More of Our Fawns

The fawns continue to sleep in our yard. Here they are today sleeping right outside the playroom window. The don't get scared anymore no matter how much noise we make.

Potty Training: No More Diapers!

Alex has been resistant to using the toilet. We have leisurely tried and attempted food rewards. But, it didn't work. He just kept going in the diaper and having a tantrum when it was time to use to potty. We took a break from it for awhile. Then yesterday Luke and I got some prizes and made a sticker chart while Alex was at school. This morning Alex had to face the fact that when we are home we wear underwear. No exceptions, no matter how many times the question is rephrased or how many tantrums you throw. We had a successful first day with five successes and two accidents.


Alex's first prize after five successes. Then he began to earn new cars for his track. A bit later he can get another track. Later in the day he attempted to trade his new cars and track for his diapers back on. It didn't work.


His sticker chart. Alex loves Thomas now. He seems to enjoy filling up the track more than the prizes. He keeps saying he is going to fill up the whole track. Good idea! The blue dots are for when he gets to pick a new car.

Making Cookies at Grandma's

Grandma Porter invited us over on Friday to make cookies just for fun. It was a great "it's too warm out to plan for long" kind of day. Both Alex and Luke had a good time "helping" and of course eating cookies.

Trip to Lake Secord

It's an annual tradition for my dad's siblings and their families to meet up at Secord Lake each summer. We haven't been up for three years and decided to give it a try this year. We took the three hour drive during nap time, stayed a night and came home during bedtime the next day. It worked well. For the drive there the boys napped for two hours, had a snack for half hour and then were a little antsy the last half hour but were entertained with toys. They slept decently and had a great time the next day. Luke fell asleep quickly on the way home and Alex of course did not. He was quiet and did fine. He fell asleep quickly when we put him in his bed at 11:30.


heading out, ready to nap, whew it worked :)


I had to keep Luke entertained since he woke up at 6:30, we took a walk, had a little breakfast, saw some animals, then went back to the cabin when Alex woke up to get washed up and joined the large group for breakfast. Some leftover water balloons in the stroller worked as great entertainment for some time.


one happy baby


watching the llama eat breakfast


I think the donkey was looking for something better than grass


happy, happy


sister and cousins hanging out on the boat, my uncle's band, "Empty Pockets" played for awhile during the day, we had a graduation party for the four graduating cousins


Luke and daddy swimming, I was with Luke napping while Alex was swimming, so no pictures of him


Rori and Garrett


Uncles Gary and Wayne, second cousin Jenny


cousin Zac


lots of swimming relatives, now my aunts swim and I'm on the shore because their kids are grown up and can take care of themselves, reminds me how fast kids grow


a picture to prove I was there, playing in the sand with Luke, watching the band


Alex playing in the cooler, ice and sorting cans/bottles, how we kept busy the last very tired hour before we left


more happy baby, can't get enough of that smile


quickly passed out in the car

Lounging at the Pool

We went to the pool two weekends ago. Luke preferred to eat and lounge in the chair. He did play a little on the side of the pool. But, he is like Alex and not much into playing in cold water. Alex is beginning to enjoy the big pool more. He still doesn't like the baby pool much. I think swim lessons may be a good idea for the both of them in the fall. There is a new swim center that is opening very close to our house at the end of August. It may be worth looking into.

Aunt Bernadette: A Visit Near Bedtime

I went to Toledo to visit my high school friends a few weeks ago. Bernadette stopped by to assist with the bedtime routine. Here are a few pictures of her with the boys.

Plane and Lego Video

Alex got this plane from my dad i think on his 2nd birthday. i thought he would out grow it or get bored of it, but he still loves it. Here is a cell phone video i took.


Alex loves his Lego's which makes me happy since they were\are my favorite also. Here he is building away

A few of Luke...

It been awhile seen I posted pictures of Luke. Here are a few of my big nearly 15 month old!

Wildlife in Our Backyard

We have had an exceptional amount of wildlife in our backyard this past month. Here's a few of our sights, primarily through the playroom window (except for the bugs).


Just a few of the MANY spiders we see. This one actually looked pretty against the sand at this angle so I snapped this picture.



We have had two fawns (pictured below) hanging out in our front yard throughout the day for about three weeks now. This racoon comes by and cleans up after them. Guess there must be something tasty to a racoon in fawn droppings?



This feeder is suppose to be squirrel proof. Didn't say anything about deer proof?



A chipmunk eating leftover feed that spilled during fill up. There have been so many chipmunks in our yard lately. Anytime you look out you can see at least one running around the yard.



We have spotted many cool catepillars. Just had the camera handy for this one.



Our fawns that have camped out in our yard for many weeks now. We see them a little less now. For the first week they were almost constantly sleeping in our yard in the sun. The kids could see them all day from the playroom window. Luke always goes up to the window now and yells his version of "deer". He loves to look at them. I took this one while he was watching them from the stroller. They never get scared by us anymore.

Play Structure Update

The main part of the play structure is basically complete. I was short a few shingles so i had to buy a pack to complete the roof. Also you will notice that some of the siding is painted already it was left over from the house. I had to go buy 2 more sheets to finish. The pitch of the slide was pretty fast so i raised it a little to slow it down. Luke tries to go down it all the time, so we have to watch him. Im going to build some windows out of plexi glass that fold down. Also a large door will be added to the back to allow for the climbing wall. Alex has given me some ideas on what color to paint it, but i think we are going to stick with a neutral color.


I added some handles to the inside so the boys can hang from them. Also tucked some dryer sheets into the plywood of the roof. I read that it keeps spiders away and seems to be working.


Handles were added to the top of the ladder. Above the wheel there is a 2x8 that will hold the beam of the swing set(installed this fall).




Boys love playing in it. Many times now they have eaten their lunch in there with Michelle or one of the sitters. All in all after the swing set is complete i will have a total of about $650 invested in it.