School Art Show & FUN in the SUN

Payton's school hosted an art show. They displayed all the kids different types of art that they had each done. We had a tee-ball game right before so we quickly had to rush over to the school right after the game. 

Payton was very excited to show us his different art pieces that he had done with his class. 

Payton's picture is the one with the blue paper behind it on the right and on the left his picture is the bunny on the very bottom in the middle.

Don't these two pictures look the same?! His class did self portraits! I love that he got to try various techniques. 

I just LOVE bed time most nights!

A swimsuit and rain boots go hand in hand!

Who does't love jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler on?!

We got the kids this little pool! They love it! Its fun to watch them swim and play together.

I am loving our big backyard!!!!!

Everyday is a PARTY!!

Sometimes I just get too far behind that all I want to do is load the pictures and push publish!

BUT, I know I will regret that later because I won't remember anything about the pictures.

All 3 kids typically sleep on the bottom bunk in Payton and Scarletts room each night. They are so cute when they sleep. Payton usually reads the girls a story and then they sing songs together. Its very sweet!

Pictures in the car happen too often. We used to spend a lot more time in the car but now that its summer I feel like we spend even more time. 

Scarlett always wants me to take her picture!

We had our annual Girls Night party while the dads and sons when camping for the night. This year the party got to be a celebration for Krista's birthday!

I sure do love these two girls! We stayed up way to late chatting and having a good time together.

Saturday day we went and got pedicures. Scarlett and Mapuana loved it!

Mckinley just sat on my lap. She would have never sat still for a stranger to paint her toes.

The day was a blast and they girls were tired!

The next morning Josh and I woke up to these 3 kids playing and having a good time together on the floor in our room. 

While Josh and Payton were gone camping Josh got really badly sunburned on his legs and feet. The kids helped but aloe vera on them for him. 

This is my quilt I have started and layer out. I need to sew it together.

The start of my garden!

Mckinley loves her princess backpack and has to take it everywhere with us!

Mckinley is POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!

Where do I start? The process began April 16th. Mckinley was in the bathtub with Scarlett and was telling me she needed to go potty. I decided I would pull her out and see what happens. I got her out and put her on the toilet and she pooped. I was SHOCKED. Before this day Mckinley had been told a few times no pooping in the bathtub because she kept doing that for some reason. I guess she actually remembered that. The next day I let her wear panties for a few hours and she did ok but had an accident. The rest of my week I was out and about constantly so I couldn't deal with potty training. The weekend came and it was Easter so we had family in town. Mckinley did pretty good going potty. We let her run around naked just about anytime we were home. She wasn't doing very good at telling us she needed to go. It was more me taking her every hour or two.  I was trying to figure out if she wasn't really ready and if I was pushing her too much. That following week we had good days and bad days. I tried to be home as much as possible to see if this potty training was really going to stick or not. Mid week I was beyond frustrated! We had one night were I knew she needed to pee but she just refused to sit on the big toilet, the kid seat and the kid toilet. It was bed time and I was done. i put her diaper back on and tried putting her to bed. She layer down but then got back up and just kept saying "ouch". I gave her one more chance and forced her on the toilet. She was crying and not happy and wanted off but I turned on the water int he sink and sang her a song and she relaxed enough to pee. Thank goodness. She was then ready to go to sleep. Needless to say we had a lot of ups and downs and I was feeling lost. I had no idea if I should just quit or keep with it. Josh just kept saying just keep trying. Finally, by Friday the 24th I was beginning to feel like my prayers were being answered. I hadn't been praying that she would be potty trained, but more that I would know if she's actually ready or not. She started telling me that she needed to go potty. We taught her to sick backwards on the toilet since she refused the kid seat and kid toilet. This helped her feel more independent because she could climb on the stool and slide on and then slide off when she was done. We gave her stickers that she would put on the toilet sit. This helped her sit for a little longer to actually finish going. 

Here she is sitting on the toilet and her baby sitting on the kid toilet. It was a long couple of weeks of not knowing if this was going to actually happen. But IT HAPPENED!!! She is completely day time potty trained at 22-23 months! The night time will come over time and I am just fine with that. 

Many people have asked me "is she really potty trained?" She's just so tiny and I know its not normal to learn so young, but yes she is. Scarlett was the same way. Kind of started in on her own and I just stuck with it. It's the best thing ever not to change diapers currently. I do constantly feel like she's too tiny, but I am not going to complain. I am very blessed and I know that!