And Then There Were Four

A picture says a thousand words, but I'll just add a few more. After all, I'm starting to feel half alive again finally. Some of you may have noticed my lengtly blogging slumps over the past four or five months. Beside cold after cold after cold that our family battled in the first few months of 09, there was our confernce (we had 10 guests stay with us for the weekend), more colds after conference, then spring hit with a vengence - being a lot warmer than usual and bringing the alergy plagues with it. On top of all that, there's been the general spring/summer busyness that seems to just whirl us into non-stopness for weeks on end. And through it all I was exhausted with no time to be tired. Definitely not a feeling I'd wish on anyone else!

Today we're celebrating PC's 3rd birthday, and the kids all got new t-shirts to wear for the day. I expect they'll cause quite the stir - but we thought we'd do something different this time. Anyway, I'll let the pictures do most of the rest of the talking since I have a few phone calls to make before the party.

Dolly's shirt


PC's Shirt


Excited Kids


Here's the reason why


Emma's shirt - the give-away.


A little better look

So, July 9th is officially the first day of our sixth month, and now that the news is out... I can dig out some more comfortable clothes! And wait until November 8th-ish. 'Cause we're gonna have another baby!

Checklist

PC is turning 3 on Tuesday. We're having his birthday party on Saturday. So, for my own organization this will be a check list for what I have left to do. I might take pictures later, but right now, there are priorities. :)

Bake cakes
Make jell-o
Wash dishes
Unload and load dishwasher
Find tape
Wrap presents
Assemble cake
Make and color icing
Ice cake
Make taco filling
Chop vegetables
Grate cheese
Get matching shirts ready for kids
Take garbage out
Feed birds
Take a shower
Clean bathroom
Make guacamole
Make iced tea
Sort through last clothing container
Wash Dishes (again)
Figure out how to get everything to the park or if we won't be going to the park(right now our car is dead)

There may be more, and I'll add it if I think of it, but right now it's almost 11 and I need to make sure the cakes are baked tonight.

Copy Cat

NaomiG did a Father's Day interview with her girls and just for fun I thought I'd see if my munchkins would hold still long enough to think about the questions if I asked them. Overall, they did pretty good and I did get a few cute responses. So, I'm copying Naomi and posting my kids' answers to her interview.... or at least most of the questions she asked.

What makes Daddy happy?

PC: The Word Je-uh. (the Lord Jesus)
Dolly: Being good. Taking him camping.

What makes Daddy laugh?

PC: A game!
Dolly: Like play with him.

How does Daddy make you laugh?

Dolly: By tickling me.
PC: Ohm, Daddy can be wike a giraffe.

How tall is Daddy?

Dolly: He's this tall (she indicates by tossing a dress into the air)
PC: He's dat tall (he indicates by tossing his stuffed pony into the air)

What is Daddy really good at?

Dolly: Games!
PC: My bir-day train.

What do you think Daddy did when he was a kid?

Dolly: Um, like not obeying his mom?
PC: Maybe he get in the garbage.

What is Daddy not very good at?

Dolly: Running.
PC: A game!

What does Daddy do for his job?

Dolly: He works. ..with the computer. Pays us money.
PC: He get money at work.

What is Daddy's favorite food?

Dolly: Lamb meat.
PC: Tea!

If Daddy was an animal, what kind of animal would he be?

Dolly: A giraffe because he's big like a giraffe.
PC: A Wion!

What do you and Daddy do together?

Dolly: I come with Daddy when he goes shopping.
PC: Play.

How are you and Daddy the same?

Dolly: We're not!
PC: I don't know.

How are you and Daddy different?

Dolly: Well, I'm a girl and he's a boy (then in a softer voice she added)I think that's what's wrong with me. (I know she forgot the word 'different' as she answered this question, but I had to include her whole explanation.
PC: I don't know

Where is Daddy's favorite place to go?

Dolly: Work?
PC: At work.

What does Daddy like most about Mommy?

Dolly: Your hair long?
PC: Being nice.

The End.

Happy Father's Day Sir, You're a great dad to our kids... even if they do think your favorite place to be is at work! ;)

The Plaster Man

Anticipation

Our house is literally abuzz with excitement. See, months ago, we decided to take our little ones to the capital city of BC. We told them about this possible outing and told them it wouldn't be until almost summer - when the leaves on the walnut tree were big and thick. Well, sure enough, the leaves started to bud and our little people checked out the window every single day to see if it was yet time to go to "Big-toria". Then earlier this week we told our little people that if the weather was good - if it was sunshiny, we'd go this weekend. I've never seen then pray so earnestly about something before. And so far, it looks like it will be beautiful tomorrow!

