Preschool Graduation

Preschool graduation was a little anti-climactic for us, considering Carly isn't starting kindergarten in the fall. She misses the cut off by a little over a month, which means she'll be one of the older kids when she does start, and I think that's best. We haven't decided what we'll do for preschool next year, since most of the kids in the co-op group are starting kindergarten in the fall. We'll just cross that bridge when we come to it.

Here are some pictures from our graduation ceremony. The mom in charge did a really fabulous job. The moms/teachers each got a thank you card that had a picture of the kids spelling out "thanks" with their bodies, and the kids all got a diploma with a picture of the class on the front. It was so creative and well done.(L-R) Decker, Nathan, Asher, Carly, Savannah, Emily

I just love this girl. See how she humors me with a picture?

Melissa also made a banner of what the kids learned in each month. I was wowed.

Yea preschool graduating class of 2009!!

Adventures in Potty Training

I've had an interesting time potty training Josh this last week and a half. He is such a funny kid. I didn't stress about potty training Josh until now, because I've heard that potty training boys is harder than with girls. I plain out hate potty training. The end result is fabulous, but actually doing it is something else. It's not like I had a really awful time with Carly; I just don't like doing it. I've gotten a lot of advice from other moms on when to start potty training with boys, and the consensus seems to be "wait until they're three." Well, my baby boy's third birthday is Monday...so I figured it was time to get cracking. So far he's done really well. Yesterday was a no accident day, and he even stayed dry until I put him on the potty this morning. I guess you can really tell what stage of life you're in when that news is the excitement of your day. There are some important things to remember when potty training that I've re-learned with Josh.

1) They aren't going to tell you when they need to go in the beginning

2) They're going to lie and say they don't need to go

3) Don't forget to make them sit on the potty (do you see a recurring theme?)

4) Remove the toilet paper from their reach

5) Put the shower curtain out of their reach

6) Don't forget that your child is still on the potty with the toilet paper and shower curtain within reach.

Needless to say, this last week and a half has kept me, or at least Josh, in the bathroom a lot. I've also gotten pretty good at re-rolling an entire roll of toilet paper.

Some funny things that Josh has started saying with this whole experience:

Me: Do you need to go potty?

Josh: No, I'm clean and dry.

Me: Okay, let's go sit on the potty.

Josh: NO!!! (Running away from me) I'M CLEAN AND DRY!! I'M CLEAN AND DRY!!!

Josh: (while sitting on the potty) It's the big one!

So far we're having an easy time potty training Josh. I just have to remember that it's more training me than him at this point, and keep at it. If he continues to have "clean and dry" days, I'll get up the nerve and break out the cool Lightning McQueen and Thomas the Train undies his dad got him for Christmas. Can you tell Jarod would've liked this project done a long time ago? What a slacker mom.

Cute Kids in 3D

I couldn't resist taking pictures of the kids yesterday at the movies. My mom and I took the kids to see Monster's vs. Aliens in the afternoon while Jarod went to see Star Trek with my dad. It was a lot of fun. They all behaved really well, and Josh especially liked the movie. He loved having his 3D glasses on so much that he kept them on while at the grocery store, pet store, and after we got home. I thought he looked so cute. I felt like such a geek taking pictures of my kids at the theater, so I waited until just about everyone was gone. Such a geek, but I really get a kick out of my kids.

Zilker Park

After finishing our chores last Monday, we took the kids to Zilker park to ride the train. It was so fun to pack a picnic, ride the train, and play at the park. The last time we rode the train was in January, and it was great to see Austin in the summer when everything is green and blooming. It was such a great day. The men in my life.
Carly and Josh were cute riding down the slides together.

Carly on the train.

This firetruck has been on this playground since I was a little kid. I was happy to know they kept it when they got new playground equipment. Call me sentimental.

The boys before the train ride started.

Father and Sons Campout

It's hard to believe that it's been more than a week since Jarod took Josh on the Father and Sons Camp out. Jarod had been looking forward to it for over a month, and there was a lot of wondering whether Josh was old enough or not. Finally we bit the bullet, and borrowed camping gear from my folks for the weekend. That's right, we don't have any of our own yet. Now you know what to get us for Christmas!!! :) They started out great. The night before they set up the tent in the garage to make sure all parts were present. Luckily they were and the next day Jarod was able to take off early from work and head on out. The campsite they were going to is two hours from home, so they stopped for some Dairy Queen, and Josh was in heaven eating chicken nuggets and fries. After a bumpy ride into camp and a couple of hours walking around in the heat, Josh got sick...all over Jarod. We're not really sure if he had motion sickness from the car ride, or if he had a stomach bug, but he made a mess of himself and Jarod...outside the tent, inside the tent, and needless to say, Jarod did his best cleaning it all up, and they headed home. Josh was excited to go camping, and I just loved hearing him say "camping". It was so cute.

Isn't their little set up so cute?!

I made Jarod promise to at least take a picture of Josh outside the tent, and I'm so glad he did. Even though their first Father and Sons camp out wasn't the best, they had a good time one on one, and next year should be better.

Water Party

Today at Carly's preschool, they had a little water party. I came a little early so I could watch the kids play in the water. They were having so much fun jumping on the trampoline, spraying each other, and getting sprayed. It was a lot of fun to watch them play.

The girls had fun playing "ring around the roses" and falling down on the wet trampoline.

Vegetation

We've had a little over a month to let our seedling project come to fruition, and so far, so good. We have a few watermelon plants growing, sunflowers, squash, cucumbers, snap peas, green beans, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, red peppers, radishes, and onions. Here are some pictures of our garden projects.

Two jalapenos!! Our first ripe tomatoes!! They were so yummy!!

