mix it up

A week ago, Clark and I were hungry for a Sunday afternoon treat. We had some frozen apple pie slices in the freezer, so we made those. We didn't have any ice-cream (so sad, I know), so I suggested we whip up some Dream Whip (basically it's whipping cream in a box). We poured it into our mixer, and after about a minute there was a big bang, an a bunch of sparks shot out of the back! It was crazy!
I went and found the user guide for the mixer, and found out it has a 1 year satisfaction guarantee. That didn't help us so much, because my parents gave us the mixer for Christmas 2007. We have had it for 1 year and 4 months. Clark and I were pretty mad.
I decided to call customer service anyways to tell them what happened. And they replaced our mixer for free! I am so happy! They were so helpful! I really didn't think that they would do anything about the mixer, and that they would just tell me, "too bad, the warranty has expired." So. Moral of the story: It never hurts to ask. Because you just might get a new mixer.

I love how quickly the weather changes in the spring. Two days ago Corbin was helping Clark shovel snow.

Today 95% of the snow is gone, and Corbin splashed in puddles and played in the mud. It was wonderful. I am getting so excited for summer.

A happy, muddy boy
I read somewhere (I wish I could remember where) that you should have kids say "cookie" instead of "cheese" when you take a picture. It results in a more natural smile. I think it really works. But then again, maybe it is just because Corbin loves cookies.

Playing with his "suck" (truck)

Every time he could hear an airplane, Corbin would gasp and say, "whaz at?" (what's that). And when I say plane, he copies with, "pane" And then he looks up to find the plane. It is pretty much always in the order. He is so interested in everything that is going on around him.

maddog jr.

I'll be honest. Sometimes Clark and I regret having a dog. I hate that she barks at every little thing behind our house. I mean seriously Izzy, it's a little stupid to bark your head off at the trash bags that someone left on the walking path. And at this time of year, she is a shedding maniac. I brush her at a minimum of every two days, and I vacuum every other day; yet there is hair EVERYWHERE. It drives me crazy.
And then Corbin goes and plays with Izzy for 30 minutes. Seeing them both so happy makes all the negative things I just listed seem not as bad. They have so much fun playing together. Corbin loves chasing her (as seen in the video below). Although sometimes he is more intent on running into Izzy, which then sends him to time-out. Corbin also loves to play fetch with Izzy. He loves to get her frisbee, and he hides it in the kitchen, while Izzy waits in the family room. Then I give Izzy the okay to go find it.

Spring snow

We are having a pretty big snow storm. It started yesterday morning, and snowed/rained all day. By last night we had about 6 inches. This morning we woke up to tons more snow! It is that heavy, spring snow; and when I looked out the window this morning, I noticed that our poor pine tree was buried. I had to go out and sweep most of the snow off. I was worried the limbs were going to break. Corbin was kind of upset when I got out the broom, and took it outside. He kept asking the play with the "bacuum" (vacuum).

The snow is still coming down strong, and it looks like it will continue for a while.

mad hatter

Corbin is really into hats lately. He likes to pull the visor really low, so that he can barely see. This is his favorite hat to wear. It is an EY hat, that Clark's work gave us when Corbin was born. I was going through Corbin's box of next-size-up clothes a couple of weeks ago, and I found this hat, and another one. Corbin wouldn't even try on the other hat. He threw a fit when I tried to stick it on his head. For some reason, Corbin just really likes his EY hat.

Happy Easter!

Here is Corbin in his new Easter church clothes. Even though I knew he would eventually get messy, I had him wear this outfit all day. He just looked way to cute for me to want to change his clothes!

The Easter Bunny gave Corbin a bubble gun in his Easter basket (it's kind of like a squirt gun, except it shoots out bubbles). It was by far his favorite thing (besides the candy, of course)

He was one excited boy to see all the bubbles!

As an Easter gift for us both, Clark and I decided to buy a classic controller for the wii, and then we bought Super Mario with our wii points. We played it for so long yesterday. I love those old-school nintendo games! We also rented Monopoly for the wii from the library, and we have had lots of fun playing that as well. Unfortunately, Clark woke up this morning with the stomach flu, so he hasn't really had the best Easter. Hopefully he will start feeling better soon!

book group

I hosted book group last Thursday. We read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This was my second time reading it, and I enjoyed it more than the first time. Partly, I think, because I paid more attention to what I was reading. The first time I read it (about 1 1/2 years ago), it was purely for enjoyment. This second time I knew I would be leading a discussion, so I really paid attention to the writing. I asked more questions, and I thought more about the things I read. I haven't really done that for a while. It was nice to use my brain. Sometimes I feel that I don't use my brain enough, now that I stay at home with Corbin every day. I need to try harder to find ways to engage my mind.

Anyways. I made cookies for the book group. Pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. It's a great "Taste of Home" recipe, that I got from my friend Rachael. I let Corbin try out the cookies, to see if they were acceptable.

I think he liked them. :)

Snow Day!

Last Thursday, we got a pretty good snowstorm here. Clark got to come home early from work, and it was so nice to have him around, even though he did have to do some work from home. Our fun day included:

Playing in a sink full of water

Distracting Clark from his work

And reading Where the Wild Things Are. It's been a while since the last time we read this book. On each page, Corbin pointed at the monsters, laughed, and said, "silly!"

The next day, Corbin and I went out and played in the snow. Corbin wasn't a huge fan, he really didn't like walking, or crawling in it. You will see in the video, he looks at me and says, "how?" Translated to mean: help. Corbin only liked to walk in the snow, if he was holding my hand.

Corbin had much more fun playing in this big puddle of water in our street. He probably played in it for 30 minutes. Isn't Corbin a cute little marshmallow, all bundled up in his snow clothes?

Fun videos

We need a sandbox

I know what I want to get Corbin for his birthday in July, a sandbox. He has way too much fun playing with the dirt in my planters. Oh, and the combination of the hood and the hat was Corbin's idea. He really wanted to wear them both. Silly kid.