The Corning Family

Pledge of Allegiance

2011-11-14T22:43:00.000-06:00

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-14T22:32:00.001-06:00

Lily and Dylan had so much fun trick or treating! Lily was a beautiful witch, and Dylan was Batman. Dylan wore his mask almost the whole time, only taking it off in between some of the houses. He always put it on before heading up to a door with Lily. They got a ton of candy, and Lily gave Daddy everything sour.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-11-14T22:21:00.000-06:00

Lots of pictures from carving our jack-o-lantern... Lily LOVED the pumpkin guts, but Dylan didn't like the gooey stuff at all. It was fun to carve our witch, and the kids were very happy with the finished product!

Dylan with the Easel

2011-11-11T16:03:00.000-06:00

This is the first time Dylan used the easel to create a masterpiece! He was very proud of himself, painting at the easel like a big boy.

Surprising sleeping arrangement

2011-11-01T23:35:00.000-05:00

I already regret not taking a picture of this... I just went upstairs to check on the kids before I go to sleep. Dylan was sleeping peacefully on his back, with his little head on his pillow, in much the same position as when I tucked him into bed a few hours ago. When I opened Lily's door, however, it took me a few moments to figure out what was going on. I wasn't overly surprised to see her pillow without her sweet head, as she has always moved around a lot in her sleep. You're just as likely to find her sideways at the foot of the bed as with her head on the pillow. But what surprised me at first was that her breathing was coming from the right side of the room, not straight ahead of me where the bed is. During rest time in the afternoon, she will sometimes fall asleep on the floor while trying desperately to fight sleep. But at bedtime she generally falls asleep in her bed. But NOT tonight! So as my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I focused on the area near the window and realized that she was actually sleeping on TOP of her NIGHTSTAND! She was sprawled out on her tummy across the top, with her head turned to the side, resting her cheek on the hard surface and her arms hanging over each side. Her legs dangled over the back, with her toes just slightly reaching her mattress on the bed right behind her. She was sleeping so soundly, I almost hated to move her! I have no idea why in the world she decided to climb onto the nightstand in the first place, let alone go to sleep there. It will be interesting to see if she remembers being there when I ask her about it in the morning - she didn't stir at all when I moved her to the bed. Sweet, silly girl of mine!

Halloween Bash

2011-10-31T22:24:00.000-05:00

Lily and I went to a Halloween Bash on Friday night! We were sad that Dylan was sick, so he and Daddy couldn't join us. Hopefully next year we can all go together. We had so much fun trick or treating, dancing, eating dinner, decorating pumpkins, candy apples, and cookies... AND our two favorite parts of the night were when we went on the hayride to the haunted house (before it got dark, so the haunted house wouldn't be tooooo spooky for Lily), and the costume contest! Lily was a finalist in her age group's costume contest in her "Beautiful Witch" attire. The itty bitty baby in a skunk costume was hard to beat, though - he won first place.

Funny Picture

2011-10-25T22:09:00.000-05:00

This picture just makes me laugh.

Fall Party

2011-10-25T21:43:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from our MOMS Club fall party. The kids made ghosts out of marshmallows, played pin the nose on the pumpkin, went on a little costume parade, and of course had lots of treats!

Holy Cross Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-21T21:18:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture from this year's trip to the pumpkin patch at Holy Cross, where we've been going since Lily was a baby. This year we got our big pumpkin from here, which we'll carve right before Halloween. Lily also decided to spend $1 of her spending money on a little tiny round pumpkin, which she later decorated with markers at home.

Zoo Boo

2011-10-21T17:59:00.000-05:00

We ventured out to the zoo on a Saturday during Zoo Boo, the Houston Zoo's Halloween celebration. It was pretty crowded, but it was a lot of fun. The kids loved playing the carnival games, and of course they liked the "Trunk or Treat" stations, where they received candy! They also used paint pens to decorate pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. It was a fun day at the zoo! (oh, in the last picture, Dylan is trying to see if he can get away with "marker on Lily's arm!?!" -- ornery little thing!)

The Great Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-21T17:49:00.000-05:00

We went to The Great Pumpkin Patch at a nearby church with some friends from MOMS Club.

Dewberry Farm

2011-10-21T16:00:00.000-05:00

Dewberry Farm is such a fun place to go in the fall. While they say it's a real working farm, its primary purpose is what they call "agritainment" - pure entertainment, with an agricultural theme! Lily, Dylan, and I headed out to the farm on October 1st, before the really big crowds of the Halloween season. We were there for five hours, busy the whole time, and still did not do all the activities. Enjoy the pictures!

Little Farmerville is a playground area set up for little kids, with tricycles, swings, slides, and tunnels.

We didn't catch much of the chicken show this year, but the kids liked the wooden chicken for picture taking!

The rubber duck races were a lot of fun. This is the first time Lily was really able to do it all by herself. In years past, she needed our help.

Hmm, I can't remember the name of the "big kid" playground, but I remember getting stuck inside it with Dylan! He thinks he's bigger than he is and more able to do big kid things than he really is, so he climbed right up into this cargo net contraption and then couldn't get back out. Retrieving him would have been easy if there weren't so many other kids on the playground - he and I were probably a pretty comical sight!

Lily knows when things are set up just for the purpose of photo ops, and she always sits right down to pose. I have nooooo idea where she would have learned that! Ha!

I was surprised by how quickly Lily grabbed the rope and jumped right off the hay bales! She swung on the rope for quite awhile.

This ride was kind of like an amusement park swing ride, but the kids had to have someone give them a push.

Lily really liked the animal chairs outside the country store.

The Kidilla Hoppers are like giant pillows that you jump on like a trampoline.

I took these two pictures while we were waiting in line for a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. They did a good job waiting patiently!

Each of the kids chose a pumpkin that was just their size. Dylan wanted one that he could easily carry by himself, so when we got to the pumpkin checkout stand, he traded in the one that he has here in the pictures and chose a little bitty baby one. He was much happier with the tiny one. In the pumpkin patch with the bigger pumpkin, he kept saying, "Mommy carry my pumpkin! Mommy carry my pumpkin!"

