What's the weather?

Now that my trip to Florida is right around the corner (less than 3 days to go!), I figure I should start packing. But I'm faced with the question of WHAT to pack. I have no idea what's going on with the weather here in Connecticut, let alone Florida. I haven't a clue what to expect, weather-wise.

Time to Google!!

I found the following forecast:
Thursday...Partly sunny with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 80s.

Thursday Night...Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s over the inland areas to the mid 70s near the coast.

Friday...Partly sunny with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 80s.

Friday Night...Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 70s.

Saturday...Partly sunny with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s.

Saturday Night...Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 70s.

Sunday...Partly sunny with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 80s.

Sunday Night And Monday...Partly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 70s. Highs in the upper 80s.

Guess I'd best plan on showers, huh?? As long as there isn't a hurricane ready to zoom in on the Fort Lauderdale area, I'm all good. I can handle some rain. Instead of hanging out on the beach or at the pool reading, I'll hang out in the hotel room and read. No biggie.

Blog readability

My friend Bec over at Musings of a Mum of 4 posted about this site earlier today. She challenged her readers to check out the reading level of their own blogs.

So I clicked on the picture and did so.

The results are in:

TV Reviews

Guess I must use bigger words than you, Bec....

Eight is enough

I don't have much time to post. I've got hungry children waiting to be fed. Well, they're not really waiting to be fed yet, but there are four girls who awoke this morning before 6am and are now playing downstairs in the living room. So I'm sure they'd like for me to prepare breakfast as soon as possible. But noone has asked yet. Yet.

AND there are another two more girls sleeping downstairs in the basement. Not for long. I've asked one of the awake girls to go down and awaken the other two.

And we're not even talking about my youngest two, who are still safely in their own beds as I type.

So if this were to be one of those complicated word problems from algebra class, you'd add four, carry the two, subtract the other two, multiply it by infinity, and find that we've got a house full of EIGHT kids.

But don't any of you despair that Gordon and I went off and gave birth to four more kids overnight! We're simply playing hosts to four of Amy's five girls. They've been staying with us since Thursday while Amy, Sam, and their eldest are at the Big E doing official 4H stuff.

I don't rightly know what exactly that official stuff is. Actually that's not entirely true. I DO know that Sam got roped into chaperoning the boys' dormitory at the Big E.

I'll take having eight kids in my house over chaperoning an entire boys' dormitory any day!

Last day of nice weather, the cold is coming!

Today is supposed to be a gorgeous day. Good thing, too. According to Dr. Mel (the local weatherguy), we'll be having rain from Thursday through till mid-Sunday morning.

YUCK!

I guess it's getting time to have Gordon hang some clothesline down in the basement. I hung some rope as a make-shift line down there earlier this summer, but it doesn't work very well. The rope is too high, so I have to stand on something to reach it to clip the wet clothes. (And the nearest thing to stand on is a rickety old chair that's been broken and is only 'pieced' back together. Not sturdy at all!)

Gordon asked me just last night how long I thought we could go before we turn the heat back on in the house. I replied that I'd like to go as long as possible -- heat is expensive! Then I said that I don't want to turn the heat on until November 1.

If I remember correctly, that was the milestone that Mom always used. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, Mom!) We never turned the heat on until November 1. If we got too cold before then, well we'd just have to add a layer or two to our clothing.

The kids all have warm jammies and we've got PLENTY of blankets in the linen closet that aren't being used now, so we should manage to stay warm until November 1, right?

Even after we do turn the heat on, I don't plan on keeping it too high. This is something Gordon and I have debated in the past. I've always said that 60 should be sufficient. He likes it closer to 62-64ish. So we've kept it at 62. This year I may push to keep the thermostat closer to 58. Like I said before -- if anyone gets cold, they can put a sweater on. Or wrap up in a snuggly blanket. Noone is going to freeze to death with an interior temperature of 58!

Out of the mouth of Will

Yesterday afternoon I took Will and Nora to Target because I needed to pick up a few things.

