Over the years

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I created this slide show specifically for Mothers Day but then decided to share it. So this is for those who aren't on facebook or didn't get my email. Just click on the link.

Corbin's Toys & ALL their uses...

Corbin has a very creative mind. We went to the grocery store the other day and since he got his shopping cart he has been begging us to let him take it with us shopping. Well, usually when we go shopping we don't have a whole lot of room for anything else with all the groceries. I finally gave in and let him take it. So when we went shopping at the local store we used our shopping cart for the perishable foods (i.e. eggs, milk, etc.) and his for all the veggies. He LOVED it. Then Corbin and I took his car to Wal Mart and got 3 things and just used his cart. So this is him and I leaving the store. He was a very happy boy and can't stop talking about us taking his shopping cart to the store.

NOW to the names of all the toys. We vacuum our carpets often because our dining area (who ever thought of that idea) is carpeted. I can't imagine what is actually inside my carpet it gets so dirty so fast with toddlers and their eating habits at the dinner table. So we vacuum and clean our carpets often with our Bissell Steam Cleaner. Corbin has taken obsession with the vacuum and the carpet cleaner OH and the snow blower (during the winter when Daniel clears the drive way). So he has his own equipment.

This is the shopping cart, and the lawn mower. When either Daniel or I are mowing the lawn either this or the stroller (below) will be following us also mowing the lawn. So it gets a good mow.

This is the vacuum and the steam cleaner. The bigger vacuum is the "vacuum", then the smaller vacuum is the "Shampooer". He got the idea when we cleaned our carpets over Easter weekend.



This is the "snow blower" and used to be a vacuum (sometimes is has multiple uses).

This is Corbin and ALL his equipment. When he plays pretend Natalie (depending on her mood) will try and correct him but he stands up for his "equipment" and won't back down when she tell him he is pretty much nuts then she looks at me and gets frustrated because he won't back down. Such an imagination. I love him. HOWEVER I can't ever get him to give me an impromptu smile so please excuse the funny expressions in his face.

Easter 2012-What a weekend!

I am a little late with the holidays but we had a fun weekend. My parents came up for a visit and we had a very busy weekend. I am not even sure where to start. I will just start in chronological order.
So my parents got here Thursday evening. We ate dinner together then went to the hotel to swim. The kids had a blast. We were so busy through the entire weekend that we didn't get to the hotel to swim as often as we would have liked. It was fun the one night though.
Then Friday we went to Athol, ID and picked up my new gardening project. It is called barrel gardening. So through out the weekend I worked on this barrel to get it ready for gardening.

So this is what it looks like once I got started. I will post a picture when I have it filled with dirt.
Then Saturday Daniel & my Dad started a rather large project for such a short weekend and my mom and I went Easter shopping and curtain shopping. I will have to post pictures of the curtains later. I am still trying to find someone who can help me arrange them the way I want. It takes more than one pair of hands to work with these curtains.

The deck is done but we still need to put railings around it. We have used it a lot and even bought some furniture.

Saturday night the kids decorated Easter eggs is preparation for Sunday. They even tried to eat a few. We told them they had to wait. They didn't really like that idea. Then they accomplished the worst and spilt some of the red egg die on my carpet. YIKES. We oxy cleaned it enough that it is barely noticeable but still if you know its there you can see it. Thanks to pinterest I found a solution for that.
Then Sunday morning Natalie had a talk in Primary so we stayed for all of Sacrament Meeting then came home, ate dinner and had an Easter egg hunt inside as the weather was windy and cold. The kids had a blast.

Natalie in her Easter dress, and Corbin in his handsome new suit. This is a smile you get from Corbin when he is being told to smile. This is also a look at the finished deck without the railings which will come soon! 

 Natalie really waiting for the opportunity to run, and Corbin showing off his muscles.

A few years ago we had professional pictures taken of both kids and one of the pictures is of them "Cheek to Cheek". So since they are old enough to really notice the pictures they are obsessed with the "cheek to cheek" pictures. So this is of them "cheek to cheek".
Monday morning came my parents came over to say goodbye and to help Daniel finish the deck and to get my curtains up. They needed to be on the road by 12pm but they didn't end up leaving until almost 2pm. So needless to say they got home pretty late. It was so much fun to have them here. We really miss being around family and love it when we have company.

My mom has also made a quilt for all the grandchildren and has written a small note to them on a back corner. I LOVE them and my kids are so proud of their blankets. These are their blankets. So overall we had a very eventful weekend!!

