The Corbin Crew

First Day of School

2010-09-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

So...today finally arrived...the first day of school! Rylie is in 3rd grade this year, Madison is starting Kindergarten and Tait will be in pre-K! Taitlyn doesn't start until next week but the big girls started today! They were too excited to take many pictures but here are a few we got!

Family Day in Seattle

2010-08-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

Last week we took the girls to Seattle for the day and had so much fun! We went to REI (of course because this is daddy's toy store!), Kerry Park, Ballard Locks and Green Lake. It was a beautiful day!

At Kerry Park

Madison making her silly face while Rylie looks at her like she is crazy. And then there is Tait...in her own little world!

I love this one!

Seattle (from Kerry Park)!

If you look really closely you can see Mt. Rainer in the background. In this picture it looks like it is floating above Seattle!

Playing on this spinning thing at Kerry Park. They loved it!

Tait watching the girls get sick on the spinning thing! :)

Another spinning toy!

Madison chilling out!

Rylie and her new glasses!

Daddy & Madison at the Ballard Locks

Tait being silly

Tait trying on Rylie's glasses

And Madison trying on the glasses!

"You're Almost There"

2010-07-28T13:45:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we took a "Ladies Hike" up Pilchuck Mountain! It totally kicked my butt...but it was amazing! I can't remember exactly but I think the elevation was around 5,000 ft and the views were indescribable. Tim has hiked this one several times so I have seen his pictures but now I can totally admit that the pictures do not do it justice!

There were only 4 of us that went and we had such a great time...great converstion, lots of laughter, even some tears, special memories and new friendships! So thankful for what God does in my life including special times like yesterday!

Here we are! I think this is about half-way up although I feel like people said "You're Almost There" knowing they were lying to us! :)

Finally at the top!

I am laughing in the face of this mountain that thought it could conquer us! :)

Kathy...enjoying the fact that it's all downhill from here!

I am Kathy...hear me roar!

This is our dear friend Robin (or Penny Parker!) who is extremely scared of heights...no joke! Unfortunately for her she is also extremely competitive. :) So, when the rest of us decided to go up into the lookout she had to do it too. Then when the rest of us climbed out of the lookout and over to the infamous "rock" she had to too! This is her trying to convince herself to step out of the lookout!

This is her half-way to the "rock"...clinging to everything she can!

She finally made it! It was amazing to watch her conquer her fear...although I'm pretty sure she'll never do it again! :)

Taitlyn's 4th Birthday

2010-07-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

Our baby just turned 4...I know...crazy! Her actual birthday was last week during Sports Camp so we waited until this week to have her party. She wanted a Princess and the Frog party this year at our house! It was lots of fun and the weather turned out to be beautiful! Happy 4th Birthday Tait!

We decorated with lots of inflatable frogs and instead of party hats, we had Mardi Gras masks which you can see on the right side of the table!

Since Princess and the Frog stuff is all purple and green we turned the water in our green pool purple! It looks kind of blue in this picture but it was much more purple in real life.

Lots of fun in the pool!

We turned the sprinkler on under the trampoline for even more fun!

The cake turned out really cute even if they mispelled her name! :( I didn't even notice it either until someone said something!

Getting ready to blow out the candles!

Tait didn't want anyone to sing "Happy Birthday" or even say it out loud. So...we all got creative and did the deaf clap for her instead! Here are all the adults "clapping" for her!

Enjoying her birthday cake

Some of our sweet little friends really enjoying the cake too! So cute!

Gift time!

Miss Strong-willed finally gave in

2010-07-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

Madison is definitely our strongest-willed child and although it absolutely drives me crazy sometime I realize that in life, in the long run, it will probably help her get through many tough times. I always tell Tim that she will probably be our child that does the most for the Lord someday with that determination! Anyway...I have known she was "ready" to ride her bike without training wills for sometime now but trying to get her to believe that was another story! She would try for about 5 minutes and then give up...and there was no convincing her that she should try again! Our neighbor, who she loves, even tried to help one night but no...not the right timing. Anyway...the other night we decided to try it again and for some reason it worked this time! In about 5 minutes she had it down and she hasn't wanted to stop riding since!

Our very proud girl!

Standing next to her "2-wheel" bike

Cama Beach Vaca

2010-07-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

At the end of June we took a short family vacation to Cama Beach. It was so much fun and very relaxing! There are lots of little cabins that sit right on the beach so we could literally watch the girls play from the front porch of our cabin! The first day was a little chilly but after that the weather was beautiful and the girls loved swimming in the water even though it was freezing!

One angle of the inside of the cabin. There was a little room where all 3 girls shared the same bed! They loved it!

Another angle of the inside. This is the kitcen area and then bathroom at the very back.

The row of cabins

Our cabin...number 36!

Madison holding a crab she found...and yes it was already dead!

One night this little seal came and played right outside our cabin. It was so fun to watch!

The girls braving the water for the first time

Madison's "this is cold" face!

Taitlyn braving the water

Rylie's "this is cold" face!

Relaxing afternoon

The girls pretended to be taking a nap! Let me assure it did not actually happen!

There was also a little playground where this boat/sandbox was! It was so cute that I told Tim he needed to build us one at home!

Jumping for Joy

2010-05-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

I have 3 very excited little girls...because of this...

The Corbin family (Grandma & Grandpa, Nanny, Aunt Stephanie & Uncle Steve, and Aunt Natalie & Uncle Bryan) gave the girls a trampoline for their birthdays this year. It has been raining since we got it though and just got to put it up yesterday. It was like Christmas morning this morning! Rylie got up at 6:00 am ready to jump! Thank you guys!!!!!

Fun with Grandma & Grandpa

2010-05-31T09:28:00.001-07:00

Grandma & Grandpa have been here visiting and we have had so much fun! We didn't get pictures of everything we have done but here are a few to share! For some reason it is not letting me move the pictures around so they are all a little out of order but you'll get the idea! :)

We went to the nail salon and had mani's & pedi's.

Rylie getting her nails done.

Taitlyn taking a water break!

Tait getting her nails done

The girls standing in front of their new trampoline!

Daddy & Grandpa putting the finishing touches on it!

The girls were being such big helpers!

And back to nails...this time Madison getting her fingers done.

I had to put this one on here because we don't always get Madison smiling in pictures!

Rylie getting her toes done!

Amarillo by mornin...

2010-05-31T08:44:00.000-07:00

For Spring Break this year we traveled to Amarillo, TX where my parents and grandparents live. We had so much fun and stayed so busy! Here are a few pics of our time there.

There are horses like this all over Amarillo and each one is painted differently. This one is in front of the retirement home where my grandparents live.

We went to a Bounce House place there and had so much fun!

Daddy & Madison flying down the slide

My mom, my Nanaw and my 2 Great Aunts, Poodle & Zanelle

Papa and Tait

Rylie chillin on the swing with Nanaw & Zanelle

I have the greatest Great Aunts ever! They are so fun and we laugh constantly when we are together. They are trying to put a puzzle together with the girls here!

We went to Palo Duro Canyons for a day and had so much fun! This is Rylie in one of the caves.

We hiked up to this cave!

This is a shot of the cave we hiked up to. It is the dark area on the right. To all of our WA friends...yes the dirt really is red like that! :)

Taitlyn playing in the stream and, once again...notice the red dirt and red water!

Rylie playing in the stream

And Madison in the stream!

Palo Duro Canyon Ampitheater. This is one of the first places I ever sang...when I was 4 years old!

More pictures of the landscape...especially for all our WA friends. This is the closest we get to a mountain in Texas. It is more like a small hill! :)

Rylie relaxing with Ben

This is Cadillac Ranch. Basically a very wealthy man decided it would be fun to bury 10 Cadillacs in the ground many years ago. Since then it has become a major tourist stop. You can walk right up to them and spray paint them any way you want.

Madison and Tait inside one of the cars.

All 3 girls with the line of cars behind them

End of the year for some of us

2010-05-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

Madison & Taitlyn had their last day of preschool this past week. Rylie still has a few weeks to go but the little girls are officially beginning their summer break...although with the weather here lately you would never know we are close to summer. Oh well! Madison was in Pre-K this year and had a great year. I am so thankful for her teachers. She has grown so much over the past 2 years with them and I am confident she is ready for big K next year! Taitlyn didn't start out this year going to school. In January we began looking for a preschool for her for next year because the one that Madison has gone to the past 2 years is closing. :( When we finally found one (and I do mean finally...it took a long time) we registered her for next year but they also had one opening for her age group for this year. So, we decided it was the right timing for her too. She was very hesitant at first but ended up absolutely loving it! I am so thankful for her teachers as well. They were the perfect match for her and I know they made the transition into preschool so much easier!

