Corbin's Six!!

We can't get over it! How did he grow up so fast, but mostly why did he grow up so fast. Corbin has been such a joy in our family, he is constantly putting a smile on us and making us laugh. Corbin is full of energy and excitement, but he can become extremely shy and quiet in public. Just like his mom and dad. We are amazed at how much he has learned in this past year. He is not so much the little boy that we think of anymore. He is loving school and having his own grown up life there. I thought that after a couple of weeks he might get sick of school and beg not to go, but that is not the case. He loves it! He really likes his teacher, he loves playing with his friends, and he even likes doing his homework and reading. He loves p.e., he loves picking out a book on library day, he especially loves computer day, and music time, not so much; but he still will surprise me with some of his songs that he learned. The other day I got quite teary eyed thinking that this time next year he will be away from me for almost the whole day, oh not again, sorry I can't think of it anymore.
Corbin, we love you more than you will ever know! You are our first born, you are the one to help guide your younger brothers, they love you so much. Taylor loves to play pretend with you and those little games that are just between the two of you, oh it's adorable to watch! Levi loves to copy everything you do, it is so apparent how much he adores you! We all do!

What does a little boy want to do for his birthday? Here it is:
(In case you don't understand a 6 year olds way of spelling)
Corbin
Optimus Prime
Hot Dogs
Salad
Not sure what the next one is
Watch T.V. (our favorite, he spelled it wochteve)
Star Wars
Popcorn
Play Games
For his presents, we didn't want to get another transformer, (they are kind of annoying in my opinion, too many pieces that break off really easily) so I was thrilled to find this shirt instead. Regularly $20, I got it for $5. Which is a little more on the expensive end of what I am willing to pay, but hey, it's his birthday :)
His favorite present, a spy gear watch. This is totally what Corbin is into right now, he comes up with all kinds of gadgets and runs around with Taylor playing some kind of game with them. I thought this would be perfect to add to his collection.

This watch has the different times of 25 countries around the world. So whenever he is on some kind of mission, he can know what time it is in China. Justin even thought it was pretty cool!

Happy Birthday to our big creative boy!

Happy Valentines Day

From our family to yours!

Corbin had a great day at school. He couldn't wait to show his brother's all the Valentines he got. I was a little puzzled though, how does a 5 year old boy, who has only brother's and has never seen anything on the disney channel, know about Hannah Montana?? At least he was most excited about the superhero ones, phew... I still have time...Levi couldn't wait to get his hands on the Valentines. And once again, he watches his brother's VERY closely.

I love these boys so much!! But most of all...

Happy Valentine's Day to my Valentine!! I love you Just!!

Photo shot for Valentine Friends

Valentine's Day is fast approaching. This year we are actually going to make Valentine's for friends...I have been waiting for this day! It is so cute to see the boys get so excited to make gifts for friends! I have seen this cute idea floating around the blog world and I loved it, I okayed it with the boys and then we went off to find a red wall. All I needed were some pictures of them holding out their hands in a fist, easy right! Yeah, it was, but I got more than I asked for...

Do you think his class mates would like this one? Why do they think it is so funny?

Puff out that tummy just a little more.

Levi wanted in, he watched the boys take a couple pictures, then he was ready and knew just what to do. This is Levi's look. Although usually it is accompanied by an incredibly fake cry. I don't know where he got the one eye thing, but darn, it is adorable!

Is anyone's house ever as loud as mine?

Go, go power rangers!
sigh...

again, sigh...

Almost way too adorable.
It was a really fun afternoon, these boys are full of personality and I love it! It was nice just to let them have fun and not have it be too stressful. Cause honestly taking pictures of three children under 6 can be that way most times!

Recipe Blog

For those of you who gave up looking at the recipe blog, I have finally started it up again. So if you need some ideas, head on over. Cami has posted some too that are so good! If anyone else wants to add some recipes...please do! And for those who aren't contributers and you want to, let me know!
canihavetherecipe.blogspot.com

Trying to overcome my struggles

I'm going to admit it. I have always had a big struggle with comparing. And the worst thing is I usually compare my weakness to others strengths. I don't know why I do it, but I do. The most frustrating thing to me is when I compare my boys to other children. Why? Every kid has struggles, no kid is perfect. But for some reason I seem to think they are. When my kids are more wiggly at church, I notice the ones that are sitting perfectly still. When my kids are refusing to do chores, I think to myself, I bet other kids are doing their chores. When Corbin isn't reading Harry Potter books, I think, all the other kids his age probably are. AHHH! Stop.

