Potty Training

My baby sister Gina has just left to head back to Arizona. I hate it. We had so much fun. I wish we lived in the same city. Meg kept asking where she was going and why she had to leave. She was confused by all of this since she last saw Gina in San Diego. That's a lot for a three year old to figure out. Hopefully our trip to AZ in October for David and Katie's wedding will help her understand it better.

Meg is potty training. Last week I was feeling blue about the whole thing. She wasn't having very much success and she was also very argumentative about it all. She didn't seem to mind walking around soaking wet and she would throw enormous fits when you asked her to pull herunderpants up or down . Then on Thursday she had to go at her school and we went running to the potty before we left. The teacher (The AMAZING Ms. Maria) offered to take her but I said I would. WHAT AN EYE OPENER! That little stinker. She was an old pro at school. No complaints. No, "I can't do it (screamed)." Total pro. Wow. What an idiot I am. She had me fooled a bit. Now we haven't let up on her and she is doing a great job. We went at least four days without an accident. Maybe we'll have her out of diapers by the end of the year. Praise God.

Not much to say

I really don't have much to say tonight. I suppose that means I shouldn't even be blogging. I did want to mention (because George asked me to) that he was totally grossed out by Olivia's loose, bloody tooth. He was disgusted. It makes no sense whatsoever.

I explained to the girls all about calcium today. I told them about how we need to have healthy bones. I used this as an opportunity to poison their minds about soda. For the longest time, Olivia hated things that were carbonated. She said they were "spicy." Well I am not sure she likes them now or if she says she likes them because Lauren likes them (Lauren is the girl down the street who Olivia thinks is the second coming). But on occasion recently she has mentioned that she likes Diet Coke. We'll you know in our family that is like saying you like Satan. We don't do artificial sweeteners and we don't drink soda. We have some in the fridge for guests but that's it. - I am having trouble staying on point tonight. Back to the calcium...so I was explaining to the girls how soda has things in it that sucks the calcium out of your bones. (This is the general principle -- not sure I have all the details correct but they're little.) So then all afternoon Meg kept telling me stories about bones and calcium and broccoli. Hmm. And she keeps talking like a valley girl saying "like" this and "like" that. We've already managed to make her sound like a 7th grader who can't talk properly.

I clearly don't have much to say tonight so I am going to go iron. George left me with 18 shirts to iron this morning. I think I have completed five. I got fed up when Will kept trying to climb up the ironing board.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

The tooth is out

The tooth fairy is coming tonight. Olivia lost her tooth at dinner. She bit into her burrito and it really made it loose. Then she wiggled it and wiggled it and it kept bleeding. She couldn't stop. It came out shortly thereafter. Meg was very interested in it but didn't want to touch it. She said it would get "bleed on her fingers." So Olivia said the tooth fairy would bring either a quarter or a penny. George suggested that maybe she would get a Wii game. I hope not.

In other news, I sent Olivia over to the neighbor's house to borrow some sour cream. She HAD to ride her bike instead of walk. Next thing I know, she is riding down the hill of our backyard in a giant circle. Then a few moments later she comes in through the garage door. A few minutes after that she turns around and goes back outside because she forgot the sour cream in her bicycle basket. She is so wild.

For those who didn't believe me about the fried SPAM, here is proof. I forgot to mention the fried Krispy Kreme sandwich, too. Tasty.

Growing up?

How's this for irony?

Meg is wearing training underwear today and doing pretty well. But then she decided to take a nap in Will's crib (her old bed). She is happy as a clam in there asleep and she also found an old baby pacifier and is sucking away. We kept the baby pacis around for play purposes but apparently that was the wrong strategy. So now my potty training 3 year old is sound asleep in the crib with a paci. Oy!!

Will and I will just have to have a nap together in my bed. HA!

Sneak Preview

Ok. So I just uploaded my photos from Diego. I can't wait to go back next year. We always take a kooky face photo of the grandkids. Here is the 2008 version.

Strawberry

Olivia is wild. People who know us well know that this is true. Well, it's not so much that she is wild, she just can't stand to miss out on anything so she is always frantic trying to keep up with the gang. I think this got the better of her last night. She was riding her new bike down our street and bit it hard. Thankfully, our kind neighbor went after her (I didn't even know she was down). George quickly followed in flip flops.

She was pretty banged up. Her knee was a bloody mess and there were bloody spots on other parts of her body as well. This knee of hers has been a bloody mess all summer. It heals and then just before it's about to be all better she trashes it again but that's another story. She also has a giant "strawberry" on her forehead. It really does look like a strawberry. And she is so proud of it. She keeps talking about it and asking me questions about it. I seriously can't wait to send her to summer camp some place in the mountains. The things I am sure she'll get into.

I am so thankful that girl is TOUGH!

She finished her swim team season yesterday. She went out with a big bang. She got two first place ribbons. She also placed in a third event but I can't remember what it was. I am also so proud of her for her commitment to this team. She did so well and never complained. (Well, maybe the last day when she really wanted to be at home with her friends riding her bike.)

California

The girls have gone to sleep at Grandma's beach house. I can't wait to see if Meg will stay. She was so excited. Olivia was mad that Meg got to join in on the fun. She likes having Grandma all to herself.

What a fun day we've had. Although we had to say goodbye to Matz, we enjoyed our visit and look forward to the next time we can catch up.

Will had his first visit to the beach today. It was funny to watch him play with the sand. He loved holding it in his hands. This boy loves to put everything in his mouth. EVERYTHING! He didn't put it in his mouth right away but it made it's way there eventually. He didn't seem to mind it especially when it went with his thumb.

I am just happy tonight. We've laughed a lot today. Will and I napped on the beach. Olivia, Meg and George got water logged. We had Mexican food for dinner and Mr. Frosty for dessert. Life is good.

Fried Twinkies

No kidding. Fried Twinkies, Fried SPAM, Fried Frog Legs (Tastes Like Chicken!), Fried Oreos...this is what we saw today. We opted for the Shave Ice with the coolest self-serve flavor bar I have ever seen.

We made it to San Diego yesterday. The flight went great. It was so empty we had two rows to ourselves. We've already managed to have breakfast at one of our favorite spots. Then we headed up to Del Mar to the San Diego County Fair. County Fairs - So Cal style...what a treat. I don't think I could go to another county fair with bad weather (by bad I mean humid, hot, nasty, etc.) Wow. The fair is held at the Del Mar race track so we got to see that place, too. George has been there before but I hadn't. We also scored big because today was wrist band day so we managed to do the all-you-can-ride deal until we couldn't take it any more. We rode rides from 11am until 7pm. Will didn't get to ride any but I think he had fun. Watching the kids' faces was the best way to start the vacation. That Olivia sure knows how to enjoy herself.

For those friends of ours back home, we also saw several fish taco stands at the fair. This was a first for us. I don't think they have those at the Williamson County fair. Amongst all the turkey legs, corndogs, funnel cakes, etc., was the Fish Taco stand. Fabulous!!

One more crazy thing...when we finally got to our beach house last night, we were attempting to open our suitcase to make up Will's bed (which he didn't really even sleep in). There was a lock on our bag. Someone had placed a secure lock on our suitcase. We couldn't get it open. It didn't belong to us and we have know idea how it got there. Fortunately we've been coming here long enough that we know a few locals. I went over to their place and asked for their tool box. It didn't take much. How weird is that?

We're hoping to put the relaxation phase into high gear tomorrow. The sand is calling.