I don't have any pics of Taitlyn's school and she did not want me taking one on the last day. I do have some of Madison though! On her last day, her teachers gave us a cd of pictures they had taken throughout the year. It was so fun getting the pictures and seeing her playing with all her friends and doing projects. I had to share some!

Playing at the Play-Dough table

Getting her foot painted for their penguin project. They turned out SO cute!

Painting her Dinosaur egg :)

In the "reading" center with one of her good friends.

Showing off her kite! They had to make a pattern out of tissue paper. Can you tell Madison is her father's child? Her's is very precise and very structured! :)

Madison with her Scarecrow

With a friend showing off their noodle necklaces

Sitting at the table playing with friends. This picture is huge because this is what they did every day when we dropped them off. Madison was always hesitant to leave us though and never wanted to go sit at the table and play. Her teachers kept telling us that as soon as we left she would so now we have proof!

Making her "leaf person". She ended up making Chester. :)

Sitting outside eating a "birthday cookie" to celebrate one of her friend's birthday!

Watering her grass

Playing in one of the Centers

Eight & Five

2010-03-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

The first few months of the year are always busy for us. Madison's bday is in January, Rylie's bday and my bday are in February, our anniversary is in March and Tim's bday is in April! This year Rylie turned 8 and Madison turned 5! I am also currently filling out Kindergarten enrollment papers for Madison for next year...crazy! Our girls are getting so big and every year I am reminded at how quickly life flies by.

Unfortunately, we didn't get any bday pics this year for me to share. Taitlyn was very sick on the day of Madison's party so Tim had to stay home with her. It was at Chuck-E-Cheese so between all of the friends and party craziness I didn't have an opportunity to take any pictures. I did have a couple of wonderful friends there that took some for me so luckily we do have some hard copy pictures now. I just can't figure out how to pull pictures of snapfish to post here!?!? Anyway...it was so much fun!

Rylie's party this year was crazy. We had it at a local skating rink and unfortunately, learned that they are not the best at party planning. There were 3 parties scheduled at the same time ours was and they only gave us one table for our party...for 20 kids! On top of that, the one table we had only fit about 10 kids. It was very frustrating but I decided not to let it get the best of me and to focus on Rylie and the fun! She and her friends all had a great time but between everything else going on I didn't get any pictures there either! :(

Overall though, both parties were great and our girls are now officially 8, 5 & 3...until July at least!

Christmas 09

2010-03-14T23:20:00.000-07:00

We had a great Christmas this year! Thankfully we didn't have as much snow as we did last year! We had so much fun spending time together as a family and enjoying a little quiet time!

A friend of ours took this picture of the girls!

Christmas Eve...I don't do "matching" very often, if ever, but we do have a Christmas tradition where the girls all get Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve.

More sisterly love! Mommy loves this!

I have to make a note in this picture...Madison always carries Chester around like this! This wasn't just a pose for the picture. He just lets her carry him around like a baby. It is so cute!

Our Santa picture this year! And once again...we didn't disappoint! Madison was so excited about it until it was our turn. The only way we could get her in the picture was for me to get in with her. Yay! (Can you hear my sarcasm?) :)

Halloween 09

2010-03-14T23:13:00.000-07:00

Once again, the girls had a great time dressing up for Halloween this year! I thought I would share some pictures of them in their costumes!

Hike with Daddy to the Ice Caves

2010-03-14T22:47:00.001-07:00

Last September, Daddy took the girls for a day "hike" to the Ice Caves so mommy could have a little "break". They had a great time and, I have to admit that when they got back and I saw the pictures I was a little sad I didn't go...although the quiet time was very nice too!

Rylie took this one!

Madison took this one!

At the Ice Caves

Full shot of the Caves. If you look real close you can see the girls running up to the cave!

I don't know what was up the the poses in this picture but I thought it was cute!

Catching Up

2010-03-14T22:31:00.000-07:00

I know I have been horrible at keeping the blog updated! Life has been running at full speed lately so I have had to sacrifice some of the "little" things like blogging! :) I wanted to add a few new posts of things that have taken place in our lives since my last post. I am going to try to do better at keeping it updated too but I can't make any promises! :)

This was taken at Kayak Point at the end of summer last year. I love this picture because it shows the beauty of where we live and it shows the beauty of sisters! Our girls don't always get along like this but when they do it is absolutely precious. And luckily we are in a "stage" right now where we have more of these moments and less fighting! YAY!!!!

1st Days...

2009-09-10T10:04:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had some more 1st days...Rylie's 1st day of 2nd grade and Madison's 1st day of Pre-K! They both were so excited and both did great! Rylie was a little nervous once we got in the school but she did great! She came home loving it! Madison did great too! Last year we had some major issues with separation anxiety but this year she was such a big girl!

Prayers of Intercession

2009-09-04T10:01:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning, Tim and I received a call from a friend of ours (who also goes to our church), letting us know that her husband and son were in a very serious car accident. We didn't know many details at first, but found out later that their son, Gabe, walked away from the accident with slightly bruised ribs. Her husband, Scott, on the other hand has much more serious injuries. We are thankful that Scott is alive but are asking all of our friends to pray for him and his family during this difficult time. There is a caringbridge site set up for them now where you can get more details on what is going on because the details are constantly changing. Thank you!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/scottgreen/journal

A day with some friends

2009-09-01T00:29:00.000-07:00

We recently went to the Pacific Science Center with some of our great friends! It was a crazy, fun-filled, day with lots of fits thrown in between! It was a pretty crazy day so I didn't get a many pictures but here are a few of the ones I did get...

Rylie & Malia in a giant caterpillar

A bunch of the kids in some kind of shuttle thing (I honestly don't even remember what it was but they loved it!)

Most of the kids in the dinosaur footprint

Outside the Science Center there is a beautiful open area with this fountain in the middle of it. It is beautiful and they have the water "choreographed" to the music that is also playing!

At one point the water shot up in the air so high! It was amazing!

Our new "baby"

2009-09-01T00:16:00.000-07:00

We have a new addition to the family...and it's a boy! The girls have been wanting a puppy for a long time...what little kid doesn't want one! My rule has always been no more pets until everyone in the house was potty trained. So...Taitlyn finally got potty trained. I still wasn't planning on it happening any time soon, but we visited one of our local pet shops one night just for fun and fell in love with this puppy...a 2 month old cockapoo who we named Chester!

August Fun

2009-08-31T22:53:00.000-07:00

We have had a great summer...filled with lots and lots of fun stuff! We started the month off by taking a trip to Idaho to visit Silverwood Amusement Park! It is a great theme park that has both a water park and amusement park. We had so much fun but didn't get a lot of pictures...we were too busy having fun! Here are a few...

Tait is such a big girl now! She insisted on riding all by herself!

If you look closely you can see Madison & Rylie in the blue helicopter.

The giant ferris wheel we waited forever to ride! I have to admit it was scarier than I expected it to be!

This was taken at the very end of the night. Tait was exhausted by this point!

After we got back from Silverwood, Mimi & Papa came into town! We loved getting to see them! The only problem was that while we were at Silverwood a stomach bug started making it's way through our family so the girls were literally sick the entire time Mimi & Papa were here. It was still fun just hanging out with them!

After Mimi & Papa left, the girls and I had a little "girl" time while daddy went on his first overnight hike with Cham. To keep our minds off the fact that daddy was camping in the wilderness with bears, cougars, etc. we made a beautiful rainbow cake! :) It was lots of fun making it and it turned out great. In fact, Tim is incredibly picky about his white cake and this one ended up being one of his very favorites! And get this, the only thing we did (before coloring the batter at least) was add one can of sprite to one box of white cake mix! Who knew!?!?!? I wish I had taken pictures of the process but my hands were a little busy. Here is the end result...

Plain white cake on the outside...

Party on the inside!!!!!

Individual slice

The girls posing with their masterpiece!

Silly picture!

We also set our tent up in the backyard and had some fun girl camping time!

Cassie & Clint

2009-08-31T22:44:00.000-07:00

This year we had lots of incredible volunteers come up to help with Sports Camp. Two of those volunteers, Cassie & Clint, came from Alabama. For those of you who know Brittany Pelfrey...Cassie is her younger sister! Anyway...one night when she was here, she got some really cute pictures of the girls so I wanted to share them! The girls LOVED having Cassie here so hopefully she will get to come back soon! :)

Tater Tot is 3!!!!!

2009-07-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

On July 13th our precious baby Taitlyn turned 3! It was also the day our annual Sports Camp started so needless to say it was a crazy day! We tried very hard to make the day special for her even though there was a ton of other stuff going on. We have a tradition in our family that the "birthday fairy" comes to your room on your Birthday Eve and decorates your door with streamers, balloons, etc. We did get to do that so that helped make the day special. We also had just a little "family" celebration until her "big" birthday party...after Sports Camp!