One of the things I needed was a new nursing bra. (Ok, maybe I didn't really need it, but ya know....)

As I'm pushing the cart into the lingerie section, Will says (quite loudly!), 'Look Mommy -- BOOBIES!!'

I just about died on the spot. Especially because there was a woman ahead of us who turned around and gawked at us.

So I had to quickly explain to Will that they weren't boobies, just bras to put boobies in. And then (you probably guessed it) Will loudly reaffirmed what I just said, saying, 'Yes Mommy. They're BRAS for BOOBIES!! You put boobies in them.'

At that point, I couldn't do anything but laugh at him. Because he was totally right. And loud. :D

Pictures galore!

As promised, here are some pictures. I took all of these yesterday.

Nora, who turned 2 months old yesterday! Happy Two Months, Precious!

Dianna playing in the sand...

Grace striking a pose....I believe she was trying to be a horse, but I just wanted a face shot...

Will taking his buddy, Michael (Dave & Heather's boy), for a ride on the Gator...

As much as I tried, I just couldn't get both boys to turn around at the same time!

Hangin' with the neighbors

We just got back home a little while ago. The time on the clock now reads 12:33am. That's right. A. m.

We've had a very busy day.

It started off with a bang. Grace had a soccer game in a nearby town at 9am. Which means we needed to get her there for 8:30am so she could warm up with her team before the game started.

After Grace's game, Dianna had her soccer practice.

Then we went home to eat lunch.

THEN we went to the Tractor Supply Store in another nearby town. The 4H group that Grace is in was having a hot dog sale as a fundraiser.

And THEN we went home. To relax. I was seriously considering the possibility of a nap. But the phone rang.

It was our neighbor, Margaret, on the phone. She and her hubby wanted to invite us over to hang out tonight. Today was such a great day, weather wise, and Margaret (and Rob) wanted all of us to take advantage of it.

Just what the doctor ordered.

I really feel like we 'fit' eachother as far as families are concerned. Margaret and I are friendly with eachother. Her hubby Rob and Gordon seem to have lots in common and can talk about a lot of different things with each other. Margaret and Rob have two children. Clayton who is 6 years old and in first grade like Dianna, and Kristin who is a 4 year old preschooler who absolutely ADORES Grace. And they all include Will in their play. Well, most of their play. The important thing is that everyone gets along.

Why we didn't really start to hang out like this before, I have no idea. It doesn't really matter, though. What matters is that we now seem to have friends right here, in our own neighborhood. The kind of friends that I've always envisioned we'd have. The kind that come over for an impromptu barbecue. The kind that always have a can of beer or pot of coffee ready. The kind that can babysit a child in a pinch without flinching. Or ask you to babysit their child at the last minute because something popped up.

Life is good.

Friends and family and laid-back style

Last night Lisa, Emily, and Marli came over to visit and for dinner. I made up a batch of meatballs and spaghetti sauce in the morning and had it all simmering in the crockpot all day. The house smelled absolutely yummy!

For dessert, I threw together an apple cobbler, using the cobbler recipe that Char from Give me the Simple Life gave me. It's soooooo easy! You can find it here: cobbler recipe.

As it was before, the cobbler was DELISH. Before you go thinking I'm just tooting my own horn, Emily wholeheartedly agrees. She told me so. So there.

Anyway, I love having friends come over like that. We don't do it often enough, in my opinion. I usually worry about what state my house is in -- if I feel like it's too cluttered I darn near go into a psychotic state trying to remedy it.

For some reason I didn't do that yesterday. Dunno if Lisa and the girls should be honored that I'm *that* relaxed about a visit from them. Maybe they should just run for the hills. Either way, knowing that they were coming over didn't send me into a total tizzy. Anything that keeps me from going insane is good in my book.

Besides, I'd like to say my house was in fine shape anyway. It was certainly looking better than it could have been. Then again, that's probably just because all of the toys had actually gotten picked up and put away in the toy boxes.

