Seth is a big boy!!!

I am so proud of my kids this summer! I am always proud but they are really growing up and it is awesome that I don't miss a second of it!

Seth is potty trained! I have to give credit to Billy because he got him to pee on the potty first! One night he set him on the potty and pored water on his "pee pee" and Seth went. We were all so excited that Seth thought it was awesome and wanted to do it again! A few days went by and he was still needing the water but he was going anywhere and everywhere! It was great. Then one day he told me "Poop" and I rushed him to the potty and he peed! I was so proud of him for telling me that he had to go! We have had a few accidents but for the most part he is doing awesome! He loves his big boy undies and I think he is happy to be out of the sweaty diapers! He still wears a pull up to bed and during nap times but other than that he is good to go!

Oh and yes- he really never wears clothes now!!! It is easier for me to remember to take him to the bathroom when he is running around naked! And it is less laundry that I have to do!

Mikayla Swimming

So one of the things Mikayla learned to do this summer was to swim by her self! WE went to Grandma Aunties house almost every Friday this summer and would swim for at least an hour. Last year she wouldn't leave the kiddie pool, this year we got her floaties and watched what happened! First she would practice in the kiddie pool and then I would hold her in the big pool. Every time I would make her try a little on her own- it would freak her out until one time she grabbed onto the edge of the pool. So then for a few weeks she would just hold onto the side of the pool and say she was swimming and go all over the edge. Then one week, about 3 weeks ago, I asked her to swim to me- I was kind of far away but still close- she let go of the wall and realized she wasn't going to sink. Ever since then she has been a swimming fool. WE went swimming 4 days in a row because she wanted to swim so bad. She will even jump into the pool all by herself with no one to catch her. It is awesome so see her so proud of her self! Now I need to get her into swim lessons so she can practice all winter!

I'm Back!

I know, I know way to long with out posting anything! I am still trying to catch up from July! It was busy so here goes;
After 4th of July we had Maria's 5th birthday party. It was a lot of fun, just their family and us:) The girls played dress-up and gave us a fashion show. The boys just ate candy- as much candy as they could.
Next was Cousin Emily's 2nd birthday. He and Mikayla are 2 years and 2 days apart so Kerri and I always have fun deciding when to have their parties and what theme! Maybe one day they will get to have a party together for family:) But this year was easy because My Grandpa and Billie Jo, the kids call her Bedo, we coming to visit the weekend after Mikayla's party so Emily had hers on the 19th of July and Mikayla was the 26th! So for Emily we went to their clubhouse and had a pool party! It was a lot of fun. We ate Pizza and cake and had a great time with family!
Then my Grandpa came into town. The Mikayla has meet "Big Papa" a few times, she was really excited to see him and Bedo. Seth had only met him once before and it was when he was 5 months old so he didn't remember them. After this trip though he will never forget. Still, everyday he gets the airplane that they got him and asks for Papa! It is so cute I love it. I don't know what it was about my Grandpa but Seth listened to him so well. It was awesome to see them form that relationship. We did all kinds of things with them the 4 days they were here with us were packed full of activities. We went to the Botanical Gardens, Red Rocks, Wings over the Rockies and all kinds of restaurants and mini Denver tourist things:) We all loved it.
Mikayla's 4th Birthday celebration was in between all of the fun too. We rented a shelter out at the Aurora Reservoir and had Hamburgers and Hotdogs for over 45 people. It was so much fun I got the kids Buckets and shovels for their goodie bags and they were building sand castles everywhere. It took a little longer to cook the food then we thought So Mikayla opened her presents first. She got so many Princess things. She was spoiled. After her party we got home and she said "Mommy I'm Boiled aren't I?" I said "yes you are spoiled" It was so cute. After we ate we went down to the swim area and let the 10 kids and all of Billy's friends play in the water. I forgot to serve the cupcakes. After I got the shelter all cleaned up I took the cupcakes down to the beach and the lifeguards blew the whistle-they saw lightning. It was perfect we sang Happy Birthday to Mikayla and ate the cupcakes and then they said it was all clear and they went back into the water. It was an overcast day so it was not too hot like it usually is for her birthday.
After my Grandparents left we stayed home for a week! WE were all so tired and my house was a mess and the laundry was taking over my house! Maybe one day I will be caught up! I will go into more details about all of our adventures with pictures a day at a time:)

4th of July 2009

We had an awesome 4th Of July! It started at 9am and didn't end until July 5th. The kids were great the adults were great and the fireworks were fantastic! So in the neighborhood next to ours they always have a parade for the 4th. The kids love it because they throw out tons of candy- the last 2 years we have gone they have thrown so much candy that it fills up the wagon! So this year we decorated our own candy bags so that we could get as much candy without having to run back and forth to empty our hands. (that is important to little kids) So 9am came around we got all loaded up in the car with our bags and flags and got to the parking lot and there was nothing. We saw one car decorated and we went and asked them what was going on and they said they were the only car in the parade. For some reason it was cancelled this year:( Well the kids were really upset. I said we will just have our own parade later! So we went to Southlands and walked around the farmers market and then played in the water fountains- and then went and bought stuff for the BBQ. That is where we took the picture of the kids in the cart!

We got home and our friend Brandon came over and went with Billy, Loren, and the girls to get fireworks. The little boys took a nap. When the kids got back from getting fireworks and the boys woke up from naps we got ready for the parade. (All of the pictures are on Billy's iPhone I will up load them soon) But we had the kids sit in there new camping chairs and wait for the parade. Well Brandon was on his scooter pulling Billy in the wagon and Loren was riding Mikayla's little motorcycle. They threw out all kinds of candy and the kids were loving it. Amanda and I almost peed our pants it was so funny and cute! Those boys will do anything for their kids! Some of the neighborhood kids came out and celebrated with us! It was awesome- I think that was a better tradition than the other parade:) The boys liked it too because they could ride their toys:) Then Billy's parents and the rain came. Poor Billy had to cook in a down poor. Brandon helped by holding the umbrella over his head:) We ate tons of food and had a lot of fun! We then decided it was time to get ready for the fireworks. We had to get all bundled up because the rain left it pretty chilly. This year we sat on the Aurora Hills gold course. It was nice- the kids ran all around and played until the fireworks started. We saw an awesome show! we had nothing in our way this year! I think this will be our spot from now on- not to much traffic to get home, no light poles or buildings in our way! Here is some video from the iPhone! After we came back home

and set off all kinds of fireworks with our neighbors. Billy and Loren made some kind of explosion called a chlorine bomb- they found it on YouTube. It was kind of fun to watch! Maria and Seth fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep through all of the noise. Overall it was a great year! Hard to believe that 10 years ago on 4th of July was the first time I met Billy! Time goes by way to fast!