Lily LOVED the flower garden. She picked a big bouquet to take home. Dylan and I helped a little, but Lily chose most of the flowers herself.

Dylan's Cupcake Face

2011-10-17T20:19:00.000-05:00

This is what Dylan looked like after eating a cupcake to celebrate his friend's birthday... I think he enjoyed it!

Some birthday presents

2011-10-14T22:56:00.000-05:00

Dylan opened his birthday presents at home after his party. He loved everything he opened and wanted to play with everything right away, but Buzz Lightyear caused the most excitement - Dylan even gave Buzz a kiss on his space helmet! The next day, on his actual birthday, we made cupcakes so he could blow out his candles on his real birthday. I posted a video of him singing and blowing out the candles in another post.

Dylan's Birthday Cupcake

2011-10-14T22:44:00.000-05:00

Dylan's Birthday Party

2011-10-14T22:12:00.000-05:00

Dylan is 2! We had his party the night before his actual birthday, at the park. The kids played on the playground, had pizza, played some more, and had cake and ice cream. For the cake, I made football-shaped cake balls, which Dylan just called "football cakes!" He talked about his party for a solid week before it happened, and he really hasn't stopped talking about it since. Now he says, "Me football party - again?!" Before his birthday, he announced that he would have a balloon at his party. And when asked if he would like to have a bicycle helmet for his birthday, he said yes and then added emphatically, "And knee pads." You see, his big sister has knee pads that match her helmet. We were surprised by just how much he enjoyed his party, being only two years old. He really seemed to understand that the party was for him, and he had his own opinion about what a party should consist of (balloons!). He knew there would be cake, we would sing Happy Birthday, and that he should blow out the candles. He only talked about a birthday gift if asked, so that part was a new concept, but otherwise he already had the whole party thing all figured out. He had so much fun playing at with his friends and eating his football cakes and ice cream. It was fun!

Fort Bend County Fair Parade

2011-10-14T21:34:00.000-05:00

We watched the Fort Bend County Fair Parade for the second year in a row. And for the second year in a row, Dylan loved the fire trucks! But this year he really did NOT like the high school bands marching by... Their drumming hurt his ears. Lily, on the other hand, loved the bands and the cheerleaders the most. They both liked the shriners driving around in circles in their little cars.

Big Kid Bike

2011-10-14T17:25:00.000-05:00

Lily received a bigger bike from Ande, so we had to go outside to give it a whirl! The only thing is.... there are no training wheels! Lily is very cautious on her bike with no training wheels, so she puts her feet down when she starts to get a little bit wobbly. If she would keep pedaling instead of putting her feet down, I know she would just take off! In the meantime, she's employing the slow and steady method for learning to ride without the training wheels, and that's just fine with me. Maybe I can keep her little for one more year. I'm not ready for her to be big enough for a big kid bike! These pictures are from the first time she practiced with the new bike.

Gymnastics

2011-10-14T17:15:00.000-05:00

Lily is taking a weekly gymnastics class again this fall. It's really difficult to take pictures, though, because the parents' viewing area is up above the majority of the gym. These little balance beams are the only things where we're on the same level, so this is about as good as the pictures will get! This gym also offers a preschool open gym periodically, so on the day I took these pictures, Dylan got to go too! Open gym is relatively structured - it's not just a complete free-for-all, so we decided this would be a great opportunity for Dylan to have something fun to do too! Lily is very protective of him when they go to open gym together. She doesn't want him to fall off the balance beam! So she always makes sure they're in the same group so she can keep an eye on him. They both just absolutely love it.

Lily's First Day of Pre-K

2011-10-14T17:07:00.000-05:00

Lily's first day of school was the day after Labor Day. She was very excited to go to school! This year she is in Pre-K four days a week at the same great preschool she attended last year. We took plenty of pictures to mark the occasion!

Dylan didn't understand all the excitement of Lily's first day of school... Until we left the building after dropping her off, that is! He repeated over and over again, "Lily school? Mommy, Lily school?!" Once he figured out that we would be leaving her there, he was a lot more curious about the whole process. He was very happy to go back and pick her up that afternoon! He definitely misses her when she's at school.

She wore her shades into the building.

We managed to get a picture of all three of us in the lobby before we headed back to the classroom.

After she put her things away, she sat right down to begin working on a puzzle.

And we celebrated her first day with a chocolate cupcake after school!

Lily's School Picture

2011-10-14T16:42:00.000-05:00

This is Lily's Fall 2011 picture from school.

Crib to Toddler Bed

2011-10-01T22:33:00.000-05:00

One afternoon Dylan was having a bit of a temper tantrum and got placed into his crib to calm down. His adrenaline was pumping, and without even thinking about it, he just threw his leg over the top of the crib and swung himself down to the floor, all while crying/yelling at me. I hoped it was a fluke, but over the next few days he obviously thought about it more, swinging his leg up to the top of the crib as soon as I would open his bedroom door to go in and get him. And then he climbed out again at naptime on Labor Day, and we knew it was time to change his bed to a toddler bed so he wouldn't end up falling out of the crib during his climbing endeavors. Lily and Dylan helped Daddy change the crib into a toddler bed. They were so excited to use tools to fix the bed! Even if they were mostly only allowed to use Dylan's TOY tools!

Kayaks

2011-10-01T22:18:00.000-05:00

When we went kayak shopping, Dylan preferred the blue ones, of course!

So sweet

2011-10-01T22:17:00.000-05:00

I can't remember what we were mixing, but this is so cute! See how lovey dovey Dylan can be?! Well really, most of the time he'll give hugs and kisses freely. Only occasionally do I have to steal them from him. And Lily just adores him. They fight, but they love each other so much.

Corn Flake Cookies

2011-10-01T22:13:00.000-05:00

For some reason these are supposed to be called Peanut Butter Macaroons, but I just call them corn flake cookies. Simple and delicious. (And the kids like to have their pictures taken.)

