cornbelly's....

The weather on Saturday was PERFECT for a day at the pumpkin patch. Charlie got a coupon from his school so he had been begging to go. How smart of them to give out coupons directly to the kids at the school, right?? Cannon is finally old enough for this kind of stuff so I was looking forward to seeing him soak it all in. He loved it. Charlie had fun too, but he is at a weird stage right now where he is constantly thinking/worrying about the future. I think he sometimes forgot to enjoy the moment because he was afraid it was going to be over. He kept asking, "We aren't leaving yet are we?" Not sure what has brought this on, but I hope it doesn't last too long.


Trying to get a picture of the two of them together....another FAIL.
Cannon was crazy about the tetherball. He is his mama's kid.




Showing how scared they were to go into "The Creature". It was very dark inside so I carried Charlie. It was cute to hear him rationalize the experience when he started to get scared. In one part there was a disco light flashing and he just kept saying "oh, that is just a disco ball, there is nothing to be scared of."

Cannon HAD to do everything that Charlie did. Even if it may have been a little too big for him.










Chowing down on some kettle corn as we wait for the pig races to start.
Throwing a fit....An outing wouldn't be complete without at least one!
The boys loved jumping on the jumping pillow. Cannon kept falling and got bounced around quite a bit, but he just laughed and kept on trucking. It was so cute. Charlie would have NEVER done this at this age. One of my favorite things is observing how they are so alike and so different all at the same time. I don't necessarily like to compare them, but I just like seeing how they truly are their own unique little personalities.

yellow stripe super star....

After lots of hardwork and practice, Charlie earned his yellow striped belt at tae kwon do! (on 9/21/10) He had to perform a series of kicks for Master AJ in order to earn it. It took him a few tries and then he did it perfectly. He was SO proud of himself. Right when class was over he insisted on calling daddy and GG to let them know of his accomplishment. I loved seeing him learn that he will get rewarded for his hard work and the sense of pride beaming from his entire little body.



Of course we had to celebrate with some frozen yogurt. Luckily there is a cute little yogurt shop right next door to the tae know do studio called Menchie's. Charlie picked green apple tart yogurt with nerds and strawberries for the toppings.



Good job Charlie. We are so proud of you buddy!

fair days...

Last weekend we went to check out the Utah State Fair. It is kind of weird to go to a different fair. We didn't know where anything was and we kind of missed our familiar little ol' Idaho fair. It was hot and windy, so by the end of the day we were all sticky and covered in dirt.

The boys didn't care though. They got to ride the rides and eat fair food so they were happy as ever.

Cannon was not thrilled that he was banished to the stroller for most of the time. But little mr. curious just could not be trusted!

The ferris wheel was the one thing that Charlie just had to do at the fair. He talked about it all week.

We will see you again next year!

lately....

I have been avoiding anything to do with blogging, picture-taking or scrapbooking.

We decided it was time to move Cannon out of the closet and in to Charlie's room. The room is pretty small so we got some bunkbeds. I can't believe we moved Cannon out of his crib already, are we crazy? He is actually doing great. It takes a little longer to get him to sleep because he thinks it is pretty cool that he can get out of his bed now. Once he is asleep, he is sleeping through the night and both he and Charlie are doing awesome with it all.

Because of this move I am doing some redecorating in their room, including lots of furniture painting and toy organizing/purging. Hence, the avoidance of blogging, picture-taking and scrapbooking.

I finished up the first term of my paralegal program and got A's in both of my classes. I am taking four classes this term and am not too thrilled with my american history class or my written communication class. Can you say b-o-r-i-n-g?

In one month, Cannon will be two years old.

Today at taekwondo one of the other mothers came over to me and said "I just wanted to tell you that I think Charlie is just the sweetest kid. I just smile as I watch him and I wish I could just give him a little hug. He is absolutely amazing." It made me tear up a little. How kind of her to take the time to say that. I love that Charlie's sweet spirit just spills out of him and even complete strangers notice it right away.

Cannon is having a hard time understanding that I can't (and won't) drop everything I am in the middle of to help him right.this.very.second. We are definitely working on patience around here.

When Charlie gets off the bus he flashes the biggest smile and waves like crazy when he sees me. I cherish it every time because I know it probably won't last forever.

I am hoping somebody will call soon about our ad on craigslist for the crib and changing table. I am not too sad about getting rid of it. Maybe I would be if we didn't live in a tiny apartment right now. But we do. And I could really use the extra space they are currently occupying right now.

Looking forward to fall. And pumpkins. And changing leaves. And little boys dressed in halloween costumes. And celebrating Mr. Cannon's birthday.

The neighborhood park had hundred's of flags set up last weekend for a 9/11 memorial. It looked pretty amazing.






Excuse me now while I go back to furniture painting. Anybody wanna help? :)

bus update....

Thank-you all so, so much for your comments on our bus fiasco. It is so nice to hear all your thoughts and about your experiences. I feel so new at this "being a mom with a kid in school" thing. I truly have the greatest friends! :)

After chatting with Charlie about the bus, we decided to try to get this thing worked out. He said that he really wants to ride it so I told him we had to make sure it was safe first. I keep thinking about how he wasn't really scared when I found him at the wrong stop. At first I was relieved because I didn't want him to be upset, but then I became concerned that he didn't seem to notice that he was in danger. I don't want him to be scared all the time but I do want him to know when something isn't right. I am trying to figure that part out without making him feel like he should be in fear whenever I am not around.

Anyway, I have had quite a few conversations with the transportation department and the school. I will say that nobody I have spoken with has really shown the level of concern about the situation that I would expect. I was surprised to see this especially after what I have heard from all of you guys that commented about this. Charlie did ride the bus on Thursday and Friday and it went okay. Since there were substitutes both days I just made sure to get ahold of the dispatcher on both days and let them know that Charlie was on the bus and that the driver was not allowed to get off until he saw me at his stop. It went fine and Charlie was happy.

There are still some major concerns that I am sorting through right now though. The bus has been 20-25 minutes late at pick-up and drop-off every time. The school promised they would call me back on Friday with some information and they never did. I am concerned that there is a new substitute driver every day.

At this point I do feel okay about Charlie riding the bus, it has just become a lot more work than I expected. Honestly, I am just so dissapointed with his school and I am currently writing an e-mail to his teacher and principal about my concerns. My problems are more than just the bus situation and I am afraid my fears of sending Charlie to public school may be coming true.

When they say that parenting just keeps getting harder as your kids get older, it is so completely true.

Here is Charlie waiting for the bus on Friday morning.
I was laughing when I uploaded this picture to my computer. I didn't really notice it at the time, but you can see below that Charlie is our little rule follower. I had told him to stay on the sidewalk and he never budged. I am sure he was just dying inside that the other kids were in the street. Not that he wanted to be in the street or anything, but because he is all about safety.