2 year-old fun!

So Jane is officially potty-trained (1 month and counting) and for some reason I think her bottom in Princess panties is just great fun. She has to dress herself and now the war is on! Most days a dress-up skirt and a purse are all she chooses. It is a battle to get her dressed when we leave the house and any "sleeves" shirt is completely shunned. I have outsmarted her on that by hiding all her short sleeved shirts and just pulling up the sleeves of her long sleeved ones. But now I get to continually pull them back up as she cries and stamps her feet whenever either slides an inch or two.
Wow! I wanted her to be potty-trained before the baby comes (December), but now find it to be a curse since she has found a real independence which seems to clash with the schedule I have sometimes with three children. I know, four is not going to be any easier, but too late now!

Dad...

Ben came home after taking Alex with him to Home Depot and told me about all the funny conversations he had with Alex. He was amazed at the things Alex thinks about and where his imagination takes him.

Alex: "Dad, how much water does a plant need?"

Ben: "Not that much."

Alex: "Can you use tears?"

Ben: "Probably, I'm not really sure"

Alex: "How many tears would it need?"

Alex has been so fun to get to know as he gets older and develops more and more personality. He has been involved in a few sports so far this year, and though Ben really wanted him to love flag football, Alex has treated it like he does most sports; as though its a new playing field for his imagination. He asks lots of questions and on the side lines when he is not playing, he acts like a superhero or a ninja practicing new moves! Right now in wrestling that is very apparent!

Alex: " Dad, when I get older, if I own a grocery store, I would make sure the shopping carts get inside all the time so they aren't cold and they won't blow away. "

I love my son and that he has a dad who thinks he is funny and intellectual and just a great boy!

Alex: " Dad, you know those sand pictures you see in the stores?"

Ben: "Yeah."

Alex: "Why does the sand take so long to move?"

I hope for Alex's sake, that one day he will find the person with all the answers, so his curiosity can be satisfied and he can finally get some real answers in life. But until then..."dad..."!

Look Mom, we look like you!

I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry! Do I really look like this??? Ben seems to think so, because he chose to laugh!
The best part of course is that Alex played a part and that Jane always looks like this, a purse on her arms and a pair of my shoes on her feet...perfect!

great day

My sisters Chelsea, and Cami, and I try to get together once a week usually to do a project for each other. A few weeks ago Chelsea's kids were "off track" since they are in year-round school, and my kids happened to be on Fall Break, so we decided to take the kids to the Thanksgiving Point Farm! Jane is to the far left, then Eden Clark, Rilee Clark, Shailee Clark, Ashlyn, Alex and Lily Humpheries in the front.
So who lets a two-year old wear flip-flops in the fall with a coat? That would be me! Sometimes that's the trade off to get her to wear the coat.

Some of the animals were more intimidating than others. Jane got too close to one of the roosters in a pen and got her finger "bit" by one, so Alex was practicing some caution!

Pony rides were part of the fun. Ashlyn and Alex have had this experience before, but it was new and quite exciting for Jane, she talked about horses for days afterward!

Seriously, those flip-flops are a perfect example of how Jane and I have to compromise everyday just to get her dressed! I never had to deal with this with Ashlyn, but Jane has her own sense of style and is not easily persuaded to change.

Lily and Jane are holding hands and trying to give their moms pictures by the goat. This is why whenever I am pregnant, I try to enlist everyone else to join in! Especially family members. I absolutely love the idea of having cousins the same age; they get to be built-in friends! So now that my sister-in-law Meghan had her baby, and since Cami, Chelsea, and I are all pregnant, I am perfectly happy!

All in all a great day with some of our cousins.