Sam's Favorite Spot

Every time I open the dishwasher, Sam comes running. He loves to take out the bottom basket and get in. It is okay if the dishwasher is empty, but a few times he hasn't let me get the dishes out and I end up running to grab dishes from hitting the floor. Why does he like this? We have tons of toys to play with and tents to hide in. What is so thrilling about the dishwasher?

My Little Pumpkins!

Sam carried his little pumpkin around the whole time and then carried it around the back yard at home. Thank goodness he didn't pick a big pumpkin.

Walk the Plank!

Tyler's Pirate Pary was great fun. We had buried treasure, a pirate ship cake, and sack races that left us rolling with laughter. Hopefully Jennifer will post some video on her blog.

"Mom, Sam has my underwear!"

Last weekend we had to round up some of the cows to take to the sale barn. While Wil was hooking up to the cattle trailer the kids and I decided to get started on getting the cows in the pens. We herd our cows with suburbans, not horses, so all the kids were in the back and of course since we are not on the pavement, nobody is wearing a seatbelt. We get all but two of the cows in the pens by calling them and shaking a piece of paper, which to them apparently sounds like a sack of cubes. When we go back to get the other two cows it becomes apparent that they are going to go into the pen nicely, so I tell the kids to sit down and hold on. Of course Sam doesn't understand what hold on means, so in my effort to herd the cows he gets thrown into the floorboard a lot. Anyway, we have been chasing these cows around the field for awhile now and I am getting a little annoyed. I am in serious "you will go into the pen" mode and then I hear Hannah laughing hysterically and Sam falling onto the floor yet again, and Morgan crying "Mom, Sam has my underwear." I turn around to A) check on Sam, and B) to see if Morgan is naked and ask her why she has taken off her clothes. It turns out that Morgan was fully dressed and a pair of underwear had been in the leg of her pants and worked themselves out and Sam had snatched them. Of course Morgan is mortified that her brother has her underwear and Hannah and Sam think it is hilarious and our laughing only makes him squeal louder and run with the underwear. We have chased cows hundreds of times and have lots of strange things happen, but this was the first time anyone lost their underwear.

The Thrill Is Gone

Okay, so the excitement of the new school clothes, new backpack and lunch box, and storytime has ended. Morgan did fine the first day of school, the second day she cried a little twice, yesterday she cried again, and today she ran screaming out of the classroom after me when I tried to leave. So I told her I would stay and help her get her breakfast tray and then I was leaving. Fifteen minutes later I am still there and realizing that this is not going to end well. I decided to just do it fast, like a band-aid. I told her I was leaving and kissed her goodbye. I started walking out and she starting following, so I walked faster and looked over my shoulder to see the teacher wrestling a kicking, screaming Morgan. I felt bad for Morgan. I felt bad for the teacher. I hope tomorrow is better.

First Day of School

Morgan on her first day of Kindergarden. She was very brave and excited and surprisingly she didn't cry or fuss once. She is growing up so fast.

Hannah at her new campus before her first day of second grade. She is so independent and didn't need me at all.

Help Yourself Sam!

Yesterday the girls had a dental checkup and after their cleaning they get to pick out a balloon. While I was speaking with the dentist the hygienist told Sam he could pick a balloon out too. I turned to see what he picked and could barely find him in the balloon mass. They were so tangled that I was never going to get them apart, so we got to take them all home.

PaPa and Jack

Steph, this is for you. I finally found it.

Last Day of School!

Hannah had her last day of 1st grade today. She made all A's all year long and got a trophy for it. Her Daddy told her if she got all A's every year until she was 16 he would buy her a convertible. Talk about motivation. We think she can do it.

Watch Out Hannah & Morgan!

Baby brother Sam started taking steps last night. He has taken 3 steps several times and I am betting in a month he will be chasing his sisters everywhere. He also started waving bye-bye last week. It seems like he is learning something new everyday. Now if I could just get him to learn to eat without making a complete mess, I would be ecstatic.

Some Easter Pics

The kids with their baskets.

The girls with their eggs.

We managed to keep Tyler and Sam out of the kitchen

during the dying of the eggs, so the mess wasn't too bad.

We did end up with several dyed fingers.

Easter Bunny 2009

So, I convinced Wil to go to the mall with me to get the kids picture taken with the Easter Bunny. We waited in line for an hour and a half, and thankfully Morgan didn't balk when it was our turn.

Down we go!

Hannah and Morgan took Sam for his first time down the slide last weekend at the Ranch. He loved it. I can't wait until he is old enough to climb up the ladder and slide down all by himself.

Thanks HaHa, DeDe, Ryan, Jack, & Callie

The kids got their Easter Surprise in the mail today. They all loved it. Thanks.

A Turkey's Job

Yesterday after work Hailey and Tyler went for a drive with me to check Papa's cows and the grass. Here is part of our conversation:

Lizz: Guess what I saw this morning?
Hailey: What?
Lizz: A turkey, on the way to work.
Hailey: Where does the turkey work?

In retrospect, she was exactly right to ask. I should have said I saw the turkey when I was driving to work. After I explained this here is the rest of the conversation:

Hailey: I have never seen a turkey.
Lizz: Sure you have, it is a big bird. We eat them for Thanksgiving.
Hailey: I don't like us to eat turkeys. We should not kill them. They say cock-a-doodle-doo and wake us up in the morning. We shouldn't eat them, it's not nice.

Crazy Hat Day!

Hannah's school is celebrating Dr. Seuss Week and Wednesday was Crazy Hat Day to celebrate The Cat In The Hat. After trying on several hats and realizing that all their heads have grown we finally found a hat for each of them.

We're in trouble now

I was busy working when I heard the rustling of plastic. I looked over at Sam and saw that he was helping himself to everything under the bassinet. In the last few days he has become very mobile and we are totally not prepared for that. The office expansion needs to get done soon, so I can have some room for a Sam Corral.

Pic of Sam

Here is my baby at 6 months. He is cuter every day.

100 Days of School

Hannah had her 100th day of school yesterday. She got a crown and treat bag for having perfect attendance the entire 100 days. They did a 100 day workbook about all things 100, what would you buy with 100 pennies (not much these days), draw a picture of how you will look at 100 years old, and if you could travel 100 miles where would you go. Hannah picked to go to California "because my cousins live there". So Ryan, Jack, Callie, and she did include Ha Ha and De De, feel special you were chosen. I was impressed that she almost spelled cousins correctly, but suspect she may have had help. When we explained that 100 miles would not get her very far out of San Antonio, she was not as excited about the prospects.

Sam is 6 months!

Sam turned 6 months on February 1st. He has two teeth on the bottom and is working on one on the top. He gets up on all fours and rocks and then frog jumps. He can follow me around the house in the walker and is pretty good about manuvering it to avoid hitting the walls or getting stuck. The other day I had gone in the pantry and he can behind me and shut the door. The light switch is in the door, so I was in the dark with him blocking the door outside. Wil had to rescue me, but we all got quite a laugh about it.