Short lived

I have had a desire to have Laurelin use the potty for quite awhile now. I know she is perfectly capable of using one if she wanted to, the problem is that she seems perfectly content using her pull ups. So I have let the battle rest, knowing that she would eventually go, when she chose to go. (No children have gone to High School in diapers right?) 

Well the other day I decided to broach the subject with her when we were talking about her upcoming birthday in May. I told her that she was going to be three years old, and that three year old girls use the potty, and that she should try using the potty too like a big girl. She agreed, and said she wanted to use the potty. So I went out and bought her a cute little princess potty for her to use. When I took it out of the box she was rather excited, and we showed her how to use it, and she even sat down on it. And that was about all. She wanted her pull up back on and she was content to yank it off when she was done. 

Over the past couple of weeks the girls and I have tried to convince her to use the potty, but it has mostly gone unused. Until today, when I brought it downstairs for her to "try" while watching tv. An hour or so later she came to me and told me she had used the potty, and she did!! We were so proud, we gave her a round of applause on her accomplishment.

After this I had visions in my head of her wearing cute little panties, and using the big potty, and no more diapers during the day. We continued on with the homeschooling and a little while later, Laurelin came over and laughed, and pointed at poop on the ground. 

"Poop!"

 "Laurelin did you poop on the floor?!" 

"No Joey did" 

"Laurelin!!!" 

So that was rather a short lived victory in regards to potty time. As we speak Laurelin is happily wearing her pull up once more. 

Hairbrush

"Oh where is my hairbrush? Oh where is my hairbrush?" 

That seems to have become my morning mantra as I get ready these last few mornings. The little song from Veggietales  playing through my head as I search for my missing hairbrush.  I have no idea where it could have gone, where would one hairbrush decide to go if it wanted to? I of course had to lose my hairbrush at the sametime that my children's hairbrush broke in half (no I did not spank them with it), which in and of itself is a mystery, but never the less we have no hairbrush, except for one.... Jessica's High School Musical hairbrush featuring Troy {sigh} and on the back it actually says " I Love Troy". Who knew that by the time I was an adult I would be reduced to using a teenage heartthrob's product on my hair? Well I can say I didn't, but I have to admit Troy has good hair, and the brush is quite nice too.

                                                                        

knock at the door

Last night while I was playing Mario Kart, there was a knock at the door. I opened the door to find two ladies standing there. They wanted to inform me that they were going to have a party across the street and that they might get loud later on, but that I could just come over there and let them know and they would calm down. I have seen these ladies before, but have never personally met them, as I try to avoid most contact with neighbors, but I did know them from their crazy parties in the past. And honestly I don't mind people partying, it isn't my business, just like anything I do isn't their business. I do have a problem though of having my kids wake up in the middle of the night because people are screaming, bottles are crashing and motorcycles are zooming up and down the road, then I get annoyed. I told the ladies that I didn't really care except that I did not want my children woken up, and they should consider that. They assured me that they would do their best. I let it go and closed the door. I had become slightly intoxicated by the amount of alcohol I could smell on them while they were talking to me, so I wanted the conversation to be brief. I started thinking though later. Why should I have to go over later on and tell them to be quiet, shouldn't they already try and do that? And should I really be that stupid to go over and tell a bunch of drunk people to quiet it down? I have done that once, and some guy almost charged me, so I learned my lesson. Why couldn't they just go to a bar or club to get their drink on, since they were celebrating her birthday?  I just felt like if they let everyone know they were going to be wild, then we should just accept that. I don't like that attitude. "Sorry sir, I am going to slap you across the face, if that hurts just let me know?"  Does that justify slapping him since I already warned him. I told Derek that maybe I should go over to their house this morning, and let them know we were going to be really loud and obnoxious and if they had a problem they could just come over and tell us. A blow horn would be a nice touch. Honestly though, I didn't hear anything, and when I went downstairs to fill up Laurelin's bottle in the middle of the night, I didn't see any cars, I guess the party kind of fizzled up. I guess it wasn't as bad ass as what they thought.

