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.

I need your help!

Ok, so everyone needs to go over to losingmyneedles.blogspot.com and vote for your favorite quilt top design. Then tell your friends to go and vote as well. It is your civic duty.

picassa

So yesterday we were experimenting with Picassa effects. Here are some of the results. What do you think? Should I keep my day job? Can you guess which one was Nate's favorite?

Fun in the Snow

So on Monday we got a little bit of snow out here. It snowed all morning, and we got about an inch. We tried on Nate's snow gear from last year, and sure enough, it still fits. The boots may be a little tight, but they'll do for the amount that he'll use them. He went out while it was still snowing, but didn't like the flakes landing on his nose, so we decided to wait until it stopped snowing to go and play. Both of the boys really enjoyed the snow, which goes to show, that maybe an inch is just the right amount for a toddler and preschooler. I guess Nate would have had fun with more, but Graham probably would not care.

Graham did better than I anticipated in the snow. His snow suit was so puffy and the boots so awkward, I didn't think he'd be able to walk at all, but he tired, and did ok at times, but decided that sometimes it was easier to crawl. Everyone had fun for a while, but eventually Graham just got mad at the whole, not being able to move thing, so we went inside. So it was a fun afternoon. I guess it's only the end of January, and we have February and March still ahead of us, so we could get some more snow. Until then, this will have to hold us over.

Fun with a Ribbon

So the other day Nate found this little green ribbon hanging around the house. He has been playing with it a lot lately. The first thing that he did was to hook it into the top of his shirt and say "yook mommy, I'm ready to go to church." (because it was a tie.)Then today he draped it over his head and said, "yook mommy, I'm a girl." I asked him why he was a girl, if it was because he had long hair, and he said no, so I asked him if it was because he had a ribbon in his hair, and he said yes. So even though we don't have any girls around here to put ribbons in their hair, he still knows about that some how.

In other news it is snowing out there today. This could be the most snow that we have had all winter so far. There is about a quarter inch on the deck. Quarter inch is actually quite a liberal assessment. But it's still coming down, so we'll see how it turns out. The driveway and sidewalks are completely covered, and the road has snow on it. This year I didn't get the kids new snow stuff. I mean, we have old stuff that fits Graham, but we are using a hand me down jacket this year, so I never went out and got some snow pants for Nate, and we never got boots either. I guess now is the time to start looking for those things for next year. The problem is that I had a tiny baby last year at this time, so I never got a chance to go out and check out the sales. So I guess if we have enough snow then I can see if last years stuff still fits him. He's pretty small, and it would not be the first time in the last week that he had worn a 2T.

So there is our fun situation today. Snow snow snow, but we have a ribbon to keep us occupied.