She landed on the moon...

Today was a big day for Abigail and an experience I will look back on and laugh at forever!

For the past couple of weeks Abby has wanted to sit on the potty like a big kid but it hasn't been...productive.  Today she said "Momma, POOPY!" and headed to the bathroom. Sure enough she was telling the truth. As I made a huge deal out of her accomplishment in RAN Jake and Tess. Their excitement was ten times more than mine! It was as if Abby had accomplished this huge impossible task, landing on the moon! The three of us huddled around Abby and cheered her on...I couldn't help but laugh!

Tess-observing the poo, and Jake-giving a pep talk!

I think this is one of those times that Abby is lucky to be the third child because she has so many cheerleaders. (Jake and Tess just had me.)  It was absolutely hilarious!

Check out that white tush and tan legs!
Abby spent a good 40minutes on the potty live'n it up!

Swim Lessons

This is Tess and her first set of swimming lessons with friends from church. My friend Krista volunteered to teach these cute 6 kids and did a great job. 

Kate, Joey, Tyler, Madi, Tess, and Owen

Jake and Tess just finished their swimming lessons at our pool here in Clarksburg. 

Tess can now: put her entire head in the water

blow bubbles under water

is closer to floating on her back all by herself

Tess is more confident in the water, making me less stressed when we go to the pool.

Jacob can now: float on his back

do different strokes and techniques (backstroke, freestyle with side breathing) 

do straight leg kicks

swim like a crazy man!

He can't get enough of the water and is learning so quickly.

Abigail loves going to the pool.

 She wants to be just like her older siblings and thinks she can swim on her own! She pintches her nose with her fingers and dips her face in. I dip her in the water completely at least once each time we go. Since she is comfortable with getting the back of her head and EARS wet I think she will be a quick learner in the next year or two.

I have loved the one on one time with Abby for the 45 minutes Jake and Tess are in swimming lessons. She spends most of that time "jumping" into the water.

Her cute expressions...

As the kids and I were discussing today Jake made the connection that tomorrow is the day their cousins MOVE to Clarksburg. Tess excitedly said, " they're not going to be visitors, they're going to be LIVERS!"
Funny girl! We are very excited!

Saturday, July 16th, After the fact ...
It has been a busy week for us. Dan got back from Chicago and has spent the last two days helping Bonnie and James move. The kids and I have enjoyed playing all day, all night, and all day with cousins. Benny, C.C., Jake, and Tess giggled throughout the night all camped out in one room.  Abby would have loved to have shared her crib with baby Lydia! Jake is 6, Benny is 5, Tess turned 5 this week, C.C. is 3, Abby is almost 2 and Lydia is almost 1 years old.  I tried to have lots of activities to keep everyone happy and I think we were successful! How I measure that success--no fighting and Jake and Tess didn't make a sound when there heads hit their pillows tonight. SWEET DREAMS!

I

Birthday Girl

Tess is FIVE today!

The birthDAY: The morning started off with breakfast in bed, waffles and cheesy eggs were her choice.

Dan is out of town on business so he left a message on my phone for her to listen to first thing in the morning.

Tess picked out her birthday gift at Toys "R" Us a couple days ago. She is our little artist and chose a new art kit. Tess was given a birthday balloon and had her birthday announced over the intercom while we were shopping, which she thought was the coolest thing ever.

After everyone was dressed and breakfast cleaned up we headed to Chuck E Cheese. Tess used most of her coins to go on rides while Jake played all the games he could to earn lots of tickets for prizes. It only took about 35 minutes for 40 coins to disappear. True to Tess's nature, she chose to share her playing coins with Abby.

In following with the birthday tradition, I hid starburst around her room which she gobbled up that gooey sugary goodness just like her mama would have. After naps we spent about three hours at the pool, ate BLT's for dinner (Tess's choice) and finished off her birthday with JIMMY CONES ice cream. The rest of the celebrating will have to wait for Daddy to get home!

Happy Birthday Tess! 

