Date nights!

Typically, when Tyler or I have an errand or 2 to run we switch off taking a single child with us. That way they each get to spend individual time with us (especially Tyler) and it makes them feel special.

Over the summer I decided to take these lovely ladies out on a "date" and we sure enjoyed it. We went and got ice cream. Whatever kind they wanted, except bubble gum because I don't let my kids eat gum. I know, I'm mean. But, they have such lovely hair, and I want to keep it that way ;)

Since Kate does everything her sister does, they both chose cotton candy

I took them outside to eat on the benches and I let them go hog wild

By the end, they looked like this...

I sure love these girls. I'm so glad they like to be with me and that we get to do things together. I had fun just watching and talking with them.

If you have children, then you must know that date time is limited. I think we actually leave the house for dates about once a year, maybe twice. Our typical date night involves cuddling up to a movie and sometimes a snack. I love it, though. I don't have to worry about the kids, or what to wear and we have fun together.

So, when the opportunity came up to go on our yearly date, we decided to make it worthwhile. Part of that involved these lovely people...

Meet Jon & Becky Tolman!

They are our good friends out here in Independence and perhaps the only people that would go on a date that involved looking ridiculous in public.

All 4 of us went to Salvation Army and picked out our spouses outfit. It was so fun looking at the clothing and then trying it all on in the dressing room together. I had tears of laughter for most of the night, and it was so worth it!

One of my favorite moments of the nights is depicted in the next picture. Let me explain a little bit...

We were running late to our reservation. So, we grabbed our bags of clothing and hopped into the Tolman's minivan. Jon was driving, and Tyler was in the front seat. Becky and I quickly got dressed in the very back seat, while Tyler decided to change in the front seat. Since the 3 of us were ready to go, the guys switched spots at the next red light. Jon finally gets changed into his too small boots (sorry, Jon, I feel terrible about that). We soon realize that a lady is driving right next to us and is staring at the guys. She had no idea that Becky & I were in the back seat because the windows were tinted. Jon put his boot on the dash and did a nice pose for her and I snapped this picture...

We went to eat at Cinzetti's, which is an Italian buffet. Which means we had to keep getting up and walking around in our ridiculous clothing the whole night.

We took these pictures when we got to the restaurant.

Becky sported a one piece suit/jumper thing with a pink scarf, purple slippers, and her hair pulled through little girls tights on her head.

I got to wear a shirt that said "eternity fraternity" with a cheerleading skirt. The skirt ended up being too short, so I had to wear a slip underneath. I got pink slippers and girls leggings to wear on my head.

Oh the guys, they looked incredible. Let's start with Jon...

Jon is wearing pleather pants with a broken zipper. So, Becky decided to get him a long enough top to cover that. The top is an extra large women's lingerie piece, complete with gold sequins at the plunging neckline. He has on some black army type boots and a Miami Ink hat.

Tyler was the lucky recipient of a 2 piece women's suit. I came across both pieces in different parts of the store before I realized they went together. The print is an assortment of jewelry, ya know, gold chains and rubies and such. I got him a blue undershirt to cover his plunging neckline along with a green cab driver type hat. To finish the look, I added long Christmas socks and some foam slip on sandals in a brown color.

Becky and I couldn't decide who looked best, Tyler or Jon? What do you think?

I am so very grateful for the friends I have made here and for the many opportunities we have been given in Missouri.

Summer highlight

I'm going to be completely honest with you. Potty training is not something I enjoy. It is frustrating, and time consuming, and smelly. But, I do prefer to not change or buy diapers. So it must be done. It took a lot of waiting until Kate was ready. But, finally she was. We did the whole not wearing a stitch of clothing on the bottom half for a while. It saves on laundry and it has helped my kids get the picture. Like, "where does it come out?" and "where does it need to go?" It just works this way, so I stuck with it.

Kate, being her usual self, is very particular about everything. She likes to do things the same way and establish a routine/pattern. While establishing a bathroom routine, she did a lot of interesting things.

One of them being, moving the potty chair to different places

Sometimes she would use the big toilet and uh...inspect it all

She had no problem going when someone else was in there. Usually her sister.

Sometimes she would even snack while in there...

Lets get a close up of that....

Is she wiping, while still holding the jerky? Maybe I don't want to know the answer to that one.

Anyhoos, it was a journey. Full of lots of up and downs and funny moments. But, we are all very happy that she reached this milestone.

There has not been a shortage of cheering around here, even if she does it herself...

She is now completely potty trained during the day. She started having a few accidents everyday. First, I told her she couldn't watch tv for the whole day if she wet her pants. That wasn't working. This week, I made her sit in time out for 2 minutes when she wet her pants. It worked like a charm and we've had no accidents since.

She still prefers to go with no pants or panties on at all and I typically have to help her put them back on. I'm just gonna blame that problem on her Uncle Parker :)

Since she is still in diapers/pull ups at night, every morning when the girls wake up (Kate always wakes up Liv) they go potty together and Liv helps her put panties on. It's very sweet. They love to go potty together, which must mean they are 100% girl :)

I am so grateful for how fast my kids learn and grow. Sometimes I wish they could just stay little longer, but I love that they are so smart and are learning so much. I am also grateful to be buying less diapers ;)

Oh what did we do in the summertime?

We had a super fun summer this year, minus the humidity. We even got to see most of our favorite people. We are still really missing everyone we left behind and we hope to visit everyone we love and miss as soon as we can. Here is a little recap of our summer happenings...

We did lots of fun things in our cooler than outside home. Some of these things include, but are not limited to, dressing up:

creating masterpieces:

and yes, she posed for this all on her own

playing with Daddy cause he's the most fun

creating new hairstyles

(we even gave Grandma corn rows :)

playing nicely together

doing puzzles

(she seriously amazes me with how well she does these)

Liv's legit afro

I take no credit for the pose

We spent lots of time at the splash pad cooling off

We also learned an important lesson about choosing the right splash pad. Even though it is closer to your house and has less people does not mean it is not redneck. I never went to that splash pad again, and I even bribed the kids to leave with promises of ice cream cones.

The boy enjoyed making messes of any kind

But don't worry, we ate plenty of good food:

And we got plenty of rest:

We hope your summer was as fun as ours.

I am so grateful for these children of mine. They make life so much more fun and interesting. There is never a dull moment in our house. Even when I make mistakes, they always love me and forgive me unconditionally. I hope to have many more years of memories with them.

Carter at 10 months!

This little guy has captured our hearts, I tell ya. We sure love him even if he's dramatic and wants to be held all the time.

At 10 months he figured out how to crawl all the time. He would get on his knees and pull himself on things, but he thought it was faster to scoot around after he fell down (from being on his knees)

He also bails onto the floor after standing up on something. It scared me at first, but he seems to like it. He also likes bailing off furniture and hitting his head on things. He is such a boy!

He doesn't really like other people to hold him except mom & dad. It takes him a while to warm up to people. He is always happy and loving getting into things. We sure love this little guy!