Tying Shoes and Potty Training!

Last Wednesday the older two kid entered Mom's Shoe Tying Academy!  After about 20 minutes of focused attention on the task at hand, both kids were tying their own shoes!  Yeah!!  No more rushing to get everyone out the door, then to stop and tie shoes, then rush once again!  Let's just say this mom was motivated to have a little more independence in her children!

 

What fun would life be if we didn't do some celebrating...even the "small" tasks in life?!?!  The two shoe-tiers had to come up with a place for lunch that they both wanted to go to!  What did they come up with??  Well, after about 30 minutes of debate, they finally settled on Jersey Mikes!  And it was a good decision as we all enjoyed it! 

 

Since the shoe tying went so well last week, I was feeling confident and decided to stop putting off potty training Olivia!  Monday was the first day, and while there were a few moments to celebrate, it primarily consisted of cleaning up after accidents!  It was exhausting!!  Tuesday was pretty mixed, and I will admit I wanted to give up.  Thoughts of waiting until summer (she'd be that much older and I wouldn't have school or as many activities distracting us!) danced in my head, but I decided to stick with it! 

 

And I'm thankful I did as for whatever reason day three is the game changer with my kids in potty training!  Today we had no accidents, and I even dared to venture out with her wearing just undies (no pull-up with the undie!), which went well!  Yeah Olivia!  Again, the treats/rewards make it fun, especially for my girl who loves sweets. She receives an M&M or bite sized cookie as a reward for her successful efforts!  While it will be interesting to see how it all continues, we for sure had a great day today!

Weekend fun!

Last weekend Grandpa and Grandma Bruinsma visited, which always means going on some extra fun outings!  On Saturday we went to the zoo.  It had been a few months since we were last there, so it was extra fun to be able to go there!  Many of the animals were more active than usual, and so that really added to the trip!

 

Naturally we had to take a snack/play break at the ant hill!  I think this was the first time Olivia slid down the hill.  Of course she caught on quickly!  She liked riding down with Shane as they would go very fast together! 

 

She also had fun just running around the garden area.

 

It was such a beautiful day - just what the Michigan grandparents needed! 

 

And how could we go to the zoo without stopping by our favorite place on the way home?  Olivia is showing us her "sand castle" in her bucket!

 

Our comedian, Shane!  This kid regularly has us laughing!

February Cotillion!

Last Friday afternoon was another Cotillion event for Faith!  Since the last one was in December, Faith was extra excited to attend!  This picture was from the opening dance - the cha cha!

 

After reviewing the previously learned dances, which include the cha cha, swing, and Mexican hat dance, the kids were taught the first few steps of the waltz! 

 

I had fun attending with Faith and watching her and all the other third and fourth graders!!  Faith was especially excited as towards the end of the session it was a "girls choice" for dancing as every time before the kids were either assigned a dancing partner or the boys choose.  I love that the Maritine Cotillion makes learning manners and dancing so much fun!

Desert Camping

This past weekend our family made our 5th annual trip to the desert for a camping adventure with friends!  It is a weekend filled with fun, dirt, hiking, quads, dirt, campfires, smores, dirt, and friends!  We had a great time, but as always are glad to be back to unlimited water and electricity!

 

This is the view of our camp from the top of the hiking hill behind where we camp!  As you can see, there is literally nothing for miles!!  And there were five families there this year enjoying the long weekend in the desert!

 

Olivia had a blast building sand castles and just keeping up with the older kids!  It was one of our best trips, in my opinion, as the kids (even Olivia) would run off and play with friends around the campsite, allowing the parents to sit around and enjoy time to talk and drink coffee!

 

For Faith and Shane, a highlight each trip is having the opportunity to ride a quad!

 

I love this picture because Olivia is trying to chase after Shane!  She too wanted a ride, but that was not going to happen!

 

One family also brought their Rhino, which is a four-seated ATV!  The two older kids enjoyed their ride in that as well!

 

Off they go!  It was a fun-filled weekend, and after five years I'm learning about some keys to make this trip great!  We rented a newer motor home this year, which was a very good move!  It came with a generator so we could easily make coffee!  Also, surrounding ourselves with other families who know how to camp is key as they remember key things that I forget!  As always, life is better together!  Especially camping!!

Belt Test!

On Saturday, February 6, both Faith and Shane took the TKD white belt test!  They each had to perform different moves in front of a six panel judge to show their mastery of the necessary white belt requirements!

In the left front corner is Faith showing she knows how to do palm-heel strikes!

 

And Shane showing the same move!  What is nice is the kids know what is going to be asked of them at the test, and they have already had to show a teacher that they know the moves to earn the ability to take the test!

 

Thankfully, both kids passed and now have their yellow belts!  There was a nice ceremony for all the students who earned new belts on Friday, February 13.  Sadly, my pictures from the actual ceremony were not good as Olivia was acting like a typical two year old!

Olivia's first haircut!

Olivia had her very first haircut today!  The oldest of all the kids when the first haircut happened - a direct result of the curly hair!  Being the first time, I had no idea how she would react.  Faith had an appointment too, and I figured she would go first to show Olivia how it was done.  But from the moment that I told her it was haircut day, she was excited.  She even insisted on wearing a dress!  And upon arriving at the salon, she was ready to go in the chair!

She sat very well and enjoyed the Sesame Street toy on her lap. 

 

The finished product!  The stylist mainly took off the long ends in the back and evened it out in the back. Olivia was thrilled with how it turned out and kept telling me all day that "haircut look great!" 

Since Olivia is the subject matter, here are a few recent pictures...

She's very into accessories lately!  She wants to wear a tutu most days, and also almost always has a purse and sunglasses with her!  On this day, she wanted to wear Faith's hat!

 

Helping daddy water the plants!

 

She likes to put "treasures" in her purses so that she can take them with her easily!

 

Cuddling with her baby doll on the couch!  Little mama in training!

 

Showing off her love of accessories once again!  Hat!  Tutu!  And wanting to play the piano like her big sister!

Tether Ball

This past weekend the Steve and the kids put together the new tether ball for the driveway!  The kids were so excited, and they wanted to help with each and every step!

Once it was up (and it was light outside!) Saturday, we all played game after game of tether ball!  What fun!!  The kids played against each other, they played against Steve and I, and Steve and I battled each other too!  And of course Olivia had to have her turns too!

 

It's fun to have an activity that engages the entire family!  Tether ball tournament anyone?!