Who needs a spankin' ??? by cory

She's an addict. No, this is worse than just an addiction. In hind-sight I probably should have seen this coming. A little here and a little there. "It's just for fun" she'd say. And I bought into it. I feel a bit weird sitting by myself typing what will become a full-scale assault on her world of BLOG-this & BLOG-that & BLOG-you ...,
you know "we really could just go to Wal-Mart without blogging about it". Really! normal people do it everyday.

So here is my plan. Today is Leslie's birthday. She loves to hate surprizes. She has figured out every gift she has ever been given since birth. Seriously, it's not worth the effort to even try.
Except today. I wrangled Leslie's sister Stacy into taking Leslie out for an innocent morning of shoping and pedicures. I'd have gone myself but, since it would be more manly to, take one for the team and stay home with all the little kids, I decided that would be my MO.
+Plus+, I know we have enough Dora fruit snacks to last thru several days of Disney.

Back to Leslie, So while she's out I plan to sneak onto her blog and surprize her by leaving a super sweet love note, that expresses how truly wonderful she is, and

......pause for potty break number 47 brought to you by Piper.....

(one handed typing here, while holding Piper & Tandi, both crying for more Dora snacks, here girls have some left over Mt. dew and beef jerky),
and how much I admire her ability to befriend anyone.
She is quite an amazing person, never an unkind word.
She tries to compliment everyone daily.
She loves people and is very shy socially but once she befriends you it's like you become part of her soul....forever. She somehow seems to really understand how to make those connections.

And how she loves her family, deeply. She's involved.
She really cares and is the biggest fan to her children, siblings and extended everybody.
She never forgets anything about people but only remembers the good. That is truly a most Christ-like quality. She inspires.
I love how frantic she gets over who gets voted off the island/stage/club/house/show this week. She's way more interesting to watch.

And how, she never gives anything less than 150% to anything and whenever she is given the chance to be creative, look out she'll be brillant.
She's competitive and usually wins at everything no matter the game (sorry Marley & Boden, I'll still let you win and pay for your therapy).
She has volumes of insight and I love to sit with her for hours just talking. I love the way her hand fits in mine and appreciate how she still misses me when i'm away.

So here's to you Leslie! HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Thanks for just being who you are.
I love being a part of your life and never imagined that 10 years ago we'd be this "in love".

love cb

Beat that Hallmark!

Who are you ..... and what have you done with my DAUGHTER??!!

So we gave Marley a little babysitting job. We told her that, while we go outside to clean the garage and vacuum out the cars, she'd be in charge of Piper. Since Piper was taking a nap I figured that all she'd need to do was to listen for her to wake up, and when she wakes up to take her potty, give her a snack, and play with her, and to do whatever babysitters are supposed to do.
So she did, and when we came in the house....it was sooooo CLEAN. I couldn't believe it . When asked what provoked her newfound self of responsibility she said "while I was waiting for Piper to wake up, I decided to clean Boden's room and the rest of the house, isn't that what babysitters are supposed to do? WOW! Who's kid is this? For us, its like pulling teeth to get her to do anything, let alone clean her brothers room. I guess a little responsibility makes a big difference. I had no clue. AMAZING!

Thank Goodness for Peanut Butter

Reasons I love to make PB sanwiches for lunch:

1. Easy

2. YUMMY

3. Fast

4. Yummy

5. Easy and Fast

Marley's New Pics

Boden's New Pics

My crazy kids had their pictures taken by Adrianne the other day. They were nuts. I'm really glad they turned out good. They always look good when Ad takes their pictures, no matter how crazy they get. Piper had hers done not to long ago.

WANTED warm weather

I don't know about any of you but I need some warm weather. My kids and I have cabin fever so bad. I need to tan my legs, they are pretty scary. My kids are dying to go to the park and ride bikes and be without their coats, hats and gloves.

Happy Easter

My LITTLE Chicks

Easter slide show

Annie

Marley and Annie

These girls are cousins, and love each other to death. Marley loves it when Annie comes to town and I don't get a moments peace until she sees her Annie. I have never seen two girls that play and get along so good together. They are so funny and have the biggest imaginations. The other day they were pretending that they could change into anything with the right potion. For awhile they were frogs, then bunnies and at last they found the right potion to change them into...... mermaids. They make me laugh. They can spend hours and days together and still not have enough of each other. We love our Annie and can't wait until she comes to visit again.

Rodeo

Last night we went to the Rodeo. We all had a great time. Boden loved to watch the bucking bronco's and the bull riding. Marley liked the girls barrel racing. I was really fun to watch and to do this with our kids.

Grandkids

This was Sunday at my parents house. My brother Zach had his mission report and we

took this picture of all the grandkids.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

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Oh Crap!

Yahoooooo. Piper is potty trained. I can't believe it. I've really hated potty training before, but this little chick was easy. One day she just decided that she wanted to wear panties. So we gave it a try (I thought, their is no way she can understand, I just barely got Cory trained) She is totally amazing. Now when I ask her if she needs to go, she races to the potty, sits down, listens for the tinkle. She gives High-5's and big hoorays, then she gets her prize nem nems(M&Ms)and off she goes. Whoo hooo. I love this kid. listening for the tinkle
Yea she did it. HOoraY
get the nem nems
good job little pip.

29 years...........

Cory and I had our 9th wedding anniversary yesterday. Its so hard to believe that we have been married that long, because it doesn't feel that long. While we were out to dinner we were remembering our lives together. We have come to figure out that we met and became friends over 20 years ago. So weird, now that's a long time. We had a great day, and a fun night out with NO KIDS. We laughed a lot, winked a lot, and after all these years are still best friends and so in love. 9 years, three kids, and so much more to look forward to. I cant wait.

Marley's 7th Birthday

Marley had a busy day. Since our families are so big we separated into two different parties. The Briscoe family was a 1:00 at McDonald's because it is one of Marley's favorite places to eat. So we met there, and the kids ate happy meals and played outside on the toys. It was a lot of fun. The next party at our house was a combined party with Grandma Patti whose birthday is the next day. Marley open presents, she was so surprised when her dad walked in with a new bike. She was not expecting that. Then we ate cake and ice cream and everyone played the Wii.

Marley is such a good girl and it makes me sad to see how fast she is growing up. She is such a joy to have in our family.

Zach Home From Argentina

Leslie's brother Zach just got home from his mission in Argentina. He served for two years and came home to a much bigger family. He got three new nieces while he was gone. He loved his mission and was a wonderful missionary. We all missed his very much and are so happy to see him home.

Zach brought all the boys back jerseys.

Breakin kids

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BoDeNs BiRtHdAy

February 25 our boy turned 4 years old. We had a great day. His birthday was at the Outer Limits (an arcade party place). We ate pizza there, and the kids played in a big jungle gym. A lot of family members were there and a LOT of cousins. Boden loved every minute of it. He is such a good boy and makes us laugh every single day. Thank you to everyone that came, and thank you for all the gifts.