July 4th Family Vacation

We spent 11 days up at the camper around the July 4th holiday.

We had great weather, great company and a great time.

To show you a bit of what we did, I put together a little slide show.

Enjoy...

We spent most of our time in the water...

swimming, boating, beaching, tubing, etc.

Kendall cooling off in the lake

Sydney deciding to join her sister

Kendall...umm I think your pull-up is sagging a bit.

All the kids enjoying some beach time
Jack, Elliott, Sydney, Avery, Madison and Kendall

Kendall having fun at the camper in her pool

Sydney taking over the controls...watch out here we come.



Both girls went tubing for the first time and loved it!!!
They kept telling Daddy to go faster!



Sydney



Sydney again...

Kendall

Kendall again...

One of our favorite spots "The Rock" and Daddy

We took the boat up the river to Cold Springs
and enjoyed a nice picnic

And some ice cream...Kendall

Sydney

Daddy taking the girls fishing for the first time.

Finger painting...or body painting???

Very nice Kendall

You are beautiful Syd

One of our seaonal neighbors found a turtle,

the girls thought it was pretty cool.

Kendall showing off the turtle.

Sydney would have but after it snapped at her, she lost interest.

Many naps for not only the girls, but daddy too...

Daddy and Sydney

As you can tell we had a great time.

And we cannot wait to plan a long week up there

again some time next summer.

Since being home all the girls ask for is the camper.

I guess you can say they liked it too!

6.25.2010 to 7.5.2010

Father's Day 2010

Happy Father's Day!!!

We had a great Father's Day weekend. We were not able to go to the camper this weekend, but we had plenty going on at home. Saturday was spent at a family reunion where we had the chance to see family members that we don't get to see a lot of. The girls had fun showing off and being cute. It was a beautiful day with family.

Grandma Karen spent the night Saturday, and the girls were very excited to see her. For the last 3 weeks they have thought that Grandma Karen was in an airplane. She just recently went to Italy and I had explained that Grandma Karen was on a plane to Italy. The only part that the girls took from that was the plane. Every time a plane went over us, the girls would point up and say, "Grandma Karen." She brought them back little leather purses and if you ask them where Grandma Karen got the purses, their response "the plane."

Father's Day was nice and quiet. We went to a few parks, the girls gave Daddy some great home made gifts, and we enjoyed a nice family meal. We hope all you fathers out there had as great of a day as we did. Kendall and Sydney are very lucky girls. They have one of the BEST father's in the world. I should know, he is also one of the BEST husbands.

Kendall


Sydney

June 20,2010

Wear What?!?!

With many of you who have kids, girls mostly, know that kids can get picky about what they wear. Well, it has happened to us. I typically pull the girls' clothes out the night before for Daddy...he does the morning routine. I do this for a few reasons;

1) It's hard enough for him to get the girls up, changed and out the door...if I select the clothes that is one less thing for him to worry about.

2) Sydney wears smaller pants (poor girl has no legs), and I know which clothes will fit her and which will fit Kendall

3) Chad trying to pick out clothes that match...that in it's self would take hours for him to do

One day last week, Chad was getting the girls ready for daycare when Kendall would not by no means put on the shirt that was picked out for her. She flat out wouldn't do it. So, Chad had to go to the closet and get her a new shirt...which she was just fine with. Ummm Kendall, you are only 2 and a half, we should not be going through this YET!

Chad called me at work and told me about his morning. I was laughing so hard. My response, "welcome to having girls...you will have a life time of this, so you might as well get use to it." Then when asked if what he picked out matched her shorts, his response "I don't know, I think so." The real answer to this, which was discovered when I picked the girls up from daycare...NO! Oh well, Daddy did his best!

Potty Training Update...

We are still sitting at 50% completion...one down, one to go.

Sydney has seemed to mastered the whole potty training. She will tell us when she has to go to the bathroom and is about 95% accurate. We had some accidents in the beginning, but towards the end of last week, we had many dry days! At nap time and for long car rides, I like to put on a pull up...but she throws a fit. So we cross our fingers and hope nothing happens. She does allow me to put on a diaper for bed time, thank goodness. She still has a pretty full diaper in the morning, so it may be a while until we don't need to do it at night. WAY TO GO SYD!!!

Kendall on the other hand could care less about using the toilet. When you try to get her to use the toilet, she throws a fit. We have decided to not push it, we don't want to make it a bad experience. She doesn't care that her sister is called a big girl, she doesn't care that her sister gets M&M's when she goes, she doesn't care period!

If all goes well, we should have both of them trained by the end of the summer! This, would be a HUGE relief...not to mention a money saver. Buying diapers for one is expensive, buying diapers for two is VERY expensive!!!

Who Needs A Bed

Last night when we went in to check on the girls before going to bed, we found Sydney sleeping like this:

Man, I sure wish I could sleep with my head dangling off the bed...can we say head rush!

