Corbin's very sweet preschool class took a field trip to a fellow classmate's farm. It was a gorgeous day! The kiddos sampled all kinds of vegetables from the garden, they planted their very own flowers in Easter cups, ate pizza, chased each other, and managed to sit still for a few photos. It's much like herding cats when trying to coax 3 and 4 year olds into a photo shoot. The next day Corbin and I hopped into Granddaddy and Mema's SUV and drove all the way to Maryland. He was such a great little car companion. He didn't complain at all when we hit stand-still traffic a few times on 95. I sure did though. That drive isn't particularly hard, but it always seems to be packed with vehicles. We arrived at aunt Kelly and uncle Kevin's cute new house at around 7:30 p.m. We were just in time for some grilled tuna and wasabi. Delicious! We told Corbin the tuna was chicken and he ate it. ha ha ha

Kelly had such a fun weekend planned for us. It was really nice to not be the person setting the schedule (as I'm always tasked with that at home). We went to the zoo on Friday and despite the crowds (Easter and spring break kids), we had a great visit. Corbin seemed to be a little tired. He was mostly interested in viewing the big cats. This is a shot of him looking at the tiger.

He knows his way around the city ;) Little man likes to push the crosswalk signal button and he showed us just what a responsible boy he can be when he crossed without holding an adult's hand. The long walk back to the car was just what he needed to solidify a post-zoo nap in the car.

That evening he dyed eggs with Kelly and then Kevin, Kelly, Corbin, and I decorated them. Corbin told a "joke" and was really cracking himself up about it. He decorated an egg and then would hide it behind his back exclaiming, "Look! I have hidden the knight-in-shining-egg!" It's neat to see his sense of humor develop. Until I became a parent, I never thought about how humor develops. Right now Corbin is moving out of what I call the slapstick phase (where all it takes is Daddy pretending to fall down to elicit riotous laughter) and into basic jokes. I asked him what sound a dinosaur makes when he's sleeping. The punchline is: dino-snore. And he thinks it's hilarious. I also asked him where Chili Cat buys groceries. To which I reply: "the fresh meow-ket." I'll be here all night.... Anyway, laughing is a big deal to me. So, it's pretty awesome that my son is a goof ball.

I was so proud of Matt earlier this year when he made a tough and wise decision to sell his Ducati to tuck the proceeds away in case the massive medical bills actually panned out to be things we were going to have to face.
We had done the fundraising and had been saving for about two years ourselves and thus were prepared, but when the infection struck and we were looking at a second surgery, M sold his bike. Now that we've made it through the proverbial "woods" and Tricare actually pulled through on the second surgery, we owe nothing. And my man was able to re-gift a motorcycle to himself. I'm glad because he deserves it. 14+ deployments to combat zones should be sufficient for a little self indulgence. He found a steal of a deal from a guy in Fayetteville. So, today we enjoyed a Harley ride together. I was shocked when Matt started talking about buying a used Harley (as he had fully indoctrinated me to the Ducati allegiance) ;)
Today was a gorgeous February day- blue sky, puffy white clouds, bright sunshine, and a slight wind.



Today ranks as one of the best Sundays in recent history.
Corbin woke up at about 6:20 and I got up with him. We ate breakfast, drank coffee (he has chocolate milk in a mug), and then we tackled some laundry. I played Legos with him, and started slow cooking a chicken tortilla soup for lunch. Then when Matt woke up, we all three went outside to play with Corbin's high-bouncing bouncy ball. He thinks it's hilarious to chase after it into the cul de sac. We watered all our container plants outside, and Matt purged all sorts of junk from the garage. I LOVED it! His truck bed is full of junk to be hauled off. Josh and Sue came to our house for lunch. We ate on the placemats that I sewed with my new-found sewing skills. Ha ha. Okay, they aren't skills quite yet. I have fun though! I made a pillow today too with scraps. Next I am going to make curtains for the dining room. Josh and Sue were kind enough to watch Corbin for 45 minutes while we rode the motorcycle.
After the ride, I worked on lesson plans while everybody chatted and played Legos. After the grandparents left, the three of us went for a nice jaunt around the neighborhood. Matt and Corbo rode bikes and I walked. We traveled on the golf cart path along the golf course. SO nice not to contend with traffic. We stopped by Lisa and Todd's to see their adorable new baby. Corbin did a great job riding tonight. He still won't attempt it without training wheels though. He says, "when I'm an adult, I will get rid of my training wheels."
One totally cute thing C said tonight at the dinner table: "Mama, I have a song in my brain."
Me: "What song?"
Corbin: (in perfect tune) "Life is a highway....I wanna ride it all night long."
Then I said, "Oh. Mannnnn. How do we get it out of your brain?"
Corbin: "I don't know cause I have skin over my brain."
So cute and silly. I love him very much!!!

Typical day

Inspired by Jennifer Kirby's blog post, I am going to attempt recalling our play-by-play today.

6:55 a.m. Matt's obnoxious alarm (a fire horn or something ridiculous) jolts me awake.
We hold hands for a minute. I rub his arm. He looks like he's asleep again.

7:00 a.m. we both get up and get going.

