invited us to come again, and left. Jason missed it all! But luckily, I got a picture of the kids with King Benjamin, you know, in case daddy didn't believe that we actually met him!

It was an incredible FHE. The kids LOVED it. I think it was memorable. I hope they'll always remember the words of King Benjamin.

The Biggest Star in Our Household

Jenalyn is learning so much at her Japanese Immersion school. She loves school and comes home every day singing a new song. She loves to share her songs with anyone who will listen. She sings in the car, in the store, in the bathroom, at the dinner table, during homework, and, of course...in the shower...

On Sunday morning she was showering before church. She asked if her new My Little Pony, "Sweetie Bell" could sit on the stool and hang out with her while she showered. No problem. Well, she decided to entertain her little pony.

And mom thought it was cute enough to keep forever.

And share on her blog.

Halloween

Corbin learned this new song at preschool for Halloween. He has been singing for weeks now and I finally decided I can share his uber-cuteness with the world. He melts my heart with his "ooooh's" I wish I had gotten a better video of him signing the song - or even more of the song, but we've both been sick, so this will have to do.

(please pardon his manners *LOL*)

Anyhow, we were all sick the entire week before Halloween. And I mean SICK sick. We're talking, laid up on the couch, hurts to move, fevers and chills-type of sick. So we had to cram all of our Halloween festivities into one day. AND, we had to get creative and resourceful with costumes, because this mama could hardly hold her own head up most of the week, so there was no shopping for, or sewing costumes this year. Here's a run-down in pictures:

We dressed Jenalyn up for school on Friday. She wore the black kitty costume...the costume that just won't go away *LOL* I made the ears, tail and vest for Jenalyn's 2nd Halloween. Looking back thru pictures today I realized that she also wore it for her 3rd Halloween...and now her 6th. She just keeps on getting cuter!
Halloween morning we decided to go to the pumpkin patch (since we were too sick to do it sooner). Jenalyn wanted to dress up for it, so we had to pull together some kind of costume for Corbin too...so he was a ninja - just like last year.
Then my friend Jen called and offered up her son's last-year costume for Corbin - so he got to dress up just like he REALLY wanted - a BAT! (thank you Jen!)
So, in summary, we had a really good Halloween, despite the sickies and ill-preparedness.

My New Favorite Toy

Jason bought me a Cricut Expression! I am having so much fun with it! I find every excuse for cutting!

When we got it I also purchased a couple rolls of vinyl. I had these wild imaginations of all that I could do with it! Presents, wall quotes, coasters, decorative tiles, etc. But when I got right down to it the thought of cutting vinyl was terrifying to me. Paper? No problem! Vinyl? YIKES!

Finally, after a LOT of internet research and many YouTube how-to videos, I took the dive. Turns out, it's SO EASY!

Here's my first project:
Isn't it cute? (I can't take credit for the idea. I found it here - I love craft blogs!) My boss' son is getting married this weekend, so I made it as a wedding gift. I love the way it turned out. I had so many anxieties over it! But it really was so easy!

Jenalyn's Sixth Birthday

WOW! My baby girl is SIX! Holy macaroni! I can't believe how big she is. Every day I watch her in amazement! Here's a little run-down on what we did to celebrate this year:

I decorated the kitchen the night before so it would be ready for her birthday breakfast.
She LOVED it! She came and woke me up in the morning and told me she saw it and LOVED IT! When I was tucking her into bed that night she asked me if I was going to take the decorations down. I said, "I don't know." She said, "Well, they look really beautiful - maybe we can keep them up for a couple more days." *heehee* made me feel so good. I think we'll hang the name garland on her bed.

