Why don't they put seat belts on potty's?

I have been flirting with the idea of potty training Grace. She doesn't have a whole lot of language skills but she is getting more every day. I have always felt that one of the biggest parts of potty training was the kid being able to verbalize the need to go. I decided to give it a try any way. So i put a potty out in the living room on Thursday. It wasn't long before i discovered that grace has a bigger obstacle than words. She wont sit for longer than 2 seconds. She certainly isn't willing to hold still long enough to do what needs to be done. But on the bright side... I put some panties on her and she stayed dry all afternoon. She finally wet her pants when she was sitting in her high chair(probably because she was sitting still) at dinner.

Any one who has potty trained a Tasmanian devil, please share your technique. Any advice is welcome!!!

Joyous Day

Eddie was surfing through the channels(all 5 of them) at 3 today and he came across Wishbone on PBS. I used to watch it when i was a kid. For those of you who havent seen it, it is about a little dog named Wishbone who tells a classic intermixed with an everyday situation where some one learns a lesson. Looks like it is only on on thursdays at 3 though.

I am not crazy!!!

Ok ladies... get your looks of disbelief ready.... wait for it... I do not take snacks or toys for my kids to church. Every time I tell some one this, usually in the mothers lounge at church, I get looks of disbelief. Then after i explain my reasons i usually get some understanding.

Tim and i decided a while ago that we wouldn't be bringing any more snacks to church. Eddie is old enough not to need them and Grace makes a HUGE mess every time i bring some(or she steals some from whom ever we happen to sit by). As long as i feed her a big lunch before church, she does alright.. I don't want to have to clean up the pew after we are done using it. so then i was just bringing a few 'quiet' toys. With boys though, nothing is a quiet toy for long. After a while that too seemed unnecessary. I was never allowed to bring anything to church with me and i survived. I have let them bring a notebook and colored pencils a couple of times and that worked ok. but then when it is time for them to go to class i end up having to carry them around. Since Grace figured out how to work zippers I haven't even brought my diaper bag in to the church. If i need a diaper i just run out to the car and this has only happened once or twice since i stopped bringing it in. It is really nice to walk into the church carrying only my keys, and i just run to the car before primary to get what i need.

I know there are other people out there who feel the same way other than my mother. I do wonder now that grace is growing up a little if i would enjoy sacrament meeting more if she had something to keep her occupied. It usually ends up being me or tim that she is occupied with but i think that is ok. Also after the first of the year when we meet earlier and not right at nap time i think she will be even better.

For All the Sesame street lovers

I thought this article was interesting....check it out

The Most Magical Kitchen Tool EVER!

The other night when i was making 6 apple pies at midnight i was reminded of the best kitchen tool i ever bought. I bought this all in one apple peeler, corer, slicer a couple of years ago at bed bath and beyond. I think it cost less than $20. I peeled cored and sliced 9 pounds of apples in like half an hour. It was amazing and lifesaving. OK so maybe i am exaggerating a little bit but at the time i felt like my life was being saved.

Rotten Brains

As a child my family didn't have a TV for several years. I can remember babysitting and watching as much TV as the little kids would let me because i didn't have the opportunity to at home. I feel that this no TV factor of my childhood had some lasting effects on my adult life. First the good effects....I love to read. There was a library around the corner from our house when i was 11 that was only open once a week in the summer. those were the best days of the week. we would go and get a stack of books and curl up with them in the cool basement. There wasn't a TV to distract us. I have less and less opportunities as time goes by but i am comforted by the fact that i will someday have time again. Now the not so good effects. I have a love hate relationship with my TV. I really like watching TV. I don't have cable because just the idea that there could be always something to watch scares me. I would never get anything done around the house. On Saturday mornings I hate the TV. It never seems more mind numbing to me than on Saturday morning when Tim is home and it gets turned on by 9 am. I used to watch TV in the morning ad then i realized that it often ruins my whole day if I sit on the couch even just long enough to watch Martha or Ellen. So when Tim and Eddie start watching TV at 9 am it disturbs me. I like the TV for it's entertainment factor. Just now i went hunting for a Tellietubbies video for grace to watch so i could blog in peace. You see, Tellytubbies is the only thing that Grace will watch. Talk about turning your brain to mush. I settled for Bear in the Big Blue House which i hadn't seen until today when she picked it out at the library. It doesn't quite capture her attention, i think there is too much talking.

For those of you who have met Grace know that she is a women of few words. Not to be confused with few sounds, she makes plenty of noises. She turned 2 on Monday and doesn't have a lot of language skills yet. It had been suggested to me i should try to start potty training her, she is 2 and girls are supposed to be easier than boys. But if she cant verbalize potty than she cant tell me. I think she understands the concept but it is hard to tell.

Enough of my aimless ramblings....For those of you in climates that have winter, I'm jealous because it is 87 degrees here today.

Semper Fi

On friday my sister Ada graduated from Boot Camp. So now to take a page from Meleah and Ralphies blog's.....You Are Amazing!! I am amazed at the strength that it must have taken to complete such a task. I had a hard time at band camp so i am sure i would have never been able to endure what she did. Now after 10 days leave, Ada will go to North carolina for weapons training and then to school in Virginia. She will be playing the French Horn in the Marine Band. Again, she is amazing, a wonderful horn player.

Congratulations Ada and Good Luck on your future travels.

Wanna Buy some cookies???

Last night i was a vendor at the Forrest Creek Elemamentary Fall Festival Craft Bazaar. Well, after baking like crazy all week because i was told to expect 1000 people to come through, I had some left over. I think i saw 250 people. When i say some i mean lots. I now have around 30 dozen cookies, 7 pies, and 30 tartlets in my fridge/freezer. Seriously, call me.....I'll give you a great deal.

Sundays

This may seem really redundant but sundays are really hard for me. I thought that after being wonder woman last week, this week would be easier. It started out good, i got up pretty early because of the tme change but so did the kids for the same reason. Grace is teething, getting her two year molars, so she has been crying for 3 days. tim leaves for church shortly after 8. So by the time it is time to start thinking about getting ready i feel completely frazzled and i start to get short with the kids. By the time it is time to be walking out the door, i'm yelling. I never feel very spiritual by the time i get to church but that usualy changes pretty fast. this week it seemed like my kids were the noisy-est kids in the room. I went to the mothers lounge in the first 5 minutes of sacrament just to get away from the kids for a minute and try to get more patient. I teach primary in the 3rd hour and by that time i am compleatly drained. I feel bad for my primary class although i dont think they mind playing games sometimes.

I did get something out of church today about journal writing. I dont keep a journal very well but it has been suggested to me that a blog is kind of like a journal and it can be a record of my life.

why....

do i have to have a title? Sometimes i just feel like blathering mindlessly about nothing and that generaly doesnt constitute having a title. I think i will start titling the posts with random food titles like Osso Buco (10 points if you can identify that dish, 20 if you have eaten it!!)

So my random blather...my house is still messy and i dont know what to have for dinner, maybe meat...right Sheyenne?? Today i plan on making at least 12 dozen cookies and possibly a couple of pies.....just 6 or 8 ;)