Mary, II

Wednesday morning we said good-bye to Mary, one of the kid's fish. For those who have been reading the blog for awhile, do you recall last November (that would be Nov 2010), when Steve bought two feeder fish for the kids? Well for everyone who thought they wouldn't last more than a few weeks....you were wrong.

Jesus and Mary (the names of the two fish) have lasted 13 months!! In fact, Jesus is still alive and doing very well...he has even tripled in size. However, a few days ago Mary stopped swimming and started lying at the bottom of our bowl. Even after we dropped food in there, she would hardly move. I thought maybe I hurt one of her fins after returning her to the bowl after cleaning it, but the pet store thought she had a bacteria infection. Regardless, she lasted much longer than we thought she would, but wouldn't even move yesterday.

We had been preparing the children for the inevitable, but that didn't stop Bennett from crying yesterday morning when we put Mary in the toilet, and asked God to take care of her. I held her for awhile, and then she came around and asked when she can get a new fish.

In the afternoon, I surprised the kids with a new white fish. Bennett knew immediately that she wanted it to be a "girl fish," but couldn't come up with a name. After multiple suggestions from me, she decided on Mary (again). So welcome Mary (the second)!

School Christmas Parties

This week the kids finished their last days of school for the semester with Christmas parties. First was Preston's on Monday...and boy was he genuinely happy to see me! They had just returned from playing in the gym and all of the moms were there waiting for them. He ran over to me and gave me a big hug and kiss (which NEVER gets old). Then his teachers made each one wash their hands and sit down for lunch. However, they had to do their blessing first...and how sweet it was hearing those little voices bless their food.

All of the mothers signed up to bring different things, but since my little boy still doesn't eat much, I packed some stand-bys for him to nibble on. After lunch they made reindeer food and decorated a gingerbread house (or should I say they ate the candy that was supposed to go on the house?) Either way, fun was had by all, especially after their book exchange!

While all of the fun was going on at Preston's school, Bennett was comfy in her PJs watching a Christmas movie with her fellow classmates. Tuesday, she had her Christmas party, which Pres and I attended. They ordered pizza, had story time, did a craft and exchanged presents...so another fun time!

Christmas Traditions

Yesterday morning, the kids and I attempted to make Christmas cookies. I thought it would be fun since they enjoy playing with their playdough so much. We rolled out the dough and the kids chose which cookie cutters to use. They both were doing such a good job so I was confident that we would have some cute ones to decorate. However, the baking process didn't quite work out the way I thought...






We must have used too much dough inside the cookie cutters because the cookies expanded so much during the baking process that they were indistinguishable afterward.










We put icing on a few and the kids poured sprinkles all over them, but they hated the way they tasted with the icing, so we stopped. Don't know why I keep trying to become a baker...it really isn't my thing. Thank goodness my kids don't know the difference (or don't care). They had fun regardless of the end result!











Last night, Steve and I attended a couple Christmas parties and had fun catching up with all of our friends. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives!

To the Bathroom We Go!

Preston has been a very stubborn kid from the beginning... He has always preferred me to put him to bed, he calls for me in the middle of the night, he hates eating, and potty training has been of ZERO interest to him. Steve and I have struggled with all of the above issues, but potty training was something we committed ourselves to tackling before year end.

Pres had been doing great when he was naked or in loose pants with nothing on underneath. But the minute he felt something tighter around his bottom, he thought he was in a diaper or pull-up, and just pottied. We tried motivating him with candy, money, more time on the iPad, comparing him to his friends...but nothing worked that well.

However, last Friday afternoon Steve started rewarding him with one skittle every time he went to the bathroom, and he started going (but only when he was at home). He then told him if he went number #2 on the potty, he could have four coins. As soon as Pres awoke last Saturday, we stripped him down, and told him no more diapers during the day. Unfortunately, we had a couple of errands to run, so we made him go before he left. I then packed a change of clothes for Steve, in case he had an accident, and off they went.

