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It's Potty Time

I want to first state for the record that we didn't ask for the stage we find ourselves currently in. Our sweet, sweet Sebastian has decided he's ready for potty training...like it or not.

Two weeks ago I was reading with Jackson in the Living Room. Just then, the mom in me noticed that #2 has been unusually quiet for a couple seconds too long. I high tailed it into the bathroom where I found him standing between the wall and the toilet with a look of anguish on his face. I then noticed that his size 12 pants were pulled down and he was trying to get his boy parts out of his diaper. Just my luck, Bryan is at work and it's all me on this one. So, we spend quality time in the bathroom.

While hanging out in the bathroom, we parents do the goofiest things. Our current music repertoir consists of the following:

• ABC song with the last line being "Next time I think I will pee."


• The Pee in the Potty goes Swish Swish Swish - Sung to the Wheels on the Bus


• Tinkle Tinkle little 'Bastian

Yep, we've lost our minds this time! Our other dilema is that Sebastian is a tiny one. He is 22 months old and is just now wearing size 18 months. Those 18 months hang on his little waist. Lucky dog! The big boy undie people begin their garments at size 2T. We're quite a ways from that size. So, if you happen to find some itty bitty teeny weeny whitey tidies, send them our way!

Blessed are the Peacemakers

So, for the most part Jackson and Sebastian get along great. They are playing together from the time they get up to the time they crash at bedtime. There is, however, a little territorial problem when it comes to the art supplies. They both LOVE to play with markers, the unwashable ones, of course! Bryan and I thought we had tossed every one of them away, low and behold 4 magically appeared this morning. THAT'S why they call them Magic Markers!!! So, while I was laying down I could hear them fussing and wrestling over what I was sure would be a manageable mess. Well, the carpet is embellished with green and pink now and no about of Shout will be getting the colors off of Sebastian's white shirt. So, I took them both, messy hands, messy faces and bedazzled shirts to some retail therapy.

So, at Target I bought 2 notebooks, 2 boxes (separate brands) of 64 crayons, 2 boxes of WASHABLE markers. Then we hoofed it to Hobby Lobby where I got 2 white photo boxes and whatever stickers the boys chose. We went home and they crafted their own art boxes. Behold their new custom-made treasures:

Bryan...the Dad

Any man can be a father,
but it takes a special person to be a dad.

It was a Spooktacular Halloween!

Well, Halloween has come and gone. It's been a crazy, busy weekend and it's been memorable. I think it's a little nuts that Halloween seems more fun with the kids than I can remember. Here are some pictures to sum up our weekend.


We visited Bryan's grandparents after Trick or Treating. I thought this was such a sweet picture of Great Grandma Adkins with two of the great-grandkids.

Yep. This is a huge pumkin. It's called the Great Pumpkin, in fact. Bryan's bosses, the Hubers, had this giant pumpkin custom made by a hot air balloon company. They loan it to the governor's mansion every year for the downtown halloween event. Then, on Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin inflates and glows in their front yard. They have a speaker inside and everything so they can greet the children by name. It's a hoot every year to visit.

The next few pictures are from the Huber & Associates party they had for their employees and their families. They went all out this year with a bounce house, pumpkin painting, hay mazes, treasure hunts and, of course, the Great Pumpkin.

I love this "Are you serious?" face he's giving me here!

The next couple of pics are from the Kindergarten class party. It's a sickness, really, but I LOVED throwing this party! We had a photo spot area, a funny book read by another mother, bead your own candy necklace station and a pumpkin toss. I made ghosts from helium balloons and tulle that floated around the room during the party. What a blast!

Lastly, Jackson and Sebastian were dancing up a storm on Friday morning. They wanted me to witness their "Awesome Dancing Moves."

Halloween Playlist

So, I'm trying to come up with a Kindergarten Friendly playlist for the party on Thursday. Here's what I have so far:

Purple People Eater
Werewolves of London-Warren Zevon
Monster Mash
I Want Candy-Bow Wow Wow
This Is Halloween-from Nightmare Before Christmas
I Put A Spell On You- Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Weird Science-Oingo Boingo
Munsters Theme
Addams Family Theme
Ghostbusters
Love Potion No. 9
Little Red Riding Hood---Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs
Witch Doctor

Also, the activity list at this point is as follows:

Stations:
Party Picture Taking

Frame Decorating
Snacks
Pumpkin Toss
Halloween Ring Toss or Pumpkin Bowling - 35 minutes total

Group Game: Mummy Race – Dulce
For this game you divide the class up in to teams. Then you choose one child from every team to be the mummy. Each team has to wrap up their mummy in a set amount of time, making sure to leave the nose and eye area open. After each team has finished wrapping their mummy then the mummy has to hop (with out braking any of the wrapping) down to the finish line. Then winning team gets a prize. Make sure to have plenty of paper and to play some devilish music like monster mash while the game is being played.
10 minutes

Book: Halloween by Jerry Seinfeld
10 minutes

Hand out Goodie Bags

5 minutes

Okay, so what are your thoughts?? Will it work? Are there other songs you can think of??

It's almost Halloween!!!

So, we finally bought Jackson's costume last night. I decided to drag my feet a little more than usual since he has changed his mind an average of twice a day. We have gone from Lego Batman to Ironman to Optimus Prime and (my favorite) a Native American. That's right, a blonde hair, blue eyed, creamy white skinned Native American. I really think it was just the appeal of a mohawk that did it for him. So, I let him wear a mohawk to school a couple of days and got rid of that little urge. All that to say, Jackson is going to be...drumroll please....a Ninja. Yep, he never mentioned a desire to be a Ninja at all but fell in love with the costume at the store last night.

