January's come early...

As one of my Facebook friends stated, "Sweet. January's coming a few days early this year, kids!"

You see, I've just finished a month hiatus from Facebook. Hence the adjustment to how I'm posting. For the season of Advent, our pastor challenged us to fast from something in a Lenten style to help us better focus on the true meaning of the season: the celebration of Christ's birth. Now, most people will fast a food vice for lent: coffe, chocolate, alcohol... I fasted soda for one Lent, and have never really gone back. The interesting thing about this conversation with God was just how non-food related it was.

Caryn: "Okay, God, what am I needing to fast from? You know I'm not really good at full fasts."
God: "Facebook."
"And I'd prefer not to do coffee. I mean, I don't think I have an overbearing connection to it, but I don't want to have to dodge migraines all season."
"Facebook."
"And I like chocolate, but not in an uncontrolled way. I can give or take it almost any time."
"Facebook."
"Wha? But Facebook really isn't a thing, just a thing to do. Who ever heard of fasting from a thing to do?"
"Yep, Facebook."
"Really?!?"
"Yep."
"Okay."

The comedy of it all was that at the end of the service, Dwayne had this funny look on his face and asked, "What are you supposed to fast from?"
"Facebook. You?"
"Lost."

Suffice it to say, it's been quiet around the house this month. So I announced on Facebook that I wouldn't be back until January, claiming a month hiatus for my own personal health. BUT, as those church-calendar-ites know, Advent ends on Christmas, so I'm BACK! And a little better-balanced, I might add.

Okay, I've worked out, blogged, and now it's time to shower and change. OH, and go on a date with my husband tonight. Woohoo!

Merry Christmas!

There were a couple of very neat things that happened at the Corbin house this Christmas morning!
 - The kids slept in until 7am! Dwayne and I were pleasantly surprised not to be dragged from bed at 4am.
 - Santa left tracks! I mixed some shredded packing peanuts with glitter and voila! Magic Santa snow that won't melt! Santa came in through the chimney, walked down the hallway to check and see if the boys were sleeping, then proceeded to the Christmas tree, where he left gifts.
 - Santa paper-coded all the gifts for our pre-readers. Peter's were red with print, Andrew's were green with print. Very simple.
 - We had two tricycles, two toddlers, and we're still not sure who 'officially' owns which, and that's okay! They're in love with it.
 - Santa brought breakfast! (I can't claim this idea, it was all Dwayne) To combat that age-old "What do we put in the stockings?" struggle, Dwayne bought special breakfast treats so that the children were semi-fed, and we didn't have to battle over whether or not they could eat the candy in stockings before or after breakfast. And mommy didn't have to cook!

We are so excited to be at home with just our nuclear family this Christmas - we really needed the break. However, there are some harsh realities to Christmas at home - mommy's doing laundry on Christmas day. :-/ I guess that's just part of growing up: no days off.

Merry Christmas everyone!

pictures.

Okay, so I'm doing better about taking pictures, but I'm a little annoyed with the new interface on uploading pictures to Blogger... So. Here's one teaser, and a public link to my Facebook album. We'll get this figured out yet!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=122310&id=706163182&l=1758ae6628

Houston...

...we have a camera! I'm so excited! And it's RED!

This is Peter trying to climb me to get to the new camera. So cute!

...still here

... just no camera. And sad to say, I'm more motivated by being able to post pictures than most anything.

Our camera died a sad and tragic death at the hands of a toddler. It had been having trouble closing the lens shutter, and then Andrew did something to jam the lens entirely, so no camera. My parents were sweet enough to send one of their old cameras to get us through, but it has decided to be incompatible with my computer, so I can't download any of the pictures from it. So, no pictures. We are all still here, and very much alive, so I wanted to give a shout out to say hello. When we get a new camera, believe me, you'll see!

When it's 105 degrees outside...

...you'll do most anything for fun! The boys discovered my swim cap and goggles this afternoon, and had a great time playing with them. I grabbed the camera so that we could share it all with you!

Andrew showing off the cap and Peter practicing "big hands"...

"How you like my beanie?"

...and finally, what I like to think of as the "Peter attacked by killer bee stings" look.

New acquisition!

We've added a new member to our family - Shinka the betta fish!

Okay, I give...

What DO you do with two small boys who don't want to nap (again) when it's 100+ degrees outside?

I woke up this morning to realize a) I'm more rested than usual, what gives? b) is that a chainsaw I hear? c) it's 8:15 and the boys are still asleep/peaceful in their room d) so this is what it's like for my friends whose kids sleep in e) who the heck is cutting down a tree next to my house? f) I'm really glad I shut ALL the curtains last night g) guess we're not making it to the 9am womens bible study.

Starting my day with egg on the floor...

As it goes with most weeks, I have great Monday intentions. Fabulous plans. Ideas to change the world. And I go at it with full steam, only to end up on Tuesday, really tired, and back in the old rut.

Less TV in the morning: we started with the end of Martha Speaks at 7:45. Curious George is running now.
Nutritious food: Peter's breakfast = chocolate milk. We did get vitamins in them both, and Andrew ate his scrambled eggs and toast. For Peter's plate, see title.
Focused activity: I'm in the office blogging at 8:20, what does that tell you?

All in all, we're not critically out of control, just more like normal. I blame it on Andrew having a nightmare at 12:20 and joining me in bed for the rest of the night. It's not nearly as bad as when we have two adults and the toddler in our queen-size bed, but still a jarring interruption mid sleep cycle. I'm off to my latte!

