Clinton's Birthday!

Friday (the 22nd) was a BIG day for Mr. Clinton. He had his first day of school AND his birthday all rolled into one! This year for school, he is attending both sessions of Kindergarten- so he's at school ALL DAY. It's not a huge change from last year, (because he had Lincoln ELC in the morning and kindergarten in the afternoon), but it is a change for me because last year I was able to see him in the middle of the day and we could spend a few minutes catching up. This year I won't see him at all from 7:30-2:30. I know, I'm being a boob- but really- it's gonna be weird for awhile. He's very excited though... he gets to hang out in the morning and eat breakfast with the kids- well, eat breakfast the way HE eats- a Pediasure. But, at lunch, he will sit with the big kids and have hot lunch from school (his R.R. teacher will sit next to him and pressure him to taste and eat)- then he will get another Pediasure- which will please him. I am excited he will be sitting with the other kids to eat. I think it will 'peer pressure' him into trying harder to consume more food. I have great expectations for him this year- I think it's going to be a pivotal year for him. Pray that he can aspire to be the best he can be. He's an amazing kid, I'm so blessed to be his mother. He's taught me far more than I could ever hope to teach him, and he's also the best 'humbling tool' Heavenly Father can use for me. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about the trials he's been through- and he's still the perfect example of love and forgiveness. I love ya, Clinty-boy! Hope your 7th year is the best yet!


Pictures of the first day of school- 2008.

Oh, he's sooooo good-looking, isn't he?

After school, we had an open-house birthday party (our family is just getting too big to meet up all at once in my little house)- so here are a few random pictures of his party.
Derrick and Melissa giving CR his gift- Chili Cheese Fritos and Pepsi- his FAVORITE!!!!!
This is the gift Anita got him- it's stinkin awesome! It's a Bowling arcade game- the pins reset themselves, it keeps score, and even had a ball return- it's just like BOWLING in an arcade! This, of course, was the hit of the party- the kids played with it all night- Cara and Clinton stayed up until 11:00 playing their own game of bowling.

His party also somehow ended up being a costume party for the kids (which is a cool idea I think, I only wish I had come up with it myself.)- Clinton is obsessed with Pirates lately, so earlier that day Clint picked him up a Cap'n Jack Sparrow costume. Here he is pointing at the looming ships ahead. ;)
And here's Derrick giving his best Captain Morgan impression. :)

Cara got somewhat spoiled too, she got a princess Fiona costume and wore it ALL DAY. Brian and Jaz gave Clinton a Shrek costume for Halloween so they could be a little ogre couple, aren't they cute??
"Ogre's are like onions....."

Clinton's new dump truck...
And a rotating fishing game...
Cap'n Clinton Corrington...

He loved the hat/hair combo so much he wore it all that night and most of the next day.

Late that evening, chillin out in his "rock-a-bye" still dressed as a pirate... even in sleep he's still intimidating. ;)

PS- we've had a couple of other birthdays within the past 2 weeks- so I will post the 10 things we love about them soon. Also- I promised pictures from guard, but we don't have performance photos yet- so they'll be coming within a month. ;)

New Looks...

As you can see, I'm borderline obsessed with changing my backgrounds- ok, maybe "borderline" is a bit optimistic. I love to have something new to look at- I do the same thing with the wallpaper on my computer. SO- thanks for your patience, stick with me, and enjoy the change of scenery. ;)

Guard week...

This week is the first week of colorguard for me, hence the lack of posts lately. (For those of you who don't know, I'm captain of rifles for the ISU colorguard) - It's truly kicking my butt- but, I'm making it through. We will rehearse all week from 8-5 then pick it up twice a week after that. We have a good team, all of the girls have spun at one point or another- so we're doing pretty well. But, I have NO energy to do anything once I get home. SO- I'll have to catch up next week. Hopefully I'll have pictures then too- Also, Clinton's first day of school is on Friday- which is also his birthday! So- I'll fill you all in about that too. Wish me luck! I'll be posting again as soon as I get my energy and time back! ;)

Running wild!!!

