Helping Daddy & Applesauce

Nick chopped {and by chopped I mean used his new chainsaw} some fire wood for his chiminea he got a while back.  It's finally warm enough to go outside to do it.  So, of course, the kids helped:

Trevor is very serious about his work:

While the kids helped Daddy, Mommy force fed introduced fruit to Tyler.  He has been eating cereal for some time and has experienced sweet potatoes.  He's not too thrilled about them. So, our trial today with applesauce looked a little like this:

"Oooh yummy! Cereal!"

"Uh... this is NOT cereal...."

And now, this is Tyler clamping his mouth shut with each attempt:

Just look at that determination!!!

But I did manage to get a decent meal in him after teasing with the binky to get him to open his mouth with each spoonful. We are hoping for longer sleeping periods at night...... *yawn*......

Potty Training..

This last week has been a "crazy" uneventful week.  It's been cold out, so we haven't ventured out much, but INSIDE, we have been working hard.

Since our company left, I went full force on the potty training with Addison, which ended up not being too hard. Thank you Lord! As much as I hated buying double the diapers $$, potty training was [i thought] going to be even more painful. However, Addison has been ROCKING the "P-T"! I have only changed one dirty diaper since we started over a week ago... and that was on day 2. She has even been wearing big girl panties for a couple days now and hardly needs to be reminded to go potty...with minimal accidents! Granted, she spends a lot of time on the potty, but bless her little heart, she even dumps the bucket and flushes it.  And, she is very good at it. [But only when she sneaks in there and I don't catch her in time to do it myself]

And... she has been staying dry during naps! I'm sure she'll appreciate all this info being shared with everyone years from now. But today, when she goes on the potty, you better believe it's a family shared event! She runs out into the living room and screams! "Come See!" and then excitedly points and grins from ear to ear [with pants around her ankles]. Ugh, is she not the cutest thing ever!!!! I'm so so PROUD of her!

So, here is my PT Diva playing with her babies. I wrapped a scarf around her like a Moby Wrap that I have for Tyler, and she carried her baby around with appropriate winter head gear for both of them!

 

Grandma & Grandpa "Bob"

My parents drove out  for a visit last week. They came out in the snowstorm, and they returned in yet another snowstorm! But they made it home safely!

Here are a few pictures of their visit. It was pretty chilly, although they thought it was practically a heat wave, but we didn't go out much so it was a pretty laid back visit. I look forward to doing more things when they come back in warmer weather!

Addison and Grandpa hit it off right away. She just adores her "Papa"

 

 

Mom, McKenzie and I ventured out for a shopping day, and Nick and Dad stayed home with the little ones. So, after doing up the dishes...

...it was time to play.  First up... Horsey Rides:

Grandpa shows 'em how its done...then Trevor tries his hand at it:

Then it was time to do some building:

All that hard work called for a nap:

(The above pics were taken with Nick's cell phone. Sorry for the poor quality)

No School Today

We had a forecast of 1 inch of snow during the night.  We woke up to THAT.... and now it's snowing more.  So, that means NO SCHOOL TODAY!!!!!

Potty Time!

Addison went  potty in the potty chair yesterday! She actually did it for the first time on Christmas Day.... so last night she did again, and we made a big deal out of it. She got to have 3 candy corns. When they were gone she camped out on the potty chair hoping for another chance at some more candy.  But no such luck.  BUT...my clever little Addi had her friends help her in her fight for more candy.

First up, her purple puppy doggie:

 Then, it was puppy doggy's turn:

But neither of them could produce anything that resulted in more candy. So they were escorted out:

On another note, my sister and her family headed back to Iowa yesterday.  But before they left, we did our best to get a group picture of all the kids.  It was quite an ordeal:
 

We had a great time with them. The kids all got along and had tons of fun! It was sad to see them go. I love spending time with them and look forward to seeing them much more often now that we are closer to home!

Washing D.C via Virginia Railway Express

A long day = A long post:
Thursday morning, we all got up early and headed to the train station and waited for our very first train ride:

 

Here it comes!

 

The train was fun, the kids had a great time watching the world go past them and making other stops along the way as we rode 80 minutes up to D.C.  From there, we all experienced the metro for a quick ride closer to the Mall and Smithsonian Institute.  Angie and I, with the strollers, learned that when you have to take the elevator DOWN to the subway, DO NOT TOUCH anything in the elevator, PLUG YOUR NOSE and HOLD YOUR BREATH! Yuck Yuck Yuck!

We arrived about 10 minutes before the museums opened, so we took our time walking across the mall and hung out in front.

 

 

 Once inside, we spent a couple hours wondering around and looking at all the fabulous things to see and learn about.

 

 

Then we ate a very overpriced lunch at the cafe, and walked across to the Air and Space Museum.

The kids (and adults) were exhausted, but we still had to walk back to the metro...ride it to the train station:

 

And then wait for the next train back home.  A squirrel came right up to the kids while they were snacking on their leftover overpriced cheetos. One of the boys shared one, and after that one little cheeto dropped, the birds began to drop out of the sky by the tens waiting for their share of cheetos.  So, Nick, whom I will refer to as the BIRD LADY for the rest of this post, pulled out a cracker pack and began to feed the birds.  They caught the cracker crumbs in mid air.  This skill thrilled the kids to peices and turned into a train station show for all the other passengers waiting. I am glad we are able to entertain others while feeding the poor hungry wild animals in D.C.

We boarded the train, and enjoyed the ride home.  Exhausted. Worn out. Tired.

Big Bubbly Bath

My sister and her family have been here this week. The kiddos all jumped in the tub the other night for a giant bubble bath. They all made Santa beards and were screaming saying "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

 

We also attempted to take the train to D.C. earlier this week but the AMTrak fares were RE-DICULOUS, so we opted to wait until later in the week until Nick was off work and could go with us, and leave earlier in the morning and take the commuter train for 1/4 of the cost.

So, instead, we ate some pizza,

and then toured the National Museum of the Marine Corps just outside the base.

The kids stood in a sound booth to hear what it is like to be yelled at by a drill seargeant.

And then Angie tried and successfully lifted a fully loaded pack. (supposedly weighing 120 pounds) we decided it really wasn't that heavy. But oh well.

Then Jeromy and I tried our aim with laser M16s in the shooting range. One of us got 89% and the other 64% and I'll leave it at that.

But Angie trumped us with the big guns in the Vietnam display...

Nick was too busy flying to join us that day... but he did fly over the shopping center where we were just finishing up our ice cream treat. And I think THAT (the fly by, not the ice cream) was the high light of our day!