Jenalyn got to pick the menu for the whole day. We had pancakes with strawberries and fresh whipped cream for breakfast...it was so incredibly delicious! I could put a dollop of that whipped cream on everything (Yes, we had extra. Yes, I've taken a spoon to it several times today.):
We had Mac'n Cheese for lunch - she wanted if for lunch AND dinner, but I exercised my veto power. After lunch it was off to school for the birthday girl. It was picture day so we got a brand new outfit. I snapped a couple pictures while dropping her off...because I just can't stand waiting for the professional pictures to come back - she looked too cute! (Thank you Old Navy) I have the hardest time getting a natural smile/pose out of this girl anymore! Maybe she's had a camera shoved in her face too much over the last six years.
After school we all had a nice nap. Jenalyn doesn't usually take naps, but she definitely needed one yesterday! For dinner we tried out a pizza place we've never been to called Pappy's Pizza. The pizza was just so-so, but they had a great play room and the kids had a great time.
(Jenalyn's teachers made her the birthday crown and she wore it all evening. Random people were wishing her a happy birthday *grins*)

After dinner we came home and decorated cupcakes. Jenalyn said she wanted butterfly cupcakes - so I get it a good-faith effort:
Then we opened presents. Corbin got her a My Little Pony - not a little pony though, a BIG My Little Pony. Just what Jenalyn asked for. She seems to be really into ponies right now. Well, ponies and unicorns. Jason and I got her a Barbie electric guitar. She LOVED it *giggles*
Overall I think we did a pretty good job making the day special for her. I was tucking her into bed and she said, "But mom, we didn't have my friends over for a party!" I told her I didn't think we would be able to do that this year. Do you know what she said? "Well, that's okay. I still had the best birthday of my whole life!" *awe* that almost made me cry. It felt good to hear that.

Here's a little bonus for ya, if you made it this far - thru all the pictures and my ramblings. A video of our Princess Rock Star. Enjoy!

Beautiful Sunset

We saw this sunset on our way to Target a couple weeks ago and I pointed it out to Jenalyn and she said "Oh, it's so beautiful! I just want to jump on those clouds and shout HOORAY!"

When was the last time you felt the urge to jump on a cloud and shout 'hooray'?

My Little Ray of Sunshine

They asked me to increase my hours at work again because of a heavy workload. So instead of taking more time away from my kids I agreed to come in to work at 6 a.m. Ahem...I offered to work this schedule. What was I thinking? Well apparently, after two weeks waking up before the sun, I've become a bit tired and grumpy.

Tonight while getting the kids ready for bed I nearly lost my patience and put myself in time-out. After a short while Jenalyn joined me and I explained to her that sometimes I need to take time outs too, in order to calm down and find my patience.

That girl is so sweet. She left the room briefly and brought back her markers and some paper and started drawing a picture to make me smile.

We saw a beautiful sunset tonight and I immediately recognized that she was drawing it. The more she drew, the more I smiled. The more I smiled, the more she smiled. Which made me smile even more.

She kept adding to her picture. The sunset. A flower. A tree. Herself. Me. Her BFF Madison. Madison's mom. A slide. Grass. Squirrels in the tree. Nuts for the squirrels.

I told her it must be a magical picture because it made all my grumpies disappear. She beamed, giggling and said, "It makes me so happy when I make you happy."

I wanted to capture that moment so I can always remember it. We taped the picture on the wall next to my bed. I love it.

Douglas County Fair

We met my good friend Leigha and her family at the Douglas Couny Fair on August 6. Leigha and I were best friends when we were 15 years old, living in Roseburg. We haven't seen each other in 12 years. So we decided to meet up again in our old stomping grounds. We're partners in crime, as you can see from the picture.

Do you have a friend who, no matter how much time has past, and how much you've changed as a person, is just so easy to be around? Like no time has passed at all? That's my Leigha.

Our kids got along great too! Leigha has an almost 3-year-old named Connor. He and Corbin cruised in the stroller and went on lots of rides together. She also has an 9-year-old son and a 7-year-old step-son who were sweet enough to take Jenalyn on her favorite ride (more than once) because her parents can't handle spinning like they used to.

Anyway, we had a fabulous time. The weather was perfectly pleasant. About mid-70's and overcast. The kids went on tons of rides. And we ate some good food. We're hoping to make this an annual affair.
One of the highlights of the day for me (almost as great as seeing my Leigha again.) was seeing JOSH TURNER's concert *squeals* Oh yeah baby! His voice melts me. He's so talented. I had Jenalyn convinced that he came all this way, just to sing to *ME* hee hee. Even though we had the worst seats in the house, and were surrounded by hundreds of other people...she still believed me.

