Christmas in July

The 4th of July has been a fun weekend for us the past few years. It's a weekend of family, cabins, water sports, fun food and fireworks. The weather was perfect and the entire Walton family came together for a fantastic long weekend.

Even the pictures that Kris and Billy took are perfect for 2011 Chirtmas (in July) cards!

Here's wishing you and your families the best this summer! Happy July!

7 Minute Mile

Ethan ran in his first race last weekend! He ran the 1/2 mile Mpls Recycle Run at Lake Harriet.
His time for 1/2 mile was just 3.30min! It was SO cute seeing him race. After he finished he said, "That was hard." Like he was expecting it to be easy. But he wants to race again, for another t-shirt and a medal.

Update: 5th Snowiest

Minneapolis got a few more inches of snow last week for a total of 84 inches for this winter. That moved 2011 into the 5th place for snowiest winter.

6th Snowiest Winter EVER

With 80+ inches of snowfall this winter, the winter of 2011 will go down in history as the 6th snowiest year EVER (as long as it doesn't snow anymore). And it's only March, which is the snowiest month.
So, this was a good year to learn to love the snow. We didn't really have a choice, but luckily the kids caught on quickly and have LOVED playing in the snow all winter.
Each time it snowed we plowed the snow from the driveway into the back yard, creating a kids dream come true--Mt. Walton-- the best playground for hiking, sledding and playing with dump trucks.
At it's peak, after our 80th inch of snow fell yesterday, Mt.Walton reach a height of 9 feet and the entire length of our backyard, around 35ft.
It's been a lot of fun. With Spring just around the corner I wanted to document Mt.Walton before it's gone. Though, I bet it'll take till June to melt this mountain!

Diapers Be Gone!

We made it! No more diapers in the Walton house... ever again!

Sticker charts, M&Ms and potty prizes finally got the job done. Cal has been diaper free for a couple weeks. He filled up his "Potty Chart" to get a "Potty Prize" today and we'll celebrated tonight with cupcakes! (1 sticker for each accident free day)


Here is Cal enjoying holding his new "James" train he got for his potty prize. By the way, I love these new Target carts. I actually drive out of my way to this particular Target because these carts are perfect for kids this age. Shopping carts can make all the difference when you're shopping with twins.

3 years already!

Can't Force Independence

When can I be done changing diapers?

I'm really tired of changing diapers. We've been changing diapers for over 6 years! Just after we got Ethan out of diapers around his 3rd birthday, we had a break for a few months while I was pregnant with the twins (but that shouldn't really count because of how difficult that time was for us) and then we were hit hard by the double diapers....

And we're still changing diapers.

I'm ready to be done with this diaper changing period of our lives. But that's not my choice. This all lies in the hands of the pooper: Cal.

Cal loves to have people do things for him. He won't attempt to put on his own clothes in the morning. He won't touch his shoes or boots and refuses to learn how to put anything on himself. I've tried everything in the book to get him interested in self-help skills. Bribing with candy didn't even work! He doesn't care. Do you blame him though? It would be great to have someone do everything for you.
But now that Cal is the size of an average 4 year old it feels funny changing a big kid's diaper. His poops are like man-poops.

I know it's bad to compare twins, but Teagan has been doing all of these things for almost 5 months. Teagan does everything herself! She won't even let me pick out her outfit in the morning. Not only does she use the potty she closes the door and demands privacy!

So, what can I do? I can't force him to be independent. And I'm not wanting him to grow up faster. I just want to be done with diapers!!!

Great Review for Great Wolf

We give the Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells a 5 star review!
We had a fabulous vacation at Great Wolf with my parents and sister! The water park is a blast for kids and adults of all ages. There were water slides and zero-depth play areas for toddlers and little kids, and crazy rides for the adults. I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or the grown-ups.
We pushed the 700lb weight limit on the Tornado ride with my dad, Nick, Shalene and I weighing in at 699lbs. Shalene and I flew down the Raceway face-first on mats so fast that we lost our bottoms. The kids were having the time of their lives on the little water slides water toys. We were in the water from 9am-9pm for 4 straight days! And best of all, we were oblivious to the snow storms outside while we were in our swimsuits in the tropical resort for a long weekend.
I recommend Great Wolf to all families, especially with young kids. We loved it!

