Potty Training

I am ti-red of being peed and pooped on! I am in the process of potty training my child, and I knew going into it that it would test my patience. I went into it knowing to be calm and understanding, "Oh bummer, you did a poo-poo on the carpet. No big deal that happens to everyone. We'll do better next time."

Well, I guess I really wasn't ready for the moist, stinky, insane amounts of laundry, gross factor. Truly, I think she's ready, but man this is H.A.R.D. to stick with. 2 months ago I would have told you how ready I was to be done w/ diapers, today I would beg to leave her in them.

It's what I imagine having a puppy is like. They pee and poop anywhere at any time. If I forget to take her in for a potty break - look out. One would think this would be a serious motivator not to forget, but I get busy and forget which leads to more cleaning up. sigh.

Hang in there. One day I'll look back at this and laugh they say.

Grandparents

Today I took Biscuit to see the great grandparents. She loves them, they love her, love all around, but MAN by the time we leave I end up feeling like I've been dragged behind a bus. Being 2.5 means that Biscuit loves to take the full tour of any one's house within the first ten minutes of arrival. Then, God bless her, Grandma hauls out an entire bag of cookies and ice cream for a "snack". I thought, "You want to add sugar to THIS!"

Thankfully after a cookie and a half, Biscuit got bored and decided she needed to take Great Grandpa downstairs to terrorize the basement. Grandpa, God bless him, took her downstairs to blow off some steam while Gram and I talked.

20 minutes later, Biscuit was back and wanted to play in Great Grandma's desk near the phone. Gram lets her because there's a hole puncher in there to play with - along with about 6 of the most deadly looking pair of scissors I've EVER seen! Of course, just about the time I'm confident that I've removed all of the deadly hazards from the desk drawer that Biscuit is gleefully playing in, she runs into the living room to inspect Gram's commode - "Noooooooooooo!"

Game over! Let's pack it up.
Thanks for having us -
Love you -
Hugs & kisses -
out the door

I fumed all the way home, which bothered me. We want to visit, they want us to visit. My expectations are unrealistic - it's too much to expect a toddler to sit still and not break all of the china perched on every end table. Really - it's the old adage - A bull in a china shop - sort of scenario.

Calgon, take me away!

Wildlife

We are blessed to live in a home that is backed up to a fair strip of woodlands. However, I found it a bit of mixed blessings that we often come across the paths of the wildlife. Most recently, we have had a turkey hen clucking around our backyard. She's rather bold and seems to think she owns a few acres. This week we've also spotted a little fawn slinking around our yard. She has taken up with resting in the shade next to the shed that we are building. Poor little thing seems to be motherless. She seems to be unaware that she should fear us because she feeds on the clover ever so close to the house. She/he is a total Bambi with a splash of little white dots along her sides.

Among the mixed bag we've spotted adult deer, woodpeckers, racoons, hawks, tom turkeys, stray cats & dogs, birds, and bugs galore. Kind of a neat thing for Bisquit to learn about wildlife, but there have been times (such as with fiesty turkeys) that I've wished for the burbs.

In the Sleeping House

It's the middle of the day and everyone is pooped out. The bisquit is sleeping, the hubby is sleeping, and let's face it - I'd like to be sleeping too. It's too hot to move outside so I guess it's appropriate to take an afternoon siesta. Summer is such a love/hate season. I crave the nice weather and love being outside, but I really am not a fan of hot and sticky unless we're talking a cinnamon roll.

Good Cheer Smoothie

Well, it was billed as a "Good Cheer Smoothie" in the Grand Rapids FAITH magazine that comes to our home every month. So, I thought "Yum, let's give it a try today." Let's just say I was not is such good cheer after I made this smoothy because of the sticky mess that followed, but it did taste rather good.

So, sans sticky messes, this was a fairly great recipe which did hit the spot after I cleaned up the mess. Although, I did make a few improvisations.

1 banana (cut up)
2 cups frozen mixed berries (skip the raspberries - seeds)
1 cup vanilla yougurt
2-3 tbsp. orange juice
1 tsp honey
* I added a little bit of milk too.

Oh and seriously blend together the wet ingredients FIRST (OJ, yougurt, honey) for about 5 seconds.
Add bananas and 1/2 of the frozen fruit - blend. Add the remaining frozen fruit and blend until smooth.
Enjoy.

Tech Savy

I'm not one that you would call "tech savy". However, I have just attended 2 days of Teacher Tech Camp in the hopes of sprucing up my talents for the sake of my students. I am so excited to get started - I created a classroom wiki and a blog for the middle school students. Everything is still in the infancy stage, so to speak, put I am feeling tons more confident.

Wish me luck!