The Great Outdoors...

Wait....I better make that "The Great Backyard..."

I heard the back door close earlier today and went to investigate. Once again, I discovered Sam, pulling down his pants, getting ready to pee on the bushes! If only I had captured the look on his face when he was finished. He was so proud of himself and told me all about what he peed on. Yesterday I found him walking backwards as he peed, yelling, "It's chasing me!"

Now I realize that you could have gone the rest of your life without ever having seen these pictures. In fact, I never thought I'd post a picture on the blog of my kid peeing. But, it has all been so stinkin' funny, that I just had to share. Friends warned me that once Sam peed outside, it was all over. They were right! They can now feel free to say, "I told you so!" Sam will wake up at 2am and need to go pee, but refuse to go in the toilet. So yes, I have taken Sam outside in the middle of the night so he could stand at the edge of the back porch and pee in the grass. Yet another one of those things I never thought I'd do... I guarantee you that I'll have more fun "pee stories" to tell you in the future. So stay tuned... :o)

Wedding Bells...

You may recall that Sydney has her future all planned out...she is going to marry Austin after she finishes college and then they are going to have babies. Well, the other day she was very insistent that we go to the grocery store (WinCo). I asked her why she wanted to go to the grocery store so bad. Her response, "I have to go buy a wedding dress! I'm gonna marry Austin next week, after I finish college!" I called Lisa, Austin's mom and told her about Sydney's plan. Austin was ok with the whole thing, as long as he got a lolly pop! Wouldn't that just be something if she really did marry Austin some day?

Sam is potty trained!

A friend gave me some information on a potty training technique that worked for her two year old. It required that I stay by Sam's side for at least three days, so I decided to try it over Easter vacation so that I wouldn't have to bring Syd to school. It actually took more like five days of not leaving the house...at all! But, it worked. Sam threw all of his diapers into a garbage bag and only wore underwear for this process...no diapers or pull-ups allowed. The first few days were rough! Lots of messes to clean up! By day three, he was really starting to get it and by day five, he was doing great! He wakes up dry every morning and if he needs to go potty during the night, he just calls for me and I help him. He is doing so well! I am so proud of him! But, it makes me a little sad, too. He's growing up so fast!

Oh, one more thing...he got to pee outside (on a bush) for the first time the other day. You should have seen his face! Sydney was really irritated that I made her go in the house. She wanted to know why her pee pee didn't have a "hose like Sam's."

Easter

The kids had lots of Easter fun! They dyed eggs at Sydney's preschool. This was their first time, since I haven't been brave enough to do it at home yet! Sam refused to use a spoon...he found that putting your fingers into the dye was way more fun!They decorated cupcakes at school, too. I don't know if Sydney had enough topping on hers...Sam just kept eating the frosting. We attended a family gathering the day before Easter. We saw lots of family and the kids had an Easter egg hunt. I made bunny cupcakes. They turned out really cute!

My "big" kids.

Sydney was really excited to see what was inside the eggs she had gathered.

So was Sam!

Easter morning.
We went to Aunt Mary's house in the afternoon. We had lots of good food, got to visit with lots of people and the kids found LOTS of eggs!

Update

Sorry I've been slacking on the blog lately. I discovered Facebook and have been playing around with that site instead. Also, we started potty training Sam this week. He threw all his diapers into a garbage bag and hasn't worn one since Sunday. We still clean up occasional accidents and wet sheets, but he's really getting it...I don't expect that it will be much longer before he's trained.

The Bahamas

We went to the Bahamas for a week at the end of March. My mom moved in and took care of the kids (thanks Mom!!!). We had a nice, relaxing time and really enjoyed spending time alone together...that doesn't happen very often! It was pretty windy most of the time, so we didn't go in the water very often, but the wind kept us from being too hot.

The view from our hotel room.

The house with the orange roof belongs to Michael Jordan and the white one belongs to Oprah Winfrey.

We went on a powerboat to some other outer islands.
We stopped at one island that was inhabited by iguanas. We fed them grapes. It was in interesting experience!
Then, we arrived at an island where we spent the remainder of the day. There were sharks and stingrays everywhere. They had been throwing dead fish into the water to attract them. I got in the water and fed the stingrays. I wasn't very interested in feeding the sharks!

This wild pig lived on the island. It was kind of weird having a pig walk across the beach...

Some views from that island. It was really beautiful...the pictures don't do it justice.

Happy Birthday Sydney!!!