This could quite possibly be the most RANDOM post in the world. I'm completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of pics that I've been wanting to load, so I'm gonna do it all at once. So- prepare yourselves with much patience and bear with me. Here we go...

This is kinda chronologically backwards but, whatever works, right? Here's Clinton showing off his new duds Jaime bought for him for school. He was totally, completely, utterly, rotten-ly spoiled. (Thanks again, Jaime!)
Jaime got this adorable nightgown for Cara. She tried it on and then proceeded to tell me..."I'm just like a princess, mom. I gotta wear deez shoes too."
Stylin' boy, ain't he?
Clinton frequently nags me to take pictures of him at random times during the day...this was early this morning. He loaded up his 'buggy' by himself. He was going to "the dumps."
Giz looking fine with his new haircut...
Cara cannot leave the 2-foot perimeter around Shannon. She is right there beside her at ALL times...
OOOooooo Chips.....
Dad and Laura came up to meet baby Maddy and everybody came over for dinner at our house. Lots 'O' Fun!
CHEEEEEESSSSSEEEE!
Finishing up dinner and getting ready for the release party!
This was the Midnight Release Party for Breaking Dawn that we went to. This was an Improv group that performed...very funny. :)
Our masks we decorated...we're cool, I know... ;)
This part was HILL-arious! The sketch was a five-minute run down of the whole series. They got to the New Moon part, and every few seconds the narrator guy kept flipping through the pages of the book, screaming, "WHERE'S EDWAAAAAARD?!?!?!" - (Those of you that have read New Moon understand... ) I laughed so hard, I cried! It was so funny! :)
Anticipating our book! YAY! We were 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in line (out of 300+ people - lucky us! - We're also lucky we didn't get jumped leaving the place- there were some SERIOUS fans there.)
Cara found my mask from the party the night before and wore it ALL day! She even fell asleep with it on in the car. ;)


Still napping buddies.
Isn't he handsome? ;) Meatball is feeling 100% now after his 'sick time.'
Another one of Clinton's DEMAND shots- playing 'baseball' with the big ball.
Then he'd throw the bat as high as he could- he thought it was awesome...

I finally finished and hung up Cara's canvas collages... I'm really happy with the way they turned out- I took some pictures of my hard work (since it won't be in the scrapbook)





"Happiness is not something you go someplace to find, Happiness is something you make happen right where you are."
We went to the races at Atomic City (dirt track)- Lots of fun...but we were all gritty afterwards... I gave my glasses to Cara (since we forgot some for her)...I had dirt in my eyes for 2 days afterward! ;)
Race-eeee boys!
One of the MANY crashes that happened right in front of us!
The next morning we went to the Chubbuck Days parade... lots of candy at 10:00 AM- what a way to start off the day!



Cara's favorite part was the horses and the princesses! She kept forgetting to go after the candy because she was so mesmerized by the parade.
Dancing with the gymnastics float's boomin' music!
We had lots of fun with everyone that morning, then I took Cara to the movies to watch Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3-D. She loved it! She screamed out 4 times during the movie- her favorite part was the dinosaur.

Clinton showed us another astounding trick of his the other night... he climbs up the side of the stairs, then proceeds to maneuver himself through the bars of the railings- then he does this pose to finish off- I tell you... the boy is a HAM. A skinny ham, at that.
The kids cleaning off daddy's 4-wheeler for him. That's love, right there.

Clinton and Bailey at Maridia's b-day bash. There was a giant water slide- but my kids wanted NOTHING to do with it. Dia showing Chuck some of her gifts.


And finally, Clinton lost another tooth. Literally- he lost it- I have NO Idea where the tooth is. The funny thing is, he was sitting right next to me when he pulled it. I remembered (vaguely) him throwing something across the room a few seconds before he showed me the blank space in his mouth. We searched and searched... to no avail. SO- we wrote the TF a note explaining....

It worked!! She brought him " 2 BUCKS!" - he was pretty stoked. ;)

OK- I lived through it! Thanks for hangin with me, and trying to keep up... hopefully this will not become a bad habit. Summer's so crazy- I've just had no time to blog. But, I'm feeling quite accomplished now, so I'm off to bed. Good night! :)