My New Hobby ----<--@

I found a new love and hobby!Gardening :) Well maybe I should say that it found me. When we moved into our house we knew there was a garden spot with some strawberry plants. What we didn't know was that it also contained chives and tomatoes! Yay! So I have been trying to love and appreciate them so that they will bring many happy fruits and vegetable my way. We already have some tomatoes growing! And I didn't even have to do anything. I really enjoy digging in the dirt and weeding. Who knew? I certainly didn't. But I am really looking forward to getting some money and planting a few more things like squash and peas, carrots and peppers, and basil. Next year will be my year of the Garden :) I'm so in love with this new hobby.

This is our whole entire garden plot. Not very amazing yet, but it looks a hundred times better than it did before my dad and I pulled all the weeds out!

Look at them! Aren't they amazing???

What a WEEK! :(

Well, I certainly know that we have to take the good with the bad. There must be opposition in all things, and I was reminded of that this week. I don't know why or what was in the air but my children have decided to be destructive and naughty. Mostly Corbin I think, but I can't prove it. So here is the rundown:

Monday-Nate was post call, meaning he had just finished a 30+ hour shift and came home in the afternoon to sleep. I tried to keep the kids quiet and happy so he could sleep. It was a pretty normal day apart from Nate sleeping most of the afternoon, a good start to the week I would say.

Tuesday-Since Nate had the day off we decided it was a great day to go and get the car registered and to get our new Michigan Drivers Licenses. Let me just say that I should have done my homework. I thought that I had brought all of the documents we needed. The closest Secretary of State office was a good 10-15 minutes away on the freeway. So we got there around 11 and there were hardly any people there waiting. We were excited. Let me just go back a step and tell you that when we were trying to park a lot of the park was labeled 20 minute parking only. Nate remarked to me when I pointed this out "so you don't think we are going to be done in 15 min?", and I said "No, not unless I forgot something". There it was! The jinx! I need to learn to keep my mouth shut! So...back we go to the DMV office. We walk up to the desk and the lady looks through out paperwork that we brought with us and tells us that we need our birth certificates-DOH! Yep, I didn't bring those. Dumb dumb dumb! I had just had a conversation with a friend who had trouble getting her license because they didn't believe her birth cert. was authentic! Grrrr. So we leave. Nate and I decide that we have to do this today so he drops me off at a grocery/nursery with Madalyn, we had a great time there while we waited for him to come back. Then we high-tailed it back to the DMV. Well, of course a hundred people had come in our absence :( Ok maybe 20 or so. So we had to sit and wait. The kids were being pretty good until a lady with four kids age 2-10 showed up and sat down right in front of us. Her children were terrible! They were getting in our faces and makes weird noises to make my kids laugh. They wouldn't leave us alone and she didn't do or say anything to them about it. I think she was just happy that they were leaving her alone. So then of course my kids are getting all riled up to the point that when it's finally our turn to get up there they were fully excited and wouldn't be still or listen. Madalyn was in my arms and throwing herself back to get out. Corbin was all over the floor and pulling on Nate, making a lot of noise and being rowdy. So we were pretty stressed out by this time and angry. So the lady processed Nate and the car title. Then she looked through my papers and this is what she told me "You needed to bring your marriage license." My jaw dropped my fists clenched and I could have spit fire. "No one said I needed my marriage license, we were just here. Besides I had to have my marriage license to get my social security card." Well apparently they don't look at it in quite that way. I knew it wasn't her fault but I couldn't help being angry. The woman at the desk who sent us away the first time could have mentioned that little tidbit! So I got this lovely pass for the "return line" so I don't have to wait so long when I come back. Nice. So we trundled home dejected and despondent with only a bagful of peaches and pears and apples to cheer us on our way ( I say that because I thoroughly was not cheered by the presence of our new license plate). Then we had to hurry and get dinner ready for the missionaries. We sat down to dinner and the kids had a couple of bites and wouldn't eat any more. They were being very rowdy and loud so I was fine when they asked to be excused. We finished our dinner to the distant serenade of our children's happy screams coming from the other end of the house. We called them back to join us for the lesson and prayer which they did willingly enough but we regretted it. They were really full of it. During that time we noticed that Corbin smelled like lotion. After the Elders left we went to investigate. We asked him where the lotion was and he showed us by opening the door to our bedroom. And guess what we found...Corbin had gotten the stool from the bathroom and used it to get on my tall dresser and reach the spray bottle of sunscreen that was there. He then proceeded to spray into the ceiling fan which projected the lotion all over the room! Words cannot express the anger and horror of that moment. It was then that I realised that I did not really know the destructive power I had brought into the world so happily. But I knew it at that moment. We immediately put both children to bed and tried to clean up the mess. But to our wonder and amazement the lotion does not simply wipe away from the walls. It has managed to soak into the paint and leave greasy little spots all over. The fan and light bulbs of course were covered along with all of our bed linens. Also the clean laundry in the baskets and our one and only copy of Nate's latest Graduation photo. They had also gotten on our mirrored dresser and smeared the stuff all over it. I have never seen my husband sooo angry before. I was just numb with shock. How could they do this??? I couldn't fathom it. It was almost as though it had happened to someone else and I was just passing through. We did manage to get it all cleaned up, in a fairly short amount of time.