Baby in a Box

2011-10-01T22:09:00.000-05:00

July 2011

Visiting at Uncle Chad and Aunt Cara's House

2011-10-01T20:59:00.000-05:00

We went out to Uncle Chad and Aunt Cara's house for a visit and paddled around in the paddleboat for awhile. The pond water is very, very clear, so you can look right down into the water and see the fish. After paddling for awhile, the kids had fun swimming and then checking out the chicken coop.

Lawnmower #2

2011-10-01T20:52:00.000-05:00

I wasn't joking when I said that Dylan got to mow the lawn at least once a week while we were in Iowa. Here are the kids on the lawnmower with Grandpa Corning. That shirt, by the way, is Lily's current favorite. It says "giggle," and it makes her giggle every time she puts it on in the mornings.

Lily Baking

2011-10-01T20:50:00.000-05:00

Lily helping Grandma Corning make some treats.

Adventureland

2011-10-01T20:45:00.000-05:00

We had SO much fun at Adventureland! Lily was not a single bit scared of any of the rides. She rode everything that she was big enough for. Dylan enjoyed the little kid rides too, which was a little bit surprising since he didn't like the rides at the rodeo in March. But he's bigger now, and he had a lot of fun. We were basically at the park from open to close, and we were on the go the entire day. I was really pleased with the variety of rides - there were plenty of little bitty rides for the smallest kids, plenty of fun kid-sized rides for Lily's size, lots of things for bigger kids, and also quite a few things for the kids who meet the tallest height requirement (I think 46 inches, or maybe 52, I can't remember exactly). It rained a little bit on the day we were there, but there was no lightning. So it worked out really well for us because many people left the park because of the rain, but we stayed and were able to ride lots of rides with no waiting because so many people had left. The downside to the rain (aside from being a little bit wet, of course) was that the water park was not as much fun as it would have been on a hot sunny day. The water was cold, and with the overcast sky, it was really TOO cold to be fun. So we didn't stay in the water park very long, but we were still busy all day with the rest of the park. It was a great day!

National Balloon Festival

2011-09-30T22:42:00.000-05:00

We took the kids to the balloon field one night while we were visiting. They had fun watching the balloons from Grandma and Grandpa Corning's house all week, so it was neat for them to see them up close. The eagle and panda bear were really humongous, and Lily's favorite balloon all week was the American flag balloon. After we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's house that evening, we got to see the night glow from their house.

Group Pictures

2011-09-26T23:06:00.000-05:00

We took the kids to Portrait Innovations to get a picture of the five of them all together, just like we did last July. Well, it wasn't exactly easy to get everyone looking in the same direction and smiling this year! But when we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's house, Reagan and Rayden built a bench out of pipeworks, and the kids all sat on it to have their picture taken. These are not the very best pictures, but it was sure easier to get them all to stay in one place with this bench than it was at the picture studio!

Lily Driving the Four Wheeler

2011-09-26T23:01:00.000-05:00

After Rayden gave Lily a ride, she got a chance to learn how to drive the four wheeler herself! Uncle Chad taught her how to drive it, and she took him for a ride. She went slowly at first but gained confidence and soon had Uncle Chad yelling for her to slow down!

Lily on the Four Wheeler

2011-09-18T21:48:00.000-05:00

Uncle Chad took both of the kids for four wheeler rides, and then a couple nights later, Rayden took Lily for a ride.

Dylan Discovering the Four Wheeler

2011-09-14T11:59:00.001-05:00

At Grandma and Grandpa Corning's house, all the kids were playing in the baby swimming pool while the blue four wheeler sat nearby. After awhile, Dylan noticed it and went over to check it out.

Storytime

2011-09-12T21:47:00.000-05:00

Lily fell asleep while Grandpa was reading the story.

Cousins

2011-09-12T21:43:00.000-05:00

This was our attempt at a group picture of the six cousins who were at the lake... Khyean, Brayden, Ashlie, Dylan, Lily, Taylor. The picture didn't turn out too badly; bummer that Dylan wasn't looking for the first one, though. We saw Sydnie and Rylie earlier in the week when we went swimming with them in Humboldt.

Pontoon Ride

2011-09-11T21:37:00.000-05:00

Dylan fell asleep right away on the pontoon.

Tubing at Lake View

2011-09-11T21:21:00.000-05:00

Lily LOVED tubing behind the pontoon boat! We weren't going very fast, so it was just a nice easy ride. She had so much fun, and she wasn't one bit scared to get in the tube and be pulled behind the boat.

Jungle Gym

2011-09-11T21:16:00.000-05:00

Lily climbed to the top of the jungle gym at Goins Memorial Park.

Little Harley

2011-09-11T21:13:00.000-05:00

Both kids enjoyed the little Harley, but Lily especially had fun with it. Dylan couldn't really control it very well yet, but Lily could steer it and learned how to go forward and reverse. While Dylan and Grandpa mowed the yard, Lily followed them around the yard on the motorcyle.

Lawnmower

2011-09-11T21:10:00.000-05:00

Dylan loves lawnmowers and weedeaters (he calls them trimmers) even more than he loves motorcycles. He got to mow the yard at least once a week while we were in Iowa.

Motorcycle

2011-09-11T21:06:00.000-05:00

Dylan loves motorcyles. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of him SMILING on the motorcyle!

Iowa

2011-09-11T21:04:00.000-05:00

Lily, Dylan, and I spent three weeks in Iowa this summer, from late July to mid-August. We stayed for one week at each grandma and grandpa's house. Here's a cute picture of Dylan riding in Aunt Dina's van. Everyone else wanted to rest, but Dylan was wide awake and talking for the whole ride.