This year, we had her party with one of her bff's, Addy Boo! Their birthdays are only a few days apart so it was fun to let them celebrate together. We went to Lake Goodwin which is a nearby lake that has a great swimming area for kids. It was all lots of fun!

Daddy!!!!

The Birthday girls!

We couldn't get the candles to light because it was so windy! Cham got creative!

Blowing out the candles with a little help!

Poca

2009-05-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't blogged in a while! There has been so much going on in our life it has been crazy! Hopefully I can give you a brief overview very soon! In the meantime though I wanted to let you know about one of the things that has been happening! We have a very sweet family in our church who are also dear friends of ours who recently lost their foster child due to a very corrupt DSHS system. Our local NBC news affiliate has been covering their story here and they are scheduled to be on The Today Show this coming Thursday morning to tell their story. I have added a link to their blog on my blog (under friends and family blogs) to the right. When you go to their blog, you can click on the news stories and watch them yourself! Thank you so mcuh for all your prayers!

Pretending it's warm...

2009-03-01T21:40:00.000-08:00

Although we have had beautiful weather lately as far as lots of sun goes, it hasn't been very warm lately! We are so anxious to really get outside again and enjoy the weather that last weekend, when it was in the upper 50's, we just decided to get outside and enjoy the "sort of" warm weather! Upper 50's is actually pretty good for us! Anyway...we spent some time at Kayak Point and then went to Lake Goodwin with some good friends of ours. We had lots of fun even if it was a bit chilly!

Rylie is 7!!!!!

2009-03-01T18:14:00.000-08:00

Once again, I am going to say it...I can't believe my "baby" is 7! Every year is amazing but for some reason "7" sounds really old to me! :) Rylie is growing and learning so much these days and becoming an amazing little young lady. She is filled with love and compassion for others and has such a sensitive little heart. Sometimes I truly am humbled when I watch her and realize that God has given us such an amazing little girl to raise. Don't get me wrong...she has her moments...but they are few and far between! So...happy birthday Rylie! We are so proud of the little lady you are becoming!

On the party front...Rylie chose to have a roller skating party this year! She and her friends had such a good time and we even got some of the mommy's and daddy's to skate too! It was a little difficult to get some good "skating" pictures because they were moving and because of the lighting but here are a few pictures from the day!

Rylie's Cake...it was so cute and no...I did not make it! :) I wish I was that talented!

Madison's Birthday...the big 4!!!

2009-03-01T16:19:00.000-08:00

I know I am so late on getting these posted but...better late than never! :) Believe it or not, Madison turned 4 on January 20th! I know I say this every year, with every birthday but I cannot believe she is already 4...although I have to admit that I am glad "3" is behind us! She decided she wanted a "heart" party which turned out great for me because it was right before Valentine's day so we had lots of things to choose from! Here a few pictures from her party...

The birthday girl with some friends!

We had party hats that the kids decorated with heart stickers.

We also played a game where the kids threw heart "pillows" into a heart bucket.

Some of the adults standing around

Rylie!!!!

Madison and her cake!

Here she is waiting while everyone sings "Happy Birthday" to her. She was anxious to get to the candles!

After the cake had been cut!

Opening presents!

Kathy helping Madison get her new skates on!

This is her "it's been a long day" look!

Snowed In - Days 3,4 & 5

2008-12-22T21:21:00.001-08:00

So I haven't done a great job at posting each day with the things that kept us busy...sorry! It is amazing how tired I have been each night though after entertaining 3 little girls who are, once again, stuck at home! We are offically now at about 17-18 inches of snow with more expected over the next 6 days! It is crazy! This is very, very unusual for Seattle but it has been very fun! It is absolutely beautiful right now and, even though we are stuck at home, it has been a nice change from our usual rainy winter! So...here are some of the things we have done over the past 3 days!

**We made scones and had a tea party! Rylie was supposed to have an international potluck at school on Friday where all the students brought in dishes from different countries to taste. We were going to make English scones. Since she didn't have school on Friday we decided to make our scones anyway and have our own little tea party. It was lots of fun! (Rylie had also done Madison's makeup earlier in the day which is why she looks the way she does!) :)

**We made Christmas cupcakes (shaped like stars) and then decorated them. They were actually pretty yummy!

**We actually got out of the house for a couple of hours on Saturday and braved the snowy, icy roads. We realized that if we didn't get out, the girls were not going to have a chance to see Santa so we went with some friends to "Santa's Den". We didn't get any pictures there because you aren't allowed to use your own camera but here are some pictures from our trip there. We had to hurry home so we could get there in time for the next snow storm to move through!

**We opened 1 gift...from Mimi & Papa! We decided to let the girls open 1 of their gifts so that it would give them something new to do! All 3 girls got huge tubs of Crayola products so we have done lots and lots of crafts!

**Rylie did our makeup! As you can imagine...we were all beautiful! The pictures didn't come out very well but...you get the picture!

**And finally...we got more snow! Here are a few pictures to show you where our snow level is now! The first picture is of our mailbox...if the snow gets any higher someone's mail is going to get wet! The last picture is of a fire hydrant right in front of our house. You can barely see it (it is yellow) so look closely!

Snowed In - Day 2

2008-12-18T19:30:00.000-08:00

Today was day 2 of being snowed in with no idea of how many more days it will be before we venture out! The snow finally stopped tonight but it is not supposed to get above freezing until after Christmas which means this snow will probably stay. There is more snow in the forecast for Saturday night/Sunday as well! So...we are getting comfortable and not planning on going anywhere anytime soon! So here is what we did on day 2:

- We watched movies, played games and misc. things around the house. Mommy spent some time overhauling the playroom! We got rid of some old stuff, cleaned up other stuff and organized everything!

- After a lunch of grilled cheese, Taitlyn went down for a nap and daddy headed outside with the big girls! Our snowman had collected some new snow overnight and he now has a big afro or helmet as the girls called it! It was really funny! They also went to sled some more. The snow was so deep that the girls had to trail behind daddy and walk in his footsteps!

Daddy and his girls!

If you look closely you can see the snowman's new "do"!

Madison eating snow...again!

- The rest of the day was pretty restful. The girls watched another Christmas movie, rode their scooters in the house, did puzzles, played games, etc. We made pizzas together for dinner and then watched home videos from the past 2 days. It was another great day!

2008-12-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

Snowed In - Day 1

2008-12-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

Well...it looks like we may be snowed in for a few days! Actually I am just hoping at this point that we get to leave the house sometime before Christmas! We are not good at estimating snowfall but we know we have had a ton today! My guess is about 8 inches already with more to come! Since our vehicles are not real equipped to drive in the snow we figure, at least for now, it is safer to just stay at home! So, in honor of our time at home, I decided to blog about each day...what we did, how it went, etc. So here is today:

- We all went outside to play in the snow about mid-morning. We spent about an 1 1/2 hours just in front of our house playing and making a huge snowman that is taller than Tim! Even though he is huge, we probably didn't use 1/4 of the snow that was in our front yard.

- After the snowman, Taitlyn wanted to go in so she and I headed inside for lunch and a nap while daddy took the big girls down the street to sled. This was the first time Madison actually wanted to do it and she loved it!

On their way home from sledding

After sledding...very wet and very cold!

- After lunch we watched Miracle on 34th Street together and played some games.

- More time to play in the snow! This time they conquered the backyard!

The backyard before the girls got there!

Where's Taitlyn?

There she is!

Madison was going to try to "bury" Rylie in the snow but the snowflakes kept falling in Rylie's face (as you can see in the picture below) so she decided very quickly that it wasn't much fun!

- Before dinner the girls and I made Christmas wreath treats...lots of fun and lots of mess!

Our wreaths had plenty of "berries"!

Don't worry, Taitlyn really did enjoy it...she just didn't want her picture taken!

Then dinner, bath, and off to bed to get lots of rest for another full day in the snow tomorrow!

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

We had our first snow of the year this weekend and it was so much fun! Not only did we have quite a bit of snow (we estimate at least 3-4 inches) but it was very soft and powdery! Usually if we get snow here it is pretty "wet". The big girls had so much fun playing in it. Tait didn't get to play much because she is having trouble with her asthma so staying inside was a much better idea for her! She didn't mind too much though. She's not as crazy about snow as her big sisters are! I will warn you that there are quite a few pictures! :)

Madison playing outside when the snow first started to fall.

Madison's favorite thing to do is not sledding, not making snow angels or even snow men. She just LOVES to eat the snow! Almost every picture we have of her is her eating snow!

