Big girl

Ellie Kate has been hitting several milestones lately. This past weekend her "big girl bed" arrived. She LOVES it! Will does, too, actually. He plays in there with her all the time and has asked if he can sleep in that bed with her. We have not really put her "new room" (same room - different furnishings) together. We still need to paint, move some things out, other things in. So, there are no room pictures yet, but these are some cute ones of the kids getting ready for bed tonight. Will came in so he could hear the books I was reading to Elle.

  

Will wanted to pretend they were going to sleep. This is how Ellie Kate goes to sleep. You tell her to close her eyes and go to sleep and she squints her eyes closed as hard as she can. It's so cute!

Saturday Will asked to have his toenails painted, and of course Elle insisted she needed to have hers done too. Mine and Will's are blue. "Ellie Kate no blue." (with hand shaking as if to stay stop it!) "Ellie Kate wants red toes." Something about red toenails that make a little girl seem so grown up. The toes and the big girl bed all in one day were almost more than this mommy could handle.

Tonight before bed, we hit another milestone -- potty in the potty chair! Of course, this was after she peed a bit on the carpet, but I'll take what I can get, I guess. We haven't really started potty training, per se. We'll see if this sparks her interest. Will and I made a very big deal about it tonight. "Mommy, I am so proud of Ellie Kate." Will said. "Next time I want her to go poop." I can already tell he's gonna be a really big help in this process. :)

Home days

Ugh - I'm so behind on blogging! Earlier this month, Will had 2 days off school so I took the days off and we had home days together. We had such a great time! I forget how old he is and how much he can do! On Thursday, my  mom came up, so we played games for a bit and then headed to my brother-in-law's fire station for a tour. I've been meaning to take Will and we're so lucky the timing worked out!

Jeff and the guys were so great with Will! He was a little overwhelmed and very quiet while we were there. But I really think he was just taking it all in. He talked about it tons later to anyone who would listen (including Botchie). While we were there, we toured the living area, got to see the trucks, equipment, boats, Will got to climb in the trucks and push buttons. They even let him start the engine and turn on the lights. What a cool experience!

Afterward, we went out to lunch then had a quiet afternoon at home. On Friday, we went to pick a few things up at the mall, got his hair cut and then met Casie out for lunch. We ate at First Watch and of all the items on the kids menu (chocolate chip pancakes, turkey sandwich, etc.) he chose a fresh fruit crepe with granola and organic yogurt. And he ate nearly all of it. What a kid.

After lunch we went to tour Aunt Casie's "big school". Will had been there before, but he clearly didn't totally remember it. He was utterly impressed that there was a library inside the school. The whole concept was just amazing to him. And, of course, as soon as we walked into the library he spotted the Magic Treehouse books and got so excited. He loved looking around Aunt Casie's classroom. As he was looking through her bookshelf, he announced, "Aunt Casie, I see some Roald Dahl books." For those who don't know or don't recall, Roald Dahl wrote Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and several other kids books. He is Will's "favorite author". (I swear I didn't know what an author was when I was 4!) But, Will spotted his name on some books in Aunt Casie's classroom and she was generous enough to let him borrow them. I wonder if her 5th graders are as excited to borrow books from the classroom?

All in all, it was a really wonderful two days together. I'm not really sure who enjoyed it more - me or him.

Oregon coast

A few weeks ago Justin & I got to enjoy a quick getaway to the Oregon coast to celebrate my dear friend's wedding. Though our trip was short, we had a great time. The wedding was beautiful - and they could not have asked for better weather! Of course, it was awfully cool to those of us used to 90+ degree heat, but it was perfect for a beach wedding.

the few from our room

it was a little windy, but we kept trying to get a picture of the 2 of us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the view at the beach closest to wear we stayed - just a couple minute walk

The morning of the wedding we explored Seaside. It's an adorable little beach/touristy town. With the nice weather, lots of people came to the beach. Very little swimming, but lots of fun in the sand, kite flying, and dogs playing.

The wedding was lovely. K & I have known each other since we were 5 :) So fun to share in the day.

Beautiful

parading to the reception

Reception site

A lovely weekend escape

Where did July go?

Holy cow! It's been a while since I've posted. Just lots of fun summer things going on, I guess.
We went to Seneca over 4th of July for family Christmas. It was such a great time. We all loved it.
On the way home we stopped in Topeka for fireworks. EK was not impressed, so we just headed to bed. Will had a great time, though! And then on the 4th we got to see our friends from Texas for a quick visit.

The whole gang

The "kids"

The great-grandkids

The grandkids

Too cute not to add :)

Getting ready for the fireworks

Will & Cooper had a good time playing together

Not too bad with all 4 sorta looking at the camera!

Jackson playing hard to get.

Ok, maybe he's interested.

Nope, not that interested.

We've finished the t-ball season and it was definitely a success. Will really enjoyed it and looked forward to games (and post-game treats) the entire season.

We successfully broke Ellie Kate's pacifier habit. She was only taking it at bed time and the transition was much much easier than I expected. I had planned to have some elaborate story with a pacifier fairy and a new toy, but never got around to that. So, they just "disappeared", unannounced one Friday evening. After just a few days, there wasn't even fussing at bedtime anymore. Now if only it were that easy to break Will's thumb sucking.

Last weekend J & I went to the Oregon coast for my dear friend's wedding. It was a quick trip, but we very much enjoyed it. I'll post pics of that another time.

Summer fun

We've now finished the deck, swingset and have new patio furniture. The backyard is my FAVORITE place to be! The kids love playing out there. Virtually every day when we get home from school they're begging to go out and swing before I even have a chance to set my things down.

We had Dad, Kit & Casie over on Father's Day weekend for a little grilling and playing. The kids loved having new pushers!

It took Ellie Kate a couple days to try the baby swing, but once she did, she loved it! We've had multiple occasions of tears because it was time to go to bed or go inside for dinner, but "No! I want swing!" Will loves the glider. He thinks it's his pirate ship. He'll often sing while he's on it. His usual tunes are the Gaston song from Beauty & the Beast and some Enya. Eclectic tastes, don't you think?

The kids love the pool, but our hands are always full there so I haven't gotten any pictures yet. We did set up the sprinkler ball in the backyard, though, and they had a blast! It was perfect for us, too. Casie & I could get cooled off without getting soaked, but they kids got totally drenched just like they wanted.

Racing with Aunt Casie

Will loved doing this - I have no idea why. But, of course, EK had to try it too!

"This is the best day EVER!"

Our new swingset was installed yesterday. Will proclaimed this "the best day EVER!"

Both kids loved it - and loved different things. Will was all about the swings and Elle couldn't get enough of the slide. I have to keep an eye on her - she's such a fearless daredevil!

This is the backside of the set.

Will at the very top

EK pushing her brother out of the way so she could go down the slide.

Will's favorite part