Potty Training?

Jason went pee on the potty today - too bad it was after I thought he wouldn't do it so I left him to get a diaper ... he hasn't quite got the concept of AIM down just yet - still he's about a year ahead of my other kids if he decides to be potty trained now.

Adventures at Grandma's house

Jason had quite a few adventures at Grandma's house today...
It was a case of I-thought-mom-had-him-and-Mom-thought-I-had-him... until Collin found him asleep in the dog house (a favorite hangout of the orchard's rats - yuck!) I told Collin to take him straight to the bathtub (and told him you never move them until I get to take a picture!)
Then later, Collin was running on the treadmill. Jason was playing at the front of it, putting cars on that Collin had to jump over. Well, it happened so fast that I only caught a blur out the corner of my eye. I imagine it was like a cartoon, J reached too far over, got sucked onto the treadmill and shot out the other end - luckily Collin jumped over him as he flew by. He was scared and a little scraped up but not bad.
Then later still, I came outside and J was completely naked! Collin said he took off his diaper and said he needed to go, "Pee pee, potty." so I guess since they were outside Collin brought him over to a bush and was very impressed that J went pee all by himself...
Quite a day! I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Kelsey: "Mom, can we get donuts??" (sweet smile)
Mom: "No, not today." (distractedly)
K: "But Mom, donuts will make me happy. (pause) Don't you want me to be happy??" (earnestly sweet smile)

It's a good thing Mom is made of steel - Dad would have fallen for that like a brick :)

Kelsey: "Mom, can we get donuts??" (sweet smile)
Mom: "No, not today." (distractedly)
K: "But Mom, donuts will make me happy. (pause) Don't you want me to be happy??" (earnestly sweet smile)

It's a good thing Mom is made of steel - Dad would have fallen for that like a brick :)

Today, while Kelsey & Collin were at gymnastics, I had my first experience with Jason, throwing a fit in public, and someone asking what was wrong. I was able to give my favorite answer, "he's almost 2."

PS: You know you have it bad as a mom when you still think your kid is the cutest thing ever, even while they're having a tantrum.

Jason can open his door now from his crib ... Now he can stare at me while I'm trying to ignore him while I work on the computer.

Tonight I was afraid if I walked past he would start crying... He just looked up, gave me a little wave and said, "hi"

Time for Jason's Annual Haircut

J had no problem with the clippers...

or the shop vac (you can't tell form the picture, but he's cracking up)

but he cried when we used the scissors... good thing we loaded up the iPod with his favorite movies (we're so smart!)

18 Mar 11

What happens when I shower...

You'll notice these pictures are taken over time - really, this is only a 2 week sample of what happens when I disappear for a few minutes...

J loves climbing in my dishwasher (after he's pulled everything out of my drawers and pantry...

There is no way to keep markers away with Kesley around and the first thing J does when he gets one in his hand is color his other hand (or his legs).

They are also big into 'self-serve' (and pulling off his clothes)

... then there's Kelsey...

That girl can get into so much trouble so quick! She is truly astounding!

Dad, Come Watch Me!

Kelsey came inside and told us to come watch her ride her friend's bike (without training wheels)

I figured she could push herself along with her feet close to the ground

- but no - she just took off

So, once again Chad is denied the thrill of helping his kid learn to ride a bike - he will have to start with Jason next month - just in case.

5 Apr 11

Tramp Queen

Kelsey told me she wanted me to see her new trick on the trampoline - I was expecting a spin or something...

Not a complete flip!

OK, Not a complete flip - but 80% of one

and the ever favorite - jumping out of the tree

and a few cheerleader moves... quite the talented, fearless, little girl.

Yet Another Water Baby

I shouldn't be surprised how much Jason loves the pool

He even jumps in - no fear!

Ahh - my crazy, water-lovin' kids

Collin wants to make sure he gets all the noogies in early

The next Micheal Phelps (with out the drug problem :)

Kelsey's 5!

I can't believe my little girl is 5 years old now

Since it's her birthday I gave her a whole day worth of get-out-of-jail-free-cards. Looking at her you would think she was the perfect Daddy's-little-girl but mom knows differently...
1st thing this morning she was sitting around the corner while I was making breakfast. I was worried she was sad for some reason - until I looked closer and saw that she had gotten one of the bags of popcorn I save for Collin's lunch and sneaking it - "It's a good thing it's your birthday!"

Then later I found her outside obviously holding something. I thought she had rolly-polleys or something but when she opened her hand I saw it was filled with my mini-chocolate chips. "But Mom, it's my birthday, I'm supposed to eat chocolate all day!" (Not sure who taught her that one - she must have decided it on her own.)

We had dinner at her favorite place - the Volcano Restaurant (Japanese Steak House) She loved her salad and ate it all but only one or two of her shrimp - crazy girl.