Since Madison loves eating it so much we decided to make snow ice cream...something that both Tim and I grew up making (on the rare occasion it snowed!)! It was so yummy!

Taitlyn waiting for her snow ice cream!

The girls playing one last time in the snow before bed. If you look closely, you can tell that they are in their jammies and winter coats!

This is what it looked like Sunday morning when we got up!

The girls getting ready to play. I made them take a picture before they stompped through all the snow!

This was the first year our girls had "official" snow attire! Madison loved the fact that she could even sit in the snow without getting cold or wet!

Our bush/tree right outside our front door. It was beautiful in the snow!

Madison...eating snow...once again!

Daddy helped the girls make a snow couch in the front yard. It was so cool and, as a friend of mine called it, very "white trash"! The girls loved it though! This is Madison and a good friend of hers who came over for a little while to play.

A Hiney Ache?!?!?

2008-11-25T10:02:00.000-08:00

I had to post this hilarious conversation Rylie & Madison had in the car yesterday! Here is how it went:

Madison: "Mommy my head hurts."
Rylie: "That means you have a headache."
Madison: "No it doesn't! I don't have a headache. My head just hurts."
Mommy then explains that that is what a headache means. That if something "aches" it means it hurts.
Rylie: "Yeah, like a headache or a tummy ache or a back ache."
Madison: "Or a hiney ache!"
Rylie: "Um...Madison that is actually called diarrhea!"

I laughed so hard!

Stevens Pass & Lake Wenatchee

2008-11-17T23:02:00.001-08:00

We had a family day this past weekend and took advantage of a beautiful, sunny day! We drove up to Stevens Pass and let the girls play in the snow first. There wasn't much snow yet but they still loved it. I guess it doesn't have to be much to impress 3 little girls from Texas! Then after that, we drove down to Lake Wenatchee. I got to visit this area about a month ago on a Ladies Retreat we had and wanted Tim to see how beautiful it was as well. We all had so much fun and were very thankful for the beautiful day we had to enjoy it all!

View from the road as we began our trip

Starting to see some snow

We are finally there...4061 feet up!

Getting all bundled up!

The girls were playing "Follow the Leader" up to the snow!

Taitlyn laughing at mommy...for some reason!?!?!

Lake Wenatchee...although this picture doesn't do it justice. It is amazing how beautiful it is!

Madison providing a little comedy for us!

Taitlyn was refusing to look at the camera!

More Halloween fun!

2008-11-17T22:12:00.000-08:00

I just realized we had a few more pictures from Halloween that I hadn't posted.

We made caramel apples with Halloween sprinkles! Here is Taitlyn enjoying hers!

Rylie enjoying hers!

Madison enjoying hers!

Carving our pumpkin together

The finished product! We let hte girls draw the facial features. Rylie did the mouth and Madison did the nose which explains why it is huge! She was proud of it though!

The girls with Katie at Rylie's Harvest Party at school.

Taitlyn trying to tell us that her hands are sticky from cotton candy at the Harvest party!

Sweet girls

2008-11-01T21:03:00.001-07:00

I found these random pictures on our computer tonight as I was looking for our Halloween pics! I'm not even really sure when Tim took them but I thought they were too sweet to pass up!

Trick or Treat!

2008-11-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of the girls from Halloween this year. Rylie's school had a Harvest Party last Friday night that we went to and then we went trick-or-treating last night! Actually, Rylie & Madison went with mommy and Tait stayed home with Daddy to hand out candy...which she thought was incredibly fun! Rylie was an "elegant witch", Madison was SuperGirl and Taitlyn was a kitty cat!

All of the pictures above were from the Harvest Party night and then the one below is from Halloween night before we went trick-or-treating!

The Commons Videos

2008-09-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

A friend of ours (Cham) came up recently to spend a couple of weeks making some videos for the church. It was an incredible visit overall and the videos he has finished so far have been amazing. We wanted to share them with you! He has posted them on youtube.com and here are the links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH5sEg_HCIk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxg3cRrcEuQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Guo1YVlIAf4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hDBGXme_ng

Madison's Turn

2008-09-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

Today was Madison's first day of preschool! We had no idea how it would go...you just never know with Madison! :) We have previously tried dance lessons and swim lessons, neither of which went well...at all! But she did so good today! I was so proud of her. She didn't cry at all and was so excited when we picked her up. I have to admit that I cried a little when we left her. I don't know if it was because my second baby is now growing up or because she didn't cry and that made me sad! Either way though it was a great day and we LOVE her new preschool!

1st day of 1st grade!

2008-09-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

Today was Rylie's first day of 1st grade! She was very excited about it but got a little more nervous once we walked into the room this morning. She has several friends in her class though that made the day much easier. Here a few pictures from the big day!

Family Camping trip

2008-08-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

***I have to preface this post with a little note. I actually started this post about a month ago but after spending an hour going through photos and trying to upload I ended up losing everything. So I decided to boycott blogging for a while! :) Anyway...here is a very late post about our camping trip.***

This past week we took a little family vacation. Some of our great friends let us borrow their trailer for a few days so we could camp at Flowing Lake, a local county park. It is one of our favorite places because it is very close and since it is lake water, instead of Sound water, it is warm enough for the girls to swim and play in. I think the best part of all though was the trailer! The girls felt like they were at Disneyworld just playing in the trailer. It was so fun and great family time. Rylie decided she is going to try to convince Papa to buy a trailer now so they can come visit us in it! :) Here are some of the pictures from our trip!

The girls standing in the wonderful trailer our friends let us borrow!

Madison snuggling with daddy around the campfire.

Rylie swimming while Madison watches nearby in the safety of her tube!

Rylie and Madison on their hike with Daddy while Mommy and Taitlyn napped!

Taitlyn having a little taste of the local nature!

Rylie in action!

Flowing Lake

Blogging Friends

2008-07-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

As you can see, we changed our blog up a little and when we did it accidentally deleted my Blog Friends List. So...I am in the process of updating all of the info! If you don't see your blog on the list anymore, please dont be offended! :) If you will email me your blog site again I'll make sure to add it! I'm having trouble finding some of them because the only link I had to them was off my blog!

Sunday drive

2008-07-21T21:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday (Sunday) we decided we really needed a "family fun" day! So we headed north to Lynden for their annual Raspberry festival. We got all the way up there and found out that the festival was Friday & Saturday only!!!! Instead of panicking though and getting completely frustrated with one another that we didn't check before we left :) we went to plan B which I have to say made for an incredible day! We quickly called our emergency travel planner (Lindsay!) who is very familiar with that area and got directions to Birch Bay.

It was beautiful and the girls had so much fun. Actually I should say Rylie & Madison had so much fun. Taitlyn would not even put her feet down in the sand or the water which is a little surprising because she is usually our little adventurer. Anyway...the big girls had lots of fun playing in the sand and wading through the water. There was also a little arts & crafts fair across the street that we strolled through for a little while.

We then called Lindsay again :) and got instructions on taking Chuckanut Dr.! This is a must-drive for anyone living in the Seattle area. The views are absolutely amazing! We made several stops along the way, played a little and took lots of pictures!

We ended the day with dinner at Denny's! Daddy was very excited! It turned out to be a great day!

The big girls walking towards the beach

Taitlyn decided to try eating the flowers! She is very into eating naturally!

The first picture of the girls being sweet & smiling!

Then we asked them to make silly faces. Madison went to town. Rylie looked at her like she was crazy and Taitlyn smiled for the first time!

This was one of the amazing views from Chuckanut Dr.

Extra block party

2008-07-21T20:18:00.001-07:00

I just found a few more block party pictures that were really cute! Enjoy!

It looks like Reid is about to kick this little boy down the slide!!!

Summer fun!

2008-07-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

The Coles come over once a week for dinner together and then...after the kids go to bed we have a meeting/prayer time. This past week the kids played in the water outside before bed and had lots of fun! It was one of the first times this summer we had played in the water. It has either been too cold or we have been busy with sports camp or block parties. The kids loved it!

Rylie singing a little tune while she takes a break from the pool!

Madison had to sing a little too!

For some reason Taitlyn decided it was a little too cool outside so she went in by herself, found her winter gear and put it on...all by herself!!! It was too cute!

Baxter's Visit

2008-07-21T19:35:00.000-07:00

We have been dog-sitting for the past week and it has been so fun! Baxter (the dog) is such a great dog! I am convinced that Jen needs to be a dog trainer! The girls have loved having him play this week! We are all sad that he has to go home tomorrow. Jen...be ready because I'm sure the girls are going to want to come over more often now to see Baxter!!!!

I love this picture because it makes him look so mean but he really is such a sweet dog!

