Gymnast?

Ellie has been our crazy, fearless, adventurous, daredevil for a while now.  We've been planning to sign her up for gymnastics for a while thinking that would be a great outlet for her monkey antics.  I found a 3 week class that started tonight.  We signed her up to see if she would really enjoy it before we went for a real class.  She did not!
When we were getting ready to leave, she told me repeatedly she couldn't wait.  Once we got there, she was hesitant to go in, only did a couple stretches and refused to touch the balance beam.  The only reason she touched the bar is because her teacher had to carry her over and asked if she would show the other kids what to do.

After the bar, she was done.  She refused to participate in anything else.  However, she is excited to go back next week!?!?

Maybe dancing is her passion!

Bulldog

After a lot (a whole lot) of debate, we have decided to start Sam in kindergarten next month.  As of now, Ben is still going to be home schooled.  We got some of his school supplies yesterday, including a new book bag, so he is officially excited.  Kindergarten is only half day out here so we'll only be with out him for a few hours a day, but it wont be the same around here with out him.

Done (ish)

The deck is done!  We passed the final inspection yesterday and Jon is relieved.  It took a bit longer than we expected, but it was worth the wait.  Jon wants to put a couple boards around the outside to cover the bolts and we want to put some lattice around the bottom.  I'm hoping he can get that done this weekend.  Either way, we have a functional deck and its awesome!

Helping hand

We've recently started reinforcing an old rule that everyone stays at the dinner table until everyone is completely done with their dinner.  Most nights this isn't an issue.  Some nights Ben gets a little impatient and feels the need to help speed things up just a little bit!

Almost there

With a lot of help from Jons dad this weekend, they were able to finish the deck floor and the steps.  Next up is the railing.  Its starting to look like a deck!

Cute babies

One day at a time

The deck is slowly coming along.  We passed the 2nd of three inspections today.  Jon got held up by the corner where the steps will go for a couple days.  We've also had a couple rain delays and a break for a visitor, but now that the hard part is done, he hopes to finish this up as soon as possible.

Fearless

Jon took the kids to the play ground over the weekend. Ellie and Zach follow the boys on anything and are fearless!

Love those smiles.

I've got nothin'

Thats my boy!

3.5 weeks!!!

Pool day

Last time Gram was here she promised the boys a trip to the pool.  She came up on Sunday and made good on her promise.  The babies loved the kid pool.  Neither baby was crazy about the pool last year so I figured we would spend most of our time here.  They both surprised me.  

Ellie went to the deep end where Jon was and jumped right in.  Unfortunately, Jon wasn't right there so she went under for a minute and got freaked out.  It took her a while to warm up to going back in.

She was brave (and the big pool is a lot warmer) and went back in for a bit.  Zach loved being in the water with dad. They hung out on the stairs most of the time, but its more than I expected and they had a blast.

Zach and Ellies version of jumping in the pool.

Cannonball! 

Ellie day

Saturday was the 3rd anniversary of Ellie becoming an official Purdum.  On top of ice cream for a treat and picking our dinner location, she was treated to her first Barbie. She found one that came with a pink scooter and she was sold. She's ready for her first official Barbie play date with a friend across the street.

The 4th of July (pm)

We were going to go back to the parade sight for some fireworks last night, but heard it was really crowded and parking was crazy.  Some neighbors thought we'd be able to see the fireworks from our house so we took a chance and stayed home.  It was a long wait for it to get dark. The kids did what ever they could to keep busy.

After lots of running, smoke bombs and sparklers it was fire work time.

We actually had fireworks going off in 3 directions around us.  It was kind of cool to see them no matter where we looked.  We even had some go off right in front of our house just after the kids went to bed.  It was a mini show just for Jon and I.

I think we have the start of a new tradition!

The 4th of July (mid day)

Jon did some more work on the deck yesterday afternoon. We hope to be ready for the next inspection Tuesday. While he was working, the ice cream truck made an appearance.

Zachs been trying to keep up with the big boys.  He thinks hes so cool when he "rides" Bens scooter!

The 4th of July (am)

We decided to stay local for the 4th.  We met some friends and watched the Olmsted parade.  It wasn't quite as good as Lakewoods, but the kids seemed to have a good time.

Zach was excited to see just about everything!

The Muppet bus was by far his favorite.

Its been so long since we've seen the Olmsted fire trucks! 

Miscellaneous

Well, we figured out the cause to the burning smell on Saturday night.  The house started getting warm even though the air was running.  We realized the air wasn't coming out of the vents and found lots of ice on the pipes and hoses in the basement off the furnace.  After melting for a night, a repair man came out and informed us not only was the filter nasty, but we had the wrong kind of filter.  It caused air to not get through which caused a back up of cold air which caused the ice and the motor to slow and smell like it was burning out.  Fortunately it still works.  We switched the filter and the air is coming out stronger than ever.  He also helped us figure out how to get more flow to the kids rooms.  Thankfully, that was probably the easiest possible solution to the issue.

Zach took this with my phone:

Ellie is doing amazing with potty training!  She didn't have any accidents Tuesday and only 1 on Wednesday. She was outside playing and didn't want to stop and come in.  I know thats normal, but it makes me nervous for when we rejoin the world and start venturing out of the house for play dates and errands.

Jon is making huge progress on the deck.  His dad came over last night and helped him set the rest of the posts. He'll need someone to come over to help with the beams then he can finish the joists.  Hopefully we'll get that inspected on Tuesday and he'll be able to finish it up.

The kids are relaxing today.  Ben said he doesn't feel good which means Sam doesn't feel good either!  We have plans to go to the parade and festival tomorrow.  We're also going to a cook out and fireworks so I want everyone resting so we can all go together.  Something tells me (at least this time) that knowing the boys will be with their friends tomorrow will help them feel better!

Wordless Wednesday: Progress

Long day

Ellie officially started potty training yesterday.  She's wanted to wear big girl underwear for a long time now. She's gone in the potty a few times before (not recently though).  I thought we'd give it a try and see how it goes. Girls are supposed to do it earlier than boys right?  We let her pick out some underwear, we got stickers, treats and a bunch of little prizes for her.  The morning started awful.  I had her trying every 15 or 20 minutes.  She didn't pee in the potty one time.  She would sit there, do nothing, get dressed and then have an accident about a minute later. She had a total of 5 accidents before lunch.  I had to do laundry because I was afraid we were going to go through the whole pack.  After nap time, I had her trying every 10-15 min. The girl must have my bladder.  She never went on the potty, but she didn't have any accidents.  I guess thats a success?  Praying that day 2 is a little more dry than day 1.