We didn't stay for the whole concert because it was the end of the day and the kids weren't havin' it. But I did get to hear him sing "Firecracker" *swoon* I wish I could have heard "Your Man" or "Would You Go With Me." Ah well, maybe next time. (Please let there be a next time.)
So anyway, that was our day at the fair. We had a wonderful time. Even Jason, who hates going to the fair, admitted it was a GREAT day.

Love you, Leigha! See you next year...if not before.

For the love of dinos

Corbin has been aching to see Dawn of the Dinosaurs for months and months - May is the earliest I remember.

This boy loves dinosaurs.

I believe I know what it might be like to live with a real, live dinosaur. He's always stomping around the house with his two fingers crooked like dinosaur claws, rawring at everything that gets in his way.

Sometimes he asks me to push his "nose button" and when I do so he rawrs like a T-Rex...just like so many of his beloved dinosaur toys.

So we finally took the kids to see Dawn of the Dinosaurs tonight. Corbin sat on my lap during the whole movie. (Mmm...I love that! Lots of good snuggle time.) During the more intense dinosaur-chasing-rawring-parts he was sitting there shuddering - literally shaking - in my lap. At one point I asked him, "are you okay, buddy?" and he said (still shuddering), "Dinosaurs are so cool!"

Made me laugh.

Had to blog about it.

These Kids Crack Me Up.

Corbin.

Yesterday I was getting ready for work when Corbin walked in and asked me if I would get him some cereal with blueberries in it. The conversation took an interesting turn:

Me: Well you kinda look like a blueberry (he was wearing navy blue shirt and shorts). And your eyes are like big delicious blueberries!

Corbin: And you look like an old potato!

Me: ...silence...

Honestly, what do you say to that? I don't think I look like an old potato...but I dunno, maybe I do. In my defense, I was wearing white.

Jenalyn.

I usually take Jenalyn with me when I take my mother-in-law to her medical appointments. We were sitting in the exam room waiting for the doctor to come in and there was a big poster on the back of the door of the female anatomy. She was interested in it so I explained what certain things were. I showed her where the lungs are (Grandma 'Nee just had a lung biopsy), where the heart is, and I showed her the uterus...where babies grow inside their mommy's bellies.

Later that night we were at the grocery store and she pointed to a BBQ sauce bottle and said, "LOOK MOM - that's that one thing...you know, where babies grow!"

Yep. I guess it sorta looks like a bull's head.

Love these kids

Today Jenalyn came into the kitchen all distraught and said, "Mom! There's a spider using my little chair for his web!"

Then she stuck her finger up in the air and said, "But I won't give up! I have a plan!" ... "Corbin's a brave little guy." (*giggles* she actually said "brave little guy")

Sho'nuff, pretty soon Corbin was following her into the office to rescue her chair. Like a knight rescuing the princess from the fierce dragon. He was walking with his chin up, like he had a purpose.

Cutest thing I've seen all day.

(Lets pretend, just for this blog entry, that he's holding a shiny sword, instead of a seagull's feather.)

Fun on the Fourth

We had such an amazing holiday! I was worried it would be anti-climatic for the kids since we really didn't have any plans. No one to hang out with. No BBQ to go to. But I think we managed to make it fun and memorable anyhow.

We started out the day with the Ward Breakfast at the park. We had scrambled eggs, pancakes & sausage, swimming in syrup, we visited with friends, and then we played, played and played!

After the ward breakfast we drove over to Home Depot for their kids' project. They had "picnic totes" for the kids to build. The kids both did really well this time (usually it's mostly me and Jason building it). When we got home we had some lunch and put the boys down for a nap. (Yes, I said boys - Corbin and Daddy both slept the afternoon away.) Jenalyn and I decided to paint their little projects. We turned on some fun music and dug out the paints. It was a fun project to do together.

