I made it! (and so did Mason)

I made it through potty training another child. Mason has been successful in learning how to use the potty this past week. He still isn't potty trained at night, but at least this is a start.
He now goes in on his own...even when he's playing outside. It's great! I am so proud of him. Only one more child to go...WOO HOO! I sooooo hate potty training.

On a side note...my kids are totally in to the slug bug game whenever we go anywhere. They have now added "Cruiser Bruiser" to the game as well. I must be terrible at this game because I get punched A LOT! Mason doesn't quite understand this game and he'll come up to you (in the house), say "red one" and punch you as hard as he can. I think he just likes hitting people. He is definitely ALL BOY!

Kaylee turns 9

Kaylee turned nine years old last week. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. In some ways, she acts 16. She talked me in to letting her get her ears pierced one year early. Originally, I told my girls they had to wait until they were 10. She has done an excellent job of taking care of them, so I think she was mature enough to get them done. She chose a ruby for her birthstone:

Kaylee and I had a mommy-daughter date. We went to see "Despicable Me" in 3D, had her ears pierced, and then went out to lunch. We had a great time! Before we headed home, I let her buy the newest Justin Bieber cd. I remember my first "famous boy crush". As a tween, I loved watching Kirk Cameron on "Growing pains". Awwww....life was so simple back then. I still feel like she is too young to have a boy crush though. I think I still thought boys were icky when I was 9. Lucky for her, the new cd had a Justin Bieber poster in it: The day before her birthday, her Uncle Kevin and cousin Tui visited from Utah. They were able to watch Kaylee open a few presents, eat brownies, and join in on a little bit of the festivities.
I think she was spoiled this birthday, because in addition to all of that, she went to the funplex twice in the 3 days over her birthday weekend. Once while Uncle Kevin and Tui were visiting, and once with Lexi and a friend. Instead of a birthday cake this year, she wanted donuts with ice cream in the middle.
I put together a small slide show of Kaylee growing up over the years:

Happy Birthday Kaylee!

Independence Day 2010

We've really enjoyed the holiday weekend. On Friday, we went to a concert and pot luck at Glenmere Park. Doug's marching band performed and we all enjoyed eating yummy food. Then, on Saturday morning we headed over to the parade. I went with some friends in our ward. It was fun to visit and not have to watch the parade by myself. Doug's group sounded great. They call it the "All City Band" because several students from different High Schools join together to march. Lexi, Cassidy Whetten, Jordan, Kaylee, and Mason

Later in the afternoon we rented "Alice In Wonderland" and "The Tooth Fairy" from Redbox. All of the kids went to Walmart and chose their own candy, popcorn, and soda. This is sooooo much cheaper than going to the theatre. It's definitely easier this way when you have little ones. So much fun.

We threw some burgers on the grill and had a BBQ. Yum! Once it was dark, we let the kids do sparklers (which they absolutely loved) and a few small fireworks. Definitely a fun day.

This morning I dragged all of the kids to the front porch for an Independence Day picture. I've been wanting to retake the "front porch picture" ever since we took the one in May because I just couldn't stand that Mason wasn't smiling in that first one. I had to make some farting noises, but was successfully able to get everyone to smile except for Noah. Hooray!
I hope everyone had a great weekend too!