Madison & Baxter bonding under the slide

Madison in action...throwing Baxter's toy

Rylie perfecting her photography skills on Baxter

Hearing the cries

2008-07-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

I was at the doctor recently having some bloodwork done (nothing crazy...just normal yearly check-up stuff) and there was another mother in there with her son. I don't really know what was wrong with him, but it was very evident he had serious medical conditions. I found out he was 3 years old but he laid in his stroller/chair without moving or making a sound. I am not a medical expert in any way but he was hooked up to some kind of trach device that went into his neck and it seemed like it was helping him breathe. He went back before me to get his blood drawn and I could see him from where I was sitting. The nurse pricked his heel to get the blood and he didn't make a sound or move a muscle but his mother knew he didn't like it. She gently reached down and wiped the tears from his eyes...the only sign that he knew something hurt. Then she said something that changed my life. She said, "I can't even remember the last time he cried. I know it was over 2 years ago. I would give anything just to hear him cry again." I could hardly hold back the tears at that point. I hope that I will always remember that moment...especially when all 3 of my girls are screaming at the same time...and simply be thankful that I can at least hear their cries!

Taitlyn is 2!!!!!

2008-07-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

My baby just turned 2!!!! I know we say this all the time, but I seriously cannot believe it! Her actual birthday was the 13th but since we were finishing Sports Camp then and it was also the same day as our Preview Service we decided to postpone her party...especially since she didn't know one way or another! We had a little family celebration on the 13th but we had her party today. We just had several families (who we love so much!) come over to celebrate with us! It was lots of fun!

For our family celebration, we had an ice cream cake. It was so frozen it was hard to get a piece!

If all else fails, just eat the whole thing!

Madison (aka Little Helper) making sure Taitlyn got all the help she needed

Taitlyn followed in the tradition of the other Corbin girls and did not enjoy everyone singing Happy Birthday to her!

Sports Camp 08

2008-07-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

We just finished our Sports Camp and it was an incredible week! Last year we had about 70 kids participate and this year we had 160!!! It all went great and we all had so much fun! We had 2 churches (one from Southaven MS and one from Little Rock AR) come up to help and they were incredible! We couldn't have done it without them! There are way too many photos to post so you can go to our church website to see them: www.discoverthecommons.com!

Block Party - Parts 3-8

2008-07-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, we have now done 8 block parties!!!! Now you all know why I haven't updated my blog lately! Here is a brief breakdown of the parties:

Party # 3 - Navy housing community - It was a great night of ministry to the navy families. There were TONS of kids at the party and they loved getting to play and enjoy treats. I think I have always been aware of the sacrifice that military families make for our country but this night made it much more personal. To meet the families who are the ones left behind while their husbands and fathers serve overseas was very emotional. I can't imagine dealing with all that they deal with on a daily basis.

Party # 4 - Park in the downtown Arlington area. This is the area where the school is that we meet in but it is also an area where we haven't really any connections. It was a great night! We met lots of new families and lots of fun!

Party #5 & #6 - We did these parties on the same night...one in our neighborhood and one in Jason & Becky's neighborhood. Both went really well and allowed us to meet even more new neighbors. We also got to reconnect with neighbors we hadn't seen in a while.

Party # 7 - This one was in a "park" in a neighborhood not too far from ours. I say "park" because that is what it is technically but it is pretty much just a field at the entrance to some houses. This party started off slow but after some of the teams walked through the neighborhoods inviting people it really picked up. We ended up probably having close to 100 people by the end of the night and...once again...met lots of new families!

Party #8 - Sports Camp Celebration Night - We ended the week of sports camp with a family night celebration. We estimate that we had about 300 people there that night! In addition to our usual block party elements (bounce house, super slide, obstacle course, cotton candy, popcorn & snow cones) we also served hot dogs, baked beans & chips. It was a great way to end a wonderful week of sports camp!

Here are a few pictures from various parties throughout the week!

4th of July

2008-07-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

We lived through it again this year! :) In fact, we decided to participate in the chaos a little more this year. If you haven't read our blog from last year, you need to go back to July 07 and do so. To summarize it though, 4th of July is HUGE here! Not only do cities, etc. do large fireworks displays, but it is legal for anyone to shoot fireworks. Well...I should say not all of them are "legal" but they get shot off anyway! This year, we got lots of little ones that the kids like to "help" with but we also got some big ones that Jay could do! We had no idea how BIG even the legal fireworks were. He started with one and I can't even describe to you the sound it made when it went off! We don't have many good pics but Tim got some video I will try to post later. Here are a few other pics of the day though.

This year was extra special also because my cousin and her family just moved to the Seattle area so they came up for the day also! Even though they are about an hour away from us, it is so wonderful to have family near! The second picture is of my cousin's daughter with Madison & Taitlyn.

Block Party - Part 2

2008-06-30T23:29:00.000-07:00

We had our 2nd block party last night and it went great! We really don't know how many people came because it was impossible to count but we think we had at least 100! Here are some of the great pics!

The best interns ever!!!!

Dance Recital

2008-06-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

Rylie had her 2nd dance recital this past weekend. She danced both recitals this time so it was a very long day but we had lots of fun. She loved her dance (to Hannah Montana's "Nobody's Perfect") and of course she LOVES having her hair and makeup done. This year a friend of ours did her hair and makeup which was even more special because it wasn't mommy this time!

Kayak point...one year later!

2008-06-30T23:08:00.000-07:00

We have begun our summer visits to Kayak Point...one of all our all-time favorite places here. We went recently and the weather was beautiful! It was warm enough that the girls actually played in the water and...as you'll see...Taitlyn even stripped down to diaper only! We can't wait to go again and again this summer. Plus, it's fun to look at our pictures at Kayak Point from last summer and see how much the girls have changed!

First of many....

2008-06-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

We have lots (and lots) of block parties planned this summer around our community. We had the first one a few weeks ago and, even though it was June, it was very cold & rainy outside. That didn't stop the party though! We all had a great time and it was a wonderful way to kick of our churches 90 days till launch!

The obstacle course inflatable

Tim doing something?!?! and Jay doing his "Jay" pose as we have named it!

The super slide inflatable

Rylie getting ready to race through the obstacle course

We had popcorn, cotton candy and snow cones!

Taitlyn having a special moment with Matt

Jen was the cotton candy queen

Taitlyn enjoying some of Jen's cotton candy!

Brienna is probably going to kill me for putting this pic up but I love it! She was trying to demonstrate how cold it was outside by showing steam coming out her mouth. The camera didn't pick up the "steam" though so it just looks like she's making a crazy face!

Kindergarten graduation

2008-06-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it still, but my "baby" has already finished kindergarten! Though there were some ups and downs during the year, including the death of Rylie's first teacher, it overall was a terrific year! Here are some pictures of her kindergarten graduation and end-of-the-year party.

Rylie and her second teacher, Mrs. Hookland, who did an amazing job stepping in midway through the year.

Rylie's entire class with the hats they made and their "diplomas"!

First NW camping trip

2008-06-27T22:34:00.000-07:00

We had our first camping trip since moving to the pacific NW and the Coles came with us! It was an adventure to say the least. We did it the last weekend in May which you would think would mean decent weather. It was quite chilly though! In fact, Taitlyn ended up with pneumonia the next week! :) It was lots of fun though and we are all looking forward to doing it again soon...in warmer weather!

Snack time!

Becky at the top of the spider web

Tim cooking our dinner

Jason had fire duty

Little drummer girls

2008-06-27T22:32:00.001-07:00

Daddy pulled his drums out one night and the girls had a blast. I'm not sure who had the most rhythm but it was lots of fun to play!

End of the year field trip

2008-06-27T22:27:00.000-07:00

Rylie went to the Seattle aquarium with her school for their end-of-the-year trip. We had a great time! There are lots of hands-on activities which she loved!

Rylie as a giant jellyfish!

Rylie and some of her friends standing near the ottter tank (I think!?!?)

More friends at the tide pool

They had lots of sea creatures you could touch including starfish & sea cucumbers

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

2008-06-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

Daddy (Tim!) celebrated his birthday in April. The girls and I decided to make him a cake and, of course, they wanted to be in charge of decorating it! Let me tell you...it was one of a kind! We actually ended up getting the wrong number candles also (long story) so we just put them on the cake anyway. I won't tell you his real age!

All in the Family

2008-06-27T22:14:00.001-07:00

My parents and nanaw were able to come up in May (I know...a little late) and we had a wonderful visit. The weather wasn't great while they were here but we were able to get out a little and visit some of our favorite spots. Here are some of the pictures from their trip.

