My Eldest

Corbin at 7 years old . . .

Loves to read.  Every morning he wakes up before 7am and hides in his closet with a pile of books, until he knows it's safe to come out.  He and Russ have been reading the Percy Jackson series.  They read the first book before seeing the movie in the theater.  Now they are on book 3, and Corbin loves reading while Russ is at work and then telling him he has to catch up.  Other books he loves include: Magic Tree House (I think he is on #28),

Loves to play pretend.  Suprisingly, him and Cody play quite well.  They like to play "Daddy and baby", "Daddy and sharky",  restaurant, and various warrior/ninja type games.

Loves lots of other quiet activities - coloring, doing workbooks, making cards and writing notes to people.

Still loves legos and any other building toys.  He likes to build according to directions, but has also found that he likes playing with the toys as much now as he does building them.  Our guest room has been dubbed "the Lego room" for the last couple years, because it was his only place to hide from his brothers, but now Cody is into it too, and I think the Legos have taken over the whole house.

Loves all things science.  Recently at school he was asked to do a presentation on whatever he wanted and he chose The Solar System.  Coincidently, I had a book I had been saving for his birthday on just that, so we read all about it and he and Russ made an awesome solar system mobile.  He painted each styrofoam ball to look just like the pictures of each planet in the book.  It was very well done.  He picked a couple facts from his book about each planet and we made notecards for his presentation.  He did so awesome, I was so proud of him!  He loves reading books or watching any and all shows about anything related to science.  He also had a "space party" for his birthday.

Loves working out with his dad.  They do these insanity workout videos and both Corbin and Cody get really into it.  It makes me smile.  Corbin is also very proud of all the laps he runs at school.  I think he can run farther than I can!

Loves to swim.  He has always loved this, but especially lately.  Since swim lessons last month, he has advanced from the level of just playing around in the water to diving under, holding his breath, and starting to do real strokes.

Loves collecting rocks.  He picks them up anywhere and everywhere.  I think he gets this from his Dad.  He also likes to give them away as special gifts.  He loved looking for them on our recent trip to Eastern Utah.  We have gone to the Gem & Mineral show the last couple of years and he loves learning about what they allare and where they come from.  He has some pretty enviable ones in his collection!

What I love about him:
He is very thoughtful.  He often tells me I look nice or he likes my hair.  He compliments his brothers when they accomplish something new or difficult.  Recently, my mother-in-law had surgery on her shoulder, and every time we see her he asks her how it is doing and how she is coming along on her excercises.

He is very helpful.  He is always doing things to help me with his brothers - bringing me things, getting Colton out of bed, getting them snacks and drinks, helping them with their toys or other activities, watching them while I take a shower, etc.  He also does well with chores around the house.  When he makes up his mind to get it done - he just does it.

When he sings.  He has a great voice and learns the words to songs easily.  I think he wil have great musical talent, just like his uncles.  He likes the music that I like and we have had some fun dance parties right in our living room.  He also like dad to crank up the techno when its time to clean the house.

He is a great story teller (not in the same way that I was a storyteller when I was a kid).  He will often repeat a book word for word that he heard at school.  He remembers things well and I love it when he tells me about all the things he has read or heard.

He loves to learn.  Besides reading about anything and everything, he listens intently when I tell him about places I have been, things I have seen or something I heard on the news.  He always asks questions and wants to know more.  He wants to know what big words mean and tries to use them.  He loves going to museums and reading all the diplays.  He likes reading pamphlets and any other educational literature he can get his hands on.  Oh, and I'm pretty sure he has a photgraphic memory.  He is a very good learner.

Our goodnight hugs and kisses routine, which includes skunk kisses.


What his dad says:  He is sweet and kind.  Loving.  He is never just thinking about himself.  Pays attention to what is going on with everyone, and really cares about them.

I just love this boy and I am so glad he is in our family!  Happy 7th birthday Corbin!

Trick or Treat

Not too many stories to tell about Halloween this year. I always love seeing my kids dressed up in their costumes and they love trick or treating.

