Just a little humor to start out your weekend

I guess when my Dad was babysitting Connor on Monday (I was working in Jared's class), Connor dropped something and said, "Ahh NUTS!" and then quickly followed it with, "We say ahh nuts because ahh shit is a bad word."

Future underwear model?

I was fiddling around with my camera in the boys' room yesterday while the boys were playing with some toys on the floor. Connor told me he had to go potty and he wanted "pricey" (privacy) so I figured I'd give him a minute or two and then go check on him. Just as I was figuring he'd had enough "pricey", he came running back into the room in nothing but his boxer briefs, then leaned against his closet and said, "Wookit me, Mama!" (Look at me, Mama!). With camera already in hand, I simply couldn't resist snapping his picture!


PS They look wet or something in the back, but it must just be a shadow because I know for a fact he was DRY DRY DRY (even over night two nights in a row now...*knock on wood*)

PPS How adorable is he???

Mean Mom

Jared informed Dan the other day that "Mom's mean!" and I remembered this poem I'd read not too long ago and had to smile:

Someday when my children are old enough to
understand the logic that motivates a parent, I will
tell them, as my Mean Mom told me: I loved you
enough to ask where you were going, with whom,
and what time you would be home.

I loved you enough to be silent and let you
discover that your new best friend was a creep.

I loved you enough to make you go pay for the
bubble gum you had taken and tell the clerk, "I
stole this yesterday and want to pay for it."

I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours
while you cleaned your room, a job that should have
taken 15 minutes.

I loved you enough to let you see anger,
disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Children must
learn that their parents aren't perfect.

I loved you enough to let you assume the
responsibility for your actions even when the
penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.

But most of all, I loved you enough . . . to say
NO when I knew you would hate me for it.

Those were the most difficult battles of all. I'm
glad I won them, because in the end you won, too.
And someday when your children are old enough to
understand the logic that motivates parents, you
will tell them.

Was your Mom mean? I know mine was. We had the
meanest mother in the whole world! While other kids
ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal,
eggs, and toast. When others had a Pepsi and a
Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you
can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was
different from what other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all
times. You'd think we were convicts in a prison. She
had to know who our friends were, and what we were
doing with them. She insisted that if we said we
would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an
hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve
to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work. We
had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to
cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the trash
and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie
awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time
we were teenagers, she could read our minds and had
eyes in the back of her head. Then, life was really
tough!

Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn
when they drove up. They had to come up to the door
so she could meet them. While everyone else could
date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until
we were 16.

Because of our mother we missed out on lots of
things other kids experienced. None of us have ever
been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's
property or ever arrested for any crime. It was all
her fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all educated,
honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean
parents just like Mom was.

I think that is what's wrong with the world today.
It just doesn't have enough mean moms

Look what Jared can do!!

We are so proud of him! He came close to getting the hang of it over the summer, but would get frustrated and quit just as we were making progress, and then fall/winter arrived with bad weather and we put the practicing on hold. We started up again over the weekend and he suddenly got the hang of it! He still needs a push to get started, and a few of his stops are less than graceful, but he can maneuver around the bumpy backyard and ride all around the paved driveway, so by this summer, I see him being very competent.

His sister is none to pleased that her little brother learned before she did, but Jared was determined to do it, while Emily still acts like we're offering to chop her limbs off. ha!

PS I honestly didn't hear Connor yelling in the background AT ALL (being so focused on Jared at the time) until the camera turned off, and I was shocked to hear that he yells through the whole video! In case you're wondering what all his fuss was about, the cat was sitting on the windowsill inside the house looking out the window at all of us in the backyard and he just thought that was the most exciting thing EVER!

The Art Wall

Forgive me if this is a repeat, but I couldn't remember if I'd already shared this or not and didn't find anything in my past posts (though I truthfully didn't look all that hard; we're in a hurry to leave for gymnastics!).

I got this idea out of a magazine quite awhile ago and jumped all over it. I LOVE my kids' artwork, but there was never enough space to display much of it at a time.

Problem solved:


The kids love having their artwork displayed so prominantly in our home, and it's gotten rave reviews from people who have visited us!

Could it be true???

In the interest of not jinxing things, I'm currently knocking on wood, crossing my fingers, wearing my lucky socks (just kidding), throwing salt over my shoulder, etc while I share the good news:

CONNOR IS POOPING ON THE TOILET NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

I haven't changed a poopy diaper or underwear in three weeks. Wet pull-ups are limited to night-time (though he's waking up barely wet in the pull-up lately, instead of big-time wet like in the past). His day-time potty accidents over the last three weeks have been limited to three different times, and two of the times involved being at the park with his dad, and the last was while we were visiting my IL's last weekend. He's been rather good at telling me when he needs to go potty, and I've been rather good at keeping an eye on the time and gently guiding him in the direction of the bathroom if it's been 2+ hours.

Between all three kids, I've been changing diapers solidly since May 12, 2002. That's almost 7 full years without a break in diapers, people!!

*does a little happy dance*

(*throws more salt* *finds more wood to knock on*)

I'm so very pleased and PROUD that we're finally making some serious headway in the potty-training department. I won't go so far as to say we're TRAINED (because of the potty issues at night and occasional day-time slip-ups), but he's "poop trained" at least. LOL!!!

Let's hear some cheers for Connor!!

Quote of the Week

"Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience."

~Victoria Holt~