Kindergarten Orientation

The times, they are a-changin... Kyle and I with our oldest Marin, 5 years old... heading off to kindergarten orientation at our new school!

San Diego

Kyle and I got a real treat in April. A kids-free weekend in San Diego to attend the wedding of Kyle's cousin, Tim and his beautiful bride Kelly. The weather was gorgeous, and the company was fabulous (lots of cousins & family there to party down with!) Such a blessing to do this, and a HUGE thanks to my parents for watching our kids in Seattle.

Boys & Tools

Stick-em-up Dad.

Wheels

The girls got some new wheels for Easter (still adjusting, it's hard to let go of that little red trike)... And Max, well you can tell what he thinks of his Daddy's wheels! :)

'Tude Muffin

The stud muffin has a complete 'TUDE now! Attitude oozes out of those cute little cheeks, however I still can't get enough :) He still melts my heart. Now straight to time out.

A picture's worth a thousand clips

Those of you with little girls will understand what this means: Maddie's alter ego is apparently Fancy Nancy... The child has a white-knuckled grip on all her precious dresses and ACCESSORIES! Here's a small sampling. I love her.

One Year Ago

One year ago, we had a miracle happen in our family... Strolling down memory lane and remembering God's goodness & provision...

My. little. baby. LOVE!!

Field trip with Max

Max and I went with my moms group on a tour of the local firestation... He REALLY liked the red hat they gave him, and was brave enough to climb in the firetruck. It's pretty fun walking along with my wee one holding on to my finger. Special moments with my boy ... :)

New Hair

Preschool girls

Girls being cute and funny. Seriously, that's the end of my blogpost.

Introduction to Manhood

Kyle recently gave Max a crash course into manhood... Three hours in the garage with Dad & Poppy workin' on the motorcycle. From what I hear (I was out with the girls at a tea party), the boy loved it. Of course he did, it's time with the boys gettin' dirty and being manly! :)

Friday Night (de)Lights

About a year ago, I got serious about a subject that was just bugging me. It was that dreaded hour of every mother's day, around 4pm, when we ask ourselves "WHAT AM I GOING TO MAKE FOR DINNER?!?!?"... So, a year ago I got serious about a monthly meal plan. It has been AWESOME and has totally energized our family's eating. I've noticed that food in our  home is generally healthier, yummier, and just more interesting. A side benefit I didn't expect was that I am actually starting to ENJOY COOKING (gasp).  One can only make Tuna Melt Casserole a certain number of times in a week before a revolt happens. And I am just super happy that this area of our life has been transformed from total 4pm chaos, to a calm planned approach resulting in variety & enjoyment by my entire family.

But you see, this is not the purpose of my post :) The PURPOSE is to highlight what happens on every Friday of the monthly plan. Friday is Kyle's day... He volunteered to have a "day" since he enjoys cooking, and we are ok with once a week take-out when he's not in the mood to cook. But when he IS in the mood, we are in for a real treat. He is such a good cook. I want to cry every time he cooks, it's that good. I may also be crying tears of joy that I am not cooking (didn't I just say I enjoy it now? hmmm...)  :) Anyway, and because of this, my children will literally eat ANYTHING the man cooks.

So this blogpost is dedicated to a recent delish meal of clams & mussels, garlic bread & tasty broccoli. The kids gobbled it up, we were fighting over the remains. LOVE MY HUSBAND THE CHEF!!!

Tromping around...

We had a middle-of-the-week spontaneous family outing to the great outdoors. Jackson Bottom Wetlands is only a few minutes from our house, so we loaded up the kids & rainboots and headed for the hills. Even little Max was able to walk majority of the time, until he got his britches in a bunch about something... So I did carry the little muddy creature for about 5 minutes, then he decided to be brave again. Little boys, I tell you... they are so tough, but still need their mommas. Kyle tells me this is basically the description of all men. Ha ha!

As Marin would say, "Look Mom, it's a sign of spring!"

St Patty's with the O'Corrigans

We enjoyed celebrating our Irish heritage with the Corrigans again this year, and my lovely parents were able to be a part of it too (however they forgot to wear green, what can I say? They're um... NOT Irish). Gotta love the country pride!

 

From Saint Patrick's Breastplate:

Christ be with me

Christ before me

Christ behind me

Christ in me

...Christ beneath me

Christ above me

Christ on my right

Christ on my left

Christ where I lie

Christ where I sit

Christ where I arise

Christ in the heart of every man

who thinks of me

Christ in the mouth of every man

who speaks of me

Christ in every eye

that sees me

Christ in every ear that hears me

Salvation is of the Lord.

The Three Amigos

Lately I've been finding my three little chickens all squished together on the couch. They do this umprompted and they insist on all touching & sitting as close as possible without actually sitting on TOP of each other. So cute. They are crazy in love!

And because I seem to only have pictures of Brother on my camera, here's some more cuteness. I need to work on equal opportunity picture taking.

More preschool field trips!

I went with Marin's preschool class to Papa's Pizza. It was a super fun outing, and we got to take a tour of the kitchen area, have a demonstration of how make their creations, and then enjoy some of the yummy stuff afterwards! AND frolic on all the very fun play structures complete with merry-go-round. But my very, VERY favorite part of these field trips is when my girl looks up at me with that million dollar smile, squeezes my hand and says "Mommy I love it when you're with me". Love.

Bonneville Dam

Kyle surprised me last Saturday with a proposal. He proposed that (a) I sleep in, (b) he load up all three kids and take them on an outing that would last until after lunch, (c) I enjoy myself doing whatever I wanted with the rest of my time after waking up. INSANITY!!! In a good way, of course :) I proposed he be named Man of the Year. At first I totally felt guilty, but don't worry. I'm not THAT dumb, of course I took him up on it! What an amazing man I am married to. It gets better each year of being married to this one. Here are some pictures of their adventure to Bonneville Dam to feed the fish :) The man even TOOK PICTURES. God bless him.

Maddie's preschool field trip

Maddie's preschool class went to Out of This World Pizza & Play for a field trip today. And I got to go (wahoo!). Normally this place intimidates her, because it's so big. I was half expecting her to be holding onto my leg the whole time, however once again this little squirt surprised me. She was running laps around the place, blonde hair flying. Only after we got home did Marin (yes, the now 5 year old) inform me that they don't allow running there. What would I do without my big girl to keep us all in line? :) Love my babies.

Happy 5th Birthday Marin!

My first born is 5 today! Being her momma has made me SO happy. I am living my dream-come-true, married to the man of my dreams and home raising these precious and delightful children. It is amazing what each new stage in a child's life brings, in both challenges and immense joys. I am so proud of this baby girl, she is just amazing. I treasure all her sweetness in my heart. I love you Marin Elise!

For her celebration this year, we kept it simple celebrating with the extended family. This year's cake request was a UNICORN! This is our tradition every year, for each child's birthday, either Kyle or I design and make a cake for their big day. It's not fancy, but it's FUN :) I hope they will have fond memories of all the different cakes we've each done! We had a fun family party on Saturday, with her one request: Pin the Tail on the Donkey :) Ahhh to be 5 again and be thrilled by the little things... Then today, on her actual birthday, we had chocolate Rice Krispies for breakfast (Corrigan family tradition is each birthday kid gets to choose a sugar cereal on their b-day, the ONLY day of the year!), presents, playing with presents, then out to the Spaghetti Factory for her birthday dinner (again her request). It's fun when she gets to decide what our festivities will be, and we can make it happen for her! Again I say OH TO BE 5 and some spaghetti and sugar cereal can make your day! :)

Happy birthday my sweet and precious daughter.