This One's for You Daddy!

We've been in Junction City for almost a week now and we are having lots of fun. But, we are missing you Daddy! Just want to show you a little bit of what we've been up to so you don't feel left out.

Lizard catching.......

Four-wheeler riding with Grandaddy.....

Ryne's first four-wheeler ride....

Swimming in the pool C.G. bought Kade last summer....

Hanging out with Monk Monk....

Trading accessories with Grandaddy....

Grandaddy got the hat and Kade got the shoes.

Catching fire flies to put in the bug catcher and take inside....

A visit from Aunt Bib.....

Working at the flower shop with C.G.....

Working so hard that you had to crash on the bench in the front room of the flower shop....

A trip to Hollis' Seafood Buffet in Spearsville, LA.

That meant not only good eats but also:

A bowl of your very own to tear up just for fun....

A visit with Mrs. Nancy and Mr. Johnny....

And of course an ice cream cone for dessert.....

A swim in the new swimming pool that Kade just had to have on his trip to the dollar store with C.G. I guess the other one was out of date?.....

Hanging out with this cool kid......

Playing with Buster Brown.....

Learning how to give Buster a bath....

And getting great big kisses from Buster...

Celebrating this little guy's 5 month birthday....

Getting to go to church with Grandaddy and C.G. today.

And of course, a couple of stops at SONIC...Yummy!!!

(Note to Amber: I tried to Pineapple Diet Dr. Pepper this week and I like!)

How do you like the new shades that my kid sister bought us. We laugh because they look just like ones that our Mom used to wear that we thought were so silly. Guess we're the silly ones now!

Only a couple more days until we get back to Washington. Hope you haven't had so much fun without us, Daddy dear, that you wish we'd stay gone longer. Because we miss you and we're coming home! But until then we still have some more fun to partake in.

Hello Arkansas!

We made it! Yep, the boys and I are in Arkansas. And I have to send out a great big THANK YOU to all of the people who prayed for us while we were traveling on Monday. I was nervous about traveling with Kade and Ryne all by myself....there are only a million things that could possibly go wrong in a situation like that....but guess what: not even one thing went wrong!!! Well, aside from our flight out of Dallas being delayed for 2 hours, nothing went wrong. The boys were fabulous! I was pretty tired by the time we got to Little Rock but I was happy. I had Ryne in a front carrier and Kade in the double stroller with our bags being the second passenger in that double stroller. Kade never complained about being in the stroller and Ryne only cried a couple of times (and was quickly consoled). Kade was a little squirmy on the plane from Seattle to Dallas but finally settled down for a nap the last hour of the flight. The only challenge of that flight was taking both boys to the airplane potty! I can't even describe how crazy that was but we did it. Then in Dallas we had time to get some lunch and then they called us to board the plane. Just as they took our boarding passes someone came out and said there was a problem with our plane and it would require maintenance. Delay! Thankfully we had met a nice couple from Little Rock who were also on our flight from Seattle and they really had a good time visiting with Kade and Ryne. About two hours later they found us a different plane and were ready to board. This plane had been sitting in the Texas sun for two days and was like an oven when we got on it. It was so hot that Ryne was crying and Kade and I were both sweating like crazy. That honestly was the worst part of the trip....but once we got in the air it finally cooled off and we made our way safely to Little Rock where C.G. and Monk Monk were waiting for us. Kade was super excited to see them and here we got our first picture of the day....

C.G. let Kade ride on the suitcase to the car!

And then C.G. took us to meet our family from Oklahoma that drove over to see us. Granna, Paw, Aunt Kim, Uncle B, Brandon and Taylor were all waiting for us at the restaurant and we got to have a little family reunion. Here are some pics:

Brandon was glad to see Kade and got a great big hug.

Uncle B gets hugs, too!

And Taylor got to hang out with C.G. for a bit.

Aunt Kim had a new little puppy dog for Ryne.

Granna and all the boys!

Paw and the babies.

Ryne getting some Aunt Kim and Uncle B time.

Granna and Paw with their grandkiddos.

Thanks so much for making the drive to see us Granna, Paw, Uncle B, Aunt Kim, Brandon and Taylor! We had a great time getting to see you.

We left Little Rock at about 8:30 Monday night heading to Junction City. Now for the BEST part of the trip.....remember how we started potty training with Kade last Monday, well we left our house in DuPont at 5 am and arrived in Junction City at about 11:15 pm two plane rides and two vehicle rides later and KADE WAS ACCIDENT FREE!!!!!!! That's right ladies and gentlemen, I think I can declare Kade potty trained! He even asked to stop twice on the way to J.C. to potty on the side of the road. I am so proud of him for being such a big boy.

We got home and got to see Grandaddy and play for a bit before we hit the hay. Spent all day yesterday hanging out at the flower shop with C.G. Kade loves to help her work there. Then we went home to see Grandaddy when he got home from his long day at work.

Ryne was happy to see Grandaddy and I think Grandaddy was glad to see him, too.

Then came Kade's favorite part of the trip to Junction City so far. Look what he got:

A firetruck! This is a picture of the reveal...does he look excited or what?

