Visit from the Shelton Family

Jimmy's cousin, Jeff, his wife LeighAnn, & their 4 year old son Ryan have been in town from Ponca City off & on for the last week. Corry & Drew have really enjoyed playing with their cousin! Here are a few pictures of the kids that we took this evening before the Sheltons left to return home.

Too blurry, but too cute of a picture not to post. Like Corry's ladylike pose?

I'm pretty sure Corry's favorite model for her photography might be Andrew. She took control of the camera after the cousin photoshoot.

Corry's photography & Drew & Daddy's science project

Corry loves to take pictures. Sometimes she does really well - other times, not so much. I had just emptied the memory card & she loaded it up with over 100 pictures. I decided to upload some of my favorites.

Andrew's mean face
(I think Andrew took this one) and I'm pretty sure she got the idea for the pose from the picture she had just taken of Andrew....see next pic.

Another handsome picture of Andrew

A picture of Daddy (ignore the messy countertop with all the baseboard remodeling tools)

A picture of Drew with his new Thomas cup

And here are some pictures of Drew & Daddy's "science project." Jimmy had to unhook the toilet in the half bath so that he could install the new baseboards in there. Drew was fascinated with the inside of the tank & was asking lots of questions. When it was time to hook the water back up & let the tank fill up, Jimmy pulled Drew in there to explain what was taking place. Once the tank filled with water he let Drew flush it to see what would happen. Of course once was not enough, he needed to watch it 2-3 more times before he had his fill. He's such a funny little guy.

It's the little things, huh?

Andrew is a hero!

Mr. Drew the Thomas the train lover has a birthday coming up very soon. We've been searching & searching for some of the trains he's been requesting but can't find them in the stores near us. Andrew headed to OK today for a wedding. He called me tonight & I immediately panicked thinking he had an accident or something was wrong.....turns out he was at Target & they had a bunch of trains that we can't find here. He even went to Wal-Mart after the Target run & found even more. I think he's bringing back something like 10 new trains....some of them are going to make little man a VERY happy birthday boy.

So....please keep your eyes open for the remaining ones that we still can't find:

Skarloey
Peter Sam
Diesel

There are others, but those are the main ones he asks about that have not yet been purchased

Grandma - you're going to give him a couple of the trains with the money you sent & the rest will go into his savings acccount.

We had a nice visit tonight with Jeff, LeighAnn, & Ryan Shelton. Grandma Connie actually took the day off today since they were in town, so she came & got Corry & Drew this morning. They took them all swimming, so of course they were in heaven. The Sheltons will be heading to Corpus Christie tomorrow night & then will be back through next Wednesday to break up their trip back to OK a little more.

I'm still cracking up laughing that we've corrupted 21 year old Andrew so much this summer that instead of partying with his friends in Edmond, he's hitting the stores looking for all the hard to find trains :) Hope he gets to have some fun this weekend!!

A little computer nut

Corry has loved Nick Jr website for a long time, but its usually enjoyed with her watching while Mommy points & clicks on everything. The other day we had just gotten started with Diego when my phone rang. I ran to answer it and when I came back in the study she had taken control of the mouse & was pointing & clicking like she'd been doing it her whole life. She can navigate between games, but still gets frustrated sometimes if she clicks on something accidentally & can't get back to her games. Even better is she LOVES to click on all the different engines on the Thomas website, so she can entertain her brother for a good 30 minutes. I think this is especially cool since I know all I care to know about all the different engines.

Auntie M has to go back to OK tomorrow - we've really enjoyed her visit this week.

Other than that - we're gearing up for little man's 3rd birthday in another week & a half. I can't believe my baby boy is going to be 3 already!

A cleaning lady blunder....

First off, here are a few fun pics from this evening

Drewski covered in bubbles

Big smiles from Corry

Not sure what she's doing here, but pretty cute, nonetheless

The cleaning ladies came today - someone had given us a picture frame with our wedding invitation in it 10 years ago - it became a casualty of the cleaning ladies today. It was a cheap frame, so no big deal - the invitation is still in tact, but I love the message that they left scribbled on a paper towel....

