Sappy Post

We just got home from the SOS Kick-off Party--A party to start off the year for the SOS (Significant Other Society) program...Adriana, Becky and Julie did a wonderful job organizing it, as usual!! It got me thinking about how fortunate I am to have the wonderful support system that I do up here with all of the other families...I can't believe that we are starting our last year...it leaves me with mixed emotions. Of course, I am excited to be nearing the end, but I am saddened by the thought of leaving all of the great friends that our entire family has made...I told Chris that I may even have to break down and join Facebook, so that I can keep in contact with everyone:)
We feel lucky to have our support system up here, and we feel equally as fortunate to have our friends and our family who are not here...it's been difficult to be so far away from everyone...but love that even though physical distance has kept us apart, we are still emotionally as close as ever...on that note...I'm putting this picture in for my mom, who emailed me back tonight to see if there was a pic of Em's from the front...I tried to upload a video that you would have loved to have seen, mom, with Emmers talking about her haircut and how she is two and a half with a new haircut, but again..having trouble with the videos...this is the best one that I had in the file...it doesn't really show the haircut much, so I'll take some more tomorrow and upload them...love ya! Here's Rasberry....

The end of June?

I can't believe we are at the end of June? Where has the summer gone? We've been enjoying summer, so maybe that is what has made the time fly so fast...

Sunday was haircut day at the Cornett house...it was Emmersyn's 1st haircut and by the end we ended up cutting off about 15 or 16 inches...both her and Avynne donated to "Locks of Love"...Benton and Daddy also both got "crew cuts"... The sassy new dames....it compliments the moxy that both of these young ladies have!!

Emmersyn's measurement...we donated about a foot of hair and then in the shaping of her hair, I took off another 3 or 4 inches...she loved getting her haircut!!

Miss Mazlyn playing on the floor...she's been attempting some crawling maneuveres--that is when her sisters allow her to just be...normally they are moving her around pretending that she is their "dolly baby"..

The pyramid of Cornett Men!! This was so funny to watch...my tummy hurt from laughing...at one point Bent was standing on their backs....the pain showed in their faces!!!

This summer has been filled with all sorts of creatures...here is a baby bunny that the kids found with their friends at a fellow resident's house this last weekend...

This is by far the biggest wagon I've seen...the man gives rides to kids in the area...we just saw him when we were putting gas in the car and got a pic...but we all thought it was pretty cool--hopefully we'll see him at some fair before we leave...notice Avynne's new "supermodel" pose she's been trying out...oh dear:)

Benton and Chris went late night fishing at Lake Mendota last week and Benton caught this 18 inch large mouth bass...needless to say, he was stoked!!

Yet another of the many creatures we've had around...Benton caught this at the creek...and yes, it's in our pool...we've had numerous wildlife stay in our pool throughout the summer...all have been returned safely to their homes and the pool gets thoroughly cleaned before the kids swim in it:)

The proud catch!!

Avynne with her longer hair...the kids have came up with many outdoor games again this summer...I think this one was Army something or another...

Avynne and Benton with the "Italian Sausage"...don't ask me...he was a mascot that came to Benton's tournament...I believe he is often seen at the Madison Mallards games...????

Ah, the soldiers...

The girls watching Benton's game...they thought it was cold...it was 85 degrees at 9 in the morning with high humidity...it wasn't cold...

Grandpa Cornett watching the game....we were so happy that he was able to stay for 5 days after he had watched the kids for a week...let me rephrase that...we were happy that he wanted to stay after he watched the kids for the week:)

Little Miss Sunshine!!

Mazlyn rehydrating!!

Miss Emmersyn

They took 4th place in the tournament out of 18 teams...they did a wonderful job!!

Scoring a run!!

Little ball player!!

A fun photo of the team afterward...they took serious photos with the coaches, but I like the silly pose!!

Hope this finds you all well and enjoying your summers!!

