Funny Corben....

Here are a couple of things Corben has said in the last couple of days to make me laugh....

While taking a walk through the neighborhood yesterday: "I wish I'd have known it was going to be this windy outside, I'd have worn my cleats!"

Today as I tried to convince him that movies from the early 1970's are fun for kids, too and he should watch one with me: "Mom, Bambi eyes do not work on me."

Clearing out the phone memory...

So I decided to finally download everything I have saved on my phone and it goes all the way back to February! So here's some of what we get....

Ella being cute Feb. 13th 2008

Valentine's breakfast at school with Corben 2-14-08


Sylvie Screaming 2-16-08


Ryan's mad pizza making skills 2-16-08

Marbles Museum with the kids 2-19-08


Eating Chicken baby food 4-3-08

Ella's sticker 4-29-08

Super Cute Sylvie 5-10-08

Corben...only $3.99!! 6-17-08 (last one, any takers??)

Corben and new cousin, Gabriella! 6-26-08

What Ella is doing when you're not watching! 6-28-08

Last 2 weeks in Review

Well the beginning of the week consisted of Corben's candles and his church clothes day so you've already heard about that. That Wednesday we went over to a friend's house and played outside in their kiddie pool. The girls really had a lot of fun and Corben made a new friend. Friday was RJ day. It was really nice having Corben here to help. RJ really likes Corben a lot. Corben made a really cool fort in the living room that all the babies played in.

Sylvie got a bit cranky about bumping her head on the table and in all her crying blew these great "nose bubbles" - my mother is reading this. There were actually 2 of them and they were actually about twice this big but it took me a few moments to figure out my camera wasn't in flash mode and all the good ones were blurry. Oh well, I'm sure you're happy you at least got to see this one!








After a long day of fun fun fun, RJ finally conked out while eating his snack. You'll notice the chair is sitting on the floor, that's because all of the chairs were being used for the fort!

Friday night was Corben's baseball picnic. It was fun to get together with the team again. The coach said nice things about each player but held out Corben's trophy for last. He said that Corben's successes this season were so wonderful and how proud he was that Corben never gave up. He said this season was the most wonderful he's ever had and he'll never forget it. We then gave him the baseball book I'd made and he started to cry. He said it was the best gift he'd ever received. Several of the parents loved it so much they got copies for themselves.


Saturday was Ella's friend, Kaitlyn's 2nd birthday party. Ella has two friends at church with birthdays the same week. Kaitlyn's is 3 days before Ella and Morgan's is the day before. Kaitlyn had a pool party and it was a lot of fun. Ella loved splashing everyone and drinking the pool water (eeewww).


They had pizza and cake and Ella sat at the tot table with the rest of her friends. She ate a whole piece of pizza and a piece of cake all on her own.















Next it was present time and Ella was very eager to help Kaitlyn with her gifts. After a few attempts at getting to hold them she gave up and got down from the table.


There was no hard feelings though. She and Kaitlyn hugged goodbye. Thanks for inviting us, it was a lot of fun!

That night we had Family Dinner at Scott and Erin's where we celebrated Ella's birthday along with Eric and Nathan's. Ella got toy dishes and food and lots of books! It was a nice night.










Ella's birthday was on Sunday. She's 2 years old!!!!!!! She got a new toy kitchen and laundry room set that both she and Sylvie love. I didn't get many pictures because I actually attempted to film the event for once!

Tuesday was Ella's 2 year well baby check. She's doing great! She's 33.5 inches tall and 24 lbs! (Sylvie's not far behind!)









Wednesday we were all excited because Dade was coming home. Ryan picked me several flowers from the garden. We have the most beautiful sunflowers this year! Dade's plane was late so I didn't get to pick him up until almost midnight!! It was so great to see him, we sure missed him around here! We finally got to bed around 1:30 am. We just couldn't wait to catch up.


Thursday, my beautiful niece, Gabriella was born!! She's so cute and tiny! Mark took some of the most beautiful pictures of her. So while my amazing sister-in-law, Jamie was trying to catch up on some sleep the kids and I were running all over town trying to get all that Dade needed for the Pioneer Trek. Every 5 years the youth in our area re-enact the journey westward made by the early members of our church. They dress in authentic clothing, forgo all modern technology and conveniences and spend a week pushing and pulling handcarts through rugged terrain through rain and sun. It's a hard journey but a very spiritual one and an event I hope Dade enjoys and never forgets. Friday RJ joined us again so it was me and 5 kids trudging around town finding the last few items. One cool thing happened. Some of the kids were asleep in the car and Dade needed to run into Goodwill to find a sweatshirt. He wasn't really sure what he was going to be looking for and was nervous about going in by himself. Well, just as we pulled in, up walked 2 Elders (Mormon missionaries) who were just cutting through the parking lot. They were glad to take Dade in and help out. Talk about timing! Friday night mom came and picked up Corben for the weekend. He really loves spending time with her.

Saturday morning Ryan and Dade headed out to meet the rest of the group at the temple in Apex. The early Saints had to abandon their temple they had worked so hard on due to persecutions but visited it up until the very end as they were leaving on their journey across the continent. The youth met at the temple and spent some time inside doing service before heading out for their journey as well. It's supposed to rain all week, I hope Dade stays safe and has fun. The rest of Saturday was a lazy day. Ryan and I worked in the garden. See? Our veggies LOVE us for it!!

