Tumbling Tots

Tressa and Corbin have been taking gymnastics classes for the past several months and have both really enjoyed it. Maybe it's in their blood! (I was a competitive gymnast during my grade school days. I decided to quit when it got to the point where I had to decide if gymnastics would be my whole life. I also was getting a little too tall. The final straw was an injury that kept me off my feet for long enough that I felt like I couldn't catch up.) Anyway, we actually kind of stumbled upon this class. It's offered by a local community center and we thought it was going to be a dance class. Tressa showed up in her leotard and tutu and we were a bit confused by all the gymnastics equipment. I asked Tressa if she wanted to give it a try and ever since she's been asking me if it's Thursday yet because she can't wait to go to gymnastics. Then I found out about a class for kids Corbin's age that was right after Tressa's. Since he was already trying to take over the gym each week anyway, I decided to sign him up too. This is my first attempt at video clips on the blog, but I thought it might be fun to see them in action, so here goes....





Here's Tressa's bridge. She was very proud to be the only one in her class that could do it all by herself.


Tressa sitting on the beam...


doing her butterfly pose...


a handstand...


a somersault on the beam...


hanging from the bars...


and sitting with the whole gang (they're supposed to be making silly faces, but Tressa blew a kiss instead)


Corbin jumping on the trampoline...one of his favorite things about gymnastics!


Oh yes, he also loved the balls...


and anything involving jumping...


and here he is on the bars...


Tressa loved showing Corbin how to do everything and praising him for every little thing. Here she is giving him a big hug after he did a new trick on the bars.


Such cute little monkeys!

Sunday Best

These are typical outfits for church on Sunday. They look like they're going to their first prom, don't they?!

Tressa wants to wear this dress almost every Sunday because it makes her feel like a princess. She says "It's just like Cinderella's dress because it has wing tips [poofy sleeves], except Cinderella's dress in blue and mine is purple." She loves everything about Sundays...getting dressed up, going to church (especially primary), pizza (our usual Sunday lunch), and extra time with the family. She is so proud to be in the primary and absolutely LOVES it! Anytime someone asks her how old she is, stranger or not, she says "I'm 3 years old and I go to primary!" Last week she had to stay home because she was sick. She begged and begged me to go, but she really was not in good shape. I was late to church because I spent at least 15 minutes convincing her to stay home with Daddy. I think I had to bribe her in the end.

Corbin doesn't have much say in what he wears yet, so he often wears this suit to church. I think he looks so handsome and grown up in it. He is at that age when holding still is impossible, so church is sometimes challenging for him (and us)! I have to bring my bag of tricks (snacks, drinks, books, toys, blankie, crayons, etc., etc.) each week to keep him from literally bouncing off the walls and running through the chapel. He struggled for a while with the nursery (he didn't want me to leave him at first), but now he's doing really well. He likes the toys and the chaos. Last week I asked him if he had fun in the nursery and he said his first full sentence: "I did bubbles!" well...actually it was more like "I di bubbas!" but close enough!

My favorite thing about Sundays? Afternoon nap...for sure!

River Walk

I just love it when a lazy weekend day spontaneously turns into something memorable. Last Friday was one of those days. We wanted to do something fun with the family, but we were feeling bored with our usual places, so we decided to head to the Riverwalk for a change. We didn't really have a plan - we were just going to go walk around - but it turned into the best quality family time we've had in a while.

First we walked along the river bank...



well, okay the kids actually ran most of the time...



Jason and I were scoping out the restaurants and shops along the way. Then we came to a water fountain. It was a warm day, so that water looked pretty refreshing. Some kids were running through the water and getting soaking wet. Our kids were not so sure about that. At first they just walked around the outside edges and enjoyed watching the other kids.






We put our name on the waiting list for a restaurant with an outdoor eating area. The wait was only about 5 minutes during which time Tressa enjoyed dancing on a nearby stage and Corbin climbed up and down the stairs.




The food was yummy and it was perfect weather for eating outside.



As dinner was winding down we noticed that people were beginning to gather at the nearby stage. We asked the waitress and found out there was going to be a free concert. Perfect! We had just enough time to go grab some ice cream and then we sat and watched the concert.




Afterward we thought we'd give the kids another go at the water fountain.

Corbin plunged in...



and got soaking wet...



but this is as close as Tressa got! It's so funny how different their personalities are.