Wednesday- So we were still reeling from the shock of the night before. We tried to have a normal day. Madalyn went down for her nap as usual. I sat down to read one of the books I want to finish before school starts and Corbin asked to play outside. I said that was fine and out he went. He even remembered to close the screen door. I was impressed. It was loud outside owing to one of our neighbors sawing down trees in the forest behind our home, so I couldn't hear anything else. When it finally did stop, maybe 10 minutes later I heard a new sound. One I couldn't identify coming from the backyard. I got up to investigate and to my horror I witnessed Corbin with a large pointed plastic stick poking holes into the screens of our gazebo! I started screaming at him and he stopped immediately. I then put him on the fireplace and there he stayed until his dad got home. After that he spent the rest of the day on the couch. What has gotten into him???

Thursday- The last two days had left me blindsided and discombobulated. I was still angry and upset. So when they took their crackers and smashed them all over the floor of the playroom I had had enough! I put them both in time out and broke down. I just couldn't take anymore. The hardest part was knowing that they knew that what they were doing was wrong. But it didn't matter to them. They wanted to do it and they did it. Headless of the consequences. It was a good thing Nate came home at a decent hour and took the kids out to the store. I was contemplating a nervous breakdown. The looney bin was sounding quite nice by then.

So I am happy to report that I have squashed further efforts to destroy our property by simply following my children around where ever they go. It makes it excruciatingly difficult for me to get anything done, but it keeps them out of trouble. I took them to the beach yesterday and hopefully they got all of their "wiss and winegar" out. I sure hope so. I do not want this week oft repeated.

Sorry no pictures. You wouldn't have been able to see the lotion anyways and we were too angry and upset to fathom taking any.

Afternoon at the Mall

After we went to the Zoo we went shopping at the Lansing Mall. My parents were allowing Nate to pick his Birthday present. He wanted shoes so we went and searched some out. Well, a couple stores, and a few tantrums later, we left the Shoe Dept. with two pairs of shoes, only one of which we paid for :) and found that we had two very hungry and angry children so we got some Sbarro for them and we all headed over to Chipotle. Nate and I had only eaten there once before, and my parents hadn't eaten there at all, but we all had a great dinner. By the end of it the kids had perked up considerably. Here is what they were up to right before we left:

They were singing and clapping together on the really high stools.

Isn't it amazing what a little food can do for you???

Madalyn went and sat with Grandma and Papa and told my dad to put all the things down that he was holding. She then proceeded to clap and sing "Do as I'm doing, follow, follow me!" while conducting Papa to do the same. Corbin couldn't resist and joined in the fun.

They had a great time together. It was so sweet!

This was right at the start. Corbin hadn't joined in yet and Madalyn was being very bossy to Papa.

Potter Park Zoo with Mama and Papa

We took my parents and the kids to the Zoo on saturday. It was perfect for my mom. Cool and a bit drizzley. One thing you are sure not to miss at this zoo is the Peacocks. They are free roaming all over the park. Here are two we saw canoodling on the fence, a third joined them shortly after. We especially like the albino one.

We also experienced the petting zoo for the first time while there. As you can see the kids really liked it. I had a hard time getting them to look at the camera.

I think Corbin wants to take one of them home :)

Madalyn wasn't so sure she wanted to brush the goats at first, but she eventually warmed up to the idea.

Pool Time with our new friends

We got to spend a few mintues in the kiddie pool this week with our new friends. My kids loved it! It makes me consider trading in the Elmo Sprinkler for a pool...well, almost ;) But we did have a fabulous time. This was the second time last week that they got to do this, although Madalyn never actually got to swim the first time, there were too many rowdy boys around. Poor girl! Here are the photos from our adventure.

Corbin was so happy for an excuse to use his new water shooter toy. Maddy was happy that she got to actually get in the pool.

You can't get me brother!

I think I took this on accident, or it may have been Corbin, but I like how it turned out. It would make a great background for scrapbooking.

Thank You Grandma Nan!!!

