Night Out

Corbin and I were lucky enough to get a night out together. Just me and him, a good mother son outing. It was great bonding time. We even got to stay at this amazing Hotel! Granted it was a very expensive Hotel with only one small bed and a very uncomfortable chair. But there were lots of buttons and gadgets, pre-warmed blankets, a nice flat screen TV and a few people at our beck and call. Here is where we stayed Thursday night...

It is hard to tell from the picture but it is our local ER. We are so lucky to have one just 2 minutes down the road from us, and brand-spank'in new!

We got to go see their beautiful radiology room. I got to experience an infant chest x-ray, great for my Child Life profile!

Right now my brother, Nate, is laughing and thinking I am crazy for taking one of my children, AGAIN to the ER. Really I do feel like a frequent visitor of these places as of late (and I have visited them around the country!). However, I have all evidence. A month ago Corbin came down with a cold which ended in an ear infection, no big deal. But he was also having a very hard time breathing. I thought that was in the past until out-of-the-blue, Corbin practically has a breathing attack Thursday night and can't breath. I rush him in, I was frustrated with the lack of rushing from the nurses. But after all the tests, we found that Corbin has pneumonia, and an ear infection. So our fridge is stocked with meds (steroids and antibiotics) and Here is the newest addition to our family...

a nebulizer to give Corbin his breathing treatments. Let's just hope that this is just pneumonia and no indicator of asthma!

So just as we were getting Corbin to sleep through the night, we are back to square one- or are we in the negative seeing as we have no choice but to get up and take care of his wheezing and mom is still trying to make of for the lost night.

Durham Bulls

Can you believe it- we got to go to a Durham Bulls game! For those who don't know, it is a minor league Baseball team. Luckily, the tickets were free and we didn't feel too bad leaving at inning... 5! Dylan just doesn't sit like he used to for live sporting events. Sadly, I feel like there is a void in my life. There really isn't a team to root for here. We have always been in cities where there is a "fan fire." I mean we were in Boston (Celtics, NE Patriots, Red Socks), Cleveland (Browns, Indians, Cavaliers, Ohio State), Colorado (Broncos, Avalanche, Nuggets, Rockies), and Utah (BYU, Utah, Jazz.) What now? Next move maybe.

Life and Science

Yesterday my friend Kendy and her son Matthew took us to the Durham Life and Science Museum and we could have stayed for a week! Here is a quick glimpse of our day...

We saw bears, lemurs, and wolves. We played on a really unique playground, played with wind chimes and drums, steered remote control sailboats, played with water pumps, touched clouds and tornadoes, caught "dispersing seeds", and went to the butterfly house.
Ashlyn loved the the sandbox!

Are you sick of my collages yet???

I just can't get enough of my kids!!!
My single car seat stroller has really turned out to be so versatile- it instantly converts into a triple!!!

My Effort to Stay Organized

This is my new project-

Connor was sick of my old Calendar that my mom used for the last 20 years. So I created this new one. I made custom magnets to make this smaller calendar more efficient. It is hard to tell with the light, but they are small glass marbles on top of paper and a magnet. So far it has been wonderful!!

First Day of school

Last week Dylan started preschool. I was stressed already from finding a somewhat afforadable preschool and a bad meet-the-teacher day. This combined with last year's experience- well I was a little worried. However, things went wonderful. He was excited to start school and we made it a whole week before he started saying he didn't want to go to preschool. But he comes home happy and smiling!
He is enjoying Chapel time, Spanish time, music time, and fitness time!!

As you can see Ashlyn is also ready for school!

"A Hurricane's a come'in"

For all those Little Mermaid fans!!

Hanna has hit and we have just experienced our first hurricane. Now we are preparing for Ike. It really wasn't that bad, just a lot of rain. Just seemed like a regular Cleveland storm. But it didn't have a high category rating either. Ike is a 4- so I will tell you what that is like. I even went out with a friend for a run this morning. We joked that we were "running in the hurricane." So I can put that on my bucket list!

We also had our first ward social tonight- a "Pig Pick'in"- a southern barbeque. Quite interesting. They barbeque a whole pig and top it with a vinegar based sauce, with a side of deep fried bread (hush puppies), which are delicious. Then there were games galore for the kids.

