Cornelius Chronicles

Firstly, Aunt Liz can you give us some pointers on proper chapstick application?  I don't think I got the lesson quite right for Maeve.  ;>P ***** It's the end of the school year, so of course our social calender has been jam packed with lots of fun class events and parties.  Here are some pictures of a few that happened this week. Dustin was able to arrange his work schedule to make it to Donuts with Dads at Loyd's 1st Grade class.  They had fun hanging out and eating some yummy morning donuts.  Loyd even made his dad a stylish new tie which Dustin wore all day at work.  Yea, it was that cool.  :) Rebekah's 3rd Grade class had a fun Luau party to celebrate all their hard work this year.  We enjoyed a yummy Hawaiian themed lunch, activities, and show, complete with professional Hula Dancers and all.  It was a fun afternoon of Hawaiian fun!

Xavier is our latest Trooper School Preschool Graduate!  After 2 wonderful years of learning and playing at Clear Creek's Trooper School Preschool, Xavier graduated with honors, receiving the award for "Most Enthusiastic." He has truely loved every day of preschool.  He has been blessed with outstanding Trooper Teachers who showed him so much love and care, as well as 20 of the best kind of friends in his fellow preschoolers.  It has been a delight to watch him grow and develop though his preschool experience.  The best moment for me was when I overheard him singing "A-B-C" in the shower last Saturday night.  I'm so thankful for great teachers who get my kids excited to learn!  Hold onto your hats, Kindergarten!  Xavier is on his way!

Here's our beautiful bouncing baby boy finally all bounced out.  No worries though, if he should happen to startle awake he happily bounces himself back to sleep within a few seconds.  :D You know you have too many babies around the house when the UPS man drops off your diaper order and the stack is taller than your toddler.  :)

Nine years ago on May 7th I was blessed with this beautiful little girl.  Dustin and I are so blessed to have Rebekah in our family.  She has been a patient, and loving daughter as we learn how to be parents, often experimenting with her since she is the oldest of our beautiful, if often unruly, troop.  Rebekah is very bright, but always willing to help those learn and understand the things she knows when they struggle or fall behind her level.  Rebekah is caring; watching those around her and finding ways to ease their burdens.  Like when she rounds her siblings up for outdoor play time when she sees me getting a bit flustered with their pandemonium.  She is a terrific big sister, a true friend, and a loving daughter of God.  We are looking forward to another year of learning, loving, and growing with our amazing Rebekah! Happy Birthday Rebekah! We didn't have 9 individual candles around the house when we did her cake, so we decided ...

It's been a busy month filled with fun busy things to do.  Here are some odds and ends of our recent business.  :) Soccer season is in full swing.  We have practice on Tuesday and Thursday nights and then games on Saturday morning.  Xavier did awesome at his last soccer game.  He scored the goal for his team (the second his team has had so far this season) and managed to block a goal shot from the other team when he was taking his turn as goalie.  Go Xavier!  Yea Cheetahs (Loyd and Xavier's team)!  Yea Panthers (Rebekah's team)!  We also went for the first swim of the season at the neighborhood pool.  The kids were dying to go swimming so we finally gave in and took them, even though we told them it was still too cold.  The pool water was a cool 70 degrees F and a bit chilly for us sissy Texans to swim in.  We splashed and played for a good half hour, but then the kids were all shivering and cold and ready to go ho...

  On April 29th Owen declared that he was ready for something to eat other than just milk.  After listening to Owen loudly and persistently stating this fact for most of the afternoon we decided we agreed with him and gave him his first bites of baby food. He was 5 months old, so why not?  :) He enjoyed tasting the rice cereal, but seemed to have different thoughts regarding the peas.  :D    Bon appetit, Baby O!

 It has been a fun spring for wildlife discoveries in our yard this year.  I thought it would be fun to share a few of the discoveries we have made around the house this month.  :)   Can you find our front yard turtle friend?  We think he came from the bayou. Spot the Frog!  I'll give you a hint, he's green. A pair of finches found an empty hanging basket in our garage and decided it was a cozy place to build a nest.  I have to agree and can't wait to watch these tiny little eggs hatch into tiny little hungry chicks.   This little frog found refuge in our garage during a heavy downpour of rain.  We had fun talking to him for a few minutes and then releasing him back into the yard.  We've also enjoyed watching the little green lizards watching us through our back windows as they sun on the rubber tree plant leaves, as well as catching plenty of love bugs whenever we play outside.  Oh, what a fun...

Maeve, Owen, and I got to tag along with Xavier and his last preschool field trip of the year to the Bayou Wildlife Zoo in Alvin, TX.  It was so fun to ride around looking at and feeding the camels, ostriches, deer, zebras, and more.  But the pony ride at the end of the cherry on top of our visit.  Maeve looked so tiny up on that pony, but boy did she have a great time.  Xavier was quite the little cowboy himself on his turn.  We had such a fun visit that Miss Maeve nearly turned into a wild animal herself when I tried to wrangle her back into the van to go to the park for lunch.  Good thing it wasn't my first rodeo, so I was able to successfully get her to the park for lunch without too much parking lot craziness.  :) Yea for field trip animal fun!