Merry Christmas 2010

Love Note

Oh my gosh we have the sweetest little boy!

I just sat down at the computer after dropping Ethan off at school. Sitting on my keyboard was a beautiful little note from Ethan. He left mom and dad a love note!!!

(i luf yoo Walton mom and dad)

Ethan is learning to write in school and he loves writing notes on everything. He leaves notes on his bedroom door, he writes about the pictures he draws and he has fun spelling to us so Cal and Teagan won't know what he's saying.

We love you too Ethan! You are so thoughtful.

Monstrous Weekend!!

Halloween 2010 was a Monster of a weekend!

We started off the weekend with a 10-mile race!!- the Monster Dash!
Nick, Shalene, Mike, Nora and I ran the 10-mile race all together in great time. Our time was 1 hour and 45 min (10-minutes per mile), which included a potty stop and a stretch break when we were greeted by our cheering kids and parents at the 6th mile. The weather was absolutely perfect and the course was fun.

The rest of the weekend was spent carving pumkins, decorating for our 6th annual Halloween Spooktacular, dressing up and eating way too much candy.

The kids had a blast trick-or-treating. I'd say it was the best year so far. Cal and Teagan were running from house to house and Cal was leading our pack of 9 kids. Ethan and Aidan, with Nick and Josh, continued on trick-or-treating for another hour after the rest of us. I'm not sure who was having more fun, the boys or the big boys.

Notice a Theme?

I take a ton of pictures. Yesterday I downloaded about 75 pictures from this month and noticed my "2010" folder was up to 690 pictures...and there are still two more photographic months left this year.
The pictures I've taken the past few months all have a persistent theme. You can't miss it, in ALL the pictures I have taken!

(teagan's 10th surgery last week)

(lunch at grandpa's hospital post surgery)

Twin Support

Teagan had a dry diaper and used the bathroom almost all day yesterday. Just before we left to pick up Ethan at school we had a potty break.
After Teagan was done going potty she ran out to the stroller where Cal was waiting. She hopped up into her seat and here is how the conversation went as I started strolling down the block:

Teagan: "Cal, I went pee-pee on the potty and got a jelly bean!"

Cal: "Good job Teagy!"

Teagan: "Cal, you're a good boy too"

Cal: "You're a girl"

Teagan: "You are a boy and your brother is a boy too"

Cal: "uh-hu"

They are just starting to have real conversations with each other and with Ethan, and it's SO adorable to listen to. They can be so sweet and supportive at times (emphasis on "at times").

Other times you get stuff like this:

Teagan: "Mom, Cal hit me!"

Mom: "Cal, we don't hit. Say sorry to Teagan and give her a hug."

Teagan: (still forcing a cry)

Cal: grunt, frown, head down; mumbles "sorry" very quietly

Teagan: in a teasing voice says, "Say it louder, Cal. I can't hear you."

Cal: walks away and has a minor melt down

Teagan: yells after Cal as she's walking away, "Cal, you need to use your words. We can't understand you!"

Mom: also has to walk away to hide the laughing

Kindergarten!

Ethan is a Kindergartener!!!
This is the 3rd week of school and I think we are just now getting used to our new routine. Ethan's in school full-day and I'm now working 3 days/week, so Cal and Teagan are adjusting to more daycare. Everyone stepped it up a notch this Fall.

Ethan was, of course, nervous and excited for his first day of school. There were tears (mostly mine), but it couldn't have gone better. Ethan is eager to get to school in the morning now and we have a very nice walk to and from school everyday. Even on the first day of school he just gave me a quick wave goodbye and ran into the classroom. I was the one lingering and wanting more hugs and kisses before I could bring myself to walk away! I definitely left in tears, but that just means we did a great job preparing him for school. I can't imagine how hard it will be when the kids go to college! Yikes, just thinking about that makes me tear up.

These first two pictures are of Ethan with his "Count Down to Kindergarten Chain." He made the chain at camp a few weeks before school and then he ripped one chain off every night before bed until the first day of school.

Here are a few pictures we took before his 1st day of Kindergarten. Smiles were hard to come by until he got on his scooter to ride to school.