undies and cowboy boots :)

Lance has boots that he just keeps the spurs on, and only wears them when he is on a horse. So obviously they usually stay with his saddle and stuff. But he came inside still wearing them after riding one day, and Layton thought they were the coolest. He wore them around forever. Of course while wearing his big boy undies :)

He would say "YAHOO" and raise up his hand like that as soon as I would take a picture. In the past, when he is in his cowboy frame of mind, he will lift his hat up and say it. But no hat this time, so I guess he just made do :) If I say it with him or after him he says "You not a cowboy mommy, only Yateon (Layton) a cowboy"

Clean-Up, Clean-Up

Last night Lance gave Parker a roll and let him walk around with it (which is actually a big no no, but that's another issue :) When I came in the room Parker was on the rug tearing his roll up into little pieces.
After he was done, he got up and walked over to the chair Lance was in and pointed at Lance and then at the kitchen, I told Lance that he couldn't give Parker another roll.
But Parker kept at it and finally pulled Lance into the kitchen, where he pointed at a towel. Lance got it for him and this is what Parker did with it...

How funny is that? He knew he had made a mess and was so persistent trying to get it cleaned up. Funny Boy, he is getting such a sweet little personality.

A Cowboy... Really?

I don't know how I got so delusional, but I honestly thought that I could have my boys enjoy the farm and horses, without becoming a full on cowboy. I didn't decorate their rooms with a stitch of anything cowboy related, and yet... here we are.
Layton has choices of tons of very cool prizes to pick from after he gets 5 stickers on his potty chart, and still, he picks a horse ride every time. And then gets super upset because he lost his cowboy hat branding cows, and his boots are too little. So he has to wear "regular" (horrifying, I know) clothes on the horse.
Don't worry everyone, new hats and boots are on their way :)

He will not let anyone ride with him, we all went on a little ride and I rode with Parker and Layton rode with Lance, and it was barely tolerated by Layton, and Parker too really. They both love it so much.

Oh, and in the middle of his ride Layton told us he needed to go potty, so we got him down and he went and got back on and continued on his way. BIG BOY!

We are for sure in the market for a tiny little (very well broke) pony. He really rides this horse just fine but I know it is only a matter of time until he falls off and I would prefer it to be a shorter trip to the ground :) Let us know if you hear of anything.

{disclaimer}

I am not going to pack around my huge camera all the time. I know I am a photographer but do not judge these pictures. They are with a regular camera, that up until I bought my big camera were completely acceptable to me. Now I feel super pressured to take awesome pictures of everything. So bear with me, and if you want to see my professional pictures go to my photography blog (www.sweetlysimplephotography.blogspot.com) now I feel better :)

Potty Training (round 2)!

This time it is for real :)

We got Layton started with potty training back in November, and he was doing really really well. Lance ended up having to work out of town for about 6 weeks and I decided that I didn't want to do potty training all by myself.

Which of course I have regretted because Layton really was doing so well. I am sure it wouldn't have been any big deal, but you know me. Easy way out :)

Anyway, wehave been just solid with diapers until we just started again. I have been doing the 3 day potty training (http://www.3daypottytraining.com/) and I am so excited about how it is going. Layton is so excited about it and doing great! I totally recommend this way to anyone looking.

This is Layton's potty chart. he gets a sticker every time he goes potty, and when he gets 5 stickers gets earns a special prize. The prizes are a choice of pictures of things he likes to do - painting, horse ride, trampoline, make cookies, etc...

Oh also, this picture is taken after his second night in a row of staying dry!

I bet you can't guess what he has chosen almost every time (pictures of horse rides, coming up :)

Popsicles!

Parker was napping and Layton told me that he wanted a popsicle, so we got one (actually no sugar, frozen fruit, but he doesn't know a difference :) and then went out side and for awhile he was being so sweet... sitting in the chair with with his little feet dangling off of the edge, licking his popsicle, laughing and smiling, and telling me funny things. I thought, "darn, I wish I would have brought my camera out"

Then, the kitties wouldn't come over to us (because they know better by now) so he decided to go and get one. They live in our garden shed in our backyard, which is also one of Layton favorite places to play. So when he stayed in to play for awhile I didn't give it a second thought.