Last night, after eating dinner, we simply congregated in the livingroom to visit and watch some television together (and chatter all the way through it!). I always have wanted to host a 'game night' but think this relaxed version is just as fun. It's all about spending time with friends (and/or family) that doesn't require a lot of money to be spent.

I canned!

When we moved here, almost four years ago, I was floored by the size of the vegetable garden that was here. It was HUGE! Every spring we have enjoyed yummy, fresh asparagus from the well-estabished bed. Early every summer we have tilled and planted seeds and seedlings. By July we're harvesting lots and lots of delicious goodness. Long before summer is over, we're over-inundated with the healthy bounty. After sharing the crop yields with friends, family, and neighbors, we've STILL had more than we could consume before it went bad.

So I've said every year that I wanted to try my hand at canning. I just hated to see all of that food go to waste. Plus, the previous owner left a bajillion canning jars downstairs in the basement. How could I not can?

Yet I never did. Life would get in the way and the time to can would pass, with the vegetables going bad, before I could do it. Plus, I'll admit that I was daunted by the task. There's just something about trying your hand at something you've never done on your own that can make that task seem like a huge, insurmountable ordeal.

But this summer I was *determined* to do even a little canning. Crazy as I am, with an infant on my hip most hours of the day, I NEEDED to just stick my feet in and try it. I remember canning homemade applesauce with my mom when I was a girl, so it's not like I had no idea of what is involved in using a simple water-bath canning process.

I just hadn't done it all by myself.

So I bit the bullet and did it! Gordon loves a good dill pickle spear. We have a lot of cucumbers. And all of those canning jars. Add all of that together and you get a batch of fresh, homemade, canned dill pickles.

That's exactly what we've got sitting on the counter in my kitchen!

Nora coos

Now that I've figured out how to use the video upload option on blogger, I figured I'd share a clip I took of Nora cooing last week. She's been doing it more and more frequently now, and even 'talks' to people more easily!



Sorry for the darkness of the video. Bad lighting. June wannabes can't ALWAYS be perfect, you know.

Will sings

Lately, William has started singing to Nora when she gets fussy. I can't decide if this is because he loves her so much or if it's just some way to get her to shut up!! ;)

Anyway, I've been trying to capture his singing with the video option of my cell phone for a few days now. I finally got some footage the other day. It's not the full song because Will got stage fright or something, but it'll give you a good idea of how cute he is!



50 points to anyone who can guess correctly what song he's singing!!

What your Chocolate says about you...

Saw this on Movin' Like a Herd of Turtles. Thought I'd check it out. Because Chocolate is ALWAYS a good thing!! ;)

What Your Taste in Chocolate Says About You

You are sophisticated, modern, and high class. Your taste is refined, but you are not picky. You are often the first to try something new. You are laid back and fairly easy to please. All you need in life is your friends. Sometimes you go along to get along... but you don't mind. You love being around people. Friendships are important to you. You feel lost when you're by yourself... so you tend to avoid being alone.

http://www.blogthings.com/thechocolateoracle/

I need more pictures!

I was looking through my blog the other day and came to the conclusion that I've been slacking in the photo department here. If I really want to consider myself a hobbyist photographer, I should be taking far more pictures than I have been.

So I have promised myself to try to keep my camera close by and handy. Because (as my photography teacher from HS alway said) the perfect photo ops don't happen on a planned schedule. They most often occur when you least expect them to.

Hopefully I will have a LOT more photographs to share with you real soon.

Google Search

Ok. Someone stumbled upon my blog using a rather descriptive, gross phrase on Google. One that I will not utter or type. Because this is a wholesome blog.

Whoever you are, I've got to wonder about you. I think you've got some issues, man. Perhaps you should seek professional help.

The thing is, I'm not making this up. I know for a fact that someone stumbled upon my blog after having typed in that exact phrase in Google's search engine. My handy-dandy Blogpatrol (the site that keeps track of who visits my blog and how often, etc) tells me if anyone has accessed my blog after a search. They even tell me what search engine was used. And what search words were used.