Willy Wonka

2011-09-09T23:27:00.000-05:00

We went with some MOMS Club friends to see Willy Wonka Jr at the Fort Bend Theatre. Lily thought it was a movie theater, so when Willy Wonka came onstage at the beginning to start the show, she was soooo excited about it being a real person who moves around! The last live production she went to was Disney on Ice back in November, and that's much different because there's no stage or curtain for Disney on Ice. So it was really good to take her to the theatre, and it was extra fun that it's a children's production with kids for actors. Dylan LOVED the Oompa Loompas. Lily liked them too, but they were definitely Dylan's favorite part. Lily came away from the show singing "oompa loompa, doopity do..." for weeks afterward. She enjoyed the whole production. And afterward she was able to meet some of the cast onstage. It was so much fun!

Water Balloons

2011-09-09T23:19:00.000-05:00

I filled up a bunch of water balloons for the kids to play with when we went to David's house for the 4th of July. The balloons did not last long! After filling up a bunch of balloons a couple of different times this summer, I think it's more fun to just go ahead and throw them at each other as you get them filled up. Otherwise you sit there filling up balloons forever and then once they're finally filled, the balloon fight is over with in a flash! Although it's a very fun flash with so many balloons to throw at once. The kids loved throwing them at Daddy!

Happy Independence Day!

2011-09-09T23:11:00.000-05:00

We made a fireworks picture! I drew the fireworks on the paper with a crayon, and Lily traced them with glittery paint pens. The magazine article I read with this activity suggested drawing the fireworks with glue and sprinkling with loose glitter, then shaking off the excess glitter. The paint pens were a little simpler way to do it, but maybe next year we can try it with loose glitter; I'm sure that would be fun too. Lily wrote their names at the bottom of the picture.

Sweet Big Sister

2011-09-09T23:05:00.000-05:00

I love it when Lily does sweet things for Dylan, like pushing him in the swing. She loves him so much. And of course they have their days when they just don't see eye to eye!

On a side note, the monkey grass did not survive the summer. It couldn't handle the drought. And of course we didn't water it enough. So I don't know what our Plan B is for our lovely patch of dirt you see here in the picture. The St. Augustine grass just will not grow here because of the shade from the magnolia trees and the garage. The monkey grass seemed promising for awhile but withered away. Maybe we'll plant rocks. I think rocks would be able to survive.

Lily Making a Sandwich

2011-09-09T22:54:00.000-05:00

Lily decided on June 29th that she could make her own peanut butter sandwich and didn't want Mommy's help. How cute is this!?!

She can hardly see what she's doing, but she was so proud of herself!

Gymnastics!

2011-09-08T20:40:00.000-05:00

Lily is back at gymnastics for the fall! She's been itching to get back to gymnastics ever since we took a break to try ballet last spring. She was very excited to start her class today, and she had a great time with Coach Dave. This season we're trying a different place, called Iron Cross Gymnastics. Daddy took this picture before class started.

Downtown Aquarium

2011-09-07T22:58:00.000-05:00

The Downtown Aquarium offered Two-for-One Adventure Passes on Tuesdays in June, so we went with some friends and had a great time!

This boat with the bayou background is near the beginning of the aquarium exhibit.

Lily and Dylan both stood on the barrels in front of the coral reef.

I think I have at least one more picture of Lily in this bubble thing, from when she was littler. I'll have to try to find it to compare!

Ande and Dylan

Katie, Ande, and Gideon

Shark Voyage Train Ride

Lily was listening intently to the shark story on the speaker and looking in the water for the shark that had gone missing. I knew what was coming, so I held onto the back of her dress... I didn't want her to literally jump right out of her seat and end up in the water!

She was COMPLETELY startled by the shark jumping out of the water right in front of her, and it was so adorable to watch her realizing what had happened and see what a good sport she was.

We went back through the aquarium exhibit for the tigers' enrichment time, which on this day was really just feeding time. We watched one of the white tigers eat raw chicken.

We also rode the carousel and ferris wheel, had a picnic lunch, and the kids had a blast playing in the splash pad spray park. It was a great day at the aquarium!

Teeter-Totter

2011-09-07T22:44:00.000-05:00

Lily and Dylan have SO much fun with their teeter-totter! They're really not far apart in weight, so they can actually teeter-totter together pretty well. Sometimes they play a game where Lily will have Dylan up in the air, like in the first picture, and she'll show him to raise his hands up high above his head. Then she quickly drops his seat down low, making him squeal with delight and grab onto his handle! These pictures are from June.

Lily

2011-09-07T15:23:00.000-05:00

This picture was taken at a birthday party that Lily attended in August. All the girls had tutus, and the boys had capes. They had lots of fun bouncing and sliding on the big inflatables.

Ice Cream Cones

2011-09-06T23:17:00.000-05:00

Ice cream cones after dinner on a hot summer evening. I think this is Dylan's very first CONE. Of course he's had ice cream before, but I think this is the first cone he's had all by himself.

Dylan

2011-09-06T23:15:00.000-05:00

June 22nd. Just playing in the living room.

Splashway Family Waterpark

2011-09-06T23:13:00.001-05:00

Late this spring, we snagged discount tickets to Splashway Family Waterpark in Sheridan, Texas. We had never been to this water park before, but the price was right and we had a good feeling the kids would love it. We made it out to the water park in June. Splashway has a campground onsite, so we drove out on Friday afternoon to camp for the weekend. We camped Friday night, played at the water park all day Saturday, camped Saturday night, and then packed up to head home on Sunday morning. The restrooms for the campground are actually also used for the water park during the day, and they were great. By far the largest campground shower stalls I've ever seen! We had an amazing time at Splashway on Saturday. We loved the fact that although Lily wasn't QUITE tall enough for some of the bigger slides, they still allowed her to go down them (she was very close to the requirement and not a bit scared). Also, they have lifeguards at the bottom of the slides who will catch kids who need help when they come out the bottom of the slide. Dylan was a little uneasy about the water spraying on him at the top of the slides at first, but once he'd been down them a couple times we couldn't hardly get him to stop! We discovered that his life jacket was a little too bulky for him climbing the stairs and getting situated at the top of the slides. Once we took the life jacket off, he seemed to feel a lot more comfortable and able to move around. This was early in the summer, though, before he really gained his swimming pool confidence. Now he's grown into his life jacket more so it seems to fit better, and he's also a lot more of a daredevil around a pool of water than he was a couple months ago. Now when I take the kids to the pool by myself, he has to wear a safety floaty of some sort. He can't be trusted to wait for someone to be able to catch him before jumping in. And he does NOT know how to float! But like I said, in June at Splashway, he didn't need the life jacket and had more fun on the slides without it. The slides he could use did not have pools at the bottom anyway, only about 8" of water at the ends of the slides. Something we loved about Splashway was that there were slides of varying difficulty for all ages of kids, from itty bitty crawlers all the way up. There really were plenty of fun things for Dylan to do, as well as Lily and grownups too. It was not as wild as, say, Schlitterbahn, but it was definitely still fun for adults. The park was very well rounded. We were at the park from open to close, with a short break for lunch at our campsite. Everyone was thoroughly exhausted and very happy by the end of the day. We were so busy playing in the water that we didn't even have a chance to take very many pictures - we barely remembered to ask someone to take a couple of group pictures for us before we left for teh evening. We had so much fun - We'll definitely be back again next summer!

