Dance, Gymnastics & Balls!

The Olympics have been a highlight to watch at Camp Clark over the last week, especially gymnastics, swimming, diving and volleyball. Needless to say, we have 3 aspiring little ones that are fascinated with the sporting events and feel compelled to imitate what they are watching (or at least give it their best attempt). They all have made sure to put on their "sporting attire" right before we sit down to watch them (bodysuits, gym trunks, swim suits, you name it). It has been an absolute riot and we have managed to capture a few of those crazy moments.

Before I forget, here are a few more words straight from the mouths of babes:

Dylan - "Move it, woman!" (talking to the car in front of us when we are stopped at a red light and it turns green - gee, wonder where he picked that up? - hint: a male driver who thinks women drive badly)

Lindsey - "Oh Taylor, isn't that just adorable?" (about a puppy at the park)

Taylor - "Oh look, Papa's Cheese!" (Papa Egg is known for having Velveeta in his fridge and mom ended up buying some due to the popular request).

Cupcakes & Corn

Here's a video of Dylan's Potty Party celebration!! We are so very proud of our little dude!!

Here's to Brother Dylan, He's Potty Trained Now!

Yes, that's right; Dylan is potty trained and we are so very proud of our little dude!!! Tonight we had an official Potty Party to celebrate his big accomplishment. First, LTD got to help by making triple chocolate fudge cupcakes (after receiving approval from the Sugar Police), then they frosted them with cream cheese frosting (customized with their favorite color; D was green, L was purple and T was pink), then the candles were added in each of their muffins, and THEN the song......


"Here's to brother Dylan, brother Dylan, brother Dylan....
here's to brother Dylan, he's potty trained now...
He pees and he poops and he wipes and he flushes...
here's to brother Dylan, he's potty trained now!"
(we will have to post the video of this milestone once I am organized enough to share it).

Next week Tuesday we venture off to the Mall of America for Toddler Tuesday to ride on all the rides as a final celebration. This is one of Dylan's favorite places (next to North Dakota) and a huge incentive this last "potty trial" (along with peanut M & M's; of course approved by the Sugar Police). It worked and we are SO relieved and anxious to close that chapter. Whew!!!!

Simple Thoughts and Funny Quotes

Only one more month of summer left! Looking back on the last few months, what an incredible reinforcement of how grateful Dave and I for each other and our health, our 3 beautiful, healthy children, our amazing families, and our wonderful friends. We continue to thank the Lord every day for the gifts He has blessed us with. (The photo above is a group shot on a warm summer night on Prior Lake with great friends: the Little's, the Erickson's and us - it just so happens we each have a set of triplets + 1).

Speaking of gifts, recently I was treated to dinner by 3 of my dearest friends (Ann, Terrie & Vicki) whom I always enjoy sharing quality time with. One thing we talked about was the challenge of becoming financially "dependent" on your spouse when you choose to stay home with your children instead of work. There are pros and cons, sacrifices are made, priorities change, but in all honesty, the truly important things in life really get put into perspective. I have gained so much in the last 3-1/2 years that is worth WAY more than anything money could ever buy and I am eternally grateful for the journey. After all, we only have 7 short years before they start 1st grade (only 3-1/2 left!!) to share in all their glory and truly savor each and every moment, 24/7/365. Such little sacrifice for such an enormous gift.

On to the fun stuff, there have been lots of cute sayings coming from the mouths of LTD recently and here are just a few:

LINDSEY - "Dylan, did you just talk back to me and use a "tone"?"

"It's go time!" (when we took off for the zoo one morning)

"I'd like two blue M & M's to match my eyes, please"

TAYLOR - "There's corn in my poop!" (at potty time: we ate corn on the cob the day prior). Then a few days later, "hey mom, where's the corn?" as she stared into the toilet bowl

"Dilly Bar, I am SO proud of you!" (after Dylan went potty on the toilet)

"Speed up, mom, and catch daddy!" (as Dave blows by our mini van in his sports car)

DYLAN - After I told them I would "throw" them in the bathtub after dinner he said, "NO, we could get hurt!"

