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I get myself off kilter by ONE DAY and then all of a sudden I haven’t blogged in over a week. How does that happen? I actually started a post last Monday, but now all that information is old hat so never mind. Here’s what you need to know about the last 10 days:

Henry is now fully potty trained. We went to Disney on Sunday and he is now happily on board. Yesterday he told me he needs a car booster seat like his brother instead of his harness because he’s a big boy. Sorry, kid. You’re never leaving that harness seat.

Chuy’s is awesome, and now that I know there’s one in Orlando, we might never eat anywhere else.

Also, you need to make yourself miso butter. You owe it to yourself.

Blathering is in THREE DAYS. Also, I’m taking Wednesday off too, so I have approximately 15 hours left of work before I get six days off. I feel like it’s a dream. Dream time, ahoy!

Here are some pictures of the last 10 days.

Learning to ride a two-wheeler is not an easy thing.

Look at our towers!

Time to put away the blocks

This is my life.

Baseball!

Cousin time

Look at that boy ride!

Cousins (the little one is 9 months or so younger than H)

Muppets! Mommy, take a picture!

Aladdin and spitting camels

And the piece de resistance:

My ham.

In the throes

We are currently about 24 hours into potty training at this house. We've tried before but it was terribly frustrating and we put it off after a non-cooperative toddler. Also, with our weekends at Disney we have been happy to not have the bother of finding a bathroom every five minutes, as you do with a training child. This weekend C had to work on Saturday so we (I) decided that we would stay home this weekend and power train. The foundation had been set: he's been training at daycare for at least a month (although he's been very non committal at daycare as of late) and between diaper changes he's been running to the bathroom.

As of about 6pm last night, we are a daytime diaper-free household. I've been saying "Henry, do you need to go potty?" so many times I'll probably start saying it in my sleep, but we've had no accidents so far (it's early).

I had an obligation for a couple hours this afternoon so I left the kids here with working C. While there, I mentioned (slightly complained) about potty training and one of the ladies said "embrace it. blah blah blah my kids out of the house ..." Bah. WHY? I embrace a lot of the time with my kids. I hope I don't actually remember potty training.

You remember everything. I'll just remember the good.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The heavens opened up, and other stories.

Yesterday I got home with the kids and everyone was whiny. Like, get thee ass to bed, whiny. Instead I decided we were all going for a walk. C was working late (in the home office, which always needlessly annoys me) so we all got in shorts and headed down to the trail. The trail near us is about ½ mile from the house, and the trail head has big water jug thing (please inform me of what this is called. We just say “going to get water” even though we have perfectly good water at home).

Sometimes we get there and continue to walk the trail a little and sometimes we just head back home, but it’s a good destination. We got there and I took my usual photos of the boys on the bridge, we got water and then I noticed a strange gray cloud.

It looked like it was moving away from us, but then there was a roll of thunder and I told the boys we had to head home. We were ½ a mile from home, you understand. We took about ten steps and the heavens opened up.

When I say we got wet it is the understatement of the year. I have never been that wet in full clothes. I have never been that wet and not have been in a pool. The rain was so hard I COULD NOT SEE. It kept coming between my sunglasses (ha! Sunglasses) and my eyes and dripping into my contacts and BAD. IT WAS BAD.

After I fell for the comedy of the situation and had secured my phone in my very wet pocket, I tried to just walk the kids home. We were already wet anyhow, right? Well they complained the whole darned time like they were the wicked witch of the west (And I was my mother: “just shut it, you aren’t going to MELT, child”) We were one block from the house when C pulled up and drove us home.

So home, dried and cooking dinner I thought of all the things I SHOULD have said in my vlog. Obviously I’m not going to do it again – so here are more answers to previously answered questions:

1.   I love James Taylor. I’ve seen him three times in concert and sit like a lovesick teenaged girl while I listen to him sing. I’ve cried in the audience. I don’t know HOW I forgot about Carolina in my Mind. I feel ashamed of myself, in all my James Taylor loving glory. Obviously I need to get tickets to a fourth concert, pronto.
2. I think that next year we need to book an auditorium instead of a hotel so we can all room together. Because I love my roommates and I’m excited to room with them but every time we get to the roommate part of the vlogs, I’m all “oh that sounds like such a fun room too!” So. Auditorium. Big sleepover. Floor mattresses. Diggin’ it.
3.  I’m also disappointed in myself for screwing up the who Perfect date-Miss Congeniality quote, because I was right about the date.

