August 2023

Grant and I went to Living History Farms one morning.  It ended up taking us about 3 hours but we learned a lot and Grant had fun! It was muddy from the rain the day before and Grant got mud on his shoe.  He was very concerned about the mud but, luckily, it came off by the time we were ready to go.

Claire was sad one day and wanted to go and see NanaPapa.  They are usually together so she always asks for them both as one person.

Claire has started to potty train herself!  This is completely new territory for us because we struggled with the boys.  They had no interest ever.  She got mad a me one morning when I was changing her diaper and wanted me to take it off.  So I took it off and she went to the corner and squatted down.  I quickly grabbed her and put her on the potty and she went right away!  She was so proud of herself! And we are so proud of her!  We are hoping this continues and it isn't much work for Greg and I.  The best part would be to be done with diapers!!!

Claire is a toddler with definite sassiness and attitude.  One day Grant really wanted to hold Claire's hand and she would only hold mine.  He eventually got her to hold his hand in the car and he was in heaven.

Jackie was in town and we got the boys together to play.  They had a blast!  Milo brought a Tigershark monster truck and it was a hit at the park.  They eventually became friends with the whole park!

I took a trip to Colorado to visit my Grandma and Aunt and see my high school friends. It was really fun to see my Grandma and Aunt.  And it was also fun with the girls.  We mainly did a lot of sight seeing and hiking and it was just fun to hang out.  Greg held down the fort with the kids and help from the grandparents and Kailey.

Since Grant is getting so many stay at home days this summer, Blakey has been asking for a Daddy day.  He was so excited and wanted to go to a jump park and watch Youtube.  He had a fun day!

Steph's Grandpa ended up passing away right before our girl trip and ended up going to Des Moines just as we were coming to see her. It was nice she was still in Des Moines when we got back from the trip and she came over one morning to see us and brought Cam so that Grant had someone to play with.  It is fun to see Grant and Cam play together.  They seem to have fun and get along well.

Claire had a dentist appointment and did awesome!  She was amazing for a 2 year old.  Grant came with us and so I think that helped.

Claire has learned how to count 1-10 in Spanish!  She just did it one day and I was super impressed!

I took Grant mini golfing one day at the end of summer.  He initially got a hole-in-one! He was so proud of himself and we had to make a video to tell Dad.  The rest of the time was not as much fun.  I tried to teach Grant that golf is a tough sport and a hole-in-one is very rare but he didn't believe me.

We took the boys to the Iowa State Fair and they had a blast!  They told me they like the Iowa State Fair more than the big lake.  I wasn't happy about that ;-D.  We didn't go on any rides but we say the Train Museum, ate some good food, and did Little Hands on the farm.  Greg and I went back to the fair that Saturday for a Dixie Chicks concert and it was HOT.  It was miserable but everyone had fun!

Blake and Claire can play so well together and it is so cute to watch!

We had meet the teacher night for Grant.  It was so nice to go because it got Grant excited to go back to school.  He doesn't know anyone in his class but hopefully he will make new friends this way!

Grant had a great first day of school!  The younger kids wanted to get their signs out also to be just like brother even though it wasn't their first day.  Blake is a the big man on campus this year in Clubhouse and Claire is in preschool.  It was 100 degrees so no outside recess and that made him sad because he didn't see his friends.  He was exhausted at the end of the day after all the stimulation.  He seems to have a good teach and we hope for a great year for him!

Claire and I stayed home one night while the boys went to swim lessons and Claire wanted to dress up like a princess.  She loved her princess earrings and she was the cutest princess I have ever seen!

The boys have been watching Blippi and he has an episode to teach kids to dance.  Here the kids are doing Blippi's hip hop dance.  Claire, of course, had to be a part of it if her brothers are doing it!

The weekend mornings when the kids get up, we watch TV in my bed and it is my new favorite thing to do with them. I love them all cuddled up in bed with me.

I was brushing my teeth and looked out of the bathroom to find this and hear this cute little voice "help mommy help"

Greg was out of town on a guys trip so I took the kids to a near by park!  It was fun but there was a wasp on a ladder so that scared the kids off from using part of the playground.  Grant was a great big brother at the park.  He played and helped Claire so well! She was loving all the attention from her brother!

Grant wanted to work out one afternoon when the kids were napping.  He wanted to walk on the treadmill and workout like Mom and Dad.

Claire can read "Brown Bead, Brown Bear what can you see?"  all by herself and she loves this book!  She carries it around and sleeps with it at night.  I think she is proud of herself for being able to "read" it.

Claire figured out how to climb out of her crib!!! We lowered it to the floor and she STILL figured out how to get out.  So we gave in and put her in a toddler bed to avoid any injury in the future.  We will see how this goes.  Greg and I are not confident about her being able to escape and how our nights and early morning will be affected.

Claire was SO excited for her big girl bed!  Lets hope this helps the nap and bedtime battles and Greg and I did not create more problems for ourselves! Blake was so sweet and wanted to walk her upstairs to show her the new bed.

Grant was so sweet and wanted to read her a bedtime story.  She was so excited about the bed she wasn't able to sit still and listen but Grant was being such a good big brother!

That same day she decided to climb out of her crib, she also decided she didn't want to wear diapers anymore.  Greg and I love the fact that she wants to potty train herself, we just wish we had a little more warning!  I went and bought her Minnie Mouse underwear and she didn't quite understand where they went.  She does great going potty and telling us she has to go potty only if she is naked.  If she puts on underwear she will pee in a few seconds.  She also hasn't mastered poop yet.  We aren't ready to fully commit yet because we are leaving in a few weeks but we will let her potty train at home for the time being!

Claire loves dancing especially with her brothers!  Here they are dancing to the end of the Trolls movie. Grant was too cool to dance this time.

We have had some beautiful days and nights recently.  It has been hot during the day but beautiful at night.  Blake, Claire and I are playing outside while Grant and Dad are at practice and Claire is looking for Grandma.