So, about that 7-year old...

I decided to do a separate post to gush about what a good girl Jenalyn is.

She. Is. Amazing.

I didn't want that information to be put aside or skimmed over for the sake of looking at pictures of her super-fun party. She is sweet, tenderhearted, kind, grateful, loving, thoughtful, friendly, honest, responsible...and I could go on and on.

She tells me every day what a great mom I am. It doesn't matter if I'm having a grouchy day, or if I'm having a lazy-don't-want-to-move kind of day. (Trust me, I've had several loser-mom days during the last couple months of this pregnancy!) She always tells me I'm the best. And she never forgets me in her prayers. It makes me feel so loved.

When we were planning her party I told her she could only invite 8 friends. We have a small house, and not a huge budget. So she picked her 8 friends (and a handful of adults that she wanted to have here to help out *LOL*).

I told her before she went to church last Sunday, and again before she went to school on Monday, that she needed to be sensitive to those we were unable to invite. I explained that she probably shouldn't talk about her party because it might hurt other's feelings if they weren't invited. She understood and agreed.

Thursday, the day before her party, I picked her up from school and she asked me if we could invite A to her party. I explained that it was too late to invite more people, and then I got distracted with a conversation with Corbin. A few minutes later, she sniffled from the backseat and said, "Um, Mom, can I please tell you the whole story?" She then explained to me that her teacher mentioned in class that the next day would be Jenalyn's birthday and then Jenalyn accidentally let it slip about the party to A, who was sitting next to her. She said that A really really wanted to come to her party (by now Jenalyn is losing her battle against the tears, which breaks my heart) and she really didn't want to hurt A's feelings!

She is so sweet. She doesn't like making people feel bad.

I don't know if you noticed, but she only frosted half of her cake at the party. She did this because the frosting had milk in it and she wanted to be able to share her cake with Corbin. She is so very thoughtful.

She loves making people laugh! She's the life of the party. Her personality is larger than life! I caught a couple funny-face pictures of her at the party.
She thought it was hilarious that she was sitting on the couch with a cup full of frosting, eating from a plastic butter knife.

Showing off her muscles. She kept saying, "Look at these fat girls!" and then looked down at her muscles! *LOL* I have no idea where she got that from, but it made me laugh.

Anyway, if I were a 7-year old, I would totally want to be her friend. She is so much fun! I'm so happy to have her in my life! She makes life fun.

Jenalyn's birthday party.

Before I get too mushy-gushy over my sweet bug, I'll tell you about her birthday party. I fussed over what to do for the party for weeks! I couldn't think of anything (preggo-brain!). Finally, a week before her birthday I found an awesome blog post about a great party idea that seemed totally do-able. A CAKE PARTY! How fun!

I wanted to re-create every single little detail from that creative blog, and I had full intention of doing so, but my pregnancy discomforts limited my abilities. *sigh* But it was still a super fun party.

Here are pictures from the big party:
Each girl got her own cake to frost and decorate. I made EIGHT cakes (plus cupcakes) within 48 hours of this little party. Thank goodness for my KitchenAid mixer!

They got to take their cakes home to share with their families in their own, personalized cake box.

Here's the treat table. We had strawberry/marshmallow kabobs, oreos, cupcakes, and strawberry/kiwi juice with frozen strawberries for ice cubes.

Jenalyn's completed cake :) And her BFF from school. She and Sydney were in the same class in Kindergarten, but they have different teachers this year. They still eat breakfast together every morning and play together at recess.

This is Jenalyn and her BFF from preschool - I'm so glad we've managed to stay in touch over the past two years. They are still great friends, even though they go to different schools.

This is Jenalyn's BFF from church. She got to play with Katie a lot over the summer and she tells me all the time how much she loves her.

Jenalyn loves all of her friends so much. When I asked what her favorite part of her party was, she said "Having all my friends over at my house!" I wish I had gotten individual pictures of her with each of her guests!

Acknowledgments: This party wouldn't have been possible without the following people's help and support:

• Jason - He funded the party, did some of the shopping, and helped clean the house. Besides all that, he expressed many times how much he admired and appreciated all the work I was putting into this party to make it wonderful for our daughter;
• Venessa - She let us borrow her table and, as always, stepped right in and did what needed to be done to help with the party. Aside from all the help she gave me, my kids just love having Auntie Vee around! Just her mere presence left us full of gratitude (James too!)
• LeaAnne - She also let us borrow a table for the cake decorating. And she was willing and ready to help with whatever needed to be done. Plus, she gave me much-needed moral support thru the preceding week, "You can do it, Cari!" "It will be great!" That helped me keep on keepin' on.
  