Commissary etiquette

Okay I have a problem that I have to get off my chest, and this is directed at anyone that uses the Military grocery store (anyone) called the Commissary. I understand that the Commissary works a bit different then a regular grocery store, but the same principle still applies, when a lane is open you move to the next one. Rather simple I think, but for some people they seem completely baffled when they get to the head of the line and can't figure out where they should go next, although they are looking at lanes that are pretty much empty, they will still stand and look and wait, until the magical little machine lights up with the number and tells them "next customer in line please". Now let me tell you, you don't have to wait for the machine! You are free to move forward at any time, and not cause a huge back up of people behind you wanting to get in and out as quickly as possible. Try it the next time you shop, no one will rush out from a check out line to tell you to go back, the cashier will be happy that you were able to do this all by yourself without them stopping to push the button for you, and the baggers will be happy that you were able to move it along faster for their tip. (Don't get me started on that). I know for new people it is confusing and strange how the commissary works, but I just needed to clear this up so the next time you are standing in line, you won't look behind you and see me staring at you gesturing you to move (For the love of God move!!!). And just for the record I have not seen any of my friends actually do this, because if I had, I would have yelled at you from the back of the line "HI! Nice to see you, now move it!!" No just kidding I wouldn't, but I would think it. :D

Homeschool materials

One of the fun things that I have found from homeschooling, is the fun of picking out all the materials necessary to homeschool each child. When I first started looking into homeschooling there  were a few things that I required:
1. It was a Christian based curriculum
 2. It had to be textbook based, I didnt want it to be straight from the computer
 3. It couldnt be very expensive.
Those were the main points that I really tried to stick to. I was surprised at all the different options there were for homeschooling!! I always pictured homeschooling as being a small minority of people, and maybe just a few choices out there, but I was wrong! After going through a search engine and picking through all the many choices, I found one that stuck out for me.www.sonlight.com . They seemed to have everything that I needed, and it was all laid out for me in an easy to follow lesson plans. Since i was rather new to this whole experience, and suffered from panic attacks of teaching my kids everyday for a year, I had to have something that would help me step-by-step. Within a week all of the supplies arrived, and in rather large boxes! I tried not to panic as book after book was pulled out. I organized everything into piles and made sure I had received everything. Then I took out my big binder that scheduled everything and was surprised to see that even I could figure out what was going on! As we first started, we were stumped and confused a little, but after a bit, we got the hang of it, and found things that worked for us and didnt.
 This school year I added on Matthias, and even attempted to do some pre-k with the little ones and our neighbor girl. I enjoyed that everything was laid out for me, and I had a peace of mind knowing that I was on schedule for what was to be taught in a year. We even added some extra "classes" to our school day. We are studying spanish, taking music, and art. Rather in a laid back form, but it gives the chance for the kids to experience everything and see what they are good at or what they dont enjoy. I have just put my shopping cart together for the next school year, and I must say I think I am more excited then the kids to get started on next year and learn even more.

Healthy Eating

Matthias has recently started a unit in Science on the food pyramid. He is learning about what foods are healthy and what foods are not. I am starting to think that he might be taking this knowledge a little too far. He is now aware of what foods are good for you and how they work to help you grow, such as proteins and carbohydrates. What has me wondering though, is the fact that every meal I serve him, I now have to tell him how each item is healthy and what it does for his body. If I cant explain how an item might be healthy, he questions my food. Thankfully I am very careful about feeding my kids healthy food, but I don't like each item held up and questioned. Oh, and also each thing I am caught eating is questioned on its health value. "Mom are those cookies healthy, or do they have alot of sugar?" "Thanks Matthias for ruining that treat!!" I guess I should be really worried about our next science unit which is on germs. I can just see him looking around questioning my cleaning skills next.