Trip to Madison and Potty Training

Waiting for the Tug Fest Fireworks 

OH boy....time has gotten away from me but I don't have to tell you that. We have just been busy with life and parenting and I just haven't been able to get to the blog. I"m on potty patrol right now as Kennon just woke up from his nap....DRY....and refuses to go potty so this is going to be quick.... but I'll try to get it posted!!

Friday August 9th we kept the kids up late to enjoy the Leclaire Tug Fest fireworks. They have come to LOVE fireworks and the Tug Fest display is the best in town.  It is like a 25 minute show with all kinds of cool different ones. We had a great spot to watch them at the Illinois Interstate 80 rest stop.  There is plenty of parking, clean bathrooms and lots of space to run around. We kept the kids entertained with snacks until the show began.   We will try to keep this activity on our calendar every year. A great event. 

'Would you like to play with my truck Oliver?'

The weekend of August 11th the kids and I headed up to spend some time with Aunt Brooke and cousins Carter and Reid. Eric and Tyler were both out of town for work and fun respectively so I decided to get to the kids together for some cousin time.  We enjoyed ridding bikes, going to the park, visiting the Madison zoo and going to Brooke and Tyler's neighborhood pool. The weather was unusually cool but that didn't stop us from hoppin' in the water!!  It was a good time had by all.  Thanks Aunt Brooke for the great hospitality as well as the adult conversation!! I would have gone bonkers with the kids at home all by myself.  

Maddox on the carousel at the Madison zoo. 

Enjoying Aunt Brooke's homemade strawberry ice cream!! YUM!

Carter and Maddox in the neighborhood pool.

The weekend after Eric got home from his trip we decided to potty train Kennon.  We used the same 3 day boot camp program that we did with Maddox and generally speaking he is doing really well despite being YOUNGER than Maddox and a boy! We struggled the first 2 days with many accidents but oddly enough it was almost like a light switch on day 3 he started to get it....FINALLY!! It was a stressful 2 days. We each took Maddox independently for some solo time on Saturday and Sunday to get her out of the house, to allow the other parent to focus on Kennon which is really what it took. But, with sticker charts, MMs, tractors and match box cars I think we are finally on our way. He is waking up dry from almost all of his 2 to 3 hour naps and has in the last week had one morning of being dry. Definitely need to work on the nighttime deal but I am just happy to be without diapers!! No pull ups around here either....which means a bit more laundry but that's ok!! I am really proud of him. He is telling us when he needs to go and is happy to get his reward.  Such a big boy!! We finally, this weekend, ventured out of the house and he did pretty well. Actually had 2 poop accidents while we were out, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday. He poops just fine at home but when we are out and about the potties are sometimes a LONG WAY away from where we are. Again, a little more perfecting in that area.  But we are so proud of you Kennon!!

Kennon and his undies!!

Kennon's reward for filling his potty chart full of stickers ....  a Melissa and Doug tractor and barn set complete with a pig and a cow. He loves the thing and was quite pleased in his reward for filling his chart!! 

We decided to take advantage of the almost freezing Family Museum today given the seriously hot weather outdoors!!  It was pretty quiet in there as the older kids are back to school. A ton of mom's with toddlers which was just perfect for Maddox and Kennon.  This is the last Monday that we'll have our morning to frolic.  Starting Wednesday BOTH Maddox and Kennon will be attending Our Savior Church School from 8.45 -11.45 on Mondays and Wednesdays.   Kennon will be in the Mom's Day Out room...the same as Maddox last year and Maddox moves up to the 3 year old program. We, including Grandpa Jim, went last Wednesday to the Open House and got to meet their teachers.  We were happy to have Grandma Jim along to see their great school.  I had commissioned Grandpa Jim to come help me with the kiddos last Wednesday given the keen eye I was still needing to keep on Kennon during the potty training process. Eric was also out of town that night so Grandpa Jim stayed all the way through dinner/baths to see that the kids behaved and didn't give me any trouble :)  They behave great when someone else is around....especially Grandpa Jim...he knows just what to say to get 'em whipped into good behavior!! 

