The Dicksons!

BRACE YOURSELVES

2012-01-24T16:05:00.000-08:00

Since it's already FB official, now it has to be blog official...

A new bundle of Dickson AWESOMENESS is coming your way early August!!

Thanks to Matthew for making my awesome shirt!!!

Christmas!

2012-01-03T07:52:00.000-08:00

Of course my camera died right as they were coming down the stairs. Matt took some pictures and videos on his iPad, but that's at the hospital.

So I just have some pictures of the aftermath....

Then it was off to church!

I have no idea where this pose came from.

Remi in the dress I made her and her new pink glitter Toms that she got for her birthday!

Seriously Corr?

A wink?

Christmas Eve

2012-01-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve started with some dinner at a friend's house and a disaster of a nativity put on by the kids.

It ended with a massive tantrum by Corr and us heading out early!

When we got home we did our tradition of opening a book and some jammers!

Mario Jammers!

Books!

Catherine clearly anxious to open some Greek poetry nonsense.

Remi excited about some new chapter books!

Corr just needed to go to bed.

They left thank you notes to Santa for the presents last year and then wrote him what they wanted.

They left some carmelitas and mile and some crackers for the reindeer.

Remi was even yanked out of bed in the middle of the night to hear some jingle bells.

She woke up telling us about her "dream".

It wasn't a dream.

That really freaked her out.

ICE SKATING

2012-01-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

After we went to that hockey game awhile back, we've all wanted to go ice skating.

Matt found a place and we headed out!

It started off a little rough, but towards the end the kids started getting it.

It was really fun and I forgot how much I love ice skating!

Aunt Cat helping Remi!

Taking a breather.

Very excited about ice skating.

Remi got some serious helmet head.

AND the videos:

I love that Corr goes for a "spin" even though he can barely skate!

Corr's Birthday

2012-01-03T07:29:00.000-08:00

Corr's birthday was pretty sad. For some reason mean old Mom made their 6 and 4 year old check ups on his birthday. Corr ended up having to get five shots and was not happy. I told him it was going to be a little pinch and after the first one he was like, "Ow that hurts....that hurts....THAT REALLY HURTS!!!! OWWWWWWW"!!!

I have to admit I was laughing at him. It was a very funny progression into misery.

Don't worry, I'm not that mean, I took them to McDonald's for lunch and it even had a play place (which is saying something out here).

In the morning I let him open up a birthday outfit.

When he opened the third item of clothing he said, "NOOO, NOT MORE CLOTHES!".

So I let him open one toy.

After McDonald's we finally let him open his presents.

He was very excited.

But not before a donut from JOLLY PIRATE DONUTS!

The donuts even come in a treasure box.

AND, it's right down the street.

AND, it's open 24 hours a day.

NOT GOOD.

PLEASE not another shirt!

It was.

Matt loves to go scrounge the thrift stores all over, and he always finds the best stuff!

He found this present just in time for Corr, and had it all set up.

A whopping $9!

Corr loved his bat cave!

Corr spent the rest of the night playing with his toys and went to bed with a little fever from his shots.

It was a good day!

Remi's Birthday

2012-01-03T07:18:00.000-08:00

Remi's birthday was pretty uneventful. She had to go to school, but they aren't aloud to bring any treats, even store bought! SO, when she came home we let her open her presents!

Holy SIX year old!

The anticipation was just killing her!

YES!!! She loves Star Wars! I found this in the little boy section of Marshall's and couldn't resist!

Corr loves Star Wars just as much as Remi and was very upset that he didn't get the shirt.

And notice his shorts...in the WINTER...in OHIO.

He hates pants.

Trying to receive some comfort from Dad during this traumatizing time.

All she wanted for her birthday was a pink vanilla malt.

Easy enough, except dumb Mom accidentally bought FROZEN YOGURT instead of ice cream.

Oh well...no one could tell.

Poor Remi had to go to bed early because she had school the next day.

She was very upset that Aunt Catherine and I ditched her to go see a movie without her.

Don't worry, we made up for this day by taking her and Corr ICE SKATING!

Corr is FOUR

2011-12-22T09:40:00.000-08:00

Corr is four!

Holy Hannah!! (his favorite saying)

Here are his birthday questions:

1. What is your favorite color? Black
2. What is your favorite toy? Star Wars Millenium Falcon and the Wooki
3. What is your favorite fruit? Watermelon
4. What is your favorite tv show? Monster Truck
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Carrots and Peanut butter sandwhich
6. What is your favorite outfit? Cookie Monster shirt and jeans
7. What is your favorite game? Sorry
8. What is your favorite snack? Popsicle
9. What is your favorite animal? Cheetah
10. What is your favorite song? Yo Gabba Gabba
11. What is your favorite book? Star Wars book
12. Who is your best friend? Remi
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cinnamon Toast Crunch
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Bubbles
15. What is your favorite drink? Mtn. Dew
16. What is your favorite holiday? Easter
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? The little bed that is bumpy that feels like it has water in it. (The air mattress)
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A policeman

Remi is Six!

2011-12-20T08:01:00.000-08:00

I saw this idea on, you guessed it, Pinterest.

So, I tried it out on Remi for her birthday!!!

1. What is your favorite color? Pink
2. What is your favorite toy? Play Doh
3. What is your favorite fruit? Watermelon
4. What is your favorite tv show? Monster Truck
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Watermelon, Kool-Aid and peanut butter sandwich with Hershey kisses
6. What is your favorite outfit? Long blue dress that covers my knees.
7. What is your favorite game? Monopoly
8. What is your favorite snack? Kit Kats
9. What is your favorite animal? Dog
10. What is your favorite song? The Decemberists: Hazard of Love
11. What is your favorite book? The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat
12. Who is your best friend? Aydan
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cinnamon Toast Crunch
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play with Scooters
15. What is your favorite drink? Chocolate Milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Marie from Aristocats
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Eggs
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Mashed potatoes and Kool-Aid
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A zoo keeper that does shows.

I have some pictures of her special day, but am too exhausted and grossed out after viewing the vomit inducing film, Breaking Dawn with my wonderful sister-in-law Catherine (I'm only writing "wonderful" because she is sitting her watching me type).

Remi got one birthday present from her school today: She will be half of a First Grader starting in January. That means she will be going to first grade everyday up until lunch and then Kindergarten after! We get to meet her new First Grade teacher tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Remi!

Whom I swear is really older than me!

LA KINGS!

2011-12-16T08:20:00.000-08:00

So, there is an NHL hockey team here. They are really bad. BUT, they were having an Ohio Health night and since Matt works for Ohio Health we got 4 free tickets! We were excited when we found out they were playing the LA Kings, even though they are really bad this year.

Matt LOVES hockey.

All day I was telling Corr about it and we were hoping to see a few punch fights!

Corr loved it. He got ticked because he wanted to go down and play.

Remi liked it because she said the Kings looked like "ice skating Storm Troopers".

We were pretty much the only ones cheering for the Kings. I forgot how much I enjoy hockey and I'm pretty sure I annoyed the crap out of everyone around with all my yelling.

Of course the Kings won.

Kirtland

2011-12-16T08:14:00.000-08:00

The one thing my Dad really wanted to do while they were here was to go visit Kirtland.

It was about a 2 hour drive and totally worth it!

It was freezing, even snowing when we got there, but I'm really glad we went.

There was a great movie that we watched in the Visitor's Center.

Corr totally started crying when Joseph Smith's baby died. He was sad about it all day long.

One thing I learned is that the Saints were in Kirtland longer than anywhere else besides Salt Lake.

Walking around the town.

Most of the buildings were original which was really cool. They were set up like the actual town as well.

The Newel K. Whitney store was by far the coolest. The kids liked looking at all the things in the store.

Corr had to pee, and the missionaries let him pee in the store bathroom. It would have been cool except he leaned over too far and his hat when in the toilet.

His new birthday hat.

Ugh.

We got to go upstairs to see where Joseph and Emma lived. This table was original to the house and the Smith's actually sat at it.

This was in the room where they had the "School of the Prophets".

It was pretty small and was gross to think about all of the smoke that would have been up there.

This is the room where The Word of Wisdom revelation was received along with many others.

As the missionaries were talking I was explaining things to him.

He thought it was pretty neat and told me he felt the Spirit in his heart.

Then he was over it.

After, we drove up to see the Kirtland temple. It is owned by a different church and they did a great job with their visitor's center and tour. It was really interesting to see a different perspective. The tour was more factual than spiritual and I learned a lot. We watched a video and then they pulled up the screen and opened the curtains to reveal the temple. It was very bright and beautiful.

Corr passed out during the movie and slept on my Dad's shoulder throughout the entire tour.

The lady gave Remi a worksheet that had all of these little symbols on it. Remi loved it! At the end she told Remi that she found more than most people do.

This is the front. They told us that the temple used to be like a blue color but has since been painted. All of the glass was original. Also, you weren't allowed to touch one side of the banisters because they were original. We got to go on all three floors because there were so few of us on the tour.

This shows you how big the temple was. Pretty amazing!

More about our beliefs here.

Birthday Party

2011-12-16T07:49:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my parents flew out to visit. We went and saw the lights at the zoo, saw possibly the largest Santa I've ever seen in my life, ate lots of food and had a BIRTHDAY PARTY for the kids.