Labor Day Fun

We have now experienced the beach in the SOUTHEAST!!! Much warmer than the Northeast I might add! It was a nice, windy day. The waves were huge, to Dylan's delight!!! He could have jumped waves all day long!!! We flew a kite and watched the kite surfers- something I must try before I die. However, the kids eventually got sick of the sand and salt in the mouths.
I made Corbin a little seat in the sand and tried my hardest to create a "sand free" zone for him. As you can guess it didn't last long. He actually ended up falling asleep- it must have been an awesome seat!! What a little trouper.

Ashlyn LOVED the sand. I dug her out a little seat and she enjoyed it until it fell apart.

I also got turned into a Mermaid- just the way I hoped to be! Didn't they do a great job?
Hope you had a great Labor Day too!!

Funny words

I saw this on friends blog and wondered what Ashlyn and Dylan would say. The first answer is Dylan's and the second is Ashlyn's. Be ware, some don't make much sense.

1. What is something that mom always says to you? "Make Breakfast", "love you"
2. What makes mom happy? "When I be nice", "french fries"
3. What makes mom sad? "When I be mean", "Pee"
4. How does your mom make you laugh? "Make funny faces", "me laugh"
5. What was your mom like as a child? "A nice kid", "bad girl"
6. How old is your mom? "26", "2 months"
7. How tall is your mom? "26", "big"
8. What is her favorite thing to do? "Play with kids",
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "Read Scriptures", "scriptures"
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "Being nice", "scriptures"
11. What is your mom really good at? "Getting breakfast",
12. What is your mom not so good at? "Getting Dressed",
13. What does your mom do for her job? "Go to the store", "Get crackers"
14. What is your mom's favorite food? "Pizza", "breakfast"
15. What makes your mom proud? "Being so nice", "read books"
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "Dora", "mickey mouse"
17. What do you and your mom do together? "Play", "dance"
18. How are you and your mom the same? "Like to play", "yellow"
19. How are you and your mom different? "Eyes",
20. How do you know your mom loves you? "Because she's nice",

As you can see I must talk a lot about being nice and reading my scriptures. I guess those are two great things to pass on! They also must have breakfast on their minds and I don't dress well. I want to see your kids responses on your blogs.

Things to be Remembered

Now that we have been here a whole month I can really post this...

Things I miss about Cleveland...
The fire flies~ Thunderstorms- the crazy lightening ones that come with the wall of rain and water~ Having family so near- Cami and Nate!!!~ I miss Cami's laid back character and her joy in serving others~ I miss talking to her about everything~ I miss how Nate IS the Party!~ My kids best friends- Reuben and Evee~ My amazing friend- Kristen~ I miss asking her where she got all her amazing and cute stuff~ I miss watching her make something new and creative. I miss my best Visting Teacher ever who took care of me the million time we were sick~ The spray park- It was ALMOST a break~ Going to Coulby park to play tennis, play at the park, or swim in the awesome pool~ My very entertaining neighbor Sheri who was always willing to help me by watching my monitor, my kids and letting me borrow item after item~ I miss having a neighbor on the city counsel who knew everything that was going on~ Taking a walk around the block just because Ashlyn wanted to~ Watching Dylan learn to ride his bike up and down the street~ Visiting the Kirtland sites whenever we wanted~ Connor having enough flexibility to work from home if needed~ My basement where I could store everything and anything~ Trading kids randomly with Kristen and Cami~ Calling Kristen or Cami when we really needed someone to play with~ My green yard to play on barefoot~ Being able to walk to the pool, park and library~ Watching the golfers out my back window~ My big dishwasher~ My flat drive way~ Having Simeon over to run with Dylan (I am surprised the carpet didn't get worn to threads by the many laps they ran)~ Playing in Cami's backyard~ Having a lawn worth mowing~ Watching Sofia love Connor more than me~ Free time and playground world~ Being able to go sledding 250 days out of the year~ My cozy neighborhood where I knew the mail lady by name~ Sitting on my front steps watching my kids play~ Watching Sheri and her kids drive up knowing they would come straight over to talk to us~ Cleveland Metro parks- seeing all the wild life~ American Hot Rod store- where Dylan could race his remote control car~ All my new friends from the Kirtland play~ All the many wonderful people in our ward who loved us even when they knew it would only be for a year.

So with all the things I complained about in Cleveland there really were so many wonderful things about it all. And most of all I miss all the friends we made that we hope to one day see again. I know I complain about moving so much, but I have been blessed to meet some of the most amazing people in the world that I can now call my friends! I am hoping to have the biggest collection of Christmas cards on the planet by the time we settle down and plant some real roots!

Many have been asking for a look at our new place, so here it is:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Potty Training Cobin?