Poor cleaning ladies. I have to say though, in 10 years of cleaning our homes, the only casualties have been this picture frame & a 12 pack of Dr. Pepper. Not too shabby.

Do Do Do Do Do Dora!

Part of Corry's birthday present was tickets to see Dora The Explorer Live - so the day finally arrived & we headed down to the theatre district in downtown Houston for the big performance. Unfortunately we have a little lady who is not feeling on top of her game. I think she's coming down with the same cold Andrew has. She enjoyed the show, but I wish I had loaded her up with Motrin before we left. I just didn't realize she wasn't feeling well until we got down there. Oh well. Here are a few pictures from our morning:

Corry & Drew getting ready to head to the show
Corry holding the tickets - she dressed herself this morning - Dora dress, Dora jacket, Dora socks, Dora Shoes, Dora Undies - the whole nine yards.

Calyn having a little trouble keeping the chair down.

Corry & Drew showing me their Explorer Stars. The look on Corry's face in this picture is pretty much how she looked throughout the whole show :(

Daddy found Calyn a beautiful ring before the preformance began. Here's her picture modeling her ring & showing off her explorer star.

Matt & Calyn

The Dautrich Family

When we got home the kids took naps, and when Corry got up she was still very whiney & complaining that her throat hurt. I gave her some Motrin & within 15 minutes she was good as new & going on and on about how much she loved the show & getting to see the "real" Dora. So, even if she didn't seem too thrilled about it at the time, her memory seems to be favorable. Drew's favorite part was Swiper - he loved shouting "Swiper No Swiping!" everytime he came on stage.

Success!

Look what Corry got this evening!



Corry & 1 other girl in the class passed Level 1! Yea Corry! The instructor said she would still recommend her taking Level 1 again because all the kids in Level 2 would be much older than her.

To Potty Train or Not To Potty Train.....

Uncle Matt said Drew went potty on the potty all day & not in his diaper. This evening after swimming he told me he needed to poop - and then sat on the potty for an eternity & never did anything but pee. I told him if he wanted to start wearing big boy pants & not diapers, that he could get a new train, but he had to do it consistently before he could get his reward. He kept asking me to help him poop & I told him it was something he had to do on his own. So all evening he would run back to the potty & tell me he needed to poop.....he never did. He finally started whining & told me he wanted his diaper on. Within 10 seconds of having it on - he pooped in the diaper. Oh well - I had about 30 minutes of thinking he was ready to go. I just can't decide if I should pull the plug on diapers & just put him in big boy undies & see what happens, or if I let him decide when he's ready. I'm just afraid if I do the latter he'll be 15 & still in diapers.

I went birthday shopping today for the little man. He's getting a Thomas bike & helmet & I was able to find about 6 more Thomas trains that he doesn't have already. I decided to stockpile them & then if anyone needs birthday gifts for Drew I can dole out the trains. There are still plenty more he doesn't have, but they seem to be a pretty hot commodity. If anyone finds Lady, Stepney, Rheneas, Skarloey, & Toby in the Trackmaster collection - snatch it up for me - they are some of the hardest to find. I've been getting them at WalMart & Target. Our Toys R Us doesn't carry the Trackmaster kinds.

We had swimming lessons again tonight. All 3 kids did wonderful. Their last class in tomorrow night. They can't wait for Grandma Chebs & Grandpa Bob to get home!!!

Better day today

We had a much better day today - I'm sure because it was broken up with dance class. The girls enjoyed their class. Afterwards I was going to take them to get lunch, but there started to be an argument between Arby's & Wendy's, so we just went through the drive through of both.

Andrew was home sick today (a head cold), so Calyn couldn't nap in his room like she normally does. I probably should have tried her in my bedroom, but I let the girls "nap" together. Of course neither one of them slept a wink.

Before swim lessons we took Corry to get her bangs trimmed since she kept complaining that they were poking her in the eyes. When we were there Drew was playing with some toys when he came over to us & said "Something smells like poop." Since he only had his bathing suit on & no diaper or little swimmer we were afraid maybe he'd had an accident, but it turns out he was just talking about the smell of a perm someone was getting. I asked him if it smelled stinky & he said "Yes, Mommy, its your breath." Nice.