Dylan Helping in the Kitchen

2011-09-06T22:45:00.000-05:00

June 16th. Dylan helped me mix up the pasta salad. He has helping with adding ingredients and mixing things more and more this summer, always wanting to help if he knows something is being stirred. Especially if his big sister is already helping!

Vacation Bible School at Lily's Preschool

2011-09-01T23:43:00.000-05:00

We had our first experience with Vacation Bible School this summer. Early in June, Lily attended VBS at the same church where she goes to preschool, and I volunteered for the program. I was a group leader, but Lily was in a different group with a different leader. VBS lasted one week, five days, for three hours each day. Dylan attended the childcare that was provided for children of volunteers. He even got to participate in a couple of the VBS activities - after the first couple days, his class of toddlers began to venture out of the classroom to try some of the activities. He had so much fun! Lily also had a wonderful experience in the Hometown Nazareth setting, learning about what it was like when Jesus was a kid. Each group had music time every day, as well as a time to visit the marketplace, and also Mary's house, where Mary told the kids stories about when Jesus was a baby and what it's like in Nazareth where not everyone believes that Jesus is God's son. The kids got to share their faith with Mary's neighbor, who by the end of the week began to believe that Jesus IS God's son, and He loves her! Lily had fun with all the crafts in the marketplace, but her favorite part of Hometown Nazareth VBS was definitely visiting Mary's house each day. VBS was a great experience for me, too. It was challenging to have a group of 10 kids of all different ages - engaging their interest in the lesson was different for the younger kids than the older elementary kids. The groups were mixed ages because they were designed to be like family groups, or tribes, as it would have been in Nazareth. I really enjoyed spending the week with these kids!

Being Goofy

2011-09-01T23:12:00.000-05:00

I wanted to take a picture of Lily in her cute outfit, matching pink from head to toe. Even the cross on her necklace is pink! Lily decided to be silly for the camera.

Memorial Day Weekend at the Lake

2011-09-01T23:08:00.000-05:00

We spent part of Memorial Day weekend camping on our property near Lake Somerville. Oh, the plans we have for this piece of land! Someday there will be a little cabin. Currently, just a tent. In the interim period, hopefully a camper with A/C! It was a hot weekend, but we were able to cool off in the lake. Lily loves to go exploring through the trees, and she found an area that she decided was her "cave." Really some tree branches had grown together, making a little sheltered area between them.

Dylan's First Painting

2011-09-01T22:51:00.000-05:00

I have a budding artist on my hands! This was the first time Dylan used the poster paints to make a picture, back in May. I learned a handy tip from a MOMS Club meeting a few months ago - painting on the inside of a cereal box! It's nice and thick so it doesn't tear if there's too much paint in one spot. And we always have those on hand! Lily decorated that pink crown that's sitting on the table near Dylan's masterpiece - it was the last crown that was leftover from her princess birthday party, and she decided to paint it instead of glue jewels on it.

Lily and Ms. Rosie

2011-09-01T22:37:00.001-05:00

Lily LOVES Ms. Rosie, her preschool teacher. Lily had a fabulous first year of preschool, due in large part to sweet Ms. Rosie. We're very happy that Ms. Rosie is also the Spanish teacher at Lily's school, so she will get to see her regularly this school year too, even though she's in a big kid Pre-K class now. I took this picture on the last day of school.

Cookie Monster

2011-09-01T22:19:00.000-05:00

Sneaky little thing! Get out of that cookie dough!

And then she realized I had the camera, and this is the "smile" I got. How can I explain to her that this forced look of pain that she calls a smile is not really a smile!?! Silly girl. These pictures are from May 25th.

Water Day at School

2011-09-01T22:09:00.000-05:00

Wow, I better hurry up and finish these posts from last school year before the new school year starts next week! Ha! The last week of preschool this past spring, Lily's class participated in Water Day. They all got to put on the swimsuits and go outside for all sorts of fun water games. Sprinklers, water guns, a water slide, and even a carwash event where they got to ride tricycles, bikes, and even a Cozy Coupe car through a miniature carwash complete with water spraying on them from built-in hoses. I wish I had gotten a decent picture of it to show you - it was very fun. Something I love about Lily's school is that we're always welcome to join in the fun with the students - even little brothers can get wet on water day!

Dylan on the Trampoline

2011-09-01T22:00:00.000-05:00

Initially when we bought this trampoline for Lily, it became a permanent fixture in our house - sometimes in the living room, sometimes the playroom, but always out and available for jumping. Well after many months of lots and lots of jumping, it finally got put in the closet one day, so now it only comes out once in awhile for a day or two at a time. Now it's even more exciting because it's not always accessible. Here are a couple pictures of Dylan jumping, taken in his bedroom on May 19th. I imagine that we'll be getting the trampoline out more often once Lily starts gymnastics again next week. Oh, and see that crib in the background? Dylan climbed out of it today. I don't think we can lower the mattress anymore, so if he makes a habit of that new climbing trick he'll have to switch to a big boy bed pretty soon. I don't think I'm ready for that. But I'm not ready for him to be potty training either, and he's doing great! Just growing up way too fast, that's all.