America's Birthday

Jacob has been pretty excited about "America's Birthday"! We started the day off at our ward building eating breakfast with friends and our Boy Scouts. We came home and Dan made home-made raspberry ice cream. YUM!

We have lived in Maryland for 3 years now and have finally celebrated the 4th of July the right way! Dan and I didn't feel up to braving the crowds on the metro to watch the fireworks on the Mall so when a friend recommended watching them at the Iwo Jima Memorial we decided that sounded perfect.

We enjoyed naps and plenty of homemade ice cream before leaving the house at 4pm with our lawn chairs, blankets, food, and two backpacks of busy toys for the kids. Traffic was great until we needed to get off at our exit.  All the exits around the memorial were closed off. We spent an hour circling around and finally decided just to hike. Our GPS said we were about one mile from the monument so we left the chairs and started on our way with Abby in the stroller. About 5 minutes into the walk Tess tripped and skinned up her knees pretty bad. She was such a good trooper about it though!  She continued to walk even with bloody knees (note to self, bring a first aid kit on all outings). So our one mile distance took us 40 minutes. We met up with some friends, the Jenkin's and Sundberg's, and spent the rest of the evening eating, chatting, and entertaining the kids.

Abby and Elle: the "binkie" girls are best buddies!

Necklace Making

Madi and Tess coloring

As a mom of three young kids I have a hard time really relaxing when we are in a big crowd.  However, once the fireworks started and I took a moment to actually remember that it was really the 4th of July, I was in AWE!  Here we were at our nations capitol, sitting on the U.S. Marine Core Memorial lawn right by Arlington Cemetery watching a beautiful show of lights fall over the Washington Monument and Lincoln memorial... it made all the craziness of traffic and crowds totally worth it. I couldn't help but think of my Dad and how much he would enjoy this! Next year Dad!!!

(Above is a picture from google images that Anie found of our view, below is a picture Dan took.)

The walk back to the car after the fireworks took us an entire hour. I have to say Jake and Tess did amazingly well. It was a lot to ask of their little legs 3 hours past their bedtime! We just went slowly and they didn't complain at all! It was a fun adventure. I hope to be able to share it with my family again next year!!!

We forgot to take very many pictures so thanks Anie for sending me your pictures of my kids!

The Balloon Man (a.k.a. Uncle Blake)

Blake surprised us by coming up with his girlfriend, Stephanie, for a quick visit. When we told the kids that Uncle Blake was coming Jakes reply was "THE BALLOON MAN!" Conveniently I had already arranged a play-date with the cousins for that day! So, yesterday afternoon when he and Stephanie arrived all the kids said a quick hello and then requested some balloons!

Abigail and her red dog, C.C. and a pink pig, Jake and a gray lion, Benny and a blue bunny, and Tess with a pink dog.

After Bonnie and kids left Dan and Blake went to work in the kitchen making a very yummy dinner! (BBQ chicken and pork ribs, mashed potatoes, salad, and corn on the cob.) We had a fun evening visiting and then I awoke to the wonderful smell of a hot breakfast being cooked! Blake and Stephanie made homemade biscuits and sausage gravy, a true Southern stick to your bones breakfast.

After breakfast we had some more balloon time!

Up Close

Tess got a bouncy ball in a twist (just like those fun gum-ball machines, the ball swirls up and down).

Blake made a basket ball stand and little balls for the three kids.

Abigail got a silly hat

Blake made me an extra silly hat, complete with a bouncy ball inside the clear balloon ring!

I didn't get a close up of  Jake with his AWESOME  bow and arrow and ring except for these two...

Jacob thinks his is the coolest thing EVER and was pretty sad not to be able to take it to show it off to all the Scouts tonight at Scout Camp. Blake is very talented. 

After letting our bellies rest from breakfast we headed to the park. Abby really took to her Uncle Blake! When it was time for Blake and Stephanie to go Abby kept saying " Wanna come, I wanna come!" It was so good to see Blake and meet Stephanie. We hope to see them again soon, and not just because I thoroughly enjoyed not cooking and having my kids happily entertained!