Cornelius Chronicles

We had some much needed rain yesterday. I almost had to water my garden! It was quite the loud thunder storm over our heads and it dropped some 1.5 inch hail and threatened a tornado in the city northeast of us. Thankfully we missed out on the tornado and the hail, but after the storm we were left with some amazing light and I was able to catch a few shots of the flowers on my front porch and the beautiful full rainbow outside. It was the first time Rebekah saw a rainbow in real life and she was amazed. These flowers are called hibiscus. I just love their shape and large size. Sadly, they don't smell like anything, but they come in a lot of different colors. I have 6 hibiscus bushes in my front yard and each bush has it's own distinctive bloom. I love to look at them. Rebekah loves to pick them off the bushes! This is the cutest little palm tree. It is in our next door neighbor's yard. Dustin wants to put some palms in our yard too, but we haven't figured out ...

Summer is here and we are having fun. Rebekah has discovered a new favorite fruit. She really enjoys a good banana. Yuck! Loyd and Rebekah love to play together. Loyd thinks his big sister is the neatest person on the planet. He loves to be near her and watch what she is doing. Rebekah is good to give her brother lots of kisses and hugs. She even will share her toys with him. They are a sweet pair. Dustin is home most of the time now that school is out and the kids just love to play with him. We are busy getting the house and car ready for our trip to Utah next week. Every time we get in the car to go somewhere Bekah is quick to ask, "Grama's House?" She can hardly wait to get there and play with her cousins and the dogs. We are all looking forward to seeing our Utah friends and family next week!

Another lovely Sunday comes to a close. Rebekah must be going through a growth spurt because she has been a marathon napper for the past 2 days. I keep telling Dustin that she is going to wake up one afternoon 3 inches taller. I think Loyd is getting taller too. These kids seem to keep growing despite my repeated requests not to. What's a mother to do? Father's Day was nice. We made breakfast for Dustin. At church the primary children made little cards that looked like white shirts and slipped a cookie inside for their dads. Rebekah was so excited to get home and eat her Father's Day cookie. :) Dustin was nice enough to oblige her. We spent the rest of the afternoon resting and relaxing in preparation for another busy week. When the kids finally woke up from their naps we called Grandpa Phillips and Grandpa Cornelius to wish them a happy day. Rebekah was so excited to talk to them on the phone. There was one slight problem, Bekah thinks you have to whisper on...

Here is a sneak peek into the future of the Cornelius kids! We actually got Rebekah to sit still without mauling her brother to take a picture of the two together. Lately Rebekah has been asking to hold Loyd more. While holding him with the help of Mama she quickly realizes how "heaby" he is and hands him back. Loyd just loves it when she holds him. He can't get enough of big sister time. :) We had a good day at the play group yesterday. We went to a beautiful park and there were just a few kids so it wasn't too overwhelming for Bekah. She played with her friends without needing me there to play with her too. It was wonderful! One of the little boys decided to hold her hand and take her for a walk around the jungle gym. Bekah had a really confused look on her face, but she went along with it anyway. It was really cute. :>) Another little boy decided that Loyd needed to get with the program and learn to walk so Loyd could play too. He tried really har...

Loyd has been a bit unhappy in the evenings lately. Out of desperation we have discovered what I like to call "The Magic Chair." If we wrap Loyd up and rock just right with him in the big comfy chair he can't resist the urge to quiet down and fall asleep. Bless the magic chair! Loyd is starting to get some great belly laughs. I love it when they get to the stage where they can giggle at the silliest things. Whenever someone looks him in the eye he rewards them with a great big grin and then pulls his cute little hands to his mouth in excitement. It's the best thing to see in the mornings when I go to get him. Rebekah is keeping me in stitches with her wacky wardrobe choices and her incessant desire to explore and learn. This picture is her looking at the moon through a glorified toilet paper roll on Sunday. She loves space. She never tires of shouting "Space! Space!" when we drive past NASA and their outdoor jet display. She also loves to spot t...

Rebekah has some great friends down here. Here she is with her friend Libby while they munch on some cookies and chill. Rebekah has decided she wants to be Libby. She tries to laugh like Libby, walk on her tippy -toes like Libby, and jump on the pews at Church like Libby. It's all great fun and I'm so glad to see Rebekah bonding with a kid her age. She is growing up so fast. Before I know it she will be asking for the car keys and heading to Cold Stone with her friends for some ice cream. Loyd is in a whiny, spit up stage right now. He wiggles like he has to save his life and in the process wiggles out quite a bit of drool and other cottage cheese like substances. My lap is wearing out quickly. Both kids want to sit on it ALL the time and sometimes the only way to maintain peace in the house is to have them both on there at once. They also must be played with at the same time too. The bonus to all this activity is that I haven't been this thin since before I got m...

Here are some cute pictures of the kids. We were eating smoothies in the back yard on Sunday and Rebekah's got away from her when she tried to take a drink from the cup! They are silly kids. We had a semi successful outing with Rebekah today. We went to the Church to work on a project and she started her little panic attack in the foyer, but with some time by herself to think about her options Bekah finally made it into the gym under her own steam without crying! Miracle of miracles! The Relief Society is making these FHE packets and the coloring is killing us! On one packet I have spent 4 hours coloring. I haven't gotten to the part where I cut the game out yet. Heaven help us! We did make some fun quiet games for sacrament meeting that weren't too bad to put together. Bekah likes to play with the Pioneer Game we made. She has to put the shape pieces in the right spot on the pioneer scene. Loyd is a funny little guy. he has taken to moaning. When he gets t...