Craziness in the McDonald Family Life

So it's been quite awhile since I updated. Where to begin...kids?... well James is doing well in Kindergarten. He is reading now! It's hard to imagine my little guy so grown up. We have run into some problems with him containing all his energy, but thanks to creative teachers he is still doing well.

Michael is my very busy boy, into everything, and constantly running. He loves his Thomas the Tank Engines and has now horded all of them & their tracks/accessories up to his room. We are still having a few issues with his speech, but are diligently doing speech therapy 2 times a week. In addition we are still having some potty training issues... doesn't want to do #2 in the toilet. Any suggestions? We've tried bribing him with new trains, and that isn't even a big enough motivation to try.

Evelyn is also a little behind on the toilet training, but a much more willing participant in the process with random successes that end in great praise and barbie dolls. Our little "princess" has become very adamant that she is into all things girly... changing her princess dress 2-3 times a day, playing with dolls, barbies, and ponies, but most often roll playing in dressup clothes. Her constant talking & illustrating her imaginations has resulted in a rapid increase in her speech and although we are continuing with therapy she is now at an age appropriate level.

Stephen has transformed from a baby to a toddler practically over night. He is now running around, climbing on chairs, drinking from a regular cup, and interacting with the people around him. He loves to be chased and tickled. He also is good at saying Dada, Momma, No, Uh-O, Ames (James), Byebye, Eveee (Evy), Myyy (Mikey), and a string of unintelligible words as well. He has gotten over the fear of Mommy leaving, but still cries when his Aunt Terri walks away.

Now onto Jake and I. Well, I went into planning mode for Halloween, putting on both the PTA school Harvest Party, and our Ward's Trunk or Treat. Then it was onto the Christmas Party for our Ward, which ended up being a combined ward party themed First Night in Bethlehem. It was a tremendous success, but a lot of time and effort went into the production. Once we were past that we commenced building Fort McDonald in our back yard for the kid's Christmas present. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa Stephens came for a Christmas visit and helped us make Fort McDonald a reality.

Once the chaos of the Holidays in general ended I took a short break and just planned the twins & Jake's birthday party. They enjoyed their 4 year party at the Fayetteville Children's Museum.

After the birthdays Jake took off for Fort Meade, MD to do his Phase 2 BNCOC which is his E-6 military training for 3 weeks. While he was there I started planning our ward's Hoe Down and Chili cook off for March 7th - I'll let you know how it goes. I left the children with our sitter and went up to Maryland for Jake's graduation. We spent Valentines weekend on our own at the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, and Washington DC.

It was so nice to visit our Nation's capital, national monuments, and the Smithsonian without little ones in tow. I love our children, but this was our first weekend away from them and it was a nice break.

So that pretty much sums up our family's activities since August. Future events include Jake going to Drill Seargent's Training for 2 months and then our family moving to Fort Benning - Columbus, GA at the end of September. It will be our next great challenge and adventure. Currently the plans include 2 years of Jake being a Drill Seargent and then we'll return to Fort Bragg and our Fayetteville Home.

So keep our family in your prayers and we'll do the same for you. Best Wishes, Elizabeth