Thanks to a wonderful daddy

I know father's day was last weekend...but I am a bit behind on blogging. I want to make sure that I thank my hubby for being a wonderful daddy to our kiddos. He's the first to say that he never thought he would have four kids, but what would he do without them. He is a wonderful role model for them, and makes it a point to spend time with each one of them on a daily basis. I appreciate everything he does for me and for our family and for putting us first on his list of things to do. It is fun to see the kids enjoy time with their daddy as they grow. The have mutual love and respect for each other and I look forward to many more daddy's days.

I can say cheese

watch my little cutie say cheese for her picture with her brother's sunglasses.

Potty time

Carlos is getting excited about the potty. For the past two weeks he has consistantly used the potty before his bath. He walks up to the potty, straddles it, puts his little hands on the wall, and then pees. Some of the pee goes in the potty some does not...but part of the learning process. So we have lysol and clorox right under the sink ready to use. I thought about getting him to sit while he goes..but he is imitating his brothers that stand up and pee in the big potty at the same time he goes. I guess I need to look into buying the Peter Potty, or toddler urinal, to minimize the mess on the floor. On father's day he took a big step...he told me twice he needed to go. When I took him the first time he peed at Aunt Marcie's house, and then the second time he went poo-poo at my mom's house. I tried doing the underwear thing at home this week but we just had accidents, we will need to keep trying. I'm sure there will be more posts on this to come.

independence equals mess

I am glad that the boys are getting old enough to do somethings on their own. John David will take a shower or a bath on his own. Both John David and Sammy will go and brush their teeth on their own. It is great to see them become independent at some tasks. There is a down side...and that is what I am not happy with. John David gets water all of the floor on the way out of the shower...makes me worry about somebody falling. Then their bathroom is constantly dirty...both the sink and the potties. The sink is full with toothpaste...which is a sign that they have brushed their teeth like I asked. The dirty big potty is another sign of independence...cleaning their own bottoms. The little dirty potty is a sign of Carlos going potty by himself. I want them to get better about these things on their own without a mess, but I don't want to fuss all the time because they are accomplishments. I want them to keep striving to become independent little men, but at the same time teach them some neatness without squashing their little self-esteem...such a fine line to walk.

Happy 6th Birthday John David!

It is definitely hard to believe that he is 6 years old! Time has definitely flown by. He had a great day today. He went to camp this mirning, and was excited to be in the 6/7 year old group. They sang to him at the end of camp...so that made him excited. We then had Ethan over for the afternoon to play and they got to watch a Power Ranger movie. For dinner he requested pancakes...so we had breakfast for dinner and chocolate cake. He got soccer shorts and a ball, a razor scooter, pixos, a bug net, clothes, shoes, and money. It was good to see him enjoy his day!

fly swatter

so with everyone home the past week it feels like my house is full of kids and flies. I can't answer why we don't have a fly swatter, but we just don't. I went to walmart this week and could not find one to buy. I was telling John David that I could not find one and his friend, Isai, told me that they keep with them with the garden stuff....who knew. He told me they have like five of them at his house...so I guess that is why he knows where they are at. I checked in the broom section, and near the rodent traps, but did not find one. I did think about the the Garden Center but I was too lazy to go from one side of the store to the other. I guess next time I know where to look.

growing friendships

This past week has been great to observe John David grow his frienship with Isai. This little boy was in his kinder class. They went to soccer camp together and we did the carpool thing with his family. They were both excited to be at soccer camp together, and the morning that I woke him up and told him we were taking Isai to camp he was so excited...he was also excited to hear that Isai would be bringing him home. Eventhough camp is over at noon, he did not come home until five from Isai's house. He came home and talked about all the fun things he did with Isai. The next day Isai came to our house, and all the boys including Sammy and Carlos were excited to have a new playmate. It is interesting to see how he interacts with his friends vs his brothers. The boys played on the waterslide outside and air hockey inside. Before we took Isai home we went to Sonic and got slushes, and drove with the windows down. Everyone was tired after that long day.

bear...bear

Carlos is really communicating using words. His speech has greatly improved the last two weeks or so. He has always enjoyed the animals at the zoo, but this time was the first time, that he was telling me what he wanted to see. We were looking at one bear and he would point up and say bear...so he wanted to go see another bear. When we past the aquarium he said fish, and wanted to go in. He also said monkey when he was ready to leave the kimodo dragons and see some monkeys. We are working with our animal flashcards at home, so he knows a lot of the names, and some of the sounds. He also thinks that "oso" is a funny word...but maybe it is just the way I say it. We will have to keep his animal knowledge growing.