Ready for trick or treating on Main Street . . . I was a gypsy ( it started out as a fortune teller, but the boys lost my awesome crystal ball and I was no longer able to foretell the future). We used to love the Main Street Trick or Treat, because it gave us something fun to do during the day on Halloween, but now there are SO many people; I don't know that we will do it again next year. We may have to find some other fun activity - any ideas?

At any rate, it was fun and Corbin's costume was VERY popular. At first he really didn't like everyone pointing and commenting, but I explained to him that this was a good thing. It meant that they liked his costume and they thought he looked awesome. By the end he was totally proud of it and was smiling from ear to ear every time someone said something.

Corbin and I had been looking at lots of costume ideas in magazines and online and when we came across this, we knew it was just the one for him. He picked yellow because that was his favorite color. I made the hat a little different than the one we saw, and I think the whole costume turned out pretty sweet.

Cody found this costume in our costume box weeks ago, and has loved it ever since. Aside from the fact that we always call him "Cody-bug", I think it totally fits his cute, busy little personality. I loved watching him run around cause the little bum would wiggle as he ran from one person to the next. I also loved that he refered to him self as caterpillar ("Caterpillars love suckers", as he opens yet another piece of candy), and we were expected to do the same ("Mom, you have to say 'Caterpillar wash your hands, not Cody wash your hands'").

Have you ever seen a cuter monkey? Colton's costume was very fitting as we have called him "Monkey", or "Monk" for short, since he was about 9 months old and would do this cling on thing with every time you held him. Plus he has these scrawny little arms and legs and can manuever like only little flexible 1 year olds can. He's just so cute! I wanted to paint his face like a little monkey, but I figured that wouldn't work so well, since I spend half my day wiping something from his nose, mouth, chin, etc. Colton spent most of the day with a sucker or other piece of candy in his mouth. My only consolation was that he drooled most of the sugar onto his outfit and he rarely actually finished what he was eating before moving onto the next piece.

Back at the homestead we got ready for some more trick or treating around the neighborhood. I love where we live, it is so kid friendly! Although, thanks to Russ's awesome webbing skills, some kids were afraid to come to our door - there were several parents who came bearing their child's bag.

As we headed out that evening, Cody decided he would rather hang around with Dad and play, so I pushed Colton around while Corbin trick or treated with Hermoine and a storm trooper (aka Nadia and David).

How many does it take?

Our first day in California was Legoland, of course. That was what the boys were most excited about, so we couldn't wait another day. So I just have to say, if you have already been to Legoland, you may get bored with these pictures, but hopefully you thought it was as cool and fun as we did. If you have not been to Legoland, it was TOTALLY AWESOME. Obviously I loved it because my kids loved it so much. It was perfect for Corbin and Cody's age. Corbin could ride all of the rides and Cody could ride about half. There was so many different things to do and see and no lines, so the boys never got bored or whiny. Russ rode several of the roller coasters with Corbin and actually said they were really cool. So if you are ever in Southern California and have kids between the ages of 2 and 12 - I would DEFINITELY recommend it.

Corbin's favorites were the Dragon, Lego Racers, and the Lost Kingdom of Adventure. You can check out all the rides on this cool interactive map. Cody loved the Cargo Ace planes and Lost Kingdom of Adventure (the Indiana Jones ride where everyone has laser guns and gets to see who gets the most points shooting targets), and of course Cody loved the water stuff. I liked watching the boys try to drive their own cars and thought Miniland was totally cool. All over the park there was stuff made of Legos, all day I thought "I wonder how many Legos and how much time it took to make that". Some very creative people have spent alot of time on some of the attractions and exhibits. It was seriously cool and fun to see such a unique place.

So like I said before, tons of pics, which I realize might not be as fun for you to look at as they are for me, but just realize this is the reduced version and it is so hard to eliminate pictures! Hopefully you can get a good feel for how much fun it was!

Real people win radio station contests . .

So most of you have heard by now of our glorious news yesterday, and even though I had emailed nearly my entire contact list and then some, everyone asked "Did you post it on your blog yet?" So here it is with a little background to make the whole thing more exciting (as if winning a trip needs any more excitement!)