All of us "hunting" for crabs

Some of the "girls" on a giant seesaw

We went to one of our local fruit stands and Taitlyn was very curious

Oh Happy Day!!!!

2008-04-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day here! It was the first day in a very long time that it was warm enough to really go outside and enjoy the day. We went to a local park and just let the girls run around and explore.

The girls were "fishing" in this picture!

Future Rock Stars

2008-04-14T22:42:00.000-07:00

I just had to share these pictures! We have had a few days of really nice weather lately so we have been spending lots of time outside! One day the girls decided to take their "instruments" outside and play. It was pretty funny to watch! I can only imagine what our future holds!

Imagine Childrens Museum

2008-04-14T22:35:00.000-07:00

We also went to the Imagine Childrens Museum in Everett during Spring Break with all our friends. It is so much fun although it was a little crowded the day we went. The girls still really enjoyed it though and we can't wait to go back again!

Madison playing in the vet clinic

Madison also loved the trains!

Rylie's turn to play "vet".

Rylie's turn to be a monkey...no surprise to any of us!

Taitlyn on her first "horse" ride!

Pump It Up

2008-04-14T22:25:00.000-07:00

During Spring Break we all went to Pump It Up for a fun day with our church friends. The girls all had a blast!

Our group minus a few who didn't want their picture taken!

Rylie and her friend Tia that went with us.

Taitlyn is either going in or out...who knows!?!?!

We went to McDonalds afterwards for even more fun!

Spring Break 08

2008-04-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

Spring Break was the first week of April (I know...I'm a little behind) and it started off great...with snow!!! I can't say that is how we had hoped it would be but the girls had a lot of fun and they didn't even seem to notice that it was freezing outside! One of the funniest parts of the day though was the fact that Taitlyn refused to go outside! She has decided that she is not a big fan of snow so we all played out in the backyard and she just watched from inside...laughing and waving at us!

Rylie found a dry spot!

Madison's favorite thing to do was eat the snow. She is licking her lips in this pic after a tasty snowball!

Rylie's scarf kept dragging behind her and before we realized it, it was forming it's own snowball! We all had a good laugh!

If you look closely in this picture, you can see Taitlyn at the back door waving at us!

What a great dad!

Prayers for baby Ethan

2008-04-13T00:02:00.001-07:00

Please be praying for a friend of mine, Kasey, and her infant son, Ethan, who was just diagnosed with a rare form of Luekemia. My heart is broken for her and her family during this time but I am confident that God will see them through and give them the strength and peace they need for each moment of every day. You can check out their blog at: http://ethankrawiec.blogspot.com/.

Incredible Words

2008-03-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

I am not big on blogging about my thoughts, feelings, etc. simply because the main purpose of my blog is to update family and friends on what is going in our life. Somehow the whole idea of keeping a "diary" for the whole world to see online doesn't settle well with me. Plus, I really don't believe many, if any out there really care to know how I really feel about life! :) Anyway...I read this quote last night that really impacted me and decided to share it. It is a quote from Lilias Trotter, a woman who was a missionary to North Africa from 1888 to 1928. I found it in a book I am reading through written by Noel Piper. This is the quote:

"How many of us have said and sung with all our hearts "Anywhere with Jesus," but at the same time we did not realize all that it meant for us. Indeed at home, and surrounded by all that home means, we could not know. When the test comes we must not forget that "anywhere" means for missionaries something different from life in England [where she was originally from], and let us take very good care not to make a misery of anything that "anywhere" brings us.

To us in Algeria it must mean sometime or other, Arab food. Do we object to it? And mice, do we mind them? And mosquitoes, do we think them dreadful? In some parts it means close contact with dirt and repulsive disease. Yet if Jesus is there, what have we possibly to complain of? It means living among a stiff-necked and untrue people and struggling with a strange and difficult language. And yet let us evermore write over all our miseries, big, and for the most part very little, these transforming words "With Jesus." And then the very breath of Heaven will breathe upon our whole being and we shall be glad."

She and the woman who served with her had a threefold prayer for the area they were in: that doors might be opened, that hearts might be opened, and that the heavens might be opened. How powerful! If only we all had that prayer for the areas we lived and served in!

Easter 08

2008-03-23T20:47:00.001-07:00

We had a great Easter this year! We began, of course, by decorating eggs. This year, I found these great q-tips that were filled with paint. You broke off one end, allowing the paint to fill the other end of the q-tip. The girls then could "paint" their eggs. It was so much fun! We also did the traditional dyeing of eggs as well! We even found some egg tattoos!

We woke up Easter morning to find the goodies that the Easter bunny left. This year he wasn't able to hide eggs outside because it was too rainy (plus we had church early at our house and mommy didn't think it was a good idea to hunt for eggs first!) :)

Rylie was so excited to show off the Littlest Pet Shop animals she got.

Taitlyn enjoying her Easter gifts.

Everybody came over to our house for church later that morning since we are still without a facility to meet in. It was so much fun. We worshipped together first, then had potluck lunch, followed by an egg hunt for the kids. We didn't get any pictures of the egg hunt on our camera because it was full. If we get some from other people though we'll be sure to post them!

Apparently, there was something on our camera lens when we were trying to take a picture of all the kids! I can't imagine how that got there!

Here is a picture of our girls once we cleaned the lens! Unfortunately, Taitlyn wasn't looking at the camera in any of the pictures!

Kinder Concernt Night

2008-02-23T14:03:00.000-08:00

This past Thursday night Rylie had her Kindergarten Concert Night at school. She was so excited about it and had been practicing all week! Taitlyn ended up getting sick that day so she and Tim stayed home which meant the "real" photographer in the family didn't get to go! I was able to get a few pictures of Rylie (and Madison) before the concert and then one during. She did a great job! The songs they sang were so cute and I was very, very proud of her!

Tale of a tulip

2008-02-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

Last fall I went into Lowes and saw a huge display of tulip bulbs. Tulips have always been one of my very favorite flowers. In fact, our wedding was entirely decorated with ivory tulips except for a few other flowers in my bouquet to add volume! Anyway...I have never been known to have a green thumb but I decided to give them a try. Tulips grow very well up here so I figured I might get lucky and actually get a few to grow. I took them home, planted a bunch of them thinking that maybe...if I was lucky...one out of ever 3 or 4 would actually grow. Then I had to be patient and wait...
This past week I was driving through our neighborhood and noticed that another neighbor had some "baby" tulips sprouting out in the front part of his lawn. I was so jealous because I hadn't noticed mine at all. I immediately came home to check and was amazed to see I had not just a few tulip sprouts but a ton of them! It turns out that every one of the bulbs I planted is actually growing!!!! Now I'm a little worried though because our neighbor told us that each year the bulbs double!
Here are a couple of pics of my precious "baby" tulips! I'll be sure to keep you posted on their development!

Playing catch up

2008-02-23T13:42:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted much since Rylie's b-day party because it just seems like things have been crazy around here! The day after her party was superbowl Sunday. We decided this year that we were going to let the true game-watchers have the house to watch the game and those of us who either didn't want to watch the game or have small children and can't watch the game :) went to Jungle Playland. It is a local indoor play area that the kids love! For some reason I didn't get many pictures of Madison that day but, if my memory is correct, it is because she was in her "don't even think about taking a picture of me" moods! :) Rylie & Madison both had a great time! I was a little surprised at how well Taitlyn did. It's a pretty big play area and she just tackled it all like she was one of the big kids! I guess I shouldn't be too surprised though...I do occasionally have to remind her that she is not 5!

Here is Taitlyn with Becky...one of her favorite people in the world! In fact, she won't say "momma" or "mimi" yet but she'll say "becky"!

Here is Taitlyn working her way up with the big kids!

Peek-A-Boo

She had so much fun going through all the mazes and obstacles

Rylie and Sam...off to save the day!

Princess Pirate Party

2008-02-03T14:16:00.000-08:00

We had Rylie's 6th Birthday party this weekend! She decided to have a Princess Pirate party so that she could invite boys & girls! I actually found an invitation on ebay that was perfect! Who knew there was actually such a thing as a princess pirate party! Anyway...it was lots of fun! Here are some pictures from the day.

Here is the invitation for the party! We even got to pick the hair and eye color so we could make it just like Rylie's!

Just a quick pic of the goody table!

We had pirate cupcakes...

and Princess cupcakes!

We did a couple of crafts...treasure chest and princess foam magnets and then we made our own treasure maps.

I found a "recipe" for treasure stones in Family Fun magazine. We made "dough" and then hid "treasure" in each one. Then we baked them and they hardened up like rocks. I hid them in a big tub of sand and the kids got to dig for buried treasure! It was definitely a hit!

Here is Rylie opening her treasure stone to see what is inside.