After dinner we headed out to Harrisburg for the fireworks. My dear, patient husband puts up with so much from me! I was so antsy about getting just the right spot for fireworks. He probably wanted to throw me into the river. Fireworks are a big deal for me. I love them. No really, I LOVE them! And when you only get a once-a-year shot at seeing them. It's serious business. I don't like to mess around when it comes to watching fireworks.

So we pulled over to the side of the road and laid the blanket down beside a big field of mint (Mmm...smelled so good). As it started getting darker I saw fireworks going off right at the tree-line in the distance. I threatened Jason with very bad things, if that was where they'd be setting off the fireworks. He very patiently just grinned and nodded.

When the fireworks finally started - WOW - we had the best seat in the house! It was in-cred-ible. So I snuggled up to my hubs, apologized for being so difficult, and enjoyed the fireworks. I. Will. Never. Doubt. My. Husband's. Inspiration. Again. Ever.

And what a sweetie. Even after the way I acted, that night he put on Facebook:

"Jason Zollinger is laughing at how giddy his wife gets over fireworks. It's like she's a kid again. She's a cutie."

Good thing he loves me!

Photo-framing

I'm taking a free class over at JessicaSprague.com. It's a photo framing class. Today was the first project and I couldn't wait to share it. I think it turned out really cute.

This picture makes my heart skip a beat. I love how it captured Jenalyn's sweet spirit. And now it is even better with a frame! (Thanks Jessica!!)

Now I can't post a picture of this Princess without sharing a priceless story:

Okay, going back 5+ years, I was sitting in the mother's lounge at church with another mom, nursing our babies. She had an older child (about 4-5 years old) and I was a first-time mom, with my baby Jenlayn.

Well, she was telling me a story - can't remember it exactly, but she made the comment that she doesn't even get to go to the bathroom alone! I was like...what?!?!? Seriously? Your kid follows you into the bathroom? WEIRD!

Well, now flash forward 5+ years to the present. And now I am in the same boat. I am rarely alone in the bathroom anymore. But once in a while, I need my peace and quiet so I close the door and lock it so I don't have any followers.

The other night was one of those nights when I just wanted to be alone. So I went into the bathroom and soon...very soon...after I locked it, Jenalyn was banging on the door. I said, "Honey, I just want to be alone for a minute." From the other side I hear, "BUT MOM! It'smeyourdaughterJenalynandyouloveme!"

Bahahaha...just the way she said it...as if it was one big word...made me laugh hysterically. And the way she added, "your daughter, Jenalyn!" as if I had no idea who she might be talking about - perhaps my other daughter. *LOL*

At The Coast with Gramma'Nee & Grampa Jerry

While my parents were in town we went to the coast. Not once, but TWICE :)

The first coast trip started the day after Jenalyn's graduation. We drove out and stayed the weekend in my grandma's beach house. It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend, even though it was rainy and cold most of the time. Here's what we did:

• We managed to get in a couple of nice walks, during the rain breaks.
• We went swimming in the in-door pool at the community center.
• Played a little doubles ping-pong, also at the commuity center. Me and Mom against Dad & Jenalyn = hilarious!
  
• The kids got their bubble bath in the jacuzzi tub - that's become a tradition when we go to the beach house.
• We had a BBQ with my dad's long-time best friend that he hasn't seen in almost 10 years.
• We saw the movie UP! at the theater in Newport.
• Ate watermelon on the back porch - the sun came out right as we were packing up the car to leave.
  

The second coast trip was a day trip, a couple days before they left us. We drove back to the beach house to pick up dad's church suit and then we drove back down the coast. Had lunch at a nice little restaurant in Waldport, overlooking the ocean. Then headed down to our favorite beach: Haceta Head. Corbin got wet and sandy, chasing the waves and the birds. Jenalyn explored caves with her dad and found a couple additions to her growing rock collection. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun.
I'm angry with myself that none of these pictures have Gramma'Nee or Grampa Jerry in them ('cept the tiny little watermelon picture). You'll just have to take my word that they were there with us.

Here's a little bonus for ya. A video of my Corbin chasing the waves - watch his face. He actually looks like he's truly scared of the water:

Memorial Day Weekend

My parents were in town for several weeks and we had enough fun to last the whole summer! I'm going to blog about it little by little so that I don't get overwhelmed and give up.