• Aunt Dale - What an answer to my prayers! She showed up unexpectedly around 4:00 and I still had *somuch* to get done before the party at 6:00. Dale assembled the kabobs, divvied up the frosting cups, put together the cake boxes, and swept my floors!!! I am so grateful!
  

Discovered Picnik

I always assumed that Picnik wouldn't work on my Mac, since Picasa didn't. I was WRONG! Yay!

Yesterday when we picked Jenalyn up from school she asked if we could go to the hay maze at the farm (Corbin and I went with some friends last week and she was bummed that she missed out). So I shrugged and said why the heck not? So we went. The kids had fun. And I got some awesome pictures to play around Picnik with.

Now I'm sharing them with you!

Preschool = FOUND!

(This sweet face melts my heart.)

So here's the story: Last year Corbin went to the same preschool Jenalyn went to for two years. We loved the teachers and were very happy with the program. However, towards the end of the school year I was approached by one of the teachers and she told me she didn't think they could handle Corbin in their Pre-K class because it tends to be a bigger class, and Corbin requires a lot of supervision (he's a flight-risk when they're out on the playground).

**sigh**

I went home and cried. Is he really so much different than other boys his age?

So I called different preschools throughout the summer and found that they were all too expensive for our budget. I started getting really discouraged and almost decided to start up a co-op type preschool with other mommies in our ward...even though the thought of doing that with a newborn in my not-too-distant-future scared the whits out of me!

Then school started for Jenalyn and Corbin started asking more and more when HE gets to go to school. He was bored staying home with just mommy all day. Especially an achy, no-energy, 8-month pregnant mama!

So I talked to a friend from church and she reminded me of a preschool I hadn't looked into yet. The Teens and Tots program at a local Middle School.

Bonuses:

• They pair each kid up with a middle-schooler --> Corbin gets one-on-one time with a "teacher."
• They have a fenced-in playground --> no more flight-risk
• It costs significantly less than we were anticipating.
• It's 3-days a week for almost 2.5 hours each day --> that's going to be a nice break for me after the baby is born!
  

Class started today. And I called my mommy and cried after I dropped him off. Can you believe that? (1) He's not my first kid to go to school; and (2) This isn't even his first year of preschool - I don't think I cried last year when I dropped him off on his first day.

But he said something that tore at my heart. Not once, not twice, but three times while we were getting ready this morning he asked me, "Do you really think they'll like me, mommy?"

**sobs**

Corbin has a really good sense for knowing if an adult likes him, is annoyed with him, or barely tolerates him. I know he knew that one of the teachers at his last preschool had a particularly hard time with him. And I can always tell when he has a difficult time with teachers (mostly substitutes) in primary. So I believe he was truly, genuinely concerned with whether or not this new preschool would like him. (Oh no! The tears are starting again.)

He's such a sweet boy. I didn't want to leave him there. I wish I could have sat in the corner and just watched. He blew me the biggest, sweetest kisses as I walked out the door. I miss him already! I hope and pray that this will be a good experience for him.

First of First

(She looks so tired in these pictures! Also, she refused any type of barrette or headband in her hair for the first day. *sigh*)

Yesterday was Jenalyn's first day of first grade. When asked what she was most excited about she replied, "I get to eat lunch at the school - and I get to have three recesses!" Also somebody had told her that the first graders get to go to JAPAN. I don't know where that came from, but she was pretty disappointed when I told her that it's the FIFTH graders who go to Japan.

Well, we made it "back to school" but I still have so many anxieties! The English teacher in the school is known for being very stern. And I've also heard that the first graders get slammed with homework. I am not looking forward to that! I don't know how Jenalyn will handle it. I might have to sign her up for the after-school homework club. It's like pulling teeth to get that girl to do homework.

In other news, I still have not found another preschool for Corbin. I'm getting really discouraged, and he's going to start getting so bored, sitting around waiting for sissy to get home!

I'm still relatively new at this stay-at-home-mom gig - what do I do with my 4-year old all day?

A Pineapple

According to my weekly pregnancy email:

33 weeks: Baby weighs as much as a pineapple

Your baby is proportioned like a pineapple when it comes to weight -- a little over 4 pounds. (Length: more than 17 inches, head to heel.)