He did an awesome job at swimming lessons tonight & was actually a pretty good listener. Corry was complimented over and over by her teachers for being a good listener.

After swimming we went to Wings N More because kids eat free on Wednesday nights. They were still in their bathing suits, so we reminded Drew that he didn't have a diaper on, so if he needed to go potty he needed to tell us. As soon as we walked in the restaurant he said "I need to go potty!" So I took him & he peed & peed & then pooped too! I think he was really surprised when he looked down & saw poop in the potty. What a big boy! We asked him if he was ready to just wear big boy underwear now & he said "Yes!" Then quickly changed his mind & said he wants to wear diapers. What a silly goose. I'm not sure when we'll start pushing the potty training. I think he's probably ready, but I really don't want to struggle with him if he's not. He's the exact age Corry was when she was finally potty trained, but I've heard boys are harder than girls, so I'm not sure what to do.

Anyway, it was a much better day than yesterday - they still had their moments, but I don't feel nearly as frazzled today. Uncle Matt's up tomorrow - hopefully he plans to build them a fort like the last time he watched them because that's all the kids can talk about.

A tough day for 3 of the 4 kids (& mommy/aunt meme)

Several of our family members woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Mr. Max was the only happy soul at the house today. My entire morning was spent being a referee - it was exhausting. And I must admit that it was little Miss Corry that did most of the instigating. After naptime everyone seemed to be in much better spirits, so that was good. Here are a few pictures from the day

Corry playing with playdough this morning before all the meltdowns began

Smarty pants, Calyn posing for a picture

Mr. Drew in his brand new Thomas jammies.

Max pretty much just got the empty canisters of playdough that fell on the floor, but that was enough to keep him entertained

Having a snack in the pantry after naptime.

Corry modeling her brand new orange bikini. How cute is that!!!

Calyn, Max & Corry waiting for Aunt Deachi & Daddy to get home so we could go to swimming lessons

Corry wanted to work on her photography skills some more, so I got in on a shot.

Corry took a picture of Drew while he was trying to strip out of his clothes to get into his Thomas bathing suit.

Poor Carlie, but she apparently makes a really nice chair. She's so tolerant

Kids had swimming lessons tonight. Drew bonked his noggie on the rail as he was getting into the pool and it took him awhile to recover. After he finally got out and came over to me he was able to get over it & go back to his lesson. Only 3 more lessons in this session left. Not sure if we'll do more this summer or not. I may look into getting them private lessons and see how he does with that.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better - the girls have dance class, so that will at least break up the day a little. One good thing about today - we got a thunderstorm early this morning that dumped almost 2 inches of rain! First time its rained in over a month.

Happy 4th of July!

We had a VERY HOT 4th of July, but the kids had so much fun. I think this is the first year that they really got into it. Deachi's blog pretty much summed up the day, but I thought I'd add a few of my pictures as well - shame on me, I hardly took any.

Max popping some poppers

Drew popping some poppers

Corry & Drew with poppers

Corry getting ready to leave for the parade

Drewski getting ready for the parade

Not a great video, but here's a clip from popping the poppers

Work Holiday

We were all off work today for the 4th of July holiday. We took the kids to IHOP for breakfast and they thought that was pretty cool stuff. They both got happy face pancakes which was a pancake with strawberries for eyes, whipped cream for a nose, & banana coins for a mouth. They managed to stay pretty clean, surprisingly enough, and I came home covered in syrup.

The girls joined Drew in Sports class today. We brought the Henry train to sports class and he sat in the window & watched Drew. I never once had to go into the gym the entire hour. There was about a 5 minute span where Drew had difficulty concentrating, but he eventually got back on track.

After gym, the guys left to play golf & Deachi, Calyn, & Max came over to nap. Deachi & I were going to try to watch a chick flick, but nothing was striking our fancy on any of the movie channels, so we just watched Me Myself & Irene again. Neither Drew or Corry took naps. Both "rested" quietly in their rooms, but I'm pretty positive no sleeping was involved. Max slept until 6:00 when I woke him up!

