Good-bye Summer! It's Time to Go Back to Work!

We missed Daddy so much on his first day back to work! Teachers had to return a few days before the students to get ready for the upcoming year and Aaron has a lot to get ready for since he switched from Western to a new magnet high school. It was so nice to have Aaron around this summer. We created lots of fun memories and had a great time together as a family... with no school to get in the way! We made him a special dinner and Demarie made sure Daddy got to eat on the "You are Special Today" red plate. Daddy liked the cards that Demarie and Preslyn made him too. (I love how Broyden is cheesing it in the picture too!)

Thanks for all you do for our family, Daddy!

Good luck at a new school and with your 2nd year of PhD!

Natural History Museum

North Las Vegas Library District has a summer reading program where kids can earn prizes for reading so much over the summer. Demarie and Preslyn read lots and lots of books and were able to get our whole family in for free at the Natural History Museum!

The displays were pretty neat and interactive. The kids liked digging for dinosaur bones. Preslyn was deathly afraid of the roaring T-rex behind them! We even got to watch the workers feed the sharks and sting rays! (No picture)

Thank you Demarie and Preslyn for being such great readers! It was a great way to end our summer of fun!

Potty training Preslyn

I attempted the ordeal earlier in the year. Preslyn would protest against sitting on the potty, so I made every attempt to make it fun. Usually she would sit through a book, but there would be no tinkling or pushing/grunting of any sorts. (We have a picture of Demarie reading the same book when she was potty training too!)

Eventually, I decided to give up the fight and wait a little longer. In the meantime, Preslyn continued to explore the "big white loud potty with water in it."

Our second attempt left us all feeling a little discouraged to say the least.... Even during all the protesting, Preslyn somehow was able to provide some comic relief to the stressful situation. Once again, we abandoned the idea that our little girl would ever be out of diapers!

Then one Saturday in August, I came home to this.... "Ugh!," I thought to myself. "Will someone please come potty-train my daughter???? This is getting way to out of hand!" I knew the answer was "No." It was up to me. So, I pulled Preslyn aside and said, "Preslyn, as of now, there will be no more diapers."

And that was that. It was that easy! She had one accident with Aaron while I was at work and that was it! Not only that, but she is also night dry!!!!

WAY TO GO PRESLYN!!!

Roseola and Balls

Poor Broyden! He got a really bad case of Roseola and has little pink dots from head to toe! He sure looks funny, but has been such a trooper through it all! He has become such a fast little crawler and even crawls up the stairs all by himself now! Today, I couldn't find him and realized that he had crawled up the stairs and all the way into the loft all by himself! What am I going to do with this kid? He is getting so smart too! He signs "more", "all done", "eat" and just started saying "ball" and "duck" this week! He points at everything and says "Da?" He loves to hear me tell him what he is pointing at.

"S" Club

"S" Club

Only for Sisters

Demarie and Preslyn

Do Not Enter!

Please

Only Mom and Dad

The secret inside of the "S" club. The Queen of the club: Preslyn (because she fits in the caterpillar the best). The Princess of the club: Demarie

Hmmm.. if the club is only for Demarie and Preslyn, but Mom and Dad can come in too, who does that leave out???? Poor Broyden! Already being ostricized by his own sisters! We really need another boy in the house!

First Trip to the Beauty Salon

Preslyn has needed a haircut for quite some time now so I finally took her in to a beauty salon to get her first real cut. I've been cutting her hair up to this point, but I've just been thinking how adorable she would look with a stacked A-line cut. I was pretty excited and brought my camera to take pictures during the cut. I think it is hilarious that the person who ended up cutting her hair was a man with tattoos and earrings everywhere and poker cards all over his hair apron... a little intimidating for a sheltered 2 year old! I asked if I could take her picture while he did the cut and he said, "Ugh, I really don't like to have my picture taken." I told him I would only take one of his arms then. Anyways, he rushed through the cut and I ended up having to take her back and have another lady re-do her hair. All in all, I was pleased with the final outcome and she really does look adorable!

The Luckiest Mom in the World!

For the past few days, Demarie has been sitting at her art table with a sign above her that reads, "Please, do Not look at me!" Well, the other day I was at work and just having one of those days where you feel a little blue and are wondering if anything you do is important or makes a difference to anyone. When I got home, I was greeted by two smiling daughters that practically knocked me over with their hugs. In their hands, they both had made a special gift for me. Preslyn colored a beautiful picture with stickers on it and Demarie had made me a book and one of her famous packages packed with sweet notes and gifts. The title of the book was, "What would you do without Mama?" In the book she wrote about all the little things that I do for her like read her stories, make food, go to work, and help with the hard stuff. I don't know what I did to deserve such sweet, darling little girls! Demarie told me later that she didn't want anyone to look at her because she wanted her present to be a surprise. Since then, Demarie has written a number of original books that are so creative!