Cornelius Chronicles

This week we began learning about chores at my house. We ordered some awesome chore charts from Amazon.com and briefly let the kids know we would be having an F.H.E. lesson on Monday about chores and allowance. Well, apparently that is all we needed to say. The kids heard the word "allowance" and jumped into action finding chores to do around the house. Bekah turned to the kitchen for her chore inspiration. She surprised me by volunteering to do the dishes all by herself. She put them in the sink, rinsed them off with the sprayer (she had to change her shirt when she was done) and then stacked them neatly in the dishwasher. She did a fantastic job and had a smile on her face the whole time. I was greatly impressed and delighted at the prospect of not being the only one doing dishes around here anymore. ;>) Loyd did his own version of surprising me with his helpfulness. He turned his eye to the living room. On Thursday, while I was cleaning the bathroom (I should...

Last night we went to the much anticipated annual Kaminari Taiko drum show at the Miller Outdoor Theater. This is Loyd's highlight of the year. He's been asking when we could go see the drum show and he has been practicing his air drumming skills for the past month strait. As always, we weren't disappointed. Their name means "Thunder Drum," and boy they aren't kidding. It was another awesome show, full of energy, amazing talent, and loud drums. We even got to hear the most powerful drum in North America. The two drum heads on this 7 foot long, 5 foot diameter drum were made from one whole Texas steer each side. It was massive. Loyd was in drum heaven. Xavier was a bit scared of the loud rhythmic beats at the beginning, but after a few songs he was as in to it as Loyd. Loyd was engrossed in the performance, absorbing every stroke of the drums. Xavier was kicking his legs to the beat and swaying with the music. Rebekah did her best to copy...

After 6 years of marriage, 3 children and a major move to Texas we finally did it. We finally became a two car family. It feels momentous; it's the first car Dustin and I have purchased together. I feel old; I can't believe I drive a mini van. We bought an awesome 2003 Toyota Sienna yesterday. I love it. Dustin loves it. The kids love it. Now I have to get use to being able to drive a car whenever I want to. Weird....

Loyd is many things. One of the most vocal things he is, is"hungry for breakfast." Grandma P spoiled my hungry little man by introducing him to the joys of a big breakfast. Since we've been back from our trip to Utah, Loyd has woken me up each morning by informing me he is ready for breakfast. Well, unsatisfied with my cold cereal, yogurt and granola bars Loyd began taking matters into his own hands. During the early hours of the morning I have founding him munching tomatoes on the couch, dripping yogurt on the floor, and climbing the cupboards looking for candy. Realizing Loyd will not give up his search for food, I've finally decided to cave and try to make some organized breakfasts for this poor little boy. On Wednesday I made my first appearance in the kitchen before 10AM. As I was making breakfast sandwiches at the early hour of 7AM Loyd walked into the kitchen. Bleary eyed and completely stunned by the sight of his mother in the kitchen Loyd stood mot...

At long last we finally found a good dentist who will see Rebekah. (It's tough finding a family practice dentist who will see kids under 5.) On Tuesday, Bekah made the big trip to visit the dentist for the very first time. She was a bit nervous, but Rebekah was very brave. She told me she wouldn't talk to anyone, and she held true to her word, but she didn't cry or become uncooperative. She did everything the hygienist and the dentist asked. She was probably the most quiet and obedient patient they had ever seen. At the end Rebekah had sparkling clean teeth, no cavities, a new princess toothbrush and a cool bouncy ball. She did fabulously and I am very proud of her. Go Dentist! ...Of course, I think all the stress made her a bit goofy afterward. ;>D

This weekend we had a fun trip to the beach. The kids always love a trip to the beach and this time Xavier really got into the fun. He enjoyed himself much more this trip than he did the last. He was crawling (army crawling still) and walking (with assistance) across the wet sand, squishing his fingers in the super saturated sand between the beach and the waves, bouncing in the surf, jumping in the water and eating lots of sand, seaweed and seashells. He was one very happy boy. Bekah and Loyd enjoyed exploring the beach and walking out toward the horizon with their daddy. They discovered the joys of digging for tiny sand crabs and Dustin got stung in the leg and pinched on the pinkey finger by unknown sea creatures. Everyone was sand encrusted and tired by lunch time. No one died and a great time was had by all. Bekah diligently digging for sea shells to add to her collection and trying to catch an elusive sand crab. Loyd working hard to fill his bucket so he can dump it out ag...

The kids have been having quite a dramatic week and Loyd has been kind enough to instigate it for us. On Monday, I walked into the kitchen to find Loyd had gotten into the fridge, again, and had gotten the watermelon out. He was happily eating his stolen treat with Xavier crawling on the ground begging him to share. Out of the kindness of his heart Loyd passed a piece of watermelon down to his little brother to taste because, as Loyd explained, "Xavier is starving." Later in the week Dustin was working on cutting and hanging drywall in our bathroom. Loyd was supervising the work in the garage to make sure it was done right. While Dustin was picking up a large piece of dry wall and turning it around it scraped Loyd' knee slightly. Loyd immediately burst into tears and came running into the house to find me and show me his boo-boo. When I asked Loyd what happened he explained, "Dad's killing me!" Finally, on Friday Loyd was having a busy wiggly day. To...