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)

"Cari"

Corbin has taken to calling me "Cari" and it gives me butterflies. It's just so cute the way he says it. It tickles me! The first time he called me Cari, Jason corrected him saying, "Corbin, she's your mommy! You should call her MOM." To which I replied, just as "Flower" in Bambi..."He can call me "Cari" if he wants to!"

I think it's cute so I videotaped it to share with you.

(Notice he keeps saying, "CHEESE" - I guess he was ready for my flash to go off.)

Another Corbin funny:

Yesterday Corbin got bit by another kid in nursery at church. Afterward I was trying to help him learn a lesson from it.

Me: That really hurt when he bit you, huh?

Corbin: Yes!

Me: So you should never bite anybody because you know how badly it hurts, right?

Corbin: Yes.

Me: I’m sorry he bit you and I’m sorry you got hurt.

Corbin: I didn’t want him to eat me!

He said that last part with a panicky/whiny/serious voice. It was SO FUNNY! I think he really thought the boy was going to eat him “all gone!” hahahaha! He's such a sweet kid!

Is She an Angel?

(Picture taken by yours truly on Friday, April 24 at Mt. Pisgah. Artsy filters thanks to Photobucket)

Yesterday morning Corbin woke up sick. He complained about his right ear hurting so I put a little cotton ball with rubbing alcohol in it and got him some Tylenol Meltaways. Soon after I put the meltaway on his tongue - like before it was even melted - he was complaining that his stomach hurt. I asked if he "had yuckies" (that's Zolli-code for are you gonna yak?) and he nodded his head. So I snatched him up off the couch and he threw up on the carpet *poor monkey-boy* so I whisked him into the bathroom to finish up and wash his hands. When I came out of the bathroom Jenalyn was just finishing cleaning up the carpet. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? She grabbed the Lysol wipes and was cleaning up her brother's "yuckies". *awe* I was so proud of her. Could she honestly get any sweeter? She amazes me every day with her sweetness.

She easily could have fled from the room shreiking at the nastiness! But she didn't. My sweet girl.

Wonderful Weekend

We had such a great day last Saturday. I can't not blog about it! We have done so many fun things this year and I'm doing a terrible job of documenting it. So I'll start here and press forward - maybe do some back-posts when I feel motivated.

So first thing Saturday morning we made breakfast. Jenalyn was very specific! She said she wanted pancakes with strawberries (we'd had some in the fridge since Sunday and it was driving her nuts) and blueberries - we had frozen blueberries so I dumped them into a pot with syrup and warmed it up together. Mmm...blueberry-infused warm maple syrup. Lucky for us, we also had some whipped cream on hand. We all pitched in and cooked breakfast together. Jason warmed up some left-over Easter ham for protein. It was so pretty that I snapped a picture. I love food.
After breakfast I got so much done! Vacuumed, swept, mopped, scrubbed the tub, toilet & sink, bathed the kids.

Jenalyn had a birthday party in the afternoon. It was at BOUNCE. Wow. What a fun place! She had so much fun. I got a couple cute videos. Can't help but share.

I love this video because I like the way her braids bounce when she's jumping on the trampoline. Then her bestest friend walks in and they greet each other with a *BIGhug* She just LOVES Madison! She broke down in tears the other day when we saw her mom at the store and Jenalyn learned that Madison is going to a different school for Kindergarten next year *sobs* it was heartbreaking!


Here she is flapping her arms like a birdie and and basking in the lime-light and making her classmates laugh. She loves making people laugh.


After the party we came home and got some rest and then Jason and I had a little date. It was darned near the best date of my life. We left the kids with a sitter and stopped by a RedBox for a movie, Quizno's for some grub, and headed down to Cottage Grove and out to Dorena Lake. It was such a beautiful night. We took a little walk around the lake and enjoyed the peace and quiet. I love the water. It is so serene.
Then after the sun set we put down the seats in the back of the van and snuggled up with blankets and watched Yes Man right there in the parking lot at the lake! It was so much fun.

