The Oregon Corrigans

Ode to the littlest Corrigan

We love our tiny Emma Pearl

She is our littlest cousin girl

Her cheeks are round

Her eyes will (probably?) be brown

She lives in another farway town

We miss her so, our hearts do glow

When we think of our tiny Emma Pearl

She looks like tiny, baby Marin

We crane and strain to see her grin

So far in the lineup, she is the caboose

But you never know when more sibs will let loose

In her Texas family, she is the first

One day she'll be bossing those who come next

We can't wait to see her very soon.

Our littlest, babiest, Emma Pearl,

You can never try too hard with a baby

Ohhhh, look who put the baby to sleep!

Pumpkin Patch field trip

My little Marcus! Having his first preschool field trip :) So special... I went along to the Plumper Pumpkin Patch with his class of 3 year olds. They are a hoot :) Love those little babies!

Teacher conference & projects

One of my favorite times of the year is teacher conferences. I love being in the classroom volunteering, and I LOVE hearing from the teachers how my kids are doing. Information is powerful to us as parents, and we welcome the good and bad with open ears. I have a passion for public school, and I see it as fertile training ground for my children to grow in mind, body, spirit and soul. So many growing opportunities! I love that our school pushes values that we share, and they are always reminding kids of what is important. Learning matter, but character matters as much (if not more). Also the kids get to walk us around and show us their cool classroom projects, and I always feel startled by the reminder that they have a life away from me. It shouldn't startle me, but it always does :)

Marin - "who I am"

Max - "These are beavers and that's my family"
ha ha, at least we're not ducks!

Max - "Look I'm an Engineer!"
(he made an X)

Marin's Native American baskets, journals, beads

Madeline's Art

Conference week - no school! time to paint some nails :)

And hit the Portland Children's Museum!

Happy Halloween - may the force be with you!

The kids chose Star Wars for their theme this year. They all vehemently agreed Marcus should be "little Yoda" but he actually pitched a royal fit about it because he really wanted to be Batman. Ha ha ha ha! But he's three, so easily talked into things. The whole thing was hilarious. They learned the art of a compromise: Marcus was Batman for his preschool costume party, and Yoda for trick-or-treating. Happy sugary children all around!

Marin: Princess Leia
Madeline: Warrior Queen Padme Admidala
Max: Storm Trooper
Marcus: Little Yoda (and Batman)

Also I had to go down memory lane a bit and remember the last few years of group costumes... So cute I cannot handle it!!! I think the Holy Family is my favorite. Baby Jesus, honestly!!!!

Holy Family

Frozen Fever

Merry Halloween Christmas

Nature walks

Cuties on a nature walk :)

Fall soccer

Oh yes, we love our soccer season! Another year of three big kids playing on their own teams, soccer five days a week with several days getting multiple kids to multiple soccer locations. Good times! Actually, it's one of the few activities where it actually feels worth it to be living the "taxi service - food truck" lifestyle. You have to really love soccer to deal with all the shenanigans these few months provide. Go Red Dragons! Go Fierce Kittens! Go Firehawks! (side note... Marcus' very very favorite hobby was to yell "Go (team name)" at the top of his lungs, but PURPOSEFULLY picking the wrong team to get a reaction from anyone who would notice. He is so funny! And such a stinker! I love him.

The Red Dragons team was a really fun new change for Marin this year - new team, new friends, new coach, more travel and overall a GREAT year for her. She was pretty close to quitting soccer after last year, and this year has revived her interest and excitement. I'm thankful for a positive year! Her coach demanded high standards, and she rose to the challenge. He complimented her at the end of the year, telling her that she took instruction well and gave her all each time on the field.

The Fierce Kittens team continues to be a fabulous group of girls from Maddie's school, and an equally awesome group of parents. Tight knit, been together for years, and very committed to making soccer a fun and family oriented experience. Totally perfect for Madeline, who had a bit of complication this year with heel injuries requiring physical therapy (a few weeks of being "benched") and then a wrist injury which caused another blip in playing, but over all she loved soccer, and loved her fellow Kittens. I am pleased she kept at it, and overcame her obstacles. I know the friendships were what drove her to never give up. She was honored by her coach for doing a great job in goalie, using her booming voice to shout direction to her team (I still can't quite believe that girl likes goalie, she is always surprising me!!)

The Firehawks team was super fun for Max too. He really took to it this year, and was complimented by his awesome coach for always doing his best. I love that. He definitely shows a natural ability and love for the sport, and I can't wait to have many years ahead of cheering for him!

Soccer. Best. (and now we can rest from such a grueling schedule! -* ish * - next up dance and piano!)