Rylie decided she didn't want everyone to sing "Happy Birthday" to her (way too much attention) so on the count of 3 we all said "Happy Birthday" instead! Then she blew out the candles all by herself!

This was just a cute picture of Madison and her BFF Hailey in their princess costumes.

Madison is 3! Yipee!!!!

2008-01-23T15:45:00.000-08:00

Madison turned 3 on Sunday and we celebrated all week long! Since her birthday fell on Sunday this year and since most of the friends she has already come to Bible study we just decided to have a little party for her then. We decorated the house with birthday puppy stuff and then had cake/cupcakes with everyone! She had a great time although she got really shy during the happy birthday song! Unfortunately Madison has not been in a real picuture-taking mood so we haven't been able to get many great shots of her. Here are a few though!

She got to do Build-A-Bear for her birthday. This is after she made her bear and is picking out clothes, etc.

Still trying to decide!

Here is daddy helping get the bear dressed.

Here is the final product...which she named Hannah Montana. And I have no idea what that cheesy grin is for!?!?!?

We have a tradition that we decorate the girls doors the night before their birthday so that when they wake up on the birthday the first thing they see is a little celebration! Here is what Madison's door looked like.

Here is her party. You can see some of the decorations in the background.

Madison not enjoying the birthday song!

Becky cutting the cake...which she made!!!

Opening some gifts!

Conclusion to Christmas

2008-01-19T08:18:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it but Christmas is over. In fact, as I write this I am realizing that it's not only over but it's already the middle of January!!! How time flies by when you have 3 small kids! :) We had a great Christmas! We were able to celebrate Christmas day in Arlington in our new home with just our family which was wonderful. We then headed to Texas for a 9 day trip. It was so fun to see all of our family and a few of our friends! We were very exhausted by the end of the trip but were so thankful we were able to go! Here are a few "final" photos from our holiday season!

Taitlyn once again enjoying the icing for whatever project we were making!

Here is Rylie and her new Webkinz!

Here is Rylie with our friend Emma...who is also her future college roomate! :)

Here are the girls relaxing in one of our hotel rooms...eating a delicious snack from Mimi!

Here is Rylie with our friends Emma, Regan & Isaac! Apparently our other girls were not in the mood to have their picture taken!

And finally...probably the most popular Christmas present. A gigantic doll house that Santa brought. Madison even has to stand on a stool to reach the top floor!

I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas!

2007-12-15T22:19:00.000-08:00

Rylie had her dance recital tonight and we were so proud of her! It was amazing to see our little "shy" girl blossom on stage! She absolutely loved it! They performed to the song, "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas." After her dance, we watched the rest of the performances and she leaned over at one point and said, "Mommy, I want to dance forever!"

Her dance class getting ready to go on

Stretching! They had to do a cartwheel and the splits in their routine so stretching was essential! :)

Playing "Simon Says" to help the time pass by

Our little princess...looking more like a beautiful lady!

Santa Picture Update

2007-12-15T22:18:00.000-08:00

Several of you have told us recently that we should send our Santa picture in to the Ellen Show. So...we did! It hasn't been on yet but just wanted any of you Ellen-watchers to make sure you keep an eye out for it just in case we make it on!

Gingerbread Mania

2007-12-15T22:14:00.000-08:00

Rylie's school always has the Kindergarten students make gingerbread houses together every year! They take all of the kids out in the hall on cafeteria tables and let them go to town. It was a lot of fun...and a lot of mess! Here are a few pictures from the occasion!

A view of her classes table and their "spread"

Rylie concentrating hard on her house

A picture of the completed project

Christmas with the Coles

2007-12-15T22:06:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas this week with Jason, Becky & Sam! It was so much fun! We all opened gifts from each other and then had dinner. That evening Madison had another "episode". Tim had gotten a big bag of starbucks coffee (ground not whole beans) as his gift. Madison snuck upstairs with it and poured the entire bag out on her carpet in her room!!! I'm trying to figure out how many times this child is going to have get spanked over stuff like this before she learns her lesson!?!?! All of it eventually came up although there is a faint smell of coffee still in the room! I didn't think this episode was nearly as funny as the chocolate cake mix so I didn't take any pictures! Here are some though of our first Christmas together!

Madison & Sam trying to get their gifts open

Sam showing off the transformer he got

Jason trying to "transform" the transformer Sam got!

Taitlyn eating her toy!

Chocolate Sand

2007-12-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

This morning we finished breakfast and I went upstairs to talk to Tim about plans for the day, etc. After we talked for a few minutes I told him I needed to go check on the girls downstairs because they have had a tendency lately to sneak up on the kitchen counter and steal candy. In fact, the other day I caught Madison in the act and she had already unwrapped about 10 hershey kisses and eaten them all by the time I got to her. Anyway...I had a sneaky suspicion that they might be doing the same thing again. Once I got downstairs I quickly realized that getting into some candy would have been minor compared to what was actually taking place! Madison & Taitlyn had taken a box of chocolate cake mix out of the pantry, cut it open and then dumped it all over the kitchen floor. They then proceeded to play in it like it was sand! They were having a blast and very proud of their accomplishment. As mad as I wanted to be I couldn't help but laugh!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

2007-12-08T21:05:00.000-08:00

I know I am very late in blogging about this but better late than never! We had our first snow here last weekend (right before the major floods most of you heard about!). The girls were so excited when they woke up and there was snow on the ground. Later in the day it snowed even more! So much fun!

Madison & Taitlyn trying it all out.

Taitlyn decided pretty quickly that she wasn't real crazy about it!

Rylie & her massive snow ball

Madison eating her snowball

Later in the day when it really started snowing.

Rylie going down the slide full of snow

Madison went down after Rylie had cleaned it off for her

Visit to Santa

2007-11-30T20:53:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun seeing Santa today that we had to share the "joy" with all of you!

Holiday Season

2007-11-30T15:15:00.001-08:00

We have officially started our Christmas season...filled with goodies, decorations and lots of fun memories. This week we made Christmas tree cakes that the girls decorated. First we baked the cakes, then we iced them and finally we "painted" them with edible icing paint! How fun! They definately didn't have stuff that cool when we were kids! Anyway...here are some pictures from our cake "event"!

The girls icing their cakes

Rylie painting her masterpiece

Madison concentrating very hard on making a mess!

Halloween Fun

2007-10-31T21:59:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year! Time to pick out costumes, try to get everyone dressed at the same time, shortly followed by whining and crying over not wanting to wear the costume afer all! :) All of that followed by lots and lots of sugar! What a great time of year! Not really...it was a lot of fun...overall! We did experience Halloween on a different level this year...NW cold!!!! I think it was about 50 degrees when the night started but by the time we finished it was barely over freezing! Not quite like our Texas Halloweens! The girls had so much fun though! We decided to rent a bouncy house this year and put in our front yard as an outreach to our neighbors. We also served coffee to all the adults who were accompanying the trick-or-treaters! And of course...we had to post a few pictures of all the girls in their costumes!

Our local pumpkin patch had a corn maze for adults and a hay maze for the kids. The girls paused in the middle of the maze for this picture!

Now back to the maze...

Our older girls never want to get messy when carving pumpkins but Taitlyn was just the opposite. We opened the pumpkin and she dove in! She thought it was great!

Here are the bigger girls doing the non-messy job...helping daddy carve!

Rylie was a queen this year.

After saying she wanted to be superman for months, Madison ended up picking a Dora costume instead! We could only get her to wear her wig for picture though...and that was only by bribing her with candy!

Taitlyn wore Madison's butterfly costume from last year!

We tried to get a picture of all three girls together but it didn't work real well. You can see Rylie and Madison in the background posing but Taitlyn was only interested in more candy!

Snoqualmie Falls

2007-10-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

Chris, Brandy, Emma and Regan came to visit us this past week (baby Isaac stayed home with Grams!) and we had SO much fun spending time with them again! One of the highlights of their visit was a trip to Snoqualmie Falls. Taitlyn and I did not get to go on the trip because she woke up that morning with a fever and was in no "mood" to travel! :) So the rest of the group went without us and brought back great pictures!

Everyone standing at the top...looking down at the waterfall

The kids posing

On the trail down to the waterfall...kids posing again!

Daddy, Rylie and Madison (pretending to be tired!)

Not a good choice!

2007-10-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

Madison has been having a difficult time lately making "good choices" so we have really, really been working on it! Some days are better than others but I had to share her latest "poor" choice! It wasn't funny initially but once the shock wore off I could not stop laughing! Luckily Tim had an extra keyboard handy because just last week she popped the number "8" off so he had already ordered a new one. I guess one just wasn't enough!

