Toboggans in July??

I don't have anything to update, just want to share some pics of my silly kids!!  This was Sadie's idea.

"Batter Batter...Swing!"

We broke out the baseball tee the other day.  The kids love it and are getting pretty good.  It was hilarious watching them the first day.  Sadie is such an athlete and she really was showing up her brother.  Landon has made much improvement since then!  Here's a few pics of their "first at bats."  I hope to get some videos on too.

Their first lesson...watching Daddy intensely.

Landon made contact.  The ball really sticks, so you have to swing hard to get it off.

Nice swing, Sadie.

Big Birthday Weekend!

It was a big weekend for us.  My birthday was on the 18th, Landon & Sadie on the 20th, and our anniversary is today.  Not everything worked out as I would have hoped for, but Landon & Sadie's party turned out pretty darn good!  On Saturday night I thought there was free babysitting at our church.  We got ready, loaded up, and drove 35 minutes just to find out it was the night before.  I don't know how I got mixed up.  Here were 4 very hungry adults (me, greg, tim, jess) and 4 kids ready to play at church.  Sadie was crying as we pulled out because she didn't understand.  We tried to make the most of it.  We stopped by Toys R Us to pick up their new tricycles from Grandma & Papaw Blackburn.  Once we got home the guys went in town to get us some food while Jess and I stayed to watch the kids.  About 9:15 we were finally eating and the kids were still very wired!!  Not quite the evening we were expecting!  Oh well...things happen.  On Sunday Landon & Sadie turned 3 years old!  We had a big birthday bash for them that evening.  There were 12 adults, 7 kids, & tons of fun!  The kids had a blast playing with new friends, eating cake, & opening gifts.  We had a great time, but I was a bit relieved when the night came to an end.  Parties are hard work!

New tricycles!!

Tim was letting the air out of the balloon into her mouth.  This was her facial expression after each time!  It was hilarious!!

My sweet boy!!  After Daddy fixed his hair, he walked out and said, "Mommy, I look good now."

They LOVED their Dora & Diego cake!  We could hardly keep their fingers out of it!

After tearing into the cake.  Nice blue mouth Sadie!  We caught her spooning icing off the big cake later!  I think Landon only ate his icing too.

Tim, Jess, and Josiah

Tim & Jess came on Saturday to spend the weekend with us.  They brought Josiah Jenkins to hang out too.  Josiah is Jess's little cousin, but he calls them Aunt Jess and Uncle Tim.  He's too cute and had the best time with the kids.  I'm so glad he was here.  Tim & Jess helped out a lot with the party...entertaining the kids, running errands, cleaning...you name it, they did it!  I'm so thankful to them!  Here's some pics of their fun.

Sadie and Jo cruisin' down to the pool.

Tim & Sadie...with her new goggles...too funny!!

After the party picture.  We were all exhausted, but the kids still had lots of energy!

Good friends!!

Trying to get Family pics...

This was taken before leaving for church.  As you can tell the sun was really bright!

A little better.

Hey...where's Duke??

Where's Daddy??

We can finally see everyone, but Duke's crying for a balloon!

A visit from friends.

Last night our good friends Eric, Danita, & Carter came over for dinner.  They are from northern KY.  We met them the first year we were married and have stayed in touch since.  Their little boy is 8 months younger than Landon & Sadie and 8 months older than Duke!  Pretty crazy, huh!  He's right in the middle.  It was so good to see them, but just made me miss them more.  Sadie and Carter hit it off very well as you can see from the pics.  We managed to get a group picture...Duke sportin' the safety glasses!

Sadie's photography!

Sadie grabbed the camera and started taking pictures.  We were impressed!  Granted I did crop them a bit just to center them, but at least she got the people in the picture!  Think she has a future? Here's a crazy pic of Daddy, Me and Danita, Danita & Carter, & Eric relaxing in the recliner.

Funny Potty Stories

I knew Landon had to do #2 this morning.  (i won't tell you how i knew that!)  I also knew if I put a diaper on him he would run off to a room and go in less than 5 minutes.  Instead I sat him on the potty and told him to poop.  He fought it and fought it.  I tried many different tactics.  About halfway into it Sadie even took an attempt to help.  She is telling him "1...2...3...push!"  She also held his hands like I was doing earlier.  So sweet!  At one point I got him to at least push a bit.  He looks at me and says, "That smells good."  It's all I could do but laugh!  Half an hour later I hear him yelling, "mommy mommy I did it!  I got the poop out!"  Sure enough he did and he was so proud!!  He went running thru the house, with little red toilet rings on his bottom from sitting so long, to tell daddy the good news.  Hopefully a little quicker next time...but at least some progress!

At another time this morning I checked Sadie's diaper to see if she had peed.  I said to her, "No pee!"  She said back to me, "No more peeing in my diaper.  It's a waste of money."  Wonder where she heard that??

Time to Buckle Down...