Back in February, there was this "Safe Kids Fair" in Salt Lake and it was free, so I thought that would be a fun activity for the fam and since Russ had the day off, we had to go because if it was just me, I probably would have skipped it. (Managing three little kids in crowded places is not always a rewarding experience.) Anyway, since it was free, I thought what the heck, if it stinks then we just get in the car and go home - no big loss.

It turned out to be quite fun, there were ALL kinds of vendors with all kinds of handouts, treats, games, prizes, etc. They even gave you a little bag as you entered to collect all of your goodies. Russ said he actually thought it was cool. It was at this big convention center and they had a firetruck inside and everything. I was actually going to do a whole post about this, because it was really fun, but obviously I haven't posted in awhile. So here's a few pics from our fun little outing:

Corbin riding in the bike rodeo and learning bike safety

Corbin and Cody trying out the Police bikes

Fighting with a storm trooper (not quite sure what this had to do with safety)

Cody hanging with the talking ambulance (this was really cool, because it was run by a lady that talked through a head-set like 10yards away, but the kids really thought the little robot ambulance was talking to them because it would say their name and stuff)

Trying on firefighter gear is always fun (this one seemed way too clean to have been actually used by a firefighter, but it was still cool)

So on to the real story, one of the booths was this radio station and they had this big table of legos where kids could play and build things. My boys LOVE legos, so of course we had to stop and play for a minute (or twenty). Then we saw that there was a contest to win a trip to Legoland and since Corbin has been wanting to go there forever, he got totally excited. So the deal was you build a lego creation, they take your picture, they posted it on the website and then people could vote for the winner.

The plane in progress (Corbin was very proud that it included a bathroom as well, no details were forgotten):

In the mind of a five year old, he thought "I built my lego creation, now when do I get my trip to Legoland". So when we got home, I spent several days explaining to him the nature of the contest (and basically preparing him to lose, because who really ever wins these things anyway). It took them a few days to post the pictures online and by that point we were preparing for a trip to Seattle (that post will come soon) and just busy, busy, busy. So we got back from Seattle, spent a day recovering and then it hit me! And I was like crap, I think we missed it! So I got online and realized people could still vote and there were only like 231 entries. I thought I better try - for Corbin, because he wanted it so badly and by the time we can afford a trip out to California, he will probably have outgrown the desire to go. Plus, I figured about 10-20% of the people took their pictures at the fair and then totally forgot about it, then there were probably 10-20% who voted and told grandma to vote, but that's it. So somehow I convinced myself that we had do-able odds. Long story short, I sent an email to almost all my contacts - friends, family, high school buddies, colleagues, etc, etc. And apparently a few people passed the word on and people actually voted - because it worked!! In two days we blew everyone else out of the water. Thank you, btw, to all of you who voted and got others to vote - obviously we wouldn't have won without each and every vote. It is nice to know that I have so much support from friends and family when I really need it!

So here's what we won (or you can click here to see Corbin's pic and more details):

Airfare for four to San Diego, California.

Two night stay at Grand Pacific Palisades Resort & Hotel.

Four tickets to LEGOLAND® California.

Delicious dinner for four at Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza

Four passes for the hop on and hop off Old Town Trolley Tour of San Diego.

Wahoo!! We are so excited! Russ and I both had perma-grin yesterday. And when we looked it all up online with the boys, we got even more excited. We can't wait! We pick up the package from the radio station this week and I think we just work with the travel agency to pick when we want to go. So has anyone been? Any suggestions on when we should go? And yes, I think we are going to see if we can add a day or two to spend more time there and do some of the other fun things in San Diego. Ahhh! I'm so excited!

So Corbin's uncle, who was an avid supporter and campaigned tirelessly, requested us to video tape when we told Corbin, so stay tuned for the posting of that. :)

Corbin loves legos!

Corbin is very proud of the semi-truck he built. He got it for his 5th birthday and spent about a month working on it. When I first saw the instructions, I thought I was going to have to spend alot of time helping him. But he did it completely by himself. I am so proud of him! He is really proud because this is one of the lego sets that is for 7-12 yr olds. He thought that was pretty cool.