The light has been reached

So a good while back I wrote about my frustration with potty training and that maybe we were close.  Well, I'm proud to announce that the light at the end of the tunnel has been reached and we are way out into the daylight.  Hooray! 

People always say, "when they are ready it will just click."  I heard that so much during my months of frustration that I wanted to slug the next person who said that to me. It isn't helpful information!  I knew he'd get it one day, but I wanted that one day to be NOW.  And I wanted useful information.  And just like they said, and just like I knew, he just got it one day.  He's had it down for a good while now, I just haven't written about it.  He just suddenly was accident free for a week, and then 2, etc.  He was taking car trips wearing his big boys, going out to the store and the park in his big boys.  He told us when he had to go with enough time to find a bathroom.  We even conquered nap time being dry and transitioned to wearing underwear then too.  Now and again there was an accident during nap, but he knew that that wasn't a big deal and we were proud of him for trying and we'd try again tomorrow.  It was awesome!

In the midst of the joy I realized that we had to now tackle night time training.  He was still waking up with a full diaper in the morning, fully soaked.  I was dreading it because I didn't want to wake up during the night to get him up to use the bathroom.  Then WHAM one night he woke up by himself to use the bathroom!  So after that I started getting him up around 11, before I went to bed, and then he would get up in the morning at some point by himself.  It was amazing!  Now he goes to bed in a pull up, just in case, and I don't get him up at night.  He goes straight through to the morning on his own.  I am so proud of my little guy.  He has been dry every morning for months.  And just the other day I found him standing to pee.  When I asked him if Daddy had helped show him how he said "no"  he just did it himself.  My little guy is getting so big!  I'm so happy to be past this point and will enjoy the time before I have to start all over.

a little of this, a little of that

Here's just a little bit of life around here.  

Will looks like a surfer in his new suit.  This will helpfully keep out the sand at the beach this summer.

More hats! Will LOVES to wear hats.

If these two ever end up dating we'll have to show them this picture. Shiloh is holding onto Landon's arm while they sleep.  So darn cute.

Playing in the creek.  It wasn't planned, and therefore Will soaked his clothes and ended up just cooling off in his diaper.  Luckily we were just down the street from Grandma's house waiting on my computer to get worked on so we went and used her dryer on the kiddo's clothes.

My little wet boy

John doing what John does near any body of water...climbing in and touching the wildlife.  There was a large group of kids from a camp or daycare or something playing....then they noticed John catching crayfish.  Boom.  A group of kids formed around him to learn how to catch them and to ask him questions.  

Will has no fear.  He wanted to hold that big crayfish, he had a grip on the poor thing too.  Just a few nights ago he held a turtle too!  I think he is definitely our outdoors-man. 

Just a little saggy in the britches.

Fun on the banks of the creek while Daddy plays.

Cabin get away

We got away for one night to the cabin.  The hubs had a long weekend and so we headed up to the cabin on  Saturday.  We weren't sure if we were going to stay until Monday or what we were going to do, but we were happy to get away for a little. 

I forgot my camera dumb me so I had to shoot everything with my cell. Will loved standing in front of the huge industrial floor fan we have up there.  I tried to catch a pic of the awesome hair blowing, but they were all blurry.

A little relaxing.

The heat was getting to all of us so we decide, last minute, to head to Raystown Lake.  We didn't remember how to get there and our phones had no service after we got a few minutes away, but we did it!  I did get my maps to work, so that was very helpful. Of course, part way there the dog threw up on the backseat.  Thanks for that, dog.  Luckily we made it to the beach.  John had to keep the dog away from the beach so just the kids and I went down to cool off a little.

Will loves the sand.  I had to force him to leave it and go to the water.  Below you will see him after he decided to taste the sand.  I thought it was over after his first time trying it and being grossed out by it.  I guess new sand = new taste?

Landon didn't want much to do with the sand and his only interest in the water was the boats.  The "surf"they caused on the beach freaked him out.  But I did get him to put his toes in for a little bit. The beach may be tougher of a sell than we thought!

Time to get rid of that sand and sweat with a good old bath.  

My soda-holic! Don't worry, all of you who gasped in horror, it's empty.  He just loved carrying around the cans. Also, don't be worried that he is really that thin and emaciated. He's a bean pole of a child and as I took this sucked in his gut. He looks like we never feed him in this! My poor skinny boy.

Out of doors

I harvested three of our four heads of broccoli. They were getting close to bolting. The heads weren't big, but look at those plants!

I may have complained about this odd fence and I still don't like their chosen color, but it makes my flower bed look nice. 

Have we met?

Meet Pirate Lamby!

Forgive the frightening photo of me, I couldn't help but get a little silly with my old friend.

Landon loves Pirate Lamby. He talks to him and plays with him and I cannot break character or I am chastised for doing so. Now, Pirate Lamby was not always the sea fairing lamb he is today. When I was young he was just Lamby, a mild mannered lamb who taught me my piano lessons. During my piano lessons I would only respond to him, and he liked to be addressed as "Maestro." No other title would do. Maybe I should have realized then that he longed for power. 

He lived happily in our home in the nursery, waiting for his playmate to truly appreciate him. Then, one fateful day, it happened he fell to the evil clutches of....The Mo. Mo was determined to tear him to shreds and leave no trace of the once loved lamb, but he forgot one thing. He lived with me. I found poor Lamby on the stairs. It was a horrific sight. His eye had been viciously removed and his stuffing, his precious stuffing, was scattered around him. I screamed, and yes, I cried. My beloved friend and teacher may not pull through this! It was clear that surgery was the only option in saving him. 