Kennon drove to the fire while Maddox put the fire out. 

Working very hard to get that fire IE light out.  When you wave the hose in front of the fire filled windows the light 'fire' goes out!! 

Kennon driving the Model T at the Family Museum

Maddox and Kennon are growing. I swear both of them have shot up in the last couple of weeks.  We are having a bit of trouble with Maddox's behavior....very stubborn little girl...but we are working through the rough times. Still a work in progress. She has become very proficient at ridding her red bike and her coloring skills have really blossomed in the last 3 weeks or so. She is starting to draw people with eyes and hair a nose and a mouth. She has moved up to the 4 year old room at Kindercare.  Kennon is an outdoors man and loves to play with any type of ball...most commonly golf and basketball.  Despite wetting the bed at night he sleeps right through it!! So we are still getting a good nights sleep for the most part. I check on him during the night a couple of times and parade him to the potty and change out the sheets if needed.    He is the only boy in his class at Kindercare that is potty training which posed a bit of a problem last week.  He had a lot of accidents because he didn't want to leave his toys to the rest of the boys while he ran off to the potty. Finally Friday they let him take the toy he was playing with to the potty door for safe keeping while he went in to do his business. NO accidents on Friday!!  Have a great week everyone and stay cool!! 

Bix, Corn Fest, and Block Party 2013

Getting her race bib on for the Jr Bix

Giving a good luck hug before the big sprint

So lets see....where to start.  Maddox and Kennon took part in the Jr. Bix a couple of weekends ago.  It is a 70 yard run for the little guys that is all separated out by age. In previous years Maddox has been timid with all the noise, screaming parents, and commotion. I was thinking with another year under her belt maybe she'd break out and WIN the thing....well not really....but I was hoping that she'd at least not clamor on to Eric's leg, but no such luck. She is my little timid gal especially when it is noisy. Eric said she started off fine running solo but then got scared and had to be carried down the way to the finish. KTK on the other hand I could barely keep up with. I had his hands but he was pulling me like a horse on a cart. He loved it and didn't seem afraid at all. They both had a grand time and enjoyed in the post race yummies...hot dogs and chips. We skipped the Whitey's Popsicles as the weather was unusually cool. Saturday morning Eric ran the race in a blazing 49 minutes..a PR for him!! Way to go Dad.  Then we all jumped into the car just in time for naps to head down to Washington for the First Annual Corn Fest Reunion.  Grandma Jean and Grandpa Jim put on a great fest complete with local sweet corn and yummy Missouri tomatoes.  It was nice to see everyone including the Knowles family and Kathy, Kelly, and Emily who made the trek from Colorado!! We had a nice time and are looking forward to next years shindig already.  

Kennon wasn't quite as keen as being up on my shoulders. He quickly realized if he was 'UP' then he couldn't be 'DOWN' on the ground running around. Lets just say it was a long 18 minute wait standing in line before we got to say READY SET GO to Kennon.

My first Jr. Bix medal 

Kennon was actually way more interested in these rocks than he was his medal.

Post race goodies

Giving second cousin Emily from Colorado a BIG goodbye hug.  Maddox was enamored with Emily!

Despite the cool weather the kiddos enjoyed ridding all of Grandma Jim and Grandma Jean's TOYS!

