Pictures of the kids

My sweet, patient sister, Melanie, came over to help me take these.  Thankfully, between the two of us,  we got a couple of good ones.  Natalie was not in the mood to smile, so we settled for her just sitting in one place and looking in the general direction of the camera.

Potty training #3

It's that time again..... potty training.  Let me just say, this is not on my list of 'Favorite past times'.  A strong force driving me though, is the fact that I really dislike buying and changing diapers. He also turns 3 next month.  So, potty train we will.  

Nolan has been ready for a while now, but is extremely stubborn.  If he wants to go on the potty, he won't wet his pants for anything.  If he doesn't want to go on the potty, you can sit him on there every 15 minutes, and he will still hold it and go in his pants.

The good news is, we are almost there. Wooo-Hooo!!!  The only thing we have to conquer now, is the telling Mommy "I'm stinky" after the deed is done.  He got some 'Big boy Thomas underwear', but got them taken away until we have this 'going poppers on the potty' thing mastered. (Yes, we use the word 'poppers' around here, instead of the many other descriptive words you could think of.  It definitely makes it less embarrassing when they shout it out in public!)

He wanted me to take a picture of him being a big boy and sitting on the potty.  So, here it is!  (No, he doesn't have a tail.  That's the toilet paper holder on the floor behind him.) ;D

Helpin' Mama

The kids love to help with the dishes.  Kaitlyn will drop whatever she's doing just to get to help unload the dishwasher.  Wouldn't it be nice if that continues as she gets older!  Of course, if Kaitlyn is doing it, Nolan is right there too!  They know they have to wash their hands before they can start.  Kaitlyn can do it independently, but Nolan still needs some help.  He starts to panic if I can't drop what I'm doing to help him wash his hands.  Sissy might get to put more stuff away than him, and that's just not fair!  They are getting really good about knowing where things go, but I still find dishes in odd places sometimes.

Favorite past time

Coloring is the main activity in our house most of the time.  I've never seen kids that like to color so much!  I went to Dollar Tree last week, and bought about 20 different coloring books.  The crazy thing is, I just bought that many a couple of months ago!  When I find a good sale on color crayons, I buy boxes and boxes of them. If the kids aren't playing outside, or chasing each other around the house, they are at the table coloring.  And Natalie is right in there with them.  I've tried to keep her out of the colors and colored pencils, but it's an exercise in futility.  She thinks it's her right to color if the other kids get to.  I finally started giving her a piece of paper so she doesn't color on their stuff, or on the floor. Oh, and she is not happy if you just give her one color.  She wants to pick her own and trade it out, just like the big kids.

Lost tooth

On the 1st day of school, Talon lost his first tooth.  That was a huge relief for all of us.  It's been the topic of conversation around our house since we visited the dentist and he told Talon to "wiggle that tooth".  He's been a-wigglin'....morning and night....wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.  It had some strong roots.  Man, I tried pulling that thing out, and it wouldn't budge.  After I went to work, Papa and Granny came over, and Papa pulled it out.  Phew! One down, 19 more to go!
His new tooth is growing in behind it, but the dentist said his tongue should push it forward. That was very exciting news!

He was so excited when he found money under his pillow.  Kaitlyn and Nolan started wiggling their teeth when they found out, as well. Oh boy! We're gonna have a bunch of toothless kids running around before long!

1st Day of School

We finally got Talon's school material this last week, and he is officially a FIRST GRADER!  As you can see, he is super excited about starting school!

 I would love to say that the first day went completely smooth, and I had it all together.... but that wouldn't exactly be the truth.  It was a bit of a whirlwind, and we were all a little frazzled by the end, but at least we got started!

Yesterday definitely went better, and after today, I think we're startin' to get the hang of things.

It's a bit difficult, at times, to keep him on task with all of the activity around the house, but we put both of the kids' tables in the kitchen, so he has his own place to work. As he moves toward being more independent with his school work and PACEs, we will make a school room area upstairs.  Until then, I guess the whole family gets to be a part of Talon learning to read!



Wordless Wednesday

Fall

I got most of my Fall decor put up this past week. I'm so excited!

I love so much about Fall. (Except the rain. I'm not a huge fan of the rain.)

I've done a little baking, but I'm trying to be good and spread it out, so we don't have baked treats to tempt us all of the time. I can hardly help myself though, afterall.... it IS apple and pumpkin season!!!