Four pounds? Really? That's all? You'd think I was sharing my body with a 20-pounder for how uncomfortable I've been. It's sad, really. I walk like a crippled old lady. You would think that carrying around a pineapple would be a piece of cake! No problem, right? So why do my hips and lower back hurt so bad? And we still have 7 weeks to grow...? Oy!

In other news, I made a cute little chore chart for the school year. I'm hoping it will make school mornings go smoother. I added items like making sure your backpack is ready and by the front door, shoes are under the bench where we can easily find them and outfits picked out the night before. I guess it's more of a daily check-list than a chore chart. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I got the idea here.

I added clipart because we're not all reading yet ;) (got the clipart here.) I got the frame at Wal-Mart for just $4 and I had all other supplies on hand. It was such a simple project. I bought some fun dry-erase markers so the kids can cross the items off their list as they complete the task. Then we can erase them the next day and start over again! Yeah!

When I told Jenalyn what I was making she said, "Are you going to turn us into your slaves?" Bwahahaha...yes, that's exactly what I'm doing!

I finally gave in.

Jenalyn has wanted to have her hair cut "just like Alia's" since the beginning of summer. (Alia is a friend from church.) Problem is, I was so very attached to her long hair! So shiny and beautiful! I subscribe to a lot of hair blogs and I love love love fixing her hair. It's one of my favorite pastimes! But, I think she is old enough now that I need to let her find her own style (Within reason. I mean, she also wanted to dye it PINK!)

So I finally set the appointment and she has been counting down the days...with her abacus. The day finally arrived!
I took a ton of "before" pictures - I'll only post one now - she wasn't into it, so she has a goofy, fake smile in all of the pictures.
(*sigh* it's so pretty, right?)

She giggled non-stop while sitting up in the big chair. She was so excited!

The big snip! I might have shed a tear or two. I tried to be brave.

Her...very...last...little-girl-braid...Oh my!

And just like that, it was over:
My baby girl looks all grown up now! Doesn't she? She looks at least 3 years older, I swear! But oooh, I love it. It's so pretty! It lays so nicely and looks so healthy. Looks pretty with a clip too. I can still fix it and play with it, I'm sure. Maybe no more pony tails, but she was getting big for that anyway, right?

After the epic haircut we decided we didn't want to go home yet - so we had a little "mommy-daughter date."

We went shoe shopping (I can cross that off my back-to-school list):
(she also got a really cute pair of black boots.)

And then we went out for ice cream:

Hair salon, shoe shopping, and ice cream. Fun girls' day, right? We thought so!

Back-to-School Anxieties

...for me. Not the kids.

School starts in just over a week. This will be the first year having Jenalyn gone full days. ALL DAY, my sweet girl will be in someone else's care. YIKES! Besides that, Corbin will only be in preschool a couple days a week for a few hours at a time, who is going to entertain him while she's gone? The TV? Probably. *LOL*

It will also be our first year having to get up and out the door first thing in the morning (we did afternoon preschool and kindergarten). I was never on time when I was working...how am I going to get my 6-year-old up and ready and out the door, with the 4-year-old in tow, before 8:30 a.m. ... every morning? And we'll have to add a newborn to the mix in just about 8 weeks!

What if Jenalyn has forgotten everything she learned last year? What if I haven't done a good enough job working with her to keep it all fresh in her head? What if she's behind all the other kids when school starts again? What if she feels like she isn't as smart as the other kids? What if she doesn't make good friends? What if she sits by herself during lunch? What if she comes home crying....

I'll just die.

....AHHH! I'm going to drive myself batty. I have a week to pull myself together. Breathe, Cari. Just breathe.

Aspirations

(It has been a while since I blogged, and it's been even longer since a shared an updated picture of my kids. So here you go. Picture taken 7/4/10.)

I love to listen to my kids' conversations with each other. Today in the car I heard this:

Jenalyn: Corbin, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Corbin: A Tyrannosaurus Rex. And then a Superhero. And then a Paleontologist.

Corbin: What do you want to be when you grow up, Jenalyn?
Jenalyn: A veterinarian.
Corbin: What's a "veggietinarian?"
Jenalyn: They help animals.