After a bit Layton came walking out, looking like this...

I laughed and laughed, and decided that this was worth a trip inside to get my camera. Upon closer inspection...

It was even funnier because he didn't realize that he had gotten popsicle all over himself.

while I was taking this, I said "Layton, look at your arms" and he looked at them and said "wow, that's AMAZING!" I almost didn't get this picture, because I was laughing so hard.

p.s. the very light khaki shorts are still soaking in stain remover, hopefully we will be able to get all the raspberry out

(serves me right for eating natural stuff, I bet an otter pop wouldn't have made this massive stain :)

The great flood of 09'

I promised Lance that for family night we would get the garden planted, I needed to go grocery shopping so he stayed home with the kids to get started and I ran to the store. While checking out, the power went out, so I had to just hang out in the grocery store (in the dark) for half an hour.

So of course I was running late when I got home and hurried to get dinner made and the groceries unloaded and cleaned up. After dinner I asked Lance to take a few things down to the freezer for me. He came back upstairs and said "we have a problem"

I went down to look and the entire storage room had a few inches of water in it.

So frustrating, about a week ago we had a minor little flood in that room so we took the stuff out, dried it up, and just about two days ago I reorganized the room and got things back to normal.

(this is my laundry room, again piled with storage containers)

This one was much worse, so we hauled the stuff out(again), my brother called his friend to come up with his awesome shop vac.

(Layton and Isaac loved using our little shop vac to suck up water themselves)

So... we sucked up the water and this time had to take the carpet all out.

which was super heavy because it was full of water.

Seriously, I know it wasn't THAT bad. and the room wasn't even finished but still... it is taking up time that we don't have.

Diagnosis, our "freeze free" faucet froze and broke, and leaked water into the basement all day long yesterday while I had the hose going for the boys to play in.

AWESOME!!!

Anyway, sorry to be a dower. Just frustrated. Lance is fixing the faucet today, maybe we will get the garden planted tonight :)

SUMMER!!!

I love summer so much, I can't wait!

Happy Birthday Mom and Dad!

Today is my Mom's birthday and a week from today is my Dad's birthday, so Saturday I threw a little birthday party for them. I didn't want my Mom to have to do it for herself and my Dad will be out of town on his actual birthday.

The kids were so excited to sing to them and of course to help blow out the candles.

Happy Birthday Mom and Dad, we love you!!!

an apple a day...

My boys are crazy about apples, when we go grocery shopping I tell Layton before we go inside " If you can be a very good boy then I will let you choose an apple to take home" occasionally he will start to be naughty and I remind him of the apples and he stops instantly, when we pick them out I let him choose some red and some green, and he feels like he has really won a special prize.

He likes to hold them in the car on the way home, and when we get here he has to have one right away. He would eat apples all day. Parker loves them too and since he has 12 teeth (can you believe that ?) he chews them up really well, he is so funny though. He chews and chews, then then after he has gotten all the flavor out he spits out everything in his mouth, and takes another bite and does the some thing. (hence the bib)

Funny boys, I guess there are worse things to bribe with right?

School Program

We went to the Elementary School's end of the year program. I have 2 nephews and 1 niece, plus my mom, that would be in it. (and of course we couldn't get Layton away from Isaac, so he is in the picture to :) They did a great job! I love to watch all of the cute little kids.

This is how you know summer is close, I can't wait! I love summer!!!

Where is it?

Parker is so funny when something rolls under the couch. He works and works and his short little arms can't ever reach it. So he comes over and holds his hands out, plams up like "where is it?" and points to the couch for help.

He has done it ever since he could crawl and it is the cutest thing. He will lay on his tummy looking under the couch for the longest time.

I have thought about taking the feet off of our couch so it sits flat but I think it will be way too low, and weird to sit on. I don't know, maybe I'll try it...

All By Myself!

Layton has been so frustrated that he can't get his shoes on without help.
He tries and tries.
He wanted to go outside and I was busy, so I told him that he should try to put his shoes on and if he couldn't do it then I would come and help him. Think that it would just buy me a few minutes. Then after a bit he came running in and was so excited that he had got his shoes on "all by myself!"
His flip flops are especially hard because they have a strap around the back, and it is hard to get them in between the right two toes.
He was so proud of himself. He is turning into an actual little boy and is starting not to need me as much.
Again, so bittersweet :(

Away He Goes!