Since Potty training is fresh on my mind I thought I might as well go ahead and potty train Corbin. I don't think he is too young and I really think he can do it!

Yep...you all thought I was crazy there for a minute. It seems that my bumbo should get the credit for any potty training. Literally- at least half the times Corbin sits in his bumbo, he has a MASSIVE blowout, dripping all over me and the floor. Not to mention the puddle in the bumbo! I rarely change any more blow outs away from home, thanks to the bumbo! There have been multiple time I carry the entire bumbo (which goes completely against the bumbo warning) to the bath tub, baby and all. Lucky for me bumbo makes a toddler potty seat as well! So we will just upgrade as we go!
So to all the bumbo fans- we can add just another good reason to have one!

Raleigh in Three Weeks

We have only been here three weeks, and yet it feels like much longer. Thankfully we have a great ward and Southerners are very nice (granted I can barely understand those that have a real thick drawl.)
A lady a few blocks away took us to this very cute park downtown. Each ride was $1
Here is Ashlyn on the boat ride

Here is our new friend, Grayson (who's dad is the local weather man) and the kids on the train

And finally the carousel

Grayson and his mom also took us the the science museum- we could have stayed forever!
I was also able to catch up with our good friends, the Coxs. They were in our ward in Holladay. It has finally paid off to have moved so much. We are getting back some of our friends! Ashlyn fell right in love with Kendy!

We also took the kids bowling as our "family time with no boxes." It was Ashlyn's debut as a bowler. She loved it.

Luckily, I met a woman in our ward who recently moved in as well. So we both need a friend. She has a pool at her town house and we have been spending all of our "feels like over 100 degree" days there. This humidity is tiring! But it will be worth it this winter!
I am also loving:
1.my flat surfaced stove top with a large microwave and fan above
2.no more squeaky doors and floors right by the babies room
3.a running/bike trail a few blocks away (Dylan is in heaven and I don't have to worry about cars
4.the washer and dryer in my eat in kitchen, making multi tasking perfect
5. my BJ's (wholesale club) membership happened to transfer and they even have BJ's gas!
6.more than one bathroom (so Dylan doesn't have to pee at the same time as Ashlyn when he is dying to go) But then I have to clean them!
7.almost every store I need is with in a 5 mile radius (this actually could be bad)
8.my master bedroom, closet and bathroom! what a treat.

A few strange things:
1.most neighborhoods only have a side walk on one side of the street
2.basements are rare, and you are really lucky to even have a garage, let alone a two car garage!
3.real grass is even more rare
4.preschool costs almost triple what it did in Cleveland
5.all pools are for either members (paying a $600 fee) or for the public with punch cards. There is no such thing a season pass

Best Vacation

This is very overdue. At the beginning of July we got some very special visitors. It was the most wonderful week of the summer! It was like having a vacation without the headache of travel, suitcases and changing time zones! We slept in our own beds and still had a mild version of our normal schedule! I guess I should tell you who these visitors were-

Connor's parents and his sister Jenny and her 5 kids. We are so thankful that they think we were worth their three day drive on each end of their trip from Utah. They came to the play, they watched our kids during some practices, we saw a few of the kirtland sites that we hadn't seen yet, went to the salt-less beach for the last time and plain had a party for a whole week!

So thank you to Nini and Poger for putting up with all of us for so long and still being the responsible ones who took care of the rest of us. And thank you to Jenny and her kids for taking a break from their lives to come see us! Thank you to Whitney who put up with us and entertained my kids. We love you!

We've RELOCATED!!

We finally got Internet and so I am back on the Blogging map! We are doing well, though we realize how much we hate to move(7 times in 6 years!) So here is my tribute to our latest move:

[Isn't it sad when people start to ask you for moving advice?- I really have]

Great Moving Tips:
1.Disconnect and connect ALL utilities in advance (this includes gas- so you can have hot water!) Try to schedule cable and Internet guy to come in the same 4 hour window!
2.Cook and freeze at least three extra meals. Store them in old pie tins, you can then heat them up when EVERYTHING is packed.
3. Give your kids markers/crayons on packing day and also unpacking day, so they can draw on everything they see!! (well, minus the walls)
4. Start studying for your drivers exam- each state has it's "unique" rules (or can I just say stupid).
5. Prepare your families names and birth dates for the ward clerk- addresses and old ward/stake is even more helpful! I might as well make a document on my computer and then I can just print one off each move.
6. Start making a list of all the address changes you will have to make.