My biggest question is why on earth would anyone even put those words together to form a search? Was it on a dare? Are you just an immature teenaged boy at heart?

Or did you simply type it in error? Did you mean to type in something different?

And if you were truly searching for what you typed, why would you click on my blog? I bet you were disappointed by my boring ramblings.

So, the moral of the story is this: don't think you can get away with searching the net with vulgar phrases & assume noone will ever know. We ALL know what happens when one 'assumes'.

ETA: You know, the more I think about it, the more I can't help but wonder why it is that Google even linked my blog to a search using that phrase. I bet you were just as confounded as I. I bet you felt the need to check it out and see if you could figure out a rhyme or reason. So I have to ask you, did you?? Would you mind leaving me a comment to update? Enquiring minds want to know, you know!

Soccer Weekend

This was, by far, the most soccer-filled weekend ever!

It started out with Grace's Friday night practice. Then Dianna had practice Saturday morning. Then Grace had a game at 1pm Saturday afternoon. Then Grace had ANOTHER game this afternoon at 1pm!

Dianna is doing quite well with her soccer playing. She's still quite new to the game, as this is her first season playing. But she's got some talent for soccer in there. And the determination to do well. She doesn't leave a soccer practice without having her entire head of hair saturated with sweat and her face as red as a candy apple.

Grace is doing very well too. She's improving by leaps and bounds -- right before our very eyes! Her coach comments on her improvement all the time.

Both days this weekend, while we were at Grace's games, Will was running around and kicking at a soccer ball in the field behind us. He really likes to 'play soccer' now, too.

I see a very long soccer-mom career in my future!

Oh....and for those who may ask, Grace's team lost both games. BUT they played very, very well -- today especially. I think once the team gets more field time, they'll be a force to reckon with!

Time to get serious

Now that Nora is almost 8 weeks old, it's time for me to get serious about reaching my goal weight. Don't get me wrong, this isn't just about vanity. Ok, maybe a little bit about vanity.

But it's mostly about my health. Having had Gestational Diabetes three times now, chances are pretty high that I will eventually develop Type 2 Diabetes. The best way to prevent that diagnosis (or at least keep it from being any time soon) is to be in the best health that I can be. The biggest part of that would be for me to be back at my goal weight and maintaining it.

So I got up this morning and headed down to the Weight Watchers center to join once again. Marc, the leader on Saturday mornings, remembered me! He asked me how long it had been, surprised when I told him it'd been 10 or 11 months. I told him I was sure it was that long -- I'd had 9 months of maternity plus almost 8 weeks of post-partum.

I'd like to lose 16-21lbs. To be honest, I may eventually try to get down a total of 26lbs. That'd put me at my weight before I got pregnant with Will.

For now I'll focus on short term.

What's that smell??

Detergent build up in cloth diapers, that's what it is!

While a front loader washing machine is a very ecologically great thing, it's not such a great thing for cloth diapers. You see, in order to maintain the freshest smelling diapers, one needs to be sure their diapers are rinsing 110% clean. With absolutely NO chance that detergent would still linger. Which means you need a lot of water in the rinse cycle, something a front loader doesn't do.

Because when detergent lingers, odors build.

We're not talking terribly obvious odors. At least not obvious when the wash is done or the diapers are folded neatly on the changing table, awaiting their turn to protect a precious bottom.

No, we're talking odors that suddenly appear when the babe has urinated. Only when there is pee in these diapers will the odor appear. A skunky/ammonia-y odor. Not very pleasant.

So, to prevent this from happening, a cloth-diapering Momma should make sure her cloth diapers rinse clear of any and all detergent. It has become obvious that I was not doing such a good job at that. Nora's dipes are starting to show signs of detergent buildup. They sometimes get stinky after she's peed. Not always. But enough to indicate that I need to adjust my routine a tad.

First I must 'strip' all of the diapers. This will remove the buildup that has already occured. And then we can start all over again. Hopefully this time preventing any buildup from occuring again.

