Cornelius Chronicles

Just had to share a happy picture of our funny little John.  He is a joy to our family and filled with such fun and ingenuity.  He is 18 months old now and learning how to climb, run, jump, and all the other things necessary to get into all sorts of mischief.  He is learning to say lots of words and communicate what he wants and needs with us. Here's a list of his latest and greatest words and comunications: "Mom" "Dad" - means up "Daddy" - means Dustin "Pweeze, Pweeze, Pweeze!" - Please Shakes head side to side - No Shakes head very deliberately up and down - Yes Sticks his hand out palm up, shakes head up and down like "yes," and says "that" when he wants something you have.  "Dog" - Dog "Gimmedat" - all one word to mean Give me that. "ap-ple" - apple "sheese" - cheese John the Destroyer - Nickname bestowed by Maeve because he hasn't seen a block, Magna-tile, L

This year we decided to try a little something new in the name of birthday party fun.  Since Maeve and Xavier have birthdays just one month apart we thought we would experiment with a combined party.  It cut my planning and prepping for party time fun to almost nothing, excitement levels for all involved were at maximum levels, and it was determined to be a party time success of epic proportions.  I think we have heralded in a new era of biannual birthday party extravaganza for the Cornelius family.  Thank you Pump It Up for giving us such a fun party venue and thank you to all of our amazing friends who came to support the festivities and celebrate two of our special Cornelius kids.  Happy Birthday Maeve and Xavier! The reason we picked Pump It Up is because they have a party tradition of the birthday child making a grand entrance to the Cake and Pizza portion of the party.  The child walks down the center isle of tables filled with friends while everyone chants their

  Check out the teeny tiny ice cream cones I found at H.E.B. grocery store!  Ice cream eating just got even more fun and even more cute in a teeny tiny cone.  This just happened!  Loyd finally brought his instrument home for middle school band.  He's a wonderful aspiring euphonium player.  :)  Everyone was excited to investigate this great looking instrument and hear Loyd blurt out his first tentative practice notes to show off his mad brass playing skills.  Shout out to this awesome kid!  Xavier was awarded the Character Counts award at his elementary school for the exemplifying the character trait of Respect.  I think that's 5 years in a row this awesome young man earned this award.  He's so respectful and responsible at school, listening to his teachers and working hard, as well as being a kind and considerate friend to all of his classmates.  I just love how this kid is an example to me and others of being Christlike.  Love you, Xavier!  Congrats on your

 How on earth did we get to birthday #7 so fast!  This clever, imaginative, talkative, friendly, beautiful, kind, loving, artistic, and all around amazing little girl turned 7 years old this year.  Maeve has been a burst of life and joy since the moment she was born.  I laugh at her craziness and her goofy dance moves, I marvel at the depth of her understanding of the love of God for her and for all mankind.  I love how much she takes to heart the commandment to do to others and you would have them do to you as she tries to show love and friendship to all she meets.  I am grateful for her sharp intellect and joy in the quickness and creativity of her mind.  I am always humbled by the gift that she is in my life and the loving Heavenly Father that sent her to me.  Maeve, we love you so much and are grateful for another wonderful year in the books and the exciting expectation of another adventurous year ahead!   Maeve figured out a nontraditional way to blow her candles out with

This last week we enjoyed dog-sitting these two cute, well behaved dogs for our friends.  The kids quickly fell in love with Ella (grey) and Jazz (black).  Here are some snugly snapshots of our puppy fun today.   

Xavier has been unleashing is creative genius with paper, craft sticks, and most importantly the hot glue gun.  He's really made some fun creations and made some awesome things.  Here's one of my favorites, a fortress castle for the gerbils!  Check out Tornado loving his play castle! John has also just discovered the delicious perfection of ranch dressing, especially when combined with chicken nuggets.  Check out the double hand action in the image below.  He's eating one nugget while prepping a second nugget with plenty of ranch dip in the other hand.  :D Progress is being made on our home remodel project.  Dustin is working so hard every day after an already long day of work to build walls, and hurricane proof the old garage space to make it ready to be a 4th bedroom and 3rd bathroom.  I am so thankful for his willingness to work hard for us in so many ways every day.  And yes, that's a super cool water and air jetted tub in our back yard.  But only f

We have a whole month between the big kids starting back to school and Owen's first day back to Trooper School Preschool, so we did what any one would do in our place.  We played like crazy!  Lots of fun at the Texas Avenue Park splash pad! Learning and Exploring at Space Center Houston.  Really loved learning more about a Mars mission and watching our favorite space shuttle movie :)  Future Astronaut Owen Cornelius    Pool time!  We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our neighborhood pool!  We are so blessed!  Park time!! The boys just love swinging and slide fun