A trip to DC

My brother Chris came into town last weekend. He had Elijah with him, so he wanted to do something fun with him. We all decided to go down to DC for the day. I was very brave, and for the first time I took Nate and Graham and all of our stuff that we would need for the day out, all by myself on the Metro to meet them down in DC. We actually happened to be on the same train getting to DC, so that was convenient. Anyway, we made it down there, braving the wind and chilly temps. The first place that we went was to the newly reopened American History Museum. Since this was a trip about what a 7 year old boy would like, we skipped the first lady exhibit, and moved right on to the transportation exhibit. Although, he probably would have liked to have seen a sports exhibit, I don't think they had one. We spent a little more time in the hands on place, and then had an early lunch. After that we headed over to the Natural history museum and saw the mammals, dinosaurs, underwater and gems. After that we went over to the Air and Space Museum, which is always a hit, and at that point we were all beat. As it turns out we can't really take Nate anywhere anymore, because he will always throw a fit when we leave saying that he doesn't want to go home. I guess home is awful for him.

We made it back home without too much trouble. Graham was pretty tired, having less than an hour nap all day, so he cried pretty much the whole Metro ride home, and wanted to be able to run around the train. Surprisingly, he did not fall asleep on the way home, but Nate did once we got into the car. So it was a fun day for us. I guess we'll take Nate back one day.

In front of the big train.

They had these statues of people all over the place, and Nate was fascinated with them. He would walk up to them, and stand right next to them while looking at the car or whatever was there.

Riding on the fake Metro car in the Museum.

99th post Pay it Forward

Ok, so usually the give away is the 100th post, but this one is a little different. It's a pay it forward giveaway.
Here are the rules:
1) The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a homemade gift from me sometime in the next month!
2) When and what you receive will be a surprise!
3) Then you have to post this “Pay it Forward” challenge on your blog, then come back and leave a 2nd comment telling me you’ve done it.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
What I create will be just for you.
You have no clue what it’s going to be.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog. The first 3 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!
Just a little tidbit of fun for those who love to WIN ANYTHING/better the world through kindness!! Good luck!! Happy commenting!

Valentine's Day in Baltimore

This year we decided that it would be fun to take the kids into Baltimore for the day on Valentine's Day. It had been a long time since we had been to the aquarium, and Nate had never been, so we decided to go there. We ended up getting early morning tickets, so we got up and drove down to the city. This turned out to be one of the mistakes that we made, more to come on that later.

We got down there and parked with no problems, which is great since neither of us is that familiar with driving into Baltimore. Nate and Graham loved seeing all of the fish. Nate also loved all of the moving walkways that we got to go on. It was a little bit crowded, but not too bad, we didn't have too much trouble seeing the exhibits.

After a few hours in the Aquarium, we decided to go to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Yum.

On the drive into the city, Nate saw a light rail train at one point, and from that point on, the entire time he just asked to ride on the train. We had debated before we left on if we should take light rail in, or drive in. We ended up driving in, because I was worried that it would rain, and I didn't want to be walking to the light rail in the rain. So driving in was a mistake because Nate really wanted to take the train. So we figured that tickets to light rail were not expensive, and we didn't have anything that we needed to do, or anywhere we needed to be, so why not ride the train for a bit. So we rode the train from the Inner Harbor to Penn Station, and back. Right through some scary parts of town. But that satisfied Nate.

When we got back to the Inner Harbor, Graham had fallen asleep, so Jesse took Nate on the USS Constellation, and the USS Torsk. (A big Civil War ship, and a submarine.)

After that, Nate said he wanted to see the fishies again, so we went back into the Aquarium. There were a few exhibits that we had missed, so we went to check those out, including the Dolphin tank. Nate wanted to sit and watch the Dolphins all day. But at that point it was almost 5, we had been gone all day, and we were all tired. As it turns out, we had passed the safe exit point. When we decided to leave, Nate was so worn out that he threw a tantrum. So we had to walk out of the Aquarium, and to our car with a screaming kicking child who kept on telling us he did not want to go home. I think that he was asleep before we left the city.

So there was our very full, but fun day yesterday. It was nice to just be able to do what we wanted when we wanted, and not have to sit around with a large group of people deciding what to do next. Plus, I love the Inner Harbor, so bonus, and, it is where Jesse and I had our first date of sorts, so there is always that. (And right now, Nate is asking to go back to the Aquarium, and to ride the train.)

Happy Valentine's Day

How about we have a post that doesn't involve the potty?

Ok, but that's difficult because I have so much that I could share about our complications this week.

Really, you don't want to hear about that?

Are you sure?

Ok, Well, what else is there?

