Potty Training Fun

I'm happy to announce that Sam has officially completed day 2 of potty training... with underwear and no accidents. Getting to this point has not been easy. You see, Mr. Sam is about as stubborn as they get. If it's not his idea, he's not doing it. Period. He doesn't really care about being a "big boy" and he also doesn't care that "so and so" goes potty like a big kid (two tricks that worked like a charm with Joey). Needless to say, I'm relieved he's finally coming around. This morning, I asked him which underwear he wanted to wear and he insisted on wearing his Batman underwear... from yesterday. I stood my ground on that one.

Ring it Forward

Yesterday Joey and I had a chance to "Ring it Forward" and help raise money for the Salvation Army. It was an official "Mom and Joey" activity and we had a great time. Joey is at the perfect age to volunteer for something like this. He took his job very seriously and rang the bell a little louder each time someone walked by us and I have to say, almost every person who walked by put something in the kettle... quite possibly to get him to stop ringing the bell their ear but nonetheless, I was impressed. Each time someone stopped to donate, Joey would grin ear to ear and tell them "Thank you. Have a nice day!" and sometimes he'd throw in a "Merry Christmas." It was a great start to the holiday season!

Who could resist this face?

Me and my buddy!

Halloween Fun

I have to admit, before having kids I was not a big fan of Halloween. I hate scary movies, stay away from anything that's "haunted" and I have NO willpower when there is a bucket of chocolate staring me in the face. However, that all changed after the little ones came along (except for the willpower thing... still working on that one). Joey and Sam love Halloween and I love seeing their excitement. Joey is getting a little more daring with the scary stuff... until he had a nightmare about a pumpkin coming alive. Sam is all about dressing up and lucky for him, I'm the queen of stocking up on costumes so he had a nice selection to choose from. All in all, it was a great Halloween!

On to a few pictures...

Joey's school library had a Halloween contest where kids and their parents decorate pumpkins based on their favorite character in a book. Joey picked Zane from Ninjago (shocker, right?). It ended up being a little more work than I anticipated but I was happy with how it turned out and Joey thought it was pretty cool.

We also kept with our annual tradition of carving pumpkins. The kids help Dad clean them out, Dad carves the pumpkins and I take the pictures. :) Sam was totally grossed out at first but then got brave and just dug in and got the job done. 

Another annual tradition of ours is Trick-or-Treating at Scheels so we started our night off there. The kids filled up their buckets as we walked around their all-time favorite store. Before leaving, we took a ride on the ferris wheel... the highlight of Sam's night.

Woody and our Ninja

Sam's smile makes me smile. He was so happy to get to ride on the big wheel.

Joey had fun too but had trick-or-treating on his mind.

After Scheels, we stopped by Grandma Shayne's restaurant to show her the kids' costumes and then headed home to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood. Sam made it to 5 houses before telling me he had too much candy in his bucket and needed to go home. True story. So, he and I went home to hand out candy and Josh and Joey hit up a few more streets in our neighborhood. 

Batdog! I know some people may see this as animal abuse but I couldn't resist and in my defense, I only made him wear it for a few minutes while I tried to get this picture (and gave him a good treat afterwords so it's all good).

My SIX year old!

It's official... we have a 6 year old. How did that happen?

We started celebrating Joey's big day the weekend before his birthday. Grandma and Grandpa E. came to visit and brought along Khai and Adrianna. The kids played outside, watched movies, played games, had a sleepover, had a bonfire and went to see Hotel Transylvania. Joey LOVES spending time with his cousins as well as all the attention he gets from Grandma and Grandpa. Thank you for making the trip to help us celebrate -- it means so much to all of us!!

We had a birthday party with some of Joey's friends from school that same weekend at a gym near our house. The kids played dodgeball, basketball and tag and then ended the party with cupcakes and presents. Grandma Shayne even made a surprise visit! 

To top it off, on his actual birthday, he got to be the "birthday star" at school and brought in Star Wars cupcakes to share with his classmates. Josh and I came to school to have lunch with him and that night we all went to the restaurant of his choice {McDonalds} for dinner. 

The weather was beautiful so the kids spent a lot of time playing outside.

Jump, jump, jump... and DIVE down the inflatable slide. Sam and Adrianna (the "Wild Ones")

Joey acting bashful as we sang Happy Birthday to him.

His party theme was Ninjago (thank you to Pinterest for the inspiration).

Joey with his buddies.

Legos, legos and more legos!

Happy Birthday to you!

Silly kids!

Joey with his long-time friend, Ryne.

Time for a water break

I think Dad had as much fun as the kids 

"Birthday kiss for my big brother!!"

Fall has arrived...

Fall has arrived and while the weather has cooled off quite a bit, we have still managed to fit in some outdoor fun.

Posing for their annual picture by the scarecrow at the Fall Festival.

Riding on the train... Sam's favorite!

Joey skating at Grace's birthday party. He wouldn't let go of the railing for the first hour but then got a little more daring and actually skated around the rink a few times while showing off some of his dance moves.

Joey "racing" Sam on his bike.

Sam loves riding his bike. He's wiped out a couple of times but just dusts himself off and gets right back on. Our little tough guy. 

He's pretty proud of his new winter "mohawk" hat.

Our trip to the park to collect some leaves for Joey's Kindergarten project.