Butterflies

Like I've said before, Corbin is on a PB & J kick! Now, they need to be open faced, and in the form of butterflies!

Nice...

...this is the sign in our local Tesoro station! Anyone else catch it?

Restless

This time of year I always start to feel really restless. With the colder weather comes more layers. Corbin doesn't like to wear all the hat, gloves, coat, snowpants, etc....so it turns into a big deal to get out of the house! It doesn't seem worth the fight most of the time! So, being I don't think it would be a good idea for me to go crazy with the credit card or chop off my hair and dye it some crazy color (can you image the response I would get at church on Sunday? haha)...I decided to switch the look of the blog! It is a big change, I know (just kidding)....but one that doesn't cost a cent and gives me a taste of change! (I really need to get out more, this post just confirmed that!)

A great day with our little monkey and horsey!

Today, we went to Minot for a fun day at the zoo! They had a haunted house set up (we didn't go through it) and lots of other fun things to do!
Corbin's favorite part was getting to see a "choo-choo" up close! We waited in line for at least 30 minutes to get into the "fun house". And while we waited, Joel and Corbin hung out by the "choo-choo"!

Our little penguins!

More stupid camels!

(That is totally an inside joke with a family from our church....I don't know if they even read our blog....but they can laugh about it if they do, otherwise, I guess it makes me laugh!)

The boys!

After we got done taking the pictures of the boys, we were throwing some leaves in the air and the lion jumped down, looking like he was ready to attack! It was really freaky!

Our little monkey and horsey!

So cute!!!

Our little monkey has a monkey on his back!

Looking at the bears!

We bought the 25cent bear food and let Corbin throw it to the bears...but it didn't get past the cage!

Our little monkey!

While Daddy's Away...It's Time To...

I love these pictures of the boys....both enjoying a spoon full!

Corbin needed to make sure Elias had his shoes on to go to the grocery store! I don't think Elias really knew what was going on! But he looked cute!

Corbin literally "UNLOADED" the dishwasher while Joel as away! He took the bottom rack out and pushed it all around the house!

We played "peek-a-boo".

Eli really liked that spoon!

We played house! The pillow is the door and I had to knock on it in order to get in the "house". If I didn't knock, Corbin made sure that I got out of his "house".

You have to click on this picture to get an idea of the amount of noodles that were all over the floor, table and chairs! That was so much fun to clean up!

Cheese!....no, wait, cookies!

Enjoying the cookies! (Corbin's favorite color is orange at the moment. While Joel was away, for some reason, Corbin would only eat off of the orange plate and drink out of the orange cup!)

Mommy and the boys time!

Joel left us Wednesday afternoon, to rough it, until today.

What did I do with my boys? Well, the adventures began very shortly after Joel left! (I will have to post pictures later.)

Wednesday:
We made chocolate chip cookies and enjoyed them with some ice cold milk! Corbin ate tiny bites off of 4 of them...so I really got my share of cookies, being I couldn't let them get thrown away! He was eating the chocolate chips out of them and leaving the cookie part on the table! After cleaning up that mess, which Corbin was so willing to help me, we decided to continue cleaning! So, onto the entryway, kitchen floor, bathroom, load of laundry, living room, family room, load of laundry again, bedrooms and finally to the couch (to fold the laundry) we went! It was actually a really good time! Corbin really enjoys helping clean with his wipes...he cleans the dirt piles on the floor for me! Goofy kid! By then, it was time for some supper. Being Corbin is on a peanut butter and jelly toast kick...I decided I would make noodles for him (silly me). While he was eating in the kitchen, I was feeding Elias in the living room...then I heard a crash and some stomping...go to check on the situation and there was Corbin, dancing on his noodles! ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!! So, I got to wash the kitchen floor again...noodles are sticky by the way! I got really ambitious after that and decided it was time to get Corbin off to bed...so by 8:45 Corbin was in his room sleeping! AMEN!!! But, that is where the evening gets interesting! Joel has "the touch" when it comes to getting Elias to sleep! Somehow it seems to work better for him than me...and Wednesday night proved that! We hung out until about 2 a.m.!

Thursday:
Elias was up bright and early at 6:30 and Corbin at 7! So, I got about 4 hours of sleep or so (after finally getting my teeth brushed, etc.). I prayed hard that the Lord would make my boys tired at the same time so I could get a nap! In the morning, we hung out, played, ate breakfast, watched Thomas the Tank Engine (6 episodes...roughly 1 hour), got ready for the day, painted some pictures, and then got lunch ready! Corbin surprised me and ate 4 helpings of shells and meat sauce! (Finally something other than pb&j!!!) Then I cleaned up the kitchen and living room quick before a lady from Right Track came to evaluate the boys. (They are developing at or above their age, except with Corbin's communication skills, which doesn't surprise us...he is better at talking than he was before, but it is still a challenge.) After she left, I was hoping both boys would fall asleep! But, God answers prayer on His time, not mine....so at 5 p.m. we all hit the pillow hard! All the way until 8 p.m. (not good, you would think...but it felt AMAZING)! A few girls from our church came by to play with/hold the boys! It was a break for my arms and my mind....so nice! And luckily...that is the night...we went to bed shortly afterward!