Parenting: Love & Logic Week 2

I'm taking a Parenting: Love & Logic class and last night we learned how to make bed time easier. Well, I decided to start my homework last night. One among the many struggles I have with my kids is bed time. I can't ever keep my kids in their beds let alone their bedrooms. So one of the Dr.’s that teach the class gave a prime example and he made the comment that there are very few people who can go to bed on command. So when I tell them “ok, its bed time, lay down and go to sleep” and then the many times to follow telling them to be quiet they are to be asleep” is not the best approach with children when it comes to bed. So his suggestion was to give them OPTIONS! He told his kids (which were school age) that it was time for bed but they could play with whatever they liked just as long as they STAYED IN THEIR ROOM. If they came out of their room the deal was off. So I kind of took my own perspective as to what he said and decided to try something. So Monday night I put it to the test. I gave them their toys, books, cars, etc. told them I didn't want to see them out of their rooms but could play as long as they liked but they would be getting up at 7am w/Daddy. Natalie didn't get to sleep until 10:30pm, Corbin shortly before. Natalie did very well. She stayed in her room, Corbin however got up several times. I juts threatened to take away his cars and books. NOW when morning time comes Corbin is ALWAYS our alarm clock. He is 95% of the time awake by 6:30am. When morning came I wasn't sure what I was going to do and sure enough Corbin was up by 6am and climbed in bed with us. So I woke up with Daniel got him off to work and Corbin woke up shortly before Daniel left for work. I let Natalie sleep a little longer but when Daniel was out the door I woke her up. Sure enough throughout the whole day they were both very tired and cranky. I dealt with several melt downs and Corbin wanting to be babied all day (didn't tolerate that a whole lot especially when I am watching two other kids 7months and 2 years). So as we were starting to put pajamas on I gave them a rundown of how tonight was going to go. They tried to go off course but we reminded them of our previous conversation. Teeth, books, family prayer, then room. All day Corbin was rubbing his eyes. So by 9pm I went up to check on them and Corbin was of course sound asleep and Natalie was still reading in her room. The next day is library day (they get to go to the local library and have story time then craft time then get to choose out some books to take home) so they have to get up early. So I have done my homework for the week and it seems to be going off very well especially with a little girl who is the one who is the problem at bed times.
So I wrote this a few days after my 2nd class. Both kids are still trying to understand that they need to stay in their room and NOT come out but at least we have made progress with bed time. However it is still a minor work in progress.

Parenting: Love & Logic- Week 1

On April 16 I started taking a Parenting: Love & Logic class to help me better mom to my children. So I learned more on this week than I did last week. I learned to give my children choices. I have learned that Natalie does VERY WELL with choices. In the mornings I struggle getting her to do anything without watching a few of her favorite shows and some juice first. So then when it comes to breakfast she wants options because she is also a very picky eater. So we are now giving her choices and she is doing very well with it. Then when we have melt downs I learned an "Uh-Oh Song" where we tell them uh oh its room time so they sit in their room until they have calmed down and quiet enough to sit with the family again. When they come out of room time I learned to not reiterate whey they went to their room but to just hug them. All of us know that we don't like the idea of salt being rubbed in our woulds and reiterating why they went to their room is doing exactly that. So I am really learning a lot and everything I have tried has worked really well. Something else we had a problem with where Love & Logic has helped is when we let our kids bring their bikes out front and tell them they can only go so far without Mom and Dad then Natalie decides to test how far she can really go and when I yell at her to come back she will me "I didn't hear you telling me to come back" (silly girl she repeats what I say but she is saying she can't hear me) so instead of just taking the bike and punishing her we put it away for the rest of the day and try again the next day. They will soon realize they can't cross the line. I am really learning to many different techniques of discipline that works wonders over yelling and screaming.I am excited for the next class.

Natalie's 4th Birthday

WOW! Here I am again extremely behind on posts. So our baby girl is growing up. She turned 4 on January 24. So on that Tuesday we made her favorite dinner which is Chicken Nuggets and I made some homemade fries. Natalie & Corbin both ate the nuggets but wouldn't eat the fries. They didn't like my fries. They didn't quit taste like the "Real Thing". So for dessert I made her some sprinkle cupcakes and let her and Corbin put sprinkles on top. That was probably the highlight of the day except for of course eating them. Then that weekend we met up with some friends at Chuck E Cheese and bought her a princess cupcake cake. One of the biggest presents she got was a princess bike. She was so excited. So now as I write this post she has gotten really good at pedaling. She is just growing up way too fast.