Eleven Years

Thursday was our 11th wedding anniversary. ELEVEN YEARS! Woohoo! This past year has definitely been a pivotal year for us. After all the trials and changes, I'd say we came out of it better. Stronger. I can't speak for Jason, but I think we both love and appreciate each other more than ever.

During our 10th year of marriage:

• We've had our highest highs and lowest lows.
  
• Jason's amazing mother passed away :(
• We enjoyed a our Christmas holiday with my parents - they stayed in Oregon for a whole 2 months!
  
• Jason got a job - well, a more consistent, reliable contract job. Which he loves!
• I QUIT my job of 12 years! YAY! (and boo, it was kinda sad leaving.) I'm finally living my dream of being a stay-at-home mom. And I love it! I've had a lot of fun with the kids this summer!
• Jenalyn finished her first year at Japanese Immersion School - and she loves it!
• Corbin finished his first year of pre-school and gave his teachers a run for their money!
  
• We are expecting Baby #3 (a GIRL) in late October.

We didn't have much time to celebrate on Thursday. Jason wanted to whisk me away for a weekend, but I talked him out of it because we need the money for other things right now. But we had an awesome date night on Saturday.

The company Jason is working for had a "Night at the Em's." They do this in lieu of a company picnic. So we got a babysitter and went to the baseball game. We got to sit by a couple from our ward (he actually got Jason the lead on this job) and we chatted the whole time. It was fun getting to know them better. Plus, I won a door prize *woo*

As we were leaving the game (early, because Jason wanted to go to a movie), I got a text from Venessa. She was bragging that she was at Bite of Eugene and Samba Ja was playing (that was our favorite entertainment from the Eugene Celebration last year). Well, we were just down the street so we stopped by briefly. We got there just in time to catch their last song...sigh...but it was still fun to visit with Venessa and James. As we were leaving for the movie, Samba Ja was getting back on stage...sigh again...this time with fire dancers!! SHEESH! Bad timing! But, we stayed long enough to get a short video of one of the fire dancers. I want to be a fire dancer some day. *heehee*


We made it to the movie just in time. We saw Inception. Pretty good show. By the end of the evening we both agreed that it was one of the best date nights we've had in a long time!

The next day, Jason spoke in church. That was icing on the big, beautiful, delicious cake! I love listening to him speak. He's so eloquent.

I love that man for so many reasons...on so many levels!

Here's to another awesome year together *cheers*

Kinder Performance

There are just a couple weeks left of school. Jenalyn's class had a little performance last week. They did a play called "Momotaro" (Peach Boy) and they sang some songs that they've learned throughout the year, and then they did a beautiful fan dance.

Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries just minutes into the performance, so I had to rely on my iPhone after that.

Here is a picture of Jenalyn with her friend Alyssa in their Kimonos:
Here is a short video of the Momotaro play (it's all I got before my camera gave up on me).

In case you can't tell, Jenalyn is in the middle, on one knee.

NO SMOKING.

Last week we were in a public restroom and saw a "No Smoking" sign and Corbin asked what it meant. I told him it was a "No Smoking" sign. It means you can't smoke in the bathrooms.

Apparently I should have taken the opportunity to explain what "smoking" means.

Yesterday we were sitting on the couch watching a little TV and Corbin said. "So can I smoke in the house or what?"

Um...

What did you just say?

I thought I heard him correctly, but couldn't believe what he was asking me.

He said, "well, there's no "No Smoking" sign in our house!

Woops. My bad. better print this out and post it in a conspicuous place in my home. Just so my 4-year-old is clear on the house rules.

Prayers and Puking

I woke up this morning to bright blue eyes and three-day-old pigtails. I slept on the couch last night because I was up all night puking...for the second night in a row. Jenalyn was hovering over me as I woke up. She said the sweetest words I've ever heard. "I prayed for you mommy. That you would feel better and not be sick anymore."

*sigh*

My daughter prayed for me. Unprompted. She said a prayer. By herself. Prayed that her mommy would feel better. I've never felt more full.

Cutesy little craft

I interrupt this long stream of updates to bring you a cutesy little craft I whipped up while I was home, sick today.

I turned this:
Into this:
Jenalyn decided that she really really really wants a FurReal pet. Since Christmas is over, and her birthday isn't until October, we decided she can EARN IT by doing chores for money around the house. Today she cleaned her bedroom for $3. She already had $4 from the tooth fairy. So she's up to $7...we're well on our way. This evening she asked if she can take her "Earn It" can around to the neighbors and see if she could do any chores for money *LOL* if I knew our neighbors, I might let her do that. We'll talk about hitting up the grandparents though.
It was very simple. Just covered it in cutesy scrapbook paper (12x12 didn't quite cover it, so I completed it with some coordinating paper and slapped on some solid color scrap paper and put letters on it. SO EASY! SO CUTE!