Sydney, 1 year

Sydney, 2 yearsSydney, 3 years

Sydney turned four on March 16th. These pictures are being posted a little late due to our vacation soon after her party (photos to follow). Sydney had a Disney Princess party...her favorite princess is Cinderella. So, I decided that I would try to make a Cinderella cake. Little did I know, that by the time I bought all the supplies, it would not only cost double what the store-bought one would, it would also take hours to make and decorate! But, seeing the look on her face when she saw her cake was worth it. She said, "Oh, Mommy...she's beautiful!" Sydney and her friend Lauren. They go to preschool together.Me and my princess. Sydney had fun opening presents. She got LOTS of princess stuff!

Group shot with most of the kids. Most of them aren't even looking at the camera... :o) Sydney, getting her last look at the cake before I took it apart and cut into it.
Getting ready to blow out her candle.
One of Sydney's favorite toys was a Fur Real cat. She has been asking for a (real) kitty, so this is keeping her happy for the time being.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYDNEY! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Sam

Ok, so the other day I blogged about things Sydney has been saying. But, Sam has been cracking me up, too! So, here are a few quotes from the past few days...

-Sam walks around singing, "A dweem is a wish you heart makes when you fass asweep..." (from Cinderella) It is just the sweetest thing...

-Sam has been very resistant to potty training lately, so we've been talking about how he can't wear a diaper to school...and Sam REALLY wants to go to school. So, the other day, I asked him what he gets to do when he doesn't wear a diaper anymore. His response: "Me get go to ballet!" Not quite the response I was looking for... But, it's better than when he responds, "Me get wear panties!"

-Almost every time I ask Sam what his name is and about half the time that other people ask him, he responds, "I Mommy's Boy." When he does decides to say his real name, he says "I Bam!"

-Sam recognizes every Disney princess and likes to point them out and shout their name. Sydney has taught him well!

-Sam refuses to drink out of a pink or purple cup. He says, "No! That's Dydney's cup, no Sam's cup...I a boy, no a girl!" Thanks again Sydney for telling Sam that pink and purple are only for girls...

-I found him running into the couches head first and asked him what he was doing. His response: "I a montmer truck and I cwashing! Vroom Vroom!"

-Sam came into the house from playing outside and with a great big smile on his face, announced, "I poopy! Hurry Mommy, clean me...I stinky boy."

-Sam was dumping out container after container of toys. I asked him what he was doing. He replied, "Making a mess."

Sydney

My sweet little girl is going to be FOUR on March 16th! Time sure flies when you're really busy (and having fun). The following quotes are directly from Sydney...things she has been asking and saying lately...

-"After I'm four, do I get to wear a bra?"

-"I like my curly hair, Mommy. When I get really big like you, will my hair look like yours? I don't want my hair to look like yours Mommy."

-"Sam's not in charge, right Mommy?" No, he's not. "See Sam! I'm in charge, not you!"

-In response to my asking what she was doing..."Oh, I'm just beating up my little brother. It's ok."

-"Daddies go to work...Mommies stay home and babysit." I responded that my job was to take care of her, her brother and Daddy. "But you don't bring home any money for my piggy bank and you don't work in an office, so you don't work."

-"Mommy, can you put Sam back in your tummy? I think he'll still fit."

-"Mommy, I'm not going to be a ballerina when I grow up any more...it hurts too much to put my hair in a bun. But, I'm still gonna marry Austin and have babies after I go to college."

-"Daddies have hair on their face...Mommies just have skin and some boo-boos." (referring to acne)

-John asked Sydney, "You think you know everything, don't you?" Sydney's answer, "Yes."

-"Mommy, I want to have a Disney Princess birthday party. And it has to be a Disney Princess party, not just a regular princess party."

-"Mommy, why is Jesus always walking across the road?" (referring to the local East Indian men in their flowing garments and long beards) "Isn't Jesus in our hearts? How did he get out?"

-"Mommy, my bottom hurts, can you kiss it?"

-After I served her mac n cheese for lunch, she said, "Mommy, this isn't healthy food for me...I think you better give me some chicken dinosaurs or french fries instead."

-"Poop!" (then falls to the ground in a fit of laughter)

-Her general responses to the question, "Why did you do that?" are "Because I wanted to" or "Because I like to."

A Visit with Grandma Alice

The day after we arrived in Fort Bragg, we made the three hour drive to Eureka to visit John's Grandma Alice and Aunt Mary Lee. It was a very long, curvy drive...luckily Sydney mastered the use of a "barf bag" after her experience on the way to Fort Bragg! :o)Mary Lee made us lunch and we had a nice visit with her and with Grandma Alice. It had been quite a long time since we had seen either one of them.John and his grandma.The kids with Mary Lee. The kids had big hugs for Grandma "Awice" when it was time to go.