I'm glad we decided to do it while they were here because my Mom pretty much did it all!

Yeah for me!

Anxiously awaiting Grandpa Mark and Grandma Lori's arrival.

Remi came home from school to a decorated house! She was VERY excited.

We did a Star Wars theme since they are both OBSESSED.

My Mom also got them those fart makers with that squishy stuff.

They laughed for hours.

I still can't tell if Corr is letting one rip or just playing with his favorite toy...

We made giant cupcakes for each kid to decorate. It was very entertaining except we had to keep yelling, "NO KNIVES IN YOUR MOUTH"!

I'm sure by the end of the night the frosting was unsanitary.

Corr pretty much ate all the chips before the party even started.

Telling naughty secrets.

We didn't have enough chairs so the kids decided to eat their pizza under the table.

When I asked the kids to make their friend list for their party Corr told me, "I want that girl from my church class with the long yellow hair. She is the beautifulest."

That little girl in the stripes behind Remi is the "beautifulest".

Corr wouldn't even talk to her.

Cupcake decorating!

They each got to do two.

One to eat and one to take home!

Mutilating his cupcake.

We let the kids go a little crazy up in the attic.

IT WAS DESTROYED.

But so fun.

Remi and Mya (Corr's self-chosen future wife) tired from all of their partying.

Christmas Set Up Extravaganza!

2011-12-04T15:02:00.001-08:00

It has finally arrived: Our Party Month!

Here's what's happening:

My parents are coming.

The kids are having their birthday party.

Aunt Catherine is coming.

Matt has a week off for vacation.

Matt and I have our 7th (holy crap!) anniversary.

Remi turns 6.

Corr turns 4.

Christmas.

Matt takes his board exams (lame).

SO, Corr and I got the party started on Friday while Remi was at school...

Getting ready to go pick out our tree.

FOUND IT.

Corr, so hot right now.

Corr took this picture.

See how the tree is crooked?

SOMEONE (Corr) was supposed to hold it up STRAIGHT while I was putting it in the tree stand.

Even though the tress was much bigger than him, there's no excuse for crooked tree holding.

Remi finally got home from school, so we busted out the Christmas box!

Matt was really into participating in the family tradition.....

They did the whole tree themselves....

With me yelling at them to not put the same colors next to each other and to spread out the ornaments.

They were really into it.

Corr kept yelling, "OH YEAH BABY" every time his ornament stayed on.

Remi, looking as mischievous as The Elf on the Shelf.

Corr named our elf, "Flower".

Really Corr??? Flower???

Getting all bundled up for the holiday parade.

Corr refuses to wear socks unless they are Remi's. Which is why they have rainbow hearts on them.

He also refuses to look normal in a picture.

Whenever he likes his food (which is always) he does a food victory dance.

Here he is in the middle of it.

Remi showing Flat Stanley, for cousin's Everett's class, around town.

These are like their warmest clothes, and winter hasn't even started yet.

We are going to die.

Turn into Dickson Popsicles.

You will probably find us huddled together frozen in our tears by the end of winter.

A REAL REINDEER!

I didn't even know they were real.

If Santa was smart, he would use llamas.

Checking to see if the parade was coming.

The Abominable Snow Corr.

He's Hungry.

What We've Been Up To......

2011-12-04T14:50:00.001-08:00

November came and went, and was pretty boring as we are getting used to the cold.

Thanksgiving was spent at a friend's house and was really fun, with great food!!

Here's what else we've been up to....

Snotty noses (and attitudes)

Cup O Noodles!

Cap guns.

Remi despises with every fiber of her being.

When she even THINKS she is going to get shot, she runs away crying with her hands clasped over her ears.

Seriously entertaining for the rest of us.

Backyard scooter adventures in the rain.

Only because Mean Mom won't take a certain boy to the skate park in the FREEZING RAIN.

Compromise: PJ's, ponchos, and snow boots.

Riding Manatees.

Watching Gorillas.

And clearly enjoying it.

I hate monkeys (not Corr)

Especially the ones who eat their poop.

I seriously almost barfed.

Thankful

2011-11-14T14:46:00.001-08:00

To keep up with the current trend, here is my one "thankful for" post.

With Matt's 5pm-5am schedule this week I am thankful for the release of this game:

I have been waiting for it for about a year. It happened on Friday, blessed blessed Friday.

With the help of my sister I convinced my Mom to get it for me as an early Christmas present.

I literally jumped and screamed for joy when my Mom gave the go-ahead.

With Matt asleep all day and gone all night my patience is extra thin lately.

BUT NOW, I dream all day and count down the hours until bed time so that I can live vicariously through this amazing game.

If you do not see or hear from me the next couple of months (Oblivion took me 120 hours) go ahead and come rip me out of my computer chair and tell me to feed my children.

Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon

2011-11-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday was Stake Conference for us.

Since, I've been to the past three Stake Conferences by myself, I was dreading this fourth attempt(Matt was fast asleep in preparation for his 7pm - 7am shift).

At the last Stake Conference, we ending up sitting directly behind the old Stake President and his wife. Corr kept "accidentally" brushing and poking his buttoosca and was being super loud with his Hot Wheels.

The S.P. just sat there and didn't even turn around once.

I was mortified.

There was no way I was going through that again. Technically, I was supposed to go to my building for the broadcast but instead I headed over to the Stake Center so I could sit with our buds the Jumps.

The Glassmans had to sit behind us, but were still lucky enough to have M & M's delivered to them by Corr (even Whit got some out in the hallway)!

We kept Remi busy by writing notes (mostly teasing her about a certain 5 year old boy) back and forth and having her practice some math problems.

Corr was seriously parched and made several trips to the drinking fountain.

All by himself.

With his arms folded.

Sometimes sprinting, sometimes skipping.

At least his arms were folded.

Most of the time.

After, Chef Dave and Assistant Stephanie made us a wonderful lunch and then we piled into the Jump-mobile to go on an awesome walk...

At the beginning.

There were leaves EVERYWHERE! It was really cool.

Next year I want to go earlier before they all fall off of the trees.

Corr is the worst hiker ever.
He kept complaining about "sock wedgies", whatever that means.

He removed and put his socks back on three times.

Going over the bridge.

Corr desperately trying to catch up!

We were excited to find a GRAVEYARD.

Too bad the sign said they were empty.

It was weird that they put a stone where the feet were, like it was SO necessary to know their height.

I kept trying to get Remi to go lay on one but she was convinced there were zombies in them.

Corr's walking stick that did NO GOOD because he kept wanting to be held.

Remi's victory dance.

We had to pass this angry troll to get over the bridge.

Fortunately we were not eaten by said grumpy troll and made it safely across.

We did come across a few wild animals....

A picture of me you say?!

A MIRACLE!

There were two bald eagles parked on a tree that we were all looking at.

Pretty awesome.

I wanted to bust out the National Anthem.

Looking over the Olentangy River.

The bald eagles were way out in that tree.

Throwing leaves.

Remi's spin throw.

You would have thought we asked him to run a marathon the way he was acting...

Mr. Bigz may not have gotten stolen by the bald eagles, but he did however get stolen by a different pair of monsters.

Remi told us she was "saving her spit" for this bridge so she could watch it go all the way down.

Soooooo lady like.

After, we headed back for some apple crisp (thank you me) and some ice cream.

We stayed and partied a bit longer (let's just say Corr ended up in his undies) and then headed home for BED!

It would have been PERFECT if Dad would have been with us.

P.S. CATHERINE:

I'm so glad you're coming out to stay with us December, especially since we just found out Matt is working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

BE PREPARED TO PARTY.

Halloweenie

2011-11-02T17:50:00.000-07:00

Mohio-ians are weird about Halloween.

They call it "Beggar's Night" and have a designated time for Trick or Treating,

OH EXCUSE ME,

I mean BEGGING.

In my neighborhood no one went door to door, instead they closed off downtown and local businesses set up BEGGING stations. Our BEGGING time was from 6-8pm. We headed out a little before 6 and good thing because it was super duper anxiety attack causing crowded.

The plus was that not only did we get candy, we got coupons, pencils, toothbrushes, notepads, some jewels from a crazy gypsy lady and some other stuff.

Not too shabby.

Go ahead and try to have a nightmare free sleep tonight.

Corr saw a kid in a Darth Vader costume and said,

"That is Darth Vader, he is my master."

To which I replied,

"DARTH MOM IS YOUR MASTER FOOL!"

He did not find the droids he was looking for.

In this gazebo was a crazy gypsy lady. Each of the kids got to ask a question and get an answer from THE ANSWER BOOK. WOOOOOO

Remi asked if she could get a dog.

The answer book said something that was completely irrelevant so the gypsy lady told her if she really felt in her heart that she needs a dog, she should convince everyone in her family.

:::cough cough BS cough cough::::

Corr asked if he was going to have to clean his room.

The answer book said, "You bet".

Now that's what I'm talking about Answer Book!!

Checking out the loot.

Grandma T is a camera ninja and her face has yet to be caught in a picture.

They each got these notebooks with stickers to decorate the front.

Remi's is the one with the mustache....

Boo at the Zoo and Apple Picking

2011-10-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

Most of Friday I spent recovering from our very busy week. Matt hadn't seen the kids hardly at all so we decided to get them dressed up and head to BOO at the Zoo.