Sunday there were no youth at church and many of the youth leaders and bishopric were gone on the Trek. This gave the opportunity for Ryan and some of the other men to bless and pass the sacrament during Sacrament meeting. It's usually done by the youth and Dade is one of the young men who passes out the bread and water. It was fun to see Ryan up there. I think he and the other men enjoyed it and had a few flashbacks to their youth. Corben came home after church and he and I went for a long walk and played games outside while Ryan and the girls napped. Then we made cookies and burnt them! Okay, I hope this has caught all of you up to date. I hope to not fall so far behind again!!

What's in your cupboard?

This was in my Prepared Today Newsletter today and I thought it was a GREAT reminder. For those of you who don't know, we try to keep AT LEAST a 3 month supply of food (we are working on a year's supply) on hand in case of emergencies (loss of job, acts of nature, INSANE food prices, etc.). As a child I remember my mom experimenting with wheat recipes...ah, gluten....(I still have nightmares! :P) - just kidding mom! Now, I store Peanut Butter!!

What Dade is doing....

So, as the summer draws on, us Schnegel-kins sit and wonder how our Dade is doing in far off Colorado. We sure do miss him, luckily my brother does take pictures. Thanks, Jason! We miss you, Dade!!

Happy Birthday, Ella!!

Today my sweet Ella is 2 years old!! We are so blessed to have this sweet baby in our lives. My Ella is truly a free spirit. She is constantly on the go and has only recently begun to sit for a bit to read a book. We love her smile and her laugh. We love how much she loves each of us and the sweet way she talks to Sylvie. We love the way she always wants to know what everything is called and when she can't say the word she learns the sign so quickly and uses it often. She makes us laugh and keeps us busy. She can keep up with the boys but still loves to put on a cute necklace and see herself in the mirror. Here's some pics of my sweet girl's last 2 years!!

- 6 months

1 week old

2 months old


5 months

8 months

9 months

11 months

1 year

14 months

15 months

21 months

22 months

23 months

23 1/2 months

1 day shy of 2 years old!!

Happy Birthday, Ella!!

Corben cracks me up....

So I come into the hall way this morning to see Corben dressed like this....

Me: Corben, why are you dressed in your Sunday clothes?
Corben: Wasn't yesterday Saturday?

My poor kid is so confused without school!! HA HA HA!!

He is keeping himself busy in other ways. Earlier this week he pulled out his chemistry set and made dipped candles.

He mentioned at some point later in the day that he'd like to sell them and I told him that would be fine. I fully expected to buy them myself. He came back a few minutes later skipping in the door yelling, "I got a dollar!! I was only asking for 50 cents!"

"Wow," he said, "if the neighbors gave me this much for those candles I made then after I learn how to make nice ones I'm going to be RICH!!"

"Can we get some more wax, Mom?"

Small Change....

Now ANYONE can leave a comment on our blog without being a member of Google - SO PLEASE DO! Tell us what you think! My counter says a lot of people are coming to visit, but I don't know who! All comments have to be approved before they'll be published. Can't wait to hear from you!

6-15-08 Week in Review

Well, it was an interesting week, to say the least. The boys got out of school for summer break - finally! Dade came home with a trophy for getting a 4 on EOG's (End Of Grade testing) and a medal for his work in computers (how appropriate!). Tuesday I was able to attend Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment night. We had a Lend-a-hand Luau where we tied blankets for babies in the NICU. We were able to tie over 80 blankets! YEAH! Wednesday I had the wonderful opportunity to spend some time with a friend of mine from high school. It was just like old times - we crack each other up. She brought her beautiful daughters. Corben and Kaitlyn had a lot of fun outside together. Dade left Wednesday night for Colorado for 2 weeks. Since he's 12 he got to fly as an adult (panic, panic!) but my sister was able to get him flights that flew straight through. His flight there did have a layover in Nashville but he didn't have to get off of the plane. I realized that after his stop in Denver the plane went onto California. I asked if anyone would be able to make sure Dade was awake so he wouldn't miss his stop but they said there was a staff change in Nashville and they couldn't guarantee it. Luckily a wonderful lady from the marketing department was flying through to the first stop and said she'd keep an eye on him and notify the new staff of his stop! She even called me when she got to Nashville and let me know he was doing fine and that his plane was running a bit late. It's so nice to come across such nice people in the world! Thursday we got up to what looked like a huge fog but when I opened the door it was smoke!! It was so thick and the smell was overwhelming. It seems that fires from the coast were so bad that the smoke was blowing inland all the way to us! I kept my little asthma Ella inside for 2 days as we had code red air quality. Friday RJ came over to play and Corben was such a HUGE help! RJ really likes him a lot. While the girls napped Corben took RJ outside for some bubble fun! Saturday Ryan went and played softball with other members of our congregation while I stayed home with the kids and watched a friend's new baby. Then we headed out to a conference held for a few of the local congregations in our area. Elder Bednar, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was there and spoke with us. It was an amazing experience. Sunday was Father's Day and the kids woke Ryan with breakfast in bed. He loved his present (a new meat thermometer). Then we headed back out for a wonderful 2nd day of conference! Afterwards Ryan's dad joined us for dinner. Ryan cooked chicken and vegetables from the garden on the grill. It was a really nice week! Now hopefully I can just find things for Corben to do until Dade gets back!

It's Your Special Day!!

Happy Father's Day, wonderful man that I love!

And Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads I have the privilege of knowing and calling family!!

Check out the AWESOME crown and door hanger Corben made for Ryan!


It says KING!! YAY!!

King - Do not disturb! ever!!!

That kid makes me laugh! I sure love him!