Bobcat Bash

Last weekend was the annual Bobcat Bash at my mom's elementary school. It's their yearly fundraiser, and they really know how to have a carnival. The kids had a great time this year. Carly loves the bouncy houses and inflatable slides, and Josh was really excited about the train. I left early to pick up Jarod from work, and Carly and Josh stayed with Mama and got prizes, snow-cones, played games, and jumped to their heart's delight. It was a great time, and we're so glad that Mama treated us to the fun! Josh really loves trains, so this activity was perfect for him. Jack was a little less than thrilled, and when he saw me watching from a distance, he started crying. Poor thing.

Josh didn't want to attempt the slide, and it was probably best. There were some older kids that got wild while Carly was going down, and she snapped her neck pretty hard.

It was such a fun time, and the kids were very worn out at the end of the evening.

Park Days

While hanging out at my folks' house, waiting for the A/C repairman to get there, the kids and I decided to walk down to the park that's just a few houses down the street. It was such a hot day, so we didn't stay long, but I was able to snap a couple cute pictures of the kids. Josh and Carly love to swing, and get a lot of use out of our swing set in the backyard. Jack doesn't usually swing by himself, so he really wasn't too sure about it at first. I think he has the best facial expressions. He does a good freaked-out look, don't you think? It didn't take him long to get to this point. All smiles.

I swear Carly is going through another growth spurt. She seems so grown up to me!

Josh and Carly always tells us to push them higher on the swings. I thought Josh was sweet when he said "Mommy, I want to go high! I want to go to the sun!" He's saying "Cheese."

Avast Ye Maties!!

We've had a fun week so far. On Monday we took the kids to Zilker Park downtown to the Nature Center. They have a great free exhibit of different rescue animals, dinosaur fossil dig pit, etc. It was a great afternoon. The kids loved seeing the animals, and learning about them, and digging for Dino bones. We were on a time crunch and so we didn't get to see everything. Apparently, we missed the bird exhibit all-together. The kids were so cute all digging together, and I had a perfect photo op...unfortunately my battery was totally dead, so I didn't get any pictures. Good thing we'll be going back to catch up on all we missed.

The kids have also been exercising their imaginations this week. Josh and Carly have started to really enjoy dressing up and pretending. The last couple days Josh has been a pirate, and now that my camera battery is charged, I got a picture. Carly had put her pirate costume on from two Halloweens ago, and Josh wanted to do the same. His is much too small, though, so they improvised:

That is his Fishy/Mater cape, Mexican wrestler mask, green popsicle stick sword, and for some reason, to complete the ensemble, he had to be shirtless.

"ON GUARD!!"

Jack Talks

Jack has been trying out a lot of new words lately. He can say Mommy, Daddy, bubble, Nacho, thank-you, peek-a-boo, shoes, car, book, juice, Mama, Papa, Hi, Hello, Bye, phone, mine, NO, fish, dog, cheese, and I'm sure I'm leaving some out. He's also started to make different animal noises, instead of roaring for every animal he sees. My newest favorite is his gorilla noise. He's such a fun baby.

This video was made on my dad's birthday, shortly before we left to have dinner at Chuy's, a great Tex-Mex restaurant. We spent the hour long wait in the car watching Veggie Tales, and then got seated in THE worst seat in the house. We were right in the middle of the walkway between the different rooms and kitchen. Of course, I was sitting on the outside and as my luck would have it, I got spilled on by one of the waiters carrying food. Two different types of salsa down my back. Oh yes, I was feeling glamorous! On the up side, we got our drinks and dessert for free, plus a free T-shirt, and 50% off the bill. I was just taking one for the team. That still doesn't beat the time we went to Claim Jumper in California and Damon managed to get our entire bill reimbursed...that was 7 adult entrees, and 5 kids meals, plus drinks and dessert. Note to self: take Damon every time we eat out.

PIZZA!!

For Carly's preschool field trip this month, I organized a trip to CiCi's pizza. The kids had a tour of the pizzeria, and made their own pizzas (put the toppings on). After the tour, they got to eat their pizzas and pretend to play the arcade games. It was a lot of fun. I think 10 in the morning is pretty early to eat pizza, though. While Carly and Jack and I were on the field trip, Josh took a field trip of his own to Jarod's work. It was the second time Josh had gone to work with Daddy, and he just loved it. He plays patiently with his cars while Jarod does his daily reports, and then he gets to ride the bikes out of the store for their outdoor display. When he goes I'm sure to dress him in his Harley shirt, and yesterday we spiked his hair. Everyone thought he was such a cute mini-Jarod. I think I need to put an end to these trips with Daddy so that he doesn't develop too great a love of motorcycles. I don't know if I could stomach my boys riding motorcycles. When we drove up to the dealership to get Josh, he was getting a ride around the parking lot. Handsome guys

Carly decided she needed a ride too. When she got off the bike, she told me that it was too fast for her, which is funny, because Josh says "Faster! Faster!" when he rides.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Jarod and I have been remarking lately how grown up our kids are getting. It seems like they don't have any "baby" left in them. Time for another! ;) Josh is such a fun boy. I'm amazed at the things that come out of his mouth sometimes. He is such a boy's boy. He absolutely loves trains, planes, cars, construction vehicles, etc. The other morning the first thing he wanted to do was put on his airplane apron that his Grandma Tess made him. I love his expression in this picture.

My New 'Do

If you remember from and earlier post

( http://valdiviesoclan.blogspot.com/2008/05/hair-cut-sagas.html) I've had some bad hair cuts in the past. Now that my last hair cut has finally grown out, I've decided to grow my bangs out, and chop off all my hair. I'm tired of having "mom hair" and I figure if I don't have the option of pulling it back into my signature pony tail/bun I'll be forced to style my hair. So, tell me what you think.