Yes, this is real. No, I didn't paint them with ice cream.

It was a Baskin Robbins day a few days ago. This is real. This was not on purpose. Kaitlyn was making kissy faces into the ice cream and James was trying to lick the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone. Hysterical!

We had a good laugh at these pictures!

Enter: Summer Vacation.

Sigh.

I haven't been very good at blogging lately. There have just been far too many season finales on TV, busy days and sicknesses and injuries to deal with in the last few weeks.

I have been helping Mom this week by getting her to her MRI appointments and such. She injured her back/sciatic nerve about 6 weeks ago and has been in intense pain since then. It all seemed to peak about a week ago when Dad left for Utah. She was sent to get an MRI which we thought would show the need for surgery. It doesn't look like surgery is needed at this point, and the pain is subsiding. Thank God. She was miserable!

Kaitlyn and James finished school this week, and tomorrow is our official first day off. We are starting swim lessons next week, I'm very excited to get these kids in the pool! I hope that by the end of the summer they will be jumping in by themselves and swimming like fish!

Kaitlyn has seemed to grow up overnight. She is really a three year old now. She is fully potty trained now (FINALLY!) and seeing her wear "big girl" undies is the cutest thing ever. AND even though she's adorable she can pick some nasty fights with James. Every day. Stinker!

They are both into bragging and taunting now. If one of them has a toy and they know the other wants it, they skip along merrily, hold the toy up in the air with a smug look on their face just to tick off the other one. It's so annoying. I've been trying to teach them not to brag, but so far I think only James understands the concept of bragging. James purposely pushes Kaitlyn's buttons by staring out her side of the car through her window. Why does this bother her? I don't know... but HE knows it bothers her so he does it. It usually goes something like this....

James says, "I want to look out Kaitlyn's side."
"No, James! Don't look out my side! Mom, I don't want James to look out my side!"
I try to intervene, "Kaitlyn, James can look out any window he wants to look out."
"But I don't want him to look out my side!"
When I look to the back seat, James' body is leaned as far forward as his seatbelt will allow, head turned to the left, gazing out Kaitlyn's window... GRINNING ear to ear. All because he knows it makes her mad.

Oh, and Kaitlyn likes to taddle. "James isn't listening!" Like I said at the start... SIGH.

It's gonna be a long Summer.

Always thinking ahead.

This afternoon the kids and I went to the Y. We were walking hand-in-hand with James in the middle from the car into the building when James turned to Kaitlyn and said in the sweetest voice, "I love you, sister."
She looked at him with her pig tails bouncing and said, "I love you too, James."
I about cried. I told James, "That was SO sweet and nice of you to say to Kaitlyn, James!" I was nearly bubbling over with pride in my son.
Then he shrugs his shoulders and says, "Be nice for Christmas time or you won't get any presents.... That's what I told her this morning when I woke her up."

I love him!

I need TWO songs to sleep.

James likes to try to keep Nathan or I in his room as long as possible before bedtime. Whether it be needing a drink or another hug or a toy placed in a specific place, he uses them all.
He'll even call us back upstairs sometimes if he's needing something, and if we can't ignore it, Nathan or I will go back up there to see what he wants.
The example the other night was this story....
I heard over the monitor, "Mom? Can you come up here, please?"
After I had just gotten very comfortable on the couch, I got my rear up and hiked up the stairs.
"What James, what do you want?"
"Daddy only sang me ONE song and I need TWO songs to fall asleep."
Oh geeeez. Ok, so whatever, I was feeling nice and spoiled him with another song. After that was over, I gave him some goodnight kisses and told him I needed to get back downstairs.
He might as well have ripped out my heart because then he said, "Mom? Can you go down stairs and draw a picture of you and me holding hands?" AWWWWWWWW.
I hugged him a bit tighter recognizing that he needed me, not for the song, but for more hugs. Sniff... sniff....

You YELLED at me!

Kaitlyn is and always has been an independent and strong little girl. However, when she gets in trouble, all of that seems to disappear. Most of the time when she gets in trouble she says to me, "I want you to hold me!" It's long, drawn out, and sounds more like 'I want you to hooold-uh meeee.'
It tugs REALLY hard at the heart strings when she's sitting on the naughty step and crying out, "I want Mommy... I want Mommy!"
She also is a bit of a softy when it comes to me or Nathan raising our voices at her. A stern voice is all it takes to prompt the response, "You YELLED at me!"
I have to admit it's really cute and a bit heart breaking all at the same time!

Beach Day!

Last weekend we went to the beach... or was it two weekends ago? I'm losing my mind- but anyway, here are the pictures. :)

Potty news- uh, for Kaitlyn, that is. ;)

I am so shocked at the progress Kaitlyn has made over the last week with potty training. She hasn't had many accidents- the only ones worth reporting were only in Pull-Ups while she was at school or at the Y. Understandable... there are SO many other things to think about while out of the house.
This week I have been slightly worried about how she's going to learn to start telling me that she has to go potty instead of me just taking her there and sitting her down. She has only told me twice, in history, that she had to go potty. When, you ask? Well, I'll just say that the seat belt sign was illuminated... BOTH times. We were taking off and landing on our flight from Des Moines last month. Really, Kaitlyn? The only time in the entire world that I CAN'T take you to the bathroom do you tell me you have to go? Silly girl!
Anyway, so back to this week.... Yesterday, as I was preoccupied with my brother Kevin being at my house, I heard the toilet flush in the bathroom and the door was shut. I asked Kevin if Nathan was in there (I had been outside) and he said no. I peeked inside the bathroom to see what was going on.
There was Kaitlyn, standing pant-less by the toilet looking at me.
"What are you doing Kaitlyn?" I asked, hoping not to see a bunch of water everywhere.
"I went pee-pee and poopie and then flushed it away!" she replied with a grin.
Seriously. She had gotten up from watching Peter Pan, gone to the bathroom, used the little potty, and then dumped it into the big potty and flushed it away. ALL by HERSELF.
Granted, I had to help with a little "clean-up" of the rear, but she did is alone! ALL ALONE! But wait, it gets better....
Later, about an hour later, she was walking by the bathroom, stood still for a second, and then changed direction and went into the bathroom and proceeded to use the potty again, without even cluing me in. I just happened to be watching!
I guess I don't need to worry anymore about this peanut... I'm amazed. Of course, today, she'll probably have an accident now that I've shared this with you all. ;)