Well, we've had two weeks of family visiting and now they are all gone.  It was lots of fun.  The kids always love having family around to play with and entertain.  Kids are amazing...they never forget anyone no matter how little they may see them in a year's time.  They know who goes with who and were most of them live.  They are smart little creatures!  They had a blast going to Aquatica twice, swimming a ton, playing at parks, driving their new cars...you name it, they loved it!  Now that the family is gone and the fun is over (not that we won't be having more fun!)...it's time to buckle down!!  We're going to get this potty training knocked out and the night time sleep issues too.  It's going to take a lot of motivation, patience, consistency & energy from both Greg and I.  Not to mention lack of sleep.  I'm dreading that.  Most nights are interrupted anyway, but now it will be more until we can get all this figured out.  We've been trying some new things and I've been reading Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems.  The latest technique we've been trying is "talking to Blue" on the phone.  I got this idea from my friend Rachel.  (thanks!)  Landon and Sadie both love Blues Clues.  Whenever they use the potty and actually "go," they get to call Blue on mommy's cell phone.  We normally have to send Blue (a.k.a. Daddy) a text message first to make sure he's not busy!  The hard part is if he IS busy, then who knows when they will actually get to talk to him.  For example, Sadie peed this morning around 8, but I knew Greg started a conference call at 8.  At 9 I sent him a text.  It was hard making up reasons why Blue can't talk for that hour!  When Blue calls,  the kids just love it!!  Their faces light up and I'm cracking up!  Blue not too hard to imitate..."ba bow!!"  It's hilarious!!  It seems to be working more for Sadie, which is actually surprising cause Landon REALLY loves Blue!!  He's watching right now and drawing the clues on his doodle pad with Joe.  Just since last night Sadie has peed 3 times and pooped once...and all on her own!  She is telling me she has to go...I'm not asking her!!  I'm so pumped about this!!  It's just 9 days til their b-day.  It would be great to have her knocked out by then.  We also reward in other ways.  Each time they go, they get a sticker for their chart.  If they do #1, they get one m&m.  If they do #2, they get 2 m&m's.  Since the "talking to Blue" idea has been motivating for the potty, we're also trying it for night time.  If they sleep all night in their own bed, then they get to call Blue.  Landon has slept the past two nights.  Sadie has slept in her bed all night only once since I think May!!  She normally ends up on our bedroom floor.  She has a spot with blankets and pillows.  I know I know...we've got to stop that!!  It's going to be hard, cause it's so easy to just let her lay there.  She will sleep the rest of the night without waking up.  While family was visiting we moved her bed into our room for a few nights.  Crazy how she didn't wake up once those nights!!  So I realize this isn't the most intriguing or thought-provoking blog post, but hey...I'm a mom and this is what's on my mind.  Maybe this will help keep me accountable to stay focused and "buckle down!"  

It's going to continue to be an exciting week or so.  Next Tuesday our good friends from KY are coming down for vacation.  They will be staying in The Villages which is less than a half hour north of us.  They have a 2 year old boy.  I think we've seen him once or twice since being born.  They are coming over for dinner on Tuesday.  I'm so excited!  Also, my b-day is the 18th (the big 34!), Landon & Sadie's the 20th, and our 7 year anniversary on the 21st.  An extremely busy and exciting month!!  I'll keep you all posted on the potty training progress!

More cousin times!

Greg's mom, sister, and 2 kids were here this week.  Here's some more fun with the family.  Greg with Olivia and Luke.  Sadie and Luke crusin' in her mustang.  Landon and Duke truckin' along (a little help from Aunt Kelli & Olivia).  And two group pictures with cousins and Grandma.  

New Rides!

Not only do we have a Buick Terraza mini-van and a Jag, but now a Cadillac Escalade and a Mustang convertible!  These are early b-day presents from Grandma Linda and Papaw Bob.  Greg and Aunt Kelli put them together last night.  Even though it was after 9pm, we decided to let them try'em out.  They love it!  It was hilarious watching them try to drive!  I think Landon was just in shock.  Sadie was stylin' and Duke was a great passenger.  The hard part was dealing with the major meltdowns when it was time to come in!  OH MY!!

Cousin Times

Attempting to get some good cousin pics!

With Grandma Blackburn

More Swim Time

Uncle Tim and Aunt Jess came over for 4th of July weekend.  We had another swim time on Saturday morning before the rest of the family flew back to Knoxville.  Tim and Dustin were doing the "Buzz Lightyear" flying trick with Sadie and Landon.  They were throwing Sadie so high!  She loved it!  Landon was not too happy in the pic with Jess, but soon got over it.

More Family Pics

Adie doing what she does best...dancing!  (love the tongue too!)

Dustin did this "slingshot" thing on the trampoline. He popped the kids up high and then caught them.  It was a bit scary, but they loved it!

Cousin bath time!  Nice tan lines!  We spent this day at Aquatica water park.  (yes, duke's face is scraped up.  tripped on his towel on the sidewalk and did a face plant.)

My family is gone...here's some more pics of our fun times together.  We'll miss them a ton!!