Logan Trip

As many know, and have heard me whine about, Dave has been gone for the last two weeks. It has been kinda rough for me. I cried when we dropped him off at the airport, cried on the way home, cried the next night at dinner. Okay, I was a bit of a basket case for a couple days. Luckily, I did pull it together and have dried the tears. But, I did miss him so much. It has been really hard to be without my partner. I just missed him coming home to me each night. I missed his help with the kids. I missed having him to talk to and listen to me. I just missed him. So, he will be home tonight. YEA!! I can't wait to see him!!!

ANYWAY, that leads me to this post. Last weekend, since Dave was gone, I really didn't want to sit home all weekend. So, my mom and I went to Logan to visit my brother and his family who recently moved there.

It was such a fun get-away. I loved spending a lot of good quality time with my mom and kids. I loved seeing Jarom and Jackie and their cute little family. It was just laid back and fun.

Right near Jarom's house is a little ice cream parlor. We stopped there Friday AND Saturday night! :)





Saturday, we went shopping. In the mall, they had a hurricane simulator. You could pay $2 and get in this little area and the winds would get really strong, like a hurricane. So, we put my brother and all the kids in there.



My kids had so much fun that they went a second time...




They loved it. I am not sure how fast the wind got, but as it was coming down, it said 67 MPH I remember. So, the winds must have topped out over 70 mph! Fun, if you are in a little tube, not fun if you truly are in a hurricane!!

Later on we went to the Logan Zoo. It is small and doesn't have a ton of animals. But, it was cheap and was a nice walk on a really beautiful day.






We hung out in the park for a while. The girls loved playing with Jarom's little boys. Paisley thought it was great fun to "babysit" Dillon and Avery. She just mothered them and took care of them at the park. They were so cute and just did everything she told them too.

Here are the cousins, Dillon, Paisley, Braylon, and Avery:




That same day, Dave (who was in Denver) went to a Rockies game with his Uncle Dennis, who lives there. They were able to get GREAT seats. While we were at Jarom's house, he turned on the TV to the Rockies/Mariners game that Dave was at. I jokingly said that maybe we would see Dave. I called Dave and told him we were watching the game. He told me that we might be able to see them. Sure enough, every time they had a close up on a right-handed batter, which was very often, we could see Dave and Dennis in the background. It was so funny. I could see Dave as we were talking to each other on the phone. Dennis kept waving and doing funny things and the kids thought that was so funny. I was just glad to see Dave for the first time in over a week! :)

We had so much fun, ate some good food, (even though I am trying to diet) and just really enjoyed ourselves. Thanks, Jarom and Jackie, for entertaining us! We love you guys! Thanks, mom. I enjoyed being with you so much! You kept me sand as I was being a single mom! I love ya! And, Dave, it wasn't the same without you! I miss you and hope you are never gone for that long again! I love you.

POTTY TRAINED!!

It is official. Our family is a diaper-free family. Finally!! Avery is totally potty trained and has been for a week now. Hallelujah!!!

I had tried training her once before, but it just didn't click with her and so I gave it up for a couple months.

Last Monday I decided to try again. It didn't go well during the day. We spent A LOT of time in the bathroom, but she never did end up going on the potty. But, we did go through SEVERAL pairs of panties that day. That evening, Dave and I taught the kids to play UNO. Right before we started, I took Avery in to try again. After several minutes she decided she didn't have to go. She immediately went in the kitchen and peed her pants on a stool!! That was it! I was so frustrated! I was debating to myself if I should give up and put the diapers back on or not. But, she is 3 now and I knew I couldn't give up.

Once we got the mess all cleaned up, we played UNO. During the game she said that she had peed in her panties again! I looked and she was barely wet. So, we continued on. Then she said she had peed again. I looked and still not much pee. (Okay, I know I should have changed her then, but I was a bit sick of it and lazy at the time AND in the middle of UNO.) So a few minutes later she said, "I have to go potty!!" So, I rushed her to the potty and she went!!! You should have seen the party that went on at that point! :) I think during UNO she had been trying to hold it and would accidentally go a little. But, after she finally did go on the potty that was it. She was trained. She went a couple more times on the potty that evening.

She has done so well since then. She has only had one accident at home, and it was really minor. Then, she and I were at Paisley's soccer practice and she said she had to go. There were no bathrooms around. So, I took her behind a big pine tree and helped her squat down. She did not want to do that. So we went back to the practice and about a minute later she peed her pants. I felt bad for her. She was sad that she was all wet. But, I told her it was okay because there was no potty for her to use. That has been her only real accident. ****UPDATE**** - I wrote this post on Friday...unfortunately she had a couple accidents over the weekend. But, she is still doing well ****

I was telling my friend that I am a little sad she is trained. Of course I don't miss changing the diapers. But, it is sad to me that she is so "grown up" now. I can't believe we are a diaper-free family. I really have mixed feelings about that. :( But, hooray for Avery. What a big girl! She is so proud every time she goes. So, I will be happy for her! :)

Avery's birthday parties (a little late)

I just wanted to post a few pictures from Avery's birthday week that I had forgotten to post...