The zoo was totally decked out with lights and fun Halloween stuff AND was open at night.

I hurried and got the kids into their costumes and bundled up because it was FREEZING.

Once again I picture failed and got two pictures.

I was pretty lazy this year with costumes. Last year's costumes were just so epic I will never be able to one up them. SO, since our Star Wars marathon Corr has become OBSESSED with Star Wars, it's like pulling teeth to get him away from Wii Lego Star Wars. He decided on a Storm Trooper. It did look magnificent with his ha-hawk poking out of the top.

Remi wanted to be a zombie but then we changed our minds to a Día de los Muertos girl. Her costume cost me a massive $6, but I think it turned out pretty awesome. She got lots of complements on her make up and she couldn't even pull herself away from the mirror.

We were about zoo trick or treated out by this point and headed home for dinner and BED.

APPLE PICKING WITH THE JUMPS

On Saturday I felt really bad while Matt was trying to sleep and the kids were as loud as dinosaurs at funeral. I'm sure Matt was more than grateful when Steph invited us apple picking. We got ready in a hurry and were out the door (not before heading to the sewing store down the street for a 70% off sale) and picked up Steph and Dave.

We went and got some Winecrisps first. They were my favorite!!

They didn't charge you for anything that you ate, so we stuffed ourselves with apples!

On the hunt.

We filled about half of our bag before driving to the Fuji trees.

Corr was eating this apple, which he picked and declared, "bigger than my ear!", almost the entire time.

We wanted the good ones at the top of the trees. Dave made the mistake of trying to lift the lump of solid stone mass named Corr. He then opted for a 7 pound lighter and stretchier Remi, whom provided us with lots of large luscious apples!

Much bigger than his ear, almost the size of his face.

Yum

Remi initiated the find the smallest apple contest.

It looks like the winner is...

STEPH!

Until Corr started filling our bag with tiny apples.

UGH.

We packed some lunches for an orchard picnic!

Dave picked up an apple and exploded it with his "bat".

OF COURSE when we tried to get a picture he whiffed every other one!!

His face is pretty gnarly though.

The apple was a fail.

His face was a win.

Then one of workers was coming around the corner right as Dave exploded another one.

Of course we had put our cameras down and were yelling at him to stop before we got caught!

Picnicing.

I'm so glad we went!

And now we have tons of apples to go crazy with!

Thanks guys!

I've been making Corr tons of bow ties for church.

They are so fun and easy and make him look awesome.

Here he is looking fly.

Green pants and star socks are church essentials!

Grandma T and Grandpa Joel's Visit

2011-10-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

Matt has to work nights all month which is pretty much a bummer. When I found out his parents were coming to visit I was so excited!! We would have fun stuff to do while Matt slept the day away!

Here's the Breakdown:

Monday:

I went on a Nazi cleaning spree, getting every nook and cranny ready for the impending visit. The kids HATED me that day. I probably broke tons of child labor laws. When I got the text, "The Dicksons have landed" from Matt's parents I told the kids they were on the way. The kids sat out on our porch in the cold for over an hour waiting for them to arrive (they went to the hotel to check in first). The were so excited. When the Mint Green Bullet (their tiny rental car) pulled into our driveway the kids went into a confused frenzy. They know they aren't allowed to leave the porch (we live on a very large and busy street) but they wanted to hug attack Grandma and Grandpa so bad. Corr was jumping up and down and asked if he could go on the grass to give them a hug. They came in and got the house tour, ate some roast beef sandwiches and funeral potatoes and hung out for awhile. Remi read us some scriptures before bed and off everyone went to sleep!

Tuesday:

As I'm writing I'm realizing how few pictures I took this week!! Not that my picture are particularly fabulous by any means. I sent Remi off to school and Corr and I took Grandma and Grandpa to this huge church that has a play place. We played for awhile, went to Hobby Lobby, and Target. They let Corr pick the lunch place so we ate at Steak N Shake, then went to get Remi from school. After school, we went to the hotel that had an indoor pool. It ended up being the kids favorite thing all week. We swam for a few hours. The hotel even had free soda and popcorn! Matt woke up and was able to see his parents for the first time since they got here and we ate some pizza from Matt's favorite place.

Wednesday:

We chose this as our "zoo day" because it had the best weather. We spent ALL day at the zoo. It was exhausting but so much fun. We saw almost everything and played at both parks. We ate a great lunch and even got some more souvenir soda bottles!

Awesome me took a whopping FOUR zoo pictures.

In the aquarium part of the zoo.

Corr resembles his choice of marine life perfectly.

Remi stretching like the kangaroo.

This dude was napping. I was pretty jealous.

After the zoo we headed back home to meet Matt for dinner at Five Guys. Then we went to the hotel for some more swimming! We then went home and passed out from exhaustion.

Thursday:

Since it was raining, we made this our COSI day! We did the Adventure and had to figure out all of the clues and the code to unlock THE TREASURE OF KNOWLEDGE! It was fun, especially when Grandpa Joel screamed like a girl when the stone statue came to life. We ate lunch and explored the rest of the museum.

Goggles are a MUST when playing with hazardous materials.

Someones head is a little too big...

Outside of COSI there were all these geese. I told corr to go chase after them expecting that they would all dramatically run or fly away.

They did not.

They just moved to the side to let the psycho human run past them.

On Friday the G-Parents left for Kentucky, sad for us, good for Aunt Steph.

We had so much fun playing with them!

Thanks Grandpa Joel and Grandma T!!

October Festivities

2011-10-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

I feel like October has gone by SO FAST. There are so many fun fall activities to do here. We've only done a fraction of them!

The Zoo:

The Zoo is like Disneyland. The best time to go is in the rain.

We forced my poor friend Stephanie along with us.

We pretty much had the entire zoo to ourselves, which was amazing when Corr had an epic tantrum in the parking lot.

All of the animals were out and about and we even got face to face with one of the wolves!

This guy is one of my favorites at the zoo. He is a snapping turtle. I have never seen him move from this position. We've even argued whether or not he was a statue.

THEN we witnessed a miracle of epic proportions!!!!

Remi walked by him and he moved!

We were all freaking out, another reason it was a good thing the zoo was empty!

EMBARRASSING!

He froze again with his mouth open out of the water but started sliding down the rock.

I made an awkward Titanic joke about holding on and then we left him to his peace.

We had to eventually poncho up.

Corr was a "brellella" nazi.

Remi was a little too excited to see that our local grocery store Kroger was sponsoring the penguins.

Corr was so fast to share the brellella with the penguin, but refused to share it with me.

RUDE.

Taking a nap.

The Primary Program:

This was taken the Sunday of our Primary Program.

Corr refused to be in the picture just like he refused to participate in the program.

Remi and I were asked to sing a duet to end the program. We practiced for about two weeks. We decided on "I Am a Child of God" and did some fun stuff with it. Remi wouldn't look up from her print out of the words or even smile! She sang the first verse solo then I joined in on the alto part for the chorus and the rest of the song. We had the primary kids join us for the very last chorus. I was really proud that Remi was able to hold her part against my alto the entire time!

She will now be forced into singing with me for the rest of her life.

For the speaking parts they were asked a question by the Bishop, this was Remi's:

Bishop: Remi, how do you keep your thoughts clean?

Remi: I don't say naughty words and I am nice to my friends.

Corr sat on the stand coloring in his Star Wars coloring book the entire time. He would stand up to sing, but only if he felt like it.

He is Captain Stubborn.

The Circleville Pumpkin Show:

As payback for the zoo, Stephanie FORCED us to go the this massive pumpkin worshiping city out in the middle of nowhere and it was FUN.

There was pumpkin everything. Pumpkin waffles, donuts(which were really good), pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin TACOS, and more.

They even have a Miss Pumpkin pageant,

AND the world's largest pumpkin pie (400 lbs of flour!).

AND it had the entire population of Ohio crammed into this tiny village.

Pumpkins make them SO EXCITED.

See that train the background?

Corr made us all wait for it to go by so he could watch it.

Sitting in front of the pumpkin contest winners.

A pumpkin tree!

They even had these pumpkins that they grew into a metal mold that had faces on them.

I didn't get a picture but it was creepy.

Dentist Dave even heard a lady ask the ancient farmer, "So, if I get a seed from one the face pumpkins and plant it, will the pumpkin have a face?"

To which the ancient farmer replied, "Yes, yes it will."

I'm hoping he charges her $50 for that face creating pumpkin seed.

They had a cute Alice in Wonderland pumpkin display.

We got a few tickets and let them choose two rides.

If you look closely you can see an awkward creeper in the background....

Remi looking surprised.

Remi went down the slide with an impressive amount of stoicism. We couldn't tell if she loved it or hated it, it just was.

Corr rode like a startled starfish:

Go HERE

Yeah for Fall Fun!

Yoda, Princess, Pirate, Skull

2011-10-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

This year I was so excited to go to a REAL pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins.

Well, I didn't.

I got the $3 ones from Meijer (think of an in between version of Wal-Mart and Target).

I have to say they are HUGE.

We anxiously awaited Matt's arrival from his Peds ER shift so we could begin the festivities. We killed the time by making the Teresa Dickson famous Hoot-Owl Cookies.

The children especially love the name Hoot-Owl because they aren't allowed to say "fart" and instead say "hoot".