Sebastian will be dressed up as a soccer player. I know, it's a stretch. The boy sleeps with two soccer balls every night and wakes up to dribble a ball out of his room and through the house every morning. I wore a necklace yesterday that had a silver circle and he kept chanting "ball, ball, ball." This boy loves soccer so it's a safe bet that he'll love his costume.

So, stay posted because I'll have pics of them in their costumes this weekend from our Fall Fun for Families at our church. Also, I am room mom for Jackson's Kindgergarten class. HOORAY!!! I am getting things ready for their Halloween party. I'll keep you posted.

We're Getting a New Member in the Vargas Family!

Little Cito is growing up! He proposed to his girlfriend, now fiancée, Abby Fulton on Friday evening. Cito's roommate, Seth and Abby's brother, Caleb served as accomplices and faked a radiator problem in the pouring rain along the side of the highway. Cito had flowers and their new family Bible, to be used in the wedding, hidden in the front seat.

Abby is an Early Childhood Education major. She comes from a large family of brothers and sisters and her father serves as a multi-lingual church planter in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She lived in Guatemala for 8 years while her parents worked in the mission field and is she is very fluent in Spanish. She has a very sweet and beautiful spirit about her and our family loves her already. She and Cito met at Williams Baptist College, which happens to be where Mom & Dad Vargas met 41 years ago. I think the Lord definitely placed them together at just the right time.

No word yet on the date of the wedding.

No Rest for the Weary

Poor Bryan had hoped to take a late Saturday afternoon nap...the boys had other plans.

Sweet Sebastian

Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.
~James Baldwin


I've posted a lot about the busy life of Jackson lately. The quiet side of the dynamic duo is our Sebastian. He's silent but powerful! During Jackson's soccer game on Saturday, Sebas was practicing his first love...Soccer. He's got a mean left foot that can really score some goals someday!

You never know what he's in to. Today I came out of the computer room to find him doing this...

Reading one of my books and chowing down on an apple. Such a grown up boy in a teeny tiny frame!

Oh Brother!

The highlight of my childhood was making my brother laugh so hard that food came out his nose. ~Garrison Keillor

Jackson's First Day of School

I am so proud...I didn't cry! I'm thinking the summer camp experience helped us all! Jackson and I walked to school this morning. This is something I have dreamed about since literally the day he was born. I remember my first day of school with Mom walking me and Julia with my Mork & Mindy lunchbox. We are blessed to live close enough to the school that we can walk. I don't think I could bear putting him on a bus yet.

Along the walk he talked with Cito on the phone. He kept saying how he has to see Jackson's new school shoes. He also said that Cito has to hurry with school or he's going to miss it. Last night he talked about how in 13 years he'll be finished and can be Felipe's roomate in college. (For those who don't know, Felipe's my 19-year-old nephew!)

And now...for some pictures:

Look, he's already learned something!! There was a 2nd grader in line before us to take a picture by the marque. Jackson was inspired by the sour look on the child's face and decided to do the same.

Of course, that didn't last long with Mom behind the camera!

Here he is in the hallway outside his room. They were all lined up ready to get inside! Luckily, he already knows 3 or 4 children in his class through church, Y Soccer and YMCA Summer camp. He's off to a great start.

Cool Christian Camper of the Week

Last Friday was very eventful in the Stevens House. Jackson has been asking questions randomly for a few months about Jesus, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, etc. We have just simply answered the questions and gone on. On Friday we casually were talking about God and I came across a tract I had picked up some time ago. It was called Simple Steps to God and it was written by Billy Graham. He was very receptive to all of the information and then simply said, how do I accept Jesus? Awesome! We prayed we hugged and everything made him "feel so good."

About 30 minutes later I took him to summer camp and stuck around for the weekly assembly where they do a song, make announcements and say who the Cool Camper of the Week was. As you can probably guess, Jackson was announced the Cool Camper. He was absolutely over the moon!

Staycation Day 5 - The Mutha of All Tents

Imagine Bryan's surprise when he got home from work and found the living room covered in blankets and fabric. We decided to build a tent from the top of the 8 ft. entertainment center down. All Bryan could say was, "Wow, you had a very productive day, huh?" Our tent was so fancy it had the flat panel TV incorporated in the design.

Our staycation was very nice. I wish every week was like this one. Spending time with the boys is awesome and I love every bit of it. Last night Jackson let me rock and sing him to sleep. I haven't been able to do that in years and I don't think he realized how much that meant to me. I was able to tell him different times in his first year that I sang different songs to him. From singing Great is Thy Faithfulness after immunizations, to Sweet Baby James and St. Jude's Comet when he was 6 weeks old to Lida Rose every day of his first year, I was able to relive those songs again. It was great because after I finished one he would ask me for another. Finally he didn't ask anymore and I realized it was because he was asleep. Sweet Jackson fell asleep to my singing instead of Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber, thank God for the little things!

Chipotle Update

Totally got the t-shirt!

My Handsome Boys...well, two of them anyway

For Staycation Day 4 I took the boys to Sears to get some portraits done. These are Sebastian's 18-month shots and Jackson's-a-big-bad-kindergartener shots. You'd never know it but the photog and I were sweating trying to get Sebas on the set, much less smile! Man that photog is good!

We're going to the pool in a little while but not before I push myself into line to be one of the first 100 customers after 3p.m. who gets a free T-shirt at Chipotle. It doesn't take much to excite me!!

Be blessed & peaceful,
~D~