I performed the surgery myself.  Unfortunately the trauma was too much and I was unable to save his eye. So I put his stuffing back in and fitted him with an eye patch.  That was the beginning of his new life as Pirate Lamby.  He's new, he's improved, and he's got a new piratey attitude.  Arrrrr Matey! He still holds a grudge against Mo, his mortal enemy.  He has pledged to fight him at any chance he gets.  He is currently awaiting his new ship and crew.  He may be a pirate now, but he still love to play and act silly. And so begins another life of my beloved Lamby.  May he live many many more years plundering and playing.

Boys in hats

How do we entertain ourselves during a trip to Gander Mountain? Try on hats of course!

This may be blurry, but the above pose kills me!

More Pin-spiration

I get a little carried away with Pinterest sometimes. I pin so many things I'm not sure I'll ever do, but want to. But here's one I did do. I got the boys a hard sided kiddie pool last year. The downside of any kiddie pool is that you have to empty it all the time. It's not just the grass and dirt, but all the bugs that see it as a free drink and drown getting said drink. I was tired of emptying and refilling every other day. What a waste of water! I used it to water the garden, but still! Then one day on Pinterest I found my answer! (original pin)

How had I not thought of this? The blog that I found the idea on used a full size fitted sheet. From the picture she has I think she gathers it and tucks it somehow, but that is a lot of excess fabric. I used a twin, and as you can see, still have a lot if overhang. It does dip in the water because it isn't a tight fit across the top, but that doesn't matter. It acts like a sieve. It catches all the bugs and dirt and when I remove it it pours through separating the water from the junk. I hang it to dry during the day and shake off the dirt that evening before recovering.  I wasn't sure where to find a fitted sheet without having to buy a whole set.  Wal-Mart set me up with a fitted sheet for $4.  I went with the leaves to feel more organic.  ;)   I filled the pool on Thursday night and didn't refill it again until Monday! Let's conserve water!!!

Meals, meals, meals

Does anyone else out there meal plan?  I started last year after getting tired of spending every night staring into my freezer and pantry to figure out what I wanted to cook.  And at times ending up with nothing but mac and cheese for dinner.  Living on a night to night basis was fine when it was just me and the hubby, but when we had children old enough to also join in on the meals I realized I needed to make a change.  So I finally caved last year and started meal planning.  I sit down and plan out the whole month.  I don't cook every night, and I work around our work schedules (my hubby works 3 12hr shifts that vary weekly).   I coordinate the work schedules onto the meal plan calendar and off I go planning meals.  

Let me just say this...I hate it!  I hate meal planning.  I love it in the long run.  I love not having to worry about what to make, or do I have all the ingredients.  I know what's for dinner, and that I bought the ingredients to make it.  But sitting down to make that monthly plan drives me nuts.  It's hard!  It's harder than I ever thought it would be and I dread doing it every month.  Trying to figure out what I'm in the mood to eat for the whole month just takes a long time.  Can you tell I just did this?   I do grocery shop for the whole month at one time too.  As our family grows this might change, but for now I can make one big trip.  Of course we have to make trips during the month for cereal and snack foods, but we have a great discount grocery store nearby that helps keep that cost down too.

The good things about meal planning?  It saves us MONEY.  I know exactly what I need to buy at the grocery store, and exactly how much instead of guessing at what to buy each month.  Who doesn't like saving money?  And it's stress free on a nightly basis.  I know what meat I need to thaw ahead of time for dinner and how much time it will take to make it so I know when to start.  It really has become a life saver and a sanity saver.  It's worth the one night a month when I drive myself nuts making it. 

Zooray!

That's right, I combined zoo and hooray because I'm that awesome.  We love going to the zoo.  Perhaps I love it more than the kids do, just a little.  Landon enjoyed it more this year than he did last year, and Will liked what he could see too.  Maybe we can go again in the fall!  oooohhhhh....the zoo.  I am going to attempt to not bludgeon you to death with photos of animals you have all seen before, but be prepared for a few.  Mostly pictures of the kids enjoying said critters.

We stopped at the temple on the way down .  Landon was thrilled to see the temple and walk around the grounds.  

 I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday....

 The path to the temple is straight and sure

We went to the Washington DC zoo.  I enjoy going to this zoo because it is large, clean, easy to get to, and best of all.....free admission!  You just pay a flat rate to park your car.  We pack our lunches, snacks, and drinks and use the water fountains around the park to refill.  It's a great way to spend the day.  We arrived around 11:30 and didn't leave until nearly 5:00.  I was amazed at how well both boys did with the heat.  Will happily lounged in the stroller and enjoyed his freedom while inside exhibits.  It was very busy and Landon did well staying with us when walking and pushing his way to the front to see the animals in the exhibits.  Neither one had a meltdown!  It's a miracle!

This made me really excited.  The orangutan crossing was supposed to be 11-11:30, so we didn't go over there.  When we got to the area with all the monkeys and apes there were two orangutans hanging out high up in the towers between the ropes.  Shortly after we came out of the one building three crossed the ropes to the other habitat.  It was so cool!  I'm always amazed by animals and how they do what they do.  

 Will loved looking at the turtles.  He kept pointing at them and laughing.

 Don't worry, this was an outdoor bird exhibit...I didn't allow him to crawl through the bars of a dangerous animal's home.

 Waiting for sea lions.  

 My nature boys checking out a blue tailed skink that John caught running around.

We were sweaty, but we were happy!