Maddox, cousin Carter, Grandpa Jim, and Kennon

Maddox, Grandma Jean, cousin Carter, Grandpa Jim and KTK

Let's see what's new with the kiddos.  We progressed Kennon to a toddler bed over the weekend, which means he is able to get in.out of his bed independently!!  I think he is doing rather well although will admit he has been getting up a bit early as a result of his new independence. He is happy to get out of his room after nap when he wakes up after his normal 2 to 3 hour stretch but so far in the morning he wakes up a bit earlier requiring some rocking to get him back to sleep, if that works.....  We transitioned him to this bed in preparation for his potty training boot camp weekend which is slated on our calendar in a couple of weeks.  We wanted him to be able to get out of the bed to go potty in the middle of the night as needed.  Speaking of POTTY he has sort of jumped our gun on that.  He has in the last 4 to 5 days been very interested in the potty and even managed to poop and pee in there a couple of times in the last several days!! Way to go KTK.  ( that reminds me I need to get some MMs around here....some chocolate crazed Mom emptied the bowl just when we needed 'em last week.....oops ) He is still primarily missing the signal for when he has to go as his diaper is still soiled to some degree but I think with a little positive reinforcement he will get it when we do the 'goodbye diapers' weekend. I picked up some Disney character undies this weekend and have some Thomas ones on order from Kohls. So we'll see how it goes. I can't wait for him to be out of diapers however do drastically understand the fact that he is rather young for a boy. We'll see how it goes.  Maddox has been on a bit of a naughty streak....well I guess we could say both kids have.  I am getting a bit stressed that we have one of 'those' kids.....but I think with a little positive reinforcement we will be OK.  She is very quick to talk back and say "NO" to us when she doesn't want to do something.  She has also started saying naughty words.... STUPID, IDIOT, STUPIDHEAD  ( these are considered naughty when you are 3) just to mention a few.  She is learning most of these at Kindercare but oddly enough there are a few of these not so nice words in Disney movies.....  c'mon Walt...did ya have to??  So we are struggling with that as well as a lot of pushing the limits I'd say. Lots of hitting each other, stealing toys, getting in each other's space ( wait did I write that last week??)  Kennon is definitely in the terrible 2's and wants to do everything on his own and throws a rather large fit if he doesn't get his way.   So some days are frustrating but others very rewarding. Last week after I had made a pretty spectacular dinner Maddox reached over and gave me a big hug and said 'Mom this is so good you are a great mom!'  So, just that little statement makes all the frustrating moments a lot easier to handle.  I need to remember to use positive reinforcement with them both but it is hard to get out of the trap of just always getting angry when they do something wrong.  We are always open to other parents, friends, grandparents disciplining our kids....so don't be afraid...... have at 'em!!  I think I'm hearing little footsteps upstairs as I write this...or rather large JUMPING foot steps.  It seems to be coming from KTKs room. I was thinking we'd been getting lucky with him transitioning to the big boy bed with little play time.  If I had to guess I'd say he's probably jumping off his bed onto the floor repeatedly....little stinker. 

HyVee has a rather large Iowa Hawkeye section. While Maddox was a church school last Wednesday we took a fun solo trip to the store and tried this on for size.  Kennon loves the Hawks.

A post bath shot.

Last night our neighborhood had its annual block party!!  This year it was a potluck style where we were all assigned to bring a specific type of dish. There were lots of yummy things although I have to say we didn't get to enjoy too many of them. Maddox and Kennon are just at the age where we still s have to sort of keep an eye on them and when there is a jumpy house, a Kona ice truck, tons of ridding toys, and like 30 little kids running around it takes a keen eye and ear to keep track of your kids. We shut down a street in the neighborhood so there is no traffic but still plenty of 'trouble' for the kiddos to get into. They both actually behaved rather well and had a BLAST. I don't know how many times I"d think....'now where did Kennon go?'....and I'd look up and he'd be in the Jump House and the same for Maddox. They loved that thing.  Luckily there are a ton of toddler aged kids in our neighborhood so not too many big kids to bounce 'em too high in the House. Both Eric and I did get to catch up with a few neighbors and chat with some of the ladies up the way that I don't see much off....Judge road is completely filled in now...all the lots are built on and other than all but one house they are all sold and have families in them. Century Heights is a rockin' subdivision. We are so lucky to have chosen this neighborhood. 

Kennon in the jump house

Maddox and her Kona Ice. The truck was equipped with a self serve syrup side.  YEP...that's right. The man inside the truck just handed out the cups of plain shaved ice. Then on the side of the truck there were all these spickets with different type of syrup that you got to pick and put on yourself.  How cool is that....

The little guy sitting on the ground in the background is Breckon. We do a lot with his family and his big brother Parker and big sis Maddie.