What a fun day!

More About the New Truck

So, now that I have had some time to cool off and get used to the idea of Jason's new truck (and the accompanying 2nd car payment) I thought I should give some more details and possibly admit that I'm okay with it. It's a grey 2005 Ford F150 with about 40,000 miles on it. It has 4 wheel drive (which is nice since we live on a hill), an extended cab that's large enough to fit the car seats, and some nice upgrades in the interior. We got a really good deal on it too, so I guess there's not much to complain about. I was initially pretty annoyed by the whole thing, but I think 90% of that attitude was caused by the torturous process of buying a car. We spent our whole Saturday on it (and it wasn't part of my plan for that weekend)! I was getting impatient and restless, so you can just imagine how the kids were doing. I was chasing, bouncing, entertaining, wrestling, feeding, glaring, etc. the whole time and was completely exhausted. Plus I hate the part where the sales guy asks "What will it take to make this deal." Then we name our price, he disappears to converse with the financing Gods, we sit and wait, and when he finally comes back it's not the number we agreed to. So then he brings in another guy and we tell him the number, then he goes away for a while and comes back with yet another number (still not the one we said we wanted). Anyway, I don't think I'm like a cut throat negotiator or anything, but I knew how tight the payment would be for us so I wasn't going to break. Eventually they gave us what we wanted. The monthly payment we ended up with was almost $150 less than they originally proposed. So, that's something to think about if any of you are in the market for a new car.

Anyway, we like the new truck. Here's Jason literally kicking his old car to the curb:



And here he is enjoying his new ride:



Oh, and the kids love Daddy's new truck too. We've been playing musical cars a lot lately because even though the car seats are usually in my car the kids keep begging to ride in the truck (and play in it, as you can see).

Bug Birthday

These pictures are from a birthday party that Tressa and Corbin went to last Saturday for their friend Chase. They did a bug theme and it was so cute. The kids had a blast playing at the park, hunting for plastic bugs, eating bugged out cupcakes and just being kids.

Mother's Day, Hooray!

I love Mother's Day. It's the one day of the year that I can sleep in, have breakfast in bed, get spoiled by my kids & hubby, refuse to cook and clean, and not feel guilty about any of that!


I had a plan all worked out so that I could sleep in. On Saturday night I had a little talk with Tressa (who is usually our earliest riser) and told her that the next day was Mother's Day and that the nicest thing she could do for me was to go wake Daddy up in the morning and ask him to help her make me breakfast. It would have been perfect, except Corbin was the first one up. I let him cry for a few minutes, hoping Jason would hear him and get up. Alas, my husband could sleep through a train wreck. So I had to wake up long enough to tell him Corbin was crying, but then they let me (kind of) go back to sleep until breakfast was ready. Then they surprised me with a nice card, a new set of sheets and a new dress that Tressa picked out for me herself! I wore the dress to church and it made Tressa feel so special. Jason was a good sport about letting me take a day off from cooking and doing dishes. He picked up the slack, but I think he knew he better, because just look (below) at what HE got for mother's day!!! Yah, he got it on Saturday to replace his 12 year old, falling apart (but paid off) piece of junk that didn't have air conditioning and was literally about to die. I knew we'd have to replace his old car soon, but having two car payments really stinks and a truck (though he's always wanted one) is not exactly the most practical choice. I love the guy, but isn't he a little young for a mid-life crisis?

Here I am in my cute Mother's Day dress that Tressa picked out for me. She did pretty good, eh?

Oh, and here's Jason with his new toy. Happy Mother's Day?!? Uh, no...that glare on the top of his head is not a halo, but I still love him.

Little Sluggers

Lately Jason's been taking the family car to work in the evenings (his car is on it's last leg and doesn't have air conditioning) leaving me and the kids stranded at home. But sometimes the kids are restless and need an outing. So when the weather cooperates we head outdoors. They like to take walks, ride tricycles, feed the duckies, and lately they've been playing a lot of T-ball.

Here's Corbin taking a swing! Notice that he's hitting right handed, but standing on the wrong side of the plate. hee hee!

Oops....missed!

There we go!

Here's my other slugger, Tressa. She looks so dainty, but she can hit pretty hard!

Look at that hip! Love it.

Here's Tressa rounding second base. Yes, still holding the bat!