It is black and white!

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What, Summer is over?

We have had such a fun summer together.  The girls have done really well listening at the pool and at parks which made life so much better for Aidan and I.  I feared we would be stuck at home in the fenced in backyard due to one little Ukrainian who likes to wander.  I worried that Aidan would have no fun at all.

Boy was I wrong.  They played hard all summer, enjoyed the grass between their toes and the water splashing in their faces, playing together and with friends.

The weather is getting cooler (thank you God!), the pools are closed during the day and the school supplies are bought.   I guess it is that time again for everyone to head back to school.

This was taken minutes after getting them dressed and ready to walk out the door for the day!

They are all anxious to get back to school next week.  Aidan starts Wednesday and the girls start Friday.  I can tell they are ready as the last few weeks they have all been grumpy and the girls are into mischief often.  I think they are bored with being at home and ready to see their friends (and Ms. Juanita!)

She was giggling at first!

I had hoped Dariya's potty training would hit high gear this summer and she would be going back to school sporting panties instead of pull ups but, she isn't quite there yet.  She has been in panties at home and has gone many days without an accident but has also had many days with numerous accidents.  So we will forge on and pray for drier days ahead.

I am still under the belief that kids will potty train when they are ready and there isn't any reason to push them any faster.  We want her to work her way through every developmental stage that she has missed living in an institution for 3 1/2 years.

Trust me she knows how the toilet works...she and her little sister, flushed 3 monster trucks in one day.  Good thing I have a "Jason of all trades" who stayed up past 11pm taking the toilet apart to retrieve Dariya and the monster trucks. (Please note: no preschoolers were harmed in the fixing of said toilet!)

Good luck teachers, watch out the Cannon chaos are coming your way soon!

Wordless Wednesday: Don't feed the gremlins!

Wordless Wednesday: I think someone has been watching too much Olympics!

Weekend getaway

This weekend my second cousin, Alyssa was married in Omaha.  We were going to make a weekend out of it and go up early Friday and take in their incredible zoo.  However, Dariya woke up with her hair all crusty and her ear looking like this...

Thankfully since last November when she received tubes she hasn't had any problems, but wow this is one bad infection.  So we opted to drive up for the wedding and turn around and come home the same day.

It was great to see family that we hadn't seen in a while and for them to meet Dariya, although they didn't really get a great idea of her sweet personality because she was tired, clingy and cranky.

But, I have to give all three of our kids kudos as they were all great travelers.  Alayna napped both on the way up and back. Dariya never napped (even with melatonin) but she did sit quietly and look out the window. And Aidan is just plain easy.

All three did fantastic during the ceremony which lasted about 70 minutes.

 The unity candle is one of my favorite parts of weddings.  Thankful that I snapped this one before Alayna crawled over me again and blurred the scene.

 Caught this handsome guy hanging out listening to some tunes in the lobby after the nuptials.

 Before we headed back home we met up in my parents hotel room to say goodbye and snap a few more pictures. 

A fun trip but, next time we visit Omaha we will take in the zoo and leave out the ear infections!

This means war...

Aidan thought he had a great idea to cool off his littlest sister.

 After all it has been unbearably hot here for weeks on end.

However, what he forgot was his littlest sister has a bigger sister and she LOVES nothing more than to play games with her big brother.  

One squirt of the water gun and IT.WAS.ON!

The girl's didn't opt for a small water pistol or even the super soaker.  

They went straight for the hose and tag teamed him.

It wasn't long until Aidan was on his knees begging for mercy and the laughter was out of control!

Oh these three, I love watching them enjoy life and each other!

Wordless Wednesday: Look Mom, no hands!