9/11

For those of you who haven't been reading my blog for very long, a year ago today I posted about a conversation I had with the girls. I talked about how I explained to them the significance of the day. I explained to the girls how the news of what happened at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania impacted my life. How my world will never be the same as it was before those fateful moments seven years ago. (If you'd like to read my post from last year, you can check it out here: 9/11/07 )

As I did last year, I had a conversation with my big girls this morning. I asked them if they knew what today was. They both responded that today was Thursday. I asked again and was told that today was September 11. I asked again if they knew what today was, thinking I could jog their memory. Grace ran to the calendar and reported that today is marked Patriot Day.

Ok. I guess they don't remember the history lesson they got exactly a year ago. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. They are just young girls, with tons of new things to learn every day.

So I once again told them of the tragic events from seven years ago. As I explained about the bad men who did such horrible things, ending the lives of so many innocent people, I got teary-eyed.

Grace, my sensitive girl, asked me why I was crying. I told her that I cried because I learned that day how very precious our lives are. How special we are to have what we have. And how I learned seven years ago to not take it for granted.

I'm sure that next year the big girls and I will once again have this same conversation where I explain to them what happened on September 11, 2001 and why we should never ever ever forget the significance of that date. And I'm just as sure that even when the girls do remember the significance of 9/11, they'll never remember it the way that I do. Because, as a mother, I will forever worry even more about the big bad world that my children will one day live in without me to protect them.

Florida, here I come!

My niece, Amanda, was awarded a trip to FL from her employer. She just discovered that the person who was supposed to be going with her won't be able to afterall.

So she called and asked me, her favorite Aunt, if I would like to have a five day getaway with her. I was practically jumping up and down with excitement at the invitation. I must have had the stupidest grin on my face as I thought about what a few days with no children would be like.

But then reality hit. There's simply no way I could go away for five days and not take Nora. She's just too little, IMO. I've told Amanda as much. Lucky me, she totally understands and thinks it'd be great to have Nora along.

I'm so nervous and excited at the same time. I've only ever flown twice in my entire life. The first time, I was 7 years old. I flew to CA with my Great Uncle Clint, my sister Rita, and my twin Pauline.

The second time was when Gordon and I went on our honeymoon.

So I'm nervous about flying. And about leaving Gordon in charge for that many days. But mostly it's the possibility of a crash while flying.

The good/bad news is that the trip is scheduled for the beginning of October. So I won't have much time to worry myself into a mental hospital.

Wow. My first vacation in years. My first getaway that'll be longer than one night. My first extended time away from Gordon. The longest time I've ever left my big kids.

Eeeeesh.

I'd best stop chattering on about it before I talk myself out of even going!

Grace bakes!!

Grace has been asking me for a while now if I would bake some chocolate chip cookies. It's been forever since I last did. I had a laundry list of excuses why I couldn't.

First it was the commotion of end-of-school-year stuff. Then it was the heat of the summer. Then it was that Nora was too little/needy for me to get anything like that accomplished.

All along I've been thinking that it would be a great idea to get some cookie baking done on a regular basis. It'd give the kids a sweet treat that's not too healthy (Lord knows they would much prefer a bad treat to something healthy!!), yet isn't laden with all kinds of preservatives and who knows what else. Plus it's cheaper to make sweets at home than it would be to buy pre-made treats at the store. (And everyone knows just how cheap I can be!)

Grace asked again last night.

I almost automatically said no. I was multi-tasking it already -- nursing Nora and talking on the phone at the same time. How could she expect me to bake cookies too?

But she stood there looking so earnest.

My gears got grinding. The thought popped in my head that she's getting big enough to be able to do some things in the kitchen on her own now.

So I proposed to her that maybe she could bake them all by herself. I assured her that I would be in there if she needed any assistance, but that I was confident she could do almost all of it by herself. She was super excited!

She did AWESOME! I did help with a couple of tasks, like doing a little stirring at the end when the batter was so thick it was hard for her to stir. But I'd say Grace ended up doing at least 90% of the entire job!

