Potty Training

I decided to give potty training another try on Tuesday. I prepared myself for a long and painful process since our other three attempts were unsuccessful. She started "school" in the fall and will be 3 in October, so I knew it had to be done. Much to my surprise and elation, after only one accident, she went on her training potty five times on Monday! Yesterday she had a couple of accidents, but then she was successful for the rest of the day. Last night, at 7:00 (which is bedtime for us), she ran to her little potty and started saying "Oh no! Oh no!" She sat down and got a really funny look on her face. I went over to look and see what was going on. In addition to going pee-pee, she had made a nice little deposit. Our deal was that if she went #2 in the potty, she would get ice cream. So, we loaded everyone up in their pajamas and went to Beth Marie's ice cream parlor. She got a kid's chocolate Sunday with marshmallow sauce. I am so thankful and excited for this new stage.

Ice cream celebration at Beth Marie's. Our friend Jessi was able to join us.

Woolite Pet Carpet Cleaner also works well for two-year-old's.

Abigail felt that Mimi Jerry was also ready to be potty trained. He is also making great process.

This is Abigail on her Elmo Potty. I took the batteries out so he doesn't say something every time she sits down on it, bumps it, or I trip over it.

Mimi's Wedding

This weekend Amanda got married. She is a good friend and has been living in our garage "apartment" for the past couple of years. My children adore her and refer to her as "Mimi". Below are a few pictures from her wedding. We love you, Mimi and Uncle Dan! Hope you are having fun in Hawaii.

swimming

Last Saturday we decided to go swimming at a friend's pool across town. We had a great time. Here is our video debut....

Abigail gravitated towards the small "beach" area to play in the sand. I think we have a future engineer on our hands.

Micah loved splashing in the water, but was a little tired by this point. He fell asleep about five minutes later and took a nap on a beach towel under our umbrella.

cold front

Today our high temperature was only 85, and it was partly cloudy. We celebrated by going outside to play.

ripe cherry tomatoes from the garden


micah reluctantly showing off his first tooth


abigail building a sand castle


lori and micah studying math together.

Lori teaches math overseas and is home for the summer. She came over to brush up on her geometry before she heads back for the school year.

fermentation

one gallon jug


"pump", tubing, cork, fermentation lock


After the foaming stopped, I siphoned the juice from the trash can into the gallon jug. I corked it and inserted the fermentation lock. I got these supplies from a wine making supply store for about $8. In four months, I repeat the above process (apparently this is called "racking"). Then I wait four more months and it should be wine. Homemade wine for Valentine's Day.

Red, Red, Wine

Fresh Grapes


Smashing (just hands, no feet)


The Must (wine term for the freshly smashed grapes)


Three Days Later...


Foaming Fermentation


...to be continued...

Garden Update

Gene has been hard at work in the garden. His flowers are blooming and are beautiful. Meanwhile, I have been tending to my garden. It looks like everything is doing well so far.

Uncle Hal

My brother, Hal, kept Micah for us while we went to the beach with Abigail. I think they bonded. He is such a good uncle.

Florida

We just got back from a week in Orlando, where we visited Gene's parents and brother. We had a great time with the family! We got to go to the beach twice, which was the highlight of our trip. Abigail had a great time splashing in the waves and building sand castles. Here are a few pics from the trip. Enjoy!

Spring Portraits

After Easter, I decided to get Abigail and Micah's portraits done. This is my first experience doing portraits, so I went to the place at Babies R Us. They were a little more expensive, but worth every penny. Abigail was having a very two-year-old moment and spent most of the time crying and shouting, "down, down, down!". Micah is at a great age for pictures because he smiles all of the time and, though he can move a little, he won't really go anywhere. Below are the results. 

the castle, and the people, and the carriage

For the past month, Abigail has developed a new routine. Every morning after breakfast is finished and the Backyardigans are over, Abigail says, "Mommy, its time to play! Want the castle and the people and the carriage and the big castle and the tunnel". We bring everything into the living room and she proceeds to meticulously set up her castle and people and carriage and play with them. She also has a bigger play castle with a tunnel that goes next to the coffee table where her other toys are. She entertains herself for at least an hour playing "castle" and showing me all of the things that her people are doing. It is so fun to see her little personality develop.

Le Jardin

Okay, so it doesn't look like much at first, but that's the great thing about gardens. You put these tiny little plants in the ground and water them and hope that something grows. This year I planted tomatoes, bell peppers, beets, cucumbers, onions, garlic, cilantro, and basil. We had a slight frost about a week after everything went into the ground, but I think the plants are going to be okay. Hopefully I will have some fun pictures of vegetables early this summer.

Daylight Savings Time

Yeah - we totally missed it. I woke up at 7:00 to begin the process of getting a two-year-old, a five-month-old, and myself ready for church. We don't leave until 8:45, and the kids were still asleep, so I got my morning cup of coffee and leisurely sat down to check my email. My computer said that it was 8:00 instead of 7:00. Strange - but I thought it was just a glitch. I fed Micah and got him ready for church and down for a short nap. When Abigail awoke (she is not a morning person) we embarked on our daily routine of cereal, banana, and Dora the Explorer. Panic! Dora was not on and Direct TV said it was 9:00. Church STARTS at 9:00. Still in disbelief, I found Gene and asked him if it was Daylight Savings. He looked it up online and - sure enough - it was. Fortunately, we go to the 9:00 service and the class Gene teaches is at 11:00. Although I was sad to miss church, that meant we had extra time to get everyone ready. So we enjoyed a fun, laid-back Sunday morning. How refreshing!

Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt

Last month at my college roommate reunion, I mentioned an article I had read about "Quite Time Guilt". I have been struggling with that lately, and decided to post the link to the article. I am someone who struggles with feeling like I have to do the right things to earn God's love and favor. However, He has already given these things to me for free through Christ. I think this article is great for anyone who struggles with the same thing. The link to the article is below. I'd love to hear your thoughts...

http://gregscouch.homestead.com/files/quiet_time_guilt.htm

Cereal Time

Yesterday, Micah got to eat rice cereal for the first time. I had forgotten how messy that can be and why bibs are a must have. He seemed to enjoy the experience. Also, three nights ago Micah slept from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am. This is a cause for great rejoicing and celebration in our home. He has earned his first ice cream cone (to be redeemed after his first birthday).

King Tut

Yesterday we went to the Dallas Museum of Art to see the King Tut Exhibit. Two of the college students in our Bible study needed to go to the museum for a class, so we decided to make it a field trip.



Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed in the exhibit. It was amazing to see so many artifacts that came from ancient Egypt and were preserved for so many years. Abigail's favorite item was a small chair that King Tut probably used to sit on as a little boy. I did not know this before going, but King Tut is not actually there. It makes sense that his body cannot be carted around the world - but we were still a little disappointed. We did get a picture with his mural.



We all had the most fun in the children's area of the museum. They had an area where we could make rubbings over different texture plates. They also had an assortment of different types of boxes to arrange. We liked making a tall tower and knocking it over.





Abby and Kari played really hard so they fell asleep on the way home. What a fun way to spend an afternoon!