Dual Dump Truck

2011-08-31T14:19:00.000-05:00

I think this is the first time the dump truck has ever had two riders! In the picture it looks like Lily is pushing Stephen into Dylan, but really she's just posing for the picture while Stephen is giving Dylan a hug. We had fun spending some time with Meredith and Stephen today!

Lily's Float Test

2011-08-25T22:23:00.000-05:00

Lily completed her three-phase float test at Houston Swim Club in May. She has been a Goldfish at HSC during her twice a week lessons for the past couple months, and now she's ready to advance to the Dolphin level. This is the time when swimmers at HSC are encouraged to take the float test. They wear their clothes, including shoes, and the instructor carries them out to the middle of the pool and tosses them in the water. The swimmer must float until they reach the edge of the pool or for five minutes, whichever comes first. Then the next time they have class, they do it again, wearing even more clothes. By the third test, the swimmer is wearing a long-sleeved jacket, jeans, and tennis shoes. Lily ended up having a different instructor for all three of her float tests, and she did incredibly well! She floated all the way to the edge with no problem at all. At the end of the third test she received a bell just like the one they ring in the pool when a swimmer passes a float test, a certificate, and a t-shirt. We are so proud of our little swimmer!

The first picture is of Lily and Ms. Lindsey right after her first test. Ms. Lindsey has been Lily's teacher from the very beginning Guppy class last spring, and Lily loves her!

Meriplex Family Picnic

2011-08-25T22:00:00.000-05:00

The Meriplex Family Picnic was held May 15th at Regal Ranch. We had a fantastic time! There was a playground for the kids, various balls (kickball, football, baseball, basketball) in the playing field, and a mini golf course, all available for the group to use throughout the day. We had barbecue lunch and then the staff of Regal Ranch rounded us all up for some old fashioned games. There were sack races, tug-of-war, and a water balloon toss. We went for a hayride and had cake to celebrate Meriplex's birthday. It was a really fun afternoon!

Dylan loved the miniature golf.

Lily had never run a sack race before, so Daddy was explaining what to do. We forgot to tell her ahead of time that she had to turn around and jump back to the beginning - she stopped halfway, thinking she was done! She had fun jumping though.

I can't remember the last time I did a sack race!

I don't think Lily has ever really done tug-of-war before either... She held onto the rope, but I don't think she was really pulling on it much.

Lily sat across from us with Ande on the hayride, so that's why she's not in our group picture here. I posted a family picture on the blog with all four of us at the picnic back in May.

Tee-Ball in the Backyard

2011-08-24T15:43:00.000-05:00

I have no idea why Dylan is wearing his jammies to play tee-ball in the back yard, and I don't remember why Lily is not in these pictures - where was she, anyway? I need to get these pictures posted in a more timely fashion so I can remember the details - these are from May 14th! But I do remember that he had SO much fun! He would hit the ball and then immediately raise the bat up above his head and yell, "Home run!!!" Eventually we even got him to "run the bases," which really just meant run around in a big circle. He bats lefty. He eats with both hands. He usually colors / writes with his right hand.

Sand Castle in Mexico

2011-08-19T15:20:00.000-05:00

Some pictures I snagged from Grandma Dixie and Grandpa Doug during our visit in Iowa... This poor sand castle didn't last long before the kids smashed it!

Popsicles

2011-07-16T22:42:00.000-05:00

Preschool Spring Show

2011-07-16T22:35:00.000-05:00

Lily's class performed in the Spring Show, singing and dancing to a few songs for the enjoyment of all the parents... The difference between the winter performance and the spring performance was remarkable! In the first show, the kids were quiet and hesitant to really participate, but by the time this spring show came around, they did SUCH a good job! I'm going to post a video from this night in a separate post.

Mommy and Kids

2011-07-13T22:16:00.000-05:00

After playing outside in the evening, I trapped the kids on the couch to take a few pictures. Good thing they enjoy being tickled.

Drinking from the Bowl

2011-07-13T22:12:00.000-05:00

Dylan learned to drink milk from his cereal bowl. In this case, it happens to be ice cream instead of milk!

Cozy Coupe

2011-07-13T22:08:00.000-05:00

This is hilarious. They take turns getting in the car and pushing each other down the driveway. They especially love it when Daddy is the one pushing the car (while Mommy continually yells "not so fast!"). It always steers to the left and comes to a stop in the grass in front of the fence.

Play-Doh

2011-07-13T21:54:00.000-05:00

Dylan is starting to figure out how to make shapes with the play-doh. Lily is a seasoned pro.

Sporties for Shorties

2011-07-11T23:43:00.000-05:00

In the month of May, Lily attended a weekly Sporties for Shorties class. They learned about a different game / sport each week. The first week was soccer, and I just had to take a picture of her pushing the gigantic soccer ball toward the goal. They played the "right" way for most of the hour and then brought out the giant ball for the last few minutes. It was very funny. In later weeks they tried track and field, tennis, t-ball, and kickball. The reason we decided to have Lily play in this class was because she is interested in trying so many different activities. She is old enough to play soccer or t-ball, and there are also "Ankle-Biters" tennis camps that she could do. And she would certainly tell you that she wants to do all of those things! But it's just not practical to be registered to participate in absolutely everything you can think of, so we thought this would be a good way to see how she would really like the various sports. Tennis was her favorite day of Sporties for Shorties, and she did well with t-ball. And she also liked soccer. So what we learned is that she'll probably have fun with any of those activities, and we're really nowhere closer to deciding what to try next!

Mother's Day at Preschool

2011-07-11T23:31:00.000-05:00

Lily's class had a special Mother's Day party for all of us moms. The kids sang us a sweet song that goes something like this:

Hugs and Kisses, Just for you, Just to tell you Mother, I love you. Lily had been practicing the song at home for a couple weeks ahead of time, so it wasn't really a surprise, but it was still soooo cute to see all of the classmates singing it together - they did such a great job! And of course we had cake at the party, and Lily gave me a rose. For some reason I don't have any pictures of the two of us together at the party, but her teacher took some and put them in Lily's scrapbook for the end of the school year.