I could instantly tell how proud she was of herself. But I don't think her pride could trump the amount of pride I felt at watching my first baby do something so grown up. Or the excitement that Will, Dianna, and Daddy had when they got to try some fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies!

Guess what yummy treat the girls both got in their lunch sacks today? ;)

Forgetful memory

Hear ye, hear ye!! 'Mommy Brain' strikes again!

Every single day now and again I have moments where I suddenly look around with the dumbest look known to mankind totally confused. I just can't seem to remember what it is that I was doing or where I was going.

Seriously.

I blame it on being a Mom. I could always fall back on the fact that I'm blonde, but blaming it on being a Mom is so much better. I get to blame my kids for it

Take this scenario as an example. I have had an idea rolling around in my head since yesterday evening. I just *knew* that it would be a perfect topic for my next blog entry. So after I got the big girls headed off to school on the school bus and had eaten my yummy breakfast of oatmeal and peanut butter, I decided to sit down on the couch next to William and sip my coffee as I make my post.

But suddenly ::cue revelationary music:: my brain is blank! Oh no!

I totally cannot remember what it was that I was going to post about.

And so you now can understand better how my brain doesn't works. And you've read an entire post about nothing!

Pictures of the soccer game

As promised, here are some of the pictures that Gordon and I took during today's soccer game.

Grace mostly plays defense. She really enjoys this position, I think. Good thing -- she's getting quite good!

Here's Grace running towards the goal, with Haley as the goalie, both on the lookout for the ball headed their way...
An action shot of Grace going after the ball...
Intently watching what's going on up ahead...
Another action shot...
And a picture of her resting on the bench...she's the second from the right...
Will had the best seat in the house...Dianna and Patience watching over Nora in the shady spot I created behind our chairs...
A better angle to see Nora's beautiful face...
Dianna was getting restless, so she decided to run up the hill...
.....and back down. Repeatedly.

The game itself was great! Our team was playing real strong from the start. We scored at least three goals before the other team got their first! The opposing team started to catch up in the second half of the game, and ended up winning at the very end.

The final score was 7 - 8. An awesome job, since most of our team is still new to this level of play!

Sunday School and Soccer

Today is the first day of Sunday School at church. At this very moment, Will would be the only preschool aged kid attending. I told Jeanne (the SS Superintendant) not to worry about recruiting a teacher for just Will. I really would like to have him in Sunday School, but would only want it if there were other children in his class. Otherwise it's not the same, IMO.

Still, Jeanne's hopeful that we'll have one or two other little ones who would like to attend preschool Sunday School. She's setting up a special sign-up for it at the registration table this morning. Keep your fingers crossed that Will won't be the only one for long!

So Gordon and I will be bringing all of the children to church this morning for the start of Sunday School at 9:30am. Then we'll run over to Big Y, the local grocery store, to return a bajillion soda cans that have been piling up for over a year. After that, we'll return to church for the weekly church services.

And THEN we'll be heading a couple of towns over for Grace's first soccer game of the season.

We got her uniform at Friday's practice. Her coach has been awarding soccer shaped patches for attendance or a job well done or kindness. So I sewed those on the bottom leg of her uniform shorts, where Coach R. said to put them.

I am trying to remember to bring my camera -- and actually use it! I'll try to get back on here later this evening to update with the pictures from today's game.

Multiage picnic

Every year, right after the school year begins, the Multiage unit at the elementary school has their annual picnic on the Town Green. Last night was this year's picnic.

We packed homemade grinders, some fruit, chips, and beverages. The girls packed a couple of outside games/toys to bring to share and play with their school friends. I grabbed my camera. We loaded up the car and headed down to the Green.

Guess what was left at home?!?!?

Yep. The bag full of food and beverages. Gordon and I were both so consumed with getting everything and everyone all loaded up that we *assumed* the other had grabbed the bag.

The really sad thing is that we didn't even realize we'd forgotten it until after we'd gotten everything all set up and were sitting down to visit with Amy and her girls. It was only THEN that Gordon looked at me and asked me where the tote bag was. I'm sure I had *the dumbest* look on my face when I responded that I had no idea!