7:05 I walk over to Corbin's side of the house. He is stalking the hall headed to his bathroom warning me that he needs privacy. ha ha

7:08 I talk C into removing his heavy pull up (too much agua last night) and discarding it into the trash

7:10 Matt heads out the door for work. I take my thyroid meds. Look at the clock. Have to wait thirty minutes before I can eat

7:15 Corbin, Chili Cat, and his blue blanket wait at the breakfast table for orange juice, toast, strawberries, and cereal (his usual)

7:40 I have some yogurt, fruit, coffee, and toast

7:55 Chase C around the house with various articles of clothing. He is pretending to be Darth Vader and is in NO hurry to go to preschool.

8:05 We're in the garage with my school bag, one lunch box, one backpack, one stuffed animal, one show-and-tell toy, and one purse in tow. I can't find the keys. Go back into the house. Find them in the bathroom (?). We load up and head to O'Neal.

8:25 Walk out of C's classroom and head to the upper school where I make photocopies, chat with colleagues, answer emails, text with my mother-in-law, make flash cards, and download an instructional video for the kids to make papel picado.

10:15 My first class starts. I forget to drink any water in the 45 minutes I teach. Feel parched.
Run to the water fountain between classes with a dixie cup.

12:45 classes end and I scarf down an orange, an apple, a power bar, and a small twix (bad girl)
Fire off a few emails, grade some quizzes and at 1:15 I'm walking over to pick up Corbin

1:30 we finally get buckled in our seats (we stop to look at flowers, rocks, mulch, and sand on the way to the car)

2:00 we're home. We read two stories, and I rub C's back til he falls asleep in my bed. At 2:30 Matt comes home (NOT typical!) and finds me dozing off in the bed next to Corbin.

I get up, go to the UPS store for an errand and the grocery store.
4:00 I'm back, I put all the groceries away. C is STILL sleeping!!!
Matt is doing Computer Science homework and I decide to squeeze in a run before dinner.
I slog through thirty minutes in the neighborhood (it was a sluggish thyroid day), but I'm SO happy to be stroller free.
5:05 our son is just having a little party in our bed under all the covers. So cute. I call him a sleepy head and then take a shower. First one of the day. I'm a dirty bird.

5:45 Matt proclaims he will go on a jog in the hood before dinner. He falls asleep instead.
C and I eat veggie burgers and sweet potato fries while Matt naps. It's be a loooong two weeks at work for him

7:00 Corbin and I are having a dance party to some Gwen Stefani and we decide to eat ice cream. He's as much a fan of Ben and Jerry ;) Matt wakes from his nap. We give him his birthday present because Corbin spoiled the surprise and told him.
It's a framed photo of a beautiful sunset, sailboats, and Caribbean water from our recent trip. We hang out for a bit.

8:00 Corbin and I are chasing each other around the house while Matt finishes his school work. Corbin is totally wired given the huge nap he took earlier. He has been sick and congested for about two weeks. We decided awhile ago he can nap whenever he darn well pleases.

8:20 Bath water starts. Corbin quickly builds some "boats" from Legos and drops them into the tub.

9:00 (about 1.5 hours later than usual!) C goes to bed after stories, songs, and prayers. His prayer tonight- "Dear God, thank you for my whole house and Chili, Mommy, Daddy, and Mema and Granddaddy. Keep giving us blessings. Amen."
Short and sweet.

10:40- I normally would be headed to bed, but because C went down so late, I'm now having wind-down time. Glass of red wine, some cheese and crackers and computer

My little budding artist has been busy at his easel lately.

And our coffee maker has been busy too ;) It sure does make a beautiful cappuccino. Nothing like Rome's, but it will do for now...








When I ask Corbin to make funny faces, he does not disappoint.

I finally found attractive, hardy,low-maintenace plants for the front porch: Japanese Holly trees (the skinny kind that are like pencils reaching up to the sky). In other domestic news- I have been cooking all three meals for the past three weeks (with the exception of two nights when I ordered pizza). I've tried lots of new recipes and am feeling good about the economy of it. I'm not a fan of leftovers, so I've been experimenting with portions and reducing recipes too. But one meal that we ate on for three days was so delicious that I didn't mind having it multiple times. My chicken tortilla soup (inspired by my buddy Brook). Yummy.

Oh, hello blog.
Nice to see you.
I have been intentionally ignoring you because I want to do a little more living and a lot less "computering"
That said, it's about time I oblige some family members with an update and photos.

Life is good. Really good.
I was reminded of that tonight as I was in the check-out line at Store X. I went in to buy a few baby shower supplies for Rachel's upcoming shower and noticed one of Corbin's former teachers from his daycare when he was a wee tike. He went there for about a year on a part-time basis and this one particular lady was very kind to him and always chatted with me in the mornings. Said lady was the cashier for me this evening and so, naturally, I asked if she is stilling working at the child development center. To which she replies yes, but that she's working a second job in the evenings for health benefits because the daycare doesn't offer health insurance. Whoah! That blew me away. Seriously?! Not only are they working long hours in a small space with a lot of small,needy people, but they're doing it with NO benefits?! I thanked my lucky stars right then. It is easy to bemoan the little things going wrong or the mundane crap we deal with, but at the end of each day I am SO thankful for a warm home, good food, safety, and health insurance. LIfe is tough. It really is hard for so many people to just survive it. I have a comfortable and lucky existence. Just felt like writing that down. It will be a good reminder on a day when I want to whine.

Corbin has been a love and delight as usual. He has been spending his afternoons playing hide-n-seek with me, riding bikes, painting, building sewer facilities with legos, and cooking in the kitchen with me. Turns out all I have to do is put a little flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl for him to whisk. Yes, he loves a whisk. And he's happy ;)