I hate to hear myself speak - I'm doing this for you (and you!) Blathering vlog

Goodness, it’s time for another edition of “This is more embarrassing for me than it is for you”. I not only recorded this, I refused to redo it when I messed up at LEAST three times and Carla, just so you know – I recorded this in my car. Again. Obvously lunchtime at work is the only time I get up the nerve to record myself speaking. No lunch sitting next to me this time though, but I could not figure out where to look so I'm pretty sure I only looked at the camera maybe never.

For reference, here is last year’s vlog.

And I apologize in advance. Again.

But without the booze.

I was lying in bed yesterday morning trying to decide what the heck I could feed my family. I was out of fruit, most vegetables. I finally realized there was a peach and an avocado in there, so the kids got leftover blueberry muffins and split a peach, and C and I had breakfast sandwiches w/ laughing cow and avocado. But after breakfast I cleaned up the kitchen and took to my fridge: I figured as long as it was empty, I should clean it. I had the refrigerator of a college sophomore, minus the booze. One tomato, three lemons, two ears of corn. Leftover Chinese takeout, an array of condiments. A tiny tub of sour cream, nearly empty. Baking soda. (does that really do anything?)

Spencer broke his backpack (4 days after he broke his lunch box) so we he and I headed out to replace it, as well as do some other errands. I took him grocery shopping where he talked me into Danimals and pudding and cookies.  I realized something: All conversations with a five year old are either amusing or frustrating. I decided to try to feel more amused by conversations with him.

Then, of course, we got home and that was shot to hell.

It was a good weekend, mostly. Saturday we did a combination Disney day: Spent the morning at one park, the afternoon at a waterpark, then had dinner (and Henry passed out in the car) and then the evening was at a third park. I wouldn’t recommend this for an everyday Disney experience, but we got to do a little of everything and it was so fun!

By Sunday night, I can tell you the same thing as last week though – we are no longer good at being home. I’ve been trying to keep us home on Sundays so C can watch his beloved football. I had him fill up the kiddie pool so the kids would have something to do that didn’t include watching tv all day. But by about 4pm (we got home from the above errands at 1:30p), the fighting and the whining and the yelling (me) were just … it wiped out a perfectly good day. Then there was two hours of trying to get Henry to take a nap he sorely needed, obviously, which he didn’t take, and I was so exhausted that even though I had just filled up my fridge with food so it looked like it belonged to adults, I couldn’t bear to cook. I made popcorn and a variety of fresh fruit for the kids and they watched a movie, and C and I had alcoholic beverages with pepperoni, cheese and crackers.

This week I’ve only got to get through to Thursday – I took a “just because” day off for Friday. C is off because he works Saturday, so we’ll end up probably having a day date that will at least be lunch and a movie. The last couple of times we’ve tried to see a movie it hasn’t worked out, and I’m not so much a theater person but C LOVES to see movies in the theater. 

Friday bits

Tuesday’s objective was to keep my new white jeans clean.

I’ve been doing a little shopping lately. It was inadvertent, as I haven’t been feeling great about myself. I’ve gained some weight back and I haven’t been driven to work out and I’ve been making poor food decisions. This all would normally have me putting off shopping until I lost weight, but since that’s not happening I just went for it. Oddly (I know, right?) new clothes that fit made me feel better about myself, even if they were in a different size.

Then Thursday I bit the bullet and got a haircut with a new stylist because my old stylist had the gall to move back to Indiana where her family is. That new baby doesn’t need grandparents! What about MEEEE? But new stylist was chatty and different but gave me a great cut and I’m good. Still miss old stylist but I think I can deal, now.

A long time ago (before marriage and kids and 1,871 other things that come with being a grownup), C and I used to tent camp. We would go on 9-day excursions around the Deep South armed with everything to make tent camping *not* roughing it. We haven’t been camping since 2006 or so, and I’ve been trying to get him up for camping with the kids. Now he’s fully on board, but this also means that he wants to go buy new everything for camping. New tent! New propane grill! We have EVERYTHING YOU MAY EVER NEED FOR CAMPING in our attic. This isn’t even an exaggeration. I have two giant bins of camping supplies that basically just need to be aired out. So. This might be our weekend agenda (you know, when we aren’t at Disney).