What was expected to be a quick trip to the barber's shop turned into a 90 minute excursion because of the long line. Steve debated coming back home, but ultimately decided to stay. He was diligent about asking Pres if he had to go to the bathroom, but he kept getting the same negative response. After an hour without going, Steve took him to the bathroom. While Preston was repeatedly telling him that he "didn't have to go," he was tee-teeing in his pants while standing next to the toilet. Needless to say, Steve was a little upset with him. But he changed him and went back to standing in line. After a few more minutes it was finally Preston's turn for his haircut. Then Steve took his turn and sat in the seat. It wasn't much longer when Preston told him he needed to go potty again, but before Steve could stand up...he had another accident. Oops....

Once home, we put his third outfit on and he did great telling us each time he needed to go. Sunday was more of the same until we left the house to go to the grocery store. I asked him multiple times while in the store, but kept hearing "No" so I thought we might actually make it home. As I was loading the groceries into the car, he stood real still next to me. I looked at him and immediately knew what was going to happen. I started saying "don't do it Pres, don't do it," but it was too late....he did it. Oops...

So Monday was a school day and I sent him to school with 3 changes of clothes and told his teacher "good luck." Since he had still not used any toilet but ours, I was confident he was going to have a tough day at school. So you can imagine my surprise when I was in carpool to pick him up and he was in the same clothes I dropped him off in...tears in my eyes (and I am not lying)! Since then, he has been doing fantastic!! We have not had a tee-tee accident since Sunday, and he has christened every toilet in town! Our only problem now is #2, and trying to get him to use a potty for that. We've had two accidents and I think he has been holding it in some. However, he did use the toilet tonight, so I think we may be over the hump.

Time will tell, but I think I can safely say that my little boy is finally potty-trained (thank the Lord)!!

More Christmas Festivities

This past week, we attended Bennett's school Christmas program. They divided each of the 4K classes into various animals (camels, lambs and donkeys). Bennett and her classmates were the donkeys.

They sang several songs, and told the story of Jesus' birth. We reminded her to sing loudly and she did great! She knew where we were seated so when Steve gave her a "thumbs up" to her performance....she did it back!




She had been practicing some of her songs at home, so I thought I knew what was going to transpire. However, I was very surprised when I saw her name in the program as a bell ringer. She, along with a few other kids, were selected to ring a bell while the other children sang "Jingle Bells." When we asked her after the program why she didn't tell us she was going to play the bells, she said it was "a secret." What a great surprise!





Friday after school, we decided to take care of another Christmas tradition....visiting a nativity scene. My kids love to get up close and see baby Jesus and everyone else. It made me proud that Bennett could tell me who everyone was. Of course, she tried to pick up and hold baby Jesus, but he was bolted down (I think people have stolen him in the past).











The kids talked to the statues, and we spent 15-20 minutes hanging out. Unfortunately, a group of students came up to view it too, and were waiting to get their pictures taken. I told the kids we needed to go, and that we could return again, but that didn't stop Bennett from throwing a huge tantrum right there in front of two teachers, a bunch of elementary students and everyone driving by (nice, huh?). Pres and I started walking home, I wasn't about to give her the attention she wanted, which just caused her to cry more. So, though we had fun for 15 minutes, it ended poorly.

Hopefully, she'll do better when she sees a live nativity scene with her own classmates this week.

Tis the Season!

Christmas is in full swing now, and we kicked it off by attending the Homewood Christmas parade earlier this week. Since all of the city parades kick off just a block away, we walk to all of them. We met some friends there, and the kids had a ball gathering a ridiculous amount of candy (actually more than Halloween)! It was a chilly night, but they were so busy running around, they didn't even feel it.



Today, we watched Bennett sing at the 11am service at church, and then again this afternoon for our church wide choir concert. They started with the littlest ones, and then the 4 and 5 year old choir performed. It was the first time that Bennett actually sang and did some of the moves. We were so proud of her!








After the concert, we took the kids to visit Santa! They were so excited to see him, and promised to be brave and hop right on his lap. They held up their end of the deal and we captured a couple of cute photos.

Afterward, we snapped a photo of them outside and headed home! So with half of our Christmas shopping finished and Christmas cards mailed...we are making good headway. We still have a gingerbread house to decorate, Christmas cookies to make and decorate and videos to view from Santa!

Tis the season!!