The Dinosaur Book

Corbin has spent hours over the past week working on his dinosaur book. He was so excited he wanted to share it with everyone. Enjoy!

Reading Session with a Dog -- Not So Much

Our local library had an event where you could go read with therapy dogs. Corbin, who is not super outgoing and open to new situations, was very hesitant. But with the encouragement (and maybe a push or two into the room) Corbin got in there and read to the dog.

His take away….the dog had stinky breath. So it wasn’t his favorite thing to do. But we told Corbin that now he’s tried it once if he chooses not to do that again it’s ok. It’s really important to try new things out first before deciding if you like them or not.

If you like dogs (and Corbin loves Grandma’s dog, so I thought he would love this) this is the event for you. However, if you not a fan of animals (that would be me) it’s not so much the thing to do.  Is it horrible that I am totally glad Corbin didn’t like it? I too thought the dog had stinky breath and I did not totally enjoy myself either.

Chris loved on the dog, while Corbin and I stuck to what we do best…read. Pretty sure a dog will not be a part of our household in the future.

Christmas Break Randomness

Randomness.  That’s been the theme of our Christmas break.  We’ve read, slept, ran errands, played, worked some, cleaned some…we have just done random things each day. Here are a few pictures capturing some of our random activities:

Corbin put on a “show” for us with the main event being reading us jokes from his new book.

Napping by the fire, yes please!

Chess is big around here right now. This was Corbin’s first win against Dad.

Time at the mall finished off with dinner. My two boys are always happy when food’s involved.

One of Chris’s random activities was changing our lights to LEDs. Seriously, it makes him so happy!

Well, off to another day of random activities with a New Year’s gathering to end the night.  See you in 2017!

Christmas 2016

We start Christmas celebrations early in December and don’t stop until Christmas Day. It’s a fun month of family gatherings, food, and fun.

First stop was Grandma and Grandpa Miller’s house. There was a unique challenge with some gift opening: Saran wrap, gloves, and dice were involved!

And at the Miller Christmas it’s all boy kiddos, so what does that look like…fighting robots and light sabers sounds about right!

The next weekend we were off to the Williams’ Family Christmas with lots of shenanigans with the cousins (and adults).

We wrapped the season up with Christmas Eve at my parents.  Going to the candlelight church service that evening is always a favorite part of Christmas for me.

Santa came the next morning and brought a joke book. How did Santa know that Corbin is really into those? Smart guy, that Santa!

Then on Christmas Day we were at Papa Lee and Grandma’s house. Again there is never a shortage of action going on there with those cousins. Corbin is very blessed to have cousins he plays well with and loves seeing on both sides.

The above picture shows a rare occurrence…emotion while opening a gift.  Although Corbin loves his gifts he just doesn’t express it too much. Well, not only did he express his love for this gift (Pokemon Cards and Box Holders) Chris actually caught it on film.  This is like seeing a solar eclipse (that’s rare, right…I’m totally on vacation right now)

Well, that’s Christmas 2016 in a nutshell.  We remembered to take some pictures…win! We got everyone gifts who we needed to…win! I have eaten enough food to get me through the winter…win! And I’m blogging…win, win, win!

Goodbye for this year, Christmas. I’m already looking forward to next year…it’s my absolute most favorite time of year!

“The Lost Semester”

 

Due to the changes in our life – and by “our” I mean me going to work full time – this blog has been neglected and pushed to the bottom of my ever-long to do list.

However, I am now on my first day of Christmas break and trying to rectify the neglected time I have spent with this blog. Feel free to check back periodically during the next 2 weeks because I will be putting up pictures of different family Christmases. However, after my break has ended I make no promises…it might be all quiet on the blog for another semester, who knows!

For now, to get you caught up on all-things Corbin I have given you a link to a Sway presentation that I created. This will give you a quick pictorial look at Fall Semester 2016. And by a quick look, I mean quick because I noticed that there are many events that happened (i.e. Thanksgiving) that I have no pictures for.

So what this really boils down to is that you will see the pictures I did take during this time period. Whether these are really important events of this semester or not is of little importance, it’s pictures I had.

With that amazing lead up I’m sure you can’t wait to view the not-really-but-could-be-interesting-or-important-pictures of Fall 2016. 

https://sway.com/N4tUDlfFD5gJxIEJ

(Mom and GG once you’ve clicked on the link push the arrow buttons at the bottom of the pages to move forward in the presentation.  It will not move on it’s own.)

Diving, Jumping, Laking

My group of bible study girls spent a day at one of their pools.

We had a blast chit chatting while the kids swam, jumped off the board, and played.

One of the girls used to be a swim instructor and she taught Corbin how to dive.  He did a great job!

Later in the week we spent some time with friends at a new jump place.

It was super fun and I am ready to go back!

Jumping into a pit of foam cubes was a favorite.  See his face…joy

There was an area that had “ninja warrior” type activities.  Corbin worked hard on those.

Then we spent the weekend at the lake.  The weather was great and the cousins enjoyed hanging out together.

We are soaking up and enjoying our last few weeks of summer before school starts.

“Hey mom, don’t talk about school starting!”

Summer Fun

This week was full of summer fun!

On Wednesday, we spent hours at our neighborhood pool with friends.  The kids jumped, played, and laughed (and so did the moms).  No one else was at the pool; it was ours alone and it was perfect!

Perfection continued Thursday and Friday for Corbin and I at the lake. 

This was the water…

For two days we got to enjoy this perfect water and wonderful weather.  It was awesome!

The water was so still and clear that you could see the fish swimming around our dock.  Corbin and Grandpa tried to catch one with the net.

They weren’t successful in that venture, but they had a ton of fun trying.

The fun continued into the weekend with Aunt Kati.  She came and stayed with us.

She and I went shopping all day Saturday, what could be better than that!  And then ended the evening by crafting a few things for my classroom.

Chris, as you can see, was enjoying his time as a spectator in the craft activities

 

We created a “where are you going” board.  Each student has a number and if they leave the room they move that number to the location they are headed.  This way, at a glance, I can remember where my kiddos are at.  (Old age is kicking in and sometimes I need a little help remembering)

And then we made this name banner for the front of my desk.  I have a very big blah boring desk front that will benefit from this cute little name banner.

Finally, on Sunday, the last day of our awesome extended weekend, we went to church (we took a trip to Starbucks before and I tried their cold brew coffee…yum!) and then went to the movie The Secret Life of Pets.

I loved this movie!  I was giggling throughout the entire show.  It is a must see, whether you go to the theater or rent it, just see it!  You and your kids will love this cute, funny, and enjoyable movie….promise!