Cornelius Chronicles

We went to the Moody Garden's Aquarium Pyramid in Galveston this last week with Xavier's preschool class.  Rebekah and Loyd got to skip school and come with us because I know how much they love stuff like this.  It was so much fun to see all the fish and seals and penguins.  We had a great trip and wanted to share some pictures of our underwater adventure.  :)   Loyd by the stingray tank. Rebekah totally got photo bombed! Xavier loving the penguin exhibit. Maeve watching the fun penguins swim in the water. I took the most pictures of Maeve at the Aquarium, but I think that has more to do with her being tied to me via her monkey backpack leash than anything else.  She adored seeing all of the fish and other aquatic wildlife.  I had a hard time getting pictures of her face because she was too enthralled by the animals to take a second and look at me with her big beautiful smile....

This past week we celebrated Loyd's 6th birthday.  Happy Birthday Son!  We are so blessed to have such an energetic, charismatic, loving little boy in our family.  Loyd has a great way of figuring out how to get the people around him to smile.  He is also terrific at finding the fun in any situation.  He always has a smile on his lips and a twinkle in his eye (sometimes that's good and sometimes I have to worry) :P.  He's my most loving and snugly child, always ready and willing with a kiss and a hug to let you know how much he cares.  Loyd is a special little boy.  We count our blessings to have such an amazing Son of Heavenly Father as part of our family.  We love our mischievous little man and can't wait to celebrate many more happy birthdays to come!  We love you Loyd!

Xavier and all of the children have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Valentine's Day. We sure had fun celebrating Love.  We made it to three class parties, addressed 68 Valentines cards to pass out to our friends, and ate lots and lots of candy.  Happy Valentine's day! Cute Quotes: Xavier upon seeing images of Cupid shooting his arrow:  "Mom, why are there lots of pictures of babies shooting hearts?  Are they bad guy hearts?" *** Xavier:   "Is today Happy Heart Day yet?" Mom:  "Do you mean Valentine's Day?" Xavier: "No, my teachers say it's Happy Heart Day.  There's lots of happy hearts." Xavier showing off his Valentine's box. Handing out Valentine treats to our Preschool friends. Maeve enjoying the excitement of the day and always on the lookout for a sucker to munch. Loyd celebrating at his class party.  Yummy Valentine's party breakfast! Rebekah showing off her memory book craft ...

Yesterday we got to celebrate Loyd's upcoming birthday with lots of great friends, fun games, and yummy candy.  Loyd wanted a Monster's Inc birthday theme so the kids all made their own clay monster, played "Pin the Eye on Mike Wazowsky," and took a turn at the Monster's Inc pinata.  Our grand finale for the birthday celebrations was ice cream cake and a game of "Heavy, Heavy Hang Over Thy Poor Head."  It was the first time most of the kids had played that party game, but they caught on pretty fast.  They all thought it was great fun to bonk Loyd on the head with a gift and demand a wish from the birthday boy in return.  What a great way to spend a Saturday morning, celebrating our loving and adventurous Loyd! Monster Maeve Monster Loyd and Monster Maeve Loyd and Maeve are sporting their best monster faces, put together from their monster themed party goodie bags. After our wild party we all settled in for a much deserved rest.  It...

 I doesn't feel like it has only been a week since my last post.  We've had an action packed time. On Monday we went to the library and saw Frosty the Snowman come to life!  It was a fun comedy magic show for the little kids.  The kids laughed and laughed.  They even got to do the limbo with Frosty's magic broom at the end!  Xavier was so convinced that Frosty was a real snowman that he had to make sure to get his picture with that chilly fellow to have proof to show to Loyd and Rebekah when they got home from school. We are so glad we were able to go to such a fun event.  On Monday I also won over another anti-banana convert.  While snacking on a banana and walking around outside, Maeve tripped and managed to cut her lip on her teeth pretty good.  She hasn't been that interested in bananas since.  I tried to get a picture of the damage, but this is the best I could do.  Even injured she seems to find a great smile to give...