Farewell to an Incredible Woman

(missing you)

Janice Lou Zollinger

2/18/44 - 11/28/09

Two days after Thanksgiving, 2009 my sweet Mother-in-Law, Jan, left this world, and left all of her physical limitations and health problems behind her.

The phone rang at 2:30 a.m., Saturday morning, November 28. it was Jason's dad, John. He told his son that his mother was gone. The first thing we did when Jason hung up the phone was pray for comfort. That prayer was heard. And answered. The second thing we did was call our trusty home teacher. (Thank heavens for good Home Teachers!) He drove right over so that we could leave the kids sleeping and I could go with Jason to his parents house. I didn't want to send Jason alone.

The next couple days were a blur. Planning. Arranging. Coordinating...between sobs. It was so surreal. Jan was such a caring, loving, gracious, classy woman. Always doing things for others. In 2006 she had heart surgery and never fully recovered. She had a stroke in the recovery room and was left with some serious limitations. Which left a huge void in our family. Corbin wasn't even a year old and Jenalyn was just shy of 4 years old.

This is my favorite picture of Jan, holding Corbin just months before her surgery.
This was the last picture I took of Jan with the kids (not a very good shot of her, but it's all I've got!). It was taken at a restaurant on Jason's birthday this year (8/25/09).

We had a beautiful funeral service for Jan the following Saturday. The talks were so sweet and really captured Jan's character. Jenalyn sang a solo(!) "Families Can Be Together Forever." She practiced in the chapel, probably 5 times before the service. She sang strong and beautifully. It seemed like she loved being in front of the microphone. But when it was show-time...she froze up. The corners of her mouth were pulled down and her sweet little voice was barely a whisper. I wanted to run up there and throw my arms around her. But she finished strong. I was so proud of her for getting up there. (Afterward, she refused to admit that it was stage fright! She insisted that she just missed her grandma. I'm sure that's true too.)

Jason and his dad, John at the cemetery. It was a very cold day!

Five of Jan's 7 siblings were there - three drove all the way from Colorado! It was so nice to have them here. Despite the circumstances, we were able to spend some good time together and make some memories. (L-R: John, Dale, Marleen, Dori, Nancy, and Jim. The only two missing were Davie and Bill.)

I was so overwhelmed with all the help we got from our ward. Talk about a "family" pulling together! WOW! It helped that our ward is Jan's ward too. She lived in this ward for almost 20 years.

Important things to note over the holidays.

There are so many things I want/need to blog about from this holiday season. I have been such a slacker. I'll do it one post at a time so it won't be too overwhelming, for me AND whoever cares enough to read it.

THANKSGIVING:

We spent this Thanksgiving with Jason's family in Salem. We didn't know it at the time, but it turned out to be our last holiday with my sweet Mother-in-Law. I'm so glad we were all able to be together. We had a lot of fun and made a lot of memories.

Sadly, I only got one picture of my Mother-in-Law, and she wasn't even looking at the camera! It's not a flattering picture, of anyone in the frame, so I'm not posting it here. But I'll keep it forever!

Here are some pictures:

Here is Corbin pretending to be a dinosaur and eating his broccoli "tree". It didn't last long though, he's like his father and HATES broccoli! (that's really the only reason I snapped the picture - proof that he once tried broccoli!)

Will, Jenalyn & Jason. Jenalyn had so much fun with Will! She demanded that she get to sit next to him for dinner! The chocolate turkeys have become a tradition when we have Thanksgiving dinner at Dale's house, she puts a See's Chocolate Turkey on each person's plate. (Corbin's turkey was extracted from the foil and then the foil was stuffed with marshmallows, in order to save us all from his post-dairy crazies.)

Jason's cousin Cassie reading a book to the kids. Jenalyn listening intently, Corbin gnawing on a dinosaur's head, of course! (I guess it tastes better than broccoli.)
Here's Aunt Dale and Jenalyn playing with one of the toys they got Jenalyn for her (belated) birthday.

Cassie helped the kids put together a gingerbread train. And then, after it was dry, she directed them in demolition!