After everyone got up we headed to the pool for swimming lessons. Corry is no longer afraid to go under!!! She's swimming face down & plunging herself all the way under all on her own. She is so proud, and we're proud of her too! When Drew jumps off the side of the pool he can now pop himself back up...he can't tread water though, so someone still needs to be there to help him once he pops back up.

We all stayed and swam after lessons tonight so we could work on their skills a little more and let them show us up close what they were learning. Calyn and Deachi worked on going under more, and while Calyn still isn't a huge fan, she's showing improvement.

Not much else going on tonight. Tomorrow morning we're heading to the 4th of July parade at Market Street and tomorrow evening I think we're going to Olech & Lindsay's for awhile. Still not 100% on where we'll watch fireworks yet.

Here are some pictures from the day

Drew enjoying his lunch of blueberries, barbecue chips & a peanut butter sandwich.
Carlie patiently waiting for Drew to drop some of his lunch.

Meghan also hoping to get lucky.

Corry posing with a terrified looking Meemers

Corry & Miss Carlie

Corry decided she wanted to take some pictures. This was her first attempt. Not bad, if I do say so myself :)

And my personal favorite - Drew taking a beer for a spin in his train....and yes, he's completely nudie.

What a cute little po-po

The boys were watching a little Thomas the train on the computer together, but it didn't last long because "baby keeps pushing the buttons!" And yes, Drew is still naked.

Swimming lesson #3

Drew got in fairly quickly tonight, but in the middle of swimming lessons he started to melt down. He got a lot of one on one time with the instructors, but they finally told him if he took one more swim he could go see Mommy. So he got out & came over to where I was sitting. I told him I didn't want to have to take his new Percy away, but if he wasn't going to swim, then I would have to. He got a huge smile on his face and said "I'm ready to go swimming now!" So I guess the threat of taking away something works just as well as the bribe. I don't know why he's become so dependent on Mommy lately.

Tomorrow the girls will join Drew in his Sports Skills Development class at the Little Gym. I really hope he goes in willingly - its to the point where I'm starting to dread taking him to any of his classes because I know he's going to fight it. What to do????

Corry did awesome in lessons & even got used as example of how to behave during lessons. My little princess is such an overachiever. Its like my two kiddos are on completely opposite ends of the spectrum. I guess that keeps life interesting.

The guys are all off to see Transformers tonight & then are playing golf tomorrow afternoon. Deachi & I are trying to figure out what we can do the rest of the weekend without spending any money.

Not much else going on today. I'll try to take some pictures at sports class tomorrow.

Preschool is almost here....:(

Corry is so excited to start preschool, but I'm not ready at all. Today we got an information packet in the mail about the upcoming school year and I immediately started getting butterflies in my stomach - Here's what's in store:

Her teacher will be calling us in August to schedule a home visit so they can get to know Corry on a more personal level & to help her feel more comfortable about what is to come.

The Children of the Woodlands has a "gradual entry" program which means her first day of school (Sept 1) is just a come & go day with parents so that they can see their classroom, teachers, & meet some other children. Her second day of school she will only go from 9:00-12:00 and won't take her lunch.

During the first week Jimmy & I will go to a "new family orientation" to get familiar with the school. We will also attend an evening meeting that will go over in more detail the age specific curriculum.

Her first full week of school will start on Sept 8 & she will go from 9-1 and bring a lunch. She's signed up for the T-Th program. I can't believe my baby is starting school. Where did the last 4 years go?

Not much else going on - we had our 2nd swimming lesson and everyone did great. Drew didn't want to get in, but he was promised a new Percy (his old one was broken) so he got in and did an excellent job of listening. Corry went ALL the way under on her own & was so proud of herself. Aunt Deachi left baby Max with Papa Charlie this time, so she was able to get some really good pictures of swimming lessons....hopefully she'll have the opportunity to add them to her blog soon.

Tonight I went to Wally World to get some milk, fruit, diapers, etc. and when I got home the kids were in bed. Andrew came down & said that after he put Corry to bed she told him to be sure & have Mommy come up & tell me good night. I'm shocked that she let Andrew put her to bed!

Not much else to report this evening. We're all looking forward to the 4th of July weekend. I think we are going to try to go to the parade at Market Street this year.