We had 2 family parties and she sure was a spoiled girl. Thanks everyone for all her gifts. She loved her birthday this year. It is fun when they really start to understand what birthdays are all about. I can't believe my baby is 3! Where did the time go???

Easter 2010

We had a really nice and relaxing Easter. Of course, the Easter Bunny came for a visit...



That morning we went to my mom's for breakfast. It was really yummy and a very good start to the day. After breakfast my mom told us that the Easter Bunny had hidden a bunch of eggs and treats for the kids in her basement.




The kids loved finding all the eggs. They found eggs filled with candy and many eggs with $$$ inside. That was especially exciting! Each of them also got their own special bag filled with goodies. Easter Bunny was sure good to them at grandma's!

Here are the kids with their loot:





After the big hunt we hung out and visited and watched conference. Then it was off to Dave's parents' for lunch. We had another good meal and lots of fun visiting. The kids played with cousins and loved it.

In the late afternoon, everyone had left except for Dave and I and our kids. So, Dave and I took the kids downstairs and watched Wall-e. Okay, everyone napped and Easton ended up watching Wall-e. It was so nice and relaxing.

We had a great weekend. We love hanging out with our families. It is just fun. We are so lucky to have all of our family close by. We missed seeing some of our family (dad, Jarom and family, Dan and family). We missed you guys! Can't wait to do it all again next year!!

Coloring Easter Eggs

Last Friday, while I was babysitting my friend's 3 kids, we colored Easter eggs. It ended up being a lot of fun. No dye was spilled, no messes made. Just a fun afternoon. The kids had a great time, especially doing it with their friends. Here are a few pictures:

Spring Break

I know, I know. I am a blog-slacker as of late. I don't know why. Maybe because the weather is so blah and that makes me feel blah. Maybe it is because I haven't taken any pictures and I often feel it isn't a worthy post unless there are pictures. (Although I don't mind reading others' blog posts with no pictures. Mine just seem boring.) Maybe it is because I haven't been feeling well most days. (A whole other post for another time. NO, I am not prego.) Whatever the reason, and I don't know the reason myself, it is definitely time to post SOMETHING.

Unfortunately, last week Dave was sick with a bad pain in his side and GOUT!! What?!?!? I know! Anyway, after a trip to Redicare, our family doctor, and the ER, he is finally feeling better and is back to normal. But, he was home from work for 3 days last week. So, our plans of having him take off a couple days off this week for spring break were ended when he was home sick.

So...now we are at the end of spring break. Sadly, we didn't do much. Monday we hung out with a couple of my friends. Dave can not understand how women sitting around the table with a bunch of recipe books and talking could be fun, but it is. Let me tell you. Any excuse to hang out with other women and talk is good! Monday night, Dave and I went on a spur of the moment planned date. So nice!! We went to dinner and to Target to buy all the Easter things we needed. I love date nights with my hubby.

Tuesday I took the kids to see Alice in Wonderland. It was okay. I wouldn't have picked it, but it is what Easton and Paisley REALLY wanted to see. They liked it and Avery tolerated it well.

Wednesday...Paisley's asthma was HORRIBLE. She couldn't quit coughing and was really miserable. I wasn't feeling well all day, either. I have developed quite a head cold. So, we hung out at home all day. Except, for a quick trip to Wal-mart, which was a necessity.

Thursday, during the afternoon snow storm, my friend and I braved the weather and took the kids to McDonalds for play time and ice cream sundaes. It, again, was nice to just sit and visit while the kids play. Afterwards we braved Sam's Club with 6 kids, and obviously didn't stay long.

So...that brings us to today. Today I babysit my friend's 3 kids. And, since there is no school, they are all here all day. But, it has been going good so far. No big messes or fights. Pretty under control. I am going to feed them lunch and then attempt to dye Easter eggs with them. Should be fun. I will definitely take some pictures for a future post.

Dave and I have enjoyed watching the new Life series on TV with the kids this week. It is a series of nature shows with Oprah Winfrey as the narrator. They are awesome. The kids really enjoy them.

See, life has been a little boring. But, nice to sleep in and be lazy the last few days. I look so forward to summer. We have some fun things planned. I can't wait for some warm weather.

More posts to come, I promise. Also, pictures!