eliminating wee-wee pads

Question
I have two female sheltie littermates. They are almost 6 months old. They came home when they were 10 weeks old.  They slept in the same crate with access to an attached pen area that held two wee-wee pads, water, and whatever dry food that was not consumed.  I opted for this method because of our work schedules not allowing bathroom breaks every two hours. Now that they are older, I want to eliminate using wee-wee pads and am getting negative feedback. I have heard that my dogs are now committed to using them for life.
I have decided to attempt to housebreak the girls and want to get some insight to assist in the transition.  I do not want the mess of pads forever.
This is my new approach:
This is day 4.
The pads are now completely gone. The crate door is closed for the night withour access to leftover food or water. They have whimpered around 3-4 A.M. I have brought them outside and often  one dog will always "go" quicker than the other. Sometimes, the stubborn one won't go at all.  When that happens, they go back into the crate and they go out again at around 6 A.M.
They get fed at 7 A.M. and I take them out about 20 minutes later.  One will always go and the other may not.  I had them in a small area trying to keep an eye on them for any sign of relieving themselves and of course , the moment I wasn't watching,one of them relieved herself.  Lucky for them, I can't tell who positively did it so I just clean up the mess.
My daughter tries to get them to go out again at around noon.
The process gets repeated in the evening at 7 P.M.  If I am not watching them, I do see accidents where the pads were placed and sometimes in other various spots.
I realize that they are confused because I started them with the wee-wee pads.  I would appreciate any ideas to moving them to an outdoor potty.

Answer
Hi Gina.  Yes, dogs started on pee pads have a hard time adjusting to the fact that they now are supposed to only eliminate outside.

First, they need to be crated separately.  Don't allow them access to areas where the pads were previously placed.  Move the crates to a new location in the house if necessary.  

Take them out one at a time to potty.  Take the one that goes quicker first.  Return her to her crate or another puppy safe location in the house.  Then take sister #2 out to do her business.  If she goes, let sister #1 out and allow them some play time in the yard.  If she doesn't go, return her to her crate and try again in 15 minutes.

You must go outside with them one at a time or else potty time will become play time and it's easy to lose track of who's done what.  

If they have both gone potty before bedtime (and you have witnessed it), they should be sleeping through the night by this age.  Ignore whining at 3 AM.  

There's nothing easy about having littermates.  The only plus is that they can entertain each other and tire each other out.  They are double the work and effort, but with some consistency on everyone's part, you should be able to get them both housetrained and no longer using the pads.

Let me know if you have questions or need clarification on anything I suggested.  Good luck!