Today, for the first time, I broke out the cake decorating things that my mom got me for Christmas. I wasn't using decorator icing, just frosting from a tub, so the results were a little sloppy, but I think it turned out ok. Can you tell which parts Nate helped with? Nate didn't used to like frosting, but now he does. So now I have the problem of having fingers stuck into the cake. It's ok, I learned a few tricks from my mom- like piping a little frosting onto his finger to keep him from licking the cake.

It is a bit of a hodge podge of things, but that's because I was just trying things out, having fun. This is just a cake for the family, mostly because I wanted to make a cake to try out my new decorating things.

In other news, we had the return of playgroup. Ever since everyone entered preschool, we have not been having playgroups so often, but as it usually happens, we all started to miss each other too much, and so we started up again. We had a Valentine's party this week. The kids are really kind of small to do the full exchange, so some of them helped to make the Valentines, or to write names, and then the mommies put them into the different bags. Last year for the Valentine party I quilted valentines. Not this year. This year we put some hugs and kisses in bags and threw in some store bought Transformers Valentines.

(last year's valentines.)

So really, the kids just ran around and played, and enjoyed seeing each other for the first time in 4 months. And the moms just chatted as usual. The most excitement of the whole afternoon though, was the recycling truck coming, and watching it around the side of the house, and then on the road at the bottom of the back yard. Good times.

So we may take the kids down to Baltimore tomorrow, but it all depends on the weather, and Nate. He's been sick this week, so we need to make sure he's better. Those are our fun Valentine's plans. I hope that Valentine's Day is all you hope and dream it will be.

The potty

So be ye warned by the title.
But Nate pooped in the potty today. Many times. (it took a while to convince him to get it all out.) I didn't think that this day would ever come, but low and behold, here we are. He's really good at peeing in the potty, and under normal circumstances doesn't have accidents any more. (Unless of course he just got his fingers pinched in the door in the lobby of the church after holding it all day. Fun times.)
But yeah, he is doing such a great job. And sure enough, once he got it, he got it fast. It just has taken us a while to get to the ah-ha moment. Next ah-ha moment- move on to the real potty. We have even been able to go out places since he is really good at holding it now. He really understands the whole, you don't go in your pants thing. (He is approaching 15 years old though, so you'd think he'd get it.) Next, I think that I can leave him at the play place at the grocery store.
So that's it. I think that this time around it is going to take. We are well on our way to having a potty trained child. When I'm done with Nate, I'm going to start on Graham.... :)

Our Week

Well, here's a quick update on our week. Last week we started what will hopefully be our final push for potty training. Many people have asked me what method I am using, and have I read any books or anything. The answer is that I am not using any particular method, or reading a book. The problem with that is that all of them have this set of rules that you need to look for to see if your child is ready. I already know, my child is not showing any of those signs. So if anyone knows of the book "Potty training your child who shows no signs of readiness" Well, I'd read that one.
We are having varying degrees of success. We just got rid of diapers for awake periods. He doesn't have accidents all day long any more like he did the last times we have tried. He knows not to go without a diaper. One day he even ran into the other room and went on his potty. He had his pants on, but all the same, right place at the right time. That seems to be a one time thing. Mostly he waits until nap time to go. Next week though we get rid of the nap. As much as I love that time, and need it some days, it is not working to our advantage. SO we'll see how that goes. I am determined to see this through until the end, or the end of February, whichever comes first.
Because of that, we stay home all day. Everyday. I sometimes get out in the evening to go grocery shopping, or quilting. That saves my sanity. This week we had snow and ice. First snow, and then that night came the ice. Nate got to play in the snow on Tuesday, and then when he went out on Wednesday he discovered this new world of ice. It was very fun. I mean, what could a 3 year old boy like more than picking up a peice of snowy ice and throwing it at something to watch it smash into a million pieces. He thought it was so funny that he slipped all over the place. So that has really been it. On Saturday night we had a birthday party of my mom. We invited a bunch of her friends over to her house and got our party on. It was a nice evening. We got a babysitter for the night, and I think that I can say, that I found a babysitter in the area that I like. I'll still use family first whenever I can, but at least I know who to call when I need a back up. What I'll say is that when Graham spilled chocolate milk all over the floor she had her dad bring her some carpet cleaner and rags and had it cleaned up by the time I got home.
So this week brings more staying at home, working on this potty stuff. A lot less guilt on my part, too. Last week I was supposed to be working a lot more on my lesson for Relief Society today, but instead found lots of other things to do. This week I need to read the book for book club. We are reading A Lantern in Her Hand, and I'm reviewing it, so I need to think of good discussion topics. Plus, I'll be free to start working on Nate's quilt again. Sisto's was having a sale this weekend, so I got the border fabric. On that note, I have not yet decided for sure which design I'm going to do, so check out my losingmyneedles blog to vote if you have not already. So there you have it. Kind of a boring update on my life.