Happy Birthday - too bad brother took a couple of swipes at your cake...

but it still tasted just fine!
(Collin is glad her birthday is over so she won't get special treatment tomorrow... he still hasn't quite got the hang of having a little princess in the house - maybe someday he'll learn that every day is special...)

Escape

Jason got out of his crib for the first time this morning - I found him going through his book shelf, of course. It's not so amazing that he climbed out - it's amazing that he hasn't tried before now.

Easter at the Beach House

I'd like to thank Matt and Beth for including us in their Easter Dinner at the Beach House

When we first got there the kids were able to play in the little tide pools (if you saw all my pictures you would see them all in about 4 different outfits...)

Kelsey in the Laura Ashley her dad bought her for her birthday

Jason fell asleep on the way so I only have a picture of my 2 - but they're still cute

I was trying to get Jason to smile - he finally - as soon as he saw his Daddy come outside.
Jason and Chad.
We had a great day. I always have fun when I have something (someone) to take pictures of and Chad was great to not complain when he was stuck with toddler wrestling.

ChuckE Cheeses

Since this is the last day that my little Kelsey will be 4 years old I finally broke down and went to ChuckE Cheeses (my kids have gone with indulgent Aunties but I've always gotten out of it - whew!)

It really wasn't as bad as I remember from when I was a kid - and my kids all had a blast!

They all got along great and had fun

I was feeling really indulgent and let Kelsey have an ice cream (too bad I realized I only had change for one - good thing it was big)

At Least It's Not a Rattler

The Pros and Cons of where we live is the wildlife - and the friendly neighbors that catch them and give them to my kids... (not sure which is which)
It's a good thing I'm not squeamish

Ah, a girl after my own heart.
I think the neighbor expected me to freak out - until I started telling Collin stories about my friend's snake that used to try to pull out my hairbands and lick my ear... I sure miss Bill.

My Cute Kids

Since I haven't posted for a while so I was looking at the drafts that I still hadn't posted yet and found these. It says I uploaded them on New Years Eve but I think I took them on Thanksgiving...
Oh well, they haven't changed all that much and they're too cute not to share.

Ahhh, the classic Stevenson Tree Shot - I remember you well

Baby Andrew Patrick Kinnon

I'm so glad I got to finally meet my newest little nephew.

He pretty much just slept while we were there - like a good little 4 day old baby should.
He was on Tuesday, 9lbs 3oz.
Someone was saying how big he is but since I'm used to carting around Jason I thought Andrew felt feather-light.

Collin is so excited to have another boy in the family! He loves babies and kept fighting me for the chance to hold him.

I call Kelsey, "Mamacita" since she's such a little mother!
I didn't let Jason around him too much yet. But J would just come up and point at him, "Baby!" and smile. J's just glad not to be the littlest one around anymore.

P.S. the photo editing is thanks to photoshop elements and TheCoffeeShopBlog.

Viewing Pleasures

Isn't it great that Collin and Kelsey make sure Jason is nice and comfy while watching TV...

Can you believe I'm finally posting again??? I am trying to catch up a bit too so scroll back and you may find pictures you've never seen before - you might even be in them, so it's worth a look. I'll try to forsake facebook (and Webkinz) more often and focus on the blog for a bit since this is easier to print out and use as a journal than fb is.

Enjoy

Blue and Gold Banquet

Here's Collin accepting more belt loops, pins, emergency preparedness pin... He now has so many beltloops they don't all fit on his belt. G'pa was so impressed he gave Collin $$. Collin was so excited, "Grandpa gave me $$ for 6 belt loops!" I had to tell him, "No, G'pa gave you money because you are doing such an awesome job in scouting..."

Big Boy

I don't normally take a lot of pictures for Chad's birthday but Jason looked so cute - he was so excited to sit at the table like a big kid (except he kept putting his feet up on the table)

BTW: Happy Birthday, Chad :)

What My Camera Does When I'm Not Looking

As you can imagine, I like to keep my camera handy - ever ready for the perfect shot. The downside of this is that the kids can get to it just as easily...

I was scrolling through my pictures (backwards as I usually do) and couldn't figure out what was red that I had on my camera (I had about 8 shots of red, some with shadows or highlights but all red)...

Then I finally scrolled to this shot and figured it out

Kelsey loves to score my camera (that's what we called it on my mission when someone took pictures of themselves if they found a camera lying around)

I have hundreds of these overexposed/blurry shots (or pictures of whatever she happens to be watching on the TV at the time)
Luckily, now that I have a digital camera it's not too bad - still not sure what to do with the 10 pictures I have of Elder Cole...

Collin took advantage of the camera in a whole new way today...
Not only did he come tell me that Kelsey had gotten into the cherries - he showed me the pictures he took of her doing it (Candace could learn a thing or two from him about busting)