Two days later. . .

Picnic on the patio. . .

Global Warming?

. . .Personally, I think that is a pretty tough sell.


What did Peanuts' Lucy say about December snowflakes? They weren't ripe yet. I didn't ask Kayte, but June snowflakes are probably a little over done.
They were excited to get out their scarves and hats and gloves!

This was the view outside my pediatrician's office in Pullman.

This was what we woke up to this morning and I made Joe take several pictures thinking that this was crazy. I had no idea we were actually going to achieve accumulation.

I ended up taking a million pictures of this snow today because I don't think that in 10 years I will even believe my own memory of what has occured today. In my 32 years on this earth, it has never snowed in June in Moscow.

Eleven days till summer officially begins. I may be rethinking that pool pass!

"I can do it!"

It was finally a sunny day! We took the kids to a church parking lot, determined to teach Kayte how to ride her bike without the help of training wheels. She got it!

Might as well teach Sara how to ride the tricycle too!

Will found a hole. This is natural boy curiosity. He cannot help himself!

Trying to keep Ben out of the sun, safe from the bikes, and most importantly, awake until naptime!

So it turned out to be a pretty successful day. Kayte could go quite a distance all on her own, as long as she wasn't distracted by other people or headed straight for the car. She was really proud of herself and a little disappointed that there was no such thing as a "bike recital" to showcase her new skill!

Blogging is the next best thing I guess!

Two Months Old. . .

Today, Will got me a blanket to cover up Ben. He told Ben, "I don't want you to get cold like an ice cream cone, because then I would EAT YOU UP!"

He's always trying to teach Ben to be brave like a boy, and I think gnawing on his arm is probably the lesson he had in mind!

Ben is really starting to converse now a bit, and he watches me walk around the room. He definitely knows if I'm not there. When I go in to get him in the morning he looks up at me and smiles.

Evening nap.
He isn't really supposed to be napping right now, but he's so cute! The last two nights he has only woken up once, so I'd kind of like to keep him going on that schedule!

Learning Something New

It's time to learn to tie their shoes so they will be all ready to be on their own for school.

Will.

Kayte's turn.

Ta Da!

(Kayte's feet aren't actually this big, we just couldn't find her current tennis shoes. She actually has about an inch to go to fit into these :)

Well, we are trying to teach Kayte and Will a few extra skills that might be helpful when they head off to school. Zippers, buttons, and tying shoes (and maybe using the bathroom with the door closed? That'd be nice!)
I still remember my dad teaching me to tie my shoes in our little house on Orchard one sunny afternoon.

I Did It!

Ever since her very first success on the potty chair, she has hopped off and hollered, "I did it!"
We got such a kick out of it, she just does it all the time now, success or no.

Pilates With Sara

This is how she stays in the 3rd percentile of weight for her age!

Memorial Day.

Memorial Day tradition. Raising the flag for the first time of the year, while singing the National Anthem. (My dad is a Marine and I love his patriotism!)

Country gal!

Sara's first ride on a horse (or any animal, for that matter.) Does this freak anyone else out a little?

Cowboy Small rides Cactus into the sunset. . .

My aunt and uncle stopped by my parent's house with their horses on their way home the other day. Will took a little ride, after he saw Sara and Jack go ahead. (They are too young to know that kind of fear.)
Kayte is not much of an animal lover so she lost interest before I got a good shot of her :)

Weekend Chores.

This was Joe's favorite part of his weekend, just one-on-one with Kayte.

I think Kayte is on a riding mower?

Sara has to watch from the window, cause I'm paranoid her feet will get caught under the mower, or she will run into the street. Ben's watching and learning.

Smiling!

It's really hard to catch this on camera, but here we are!

Happy Friday!

So cute!

I thought you may be tiring of pictures of Sara's derriere, so here's one of the cutie. He has been extremely cooperative this week, sleeping all morning and awake for afternoon naps. Normally, that would not be a good thing, but I've been too busy with Sara to love on him in the a. m.
So we catch up during naptime :)

Day 4

Looking for new ways to keep Sara entertained. Thank goodness for little Will!

Well, it is day 4 of our potty-training experiment. Personally I think it is going fairly well. We have logged about 7 successes in the last 4 days, and we have discovered she can 'hold it' for at least 5 1/2 hours. (That's when I finally gave up and put her to bed.)
She is getting a little sick of just sittin' there, and I have to say, they could market a cush-ier seat but, throughout it all, she has remained remarkably patient and cheerful.
I think she is going to figure it out!!!

Day 2

Gosh, this potty-training is hard work!!!

'Nuff Said?

I started potty training with Sara and so far we are both a little tuckered from the whole experience. No success yet, but I'm keeping my head down until this is over. So I will catch up with my blogging as soon as we come up for air.
Have a good week!

Sara's Birthday!

Sweet!

She actually blew out the candle all by herself!

Starting to get tuckered out. . .

Everyone likes to be in on the action. It is always total chaos!

We celebrated our little Sara today! All the family and cousins came over to have hot dogs and tater tots. She didn't really catch on to the idea that it was her birthday during the day, but after getting some presents and then cake and everyone singing happy birthday just for her and then even more presents, she got pretty excited! She started singing happy birthday as she opened her gifts. . .
By 7:30 she was exhausted. We put her to bed and never heard another peep!

More Summertime Fun. . .

Bea Whitling & Kayte.

We spent Sunday afternoon down at the river.

Do you remember days like this when you were a kid?

I remember spending hours at Chief Timothy flipping over an airbed in the water with my best friend Valerie when I was 7 years old. Watching Bea and Kayte on that log yesterday, trying to stay upright and squealing like crazy, reminded me of that day. Will often says, "Don't you wish you were a little boy so you could do this?"
. . .and sometimes I just do!