Getting Ready for Christmas

The last few days before Christmas I try to do something fun with the kids that is Christmas related. I didn't realize that one of the activities we always do is Gingerbread Houses/Trains. I hadn't planned on it this year, but Porter and Eva were quick to remind me that we needed a kit. Luckily for me we leave it out for Santa and his Reindeer so it is always gone Christmas morning!

Potty Training Ivy

Ivy has been interested in potty training for the last month or so, and I just haven't wanted to put the effort in to really potty training her. While it would be nice to not have to deal with diapers anymore, I suddenly have to be at the beck and call of the closest public toilet.

So, last week, she took off her diaper, crossed her legs and said "Pee, pee in the potty?" So I put her on and she went! I clapped and cheered her on and put some panties on her thinking that we could put a diaper on later. Well, she appears to be addicted to positive reinforcement, because anytime I tried to leave the bathroom, she would suddenly say, "Pee, pee in the potty?". I ended up staying in that little bathroom for the next 3 hours! At nap time I finally got her back in a diaper.

For the last week, she has done fantastic with going to the bathroom in the toilet. Even if she is wearing a diaper, she'll come and get me and ask to use the bathroom. I finally caved yesterday and decided to try panties all day, not one accident! I am amazed! I guess we are done with diapers!

For Thanksgiving, some of our friends invited us over for dinner. Dinner wasn't starting until 6:00pm and I only had to bring some sweet potatoes. It made for a fun day. We woke up, and I wanted to go for a jog. Well, I can't jog without Snickers and Porter and Eva wanted to come along on their bikes, and Ivy wasn't about to be left behind. So our Thanksgiving lineup: Teresa with the dog on a leash, Dave riding his bike while towing Ivy in the trailer, followed by Porter on his super fast bike and Eva on her little pink bike. It had to be hilarious to see. They definitely pushed me to keep my pace up!

After that we had a nice long family nap and then still had half the day to kill. So we went up to a mountain range called Camelback. We had SO much fun hiking around. It's nice to have the kids older so they can hike on their own. Ivy is definitely getting heavy. I can't wait until she is a little more stable and can start hiking on her own.

All that exercise and time together actually really put me in a "thankful" frame of mind. It was a great way to spend Thanksgiving day!

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DINNER TIME!!!

Today for dinner I decided to cook chicken wings. I dished up the kids and they looked at it questioningly and asked what it was. I explained that it was chicken. The following conversation is word for word:

Porter picked it up and yelled "EEWWWW, it has BONES in it!"

Eva: "BONES?!"

Porter: "This isn't chicken, it's turkey. Turkey has bones."

Mom: "No, it's chicken, just with the bones."

Porter: "Mom. Turkey has bones. Chicken doesn't. Chicken nuggets don't have bones. The chicken we ate after church didn't have bones. This is NOT chicken. I think maybe you need glasses."

How could I argue with that kind of logic. So I nodded and told him to eat his turkey.

Happy Halloween 2009!!

This Halloween we let everyone decide on their own costumes.

Eva went as a pink cheetah and we had tons of fun with the pinkalicious part. Porter was a black ninja thanks to the pajama's Grandma brought back from China. And Ivy was suppossed to be a black cat, but refused to wear it. So we settled on a Hippy Chick. She totally chose the cute dress and we had the pink gogo boots. With a little blue eyeshadow she was set!

Here's our fashionista sporting Porter's flip flops. She is ALL THAT!

We had a Super Hero party at my house. Everyone dressed up as their own type of super hero. Dave came up with the name for my super hero and I choose the superhero costume. Any guesses on the name?

Family Camping

When we went to Idaho/Utah for the summer, I was really inspired by Ed and Julie and the fact that they let their kids camp in their own back yard. I don't know why, but I never really thought camping could be that simple. So once we got home and the nights started cooling down to the 70s we have started weekend camping. It has been so much fun! I honestly think Dave loves it as much as the kids do. I was going to limit their over-night experience to a pillow and sleeping bag. Dave was much more liberal with the blankets and pillows and spent a good part of the night in the middle of pillow fights. It was awesome!!

Princess Ivy

With Eva back in school, Ivy has loved getting into all the dress up clothes and taking care of her babies. Her favorite outfit is this super fluffy skirt of Eva's. We have to pull it up to her chest to get it short enough for her to wear.