So, this summer has been tons of fun so far!! We've been able to get away enough for it to feel like summer (aka...go to places that actually have summer!) It officially started when the kids and I went to Invermere with Cyndi, Heather and kids and Brett. We just went for a few days but it was so fun! The first night was not so much fun. Me and the kids were all sleeping in the same room and there wasn't much sleeping going on. Jeffrey surprised us and came out to stay for the rest of the time. I was sooo happy and soo grateful that he could help with the little crazies!! We did nothing but play at the pool. What more could you want though?
Next, the kids and I went down to Cardston with my sister, Becky and her kids for a week. Mandi came down halfway through the week with her kids as well. We had tons of fun, riding in the wagon, going for argo rides, going to see the neighbors new kittens, swimming at the swimming hole and riding Scout (he's a horse) :) It was pretty windy down there, but the sun shone every day and it was warm enough to be outside! When we weren't doing something specific, the kids would stay outside and just play. Blowing bubbles, riding in the horse swing, playing ball...we even tried the sprinkler one day, but with the wind, it just felt too cold! Becky, my parents and I watched movies each night. Jeffrey and I are movie lovers and I had a whole list of movies for them to see that they hadn't yet. There was also lots of game playing and yummy snacks. It was really fun, but I missed Jeffrey terribly and I'm not sure when I'm ready to do that again. He stayed at his parents' house that week and hung out with them and his brother. They were able to go to the rodeo and the grand stand show, so he had lots of fun and had things distracting him enough to not miss us too much. Who am I kidding? He missed us insanely and told me I'm never allowed to go anywhere without him again!! Haha!!
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For now, I'm working on potty training Jaclyn. She's showed a lot of interest in going and has actually gone a few times on the toilet before. Having Jacey as her example (again with the good examples) has helped her a lot. She wants to be like her big brother! I follow the book 3day potty training (if anyone wants it, I can email it to you) and one of the things it suggests, is to completely take away diapers and to not use pullups or any sort of "crutch". That way, if they have an accident, they're aware of it and the discomfort and don't want to do it again. Of course, it takes a LOT of tries, but I think it's a pretty good method! We're on day two right now and so far we've had an accident free day. Yesterday, we had 4 accidents, but she went on the potty 6 times, one of which was NUMBER TWO!! (sorry for details, but every mother knows how exciting that is!!). I'm excited!! It's hard work and I've never really had to do it before (Jacey's a freak of nature and potty trained himself, if you remember). It's so fun to see her run around in big girl underwear though and I know these few days of dedication and work will definitely pay off!! Okay, I just have to add that she JUST opened the bathroom door, turned on the light, took off her little undies, climbed up onto the toilet and went to the bathroom ALL BY HERSELF!!! :) This method is working so well!! Major progress! :) So proud of her!!
There are two things that happened this week that I've been wanting to document. One cute, one scary. I'll start with the scary. We had the youngest two Sherwood kids with us this past weekend while Becky and Keith were at trek. That's it..that's the scary story. Haha, jk. (lame joke) We were at the Palmers for sunday dinner and afterwards, they were all playing outside. And I rarely check on them out there, because everything is gated off and they always have fun and keep themselves entertained enough to not try to escape. But thank goodness for promptings and the Holy Ghost, because I felt prompted at one point to just go see how they were doing and when I went out, Jaclyn wasn't there and the other kids didn't know where she was. I paused to listen to see if I could here her somewhere and sure enough, I heard SCREAMING, but FAR away!!! And I couldn't figure out what direction it was coming from. I called Jeffrey to come and he pointed to where it was coming from. She had gotton through some bushes at the top of the yard and took off. I booked it to find her, thinking she was stuck somewhere, or in someone's yard with a dog or who knows what. Her scream was one of those "I'm dying" screams. Apparantly I was really moving, because Jeffrey said that he and Brett were sprinting behind me and they couldn't keep up with me! I found her 5 yards away, crouched over on a rock. Nothing was wrong with her, nothing was physically hurting her, I just think she realized she was lost. I am SOO grateful she was screaming because we would never have known where to look!! And I'm so so so grateful to Heavenly Father for looking out for us and letting a negligent mother know when to check on her children! Looking back on everything, I know that it could have been much worse, and we were really lucky, but when I start thinking about all the things that could have happened, it makes me want to cry and my heart starts pounding!!! Anyway, on to the cute thing. Jacey has his first crush. Or rather, someone has a crush on Jacey for the first time (that I've been aware of anyway). There is a beautiful, curly haired blonde girl in his primary class at church. This sunday when they came in from class to sharing time, she sat down on the same chair as him. He was there first, and so immediately he starts complaining that it was his, he was there first, blah blah blah! I asked the little girl if she wanted to sit beside him or move to another spot. She was like "no, i want to share with him!" and Jacey kept getting upset. He didn't want to share. Of course, he wouldn't move to another spot either, he was there first after all. (stubborn child). Cyndi tried physically lifting the girl up to move her over a chair and she held on for dear life and was like "NO, I want to share with him!" So she stayed. And stubborn Jacey didn't move. So for most of sharing time, they both sat there, side by side, sharing that small little sunbeam chair. It was soo funny to watch!! Eventually her mother (who is their teacher) made her move over, but I almost wish she didn't, it was so cute!! What's funny, is that the little girl's younger brother is in nursey with Jaclyn and has tried kissing Jaclyn before. Who of course, always refuses! Such cute little romantic children. :)
Well that's been our summer so far. Hopefully August ends up being as great as July's been! :)
PS. My blog is no longer private, so those of you who have my link listed as private, might want to switch it so that you can see when and if I update. :)