The first weekend they were here just happened to be Memorial Day Weekend. We decided at the spur of the moment to go camping. We quickly realized how hard it is to find a decent camp spot "spur of the moment" in Oregon...on Memorial Day weekend! We just about gave up when we found a campground just 5 minutes from home. It was a park I have been to a million times before, but I never would have thought to camp there since it is so close to home. But it was nice. Quaint.

My kids have never been camping and Jason and I hadn't been camping in about 9 years! So this was a big deal for us. I grew up camping every summer...several times every summer, and I want my kids to have the same wonderful memories that I had. It was perfect to have our first family camping trip with Grandpa Jerry and Gramma'Nee. We had a great time.

This camping trip taught us that we need to get a bigger tent. We still have the tent that my parents gave us for our wedding - two-man tent: not adequate for a family of four. We set up Corbin's little Lightening McQueen tent (one-man tent) and Jenalyn slept in the back of Grandma & Gramdpa's car. It felt weird to have us scattered like that and I was uneasy all night about having Corbin in a tent by himself. In fact, I found a twistie tie and tied his zipper shut because I was afraid he might get up and wander. I still woke up several times during the night worried about him.

On Memorial Day we drove out past Cottage Grove and met our extended family at Dorena Lake. It was a beautiful, fun-filled day! My cousin and his wife brought their boat. That was definitely the hi-light of the day. And maybe the hi-light of Jenalyn's whole 5-years of life! She loved every second of it. She giggled and laughed pretty much the whole time she was on that boat. She kept yelling to Kirk, "GO FASTER!!!" She thought it was the bestest motor boat in the whole world!

The kids also ran around and played in the lake with their cousins and we roasted hot dogs for lunch. Best. Day. Ever.

Pre-K Grad

My big girl is a Pre-K Graduate *sniff sniff* she's growing up so fast! I can't believe she'll be a kindergartner in September! YIKES!

They had a nice graduation party tonight. Jenalyn has been looking forward to it and talking about it for months now! I think it was just as much fun as she was anticipating. But she did cry tonight because she is going to miss her teachers and her friends. It's so sad that they'll all be going to different schools. She's been with some of these kids for two years!

I overheard a conversation between her and her BFF, Madison:

M: We're probably never going to see each other again.
J: Oh, we'll be forever and ever and ever...together.

*AWE* That's so sweet. Here's a picture of the BESTIES:

And Jenalyn with the BEST teachers in the world! We're excited for Corbin to be in their class next year.

Is there a mouse in the house?

Saturday morning Jenalyn woke us up and told us that Corbin had gotten into the "fridgelater" and was eating cheese(!) ...waitaminute...isn't Corbin allergic to dairy? Why yes, he IS!

He had also gotten into the chocolate syrup and the butter.

*hmph*

Sunday morning we had another wake-up call from Jenlayn saying he was in the freezer eating the ice cream! ...with his fingers!

*ack*

What are we going to do with this boy? He knows that he shouldn't be eating this stuff. Good thing it isn't the kind of allergy that gives him hives or anaphalatic shock! Unfortunately it does make him uncontrollable and grumpy, gives him a eczma and...well...other yucky things.

My Mother's Day Weekend

The weekend started off great with a trip to the temple with my hubby on Friday night. *ahhh* that is a flawless datenight right there! Can't beat that!

On Saturday the kids and I went to breakfast at the park where Jenalyn has preschool. They passed out fliers and announced it in her class and she was so very excited to take her mom to breakfast. She asked me every day, "Is it Breakfast Day yet?"

That morning Jason left us to help with a youth temple trip (yep, he went to the temple twice in one weekend - he's a rockstar!) so we called our friends, Jen and her kids, to go to breakfast with us. Breakfast was delicious! Pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit...YUM! and the kids had so much fun! Of course, we played at the park afterward.

On Sunday Jason didn't make me do a single thing. All day long. I really don't think I have ever felt so honored. It was everything a Mother's Day should be!

