Ben's New Room

Day One of Potty Training--A Success

Ben got his very own big boy bed yesterday. Why? Because we told him that when he went potty in the potty five times, that we would get him a big boy bed. I think E and I both believed it would be a couple of days before that happened. Well, two hours later I was scrambling to find a mattress to buy, and Ben was having way too much fun peeing in the pot. I'd say overall he peed in the pot 12-15 times yesterday.

He slept overnight in his bed with no diaper, just his Thomas the Train underwear. He had a small accident about 6am, but that was expected. Cold turkey is our plan, so we'll see how it goes.

We're still waiting on #2. Wish us luck.

Also, Ben and Maya have a new photo album. I thought you had to sign up for an account, but I have created a guest pass, so I think we're good to go. I'm going to be moving all the photos to Flickr, so you will soon be able to view all 200K (kidding, slightly) pictures of Ben and Maya on Flickr

Ben Jumping in Pool

Thank you Noni for a great week.

Ben went from very timid about the water to absolutely fearless (as you will see).

A Rare Sports Moment for Ben

Ben is WAY more into trucks and diggers right now, but every few days, he wants to play baseball. This video is one of those times.

Pulling Up (Captured on My Phone)

Both of these kids have faucets for noses. Maya was up a good part of the night, so if you think she looks rough, she does. You ought to see me.

I Took This on My Phone

Rats, Snakes, and Dinosaurs

Cautious--yes, but afraid to pet rats, snakes, roaches, or dinosaurs, he ain't. I cannot say that about everyone. E wouldn't even look at the roach. Mamaw wouldn't touch the rat, but Papaw actually petted the rat and snake both (against his better judgement). Maya just took it all in like a champ.

We Miss You!

 

We miss you Mamaw and Papaw! Thanks for coming to play. When can you come back?

Happy Valentine's Day

 

 

Hugs and Kisses from the Swaggerty's

Happy Birthday to Me!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday to Me

A SNOW DAY!!!!

 

 

 

 

Maya's first snow and Ben's second. Check back for a video later.

Ben Got My Bed Head

 

 

The color of his hair is different from mine, but he sure got the bed head from me. Poor kid.

Cookie Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, it's cookie time! The new mixer is getting tons of use and everyone sweet tooth's are happy. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy Birthday Noni

Oops Wrong Blog, but Holiday Savings BEGIN at SBT

I have to admit that I didn't like putting up the holiday decorations at Sandbox Threads before Thanksgiving. I really like our holiday logo, but I believe we should get through one holiday before we move on to the next. Tomorrow, though, I'm in charge of smoking two turkeys and a ham, plus there are several basketball and football games I want to watch, so I bit the bullet and decorated early.

As an extra bonus, our Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales has already begun with free shipping on all orders, but free shipping is only the beginning. Next week we are having a Cyber-Week sale with a different offer every day. Our Cyber-Week sale is only offered to those folks signed up to receive our newsletter, so if you don't already get it, be sure to sign up. You can do so from any page on Sandbox Threads including this one.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm A Working Man

Ben continues to surprise us with the things that he knows. Yesterday, I looked down to see him "fixing" his tractor. As you can see, he really was trying to fix his tractor.

A Long Line of Cars

Without help or prodding, Ben lined up his car. Please notice that the line starts at the exit of the hospital garage.

Finally....

...I've been waiting on this video to load for days. Enjoy!

Aunt Jooley has Been Waiting for this Moment

Here you go!

After finally talking Ben into his lion outfit we managed to get him to sit down for a quick photo. BTW, Maya's skeleton onesie glows in the dark. So Ben did not want to go trick-or-treating at first. As he left the front steps of the first house after getting his candy, he was a bit weepy and whiny. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me that he wanted to stay and play with the doggies (there were two dogs inside the house). Eventually, though, he got the hang of it: Grab the candy bag, walk to the door, ring the "ding dong" and get candy. Yeah! We (Elizabeth and Ben) wound up walking around the neighborhood for about an hour and a half. Ben was equally excited about the commotion of "scary people" and the candy. I think he will REALLY look forward to next year. I'm hoping he won't be as shy, though. Even though we practiced roaring (he was really good at this at home), he would not do it for anyone when trick-or-treating. There were a few times that he whispered a roar or let out a decent roar as we left a driveway, but for the most part he was a bit of a cowardly lion.

I'm a lion ... RRRAAAAHHHHRRRR!

Andy and I laughed all night every time we saw Ben from behind. We couldn't get over how much he resembled a rock star from an 80's hair band.

Ben meets another of his kind. The other lion is a little over a year old.

By this time of the night, Ben is really getting the hang of things. I think it is around 8:30 p.m. by now and he is enjoying his second sucker.

Daddy and Maya greet the trick-or-treaters.