Best Western

After Fiesta Texas we headed towards our hotel. The older boys were excited to be sleeping somewhere else. John David and Sammy slept on one bed together, Carlos was in a pack and play next to us, and Emma was in her pop up crib next to Carlos. After a long day at the park...bedtime was not too hard. We put them down around 9:30 and 20 minutes everyone was asleep. I was even in bed 10:30 myself as well. You can't do much in a room with four sleeping kids, so the early bedtime was great!
The next morning John David was excited to eat a Texas shaped waffle for breakfast. They really enjoyed all the different items the hotel had for breakfast.

Fiesta Texas

The thursday after John David got out of school we took a vacation to San Antonio. The kids had a blast. Carlos was excited to see Dorothy, Wags, Henry, and Captain Feathersword sing and dance in front of him. John David and Sammy were singing and dancing along, eventhough Carlos just sat on my lap. He was not willing to take a picture with them, but his older brothers did.
John David and Sammy got to ride lots of rides. Sammy was excited to ride Dorothy's rompa stomp roller coaster...he even rode by himself and was not afraid. It was great to see them riding and laughing multiple times. The park was not very packed so the boys got to ride each ride a couple a times since the lines were short. I don't think we will be that fortunate the next time we go back.
John David also enjoyed getting wet at the park...next time we go back I think he will really enjoy the waterpark...it was closed the day we went. The last thing we did on the way out was to get our passes with our pictures. John David and Sammy were soooo excited to have a card with their picture...they wanted to look at it and hold it. They just kept saying how awesome it was!

I can dance and sort shapes.

Emma has figured out how to dance in her favorite position...sitting down. She crosses her legs in front and rocks her little body. She enjoys laughing while she does it, especially if her silly brothers are dancing with her. She also enjoys playing with the radio...she sees Sammy turn on music so I guess she tries to do it too.
The other skill she has gotten good at is putting shapes through shape sorters. She is good with the one on the laugh and learn kitchen door. She is also good with the wood board and the different sized shapes...she gets all excited and will even clap for herself as she does it.

lunch with John David

The tuesday before John David finished school his class had a pizza party. So me and the kiddos headed up there to join the festivities. Mrs. Gottschalk got two extra chairs and put them at John David's table so his brothers could sit with him. Sammy was all excited to sit and eat with the big kids. He asked for pizza and triangle chips, and talked with the other kids at the table. By looking at him you would have thought he was part of the class...he looked like such a big boy. He even asked for chocolate ice cream with sprinkles, and ate it with a tongue depressor since we ran out of spoons. I know he is ready for kindergarten, but he will have to wait another year at home with mommy.

he'll

John David has really made a lot of progress in his reading skills this last month. He is getting better at sounding out words he does not know or recognize. A couple of weeks ago he was reading the book "if you take mouse to the movies," and that is when I realized all the rules of the english language are finally coming together in his little head. When he got to the word "he'll" he said hell...I was proud of him for sorta sounding out the word correctly...but then I had to explain contractions to him. SO now when he sees "he'll" he says "he will." John David enjoys reading the little books that Carlos and Emma play with and I'm sure his progress will be huge over the summer and in 1st grade.

The young artist

So the memorial day weekend we went to a wedding. Carlos was coloring in his little Elmo book and he was just scribbling everywhere. He was happy to have his own book and colors just like his big brothers. Then the next week at church I realized he was really coloring. Over the week he had acquired some fine motor skills and he was trying to stay within the lines. I was shocked to see how focused he was. He actually colored for about 5 minutes before changing crayons and then he went back to coloring again.