First thing in the morning, Jason woke up with the kids and let me sleep in. I ended up taking Corbin to church by myself since Jenalyn was sick but when we got home the house was beautiful and Jason had an amazing dinner going. He found a recipe in Food Network Magazine and whipped it up. Steak with avocado sauce and tomato salad. (we used cucumber instead of hearts of palm in the salad because we didn't know what the heck that was or where to find it!) I don't think it would have tasted any better if Emril Lagasse had made it for me. It blew me away. Especially since it included avocados and tomatoes - two of Jason's most hated food items, but he knows I love them! (psst...he did eat the avocado sauce - and he LIKED it!)

For gifts: Jenalyn gave me a card and a little Altoid's-tin-jewelry box that now holds my earrings. *toocute* I got a sweet little handprint from Corbin and Jason bought me a baby rosebush and headphones to use with my iPhone on the treadmill (the earbuds kept falling out of my ears).

It was wonderful. The whole weekend was. I love my family. I feel so blessed to be the mother of these beautiful children and a wife to that that amazingly wonderful guy. SO BLESSED! I love my life and the people in it.

But I have to give credit where credit is due, I am who I am because of my mother who taught me, thru example, how to love and be loved. I love you mama!

*bigsigh*

I had so much hope for tonight. I was going to put the kids to bed at 8:00, send hubby off to see a movie with the boys from church, work on my primary lesson, blog about our fun Saturday last week, watch a missed episode of Ugly Betty while folding clothes...

But NO.

Once again I lost control of my own time.

5:15 - Jenalyn comes down with a fever.

6 - 8:00 - Jason is in charge of dinner and we didn't get it until 8:00. Yes, we had dinner at 8 p.m...and it was KFC. (during this time I was showering - after my time on the treadmill *YAY ME* - and babying my sick daughter who wanted nothing but mama.) In Jason's defense, he was go-go-go ALL day long and really wanted some down-time (strumming his guitar). His day is a whole other story which includes a flat tire, youth temple trip, mother's day shopping, coordinating a boys-movie-night: Star Trek, and shuttling Jenalyn.

8:30 - Put my sick girl to bed, at her request. No changing clothes even, just straight to bed wrapped in her cuddly blankie (Corbin was still eating.)

9:00 - Aunt Dale and Roger came over before heading back to Salem. Chatted with them. I love visiting with them. And I think Corbin was enjoying being the only kid around. Jenalyn tends to command attention, so he was enjoying the spotlight for once.

10:00 - Corbin is STILL awake and hamming it up for Dale. Jenalyn wakes up and is burning up! Took her temp and it was 101.8! Jason was going to get us more Tylenol Meltaways but didn't get to it before the movie so Dale and Roger offered to go get us some.

10:15 - While Dale and Roger were at the store I got both kids in their jammies, teeth brushed, Corbin to bed.

10:30 - Dale & Roger come back. Jenalyn tries her best to entertain them while still feeling icky and she manages to keep them here until after 11:00.

11:15 - read Jenalyn the new book that Dale got for her at the store.

11:30 finally put Jenalyn to bed, for the second time tonight.

Midnight...I'm dog-tired and trying to plan my lesson. SHOOT - side-tracked by the blog!

*NO MORE SPIDERS*

This morning we were all in the kitchen getting breakfast for the kids before I had to leave for work when all of a sudden Jenalyn started screaming and crying. I thought she had hurt herself - she was near hysterics! When she finally calmed down and told us what was wrong she said there was a spider on the chair next to her. Yes. A spider. Dad came to the rescue and saved his princess from the BIGGEST UGLIEST Spider we've ever seen (actually it was quite small and probably harmless).

Afterward Jenalyn decided our house needs a "NO SPIDERS" sign. So she made one. It's next to her bed tonight. I bet she has never felt safer.
I think we should make one for every room in the house. Do you think it will work?

Check it Out

My sister is a bloggin' super star!

Have you heard of Delightful Dots blog templates? Well...my sister has hooked up with DD and is now creating blog headers that coordinate with DD's templates *woot*

Now YOU can have a cute layout with a coordinating header! SWEET!

Check her out - tell her Cari sent ya! *wink*

(clicky on that pic to check out her site)