So we made some Fart Owl Cookies and got out our pumpkin decorating kits.

Remi delegating which pumpkin goes to whom.

Show Choir Jazz hands and a Pizzazz Face (laugh it up Kelsey C.) are required for supreme pumpkin decorating excellence.

AND SO WE BEGIN!

Mmmm, the Force is strong with this pumpkin it is.

(This was the best pumpkin, because it was mine)

Remi was jealous of her pumpkin's outfit.

The first cut is just SO EXCITING.

And fascinating!

Corr's skull pumpkin.

It is missing a nose, which is a good thing if you're hanging around Corr for more than 5 minutes.

He hoots,

A LOT.

Smashing the princess pieces into the pumpkin.

Beauty is pain.

Corr's pumpkin was done first, so the naughtiness began while he was waiting for us to finish.

Remi's princess pumpkin!

I REALLY wanted a cute porch pumpkin picture.

I didn't get one.

Matt's pirate (he was too lazy to put in the arms) and Corr's skull.

The girl side of the steps.

We win Remi!

We made some ghosties to hang up.

Corr forgot to examine his zipper.

Ladies, calm yourselves.

Helping Dad hang the ghosties.

Remi looking posh on the porch.

Naughtiness.

The only thing scary about our Halloween porch are the two terrifying monsters on the loose.....

and Matt's FACE!

BOO YAH

Our attempt at a picture on the porch.

This was the best one we got and that's not saying much.

P.S.

Matt, mow the lawn.

Another COSI trip....

2011-10-04T10:47:00.000-07:00

As it's getting more and more like Antarctica here, we've been choosing more and more indoor activities. We've found this HUGE church here with a ginormous play place that is free and open to the public. It also has a great little cafe and a hair salon.

Tempting.

I've taken Corr a few times while Remi has been at school, however this post is irrelevant to the church and it's play place.

SO, I will continue onward to our recent COSI trip.

The museum has a traveling exhibit that changes throughout the year. The last one was the money gobbling dino exhibit that was a FAIL.

The new one however is free and is a Dora the Explorer adventure park.

Of course we had to go check it out!

DUH!

(Especially since Matt has to sleep during the day and I can't imagine doing so while very loud Jedi battles are being fought in our galaxy that is complete with wooden floors and stairs....)

Some obvious excitement and anticipation for our museum visit.

As it always is with Corr: He loves you or he loves you not.

And now we enter said Dora exhibit!

Ahoy to our matey's on the pirate ship!

Some foliage in a log that seems to be very intriguing to Remi.

Picking some "acorns".

Remi was adamant about doing the exhibit the CORRECT way.

She started off by reading the map at the entrance and then following all of the instructions throughout.

I was busy making sure Corr didn't mow down any innocent bystanders.

Correct picture taking technique.

Incorrect picture taking technique.

Corr denying Dora's undying love.

Corr spent 15 minutes trying to make the numbers match, but other kids kept coming and putting the coins in the WRONG side.

He got so ticked that he finally gave up.

Putting the hyper drive together piece by piece in the space ship.

Seeking coordinates for the space ship's next galaxy destination.

LIGHT SPEED TO ENDOR

After visiting with Dora, we went to our other favorite museum places.

Corr always has to drive the submarine.

Can you see him in there?

Learning about sonar.

One of the volunteers made this cloud for them out in the hallway.

We went to the weather show where they made an even BIGGER cloud.

Remi has mastered the art of crutches.

Good thing since Miss Clutzy Pants will probably need them one day.

After watching Corr roll balls down this ball race track for 45 minutes (!!!!!) I'm determined to turn our banister into one.

Pennies

2011-09-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

This picture is irrelevant to my post but had to be included because of Corr's awesomeness.

Matt had the past week off. He hates internal medicine (no offense to our IM friends) and didn't want to do it all month. He took a week off so he would only have to do three weeks instead of four. He didn't do much other than re-finish the coffee table (my birthday present), eat cereal, play video games, watch Breaking Bad, and play with the kids. One afternoon he took the kids to the rail road track behind our house to lay out some pennies.

I went to the thrift store to pick up some snow stuff (I'm already freezing here) and scored some awesome stuff for cheap. Remi is begrudgingly modeling her new jacket.

Then it started to rain a little harder and things got interesting.

Showing off some BOOTY.

Our neighborhood "river".

"HOLY CRAP LOOK!...."

"A SQUIRREL!"

Looking for our pennies!

Matt put out at least 9...

We only found 6!

The marks that the pennies left.

We made her lay there for several minutes while we took pictures with every mobile/digital device we had.

She was worried a train was coming.

On our way back home we spotted some tadpoles in our "river".

Corr frantically trying to get down to see them.

Remi and I enjoying the not-so-close view.

They swam away.

Our superb family photograph skillz.

For some reason Remi brought her leftover piece of sandwich from school.

She didn't even finish it.

Corr started to run and went face first into the metal park of the track.

He was not happy.

Neither was I because I had to carry him home.

He was whining/crying about something else so we left him outside.

He caught us spying on him.

Life is SO hard for a three year old.

I cheered him up with some massive nachos.

Birthday, Camping and More

2011-09-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

This week was pretty fun. On Wednesday I got an awesome birthday package from my family. I was totally naughty and opened it a day early. I got lots of goodies including a new Volcom wallet, which I LOVE! Thursday was my actual birthday. Matt warned me in advance that he would have to go to bed early that night in preparation for his 24 hour shift the next day, so I started planning my own festivities.

During the day my new friend Heather came over to play with her boys. We then walked to the ice cream place down the street and she treated the kids and I to some ice cream! We had a blast! That night I planned to take the kids dinner and forced Whit, Steph and Dave to tag along. Stephanie (whom I consider a professional consumer because she always knows where to go and what to buy) suggested a cute and really good Italian place. She even got me a shirt that says, "Keep Calm and Kill Zombies". LOVE IT!!! We stuffed our faces with bread and food and then went to get some frozen yogurt.

Yes. I ate ice cream twice in one day.

Do not judge me.

I was also really excited because Whit and Steph's ward was having a campout and I decided to crash it with the kids. Matt was going to be gone anyways so Friday was spent preparing for our camping trip. After digging through every single bin in the basement, I finally found our jackets (Remi went to school freezing that day) and the lantern, which wasn't the camping bin where it was supposed to be. Remi came home from school and we picked up Whit from work and off we went!

Our huge group site. We quickly snagged a spot that was flat and had it's own table!

Thanks DeVon for helping me with our tent!

Hrrmmm, shall I join? Or perhaps I will run somewhere.

He always does this to his shirts. It makes me so mad.

Remi doing the chicken dance, Corr scratching his back on the tree, DeVon perfecting his form.

I told him to turn around for a picture....

I got his sassy butt pose.

Remi was the oldest kid there (weird) and was very excited about our tent.

OMG, my kids are like SO CUTE.

Not!

Corr kept hucking rocks by cars and people and stuff, which is not very cool. In order to avoid a catastrophic meltdown I quickly came up with the now popular "rock game". They had to run across the camp site to the small patch of rocks, stuff their pockets, run back, climb the table, and throw them as far as they could into the trees. It was fun. And no windows or faces got smashed.

Remi HAD to wear a hat, but refused the jacket even though it was freezing.

I'm embarrassed for Corr in this picture.

He downed an entire box of Capri Suns this trip and had to "water the plants" several times. We even had this conversation during the freezing cold night:

Corr (looking down): LOOK Mom! It's SMOKING!!!
Me: Um Corr, that's your breath...

The bathroom was a terrifying scene out of Arachnophobia, complete with scary large spiders, eggs, and webs. I even had to kill a spider that was on the "toilet seat".

Terrifying.

In the middle of the night both Corr and I had to GO. I was way too terrified, tired and cold to die on the toilet by spider attack. Corr, the lucky one, was born into the life of the easier of the two genders and had the luxury of the point and shoot method. Because it was freezing, I barely unzipped the tent helped him aim a little bit and he fired.

Lucky, lucky boys.

Remi using her Raccoon Eye Night Vision to demolish Corr in their game.

Apparently this game (which I can never remember the name of) is a serious phenomenon here in Mohio. Everyone makes their own board thingies, paints them with something to do with the Buckeyes (OBVIOUSLY they have to match their Buckeye tattoos, wardrobe, home decor, cars ect.) and play it at every single social function.

Corr's winning power stance.

Remi scarring the children.

We had so much fun even though we missed Matt...a little.

The kids slept like rocks after insisting a scripture story and a prayer(so proud). I pitied myself and the parents of all the screaming babies throughout the night. The next morning we packed up and headed home! We found Matt passed out on the couch with music turned up way loud. There was a parade and a craft fair on our street that morning and he was trying to drown out the noise while he slept. I unpacked everything, got the kids fed and clean and passed out on the couch as well.

Later that night Whit and DeVon basically kidnapped the kids and FORCED Matt and I to go on a birthday date. Matt was still pretty exhausted and I was just happy to be with Matt, so we just ate and hung out and laughed and had fun. Thanks so much guys it was SO nice, even though Corr made you wipe his butt(he INSISTS on pooping butt naked) and Remi tried to convince you that she is a cat on the inside....

Zoo-nanigans

2011-08-30T06:04:00.000-07:00

It's starting to get a little cooler here and less humid, which is SO NICE (I'm really excited for fall).