Anyway, the place we wanted to take them in Victoria, closed about 5 years ago, just months after we'd been there. This means we can't visit the Crystal Gardens this time, but the kids are looking forward to the ferry ride, and riding the bus. They would love to ride on a double-decker bus like the one we told them we'd gone on when we last visited the city, but they'll be happy with any kind of bus since they've never been on one.

So, the plan is to get up, get dressed and head for the ferry grabbing some breakfast on the way to eat on the ship. Once we get to the island, we'll take the bus to the city and then we'll play it by ear. There's a Harbor Ferry that the kids might like, possibly a bug zoo if it doesn't look too boring, and maybe, perhaps, it might be possible that a horse-drawn carriage ride might be in our price range. I know the kids would love that, but all I could find online was either outrageous prices or tours that were longer than my kids' attention spans. We'll grab some lunch at a stand somewhere, splash in the Parliament building water fountain a little and just see what looks like the kids would find interesting.

Now to go pack up the backpack and diaperbag.

Too Good to be True? or Just Long Overdue?

My Second Potty Training Saga
Week 1... so far.

On Monday PC begged me to let him wear underwear instead of a diaper. I figured I could handle some extra laundry and put him in training underwear. There were no accidents and when nap time rolled around I put him in a diaper much to PC's disappointment. Then I forgot about it until after supper when he insisted he 'needed to go potty'. Of course his diaper was a bit wet from an earlier time, but he went anyway and since we were on our way out the door for a Bible reading with Chasm and HisLady, I just put PC back in a diaper and put him in pajamas.

Then Tuesday morning, PC begged me to let him wear underwear again. The day before had gone well enough, so I thought, "why not? after all, he is almost 3. I can't put it off forever." So he wore underwear. When it came time for naps, PC earnestly begged me not to put him in a diaper, and I figured he probably could go a couple hours asleep without any accidents at the rate he'd been at. And he did, but I forgot to remind him to go to the bathroom while I was busy getting supper on, he had an accident later that evening. He was very upset about it and I let him wear underwear again until bedtime.

Wednesday I had to do laundry which means I'm usually distracted being upstairs or downstairs and the kids get away with a lot more mischief when I'm not close enough to hear them or see what they're getting into. But I gave in to my little man and let him wear underwear a third day. After all, I was doing laundry, so a little extra would hardly be noticed. Sure enough, he had an accident before nap time came and realizing I couldn't keep up on the potty training at the same time as the laundry, I put PC back in a diaper. He was terribly disappointed and begged me again and again to let him wear underwear, but I was a mean mom and denied his pleas. Until after supper. Then I let him wear underwear again. We were going to the prayer/reading meeting that night and I figured it wouldn't hurt to get him used to wearing underwear at meeting and I wouldn't be distracted trying to juggle laundry and life. PC was delighted and there were no accidents the rest of that day.

Thursday there were no accidents and he didn't have a diaper during his nap. The milestone was establishing the going potty routine order. He eagerly waits my next prompt, "Ok, now what do you do?" "B-ush the Potty!!!" he exclaims as he does so complete with slamming the lid closed. "Great, now what comes next?" "I wash my hands!!!" as he pulls out the step stool and positions the ducky hand soap for easy access. Then he started dreaming up what kind of 'big boy' underwear he wants when he's trained enough to get something other than the training hand-me-downs. "Car underwear? No! Train underwear!, no, maybe a tow truck?! No, maybe just car underwear!?" either way it's very clear that he would like some kind of wheeled object on his very own 'big boy' underwear. I think I'll take him shopping with me when the time comes.

Today (Friday) there were no accidents. He even started going all by himself - insisting I not come in to help him. Then proudly coming out to tell me how he wiped himself and b-ushed the potty, and washed his hands with ducky soap and how he even pulled his underwear and pants up all by himself. I just love his shy/proud little grin/smile when I exclaim over his latest achievement. And tonight... well, I'm taking a chance and I let him wear his underwear to bed. We'll see how that went when I get up in the morning.

I'm so excited about how easy he's been. I'd been putting off for so many reasons. Occasionally I'd let him wear underwear for a day, but he'd always have an accident, or just never think he should actually tell me when he needed to go since I was sending him to the bathroom on the hour to avoid accidents. I think this latest change may have come from a conversation we had about his cousin DR (I think I'd read that as 'doctor' - after all, he's Doc and Bashful's third munchkin). DR is two months younger than PC, and started being potty trained back in March. I stressed how much DR. was a 'big boy' because he didn't need diapers anymore and I think PC finally caught on and didn't want to be left in the dust.

Maybe this is all too good to be true and tomorrow will be the beginning of the accidents that last for weeks. Or perhaps PC was just finally ready and I was finally up to the challenge at the same time. I guess time will tell.

I love those laughing eyes.