Unpacking

2011-07-11T23:25:00.000-05:00

While we were unpacking our luggage after our vacation, Lily and Dylan pretended to sleep on top of and inside the suitcases. Lily climbed up on top of the stacked suitcases first, so then of course Dylan had to try it too.

Howl at the Moon

2011-07-11T15:07:00.000-05:00

I've been hearing about this place for over a year now, and we finally made it out there with some friends on Saturday night. Howl at the Moon is "the World's Greatest Rock 'N Roll Dueling Piano Bar"... So it's a bar with live musicians onstage who play just about any song you can think of, all based on requests from the audience. The show is not pre-planned, and it all depends on the crowd. It was calm and tame early in the evening, but as the night wore on it got a lot more rowdy. We had a great time!

Farewell, Vacation!

2011-06-28T23:20:00.000-05:00

Dylan and Lily enjoyed watching the planes from the airport window, and Dylan has since been much more interested in airplanes - real ones in the sky, building them with big legos (or at least that's what he SAYS he's building - it's hard to tell!), and playing with his Little People plane.

This picture is of Lily, Dylan and I sharing just two airplane seats. It looks just fine in the picture, but pictures can be deceiving. When you're four years old or not yet two years old, this is a cramped space for more than two hours of sitting. Believe me. haha!

We had a fabulous vacation in Mexico!

Sleepy Shuttle Ride

2011-06-28T23:10:00.000-05:00

Lily and Dylan both rested on the shuttle ride back to the airport. Lily didn't actually sleep, she just rested, but Dylan conked out as soon as we started moving and didn't wake up until we got to the airport. It was so strange to have them sitting in the regular seats of the car, without their car seats!

Good thing Lily's baby doll, Mary Dumpling, was along for the ride so Dylan could use her as a pillow.

The Whole Group

2011-06-28T23:05:00.000-05:00

We managed to get the whole group standing together for a picture ONCE! And it was right before we got on the shuttle to head back to the airport. Our photographer took several pictures, but my favorite is the one where we're all laughing.

Flying the Kite

2011-06-24T15:32:00.000-05:00

We had fun flying Lily's Nemo kite on the beach, the morning of the day we left to come home. Daddy and Mommy crashed the kite in the water a couple of times, and then Lily ran around with the kite for a long time without any trouble at all.

Sweet Hugs and Kisses

2011-06-24T15:23:00.001-05:00

Xcaret!

2011-06-22T22:46:00.000-05:00

Xcaret was SOOO much fun! It's like a cross between a theme park and a zoo, with so many fun things to see and do throughout the whole park.

Lily thought the turtles in the sand in all the ashtrays were neat. She wanted to touch them all.

We took the Jungle Trail on our way to the beginning of the Underground River, and this is part of the view we had from the trail. You can see the river at the bottom. Also along the trail, we saw some little pigs and these really cool cave openings that we could look into from up above them. You leaned over the edge to see far down below into the caves.

There were iguanas all over the place! They stayed very still and let you get very close to them, too.

Here is the opening of a cave along the jungle trail.

We were glad we went the "long way" to the underground river, following the jungle trail, because that's where we saw this big group of flamingos! Also along the trail, we saw the fish farm, a mushroom farm, and a greenhouse with all kinds of different flowers. The mushrooms were kind of gross looking, but the flowers were really pretty and interesting - varieties we don't see all the time. At the fish farm, they had lots of big, open circular tanks filled with tilapia at different ages.

At the end of the Jungle Trail, we made it to the beginning of the underground river. We put on lifejackets and flippers, and got into the COLD water. We swam the length of the river, in and out of tunnels the whole way. It was really neat, but Dylan didn't like it. He only wanted to be with me the whole way, and even with me holding him he wasn't really happy. I think it was just too cold for him. Lily enjoyed the river.

The underground river took us from one end of the park to the other, so we came out near the dolphins. If you wanted to, you could pay extra to swim with the dolphins, but we decided not to this time because the kids are still a little too small to really enjoy it. They had fun watching them swim and jump, though - see picture above. Below is a picture of a manatee! I've never seen a real manatee before, but Lily has learned a little about them from a video she has at home. So she and I were both pretty excited to see the "sea cows." There were two or three of them on exhibit.

There were lots of great big sea turtles! They're so fun to see because they're just so BIG!

There was one alligator.

They even had tanks of BABY sea turtles! These little guys were so cute! And our kids sitting on the edge of the turtle tank are pretty darn cute, too. Lily was being protective of her little brother, holding tightly onto his arm to keep him from falling into the turtle pool. She was very proud of herself for taking care of Dylan.

Lily enjoyed going inside these old ruins.

Look closely, there's a big cat in the picture below.

The butterfly exhibit was excellent. Before you enter the pavilion, you walk past a glass exhibit case that shows all the stages of butterfly development, with real examples. That part alone was very cool, and then we went into the pavilion with the butterflies - Lily was so surprised to see the real butterflies! For some reason, we don't really see very many butterflies where we live, so she was especially excited about them. They startled her at first, and then she got used to finding them and trying to get her picture taken with them. There were steps to take you up to to the top of the pavilion, where you could walk around the perimeter, near the roof of the building. It was very pretty and there were lots of butterflies up there, but it was just too hot to stay up there for very long.

This waterfall was inside the butterfly pavilion.

Remarkably, this is the ONLY picture of the four of us from our whole trip to Mexico! And Dylan is just wearing a diaper after getting changed out of his swimsuit. Oh well. We were having too much fun to think about taking family pictures all week long I guess.

Near the end of the day at Xcaret, we took a boat ride on the river. We had to go back on part of the jungle trail to do it, and it turned out that it was very slow moving. It was supposed to be relaxing, but really it was just excrutiatingly hot. That's the only activity we did at the park that I wouldn't do again.