Another afternoon at Kayak Point

2007-10-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

Kayak Point is a local county park that is quickly becoming one of our favorite places. Not only is it only about 10-15 minutes away but it is absolutely beautiful...anytime of year! The girls get so excited when we go because there is so much to do! Some of our good, good friends (Reid & Amber) are visiting right now and we decided to take them there to experience it all with us!

The park has a play area with a feature that I don't know how describe other than it looks like a giant spider web. It has a large pole in the middle of it and then lots of ropes going all the way down in a tee pee kind of shape. Anyway...Rylie loves to climb all the way to the top...no surprise to those that know her well! Here she is on her way up.

Here is a pic of her at the very top!

Taitlyn on the pier...trying to jump!

Madison getting a ride from daddy!

Taitlyn doing her favorite thing...examining all the wood chips, rocks and dirt! And then...eating them!

We're not sure how but Madison learned recently the meaning of a "thumbs up". She loves using it now for EVERYTHING! We're also working on "Gig'em Aggies!"

Rylie contemplating life on the driftwood. Does this remind you of Tim or what!?!?!

Howdy Ya'll!

2007-09-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

Apparently we haven't lost all our Texas roots...

Climb Every Mountain

2007-09-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

We recently had some friends visit us and on one of the days they were here we drove to a nearby mountain (Mt. Eerie). You can drive close to the summit and then hike around a bit! Rylie especially loved it and the views were amazing!

I honestly don't remember what Madison was crying about (she's 2...that's enough) but I thought this was a sweet pic of "sisters to the rescue". Taitlyn was trying to comfort her by stroking her hair (or maybe it was more like pulling her hair) and Rylie tried by showing her the really cool caterpillar!

We have nicknamed Taitlyn "Joe Dirt" because she LOVES to play and eat dirt...seriously! On this particular day she actually layed stomach down in the dirt (as you can see from the pic) and made "snow angels" in the dirt with her arms. It was hilarious!

Madison picking a pine cone off the tree

Where's Waldo? Can you find Philip in this pic?!?!?

Taitlyn clueless to her surroundings! Rylie enjoying the view

Rylie showing off a caterpillar she found

More random pics

2007-09-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more random pictures that don't really fit in anywhere else!

Madison "disappeared" the other night but soon returned dressed like this!

Rylie and Sam doing their hand stands

Rylie and Sam in their "jammies" getting ready for bed

Daddy was trying to watch football but Madison had other plans!

Roller Derby

2007-09-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

The school that Rylie is going to does lots of fun "Family Nights" to help create community within the school. The first one for this year was a Skate Night at a local roller skating rink. Rylie has roller skates at home (Barbie ones!) but this was her first time on "real" skates at a "real" rink! Daddy strapped on some skates to help her around the rink. Before we knew it though she was doing it herself and looked like a pro! She had a great time and Madison and Taitlyn both had lots of fun watching!

Posing for a picture after the first lap around

Madison watching...if you look real close you can see Tim and Rylie across the rink

Taitlyn just having fun

Getting some refreshments from the snack shack!

We miss the CG Band

2007-09-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

One of the things we miss most is the CG Band and their incredible spirit of worship (something we realize now we took for granted)! Anyway...Taitlyn was wearing her CG Band shirt the other day so we had to take a picture of it! I know it's hard to tell what the shirt says but we had to share it anyway!

Fun with Friends

2007-09-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted in a while but we honestly haven't been doing much that "picture worthy"! We've been spending lots of time with neighbors and friends but not necessarily in ways where we would be taking pictures. We did have 5 of our neighborhood friends over the other day after school and we took a few pictures so I decided to post some of them!

Welcome our new nephew!

2007-09-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

We have a new nephew and we wanted to share his beautiful pictures with all of you! He was born on August 31st and after a few rough days (long story) everyone is doing well! His name is Drew Alan!

First day of school!

2007-09-06T14:44:00.001-07:00

Rylie started Kindergarten today which was a huge milestone in our lives...one I really never expected to actually arrive! In fact, I have been kind of dreading this day for a couple of months now but I have to admit the anxiety leading up to today was much worse than what I had anticipated. Rylie did so good! She walked bravely into her room and went to "circle" time when it began...although she did have a few tears at that point. I had promised myself I wouldn't let her see me cry so I kept my promise. A friend of ours though, whose son is in her class, did start crying when she saw Rylie get teary-eyed! She did great though we left soon after that. When I picked her up she said she had a great time! She has a wonderful teacher who is a great match for her personality. I don't think the day could have gone any better! It was emotional but not in a sad way...in a way that we were able to celebrate this next phase of life and I can now look forward to all of the memories to come!

Rylie talking to Mimi on the phone before school

At home before school...showing off our new backpack and lunch box!

Standing in front of Rylie's cubby

Rylie putting her things in her cubby

Rylie's teacher, Mr. Ingalls, starting the day off

Twas the Night Before...

2007-09-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

We decided to make the night before our first day of kindergarten a special day as well so we spent family time together last night and did lots of fun stuff. I let Rylie pick our "menu" for the night and told her we could have whatever she wanted...pizza, McDonalds, pasta, etc. She picked "pasta" which was actually spaghetti, broccoli and mandarin oranges!!! It was great and she ate a ton which is very rare! Maybe I should let her pick our menu more often! After dinner we took baths and then I did the big girls' nails. They chose sparkly nail polish...of course!

Here is a picture of the meal

Madison eating everything but broccoli (see it pushed off the plate!)

Rylie eating really well...which is a rare occurance!

The finished finger nails! You can barely tell, but if you look close you can see little sparkles!

All done!

Random Pictures

2007-08-25T13:37:00.000-07:00

I was looking through all of our pictures today and realized I had a lot of "random" ones that didn't go with any of our other blogs! I figured I would just put some of them on even though they don't go together! Plus, we have updated Rylie's blog some so you'll have to check it out.

Taitlyn loves curling up in a little ball in her swing and Rylie loves to push!

Madison has become my little "baker" this summer. She loves helping me make cookies...especially licking the mixers after we're done!

Taitlyn being happy!

Madison is a great tongue curler and she LOVES taking pictures of it.

Rylie and some of our neighborhood friends playing dress up. Somehow we conviced her to let us take a picture of her!

HSM 2 Party!!!!

2007-08-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

We had a High School Musical 2 party recently when the new movie debuted on the Disney Channel! It was so much fun! We decorated most of the house (downstairs anyway!) and had pizza, cookies and other goodies! We had 18 little girls that came, 1 little boy and several moms (and dads!). Everyone came over an hour and a half before the movie started so we could do karaoke, watch the HSM Concert DVD and play outside. It was a lot of fun and the movie was great!

Some of the girls doing Karaoke

Watching the movie!

Some of the decorations

More Karaoke!

Our new swingset

2007-08-12T20:40:00.001-07:00

We got a new swingset this weekend that the kids have loved. It took a lot of work to put it all together but we finally did it...thanks to the help of Jason and Mike!!! Our kids have played on it almost constantly since we put it up and a bunch of our neighbor friends have been over to play on it as well!

The finished product!

Madison & Rylie both love swinging on the glider!

Madison was enjoying her popsicle while it was dripping down in between the slats to the grass underneath!

Taitlyn, on the other hand, was enjoying Madisons dripping popsicle off the grass!

Sam working on his superhero skills!

Taitlyn helped mommy pick weeds while the big kids played!

This was the first morning after it was finished. The girls couldn't wait to get outside to play on it. And yes...they are in their winter coats! It was about 10:30 when we took these pictures but wasn't even quite 60 degrees yet so it was a bit chilly!

Slip and Slide!

2007-08-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

We got our slip and slide out the other day because it was unusually warm (about 80 degrees!) and the girls were wanting to play in the water. We even put Taitlyn in her suit! No one actually "slid" down but they had a lot of fun playing in it!

Swimming Lessons

2007-08-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

Rylie, Sam and Madison all took swim lessons together the past 2 weeks. Rylie hasn't been real crazy about "swimming" in previous years so we decided to start her out in the basic class and that just so happened to also be the class Madison was in. It worked out really well because Rylie loved "helping" Madison and Madison loved having Rylie and Sam in her class. By the end of the week Rylie was swimming all over the place and loving it. In fact, she and Sam are taking lessons again this session (2 more weeks) to try to get "caught up" with everyone else! Madison, on the other hand, is taking a break this time! I'm sure she'll love it too someday but she was getting a little tired of swim lessons! Here are some pictures of their class.

Warming up with a little splashing!

Madison wasn't too crazy about all the splashing so she decided to skip that part!

If you look in the far left corner of the pool you can see Rylie and Madison embracing each other in a sweet sister hug!

Rylie swimming!

Madison practicing her back float!