Football's here!

I saw the inside of Tiger Stadium for the first time in awhile last night. I didn't take the kids to any games last year because Kellen was almost 2 and Bonnie was 8 months...enough said. Well, now Kellen is almost 3 and Bonnie is 19 months...much better. We went to Josh's freshman game last night and had a good time. We got there after the first quarter and left after the third. The kids got to go down on the field with Josh during half-time and that was a big highlight for them. Tonight I'm planning to try the Varsity game unless it rains. Oh, and I'm always (ALWAYS) looking for company so if you're a local and want to come to some great football games, just let me know. Or even if you're not a local and love your daughter (and daughter-in-law) and just want to spend some time with her and the grandkids.

We also went to open house last night for the Mother's Day Out the kids will be going to this year. They start Tuesday and will go from 9-1:30 once a week. Don't worry about me, I think I can find some ways to fill the lonely hours that they're away from me.

What's Goin' On

Randomly, Kellen took a nap today (and me being the gambler that I am, he did it in underwear). Bonnie waking up from her nap:
Feeding baby:

And the UPS man came with Josh's books for the semester. Don't you wish you were in grad school, too?

First Day of School

In honor of Josh's official first day of school (he's been coaching football for 2 weeks now), I took an official picture. His frown is because it's the first day (though I secretly think he's looking forward to it), and also because he has to take the dorky lunchbox I bought him at the Dollar Tree (can I get a shout out for the Dollar Tree?). He had a nice Eddie Bauer lunchbox, but he left it at school last year, and reported this month that it has something growing inside it. And since I'm the shopper in the family everyone got new lunchboxes for $1 each. I asked him if he wanted me to write his name on it and the answer was an emphatic "NO!". Another first day...Kellen finally was promoted to the 2-year-old class at church, since they stay with their school year groups. The report was good behavior...he told me he obeyed "2 teachers."

And here is Kellen's first photograph, taken yesterday afternoon. I especially like the crumbs and Taco Bell sauce packets on the counter.

Have You Seen This?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675&ru=http%25

Now that's funny. I only take 2 kids to the grocery store but I can totally relate.

I was tagged by Lisa. I'll try not to have a bad attitude so here goes. Oh wait, did that last sentence reflect my bad attitude?

Here are the rules:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.

2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (if you don’t have a blog, email me)

4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

8 random facts:

1. I bite my nails. Gross, I know. Sometimes I stop but then a tense book or ballgame comes and I do it unconciously.

2. My favorite thing about Josh is that he never points out my MANY flaws, case in point, biting my nails.

3. I was disappointed when they replaced the light brown M&M's with the blue ones. The light brown ones were my favorites.

4. I love reading books and will read pretty much anything. Right now I'm reading Stormy Weather and it's really good. The setting is just a county over from my "ancestral land."

5. I sometimes listen to sports talk radio even when Josh isn't in the car.

6. One household task that I don't mind doing is laundry.

7. I think the coolest museum I've ever been to is the Buffalo Bill museum in Cody, Wyoming. I look forward to taking our kids there some day.

8. I've had one speeding ticket in my life, going down Glade St. in College Station on my way to church from campus when I was a sophomore in college. Sitting through defensive driving cured me of speeding.

OK, I'll tag Josh, Emma M., Emily M., Sarah F., Summer B., Jenny L., Lyneil, and Lynna. I like reading these kinds of posts, I just don't like writing them.

19 months, almost

Bonnie's new favorite phrase is "I do it." She is in a wonderful phase. She is independent in terms of walking and eating, but still loves (or tolerates?) being rocked at nap and nighttime. She is just go-with-the-flow, and is content whether we stay home for the day or run errands for hours at a time. She loves playing with her fairie house and little people, and pushing her baby doll around the house in a stroller. She calls herself "Bommie" and in the mornings looks for "Dosh" (Josh), who has been leaving at 5AM for football practice. She loves pancakes, cheese, and applesauce. She has enjoyed being the potty-training helper, who for a few days got candy when Kellen produced (we're past candy now). She closes her eyes and grins a huge grin when we ask, "Where's Bonnie?", and sometimes Josh and I just can't get over how cute she is. Impartial, I know. Maybe if I remember to take some pictures in the next couple of days I'll post them.

Depressing, in a really shallow way

My Netflix queue has 64 movies in it, all of which I'd really like to see. Maybe I'll have watched all of them by the time Kellen graduates from high school.

I watched Ghandi this weekend. It was great. I missed a lot of good movies in the '80's, being born in 1978 and all. I'm trying to catch up.

Update #2

No pun intended. Kellen did just that in the potty. Josh and I were jumping around like we had just won the state basketball championship. Went out tonight in underwear and no accidents. Tomorrow's errands entail the Dollar Tree, CVS, and the library (it's Dairy Day, everyone!). We'll see how that goes. For those of you who have not given up on my blog due to gross content, I hope this will be the last "Kellen Potty-Training Update."

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Potty Update

K is wearing underwear, except for quiet room time and nighttime. One or 2 accidents per day, with me taking him potty every hour or so. Still no "dirty business" in the potty. Making progress. I'm proud of him.

Potty Progress (??)

Kellen is now in Pull-Ups, and will go #1 when I take him (rewarded by candy, of course). He has not yet done the other in the potty. However, I'm choosing to look at the glass half full. He says, "Big boys wear underwear." rather than "Big boys wear diapers." which was his stance a few weeks ago. He also talks to Josh about how Josh's "basketball boys wear underwear and use the potty."

My question is, when do they start asking to use the potty? Is it a matter of days, weeks, or months after they are going "on command?" Kellen doesn't care whether he sits in a dirty diaper, but he will tell me now that he has one, which is also a change from a few weeks ago.

