Cornelius Chronicles

Loyd graduated from Trooper School Preschool this week.  He was given the awared for "Best Participator."  He is always ready to learn and play.  He is also very good at making sure everyone is included and feels welcome.  He is my special little boy.  I am proud of him and love him to pieces. I am so grateful for the love and time of all the wonderful teachers who worked with Loyd and helped him know he is special and loved this last school year.  It was a wonderful experience and I am going to always be grateful for the opportunity Loyd had to go to Trooper School. I think part of my job as a parent is to find others who will help my children become better and who will fill in the gaps where I may not have the tools or knowledge necessary to meet all of their needs.  Trooper School did that for us.  I know Loyd is a better, happier boy because of this amazing experience. Thank you Trooper Teachers!  Look out Kindergarten, here we come...

 Xavier lives in a magical land I thought I would share with you.  For Xavier there are two magical things that explain most of his happy daily experiences.  1st -The Grocery Store All objects come from the magical place called "The Grocery Store."  All toys, clothes, food, tools, etc come from " The Grocery Store."  Whenever he pulls out a t-shirts or I open a new jug of milk (his favorite food, by the way) he asks, "Where you get that Mommy?" and then he quickly answers his own question with, "Oh, the grocery store."  If I try to correct him and say that I got the Cookie Monster t-shirt from Target, he will stop me and say, "No, you get it from the grocery store." And that is the end of the conversation as far as he is concerned.  2nd - The Tooth Fairy All gifts and surprises come from the Tooth Fairy.  She is the bringer of all surprises and gifts as far as Xavier is concerned.  One morning he woke up and found some left ...

 First vegetable harvest of the summer.  Yea green beans!  First trip to the neighborhood pool for the summer swimming season.  Maeve's first time in the swimming pool.  Her face says it all.  She enjoyed hanging out in the water with her Daddy and watching the other kids have a fun time splashing around and goofing off.  First Time-Out of the swimming season, happening within the first 5 minutes of the pool trip.  (It was a bit chilly for us Texans.  The water temperature was in the 70s and the outside temperature was around 78 degrees F, with a bit of a sea breeze.  Brrr!)

We got to celebrate 7 wonderful years with our beautiful Rebekah this week.  She is my special girl who continually surprises me with her intelligence, work ethic, patience, generosity, kindness, and love.  She teaches me every day through her example.  I am so glad she is part of our family and came to us first to help lead the way for her brothers and sister.  She is a truly choice daughter of Heavenly Father and I am grateful she is part of our family.  For her birthday we brought [Old] McDonald's Happy Meals to school for lunch with the birthday girl.  She then shared Fruit By the Foot with her class mates.   When she came home she opened up her fun birthday presents.  We played "Heavy, Heavy Hang Over," with the gifts and Xavier inadvertantly wacked her so hard with this gift that it made her cry, but we quickly laughted the tears away, she wished Xavier a $1000, and we got back to the business of opening presents.  It was prett...

 While unloading kids from the van I discovered graffiti on the back of one of the seats.  How will I ever know who perpetrated such a crime!?  It looks like a job for Detective Mom,private eye.  The man hunt is on.  Luckily, I had a break in the case and was able to pinpoint the VAB (Van Artist Bandit) with a fair amount of confidence.  Just another day in the life of Detective Mom, private eye.    We've been really enjoying the unseasonably cool weather and have enjoyed the extra time outside in the perfect Spring temperatures.  Everyone loves going for walks and bike rides around the block.   Soccer games are pleasant to watch outside even if our team counts a tied game as a victory. This is just a cute shot of our Mr Xavier.  He's such a handsome little guy.  Loyd is practicing his big brother skills, like piggie-back rides, zerbits (also known as raspberries), kiss attacks, and tickle torture....