His Wife ~ Their Mama: May 2010

What have we been up to?

Brynne started ballet last Wednesday and loved ~~almost~~ every minute of it. She had one minor meltdown when another little girl stepped on Brynne's foot and accidentally knocked her over. A few of the parents who were watching the class gasped, or chuckled and this sent her into instant tears. She got a quick hug from Mama and she was right back out there. I was so proud of her. Just another example of how different she and Landon are. Had he been knocked over and chuckled at he would have completely lost it and hid, crying in the corner for at least an hour, LOL. The second ballet class is tomorrow and already Brynne can't wait. I am hoping she continues to love it and will continue to take classes for years to come. Taking ballet/tap/jazz with my sister when I was younger are amongst some of my best childhood memories!

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Travis has been working hard to get the front yard finished over these past few weeks. It's hard to concentrate on the front "yard" when your house sits on 4 acres, in the dry California foothills. He carved out a nice area for a lawn, used railroad ties to create an area for landscaping rock, and planted new bushes after removing the old, partially dead plants. It came together SO nicely and made a huge change to the look of the house. I couldn't take pictures today because once again California has forgotten that it is spring and it is cold, windy and rainy. Pictures to come later on in the week.

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We are going to move our project focus for the house onto the backyard now. I have some cute decorating ideas that I am already working on. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the vision in my head will seamlessly become the vision on our patio. We plan to order sod to keep the backyard cooler and to give the kids a nice, soft area to play. We will also use landscape rock in the back and give the kids' playhouse a more permanent and play friendly location. I am SO excited to work on the backyard. It has taking us 2 1/2 years to be able to get to where we can finally stop pouring money into the interior of the house and start to focus on the exterior. That was one of the hardest things about leaving our old house. The backyard was perfect, and kid friendly. Not so much here. But that will definitely be changing in the next few weeks!

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It seems that we have seen a real shift in the kids, and how they relate to each other, in the past month or so. They are getting along SO well lately, and spend a lot of time playing together in their rooms. The fighting is (dare I say...) almost nonexistent anymore. It is so nice to see them laughing, playing, and having fun together. It gives me a chance to stay on top of the housework, and laundry which I could rarely do before. So it has been a wonderful change and the kids are SO happy throughout the day, not arguing about who has what toy.

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Brynne got the hang of potty training very quickly. She is fully potty trained now, actual has been for a month! She rarely has accidents and if she does it is usually my fault. I get sidetracked after she tells me she has to go, or I forget that she is newly potty trained and dress her in tight jeans that are nearly impossible for her to get off quickly. Oops. Landon was a HUGE help in getting Brynne to make the transition from diapers to panties. He encouraged Brynne the entire time and was her biggest cheerleader each time she used the potty. He is so proud of his sister and reminds her often to use the potty. Man, girls are definitely easier than boys. At least until the teenage years...Oy Vey!

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I can't believe that June is right around the corner. Only a month left before we have a 4 year old!! So hard to believe. Time sure does fly by when you have two toddlers!

Hope you all have a great week!