Yesterday it was around 74 all day with a nice breeze so we headed out to the zoo.

The usually busy zoo was totally empty! It was so nice!

The Beast power napping on our way out.

Walking into the zoo hand in hand.

They really do love each other...

most of the time.

Deciding what we were going to see.

Everything about this picture is totally awkward.

I love that little chocolate chip starfish.

I've even looked them up online to put on in my tank.

It would be one expensive snack for Zombie, our puffer.

This was a first for Remi. She made me SWEAR ON MY LIFE that it wasn't going to be squishy.

After I told her a million times that it wasn't, and then Corr told her another 10 million times, she agreed to touch it.

One time.

AHOY MATEY!

The aquarium part of the zoo is usually pretty packed, but we had it mostly to ourselves!

Remi is seriously an almost perfect child.

Corr was very envious of a little girl who had a "little kid camera".

He wanted it so bad.

It's something to think about for his birthday since he always steals mine.

After seeing the filtration system for the zoo's tank I can no longer complain about the effort it takes to maintain mine....

Remi next to my new second favorite animal...the manatee!

These things are HUGE.

Remi was teasing Corr saying he was fat like a manatee, he was not happy.

Remi was giggling about it the whole time we were in there.

They both picked out something from the store to show their Grandmas.

I told them to give me their best "pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pleeaaaaaaasssseeee" face.

Corr's is borderline frightening.

Remi wins!

Taking a sidewalk detour.

I have absolutely no words for this picture.

Remi and I were looking at something and I turned to find Corr just like that.

I laugh every time I see it.

Huge iguana!

They have rides all over the zoo (I swear this place is huge) that we didn't know about. I let them pick one of the $1 ones to go on and they picked the boat ride.

On the walk down to the ride we discovered a huge lake/river.

Crazy!

"HURRY UP MOM!!!!!"

I told them to put their hands up because it was going to be a wild ride.

After about a minute they both caught on that I was teasing them and got mad at me.

The boat took us all around the different monkey exhibits and some other fun stuff.

They loved it.

We found these two little otters that were playing. They were totally squeaking at us. Remi and Corr loved it. Remi swore they were a brother and sister like her and Corr.

This was my conversation with Corr:

Corr: Mom, I wish I could be an otter and live down there forever.

Me: Maybe I can ask the zoo if I can sell you to the otters.

Corr: Ok, but can you do it fast so I can go swim.

Me: But I will miss you!

Corr: But we have a pass so you can come see me whenever you want!

Much to Corr's (and my) disappointment, the zoo was satisfied with their current amount of otters and he had to come back home with me.

There are two different playgrounds, a bug one and a polar bear one. We hit up the bug one first.

Corr looked down and yelled, "LOOK MOM WE'RE MONKEYS".

I breathed silently to myself, "Yes, yes you are."

The lady next to me started cracking up.

She has no idea.

Remi about to be snack food for the polar bear.

You have to love Remi and her acting skills.

This was right after he bonked his head on an iceberg.

He was not happy.

We had no idea that there was an INDOOR polar bear park too. Remi was so happy to go exploring!

The huge grizzly bears were playing with their ball. It was really fun to watch.

Remi probably weighs as much as one of their ears.

He was making growling noises and jumping from iceberg to iceberg.

He stayed like that for 5 minutes.

Remi found this polar bear trap. She couldn't understand why people would want to trap something so cute like a polar bear. Once I told her that they would probably eat her in a second she finally understood.

Balloons and Tunes

2011-08-30T05:12:00.000-07:00

Every year our city holds a Hot Air Balloon Festival. It's totally free, except parking.

I had been looking forward to it for a really long time because I'd never been around hot air balloons and always thought they looked cool up in the sky.

So, we loaded up and headed out!

It was held at a derby horse track that is about a mile behind our house. The inside was really old but really fun to look at.

Remi was too busy looking awesome in her sunglasses to enjoy it.

We got to see the balloons from start to finish.

All the baskets were tipped on their sides and they started filling the balloons with air. It took like 12 guys hanging on to the baskets to keep the balloons from taking off.

They had tons of bounce houses for the kids.

Corr was thrilled.

Remi was...

apprehensive???

Kids in a cage.

Where they belong.

We kept telling Corr to flip.

And he did.

But I missed it.

Then we told him to bounce off the side pillar.

He jumped and went flying head first into it like a crazy person.

I missed that picture too because I was laughing too hard.

The best buds waiting in line patiently.

Climbing up!

BEST. PICTURE. EVER.

While we were in line, some of the balloons were getting bigger and bigger!

The obstacle course!

He was so happy!

I did however loose him for about 5 minutes. He got off one of the slides and took off while I was watching Remi. I totally panicked.

When I found him he got busted.

It didn't even phase him.

And they're off!!

The strawberry was mine and Remi's favorite!

They left three tethered to the ground. You could pay $5 to go on a little ride, if you made a reservation.

Which we did not.

Maybe next year!

Remi Starts KINDERGARTEN

2011-08-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

Today was the day I've been waiting for since Remi was born....

KINDERGARTEN!

She was so excited and more than ready to start! Last night I told her to lay out what she wanted to wear. When I went up to the attic she had laid out every single new outfit. I told her that she had to pick only one and that she had to wear shorts because her classroom has no A/C.

I put her to bed early because she had to wake up early and she hates waking up early. She sleeps more than a teenager! I let her read a Minnie and Moo mystery book in her bed to help settle down her nerves. This morning we woke her up bright and early at 7:00am. She quickly hopped out of bed and got dressed as fast as she could. She decided on wearing her old vans because her new ones are still a little big and she wanted to be able to run fast. I did her hair and fed her breakfast and was nervous for her! Matt went in late this morning so that he could see her off too. I was going to let Corr sleep through it all but Matt woke him up so he could see Remi off.

She picked a zombie backpack and a Hello Kitty lunch box.

She told me, "All of the kids that walk behind me are going to be like, 'Oh my gosh! That little girl likes Zombies?!'".

It stopped raining just in time to walk to the bus stop.

It only takes us 2 minutes to get there which is really nice.

Corr opted for a poncho.

The bus was a little late and we were anxiously awaiting its arrival.

As we were waiting we met a little boy, Ayden, who is in Remi's class. They sat next to each other on the bus AND in class. Remi was giggling when I asked her what they were talking about on the bus. I guess they already have some inside jokes. She also told she only got in trouble one time and it was because she was talking when they stopped at the railroad tracks.

After when we picker her up, Corr killed the time by riding his scooter back and forth.

She's back!

With A LOT to tell me!

The first thing she told me when I asked her about her day was, "IT WAS HOT!".

Awhile back I bought THESE lunch notes for her. They have little cards and stickers to decorate her lunch. I put a mustache face on her sandwich, a monster mouth on one of her caramels and some other stickers on the rest. She had NO idea about her little lunch surprise and said her and the kids next to her were laughing at all the funny foods. She also said that when she read Dad's note she starting laughing insider her head but didn't want to tell her friends that her Dad said, "fart".

Here are some more things she told us:

She got to play outside THREE times.
They made trains all by themselves and read a train story.
She got to sit at the middle table. RIGHT IN FRONT of the board.
She got to eat lunch in the gym and gave her string cheese to the girl sitting next to her.
She raised her hand and told her teacher that she was hungry and that she has a bug bite on her foot.
She said her teacher is fun but there was one naughty kid who got moved to yellow (from what I understand that is pretty bad in the kindergarten world).
She loved it and wants to go back so bad!

Corr's First Day Without Remi

2011-08-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

After Remi got on the bus to go to school, Corr was pretty upset.

He told me that he was going to cry because Remi was gone.

I told him that we would have a special day too so that he wouldn't feel so bad.

I took him to COSI and payed a little extra to see the dinosaur exhibit (waste of money).

Watching the elevator and clutching the ticket I forbade him to loose.

Robot Dinosaurs!

He thought the non-robot dinos were dead.

We had to go through a maze. If you answer the dino question correctly it points you to the next section.

We got this one wrong: Are dinosaurs extinct?

We said yes and came to a dead end.

Apparently birds are dinosaurs.

I guess I learned something today.

He was very interested in the wiggly babies and the eggs.

WTF!? This is terrifying.

That face will haunt me for days.

The T-Rex.

Corr was concerned that the triceratops didn't have any legs.

The rock wall.

We left the dinos sorely disappointed.

BUT, we went to Ocean which is our favorite.

Corr was climbing down to the submarine...

You'd be surprised at how treacherous it is.

Driving the submarine!

I can't believe he was actually down in there!

We drove an underwater camera.

Shot each other with some water guns.

Balanced some balls the water.

Made a cyclone.

Raced through some water shooter thingies!

Corritmus the Great carrying the weight of the moon on his shoulders!

We then headed to Target to pick out two Hot Wheels and got home in time to pick up Remi at the bus stop!

Deer Creek Lake

2011-08-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

I really miss going to Lake Mead to our little cove and hanging out with the kids all day. It was one of my favorite summer things to do

Apparently Mohio is full of lakes and rivers and streams to play in. It has been a personal mission to find one that I love!

I found one north of us but heard from the "locals" that there used to be a cemetery by the lake.

They moved the cemetery, but not the bodies.

I guess some washed up on shore.

Remi would have LOVED that.

Not me.

