Happy Halloween!

Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays, but in the past few years, I've enjoyed dressing up, and dressing the kids.  This year was the first year that they both chose their own costume without some major guidance. I think that they did an awesome job with their selections.

Without further adieu, I present Goku and Grandma!  They were both a hit everywhere we went!

We started in our old neighborhood, but no one was really participating in Halloween, so we ended up heading toward a church that was hosting an event with booths and jump houses.  There were absolutely too many people there, so we went to visit another neighborhood, and hit the Halloween jackpot.  There was enough houses participating for Micah and Corrin to feel like they got enough candy without overdoing it.  We all had loads of fun, and we have enough candy to last us a while. I wonder what they will want to be next year.

Corrin also had Nerd Day at her school for Red Ribbon Week because she is "too smart for drugs!" 

Her Royal Fiveness!

My sweet little miss turns five years old today. Recently, I looked back through the blog, and reread her birth story and watched a few videos from when she was a baby. I had forgotten so many of the details. I had forgotten how afraid I was after her birth, when she refused to breathe.  I had forgotten how worried I was when we brought her home from the hospital with extra gadgets to monitor her. I had forgotten the sheer exhaustion from interrupted sleep and working full time.  I had forgotten the sadness that came from leaving her every day to commute an hour and a half to work when she was so tiny.

But I remembered the overwhelming joy that she brought to our lives. I remembered the uncontrollable laughter that she causes. I remembered the sass that lives in her.  Corrin is not afraid to live out loud.  She's not afraid to stand in her truth, and let the world know she is here. Wanna know a (not so secret) secret?  I envy her that. I envy her the freedom to know what she wants and go for it without thought of what anyone else thinks. And the mama bear in me is willing to go to the mat to protect that. 

Don't get me wrong, she can be shy and hesitant at times. Surprisingly enough mostly with her peers. I'm afraid that she recognizes that sometimes those who could be friends can sometimes hurt us.  But that doesn't stop her from being Corrin. So what's Corrin up to nowadays?

I have seen your soul and it is beautiful. 

Corrin...

· is so much fun to be around. And because she attends school in the district I work for, we are almost always together. 

· is still our silly girl, who laughs at the drop of a dime. 

· is our little chatterbox. Honestly, she never stops talking. She even talks in her sleep. 

· still has a mind of her own when it comes to what she's going to wear. That's a battle we just don't feel like fighting. Sometimes she's all about comfort. Sometimes she's a princess and only a dress will do.  As long as whatever she chooses is weather appropriate and acceptable for whatever event we're attending, we let her express herself. 

· is currently baby obsessed. Honestly, she's been baby obsessed for the past two years, but just recently it's gotten to be overwhelming.  She constantly listens to my belly (by placing her ear over my stomach) so she can hear the baby that she is convinced is in there. (There is no baby in my belly!) She constantly talks about having a little baby. She's actively praying for a baby. 

Birthday Partying!

We hosted a birthday party at a local fun place called Stars & Strikes. The kids bowled, played laser tag and bumper cars, ate pizza, and roamed around the arcade.  They had a blast!  There was lots for them to do, and there were lots of friends and family members there to celebrate our little princess.  She opted for a Barbie themed cake. (There's a story behind said cake.) All in all, we had a blast, and the birthday girl hasn't stopped talking about her party yet!

Now the cake on the other hand.  This cake was so delicious.  We tried a new bakery based on reviews alone.  I'm so happy we went with the reviews. This cake was awesome!  It was delicious and moist, and beautiful. I really didn't want to cut it because it was so beautiful.  Corrin and I had originally discussed her cake, and she wanted a unicorn cake, with rainbow layers. We had searched Pinterest for inspiration pictures. We talked about this birthday cake up until we were parked in the parking lot, and preparing to enter the bakery to place the order.

The baker came out, I explained what we wanted (a birthday cake and some cupcakes), and then she asked Corrin what kind of cake she wanted.  My daughter then proceeds to change the whole game up. The unicorn cake that we had researched and talked about became a Barbie cake with bling. I was left stunned and confused, but we went ahead with the cake that Little Miss wanted, and it was beautiful, and delicious, and everything that she wanted it to be.

Silly big brother

What's Happening?

I know. I know! Exactly one year and six months later, and I’m trying AGAIN to revive this blog. This space started as a place for me to document our children’s antics as we grew through my pregnancies and their infancy and toddlerhood. My sister was deployed overseas, and I wanted to include her in the changes that were occurring.  Well now both of our children are school-aged and attend school full time.  Where does that leave this space? Still trying to figure that out...

What have we been up to in the past year and a half?  We’ve gone on a few vacations. We’ve celebrated holidays and accomplishments. We’ve suffered loss and setbacks. We’ve all aged a little and grown. Micah has started first grade. Corrin is in Pre-K4. They are both smart and inquisitive kids, who keeps us on our toes, and usually laughing. We’ve moved and moved again.  

In short, things are different, and I'm sure more change is coming, but we've done a pretty good job of going with the flow. Now here are a bunch of pictures (in no particular order), and a promise that I'll be back, and hopefully it will be long before another year and a half have passed. 

I've realized that a whole bunch of pictures in the blog are broken because of the foolishness with Photobucket charging roughly $400 per year to continue to host them.  I'll be honest, I'm never going to pay that much money for anything to do with this blog, so I'll be (slowly) going back through the blog and replacing pictures as I can.

The Dumps

On occasion, I will have lots of things running through my mind to blog about, but nothing will be enough for a full blog post.  That's when you get The Dumps.  Be prepared for randomness.

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Horrible picture, but the perfect example of Angelo's adventures.

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We're monitor free.

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We went to our hometown's Homecoming parade.  It was the longest, most random parade I have ever witnessed.

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I got a new toy.  It's my gift for every gift-giving holiday or event of the year.
Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday! Happy Mother's Day! Happy Valentine's Day! Happy Anniversary! 

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Still getting ready for a special little boy's second birthday.  

Micah's New Skills

Two posts in one day!  Also about the last post... Mikey did not punch me in my eye.  I really did fall face first into a wall. 

There is never a lack of entertainment with Micah in the house.  He has recently started learning to dress and undress himself.  This has occurred with no effort from Mikey or I.  If anything, we are usually working to try to keep him dressed.  No, Micah has learned this skill through the power of observation. 

You see, there is no privacy in our home.  Even guests are not free from Micah's scrutiny.  He must accompany you to the restroom.  If you happen to beat him into the bathroom, and shut the door before he gets there, you had better remember to lock the door.  Otherwise he's coming in anyway.  He has also taught himself to open closed doors.  He will then hang out at the door, and wait for you to be done.  This will be while beating on the door to remind you that he is there and waiting.  I very rarely get to take a shower without him rambling about my bathroom.  In any case, the lack of privacy means that Micah has witnessed Mikey and I dressing and undressing.  He also pays attention when we are dressing and undressing him.  In short, he's taught himself to dress and undress himself.  Tonight, he decided to exhibit his skills.  I'll let the pictures tell the story.

The neck of the shirt is around his waist.

After this, he also took a stab at taking his pants on and off.  I tell you there is never a dull moment.  Good night.  We have a busy day planned for tomorrow.  Look for that blog post.