Friday:
So far, so good! We went and got groceries and the boys fell asleep in the car after going for a little drive around town. (Doesn't take long...I guess they were really tired!) And now, I sit in silence (aahhh) and write down every detail, so I remember that I can do this again...if Joel does this again! (We shall see, it was below freezing both nights! And with just a sleeping bag, you would think they would have ckickened out and come home! Something about being "macho" I guess!)

Single Moming It!

Joel is very excited because he is doing the thing he probably loves most, for the next 3 days...while I, Emily, stay home with the boys! He is going camping!

Joel is taking the youth group guys on a camping/fishing trip! He has been looking forward to this for quite a while! I hope he has a great time! I also pray that the weather is good enough for them out there! They brought only sleeping bags!!! It is the end of October....so about freezing every night! HAVE FUN!!! (I will admit I am a little jealous! Not so much of the cold temps...but of the opportunity to get away and sleep under the stars!)

Now, I need to figure out what to do with the boys while he is away! What should I do? Hopefully I can come up with some fun things so we don't get bored! (I am really going to be tired come Friday night!)

WE WENT ON A DATE! (kinda 3 actually)

Can you tell how exciting it was for us? We went on our first real, plan to go out without kids and be back in HOURS date (since Elias was born)! We went to Bottineau and ate Chinese and went to Walmart! We also took pictures by Tommy the Turtle! It was great fun! Yeah for dates!

Grandma Cathy came up for a visit this weekend! It was so nice to have her visit! Joel and I were able to get away! (Elias finally takes a bottle!) We got some apples peeled and in the freezer! Gma took the boys for a long walk and I got to peel apples with Joel (kinda like a date). And we even got to go on a walk kid free while Gma played with the boys! Wow...so much us time!

Thank you so much for coming up! It was so nice to have you here! Come back again soon!

Elmo and the 4-wheeler

Corbin was very excited to use his new hat and gloves.
We went in the backyard and let Corbin ride around on his 4-wheeler.
He really likes to go....until he hits something and then we need to turn him around because he won't get off it and turn it himself.
Nice!

We also decided that since he was having so much fun riding it we would let him ride it around town while we visited some people we know. We didn't realize how incredibly slow it goes when you walk next to it! We got 1 block in about....20 minutes! He enjoyed it though!

Elias Giggles!!!

On Our Way Home

Emily's Favorite Place

Those who know me would probably say Target, but I think it's been replaced (at least temporarily) by a great little place in Rugby called Rockin Relics. I have posted about this place before...but it seems more and more neat every time I go! Corbin and I enjoying an Old Fashioned Soda!
Corbin eating the crazy banana split!
SO NEAT!!!

This is Corbin's picture.

And the owner gave Corbin some quarters to play some songs and dance! It was a hoot!

Shots!

Yesterday, we brought the boys in to get their shots. Corbin got 4 and it was a pretty traumatic experience. A lady from our church did 2 of them and he would only say bye, he wouldn't look at her for the longest time! Hopefully he will get over it soon and won't hold it against her.

He weighed in at 24 pounds 2 ounces and is 34 inches tall!

Elias got 3 shots and he screamed for a little while, but was quickly back to his normal smiley self!
He weighed in at 13 pounds 9 ounces and is 24 inches long!

He has really chunked up in the last couple weeks! He is officially into 3-6 month clothes and some 6-9 with the sleepers.

And as Joel was sitting in the waiting room with Corbin while Elias was getting checked out, Joel asked if he would need a shot being he pushed a drill into his finger last weekend. They said he would need one...so Joel got a shot, too!

Mommy got a break!

Friday-Sunday was our Western District Pastor's Wives Retreat! We had it at Metigoshe Ministries, such a neat place! All the rooms are themed...Pioneer Room, Nautical Room, Garden Room...we had the Ojibwa Room. Here is a picture of all the PW's and Elias of course got in on the pictures too.
Elias getting ready to take a hike!

On Saturday, a few of us went for a walk and took pictures along the way. I'm sure the others got some way better pictures than I did, oh well. My friend figured out how to get my camera to take black and white and sepia pictures...thank you!!!


Even though Elias was along, it was so nice to get away! I had very little on my mind while I was there and it was so nice to not have to worry about cooking or cleaning! And so many of the women were willing to hold Eli so I could feel kid free at times! I wish that we could have stayed longer! It seemed so short! But, I guess I had to come home sometime!

Oh, Baby!

Corbin found the box of girl toys left over from daycare and his favorite is the dolly that was mine when I was little. The dolly in the Moby!
Corbin feeding the dolly!
And Corbin putting the dolly down for a nap...and then he fell asleep, too.

I know someday he is going to kill me for putting these pictures up for the world to see, but it is so precious how he treats his dolly just like his little brother.

Eli's Flip Flops

I know that summer is over, or at least that it feels over, but we couldn't resist putting his flip flops on him. So Cute!!!
Eli is getting a little stronger, so he sits in the Exersaucer for a little while until he starts getting wobbly.
Corbin reading to Eli. He points out all the animals and tells him what they are!