SO, I found another one that is about 30 minutes south of us and it's amazing. It is HUGE with sand, grass and bathrooms.

Corr's been driving me nutso lately. I was glad to get this face out of the house!

Our new favorite place!

We were waiting for sunscreen to soak in.

Word to ya Motha'.

Testing out the water...

Getting braver...

REALLY brave.

I had to call them back in and teach them about currents.....

they seriously would have been content to float all the way out and down.

They didn't even look back once until I started yelling.

They made it back.

I even joined them for some swims out to the buoy. It was perfect weather and the water felt great!

Remi was attempting to look for crabs.

Wrong beach Remi.

She did however find a dead fish with no head.

Isn't that exciting?

Snack time!

I was pretty mad at Corr because I was using his chair for my feet while I read my book and he kept stealing it to eat his snacks.

I did however manage to surprise them by putting Kool-Aid in some water bottles.

They were so excited (like they've NEVER had Kool-Aid before....).

He ditched his tubes to practice some whale dives.

Little Miss Kindergarten told me she just wanted to sit in her chair and "relax".

Since when does a kid want to "relax".

In her defense we were there for 3 1/2 hours....

LAKE MONSTER

I was surprised at how many people were there, but at the same time I didn't feel crowded or bothered at all.

Except that white dude.

He was blinding me with his whiteness.

This was the sign from Heaven that told me it was time to head home.

Insert Random Video:

For some reason it won't let me embed it. You'll have to go here to see it:

http://youtu.be/JSJbSviHEbA

Such a weirdo.

Currently

2011-08-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

I saw this on someone's blog I was stalking and I enjoyed reading it. So now I'm copying it.

Reading: Beautiful Creatures. Started last night and now half way through. Just finished Tiger's Curse too.

Looking forward to: Visitors. My Aunt Cory is moving from New Jersey to Utah and is going to spend the night on the drive out. I haven't seen her in years so I'm really excited.

Stressing about: My broken dryer down in the basement. At first I though it was the stupid humidity that wasn't letting my clothes dry. Wishful thinking....

Craving: Faustos. Or any Mexican food. THERE IS NONE HERE. I ask and people tell me that there's a Chipotle and I was to curl up and die from Mexican Food Deprivation. It's a real condition.

Wanting: A Silhouette Cameo but that's just not going to happen.

Proud of myself for: Running 5 miles today. Although it is 2:30 and I still haven't showered (see above "Stressing About").

Wearing: Nasty, smelly running clothes. See above.

Avoiding: Taking a shower. It is humid and pointless.

Sick of: Remi and Corr's messy room. Which is why they have no toys right now.

Learning: Computer Programming. I started and then stopped but I really want to start up again.

Suffering from: Boredom.

Struggling with: Keeping on top of my fish tank. Some suspicious green stuff has entered the tank and I hope I don't kill all those super expensive fish.

Overcoming: Frustration. Remi and Corr spent all morning perfecting their room. Then Corr decided he, "liked it messy", therefor destroying it and causing Remi to cry as she watched all of her hard work be ruined.

Hoping to: Find a pre-school for Corr that doesn't have a college sized tuition.

Excited for: Remi to start kindergarten. NEXT WEEK!

Relieved by: Pay Day. Always a relief.

Splurging on: Nothing, now that I have to fix a broken dryer.

COSI

2011-08-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

Ever since we've moved people here have asked if we've taken the kids to COSI. Apparently it was rated THE BEST science center for kids in the COUNTRY by Parent's magazine.
I was skeptical at first because the BEST zoo and the BEST children's museum couldn't possibly be in the same city!
So we went.
And it was AWESOME!

The place was huge. It reminded me of an airport terminal, really long with three stories.
We got a discount on a membership because Matt works for Ohio Health (which is turning out to have some awesome benefits for us). We ended up staying for about 4 hours and have yet to see and do everything! This will be mine and Corr's hang out for the winter!

I paid an extra $2 to take them on a this special adventure in The Temple of Knowledge!

It looked identical to the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. We watched a video about the ruins we were about to enter. We were told there were 4 big statues we had to find and in order to "wake them up" we had to find the smaller versions of them first. Each smaller version had a little animal symbol. They gave us a little chart to keep track of our symbols and pieces of the code. You had to find three animal symbols to awaken the big statue. Once you got the statue awake it would sing you a song and give you a piece of the final code you had to have to leave the temple.

Here was one of the bronze statues with the animal symbol.

Remi was skeptical.

Searching for more statues....

We found a mummy instead.

And "dead people bones".

The museum seriously went all out with this adventure thing. It looked amazing.

We found a hidden tunnel of death.

This was Symon. You had to beat him by copying his colored stone pattern, then he opened a door for you.

Once inside it had a dark room with red lasers. You had to get across without touching them to get the next symbol.

I failed.

The task then fell to the flexible Remi. She wiggled through with no problem.

She's a ninja.

After we found all of our symbols we got the enter the temple and get the treasure of KNOWLEDGE!

And watch statues sing to us:

Boring video I know, but you can see that the museum went ALL OUT on this exhibit.

After that we headed to the Space part.

To get in you had to walk through this spinning dark tunnel. Corr was clinging to my leg, Remi was clinging to my other leg and I was clinging to the handrails. I seriously thought we were going to fall over.

Lucky for us, we made it to Space just fine.

Successfully maneuvering Rover.

After that we headed to the Ocean.

You had to walk through this huge cavern to get to it.

They had this submarine that you could climb into but the line was way too long.

We will have to go back once the big kids go to school (including Remi...YIKES).

Even though the microscope lens was bigger than his face, he still felt the need to squint his eyes to see the specimens of insect poop.

The other half of the cavern was Poseidon's territory.

HUGE.

The goal was to pick a water gun and FIRE right back at him.

Corr was in heaven.

While he was listening to the sounds of the ocean I was admiring his squished fat cheeks.

Making waves at the wave machine.

Even I couldn't resist sticking my hand into one of these bubble fountains.

Notice how there is no barrier to the Poseidon pool.

There are steps! They are just BEGGING Corr to go down and take a swim.

Trust me, he tried.

Remi and a fish.

Corr was well on his way to being soaked.

Remi loved how you could get the fish to squirt each other.

Corr managed to get all of those balls balanced...

and get drenched.

Remi was totally fascinated that she could make her own "tornado".

She is always on the look out for tornadoes here.

Me too Remi, me too.

Corr was busy making a dam.

SOAKED.

This next area quickly became my favorite. As you can see it's a whole town! They named it Progress. You could go in all the little shops and see what living was like in the old days.

I giggled to myself when I saw this sign.

It's way too similar to what some people think doctors act like.

Taking a ride in the buggy.

Corr claimed it wasn't a buggy because it didn't go fast like Grandpa's.

After we walked through the old city we thought it was done.

BUT, it wasn't!

It was the same city of Progress but in the 1950's. It was so so cute!

Riding a rocket!

They had the most adorable diner. Complete with miniature barstools and a juke box.

Remi made me a malt and Corr just gave me a banana.

I hate bananas.

Next we went to the "Life" exhibit.

I appreciated the fact that it wasn't sugar coated at all. Everything was real and factual.

Even I learned some new things about childbirth!

OSU had some medical labs set up so you could look in on them with patients.

Remi DOMINATING the flexibility test.

Corr.......trying.

Both were fascinated by the progress of a fetus.

Remi was a little concerned because they died but thought it was really neat to see how they grew.

Corr thought they were aliens.

Of course we had to see the giant X-Ray wall where they had some crazy stuff.

Like the prisoner who swallowed a ton of stuff just to get out of jail for one day. The farmer with a pitchfork in his foot and the dude behind Remi with a nail in his face.

Much to my enjoyment they were all labeled with their stories.

Next we went to this Mom paradise.

It was only for kids up to kindergarten age. You have to check in with a ticket and aren't allowed to leave without the ticket and the right kids.

I liked it because the kids are trapped with no escape!

Muhahahaha.

A nice little shout out to Dad.

Not really sure why Corr was giving a shot to the snake x-ray though...

"Get in your SEAT REMI!!!"

He was a very generous pilot.

He loved racing the balls down the tracks.

This was like the Holy Grail of a kid water play place.

We spent a significant amount of time here.

Remi meticulously lining up each water stream to get that doo-hicky thingie spinning.

They both refused to wear the rain coats and got completely drenched.

I was ringing water out of their shirts when we left.

I think next time I'll bring ponchos.

After, we went to the outside park. The three of us lifted a car using a giant lever. Remi didn't catch the memo and hung on after I let go and got lifted up on the rope super high. I had to reach up and get her down.

I was laughing.

She was not.

We made one more stop back in Space to use the space potty.

Complete with a butt sucking flusher.

Movies in the Park

2011-07-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

Every Thursday our city puts on movies in the park.

It doesn't get dark here until super late so the movie doesn't usually start until after 9.

I packed some Apple Pie Caramel Apples that Remi and I made early in the day, a bowl of fruit, some popcorn, a Diet Dr. Pepper (sweet nectar of life), our big picnic blanket, and because I'm deathly afraid of being annihilated by mosquitoes, some heavy duty bug spray.

Upon arriving, I realized that we would be sitting on a hill so I called Matt to bring us some pillows, which he begrudgingly delivered. He was just jelly that he had to go to bed and we got to stay up late and party.