Well, last night, I started reading from a wonderful book my mother-in-law had called Teaching Children Joy from Linda and Richard Eyre. This book holds the secret to overcoming my struggle. My favorite paragraph made me think so much and is why I am writing this down today. I have to write it so that I can remember better. Linda Eyre writes "I.Q. vs. J.Q."

"We started our school because of our strong disagreement with the common supposition that the greatest thing that a child can posess (or that we as parents can help him to attain in order for him to 'succeed' in today's society) is a high I.Q. Too much stress is placed on young children's abilities, on being able to put together numbers and letters quickly, on manipulation skills. The world at large seems to be overly aware of 'How soon will my child read?' Or 'Just listen to him count or recite.' While these things do have their place, we strongly believe that real happiness, contentment, and ability to cope with the world lie in a child's J.Q. (joy quotient). Ponder, for a moment, the quality of a child's life once he has obtained confidence in his own ability to make decisions, to enjoy and be aware of nature, to understand another person's ill feelings, to set a goal and accomplish it, to share with and serve his friends, and to see himself as a totally unique individual with a great deal to offer to others. Each of these are joys that can be taught, and we are of the opinion that the ideal time to teach them is before the age of five and before the beginning of formal education. With a foundation of these 'joy' concepts, the other abilities often associated with I.Q. will come quickly and naturally. By teaching a child joy, we can give him both a calm spirit and an active mind."

Joy, that's what I desire most for my kids. I am now trying my hardest to not compare. I am proud of all those parents out there who do an amazing job with their kids. But now, it is time for me to be proud of my kids. Teach them what really matters. In time, they are going to learn to read, they are smart boys and I know they will succeed. Now is the time to enjoy each moment and let them be kids, let us laugh together, play together, and learn together! I want to help them develop their talents individually, they each have something the world needs and only they can do it!

And to Justin, thank you for being so good at this, you were so meant to be their dad!

Levi is no baby

He doesn't even want to think about being our baby, he is much too big. The last couple of months we have seen him grow up so much. He loves playing with his brothers and he loves anything that involves big boy stuff. Yes, even super heros. He's got the theme of heros down, da na naaa, na na na naa naaa.... really, from a one year old??!

The latest words he has been saying are, "mommy, eeee" (mommy, see)

He even eats better than his older brothers. Last night at dinner, Justin was trying to give Corbs and Tay fun bites, which included star wars characters flying into their mouths. Levi decided he could do that for himself. He made great big airplane noises into his own mouth.

The last couple of days Levi has been playing with this gun, practically non stop. He hands it to me, puts the bullets in, has me shoot it, then he runs and grabs them off the wall and comes back for more...seriously, non stop...

Oh we can't get enough of this boy!!!

Anyone need some baby toys, they are just collecting dust??

Why fear?

The other day I had just picked up Corbin from school and was driving home. For the first time on the radio I heard about the earthquake in Haiti, I was heartbroken. The numbers of death I had heard were awful. Corbin could tell I was bothered and he asked me what was the matter. I told him about the earthquake and that so many people had died and were without homes. Why I told him, I don't know, because ever since then he has become so scared at night. He asks us if there will be an earthquake or fire tonight, we try to reassure him that we will be okay and that we are all together. The other night he was extremely nervous about going to bed. He climed up in our bed and didn't want to leave. Justin asked him if he thought praying to Heavenly Father would make him feel better, Corbin said yes. After the prayer Corbin told us he felt better and he knew that he would be protected. But he was still deep in thought and after a moment he asked, "Why did Heavenly Father create Earthquakes and fires?" Um...well, Fire can be used for good or bad, He gave it to us to help keep us warm, but we need to make sure that we are responsible and never play with fire. Luckily, that answer was good enough.
In this life, we know there is good and bad, love and hate, joy and sorrow. There are some really tough, scary times ahead, but there are also wonderful, joyful moments too. That's what we need to look forward to! Why live our lives in fear? We can make it through the hard times. All we need is to be prepared. And that is what we are trying to focus on in our family right now. Do not fear, have faith, and be prepared.