Love and hugs

Chris, Sheryl, Benton, Avynne, Emmersyn, Mazlyn & Jack

Recent Photos...

LIFE IS GOOD!!

We went parasailling while we were in Florida for Chris' conference...this photo got shot up to the beginning...again, apologies for my inablility to blog in an organized manner...

I've been trying to get this posted for a while...I'm having a hard time getting the pics in the order I want them...so please be patient while I figure this out...it might be jumbled, but I'm going to go ahead and post anyway...

Above is a pic of the three girls in their capris, kicking off spring (yes, I know it's summer...I told ya it's taking me a while...)

Here is my gaggle of children on Mother's Day...we had a great day together!!

Here's Mazlyn trying her first bit of ice cream...obviously she is our child...the Cornett sweet tooth prevails!!

Again, sorry for the random order...here is Miss Avynne right before her ballet recital (they asked that she wear makeup, she, of course, was more than happy to oblige!!)

Avynne in first position...she loves ballet!!

Benton and Mazlyn have become inseparable...she is the consumate "baby" of the family--her brother and two sisters, literally and figuratively, cannot get enough of her....

Avynne and her friend, Chloe, hamming it up for the camera...they have become the best of friends!!Here's three of my monkeys, just hangin' around!!

We've tried to get a shot of each of the kiddos in their car seat...here's Miss Mazlyn

Ballet princess!!

I had trouble posting the video...I will try again some other time...here's a shot of her in action until then....

Last week, we were fortunate enough to attend a conference for Chris in Bonita Springs, Florida. While we missed the kiddos very much, we so appreciated the opportunity to spend some grown-up time together! Chris's dad, Larry, came up and stayed with the kids...he did a wonderful job and the kids thoroughly enjoyed their "grandpa time"....I think that they equal Grandpa in their drive to fish...particularly Benton!!
Chris attended some really great meetings and I spent a better part of the days relaxing by the pool!! He did have some slower days and we took advantage of them by partaking in some "traditional" Florida tourist events...
The hotel that we stayed at had it's own island and we road the trolley boat over and checked out the wildlife--dolphins, sea turtle and bird nesting areas...here's me on the way back...obviously enjoying my vacay!!

Here's Chris with the dolphins...we tried to swim up to them, but the currents were too strong...we did get about 10 feet away from them...again, I had trouble with the video...will try again later..

A random pic of Emmersyn and Mazlyn thrown in for good measure!!

And Benton watching Avy's ballet recital...

Above is the kids and me on Mother's day again...we love this bush in our front yard...it has hundreds of rosettes on each branch and is a beautiful spring sight after the long Wisconsin winters!!

Here's Grandpa and Daddy with the kids the night before we left for Florida...

Here's Miss Avynne all geared up for T-ball practice...she wore a football uniform to practice...a sign of the roughness of 4-5 year old T-ball...

Here's the alligator that lived in the lake on the grounds of our hotel....aaagggghhhh!!

Animal Planet meets the Travel channel....

Kickin' our feet up for a while....

One of the pools at the hotel....

The mangrove trees that we took our swampboat ride through...

The view from our room....

Another shot of the dolphin...unbelievable creatures!!

Enjoying the beach with the dolphins splashing in the water...scary truth...in this pic, I am holding together my swimsuit...it broke while we were on the beach (thank goodness no one was in the vicinity)...I only had one suit...we went to the store that night and got another one...not my luck...that one broke as we were getting ready to parasail...thank goodness for the beach rental guy...he gave me two tie straps to fix both suits...they are both still working!! Good fashion design!!

Again, random sorting of the photos (keeps ya on your toes--none of the same pics in a row:P) Our swamp boat ride...we went with a couple who are originally from Nebraska and doing residency at KU...Shane and Melissa were a great, fun couple to hang out with...

Ahh...Corona and the beach...enough said...

We went on the 1200 foot parasail ride...they let out 1200 feet of rope...we were approximately 1000 feet above the ocean...what an absolute thrill!!!!!