What a busy weekend we had! If you've been following along Dan's Facebook updates, you might have heard about the big motor swap this weekend.
After a few months of prep work, many trips to the junkyard and a 
By the way, that's not OUR Jeep she's painting (yet!). We recently attended an open house at OK 4WD . The best way I can describe them is an off-roading outfitter. There were lots of lifted Jeeps to oogle, a rock crawling competition and even a modified fork lift set up to figure out how far you could tip your vehicle before it rolls (?!).
I have to admit, even though I've loved this event in the past (especially the overnight camping and off-roading part) I wasn't thrilled about attending this year - what was I going to do with Claire? I was absolutely delighted to find a white Jeep just waiting for Claire's artistic stamp. Dishes of red and yellow paint were stacked with some paint brushes and an invitation to "Paint Me" - well that was all we needed to pass a good hour - that and the hot dog stand just behind the vehicle. Heehee. So thank you OK 4WD, we'll see you again next year!
Check out these videos, she loves to drive them, she loves to build them and most of all, she loves to paint them. Pictures of the engine swap to come soon, Dan kidnapped the camera card, but I figured I'd get some new reading material up for today - hopefully these videos will make you smile and cure any "Monday Blues."
Our state has really been pushing the above mantra and Claire and I 
I have to say that while Claire enjoyed picking the berries, the eating of her harvest or maybe the baby goats on display were her favorite part of the day. I wish I had a great picture of her biting into a juicy red strawberry like this one I took of Isabella - but Claire would snatch one off the vine and then run away to enjoy her spoils.
Another missed photo-op was Claire playing with her barnyard 
Speaking of feeding critters - Claire's newest hobby is feeding our cat Raymond. Not that he needs any help in that department, Ray-Ray, as Claire calls him, is pushing 20 pounds and enjoys quite the sedentary lifestyle. I can't help but let Claire bond with Ray in any way she can, so I let her enjoy feeding Ray his "yum-yums" one at a time.
A slideshow of all the images is below. They're saved rather small so if anyone would like a larger version, please email me. :-)
"Wooooooowww, weeee-weeee! " Is Claire's newest phrase, can you guess why?
Well I wanted to wait a week to be sure, but I can now officially announce Claire is "potty trained!" We've been almost 2 weeks now with NO diapers at all...even at night! Remember when we started potty training back in January? We were just trying to catch the...errr..."solids." Since the weather was warm recently, I let Claire spend a few days naked below the waist and she took quickly to using the potty for all her needs. My diaper bag looks a bit odd nowadays with a potty shoved inside, but there's nothing better than not changing diapers!
Obviously she's too tiny for public toilets, so while traveling I just make a point to stop and use the bathroom with her every hour or so. I can dump everything right into the toilet after she uses her potty or if there is none available I've been keeping a stash of ziplocs and paper towels for later disposal. It's been going so well, she'll drop her drawers if she really has to go but for the most part she's stretching about 2 hours.
This was one of those daunting tasks of parenthood I was dreading but I was really surprised at how easy it was. I really liked this article: http://www.babycenter.com/0_potty-training-in-three-days-or-less_10310078.bc?showAll=true AND after reading the it I don't feel so bad about Claire's lack of underoos! After searching high and low I can't find anything in her size so she's just wearing comfy cotton pants she can pull on and off herself, problem solved!
So pass along your congratulations to our potty superstar, we're so proud!
risking your wrath and sending you here to Lauren's blog where she summarizes our trip to Stephens's State park. Claire and Isabella (you might recognize her from our roller rink adventures) really enjoyed some water play and mud squishing at the creek. I got a bit more wet than I anticipated but it was so much fun and a great way to cool off! Happy splashes if you are making your way to the beach this weekend!
Can I reiterate again how excited I am that the weather is warm and we can get back outside?! I took all these pictures last week and didn't post them because we've been enjoying the outdoors so much, who has time for blogging?
Judging by Claire's interest in our veggie garden this year (the watering at least) I can guess she has inherited her Mommy and Daddy's outdoorsy genes. Any doubts? Visit here for a peek at all the other blog posts labeled 'outdoors' - major flashback alert, you'll be shocked how much she's grown and changed since last spring!
