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!

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.