Random 5 on Friday

Is it Friday again? Already? Didn't we just have one of these? Oh yeah... it's been a whole week ago. Man, how time FLIES! Like I said in my first 'Random 5 on Friday' post, it may become 'Random 5 on Random Fridays'. How sad is it that it has already become the case? One of my problems is, I work nights. I go to work, the day and date changes half way through my shift. I come home in the morning, go to sleep, wake up, and the day/date is the same as it was when I went to bed. Needless to say, when I'm asked what day it is, or the date, it's a rare occasion that I can give the correct answer right away without stopping to think about it. Okay, enough of my ramblings. Here goes my Random 5...

1. We celebrated Labor Day at home with Anthony's parents and a couple of friends. We had a BBQ, the kids played outside and got very dirty, I got to relax for a little while, the weather was beautiful, and it didn't rain. Perfect!

2. Natalie has managed once again to get a huge knot on her forehead... right before I get her pictures taken. This kid constantly comes up with new ways to hurt herself! She has just recently learned to walk. She thinks she's good enough to get fancy, and decided to run around the living room with a blanket over her face. She ran smack into the wall, and screamed a lot. She pitched a royal fit when we tried to keep ice on it. The bruise is quite impressive. Sigh!

3. I got my Fall decorations out and started putting them up. Fall is my favorite season for decorating. I love all of the amazing colors and scents! I baked a whole batch of pumpkin bread, that got devoured in a matter of a couple of days (that's 4 loaves, people!). Yes, we shared some, but ate a good share of it ourselves. I love pumpkin bread. Pumpkin anything, really!

4. We are going to start the school year on Monday. We have been waiting for Talon's material to arrive, and I'm hoping it will come this weekend. Even if it doesn't, I think I remember my ABC's enough to start teaching him the letter sounds. If not, we are in big trouble! He is so excited he can hardly stand it. He gets out his pencils daily, and practices the words he already knows how to spell. I guess I'll embrace his enthusiasm while I can.... I'm sure he won't always be jumping up and down to learn that school is starting for the year.

5. We are having a major issue with ants around the house. I'm getting tired of seeing their little bodies cruise around the patio, the garage, and now the downstairs bathroom. We don't eat in any of those places, we don't have a water problem, and I keep my floors mopped and vacuumed very frequently. I don't like little crawly things around my house, trying to share my space. Time to bring in the big guns, I guess, and go to war on some ants!

Oh, the things kids say!

We went to Costco yesterday afternoon, and as we left the parking lot, Talon hollers, "Mom, look!  There's 'We Are Babies'!  

Completely confused, I looked around.  There it was, across the street....

I said, "Talon, that's 'Babies R Us'"!

He threw his head back, rolled his eyes, and in his sheepish way, said, "Oh, man!  I always get stuff confused!".

Yes, but it makes for a good laugh!  The thing is, he is always correcting the other kids for saying things wrong, yet he is the one that always gets tongue-tied, and says things backwards. Oh, the irony!

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We had a BBQ today for Labor Day, and our friends, Christie and Kylie came over.  Our kids know that they have to eat their hamburger before they can fill up on chips and dessert.  Kaitlyn is such a little mother when it comes to the other kids.  They were all sitting at their table, and Kylie (who's almost 8) picked up a chip to put it in her mouth.  Kaitlyn gasped in disbelief, and with a shocked look on her face, asked, "You're going to eat that FIRST???".

Outdoor Girl

Natalie loves playing outside.  She gets so upset if the other kids are out in the backyard, and she doesn't get to go out too!  She hates her shoes, so she is barefoot, as usual.

Our UW Huskies fan!  Daddy should be so proud!

Taking a break on the steps, and watching the older kids play.

Love those big blue eyes!

She's our climber.  She has no fear... she'll climb anything!

Gonna take a cruise in the pink car.

Waving 'good-bye'.

...and she's off!

Checking over her shoulder for traffic.

She must have been speeding and got pulled over by the bicycle police.

I think she was afraid Nolan was going to try and take the car away from her, because she would hardly even make eye contact with him.

Nolan-bug.  Outside on his bike, and happy as can be!

Our other cute little motorist.

So crazy!

Doing a little car shopping. She tried out the red one, but went right back to the pink.  Such a girlie girl!