Let me know if you have any to add- I am sure I will need them


You Know You Move Too Much When:
1. Your child starts to make friends with the movers..
2. As you unpack you find two different sets of number tags on them (from different moves), or they are written on and crossed out so many times you don't know what is really in them.
3. You Know the moving process so well you could be a mover, or you feel you could do it better (except that you wouldn't if you did.)
4. Your friends are tired of erasing/ crossing out your address in their address book.
5. You really do "spring cleaning"! You literally do an "inventory" of all your belongings yearly.
6. You start not to care what your driver's license picture looks like cause it will change soon enough, and you hope you remember what you read from studying for last year's driver's exam!
7. You have a collection of license plates.
8. Your parents now see more of the United States than they would have.

All the fun we have had:
They wouldn't let me get my license cause my middle name on my Ohio licence and my SS card did not match. So they thought producing a marriage license would solve it all!?!?
Connor failed his first driver's exam- due to the three kids we toted to the DMV and the silly NC laws we didn't get familiar with before attempting the exam.
Waiting for the cable guy three times (each with a four hour window!)
Dylan is serious candy to these mosquitoes -10 minutes outside and he is COVERED in bites.
Can I say HOT and HUMID!!!!!
Connor's main complaint at work from the plant employees is that they are out of popcorn in the employee break room.
I have been asked three times in one week "have you found a church?"
I have been called "sweetypie", "baby", and "honey" all by complete strangers.
Ashlyn cries about wanting to go to Cami and Kristen's house.
Dylan will take just about any friend right now- old or young.
I have already found a handful of connections in our ward (one plus of moving).
Cockroaches!!!
Dylan and Ashlyn fighting about what to listen to at bed time (they are new roommates!!)
It has taken us two weeks to find the pool.

All and all- we are settling in and starting to figure Raleigh out. The people are so nice here. However, No one will ever replace those we have left behind!

Summer Nights

I have come to feel a little jipped. I have been excited to move all winter long and now that summer has FINALLY come, it isn't so bad (granted there are only three months out of the year here that are warm.) We have enjoyed fun family activities -well, the very few moments we are not working on the play that is.

Dylan played on a T-ball team. He loved every minute of it! He was one of two kids who could throw the ball from the pitchers mound to first! We are such proud parents, can you tell?? He was sad when it all eneded because it made him feel so big and he called them "my team." Connor and I have also been playing on a softball team so he really enjoyed having his own feild time! My favorite part was when he would run into home and pass by us giving us all high fives, and always seeming to leave Ashlyn hanging. Luckily, she is patient and would hang out until he finally heard us and came back.

Dylan also took swimming lessons. The first day was rough, but then he went to town. After he got his cool, shark googles, there was nothing that could stop him! He is my little fish. He really believes that he can swim all by himself (making me happy that he is so confident, but scared because I don't know if that is REALLY true.) Ashlyn has even ventured off the stairs, and would rather swim and jump in deaper water. We spend all the time we can at the pool before we have to leave. Everyone looks at me like I am crazy coming to the pool with three little kids on my own, but how else do you do it?!

Here is our last hurrah to Cleveland. We will miss the sunny days!

Opening Night

This week we opened the play This is Kirtland. We had a successful first two shows. Now we just have 6 more shows. Here is Connor singing Dear Emma. I have heard from many that he plays a wonderful Joseph (as myself- but I am biased.) He was worried about following Nate as Joseph from last year as everyone thought he was amazing. I can't tell you how cute he looks in all of his makeup! Good thing I am the one who gets to steal kisses between scenes (Shh, don't tell Emma!)

I play Julia Murdock, the woman who died giving birth to twins who were then given to Joseph and Emma. This song is the only scene I am prego in, so there are a few jokes about it:
After the opening scene I "go get pregnant"
I have a very short pregnancy
Didn't I just do this?
I am very pregnant but have a 5 month old too!
Wide load coming!
I die and come back to life (I am in a few more scenes after my prego scene- unprego)
I have two husbands, both who are younger than me!
I am a mistress to Joseph

Here are the kids at just ONE of the many practices they attended. Ashlyn who wishes she was up there dancing right along with us.

Here is a sideshow of all the fun and crazy moments of our experience. This has been a very hard time for us, but rewarding spiritually. We have learned so much about Joseph and these Saints. We have had many spiritual experiences and we have made so many wonderful friendships! This really is an amazing show written and directed by our close friends. I am so impressed with the concentrated talent in this area- all for a great purpose! We are so excited to share this with our friends and neighbors.