"Ah-men is at bedtime; A-men is for breakfast!" (the dilemma of A-men vs. Ah-men during prayer time)

"That's 'scusting!" (admiring his recent droppings in the toilet)

PS - DYLAN IS POTTY TRAINED - YEAH!!!!!!!! (Finally :)

Birthday Bashes

Birthdays are such a treat when you have little angels sitting anxiously who thrive on singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out your candles for you. In reality, they truly enjoy licking the frosting off the candles and devouring the cake (with the Sugar Police standing guard)!! Lindsey, Taylor and Dylan got the opportunity to help me and their cousin Anna celebrate our July birthdays in the last week (Anna turned 4; I'm not telling). Poor Anna didn't even get to blow out her own candles since they swarmed around and moved in. We had a really nice time having Aunt Heidi and Anna & Faith over for time in the pool and a BBQ.

Dave took me out for sushi and a movie on my birthday and he was such a trooper!! He doesn't care much for sushi and he sat in a movie theatre full of women for a chick flick I had been wanting to see (we rarely go to movies since we rent them at home). He didn't complain even once - what a babe!! Although, I believe I am done with sushi and theatre movies for quite a while. Just can't see paying so much for so little and not being able to enjoy a great movie in the comfort of your own home and laughing as loud as I want without getting "the look". I think my brother Bruce and friend Annie are the only two that may be on the same volume level as me. Oh well, laughter is the key to happiness, especially really loud laughter, right?

Splash & Play

LTD outgrew their kiddie pool from last summer and with hopes of moving in the next year or so, an inground pool was not an option (not to mention, WAY out of our budget). SO, we decided to get a new "easy set-up" pool that cost us about $60 (what a bargain for 12' x 30" with a filter). Or so we thought. Quite a fiasco for a pool!! First, it was not on completely level ground so it pretty much took out the garden while we were out for dinner (basically rolled down the SLIGHT decline - did I mention it took a day to fill with warm water?). SO, Dave levelled out the backyard as best as can be the next day and we tried it again. Thankfully, it worked but we found out that it is much more "involved" than we anticipated. We initally thought, "hey, a filtered pool would be great so we don't have to empty the water every day". Well, that filtering system also entailed: purchasing non-chemical disinfecting agents/testing kit since we did not want to use chlorine as they recommended (cost $50 and a trip to Chanhassen); purchasing a pool cleaning kit with vacuum and debris skimmer ($20); rigging our own ladder since a new one was way overpriced (would have cost $50+); and rigging our slide so it could be high enough to slide into the pool - Whew! Now we just have to stay on top of all this and we'll be good.

Anyway, the kiddos LOVE it!! So we captured a few moments of them on their first day in the pool along with a day at their favorite park with mom and dad. We have so much enjoyed the summer and have spent a great deal of time outdoors with lots more fun times ahead. Stay tuned for a posting on some July birthday bashes.

Swimming & Birthday Celebration

We just got back from North Dakota after an awesome visit!! We truly enjoyed sharing time with our dear parents, genuine friends and taking time to just relax and celebrate Independence Day (also Grandma Ione's birthday). We went swimming, boating on the river, shared time with friends on Lake Isabel and saw an incredible fireworks display, took in the zoo and the amusement park - twice, shared cold beverages with friends on hot summer nights, shared more cold beverages with friends at the park while our kids played together, Dave got to golf, we slept in and spent lots of time outdoors. Bismarck is just such a fantastic place and the fact that it takes 5-10 min. to get anywhere in town is so amazing. No metro traffic and lots of friendly people that actually speak English - how refreshing!! The sad part is we did a horrible job of taking time to get out the camera & video camera, not only in ND but the entire month of June and into July.

We did mangage to capture the grand finale of their very first swimming lessons (without mom and dad in the water with them) which Grandma & Papa Good got to see firsthand the day LTD left for ND for 9 days without us!! They never cried even once for us while they were there!! They had so much fun and got a chance to share quality time with Papa & Grandma Clark and Papa & Grandma Kemmet too. They had absolutely no problem moving around from place to place. I think Dave and I missed them WAY more than they even had time to think about us. Mama Bear cried ALOT more than her cubs did. We also got a chance to capture on film the 4th of July birthday celebration of Grandma Ione. LTD had a blast singing, blowing out candles and eating ice cream cake and frosting.

We are back to MN and the kiddos have been formally introduced to their new bedrooms. Stay tuned for video and photos of the big transition!! Check out our KodakGallery link on this page (right hand column) for photo memories from June to mid-July. We vow to do a much better job the rest of the summer taking videos and photos.