Potty Training Update

Happy belated Memorial Day! Hope you had a great holiday weekend. Could we have asked for better weather?!?!

Potty training started first thing Friday morning up at the camper...and it did not go too well. Let's just say lots of underwear was gone through. After attempting for a few hours with much resistance from the girls, we decided to load up the boat and head out on the lakes for the day. The potty chair on the boat didn't get used much that day, but we didn't really want to push it too much with the girls. We did, however, enjoy a day on the water, a visit to "The Rock" and an ice cream treat from Hardees.

Saturday started off about the same...so once again we loaded up the boat and headed to one of our favorite beaches for the day. Again the potty chair was not being used...but we tried. The day was cut short when Sydney got sick, a little too much heat and sun. With Sydney not feeling so well, we headed back to the camper, turned on the air and dropped the whole potty training.

Sunday, much cooler and rainy. Grandma Shelley, I and the girls hung out at the camper and took it easy. Sydney was still not feeling 100%, so I didn't push potty training too much...but would ask if they had to use the potty. Daddy spent most of the day cutting up trees for fire wood.

Monday we woke to beautiful weather. At this point I have some what given up on potty training...feeling as though they may just not be ready. As the morning went on, Sydney starting saying she had go to potty. So we started putting her on the potty...and she would actually go. The incentive of receiving M&M's as a reward, seem to help a bit too.

Sydney did an amazing job...and had NO accidents all day. Thanks to some advice, we put a potty chair in the truck for the ride home. This came in very handy when Sydney needed to go potty...we just pulled over. Since Monday she has had a few accidents, but has done very well. I expect a few more accidents but am proud to say I think she's got it.

Kendall on the other hand...she gets so excited for Sydney. She'll clap and cheer. But she has absolutely no desire to go. She has absolutely no desire to get M&M's. But as always, Kendall will do it in her own time and on her own terms.

Final outcome: 50% completion!!!

Potty Training...It's Time!!!

As most parents know, the whole diaper thing gets old quickly. I’m tired of buying them (very expensive and we buy the generic brand), I’m tired of changing them, I’m tired of my garbage being full of them, I tired of having to remember to pack them…I’m just plain old tired of diapers!!!

With this being said and the fact that the girls are getting older, our 2010 goal is potty training. Oh how my goals in life have changed from saving money or exercising to “potty training.”

Here is the goal outlined for you:

The goal: No more diapers after the summer of 2010
The plan: Potty train the girls Memorial Day weekend

We will be up at the camper for 4 whole days this upcoming weekend. I will pack real underwear and lots of clothes. The girls will be put in underwear and the potty will be used every 2 hours, I plan to set a reminder on my phone.

Will there be mishaps…most definitely, more in the beginning, less in the end (I HOPE).
Will there struggles…oh yes.
Will there be tears…YES (I bet more from Mommy than the girls)
Will there be success…Double YES!

I will still plan to pack diapers…pull ups actually. My goal is to stop the diapers during the day, knowing bedtime will come later. We will put the girls in pull ups at night and probably for longer car rides until they know better to tell us. The diaper bag will now become the pants/underwear bag…I’m sure I’ll need to have lots of extra pants and underwear if we leave the house.

Total savings:
Dollars saved…nothing. I will be forgoing diapers, but increasing the water bill (I’m estimating an extra load or two of laundry a week…remember I am potty training two kids).
Headache relief…none for a while.
So what is the total savings…ahhhh a life of not having to change a dirty diaper! That, in its own, is the best savings in the world!

Final words:
Wish us luck!!!

Happy Baptism Day

Today we celebrate the girl's baptism day and their birth into the church.

Happy Baptism Day Girls!!!

Sydney enjoying a very yummy cupcake...

Kendall making sure she gets every last lick of that frosting...

Girls opening presents from their Godparents...

Showing off their cool new plates from

Uncle Deven & Auntie Missy and Uncle JR & Auntie Katie

(thank you...the girls were extremely excited about opening their presents)

Mother's Day 2010

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year. Had a chance to get a pedicure with my mom and Tracy. Had a GREAT breakfast made for me. The weather was AWESOME! And best of all...spent the entire day with my husband and girls. Who could ask for anything more. Here are a couple pictures we took up at the camper that weekend.

Sydney...lovin the camera

Mommy and the girls...

Kendall checking out the flowers, or is that a weed...

Toddler Bunk Beds

With the girls moving to regular beds this past winter, we needed to figure out what to do up at the camper. We started the year off with toddler beds, but they took up WAY to much room in the back. So we asked Uncle JR if he could make us a toddler bunk bed for the girls.

The girls love their new bed and sleep great in it. Kendall has even said "my bed at camper cool."

Thanks Uncle JR!!!