No More Diapers!

Luke has gone 6 days without diapers now, so I would say he's officially potty trained. "I a big boy!" he says with a smile these days.

He has been a champ through it all.  All it took was Hershey's Kisses for going, Swedish Fish for trying and just 2 accidents.  I make it sounds so easy don't I?? :)  It actually wasn't too bad. We were down to him telling me and asking me to change him after every time he went in his diaper, which meant 9-10 diapers a day.  I thought it was time for him to do it himself...and it worked!!


We roasted marshmallows again tonight.  We found some enormous ones at Walmart that are the size of 4 regular ones. They are yummier and much messier too!!

Kisses, Swedish Fish, Marshmallows...We are running on sugar over here lately...Just in time for halloween.!

Let there be LIGHT!

Aaaaaahhh! Tonight I am sitting in a well lit kitchen. We had recessed lighting installed today.   It is WONDERFUL to sit at the counter and actually be able to read or work on something and see it in full color. 
Here's what it looks like with the lights off. We chose a nickel finish for the fixtures as you can see.

And this is what it looks like lit.

After working in a kitchen that feels like a dungeon at night for so many years, I am in heaven!

And since I'm posting pictures of our house, here is our little fabric collage on the red wall opposite the kitchen. It's a little experimental but I think I like it.  I have a different fabric that I think I'm going to use to replace the greenish one.  All in good time.

That's all for now!!

Our Happy Family

Here are some picture highlights from our life lately. We've been having some good family times.

 I can't remember when we were all having breakfast here, but I just remember sitting there having a great time talking and laughing.  I just had to grab my camera and snap a shot cause I didn't want to forget the feeling of the moment.  I love our little family. Though these kids try my patience, they really are so cute and sweet and fun. We are HAPPY and I love that.

We are very excited about Halloween and have all the decorations out.  However, sometimes the decorations are played with more than they decorate.  These two are so cute!

It is Craft Show/Farmer's Market season for me so I've been spending a lot of time doing this.  I know, it's a terribly unflattering picture of me, but I'd like to point out my new sewing shelf behind me.  We got it from a recent Ikea trip and I love it.  Some day I'll get around to photographing the whole thing.  If you want to see what I've been sewing click HERE.

And the highlight of our weekend was this...

 Doug bought a firepit with his birthday money... Thank you G-ma Bev!!  As you can tell by all our faces, the fire was mesmerizing.  We had fun roasting marshmallows and enjoying the new found beautiful weather.    The weather has seriously been so nice here for the last week. What a load off to finally have the humidity subsiding.

And that's it for tonight!!!

The Proof is in the Pictures

Well the sleepover came and went and and already a week has flown by.  Here are the pictures to prove what a wonderful a time Mer and Kendall had.  The boys all went camping that night so us girls had the house to ourselves. Meredith was all smiles from the minute Kendall came till the time she went home.  It wasso cute to watch their interactions. 

Here is the rundown for memories' sake.  

Make-your-own pizza for dinner.

 While it cooked they chose a movie to watch. After much deliberation, the Parent Trap.

 Then it was time for dessert.

I love this picture

Next, we all played a game of trouble and they hit the sack at around 10.

The next morning Mer had a soccer game bright and early.

Then they got to go swimming at a friends house with a really cool rope swing.

And I got to hang out with my friend Ronnie a bit more.  I miss her so much!!  She was my co-mom, being just across the street.  Life has just never been the same without her.

Finally, Kendall came back to our house for the rest of the day and the boys came home too.  They decorated t-shirts, caught lizards and played the day away.

 Here they are with their Best friends necklaces.

I'm so thankful for good friends.  Kendall also has younger brothers and no sister, so both of them appreciated being together so much. We miss them already.  Thanks so much for visiting Kendall and Ronnie.  We'll have to come to your house next time!!

The Sleepover Plan

 

Meredith's best friend Kendall moved away 2 years ago.  She is coming to visit this weekend and staying with us Friday night.  Mer is so excited and has been anticipating this day for weeks.  She has spent the week planning and she handed me this list this morning.  Too cute not to share.  She has been pouring over the How to Be the Best at Everything Girls Book all week long for sleepover ideas. It looks like it's going to be FUN!

Jack is 5!!

I can't believe it.  He was so excited, his birthday was Friday.  He started off the day with morning presents.  By the time we gathered all the presents from various family members it seemed more like Christmas that a Birthday. 

He had a birthday breakfast of Strawberry Crepes.


And then the big kids went to school and at lunch time Jack's friend Lily came to play.

 









 After school we met up with a few friends for an Ice cream at Ben & Jerry's "Birthday Party".

 Later that night it was pizza and a movie followed by a little cake.  Jack is really into drawing pictures these days so his cake was decorated with "Jack-style" Oreo people fighting with Light Sabers. (Mer's idea)

  I decorated Light saber cupcakes for Jack to share with his preschool class the day before.

We love you Jack.  Thank you for being so sweet and silly. You make us laugh and can melt anyone's heart with your gratitude and smile.

Doug's birthday weekend

I'm finally back to a little blogging.  Life couldn't be busier these days. I'm recovering from an early detected Pneumonia today so in order to force myself to lay low (the prednisone in me is making me wired) I'm catching up on the blog as Loo Loo plays trains next to me. This is my third post today so scroll down if you want to catch up on us too.

Sunday was Doug's birthday and it couldn't go undocumented. Of course there was church in the morning and that evening happened to be when I was feeling the worst, but we tried to make the best of it.  So here are the pictures to prove it.

Doug is never happier than when he's with his kids.  Here he is unwrapping one of Mer's specially wrapped presents.

Luke, who thinks it's his birthday every day had to help open one too. I think that one was gum.

Meredith made the most beautiful cake for him.  She has had a picture of this cake on her bulletin board for months now and has been dying to make it for something.

This is what it looks like on the inside.. It even had lemon flavored frosting. yum!

And here's a rare shot of us two.

Happy Birthday Doug,  Sorry I wasn't feeling better and that you had to cook most of your own dinner and do the dishes and get the kids to bed, on your birthday.