We picked our perfect spot and started spreading our blanket when a very large, balding lady and her daughter decided to set up camp right on top of us, like there wasn't a whole hill for them. After we got all settled I started spraying bug spray all over the three of us. Our neighbor, the Lady, then asked if she could use our bug spray. I was about to get annoyed that people in Mohio have no clue about the meaning of personal space, but got over it because everyone is so nice and friendly here. You can ask someone for bug spray and they won't care because that's just the way it is here.

Then she eyeballed my caramel apple.

Game. Over.

Half way through the movie we all started giggling uncontrollably because we imagined the wind blowing the blow-up movie screen and it tumbling over and over right into the lake.

We got some dirty looks because we couldn't stop laughing.

Hmm, maybe I'll just go for a lovely stroll...

the zoom in....

Don't let her fool you,

she. will. destroy. you.

He acts like it's hard to smile or something.

The Reminator.

Corr's Life is Not Complete...

2011-07-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

without a SKATE PARK.

Corr had been begging and begging and begging and begging every single day to go to a skate park.

One morning at 5am (when Matt gets up and Corr replaces him in my bed) he put his hands on my cheeks and then whispered, "Mom, I really need to go to the skate park today."

I refused to take him until our insurance kicked in (July 1st) because I just knew he would break something.

Then it got super hot here. Like disgusting, wet, smothering, can't breathe hot.

FINALLY he got to go and was very excited.

In Matt's words, "Good thing you don't understand how embarrassing it is to get your helmet put on by your Dad yet."

OFF HE GOES

This post would not be complete without a video:

Please ignore the girly man squeal of joy. And Remi's impression of a grandma riding a scooter.

You can't see them but there were lots of hooligans there. They were getting quite obnoxious and decided it would be best to go while they were all in school!

Corr's reaction:

EPIC leaving the skate park tantrum.

Kitchen Re-Do

2011-07-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

My fabulous friend Megan and her beautiful offspring, Aspen came down from De-TROIT to visit us for the weekend. Megan is known for her amazing interior design skillz and I was excited for her to help me with this one stubborn wall. Instead she helped me THE WHOLE KITCHEN!

And the wall too, but now that just seems insignificant....

BEFORE:

GROSS yellow.

AFTER:

I still have to hang some stuff on the walls but just this small easy changes makes a HUGE difference!

Grand Total for the kitchen re-do = $30!!

There's nothing a little bit of paint, some wrapping paper and modge podge can't fix!

We did in two days and I seriously owe Megan my life for helping me do this!

Now I don't want to vomit from the nasty color explosion every time I walk in!

Splash Pad Opening

2011-07-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

Someone in our ward invited us to attend a grand opening of a splash park downtown. It was super super crowded so I was pretty nervous about letting the kids just take off. We did have fun though and when it calms down a bit it will be AWESOME.

Walking across the bridge to the park.
That is downtown C-Bus.

$1 hot dog dinner!

Corr's face literally makes me speechless.

Did I seriously create that child?

Remi so artfully posed in the mist.

Contemplating the mysteries of the Universe.

You can see the hoards of people.

If a zombie got loose in there IT WOULD BE AN APOCALYPSE!

Charging through the fountains...

like a boss.

He totally took out that kid.

Out on the grass.

Corr was a sore loser in their race.

VERY AWKWARD hug.

We will have to go back as soon as all those other people forget it's there....

Glue

2011-07-07T11:21:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was just one of those days.

The ones where your husband takes the car seats with him to work and is too busy to bring them back to you and you have to stay inside all day even though you really need to the grocery store...

SO, I pulled out our kid craft box.

Popsicle sticks, googly eyes, construction paper, stencils, and GLUE.

We spent hours making fun pictures. Corr was ENAMORED with the glue. I think he would marry it if I let him. I cut out a bunch of shapes for him and let him glue for hours!

They made some pretty fun stuff...

Oh yes, we stayed in undies pretty much all day.

Corr's Dino.

Thinking REAL hard about what shape to glue next.

Concentration is key to good gluing.

No fear, it's water!

Haha

Remi's monster is my favorite!

Cute Remi! She is getting so old!

Corr made this awesome thunderstorm picture.

He told me the cloud was sad and angry and that's why it was crying and shooting people with lightning.

AND, it has a "lightning ha-hawk".

Remi made these flowers. She made one sad because it was bigger than the other ones.

Looks like I need to buy some more glue....

The Fourth

2011-07-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

Out here, people LOVE America, which is great because we get not just one day of celebrating but a whole weekend!!!

It seemed like each surrounding city picked a different night of the weekend to hold their festivities. Friday night in Columbus was the Red, White and Boom which we ditched. Matt had worked like 14 hours and had to do it again the next day. I didn't really have the energy to haul the kids downtown and walk a million miles to watch fireworks. It doesn't get dark here until after 9 (so weird) and that makes for one late firework show.

Saturday Matt was gone again so the kids and I just kind of hung out. By the end of the day we were super bored so we called up our pretend family The Glassmans for dinner and some hanging out at our place.

Sad his sparkler died.

A little too close to the grass for my taste.

Especially because I killed some of it when I chucked the home made ice cream salt water onto it.....

Remi and her new favorite person, Whit!

DeVon (It's way cooler with a capital "V") and Whit had to go home because he was leaving for London the next morning and graciously dropped us off a few blocks down so the kids and I could watch the fireworks.

It was our cities turn so they were really close, they shot them off right behind our house!

Remi was ticked because she hated the loud noise they made and the fact that she didn't know when they were going to happen. Apparently fireworks are legal here because everyone and their Mom were blasting them off into the wee hours of the night all weekend long.

She finally quit being a baby and started to enjoy the show, on my lap, with me holding my hands over her hears...

CORR LOVED THEM.

Afterwards we walked home. Our cute little street was PACKED. There were bands playing and people out everywhere. I may not love Mohio yet, but I do love our street.

Monday, the actual 4th, we met up with some families from our ward for a parade in yet another city!

Remi and Corr and all of their great new friends!

These nice old ladies let all the kids sit on the curb in front of them, while all of us parentals sat on the grass behind them.

Corr refuses to be cooperative and smile like a normal happy child...

The streets were packed with people and the parade people (paraders?) threw everything from water bottles (dangerous), Otter Pops (melty) to candy and Dairy Queen coupons (Yes) out into the crowd.

Corr enjoying his water. We were all pretty jealous that he caught one.

Packed with people!

Remi was pretty excited about her DQ coupons...

but not excited about leaving.

After, we went to brunch with some families then finished the night off with a BBQ at one of their houses.

We were all too tired for more fireworks that night, so the kids and I just listened to them from up in the attic.

FUN TIMES

Intern Party

2011-06-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

Matt's hospital invited all the new interns and their families to this pretty sweet bounce house place for a welcome party/dinner. Most of them don't have kids so it was pretty empty. There was one other MoMo family and a few other stragglers. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was fun!

Never walk under a dino's mouth...

Corr is either constipated or holding on for dear life.

Catching some AIR at the end of the slide!

About to get mowed down by a Corr Beast.

Remi LOVED the climbing wall.

Devon, I know you're so proud.

The instructor told her that since she was 5 she had to reach the number 5 rock.

I didn't get a picture but she did it!

Corr watching Remi from the Alligator Pit.

She spent most of her time going up and down the wall.

She told me her FAVORITE part was the "falling down" part.

I think she climbed higher and higher just so she could fall back down again.

Oh yeah, only like the first 18 seconds of this are funny:

WORKED!

Someone STOLE My Camera

2011-06-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

Guess who it was....

You guessed it.

And the best picture...

OBESE CAT WILL EAT YOUR HOT WHEELS.

Cat: I promise he is not really that obese.

It's just an unflattering angle.

I blame the photographer....

Animals That Want to Eat Corr and Other Nonsense.

2011-06-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

Animals that want to eat Corr:

Polar Bears.

Tigers.

Snakes.

Bees.

Goats.

Penguins.

Monkey thingies.

Moms.

AND OTHER NONSENSE:

Close Up:

What the heck Corr?????

GET OFF MY ARCTIC BUS WOMAN!

It's a perilous climb to the top of the polar bear...

So worth it.

The llama appropriately named, "Handsome".

His eyes reaching the inner depths of my soul.

Fate.

I FEEL LIKE MAKIN'

2011-06-11T19:11:00.000-07:00

CRAFTS

I hate the word "craft", it makes me think of "crafty", of which I am not.

I have recently become addicted to http://pinterest.com/ which can be inspiring and depressing at the same time.

Anyways.

We found this WAY marked down dining room table at Big Lots that has a faux granite top. Matt thought it would be great for our mudroom as a craft table.

Don't mention "craft table" to him because he made up this super obnoxious rap that he thinks is soooo funny.

Since I now have said "craft table" I dusted off the old sewing machine and glue gun and got busy this week.

A very tired craft table taken over by Bowser and Peach.

I think I'm going to start using the squirt bottle on those two.

Our lamp shades got really dirty in the move. So I thought I would be crafty and cover them up.

I think I overdid it on the flowers but quite frankly I was just excited that I figured out how to make them.

MORE fabric flowers.

This time on a wreath I made for the front door.

These ruffles are for an unfinished mystery project.

Our friend sent the kids these Domo Christmas lights as a housewarming gift.