Parker is walking! He is such a big boy. Last friday he took a few steps, then more that night, and by the next day he was walking all over. It is still faster to crawl, so after patiently walking about 5 feet he gets down and crawls the rest of the way.

My baby is a toddler and not a baby anymore, how bittersweet for me :(

Baby Kitties

Our cat was preggers when we left for California over Easter, and when we got back she wasn't. We looked and looked for a week but couldn't find the kitties anywhere. I was seriously stalking our cat, watching it out the window, trying to follow without it knowing... But, nothing.

So we figured that they had died somehow, and gave up the search.

Then on Sunday (which is 3 weeks later) we were in the backyard and Layton was saying "come out Kitty" and I told him to leave the cat alone and that it was probably hot and wanted to lay in the shade. Then he said something about a baby, and so I walked over to see.

It is hard to see, but look closely and you can see a tiny little head in the middle on the cat's two legs....

My boys are in heaven.

Parker LOVES the kitties and follows them around saying "Kiy,Kiy,Kiy" but does not like to hold them.

Layton is super sweet, and is very careful to hold them softly, and put them down very gently.

By the way, if anyone is looking we have 4 black girl kitties with blue eyes :)

Dinosaur Museum

This was Saturday continued...

After Build-A-Bear we went up to Thanksgiving Point to the dinosaur museum. They have done such a good job with the museum and it is such a fun place for the kids, and still really interesting and fun for the adults too.

Parker, Layton, and Tanner. Watching the fish.

They had a little spot for younger kids like Parker to play. It was a big rug that looked like a... jungle? (ummm... what habitat do dinosaurs live in, desert maybe?) anyway, a map. With lots a dinosaurs to play with.

Layton, Tanner, and Sidney. There is a big table with water a sand and plastic dinosaurs and trees. And even plastic aprons for the kids to wear. This was Layton's favorite part. They played and played.

Parker and Grandpa.

Grandma, Layton, and Sidney.

Layton and Parker with the shark. This was for sure the scariest for the kids. It took awhile for them to be brave enough to go near it.

At the very end they have an archaeologist dig. Which is basically a sand box that looks like it is in the desert. The kids have brushes, and there are dinosaur skeletons buried that they uncover with the brushes. This was Parker favorite and one of the only times he could really be involved and roam around where ever he wanted.

All the kids had a great time. We went to dinner at Macaroni Grill (yum, my favorite!) afterwards, to celebrate Uncle Rio, and Uncle Devin's birthdays. Happy Birthday guys! and Thanks again Dennis and Jerri for the fun day.

Build-A-Bear

We were out of town over Easter and didn't get to see Lance's family. So this weekend was the first that we could all get together.

For Lance's parents Easter present to the kids they took them to Build-A-Bear to let them choose one. Parker was super tired and of course a little young for it all, but Layton loved it and had a ton of fun.

It was such a hard decision for the boys to choose what animal they wanted. Layton really wanted a horse, but they didn't have any horses. So he settled for a black dog.

Parker was undecided for a long time, but finally picked a fluffy brown dog.

Layton, putting the heart in. (he didn't really "get" it)

After the animals "come to life" the boys gave them a bath. Layton would have stayed in that spot for the whole time :) He loved stepping on the pedal to make the air come out.

Choosing the outfits... I let the boys pick whatever they wanted for the outfit. I thought it was funny how the outfits were exactly their personality.

Parker choose a basketball player. Which is soooo him.

And Layton of course choose a cowboy.

After they got the dogs all dressed, we filled out the birth certificates. Layton named his black dog "Black Dog" :) and daddy helped Parker a little and named his basketball player "Boozer" I thought that maybe there was a more appropriate basketball player that were could have named the dog after...

After a really long day Layton held his dog the whole ride home and then held it all night to sleep! With the boots and hat still on.

Thanks for the fun time at Build-A-Bear Grandma and Grandpa Sagers!