The Potty Princess

This is the typical scene at our house...

(yep there is a potty under there somewhere)

We started potty training Phoebe in October after visiting some friends in Indiana and getting some great advice (Thanks Sara!) about how to go about the whole process.  Let them be NAKED!  Hey, it worked for their 18 month old it should work for our 25 month old.  And it did!!!! After about a day and a half Phoebe had and hang of it and we really have not had any accidents - except a few overnight misses (but now she is waking up to go!)  I have convinced her that it is OK to wear clothes now but I can't seem to get her to take off the princess dress to use the potty.  Oh well, I guess even a princess has to go to the bathroom!

Long Overdue

Happy REALLY LATE Thanksgiving

Due to Ben's vacation schedule we were not able to take off during the week of Thanksgiving but we were able to schedule a short vacation the previous week. We drove down to Oklahoma to be with my family for a while and then headed to Kansas to see Ben's family.  We had a fantastic time but for some reason these are the only pictures taken with my camera the entire time

My 90 year old grandmother made the trip out to Oklahoma from Arizona ALONE.  I am pretty sure this will be her last solo trip but she gets around great so who knows.  It was great to see her and the rest of the family as well!

While in Indiana...

we had a date - a play date!

While in Goshen I was able to get together with three of my college girlfriends and their kids

Leah - recently moved back to the area with her husband and son

Rachel - was in town with her two girls from Florida

Sara - lives in town with her three girls

the four of us lived together in a house during college with eight other fantastic women!

To say it was difficult to take a picture of 8 kids and get them to all look at the camera at the same time would be a slight understatement  - here is the best one.

The three oldest girls had a blast playing dress up!

Lunch time really is the best time!

Sara has a great play ground in the back yard which of course all the kids LOVED and now Audra and Phoebe are begging for one.

Baby Samantha is the newest member of the Chupp family and she is the cutest three week old

While we don't have the opportunity to get together as often as we would like we have a great time when we are able to be in town at the same time.  I am really looking forward future play dates and I hope that next time even more of the Shoup Ladies can join us!

While in Indiana...

we played in the leaves...

So my sister and her husband are finally in their new house which made this visit a particularly exciting one.  One of the best things about their new house is the green space - well really the trees. On their property they have 40, 40+ foot tall trees!  So while we were there we helped them rake up a TON of leaves.

Audra L O V E D playing in the leaves! Once a big enough pile was made she took a running leap and had herself a fantastic time!

Phoebe was another story...

She would not jump in and when I offered to jump in with her she would not have it so...

I just stuck her in the pile and let her figure it out from there

At first she just stood here but then...

In the end our leaf raking earned us all "allergy issues" but the fun was SO worth it!

While in Indiana...

we went to the park...

27 and still a kid at heart!

I loved that Phoebe found a Jayhawk to ride on - seriously a Jayhawk in IN - what are the odds?

Even Anna got in on the action!

It was super cute to see how excited Phoebe and Audra were that Anna could play on the ride with them!

The Halloween Program

Audra's preschool class had a Halloween program earlier this week.  The whole class dressed up in their costumes and performed five different songs for all of the parents.  While I will spare you and not post the video here are a few pictures from the day...

The Gang

Just the girls

No stage fright - way to go Audra!

While in Indiana...

we made a trip to Goshen College

It was great to make a short visit to the "old stomping grounds" and explain to the girls that Ben and I met there.  Although Audra did not understand she at least had the kindness to say "Wow, mom that is a neat story".

trip to Indiana

A few weeks ago the girls and I traveled to  Indiana to visit my sister Rachel, her husband Tim, and their little girl Anna.

We had such a great week and are already looking forward to going back in the spring!

The Arch

A few weeks ago when Ben was on vacation we spent a little time as a family exploring the STL downtown.  One of our favorite activities was the arch, the girls and I had been there before but this was Ben's first visit since our move. 

Ben and Audra took the tram to the top of the arch. Phoebe and I choose not to go which had everything to do with Phoebe's fear of elevators and nothing to do with my fear of heights - I swear!

Audra really enjoyed going to the top. She was very brave in the tram and loved seeing STL from "high, high, high in the sky".

Ben was able to get some really great pictures of the arch and the view

Perhaps next year I will join them... maybe

Papa's visit to Casa Yoder

Last weekend my Dad stopped by on his way to visit my sister in Indiana.  It was great that he was able to visit us and break up his trip.  The girls loved seeing him, even if it was just for a short while! I snapped a few pictures with his camera but this was the only one I was able to capture with my camera.

Thanks for being such a FANTASTIC and involved grandpa!

When we moved to St. Louis we promised to buy a bike for Audra (who had been asking for one for months).  It took her some time to gain confidence but now that she feels comfortable she loves riding her bike around the neighborhood.

Such a big girl...

Oh yeah, I got this =)

Phoebe has her own little three wheeler but can't really peddle it with any speed yet so the poor girl has to ride in the stroller for our neighborhood adventures.  Perhaps next year she will be racing Audra down the block!

Present Time

Here at the Yoder house we are slightly obsessed with Princesses so you can just imagine the delight when the girls Phoebe started opening her presents to discover all manner of Princess paraphernalia!

Princess Ariel doll and Little Mermaid Movie.

I think we have already enjoyed the movie about 10 times and I am pretty sure Ariel has not been out of a little girl's hands longer than the time it takes to eat a short meal

My parents gave Phoebe some great dress up clothes which of course they HAD to put on right away.  What fantastic little princesses!

Being thoughtful grandparents they also brought a gift for Audra. She loved her Princess puzzle and enjoyed the fact that it was just her size!