The string of lights broke so Remi pulled off all of the Domos and made them a family.

I killed them and put them on display.

Finally, the kids were using Remi's dress up dresses as super hero capes today.

It pained me to see Corr running around with a sparkly purple dress on his back.

So.

I dug up some extra fabric and quickly made some REAL (skull) capes for them...

It was a terrible idea.

Princess Peach!

2011-06-05T18:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we randomly decided we wanted to adopt/rescue another cat for Bowser to play with. I searched the web for rescue centers and to see what was out there. We really wanted to young female since Bowser is pretty much THE MAN of the house. We drove across town to a shelter to look at a really cool black Bombay cat. The cat looked a little too sickly and it's kittens were like $100! Much to Remi and Corr's dismay we left them there for someone else.

Not wanting to go home empty handed, I found another place that was right down the street from our house. I called the lady to find out about her cats. She ran the business out of her house, a whopping 56 cats! I'm not going to lie between the humidity, heat and overwhelming stench of ammonia I started gagging and had to walk out of the cat room, using Corr as an excuse. I do have to say all of her cats looked very healthy and happy and you could tell that she absolutely adored them. A lot of them were feral cats that she rescued off the streets. We had found a male that we really liked but were really nervous about having two male cats. All the lady asked for in return for a cat was a bag of cat food or two boxes of litter. So, I headed to Petsmart to get some cat food for our trade, a new litter box, and a cute collar.

Matt went over to the house again and while there spotted a "cute and dainty" two month old kitten that was very shy but totally to die for. He fell in love and ended up bringing Princess Peach home for Bowser.

Bowser is still getting used to the idea of a new kitten, but I know he'll turn around!

Peach has been in one room so far because she is tiny and fast and we don't want to loose her in the house. She has been hiding out since yesterday but tonight she timidly came out to play and get a little wipe down(she smelt like that awful cat room and I think Bowser is freaking out because he smells 55 other cats on her).

Introducing:

Freaking Corr PHOTOBOMBING once again!!!

There she is! Aren't her tail stripes the cutest!?

Coming out from hiding to play with Matt.

Remi gets her animal whisperer gene from him.

I found her a little Totoro and Spirited Away collar at Petsmart. I was pretty excited when I saw it!

Oh yeah, and she has light blue eyes.

We are all in love!

Here's a video of her playing (mostly for Catherine to make her jelly):

The Zoo....

2011-06-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

Before, (and after) we moved here all we heard about from the natives was how amazingly awesome the Columbus Zoo was.

Seriously, "THE BEST in the country!."

The zoo is 289 acres.

HUGE.

We have been three times in the past two weeks and still haven't seen all it has to offer!

I have to agree that this zoo is amazing! The minions beg to go every. single. day.

The first time we went was to buy our pass and to see what all the hype was about. We got a family pass that includes two guests on it, hoping it will entice people to come visit us.....

We were loving the polar bears when out of nowhere comes torrential downpour and thunder and lighting. I was in the bathroom right before it started and Matt and the kids were making their way to the front gate. I started walking towards them when I felt this gush of wind and then BAM! I was instantly soaked. I started running to find Matt and the kids and to find coverage. With my luck I would get struck by lightning. I found them safely under a roof of a snack shack laughing at how drenched I was. We waited under the roof for about 15 minutes watching the river of water rush down the hill and flood some areas. There was only one other family there with us, but other than that it was empty. We finally gave in and braved the storm making the loooong walk (remember, 289 acres) back to the car. Corr and I engaged in a puddle jumping contest (I totally won) and even ran through the biggest puddle I have ever seen. I had to drag Corr through it because it came all the up to my knees! Seeing all this rain was like heaven considering it never rained in Vegas...

The next time we went was because Matt was about to have a brain explosion over his girlfriend the computer. So the kids and I braved the humidity (seriously the 80 degrees here is a million times worse than a dry Vegas 120) and went to the zoo.

THIS time I took pictures!

They have these flaming hot bronze statues everywhere.

Perfect for awkward family photos.

Corr had no fear petting this snake (SOOOO many inappropriate jokes are floating through mind).

Remi would not go within 10 feet of the thing.

Good thing Harry Potter wasn't around, Corr would have put his parseltongue to SHAME!

He loved that the iguana had a ha-hawk like him.

That thing was so ready to squeeze the bejeebies out of someone.

I can't believe she actually listened to me when I told her to kiss the penguin.

Corr did not.

He did however refuse to get down until I took a picture of him in this pose.

So artistic of him.

They liked the penguins until Remi put her head over the wall and smelt them.

Corr told me that the baby climbing up the fence was naughty just like him sometimes.

I have to agree.

At this point in the day I would have given anything to lay in the shade with the monkey thingies.

Corr may have found a new family.

Remi HATED this dragon thing even though I promised her it was nice.

The third time we went to the zoo was with Matt's sister Steph and her two kids who came to visit from Kentucky for the weekend. Of course I forgot my camera. We had so much fun with them and I'm so glad we have some family only 3 hours away!

Cribz

2011-05-30T13:25:00.000-07:00

We are finally getting settled in to our new house! Today we went to a church breakfast at a park and then came home to enjoy a parade that came right in front of our house!

Remi and Corr made some next door neighbor friends that we watched the parade with:

We finally got things organized enough so that I could finally do a video tour of the house.
Mind you, things are far from done, but you can at least get an idea!
The owner of the house was kind enough to have the washer and dryer hookups moved from the dungeon up into our mudroom. When the plumber came he told us that it would be at least another week before he could work on it.
So.
We have no washer and dryer.
And there are clothes EVERYWHERE.
So just ignore them.

Here are Remi and Corr giving the tour:

The.....DRIVE

2011-05-26T17:14:00.000-07:00

After a few more days in Utah we loaded up and started our drive to Mohio.

I refused to hug and say goodbye because I was afraid I would have a total melt down. I had previously avoided a melt down after saying good bye to my parents and Las Vegas by consuming lots of Diet Coke and dreaming of my new house. I am proud to admit I have yet to break down(I lied, I just remembered one). We will see how long that lasts after Matt starts his DEATH-ternship on July 1st.

We headed out Friday morning into the vast nothingness that is called America.

Seriously, people who think we Mo-Mo's are over-populating the Earth have NEVER driven across the country.

NOTHING IS THERE.....NOTHING!!!!!!

HOW DO PEOPLE EVEN SURVIVE IN WYOMING????

Our first day was a 12 hour driving day. We kept the kids separated and rotated them at every stop between cars. We had an electronics car and then a coloring/toy car. I'm happy to say that we had zero problems with them the entire way.

They were perfect!

I was not.

It sucked.

A lot.

These are pictures of Wyoming that Remi took from the window.

We hit a snow storm.

In May.

These pictures were taken before said snow storm.

After a day of snow and rain we made it North Platte, Nebraska where we stayed the night in a classy Motel 6!

Day 2 was a ten hour driving day. We left Nebraska and made our way through Iowa where we stopped at a park and I almost suffocated from the humidity. We then continued through Iowa into Illinois where we stayed at yet another Motel 6 in Peoria.

THEN on Day 3 we drove 6 hours through the rest of Illinois and all of Indiana straight into...

MOHIO!

PHEW!

SLC

2011-05-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

My like TOTALLY BESTEST FRIEND EVERRRRRRR Megan was visiting from Detroit (word to your motha--she's ghetto like that) and we met up at the Children's Museum in Salt Lake.

We chose a bad day:

1. It was raining and apparently everyone thought it was a brilliant idea to go.

2. There were 3 schools doing field trips that day.

It was CROWDED, to say the least.

We did get in some good play time and I got to catch up with the Megster and make Aspen my new best friend. Megan does not know this, but I'm planning on kid napping Aspen in the future so her and Ben can go on a vacation.

Corr totally photo bombing Remi.

A very excited Donkey.

The yellow vests meant they were from a school.

There was a rainbow of vests everywhere.

The older kids took over the store so Corr went shopping.

Doing the news..

and the weather.

TORNADO WATCH IN OHIO!

I figure this is what I'll be looking at when he is 14.

"I'm way too cool for this Mom. DUH."

Gradumation

2011-05-26T16:37:00.000-07:00

After our Uterd extravaganza we were forced to head back to Begas for Matt's graduation.

If it were up to Matt he just would have skipped it all together. He didn't even want people to come because "graduations are really boring" and he didn't want to force anybody to suffer through. When I tried explaining that graduating from medical school is kind of a big deal and people want to celebrate with him he just shrugged his shoulders.

Typical Matt.

Anyways, his parents and sister and my parents all joined in for the graduation. Since my Aunt Bri's funeral was the day before, my parents got in on Saturday night. We gladly handed off the monsters to them for the night! After a flood and and some room drama in the middle of the night, they were upgraded to this crazy awesome suit at the top of the hotel. We ended up staying that night with them an extra night and then drove back up to Utah once more before our crazy drive to Mohio.

All ready to sit through the 2 hour long graduation.

The back pack included a DS, an iPod, coloring supplies and snacks.

The kids were awesome!

Not a great pic, but this is Matt getting hooded and officially a doctor!

After he sat down Remi walked a note up to him that said, "I love you Dr. Dad!"

It was pretty cute.

Matt and his Dad.

Matt (with a retarded face) and his Mommy.

Aunt Cat and Matt.