We LOVE Grandma Nan! With all her grandchildren she is still able to make them all feel loved and remembered and special. She sends letters in the mail to our kids, and in them she puts stickers and a note and sometimes she puts money! This happened yesterday and the kids were thrilled. They wanted to run out to the store and buy something. So we caved. Madalyn bought yet ANOTHER Barbie, and Corbin bought this thing that shoots water. He fell in love with this toy at Lake Lansing, it belonged to one of our friends and he was shooting everyone in sight. Oh well, thank you to a wonderful Grandma who knows how to have a long-distance relationship with her grandchildren. They love you! And they love getting your mail!

a little something special

Since we finally have little money, we wanted to get something special for the kids, so we didn't go crazy or anything we just got them things that we know they love and haven't been able to have. Corbin got the entire collection of Speed Rcer episodes from back in the day, and Madalyn got a Cinderella Barbie and a backpack to put her in. They were SO excited and have been playing non-stop with the Barbie and the tin. Being poor does have it's advantages. They appreciate what they get a little more, since we can't get them everything we want to.

Shout out to Playgroup!

So there I was sitting on the park bench when Madalyn cames up and tells me she has sand in her mouth. So she wanted to get some water. So of course I gave her some, but she was happy enough to show me afterwards that it was all gone. So here are a few pictures of us "making sure" it's all gone :) Silly girl. We were at playgroup when this happened, we love playgroup!

Corbin found himself a buddy who is like 6 years older than him. He had a cool grown up boy book to look at too. Corbin was entranced.

Hey, where did everybody go???

Books

I have spent a lot of time cultivating a love affair with books for my children. And I am happy to say that it has paid off amazingly well. I have read books to them at least twice a day for the better part of four years. They LOVE books! I keep them in the car, and in the church bag. Our bookshelves in the living room are full of books at their level so that they can access them whenever they want to. It brings joy to my heart whenever I look over and see one of them doing this:

We also go to the library every week to pick up new books to read during our reading times before nap and bedtime. My kids love the library and they are always excited to hear that we have new books to read. Books have made Sacrament meeting more enjoyable for us as well. I replace the books in the bag every week and it keeps them both quiet and occupied for most of the hour. I'm so grateful that my love for reading has carried over into their lives and that it is something we can share.

Fort Condie

So these two incredibly cute children could never be up to no-good, right??? Uh-hunh, that's what I thought too. But the other day I was cleaning up the kitchen and listening to Harry Potter on tape when it came to my mind to check on the little Turkeys (that's our nickname for them), and what did I find? Scroll down to see for yourself. They had created a fort out of our sideboard and our church books. Very clever. I used to do the same thing myself with floor pillows, and this exact sideboard :) Like mother like son apparantly.

She is rolling around on the floor here.

We aren't doing anything mom! Honest!

Here it is! He is so dang proud of himself.

Madalyn was so excited that she was rolling around on the floor.

MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY

IT HAS ARRIVED

Our very first paycheck in 4 years, and I couldn't be happier. At first we thought that it was going to be very insignificant because Nate had only worked half the pay period, but we must have done something right because it was nearly the full amount for the pay period :)

The only problem was that they mailed it to us insteadof depositing it directly. Which I must admit I suspected would be the case, but secretly I was hoping that things had improved in the 4 years we had been away from a paying job so that there would be no wait period for Direct Depositing. *Sigh* This is a problem because we belong to the bnk formerly known as Washington Mutual. Which is slowly morphing into Chase. This was not too much of an ibconvenience when we lived in Chicago because there were both WaMu and Chase banks in our area. When the switch began we could start to use the Chase branches but only for certain things. We couldn't use the ATM's at first and then we could, but only to withdraw, not to deposit. We had to do our banking inside the the branch at a special counter just for WaMuers. It was a special kind of segregation, but anyway...There are/were NO WaMu's in Michigan. Which meant that the Chase branches would not be equipped to handle our business. So I called Chase and asked them what I was supposed to do. Their answer? "All the Chase branches in IL will be WaMu compatible by July 27th". This is important because we opened our account in IL. So once that happens we will officially be Chase customers and will have access to everything Chase has to offer anywhere in the country.

As wonderful as that is, it still left us with the better part of two month's completely unable to deposit ANYTHING in the bank. Thankfully the Lord inspired my parents to follow us to IL and then to stay there after we moved. So whenever we get a check I mail it to my dad and he deposits it for me. But I must say it is not a preferrable situation and I will be happy to have it be a distant memory in my psyche.

We recieved the first paycheck last friday and I put it in the mail on saturday and it is in our account as of this morning! All I can say is "YAY"! It feels good to have real money that we don't have to pay back with interest!

The Elmo Sprinkler

We bought the kids this cute little sprinkler a long time ago. But we haven't ever used it until this week. They LOVED it! They couldn't get enough. Hopefully this will keep them from playing in the water from the sump pump :P Yuck!

Daddy's Special Homemade Oreo and Strawberry Ice Cream

It was so cute that they just HAD to sit in the same chair together :)

I think they like it.

We have recently been usingour ice cream maker. It is a lot easier than I ever thought. And it turns out really, really good. We all love it. For his birthday Nate requested we make strawberry ice cream, with real strawberries, and crushed oreo cookies. It was fabulous! If I do say so myself.