Before we left for our date I told our babysitter what our plans were and she said, "That sounds like something teenagers would do. But that's cool, I guess it's fun to go back." *LOL* At first her comment made me feel really old, but she was right. I totally felt like a carefree teenager the whole night! After the movie ended we drove up to the dam and star-gazed. It was such a clear beautiful night. So picture-perfect. I was born a romantic and it reminded me of when I was younger and we would be out camping and I'd find a quiet spot, gaze up at the stars and dream of my prince-charming. And now here he was, standing right there with me. Awe sweet. It was just one of those wouldn't-rather-be-anywhere-but-here-type of moments.

The next morning I woke up with no voice and a sore throat *hmph* I was sick for three days! I'm not blaming the date or the lake, I felt the scratchy throat coming on Saturday, but I was having too much fun to slow down so it hit me like a ton of bricks the next morning.

Stray Cat

I'm posting this mostly to get that big pickle down further on the page. Jason says he's tired of looking at it. (*YAY* my hubby reads my blog!)

So we've had this scrawny black cat hanging around our house lately. I was outside with the kids today and Jenalyn was doting on it like it was the coolest thing to ever enter her life. I think she likes him so much because she can carry him around like a little rag doll (she can't hardly lift our big fat kitty). Corbin was unpredictable and crazy with him. Totally freaked me out. I don't know what this cat's kid-tolerance-level is.

Anyhow, Jenalyn made the comment. "I wish I had a cat just like this one." Hmm...I'm glad our Sultan wasn't in ear-shot. That would have killed him to hear her say that.

Later I was telling Jason about her comment and he said, "Did you tell her we DO have a cat just like that? In fact our cat is twice the cat he is!"

He's quite literally right. The stray is seriously skin & bones and our cat is certainly a well-fed indoor cat!

So now for a question. What would you do? Jason called the cat shelter and it costs $45 to drop off a cat. That's a LOT of money for a cat that isn't even our's! But the poor thing is seriously wasting away - and I'm not just saying that because it's such a stark contrast to our obese feline! The poor thing is so thin.

The alternative: Feed him? Because you know what happens when you feed a stray cat! They never leave!

What should we do?

(p.s. if you're wondering what those things on Jenalyn's wrists are, I cut the cuffs of a pair of her P.J.s a couple days ago because they were too tight but now she wears them around every where. She says they are "stylie")

Miss Know It All

Okay, so Jenalyn doesn't exactly look like that
<------------ but she has been a real smarty-pants lately. After just about every sentence I finish, she says, "What does ________ mean?" She asks it about big words, small words, slang words that don't mean anything, it's a little flustering actually. But I try to patiently answer all of her questions. I don't want her to ever think she can't ask questions. So the other day, after a million questions already, she asked me "What does fun mean?" *uhhh* Jenalyn, you know what 'fun' means! She said, "Well I just want to know everything."

She retains most of it too. It amazes me when she spouts off something to Corbin that I previously explained to her. Makes me proud *grins*

Corbin has been a real sweetie this weekend too. I always tell him, "You're my favorite little boy in the whole wide world!" Well, this weekend he started telling me, "You're the mommy in the best wide world." Yah, the words are out of order, but I know what he means. He loves me :)

Vocab-ala-Jenalyn

Pickelish: (adj) pik-el-ish
A word describing an object that has an odor which resembles a pickle.

We went out to dinner tonight and my sandwich came with a pickle spear. I offered it to Jenalyn. She doesn't normally like dill pickles - but she could eat grandma's homemade sweet pickles by the handful so I was interested to see if she would take it. She accepted it, and then sniffed it and said: "Mmm...it smells pickelish!"

She didn't finish the pickle. She took one, teensy-weensy bite and set it back down. I guess she'll stick with grandma's sweet pickles. Who wouldn't?

MILESTONE!

Jenalyn has her first loose tooth! I thought she was too young for that! She called me at work yesterday to tell me the big news! I'm so excited for her! I keep asking her to show me her "wiggle tooth." We both giggle every time.

I have to admit, I didn't fully believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. Partly because she's so young, and partly because we saw our friends this weekend and Aimee was showing off her loose tooth! But, lo and behold, IT'S LOOSE! No mistake about that!

(If you click on the picture above, it's the top right bucky tooth that's loose. The picture was taken in a tee pee at the a museum in Price, Utah. I'll be blogging about that later.)