He climbed right in and started checking it out.

And Grandaddy started giving him lessons on how to work it.

He got the firehose part all figured out! I think we might get him a job watering yards in our neighborhood! Ha!

And here are a couple of videos of Kade's first ride in his new firetruck:

Somehow, I have missed getting any pictures of Monk Monk but she is here too (for proof, you can see her holding Ryne in the firetruck reveal picture) and we are having a good time with her....will be sure to get some pics of her for our next post. Gotta go have some more adventures in Arkansas....we'll check in later!

We've Been Busy!

It's been a week since you've heard anything from the Lewallens. Why? Well, we've been busy. What in the world could keep you so busy that you couldn't manage to post on your blog, you might ask? Okay, you twisted my arm and I'm gonna tell you.

Besides from the normal day to day of keeping up with a two year old and a four month old and cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, making time for the gym and teaching online science classes.....well this week we:

*had a cookout at the park on Sunday night with our small group

Kade discovered that he really likes watermelon.

And that he likes to play kick ball when Daddy helps him run the bases.

*Hair appointment on Tuesday. It takes a while to color all of my grays...gotta love genetics....at least my hair girl told me she loved my genetics, it's job security for her!

*Had a Kade check-up on Wednesday morning followed by a stop at the grocery store. Then home to get our house ready for Wednesday night Bible Study...which was really good, by the way!

*I had week 2 of our new ladies Bible study on Thursday morning.

Just look at these ladies...they are so much fun and very precious. We had a great time discussing just how much we really needed this past weeks lessons. Our study is called Frazzled Female....can you just tell by my post already that I might just get a bit Frazzled from time to time? Come to find out, I'm not the only one who has that problem!

*D and Lissa came over after the boys were in bed on Thursday and Kyle and I got to go out for a late night dinner. So nice to have some time together without our sweet boys. We need that every now and then. Thanks again, D and Lissa!

*Friday, we had our neighbors Audrey and Rip over for dinner. It was great fun! They are both military people and he is about to be deployed this summer and she is expecting a baby soon after that. So, you praying people, please pray for Audrey and that baby while Daddy Rip is away. We really like this couple and had a good time getting to know them better. We discovered that they like to play Nertz...our favorite card game!!!!! (don't tell the guys I old you this but Audrey and I kicked their tails at Nertz)

*Today, which is still Saturday here in WA, we made a trip to Seattle to meet our new little baby cousin, Levi. Our cousins William and Dina and their two year old son Jude had a get together today to celebrate Levi's arrival. Then we swung by IKEA to pick up a couple of things that I saw they were having on sale this weekend (a chair for my quiet time spot and a book case that I want to turn into a toy bin for the loft). Oh my, I could make an entire post about this place. It was crazy! Just ask Kyle....crazy big, crazy crowded, crazy that both of our boys were trying to sleep in the buggy. I asked if we could just have an IKEA day sometime and come back when some of those crazy things weren't so crazy and enjoy it. I'll try to post more about IKEA then.
Got home in time to really enjoy the beautiful day outside playing with Kade.

So, that sounds like a pretty busy week, huh? Well let me tell you something else to add to the picture. See this guy:

He's really growing and he really like to eat his cereal these days...and he thinks he's supposed to eat when the rest of us are at the table eating....so now I'm back to feeding a baby first and then feeding myself. I remember now why it was so nice when Kade started feeding himself.

And this is another picture of Ryne:

Just because the rest of them are going to be of Kade.

Why just Kade?
Well, because he's the real reason this week has been so busy. He's been working on wearing these:

That's right....big boy underwear!!!! We started for serious potty training this week.
Now for the Grandparents and Family who really care to know all about it (I completely understand if the rest of you choose to stop reading at this point) here's how it went:

On Monday, the boys and I went to the dollar store and I let Kade pick out a bunch of prizes. You can see him here doing his shopping.
Then after naptime on Monday we put on the big boy underwear and started "earning" those prizes that he picked out. Every time he went to the potty and had dry underwear then he got to choose a prize to have. Within a few hours he had already earned three prizes and just had to get outside to play with them.

Here he is with his new shovel, rake, and bug catcher.

He really likes the bug catcher...we've had to catch new bugs to put in it everyday.
He did very good all day on Monday. Tuesday started out pretty good and then he had a couple of accidents. He found out that when he had an accident then he had to choose a prize to give back. That was a hard decision for him. But when he realized he could earn it back by using the potty next time then it got better. Wednesday we had several accidents and Mommy dearest wanted to give up but I wouldn't let myself. Thursday was better, only a couple of accidents. Friday...only one pair of big boy underwear all day long! Today, trip to Seattle and back included here....only one pair of big boy underwear all day long!!! We are so proud of this little guy. And I'm praying that this means success long term. Here he is showing off a couple more of the prizes he has earned...

a paddle ball

an apron to help Mommy cook dinner

So, there you have it, a potty-training two-year old is the main reason we've been so busy. But it has been a good week of life with the Lewallens.
My next post will likely come to you from South Arkansas. The boys and I are flying to AR on Monday so I'll be busy packing tomorrow!
****Happy Memorial Day Weekend****