Didn't I say I was not potty training?

OK, so after spending the morning with our friends (to include little Caleb...who is a good three or four years older than the boys and of course, fully potty trained)...the boys decided to revisit the "big boy underwear" concept...

While they were in their room (not napping) they decided to find their big boy underwear, take off their diapers, put on the underwear, and put their own shorts back on (they both put them on backwards)....so they came out of their room announcing that they were "wearing underwears!"....a few months ago they were putting the underwear on over their shorts.


So it clicked today that the big boy underwear goes in place of (and not in addition to) the diaper.


They were very pleased with themselves...and I asked W what he needed to do if he had to pee or poop. He said "go on the potty." Ohhhkayyyy.....within minutes he was screaming. He peed all over himself. So we cleaned him up and then....J peed. They were not happy that the big boy underwear did not work as anticipated.


They are definitely old enough and ready to potty train but I just didn't want to do it with Geoff being gone. That is stressful enough. W did poop on the potty for the first time a few weeks ago at Aunt JJ's house...(2 days in a row) but hasn't since. Here is W making his first official poppy flush:



But soon.....

Beach

There is a very sweet photographer here who volunteers her time and talent for deployed spouses. Mainly to give the spouse a couple of complimentary photos of their family while they are away. Here are some of the pics she took of the boys and I at the beach. Unfortunately we didn't give her much to work with--the boys hadn't been to the beach in so long that they pretty much ignored her-if they weren't ignoring her, they were throwing sand (and throwing sand at her)...or giving her a "furrowed brow" look for interrupting their beach play. In a couple of pictures I have crazy hair because I was trying to get the boys to laugh by spinning in a circle while holding the...Here are a few keepers:

Cannon Ball!!

Here is Mark (Grandpa) doing a surprise pool arrival via cannon ball...he was trying to do it when the boys couldn't see him coming...........

Up High and Dive

We were all surprised that W did this...and continued to do this when we were in Texas. I guess he has the underwater breathing down fairly well. He frequently would come up laughing or with a big smile. I apologize in advance for my loud "hey" at the end.....

TrAiNs TrAiNs iT's aLL AbOuT tHe TrAiNs

The boys spotted railroad tracks soon after we arrived to Houston and then it became an obsession to spot any and all trains and any railroad tracks. Shortly after we arrived to Houston, we went to a large Barnes and Nobles where the boys and I were overwhelmed with the selection (we don't get out much these days) and the boys made themselves right at home (reading a train book of course!):

Grammy and Grandpa took us to two train hobby shops and they LOVED seeing the electric trains and a big electric train model village all set up. They also brought out their Christmas Polar Express electric train for the boys (I was nervous the entire time that they would break that thing):

J standing on his head to see the train up close:

....and the boys received a few new train books:

While we were in OKC visiting Aunt JJ we went to the zoo - a zoo that had THREE trains:

And then we went to a children's science museum:

...that had a large electric train display..the boys could have stayed there all day:

We got to see a real caboose that is parked in Old Town Spring and is used as a restaurant:

We even ate at a cafe right next to the railroad tracks and we were lucky enough to see a train go by:

When I saw these pictures I had another-there-they-go-growing-on-me again-moment. They look so much taller and older!

Blue Bell

While in Texas, we went to the Blue Bell Factory and had a tour and some ice-cream of course. It was a fun little place and I thought I would pass on some facts I learned (especially for you Geoff since you are probably craving some BB ice cream right now). We learned that Blue Bell is the #3 selling ice-cream behind Breyers and Dreyers. The only two flavors Geoff ever eats is Blue Bell homemade vanilla (he eats it plain or with milk poured on it-I am the opposite and like lots of stuff in my ice cream)...and Cookies and Cream...and those are their #1 and #2 best sellers.

Some pictures of the boys enjoying (and being silly) while eating some ice-cream.

Here is W on the drive home...reading the paper =)

Little Bakers

We arrived home last week after spending several weeks in Texas and a week in Oklahoma City. My camera was working overtime...I ended up with over 700 pictures from the trip so I will have to share some of them...especially for Geoff since he has been anxiously awaiting new pictures of the boys.

The boys helped me bake some apple muffins from Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook. I used some mashed banana in place of the egg (they are allergic) and it was a great little recipe for the boys to assist with...the muffins...well, the muffin part didn't have any flavor to me although I was surprised that the texture didn't seem affected by omitting the egg. The crumble topping was awesome...the boys ate a lot of it before it made it on the muffin top!

Here they are sampling the crumb topping:

J stirring the batter:

W stirring the batter:

I had to move the crumble topping away from W he said:

"Mommy, move that back over here...right here."

Then:

"Mommy I need more sprinkles."
And finally:

"Mommy, I NEED more some of that (pointing) in my belly!"

Although the muffins themselves lacked flavor...the topping helped and it was a perfect little baking project. The boys could take turns pouring, stirring, and then sprinkling the crumble part on top of the muffin batter...

The next night the boys "made" their own mini pizza for dinner. They spent a good bit of time eating the cheese while topping the sauce with the cheese.