Kenny and Sabena's wedding

Daddy was asked to be a groomsmen for one of his oldest friends, Kenny. Daddy begun his day at 10 am and stayed loyal until way past when the cows came home (midnight). Bubby and T-Bone came with me to the evening wedding to meet up with Daddy. We danced, ate dinner had a few drinks and saw some old dear friends that we had not see in a long while.
The boys loved it but was very disappointed when the cake was not handed out ") Pretty sure they just simply forgot to hand out the plates after the official cutting. But for the boys, that was the whole reason for attending the event, well with dancing coming in for a close 2nd.
My men looked sharp last night, all in suits. And they all acted like complete gentlemen all night. My I have a great family!

Did you say "you want to go potty?"

Well over the course of the past few weeks I've been trying to slowing bring our T-Bone more into the "potty" mode. I suppose that after our cruise, it got me thinking about just how nice it would be to have no more diapers. I had to pack a good amount for the cruise not to mention some wipes too. Well T-Bone keeps me guessing in this dept. ") For quite some time he would sit on the potty and do pee pee before his bath. I think the reason for this is apparent. :)
But too my surprise he didn't take to the potty in the beginning. We got candy jars and decorated with names and filled them with candy. Ready for the whole potty training experience. Ready,Set and wait a minute. T-Bone loved the idea of getting some candy but the minute you would mention the potty he would just cry. Then he would sit on the potty and cry. It's a sad sight. Mommy and Bubby are spreading positive words his way only to fall on deaf ears. So he's not ready? Hum?
I'll try a different angle. Training pants, that should work right? He'll wet himself and hate it. Nope. Didn't bother him a bit. Bothered me, he leaked out! Ok I'll back off, he's just not ready yet. No biggie. I don't want to take any steps back in this dept. I'll keep patient and he'll come around.
No wait again. He's doing it really well. No crying now. And tonight he announced in bed that he needed to go potty. Whoooooo Hooooooo! Poo Poo he did! And we are not even using a reward system anymore. That's my boy, keep it up and you little booty will be covered with Batman under ware instead of those nasty paper/plastic diapers!
And on another note the both boys rode in the neighborhood today. Yes T-Bone on his trike, peddling away. We went all the way to the school and they took turns going downhill (alittle faster than I liked) in the parking lot. I was proud that T-Bone peddled all the way and back without one complaint even with a few hard falls. Your growing up little guy! Momma loves you.

Bubby's first day of 1st grade

Today is Bubby's first day of first grade! I can't believe I'm teaching a 1st grader today! Wow.
We are using a different curriculum this year instead of My Fathers World. We are using Christian Light Education. We will be learning: Learning to Read, Language and Social Studies. Also continuing with Math U See, using Alpha. I really struggled with finding him a good match with a science curriculum. Most seemed to be too easy or too advanced for him at his age. So I got nothing for science this year. Also I did get him a bible study with Christian Light but decided to pass after going over the material. I have a hard time finding a perfect match for him to learn about God without all the gore and violence of the stories. Some are about God's judgment and I'm not sure that he can understand why God destroyed all the people he made during the flood when God is suppose to be good (which He is) but some of this is just too big for him to really wrap his brain around right now. I'm not sure that teaching about God's perfect perfection and will are appropriate without the simple understanding of his grace and truth about salvation first. It troubles me that some Christians can understand that an adult that does not have a "personal" relationship with Jesus cannot understand biblical truths but assumes that a child does. Also I feel that "most" curriculum and churches teach children as if they already know Jesus without ever really getting them to a point of conviction. So just like with all other areas of schooling, I choose to teach my son's about Christ myself. I know with God guidance and sensitivity I can do it in his perfect timing.
Anyway, happy 1st grade Bubby! Have an awesome year of learning!!