Anyway, once Gordon ran home and returned with our food, all was right again. The big girls had a blast running around with their friends. I got to visit for a bit with Di's new teacher and a few moms that I haven't seen since the end of the school year last June.

Best of all, it was a lovely evening!

The start of potty training

Throughout the spring, I talked of my hopes to have William potty trained by the end of the summer. I'd hoped this because I wished to send him to preschool two days a week, but the preschool requires the children to be potty trained.

Will just hasn't been ready.

The two potties have graced our bathrooms for many many months. Will would sit on them from time to time, but often insisted on doing so fully clothed.

I began to despair that Will would NEVER potty train and would end up going to Kindergarten in baby diapers.

Alas, things have taken a turn this week!

Tuesday night, Gordon got Will to poop on the pot. Now, don't go thinking that Will suddenly told his father that he had to go and wanted to use the potty. It just so happened that Gordon caught William as he was starting to try to go in his diaper and asked Will if he'd like to go on the potty. Will wasn't too keen on the idea, but his big sisters were there to encourage and cheer him on. So it all worked out (pun intended!) and everyone praised Will for a job well done.

This morning, as I was getting Will ready for the day, he said he wanted to poop on the potty. I quick ushered him into the bathroom where he proudly sat on the potty to try. We read books together. We talked. We waited. Nothing happened. Still, I praised him for trying before we went back to getting ready for the day.

I asked Will if he'd rather wear underwear today instead of 'BABY diapers'. At first he was excited about the idea of underwear, but once we went to the drawer for him to pick out a pair, he decided that he didn't want to afterall. Fine, I told him, he could just wear BABY diapers then. He insisted they weren't baby diapers, that they're 'Will's diapers'.

Not ten minutes later Will came running out of his room to tell me he had to go potties. We quick ran into the bathroom to take his diaper off and sit him on the pot. I found that he'd already peed in his diaper. :( Still, I suggested that he sit on the potty and try to do more. He obliged happily, but nothing more happened.

Hopefully this will all continue to follow a rapid trend and we can be done with potty training in a matter of weeks and not the months I'd been dreading! I may even be able to enroll Will to start preschool at the first of the year!!

I got an award!

Even though the judges at the fair this past weekend didn't seem to love my photographs, I can take stock in the knowledge that at least my friend, Bec from Musings of a Mum of 4 loves me!

Bec has bestowed upon me and my blog this award:

Here are the rules:
- Only 5 people are allowed to receive this award.
- 4 of them followers of your blog.
- One has to be new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
- You must link back to whoever gave you the award.


Here are the blogs I pick....

Tricia at My One Stop Shop for All Things Mom
Char at Give me the Simple Life
Amanda at DysFUNctional Chaos
And while she's not new to my blog, she is living in Calgary.....
Larissa at Stories from Texas and Beyond

Another fair weekend

This past weekend we attended another fair. Grace had all four of her bantams entered for exhibits. I entered eight of my prized photographs for exhibits. Grace participated in the Poultry Showmanship competition.

Grace fared better than I when it came to the judges' critical eyes. Three of her four bantam chickens received first place, with the fourth receiving second. 'Bigkins' (her female Birchen Cochin bantam) received the Reserve Champion Bantam for the Junior Division. In the Showmanship competition, her first time ever competing, she tied for second.

My photographs got one third place and one honorable mention. That's it.

We won't get into how disappointed I am that my photographs didn't do better. Instead we'll get into how disappointed I am that I lost all of the pictures I took of Grace during the Showmanship competition. Yep. Wonderful me hit the wrong button on the camera and managed to format the memory card. BEFORE I got a moment to upload the pictures onto the computer.

So I have no pictures to share with you. Sorry.

And here I thought I was being so great, remembering to even bring the darn camera with me! All for nothing.

Let's hope that the next time Grace competes like that that I'll not hit the wrong stinkin' button!!!