Cornelius Chronicles

  This week Maeve, Owen and I had a lot of fun at the library's Pete the Cat preschool book party!  We had a ton of fun listening to and then voting on two Pete the Cat books, making Pete the Cat hats, playing Pin the Button on Pete, making our own dot art, and exploring colors, Pete the Cat style.  It was a great afternoon of literacy enhancing fun, because it's all good.  :D     I also thought it would be fun to take a minute and share some of my favorite recent toddler Maeve conversational moments. First Sibling Fight with Owen Owen = 8 months old Maeve = 2.75 years old July 28, 2015 Owen:  La, la, la, la (happily, loudly, with occasionally blown raspberries) Maeve: Owen, stop it! (said with a demanding screech) Owen: La, la, la (unfazed and unaware of his big sister's growing angst) Maeve: Stop!  You're being annoying! (loudly, and with practiced wining voice) Owen: Blows raspberries, La, la, raspberries, la la la (cheerfully) Maeve:

 The kids have been very creative with non-traditional toys and games of late.  They have been building with left over wood scraps, finding new places to make forts, and leaving their toys in the most creative of locations.  :)  Here are a few pictures of the things they've been thinking.  Xavier and Maeve playing in their pretty cool closet fort.  The space is just wide enough and tall enough for a single pillow to stand upright across the back.  But that doesn't matter when you can pile up a bunch of cardboard boxes to sit on while you relax in your private lounge.  :)  Loyd invented a new game where he builds cool towers with some wood scraps he found in the garage and then he throws another chunk of wood at it to make it all come crashing down with lots of laughing.  Look out, Maeve!  Remember to duck! Can you find Maeve's best friend, Teddy Bear?  I had to laugh when I saw where she so carefully placed him while she went outside to play.  She doesn

Rebekah took the camera and photographed one of her favorite subjects of late.  I think she captures the essence of Baby Owen quite well.  :)

  Three years ago this month we welcomes this adorable little girl into our family.  We could never image how much love and joy she would bring to us all. Maeve is Loyd's special buddy.  He has become the perfect big brother to her.  He always is there to play or comfort her whenever they are together. Maeve is Rebekah's biggest fan.  She carefully watches all that Rebekah does and tried to emulate her big sister.  She has even taken to introducing herself to people as "Bekah" instead of "Meave."  :)  Rebekah has also softened as she caters to her little sister to help her feel loved and happy. Maeve is Xavier's partner in fun and crime.  They understand perfectly together what it is like to be in the middle, with all the joys and frustrations that entails. Maeve is Owen's loving big sister, always on the look out to let me know when he needs extra help or care. Maeve is the twinkle in her father's eye, and the smile in my heart.  We

Owen said his first word!  It was Saturday morning, August 22nd, the last Saturday before school started.  Owen was hanging out in bed with me when he said, "Dad! (Burp)"  Now he says, "Dad" all the time.  You know Dustin is just eating it up.  He gets a big grin on his face whenever he hears his cute baby boy say his name.   Owen napping after a long morning of fun. Batbaby Batman?  I haven't seen Batman.  Why would you think I know Batman? Xavier sporting some awesome Toothless face paint at his very first school friend birthday party.  It was a very exciting event for Xavier.  :) ***** Maeve's new phrase that is cracking us up is, "You're a meenie!" whenever she doesn't get what she wants.  She is the queen after all.  She must be obeyed.  ;)

Owen is on the move!   Owen learned to crawl last week and not an inch of my house has been safe since.  I'm on chocking hazard high alert and he is in constant exploration mode.  It is so much fun to see him methodically crawl through the house, thoughtfully pulling everything within his reach down and dump out every bucket or box he comes across.  He may not be speedy in his travels, but he sure is persistent in his efforts.  :D   Check out the swath of crawling-baby-destruction left in Owen's wake in this picture.  It only took him a few minutes to leave such a trail of destruction.  :)

 Pirate hats = Pirate fun for any age! 

 It's that wonderful time of year again, back to school season!  We were all very excited to start another school year this August.  This year we have a very grown up 4th Grader, a well practiced 2nd Grader, and an enthusiastic Kindergartener.  Yea for learning!  Wishing I would hurry up and finish taking pictures so they could get to the bus stop. Waiting at the bus stop   It's crazy to me that Rebekah is starting the 4th Grade.  I remember the 4th Grade and I know I wasn't nearly as smart and well rounded as she is when I was there. :)  I'm excited to see her grow and change this year and work hard to learn all that she can!   Loyd is my 2nd Grader this year.  He worked very hard all summer long to get better at reading and is excited to put his good brain back into learning action.  He's also really excited to see his friends again.  He's missed all of his school buddies over the summer.  He's one smart cookie.  I love how excit

The final days of summer have forced us to get more creative with our fun.  I long ago ran out of summer time activities to keep the children busy and they are so bored of me telling them to read a book or play outside that they have gotten more creative with their energy outlets.  Here are a few of the amazing cup towers/castles they have been busy building throughout the house for the past few weeks.  They have also discovered that party cups are perfect for making mazes, obstacle courses,  and low-walled houses for their stuffed animals.  If I would have known how much playtime mileage could be had by a big stack of paper cups I would have whipped these puppies out in June! We have also become the very blessed recipients of this awesome backyard water slide from a dear, generous family friend who is sadly moving (We aren't openly acknowledging the fact they are leaving yet. Denial is a better way to live on this one.)  We have felt such love and friendship from our fr