Potty Praise!

Guess who pee peed (?) in the potty last night! You guessed it, Wild Man himself (well the whole family probably did, but I didn't think you'd care to know about that). I think it was actually his first time. Mom and I had already planned to do the 3 day potty training method while Suge is out of town in 2 weeks-so I think this is a good sign. If you haven't read about Lora Jensen's book or method- check out her site at www.3daypottytraining.com I ordered the book, it took about 20 minutes to read, and hopefully it's gonna work. It really just make sense. She has 6 kids and it's worked for all of them, plus thousands of others. I'm excited. This method doesn't include pull ups, it's just straight to big boy underoos! It's all positive reinforcement and staying by their side for 3 days! It will be a long 3 days but then that'll be it--he'll be using the potty! We'll see how it goes...

Parties, Naps and a Long Overdue Ride

A 3 day weekend two weeks in a row. Wow! I'm exhausted. Can't say I'm too unhappy about getting back to work today. A great weekend was had by all though. We attended an art-themed birthday party, which was fabulous! What a great idea Mama F! We also got loads of yard work done. Suge seems to kindof be getting into it. =) Grilled hamburgers on Sunday night--also fabulous, as was the company. Red wine and a board game seemed like such a good idea at the time. Maybe men against women was the bad idea~ Wildman decided he wasn't going to nap for me this weekend. That really makes it tough. That's MY down time too. He did decide that he'd nap for Suge on Sunday though while I went on a 3 hour ride! YES!!! It was long overdue. It felt so good to see the boys and smell that horsey smell. We rode by the lake which was so nice, the weather held out and it wasn't blistering hot. What more could I ask for? I do know a certain part of my body that I'd prefer wasn't hurting, but oh well, it won't last long and it WAS WORTH IT! Wonder what the week will hold? We'll see...

Seinfeld says...

I saw this Seinfeld quote yesterday and it made me laugh “There is no such thing as fun for the whole family.” and I thought to myself, YES there is! We found it- (although, I guess I probably would have agreed with that statement pre-trip) it's that crazy indoor waterpark! It was so much fun, wild man LOVED it, I had a great time and Suge had fun too (there were concessions for adults, what more could you ask for?). Anyway, if you are looking for a good way to spend a couple of days I would recommend it. We also visited the aquarium while we were there and wild man really enjoyed that. He was a little scared a time or two-it looks like those piranas are coming right at you! The dads went to see Star Trek on Sat. night and the moms went to see Obsessed on Sun. night. If you haven't seen Obsessed (the one with Beyonce') I'd recommend that too-what a thriller. All in all, it was a great four-alarm family weekend. Now, on to what this weekend holds. Hope the rain gives us a break. We'll see...

Working Out & Swimsuits...

On Tuesday I started a program at the Y called 3N1 Fitness. A Wellness Coach sets up a plan for your workouts. The plan changes every 30 days for 90 days, and of course there are variations throughout the month (you have lots of choices). I'm hoping to get these guns in shape for summer (hehehehehe). What I'm really hoping to do is to be more healthy! I did the strength training workout for the first time last night and it was really tough. I don't push myself near as hard as I should, so this should be interesting! Oh, about the swimsuit... We are going with some friends this weekend to Wilderness in the Smokies, it's a hotel with an indoor water park. I hope the kids love it, because I'm not a huge fan of water parks. But I am looking forward to a weekend away. This will be the first time I've put on a swimsuit this year and I decided it would probably be a good idea to get a one-piece for time spent at a water park with a couple of two year olds =) I was very proud of myself, I went swimsuit shopping on my lunch hour and had two swimsuits tried on and bought in less than 30 minutes! It was my lucky day! Now if I could only be so lucky as to have wild man love the water park and be a complete angel all weekend~ we'll see...

SIDS ALERT!

Last night I went in to check on wild man before retiring for the evening (it might have been 10:00), and this is what I found. I was quite amused as you can imagine, so I rushed to get the camera to document this severe violation of all things SIDS. I know at his age it's not really a threat, but it makes a mama nervous. How, you might ask, did I not know about these snuggle items, well... Suge put him to bed and you know a daddy can't say no. Anyway, he needed two blankets, a pillow, a spotted dog and a farmer's hat just to get a good night sleep. Looks like it worked. I might try it tonight, we'll see how it goes...

Teacher Appreciation

As I was writing notes to wild man's teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week, I found some great quotes. I could relate to most, even though I taught for such a short time, I was in school forever! This one made me think of wild man's wonderful teachers, "The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery." ~Mark Van Doren The teachers at his school are fantastic and boy do they work hard, I still have no idea how they do it! This next one made me think of my stint as a 2nd grade teacher, "If you promise not to believe everything your child says happens at school, I'll promise not to believe everything he says happens at home." ~Anonymous Teacher. This last one is just for kicks and giggles:

"If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job." ~Donald D. Quinn

Be sure to tell a teacher (past or present) how much you appreciate them before their one week is over. I'm going to try to tell them every week, we'll see how that goes...

Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own. ~Aristotle

I spent my lunch hour cramming down a sandwich and picking out a few Mother's Day gifts. I have 3 to buy for. Yes, you heard me. The one I was born to, the one who took me on when she married my father and the one that took me on when I married her son. There are plenty of others out there that helped raise me, (you know the saying) but I can't buy gifts for all of them--although that'd be a surprise for them wouldn't it? I found this quote, (btw I love quotes and sayings) which so reminded me of my own mother and then of course of myself and what I'm experiencing as a mother: "When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child." ~Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty Wow! Doesn't that say it all. None of us, and I mean Bill Gates included have enough money to repay our mothers for what they have done for us. How do you repay someone for giving you life, love and the recipe for mud pies? Hope the three of them love their gifts! We'll see...

That Time

This weekend was pretty uneventful. We did attend a Spring Fling sponsered by some friends. It was a fundraiser for their school. It was fun, like an old fashion carnival. They had the ring toss, pick up ducks, dunking booth, frisbee throw, well you get the point. Good clean fun. Wild man was WILD. He had a blast. I had a good time, but was longing to be riding with friends. It's that time of year, and I've had a really hard time finding time, to make time, for some riding time. Know what I mean?! Some friends camped and rode this weekend, or I assume they did--in between rain. You always hope for some riding if you pack up and go. The pic is from fall sometime when wild man rode for the first time! I sure hope he enjoys it later. Today I vow to cut out the time. We'll see how that goes...

A Lizard on a Hat

Wednesday night we took wild man to an exotic animal sale. It wasn't his first time, he's become somewhat of a pro. We aren't in the market to buy, it's just a free zoo. We saw goats, foxes, mice, peacocks, turkeys, camels, zebras and watusi cattle, the list goes on and on. The whole watusi thing was interesting, look those things up, they are amazing. Anyway, there was a man there walking around with a huge lizard on his head, well on his hat. He ask if wild man would like to touch it, and of course he was less than excited about that. Mama and Suge had to touch it first (there's a first time for everything). We did and so did he. He'll try almost anything if someone else tries it first, including most vegetables. I still think he's a leader, but hopefully just a cautious one--we'll see.