Cool Summer Nights = Perfection!

One of the great things about living in America is the traditions. And not just the big ones, like Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July...the little ones, like high school proms, lemonade stands, garage sales (just like the country song "It's America" by Rodney Atkins says ;). Family bike rides are another! I remember going on bike rides with my family on cool summer nights, talking to neighbors and getting ice cream and Popsicles. We finally got the seats hooked on to both bikes and went on a ride with the girls tonight. It was so much fun (but, man am I out of shape)!! Aly was terrified every time Dan moved his bike and Hannah was pointing at everything just talking away in the seat behind me. I wish I had some pictures of them in the back with their little Dora helmets on! We are going to start going on bike rides more often. I don't know, maybe they do it in other countries too, but to me it seems something that is so 'American'! I love it! I love summer...it's the greatest!

Red Raspberries

Hannah loves all kinds of berries...except strawberries (the only kind Aly will eat)! Today, I gave her some fresh raspberries while I was cutting up strawberries for Alyssa. I looked over and she was doing this:

She is soooo silly! When she realized I grabbed the camera she turned on the charm! What a great personality!!

Potty Training: Update

We are a little over a week into this adventure the world calls 'potty training'. It is by far the hardest, messiest and most frustrating thing we have had to do since becoming parents. Changing diapers is easy, but how do you explain to a child that what they have been doing their whole life is wrong...and now they have to learn something completely new (and scary)?? We have had our ups and downs. If we are home, Aly is usually ok...naked, but goes on the potty without much prompting. When we leave and put a pull up on her it is a whole other ball game. She REFUSES to go to the bathroom anywhere else (Except Grandma and Grandpa's and Dave and Jess's)!! I don't even know how to change her mind! It took me a whole week, and lots of bribes, to get her to poop on the big potty...we may have to buy her a pony to go on a public restroom!!

We have been working on a Dora rewards chart: Pee in the Potty = 1 Star Sticker, Pee in the Pants = Loosing a Star, Poop in the Potty = Big Character Sticker...you get the idea. We told her when her chart was totally full we would take it to the store and trade it in for the Play-Dough Ice Cream maker she wants. It was working like a charm until last night...she told me after she peed on the potty she didn't want a sicker for her chart. I asked her why and she told me, "I have too many toys already". What 3 year old says that?!?!?!?

So, we will keep trudging on towards the goal and I will update along the way. It may take a few lot of loads of laundry, but she will be trained in time for pre-school...during the days anyway.

Hannah Takes a Tumble

Hannah is for sure the one who is going to get hurt the most and have the most serious injuries. We thought we would have a nice relaxing night last night at the Seed's for a cook out...WRONG! Hannah was being a grump from the time we got there, so after dinner we decided to walk to the park in their neighborhood. Everything was going fine until Hannah tried to go down the steps on the jungle gym. She wants to be like Alyssa so much that she thinks she is so much older than she is!! Anyways, I couldn't grab her in time...she fell face first (more specifically nose first), down 2 steps on to the ground. And it wasn't mulch, or the nice shredded tires...it was good ole' rubberized concrete! Although she didn't really bleed, the entire left side of her face was red and puffy. She screamed for the whole walk back to their house and until we got her in the car to go home and fell asleep. She hit sooooo hard I was really worried about her. When we got home though I had to change her diaper before I could put her in bed. Once her diaper was changed she stood up on the couch and started jumping and giggling. Guess she was fine! The scabs don't do the fall justice...I was honestly expecting the whole left side of her head to be black and blue!
Poor baby!

Night and Day

I did not realize just how different the girls' personalities were until this morning when we went to story time at the library. Aly is extremely shy! She would not go to sit with the other kids and stayed glued to my arm. She wouldn't even sing the songs or dance next to me. Hannah, if I had let her go, would have been right up there with everyone else (as long as I am in sight). She was giggling and dance in my lap. Aly wouldn't even go to get a stamp without me going with her.

Then we went into the kids section of the library. Aly walked to the shelf, picked out a few books and sat down to 'read' them. Hannah, on the other hand, went down the shelves pulling books off, tearing out pages and making a mess like a tornado in a trailer park. She did not sit still for even one minute while we were there! I felt so bad making Aly leave, but I couldn't chase Hannah anymore! We took some books home though and we are going to make it a weekly activity from now on. I guess I am for sure going to have to make time to do things with each of them that they enjoy one on one!!

Potty Training: Day 2

We had a rocky start this morning! She is wearing a Pull-Up to bed, but after putting panties on her she decided she didn't WANT to go on the potty. For the first 5 hours of the day, out of sheer spite, we went through about 6 pairs of panties. Finally she stopped being so stubborn and did great again. we went out to run errands, and even though she had a Pull-Up on, she stayed dry and waited 'till we got home to use the potty! I think it is going well, but it has been 2 days and we have yet to see a #2...

Potty Training: Day 1

I have been telling Aly for weeks that this summer (AKA: when school is out) she was going to have to start using the big potty. Since today was my last day of school, I was going to start tomorrow morning. However, when I came home from school today and told Aly I didn't have to school anymore she giggled, took her diaper off and threw it. That was at 11 and for the rest she used the potty like a big girl! She didn't have any accidents all day until Dan's mom was babysitting (Aidan came over so I think she just forgot). I think that is pretty darn good for the first day!

Pray, Pray, Pray!!

Dan has an interview for a TEACHING job!! It is at Delaware Hayes High School. It's a long drive...but it would be a start!! The interview is this Friday at 3pm! I will keep you updated!

**Update**

Dan said the interview went really well, but it was just the first round. All he did this time was take the 'Perceiver' (a series of questions they ask teaching candidates to find out their teaching philosophy). The principal told him that they want to hire someone in the next 10 days so it could be approved at the next board meeting. Hopefully he will get a call early next week for the next round! Keep praying!!

Ouch!

While I was making dinner in the kitchen tonight I faintly heard Aly crying in the background, "Ow, ow, owie..." I turned to see Aly's index finger in between Hannah's TEETH!! She was totally biting her. I told Hannah NO and, of course, they both started screaming. I would have too...there were indentations on her finger...Hannah bit down really hard!! I don't know why her finger was in Hannah's mouth to begin with, but I told Aly not to stick her fingers in there anymore and that Hannah didn't mean it. Through tears Aly cried "I coulddn't get it out!" Thankfully, Dora band-aids are a cure all!

Later, we saw my parents and she showed my dad her 'bite'. He asked her if an animal bit her...Aly's response: "Yeah...Hannah!"

Classic.

Who Knew...

spitting could be so much fun?!?!?!?!?!?!