Any input is appreciated! (Oh, and I should note, I realize that the most efficient/cheapest way to go about this is to put him in underwear and wait for the accidents. Kellen doesn't like underwear and cries when I try to put it on him. We'll get there. He does like Pull-Ups and I think feels more like a big boy wearing them.)

P.S. Kellen, if you're ever reading this in the future, I apologize.

It Worked For Me

This site has some tips on how to speed up your computer. It goes a little beyond "defragment the drive," although the famous defragmentation process is of course included.

http://www.rewardprograms.org/thefreegeek/features/13-ways-to-speed-up-your-pc-without-spending-a-dime.html

If you have a little while, give some or all of the tips a try. My computer has gotten faster. This is probably what those computer-repair people are doing when they click through stuff and type stuff so fast you can't even tell what's going on. Just my two cents.

Seriously, Mom, keep your day job.

We had a long day today and were putting the kids to bed late (well, 8:30 is late for us.). I was in charge of Bonnie and we were sitting in her room in the glider. I read her a book, and then we went and turned out her lights and I said the prayer. After that I started into my rendition of "Jesus Loves Me." Well, I got about 5 words in when I heard, "Noooo," kind of in a squealy voice, through the pacifier of course.

Me: "Jesus loves the little children..."

B: "Noooo..."

Well, that went on for two more songs.

Me: "Bonnie, do you just want to get in bed?"

B: "Yeah."

(I put her in bed.)

B: "Night night. Night night."

I guess the poor child just wanted to lay down.

It might be the first time...

...but it surely won't be the last. Mark this date: August 8, 2007. We were informed for the first time by one of Kellen's teachers (his Wednesday night Bible class teacher) that he was being "silly" and "distracting other students" in Bible class. In fact, she said they took him out of class last week. Well, we made it almost 3 years.

I'm teaching for the next two Wednesdays until summer classes are over, and Josh will be busy with two-a-days and not able to be at church, so I guess they'll just have to keep putting him in the corner. After that he will promote to the next class and maybe (hopefully?) that will hold his attention a little better. On Sundays they tell us he "practically teaches the class."

Wish us luck as we raise this smart, funny, enthusiastic, high-spirited, distracting little boy. Every day is an adventure.

Horseriding pictures

Here are the pictures I promised from Emma's birthday party.

And one of sweet Julia, who came with Gran and Pa from Lubbock:
Josh is working again and life has settled down. K, B, and I have been staying home a lot, reading books, and doing our chores. Bonnie is talking pretty well now and can for the most part tell me what she wants (she calls any food "bre-fass", think of breakfast without some of the consonants), which is nice. Kellen plays with his animals all. the. time. He puts them in the barn, on his Little People playground, and in Noah's Ark, of course (however, frustration ensues when it's time to get the moose with his big ol' antlers OUT of the ark). Bonnie loves to sit by herself and read books (Thank you, God, for this child.), and she also likes "strolling" with her baby in the stroller and her purse on her shoulder. She is a joy. Right now we're all reading "Where The Wild Things Are" and lots of other books several times a day. The kids also play together some, but they fuss at each other as brothers and sisters do. I don't think that will ever end. =) But the best news to me right now is that we have worked up to 45 minutes of quiet time for Kellen in his room while Bonnie takes her nap. I'm hoping to go up to about 1.5 hours.

So that's the update for now. I realize that it's pretty boring if you're not my mother or my sister.

Let's Get Real

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1650352,00.html?cnn=yes

I get really tired of the assumption by "researchers" that parents put their kids in front of the TV because we think it's going to make them smarter. I mean, come on. We put them in front of the TV because we just got home from the grocery store and it's 11:45 and they're hungry and cranky and we need 15 minutes to put up the groceries and fix lunch. THEN we'll read. Is that too much to ask? Please, no more studies.

(Disclaimer: I can pretty much guarantee that I spend more time reading to my kids than they spend watching TV.)

Weekend Update

I should have used that title for a more entertaining post. But anyway, since so many people have so nicely expressed concern about Josh, I'll let you know that he's better but not 100% yet. He had to mow/weed/edge/blow the yard this morning and that wiped him out. But now Bonnie is running fever so I'm sure she has the same thing he had. We did go to cousin Emma's birthday party today. Kellen got to ride a horse for the first time, which of course he loved (I'll post pictures later). Bonnie made it through but just sat in our laps the whole time.

Tonight as we were eating supper, the absurdity of it all hit me. Well, specifically, the absurdity of Kellen. Tonight was leftover night, and when he realized we were heating up dinner in the microwave, he requested his "cold, not hot." He doesn't like any food hot these days, at least if he can help it. So Josh served up some cold chicken and rice for our favorite boy. I looked over at him during the meal and there he was, eating chicken and rice like an apple out of his hand. And of course, there was a horse on his plate. I mean, why wouldn't you want to share your meal with a horse? But, he was chowing down on leftovers and that's the important thing in my book. We sure do love our little boy.

Enough

I will not be buying any more toys Made In China. I mean, if you can't trust Fisher-Price to keep lead out of the toys we give to our toddlers (not that the recall surprises me one bit), who can you trust? I think that quality is better than quantity as toys go anyway, so for those of you who read my blog and are recipients of Christmas/birthday presents, you will either be receiving a toy that was made in the USA or Europe, some other gift, or cash.

In other news, Josh is sick sick sick. He has a high fever and has been in bed all day. The kids have been pretty great about keeping quiet and entertaining themselves or playing with me. Josh has to start football meetings on Monday so we're praying he's better soon!