Sosososo...

...tired. We had a packed day, even for being with one parent. Cleaning around the house in the morning, quick lunch. Play date at the park with friends from 12:30 to 3ish. Naps, out the door at 5:30 to a farewell barbecue for the Ratliffs, who are moving this Wednesday. Both the boys are exhausted, as am I.

Oh, and so is the camera. Took it to the park but the batteries were dead. Guess we'll have to have more pictures tomorrow.

Au revoir.

Super-productive morning!

Today I was determined to do everything I can to have a 'good' day with the boys: less television, more activities, full-involvement, good food, etc. So far, we're on track! We all woke up around 6:45 and rolled into the kitchen. The boys watched one Dora episode while I made smoothies for breakfast, then we got dressed and went for a three-mile walk. Quiet room time with snacks for the boys followed, while I had my shower, and now it's time for my morning latte while they have one more episode of Dora. All in all, not too shabby!

There's definitely something interesting about being the only parent in the house. I don't know if the knowledge that I'm the only person to pick anything up makes me more apt to not leave things around in the first place, but there's definitely less cleaning to be done. Maybe it's just a different mode for the mind.

Already, Andrew is giving me the sad face: "I miss my daddy..." Yeah, me, too.

Life in pictures

On a side note, I'm really tired of teething poops... As any mom of children with teeth will tell you, everything goes crazy when they're sprouting a new crop of chompers. Peter has this angry diaper rash that makes me sad with every change. Poor guy.

Weather this week

Ha! The highs this week are only supposed to be 90 degrees in Redding! Wahoo!

Posts for daddy!

For those that read this blog, you're about to experience a large up-tick in the quantity of posting. Dwayne is in Cincinnati this week with the semi-annual WASBE conference, so we're going to keep him in the loop with home via Blog postings! Enjoy!

Today was a good church service - I attended the Door and got to sit with Renee and Herb of Simpson University and get to know them a little better. I also met the new secretary for the music department! Andrew did well with potty-training at nursery - he's decided to take on the standing position that all boys move into, but I'm not sure if I'm ready. Peter was tired from the early morning trip to the airport, so he slept for the WHOLE service (9:30 to noon). Guess there's no nap for mommy today. As we were leaving nursery, one of the workers pointed out that, since Peter slept all morning, Andrew could nap and mommy and Peter could have "mommy time". I replied that, while "mommy time" is good, mommy also needs "mommy-only time". Maybe another day.

Lunch, strawberries and Dora, and our afternoon has begun...

He won!

Hooooray! Dwayne entered his piece, Cage for One, in the Percussive Arts Society 36th Annual Percussion Composition Contest for Multiple Percussion Solo, and he WON FIRST PLACE! This is a huge honor, comes with a little money, and means that his piece will be performed at the annual convention! Next on tap, publication!

I'm so proud of my hubby!

Summer is here!

Well, it's official, Redding has reached summer. Each day starts out at about 70 degrees and just climbs from there. Jealous?

Still here...

... just busy.

We put an offer in on a home to purchase yesterday! For those who are MSL minded, the house is at 3934 Ethan Ln, MLS #09-2446. We've toyed with the idea of purchasing for a long time, but have decided to move now because there are so many great opportunities between interest rates, prices, etc. However, house shopping takes a LOT of time and energy, especially for first-timers like us. Now we're in one (of many) waiting phase to see what the bank thinks of our offer.

Other than that, we're all attempting to settle into a summer routine. When Dwayne finishes school, we generally skip town for a few weeks, then spend the next few figuring out just how many hours per day we have as full family/daddy working/mommy working/ etc.

Snow trips in April

We decided to take a family drive up to Mt. Lassen to celebrate our semi-official beginning to summer vacation. Oddly enough, Dwayne only planned to take jackets, but Andrew was set on bringing hats, gloves, scarves, the whole bit. Upon arriving, we realized just how different 4000 feet of elevation can be weather-wise - there was still snow on the lake edge! We bundled up, played a little in the snow, and quickly ate our lunch... then drove home! Peter in his very cute hat... He wasn't really wild about the snow. Too slippery to walk on, and too cold and wet when you fall.

Andrew with his (mom-made) snowman. He insisted on both a face and hair...

Q-tips and other fun...

Andrew rather joyfully cleaning out his ears (see video below)

Peter with his "goatee"... I don't remember if it's ketchup or chocolate.

Andrew playing with some friends at the park...

St. Valentine, the late

Okay, so St. Valentine isn't actually tardy, it's me. Grandma Ski sent the boys very cute Valentine's Day cards with presents inside, and the process of opening them was so adorable we had to share... on mommy-of-toddler-time-frame. THANKS GRANDMA SKI!Andrew loves getting mail, especially with envelopes to open...Look at the turtle on the front!And monies! Time to feed the piggy bank!This was Peter's first mail, and he was clearly thrilled just to have it!Although, he seemed a little unsure as to what to actually do with it...

Aww, who needs monies when you've got blue eyes like these?

Peter's Check-in

Hi everyone!

Peter had his 15-month checkup today! Here are the stats:

Height: 30 3/4" 25th percentile

Weight: 21 lb 10.5 oz 10th percentile

Head circumference: 70th percentile

He's a healthy, happy boy!

More little monkeys...