Back to School

Not exactly sure how we got here so fast, but school is upon us again. I actually love this time of year. Summer is fun and I love having the freedom to go, but it's also nice to get back into a routine. It's always nice to have a fresh start. New clothes, new backpack, re-newed enthusiasm for learning. Spencer was pretty excited...and so was I (one less tornado in the house). His teacher this year is Mrs. Rose.

On the first day of school he walked in the door with a forced scowl on his face and told me that he was "girl trapped" at school. Of course I asked him what he meant. As he tried to keep the scowl on his face, he explained that it meant that his desk was between two girls at school. He was sitting between McKenna and Juliena. Behind the scowl was a smile that he couldn't hide. In 1st grade he wasn't ashamed to tell everyone that they were his girlfriends. I think the embarrassment of liking girls is starting to set in..


On the second day of school, I drove in to town to pick Spencer up. We drove over to the seminary building to wait for Joel to get out of class. As we waited outside, Spencer decided to climb a tree... which explains this.... It's really not a good idea to try to JUMP from one part of the tree to another. Lesson learned. I hope.


Ty wearing Spencer's boxers and t-shirt. He tags along with me to take Spencer to the bus stop everyday.

Summer magic

I love where we live.  When people ask where we live,  my sisters like to pipe in and tell them. "You drive to the middle of nowhere, and then you go ten miles further."  It make me laugh because it's true.

But on summer nights like this one, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.  I love that we are surrounded by fields of alfalfa.  I love that we get to see awesome rainbows and sunsets.  I love that my kids can run and play and that I have to worry very little about whether they will be safe.  Spencer tells me quite often that he thinks he is so lucky that he gets to live out on "the flats" because he can play where ever he wants.  That is mostly true.  

On this particular night, we rode our 4 wheeler over to our neighbors field to pick corn.  Probably not the most exciting thing to do on a Friday night, but the kids loved it.

We have very cool friends

To train or not to train

That is the question. Or least it has been for the last 6 months. One day back in March I decided one morning that it was time. 3 hours later, one super poopy and soggy pair of underwear later...I changed my mind. I think a mom is allowed to decide that.

This time I prepared myself. I planned on being home for three days and focusing most of my day to training. The first day did not go so well. It was horrible actually. But I wasn't going to turn back. Thankfully for my sanity the second and third days went really well. He still has a few accidents, but for the most part, he has got it down. He even wears underwear to bed. I haven't had to wash pee sheets yet (cross your fingers!). The second night he even came down to our room in the middle of the night and told us he had to pee. It was a proud moment...well sort of, it was 3 a.m.

The first day there were a few times when Ty had peed in his underwear and I would tell him that he needed to remember to tell me when he needed to pee. When I would tell him this, he would just look at me with head tilted and his shoulders shrugged and say, "but I did mom. I did tell you." Talk about wanting to pull your hair out. There was no point in arguing with a two year old. So I just kept repeating myself. I bet I reminded him 100 times a day to "tell mom when you need to pee"....Oh so glad it's done.

As a bonus, those three days that I spent most of my time and energy on Ty were really fun! We read books, played with playdough, watched movies, played some games, and made cookies. I wish I had that much time to spend with him everyday...but unfortunately the rest of the family needs clean underwear and a somewhat sanitary place to live.



and the best part is that he insists on doing his business completely nude. So not cool.

***UPDATE:  For record keeping purposes, and so that Ty doesn't have any bragging rights, I feel it is necessary to post an update.   About a month after potty training, Ty decided to digress.  In so many ways I wanted to pull my hair out.  I think it was mainly because he wanted me to keep offering chocolate chips and play dough that we used while potty training.   We tried the nice, patient method for a while and resorted to a punishment because we knew that he could do it.  The punishment: sitting out in the van in his car seat.  Completely boring and torture for him.  It worked.  


The Conclusion:
Joel still get the award for being the easiest person in the family to potty train (according to Grandma Slade).  Good job honey!


I also thought I would add these pictures.  Why?  Because the entire post Ty is in his underwear.  That's the way my kids roll.   He calls the sweatbands around his wrists his "tiger milfords"