T-Bone says good bye to a friend

Bye Bye Paci. We will miss you. You comforted little baby boy for those naps and at night time for a while now. We found that using you saved a little boy from sucking his thumb. You served your purpose and now we say good bye.
T-Bone hasn't had his paci since Thursday night on the 3rd and to our surprise he didn't cry once for it. Oh we could tell his wanted it by the look in those big brown eyes looking up at us from his bed but he bit it and was a big boy about it all. I did the count down of days till he had to say bye to it and I suppose he was prepared for the moment it wouldn't be there any more. "(
I had tried to do some potty training with him but he's bucking up against the system in that dept for now. Again I was surprised by his reaction. Every night for MONTHS we have used the potty before bath time without a problem so I assumed it would just be an extension of that but he hated it when he would sit on the potty. We made a really big deal about it too. I told him about him getting a container full of "potty candy" for a treat for using the potty. We happily went to Walmart and bought a container and I colorfully put his name on it and filled it with Skittles. He was so excited about it all. But soon excitement turned into tears. What can I say but he's just not ready. I kept it all positive and even tried using training pants but he would just wet them and say nothing to me. So we will try again in a month or so. No biggie, it will happen. So with that said I decided to tackle another "growing up" step, giving up the paci. He started using it when he was a baby. He had one when we brought him home from Gladney. He sought comfort in it with his infant reflux and when it wasn't available he sought his thumb. I made the conscious decision to get him "hooked" on a paci in hopes of preventing him becoming a thumb sucker. You see, you can take away a paci but not a thumb. ") So as the years passed we got down to only using it for naps and nighttime. It really rarely left his crib. I took Bubby's away when he was 6 months old but he didn't have reflux either. I knew that he would do poorly at giving it up and so I chose a long three day weekend because I was prepared for some long nights. It never happened. He just talked abit more than usual and went to sleep. Good job T-Bone, we are very proud of you! Your on your way to being a big boy!

Back from our 7 day Cruise

Well we just got back from 7 days on the Caribbean Sea. We visited Jamaica, Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel.

Bubby's Birthday party!

I asked Bubby where he would like to go for his 5th Birthday party this year. Since July is really too hot for an outside party we have so far opted for an indoor party. He chose Chuck E. Cheese's to my surprise. Last year we held it at Surf and Swim close to home with all other parties at Chuck E. Cheese's.
We decided to have a party early to beat the crowd and hopefully the heat. Instead of having it around the corner from us we held it at another location that was newer and was closer to our guests.
All guests came. It was a playgroup party. Games, pizza and Chuck E. Cheese himself. They gave Bubby a crown, metal and we feasted on Nascar cake! Daddy even took off the morning to join us. We had fun and I relized just how much bigger my little boy was now!
Love you Bubby!

Bubby's 5 today!!

Happy Birthday Bubby Boy!
Well Bubby's hit the big 5 today! Wow. I know that I say this every year but I can't believe it.
Daddy stayed home from work today to help celebrate. Bubby woke up to find a new bicycle in the den waiting for him. We had it stored at Grandma's for a few weeks. Since a friend of Bubby's was having her Birthday party at Hawaiian Falls in the afternoon and he wanted to go SO bad we decided instead of him picking a place for dinner we did lunch. He wanted Dave and Busters. He's a smart kid realizing that he not only gets to eat but play games. Grandma came by in the morning with birthday wishes and gifts. We then headed off to Dave and Busters. He opened gifts after lunch. Instead of getting two cakes, one for today and another for his upcoming party at Chuck E Cheeses we just got the big ole piece of triple chocolate cake! Mommy did manage to get a few bites in and Daddy tried to finish it off. We then went and played games counted our tickets and got some toys. By then it was time to rush home in hopes of everyone (but me) to get a nice little nap in before going to the water park. After a short nap we then headed off to Hawaiian Falls. We met up with friends and spent the day in the assortment of water rides and pools. Bubby and Daddy seemed to really enjoy the river ride on tubes. I rode once only to decide that it wasn't a good idea for me. It made gave me motion sickness! Get me off this ride! So most of the day Bubby and Daddy ran around the park riding, T-Bone and I preferred hanging close to the cabana on the man made "beach" area at the wave pool. Nice. As the sun went down the movie screen went up and they were getting ready for the evening movie, Kung Fu Panda. We passed and headed home after having some birthday cake.
All in all it was a great day, busy and great!
Hope your year is blessed Scooby! We love you.