Of course, though, our first “camping trip” is likely to be to Fort Wilderness. Disney camping, anyone? He’s right, it would be a good first trip to try it out with the kids, but they are going to be so disappointed when we start camping other places and there’s no water park or Chip and Dale sightings. Just the great outdoors: cue the sighs.

I took a day off next Friday, for no good reason. Lately I’ve just been feeling like I need a day off, and instead of thinking every day if I should call out I decided to schedule some “me” time. C is off that day too, so maybe we’ll have a bit of a day-date while the kiddos are in school. Honestly I could use time to MYSELF, but the next day I’m going to a mid-day Mary Kay mimosa party, so I’m going to count that as my time alone. And then to balance that out, I’m taking the kids on my own to Trader Joe’s which is 1.5 hours each way (C is working that Saturday).

I posted SIX TIMES last week. I thought I was getting into a groove, and then something happened Tuesday so I wasn't able to post and streak broken. I guess Stella's gotta get her groove back.

I’m reading Twelve Rooms of the Nile, and it’s historical fiction supposing that Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert were friends. I’m not a historical fiction sort of girl. I recognize that it’s well written and I keep thinking I’m getting into it but then my mind wanders. I think it’s just that I’d rather read Fangirl again.

Monday Funday

I thought I’d have a real post today, but my brain keeps skipping over little things. So here’s a bunch of little things again.

There are some of those words that you just can’t spell to save your life. Mine? Nuisance. I don’t know why I have such a mental block about spelling that word but if it wasn’t for spell check I would never get it right. Sometimes I spell it so badly that spell check can’t figure it out either. Unfortunately, for my job I write that particular word often. It’s such a … nuisance.

They are remodeling the bathrooms in my building. Last week and this week is my floor, so I have to go somewhere else whenever I need to use one. You’d be amazed how you can decide it’s just not worth it sometimes.

Speaking of bathrooms! (like that segue?), Spencer went a whole week with no accidents at kindergarten. We pep talk it every morning, and this morning I went through the whole routine again while he was putting his shoes on and he was all “mom, I know all this. I did it fine last week”. He also has decided that he doesn’t want me making him breakfast in the morning which I’m not entirely happy about even though it frees me up for makeup in the morning. The breakfast at school is not satisfactory to me. No proteins! No fresh fruit! But I’m giving him some of this week and then I think we’ll have to come to a compromise.

ALSO. Spencer’s on the campaign to get me to buy him prepackaged Lunchables for his lunch. ”But so-and-so has them!” I give him some packaged snacks (Cheez-its, fruit snacks) but why do kids want Lunchables? They aren’t even very good! I know, I ate them as a kid! (This is not a judgment on parents who give their kids Lunchables. ) As with everything, compromise. I think I’m going to start giving him one a week – maybe Fridays? Also, I’ve broken down on Danimals (so much sugar! And he likes Greek Yogurt fine!) because he asks for them for every lunch. I bought them when they were BOGO, but now I’m just looking for coupons. And does anyone know a healthier alternative?

When is it that children start sounding like their parents? I thought it was about the time you have kids, but yesterday the boys were playing in their room, and Henry was talking and Spencer said “What?” and Henry yelled “I JUST TOLD YOU SIX TIMES!” So.

After our super busy Saturday, Sunday was lazy and lovely. The kids slept until 7:40!!! We cleaned house a little and then ran over to Macy’s to check out their sale (I got a couple tops, a pair of shorts, a pajama skirt and a nice dress for work) and Ulta (still no Milk pencil in stock) and BB&B for k-cups. And then we were home for the rest of the day. I cut Henry’s hair and the boys played in the shower. Afterward I put them in pjs for the rest of the day (it was 3:45p). Spencer was not happy about this – he is very much a boy of rules, and one of his things is that pjs are for sleeping in, not for hanging out. You do not run to Panera in the morning in pjs and you do not put them on in the middle of the day. But he dealt with his disappointment by being allowed to watch tv all afternoon while we watched football (and I read) in the living room, and I ran laundry. Okay, so it wasn’t a lazy day but it was a home-most-of-the-day, which is obviously rare for us.