Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

We've had a ton of fun with all the snow and school cancellations. I have a love/hate relationship with the snow. I love how beautiful it is, but I also hate how cold it is. So, I comprimise and stay inside and watch the snow. The kids, on the other hand have to touch it, roll it, play in it and eat it. I was forced to go outside and play, but it was fun. We had a snow ball fight and I totally won. I was the only one left not crying. Oh, wait, does that mean I lost? Oh, well!

No mercy for Mom.

A little dazed and confused from a snowball to the face. I fight dirty.

Raechel, we're supposed to be in a snowball fight and you're making art on the car. Sheesh!"Hmmm, yeah, tastes like a good snowball."

"Check out my cool boots, Mom!"

Eli just had to check out those boots and make sure they worked.

Raechel ended the day with a direct hit.

Time for hot chocolate!

Happy Birthday, Eli!

I can't believe my little boy is now three. We actually celebrated his birthday this year. He is going to need so much therapy when gets older and finds out that this was technically his first birthday. That's called 'fuzzy' math. We decided to have a friend party and invited some little boys that Eli calls his best friends.We had a Nemo party and I made cupcakes and put fish candles on them.Where's the cake? There's no party without cake.Yummy juice!

Note to self: Shark bowls freak out kids 3 and under.

We found the perfect card for Eli.Raechel gave him a pack of gum. Of course, he ate them right them away. What do they say about staying in your belly eight years and something.... oh well!Eli's thinking, "I got my best friends; I got my gum; I'm good." Happy Birthday, Little Man!

A Life Lesson

Everything Has a Purpose...

It all started last week when I had to run to the store and purchase some items for Young Womens that night. If any of you know me, I hate going to the store with all my children. I'd rather poke daggers in my eyes. Truly. But, there I was at Fred Meyers and I was about to get the little one out of the car when I realized that I left my purse at home. Of course, I was frustrated and annoyed, but when I got home.... then I realized that I had left brownies in the oven and they would have been completely burned if I hadn't have come home right then.

I started telling myself that everything must have a purpose. If I didn't come home, I'd have a smoky house and burnt brownies. The motto has worked pretty well. Let me tell you how I applied it to the next situation:

See the broken glass.

See the ball.
See how the ball hit the glass and made it broken.
Don't see how Mom got mad and spanked the little child who was holding the ball and who she thought hit the glass. (Mom apologized to that little child and he said, 'Ok, Mommy." Thank you, little forgiving little child. Mommy was so sorry!)

So here's where the motto fits in:

Everything has a purpose.

The purpose in breaking the glass was so that a big child could blame a little child and mommy would find out and give the big child a huge object lesson on being honorable and having integrity.

Life lesson learned.

Why do they have to be so painful and so expensive?

These Truths We Hold Self-Evident...

Veteran's Day

To all members of the United States Military currently serving and to the ones who have honorably served--the Corey family honors you. We love freedom. We love the constitution We love this great nation. We love saying the pledge of allegiance with our hands on our hearts; remembering the many great men who died to keep that flag flying. We love waking every morning to pray to God in whatever way we wish. We love going to school and seeing so many of our friends and all the differences we have. We love having the right to choose.

Thank you, for helping us keep that right. Thank you, for defending our great nation and the truths that we hold dear. Thank you, for defending the philosophy that everyone is entitled to 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' May God bless you and your families and may you prosper in this ever great nation. God bless America!

Our Daddy's Special Day

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Check out my birthday cake. It's mine, no one can have it.

I'm 27? Really? Wow, I must be getting old, because I can't remember how old I'm supposed to be.

The truth comes out.

Don't you just love his Ding-Dong cake?

Halloween Fun

Off to Treak or Treat...

What a great weekend we had! We started our Halloween fun off in Gig Harbor with Grandpa and Grandma Corey and Steven's brother, Tracy, and his niece, Macey. We went up and down the waterfront to every shop that was giving out candy. Eli just had to have cider, but he couldn't even drink it for 10 minutes; it was so hot.Look at this bunch of scaries.Off to the party...

Our ward had a halloween party and our kids got more loaded up on candy.

No matter what Raechel does, she just can't be scary.But, Ethan can! Whoa, watch out!

Off home...

It's time to light the pumpkins and give out candy. Who's that witch? Oh, it's Mom and she's not even wearing a costume. I like to go as myself for Halloween.A fun evening with a fun bunchDaddy looked great in his security outfit. Don't Shoot!

Watch out pumpkins!

Leader of the Pack

Now that Ethan is eight years old, he is a cub scout. We had the privilege of attending his first pack meeting last night. I totally understand Ethan now. Seeing all those boys there last night, now I know that I'm not going crazy. There were seven other boys there EXACTLY like Ethan. For some reason, this gives me hope. I can keep going now. I'm not the only mother in the world with a crazy son. They're ALL crazy!

They are studying books this month and had a relay to see who could return all the books the fastest. Ethan's group lost twice, but it was sure fun.

The pack leader told some spooky stories and then they had to write their own spooky story.Ethan was pretty proud of his.We all shook in our seats while they all told their scary stories.

The Corey Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Fun

We had a lot of fun carving pumpkins this year. The kids were totally grossed out by pumpkin guts, but I think all their creations turned out very imaginative.

Kaela is taking a little too much pleasure in slicing open the pumpkin.

Not quite what she expected.Look, Mom, I just decapitated my pumpkin.Ethan tried and tried and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get all the stringy stuff out. I found out later that he cut his opening too small and at such a sharp angle that even I could barely fit my hand through there.

Why couldn't the jack 'o lantern cross the kitchen? Becuase he didn't have any guts; Raechel took them.

Here's our happy little crew.

Raking the Leaves

The kids and I had a great time raking leaves yesterday. For the last three days, Ethan has been going outside diligently and making his leaf pile higher and higher. Yesterday, he deemed that his pile was 'perfect.' So, we had some fun. Make sure you turn off the playlist before you view the video and make sure you have some time to laugh!

Kaela is the queen of the leaf pile.

I wouldn't mess with these rakers.
Ready to go?

Raechel's Washington Memorial

God Bless America!
Raechel gets to do a lot a creative projects because she is homeschooled. This clay sculpture is part of her Art Unit on Sculpture. She was required to make a memorial to George Washington; who happens to be a great hero of hers. Her only disappointment was that she could only fit eight stars and seven stripes. I love the cherry tree and she inscribed President Washington in the ring around the tree. By the way, the yellow dots are lights. Great job, my little patriot.

Eli Reading?

We had fun today. Eli will do anything his big sister does--anything. He cozied right up to her and 'read' his book, too.

Cookie Crazy

My sister had gotten one of the those new fancy Kitchen-aids and she gave me her old mixer that she won for free in a contest. Kaela has been going crazy on it. We've had cookies all week. Way to go, Kaela; way to grow, hips! I caught them the other day making a huge mess and it was just too cute not to get pictures of.

"Here, Mom, you want some?"

"Fooled you, It's mine!"
He's the funniest little boy. The question I have is how did he manage to get a perfect handprint on his shirt. I guess some things will always remain a mystery.

Cultural Arts Display

I had the great opportunity to showcase songs from the Bee stories I've been writing for years. I'm going to post a snip of the mini-concert. I went first and then had a little display for people to look at that had the stories and some pictures. I had a great time and just loved sharing my creations with people; who seemed to enjoy them as well.