After the boat ride, we were quickly approaching our shuttle bus departure time but wanted to squeeze in a visit to the aquarium.

After the aquarium, we rushed back to the front of the park to purchase a souvenir magnet and head back to the hotel. (Thanks to Joe who rushed us out of the gift shop so we didn't miss the bus!) It was a very hot day to be outside walking around all day, but it was really SOOO much fun! We ate lunch at one of the buffet restaurants in the park, and the food was pretty good. That's where we discovered that Dylan loves jell-o. For some reason, I just hadn't made any for awhile, but they had some at this restaurant and he just kept eating and eating it! The park also has a beach area to hang out on the beach, lie in a hammock, or even go snorkeling. We just didn't have enough time to do all of those things in one day. We had a fantastic time at Xcaret!

Lily Doing Water Aerobics

2011-06-22T21:18:00.000-05:00

Lily had fun doing water aerobics!

Dylan's New Words

2011-06-21T13:32:00.000-05:00

Aunt Bri taught Dylan to play "hoop!" with his floatie while they were in the pool. They tried to toss the ball into the floatie. Now he says "Hoop!" all the time when he plays with his basketball hoop in the living room. He also learned the word "pool" while we were on vacation, which comes in handy for him - he loves the water. In fact, when we were taking these pictures in the hotel room, "pool?" is what Dylan kept asking us... He didn't want to just hang out and relax for a little while, he wanted to go back to the pool.

Poolside Nap

2011-06-20T22:16:00.000-05:00

Pirate Show

2011-06-20T22:09:00.000-05:00

It happened to be National Children's Day, apparently an official Mexican holiday, while we were there. To celebrate, the Kid's Club at the hotel put on a really fun pirate show for the kids. There were good pirates, and there were bad pirates who were trying to steal a map from the good pirates. Fortunately, the good pirates had enough balloon swords for all their new kiddie recruits, so they were able to defeat the bad pirates. Then the good pirates and all the kids were able to follow the map to find the buried treasure! THEN, they took the buried treasure (a big container of candy) back to the Kid's Club to put it in a pinata, so they all got to hit the pinata and have some candy.

Here are the good pirates, with the kids watching at the beginning of the show.

The stage was right next to the pool, so we had great seats!

And here are the bad pirates.

Lily absolutely LOVED the pirate show! Since we've come home, she has used her picnic table in the backyard as a stage to put on her own pirate show several times. She remembers the whole show and reenacts it in her own words - it is SO cute!

Are you tired of the pool pictures yet?

2011-06-20T15:37:00.000-05:00

This is the last batch of pool pictures from that same afternoon, I promise!

See that flip flop that Dylan's holding? We managed to lose one of those in Mexico.

Grandma and Grandpa

Uncle Jason and Aunt Bri

Check out Dylan's shades, on loan from Uncle Jason

Matt and Aunt Dina

More Pool Pictures

2011-06-15T22:32:00.000-05:00

Dylan with Grandpa

2011-06-14T14:03:00.000-05:00

Dylan and Uncle Jason

2011-06-11T15:16:00.000-05:00

Dylan hung out at the pool for a long time on Friday afternoon. Here are some pictures of him with Uncle Jason. Matt and Joe are also in some of these. And the back of Bri's head, and Dina's too. Dylan was ok with being in his floatie ring for a little while, but he doesn't really like it very much.

Matt's Birthday Dinner

2011-06-11T15:09:00.000-05:00

Having dinner before heading out to Senor Frog's for Matt's 30th birthday. Jason, Joe, the waiter, Dina, Matt, and Bri.

More pool pictures from Thursday

2011-06-11T15:06:00.000-05:00

Let's see, we arrived in Mexico on a Tuesday, and these pool pictures are from a couple days later, on Thursday.

Lily loves this picture of Joe. She says, "Look, there's Joe with my floatie! Sooooo funny! Look, he's being a girl!" Hahahahaha! Apparently if a boy is using a pink princess floatie, to Lily that means the boy is "being a girl." She cracks me up. I think Lily and Joe were debating about whether he would fit in the floatie or not, so he decided to try it out.

And here's Dylan, chillin in the pool with Joe. Dylan looks sleepy.

An old picture

2011-06-06T23:09:00.000-05:00

I just came across this picture from September 24, 2010. It literally made me laugh out loud, so I thought I'd share.... this must have been around the beginning of when Lily started intentionally making silly faces when asked to smile for a picture. Silly girl.

Sleepy Lily

2011-06-06T22:53:00.000-05:00

Lily had fallen asleep in the hotel room before dinner, but I couldn't let her sleep the whole night like that because she hadn't had nearly enough to eat. So I got her back into her regular clothes and off we went to another restaurant at the resort (this one serving Mexican food). You can see from her eyes how sleepy she is, and her poor little cheeks were flushed from the sun. Not actually burned, this pink-cheeked look typically goes away by the next morning after she's been in the sun for awhile. Even with tons of sunscreen, she gets this pink, rosy look. Dylan on the other hand gets plain old hot and his whole face turns red like a ripe tomato - again, not sunburned, just really hot. Don't get me wrong, they both burn extremely easily without sunscreen (remember Lily was a redheaded baby!), but we're pretty diligent about applying the sunscreen. Dylan is not as sleepy as Lily in these pictures because he got a nap in the afternoon while Lily swam and played hard the whole time.

Dylan in Hotel Room

2011-06-06T22:39:00.000-05:00

I can't remember exactly what he's so excited about, but these pictures make me smile. Dylan and Lily both had such a great time during the whole vacation.

Upstairs Pool

2011-06-06T21:38:00.000-05:00

What a great way to spend an afternoon... I took this picture at the pool upstairs at the top of the hotel. When you walk through the hallway that runs along next to the pool, there are windows to see underwater right into the pool. There's also a swim-up bar at this pool, and they serve sushi next to the pool for lunch. Not that I'm a fan of sushi, but Dusty likes it.